Family Name: JariWeis (Posting together with Rilma and Kemphler)

Region: NA

Suggestion: Have the developers focus more on creating newly designed grind zones.

Introduction

Greetings! My name is JariWeis, and group grind zones are something dear to me, as I have the most fun playing an MMO, such as BDO, with friends. Working together toward a shared goal and optimizing strategies are activities that are a lot of fun and can be very rewarding.The fact that this content has been somewhat on the back burner for a good while now saddens me. Not only that, but recently the developers have actively taken away several options that incentivize group grinding in a non-traditional manner. Options such as looting order and "Special Deals" have been stripped from the game, the latter without even informing us in the patch notes.

After the news regarding group grinding content at the Heidel Ball of 2024, and a multi-year drought of newly designed group grind zones, I decided to make a questionnaire to gauge the opinions that adventurers hold regarding the current state of group content within BDO. I sent this questionnaire to multiple Guild Discords, including my own, as well as some grinding related Discords. I was hoping to get a healthy representation of both group grind enjoyers, as well as group grind avoiders. Both of these groups have been asked a different set of questions, as to pinpoint what exactly the game could improve upon, and to showcase what players of the respective camps would like to see.

After having the questionnaire open to adventurers’ responses for a week, it has garnered 70 responses total, and there is a good chunk of feedback that was submitted by adventurers, some of whom would otherwise not use the official forums to submit feedback. While this is a small-ish sample size, I do believe that the distribution of these players is wide enough to form a somewhat representative group of the overall playerbase. That said, if the results from this questionnaire peak the developers’ curiosity, they could always consider sending out a survey of their own straight to a portion of adventurers through their email address.

I hope that the following data is insightful, and that it can be used by the developers to make the game as fun as possible for our adventurers!

The Big Question

To start things off, we will have a look at the first question on the questionnaire, as well as its intended purpose. The first question asks adventurers if they enjoy any of the currently implemented group content. This is an over-arching term that was intentionally used, so that those who dislike any/all group content will be filtered into a different set of questions. To reiterate: This is done to ensure we get a more complete set of data from both enjoyers and avoiders.

According to the questionnaire, 60% of adventurers (42) currently like at least one of the available group content options, whereas 40% of them (28) do not.

This shows that there is a majority among the respondents who do enjoy and care for the currently implemented types of group content.

Those who voted in favour of enjoying group content were sent to a set of questions regarding the current state of group content, whereas those who voted against enjoying group content were sent to a set of questions asking why they disliked it.

Summarized Data

The total amount of responses after a week's time was 70, which is not a very large sample size to work with, but when accounting for a confidence factor of 90% it's enough to extrapolate and apply this data to roughly 5000-10000 players. Out of these 70 respondents, 60% (42) of these respondents liked the currently available group content, whereas 40% (28) of them did not.

Those who indicated that they did not enjoy the current available options of group content  were sent to two open answer questions. They were saked what they didn't like, as well as what the developers could do to make group content appealing to them. As these are open answer questions, I have summarized the most common and well worded responses in an unranked manner:

What they dislike:
1. Group content is (just as) repetitive (as solo content).
2. Solo content does not require the effort/hassle of finding other players to work together with, and it avoids the possibility of getting “griefed”. Solo content also appeals more to those who have a very limited timeframe to play the game.
3. The earnings from group content cannot compete with (some of) the options that solo content offers.
4. The lack of mechanically diverse group content zones means that they get stale over time.
5. The feeling that Shai is a “requirement” to perform well at certain group spots, leading to a feeling of loss in terms of class viability and diversity.
6. Black Desert lacks the “traditional” “holy trinity” that other MMOs have, making group content feel less coordinated.

What they would like to see implemented to get them interested in group content / group grinding:
1. More meaningful random events (i.e. improved versions of Afuaru, Turos boss) to prevent burn-out / staleness of group content.
2. More mechanic-based group grind zones (i.e. adding Dungeon mechanics to grind zones).
3. Improve the earnings from group content to match or surpass that of solo content.
4. Semi-competitive leaderboards (such as those for Boss Blitz) to showcase prowess and strategy mastery for group content.
5. Adding a system to allow existing solo grind zones to be turned into group grind zones.
6. Adding more group grind zones so that players can rotate between more of them, making them become stale less quickly.
7. “Nothing” (Answered by 5 people)

This last answer indicates that there is a further subset of respondents who will never be persuaded / always be reluctant about group content, as they simply do not enjoy the (forced) social aspect of this type of content.

Those who do enjoy the currently available group content were given a different set of questions. These questions would ask them about the current state of group content, the ongoing series of events regarding group content, the potential implementations of future group content, as well as an open question to see what they thought would make group content better than it currently is. Let's take a look at some of the data gathered:

• 71.4% (30) of “group content enjoyers” say their enjoyment of the game has been negatively impacted by the lack of newly introduced group content, whereas 28.6% (12) say that it has not made a difference.
• 97.6% (41) of “group content enjoyers” are of the opinion that not releasing any newly designed group content is a missed opportunity, whereas 2.4% (1) thinks this is not the case.
• 71.4% (30) of “group content enjoyers” think that using the Dehkia Lantern to “revitalize” and increase the difficulty of existing spots is NOT a valid alternative to introducing newly designed group content, whereas 28.6% (12) do think so.
• 85.7% (36) of “group content enjoyers” do not see time-gated content such as Dungeons as a valid alternative for group grind zones, whereas 14.3% (6) does.
• 95.1% (39) of “group content enjoyers” are disappointed in the fact that no newly designed group grind zones have been released despite several mentions of it, whereas 4.9% (2) are not.
• 90.2% (37) of “group content enjoyers” would prefer to see more transparency regarding the development process of group content, whereas 9.8% (4) would not.
• 82.9% (34) of “group content enjoyers” would feel less frustrated by the lack of newly added group grind zones if the developers were more transparent about the process, whereas 17.1% (7) would not.
• 92.9% (39) of “group content enjoyers” would prefer the developers to focus on creating entirely new grind zones rather than Dehkia-fying existing spots, whereas 7.1% (3) seem to prefer Dehkia-fying existing spots.

The following questions let you select more than one answer, so these percentages will not add up to a simple 100%, but they showcase what percentage of the "group content enjoyers" enjoy certain sizes of group content:

• 78.6% (33) of the “group content enjoyers” enjoy the current two-man grind zones.
• 88.1% (37) of the “group content enjoyers” enjoy the current three-man grind zones.
• 50% (21) of the “group content enjoyers” enjoy the current five-man grind zones.

• 88.1% (37) of the “group content enjoyers” would like to see new two-man grind zones.
• 90.5% (38) of the “group content enjoyers” would like to see new three-man grind zones.
• 59.5% (25) of the “group content enjoyers” would like to see new five-man grind zones.

The final question asked "group content enjoyers" about how they would like to see group content be implemented in the future, especially when they contain "key items". Think of items such as Fallen God Armour, or Kabua Artifacts.

• 52.4% (22) of the “group content enjoyers” would prefer to see multiple different size party group grind zone options for every available solo option.
• 38.1% (16) of the “group content enjoyers” would prefer to see a single group grind zone for every available solo option.
• 7.1% (3) of the “group content enjoyers” would prefer to see group grind zones exclusively for a new region.
• 2.4% (1) of the “group content enjoyers” would prefer to see solo grind zones exclusively for a new region.

Summary of the open feedback round for the "group content enjoyers" where they give feedback on what they think the developers could do better in terms of group content:

1. Introduce a way that allows players to scale the party size of a grind zone themselves.
2. Reduce the “requirement” to have a Shai in your party in group content.
3. Group content should always be available, but never be forced.
4. Group content should always be equally viable to solo content for money making.
5. More mechanically intensive spots such as Oluns would be preferred over “Tower spots” such as Dehkia Turos.
6. “No further feedback”.

Main Takeaways

• The majority of respondents DO enjoy the group content in the game!

• Adventurers who do and don’t enjoy the current group content agree largely on the improvements needed to make them more fun and appealing.
• A large amount of group content enjoyers would prefer to see more transparency regarding the development and decision making surrounding group content.
• Group content enjoyers are frustrated by the lack of proper new additions.
• Dehkia Lantern in of itself is considered to be a good “secondary option”, but is not preferred to entirely new group grind zones.

• Group content enjoyers would like to see at least one group grind spot “counterpart” for each new “key item“ released, preferably more.
• People would prefer the addition of new group grind zones over the introduction of new time-gated content such as Dungeons.

Personal Conclusion

From my point of view, giving all the data presented above, it is clear that a large portion of the playerbase wants a new approach to group content. The general consensus seems to be that we need to get new group content more often, in a non time-gated fashion, and that new group content and grind zones should have a larger emphasis on mechanics rather than just tankiness and damage. A large portion of players who enjoy the group content in BDO are frustrated by the lack of new additions and the series of events that led to this being the case. Given all of these factors, it is clear to me that players want to see a change of mindset from the developers, one that leads to more interactive group content, and more group content in general, while still offering solo options to those who prefer that. In short: Players want to be able to choose to enage in meaning group content.

Closing Statement

I hope that this data has been useful and insightful for those of you who are interested. The recent changes made to the game are, in my opinion, unsustainable to the playstyle for an MMO, and I hope that this data can be used by the developers to improve the game. 

Yes, we want group content! Why play an MMO solo? I can go play Skyrim if I want that.

asked 50 highly invested players = data ... summer break over soon

Group content is a MUST.

BUT:

Group content should not REPLACE solo content, like Shultz and Basilisks, etc.  They were cool spots that I've enjoyed, but no longer can.  Also, content should not be gated in group spots, like Oluns.  If there is to be group content, there must be mirror solo content as well, the exception being wars, raids, and the like.

Most people that are against group content probably fear that some content will be impossible for solo play that fits their MO.  I empathize.  Group content should bring more fun and rewards, but should have nothing EXCLUSIVE to them.

PA has had a bad habit of showcasing new places and stuff, saying, "You must do this for this!"  Yeah, well, what if we don't want to?  Or can't?

So, group content, YES.  Content gated behind group play?  NO.

And belatedly I see that this point was included in the OP..... but I think it bears pointing out and repeating.

Yes, I highly agree with you there.

BDO has traditionally been an MMO that offers solo players a much fuller experience than other MMOs. That's not something I'd want to do away with, but latley it's been mainly solo content without any group options, which defeats the point of an MMO.

To get back on your point about solo spots being turned group spots: I agree. Originally that change was exclusive to Seasonal servers to introduce newer players to group spots and to incentivize group grind for them. However, they made that change permanent and apply everywhere - Something I was not a big fan of, either. If they'd made an Elvia/Dehkia version that'd be group focused, like with Altar Imps and Castle Ruins, that'd have been fine. 

I'm not sure what loot from Oluns is gated behind it that you cannot get from solo content, since you can get La Orzeca entirely solo at Crypt, for example. Pardon me, I forgot about the Rich Merchant Ring. - If you're talking about the spot in general and the experience you get from grinding there, then I think it's only somewhat logical, as group spots will have to be designed differently than solo spots.

That said, I do think solo spots could do with some additions of proper mechanics as well, but that's a topic for another post :P

Totally agree this game needs more group content, both for PvE & PvP.  We have a small group of 5 friends that play this game together, we basically just login for the group part of content these days.  None of us login to solo grind, it's just plain boring.  Here's a list of things we login for:

1. We login every day for node wars, we're lucky to be in an active T1 guild that does node wars every day and we enjoy playing this group PvP content.  But this lasts at the most 1 hour.

2. We login once a week to clear the Atoraxxion dungeons, it's sad that this is the only content that resembles a standard dungeon that we're used to in other MMO's.  And it's sad that it's only doable once a week (2 clears).  This lasts at the most 1 hour.

3. We login once a week for guild bosses, to their credit PA did make this worthwhile to do so it's done once a week.  However this is 20-30mins max content.

4. We do like to queue practice AoS together but it's only for 3 players, so 2 has to sit so we don't do this as often as we'd like.

We don't dehkia lantern due to gearscore differences, and frankly it's pretty boring grinding in one spot.  There was Guild League which was fun but it was taken away (please don't take good content away).  There is just not enough group content to keep friends playing BDO together, this needs to change if you want players to stick around.  Every MMO has guild raids, group dungeons, and instanced battlegrounds with chase loot in them that people "grind" for at endgame.  In this game, most of the progression is forced solo.  I hope PA can take some of the group content ideas from other MMO's and implement them in BDO.