Non-Steam BDO Player's counter-points to misleading Negative Reviewer

[kitts]

[//// The review url http://steamcommunity.com/id/Metatron1337/recommended/582660/
This post is too long for an reply within the review comment section.
Since I am a non-Steam BDO player, I can't make reviews and that's why i choose to post it here; it is written & targeted at newbies.

This "reply" was written early in the morning, before I had even had my breakfast. And it was spontanious, so with that being a terrible combination of sorts: sorry for the misuse of the English language.

I would just hate to see the playerbase be less then it could be. I want this game to succeed as much as possible - I am in love with BDO's "Slice of Life"-aspect. ////]

But here's where we're already leaving the "nice things to say" territory...

While the game has some very nifty quality-of-life features, it's lacking entirely in others. There is no "effective" quick-travel system. If you want to get from one end of the map to the other, you will have to run, or ride a horse there. There's a method to get your character from one major city to another, but you'll have to log out of that character and wait regardless.

The point of horses is that you ride them. What use would there be for expensive breeding, training etc, of horses and camels - if we could just teleport everywhere. We even get Pegasus that can "fly" (they glide downwards). This is not supposed to be an MMO like WoW where you insta teleport to every location; you have to actually travel and face the world and it's components. Feel the size of it.
To me, your point in this is the opposite of mine. If they added a teleport to every city, for free of charge and with low cooldown, and then teleports to grind spots.. Well, I'd quit the game. It'd ruin the world immersion and make it only about the actual objectives and not anything else. You'd teleport to cities and afk in the square while you were waiting for friends, then you'd all teleport to your objective - complete it - and teleport back. End of. No thanks. And I seriously hope no dev reading this review take this reviewers point on this into consideration.. For the love of God!

You have an item "Traveler's Map" that cost 500 000 silver. It teleports you to the nearest town. It has certain limitations (so it can't be exploited.)

You can view your items in storage from any point in the world, nifty, but storage is separated for every village and town in the game, expanding that storage for cash is an option, but for each of the five gameworld regions separately.

This is false. Every village and town doesn't increase their storage entirely seperate. You buy storage slots either with Contribution Points (you can buy an insane amount of slots. These Contribution Points are freely given in the game, for your work. You gain more overtime as you play it.

If you do not want to invest your Contribution Points into something you desire; storage slots. Then you simply buy Storage Slots with Loyalty points. It works lik this: You get 100 Loyalty points to spend in the Shop each day. They accumlate over time. Spend 500 Loyalty points on a REGION and you get Storage Slots in that entire REGION.
You buy these packs with 500 Loyalty (No cash needed!): Mediah Storage -> Gives slots to Altinova & Tarif.
Calpheon Storage -> Calpheon, Keplan & Trent.
etc.

There are 5 region packs you can buy. So invest your Loyalty points in the region in which you will focus most of your materials/gaming/crafting.

Character inventory has been doubled down on, not only do you have a limited amount of slots for items, but you also have a weight capacity for each of your characters, a savvy design choice if you plan on selling very expensive inventory and weight limit expansions, for each character separately, of course

You get Inventory Slots as you progress in BDO. Do your story quests (Black Spirit quests). Just like in any MMO you won't start with 100+ slots. (Example; WoW you have bags. Tiny tiny starter bags that give +3-5 inventory slots etc.)

Once you've gotten all the free Inventory Slots from succesfully doing the Game Content, you can actually even buy extra inventory slots from the shop - without using real money. You use Loyalty points. You get 100 Loyalty points each day you log in. Inventory Expansion Coupon +1 cost 1000 Loyalty (the limit is at 192 Inventory Slots. But that is a limit that exist for everyone. Even the people paying real cash.)

You can also buy 4 packages of +50 LT Weight for Loyalty. Insanely good.
You will find that there's gear that gives +Weight if you are ever in trouble of carrying stuff.

Defeated enemies drop an impressive amount of loot, which is great, but the loot stays locked to you for a very short time, and disappears a short time later, manual looting is very slow, and depending on server load hugely influenced by lag, encouraging you to buy pets, all of which loot for you, and you can equip 4 at once. Incredible!

I have no idea what you mean with the first point, the one about loot that stays locked to you for a very short time. That makes no sense to me.

Anything is influenced by server lag - if there is any, which there is sometimes. This point about lag and looting could've been left unsaid, in my opinion. I think we all know that lag delays in-game interactions.

Even as we speak, there is currently a Free Pet to get, without doing anything but to log in to the game. You get the Loot Pet simply by log in 20 times, once per day, over a 34 day period, with no playtime duration required.
These events happen now and again. This is not the first time. Nor is it the last.

AUTO LOOT PETS are not something to be entitled to. It's a major Quality of Life. That's it. End of. Bow your back and spam click loot with your character until you get them.

Yes, they are incredible in their cuteness.

To cut this short: The game is meticulously designed to maximize the rppu (revenue per paying user), to a point where the community itself will react negatively to people questioning whether or not this game is p2w "pay-to-win".
It's not. It is however designed in a way that paying will increase your enjoyment of it exponentially.

This game is a buisness. They need to make revenue - or they wouldn't keep putting effort into it. If there was no revenue incoming, they'd go do another project.

This game offers the players that want (Example: the ones with a busy life in real life) a speed boost in their progression.
Unless you're a Saudi Arabi prince, Russian Oil Company Director, or whatelse, it would be really stupid to spend 10$ on a Pet and then sell it for 9 mil in-game.
As a player (and especially new player, as you get extra rewards each day for a month) you get daily rewards that are up toward that amount of silver. Most casual players have workers that collect materials auto, just by feeding them "Beer", for the same amount or much more, in a few days.

I've myself collected materials collectively worth more than ~1 300 000 000 over the last 3 months I've been casually playing. (60-70 workers)
I could've earned alot more if I put myself into crafting items and then selling them at the market, for a bigger profit margin than selling the raw materials themselvs.

All this and more makes the game so far from p2w, except of course in the cases of Oil Barrons buying tons of skins and selling in-game. (YET they're limited to 5 cash shop item per day, on the in-game market.)

You don't win by selling costumes. You're just feeding the playerbase free costumes for a small amount of silvers, which I personally thank you for. I've gotten 3-4 premium costumes, so far, from the market.

You WILL hit a sort of paywall eventually, no matter which aspect of the game you try to focus on, because each and every aspect is fully built around a p2e, pay to enjoy system. And most paid elements are cleverly priced in such a way that a more expensive option will always feel like a more worthwhile one.

I disagree with that you eventually "WILL hit a sort of paywall". There is no vital item in the Cash Shop. It's skins & Quality of Life. Progression speed boosts.

About progression speed boosts; Why would one want to rush? Surely, most people find that PLAYING the game is the purpose of their gaming duration. Enjoying the content. Doing it step by step. Unless you are a family man, have kids, or just a busy life in real life, I don't understand why you would pay to miss out on the developers intent & creations. BDO isn't like World of Warcraft in the sense that the game inofficially starts at "end-game". It's the same content over all the levels - you just get more zones and harder mobs. You're free to enjoy all the functions, life skills etc, right of the start when you take your first steps outside the starter town.

An example: You grew to dislike your characters looks, you can either
A) Buy a 1-time coupon to change it once for 8€
B) Buy a 30 day coupon to have the ability to change it more often for 10€ or
C) Just go for a 30 day premium subscirption for 15€ which offers you a wide range of other benefits, like enabling a dye function for all your gear which includes all the dyes available in the game, which would alternatively also cost 10€ by itself.

False.
To the contrast of many other MMO's where you have to pay real money to change your characters modifications/skin, you can pick option D.

D) You wait 14 days and use your freely gained 1400 Loyalty points on a "Value Pack (1 Day)" item.
This item gives you:
Inventory expansion 16 slots
Storage expansion 16 slots
Combat/Skill/Life/Horse EXP +10%
Distant Node Investment (Consumes 10 Energy)
MAX Weight Limit +100 LT
30% bonus to the market place sales collection amount
Unlimited use of Merv's Palette

and finally, the one you were looking for:

UNLIMITED use of Beauty Salon (You can entirely redesign your character with this.)

The marketing psychology is clearly at work here, trying to leverage as many fallacies as a human could potentially commit, in order to convince you to buy something which has no intrinsic value.

But that's enough of railing on the business model, I just wanted to give potential buyers an insight how far their entrance fee will get them, let's move on to the remaining cons:

Sure. I don't have any opinion on what your intent in doing this review was. That's not the reason I'm giving counter-points right now.

One big issue I found is how the game offers close to no social elements. Some even go as far as to say it's a singleplayer game with always-online. And after over a week of play I'm inclined to agree. At no point between level 1 and 56+ will you find the need to join up with another player, that will start once you want to get into very endgame stuff, most guilds won't even let you in unless you're level 56+ and have maxed out your gear.

False, and here's why:
This game requires parties at the Boss Summoning Scrolls. You're certainly gonna have an incentive to group up, and if you're gonna group up often enough - that's a good incentive to join a guild (with trusty, like minded & similiar skilled/geared players).

There are an incredible amount of Life Skill & Casual & Hard Core Guilds that openly recruit anyone that wants to join.

I myself am in a CASUAL guild. And there's a ton of activity and discussions happening daily, both in-game and over discord.

Hard core players are given incentive to join guilds of similiar gaming intent because otherwise they would get f*c*ed. There are a few superior grinding spots which parties of players grind and regularly fight over/in. If you try to farm at these spots as a solo player, and you happen to cross paths with another player, or a group of them? Well, one of you are gonna be dead. Since most hard core players take offense to you stealing mobs in their "rotation". Ruining their grind. So they will attack. Group incentive established.
Then we have the whole region contest etc, which I am not experienced in.. But which pays a huge load of silver each week, to the top guild. To overturn the current top guild, mercenary guilds are hired as defenders + opposing guilds unite (you can't win solo guild vs. castle defending topdogs).

Only endgame boss hunting lends itself to cooperation, the party system is extremely barebones, and you have to go to extensive effort to synchronize questing together unless you start playing with a friend from level 1.

World Boss (endgame boss hunting) is a united endavour. There is an official discord for those that desire uptime, discussions, tips or %progress of different channels(servers) bosses HP.

When the world bosses are spawned, you find that people unite in the chat and try to make a train out of it. First one channels boss, then anothers. Spreading the %progress so people can come join in and fight it together.

Questing with friends is just like any other MMO. If you both are on different quests? Tough. Take the same one and you're fine.
If your friend completes his quest and gets the follow up quest? Why wouldn't he wait for you, or help you out?

I'm a bit confused as to what you mean here. Do you mean that there is too many quest in the game, so while the friends are seperated and not playing together, it gets hard later on when they party up and want to do the same quest? That is a problem they made for themselves and with the amount of quests in the game, I don't think this would be much of a problem - if they moved around the areas for new quest npcs.

Which brings us to the last point, which also offers a bit of an explanation to the previous one: The community.
Unless you get accepted into a guild, which will then almost instantly treat you like family, which is nice, most of the players you'll get to interact with are on a level of "toxicity" that rivals overwatch and league of legends.

It's the same toxic people that play other popular MMO's. The crowd rotates.
I have no problem with the guys on the Balenos channel. I don't know where you've hung, so I can't speak for your experience.

It gets worse once you get past level 50 and the open-PvP system kicks in. If you dare to as much as get near a popular grindspot you will be attacked and murdered on sight without warning. Sometimes you get a bit of a warning in the form of vigorous insults, and once you're killed by players of a much higher level, you will be further insulted and blamed for making them kill you. (To be fair, that happend only twice each, the rest of the time I had a lovely grind at sausans)

This happens. This is why you group up. This is why you join guild. This is why going to sausans with guild groups are so popular.
And surely you can understand, that if you have a maximized grind rotation path, and your group finds a solo player taking half the mobs in it - completely ruining it - they would feel some frustration.. And possibly invite you or use the game mechanic "PVP" to sort out of the occurance.



I'm sorry. But while replying to everything, it stood out to me that.. I felt like alot of what you said was flat out false. While you shared plenty of opinion (Some of which i have no reason to give critic on.) alot of the stuff you said were not opinionated - it was just simply false and/or misleading.

[kitts]

The only cons with BDO I personally can come up with (right out of the blue) is:

* Servers have been terrible recently. Go make a negative review about this and then change it from negative to positive / or remove, when they fix it. It'd be a legit complaint.

* Pretty bad optimization when plenty of people seem to have horrible FPS with modern gaming PCs.

* Can't synch non-Steam BDO account with Steam (except for the "add non-steam game" part)

* There's a ton of stuff that is left unexplained for new players (Accuracy, Marketplace bidding, Hidden AP, etc)

* I find the PvP to be spamy and non-precision focused. While the combat is combo oriented (which is a positive thing), I do not find it as exciting as the combat in Tera.

[kitts]

Originally posted by Rainbow Dash:

now do the same thread for every "great game" positive review and positive reviews with false informations

That makes no sense. Why would I? I have no interest in doing that.

I felt this review misrepresented BDO and so I gave a response to it. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn't bother to click and read other reviews. This one took up plenty enough of my time.

it's funny how people who spend money to remove arbitrary restrictions to pressure people into spending money think it's all easy without spending more money and they just... kindly "supported" the game and then pretend how it's still all nice and fine without doing so. make another account with the basic 10€ version and go on without spending anything in the cash shop and then come back and try to pretend it's fine

I wasn't aware that someone was pressuring anyone.

[Suzaku]

I read the whole review, and the only thing I slightly disagree with is the open PvP comments. He/she makes it sound like you're liable to be killed the moment you get near someone, but I find that non-consensual PvP is quite rare in the game.

Other than that, I understand that it's not fun to see someone write a negative review of something you like but, he/she said nothing that was false.

[DCid]

This game is already heading for P2W. Our Pearl Shop will eventually be identical to Korea's where they sell Valks to get Failstacks. Then they'll start selling Black Stones.

It's the only way this game will make money.

I do find out interesting how people who spend $1000 dollars on a P2W game get really, really, mad and defensive when you slap them in the face with facts and reality.

They try to twists the meaning of P2W to suit their agenda while at the same time perfectly explaining why their beloved MMO is P2W.

Look. We know you feel stupid for spending all that cash on powerups, expansions and costumes. We understand and it's okay. These kinds of games are built to prey on innocent people with no impulse control.

[kitts]

Originally posted by Suzaku:

I read the whole review, and the only thing I slightly disagree with is the open PvP comments. He/she makes it sound like you're liable to be killed the moment you get near someone, but I find that non-consensual PvP is quite rare in the game.

Other than that, I understand that it's not fun to see someone write a negative review of something you like but, he/she said nothing that was false.

Since I said otherwise, and gave counter-examples. Are you calling me a liar?

Would you kindly quote the parts where I then lied, the parts where I am entirely wrong?

I would greatly appreciate it. Otherwise, I'll assume you just don't like my viewpoint and nothing more or less can be gained from your post. No hard feelings.

[DCid]

Originally posted by Rainbow Dash:

Originally posted by DCid:

This game is already heading for P2W. Our Pearl Shop will eventually be identical to Korea's where they sell Valks to get Failstacks. Then they'll start selling Black Stones.

It's the only way this game will make money.

I do find out interesting how people who spend $1000 dollars on a P2W game get really, really, mad and defensive when you slap them in the face with facts and reality.

They try to twists the meaning of P2W to suit their agenda while at the same time perfectly explaining why their beloved MMO is P2W.

Look. We know you feel stupid for spending all that cash on powerups, expansions and costumes. We understand and it's okay. These kinds of games are built to prey on innocent people with no impulse control.

b-b-but iz jus coesmetic n for c-c-onvenience............ you dont actually n-n-need it

You also bought several Kama Blessings and a ton of Valks and Black Stones. You're still Level 20 but all your gear are PEN. Compare that to the poor Level 60 guy struggling to even get past TET.

He's quitting the game out of frustration because he's too poor to buy into that Asian mentality of money makes everything better! He doesnt have the money to buy Failstacks! He has a cat with three legs that has cancer! His kids have to stand in the poor kids line during lunch! His wife shaved her hair to sell to a wig company just so he could pay for one pet from the Pearl Shop!

For shame! Shame on you! Shame on all of you!

[Suzaku]

I'll go into greater detail on what I meant later. I'm at work at the moment, but I'll be home in about an hour, so I'll edit this comment with what I mean once I have time.

[kitts]

Originally posted by Suzaku:

I'll go into greater detail on what I meant later. I'm at work at the moment, but I'll be home in about an hour, so I'll edit this comment with what I mean once I have time.

Okay. ^^

I'm quite interested in how you'll counter the factual features & items I pointed out in OP. They're features & items which contradict and make the reviewers points Null.

Concering the early point where he said that there was no reason for any social interaction or party, guild etc. He later on in his review, towards the end, gave an entirely contradictory statement as a ending statement. Wherein he answered his own point and proved it wrong.

And it goes on and on. But I'll check in later to see if you found anything. o/

[Suzaku]

Alright, sorry for the delay. First, I'd like to say that I was not calling your counterpoints lies, but saying that calling Havoc's review misleading is incorrect. Both of you are right; but your opening post claims that a lot of what Havoc said was false.

I'll go down the list one by one according to how you quoted them in the opening post.

1. Havoc says there is no quick-travel system, and if you want to get anywhere you'll have to run or ride. Fact.
   Your counterpoints are all valid, but do not disprove anything since Havoc only spoke fact about the lack of fast-travel. To some people, having no fast-travel could be a deal-breaker for buying the game. I know when my cousin was asking me about the game, he groaned at the thought of no quick ways to get around (too used to WoW's flying mounts). And Traveler's Map might save you 3 minutes of running, max.
   
2. Havoc then talks about storage, saying how each town's storage is separate, and that you can buy additional storage for real money. Facts.
   For this one he/she did neglect to mention using contribution points. Countering with loyalty points is valid, but I'd argue that the rate that you get them, and the quantity you get from them is so minor that they honestly aren't worth mentioning. I have several storages filled with over 100 items each, which would literally takes years to acquire through loyalty points.
   
3. Havoc moves on to the limited inventory space and weight system. States that you can purchase extra slots and weight capacity with real money. Facts.
   Your counter is to do the inventory quests we all know of, but even that doesn't leave you with a lot of slots (57 at max), and can fill up quickly. You can use loyalty, but that's even worse than storage! 10 days to get a single slot means you'll spend almost 4 years to max out the inventory space of a single character. That is... if you're not already using a year's worth, or more, of loyalty to get one region's storage to a respectable size. Same thing for weight.
   
4. Havoc's first point about loot is how it's only yours for a short period of time, after which other players can loot it if you didn't get to it. Also, disappears shortly after, and slow manual looting which is exacerbated due to lag, and how pets are useful for their autoloot functions. Facts.
   Your counter is about the current event, something that might not be happening when others read Havoc's review. You're correct that there will likely be other similar events, but that changes nothing about what Havoc said. Your ending argument is basically "Deal with it", disproving nothing Havoc said.
   
5. Havoc talks about how the game is designed to make money, and that some players question if it is P2W or not. Havoc says he/she does not think it is, but paying will help you enjoy it more. All facts.
   Your counter is agreeing that it is a business. Several other comments further explain how the game is not P2W in your eyes, and mine, and Havoc's as well. So you're upset that we all agree?
   
6. Havoc says that "You WILL hit a sort of paywall", which I admit is opinionated, as some people may never feel the need to purchase slots, or weight capacity, or pets, or any of the many, many other services provided. I can't call it a fact, but I absolutely say it's a high likelyhood to occur.
   Your counter is that payed items are non-vital. True. But asking why anyone would want to rush? Life is short, and life skills take a long time to improve. To some, progressing is fun, and the faster you do it, the more fun it becomes, especially in a game where there basically is no cap.
   
7. Havoc states info on Beauty Salon prices. The prices are all accurate.
   Your counter is to use loyalty points. Again, Havoc did neglect to mention loyalty points. You can use those, if you're not using a year's worth on storage, or 4 years worth on inventory.
   
8. Havoc expresses contempt at the business model. Clean, professional, honest.
   
9. Havoc states how you basically won't need a single person's cooperation until you hit level 56+ content, that you'll only need groups for endgame stuff, and most guilds won't bother accepting you unless you're ready for that content. Facts. While you might find non-combat focused guilds out there, guilds that do take combat seriously will want you geared and skilled, because I've seen their recruitment messages plenty of times, and if you've even thought of swinging your axe at a tree instead of an enemy, you're not hardcore enough for them.
   Your counter is to group up for summon scrolls (endgame content). You can join a guild, but again, they're not needed until endgame. You might get killed for encroaching on farming spots, so you should group up, once again, in endgame. So you both agree that grouping is not needed until endgame.
   
10. Havoc then says that players mainly unite for world bosses, the party system is barebones, and synchronizing quests is a pain. Facts.
    Your counter is that players unite for world bosses, and synchronizing quests is a pain. Once again, your argument is that you agree.
    
11. Havoc says guilds are great, and the average person you run into is toxic. Facts. We're on the internet; we've all met the trolls and tripped over the piles of salt, after all.
    Your counter is to agree. You say you've had no problem, but everyone's results may vary, right? I know my block list is filling every day with more racist, sexist, mega-meme'rs every day, though; and that's just the ones that make it through my chat filters.
    
12. Havoc's last negative comment is that PvP happens. Fact.
    Your counter is to agree.

So in short, the vast majority of what Havoc said is true, with Loyalty points basically being the only thing overlooked. I feel a single private message saying something along the lines of "You forgot to mention loyalty points in some of your criticisms" would have been a more appropriate response instead of calling him/her out in this lengthy post.

[eegko]

yo reading this thread, is loyalty points really a ♥♥♥♥♥ to get?

[Suzaku]

Originally posted by Hansen Me Nudes:

yo reading this thread, is loyalty points really a ♥♥♥♥♥ to get?

They're easy to acquire; simply log in and claim them. The problem is that you get 100 a day, but many items cost hundreds or thousands to get, and have minimal effect.

Want a value pack? That's 1400 points, or 2 weeks of logging every day, to have a buff that lasts 1 day.

Want inventory slots? 1000 points, or 10 days, for 1 slot. Just one. On only one character.

Sure, it's free stuff, but at a very slow pace, and very minor rewards.

[Echo2Omega]

Lets clarify the P2W aspect.

You can sell a maximum of 5 pearl items a WEEK on the marketplace. The maximum is 25 million silver each. (not including the marketplace fees that make it actually less.)

Each costume that sells for 25 million is around $30 USD.

That means you can spend real money ($150 USD) and get 125 million silver a week.

A Kzarka weapon will run you about 1 billion silver. (yes, billion).
Some BIS (best in slot) items will run you over 4 billion silver.

You have Weapon, Awakend Weapon, Offhand, Ring, Ring, Earing, Earing, Belt, Neck, Helm, Chest, Gloves, and Boots. that is 13 items.

That means you need to spend at least 13 billion to get "best" gear in ever slot. (only assuming that each slot cost you 1 billion when in reality its substantially more)

It will take you aproxamatly 104 weeks (2 years) and ~~$15,600 USD to get "best" in slot gear for your character.

[Saber]

IMO, the best part about Black Desert online is that you don't have to participate in PVP if you don't want too.

[Havoc]

Hi kitts!
Thank you for taking the time to write... this. I'm always looking for feedback on my reviews in order to improve how I write them, but I guess today's not my lucky day.

You keep spamming your link in the comments section of my review so congratz, you got my attention.
Honestly I wasn't even sure if a reply is necessary, there's no reason to defend my review, it's pretty flawless, and Suzaku seems to have done most of the heavy lifting for me.
On that note...

Hi Suzaku!
Thanks for understanding my review and explaining it here, I was sure I had written it in a comprehensive manner, so seeing you lay out my points so clearly was very reassuring.
I've never gotten to read my own nickname in one post that many times. It was great!

BUT TO THE POINT!

It is true that I had entirely neglected to mention the Loyalty system in my review, I was a bit under 2 weeks into the game by that time, so I didn't really have a lot of loyalty to pass around.
I did however purchase pearls, and according to the description of loyalty points, they should be earned by using the pearl shop and special ingame things. My pearl purchases did nothing to bolster my Loyalty account, and earning them at a rate of 100 points per day makes them almost completely negligible.

Kitts, 90% of your counter-argument boiled down to being able offset my cons for the game with the Loyalty points, while I will admit, it's a nifty daily reward system where you can pick your own rewards, the human lifespan is generally limited. Let me give you an example:

Say you want to get all the Weight Limit Expansions with Loyalties. That's 14000.
Next you want maybe 16 Inventory Slots, that's about as much as the Value Pack gives you, so let's make it 32, since you can also get twice as much Weight as the Value Pack grants you through loyalty. That's 32000.
Maybe you want two more Character Slots, that's 40000.
Finally let's get 16 storage slots for each region, that's actually the cheapest endeavor, at only 10000.

That comes out at 96000 Loyalty which is 2.6 years.
And that's not counting your suggestion of getting the 1-Day Value Pack to change appearance, and I can imagine that you might want to rework your build at some point in those two years, which is 2000 loyalty or cash dolla.

I negleted the Loyalty system in my review because while it's nice that it exists, it's basically the equivalent of your cocaine dealer giving you one gram extra every 5 times you "visit" him. And as a new player you will get absolutely nothing out of it for a good long while.

Loyalty prices do not correlate 1:1 to the Pearl prices, but the average I was able to calculate comes out to 100 Loyalty equaling ~16 cents.

Furthermore...

I actually went pretty easy on the game, the points I elaborated in my review were the short version, since the space was limited, I could have railed on its design philosophy much, much more. I also tried to keep it as objective as possible, obviously no review is going to be entirely objective, it literally represents the impression the game has made on ME, personally. For example I didn't mention that the Soundtrack of the game is boring as f*ck, or how annoying NPC voicacting is, because that's too subjective, and you can turn them off in the menu. But having spent thousands of hours in many Korean MMOs, those points really stuck out.

If anything you, Kitts, wrote was actually a valid counter-argument to any point I made in the review, it would mean that the company running BDO wasn't doing a very good job. As a company their goal is to maximize their profit, so they try to squeeze every last cent out of the so called "Whales" and "Dolphins", without upsetting the bottom-feeders, who don't spend real money on the game, too much. A company like this is the devil, so there's no point in demonizing them any further, I don't hold a grudge against them for being greedy and designing their game to be as profitable as possible, but I feel that anyone who considers getting into the game should be well-informed. Gaming addiction is a real disease, and MMOs are designed to get you addicted.

[Dark Thoughts]

God, much white knighting?
BDO does a lot of great things, but also a lot of ♥♥♥♥♥♥ things with the majority of them being obvious to be designed around the cash shop (pets, inventory weight, inventory slots and more). Heck even if you want to go past 56 you probably want all the XP boost you can get, luckily even the overexpensive costumes are actually coming with stats - including XP boosts, then a value pack because what would be a wantotobe subscription without even more game affecting bonuses?
You're probably the type of guy who shuts down people calling it P2W because there's obviously no "winning" in BDO.
It is people like you that lead the gaming and especially the MMO market to become the abomination it is today.