I'm just saying, YouTubers describe BDO as offering a sense of freedom, the general "do what I want when I want" feel and not having to be restricted to grouping in raids for progress.  I don't even like MMOByte as a content creator, barely watch his stuff.  Watched one yesterday where he described BDO as offering a sense of freedom, and that's literally all I'm touching upon.

You denying that?  Becuase if so, we can discuss and hash it out.  Let's get down to the meat and bones, you denying that BDO offers this sense of "freedom"? (Notice quotations.  Like, OK you aren't "free" to grind Star's End wearing PRI Grunil, if you gonna use some farfetched argument like that)

Well some youtubers describe it as a P2W cash grab.

Anyway.

I don't know what game are you talking about by the "restricted to grouping in raids for progress" part, but I played wow for ages, and I was fine without raiding (tho how much deepends on the expansion, but wow, unlike bdo offers you progression through PvP)

In bdo you can grind for money, or do lifeskilling, but there isn't much else to do for progress. PvP barely gives any rewards, and questing isn't give anything either, so all you have is runing in a circle either with a weapon or with a mining pick/butcher knife to progress...

I don't really see the freedom in terms of progress.

You sure can run around in the world, gather or do quests etc.... but you can do it in every mmo. You are free to do whathewer you wish in wow, FF14, gw2, eso... whether it have a point or not is a another story.

Most important disclaimer: everyone has got different tastes, they must be respected.

Then i want to talk about ppl that spend so much time into forum of a game they dont like. They dont like its chore elements, so someone might wonder why they played it ( or still playing). I left WoW and complained a lot in forums: because the game i loved and enjoyed playing( Wotlk and backward) has been destructed/changed/ ruined and its contents changed. BDO on the other hand stays true to its original purpose (more or less), so why the haters of this game still in forum complaining about its original chore systems? You chose to play and stay here, you knew the game aspect, pros and cons. Moreover IMO if you read carefully there have been many QoL improvements into BDO.

And now let s focus onto the real thing: BDO IS GREAT.

Because it gives me what i want and what almost any other MMORPG cant deliver: an open world where i can craft my own stories and everyone can craft his own story. It is great, it is meaningful, it is well-spent time grinding for a piece of gear or other stuff.

And what about combat combo systems? Every MMORPG has bored grinding, some more, others less, but at least BDO combat is alwasys fun.

As pvp, gear is everything everywhere (pvp WoW? Awful experience if you are not topping opponent gear).

I am casual player, i dont mind grinding as long as i can make it my own style, managing my time.

I love BDO, i unsubbed from WoW, i had more fun into few weeks with BDO that with months of time-gated-boring chores into WOW. Ofc i am not a raider nor an esports player, opinions differ depending on your activities into a MMORPG

*facepalm*

We've been getting tons of content every week and there is more to come.

Dead game for sure.

...ugh

Yes AFK train for 1 year and leave your PC running 24/7 and sell the horses in the marketplace, then buy PEN gear and start playing the game.

Then be proud of yourself and link your PENS in the server chat lol.

See why AFK activities are bad and not good?

BDO is literally a ghost game.

It's like every player (way of saying) is controlled by a bot (AFK activities).

Heck even when you ride your horse to reach a location, 90% of the players you pass by use the auto-path system, you won't see them use Sprint or Drift etc., they just AFK with their horse for 10 minutes because why not?

They even added Manos crop to the game that increases your AFK horse speed by 50%.

So they literally encourage people to AFK path with their horses instead of riding them.

/facepalm

What's funny is when i see people saying "you have to work for your gear in BDO", bruh you can literally get top tier gear by just having your PC open without pressing a single button come on. . .

When exactly did i said "full" PEN? Screenshot please.

Can you get PEN Main/Awakening/Sub weapon (or TET Black Star to do not spent a single Caphra stone) by doing it? Yes.

Can you buy x3 TET Black Star armor + PEN Heve c11 by doing it? Yes.

So what exactly do we even debating here now?

Just casualy watch The Bing Bang series while doing AFK activities in BDO and untill you finish it, you are going to have top tier gear.

Welcome back to the fold. I don't as going to add that you play one of the new classes not slated for a rework because I think it will be that big of a change. Sage is an excellent class to pick and play rifht now since it's fresh and powerful in PvE and PvP. As far as guild goes, if you are interested in progressing at a nice pace join a guild that cherishes and helps their members old and new accomplish things. 

my points of advice: 

1. Join a guild that uses voice coms and have good reasonable of active ( not AFK) individuals in it that is interested in all aspects of the game.

2. Set realistic goals in game and don't worry about what anyone else is doing.

3. Don't follow FoTM things as it will set you up for failure. 
4. Research through good and quality streamers who really love BDO and dabble again in all things (Life-skills and adventuring).

Interview your guild officers and leader to make sure their end game goals are in-line with yours.

Oh, almost forgot this one.

5. Read the forums as a last resort for anything since it is not as helpful as some specific fan made sites I have found.

You will enjoy BDO a lot more if you follow those rules and don't fall into the rut of "This is better than that." Play BDO to have fun!

A P2W cash grab can still offer a sense of freedom.  So your opening line, right way, is deflection.

Anyway.

Traditional themepark MMO's like WoW, GW, and all those, BiS gear is farmed via raids.  Raids require a group.  A group requires you, as a single player, to seek out a group.  This is the restriction.  You can't run a raid alone.

And that's the sense of freedom BDO offers.  You aren't forced to have to group, or wait for people, or play with strangers.  You certainly can, but you're not forced to.  BDO is the only MMORPG I am aware of that offers this quality of gameplay and combat, while allowing players to truly play solo, or, alongside others.

In terms of gear progress, it's silver generation in BDO.  Gear progress is tied to silver.  Not only thorugh buying straight up upgrades, but also enhancement since you use silver or potential silver, to take the chance.  PvP itself doesn't offer much silver (siege rework, 3 bil for a win is good though), but in the larger scheme of things, you need PvP to defend your spot.  And holding a spot = generating silver. 

So you see, PvP is tied to progression, it is just not an instant gratification / blatantly obvious / no-brain-required-to-realize type of thing.

Yes you can. You still do it for a benefit for your next active time, exactly as I said. And the player doing this is still showing a strong interest (even unreasonable interest, at this point) for the game, tell me why he shouldn't appear in charts? 

If you want to do it that way, be my guest. Meanwhile, I'll do both (afk and active), make money and have fun, and progress surely faster than you, but slower than a real dedicated player. And I wonder who you are to judge that anyway. 

Side points :

- even with a PEN bought this way, there's no meaning if you don't know how to handle your class. 

- BDO had no instant TP, autopath is a good thing, even if you personally don't like it. Again, who are you to judge players using travel times as they wish? 

- if you feel so alone in BDO, you should check if the problem does not come from you. Just saying...

- if you believed that you could make a point with such an extreme reasoning, lol. Your argument could only work if bdo was REALLY a ghost game.