yes, head start began yesterday, 2016 Jan 15 for anyone who bought founder's packs.
(disclaimer - the following is just my opinion, a solely PVE/carebear player)
as for a comparison against BDO, I can only speak for Korean servers but in many ways the games are comparable. both are simply beautiful games visually. they show off the Korean programmers desire to create stunning landscapes and high quality, detailed game environments, characters, art. the actual games vary a great deal, which both are using a partial action combat engine, BDO feels very clunky and doenst flow as well in battle as B&S (personal opinion).
Blade&Soul has been out in the Korean market for several years. some of us have been playing it there since launch out of enjoyment for the game. so there are years of content waiting the NA/EU market although at launch we're getting a hybrid client of the current level 50 capped game that all other regions have. BDO has been out around a year and has some content still to come but that's if the game survives that long in NA. it's doing well in the Korean market because Korean gamers play completely differently from western gamers (I've played on Korean servers for in various games for nearly 5 years, this is personal experience speaking).
PVE is a heavy focus in Blade&Soul as is PVP. there are constant mini instances you clear as you level through the game, most being group instances with a few requiring solo play. true instances start around level 20, even the first one has some group mechanics in place that will kill you in 1 shot if you're not paying attention. by the end game content (45 at launch but later 50) bosses do not give a f-ck and will 1 shot anyone not aware of what's going on at any given time. there is a weapon growth/evolution system in place that allows for the earliest weapon you acquire in the game to over time and through a lot of work become the strongest in the game. this doenst discourage collecting or finding other weapons in the game as nearly every single weapon available to your class will be needed to grow your weapon into the end game item. end game is about farming for materials for evolving your weapon, clearing the end game instances/open raids for bopae and equipment, and clearing floors on a solo instance called Tower of Mushin in which on each floor you fight a different and progressively harder boss as personal tests. the higher floors are time tracked for the fight time and on Korean servers there is a ranking system for fastest kill times. the open raids are just that, you or your group enter the instanced zone of up to 24 and run around killing mobs, groups, bosses however long you want. they respawn on timers with zone wide announcements 30 seconds before they spawn. bosses drop equipment upgrades, a few costumes, and various other items. there's several dailies that give keys required to open boxes. random mobs can also drop keys. there is no limit to how often you can clear these end game places, none of that once a week crap. you can spend every evening in them for hours. the 4/6 man instances you can clear repeatedly each night.
for the other side of the game. PVP, there are 2 factions, commonly referred to as Red vs Blue because of the dobak colours, but if you're not wearing your dobak you can group and work with anyone you want or meet. PVP is enabled by simply putting on one of a dozen faction dobaks. every faction in the game has an opposing faction. you can collect or purchase dobaks for both sides of every faction in the except the primary 2. of those 2 you can only side with one which you pick at level 4 (it was level 20 until a year ago in Korea). the factions dont have any perks or buffs or benefits other than cosmetic appeal of the costumes and the lore behind them. blue stands for a strong centralized, organized union. red is all about anarchy and chaos and governing yourself. that said obviously most people take red faction because they feel they're a rebel, a badass, and want to be a unique snowflake. there's specific areas in B&S where you can equip your faction dobak and do dailys specific to your faction in that area. these are important later in game. once done you put on any other dobak for fashion reasons and you're neutral again. you and friends can equip opposing dobaks at any time and have a brawl as well. guilds do it regularly in Korea, set up 3v3 or 5v5 teams of opposing factions for fun. there was a server wide one a year ago on my server there that involved some 200ish participants. all organized, hundreds of players all sitting in rows on the beach where it happened, watching the fights. completely player organized and run. the PVP action happens betweens players in the PVP daily zones but mostly players queue for the arena. its a 1v1 instanced arenas, best of 3 rounds. gear is equalized so it's a contest of skill. this doenst go over well with many western PVPers because it eliminates any advantage or unbalance they can obtain. obviously every class has a class who is their nemesis but also a class who is completely their bitch.
BDO is heavily focused on PVP and open world PVP. while there are PVE elements in the game theyre mostly relegated to gathering some things and hoping you dont get killed in doing so which brings me to a major downfall for the game in the western market. PVP games, specifically open world PVP centered games, in western markets fail for 1 reason, griefing. the act of intentionaly ruining others' gameplay for the joy of yours. its a terrible side of human nature that western gamers tend to act upon more than eastern. I only played BDO in Korean for a couple weeks so cant comment too much other than saying the PVE elements were mostly completing quests and farming materials.
if you have any specific areas you'd like answers to, please post them up and I'll answer what I can.
(disclaimer - the following is just my opinion, a solely PVE/carebear player)
as for a comparison against BDO, I can only speak for Korean servers but in many ways the games are comparable. both are simply beautiful games visually. they show off the Korean programmers desire to create stunning landscapes and high quality, detailed game environments, characters, art. the actual games vary a great deal, which both are using a partial action combat engine, BDO feels very clunky and doenst flow as well in battle as B&S (personal opinion).
Blade&Soul has been out in the Korean market for several years. some of us have been playing it there since launch out of enjoyment for the game. so there are years of content waiting the NA/EU market although at launch we're getting a hybrid client of the current level 50 capped game that all other regions have. BDO has been out around a year and has some content still to come but that's if the game survives that long in NA. it's doing well in the Korean market because Korean gamers play completely differently from western gamers (I've played on Korean servers for in various games for nearly 5 years, this is personal experience speaking).
PVE is a heavy focus in Blade&Soul as is PVP. there are constant mini instances you clear as you level through the game, most being group instances with a few requiring solo play. true instances start around level 20, even the first one has some group mechanics in place that will kill you in 1 shot if you're not paying attention. by the end game content (45 at launch but later 50) bosses do not give a f-ck and will 1 shot anyone not aware of what's going on at any given time. there is a weapon growth/evolution system in place that allows for the earliest weapon you acquire in the game to over time and through a lot of work become the strongest in the game. this doenst discourage collecting or finding other weapons in the game as nearly every single weapon available to your class will be needed to grow your weapon into the end game item. end game is about farming for materials for evolving your weapon, clearing the end game instances/open raids for bopae and equipment, and clearing floors on a solo instance called Tower of Mushin in which on each floor you fight a different and progressively harder boss as personal tests. the higher floors are time tracked for the fight time and on Korean servers there is a ranking system for fastest kill times. the open raids are just that, you or your group enter the instanced zone of up to 24 and run around killing mobs, groups, bosses however long you want. they respawn on timers with zone wide announcements 30 seconds before they spawn. bosses drop equipment upgrades, a few costumes, and various other items. there's several dailies that give keys required to open boxes. random mobs can also drop keys. there is no limit to how often you can clear these end game places, none of that once a week crap. you can spend every evening in them for hours. the 4/6 man instances you can clear repeatedly each night.
for the other side of the game. PVP, there are 2 factions, commonly referred to as Red vs Blue because of the dobak colours, but if you're not wearing your dobak you can group and work with anyone you want or meet. PVP is enabled by simply putting on one of a dozen faction dobaks. every faction in the game has an opposing faction. you can collect or purchase dobaks for both sides of every faction in the except the primary 2. of those 2 you can only side with one which you pick at level 4 (it was level 20 until a year ago in Korea). the factions dont have any perks or buffs or benefits other than cosmetic appeal of the costumes and the lore behind them. blue stands for a strong centralized, organized union. red is all about anarchy and chaos and governing yourself. that said obviously most people take red faction because they feel they're a rebel, a badass, and want to be a unique snowflake. there's specific areas in B&S where you can equip your faction dobak and do dailys specific to your faction in that area. these are important later in game. once done you put on any other dobak for fashion reasons and you're neutral again. you and friends can equip opposing dobaks at any time and have a brawl as well. guilds do it regularly in Korea, set up 3v3 or 5v5 teams of opposing factions for fun. there was a server wide one a year ago on my server there that involved some 200ish participants. all organized, hundreds of players all sitting in rows on the beach where it happened, watching the fights. completely player organized and run. the PVP action happens betweens players in the PVP daily zones but mostly players queue for the arena. its a 1v1 instanced arenas, best of 3 rounds. gear is equalized so it's a contest of skill. this doenst go over well with many western PVPers because it eliminates any advantage or unbalance they can obtain. obviously every class has a class who is their nemesis but also a class who is completely their bitch.
BDO is heavily focused on PVP and open world PVP. while there are PVE elements in the game theyre mostly relegated to gathering some things and hoping you dont get killed in doing so which brings me to a major downfall for the game in the western market. PVP games, specifically open world PVP centered games, in western markets fail for 1 reason, griefing. the act of intentionaly ruining others' gameplay for the joy of yours. its a terrible side of human nature that western gamers tend to act upon more than eastern. I only played BDO in Korean for a couple weeks so cant comment too much other than saying the PVE elements were mostly completing quests and farming materials.
if you have any specific areas you'd like answers to, please post them up and I'll answer what I can.
