So, where to even begin. I guess the most important thing here is that this is certainly not the MMO for everybody. This MMO manages to pack in something for every kind of player out there, but that actually doesn't mean it will appeal to everyone.

First of all, I'll cover the topic of the pricepoint, since in the very most lenient sense here, it's "variable".

It's $10 to get into the game. No monthly fees, nothing. That's pretty handy. The price point is at least low enough that for most people, even if they don't like the game, they won't have lost out on much. Now, chances are, the price point is that low because THERE ARE MICROTRANSACTIONS, IF YOU WANT THEM. I'm putting this at the beginning of the review because I know that this will either immediately deter people, or encourage them to hear me out on this. The best way I saw these described was as "conveniences". You can get items that rival the cash shop items, but it will take time, and it will take effort. But, there is nothing to stop someone from simply getting a headstart on the game by dropping a little extra money on the game. Is that bad? Well, at a $10 initial price point, I don't think so, because almost all of the cash shop items are convenience items, i.e. streamlining workers, getting a nicer boat without investing time into it, getting gear to speed up fishing initially, etc. The game counteracts this by allowing a lot of things to be completed AFK, such as fishing, or even autolooping a running path to level up your stamina (seriously, you can just have your character run infinitely between two points and get levels out of it, I can't make this up). Need to level your mount? Check the "auto feed" option, stock up on carrots, set an autoloop, and go sleep or do productive things while your character travels between points A and B and your horse learns new skills. So honestly, the cash shop items are certainly a thing which most people would look down on, but I haven't even seen the need for them. That said, I could have higher tolerance for grinding (see my Maplestory hours, let's not talk about it).

Now, on the topic of grinding, this IS a korean MMO, and it's gonna involve a lot of grinding. The AFK system is honestly a god-send, I'm telling you. However, the combat is very dynamic and frankly the best I've ever seen in an MMO (it does seem very similar to TERA, but definitely more rewarding and satisfying). For skills grinding, a fair amount of it can be done while tabbed out, so the grindy feeling there is alleviated to a fair extent.

As far as skills versus combat, this game does a very good job of letting you choose your own playstyle. Want to make it to the second town and then level all the way to 55+ and make millions by fishing? Sure, go ahead. Want to immediately start a farm and create a monopoly on food goods in the player marketplace? That works too. Set up trade routes between nodes and make all your money and experience through buying low and selling high, it doesn't matter, you get rewarded with level exp for so many things in this game, you can choose how you want to play the game. You can even treat it almost as a single-player game with the Black Spirit quest line, so play how you want to. And hey, if you're still into the kill-quest style MMO, that's all here for you too, and you won't even have to touch the other skills. It's relieving to play an MMO that lets you decide how you want to play it.

Something I have not been a part of yet is the guild system, which entails warring over territories or capturing areas to claim tax to pay guild members and such. I don't know too much about this, but from what I've viewed, it seems incredible to wage all-out-war with other guilds for essentially control over money. The PvP seems to be a big part of this game, and I'm hoping to make it to that end-game experience soon. And yes, before you ask, these wars DO entail forts, cannons, armies, etc, which just seems super awesome. Other guilds though seem to take the game casually, and only want a community to play with, so that's diversified as well.

Now for the more technical stuff. The graphics are gorgeous, the combat is fluid and feels OH SO GOOD, and the AFK feature is even enhanced by an option to minimize the game to the tray. The chat is very spammy with system notifications when you first join the game, but the settings menus help with all that and it should take you just a couple trial-and-errors to figure out what you do want to see broadcast and what you don't want to see. The quest handling is nice and will even autopath you to destinations, and despite minor environmental hookups (I got stuck on a staircase once) it's a very reliable system and can streamline the early game.

Now, so after all of this, why can't I recommend it to everyone? I mean, I'm giving it a thumbs up, am I not? Well, it's because there is very little explained to you in this game, and that's probably because if they did, you wouldn't ever end the tutorial. The game has so much complexity to it that you're going to want to have YouTube open, whatever databases or guides you can find, a friend on skype, really anything to help you understand a new part of the game you've decided to dabble in. For some, that's incredibly daunting and I can't say everyone would enjoy the game based on this aspect. And this isn't me saying "GO BACK TO YOUR BABY MMOS YA BABIES" I mean seriously, this game is a lot to take in and I'm surprised even I can handle it. While I believe you can take the game in any way you like, you still might get curious one day and find a whole new aspect to the game that doesn't suit your fancy, or it's just so horrifically complicated at first that you aren't going to understand it until your 15th fail stack. Now personally, I don't mind having to research an aspect of a game, and I even personally have a journal where I jot down notes for all sorts of games I play (I'm a huge nerd, I know this). But some people want to hop in and just play to end-game, which is okay. Having to find and research your way to the end-game isn't always fun, and I understand that.

So with all of that said, my final verdict is this: if any of this sounded appealing to you, give it a shot. Given that it casts it's net very wide, you can probably find something you'd enjoy in this game. But, be prepared to do some research, as some of the time you're just going to be confused, no matter how much experience you have with MMOs or in-game economies. If the mention of a cash shop that DOES benefit players deterred you entirely, then, ah well, that's fair, and I'd even encourage you to look elsewhere. Despite it being solely convenience items, I can't dispute the fact that they do exactly that. And finally, if all of this sounded appealing to you, I almost plead with you to play this, as I ended up finding the MMO I was looking for, and I hope you do to.

Thanks!
-Scrumpy

Edit: Wow! Thanks for all the reception everybody. Glad to see this review is helping people. After discussing the game with a prospective buyer, I realized I totally forgot to mention that the Black Desert Online site DOES ALLOW A 7-DAY TRIAL. Please note, the account used for that trial and the account used in Steam CANNOT BE LINKED, but this is a way for you to try the game and see if you like it! If the $10 or the cash shop is concerning, give the trial a chance and see, and then decide what medium you would want to purchase it on. I'd recommend using the trial and then coming to steam to start anew and know what direction you want to pursue, but please keep this in mind! Hope this helps!