If you read my Land of Morning Light review, you may have seen implications of concern for time-limited content in Black Desert specifically. There isn't much of it, but the ones that stick out, do so like a sore thumb. Jetina's weekly quest for a PEN accessory is one of them. At its core, Black Desert is a grinding game. A very good one at that. If I'm playing this game, I'm playing it to do exactly that. When a game that encourages me to grind to my heart’s content, all of a sudden doesn’t allow me to, it’s very jarring. I was skeptical of any future content following suit, but my opinions of all of this changed dramatically after the recent FESTA/Heidel Ball.
There are a metric ton of things that were announced, all of them huge, but I want to focus on the ones that personally swayed me.
A free Dream Horse
This, quite frankly, is one of the more unbelievable announcements they've ever had. Acquiring a Dream Horse is no easy task. You either have to grind for the silver to buy one in the horse market, which can take a bit if you aren't already gear (also, good luck getting a Pegasus), or raise your own, which, like anything, can be done with one tap, or very, very many.
My Dinè took 37 taps…oof…
Additional endgame grind spots - I was previously very critical about how Black Desert needs to break the monotony of the PvE grind. After all, that is the game, and it does a very good job of sticking to that. While I don’t think there’s necessarily a need for more of them, I do feel that having that much more at the endgame to grind for is always a good thing. It’s not a piece of content meant to sway those who are skeptical about Black Desert, it’s a piece of content meant to give the actual players, who invested time into their account, something more to do and go for at that high gearscore.
Additional Treasures
More treasures are always a good thing, and true grinders will always love going for them. Lafi Bedmountain’s Upgraded Telescope is a very useful item that will allow you to teleport to any member of your party or guild. But the real appeal is the novelty of it. Treasures take a long time to get, and having more of them will certainly keep us busy.
War of the Roses
This is an exciting announcement for me. 300 vs. 300 is an astronomically high number of players. Yet, in almost every single iteration of these mega large scale PvP instances, it almost never goes well. This time, the new Conquest mode will take place across almost all of Kamasylvia and Odyllita, so I would hardly expect all 600 players in one spot. Now I am not a big PvPer, but I can jam anything large-scale because of the feeling of being a part of something bigger.
Awakening Zones
This is a new feature that enhances older, rather unpopular, endgame spots. This not only will buff the difficulty, drops, and money of these spots, but will also add Deboreka Earrings to the drop table, making for a massive incentive for those looking for their three-piece set effect. Of note, two of these spots, Tunkuta and Olun’s Valley, are group spots, which further gives people yearning for meaningful group content more incentive. This one excites me the most because I find the game most enjoyable when just chilling with friends doing the same thing–working towards a similar goal.
Overall cadence and presentation - Everyone involved at Pearl Abyss is clearly passionate about Black Desert, both from having met and talked with them, and from how much they care about their game. I was so worried about the future revolving around weekly lockouts and stop signs. I don’t mind dailies and weeklies in most games, especially when they’re built around said content.
It’s part of what you sign up for when you play a given MMO, and that’s totally okay. Black Desert focuses on, and honestly thrives, off of doing what you want, when you want, for however long you want. This FESTA has proven to me that they understand that, and Land of the Morning Light was just a necessary outlier in a sea of regularity. They know what we want, and they’re going to give us more and more of it–for free!
The future of Black Desert has always been bright, but now, it’s shining more than ever!
