Black Desert Online has been out for nearly seven years now, but it still remains to this day as one of the most complex MMORPGs in existence. It's a sandbox game with systems on top of systems that players will need to understand in order to excel. Some of the activities involved in the MMORPG might even necessitate actual spreadsheets.
Suffice to say, it's not for everyone. However, if you're one of the brave souls who want to try it out, especially with the new class and updates released recently, then it pays to know some of the game's quirks ahead of time. After all, going into Black Desert Online blind is overwhelming and might set you up for disappointment.
10 The Learning Curve Is Steep
The learning curve is quite steep, which is to be expected. The game does have a tutorial, but it does a poor job of explaining mechanics and requires players to read tons of dull and generic texts and quest dialogue. Moreover, it's easy to mess up your first two or even three characters if you play it like you do other MMORPGs. Now that the leveling process has been streamlined, it really pushes new players through content before fully defining what their goals are.
Progression in Black Desert Online is not well-explained, especially compared to other tailored and more polished experiences such as Guild Wars 2 or Elder Scrolls Online.
9 Classes Are Gender And Race-Locked
Apart from the exhilarating action combat, Black Desert Online is also best known for its powerful character customization tool where players can make the characters look like celebrities, down to the last cheekbone. This does come with one caveat though, which is that the classes are all gender-locked.
Each class in Black Desert Online has a specific gender that can't be changed. To remedy this, the game does have a male and female version of most classes, but they're not exactly the same, and the skills or functions are different. So in terms of customization freedom, you win some, you lose some.
8 Armor & Weapon Customization Is Poor
While on the topic of customization options, Black Desert Online seems to have stopped giving it its all in character customization. The weapons and armors in the game are simply bland or lack uniqueness. Don't expect to look fabulous while wearing the best gear in the game, or any gear for that matter.
The designs are limited. Again, to compensate for a bland gear fashion, Black Desert Online offers costumes but they cost quite a lot in the form of microtransactions, and some players consider them a bit overpriced. They do, however, make your character look decent.
7 You Need To Micromanage A Digital Business For Efficiency
Here's the tricky part in Black Desert Online's gold-making structure. It has tons of non-combat activities such as farming, mining, cooking, processing, and more. It lets players run their own in-game supply and demand economy, and as with free economies like these, only the shrewdest make a profit.
So in Black Desert Online, if players want to make the most silver (which is the standard in-game currency), then they need to think like a businessman. Setting up a manual labor empire and micromanaging the resources is what gets money here, along with killing monsters over and over again. Even that is overshadowed by playing as a digital businessman.
6 AFK Is Also A Must For Efficiency
In addition to having a sprawling worker and trading network in Black Desert Online, turning off your computer when you can't be online in-game is a waste of an opportunity to get rich. Some of the non-combat activities, such as fishing and trading, can be done while AFK or away from keyboard.
Players will still get big rewards this way and also increase some of their non-combat skill bars. The problem is that, for some, Black Desert Online can start feeling like a full-time job, especially if you commit to doing AFK activities. If you can handle that, then you should be good.
5 There Are Many Ways To Play The Game
One of the reasons why many players get so stressed in Black Desert Online is that by committing to a single style of play, they will either burn out or soft-lock out of other features. This occurs with combat and grinding. Some areas require specific high gear levels.
The thing is, the game doesn't outright force players to play this way. If they want, they can actually be merchants or farmers instead for a change of scenery. Some can even go fishing or exploring the high seas-- even whale hunting.
4 You Need A Guild
Whether you're a combat player or businessman in Black Desert Online, you'd want to have a guild. That's because the game also has an open-world PvP element where players can ambush or kill others after a certain level.
No one is safe from this, but you can look for some form of insulation from wanton PvP killing or griefing by signing up with a guild that does PvP. Guilds here protect their own members and can wage wars with anyone who preys on their own. Moreover, guild activities provide ways to earn money in the game.
3 You Need To Pay For Convenience
By far the most controversial part of Black Desert Online is the "pay-to-win" elements, as considered by some members of the community. Simply put, players who have deeper pockets or fatter wallets can pay their way to efficiency.
The general consensus is that the game purposely limits aspects such as inventory space or auto-looting in order to sell those to players via the in-game cash shop. Buying pets, inventory space, and inventory weight that cost real-life money makes the game easier for those who grind. Other items include potions or elixirs that allow players to do more activities per day or cycle.
2 Prepare To Get Killed A Lot In The Late Game
Even if your character is a bonafide pacifist in Black Desert Online, you'll want to temper your expectations. This isn't a game where the community will jump at every opportunity to help newbies. It can sometimes be quite the opposite, since this is a competition-heavy game.
Once you reach level 50, get ready to be killed over a monster grinding, leveling, or farming spot. Additionally, there are some griefers who will kill AFK players or non-combat players just because they can. It's a cruel world out there, and guilds can protect you to a certain degree.
1 Upgrading Gear Is The Definition Of Insanity
A final word of warning for the late game in Black Desert Online: it's insane. Upgrading gear to high enough levels is dangerous since the game imposes a failure chance where they can downgrade or break. That will easily undo months or even years of progress.
The chances are low enough to make players quit over losing or accidentally downgrading their high-level gear. It's best to see if you can experience or handle that level of game-imposed stress before calling Black Desert Online an MMORPG that you like.