Hello!

I am a new player who recently started playing BDO largely due to its equalized 3v3 arena mode. However, I was shocked to discover that as the ranked season ends, the ability to queue practice mode (unranked) disappears with it for several months at a time.

It is safe to assume that this recent large influx of new players came from other MMORPGs, where the arena system commonly allows for unranked to be utilized by players regardless of the ranked season's cycle. Allowing for Practice mode to stay regardless of Ranked would play a big part in new player retention as many people such as myself are heavily invested in learning AoS before trying our hand at ranked.

Black Desert offers many ways to participate in PvP, but AoS is a unique equalized small-scale mode that is impossible to recreate once the admission has been closed off entirely. Consequently, many new players (such as myself) may feel that their short-lived practice during the recent influx may produce very little positive results, considering the mandatory break they are forced to take, for several months at a time.

Lastly, Black Desert is a game that can be thoroughly enjoyed through solo play. However, queueing AoS practice mode has been a great way to enjoy the game with other players, as it allows to queue in a party of friends, which I am sure can be a fun experience for a lot of newbies such as myself in the future!

Please, allow for the Practice Mode of AoS to remain open beyond the closure of Ranked season!

Thank you :)

Totally agree, I've been in this scared mode 'waiting to be ready to try it' but few times when I felt good to go, we were between seasons.. :-(

i agree! please make aos practice (non-ranked) a perma thing!!

I think it'd be great if they didn't remove AoS when rank seasons is finished. Having that unranked mode is a great breath of fresh air after hours of grinding because all you need to do is queue up for it. Equalized gear and it's a great way for new players to see what it's like to pvp other players! 

Make unranks permanant and just have ranks be the seasonal thing!

Pretty please, I'll tell all my whale friends to spend more money if this stays open. In all seriousness, I came to this game for the pvp and this would be such an impactful change! 

I agree, a lot of people come to this game because of the action combat and the PvP, but even then some lifeskillers do use practice mode to get introduced to PvP. Allowing it to stay around all year long will boost the amount of people who participate, which will only benefit the PvP scene :)

Also, I'm really crappy at it (AoS), and I know it, and I feel bad for prospective teammates going into ranked play without a lot (a lot) of practice.  So what happened this season? I tried to practice some, took a few weeks, then went into the ranked play - and of course there are the initial ranking matches that have to be cleared first.  Good enough - except that there's no one still available to play those now that the season has progressed. So effectively locked out of ranked play.  I suppose I could spend hours waiting.  Nah, there's other parts to this game.  I could just continue with practice, I suppose.  But after months off between season, that will all be rusty again.  Just have to accept that this is mostly not for me, which is partially true, but I could still have fun playing in the bottom ranks.  Or is no one in the bottom ranks?  

Anyway, yeah, just leave this open year round.  Swap some new arenas in to try them out every now and then, before putting them into ranked play.  Or create some other way for us to simulate team play in BA or something.

Definitely looking forward to the potential of both ranked and unranked sticking around.

The game has excellent combat, but it really doesn't feel like there's enough areas available to showcase that when it comes to small scale. I'm entirely down for more small scale avenues than just the RBF options.

As well, the fact that it is normalized is a really nice since it comes down to their players and not their time investment; this continuously allows newer players to give it a try without feeling discouraged by a time/gear gap.

Yep upvote. My opinion AOS is the closest thing your gonna get to balanced pvp. Yes there's fotm classes that outshine others but the mode itself is quick matches you can queue up from anywhere which should always be available for everyone to enjoy