I have been reading this for a week now, debating how to address this, maybe my personal experience here will not matter.
I play this game casually. Started in the summer of 2023, I really don’t care much for sci-fi movies or games, I am into magic fantasy. My experience was when I wrote for Star Trek the fans want “real world science” and they disregard the word “fiction” in there. This game seems to bypass the issue rather well by simply not talking about the science of FTL drives and warping space. Fantasy games are simple.
“How did the wizard get from there to here so fast?”
“He teleported.”
“Oh how does he teleport?”
One concise answer for everything, “Magic duh!”.
I am an alpha player, I got that free omega they have offered twice and used it to double train skills. That is about it. I don’t see much use for omega myself. According to my omega friend who invited me here, it doesn’t stop at just buying omega. He pays for 1 year of omega at the discount price, then he also buys PLEX so he doesn’t need to grind. That tells me without asking, $120 per year for the omega then he probably throws down another $45 for the 1000 PLEX. This is not a game meant for people living on a diet of rice and potatoes.
I have spent tons of cash on Black Desert myself, but I am into the virtual dollhouse concept. I played The Sims years ago and still do sometimes. This is nothing like The Sims. I can find the fun factor in most games. While it is not fun to get blown up, why cry about it? Unless of course, you bought and paid for the ship. Losing the ship adds more realism to the game. Losing money, well I can do that at the local casinos. Omega players desire to feel the sting of loss a bit more. I have no objections to people who pay and play as omega.
I don’t believe anyone can give you a reason to play this game as solo omega, because you already made up your mind. Just as I decided to continue to play as alpha. There is a division between alpha only and omega players caused by the financial dynamic of the game. It is just my opinion, CCP is its own worse enemy at times. While this game has fun elements of risk versus reward, it is not entirely my cup of tea.
Black Desert was made by CCP’s parent company. It is not free to play, it is buy to play. Once you are in the game there is no division for paid and free players. You either buy clothes and furniture or you don’t. They have a monthly value pack, it gives you a tax break in the game market, some buffs, and access to all dyes on a special palette otherwise you can buy random dyes. I do enjoy the buy to play model, however once a game claims to be free to play, they have burnt that bridge behind them.
You can suspect people of using exploits all you like, I am certain the developers know who is cheating. However most games want you to work as game cops and report them, so they don’t have to look for them. It isn’t like they punish you for suspecting a cheater.
Today I will do some abyssal filaments, mine gas, or build some more ships to burn up. It is all about the fun factor, you need to find it. If you can’t find the fun, then why punish yourself by playing?
Have fun!