I agree that the game is not healthy.  IN growth mode, one expands.  In decline mode, one shrinks, simplifies and optimizes.

Businesses often make proactive changes in anticipation of future trends, not just reactive ones based on past financials. The recent changes in the PvP system could be a strategic pivot rather than a direct response to the previous year's numbers.

Like the precedent changes in the pvp system has been a strategic pivot and we can all witness the obvious result?

At this point, we can't ignore the past, the progressive changes in owpvp and even the increasing use of instances (Marni!) didn't lead to the substantial growth one could expect from changes on important initial game design choices.

That's why we're worried : if BDO becomes a mainstream Mmorpg like many others, I wonder what would prevent it from suffering the same fate than most of us.

Going back to OP 

What is the goal of open world PVP in 2024.

Apperently people didn't like the way I approached it so I will come out with it.

In simple terms the goal is to Dominate.. Open World PVP is there for one specific reason to kill another player by any means necessary.. If you are at end game 760+ GS the world is yours to do as you please.

I'm sorry if you guys have a problem with what I am saying but the above is absolutely true. Every road in BDO leads to PVP.... The very reason you grind every day be it grinding for silver or for Life skill Mats or the artifacts your searching... Grinding for gear upgrades for ALL OF IT is connected to PVP, GVG, NW, SIEGE..

With all the changes in the game outside of guild decs which does need to be fixed. The basics of BDO is still absolutely there..

You can still flag, you can still PK. The open world pvp of dominance never rested. Just the amount of people that can zerg or punish another guild has been removed.

I know the word triggers people but the reality is that OWPVP goal is dominance over your fellow player, beating baby seals at all cost... RIGHT!?!?!? 

The emotional end of getting plowed by another player or the mental Chad's that beleive there should be zero consequences of going on a temper tantrum rant in OW has gotten us to this point.

If you want PVP there is Arsha server, you can fight against your peers right? But what fun is that when you can't kill 10 at a time like you see in NW...

The mental gymnastics some of you go through trying to suppress those that already have gear telling them that they shouldn't play the game as it is intended. Along side those that try to explain away playing a game that is solely BASED around PVP and how it should be removed from the game makes even less sense.

In the end just the changes we have gone through have in effect taken a massive toll on BDO as a game.

You see it in every were you go.

The Market is absolutely unstable and in what I would call the Great Depression of BDO with Pen accessories at Min most Pen's lost over 100bil silver worth. 

Pearl outfits taking over a week to get in most cases when 12 months ago there were 10's of thousands a week being sold. Compared to the 1-2 thousand per week now.

In some cases only a few hundred per day with 1000 pre orders.

Veteran players are leaving the game were it took at one point 5 years to hit 700+gs now you can do it less that 30 days. Being replaced by players that don't even play the game consistently.

The game is not healthy, the market Is not healthy. 

The changes in OWPVP some of which are needed are cancer to the game. 

The upcoming changes to NW are also cancer nothing they are doing in game is good..

They starved PVP let alone GVG to the point that going to Arsha as a single player gets you zerged by guilds that can't find anyone to fight.

 In closing no matter how you explain it with graphs , charts,

4 years of quarterly financial reports from PA.

That do in fact show they have been bleeding money over the past 2 years especially with the 1 year delay on 2 of there top upcoming titles.

PA needs to step up and correct the issues from the past year and start working on the reason to be here. Losing 500 bil silver in the market losses due to the tanking value of Pen accessories is not even in the least term justifying the current conditions that veteran players face.

You're not able to speak objectively and present evidence and are only able to speak of your imagination.  You add zero value to this overall discussion.  Lucky for you, PA values zero value, so there's that.  Evidence that they value zero value?

Last line = "Net income".  Pearl Abyss lost money in 2022.  And in 2023, couldn't even make up for half of their loss.  "Businesses often make proactive changes in anticipation of the future", you say?  If so, PA is doing a HORRIBLE job at that because in 2023, they couldn't even make half of what they lost in 2022...let alone break even.  "The recent PVP changes 'could be' a strategic pivot" you say?  "Could be", huh?  So, speculations.  How did you determine your speculation?  Oh, let me guess....your own reasoning, imagination, and talking out of your ears.  That's called "hot air".  You got nothing but hot air and fluff, nothing of value nor substance.

Exactly, everything 100% -- the market's decline and current state is indicative of the state of BDO.  Player's are simply not as interested in BDO as they once were and that's clear as day.  Not only through their financial reports, but just looking at the market on NA tells a huge story, so thanks for providing something tangible players could analyze.

If I may add, aside from dominance, OWPVP also allowed for organic player-interactions and player-driven content.  It was BDO's style of MMORPG, it was unique and not other MMO had player-interaction the way BDO did it.  Yes, some interactions were toxic, and yes, those, specific instances should have been handled....instead, PA made wide-sweeping changes that affected EVERYONE, not just the people being toxic.  Instead of taking directed and purposeful actions, which would've took more work, they took the approach of making changes that greatly shifted the entire premise of the game.  What was once a PVX sandbox MMORPG has turning into a "leave me alone" game.

Never have I seen an MMORPG where the players say "leave me alone in an MMORPG" as much as current day BDO and it's funny and sad at the same time.  Funny because it showcases the mental capacity of the modern BDO player.  Sad because when you love a game this much for 7-8 years and to see BDO, with it's unique and special approach to the MMORPG genre become more like Warframe, with its "leave me alone" approach, it's just sad.  What's an MMO without player-interaction?  It isn't an MMO.  BDO was already unique in it's approach to MMO.  But it still was because of organic player-interaction and an open world that felt alive, teeming with active players.  Now, it's a barren wasteland as everyone is in instances, separated from one another, people cowering at the sight of a white dot on their minimap, and everyone telling everyone "leave me alone in an MMORPG".

While I do agree with your post, you have to realize that PvP is based around making other players your content. I'm very surprised that I see people still bot accepting or recovering from the changes that were pushed based on KR's input ( Again they don't give a shit about NA or EU wants).

I give this game up to Q3 to see a tremendous drop off of the PvP population.

You can already see a tremendous drop off, anecdotally, I've seen many players severely limit their playtime or even completely quit the game over past year and some change.

The way you worded "PvP is based around making other people your content" doesn't really vibe with me.  It sounds as if it's an intentional manipulation to make someone else bend to your will -- which is NOT what PvP is based around.  PvP is based around competition, first and foremost.  Competition being the core of what PvP is meant to be.  You see this in the game's grind zone design -- free-for-all desgined spots, anyone can grind anytime anywhere (granted their gear and level allows it, obviously).  Mobs treated as resources and they are limited resources in that there aren't an infinite number of mobs and they have respawn timers.  The game, from its very design of the open world grind zones, breeds competition.  And that is the core of what PvP is.  "Competition".  Competition allows for many things related to social interaction as well.  And this added so much meaning to the game, much of that meaning, devoid and stripped away.

This is not to say instances where someone does manipulate others to bend to their will doesn't exist.  It does and I think other steps could've been taken to alleviate those, specific, instances better.  Instead of wide-sweeping, game-changing, changes.  But the core of "what PvP is based on" is competition, not "making other players your content".  Because we're all in it together.  At least, we're supposed to be.  "All in it together" doesn't mean to say teamwork or friendliness, necessarily, rivalries and hardened battles are a part of "all in it together", but we all shared this sandbox together --- EVERYONE shared this sandbox.  Players of all degrees of interest.  From your most peaceful lifeskiller / role player to your most battle hardened trigger happy red player and everyone in between -- sharing this open world, all playing together in the same sandbox, and how we navigated this on our own shaped the BDO experience.

A lot of players didn't play nice, sure.  Well, PA should've handled it better, made it so they alleviated those instances without sacrificing what made BDO so special. And that is the diversity among player interest, diversity among gameplay styles, meshed into one, huge, living open world.  Instead, they killed that unique social aspect, streamlined everyone into lifeskills or instanced grinding (essentially), turning BDO from a once sprawling, living, breathing, pro-social and pro-solo, PvX sandbox MMORPG where your interaction with other people actually mattered to an instanced PvE-only "leave me alone" game where everyone rather isolate themselves and not use their social skills in an MMORPG while they hit the same mobs in the same circle for thousands of hours for gear they can't use anywhere meaningful anyway.

No Holds Barred... PVP is content other people can become content ... Regardless of what game you play

Be it Equal Gear such as AOS or NW with Equalized gear.. IN both of these cases the class you pick will lead you to dominate and make others your content.. or in AOS the group's Consistency will decide who is content the same as the Guild league due to the current balance between the classes.

When we talk about OWPVP in most cases we refer to the players GS and how it's used then class and skill... After that it's the Guild you're in and how many players with high GS you can call on.

All of the above is Content and who is that content (WE THE PLAYERS)

Black Desert is a MMORPG, Since the beginning of this game it has and will be a PVP centric game "PERIOD"....

Is it Beautiful... for the fact the game is 10 years old since launch in Korea, 2016 for NA and in 2018 we got remastered version the game has not been updated visually in 6 years and is still up there in game quality so yah its very stunning as a MMORPG.. the Combat visuals and control style is in fact 2nd to none in the industry... but again here we go talking about PVP again...

My point is that there may be plenty of things to do in BDO... Life skill, play music, PVE .. gamble... just simply walk around.. But we are playing a MMORPG that has lost its MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER tag... Peace is 100% correct in his statement that BDO is a game of "LEAVE ME ALONE" ... I get that there is a massive open world but what makes a MMORPG attractive to those that love the genre.. interaction, some may be good some bad hell every game has toxic clowns... speed hackers... aimbot trolls.

The issue is interaction PA has worked their asses off to remove all semblance of interaction between players then try to put PVP in a Instance box and tell all the players that have been here for 8 years that we belong in a cage.. we have no more choice you have to goto this arena and that's it...

No more random fights.. no more red player trolls... No more fair fights where it took guts from a weaker guild 20-30 players to turn the tide against 13. <----- that fighting spirit was SNUFFED OUT in a single line of code that removed 1 sided dec's let alone only GM's allowed to agree.

The Random meeting between players in PVE zones that turned into a PVP fight and a GVG to become content for ALL sides got snuffed out in a line of code that allowed Marni servers to be used for 13 hours a day.. it got snuffed out when they made Elvia a separate instance creating double the amount of servers..

Look, I can go on and on... People that hate PVP got their wish...

PVP in BDO is dying and with this change in NW will finish the job... 

I warned people... I tried to tell them what was going to happen to BDO 10 months ago if PA followed through with these changes...

Everything I said has come to be...

Bottoming out of the economy in BDO...

Long term players leaving BDO.. sure the PVE simps and passive clowns that destroyed this game by getting everything they wanted have nothing to complain about.. Nothing to fight for any longer.. all the gear they want to buy, ALL the caphras on the market at almost 50% value.. all the PEN's that you had to put in effort for are within 20-40 hours of grinding..

So now you have new players replacing old players that literally don't see anyone anywhere outside of towns where you have the random 50 people fishing.. no reason to be in a guild cuz you dont need the help anymore.. no reason to spend money on anything and the cycle will continue... Only now will it be extremely rapid every change will accelerate the issue and the Death of BDO.

Once the economy within BDO making players gear almost worthless, was the beginning of the END it all started 10 months ago when they started changing systems within the game too fast. Giving free gear.. TET BS a Second pen accessory i can go on and on.. the speed at which they are bringing out new gear and new items is 10x faster trying to keep players attention.. trying to make up for PVP dying trying to keep those last few that use their wallets by offering daily free things ..  J's hammer of precision should have told you something is wrong MAKING IT FOR SALE ON THE MARKET boy you got to be dumb to not realize there is a problem .. the fix in the accessories that they said they would never touch..

As far as how long the PVP'rs will last it sure won't be Q3 after these NW changes most will start to move on.. sure there will be new players to replace us with but PA's profit margin will tank.. BDO will be a shell of itself and won't be able to hold players for more than a month at a time when you can go from nothing to 700 GS in less than 30 days.. players will find it boring with nothing to do but stand and talk..