Learn more about the unique world of gorgeous Korean MMO Black Desert

Last week, I put Korean MMORPG Black Desert on my list of the 5 most exciting upcoming Korean video games, and with good reason. If you’re not excited about this one, you’re not paying attention. I mean just look at this trailer!

But thankfully Black Desert is more than just a pretty face. Chinese gaming website 17173 just ran an interesting interview with Black Desert’s producer Kim Dae-il, who coincidentally also produced the excellent Continent of the Ninth Seal (if you’ve never played that game, be sure to read our review). The original interview is only available in Chinese, but here’s what you need to know:

Leveling up

Black Desert will feature a unique questing system, and in fact, doing quests won’t earn you experience points or contribute to your character leveling up. Instead, quests will raise your “regional tribute level”. The higher this goes, the more quests and side activities will be available in a given region (including trade and a number of minigames like hunting, mining and playing the flute).

So how do you level up your character, then? Not to worry; in Black Desert characters can gain XP and level up by defeating monsters, collecting items, and other activities. Kim confirmed that the game does feature an “alchemy” system that will allow players to craft tools with resources they have acquired in the game.

Tweaking the beta

Kim also addressed several issues with most recent beta version of the game. Deeper character customization is being developed and will be tested in a later build, he said. And the house system, which is currently broken because there aren’t enough houses for the players, will be fixed when new areas are added to the test version of the game. Houses give players a stats buff and also provide them with a place to craft items, so it’s something that most players are going to want access to when the game goes live.

The game’s siege mode, which was just a 40-versus-40 PvP arena in the recent beta, will be bumped up to a 300-versus-300 arena with additional siege weapons added for increased complexity. And the next round will also feature upgrades to the skill trees to make more skills accessible to new players, among a number of other minor tweaks. It will also feature a new map area.