Honestly the 1 hour move thing. Don't seem to be the thing to convince casuals to try BDO. IMO seasons are the thing that invites casuals to BDO. In my experience with a the hardcore forced PvEvP grinders I've played. Once the casuals lose the protections of new player servers/shields. The casuals mostly end up dropping said games after being victimized by hungry PKers multiple times. While having no means to fight back.

Remember very few people are masochists. Therefor is it nature for non combantants or civilians to leave the conflicts zones. And since with the exceptions of seasonal and Olvia servers. Everything in BDO outside of towns and cities are conflict zones. Meaning these people will not stay for long. To be abused over and over against by the established PKers.

More so in PvEvP titles that make it so the gear gap is so big. That new and returning players, have to commit to huge investments. Just start being able to fend for themselves. I dare say 99.9999999999999999% of casual gamers are going to skip the game even with the 1 hour peaceful grind. 

If casuals do decide to come to BDO. It'll be mostly for seasonal servers, and not 1 hour of peaceful grind a day. I'm willing to bet,  that most casuals in BDO rarely even touch the normal servers.

BDO is current in a position where the time and or money commits to not be fodder. Is just too extreme for casual gamers. That's why GW2, ESO, and FFXIV populations are off the charts still. While hardcore PvEvP grinders like Eve Online and BDO have issues with retaining new or returning players. That are too far behind the gear curve.

Thank you!

"The casuals mostly end up dropping said games after being victimized by hungry PKers multiple times. While having no means to fight back."

This is not entirely true.  The Karma System is in place to discourage OW flagging on low geared players.  Negative Karma consequences are harsh enough that these types of encounters are very rare, as explained by LooneyYellowBear.  Looney is a player who isn't overly focused on gear, they enjoy exploration, questing, and stuff of that nature as opposed to grinding mobs for hours on end for silver.  They, themselves, have noted that they've rarely been PK'd out of nowhere.  I've read more reports on Reddit about people dropping BDO for the RNG and the immense grind for top shelf gear, not PK's, personally.

In my experience, the only times players really flag are over grind spot disputes.  For instance, if Player A is grinding and Player B starts attacking mobs in that occupied rotation AND ignores all verbal communication as if Player B owns the whole map.  That's just one instance, there are many, but they're usually over grind spot conflicts.

And, in my opinion, grind spot conflicts makes BDO, well, BDO.  Not only is it a major source of player interaction, it keeps the game fresh by offering an unpredictable element to grinding.  How boring would it be to play Diablo for this long?  Not judging Diablo players, but I play Black Desert Online, not some instanced PVE monster grinder.  Personally, I do not flag, like ever.  But this is not to say I do not appreciate the PvEvP nature that makes this game unique among the other top MMO's and is probably the biggest reason that's kept me here so long. 

That being said, the devs are constantly thinking of ways to accomodate players without compromising the core experience of this game and improve on things.  Hence, Private Servers.  It's a step in the "pure PVE" direction you are asking for, but without compromising this core element of BDO that this game has openly had since day 1 (PvEvP).  I think, and this is just a guess, the day pure PVE comes is when you know that BDO is actually on its death bed -- when the devs have exhausted everything they can thnk of on a sinking ship.  And if that's true, pure PVE isn't coming anytime soon.  I'm looking forward to Haso with BDO as BDO.  Not Diablo, Warframe, PoE, or something like those bore-fest games.

The devs stated this a while ago.  Take it how you will.  They're constantly looking for ways to accomodate people of all interests in this game, like they stated here, Private Servers and Seasonal, as examples.  IMO, I hope they stick to their guns and keep improving without compromising the core essences that make BDO the game it is, making it stand out among the other top MMO's.  One of those "essences" being OWPvEvP.

The PK system needs to be improved. New Adventurers or fearful Adventurers are too scared to play.
Black Desert is an open-world game designed to allow you go anywhere, and let’s you freely enjoy your choice in playstyle. However, the level of freedom goes up, it means other Adventurers are able to interfere in the adventures of others as you stated. But there are a variety of safeguards put in place that don’t compromise the fundamental freedoms of the game.

First of all, there are many safe zones spread around, including towns and cities, the inability to PK characters under level 50, and the growth server Olvia has forced PvP mode turned off. In addition, we created an environment where Adventurers who recklessly PK are imposed with disadvantages that makes it difficult to harass an Adventurer. On the other hand, for adventurers who want to enjoy PK, we are continuing to develop a variety of PVP content, along with the Battle Arena, Red Battlefield, Arena of Arsha, Node War, Conquest War, and the desert itself.

We will continue to think about ways to make your adventures more enjoyable.

Dev interview.  Refer to link: Black Desert | PEARL ABYSS (playblackdesert.com)

Pearl Abyss is losing money by not having PvE servers, but that's the vision of the game they want. It's better to just move on to more friendly games then to come on here and get crucified by the playerbase. I loved my time with BDO when I was actively playing but the open world PvP later in the game is very one sided and extremely oppressive.

Well I am casual player and I love BDO. I know due to low player time I will be probably forever lacking GS. But I still love BDO. I usualy go to spots that are about my gear. Exept potion spots. Ive been carmed vare rarely, probably less than 5 times in 2 years. But I DFS. Also no problem because 99.9999999999999999% of people are respectful and nice. Also there other people that I know, that are casual and play BDO with pleasure. SO much for your persentage.

Also you are not informed wel for game population. Atm and probably feww months BDO has more players than ESO. GW2 was described as dead and people hope that new expansion will bring players back. So only FFIV has more players. I guess WoW too.

I have no idea what or who is your source about state of GW2 population, but I advise the change your sources, because that couldn't be further from truth. The game was never close to be considered "dead", and over last couple years the game is actually steadilly growing playerbase. (In recent communication we have learned that amount of active players have actually trippled since prvious expansion release) And the newest expansion have not ony outsold previous ones, but also sold so well, that AN have received greenlight for next one already.

To be fair, I cannot estimate the state of BDO's population, since I have just peeked back to see if anything improved over last years of me not playing it due to numerous issues with the design. So I cannot objectively compare the two.

P.S. It is funny to see that debate on wether of not PvE-only servers should be a thing seems to be in exact same spot, with roughtly same-ish arguments as I have left it at those years ago....

The sources was several youtubers. Few months ago (2-3) I just wanted see whats up with the game because I use to play it for a bit. So yea they could be wrong.  Its hard to compare mmos population because the only acnowledged as true source is steam. And BDO players on steam could be 10% of all players. Could be more , could be less. Ssme for other games. But Ego loves to say in every of his posts that other MMOs has more players than BDO. Most of the time its a lie.

And yes. The argument about PvE servers is the same because all players want PvE servers to get rid of PvP no matter the cost. No one ever stop to thing what realy will happen. So the reason is the same, the arguments against are many, with just a little evolve. But yea its the same. Also the people in those threads are basicaly the same.

I'm not going to harp on this point so much. But the ojective fact remains. That more people plays GW2 and ESO than BDO. One can figure this out just by spending 3 to 5 hours in all three games. In BDO you might run into like 10 or 20 players around this time of day if you are lucky. In GW2 and ESO you'll run into many times more players in each zone. Lets not even compare the three game's arenas. 

Simply put one can easily come to the scientific conclusion. That both GW2 and ESO have many times more active and concurrent players in NA and EU than BDO. As a reminder, I'm not saying BDO is a bad MMO. Far from it actually. It has it's own charm. However it's evident that BDO is a niche MMO. Compared to vastly highier populated mainstream MMOs like GW2 or ESO. We need not even talk about the MMO kings and queens, like WoW and FFXIV.