BDO: Random Observations

[Vilidius]

Okay, so I'm working to get the hang of BDO. Jebus. This is a complex-ass game. I can easily see how the game is coming from heavy influences outside what I'm used to, and in a lot of ways that's good. Since I'm only just figuring this out, however, I thought a discussion with various observations about stuff that weren't immediately obvious might be useful. So I'll start, just with what comes to mind. I'm sure I'll add more later:

1. The game is expensive, if you're really into it. Not necessarily expensive since it's one-price game on the surface, but there are things you will want that cost real money, and unfortunately unlike GW2 you can't break the cash shop by breaking the in-game economy.

2. The game is essentially two games in one - one part resource management, the other part traditional MMO. I find this part very interesting, because the game to break the economy is personally interesting to me but it isn't usually a clearly designed part of the game. Here, it is. Except it isn't a zero-sum game where you're mainly trading with other players. A lot of the economy is hard-coded and it's really about ... well, passive farming in a true sense.

3. In keeping with the above, the "resources" you are managing come mainly from characters, including alts. Compulsive alters will appreciate this. You really are playing a team in this game and if you aren't making alts you're playing with one arm tied behind your back. Notably, alts help you build contribution points more quickly (the contribution pool is shared, but alts can rack up points a lot quicker by doing early quests) and by giving you a lot more energy to invest. I believe alts are useful in other ways also (beyond just using them to fight) but I'll need to learn more.

4. It is incredibly helpful if you can leave your computer on. The resource management aspect builds in a number of passive ways that you can benefit from if you can leave your computer running and online. AFK fishing is a big one, but far from the only one. This is also a great game to play passively while doing something else. I'm fishing as I type this.

5. There's a LOT to grind. But maybe in a good way. As always, one player's grind is another player's game. It's kinda fun to improve in passive ways by leaving your character to run laps and then walk away from the computer. Completionists will find a lot to do.

6. The game is insanely gorgeous. I know this has been said many times, but it bear repeating. The engine blows me away.

7. The detail is stunning. The sandbox feels real again. I think this is the most EQ-esque thing I've played since EQ. Even places where there is no reason to be have details, things going on, etc.

8. Combat is ... interesting. I haven't got it figured out enough to comment. But I watched two obviously decent players fighting one another. It was all over the place. Things were moving so fast I could barely make sense of it. I hope I'll be able to keep up with it. I worry sometimes that twitch-based games are getting too fast for my old-timey reflexes. It's definitely unusual, at least.

9. I lose XP when I die!!!

[Gith]

1. Asian gamers very much like the whole pay to win while North American gamers have made it very clear that they do not support this. You will notice that cosmetic items actually have stats on them, which I strongly disagree with.

2. I think I read somewhere that this game was developed as a resource management game and then they just sorta threw in an MMO for fun. Anmd yes, Asian MMOs are very grind centric.

3. I hate alts. Why do games always try to make me make them?

4. Just remember to log out every day at least once so you get your daily Loyalty points and other stuff that only ticks if you log out and back in.

5. Yes.

6. Yes.

7. I like that there are no load times anywhere. Just open the door and walk into the tavern.

8. The game is actually build around animation cancelling. You are not cheating when you do it. It is actually what you are supposed to do. I just figured out how to cancel an animation for a move that can refill my MP bar in 3 hits if I am hitting more than 5 things at once.

9. I actually hadn't even noticed that. How much do you lose?

[Mixxi]

The main stat the cosmetic items have is Luck. But you can only go up to 5 Luck, and it's pretty easy to get to that cap without cash shop items. As far as I can see, that's pretty much a  non-issue.

There can be grinding, but you don't HAVE to do that really. And it's nothing like EQ grinding. Really, nothing like that. Anyone who says this is grindy has not spent a week killing the same mob in Lower Guk for the shiny metallic robe or tried to get J-boots to drop from the Ancient Cyclops. This is just playing and killing the same SORTS of mobs. And again, only if you want to. Up until 50, that is. I hear the 50-55 grind is hard. But then, you've played EQ, so this is really, really nothing compared to that.

There was a lot of bitching and moaning about the cash shop ghiliie suit, but that's kind of died down. Most PvPers have been saying that they pay attention to enemies via their mini-map, and the suit doesn't prevent you from showing up there. The common wisdom seems to be that crawling around in the ghillie suit just gives you crappy mobility and doesn't hide you from anyone paying attention to their mini-map.

I spent a fair amount of cash on inventory expansion. That's my main money sink. But I get stressed and waste time when I'm shuffling things too much. It was worth it to me.

Yes, you need to make alts to get the most out of your resources. But creating them doesn't mean actually having to play them. They are energy batteries for me, mostly. Some of them haven't moved from the spot they came out of the tutorial.

I think it's a fantastic game. Definitely has its flaws, but it is vital and so fun.

By the way, if you haven't already, turn off other players' nametags. If there's one complaint I have, it's the amount of visual clutter in the game. Thankfully, you can turn that off.

Can't wait to see you! If you want to set up an actual time to meet to get you guilded, let us know and someone will be sure to be on.

Orwen server, Calpheon 2. See you there!

[Vilidius]

New observation. For a MMO that plays fast in combat, this game is incredibly casual friendly. That's important to me because quite honestly, I can't get a lot of quality play time in when my wife is around. It damages my ability to play the game AND my ability to get along with my wife. I'm sure that will be true in combat, but for all the many many MANY other things to do in the game, I can basically stop any time and/or put it on autopilot. Which is neat.

Also, and related. This is a really great game to play while doing other things. Really suits my style in that regard. As I type this, I'm pathing automatically to some location across the map. There are a lot of go here and meet this person quests - if I absolutely had to move myself all the time it would be tedious. But autopathing is your friend. I LOVE that it keeps you on roads and goes around combat areas, while you can choose to run through them manually if you wish. But the main thing is, I'm running all over the map in what's technically a horribly inefficient way for my character, but is very efficient for me because I don't need to think about it. I'm doing other things on my computer anyway.

More to come. Haven't even bought a house yet!

[Askari]

My observations:

A. I love the "worker placement/resource management" part of the game. I am constantly tweaking which nodes I have active, which workers I have at each node, how my nodes are interconnected... and that's before even getting into Trading.

B. I have spent more money on this game than any MMO. Since I like the crafting/resource management system... extra inventory slots, extra warehouse slots, extra carrying capacity on my main (and any serious alt I play) are all mandatory. Also, extra character slots are something I always buy, but they're even more important to me here (see below).

C. The juice of this game is Energy. My alts do things like:
- camp at Worker Hiring NPC and spend 5 energy over and over to ensure I hire skilled (blue) workers only
- park at NPC and do Amity and spend energy on Amity tests to unlock Knowledge or Quests
- pre-processing of low-level crafting material for my main (e.g., fleece into yarn so my main can turn yarn into wool fabric)
- Invest in my most important resource nodes

They also function as enhancement failstack management (building them on an alt to ensure you don't waste them when enhancing on your main) and more storage. For instance, I have 5-7 horses in Heidel stables at all times, however... I also have alts parked at the stable with horses checked out, so they can swap them in and out as necessary. It's faster than shuffling horses around the map with my main, specially since all the surrounding stables are also over-flowing with horse stock.

I always have tons of alts, so this is nothing new for me. I think I have ~14 character slots in GW2 with ~8 characters at the original max level, lol.

D. I like that there are many ways to accomplish your goals. You can make money in dozens of ways, some faster than others, some more passive (others more active), some simple (grind for lewt), some complex (workers->reources->trade goods->trading or horse-breeding).

E. So far, the combat is the least interesting aspect for me, but it's still fun. I miss the old "6 hotkey bar" days of EQ2 where choosing what long-refresh ability to use and when to use it and who to use it on... was an important part of your tactics. So far in BDO, I simply find my favorite rotation, "don't stand in the fire", and chug potions. The de-emphasis on small group tactics reminds me of GW2, but a little less hectic AE-avoidance.

That being said, the animations/effects/speed of the combat may not be tactically complex, but they are gratifying. I'm still not tired of blowing up things with my wizard's lightning and fireballs... and I've started enjoying standing toe-to-toe with my Valkyrie main alt.

[tanare]

New observation. For a MMO that plays fast in combat, this game is incredibly casual friendly. That's important to me because quite honestly, I can't get a lot of quality play time in when my wife is around. It damages my ability to play the game AND my ability to get along with my wife. I'm sure that will be true in combat, but for all the many many MANY other things to do in the game, I can basically stop any time and/or put it on autopilot. Which is neat.

Also, and related. This is a really great game to play while doing other things. Really suits my style in that regard. As I type this, I'm pathing automatically to some location across the map. There are a lot of go here and meet this person quests - if I absolutely had to move myself all the time it would be tedious. But autopathing is your friend. I LOVE that it keeps you on roads and goes around combat areas, while you can choose to run through them manually if you wish. But the main thing is, I'm running all over the map in what's technically a horribly inefficient way for my character, but is very efficient for me because I don't need to think about it. I'm doing other things on my computer anyway.

More to come. Haven't even bought a house yet!

just need to be careful when you're lugging trade goods around- I've bandits often enough that I make sure I go way out of my way autopathing to miss them.

just started getting into the worker thing- I have one but not sure what i'm supposed to do with him. still only lvl 15 in velia. did create an alt- though I didn't know about how you can use all their contributions combined to boost your trade network. do have another alt on the server where the LoS people supposedly went to but don't see any of them yet.

I've been burning loyalty points for inventory slots which means I try to log in long enough to click accept on my daily points. don't want to spend anymore money on games atm. am annoyed they have all these outfits and house items that are pearl only pickups. wonder if they'll do something similar to SWTOR with the cartel coins you'd get every month for subscription or the security thing at some point.

I have spent weeks without a single combat cause i'm trying to finish up all the town quests. granted I only sit down to play a couple times a week for any major length of time. I have one house in velia and finally got enough cash for a chandelier to light up my 2.5 room apartment. still attempting to actually be on when someone else in the guild is. my usual off time schedule seems to have struck again.

[Gith]

I am level 50 and I have not even hired a single worker yet. I should start learning about that.