The Regional Culture of Black Desert Online
Black Desert Online is a multicultural gem in the MMORPG industry created by Pearl Abyss. From pc to console and even mobile, this game has tons of similarities and differences when it comes to multicultural elements. Whether you are looking deeply into the economic differences or just the fun infographic comparisons that Pearl Abyss provides every year, there is plenty to get lost in the culture of each region. BDO uses a free to play model in Korea, Japan and Russia, while in Taiwan, South East Asia, Europe, North America and South America the game uses a buy to play model. Nearly everyone’s review on BDO is either highlighting its graphics or its revolutionary combat and although those are both great, I feel as if the different communities in this game are overlooked and not talked about enough.
Over the past 4 years of this game’s lifetime, BDO has gone through some serious changes and events that have affected regions differently. The biggest difference that upsets players is that the Korean region always gets updates before any others. Normally people would not care about this, however it is an ongoing issue because often they receive updates months before they come to other regions or may not even receive certain releases at all. I believe the reasoning for this is that different regions see different interests. James Heo, the COO of Pearl Abyss said, “Black Desert Online has obtained many global players with continual market expansion and steady updates. Since we’ve been getting continuous interest and approval from players in global markets such as NA/EU, Turkey, and Asia, we will be doing our best to achieve long-term success with constant updates added at the right times” (Lee). One of the best documentations done on the similarities and differences between BDO regions was an interview between a popular content creator in the EU region Heedun and a popular player from the Korean region, Rune. The NA and EU regions have very similar metas as well as update patch notes, so it is also a great comparison for NA and Korea.
The interview was broken up into a few different sections. It begins by the Korean players take on what their culture thinks of other regions as well as their relationship with Pearl Abyss. Following that they go into the pvp scene, as well its problems like balance as well as the politics of large guilds fighting to occupy territory throughout the world. In addition, they go into the thoughts of end game content in terms of player versus enemy and the grinding mechanics of the game. Lastly, the focus is on the meta of gear, classes and the huge debate whether there is pay to win in the game.
What is very interesting is that Koreans focus mostly on their own region while other regions like NA/EU are always wondering what is going on in other regions as well as what the metas are. With that being said, there are still tons of players that love to have friends and enjoy the game in both regions with the ability to change regions, as well as servers, if they so choose to restart their account. It makes sense that all other regions look to Korea because they are always the first to receive content, sometimes months in advance. However, players and content creators from all regions work together to find out specific items and future updates that may help them prepare. As a long-term community member, it makes me very happy that we do try to work together even though the game doesn’t necessarily help bring regions together.
Black Desert Online is full of drama and politics when it comes to the Node Wars and Castle Sieges. As a quick background, guilds fight over territory in order to occupy nodes or castles in order to get extra pay that week to fund their guild or give them an advantage in that territory for loot bonuses. When it comes to Node wars and siege, regions have quite similar politics and tactics. Both regions consistently have huge changes to guilds and the occupation of power in them. When it comes to politics there is tons of different alliances as well as backstabbing. The biggest motivator on a common ground seems to be power and money, which is not too surprising in a game that revolves around both. When it comes to pvp and connection issues, it seems as though Korea deals more with bugs because they get patches before the western market while we deal with more lag and connection issues. This is due to the fact that western regions must go through the connection of Kakao Games in order to play the game. In hindsight, Pearl Abyss will be taking over the rights to host its own connection and data in the western market independently from Kakao Games starting early next year after their contract with them ends.
When it comes to pve and its culture, Korea is very different from other regions. They are very respectful about sharing spots with people or they will wait until there is an open spot to take over. However, in other regions most players either request a duel for the spot or just begin fighting if they really want to try and take the spot which is referred to as griefing. When it comes to the best classes and meta, all regions are on the same page. Lastly when it comes to pay to win debate, all regions are on par with being upset with the amount of pay to win items and mechanics introduced to the game in the past year. However Korean players are way ahead when it comes to gear progress than any other region and they are exposed to more pay to win than any other region because of the everlasting race to be the most geared player and it just makes it even harder to get items through the in-game economy.
In conclusion, BDO is sometimes completely its own game in one region while in other aspects is the same across all countries. The diversity of this game is something that I have always been interested in and thought there should be some light shed upon. From the future content debates to the politics and meta of the 500 players about to encounter each other in a siege war, it is an absolute gem when it comes to the vast perspectives on the game from players around the world.
Works Cited
Dulfy, Dulfy. “Black Desert First Year Anniversary Infographic.” Dulfy Guides, 3 Mar. 2017, dulfy.net/2017/03/03/black-desert-first-year-anniversary-infographic/.
Heedun. “Interview with a Top Korean BDO Player.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Sept. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ob_BXQIqso&ab_channel=Heedun.
Paek, Ji-Eun Meii, and Donghyun Harv Lee. “Pearl Abyss Leads Successful Growth Based on Their Global Expansion of Black Desert Online.” InvenGlobal, 30 May 2018, https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/5183/pearl-abyss-leads-successful-growth-based-on-their-global-expansion-of-black-desert-online.
