Family Name: katharinabluu

Region (NA/EU): NA

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. Today I want to discuss why it would be beneficial for our devs to engage in bi-weekly Q&A sessions with us. I still have another topic im currently working on, I'm still trying to figure out whens the best time to post it so I apologize for the delay, but im sure itll be a good read when its complete! Today's topic however is a bit chunky so I'll leave a TLDR at the bottom of the post for those short on time, without further ado, lets get into it.

Hosting bi-weekly community Q&A sessions can greatly benefit the developers of Black Desert Online in numerous ways

Firstly, it provides an invaluable opportunity for the developers to directly engage with their player base and gain valuable insights into their needs, concerns, and suggestions. By actively listening to the community, the developers can better understand the player experience and make informed decisions on future updates and improvements.

Secondly, these Q&A sessions foster a sense of community and inclusivity within the BDO player base. By giving players a platform to voice their opinions and ask questions directly to the developers, it creates a stronger bond between the two parties. This sense of involvement can lead to increased player loyalty and satisfaction, as players feel heard and valued by the developers.

Lastly, hosting bi-weekly Q&A's can help the developers identify and address any issues or bugs in a timely manner. By allowing players to report problems and seek clarification on certain aspects of the game, the developers can quickly gather feedback and take necessary actions to resolve issues. This proactive approach to problem-solving demonstrates the developers' commitment to delivering a high-quality gaming experience and ensures that players feel supported and cared for.

 Enhancing Communication and Transparency through Bi-Weekly Community Q&A's in Black Desert Online

Bi-weekly community Q&A sessions in BDO serve as a powerful tool to enhance communication and transparency between the developers and the player community. By hosting these Q&A's regularly, the developers can keep the player community informed about upcoming updates, changes, and events. This transparency helps to build trust and credibility among the players, as they can see that the developers are actively engaging with them and taking their feedback into consideration. It also allows the developers to manage player expectations effectively, ensuring that players are aware of the development roadmap and any potential challenges.

Furthermore, these Q&A sessions can serve as a platform for the developers to educate the player community about the game's mechanics, features, and future developments. By addressing common questions and concerns, the developers can provide clarity and guidance, helping players to fully understand and enjoy the game. This level of transparency and communication fosters a positive and collaborative relationship between the developers and the players, ultimately benefiting the overall gaming experience.

TLDR

- Hosting bi-weekly community Q & A sessions would provide an opportunity for the developers of Black Desert Online to directly engage with their player base. This would allow for open communication, feedback, and a chance for players to ask questions about the game's development and future updates.

- By hosting these regular Q & A sessions, the developers can address any concerns or issues that players may have in a timely manner. This would help in building a stronger relationship between the developers and the community, fostering a sense of transparency and trust.

- Additionally, hosting bi-weekly community Q & A's can help in generating excitement and anticipation for upcoming content or events in the game. It would create a platform for the developers to share sneak peeks, teasers, and exclusive insights with the players, keeping them engaged and invested in the game.

If you made it here, I salute you and thank you for your time, as always open discussion lady's and gents, feel free to let me know what you guys think; should we get more Q&A's? Is every two weeks too short? too long? I look foward to everyone's responses

devs in korea and speak korean UwU

time for me to take up some duolingo i guess haha

Which is why most of our feedback goes unheard and they listen to their Korean content creators as well as feedback on the Korean forums. It'd be nice if someone on their team could speak other languages so there could possibly be better communication with a possible Q&A twitch stream. I would think it'd be beneficial to have. It'd also take some of the heat or pressure off of the CM's.

I agree.  and the GM's in NA really only know what's posted in patch notes.

Yep, so they pretty much know as much as we do. So we're all kept in the dark (gms included). Which is why I find it ironic when people harrass them in game, asking a bunch of questions or demanding fixes when their job is literally just community management (CM). They just host events and whatnot in order to keep the community engaged and keep things running smoothly as possible. So unfortunatly when the community feels ignored, the CMs take the heat. Which is why I think it'd be really beneficial for the community if they (actual devs) had someone who could speak other languages of the other available regions. To open up the line of communication. It'd help the CM's as well. Win-win.

They actually started doing this last year when they made their biggest boo-boos and did all of the 'Koreans profusely bowing' apologies but stopped doing it after community sentiment fired down.

It is kafkaesque-ly funny that we're even discussing such a thing, the basic-est of basics of community outreach. It speaks volumes about the state the company is in, which luckily has been reflected in their earnings ever since 2022, but especially recently in September & November 2023. 

The "excuse" of 'they only speak Korean' for a ~multi-million [might be bil according to some est] corporation is a non-argument, especially since >50% of their revenue comes from English-speaking audiences. This is especially relevant since the Black Desert IP includes mobile which is a huge population of players in China and still NA/EU overwhelmingly feeds the pig.

It's also important to note that they do not listen to any other region/platform either. I play in KR too and am more active on the forum there than here. This is a systematic error sprawling through both the design philosophy and management of the company itself. And it's something that the people making game design decisions are in almost complete control, unlike other major companies [which rely on external [foreign] ownership. 

The people who started PA/BDO and had the idea(s) to create games are the same people who own the IPs and the same people who are self-publishing those IPs. They think that this is appropriate company/game management and design. We are just infected by the black spirit of potential to believe they might rng themselves into making this game great.

You can view their IRs here for more insight.

I wouldn't recommend investing or speculating in PA anymore since anyone with 2 braincells will notice the 'Company Weaknesses & Risks` chapters conveniently missing from the thing - even if they are not so invested in their day-to-day operations like their players are.

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If I had to guess what's going on in the company/BDO Department currently, NA/EU community management is left on auto-pilot X no-spec mode, while KR/Overhead is focusing on the launch of BDO PC/China and an understaffed and underfunded mini-team is left to pilot weekly updates [already a fulltime job] + developing a class, new bosses + new mechanics for existing blitz bosses + items + region for lotml pt [already a fulltime job] + creating sweeping balance changes to the entire roster of classes [already a fulltime job]. This means that even if the best ideas come/go on the forums, they'll never have the time to even read through them - yet consider them.

All of this would be fine tho, if only if it was communicated transparently and consistently.

Yep it all boils down to lack of communication and poor management. They made far too many bad decisions in succession. It's little wonder why their 'content' slowed way down almost to a complete stop.

Which, again, is not a problem, they only need to say "Hey guys, we're gonna be busy on BDO/CN, new engine, Crimson and DokeV for the next X months and BDO/Global will chill for the next 6 months with this current slow burn and we'll talk about it again in September" and all will be chill.

But they are too paralyzed to do anything out of fear of hurting their profits, which is also backfiring. That is the bad management part of all of this.

completely agree, I also downloaded and read the pdf document from the link in ur original comment, very insightful and just goes to show how gluttonus PA really is. No matter what type of relationship it is communication and transparency will always be at the forefront.