Black Desert Launch Review

Crafting

Crafting comes in three flavors. There’s processing, which is turning raw resources into more advanced materials. Then there’s Cooking and Alchemy, which are self-explanatory. Cooking and Alchemy are both pretty in-depth and require a reasonable amount of research and experimentation. The third flavor of crafting requires the use of the Node, Property, and Worker systems. It also covers all crafting minus Cooking and Alchemy.

Processing is pretty self-explanatory. It’s the process of taking gathered materials (that you either got yourself or purchase from other players on the Marketplace) and turning them into more advanced materials. For example, turning Birch Timber into Birch Planks, then further turning them into Birch Plywood. In our version of the game, processing requires one energy per action. This isn’t the case in the Korean version, so there’s both some benefits and negatives to it. The benefit is that progression for the whole server takes much longer than it normally would. This, combined with the release schedule for content, allows for a (in my opinion) more rich experience and pushes off the point in which a majority of the player base will inevitably hit the ‘cap’ of content.

I spend a lot of time making Plywood.

Although processing is simple enough, there are some complexities, such as gaining the knowledge to complete more advanced processing tasks. Unless you’ve completed a certain line of quests – which in turn of a few requirements to unlock – you won’t be able to receive the knowledge to, for example, turn Birch Planks into Birch Plywood. You could put 10 Birch Planks into your Processor, but nothing would be accomplished. There’s also a ‘processing level’ requirement to unlock certain things and, with the energy requirement for processing, that means that the progression for the whole region (in terms of processed goods) is coming along more slowly than it might.

I imagine I'm not the only reviewer using beer brewing as an example of cooking.

Cooking and Alchemy are also self-explanatory, but are a hell of a lot more in-depth. Similar to Processing, certain things can only be accomplished once you’ve achieved a certain level in the respective skills. Also like-wise, without the knowledge of the item you’ll have to rely on online guides to learn recipes and what ingredients to use to make a particular dish or elixir. This is a stark contrast to the easy-as-can-be “open your interface and left-click a recipe and then press a button” system used in most games. It’s quite refreshing how daunting it can be to get into either one of these professions.

Nodes, Property, and Workers

There are three systems that completely separate Black Desert Online from all other games. These are the Node, Property, and Worker systems. With the Node system, you use ‘contribution points’ to invest in various locations across the map, such as farms and guard outposts. Some nodes – like the ‘hub towns’ for example – allow you to buy property within them. This property fulfills a number of purposes – from allowing you to do things like have workers complete crafting tasks to giving you a residence to decorate and live in. Workers are the guys who can work the nodes and properties you’ve invested in. They’re all inter-connected and they’re all different assets of the same larger system, really.

I love the in-game map.

The Node system is something that can be difficult for players to wrap their heads around. Not because it’s particularly difficult, but because there are so many nodes in the game and, on top of that, this is the type of system that players have never seen in an MMO before. I personally split the nodes into three types. There are the ‘Hubs’ which are places like Heidel or Calpheon. Hubs involve funneling your investment into the property itself, rather than the node. Then there are the regular Nodes which are things like Gateways, Routes, Farms, and Villages. Some of these (such as villages) have properties that can be invested in once you’ve invested in the node. Last, but not least, are what I call ‘sub-nodes.’ These are nodes that only become available once you’ve invested in a Node that always requires a 1-point Contribution investment and allow you to send a Worker to gather a certain resource. An example of this is the Northern Wheat Plantation just outside Calpheon. You invest in the Node and then you can purchase the sole property within the Plantation, which you can use as a Residence to increase your storage within the Plantation Warehouse, or do something like build a Crop Workbench to allow you to create crop-based trade packs. You can also invest in a Wheat Farm, a Barley Farm, and a Paprika Farm so that your workers can gather these resources from the node.

Here's a showing of all the Properties in Calpheon. Also, notice the gold spam which is becoming an issue.

As I mentioned, you can buy property using Contribution Points. By now you may be wondering what Contribution Points are. These are points that you gain over time by completing quests. There’s four types of experience. Skill Point Experience, Energy Experience, Contribution Experience, and Combat Experience.

1. Gaining skill point experience unlocks more skill points to spend on your skill tree and is gained through a mixture of combat and questing.
2. Energy experience is gained by learning new knowledge and raises the cap of your energy (which is regained at a rate of one energy per three minutes) and is used to do things like crafting, conversing with NPCs, and gathering.
3. Combat experience is gained solely through combat and unlocks a lot of games nowadays, you’ll gain almost no combat experience as a quest reward.
4. The most important experience however has to be Contribution experience, which requires a deeper explanation below.

Contribution experience is gained by completing quests that specifically give contribution experience, mostly in the form of dailies. With contribution you can rent items from NPCs you are friendly enough with, grab property, and invest in the node system. Property, when turned into a Residence, in Black Desert Online is different than in most games. It is simultaneously both instanced and static. You can buy the same house in the same location as a hundred or more other players. You each are restricted to the same space but are free to decorate it however you like.

Having a residence offers a ton of practical opportunities, too. Some furniture can be interacted with to gain temporary buffs. You’ll need a Residence to place crafting stations if you want to get into Cooking or Alchemy. If you want to, you can compete with other players living in your location to reach the top spot in your house ranking. If you do achieve the number one spot and the city you’re in offers an investment bank, you will be deemed eligible to invest.

Property can be used for more than as a Residence, however. Like I’ve said, you can turn property into “Workbenches” for specific purposes. A few examples include Woodworking Workbench to create timber-based trade packs or a Costume Mill to manufacture costumes that will give you benefits when you wear them. High-end gear will require use of the Property system to use special weapon forges. If you ever get in-game, just open the map and look at any of the larger cities. Use the drop-down menu and you’ll see just how many different types of properties there are.

I personally have decided to not buy Goblin workers as a protest against the slave-like conditions Goblin's live in.

The last piece of all of this are your workers. Workers are split into three races – Goblins, Giants, and Humans. Goblins work fast but don’t have much stamina, Giants have a lot of stamina but aren’t fast. Humans are an even ground. Depending on a number of factors, you may prefer hiring a certain type of worker or you may go with a mix. If you’re online for many hours a day, goblins might be a good investment. If you’re not actively playing most of the day, giants may be the perfect choice. If you’re in the middle road between hardcore and casual, humans are probably for you. Each worker has a level and a quality, too. Once a worker levels up, you can send him to take a promotion test (which takes twenty-four hours) to rank up in quality, but it has a high chance to fail.

Ok, maybe I lied. Perhaps the last piece of the economic puzzle is trading. This encompasses both player-to-play trading via the Marketplace and the trading that resembles EVE Online’s Hauling. The Marketplace is pretty simple. It’s like the Auction Houses in other MMOs, with only buy-outs and no bidding. And the minimum and maximum price items can be bought and sold for is dictated by the game using algorithms based on the supply, demand, and amount of items available. So, while prices can definitely change, the degree with which they change is controlled by the game and not players.

So ******* annoying.

Then there’s the fact that you can only purchase the lowest costing item. If you need 100 of an item, and someone is selling a 100 stack of that item for 195 silver each, but there’s fifteen people selling just one of that item individually for 193 silver, you first have to buy those fifteen individual items for 193 silver before you can buy that 100 stack for 195 silver each. It’s annoying and time consuming when combined with the fact that there’s a macro/bot check with every single purchase.

This guy opens every interaction with, 'Put aside your prejudice regarding goblins.' Or something to that effect.

The other type of trading is done by purchasing or crafting trade goods and taking them from one location to another. Buying Portraits of the Emperor from Calpheon and taking them to Heidel is an example. You buy low in Calpheon, transport them to Heidel (usually by use of a wagon) and sell for a profit. There is a supply and demand system in place here, so if you and other players are constantly selling Portraits of the Emperor to Heidel, the profit you gain from doing so will go down until it’s possible that it may not even profit you at all.

The system is more in-depth than what you might initially think. There are things known as a “Trade Blitz” where a location is buying items at a much higher percentage of profit than you normally would get. Then there’s the Imperial Trading, which I haven’t fully wrapped my head around. Your skill as a trader (which raises by trading) will determine what access you have to trade goods from NPCs. And the cool thing is that this trading system blends with the node system. To make maximum profits you will need to invest in nodes between two locations to create a “trade route.” Without the creation of a trade route, you will take a massive 70% drop in profits.

I'm currently working on a plan that requires a connection between Calpheon and Heidel.

Other Stuff

The truth is, there’s way too much to get into when it comes to Black Desert Online. The mechanics and systems available are massive in number. There are pro’s and con’s to them. For example, the game was designed with the idea that processing wouldn’t cost energy. However, in North America it does cost energy and a lot of players feel like this was a pre-mature change as a lot of the game feels a bit ‘broken’ because of it. For example, a lot of crafting isn’t ‘worth it’ because of the energy cost combined with the huge 35% default tax-rate on all Marketplace transactions. It ends up discouraging people from getting into the crafting and trading side of things, as it either takes way too much effort and time or will actually COST you money rather than make you a profit.

The last thing I want to mention is the future of the game. There is tons of content available in other regions that we’ve yet to get in the North American release. Some of these will be coming to us relatively soon or, “Very soon.” in the case of the Mediah update. Some of these upcoming updates are what will truly make the game for me, such as the guild territory control and siege warfare. The implementing of additional landmass is also something I’m looking forward to. What I’m trying to get to here, is that Black Desert Online has a future ahead of it.

Continue on to Pay to Win and Closing Thoughts!