I Can’t Stop Doing Nothing In ‘Crimson Desert’

InnovationGamingI Can’t Stop Doing Nothing In ‘Crimson Desert’ByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorApr 28, 2026, 09:19am EDTApr 28, 2026, 09:21am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Crimson DesertPearl AbyssI have killed an entire map. I’m not sure I’ve ever said that before in a video game, but not many video games have permadeath for most of their enemies. Enter Crimson Desert.Outside of extremely small pockets of respawning bandits or bounty hunters, the map is vacant. I haven’t even seen a wolf in 30 hours. And yet I cannot help myself from logging in almost every day to just…exist in the world, and accomplish the most minor of things left to do. Or simply do nothing at all.I have a “project” in Crimson Desert right now, and that’s souping up Damiane, a character that you should invest roughly zero skill points into as you play the game, given that you’ll need to sink everything into Kliff and his gear, given that he’s locked into the main story and a number of sidequests. But I’m slowly, very slowly, getting skill points for her tree and gear. What am I even doing these days?Hunting a few of the rare animals, even though most of them are just giving me little house trophies now.Clearing every question mark on the map, even though all of them are just random shopsDoing remaining vendor contracts, which can be as simple as buying something and delivering to someone across the streetFighting random pockets of surviving, respawning enemies with 20% bonus XP on Damiane to level up slowly through combatPickpocketing Scholars to occasionally get a skill pointPicking what appears to be a blank spot on the map and going to see if there’s anything there (I’ve gotten a lot of Abyss skill point pillars doing that)Doing some of the lingering...