Greetings Adventurers!

 

Sorry to have kept you waiting!

Everything from a summary of the Q&A present at Heidel Ball: AT HOME to additional unanswered questions due to time constraints during the Global Q&A are here!

Many Adventurers from all over the globe sent us their precious and valuable questions...

 

We apologize for not being able to answer all of them at this time. (_ _)

Even if you don’t see your question answered here today, we ask for your patience!

The GMs plan to come back every week with more Global Q&A !! ♬

Then, without further ado, let us begin
The Heidel Ball: AT HOME After Q&A Session.

 

Notice

Some of the answers to the questions below may include information that are not applicable for Black Desert Console.

 

Q. It seems that the Adventurers of the Korean servers and the NA/EU servers have different thoughts regarding class balance. Of course, with the different meta, it's a given for there to be differences. I hope you will also gather what users are saying about class balance in servers of other regions besides Korea.

A. Since Black Desert is serviced globally, we are able to get feedback from Adventurers across many different regions, and we often see differences in combos and PvE playstyles for each region. So if the opportunity arises, we are considering a roundtable discussion by inviting skilled Adventurers representing various regions, carrying out an event/competition to collect feedback, etc., in order to best collect our Adventurers’ feedback from these regions and implement it towards balancing classes. While this might just be a repetition of what we announced during the Heidel Ball: AT HOME, we will do our best to try to create such a meeting as soon as possible.

 

Q. Ranger's skills aren't effective if there's even the slightest difference in terrain elevation when using her skills. Is this impossible to fix?

A. This issue is indeed a difficult one to fix. We’ve tried for a long time and only recently have we found a possible solution. It’s difficult to call it a 100% perfect solution, but we expect it to be a massive improvement over now. While there are still structural parts that need a bit of tweaking, we hope to implement it sometime after June.

 

Q. (Korea Server) When will Loyalties be revamped? Can you also go into greater detail on how you will revamp the system?

A. We are preparing new products/packages and prices to get this to you as soon as possible. One of our plans is to make Loyalty be usable in-game rather than the Pearl Shop.

 

Q. Any updates or news about the Rich Merchant's Ring?

A. As announced at the Heidel Ball: AT HOME, we are currently developing the Rich Merchant’s Ring around the concept of a Family-based buff that reduces the Central Market Tax by a fixed percentage. We hope to deliver this update to you before the end of June.

 

Q. It'd be nice to have a preset function that allows Adventurers to save settings for the skill window, making it easier to switch between Succession and Awakening.

A. We are currently in the final development stages for the new skill window. The existing skill window is rather inconvenient due to having all the skill levels just laid out before you, so we expect the new iteration where all skills will be unified in a tree-format to be much easier on the eyes. We will also be providing Skill Presets, which will even be able to save Skill Enhancements as well.

The new skill window will soon be updated to the Black Desert Global Lab. Since the UI is being revamped, it may at first feel a bit strange and unfamiliar, but we ask that you give it try after the update and send us all your feedback. We’ll do our best to keep the feedback in mind, as we work to make using the skill window more convenient.

 

Q. Could you improve the Horse Training, such as displaying the Dream Horse attempt success rate like with the enhancement system? Or adding items like Advice of Valks for Dream Horse attempts? Also, would it be possible to add certain mounts that you can't buy with silver, instead must be tamed based on Training Level or Mastery?

 

A. For showing the Dream Horse attempt success rate, we plan to update this during the June 17 (Wed.) maintenance. However, we will not be making it possible to use Advice of Valks for Dream Horse attempts.
As for Horse Training content, we announced during the Heidel Ball: AT HOME that we are currently preparing the Old Moon Grand Prix, and we hope to provide Adventurers with new sources of entertainment by being able to race new horses and rear/collect these new breeds.

 

Q. Any plans to revamp or add new features to Hunting, such as hunting Whales or Khalk? How about increasing the usage of the items you get from hunting bosses?

A. We are preparing new monsters that you’ll be able to hunt. While not quite of the Boss pedigree, it’ll be in the form of rare monsters that you will have to track and discover first (i.e. gather information before the hunt). as they are being developed so adventurers may enjoy the thrills of hunting like an actual hunter.

 

Q. Are there plans to add special rewards for Adventurers who achieve Levels 65 or 66? How about Adventurers who attain certain levels in Life Skills?

A. Truthfully, the reason we didn’t implement a big reward past lv. 60 was to lessen the pressure of leveling. It’s the same reason why we crammed most of the ways to get stronger within 60 levels. 
As it currently stands, leveling past Lv. 60 serves more as a challenge or bragging rights, rather than to become more powerful. Yet, there are already some who have reached lv. 66.... As of Monday, June 8th, there are 51 Adventurers (Korea 17, Taiwan 14, Japan 7, Russia 6, Thailand 1, and NA/EU 6) who‘ve accomplished this feat. Quite commendable, and for these Adventurers, we will prepare additional fame-boosting rewards.

In regards to Life Skills, we don’t have anything specifically planned at the moment, but we will consider a similar kind of reward based on boosting fame. Nevertheless, there are currently no immediate plans for a material-based reward in the foreseeable future.

 

Q. When will the new updates regarding the Imperial Delivery Gift Boxes be announced?

A. We do plan on handing out new Imperial Delivery Seals. The play patterns of Black Desert Adventurers now are very different compared to the past, so our goal is to introduce these new seals that can be exchanged with a variety of Trade Goods to match the changed play patterns and current flow. This too is something we will do our best to present to you within the month of June.

 

Q. Do you plan on introducing new Life Skill contents?

A. There are currently no plans to add new Life Skill content. Rather than entirely new forms of content, we feel it is more important to expand or supplement already existing content like with the Old Moon Grand Prix that was announced during the Heidel Ball: AT HOME. We will re-consider working on new content once we feel that we’ve added more depth and enjoyment to existing content.

 

Q. Any plans to improve some of the not-so-popular Life Skill content such as Trading? Trading is clearly unprofitable compared to other Life Skills at the moment, with hardly any merit.

 

A. Similar to the previous question, for Trading we are referring to Worker Trade, which we tried to update the Workers and improve trading between Calpheon and Valencia, as well as Bartering in the Great Ocean, yet we ended up scrapping all those ideas. We came to the conclusion that we needed to develop upon the current iteration of the Trading system, and so we are currently entertaining ideas to improve the rewards while maintaining the current system. We’re still in the idea-collecting stage, and once we decide on the direction, we will make sure to let you know in the latest developers’ or GM notes.
Please share as much of your feedback regarding Trading as possible.

 

Q. Do you plan on improving guild rights? There are many Adventurers who deliberately disband their guilds or abuse the current system.
Are there any improvements planned for Guild Mission-related features? Such as how Adventurers obtain rewards for completing guild missions, how to check the channel for guild missions, as well as the overall quality of the rewards themselves.

 

A. For someone to purposely try and damage a guild is truly a heartbreaking and exhausting incident, especially for Guild Masters and Officers, yet it seems difficult to prevent this occurring 100% systematically. However, to avoid such occurrences as much as possible, we plan on diversifying and dividing guild ranks. By doing so, guild masters and officers will be able to appoint the appropriate guild members with the necessary roles and greatly lessen the possibility of the situation above. We will do our best to present this system to you as quickly as possible.

 

Q. Currently, there aren't many guilds participating in the Node/Conquest Wars. The introduction of the Mercenary system only furthered their decline and increased the number of mercenaries participating instead. Will you be addressing this situation? It's especially difficult to fight in Tier 1 Nodes. Are there any solutions in mind?

A. We are currently planning on revamping Node Wars. Like what we announced during Heidel Ball AT HOME, the revamped version will involve conquering each node like a capture-the-zone type of concept. However, we will continue to make improvements to the current Node/Conquest War until the revamps are released. In particular, we have plans for a complete reassessment of the War Hero, and we are considering major adjustments to the large HP buff effect gained during Conquest War. We are working to improve each and every part that negatively impacts the current Node/Conquest War, and we hope to show you a much improved Node/Conquest War.

 

Q. Will you be adding and improving features for Compose & Play? Such as making it feel less clunky when inputting notes or being able to upload MIDI or MML files. Also, will there be new instruments available?

A. First off, we would like to thank all of our Adventurers who have enjoyed Compose & Play. Currently, we are developing additional instruments, and in order to improve the repetitive and inconvenient aspects of composing, we are developing a direct input system that is similar to playing on an electric keyboard. We ask for your patience until we can present you with a more convenient and enjoyable composition system.
Also, since our Compose & Play system is not based on MIDI, it will be rather difficult to convert to such formats. We ask for your understanding regarding this.

 

Q. Bartering beats earning silver by defeating monsters. Is there a solution for this?

A. The basic principle of Black Desert is that defeating monsters should be the most meaningful and efficient content. This is because it is the content that requires the most effort comparatively, since it requires Adventurers to constantly input moves and commands. We strictly observe this principle when designing and balancing other content. Excluding Korea, the global servers may be influenced by a variety of buffs and scrolls, so we will completely re-examine hunting grounds and adjust accordingly.

Additionally, we mentioned specialized servers in a previous answer, and we will focus more on these parts when balancing in the future. Our stance that defeating monsters should be the most efficient is something that will not change.
And regarding Bartering, as more and more Adventures obtain their Carrack, we’ve had to implement several waves of nerfs in light of the growing profits. Since Bartering requires consistent time investment and has a limited count, we are in no hurry to make adjustments in its current state.

Q. Lucky Adventurers obtain treasure items within a very short amount of time, while others have yet to see one even after months of gameplay. Don't you think it's a bit unfair?

A. Whenever we hear that someone in-game or even on our team obtained a treasure item in a very short amount of time, we have a process of double-checking the data to make sure there are no problems, even if we’ve previously checked a week before. We want to send a message of encouragement to all Adventurers who attempt the challenge of obtaining a treasure item, and we want to assure you that we will focus on preserving the worth of these items to make sure your efforts won’t be wasted.

 

Q. Are there plans to revamp the current enhancement system? Quality-of-life changes such as moving the priests closer to the blacksmiths would be appreciated.

A. First, both the blacksmith and the priest have their own unique roles and concepts. We thought of just putting every enhancmeent system on the Black Spirit for convenience’s sake, yet we felt this wasn’t the direction we wanted for Black Desert even if it was more convenient and maintained the current status quo thus far. However, we promise to consider other ways to make it more convenient for all Adventurers.

If we decide to make enhancement easier solely for convenience’s sake, the joy you might experience from the fruit of your efforts in undertaking the process might be lessened, as well as the amount of satisfaction you feel from staring at your equipment window.

Stacks serve as a failsafe system meant to compensate for failing enhancements. Hence, we are not considering changing the stack system completely. However, we will look into improving the in-game experience for novice Adventurers, such as quality-of-life changes and tutorials on how to preserve their enhancement levels through Cron Stones or Advice of Valks, Valks’ Cry, etc.

 

Q. Too many ships dock near the wharfs, so they overlap with each other, even causing accidental kidnapping. Is there a solution for this?

A. After the advent of the Great Expedition, the areas near the wharfs of Velia and Iliya Island are regularly filled with large vessels, and we are currently considering how to address some of the inconvenience caused by this. We’ve implemented features, such as the ship icon which you can press to immediately board your ship or call your ship, yet there’s many more inconveniences that need to be addressed. By collecting ideas and developing them, we hope to provide a more convenient and direct way to board ships.
In this process, we will consider upgrades to the Guild Galley’s ease-of-use as well.

 

Q. Will you be looking into issues with the in-game economy, such as inflation or item shortage? (Overseas Countries)

A. As of late, it’s becoming harder and harder to purchase material items such as Sharp/Hard Black Crystal Shards and Caphras Stones. We are fully aware of this issue, but we have no plans for an update solely meant to bypass this market shortage.

Since Black Desert’s economy is dependent on its supply and demand, we are looking into ways of increasing the number of suppliers or increasing the efficiency of existing suppliers for the items in shortage. We don’t want to just raise the prices of Sharp/Hard Black Crystal Shards. We are currently examining ways to maintain the existing system while expanding the number of suppliers and places to use such items.
We know that Caphras Stones are under a global shortage in Black Desert. We originally designed them to always be limited in supply, yet due to the rather large number of Adventurers in need of the item, we are discussing this matter internally. Memory Fragments, on the other hand, had initially seen a spike in prices but have come down to a stable state, and we feel that this might be what Caphras Stones is going through as well. We will continue to keep an eye on when the prices for Sharp Black Crystal Shards stabilize compared to Hard Black Crystal Shards. Until then, we will try tackling the issue through various means to find solutions for such a fundamental problem instead of just applying rushed fixes each time.

 

Q. Any plans to add more inventory slots, storage slots, and the Max Weight Limit?

A. Currently there are no plans to do so.

 

Q. When will new hairstyles be updated? There are not enough hairstyles available. Also, why isn't there an option to create a bald headed character in customization?

A. Black Desert characters are being made quite elaborately. Due to the exceptional number of customization options, the more hairstyles we implement the more issues there are for optimization. During last year’s Ball, we were requested to design new hairstyles, and we‘ve been working on them ever since, but due to performance issues we haven’t been able to implement them. At that time, we placed our priority on optimization, so we put the updates on hold, but from now on we will attempt to release these new styles one by one, since it is difficult to release them all at once.

In addition, we are considering implementing hair ornaments in the style of the beloved Yianaros Headpiece. However, since both new hairstyles and hair ornaments are all closely related to optimization issues, we will be proceeding with these updates slowly.

 

Q. How many of the Black Desert developers actually play the game?

A. Here at Black Desert, there are many developers who play tons of games. Just like our Adventurers, we too enjoy adventuring in the open world of Black Desert, sometimes laughing, sometimes getting angry, sometimes taking a break, then coming back for more. We will continue to join our adventurers in Black Desert to share the experience and do our best to further improve the game.

 

Q. When will the Black Desert Goods store be available for global fans?

A. The Black Desert Goods store opened in Korea this past February; frankly speaking, due to the rise of regions that restricted shipments as well as the current global issue, we saw some delay in its launch. We ask for your patience as we hope to bring you the good news soon.

 

Q. Do you have plans to create an aerial region that we could go to via the Sky Balloon?
Also, are there plans to add new types of mounts like an airship? What kinds of new mounts can we expect to see in the future?

 

A. There are currently no plans to develop an aerial region. We have received a lot of feedback requesting new mounts, and we are currently testing a variety of mounts internally. However, we’ve yet to settle on a mount that seems to fit the Black Desert motif. Nevertheless, we will continue our research based on your feedback.

On the Korean servers, we recently added scrolls which transformed Adventurers into Stoneback Crabs, and a good number of Adventurers gave us positive feedback regarding this minor update. While we would never dare to consider this as a new mount, we plan on adding similar toy-like items that will provide some enjoyment to Adventurers. For example, turning into a Griffon in Kamasylvia and gliding down long distances, or transforming into a Ferrid to dash through the plains. We will implement these one at a time, slowly but surely.

 

Q. When will the Great Expedition - Part II and Blue Battlefield, the ocean PvP content, be updated?

A. The Great Expedition – PART II has seen changes in its development and is currently on-hold. Most of the new islands and vessels are already made, so once development starts anew we will be able to share with you in greater the detail regarding the new direction.

 

Q. Will you be adding party-based dungeons? I'd like to enjoy the game with family and friends.

A. We have plans to continue expanding hunting grounds such as Mirumok and Gyfin Rhasia Temple, along with the recently added Abandoned Monastery and Padix Island that require Adventurers to party up. Particularly Mirumok and Gyfin Rhasia Temple we feel are the party hunting grounds that best fit the Black Desert concept.
However, we plan on continuing our support for content that requires adventurers to band together to clear.

 

Q. Any plans to add PvP contents like the Red Battlefield? I wish we had contents such as daily mini-Conquest Wars or Capture the Flag, and Territory Battle-type arena.

A. As revealed during the Heidel Ball: AT HOME, we plan to release the Thornwood Battlefield update very soon. It’s been quite some time since we released new PvP content, and we hope that all of our Adventurers will be able to have fun and enjoy it. In addition, we are planning to carry out some structural changes to diversify the Red Battlefield, and once finished, adventurers will be able to battle in a variety of locations. We hope this will be very meaningful especially for those Adventurers who may have grown weary fighting in the same battlefield over and over again. Regarding Capture the Flag or Territory Battle-type arenas, we will consider these for a later time.

 

Q. Are there any plans to implement the Team PvP mode of Black Desert Mobile to Online?

A. There are currently no plans to implement a team battle style deathmatch format. However, Thornwood Fortress, which is currently under-development, will be carried out in a competition-format with small-sized teams. Please look forward to it.

 

Q. Will there be more social systems added, such as the Marriage system?

A. There are no plans to implement marriage as a separate system. We will focus on creating more beautiful scenery, more fantastic and pretty characters, and a whole variety of contents.
Recently due to the COVID19, we saw a couple in Europe hold their wedding in Black Desert.

 

We‘d like to take this time to extend our congratulations for the couple. The wedding was held in Grána, Kamasylvia, in which many beautiful and handsome characters (Adventurers) took part as guests in offering their congratulations to the lovely bride and groom. An ensemble of Shai gathered to perform the wedding march. It was truly a moving and joyous occasion for all to witness.

 

Q. Now that Compose & Play has been released, do you plan on adding dancing animations?

A. We always consider the Black Desert feel and motif in designing all content. Regarding dance, we honestly tried and dropped development many many times, and recently we dabbled with the waltz and tango, yet the results would always end up the same. Unfortunately for all the Adventurers who’ve been waiting patiently, we’re sad to announce that we will no longer be working on dancing animations.
On a side note, we’ve introduced brief dancing animations as social emotes in Shadow Arena. That is the extent of dancing we’re willing to implement. We will continue our efforts to add a variety of movements other than dancing to further expand our character’s actions.

 

Q. Can you tell us about the new regions that are scheduled to be released? When do you plan on opening the Kingdom of Haso?

A. The new regions we are currently preparing include the ancestral home of the Guardian which is always covered with unceasing snowfall, the “mountain of eternal winter”, along with the home region of the Hashashin, a place filled with all sorts of danger tentatively titled the “demon lands“. As we briefly introduced in the road map during Heidel Ball: AT HOME, in the game’s current state it is rather difficult to expand beyond the Kingdom of Haso. However, just as we have done before, we will keep at it with new attempts and work hard to deliver better news to you soon. Please look forward to it.

 

Q. When will the remaining pieces of the Fallen God gear or additional Blackstar gear be added?

A. While there is no specific timeline set at the moment, additional Blackstar gear will be added around July to August at the earliest, September at the latest. However, since the Blackstar armor is currently the strongest in-game, we plan to take our time in developing this update. We are also considering an entirely different method of acquisition and crafting compared to the armor, as our goal is to develop gear worthy of being known as the best.

Excluding Korea, global servers will see Blackstar armor updated first, then O’dyllita and Fallen God added afterwards.

 

Q. Are there plans to release a class with special abilities or in the support role like Shai in the near future?

A. Shai was regarded as an experimental character even internally. Thankfully, many adventurers came to welcome them with open arms, which greatly boosted our confidence. Hence, we will continue in our efforts in developing special characters like the Shai. However, there’s always the risk that not all of our adventurers will welcome such special characters, so we predict that it will take quite some time before the next announcement. There‘s still plenty of time before official development begins, so we request that you send us any good ideas you have regarding the next special character.
Also, we’d like to give a shout out to the adventurers who’ve consistently requested a Papu class, to which we extend our thanks for their passion towards the game.

 

Q. What is the direction of Black Desert after Crimson Desert launches? What are the development and operational/management goals?

A. There is no change in the development direction and goal for Black Desert. We will continue to do our best to deliver the most entertaining game to all our Adventurers.
And regarding the Black Spirit appearing in Crimson Desert… I’ll pass this along to the developers.

 

Q. Not many Adventurers go to World/Field Bosses these days, especially Field Bosses. Would it be possible to improve the rewards? Also, obtaining Garmoth or Vell's Heart is dependent on luck. Do you have any plans for this?

A. We also have concerns regarding bosses. Most adventurers Lv. 60-61 are already equipped with boss gear and so may not feel the appeal in tackling bosses, yet for the novice adventurer, bosses may still be attractive and we don’t want to go about administering any big changes. Thus, in the spirit of preserving the status quo yet also applying some change, we will be implementing “Absolute Bosses” into the game. As each boss currently spawns at a certain preset time, each boss will now have a low chance to appear in a form possessing fantastical power. Absolute bosses will be quite strong, and rewards fitting of their upgraded stature are currently being prepared as well.

Also, on the Korean servers we added a quest where each Family can craft one additional Heart of Garmos, which will be updated on the global servers when O’dyllita is released.

 

Q. When raiding Vell, there are too many large ships that block the cannons, making it difficult to attack. Can you expand Vell's Sealing Stone?

A. This past June 4, after the regular maintenance on the Black Desert Global Lab, we improved the World Boss Vell raid by lowering the height of the Sealing Stone located in front of Vell so Adventurers could have an easier time approaching and bombarding Vell. This isn’t the perfect solution, so we will continue to try to improve the fundamental issue.

 

Q. Could you add an ON/OFF feature for the Agris Fever buff?

A. We introduced this feature during the regular maintenance on June 3 (Wednesday).

 

Q. Ash Forest is part of Kamayslvia, yet why don’t Caphras Stones nor Ancient Spirit Dust drop from monsters there?

A. The Ash Forest was developed with the purpose of creating a “Challenge” for Adventurers. We didn’t want the region to become a “farmable” place, so we distinguished the items that dropped from this region as well.

However, the only real current challenge for Adventurers in Ash Forest is getting the Deboreka Necklace, and so we are discussing the possibility of adding another “reward” to this region. We predict that this will take some time to update, especially for the art department. We hope today’s answer may have offered a slight hint of what our adventurers may look forward to.

 

Q. Guild Missions being limited to 10 per day regardless of the guild size seems a bit too small. Are there any plans to increase the daily Guild Mission count based on guild size?

A. We have not increased the daily limit for Guild Missions due to the fear of adding additional pressure on Adventurers to participate more to complete them, nor is there any plan to do so for the time being. Instead, we plan to add Guild Missions that require a bit more of a team effort to complete.
For example, these new missions could require teaming up with a guild member who’s good at hunting, another with a member who enjoys gathering, with those that are expert navigators of the sea, and so on.

 

Q. Are the stats for Ogre Ring and Laytenn Necklace completely the same?

A. Yes, they’re completely the same. I remember there was a developer from way back who had a TET Ogre Ring, thought that the TET Laytenn Necklace’s icon was prettier, and sold the Ogre Ring to buy the Laytenn Ring...those were the days.

 

Q. There’s an increase in users who give up after a short period of time due to the copious amount of quests and boredom from hunting monsters, or not being able to gather enough silver for higher levels of Life Skill content. This is really impacting the in-game experience and are there any plans to resolve this growing issue?

A. The new class Hashashin, the Old Moon Grand Prix, specialized servers, Thornwood Fortress and Bounty systems are all content we unveiled here at the Heidel Ball: AT HOME where we focused on active and engaging gameplay.

Our updates are heavily impacted by the current in-game atmosphere. We have on-going analyses to achieve a proper balance of inactive and active content, and we will continue to work hard at doing so.

 

Q. I returned to Black Desert due to the Season Servers. I really thought the Season Servers with the Tuvala gear content was a good idea, to the point where I was even suspicious if this was the same Black Desert I’d start playing ages ago or not. However, it’s always sad to see continuous failure in enhancement and dwindling enhancement materials. It is indeed possible to guarantee enhancement to TRI with Refined Magical Black Stones, yet I feel that I needed to at least enhance the Tuvala gear to TET before it is exchanged for normal boss gear to consider my time spent on the Season Servers worthwhile. Are you planning to make the enhancement system a bit more novice friendly in the next Season?

A. First off, we’re truly thankful that you enjoyed the Season Server content. It was a challenge for us, and we are only grateful that many adventures were able to enjoy it.
During this Season Server period, we collected a lot of feedback from customer support that enhancing gear was quite difficult, and yet, the only thing that we can do, unfortunately, is to offer words of encouragement. We deliberately made enhancing Tuvala gear to TRI-TET-PEN harder, and we have no plans to make that process any easier. We didn’t want the Season Servers to be a place for novice adventurers to easily obtain gear, but rather to get a mild taste of the enhancement system, as well as providing a space for them to bond with existing adventurers as well. We felt that this would be a healthy transition and enjoyable way to adjust. On the other hand, once the first Season Server ends, we will be analyzing all of the data to work on pruning parts that were considered too cumbersome.

 

Q. For the next season, please solve the issue of the wait time between moving from season servers to normal servers, and vice versa. Since normal characters can’t enter season servers, there were a lot of issues regarding farming or world boss raids, etc.

A. Ah… this is something we will most definitely seek to resolve and/or improve. If impossible, we will consider a different direction altogether.

 

Q. Black Desert boasts a wealth of diverse content and adventurers can pick & choose from the ones they want to play. However, there also exists content that was made a while back and yet has lost the adventurers’ interest, such as Savage Rifts and defending Valtarra Relics. Are there any plans to improve the rewards of such forgotten content, and if so, when do you plan on updating them?

A. We apologize for letting such content stay neglected for so long. Both of the above mentioned content were not soloable and required Adventurers to team up, making it somewhat difficult for us to determine the best way to improve them. Rather than a huge change, we will go about implementing small improvements one at a time.
We will start by looking into Valtarra Relics first.

 

Q. There are currently 19 classes in the game; how many more do you plan on releasing? How many classes are still in-development?

A. How many...is something we’ve yet to ask ourselves. We plan on continuing to release updates with new classes. We are asked the question of how many new classes in development each year, and we’ve always shouted out “we are making this class, we are making that class”. only within the depths of our heart. This year too will be no exception. We are still developing and researching new classes at this time.

 

Q. Are there plans to create a hunting ground for Adventurers with low AP & DP to enjoy the hunting experience? For example, to increase the number of Adventurers capable of hunting in a specific area, automatically adjust the regional monsters’ damage and defense according to the adventurer’s gear. Currently the number of hunting grounds we can enter is rather limited with just Oasis gear.

A. Currently there are no such plans. The recommended stats for hunting grounds serve as a stepping stone for Adventurers to measure their own growth, therefore we plan on maintaining their current state.

 

Q. Are there any plans to apply a fixed chance of acquiring knowledge or increasing knowledge ranks to not just the adventurer who makes the final hit, but for all adventurers who’ve attacked the world boss and/or their minions as well?

A. We’ll take this into account and see if we can make improvements.

 

Q. Are there any plans to make Arduanatt and Diné 2-seaters?

A. The reason we don’t add the 2-seater option to Arduanatt and Diné is we feel that these Dream Horses already have such tremendous merit and appeal. If we allow the Dream Horse to have every kind of ability, those Adventurers who only own regular horses and 2-seaters would definitely have conflicting opinions on that matter. We plan on focusing on each Dream Horse’s specialty, so that they won’t be regarded as the most superior of all horses.

 

Q. Are there any plans to add the option to send mail in-game? Like sending in-game mail even to offline players.

A. Truthfully, the mailbox was planned to be removed sometime ago. It was made solely as a means of receiving rewards from GMs/events during Black Desert’s developmental stage. Since last year, we’ve been sending more rewards to Adventurers through the “Black Spirit’s Safe”, and we originally planned on getting rid of the mailbox altogether once we finished converting all rewards to the safe.

However, upon second thought, we felt a bit sad. We were flooded with thoughts of Adventurers seeking to use the mail function for reasons such as a concerned guild member wanting to contact an absent guild member, someone suddenly desiring to send in-game mail to another, or an adventurer who misses a fellow comrade-in-arms, etc. Rather than remove the mailbox altogether, we are coordinating with the development team to make “mail” itself a function. We actually enjoy discussing matters like these. While no surefire answer has been settled upon, we will share any good results as soon as they occur.

 

Q. Are there any plans to add a “Mastery System” to gear or skills?

A. We always welcome good ideas. You can send these through Support, and we will definitely take a look.

 

Q. It’s sad to see very few people in older hunting grounds. I believe updating them will bring more Adventurers back.

A. There are no plans for making huge changes to hunting grounds after Mediah. However, the Balenos - Calpheon regions, internally known as the “growth regions,” are set to be improved in specialized servers. In a specialized server, monsters in these regions will become incredibly stronger, and their rewards will be greatly improved as well. For example, the Red Orc Camp inhabited by the Red Orcs may evolve into a zone requiring 240 AP and higher.

Q. When balancing, do developers normally follow the requests of the community, or do they solely take notes from participating in Node/Conquest War? One Adventurer claimed that they purposely sway the community’s opinion in order to get their class buffed - do such rumors have any validity?

 

A. Honestly speaking, we don’t consider the community’s opinions when balancing. Instead, we carefully inspect bug reports. Usually we find a good portion of community posts consist of nameless players bashing other classes, so we instruct our developers to not read these, especially per chance they could be swayed by such comments. We take in our own personal gameplay experience and data to balance the game, along with the feedback obtained through customer support. As we mentioned during the Heidel Ball: AT HOME, we want to hear the opinions of expert players by inviting them to come and discuss with us since they both enjoy their specific class and play at a professionally competitive level.
Yet, in that light, we don’t plan on solely basing our future updates on the opinions of expert Adventurers alone, as we will also take your question into consideration when making our final decision.

Note: We re-evaluated the way that this answer was translated. A more accurate representation of the meaning has been added below.

A: Honestly speaking, we try to avoid being overtly influenced by community trends while balancing as we understand that posts on the topic of balance can be subjective. While we do take a look at what people are saying, there are many posts by nameless players taking shots at other classes. We make sure that our developers understand that these are subjective opinions, and may be a result of a recent duel. So when a player says that they swayed the community to balance X class or Y class, they are not being truthful.
 For balancing, we generally take our own gameplay experience, and the data that is available to us to balance the game, along with feedback through official channels such as CS tickets, forum posts etc. As mentioned in the Heidel Ball: AT HOME, we want to hear the opinions of players who excel at their class by inviting them to discuss with us, as they enjoy their specific class, and play at an incredibly advanced level. But even then, we do not plan on solely basing future updates on the opinions of the top Adventurers alone, but we will use this as a good starting point to explore future balance changes.

 

Q Is there any chance that the Great Ocean region will be expanded further? Also, any additional Great Ocean field bosses?

A. This isn’t the right time to discuss Great Ocean expansions. When we have some notable news to share, we will return to this matter. Currently we have no plans for additional Great Ocean field bosses, but on second thought, there isn’t really a reason not to be. We will start by preparing some new “Star Candy” (Starred Monsters) to appear on your minimaps.

 

Q. Before I ask my questions, I’d like to first explain why I have them. Due to the nature of the MMORPG genre, I believe the barrier of entry is something that is always on the mind of both the developers and players. I understand it’s not easy to preserve the value of the effort players put into growing a character, and at the same time, being able to offer a chance to new players to catch up. Black Desert previously implemented limits to AP/DP for Tier 1 Nodes to try to revitalize Node War, but I feel there are still a lot of problems. If you look at the guilds that are winning in Node War, you’ll mostly see a couple of guilds just holding a majority of the Nodes. While these guilds have invested time and effort into winning Nodes, over the course of time they’ve started to monopolize them and have just become a hurdle for guilds first starting out in Node War. So, here are my questions.

1. Thoughts on a specific guild holding multiple Nodes (Question regarding the possibility of 1 guild, 1 node)
2. Additional limitations besides AP and DP for closing the gap (limits on HP, resistance, etc.)
3. How to prevent guilds that sit on a Tier 1 Node for a long time and enter Node War (Possibly introduce Guild Fame that increases when a guild wins in Node War or gains several Nodes, and use this Guild Fame number to adjust profits from lower tier Nodes or just make participating in lower tier Node Wars not possible)
I hope to hear your responses regarding these 3, thank you.

Q. There are currently not enough guilds in Node/Conquest War. While I do believe that the introduction of the War Hero and Guild Alliance system brought a breath of fresh air to the somewhat stagnant Node/Conquest War, these systems also had several negative side effects once they became a fixture. First off, since War Heroes can participate in Node/Conquest War even if their guild isn’t, some players just participate in Siege War as War Heroes without a guild, and there even are mercenary-focused guilds for players who just participate as War Heroes. As a result, not only is the number of guild members who participate in Siege War decreasing, but the number of guilds that participate are decreasing as well. So every week, guilds that diligently participate in Node War only encounter the same guilds over and over again or stick guilds, which causes a cycle of declining interest. Not that long ago, the number of Nodes that Node War occurred in every day was reduced, but that seemed to only be a band-aid fix and there currently isn’t a lot of guilds properly participating in Node War. All these problems about Node War are getting worse and worse as time goes on.

The same is true for Conquest War. Since the attacking side can accept the maximum number of War Heroes, while the defending side can’t accept War Heroes, this makes the attacking side way too advantageous. Furthermore, guilds that usually have a small number of guild members can still accept a lot of mercenaries to fill their ranks. The problem is that guilds which accept the most powerful mercenaries are the ones that are most dominant in the Siege War. All this leads into incentivizing low guild membership and accepting as many mercenaries as possible, so the end result is a declining sense of accomplishment for winning Siege War as it becomes more about the strength of your mercenaries instead. Naturally this makes the number of guilds participating in Conquest War to decrease. So, I’d like to hear the developers’ thoughts on these problems regarding Node/Conquest War, and if possible, your plans on solving these problems.

 

A. Node/Conquest War is one of Black Desert’s characteristic content that many guilds, big or small, take part in. With so many guilds taking interest and enjoying it, we’ve received and compiled a variety of feedback which we used to make our changes so far. While we will continue to make changes in this manner, let us speak about this topic a bit more today.

One of the biggest current issues of Node War is relatively powerful guilds joining Tier 1 Nodes and making it harder for “novice guilds” to participate and have fun. (We tried to solve this problem by introducing limits on AP/DP and War Heroes, and while at first it was better, over time stronger guilds once again took over Tier 1 Nodes.) To solve this problem, we believe our first priority is to find a fundamental solution, so that stronger guilds will challenge higher-tier Nodes instead of Tier 1 Nodes. While we do have many ideas, we are examining ways to bring new change to Node War in the near future, including making the rewards better.

As for guilds that are having trouble in the beginning stages, we are considering making lower tiers that are PvE based. This will be akin to an introduction-based Node, and we plan to set it up as a fun goal for guilds that are starting out. But since this is an introduction-based node for a novice guild, guilds won’t be able to keep at it for a long time as it is just meant to encourage them to participate in the original Tier 1 Node Wars.

Of course, we also plan on changing the way you’ll take Nodes. Right now (if Conquest War isn’t the goal), a single guild can take a Node and comfortably try to take another Node over the course of the week. This is where we want to make some changes. We described it as a “hopscotch” or “capture-the-zone” at the Heidel Ball, where if Guild A takes Node B, then afterwards, Guild A can try to take Node C that is connected to B, but we plan to make it difficult or impossible to take the remaining unconnected nodes D and E. Guilds will be able to expand in this way and grow their influence, but it’ll also be more damaging if they lose control of a connecting Node. Additionally, this format will make it harder to defend 2 or 3 Nodes while attacking, so we are considering improving the already developed Alliance system to encourage cooperation when needed. These node connections will also be set up differently for each territory. (The changes are still under development and are subject to change.)

War Heroes, which many players call “mercenaries”, was first introduced as one of the ways you could participate in Node/Conquest War if you were a member of another guild or weren’t a member of a guild. We intentionally didn’t set a limit on more Adventurers participating, so that even weaker guilds could challenge Conquest War, but there have been cases where the strength of the War Heroes has gone beyond that of the guild itself, so as a result, we want to limit that. While we could just limit the number of War Heroes that could participate in Conquest War, we are also considering limiting the participation costs to enable more tactical management. We want to set maximum limits for participation costs according to guild or territory, and the total combat rating calculated for each War Hero’s level, gear, etc. would not be able to go over the maximum. Therefore, guilds that need a War Hero will need to weigh the cost of choosing a select number of the best Adventurers or just a bigger number of average Adventurers depending on the situation. Once we’ve tested and deliberated over this a bit more, we will make an announcement through the Black Desert Global Labs after we’ve finalized our direction. Also, we plan to allow the defending side to have War Heroes as well.

Lastly, adjustments to certain siege weapons. The current siege weapons each have their own roles and are organized into a kind of rock-paper-scissors set up, but the monster weapons, Troll and Ogre, are relatively too effective. Thus, we’re considering keeping their current direction, but limiting adding limitations or changing their roles altogether, so that they can be utilized in other ways.

We understand we cannot 100% satisfy all the guilds and Adventurers who participate in Node/Conquest War. Nevertheless, even though we’ve continued to make improvements to problems to prevent them from becoming fixtures, we apologize for the state of the wars to have remained in its current state as long as it did. We will not be stopping our constant attempts at changes and our final goal is to make Node/Conquest War into something you can challenge and enjoy like a sport. What we mentioned today is only a part of the overall picture, and we will continue to take your feedback and make announcements as soon as our development is finished.

 

Q. Can you let us lower Guild Incentives to tier 0 for certain guild members?

Q. The Guild Incentive system is way too inconvenient to use. It’s a tiring process every time I give my guild members incentives.

Q. Could you make it possible to let us set allowances for mercenaries in batches or collectively? For instance, the guild master has to give out allowances after defeating Khan, but it requires them to click everyone one-by-one to send it out, which takes way too much time. Please fix this.

 

A. Regarding this UI quality-of-life change, we will work on this immediately once we’ve set a schedule, and we will do our best to update this as quickly as possible. Additionally, we are not considering a tier 0 for guild incentives yet. We know some guild members might not be able to play or have the best behavior, but they are still your guild members who share your guild mark. (We believe that adding a tier 0 payment will cause more attempts at exploitation)

 

Q. Are there plans for enhancements levels higher than PEN (V)?

 

A. We currently don’t have any plans to add higher enhancement levels than PEN (V).

 

Q. Are you going to expand upon content that uses musical instruments?

A. For Shai, we plan to improve upon her Talent and add more system features like musical/performance techniques & sound modulation effects. Once we’ve added this, you’ll be able to play the same instrument with a different kind of feel, and you’ll be able to tune your sound with audio effects. Beyond this we don’t have any other definite expansion plans yet, but we’ll let you know once we’ve finalized our development direction.

 

Q. Please let other classes use the Compose/Play system.

 

A. Since this is content that was created exclusively for Shai, we expect to keep it only to Shai for now. Once we’ve expanded upon musical instrumental content in the future and if Shai can treat her musical composition/performance more professionally, we will consider allowing other classes to be able to use it on a limited-basis.

Q. At the Heidel Ball: AT HOME, Adventurers worldwide were able to meet online without space constraints. Going a step further, I hope to see Pearl Abyss’ direct service bring Adventurers from all around the world in one server, so I’m wondering if this is a possible update if the technology is developed in the future.

 

A. This is a very difficult task, but it’s not a challenge we will not shy away from. Rather than try to accomplish this in one go, we will be trying our first attempts with Thailand and Southeast Asia, and go on from there using the experience we gain.

Q. Are there any plans to lower the silver you can earn from Ocean Bartering and add more exchange amounts for Crow Coins? Currently, there aren't a lot of Manos accessories, so it’s difficult to get a supply in the Central Market and you can’t buy enhancement materials due to the large volume of silver.

A. Recently, we’ve made an update to replace the Silver made from Bartering with Crow Coins by making it possible to exchange Level 4 Trade Goods for Crow Coins and introducing “Gold Items” to Material Bartering. We believe the main enhancement materials, including Manos, should be obtained through the original method, so we plan to keep Bartering as a supporting role.

Q. Are there any plans to add a larger variety of Carrack equipment similar to the Ebenruth's Nol? For example, an equipment that can let you fire from the front of a ship! Instead of adding more mounts/ships, how about updating things like this?

A. We’re open to the possibility of adding more Carrack equipment, but we haven’t had any specific discussions yet on what kind of equipment we’d add (and what effects it’d have). We agree that there should be more ways to attack, and we will keep this in mind when developing the next Treasure Item. However, considering the historical precedent, we would also like to say that placing a cannon at the prow of a ship might not be right for a Carrack.

Q. Will there be an outfit that allows Ninja to equip 6 great swords?

A. We feel that 6 great swords would be too out of character for Ninja, so we’ll do our best to create amazing outfits that really highlight Ninja’s theme instead of giving him 6 great swords.

Q. I’m someone who loves PvP. Will there be any new major content updates from a PvP perspective? Such as Territory War, more interesting Conquest and Node War System, which encourage more teamplay and objective-based playstyles, or different RBF game modes?

Q. Just like with Bartering, Gathering, and Defeating Monsters, PvP content also needs to be updated. (Letting Adventurers earn silver from PvP, etc.) The rewards you get from Red Battlefield are basically worth the same as just “Fame”. There are zero rewards for open world PvP, so it’s turning into content that feels like a waste of time, since defeated Adventurers can just come back right away. Please give us more reasons to participate in PvP content.

A. In regards to PvP content, we’ve added and improved the Team Battle, Final Battle, and Arena of Arsha after the introduction of the Red Battlefield. As for Red Battlefield, we’ve added rewards, including Combat EXP, so you can still somewhat grow your character and farm while doing it. At the early stages of Black Desert, there were 1:1 and 3:3 matches akin to ranking matches, but they weren’t enjoyed by many Adventurers, so we ended up completely removing them. Recently though, more and more Adventurers have expressed their longing for the past ranking matches. We are currently developing Thornwood Battlefield, but afterwards, we will look into our Adventurers’ feedback, and promise to continue to gradually expand on more action-packed and thrilling content for PvP-loving Adventurers.

Q. Are there any plans for a PvP mode where players are equipped with the same level of gear?

A. We currently don’t have any plans for such a PvP mode yet. We want to focus on PvP content that rewards the effort Adventurers put into growing their character. Black Desert is an MMORPG, which means it is a game where Adventurers strive to become stronger through their hard-work and efforts. We plan to continue to stay loyal to this basic philosophy. Of course, out we will continue to implement a variety of features such as Olvia servers, Season servers, Tuvalu gear, etc. to help Adventurers who are newly starting out to get stronger faster, and if they put in a certain level of effort, be able somewhat stand with the current Adventurers.

Q. The current skill system for classes seems too simple. How about making the skill mechanisms a little more complex by introducing more unique skills to each class?

A. We don’t have any plans to make major changes to the skill system for all the classes. Black Desert at its core specializes in combat that is fast and offers a lot of freedom. At first all skills had cooldowns where you couldn’t use them, but this felt too limiting, so we made a number of skills be usable even during the cooldown time. We believe the adaptation and assessment process is in itself a part of the “Combat Method”. That’s why we won't implement skills that are more complex than now.

Black Desert is meant to be a place where you can have fun with many other Adventurers. Instead of more complex systems, we will continue to look into and examine skills that are more intuitive or have new forms, functions, or abilities. Additionally, we will consider things to make certain classes feel a bit more demanding control-wise by clearly bringing out the concept of the class.

Q. Can you share your thoughts on changing up the current meta of PvP in Black Desert? Because I think that there should be a diverse choice on the stats that you put in on your character, unlike now where evasion is a step above. I think creating a diverse set of choices can make Adventurers choose their weapons, armors, and accessories more differently.

Q. The current meta is for evasion gear, which is stronger than damage reduction gear, so I want to ask about your thoughts about the gap between evasion and damage reduction gear.

A. Truthfully, this is what we’re deliberating about the most internally. Black Desert’s evasion system at its basics will ignore an opponent’s attack all together, which makes accuracy incredibly important from the opponent’s perspective. However, while accuracy can be gained from gear, there also exists a discrepancy depending on the skill effects of each class. What we’re considering is giving all classes more basic accuracy, along with changing the accuracy number for skill effects, so there isn’t that much of a gap between skills, and changing evasion from avoiding all damage to some damage (e.g. evading takes only 1/10 of damage instead). As for damage reduction, we are discussing various possibilities, including supplementing defensive skills with additional effects like with accuracy or even a formula of maximizing damage reduction effects through add-ons.

However, we haven’t been able to easily come to a decision due to how much of an impact they have to the game. Even though we haven’t decided upon what exact method we’ll take, we won’t give up, and we’ll continue holding discussions until we come to an answer. If you have any good suggestions like these questions, please feel free to submit a ticket to our Support, and we’ll read them all closely.

Q. There are many theories and assumptions about RNG. Some Adventurers even think that certain accounts are “chosen” (Horoscope, character creation date, enhancement date/time, etc.) So, is there anything that actually affects RNG? Or is RNG really just pure luck?

A. There are no “chosen” accounts, everyone's the same and this will remain the same in the future. As the person writing this answer though... I always talk to Crio before enhancing. It makes me feel happier when I see his face... even though the end results are the same...

Q. Thank you for creating such a fun game! What I want to ask most about in Black Desert is PK. Not long ago, I was in the middle of a quest when I was suddnely interrupted by being PK’d. This is the biggest reason why I can’t recommend Black Desert to my friends. It’s a very unpleasant experience, because it’s a one-sided act of bullying/harassment. Can you at least change the normal field to be like mobile where you can only fight in PK mode? I don’t want to be on edge and wondering when I’ll be attacked. I just want to peacefully enjoy the beautiful scenery, background music, and wonderful stories! I believe Black Desert would become an MMO that’s worth more of my time and money than now.

A. Black Desert has fundamentally large penalties for PK, because we judged PK as a system where Adventurers could chase our other Adventurers. We don’t expect to change this direction much in the future. (There are also Adventurers who want more PK, so we’ve released content with reduced PK penalties such as the Desert areas and Arsha server.) Also, Black Desert has several ways to avoid PK, so we won’t be creating a separating PK mode.

On the other hand, we want to take the approach of showing you how to avoid PK instead when you experience unwanted PK. You can move servers, get guild protection, access private mode, or go to other similar hunting grounds to avoid PK in Black Desert, but it seems these ways might be unknown to newer Adventurers. We will make improvements to help Adventurers get used to these ways.

Q. Is there any hidden content in Black Desert that still remains undiscovered? For example, a hunting ground not on the map, a monster that appears at random locations for a short time that drops an artifact-like powerful weapon/armor, or something like that! If such things exist, I think even novice Adventurers will try for them to catch up to stronger Adventurers with better gear. Plus, it makes players dream for adventure!

A. When we developed Valencia, we created Aakman Temple and Hystria Ruins (which have no entrance, but a portal you need to discover instead) to give you that kind of feeling/experience. But since Black Desert is an MMORPG, it’s difficult to ignore the fact it’ll be repeated content instead of a one-time thing, and as a result, it is designed in a form that is available to everyone. Realistically, while it is very difficult to keep it hidden, we will consider expanding content in a similar manner to Aakman Temple and Hystria Ruins as you suggested. As for artifacts, this is something we are currently developing. While its direction is different from what you suggested, it’ll be something you can look forward to in the terms of the thirst and challenge for adventure.

Also, there exist some fun elements that are still hidden. For instance, the previous Rich Merchant's Ring still hasn't been obtained by an Adventure because the method to obtain it is difficult and remains unclear. There are also content regarding hints for monster drops through NPC lines or hidden caves, and some unique things like a buff from playing instruments that don’t impact the main gameplay, but many Adventurers haven’t discovered them yet. While we won’t set them at too high of a value, we’ll continue to create little by little these kinds of fun and hidden elements to add to the feeling of adventure and discovery.

Q. When will the door in the Ancient Stone Chamber guarded by Edana's descendant reopen? I’m really curious!
We’re also looking forward to the day the door reopens, and we know we’ll be thrilled when we can finally deliver the update.

Q. There currently exists several minigames for Life Skills such as Fishing and Lakiaro. Do you have any plans to make more?

A. Yes, we do plan on increasing the number of minigames, so please be patient a little longer. It might be a separate content expansion like Lakario or it could be for the purpose of increasing the quality-of-life in a Life Skill.

Q. While I’m always having fun playing, I want to know if there’s any progress on the “chariot” or “oil excavation in the desert” (guild content?) which was previously planned for development.

A. When Chariots were in the developmental stage, they were moving cannon platforms, but were too powerful balance-wise and would reduce the fun of Conquest War, so we ended up canceling their update. Currently, we have Ogre and Troll for each respective role instead of the chariot. As for the oil drilling content we announced at the opening of Valencia, it’s currently undergoing overhaul. At that time we couldn’t quite get the fun elements right and ensure it wouldn’t be exploitable, but we’re once again discussing it now to get it right and hope to deliver good results. The timing of this update will be around the same time as the Valencia story revamp.

Q. Characters currently don’t learn new skills after level 61. Are you at all considering having higher levels let us learn more powerful skills or make characters more powerful?

A. While this is similar to a previous answer, we didn’t put any big rewards after level 60 or make leveling a way to get stronger, because we wanted to reduce the pressure of having to level up. Even though expanding ways for your character to get stronger beyond just gear is our intended direction for development (one of these is Igor Bartali’s Adventure Log), we are not considering making your character suddenly more powerful based on level. Of course, this is something we can expand upon little by little with other content as time passes by, but for now, we will maintain the current state.

Q. Death is an important factor for changing a player’s playstyle or being a learnable moment. (Also, it shouldn’t cause you to lose EXP or Crystals that you worked hard to get.) But it’s not like this in Black Desert right now. For example, a player that dies can just resurrect 5 seconds later at a nearby node that is 5 meters away and “Karma Bomb” you with the current system. Please take a look at the following possible solutions.
1) Make resurrection for the 1st time be 10 seconds and add more time for every death.
2) Reduce equipment durability by -20% for each death.
3) Make it no longer possible to be able to resurrect at a nearby node and only be able to resurrect at a nearby town. (Not consuming Elion’s Tear)

A. Rather than make immediate changes for the death penalties you’ve mentioned, we believe it can be something applicable to the new regions or regions/content with clear concepts. Suddenly changing death penalties in PvP will make some Adventurers unhappy, especially since they’ve been in Black Desert for a long time. However, as we mentioned, we believe we can apply it to content or regions with a clear concept to create new thrilling or fun elements.

Q. How about adding a Mentor-Mentee system? For example, after getting into a mentor-mentee relationship, you can complete mentor-mentee quests for rewards (silver, caphras, etc.) within a set period of time. In my opinion, this could create a new trend in Black Desert.

A. A mentor system is something we’ve internally discussed for several years and it even reached the development stage, but we couldn’t quite find a solution for rewards possibly being exploitable, so the system ended up being discarded. While it isn’t quite a Mentor-Mentee system, we currently run a Supporters program where many Adventurers (a big thanks to all of you) are acting as mentors. We will think of other ways beyond this to help new Adventurers learn and adjust to the game.

Q. Similar to character tagging, how about making it possible to tag another player’s character? Something like granting additional buffs while defeating monsters or gathering while tagged, and depending on the combination of classes tagged, passives or skills when they are in a party together. Class combinations could really help diversify gameplay. Also, how about making it possible for party members to have their AP/DP set as the party average? This could really help new players learn the game faster and understand the AP/DP numbers better. Plus, being able to give newer players a chance to play with friends in a party at mid-tier hunting grounds.

A. This is something we have to be really careful about answering as it is different from our direction for game development. Adding skills or buffs for certain class combinations could result in pressure to use them if they become a necessity or useless if their effects are insufficient. While we understand the importance of having many options, we believe it’s more important to reduce stress/fatigue from this kind of option. In a similar vein, it’s why most of the content (including hunting grounds) are designed for solo play rather than party play. We will look into using your feedback in specific content or within a limited-range. For now, we want to focus on making each class fun to play rather than connecting classes/characters.

As for setting your AP/DP to the average AP/DP of the party, this also doesn’t match our direction for game development. Black Desert is an MMORPG that we hope rewards you for your efforts. Instead, we are designing a form of cooperative play for stronger Adventurers to help not-so-strong Adventurers. (As a brief example, one Adventurer has to keep moving and interact with objects, while another defeats monsters.)

Q. In boss battles, instead of just surrounding the boss and hitting it, it’d be more fun if you could defeat the boss using tactical and objective-based attacks such as breaking shields, destroying totems, cutting tails, etc. Similar to Garmoth now, and also the new Dark Rift Helms boss is quite fun too.

A. This is something that we’ve continuously received as suggestions from several Adventurers. We try not to over-design bosses unless we have a specific concept in mind, since they are usually something you challenge as a group. However, you might want to know that we are preparing the “Pit of the Undying”, which is in the concept of a PvE arena and emphasizes the importance of tactics/objectives over gear. We want to continue to add tactical/objective-based elements in this manner, so we hope you’ll look forward to them.

Q. In a similar concept to Igor Bartali’s Adventure Log, could you add a book/log that you complete/clear with guild members for permanent buffs? These books could also have party/platoon requirements and also gear score (AP+DP) requirements at higher tiers, thus creating extra guild PvP and PvE events catering to all levels, these could also reward extra buffs for guild parties and platoons participating in guild missions as a party or platoon.

A. An Adventure Log with guild members or party members isn’t something that we’ve thought about before. Since it has the advantage of being content that you only do once, it should be possible for us to prepare something that you enjoy with others as a major goal-orientated type of content. We’ll take your suggestion as a basis and try to develop it more. Thank you.

Q. Are there any plans to add minigames like the ones in the Kratuga Ancient Ruins or Abandoned Monastery to other hunting grounds? I feel like minigames make hunting grounds more engaging and fun.

A. We are going to continue to add these kinds of bonus/extra elements to hunting grounds, but we won’t be just shoe-horning them in, but making sure they fit in naturally.

Q. I’m someone who doesn’t do any PvP, etc. but plays Black Desert because I enjoy Life Skill content. However, I feel like there isn’t an “end game” content for Adventurers who min/max Life Skills. Adventurers who play PvE/PvP can enjoy the search for “Treasure Items” or battle in Node War, but Life Skill Adventurers don’t have much else to do. Thus, I’d like to ask if there are any plans to add “end game” content for Life Skills?

A. We don’t really consider “end game” content for anything, and this isn’t something that is limited to certain content, but is the same across all content. In regards to Life Skill content, we will continue to expand on a variety of factors to make it more in-depth, so you can have more to delve into. While we’ve announced this before, we will start off by focusing on the Old Moon Grand Prix and make our way to Trading afterwards.

As for “treasure items”, this is something that is already a part of Life Skills. In fact, characters that are at least Guru Alchemy can synthesize a summoning scroll for Kzarka, the Lord of Corruption. We’ll either give some hints or prepare other ways for this item to get more attention.

 

How was the global Q&A with yours truly?

See you next time!