I tried to create revamped desert content with more group options. Footsteps of an Adventurer is initiated in Valencia but you can use it to make the entire world of BDO more rewarding. Then theres bounty hunting with Muiquun vs Shakatu, reworked PIla Ku and Sulfur, Pilgrims Sanctums horde modes and random encounters in the desert. Have a read if you like.

https://www.naeu.playblackdesert.com/en-US/Forum/ForumTopic/Detail?_topicNo=32652&_categoryNo=7&_searchType=0&_sortType=6&_orderType=False&_pageNo=1&_pageSize=25&_searchDay=0&_forumListType=0

Anyone can confirm that KR have group boss rush? How are they getting the rewards? Being a ranked system, I find it pretty difficult to properly pick, let's say, Top 10 groups. Because of each class'es strengths, gear, etc.

Or, more like, is that another corpse to throw on top of the pile, where the ice fishing and skating in Eternal Winter rot?

The group version bosses did not got added yet, if they ever will.

In my eyes, PA has been introducing a lot of party spots in the latest updates.

The problem isnt that we need more, the spots just need to be viable...

Latest updates being the half-finished Mountain of Eternal Winter? That has exactly 0 party spots? I mean, sure, you have Vercedes to zerg, once she pops. Or are you talking about all the bosses of the Land of the Morning Light that were supposed promised to be solo and party content, but ended up being solo? These are, indeed, top notch party spots...

Or maybe you're talking about the rework of Waragons, Basilisks and Shultz? I mean, they are party spots and some might get buffed on season, but they're not new.

The only other content I can think of is the dungeons. Which are fun, fast and, indeed, party focused. It's probably the best attempt PA had at having group activities that aren't grinding. As for viable... I don't know. That's a subjective quality. I would like the dungeons to be available daily, not once a week. Again, though, they ain't new. What the OP was asking for is neither more dungeons, nor boss rushes, I don't think. Then again, not even these boss rushes are, it would seem, group content no more. Back to Upper Gyfin, I guess. Fresh content form 2017. Oh and the 1-rotation Olun's Valley. Almost forgot that fun place!

The general consensus seems like people want more individual party spots? What if we could turn each spot into something that can be done by any number of people?

I've had this thought about what the devs could implement, but I need feedback from others. I do fear that some may get bothered by feeling weaker with my suggestion, but it would turn every spot into something that can be done by multiple people.

Situation: You and a friend decide you want to grind for your health potion and head to Kagtums. You party up, and based on your party size (Two in this case) you both receive a damage modifier of -50% to monsters. With this debuff, you also both recieve loot at this spot that was formerly a solo spot. This damage debuff can scale with group size.

What this solves: You can both grind, and progress together, without obliterating a spot that can be done solo

What this doesn't solve: The spot mechanics are not meant for multiple players, and from my limited experience in party spots, most solo spots do not have random mechanics that pop up, which can keep the grind more exciting. This can be amended however to existing spots, instead of adding new places to grind, tweaking current spots to mimic some mechanics seen in Elvia, Gyfin, Jade, etc.

Benefits: Although you both recieve a debuff to monsters, your damage to player's still remains the same. This may not be a problem unless someone specifically comes to grief you. This person(s) who wants to take the spot now has to flag up and face two (or more) people, OR join the group and grind alongside the others. This negative outcomes of this would still exist, regardless if you were solo or in a group. If someone wants to grief, they would have done it to you solo, but now...they stand a higher chance of losing. However, now there is another option besides dueling for spot or flagging up, which is joining with others, maybe even making new friends in-game.

The damage debuff would encourage all party members to fight the same packs alongside one another, and not overclear spots. Of course there will be those that are like "You can't sit with us" or "I want to be alone", but those people would do the same thing to you if they encountered you in the current game. If that happens, channel swapping or Marni's realm will still be here.

Again, this doesn't solve the lack of interesting mechanics that group spots provide, but seeing some of the RNG mechanics in higher level grind spots, I'm confident the devs can amend current spots to be more exciting, even while solo, without having to design completely new areas.

I welcome constructive feedback, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Could work, but it would require serious playtesting (and based on how the trade revamp was rolled out, that's not gonna happen before the turn of the century) - at various gearscores - to implement. Cus I think -50% to monsters isn't that much in low AP areas and if you'd make a full team or platoon there, then you'd need a -99.5% damage to monsters debuff to encourage people to tag same mobs. At which point, people will complain about feeling weak and game being punishing...

What they could've/should've/would've more easily done is at least keep their promise and make LotML a solo/group zone, depending on preference. Alas...

From my understanding, KR players haven't even gotten to play Level 10 Boss Fights yet (Difficulty scaled 1-10), so it seems like they are still tuning the fights for solo, before opening it up for groups. Seeing the boss fights play out, not sure how ranking would work in groups, if they even plan to implement it.

In the current system you receive a reward chest based on your (time to finish + highest level defeated) vs. your own class. I would think, that they need a different way to calculate the rewards in a group, or just go with the same rewards across the board, not based on time.

That's exactly the problem. They 180'ed on the idea after hyping up those of us that actually like group content in BDO. With the current reward system, it can't really work. Group rewards could be designed closer to how the dungeons are: split'em in 3 categories and give everyone a bundle that's only tied to the encounter difficulty, not to any leaderboard. And then, just like with the dungeons, they could allow you to complete each difficulty bracket on different characters (again, as you would Atoraxxion). Thing is, if they had a group system in place at the time of Calpheon Ball and now it's gone, chances are it ain't coming back. I didn't see ice fishing or skating make a triumphant appearance either, from their showcase during one Ball or another till now.

2nd worrying aspect is that the devs will pull a PA and throw in some ridiculously long cooldowns for the group content (if they ever release the Haso bosses as such) that people will have enough time to get said content out of mind and, with the poor quality of rewards (I mean, just eyeball the Pit of Undying rewards), won't be that tempted to partake.

PA are masters of wasting resources, after coming up with good ideas, on butchering them into irrelevance (as they initially did with Dreadwinter Fossils - not that the rewards or costs associated with that grind spot are now much better)

I've personally never done the dungeons before, but from my understanding, aren't they still in the open world up until the final boss? I am all for the group content, I want it to happen, this is an MMO, but I also don't feel that they want to stray too far into the Theme Park MMO category, for whatever reasons the devs have, be it passion for the open world style game or profits from people enhancing and wanting to be strong for open world encounters with players.

I see the KR players doing the boss rush, and you're instanced for the entirety of the fight, similar to Pit until you start the fight (Was surprised to see another player there one day before I started my fights). Speaking of Pit, despite the rewards being...meh, I still run it everyday. I find it to be one of the most engaging content in the game because some of the fights actually require planning and using all of your kit. It's also another way for me to earn some Crow Coin/day, so I don't mind the 15 minutes because it's fun to me.

It seems like one of their major struggles is how to balance engaging group content, with maintaining an open world environment with less instanced gameplay.