Earlier today, Black Desert Online Korean developer Pearl Abyss hosted a press conference in Seoul, where they outlined some plans for the game.
Here is a summary of what was revealed at the conference:
- Ocean content will be introduced and continuously updated with various water-borne content.
- The ocean area will be huge.
- Like in the desert of Valencia (which still isn’t implemented in the western version), using the map will not be allowed in the ocean, forcing players to use other means of orientation to navigate the seas.
- On the other side of the ocean there will be an unknown continent, even if nothing specific has been shared about it, besides the fact that it will be huge. It will be initially possible only to land and use it as a base for trade.
- Fishing hot spots in the ocean will be identifiable thanks to seagulls flying in the air.
- Undersea exploration and treasure hunting will be implemented in coastal areas.
- New forms of Life content (content not related to battle) is being planned for the sea environment.
- Sea battles will be implemented, using warships that players will craft in guild houses.
- Trading ships will also be added, with the implementation of ocean trading.
- Ninja and Kunoichi (currently not yet implemented in the western version of the game) will get their own awakening weapons. Ninjas will be able to use multiple swords, getting a more samurai-like concept and switching between swords depending on the situation. Kunoichi will receive a giant Chakram, used with animations similar to the hoop discipline in rhythmic gymnastics.
- Wizards and witches will also get their awakened weapons, which will be the golems and spirits. Those will grant Wizards powers of fire and water, and witches powers of earth and electricity. Since they work very differently from the current system, they’ll come further away in the future due to implementation times.
- The land of Kamasilve will be implemented in the summer. It’s the homeland of the elves, located to the south east of the territory of Calpheon (you can get an idea of its size marked in green in the map in the gallery, just after the Witch concept).
- The area will be based on a concept of harmony with nature.
- Kamasilve is ruled by two queens who share diplomatic and internal policy powers. Their names are Beulollina and Helawen.
- Kamasilve also includes an area named where a race commonly named dark elves lives. They will be added as a playable class (a concept is visible in the gallery, after the Kamasilve art) They move in a peculiar way and they’re very agile. Their fighting style is very aggressive and use magic as a secondary ability. They have a similar feel to the Ranger, and at the moment is unclear whether the class will be gender locked or not, even if the concept art shown was female only.
- Later this year the land of the dwarfs will be added, south of Calpheon, focusing on the strained relationships between giants, dwarfs and elves.
- Tier 9 horses will be added, and will distinguish themselves due to their skills and not their speed like tier 1-8. There will be three different kinds: The hell horse will come with the power of fire, and will have the ability to deliver powerful explosive attacks. The pegasus will help players easily reach high place and will have the ability to glide while spreading its wings. The unicorn will grant the rider a powerful buff. It will also have a charge ability, impaling enemies on its horn.
Players will be able to get them by breeding as usual, but alternate ways are also in the planning stage.
In-game voice chat will be added, and development for it is almost complete. - The skill awakening system will be overhauled.
- A variety of co-op content is being planned, alongside content that can be enjoyed by a more diverse range of users.
- The team is also looking into ways to help newer players catch up a bit more easily with veterans.
- A bounty hunting/wanted system will be implemented.
- Players will be able to ride baby elephants, specialized as trade mounts.
As pointed out in the Dualshockers article, keep in mind the time frames described above are related to the Korean version. The western version of the game is several months behind in terms of updates, even if Daum Games Europe seems to have the intention to catch up, having released the rather massive Mediah expansion just a month after the game’s release.