The Death of Companionship in Maplestory

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Printable Version

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The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Rotosound - 2011-09-14

Hello Southperry people! I recently posted a thread on Basilmarket and it received such positive feedback that I thought I'd share it here! I hope it's in the right section; this is my first time here and I'm rather impressed by the organization of forum topics. So, without further ado, enjoy the copypasta Wink

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Need something to occupy your busy brain while you read this? Here's some mood music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVVCavjaltM

Before I begin, I want to offer a disclaimer: I am in no way a perfect human being. The views expressed here are merely my thoughts and opinions communicated stream-of-consciousness via this medium of an Internet forum. Reader discretion is advised.
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Though it proves no significance to what will be discussed here, I feel an introduction is in order. My name is Rotosound, a Marksman from the Galicia server of GMS who has reached 170 in over a year of playing Maple. You may have heard of me--most likely in a negative manner--from SW or in-game. I know I can present myself as a jerk and as a goofy-zany-friendly guy, but it is who I am. To those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting me, hello

I'm going to try and keep this as short as possible, but knowing myself, pithiness is definitely not my fortitude. Got your long progressive metal album on? Let us commence.
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I began playing Maple last summer after my Junior year in high school at the "strong urging" of a close friend of mine. Though I had never played any RPG save Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and many of the Pokémon titles, let alone one online, I was willing to give it a shot. We both started at ground zero, getting ourselves familiar with the mechanics of the game and the aspects of training/grinding/leveling. Money wasn't an issue; we were just playing for fun.

That's the issue upon which I want to focus: money. We've all heard the [Biblical] quote: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:10) and I entirely believe that to be true. The concept of money only lends itself to create and inspire more greed when compounded with the human nature of self, a nature that is not satiated when it feels it can always have more. Nexon knows this, and they take advantage of it.

One of the highlights of my giving this game a shot was its "free-to-play" nature. I had already shelled out hundreds of dollars throughout my youth on games that lasted less than a few months (except Pokemon Gold, bless its mechanical soul and the near-700 hours I crammed into it). I did not want to have to try a completely new game and pay for it at the same time when I knew nothing about it, nor if I'd like it or not. Having this mindset, I became what most would call the "average" Mapler: I completed PQs, trained, and made friends.

I can still remember my first million; it was probably given to me by my friend. I thought I was the richest man alive at the time, but it didn't even matter. I was playing to train with friends and have social interaction with random strangers online. Who cared about damage? As long as we were enjoying ourselves and the company of others, we were having a grand time.

Around the time of my entrance into this wide world of wackiness, the potential system was released. Having no idea what it was, I continued on my merry way, occasionally finding items of value thanks to this new pot system. NX was still not a factor, so I would spam in the FM like any other noob, "@" signs and all. However, around then my friends started spending NX and gaining other friends who spent a lot of NX. I gazed in awe as people discovered Epic and Unique items and frequently bought even better items with their money. Maintaining my initial vow to never buy NX grew harder and harder, but I would not break.

Then, things started turning for the worst. I caught a growing pattern: the more my friends spent on this game, the more likely they were to quit. To this day, I still see some of my closest Internet friends throw in the towel after spending hundreds of dollars on this silly "free-to-play" game. Now, wouldn't they be more motivated to play knowing they have investments in the game?

Investment, that's the key word. In fact, that's where the present meets the past in this journal.

Perusing the dictionary, I found "investment" to be defined as such:
The action or process of investing money for profit or material result.

An investment occurs when you purchase something knowing it will increase in value and you can eventually resell it for more than you paid. This is why the stock market is considered "investing" while gambling is considered "wasteful."

Simply put, my friends were not making investments. They were putting money into something that wouldn't give it back. Imagine a gumball machine that merely ate your quarters and offered nothing in return but an unsatisfied palate.

Around the time that this potential system appeared, Miracle Cubes were introduced. These "miracles," I believe, are the cause of the Death of Companionship in MapleStory.

In case you don't really understand the concept, here it is: for $1.20, you can reset the potential stats of a piece of equipment you have. Say you have a glove with 2-lines that read "str +6, dex 3%" If you wanted %str (which enhances your amount of str by taking a percentage of your total and adding it to said total), you could buy a Miracle Cube for a CHANCE to make it better.

A CHANCE. This is gambling. This isn't an investment. And, even if you received the stat you were looking for, the remaining factors become temptations. Your glove is only rare when it could be epic or even unique. It only has two lines when it could have three. The pressures of cubing create a slot machine effect where you become sucked into buying more and more until you finally reach your satisfaction.

But are you truly satisfied? My friends weren't.

Next thing you know, you're cubing your top/bottom/overall, your hat, your weapon, your EVERYTHING, all in a chance to become stronger.

"Strength" is the other bane of companionship in MapleStory. The concept of growing stronger ruins friendships.

As my friends tried in vain to increase their ranges and become better than another, they lost sight of their original goal of having fun and playing with others.
Though MapleStory may be a game with some appearance of an overarching plot, it is meant to be a game where you create your own story. Your interaction with your character, how you raise it and who you meet along the way, became your story. You weren't the only character; though you were the protagonist, you were meant to meet other minor characters that constituted your plot. You were free to do whatever you want and others willingly participated.

But, when the concept of a higher strength was introduced, ambition metamorphosed into greed, and greed calloused into something even darker. As more and more people pumped money into a game filled with fleeting pleasures--stats that are never strong enough, clothes that don't last, lottery that never pays out--they grew more and more depressed and ended up quitting. I'm sure you've seen this before, because it's happening more than ever.

I feel I've veered off my course a little along the way, but at least understand this: Nexon's true goal in creating and developing this game called MapleStory is to make money. Why do NX items expire? Why is there a lottery for practically everything? Why do the things that make you feel like you succeed cost so much? Simply so Nexon can get more of your money. I discussed this with a friend earlier: as long as there is a goal yet unbroken, MapleStory will stay alive. Pink Bean was defeated? Here comes Empress Cygnus. You defeated her? You get booted out of the map. You think Unique is enough? Here comes Legendary tier. Your class is too weak? Here, enjoy a new, over-powered class. We're addicts, and it's not Nexon's fault. They may feed our addiction, but we let it fester and grow larger and larger until we cannot find any satisfaction in our play times.

I was inspired to blog about this after one of my friends got hacked. Instead of keeping his character and continue to build it up, he left to go merch in another world (granted, he still visits from time to time.) Another friend who wanted more money followed suit, and now most of my closest companions are gone all the time hoping to make a quick buck. I now relish those times when it wasn't about money. People are only concerned with making more and more money to become stronger, not grow stronger bonds with each other. The corruption of money in this initially-free system has spread throughout its players. Those without NX or good equips are shunned, while those with higher ranges compare and gloat. It's no longer about the people; it's about the power. And I'm sick of it.
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Now, to hopefully tie up some loose ends. I am not against making money; I am a free-market economist and I also merch in Maple. That said, my world hasn't become solely money; I attempt to raise some to make some small improvements. I haven't become addicted to the concept of strength; I set small goals and feel great when I accomplish them.

Along the same lines of feeling great and satisfaction, it is perfectly fine if you find your enjoyment in making money. However, I just don't want you to be the kind of person whose end-all goal is to make more money than everyone else and feel good about it.

This is merely just me speculating and reflecting on why so many of my friends have quit. To date, I have lost approximately 6-10 or more friends directly due to a lack of accomplishment after money-based goals. I miss the old days of MapleStory where people would sit around and shoot the breeze, just interact, chat, and hang out with each other. If you wanted to level, you got your closest friends together and looked for a spot to train. Your focus wasn't you. You weren't the sole character in your story; you had people with supporting roles alongside you. Granted, every story has its antagonist(s), but everyone is your enemy when you're only looking out for yourself.

I hope some of you read some portions and got something out of this. It was all stream-of-consciousness so it's not very organized; take it as you will. I honestly don't expect much of an impact here on Basil, so nice comments will be even sweeter Please, incite discussion amongst yourselves, and feel free to implore me with your questions. Since this is kind of garbled, I'd be more than happy to clarify any of my points. Thank you for your time, and Happy Mapling.

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Panacea - 2011-09-15

Nexon is a business, so naturally they're inclined to make easy money off it's fan base.

Companionship has died, I'll agree. With what used to take 2 hours with a full expedition of 30 members can take a single player 5 minutes. (As per the Mercedes video.)

There's really not much you can do. You were able to avoid the trap your friends fell into. Not much else to say.

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Raul - 2011-09-15

Bumping for a friend.
(hoping for lack of infraction and my dreaded 8 points Frown

)

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Corn - 2011-09-15

First, I salute you for being able to reach level 170 without spending any nx cash.

We all basically agree with you. There's no one who would deny that Nexon wants cash, and Maplestory is going downhill. So this is a bit redundant :3.

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - KhainiWest - 2011-09-15

I'm sorry but you should have just kept it on the original forum you posted on.

The thing is, you talk about all this moral crap but you don't even understand why maplestory does what it does, its a designed game where it doesn't want to keep older players, it just wants constant refreshing.

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Worthyness - 2011-09-15

And this is why I've come to not really care about this. Maple is just another game to me right now and I play it for the fun of it all. I take advantage of all the free maplepoint give aways and the other free events, but I don't really train anymore. I do buy NX once in a while to make my life easier, but I'm not about to cube something that's not even worth cubing (like my overall has 3% all stats and 3% str, which is 6% str. Enough for me especially when I have +wdef/mef/luk bonuses everywhere else (my knuckle has +12 atk and 6% luk >.>). Yeah NX ruined the game by making the kiddy version of the slot machine, but that's what you get for playing for free, nevermind the fact that Nexon forgot their "nx users will never have a significant advantage over normal users". But that's why they had MTS right? And the ridiculous tax of a guaranteed 500nx from every purchase? I think Nexon wins again!

Maplestory isn't dead to me, just fun. But then real life takes over and tells you to GTFO kids games, but I still play to keep up to date as much as possible. This also is the reason why I've never trained anything higher than level 14x- never had the drive to do it beyond: OH i may be able to HT soon! (no to that because people just LOVE to hold the cave and the stupid glitch). oh ok... maybe I can go to Zakum like th eold days? Nope that's being hogged by people doing solos in less than 20 minutes. Ok well, I guess I'll just stick to pap. At least I can kill him. <<- extent of my bossing experiences. Most of my friends either quit because a lot of us have to go back to school, so the guild tends to die around school time. And then real life takes over afterwards, so we just don't have time for anything anymore.

I'll probably restart another character soon with the new updates. Make new characters to get the new bonuses that the new characters give, etc. my "fun" is being able to play how I want when I want, however I want. If anyone thinks otherwise, well they can go pineapple themselves.

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Rotosound - 2011-09-15

Corn Wrote:First, I salute you for being able to reach level 170 without spending any nx cash.

We all basically agree with you. There's no one who would deny that Nexon wants cash, and Maplestory is going downhill. So this is a bit redundant :3.

You'd be surprised... *looks up*

@KhainiWest Don't apologize to me when you're not apologizing, ok? Oldest trick in the book to say, "I actually am not sorry and don't care what you have to say." It's like saying, "just saying." I'd also like to believe I understand more about morality than you do if you think I'm spewing moral crap. If what I'm saying is "crap," why are you even bothering to respond?

Pineapples, bro. (Sorry if I'm not using that correctly; I'm new to this @_@)

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - CourageLess - 2011-09-16

Panacea Wrote:Nexon is a business, so naturally they're inclined to make easy money off it's fan base.

Companionship has died, I'll agree. With what used to take 2 hours with a full expedition of 30 members can take a single player 5 minutes. (As per the Mercedes video.)

There's really not much you can do. You were able to avoid the trap your friends fell into. Not much else to say.

Gotta agree with this, I myself also lost the fun in maple due to the need for money if you want higher damage .

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Malthe - 2011-09-16

Rotosound Wrote:Pineapples, bro. (Sorry if I'm not using that correctly; I'm new to this @_@)

Pineapple is an auto-censor for f'uck.

And i agree with Khainiwest, he summed up some of my thoughts on the matter.

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - KhainiWest - 2011-09-16

Rotosound Wrote:You'd be surprised... *looks up*

@KhainiWest Don't apologize to me when you're not apologizing, ok? Oldest trick in the book to say, "I actually am not sorry and don't care what you have to say." It's like saying, "just saying." I'd also like to believe I understand more about morality than you do if you think I'm spewing moral crap. If what I'm saying is "crap," why are you even bothering to respond?

Pineapples, bro. (Sorry if I'm not using that correctly; I'm new to this @_@)

I never said I didn't agree with you, I'm simply saying it's nothing new. Maplestory has been going down this spiral ever since majority of the original dupers in late 07 early 08 got away with what they did.

Power is efficiency, it lets you play maple at a higher level, there's nothing you can say or do that will resolve that. Without strategy there is nothing but strength. Your friends quit because the end game goal is typically, to boss really well. Well that's hard to do when it's poorly managed by;

Overpopulation, the bosses damage's/hp increase is so high right now that no boss does a reasonable threatening type of damage

Dc hackers keeping you out of bosses that can net you a large amount of profit

Community eating itself alive because let's face it, it's nothing more than a bunch of pre-teens who believe their pride is more important than their common sense. Their stat % is over 90% so they don't have to respect you, you need them.

Then again, your entire post is just a rant of the obvious, there is no discussion to be made, it's like it took you 5 years to gain an epiphany that spawned 3 years ago.

The Death of Companionship in Maplestory - Unauthorized Intruder - 2011-09-16

Your point is people quit when they don't get satisfied result from whatever they invest on, right?

It's natural, IMO. When you do something and you realize it's not giving impressive result, you'll stop doing it eventually. For Maple, fail cubing is one of many reasons they quit: getting hacked, bored, friends quit, etc. I quit because I discovered XNA game studio; Visual C# addon that helps you make a game with only basic programming knowledge.

Yes, I agree with your point. I just want to say it's human nature. As well as Nexon trying to make money.