@ Donkleaps: Thanks - yes if ANYONE wants a head-start Donk has an account with stuff he can help ya with. PM him if interested to work out the details.

@ Vasdef: BDO vs BLESS (going through your questions from BDO side of things)

>> BDO's classes are gender locked. Bless's are not

BDO has pairs that are not gender locked (M/F): Wizard/Witch, Warrior/Valkyrie, Musa/Maewa, Ninja/Konoichi

and 4 that are gender locked: Ranger(F) Berserker(M) Tamer(F) Sorceress(F)

>> BDO does not allow trading between players. Bless- unknown

This is correct (to combat gold sellers); with the exception of Food and Potion (consumables). If you want to sell items, then they go through the Marketplace - there is a % cost of doing this, but the guild that holds the city/area is getting a % of all goods transactions. That is what guilds are fighting for!

>> BDO charges for the game and monthly subscription (unless I am mistaken) Bless is free to play (as I understand it).

BDO for North America charges for the game ($30/$50) and there is NOT a monthly subscription. In Korea/Russia/Japan it is free-to-play, but quite a few differences in game mechanics outside of that (require more pearl-store purchases), the North American and EU build is DIFFERENT from the rest of the markets for advancement and other things in-game. Although it is the "SAME" game.. it really isn't the same for NA/EU market which is pay up front and no monthly sub (with different game/pearl shop options).

>> Both are Korean

Indeed - but the NA/EU version of BDO (as mentioned above) is NOT the same as the Korean and other market's build.

>> Both offer PVP and appear to be PVP oriented.

True - there is a LOT to do in-game for BDO, so it is not 100% about PVP end-game. But there are not RAIDs/etc as in other games, they continue to add new content (without charge... *cough* no so from Blizzard). We have active "casual" folks that are enjoying what the game has to offer OUTSIDE of PVP, so certainly that is not the only thing that interests them in the game.

>> Both have similar (not identical) styles. BDO may be arguably better graphically.

True - both have an "oriental" backdrop; after watching BLESS videos... I am definitely glad I am in BDO! With a good to great gaming PC - BDO is pretty STUNNING graphically speaking! I love the attention to detail and animations, even weather affects and time of day (hunting monsters at night 10PM-7AM is more difficult and higher XP gains).

>> Neither appear to have a "Western/USA" server or regional playability within the US (that I know of)

There are 3 servers for North America, our client is LOCKED into those. As far as I know - they are "Eastern" time zone based, but I haven't heard any of the Western/USA folks mentioning connectivity/sync issues, so they may be in some sort of GOOGLE cloud/etc. I play out of HAST (Hawaiian) time zone, just about as WESTERN US as you can get; Zero problems for me!

>> Though BDO seems to have the edge i initial character customization (Bodies/Faces) over BLESS; there seems to be little if ANY customization of gear (Weapons/clothing) You're pretty much stuck looking the same from 0-50. Bless offers only slightly less initial customization, but offers clothing and gear upgrades /look changes. Hey, even I like to change my underwear sometimes...

This is how they are making $$ past initial purchase for North American market, the Pearl Shop. As Wildcard mentioned above; "pay to look nice" You can dye your gear many colors/combos and some gear may "look" different but without spending $$, you are correct the built-in-gear doesn't look fancy (as Owain can attest as he is still rocking his Warrior gear into the 50's). Pearl shop varies from taste to taste, currently the "specials" are some pretty crazy "sailor type" costumes - IMHO. Still, there are others available if you DONT want that "look".

>> BDO is a GRIND. Bless...well probably, but I can't honestly say since I've played neither and I am basing this on information found online.

At a certain level of ANY MMO... there is a grind. I suppose the advantage to BDO is that I can get you from 1-50 in a day or two, the leveling after that gets tougher, but can be helped with others/participation/grouping. It is true that I cannot help you level EVERYTHING in game - just your character level, gear and other skills are up to you to level.

>> So is either worth it really?

Absolutely - I (and other KGB folks) enjoy playing BDO. The other major difference that I saw from BDO vs Bless is the combat and in-game info. Combat is MUCH more visceral - perhaps not as graphic as Age of Conan was (with head-lopping finishing moves spraying blood) but when I am slashing at things there is blood sprayed on the screen/ground around my character as well as the character themselves. You do NOT see other people's levels at ALL in-game, unless they are RANKED on the server - so unless you are ranked - best not to mess with them! There are NO "Telegraphed" attacks (the hit-boxes in red or areas being affected/attacked) for PvP OR PvE attacks. If you see the mob/player preparing for an attack IN-GAME, best move away from the front/back/etc based on the attack.

As far as attacking you use Left/Right mouse WASD+Shift/Q/E/F keys for attacking or firing off specials, you can PUT icons on your bar for certain things - but mostly useful for consumables or things difficult to "trigger". A bit like MMO-Tekken (as the video below describes), so not a "lazy" combat system by any means (maybe this is a Positive/Negative depends on the player).

Here is a great video for the "action/combat" system:

Taxman

"Any group is weaker than a man alone unless they are perfectly trained to work together."
- Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers