5 Reasons to Play Black Desert Online in 2020!

I know there are a lotta you guys out there that play Black Desert Online. It’s one of the most played MMOs after all – and there are various reasons for that.
Today, I’d like to go ahead and take a slightly different approach to normal. Today, I’d like to go ahead and list 5 reasons why I believe you should play Black Desert in 2020.

If you can think of any other reasons, be sure to go right ahead and include them in a comment below. I’d love to hear back from those of you that actively play!

Whether you love or hate the game, you cannot deny that it has some of the best graphics on the market right now. The game came out back in March 2016 and since then, not a single MMO has come out – fully released, that presents a better aesthetic feel to the world or its characters.
There are very few MMOs where I actively take time out of what I’m doing to just stop and go “wow, that actually looks pretty sick.” Not just that, but the combat – the skill effects specifically are quite a spectacle to behold. Seeing more than a single person fighting a group of monsters feels like a firework show.
The towns, the cities are filled with NPCs wandering around that truly makes the game feel alive, and the varying environmental vistas you get to explore leave you in a constant state of awe.

There aren’t a whole lot of MMOs that provide large, seamless worlds anymore. We have games that are constantly releasing that feature segregated zones or worse yet – are lobby-based. Don’t get me wrong, I love segregated zones.
I also enjoy the occasional hub-based MMO but there’s something about an MMO that has a world without loading screens. A world that you can freely traverse and never feel like you’re really done exploring.
Not only does Black Desert have a truly massive world to explore on land, but it has quite the expansive sea as well.
Mrs Stix and I did a video on the naval features a few months ago, where we sailed around the world, explored tons of what the ocean had to offer, went diving, searched for and ultimately failed to find any hidden treasure, and realized that there’s more to the game than what is available on foot.
The world is truly enormous and provides so much content to really consume in a variety of forms.

Black Desert has an unrivaled character creator tool.
I’ve played plenty of MMORPGs over the course of this channel’s life. Literally almost a thousand different MMOs and there are maybe a handful with customization tools that aren’t better, but come closer than any other game in the genre.
Yup – the sheer amount of customization options in Black Desert make for not only some of the most amazing characters you’ll find, but also some of the most bizarre, most horrifying creations you’ll ever see.
I kid you not, just Google “Black Desert character creation” and you’ll see characters that will give you nightmares for days. About 2 years ago I did a couple videos with my little sister, Wiggy, where the two of us actually attempted to create the best looking characters we could for each class.
While I no doubt won every single competition, you don’t really notice how diverse each class is and how much they vary in individual looks.
No matter how hard you try, you won’t ever create a character that looks remotely like any other class – and that’s kinda cool. At the same time, if you enjoy a plethora of customization options then you’ll probably never have a character that looks anything like any other player, either.

I mean, you guys were obviously expecting this, right? Of course you were. If you love tab-target combat, then clearly this isn’t the game for you but if you’re looking for some of the slickest, fastest action combat in an MMO.. then you have, what, like 2 options?
And Black Desert Online is arguably the better of the two at your disposal. I mean how many classes are there right now? 18?
And somehow, they continue to release class after class with new, unique weapons, new, interesting playstyles.. If there’s one thing that continues to drive players back to the game, it’s how frequently they introduce new classes and how unique–how original they feel.
I believe the newest addition to the game was in the form of the Guardian class. That’s the class you’re watching me play as if you’re paying attention to the video.
I’ve played the Sorceress, the Tamer, the Witch, the Striker and now the Guardian, and I can safely say.. the Guardian is perhaps one of the most badass characters I’ve played in the game. She’s a hulking mass of pure and utter destructive force.
I did enjoy my time with the Striker though – don’t get me wrong. But he felt far too squishy for me while I was out grinding monsters. I’m not really a fan of squishy classes. I prefer the larger, bulkier, harder hitting ones and that’s why the Guardian was right up my alley.
Plus, you know: Thicc thighs save lives.
One interesting thing worth noting is that while every class does in fact have their own unique playstyles and abilities, you’ll never fully be able to learn all of them requiring you decide, in advance, the kind of build you plan on pursuing.
It’ll save you a lot of headaches in the long-term, trust me. I’ve made so many mistakes that these days I just YOLO and go whatever sounds the coolest.

While every other aspect of the game is more than enough of a reason to play Black Desert on its own – this is by far the most important.
Black Desert Online is a buy-to-play MMORPG, meaning that to play it, you’re required to pay a single, one-time fee, much like you would if you were going to buy a normal PS4 RPG.
Where some games are pay-to-play, requiring a one-time purchase, and then a recurring monthly fee on top of that, and then some games are free but lock end-game or late-game content behind paid expansions, Black Desert offers everything after the initial purchase for free.
I know how difficult it can be for players to pay a monthly recurring fee for an MMO, especially in this day and age.
And having a buy-to-play business model provides the developers with an ample source of income to continue to push out additional content year after year. While the game is buy-to-play, it does provide a premium cash shop for players that want to spend money on outfits or items.
It’s also available on a variety of platforms: PC, Playstation and Xbox consoles with each platform sharing servers but not accounts. Meaning that to play on a separate platform, you’re required to purchase it.

People play Black Desert Online for any number of reasons.
Some people enjoy the combat – they like the grind. They believe that the combat is better than any other game they’ve come across on PC and will swear by it, not playing anything else because it just won’t live up to the standards they now have for the game.
Others enjoy the amount of freedom they have to do what they want: They can spend their days fishing, they can grind monsters to gain XP required to level up, they can do their life-skills, they can sail the ocean pretending to be a pirate.
Others spend all their day in the character customization tool – and for good reason. Sometimes it’s impossible to get the exact character you want, and, honestly, some people are just a little too obsessed with creating new characters. For better or for worse.

I would love to hear back from you guys though regarding why you play the game.
For me? It’s a combination of the things I listed above.
I’m not all too fond of free-to-play MMOs so that rules out quite a lot of games. I like having a lot of creative freedom over my character, both in terms of how they look, and what skills and stats they have.
I need a large world filled with content to consume and, thankfully, I enjoy both tab-target and action combat, so that isn’t really too large of an issue for me.

I’m currently playing through the new Guardian, aiming to hit level 60 when I can in my free time and honestly, this is probably the furthest I’ve ever made it.
After getting into my 60s I’ll probably go ahead and draft up another Black Desert video, but until then, I’d love to know what you guys think of this list.