People might be complaining about free things or even a PEN accessory given out like candy. But 99% of people (customers / players) want something to look forward to when they login. BDO isn't a game known for having exciting goals in mind. Grind for this for a few hundred hours and play your luck with RNG roulette, only for RNGesus to forsake you. If hard earned efforts are a lost cause, people are going to quit. Giving people a chance for a PEN accessory gives them that consolation prize knowing that they can get that extra AP to grind nicer spots and maybe just buy it off the central market if they'd like.

But, of course, this isn't enough to retain players....

You have to look at the politics of the MMORPG world right now. WoW imploded with a lot of drama and scandals so it's dead now. Streamers moved to FF14 for the most part. So people followed them there and I'm not talking about just a few thousand players either, I'm talking over a million players.

They call it the "WoW Exodus" and it's been causing streamers from other games like BDO, ESO, etc... to take their fanbase over to FF14 since it became the hot topic. As a result, a lot of people left BDO and PA had to make decisions on how they would handle retaining playerbase. Their first emergency step was giving players great login rewards and a free bikini (except shai. Shai gets burka lmao... actually shai got nothing). Likewise some people decided to give BDO a try maybe for their first time, or perhaps they are are a old returning player. So giving players that reason to stay once they came to check it out or even prevent them from trying FF14 was likely why they gave away really good login rewards.

Keep in mind this is all speculative, so this isn't backed by any GM/CM/etc... This is just my opinion and what I think is going on.  Their second emergency step was releasing a lot of updates week after week for a while, I'm guessing it must have been prematurely released but this ties into the third thing.... But before that, the updates were really big for BDO, impressive! This definitvely gave players something to play and look forward to because it gave players hope.

Third, they put Crimson Desert on hiatus. If you don't know, that's basically BDO2. They claim it's not but it seems like it. It was supposed to release in December I think but they put it on a indefinite hiatus, whatever that may mean. I think that means they know that if BDO's ship sinks, there will be no Crimson Desert and their investors aren't going to be happy about it. So they must have went with changing staff over to BDO. When I said earlier they released a lot of updates, they might have wanted to do it gradually but bought borrowed time and decided staff from Crimson Desert would be able to help play "catch up" with BDO.

Now on their fourth plan of action, they are implementing changes that players are requesting, well some anyway. That's great to see and they are also communicating a bit better with the community. We weren't getting any information what-so-ever before, and now we're getting communication and letters to the community. A big step forward! However, they still didn't plan well enough as you'll see next.

Fifth, they cancelled the last season short by half a month. It was sudden an unexpected. The real reasoning behind this is unknown, maybe they were bleeding active players and wanted to force people to play all at once to catch up before the new season started. Maybe they wanted more funding by pushing for pearl shop deals like the $30 season pass? After all, last week we had a free $10 for spending $10. It was a no brainer to buy it. Perhaps they noticed very little activity behind season players so they were like "welp, let's just cancel it". I have no idea but it seemed like a good opportunity to get people to play again/rush to make up for the half month they would have missed.

And sixth, they are pushing for a lot of freebies. They gave away a lot and they keep going. It's less now but there were so many goodies. Sadly, I forgot to claim a ton of them from my mailbox on time because they expired lol... Bye bye artisans memory, crons and value pack. Oh well I guess?

Seventh, they have been giving the game away a lot lately. I know it's nothing new but now you can get the game for free just by reaching level 50.

I may have forgotten a thing or two but my point is, they are in full gear to make BDO work right now. This much is at least obvious. They are implementing a lot of changes some good and some bad. They are spending time to review all the old classes and perhaps even the newer ones as well. We're talking about big changes. There's a new expansion coming, mansions, a lifeskill / workers overhaul including caravans, new areas, private servers, story rework etc... I don't know what caravans are but they sound very interesting.

If you want your voice heard, this is probably the time to do it because they are in a listening mood I think. BDO was the biggest waste of potential BUT it's possible that they are reversing this by finally making it a great game and not just a quick cash grab. Whether it does become a great game or not, I guess it'll be up to how they handle it and how people receive these changes.

BDO can very well be the game that was once the biggest waste of potential to the greatest use of potential. Don't hold your breath but also don't discount the possibility either. I'm pretty optimistic right now, the changes they have been making were mostly all good so far since the WoW exodus and I'm really excited to see what Mansions, Workers 2.0 and Caravans are all about. I might have misinterpreted one or all things that PA has been doing lately, it could all just be coincidental but it's certainly interesting to see so much development happening in such a short period of time.

Remember, BDO was once ahead of their time and considered a "revolution" to MMORPGs (2015-2016). If they could do this once, they could possibly do it again.

Free stuff is a cheap, lazzy way to make players bother even logging in, but nothing more. That can't keep the players on the long term.

If someone get free stuff he going to be hapy about it for a day or two, but he not gonna stay for long if the gameplay is empty and boring.

In addition, giving away free gear in a game whose only one content is gearing actually ruins it. Yeah it takes loot of effort to gear in bdo, and the overwhelming mayority never gonna get even close to end game gear. Giving them low effort stuff makes them happy... but why should they stay afterwards? What should they do? This game have no content. The clowns call gearing content, but if you left it out, then nothing remains. The PvP is AIDS, and it's already clear as a day that the reworks not gonna change it, so what? Should people do afk horse taming? /kek

I actually kinda curious how PA's revenue is going to change in the next years, as their main revenue comes from the P2W melting and artisans. If noone will going to bother with enchanting their PEN, then how will they get money?

Yeah the ultimate whale gear, the fallen good makes some bucks, but wonder how many will going to bother with that, when they couldn't even manage the normal boss PEN....

As for wow, that is dying since nearly a decade now (and so bleeding players), nothing really changed. That drama doesn't really changed anything, it's just (the former fanboi) asmon, who finnaly (just a few years late) started to understood that wow is turning to shit, so moved, and since literately half of the twitch copies asmon like monkeys, they followed him.

But that doesn't mean millions of loss for wow, especially that their palyerbase already sunk to something like 2-3m even before this happened.

Well, the so-called low-effort stuf, is an answer to what people cry about when it comes to BDO's gearing.  People complain about RNG being unfair (true), complain about the grind being "endless" (also true, but then, that's, like, BDO since day 1). 

The devs gave these players a way to bypass RNG and "endless grind" with the Jetina quests and, likely, the upcoming guaranteed PENs too.  This shows they are listening and are helping new players / those complainers progress.  This is good.  It moves the players forward as the game moves forward.  It's easier to track and o plan for; it's basically a "handhold" (game tells you to do x, y, z, to get item, instead of you the player, figuring it out for yourself).

Aside from PvE stuff, PvP is the reward for the long grind in BDO, for many.  PvP is the "end-game" for them, joining stronger guilds, fighting in siege, becoming a team-staple-valued-top-fragger, this is the top-end content for many BDO players, since day 1.  We don't have to go into a discussion into desync, class imbalances, it is just a fact that PvP is end-game for many players.  I am talking about players with 680 GS+, not 650 GS TET Blackstar + Capotia -> I'm talking about people who push for C13+ on all their gear, no Blackstar unles it's PEN, and multiple PEN accessories.  IMO, they should put a lot of focus on PvP stuff and their combat system as it relates to PvP.

I applaud the devs for making a lot of moves lately.  This lets me know they realize BDO is their cash cow and they need to show it a lot more love.  Supposedly BDO is on a "30 year" roadmap.  These are the big things I'd like to see, personally.

- Rework the engine, eventually.  Greatly reduce pop-in.  Reduce desync, if possible.

- Open up Haso and beyond.  The other side of the globe.

- Queueable PvP Arena.  Let us queue up with friends in some modes to be on the same team.  Have BOTH non-equalized gear and equalized PvP modes.  Non-equalized to give incentive and MEANING to gearing up.  Equalized so everyone can have fun.  OFC, with non-equalized giving the best tangible rewards (incentive and meaning is important).

"Black Desert Online is very important to us, and we want BDO to last for another 20-30 years. We will continue to improve the gameplay environment, as we accumulate knowledge, and our technology improves."

- 2017.

If pvp is end game for players with 680gs and above then why would a business focus on content that only 5% or less of the total population does? Makes no sense. 

You are right about that it's a problem that ppl cry about, however it's a problem since bdo exits. If they would've really listened, then they would've did it years ago.

But that's not the reason why they do it, but as their playerbase (and so their revenue) falling.

Also people cry all the time, but the avarage player isn't smart enough to see the forest for the trees. Many cry about gearing being hard, but not many see that there is nothing after they getting it. Well they will going to see it, and then they probably complain about nothing to do, then surely PA start adding actuall content after it, surely...

1, That never will happen. They are lacking in the required competence to do it.

2, Imagine a another empty zone, like we don't have enough already.

3, They are working on this, though the fact that they are working on the 10v10 mode first shows their cluelessness.

When someone writes BS like 20-30 years, you instantly know that he is lying. This prettymuch applies to every field in life. Noone can see the future. If someone claims that he will do this and that 20-30 years into the future, then his option is worthless. Even foreseeing 5years properly already hard, not to mention 30.

This is an PR statment, oviously it's just empty words to please the reader, it holds no meaning, and never intendeed to.

First off, PvP can be end-game for anyone, I didn't say "PvP is end-game for players with 680gs and above".  Look at T1's.  It's capped.  Everyone can play, and it's PvP.  So just to make that clear.  Should they have not work on mansions?  You think more people play house in BDO than PvP?  Laughable.  PvP is poppin' in NA.  IDK about EU or KR, but in NA, we have lots of people who enjoy PvP, and who want to get better at it.

They already mentioned they're going to focus more PvP, so more focus on PvP is inevitible.

But I was speaking on one demographic in particular.  "PvP is the reward for the long grind in BDO, for many.  PvP is the "end-game" for them".  The most dedicated and geared players I know are PvXers --> PvE and PvP.  These players view PvP as a sort of "reward" for their efforts in PvE.  So it makes sense for the game to offer more avenues to experience that reward.  Heck, might even turn some PvP-averse players into hardcore PvPers, but I digress.  Point is -- BDO is a PvX game.  So don't ignore any side of this game, all parts are intertwined in some way, all parts of it important, so you seemingly hinting towards ignoring a crucial part of BDO is, IDK, just makes me SMH.  Don't you complain about "forced" PvP?  More PvP avenues means less bloodthirst in open world, so that part benefits you.

My comment you quoted literally suggests more avenues for PvP for everyone ("Have BOTH non-equalized gear and equalized PvP modes").  Topped off by the fact that the most dedicated players (high gear) to be offered instanced PvP mediums to use their hard-earned gear and honed skill (non-equalized gear).  Again, "incentive" and "meaning" are important.  Let that resonate a bit.  It might start to make more sense.

We (players who paricipate in PvP) have siege, node war, GvG and RBF, and it ends there.  BA, ok sure, but it isn't really content being that it's just a glorified arena that are in every major city in-game -> What I am proposing is more avenues for PvP accross ALL GS levels hence, "non-equalized and equalized" modes.

To answer your question:  By giving more avenues, more meaning, and more incentive for PvP, players are rewarded for their efforts and can derive fun, enjoyment, and a sense of tangible satisfaction for their efforts and a hunger for more gains to perform even better.  This also allows PA more ways to make a profit and/or have more people actively playing their game.  It's a win-win.

inB4 someone says "45/4 sucha noooob!"

I'm no PvP god.  And the war ended fast, we steamrolled last NW, it was a 1v1.  I think we were outnumbered, but my guild's hard-hitters hit hard.  And I was happy, so you can kick rocks for your hate.

If it's not a problem, then why do PA do changes to adress it, I wonder....

I not gonna get the pic again, you can check PA revenoue on their website for every qarter and that is on down trend, this is fact.

They already attempted to fix the fps issue once... the whole game broke, surely they will rewrite their whole sphagetti, surely. (Not to mention that they would need to rewrite it on architectual level, as it's flawled from the start, which not gonna happen, way too much work.)

On the ball they said that they will fix the animation speedup, but that's not engine rework, and they already working on since a year with no ETA.

They said that they are working on the 10v10 mode first. It's kinda akward that someone who is this this commited to the game don't know what his overlords said, especially since they not write those PR statments cause they don't know what to do with their free time, but as the players always bitched about the lack of empty words communication.

Altrough when they already gave up on their arena dreams or not, I don't know. In the ball they said that the next season will be a PvP one with special PvP gear. Clearly, this isn't a PvP season, so they might changed their plans. (It would be not logical to release it before the reworks anyway.)

Yes, not even WoW was able to make it to 20 years and it was the most casual MMO experience that people could play (with a big population). True, PA doesn't have feminist / sexual harassment issues right now so that's a good thing protecting them. But BDO did almost die a few years ago before they resorted to "Remastered edition". Had they not releaes for xbox, they wouldn't have survived. BDO US at least was a shitshow. Servers were always down and I mean always. If you weren't disconnected at least for a few hours a day, you weren't playing BDO. Most people that were playing under kakao left because of this and how they were introducing P2W mechanics. Oh and the toxic community didn't help either.

They just barely survived that mess but people didn't want to go back because of the last piece at least "toxic community". Everything in BDO is not designed to be competitive but to be toxic. This is why this game will not last 20-30 years, because there won't be enough people interested in trying this game by then. They are already pulling really bad login numbers but they're doing better than generic korean cash grab mmo's. You know the ones I'm talking about :P

But goig back to your takes.

1. They have the capabilties. I think BDO was being maintained by their weakest staff like interns versus Crimson which was their best staff. Crimson is on hold so I think BDO now has the quality devs back on there. This is their first game after all so they have to deal with first time mistakes like spaghetti code.

2. It's only empty when there aren't enough players online. If they can make BDO great again (lol) they can rebrand and push for basically BDO 2.0 and attract a lot of people. It won't be the same kind of joy you can get from FF14 nor will it ever get that popular but if they can settle on a vision and make it work instead of flip-flopping, they can make a great experience for the type of game it is.

3. I never cared for PVP in BDO. I find it really boring. I've had more fun in FF14, Guild Wars, ESO and SWTOR than BDO's PvP. This is supposed to have excellent PvP but yet it falls behind even FF14 which is pretty gaudy. I wonder then, for those who do enjoy PvP primarily, how do they feel about BDO versus other MMO PvP?

I stick with lifeskilling because fighting both trash mobs and bosses in BDO is absolutely boring, there are no mechanics to them. I don't expect PA to reach the level of God of War or FF14 primal fights but I expect a little better. Hopefully they can do something better in the near future. But since many people get tired of PvE since it is very bland (single button hack and slash) then what is the retention level of said people? There's only so much you can do lifeskilling without having goals in mind and most of it is done minimized.

Things will obviously change with BDO as will things change with PA. A year ago you had a lot of people complaining about P2W. Talks about costume melting and whales, constant bickering in the forums from KAKAO to these new PA run forums.

PA in my opinion has a lot of issues but I can say they are definitely attempting to adress this. You ask why does PA make changes? It's simple under the current market they have to make some very drastic changes or they will most likely lose a ton of the market share.

You can point there quarterly as evidence but to be fair this is not a localized issue with PA OR BDO, this is a world wide issue.

As the pandemic winds down people are not home as long. Most are heading back to work and for the unfortunate that live In liberal left wing states(california) and countries are closing shop again (the main issue now is the pandemic unemployment assistance has run out and there is no replacement so people simply don't have money).

Most platforms including mobile games have taken a hit currently. Other than places like FF14 that is literally just a social networking game people don't goto FF14 to play a MMO they go there to do everything BUT play. (May as well call it FFRP14)

With all the new content (quality of life) and the catch up mechanics including the ability to get PEN armor and Wepons they are officially trying to remove some of the barriers that have been causing issues in the community in specific the gear caps. This will in some ways hurt the quarterly of PA but in others it will just change it. 

Currently your seeing some of the biggest increases in players to BDO simply by giving people the ability to get PEN gear through other means than just melting and enhancing.

These people will I'm turn buy other things like VP, KAMA and other items also outfits to wear and as they improve customization of chars and the reboot Making the old chars better in PVE and better all around this will correct a lot of what has been a failing buisness model of PA.

I for one and happy to see them finally take this direction, it is a risk and it will hopefully be well received cuz I know I am happy.

Will BDO make it 20 or 30 years who knows but obvious 10-15 are within reach and well if PA stays on this current path I certainly beleive they have a shot at it.