Black Desert Online is Unrecognizable in 2023

BDO has gone through many changes since it released in 2014, most notably having improved many Quality of Life aspects that use to be a pain.

[jean-sebastienpigeon]

BDO is a solid action combat MMORPG. The game has improved massively over the years. All its missing is more group content in the open world, it's too limited at the moment.

[TheBlademan-]

If they start to roll out more PVE content like these bosses this game could start to really take over if it’s done right. It appeals to casual players and that’s what MMO games need for longevity

[Jlpeaks]

These seem less like “positive quality of life improvements” and more like the removal of things that were negatively affecting quality of life

[BlueCatStudioss]

BDO is in a really good spot right now, but sadly there's a lot of players who played the game years ago and left with a bad impression. PA (the devs) have done a tremendous amount of quality of life changes in the past 3 or so year, especially since they split from Kakao. Some things not mentioned:

- Ghillie Suit. The outfit that hides names now has "Unknown Adventurer" over the player instead of absolutely nothing. Can also use a flare to see their name.
- Weight. Between the weight changes on items, stackable items, loyalty weight from the loyalty store, you can also spend excess skill points on more free weight.
- Lootscrolls. There are many free ways to get them in the game now. For example, they recently updated Pit of Undying, a PvE mode, and you can get a couple free lootscrolls a day from there alone. Lootscrolls used to be a use once and waste forever, but now you use them to fill up an item called an "Item collection Gauge" and you can pause and unpause it when you need, so no wasted time. There's also a function in game called "Agris Fever" that recharges every 24hrs, and it increases your silver per hour, is completely free.
- Guild Content. Besides Nodewars, PA also gave a big buff to Guild Bosses. They basically loot pinatas mechanics wise still, but the content is profitable enough that guilds actually run them now.
- Attoraxian Dungeons and the new solo Bosses from recent update: Yes, they have actual mechanics. They can be fun.
- PvP in the open world. Everyone used to be crowded into a handful of grind spots and that meant super geared players were gear checking lower geared players out of them. PA buffed most grind spots from Valencia to Kamasylvia and added new variations on older grind spots. They also added a phased grind instance, where for 1hr and 5minutes each day every player can grind at the most popular spots unbothered. The Magnus also unlocks a form of teleportation. This means grind spots all over the game world became more accessible so can find people pretty spread out these days.
- Nodewars: There are now gear capped nodewars with either tier of nodewar having a progressively higher gear cap. T1 nodewars you can participate in with a set of pen tuvala gear after a couple weeks of playing. There are ways to min/max around the caps for more damage, but its a much earlier starting point for those wanting to dip their toes in PvP.
- Story content. BDO's story content is lame compared to other MMOs, but the devs have made a real push to improve it. There are now cutscenes and lots and lots of voice acted dialogue.
- The Gear Treadmill: The biggest gear hump in BDO is getting Pen Boss gear. There is a way to get Pen Boss gear without enhancing (quests through an NPC called Jetina, you just need to gather materials), and with grindspots buffed, can also just grind and buy your gear with silver. To get a set of free Tet boss gear to use with these quests, just make a Season character and get a set of Pen Tuvala (easy to enhance) and exchange for Tet Boss gear.
- Outfits on the Central Market: Outfits are listed at max for around 840ishmill silver. The average player is grinding around 350mill/hr to 1bill+/hr depending on their gear, experience with their class, and grindspot. This means you only need 1 or 3 hours of grinding to afford to place a pre-order on an outfit in the market place. On the NA server, if you place a pre-order on an outfit on sale, it usually gets filled pretty fast.

There are a lot of other changes that have been made that would make this comment too long to list, but its really a shame. PA has done so much to improve the game, but its hard to shake a bad first impression for most players. It's still a grindy game, and its definitely not for everyone though.

[honordevs]

I have been having an absolute blast in BDO, since about a month ago. I was jumping back in after about 4-5 years.

Some things I really enjoy that they've changed/added:
-Level difference past 60 is essentially irrelevant. It used to be that you'd just "miss" your attacks if your friend or dueling partner was even a single level higher, that is NOT a thing anymore. Level doesn't mean much at all, now.
-The story is now much shorter, if you choose to start with LoML or MoEW
-You get 5 free pets to auto-loot by just completing your story and quests
-Crystals are now socketed in a global account storage, instead of in gear, allowing you to use them across other characters
-Season servers are gear capped and you can go from level on a new account, to level 61 with 245 AP and 310 DP, in a week; you can also stay on this server and grind--knowing that there is a gear cap and no one else will be above you (yes, for those of you who are "in the know", you will need a good Crystal setup, journals, and buffs for it to be fully equalized; all things that are achievable by a new player).
-Season servers also give you a free IV boss gear
-You get a free PEN (V) boss gear from the Magnus questline
-Speaking of Magnus, you can use it to teleport from city to city; essentially going to the other side of the map in mere minutes; along with having remote storage access, from any town
-You get a free costume from quests--no need to buy one from the MTX store
-Events and attendance rewards now give an insane amount of rewards--including anything you'd need, other than the one item I mention at the end of this post.
-With the new LoML expansion comes weekly bosses that are GEAR EQUALIZED (it's 90% the buffs from the quest itself, e.g. the spirit orbs, and 10% your own character's gear). They are fun and the mechanics are interesting/challenging.
-PvP now has an equalized 3v3 PvP queue, with ranking and elo, like League of Legends. You can even queue with your friends.
-There's now a Family Inventory for storing items like Beer to keep your workers happy. You can now also check the "auto-consume" toggle, to automatically use Beer to keep them fed.
-Garmoth.com has evolved and makes learning BDO even easier.
-Many more things that escape me, but I probably use every day that I log in. Idk. It's been fantastic to play BDO again.

The ONE item you'll need to buy to play BDO:
Naphart Campsite -- It will allow you to remotely repair your gear, buy potions, and grab Villa buffs, all from your campsite, that you can deploy anywhere. Think of this as the "Box Cost" for the game. If you buy the $40 Conqueror's Bundle, you can not only grab this item, you also get a shitload of other items from that bundle. It is how I recommend starting the game.

[nerotv]

If BDO would come out this year with these graphics, all these systems and content, bruh, it would have millions of players competing for the best MMORPG spot. Many wont give it another chance tho. Its insane how much the game changed. I came back to it after 3 years and Im shocked how good it has become. I will defo play it for a while again, and that in itself is a statement, especially from someone who left years ago saying the game is absolute trash. In its current state, its easily on par with Final Fantasy and WoW. Insane progress, hat down Pearl Abyss.

[biohacktv]

Honestly BDO really is in the best state it's ever been, and I say that as someone who's been playing it hardcore since launch. I've been really happy with how things are going.

[HassanShahidCh]

BDO does frequent seasons where you can make a "season character". Comes with a lot of rewards and acts as a guide to help you get to the soft cap and then you can go from there and explore what you'd like to do.

[eddienash]

"They paid me to talk about their game but I'm being COMPLETELY HONEST when I say the game is so good now, Not pay to win anymore"...- Cashes fat check

[Countryboybiker]

I love BDO. It’s the best game out there to me. I don’t have to depend on anyone else. I put in the work, and my character gets better. You feel each of your upgrades, better than any game I’ve played since EQ. I’ll play this game until I stop gaming.

[Soledmaria]

7:23 about the outfit, as you can see the tab "Loyalties" in here, you can basically buy the basic outfit with the login currency they gave for daily login. ALSO, you can buy weight, pet, character slot, inventory, storage space, and the most important Value Pack (which is like premium status kinda like subscription) etc

[chonky]

it's cool to see them still doing meaningful updates. i didn't know they separated from kakao, that's hopefully for the better. we'll see, I might jump back in to check it out. thanks for the info.

[FoxyRaven-TV]

BDO is a great game to get into every season to get that sweet sweet gear and inventory space, pets, maids and so much more, the seasons are where the amazing stuff happens 👌

Camp sites there is quests for camp sites when you reach level 51 i think, so you dont even have to buy a camp.

[larkendelvie]

What I love about BDO is that of all the MMOs I've played it's the easiest for me to take breaks from. As a casual player who gets side tracked by single player games, It is super easy to jump back in and I love that. I also don't mind spending money when I want some convenience - games cost money - they aren't a non cost endeavor.

[chewbaccarampage]

Thanks man! Your videos got me into this game and now I can't get out. :D It's pretty fun.

[Muteny]

For anyone that likes immersive MMO worlds, but not so much the typical MMO requirement of the endgame forcing you to join a group of people you don’t know, THIS has been the best thing I’ve found. I still play other MMOs for their strengths. But if you like fighting games and fast paced shooters, I haven’t seen a MMO with PVE combat better than BDO.

[jamesklee]

Thanks for the PSA - I truly believe the QoL updates we've seen in BDO over the past few years are tons more interesting (and important to the overall gameplay experience) than anything LoML offers.

[Draethar]

Honestly I’ve been tempted to go back and play. Grinding in circles on my Striker is way more fun than doing Diablo 4 Nightmare Dungeons.

Edit: And I’m a Diablo fanatic!

[drima]

As a casual player, I absolutely love BDO: lots of things to do, lifeskills to grind and, above all, a fantastic combat system!

But also, as a casual player, I find myself taking long breaks now and then: the gear progression is abysmal (too much gambling involved and not so easy to buy stuff from MP), not much guild content beside node wars, and ofc after a while the grinding takes its toll.

Still fun to come back once in a while, lots of QoL in the latest updates and new classes to play!

[zyk]

I started playing in the summer of last year i have 1k hours and 640 gs, I haven't spent a dime on this game, I even got the base game for free, and I have never felt the any need to spend money, value packs can be bought with loyalties and it's really just a convenience. Enhancing gear isn't an issue since there is guaranteed gear, the combat and the button combinations make grinding way more interesting and engaging, there are party zones and dungeons that you can complete solo or with a party, plus the new boss blitz mode, hopefully they bring out more pve content. imo bdo is the best that the modern mmo genre has to offer as it's the only mmo that comes close to looking like a single player, ( speaking as someone who's genz, i think good combat and good graphics is essential to gameplay), and as long as they keep adding content especially pve the game will continue to thrive. sure it is a bit grindy( which mmo isn't?, at least there's incredible combat), and boring or stale sometimes ( which game doesn't? ), And it can be a bit overwhelming or complicated at the start, it becomes way easier when you get used to it. While it def isn't for everyone, bdo is a great way to light some hours on fire and have hella fun doing so.