Heidel Ball: AT Home - Global QA [PART 4]
[h3]Part 1 of the Q&A <HERE>[/h3]
[h3]Part 2 of the Q&A <HERE>[/h3]
[h3]Part 3 of the Q&A <HERE>[/h3]
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 out 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 separate 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 understand these ways better in this approach.
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 Rich Merchant's Ring still hasn't been obtained by any 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. We will update you when the time comes.
Q. Currently, there are 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 that of 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 who dies can just resurrect 5 seconds later at a nearby node that is 5 meters away and or be “Karma Bombed” 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 after the 1st death.
2) Reduce equipment durability by 20% for each death.
3) Make it no longer possible to resurrect at a nearby node and only allow resurrection at a nearby town (without consuming Elion’s Tear).
A. Rather than making immediate changes for the death penalties you’ve mentioned, we believe we could apply these penalties 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, applying these penalties to content or regions with a clear concept could 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, or granting passives or skills when certain classes are in a party together (depending on the combination of classes tagged). 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, and give new 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 make them 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 currently 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., which is similar to how you defeat Garmoth now. The new Dark Rift Helms boss is quite fun too.
A. We’ve continuously received similar 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 currently 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 have party/platoon requirements and gear score (AP+DP) requirements at higher tiers, thus creating extra guild PvP and PvE events catering to all levels. The participating guild parties and platoons could be rewarded with extra buffs for completing these guild missions.
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 However, we won’t be just shoehorning 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 have maximized their 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,” these are also something that are already a part of Life Skills. There’s a strange fish that can only be caught by a character that is at least Guru Fishing, which is in fact an incredible item that can summon Vell, but unfortunately, no one has been successful in catching it yet. Likewise for Alchemy, characters that are at least Guru Alchemy can synthesize a summoning scroll for Kzarka, the Lord of Corruption. We’ll either give a little bit of hints or prepare other ways for these two items to get more attention.