I started playing BDO about 5 months before the introduction of the Season Server. I therefore know the beginnings of BDO only from stories and reports. The old BDO had, from today's perspective, also in my opinion, many bad aspects. Many of the systems, content and features seemed immature and clunky. It also lacked a lot of Quality of Life improvements that I wouldn't want to miss today.

However, with all these bad aspects, the old BDO seems to me to have been great in one aspect: The combination of a seamless and meaningful open game world where everything took place (whether PvP or PvE - both were one), limited good grind spots, open PvP with a karma system and guild structures, unleashed a dynamic and meaning of social interaction between players in the open world that you won't find in any other MMORPG's today. These dynamics created conflict and alliances. Players banded together to have better chances in contested spots. Guilds were formed to protect each other. These guilds in turn fought each other, or guilds broke apart because of internal conflicts. This principle of conflict and alliance created all the stories that many players still tell today, because they are not forgotten.

Today we have so many good spots. For that reason alone, we have far fewer wars today (and thus automatically fewer alliances). With the upcoming changes, this will also decrease drastically.

Everything began with the introduction of the Season Server. BDO began to turn its vision direction 180°. With the Season Server, the "leveling phase", the initial gind spots and the initial equipment progression have been devalued to a large extent. Experienced players complete the Season in one day. So the time spent in the game world during the active "level phase" has become much shorter and less meaningful.

Season servers are primarily for new players to catch up. For example, instead of Season Server devaluing initial equipment progression and initial grind spots, you could have reworked the power scaling in BDO so it's no longer a one shot fiesta. That would have also indirectly been a catch up mechanic without devaluing the "level phase". But it's all too late for that now.

The sandbox aspect has also been harmed, since if you want to complete the Season as a new player, you have to follow a long red line, called Questline. Sure, you can still level without the Season Server and go the sandbox route, leveling the way you want, but who levels like that anymore? The rewards of the Season are just too good, as it would somehow make sense to level normally.

With the introduction of dungeons, Arena of Solares, Marnis Realm or the Boss Rush, they added instances and each instance is potentially damaging the meaning of the open world, especially when the rewards in these instances are getting better and better. Most importantly, it also has the consequence of separating content types and player types. With AoS, PvP (player) is instantiated and separated from PvE (player). With Marnis Realm and the Boss Rush, PvE is separated from PvP. In the open game world, however, PvP and PvE are one, creating a dynamic that you can't create in any instance in this scaling.

Today and especially with the coming changes, BDO will experience a strong cut and I think we are only in the middle of this development. I predicted when Marnis Realm was introduced that they would expand Marnis Realm, so I am quite confident with my following statements: There will still be a focus on instanced content. There will be alternating content put out for PvP players or PvE players in instances to avoid further conflict. In this sense, BDO does not become a PvE game. PA will continue to try to release content for PvP players too, but only in instances. "War of the Roses" will definitely be an instance as well. RBF will also be extensively reworked and improved, so that it is also worthwhile to play it in the long term (it is already "in discussion" to significantly increase the silver reward). Also they will improve Marni´s Realm, unlock it 24h and do group Spots for it. More dungeons will be released and an automated group tool will be added, where you can log in from anywhere and be teleported to the dungeon. The teleportation feature of Magnus will also be made easier and more accessible so you can teleport from region to region faster and more conveniently. The rewards of instanced content will also get better and better. After they satisfy PvP Player with instanced content, at the end they will disable open world pvp. There will be no reason for this function anymore. There will be other reasons to wage wars. For example, more silver or cool skins and more titles.

BDO will be about an MMORPG like any other in 2 years. Quick and meaningless level phase that is nothing more than a long tutorial, that everyone just want to pass to reach the "real Endgame". After that, the open game world is mostly a nice backdrop that you see before you go into Marnis Realm, AoS, a Dungeon or RBF. You teleport from A to B with the Magnus and spend your time while in the queue for Arena or a dungeon doing lifeskill or inventory management.

Many players who don't understand the Excitement of such an experience often argue "then go to Arsha server if you want to do open world PvP". Unfortunately, this is not the same. By disabling the karma system on Arsha servers, many of the considerations of whether to declare war on the player and their guild are eliminated. It's the risk of the Karma system that creates the dynamic that is so exciting.

Also the argument "then play another open world PvP game" is based on the ignorance that there are hardly any such games. MMORPG's that offer a meaningful open world with dynamic social structures that include open PvP are alternatively Albion Online (a moblie game), EVE Online (a SiFi game where you just sit in your ship all the time), Mortal Online 2 (technically still in early access and will remain so) or Archeage (soon to be shut down in the west).

On the other hand, there is a great variety of MMORPG's whose open game world is meaningless in the sense I described. There are not only a lot of them, but also very good games, the best in the genre: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14, Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, New World, Lost Ark.

But it would not be fair to describe this topic in such a one-sided way. Of course, the karma system and war declarations were also used to harass players in ways that were not intended. Or solo players who just want to lifeskill in peace were also killed, often just for "fun". That there is frustration is understandable. These players do not want to be part of a guild that protects them. They have no desire for these described social dynamics. But these players love BDO for other things that make it special for them.

But I think also for this there could have been other solutions to help such players more without damaging the vision of the game. In Albion, for example, lifeskiller have special abilities on their armor that can protect them from enemy players. A bounty hunter system, as was once planned, would also have helped. Of course, even these changes and systems would have had their problems, but what system wouldn't with such an issue? Any system in a sandbox game where the systems have influence on each other can be exploited.

The structure of the world, open PvP, the Karmasystem and the lack of worthwhile instances, is effectively a "compulsion" even for those who like the social dynamics I described. However, it is this very "compulsion" that creates this social dynamic. Players are/were forced to join guilds and communities in order to progress and survive. Just like irl in the past, this coercion is felt negatively, but at the same time it is this coercion that creates all these dynamics that we like. The only difference between some players and others is that some players are willing to join guilds and groups to fight against these "constraints" and win Freedom and the other players are not willing fighting for that.

It is in the nature of the human psyche and the structure of the world that when these "constraints" fall away, you lose a big reason to join guilds and communities. People are social for two reasons: necessity and boredom.

However, all this does not mean that BDO becomes bad. It's more that it won't be for a certain type of player anymore. For those who loved the social dynamics in a seamless, unified, open and meaningful game world with all the stories that the players created, conflicts, alliances and guild dramas that came from it. Something, that i will never experience in BDO. I think I'll have fun with the new BDO as well, as long as they don't fundamentally change anything about the combat system. I'll probably just have less reason to play actively in the long run, since BDO is giving up its unique identity, which is why I started playing BDO in the first place.

The thing is, BDO or any MMO for that matter, is as social as you make it. You can find a social community/guild and play with them or you can play completely solo with almost no interaction with anyone else, that's up to the player.

I don't agree with all the changes they are making, but for a vast majority now absolutely nothing is going to change for them. One of the arguments I see a lot is, why do you grind if you don't want to do PvP, just to do the same thing at a higher end spot?  Well, some people just enjoy that, its just that simple. The question can be easily flipped around to, why do you like to sit there and kill people who have 0 chance of fighting back. Again, some people just enjoy that.  At the end of the day we are all looking for an escape from our own realities by putting way too much time (and for some money) into this game. Things are going to change people are going to leave, people are going to join, and the cycle will continue.

PA will make their money regardless and once they stop making it they will get bought out or the servers will be shut down. If you are enjoying the game it's ok to enjoy it. If you aren't enjoying anymore it its ok to put it down and find something else. In the meantime the best we can do as the players is voice our concerns for changes and hope that they get heard.

would be nice if u were able to progress via pvp. rbf, nodewar, gvg, other forms of organized pvp that requires some progress. (fully equalized content maybe shouldnt provide much financially)

would be nice to get gear via pvp not killing ai pixels.

sadly most of pvp content is negative money per hour compared ot any other forms of money making in this game. even winning siege or high tier nodes if it lasts for max time is less efficient than grinding some of the grind spots for the same time which is sad as siege should be epitome of group pvp content.

I absolutely agree that PvP should have some benefit to at least compare with mid to high end grind spots that way people have another way to make progression with the way they like playing.

Everything you expressed is what I think too.
With the difference that I don't know if I'll stay long after too many changes.

I would like it better if they didn't "punish" the older players, it's thanks to them that the game still exists today.

So I say: yes to protect the progress of new players but with better frame in the open world, not in intances, as the devs had said so many times that they didn't want to / wouldn't change that nature of the game.

They made a radical turn around...

This will not happend ever, maybe in different game such things should be created and balanced since release. You want add here another way of gear progression which is hard. Its really hard to create good, balanced pvp content at first u have 26? Classes, secondly players they wilk always afk always no matter what u gonna do, you will always have players who go afk durning match u can add rewards connected to your ranking, but u will also have players who said " Hey this reward is enough".   people usually look at pvp rewards like something given for free. AFK detectors will not work people will just turn to window mode, check internet meanwhile pressing W and keep dying over n over again. 

I never said it would be easy, I just said an increase to rewards for people playing content they like would be nice.

BDO is a prime example of a game that was originally devised to be 1 thing. Open world sandbox MMO where players and guilds kill eachother to have access to the most lucrative moneymaking methods. Those guilds then flex their might inn the node war system. Pvp was originally a core element in every aspect of the game, and the only endgame content available.

The game was shifted away from this model however. They have tried to make the game appeal more to a casual playerbase in order to take a bigger marketshare. Pvp players are in the minority of players, so it reasons that by making the game appeal to more casual players they can get more money over time. No matter what they have done though. ..the skeleton of the game BDO was intended to be remains there fucking up interactions and making things really awkward.

group areas are small because they were designed to be that way. you are supposed to be fighting over access to that area, but they made pvping for mobs not really possible.

Grouping up and everyone getting loot is the same thing. They dont want that because they wanted you to be fighting for access. Fighting over the mobs at sausen garrison *was* the endgame for many players.

This intense competition drove community interaction. someone might join a guild that offered to protect them at sausens. Or they might meet people that invite them to a private discord that trached the spawns of guardians.(killing one if you werent on the invite list would get your guild mass deced by every siege guild in the game.) Or a secret grind spot that was even more lucrative than sausens but was kept very quiet. There were players that were frusterated getting PKed so they experimented with other ways to make money using the manufacturing system. They found a hudden rotation of mobs called golems (these still exist and to this day are not marked on the map)

Stuff like this made the game so cool to play. Like around the corner could be a secret shortcut or mystery if you were smart enough to look and find it, or if you had the right connections. Its sad that itll likely be going away once everyone is just logging into marni and farming with an autohotkey macro.

The problem is that there is no real alternative to BDO in the MMORPG genre. MMORPG's that offer a meaningful open world with dynamic social structures that include open PvP are alternatively Albion Online (a moblie game), EVE Online (a SiFi game where you just sit in your ship all the time), Mortal Online 2 (technically still in early access and will remain so) or Archeage (soon to be shut down in the west).

I find it sad as well, but the notice says they're making them out of necessity. They had to make a decision.

New players keep MMOs alive and I believe old BDO was too unique to cater enough of nowadays players.

I don't like these changes but I'd rather have opponents to play against than roaming a ghost town. I'll just suck it up I guess.