I have played MMORPGs since the days of Asheron's Call and Everquest, but Black Desert stands out as perphaps one of the best, if not the best MMO of this modern era. 

Here are my two attitude of MMORPGs:

- A really good MMORPG is a world first and a game second. 

- I Play MMORPGs to exist in a virtual world with other players. Loot and accomplishments are secondary. 

What Makes Black Desert Special

The World

Not only Black Desert provides a really good world, but it provides one of the best worlds I have seen in any MMORPG. I cannot think of any other game that has a vast desert, and an ocean that seems endless.  When you travel between biomes, the environment slowly and naturally changes, instead of abruptly changes to where you travel in a different "zone". 

Another thing people don't talk about is how detailed and  interactive the world is. I have played MMORPGs with detailed worlds, but it always came at the price where none of the objects were interactive. These "details" were nothing more than wallpaper. The buildings in the main continent are all unique looking and hand crafted. You can walk into them and see how even the interiors or unique and detailed. 

Everything Feels Organic in Black Desert

When I use the term organic, it may seem like I am emphasizing on immersion, but it goes beyond that where it goes back to my emphasis on existing in a virtual world rather than just playing a game. A lot of this had to do with traveling being required. If I had to go to a location then I had to use a horse, and if I had to go to an island or anywhere in the sea then I had to use a boat. If we have a game where you just teleport to the action then might as well play Diablo or any mindless hack and slash game. 

This will also sound strange but even though I am not into pvp, I don't mind having to watch out for PKs (player killer's) out in the world. Yes, there were times I was ganked but I accept that and strangely I even welcome that because it means Black Desert offers something at other MMOs do not:

- Unique experiences that we can remember and make stories out of. 

The truth is that no one will remember the 100th time they successfully ran through a dungeon or the loot they aquired, but they will remember being attacked by that one PK will all hate, then having their pk friends back them up in a fight.

- This may not be a popular opinion but inconvienances are necessary in MMORPGs, because if everything goes smoothly then there is no good story to remember. 

Recent Changes, the 2023 Calpheon Ball, and My Issues

Land of the Morning Light

I first want to start off with saying that I do like Land of the Morning Light and I like the atmosphere, however there is one thing I noticed about the towns in the new continent:

1. The buidlings were not unique looking like the buildings in the older towns and cities. Instead the buildings where just duplicates of each other. 

2. You couldn't walk inside any of the buildings. 

Overall the buildings in the Land of the Morning Light are nothing more than props, not real actual buildings.

A lot of players complain about no grinding areas in Land of the Morning Light but that in particular doesn't really get to me. What I do notice is that aside from the shrine bosses, there is nothing to be really scared of in the Land of the Morning Light. In the main continent, there are wandering mobs that aren't part of any particular grinding zone. However, in the Land of the Morning Light there really is nothing like that so there is no sense of tension when you are outside of any towns in the Land of the Morning Light. 

I don't mind Pearl Abyss trying new things, but here is my concern:

- Pearl Abyss will sacrifice  pre-existing concepts of Black Desert that made everything feel organic, and this will be the new design philosphy. 

Calpheon Ball 2023 and the talk about Change

Watching the Calpheon Ball last month only fueled my concerns and this is why I am making this post. I don't have a problem with change or trying new things, but I do have a problem with with huge changes were nothing is really wrong to begin with. 

When I played EverQuest and World of Warcraft I saw changes that permantely damaged those games. These changes were done in the name of convinance and quality of life, but the result was these quality of life changes took the life out of those worlds, and I am really scared the same thing will happen to Black Desert. 

Suprisingly I do not have a problem with the Magnus. When I first heard about the Magnus over a year ago, I was disgusted but once it was released it wasn't that bad, however I had this concern:

- The Magnus was a slippery slope.

And I really hate slipperly slopes. Again, I do not have a problem with the Magnus, even with fast travel, it still feels organic.

What I do have an issue with is using in game interfaces that transport you to locations. That is where I feel I am no longer in a world but instead just playing a game. I even heard they will take more effort to remove "unneccesary travel". They are even going so far as to temporary remove features in the game that emphasize on traveling such as trade. Black Desert isn't just about combat, its about experiencing the world. 

My Overall Concern (TLDR)

I don't do TLDRs because I don't make accomdations for lazy people. So consider this my TLDR.

My concern for Black Desert is how Black Desert will experience the same thing that both EverQuest and World of Waracraft went through. Comprising the core principles behind the game, changing directions, and introducing drastic quality of life changes that drained the life of the worlds and made them no different than any other game.

I talk about Asheron's Call because I admire how Asheron's Call never pandered to impatient players, but Asheron's Call is gone and most other MMOs made compromises to where you can't tell any difference between them. Just generic MOBA-like games where you are teleported to instanced content, get rewards, and teleport back to the "hub". 

Small things that make Black Desert unique will be sacrficed, and by the time those small things add up, it will be too late. Black Desert will no longer be a world first game second, but instead just another game that calls itself an MMO.

When I started playing, it was the world and the immersion that made me continue with this game.

There was so much to discover, especially the tiny details and so many interactive objects, that this kept me persisting through the user-unfriendly new player experience, especially with the UI and how to handle basic functions in general...which turned away most of my friends who I wanted to get into the game. But it was a challenge for me to discover how everything works and I did it at my own pace. 

Now I also notice some streamlining in this game. Not like in WoW where suddenly all immersion was deleted and from a great immersive MMO it became more of a "wait in queue-teleport to dungeon".  But there are signs here that can make a person worry whether BDO will become the same one day. 

About LOML....except for the story, which I liked, I found the zone very uninteresting. There's nothing to discover. The focus is on boss fights and their mechanics. I can understand the worry that all new content from now on might be like this. I pray this won't happen. 

The lore in this game is amazing and the immersion that it offered back in 2020 was amazing.

Story kinda got better, with Balenos rework (they cruined Cron Castle, though) but they've been killing immersion due to laziness and simplification ever since.

Now they're doing more by destorying all tool types.

Soo, there will only be two gear types.

And one androgenous mega class.