Welcome everyone! Let’s begin with some background information for our readers. Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your journey in Black Desert? 😊

Hi, I'm Iady! I've been playing since 2021, and I play on NA. I started my BDO journey wandering around not knowing what I was doing AT ALL, so finding some cool friends in the game really helped me learn what I was doing and the best way to do it.  I was a Lahn for a long, long time, and after realizing that I am not, in fact, a great kiter or rat, I swapped to Maegu and never looked back lol.

Hi, I'm Iva. I've been playing Black Desert Online since its release on the EU servers. I've mained a Witch since day one, and recently, I started my Shai adventure to be more helpful in group content. I enjoy all kinds of content that involves other people, and I especially love helping others enjoy group activities as well. 

I'm JariWeis, I'm from The Netherlands, and I play BDO on both the NA and EU regions! I started back in 2018 on EU when a friend bought me the game so he could get a hedgehog pet 😄 I quit the game after a couple of months because it was incredibly difficult to upgrade your gear due to the way the Central Market and such worked. When COVID hit in 2020, I was asked by some NA friends to try the game out again, so I joined them on the NA server. Since then, NA has been my main server! I joined the Ambassador programme in 2024, and in late 2024, I rekindled my EU account so that I could help with Dungeon and Shrine teaching runs on both regions! 😄 I started off as a Ranger, but when the first ever Season came out I tried Lahn, and I've been a Lahn gamer ever since 😄 For my tag I have a Shai, because her gameplay is pretty relaxing, and she is incredibly strong in group content, which is my favourite content in the game.

Thank you! So getting right into it... Why did you decide to apply to be an Ambassador? Was there a moment where you thought, “Yeah, I want to do this” or was it more on a whim?

I was referred by my friend Xchan. I usually help out in the group chats and she had let me know that I was basically doing ambassador things and to apply. At the time, there was so much that I wanted to say to help improve the game that I applied and was accepted.

I decided to apply after experiencing a trivia night hosted by one of the Ambassadors, Treeflower. I thought to myself, "Wow, it's so cool to be able to provide this kind of content to regular players and enrich their game experience." I've always enjoyed helping people, but until then, my focus was mainly on members within my own guild. I felt it would be amazing to broaden that and support even more players across the world of BDO. So, I decided to give it a try, and I loved it from the very first minute.

I decided to apply to become an Ambassador because of a combination of circumstances. At the time I had a couple of friends/guildies who were in the programme who thought I would be a good fit. Helping people is also something that I thoroughly enjoy doing, so I applied. Unfortunately, I wasn't selected the first time I tried. Half a year or so later I tried again because more and more of my guildies who I'd helped with gear advice and Dungeon teaching runs kept telling me that they thought I'd be a great fit. This time I actually was accepted! Since then, I've been mainly focusing on helping people by teaching them group content, efficient gear progression, and teaching people some tips and tricks regarding damage optimization.

Since everyone helps in their own way, what’s a normal day like for you as an Ambassador? What kinds of stuff do you usually help with?

In the summers I am off work, so I try to grind all day until my fingers fall off. I pop into group chat every now and then, Lunar Halo Inn, to answer questions when I see those cute little green leaf emotes in chat! i also help teach dungeons every Saturday with Strega on NA, I do sailies in the evenings as captain, or with Shnappy, DimiTeaTree and Sanelyn, both on NA, when I can rustle up some gamers to join us and I'm feeling like getting a little lost at sea, and I just became a shrine helper so I'm looking forward to probably not wiping us 😊 

Outside of the game, I help out in discord when I can, but I prefer to voice chat and help when people don't read or know how to do things yet 

My main priority as an Ambassador is hosting teaching runs for Black Shrines and Atoraxxion. I try to organize as many of these as possible each week and get as many new players interested and involved as I can. I'm also working on creating visual guides for this kind of content, to better explain the mechanics in a way that makes them feel less like a chore and more like a fun experience. 
 
Aside from that, I love running Sailies with people and answering any questions they might have about the game. My personal expertise is in questing and knowledge, as I’m very passionate about completing the “H” Knowledge Journal. 

On an average day I do a handful of Ambassador-related things. Usually I will try to answer people's questions through the in-game Hystria Ruins group chat whenever I can, or through the official Discord! On top of that, I also try to do one piece of group content most days of the week, be it Sailies, Dungeons, or Group Shrines! I do all of these on both regions. Other than that, I like to listen to feedback and ideas other players have about the game, and help them make feedback regarding that where possible. 

You’re answering questions in-game, on Discord, and running events! That sounds like a lot! How do you juggle it all? 

It's pretty hard for me to juggle ambassador duties during the holidays especially, IRL and all that. AFK fishing is super helpful, and I am pretty lucky with enhancing, I don't have too much left to work for! 

Using schedules and calendars helps me manage everything. It does take a lot of time, but as long as I plan my static parties and guild management ahead, I’m able to enjoy it all. Ambassador duties are something I truly love, so I’m more than happy to dedicate most of my free time to them. I also make sure to fit in an hour or two of grinding between my Ambassador activities. 

Thankfully, I'm at a point in the game where I am happy with the amount of gear I have, so pushing hard isn't really a necessity for me anymore. Any gains I get are still awesome, and I do still enjoy "the chase", but I get more enjoyment out of helping newer people get into the game than I do from grinding for my next +1 AP. Most of my income comes from a daily hour of grinding, Group Shrines, Dungeons, and AFK Fishing when I'm not actively doing anything. On EU I also participate in Guild League and Node Wars, so those add up as well! 

So then can you share a moment when you really made a difference for someone in-game? Maybe helped them with a tricky quest or gave some advice that clicked? 

I don't know that anything in particular comes to mind, I try to help everyone I can. What I do know is that, I love returning player questions who ask the most obscure and niche questions and we really have to dig into mechanics, missions, or random lore to find the answer. Stuff like that is really cool to figure out, and often everyone in chat gets involved with the research.

I love it when people message us after successful runs, especially Black Shrines, to say how they struggled with the boss before because they couldn’t understand the mechanics. They thank us for explaining everything clearly, to the point where they now fully understand the boss and feel confident running it with others. It brings me a lot of joy to know we’re actually helping people try new content. I always encourage everyone to give it a try and to join our Ambassador runs if they’re unsure, because we love to help out without any shouting or judgement. And usually, those runs are very successful and we often clear the bosses on the first attempts! 

Every time we help people, like with the Teaching Runs, they are very happy and positive, but no specific moment stands out to me. 

One time I had a new player approach me in my DMs, completely lost. They were embarrassed, as someone had been maliciously feeding them misinformation, which caused a large setback early on in the game. They were incredibly demotivated, and unsure what to do, unsure whether they even wanted to keep playing because of it. Slowly but surely I helped them untangle the mess and revert some of the damage that was done They progressed further and further, eventually that player ended up joining my Guild. They managed to go from Tuvala Tony all the way to 750 GS despite that early setback and thoroughly love the game. Being able to help in turning around such a negative experience into a positive one is incredible. 

What do you do when things get messy... say if someone’s being rude to a new player or stirring up Lunar Halo Inn? 

When things get spicy in lunar halo inn, I usually say something similar to "its ok to ask questions, that is what this chat is for" and "don't be naughty" or link a cool neat item as a way to cleanse the chat and get them all back on track. 

I’m a pretty direct person and am not afraid of confrontation, so I never have an issue with telling players they are being mean or rude either, but often times, the rudest players leave after a while. It's more important to focus on making sure no one feels uncomfortable for asking a question. 

I’ve been in Lunar Halo for a long time now, so usually when I hop in everyone acts appropriately in my presence. I am a lady after all!

I try to de-escalate the situation and redirect the conversation toward actually helping the new player. I believe arguing with people in an online game rarely changes anyone’s behavior. If someone is obstructing the chat and making it difficult for others to communicate, I usually move the conversation to DMs or even invite the player to a voice chat to help them more directly. 

This approach has worked well, I've had several of those players end up joining my guild for continued guidance and support until they feel ready to move on to other content. Some even choose to stay and start helping new players themselves, which is incredibly rewarding to see.

For situations like these there's not really a "playbook" or blanket statement you can use. Especially in chats such as LHI where people are trading likes so they can have specific titles, it's difficult to stand out in the crowd. It'd be incredibly helpful if Ambassadors would have a unique Chat Group icon like New/Returning players do. But overall the best you can do is try to inform the new players that certain people are just being silly, or that their advice isn't really that great. It'll take some persuasion, probably a 1-on-1 chat, but the best thing you can do is try to keep calm and explain an alternative/better method to them. 

What’s been the best part of being an Ambassador so far? 

The best part of being an ambassador is absolutely meeting new people and getting to know their stories 

Meeting so many new people and being able to help out in any way I can has been the most fulfilling and definitely my favorite part of being an Ambassador. 

The best thing about being an Ambassador has been seeing over and over again that the effort and positivity I try to spread is bearing its fruits! Not just with people who come in and ask for advice, but even within the programme itself. Everyone tries to help out and improve the experience however we can. 

What about players who want to be future Ambassadors? What advice would you give them? 

When people ask, I tell them to fill out the form, BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE and to make SURE that they talk about ALL of the things they know about BDO. The more the better! 

I would say if someone has the will and time to dedicate, they should just go for it, apply and see how it goes and how much they enjoy it. A great way to get involved is by simply being helpful and answering the many questions new players have. That’s always a good starting point. Participating in GM events is another great way to meet people, and joining the official Discord offers plenty of opportunities to help others and become part of the community. 

I've had a couple of people ask me for help with their applications already, and the main advice I always give is: Try to sell yourself! You essentially want to try and sway the powers that be by telling them about your experience with helping players, what you're good at in the game, and how you could help further flesh out the roster of the programme. If you're starting from scratch, the help and advice channel in the official NA/EU Discord is a fantastic place to start! 

I think that’s all the time we have for today! Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

I’d like to give a shoutout to my guild Resilience for being my one constant throughout my BDO journey through both tough and great times, You guys are the best! 

I'd like to give a shoutout to my NA BDO home: The Ingenium community. I joined them back in 2020, and I'm still delighted to be a part of it! As for my EU friends, I'd like to give a shoutout to WolvesOfCronStreet (RIP), as well as my Olympea gamers! Without them my EU journey woudld've gone nowhere. 

Thank you, friends! New wallpaper?