I don't think a "Black Desert" thread was ever made for it but it's definitely been brought up before. I know this because I've been freaking out over this game and babbling on about it to people. >_> From what I last read, they don't have a NA publisher yet. Only Korea
If you're interested, I made a thread back in the DCUO forums when I played last where I linked a bunch of info from various sites (mostly Steparu) that I can link here. Or maybe just copy past everything again...
Anyone else excited for this? I know it's a long ways off and it doesn't even have a NA publisher yet, but it still looks pretty good. It's kind of like if you took Archeage's sandbox gameplay and artistic style, mixed it with Tera's/Red Dead Redemption's combat, add in a little bit of Tera and GW2's clothing style, a dash of AoC, and some Sims 3 housing customization. I know I missed a few other aspects but I'll leave the rest for you to read in this. I'll be copy-pasting from Steparu mostly and some other sites if I see something different so those of you who don't know much about it don't have to dig around looking for all the info. Some trailers. They're long but you should really watch the full videos: If the trailers didn't get you excited, let me show you this... "Black Desert Online just became a lot more exciting for players who love to jump around and explore new areas. For those of you who are not aware yet, the
official Pearl Abyss Facebook Page posted a short article on the parkour system of the game. Parkour may sound a bit weird to gamers so lets just say they added a Prince of Persia or Assassin Creed type of system. Players can run up on walls, jump on obstacles, climb balconies, and stuff."
So yeah. Parkour system. Cool stuff, moving on.
The World
Black Desert Online is a seamless MMORPG, so there is no loading involved except when you are joining instances. They also revealed the climate and weather system, each region has a unique weather and climate that players will have to adapt too. For example, in the desert area players can raise a Camel and mine areas. In warm climate areas players will be able to farm and fish. Then there are areas that will be stormy, snowing, raining, typhoon, sunny, and etc. For example, if the climate of an area is very cold then it will start to snow or rain. Players will be able to adventure by solo play, party playing, field raids, normal raids, raid dungeons, chasing, defense kind of games, siege warfare, guild vs guild, and a lot of cool other features.
Housing System
Since Black Desert Online is a semi-sandbox MMORPG, players will be able to build their houses in certain areas or rent places in cities or towns. They will also be able to purchase their houses through the auction house system. The house is fully customizable and can be filled with all kinds furnitures! The more objects and furnitures your place, the more NPC's will often stop by and become friendly with you. Like cooking? No problem just set down the right furniture's and you can get started on cooking! The housing areas are limited so it's best to get your house early as possible. Though, they said that they are implementing something so that players who join late in the game will have a chance in owning their own house through the "Reverse system." It kind of reminds me ArcheAge because there are a lot of players who started the game late and doesn't have a place to set their house down. If you're too poor to afford a house, you'll be able to get by just fine with the tent system.
Mounts & Possible Breeding System
Black Desert offers a wide variety of mounts ranging from horses, camels, elephants, donkeys, and carts. Pearl Abyss is still debating on whether or not they should add a breeding system in the game where players can breed certain mounts into special ones.
Trading System
The game also offers a trading system where players will be able to travel and trade goods from all over the world. Players can craft special items in certain areas and trade and deliver it to the other areas of the map. The trading map looks very handy, I wish ArcheAge also had a trading map to make things easier.
Combat System
Black Desert offers two kinds of combat styles, the first one is the original third person mode that plays a bit similar to your action games like Vindictus, Continent of the Ninth, and Tera Online. The other combat mode is a bit similar to your average FPS game, or to make things easier to understand, it is a along the lines of The Elder Scroll series, where you can run around and fight in first person or third person mode. The latest trailer also showcases fighting and chasing down monsters while you're on a mount, which is cool. I've noticed that are a couple classes now which are Fighter, Magician, Archer, Predator, Tamer, Blader, Male Archer, Female Fighter(Valkyrie), and Male Wizard.
New Stuff
Some of the new stuff I noticed in the trailer is a new class below called the Blader which is a Samurai type of class. Looks awesome! Then there is also a hint of a Male Archer, Female Fighter, and a really old Gandalf I mean Wizard. Perhaps they are removing the gender/job lock system or adding new classes in general? A lot of cool new monsters and a lot of gigantic big bosses in the trailer, I seriously hope they add some crazy big ones like the ones from Shadow of the Colossus, that would make things super exciting.
Weather
The
Official Pearl Abyss Facebook Page just had a mini update about the real time weather of Black Desert Online. It roughly takes about four hours for a whole day to pass by in the game. Looking at the screenshot they provided, it seems that there are multiple or seamless transitions from day to night. Unlike other MMORPG's some of the NPC's in Black Desert Online will go home and sleep. Then there are some events that only take place during the night or day. Check out the beautiful scenery screenshots along with the real time weather transition picture right after the cut.
Some of the Q&A from Steparu’s interview with a member of the BD team:
Q: I have been really curious as to what kind of game engine Black Desert Online is running on, would you like to tell me more about it?
A: Our company uses our own game engine we don't have a specific name for the engine just yet, but we are currently calling it the "Black Desert" because we are working on that game with it. Our company consists of a lot of veteran game programmers and developers so creating a new engine wasn't that hard. We needed a special engine just for Black Desert mainly because it is a seamless world and needed an engine that can render a lot of characters very fast and easy.
Q: I have noticed in the preview trailer that this game has an Action Combat System, is there anything special about Black Deserts Combat System that makes it unique compared to others?
A: One of the things we wanted to worked hard on was the realism in action combat. We tried very hard to make the combat skills look realistic and dynamic as possible. Our main goal is to give our players full control of the combat system so that they can attack, dodge, and block monster attacks manually. We were inspired by a lot of games some like Red Dead Redemption. We want to give players more control of the battle and movement system so we added some cool mechanics while riding horses. For example, we even added horse drifting in the game!
Q: Black Desert Online's siege system looks like it has a lot of potential. Is it really true that this game will have some kind of friendly fire with cannons?
A: The cannon system is different compared to other games, players are not just shooting cannons. Players will have to manually load it with cannon balls, move the cannon, aim, adjust the angle, and etc.
Q: Will this game have some kind of Player Kill system? Are there any penalties to players that enjoy PK'ing random players or penalties to players that are killed by PK'ers?
A: PK is possible but we are still discussing on how much of it we will allow. We think that it should be just right so that players don't leave the game because of too much PK. We are also considering making PK available during guild wars, so other players can PK other players who are in GvG. It is still too early us to decide. Usually there is a chance to drop items when a player dies, though items that are binded on the character won't drop. We think that players losing a hard earned bind on pick up item will be too frustrating so we decided to go with this kind of system.
Q: What kind of features will Black Desert offer to its users?
A: One of the unique features that Black Desert will have is building a unique relationship with NPCs which I will go into detail shortly. Black Desert is a very big MMORPG, so a lot of players will enjoy exploring new areas. Once a player builds a close relationship with an NPC, they will sell the player special items that can't be acquired through the general shop. If a player develops a very close relationship with an NPC, then they will gift that player special items, quests, access to special areas, or even offer their assistance in your journeys. You can't be friends with all of the NPC's in this game. For example, there are other NPC's that don't like each other in the game and if you end up doing more favor for the other NPC, your favor from the other NPC will worsen.
Q: Are there any plans on releasing dungeons or any raid instances in this game?
A: Yes, there is! We are planning on a various kinds of dungeons in this game. We will have a lot of solo and party dungeons that are very challenging. We are also working on raid dungeons that will require a bigger party. Black Desert is a seamless world, so there is a big field which is the whole world that can be explored without loading. The world also has open field dungeons that do not require any loading. Then there are some dungeons that may require some loading.
