• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

The company working on Black Desert Online, Pearl Abyss was founded in September 2010 by Kim Daeil, a veteran of the industry, though mostly with smaller firms such as Hangame and NHN Gaming. After the company was up and running, Pearl Abyss began working on Black Desert Online almost immediately. The company did not talk about the project it was working on out of the gate. In one particular interview, Daiel talked about the fact that the company didn’t want to announce it was working on the project until the firm knew what it had and the direction it was going to go with the title. According to the team, the first year of development mostly involved with the concept design for the game. There was also the matter of coming up with an engine that was specifically geared towards this game. The company explained the need for a dedicated engine because Black Desert Online was to have a seamless world and a way to come up with characters and surroundings quickly. The company has also said that by using their own engine rather than proprietary ones, it was going to be easier to debug and change things on the fly.

After Pearl Abyss began cementing contract details with various publishers, the firm started allowing information about the game out to the public. In November of 2012, the game was first demonstrated at G-Star, which is a Korean trade show for the computer and video games industry. Following that debut, Black Desert Online was shown off in August of 2013 at Gamescom, held in Cologne, Germany. It was here where the company announced it was going to be working with various publishers all around the world. The company said it would also be hosting a closed beta and would allow more information to come forward once that had been completed.

On October 14, 2015, Daum Games announced it had reached a deal with Pearl Abyss that would allow that company to officially publish Black Desert Online in North America and Europe. Daum Games launched a teaser site at the time of the announcement in order to give people a taste of what the game has to offer. Daum also announced that most of their work on the game would be in making it be one that could mesh with the player base in the Western part of the world. Just a week later, Daum announced it would be bringing this translated version of the title to Paris Games Week. The playable demo was the first time people in Europe were able to get their hands on the game, but Daum also announced there would be an official Alpha testing phase taking place from October 26, 2015 to November 1, 2015.

On November 17, 2015 the company announced a series of videos that highlight the different classes that are playable in the game. At the same time, the company announced there would be a couple of packages available for purchase. The packages ranged from $30 to $100 and had increasing amounts of the in-game currency. These packages were called the Traveler’s Package which was the cheapest and most basic package, the Explorer’s Package was the mid-level package for the game and the top package, which costs $100 was titled the Conqueror’s Package. At the time of this announcement, the game was said to be coming in early 2016.

On December 16, 2015 Black Desert Online had its first closed beta. On January 19, 2016 the developers announced there would be another closed beta on February 18, 2016. The final launch version of the game only offers two of the three packages that were available when the pre-orders went live. The Conqueror’s Package was no longer available for purchase once the game went live. The game launched exclusively on the PC.

Story

The world of Black Desert Online is basically divided into two warring countries. The Republic of Calpheon and the Kingdom of Valencia compete for what is an essential energy resource called Black Stones. The Black Stones are most often found in the desert region that lies between the two countries and this is how the area has been called the Black Desert. The story for players kicks off during a continuing and seemingly endless war.

Gameplay

The combat for Black Desert Online is aim based and is quite a bit like what people see in first person shooter titles. The combat is also skill based with the different classes in the title able to upgrade and get better as the player goes along. In addition to the open wandering and adventuring there are a number of different game modes. Some of the modes have not yet gone live as of March, 2016 but the developers say the game will have Arena mode, guild vs guild, node wars, castle siege and others.

In addition to battles, there will also be a life to build with players’ characters. Pets will be offered and there will be a number of different ways to customize the character’s home. There will also be a kind of farming and ranching system where players can actually grow crops and breed and tame horses and other farm animals. In addition to crafting houses and farms, there will also be a number of activities that have to do with fishing and hunting.

Characters

The characters in the game are not named but are created and named by the characters. The presets for the characters in Black Desert Online are based on certain classes and professions players can choose. The classes to choose from are Warrior, Ranger, Sorceress, Berserker, Valkyrie, and Wizard/Witch classes. Traders, Tamers, Fishermen, and Craftsmen are the professions players can choose. There are various skill trees that come along with each class and profession.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game

Black Desert Online, one of the world’s newest fantasy based MMO has already gotten its first patch. The game was launched on March 3 and the patch came shortly after. The developers announced a rather large amount of fixes for the game after some of the game’s first players noticed issues such as the warriors’ skills not functioning correctly. The patch is also geared to make some of the monsters in the game that seemed to be rather oblivious, more vigilant now.

Not all the fixes are about how combat works or what kind of abilities you’re going to have when you go into combat. There were also issues like an alarm going off every time a player’s item count went up. That issue and a ton of other smaller things that make the game hard to play have all been fixed. The patch notes for the game were posted on the official Black Desert Online forum and you can check them out below:

Game System

• Updated the Exit Menu change channel button to display “Channel” instead of “Server”.
• Updated the “Release” button for horses to “Delete” to avoid confusion
• Fixed the issue were February 29th was not being displayed in the “My Journal” or “Guild Journal” windows.
• Fixed the issue where the message “Press ‘I’ to drink a potion” in the tutorial was placed outside the box.
• Fixed misplaced trade related texts.

Classes

• Fixed the issue where Witch’s forehead and cheekbones were protruding helmets due to the size differences in the NA version.
• Locations of helmets, glasses, and piercings on Witch’s and Wizard’s faces were modified according to their updated face shapes.
• Tamer’s overall balance was adjusted.
• Fixed the issue where dye slots for Tamer and Witch were missing.
• Fixed the issue where some Warrior Skills did not function properly.

Gameplay

• Fixed the issue where the alert sound was played every time an item count goes up in a guild quest.
• Changed the condition for activating the combo tutorial quest for all classes.
• Changed the conditions for activating the potion drinking tutorial quest.
• Added additional guidance for Balenos Quests to smooth progression.

Items

• Fragment of Memory acquisition adjusted.

NPCs

• Monster AI has been adjusted for more vigilance.

Known Issues

• If you log out with the Combo Tutorial Quest active you will have to abandon it and take it again from the Black Spirit.
• Remaining Text-Cuts; those are being addressed over time and will be fixed

Pearl Abyss’s Black Desert Online is finally available for North America and Europe on PC. If you don’t know what it is, then check out the launch trailer below for a short teaser.

Black Desert Online is essentially a sandbox-style MMORPG with a heavy focus on skill-based hack and slash gameplay. It has a deep character customization system and some fairly diverse class set-ups. Did we mention the visuals? The graphics for the game are arguably its best feature, though the positive praise in the launch trailer indicates there’s much more to it.

If you ordered the game and are currently experiencing issues then don’t worry – maintenance is currently on-going and will last until 8 AM PST/11 AM EST today. Yes, server issues aren’t exactly what one wants when picking up an online game for the first time but it’s become one of those unavoidable issues in this day and age.

What are your thoughts on Black Desert Online thus far though? Let us know in the comments.

Pearl Abyss’s Black Desert Online will have its second closed beta test in February and this will serve as the final beta before the game’s release. You can sign up if you’re interested but those who pre-ordered the Explorer’s/Conqueror’s versions will be guaranteed access. More details on the exact starting date as well as changes made to the game following the last beta will be revealed soon.

The developer has also released the game’s character creation toolset for free, allowing anyone to create their own character and import it into the game when it finally releases (it can also be used in the beta). You can check out the options for customization for yourself or view the video below for more information.

Black Desert Online has generated quite the interest in the past few weeks thanks primarily to its action-oriented gameplay and beautiful visuals. What are your thoughts on the game and will you be taking part in the closed beta? Let us know in the comments below.