How much of a time sink is this game?

Senden · May 2016

Been tempted by this game a few times now, it seems like the game has more of a sandbox approach than the majority of theme park games and the classes seem cool. However the only potential problem I have is that I saw a video a few weeks back (can't remember which one) where someone gave their reasons for quitting the game and it basically was because to stay competitively viable, the game became a huge time sink. Is this accurate? I'd say I'm mainly interested in pvp but the older I get, the less time I have to dedicate to stuff, I don't want to start playing only to find that I'll be at a disadvantage just because I can't commit 5 hours a day or whatever to the game. Is this accurate? I've not done much research on how things play out once you reach max level but really and obviously MMO's by nature are time sinks but I don't want to feel that I need to play x amounts of hours per day just to keep on par with everyone else.

eyesadi · May 2016

Well, if your gonna be into PVP, and it is a PVP game, and you think 5 hours a day is a lot.....STAY far away. VERY far.

That said, I'm a 101% old pve gamer, and I normally play 2 to 4 games at the same time......and I am hopelessly addicted to the Desert. I simply cannot play any of my old favs.
Just have no desire any longer.

It's the first breath of fresh air into the genre in many years......

But I'll repeat.....if "keeping up" is an issue for you........Just pass..........TRUST me on that!

Azaron_Nightblade · May 2016

To be competitive in PvP, you're looking at some serious grinding, and investing time into equipment to avoid being completely pwned. The fact that there is no real "max" level to reach, means you'll be forever behind those who've been grinding XP hardcore from the moment the game launched.

That being said, I'm like @eyesadi above. Not bothering with it. Someone who's hardcore into PvP like @DMKano can probably give you more insight into the matter.

Gdemami · May 2016

Just to add.

The problem is there is a huge power gap in gear that increase even further with introduction +16 gear and above.

So if you think you will be able to PVP casually and get +15 gear while others are running in +18, you will be disappointed. You will get "1 shotted", despite the difference is "only" +3 enchancement level.

On the bright side, DaumEU said they are looking into rebalancing the power curve.

There aren't many OWPVP games out there and this is one of the better ones.

Senden · May 2016

Thanks for the honest answers. I bought a 7 day trial key and downloading the game now but going by the comments on here, I'm probably better off steering clear, open world pvp is definitely my thing but at my age, professional and family commitments, I just don't have the time to invest in such a lengthy endeavour.

maple2 · May 2016

Senden said:

Been tempted by this game a few times now, it seems like the game has more of a sandbox approach than the majority of theme park games and the classes seem cool. However the only potential problem I have is that I saw a video a few weeks back (can't remember which one) where someone gave their reasons for quitting the game and it basically was because to stay competitively viable, the game became a huge time sink. Is this accurate? I'd say I'm mainly interested in pvp but the older I get, the less time I have to dedicate to stuff, I don't want to start playing only to find that I'll be at a disadvantage just because I can't commit 5 hours a day or whatever to the game. Is this accurate? I've not done much research on how things play out once you reach max level but really and obviously MMO's by nature are time sinks but I don't want to feel that I need to play x amounts of hours per day just to keep on par with everyone else.

Black desert Requires alot of time. and i mean alot. if u want to stay within top 100 however dont be scared even through its mainly Pvp this game it still has far more value in Pve or Pvm content then Pvp and you do not need to do any pvp if u dont want to.

eHug · May 2016

Right now if you play 10+h a day you can nearly max out most of your gear in a few months. Which would also be doable for casuals on the long run. But most likely they will introduce +20 items while you try to grind up - and then you won't really be able to get anywhere anymore as a casual.

As for the sandbox attribute, this game really isn't. Players are not allowed to affect the world in any way beside killing other players. Ofc you can only kill them but not even loot people afterwards. Players are not allowed to trade with anybody but NPCs - and the prices are being decided by the NPCs. Housing is instanciated. That leads to the whole life skill system being actual single player content where team play is not allowed by the games rules.

There are still some people enjoying playing those single player minigames and selling stuff on the auction house, but keep in mind that many crafts (at least on my server) are not worth it. Selling price for items is noticable lower then the selling price for the craft materials for them - and since the NPCs sets the price and the game does not allow you to trade with anybody directly you are easily being screwed over.

If you are interessted in PVP you might also be interessted in the information that the game lacks server side checks for functionality like skill reuse times allowing hackers to use skills non stop without any delays. And your only way to get GMs look into it is recording a video of it. Seems they run no server logs as well.

Senden · May 2016

"Right now if you play 10+h a day you can nearly max out most of your gear in a few months. Which would also be doable for casuals on the long run. But most likely they will introduce +20 items while you try to grind up - and then you won't really be able to get anywhere anymore as a casual"
Can't say I keep up with MMOs like I used to but in what universe is 10+ hour a day "casual" ?

Senden · May 2016

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Scary stuff here:

I've masked the names, but I find that scary.
Requirement of 6h or more played daily...
Now way a 18+ adult with a job can afford playing a video game over 6 hours a day every single day.
So that's most likely a guild of jobless social leeches.

But to enjoy this game, you definitely do NOT have to do that. Just have fun and don't care about playtime. And you have many guilds which have absolutely no silly requirements and accept casual (or I'd say, normal) players.

Yeah that's INSANE, how many 18+ can invest 6 hours plus a day in a game? I'll give the trial a shot but there has to be some real no lifers in this game if guilds have those sort of recruitment requirements.

retiredmj · May 2016

Senden said:

"Right now if you play 10+h a day you can nearly max out most of your gear in a few months. Which would also be doable for casuals on the long run. But most likely they will introduce +20 items while you try to grind up - and then you won't really be able to get anywhere anymore as a casual"
Can't say I keep up with MMOs like I used to but in what universe is 10+ hour a day "casual" ?

The sad part isn't the time it takes, it's putting in the time knowing that many of the people either botted their way up or hacked there way up in levels. P2W is also a prominent thing. At least if you consider xp bonuses, tactical PvP advantages, luck bonuses etc. P2W. Which I do, I'm surprised so many, who have of course shelled over a ton of money, don't.

Currently there is nothing more wrenching than spending so much time developing a character, gearing him up and then going from 100-->0 in 3 seconds because of blatant hacks. The publisher, DAUM, also will not do anything about someone hacking unless you get a video with the persons name plate on it (B2W there's an item you can buy for RL $ that hides your nameplate).

It was fun for the first month it was out, currently it's a hot mess filled with hackers, cheats, and a cash shop that gets more P2W with every update.

maple2 · May 2016

retiredmj said:

Senden said:

"Right now if you play 10+h a day you can nearly max out most of your gear in a few months. Which would also be doable for casuals on the long run. But most likely they will introduce +20 items while you try to grind up - and then you won't really be able to get anywhere anymore as a casual"
Can't say I keep up with MMOs like I used to but in what universe is 10+ hour a day "casual" ?

The sad part isn't the time it takes, it's putting in the time knowing that many of the people either botted their way up or hacked there way up in levels. P2W is also a prominent thing. At least if you consider xp bonuses, tactical PvP advantages, luck bonuses etc. P2W. Which I do, I'm surprised so many, who have of course shelled over a ton of money, don't.

Currently there is nothing more wrenching than spending so much time developing a character, gearing him up and then going from 100-->0 in 3 seconds because of blatant hacks. The publisher, DAUM, also will not do anything about someone hacking unless you get a video with the persons name plate on it (B2W there's an item you can buy for RL $ that hides your nameplate).

It was fun for the first month it was out, currently it's a hot mess filled with hackers, cheats, and a cash shop that gets more P2W with every update.

sorry but i dont think you know what p2w means.. since the cash shop actually doesnt have anything related to p2w.. u cannot win by buying anything in cash shop. nothing in Cash shop is needed. its only convient. items like exp and good looking armor. pets are not neccessory at all .

and also dont talk like you know anything about what Daum is doing. They are actually working they ass out to wipe those hackers off the map. but seeing how naive and dumb you truly are makes me think how you like blizzard or any other company like the worst company in the world called Nexon.

and i bet you dont even play the game. () B2W there's an item you can buy for RL $ that hides your nameplate). so what? u can hide it using the Option menu u idiot. and also hiding your name doesnt improve your skills at all.. how dumb are you>?. FYI when u use that Suit u also Glow Red.

Hey lets hide our nameplate in Wow,rift,tera and so on.. its a common feature to reduce the amount of things the Gpu,Cpu has to handle.

maple2 · May 2016

DMKano said:

maple2 said:

retiredmj said:

Senden said:

"Right now if you play 10+h a day you can nearly max out most of your gear in a few months. Which would also be doable for casuals on the long run. But most likely they will introduce +20 items while you try to grind up - and then you won't really be able to get anywhere anymore as a casual"
Can't say I keep up with MMOs like I used to but in what universe is 10+ hour a day "casual" ?

The sad part isn't the time it takes, it's putting in the time knowing that many of the people either botted their way up or hacked there way up in levels. P2W is also a prominent thing. At least if you consider xp bonuses, tactical PvP advantages, luck bonuses etc. P2W. Which I do, I'm surprised so many, who have of course shelled over a ton of money, don't.

Currently there is nothing more wrenching than spending so much time developing a character, gearing him up and then going from 100-->0 in 3 seconds because of blatant hacks. The publisher, DAUM, also will not do anything about someone hacking unless you get a video with the persons name plate on it (B2W there's an item you can buy for RL $ that hides your nameplate).

It was fun for the first month it was out, currently it's a hot mess filled with hackers, cheats, and a cash shop that gets more P2W with every update.

sorry but i dont think you know what p2w means.. since the cash shop actually doesnt have anything related to p2w.. u cannot win by buying anything in cash shop. nothing in Cash shop is needed. its only convient. items like exp and good looking armor. pets are not neccessory at all .

and also dont talk like you know anything about what Daum is doing. They are actually working they ass out to wipe those hackers off the map. but seeing how naive and dumb you truly are makes me think how you like blizzard or any other company like the worst company in the world called Nexon.

and i bet you dont even play the game. () B2W there's an item you can buy for RL $ that hides your nameplate). so what? u can hide it using the Option menu u idiot. and also hiding your name doesnt improve your skills at all.. how dumb are you>?. FYI when u use that Suit u also Glow Red.

Hey lets hide our nameplate in Wow,rift,tera and so on.. its a common feature to reduce the amount of things the Gpu,Cpu has to handle.

The cash shop certainly sells items that speed up progression.

The costume that helps you train horses faster, the costume that gives you +1 fishing increased swim speed and reduced stamina cost of swimming.

Pets that can increase XP gain can certainly speed up your progression.

Lucky underwear for better drops helps, earring and glasses that help you S rank knowledge - hugely helpful in end game drop grinding.

And treant suit is a must in PvP - my guild requires it. Glowing red meana nothing - because when you have 20 of us all glowing red - who are you going to focus on?

If there is a single nameplate visible - guess who gets focused on first?

While I don't believe in P2W in any game - money in all games ALWAYS provides an advantage - Black Desert is no different.

Players that spend more will progress faster.

Also stuff in cash shop that helps immensely;

Weight limit increase - can buy 300+ lb permanent increase for each character

Inventory space increase up to 196 - if you want to make a ton of money afk fishing this could be hugely helpful.

Again BDO is like many other games with cash shops - the cash shop can speed up proeression and players that spend a lot do have an easier time in game

wrong people who spend more does not progress faster.. as u actively have to use it. and also u would still need to use 10 hours + to use those cash shop items fully..

adderVXI · May 2016

Op, you really should give it a try and see for yourself. If you can resist the competitive nature at the top and just enjoy pretty much every other aspect of the game its a ton of fun.

eHug · May 2016

Senden said:

"Right now if you play 10+h a day you can nearly max out most of your gear in a few months. Which would also be doable for casuals on the long run.[...]"
Can't say I keep up with MMOs like I used to but in what universe is 10+ hour a day "casual" ?

I tried to say that right now the effort still is low enough for casuals to catch up "on the long run" (meaning they will take more time, not the same). Might have been badly phrased if you read "10+ hours is casual" out of it

+20 gear is insanely hard to get, that's where casuals won't have any chance anymore.

Sovrath · May 2016

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Scary stuff here:

I've masked the names, but I find that scary.
Requirement of 6h or more played daily...
No way a 18+ adult with a job can afford playing a video game over 6 hours a day every single day.
So that's most likely a guild of jobless social leeches.

I could, I just wouldn't!

Kyleran · May 2016

Sovrath said:

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Scary stuff here:

I've masked the names, but I find that scary.
Requirement of 6h or more played daily...
No way a 18+ adult with a job can afford playing a video game over 6 hours a day every single day.
So that's most likely a guild of jobless social leeches.

I could, I just wouldn't

Way back when I played L2 at US launch I recall the guild holding Giran advertised you had to play 10 hours a day to be a member.

I did not join.

fodell54 · May 2016

Sovrath said:

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Scary stuff here:

I've masked the names, but I find that scary.
Requirement of 6h or more played daily...
No way a 18+ adult with a job can afford playing a video game over 6 hours a day every single day.
So that's most likely a guild of jobless social leeches.

I could, I just wouldn't!

Anyone could, it just leaves you no life beside this game. That's a life I don't know why any adult (or anyone for that matter) would want to live.

mikuniman · May 2016

BDO is a great game, decided not to do the pvp thing because of the massive time sink. Still, I enjoy everything else enough to put a decent amount of time in regardless messing about with the rest of the content. Rng in this game sucks the fun out for me. At least with Tera and some others that use most likely the house lost.

Gravend · May 2016

It's a massive time sink with no pve end game, it's basically a pure pvp game. Most people playing spend more time in-game afk fishing than anything. I played for 3 months, 42 days in-game, and I didn't afk fish at all. It took about that long to get the best gear pre-world boss drops. To be honest though, I feel like I wasted my time. It's pretty much a main streamlined game with nothing to work towards but equality. It's basically a grinding game to get gear to be better at pvp.

I just recently quit, because I was wasting way too much time in-game. Don't get me wrong it is very fun at first. However, the pvp is 100% gear based, and has very little to do with skill. I was destroying people on my ranger, and I couldn't aim for heck. But if I landed 1 or 2 shots I instantly killed people because of my gear.

holdenhamlet · May 2016

To be "competitive" in any MMO at the top level you either have to grind all day or spend lots of cash. That's because the top people are grinding all day and spending lots of cash.

"Competitive" means something different depending on who you talk to. The guy above me felt competitive if he 1 or 2 shots people. Someone else might feel competitive as long as they have a fighting chance.

In any case, BDO is no different than any other MMO. It's just you're grinding world bosses or mobs at endgame instead of dungeons or pvp instances.

And just like any MMO, if someone plays twice as much as you, their gear is going to be significantly better. This is not a new concept.

I've been reading up more and more on the game and it seems people like DMKano greatly exaggerate the advantages some people have at endgame. He always talks like he knows everything but like anyone, you should take what they write with a grain of salt.

Here's a thread debunking a lot of his claims about supposedly unbeatable players:

http://forum.blackdesertonline.com/index.php?/topic/86987-gear-scaling-skepticism-about-popular-belief/

Tiamat64 · May 2016

maple2 said:

wrong people who spend more does not progress faster.. as u actively have to use it. and also u would still need to use 10 hours + to use those cash shop items fully..

Increased exp gain for a cash shop costume is the VERY DEFINITION OF PROGRESSING FASTER, for crying out loud. O_o

What kind of freakishly impossible definition are you using for "Progressing faster"?

holdenhamlet · May 2016

DMKano said:

holdenhamlet said:

To be "competitive" in any MMO at the top level you either have to grind all day or spend lots of cash. That's because the top people are grinding all day and spending lots of cash.

"Competitive" means something different depending on who you talk to. The guy above me felt competitive if he 1 or 2 shots people. Someone else might feel competitive as long as they have a fighting chance.

In any case, BDO is no different than any other MMO. It's just you're grinding world bosses or mobs at endgame instead of dungeons or pvp instances.

And just like any MMO, if someone plays twice as much as you, their gear is going to be significantly better. This is not a new concept.

I've been reading up more and more on the game and it seems people like DMKano greatly exaggerate the advantages some people have at endgame. He always talks like he knows everything but like anyone, you should take what they write with a grain of salt.

Here's a thread debunking a lot of his claims about supposedly unbeatable players:

http://forum.blackdesertonline.com/index.php?/topic/86987-gear-scaling-skepticism-about-popular-belief/

Can you please point out what I have greatly exaggerated in this thread?

Not really in this thread but comments in the past gave me the impression that if someone was a couple levels above you or a couple +'s on gear, you were saying they were untouchable.

Don't have an exact quote but that was definitely my impression of how you felt endgame panned out (and like the thread I linked stated, it's a common impression). I tried going back through your comments but I worked this morning and I'm tired and it was too much anti-BDO pro-Trion for me to bear.

Octagon7711 · May 2016

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Scary stuff here:

I've masked the names, but I find that scary.
Requirement of 6h or more played daily...
No way a 18+ adult with a job can afford playing a video game over 6 hours a day every single day.
So that's most likely a guild of jobless social leeches.

But to enjoy this game, you definitely do NOT have to do that. Just have fun and don't care about playtime. And you have many guilds which have absolutely no silly requirements and accept casual (or I'd say, normal) players.

"Jobless social leeches" wow, they could be retired or have that much free time after work...

Tiller · May 2016

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Scary stuff here:

I've masked the names, but I find that scary.
Requirement of 6h or more played daily...
No way a 18+ adult with a job can afford playing a video game over 6 hours a day every single day.
So that's most likely a guild of jobless social leeches.

But to enjoy this game, you definitely do NOT have to do that. Just have fun and don't care about playtime. And you have many guilds which have absolutely no silly requirements and accept casual (or I'd say, normal) players.

6 hours a day is really nothing, That could be after work hours staying up to 12-1am. I remember some folks in SWG bragging about being on 18 hours a day, that would be the type of player you refer to.

Muke · May 2016

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

When I was "hardcore" raiding in WoW, the "required" attendance was 3x3=9 hours... PER WEEK. Add a few hours per week of playing to get the required materials or gold, and that's it.

And after that....you can actually play for your pleasure!

holdenhamlet · May 2016

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Tiller said:

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Scary stuff here:

I've masked the names, but I find that scary.
Requirement of 6h or more played daily...
No way a 18+ adult with a job can afford playing a video game over 6 hours a day every single day.
So that's most likely a guild of jobless social leeches.

But to enjoy this game, you definitely do NOT have to do that. Just have fun and don't care about playtime. And you have many guilds which have absolutely no silly requirements and accept casual (or I'd say, normal) players.

6 hours a day is really nothing, That could be after work hours staying up to 12-1am. I remember some folks in SWG bragging about being on 18 hours a day, that would be the type of player you refer to.

8 hours job (+ 1 hour or two lunch break), so you come home and eat some crap food in front of the computer until 1am to go to sleep and wake up next morning to go work again? No time for family, house shores or other activities required by a normal human life.

Very sane way of life indeed. Those people are definitely adults casually playing a video game without any problems.

Sorry folks, I have a hard time understanding how a "normal" adult can defend a guild having such requirements. That's basically a second job. When I was "hardcore" raiding in WoW, the "required" attendance was 3x3=9 hours... PER WEEK. Add a few hours per week of playing to get the required materials or gold, and that's it.

Most gamers don't have "normal" adult lives, I'd imagine. How many adults spend a lot of their time playing video games? Not many.

It's not much different than spending 6 hours a day watching TV, which plenty of people do.

6hrs a day is a lot to require but I don't think it means everyone in that guild is a "jobless leech".

"a sane professional, social and family life."

Who the hell has a sane professional, social and family life? Not me. If I did I probably wouldn't be playing MMOs.

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How much of a time sink is this game?

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Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey