The fatal flaw with the current business model.

This argument sounds oddly familiar from 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010...

But, but, but this time the hackers have a plan to bring down the servers for good!

Yeh lol, i have been hearing that maplestory won't last much longer for years, yeh it's still going shrug.

http://www.southperry.net/showthread.php...%20Results

http://www.southperry.net/showthread.php...%20Results

http://www.southperry.net/showthread.php...%20Results

I meant the PS profits.

Yeh lol, i have been hearing that maplestory won't last much longer for years, yeh it's still going shrug.

I meant the PS profits.

It would be illegal for them to release that information, since it's donations and not profit.

It wouldn't be fair to compare a bottom line for private servers anyway. They don't create content, but merely copy it. There's some coding to make it work, but it's merely adapting to what already exists.

...then again, Nexon America almost does the same thing. They don't make new content, but rather just import what the makers of other versions put out.

So then would isn't it fair to say that the maintenance cost of a PS is alot less than the legitimate game, because of things like higher employee numbers, building space rent, maintenance of bigger servers, profits that have to be shared, re-invested, and split across multiple faucets etc.

Hence isn't pointless tosay that a private server can accomplish xyz and make things this way or that, because they don't need that much revenue to keep up what they are doing in the first place, or obligations to other companies etc.

The point i'm trying to make is that big numbers in terms of revenue mean little if you don't have the full picture of money that has to be taken out and keep things running and owed to various investors etc.

Go google how many private servers there are, now go look at how many people are online in the top 5. I want you to look at it and realize those are legitimate nexon customers. I can almost gurrantee, every single one of those players has donated a minimum of 20 dollars. Why? Even though the rates are 100x higher, they want to buy the donor items. You don't have to donate to get donor items though, just invest hours into getting enough meso and collecting it. So instead of training for 4 hours, they throw 20 bucks and get a maximum stat item.

Nexon can do the same, but not that specifically. You want nx clothes, you can work for 3-4 hours to buy a set of clothes, with meso, or you can just charge. Considering the age group this is targeting, majority with part time jobs, they will instead purchase rather than waste time/effort on something solely for aesthetics. You're honestly naive if you believe that by simply adding a free system, a genuine one, with no ceiling, than majority will take that path.

By being dependent solely on the top 10% of the bigger spenders, who get rewarded all of the content for doing so, is a bad plan, maplestory doesn't offer enough to hold those players forever. But by giving access to that type of advantage to everyone, you hold a significant longer user life, who play the game, get rewarded for it, and occasionally charge so they don't have to repeat the process.

Not sure where i'm supposed to check for the numbers but seeing less than 1k online for the biggest ones, i'll check back later in the day to see how high the numbers will go up when people wake up. Is there is way to check the numbers for GMS as easily?

Go google how many private servers there are, now go look at how many people are online in the top 5. I want you to look at it and realize those are legitimate nexon customers. I can almost gurrantee, every single one of those players has donated a minimum of 20 dollars. Why? Even though the rates are 100x higher, they want to buy the donor items. You don't have to donate to get donor items though, just invest hours into getting enough meso and collecting it. So instead of training for 4 hours, they throw 20 bucks and get a maximum stat item.

Nexon can do the same, but not that specifically. You want nx clothes, you can work for 3-4 hours to buy a set of clothes, with meso, or you can just charge. Considering the age group this is targeting, majority with part time jobs, they will instead purchase rather than waste time/effort on something solely for aesthetics. You're honestly naive if you believe that by simply adding a free system, a genuine one, with no ceiling, than majority will take that path.

By being dependent solely on the top 10% of the bigger spenders, who get rewarded all of the content for doing so, is a bad plan, maplestory doesn't offer enough to hold those players forever. But by giving access to that type of advantage to everyone, you hold a significant longer user life, who play the game, get rewarded for it, and occasionally charge so they don't have to repeat the process.

But is that really enough, after thinking over what people buy in the original MS, i have to give the current model the advantage in reaping more money. Whether it's flawed for us or is exhaustible is merely opinion. Currently nexon is making enough to keep them afloat given that the game is old and pretty monotonous, their strategy has keep them alive for 7 years now? I honestly can't see them surviving financially using suggestions i'm seeing put forward in this thread and here is why.

Their current model makes it so hard it takes ages and money to get stuff done, whether anyone wants to believe it or not, this keeps players in the game long because they take a while reach all the content and even get strong enough to take it on. This works because let's face it games are exhaustible, after fighting a boss once in a game like this, especially the "strongest" there is no reason to continue improving. Even if the bosses had great drops, as i said it would only make getting to the hardest boss faster and then the boredom after you complete it will set it in pretty fast. There is a certain satisfaction you gain by having to dedicate and strive through what seems like a mountain of tedium to finally arrive where you wanted, it's about the journey. I'm usually more satisfied by the process of getting to my desired level then actually just being there, it's something to look forward to, when you get there it's like meh now what, and you find another "useful" mountain to climb. That's how maple ropes people in, that is it's gimmick.

They have alot of options for customization that you pay for, whether it be looks or more practical stuff like equipment upgrades and pets etc, people are willing to pay for what they want once they can, is it crappy that the clothes last 90 days? That's 3 months, that's 9 times longer than i spend on any other game besides dota and maple, and person can finish other games in a week or a couple days and toss it. So even if it's a triple A game that costs $50 dollars, nexon makes way more than $50 on average per person for certain items, that alone is enough reason to keep the current business model, because games get boring super fast when you can get what you want, and believe me those who you can get it without paying won't pay for it if they have the time, so that feature is useless to you as a business, It doesn't help you make money whatsoever. Those who want to buy and save time will buy and given how people usually buy in bundles you will automatically pass the $50 per game standard without noticing.

Yes they may rely on the 10% as you said for the big bucks but that is not to say the 90% doesn't spend any money at all, and i'm pretty sure the 90% will spend more than $20 on average compared to what you were saying for the PS, so inaddition to the big bucks they are getting from the 10% they are still getting a fair amount from the other 90%.

It's easy to say they should do this and should do that, in terms of us as players yes it may be a bit unfair or w/e you want to call it, but from a business perspective, it hasn't failed yet, and other options that i'm seeing being put forward don't seem to come close to bringing in the same revenue they are seeing with their current model.
If they was a better way to make more money i'm pretty sure they would have done it.

Honestly I think the fatal flaw with Nexon is that they don't have a creative thought working for the developing team. When the idea is class revamps, new classes every 3 months, and recoloring a boss and slapping the name Chaos in front of it, that's when you know there's not much creative thinking going on for them. And then they go on and ruin some of the classic content while they're at it. There was a time when we would go 2 years without a revamp and Maple Story was doing just fine because they were releasing new areas, new bosses, etc.

If they brought out some of the old content back to the current version, that might catch people's interest again.

Anego and bigfoot were two things I enjoyed most about Maple back then. I loved camping, hanging out with friends waiting for spawns, etc. I liked that it was an alternative to mindless training. It's not even major content, but I loved it anyways. Now the alternative is Horntail tickets, and even that is killed in less than a minute these days. If they could make area bosses like Anego, Bigfoot, Horsemen, Toad, Samurai, and others relevant again, I would have something to do again. And by relevant I mean exp is nicely rewarded, and a max range Xenon with the highest boss dmg isn't able to kill it in seconds, if a duo is required for two people and they get 50 million exp divided between them, that would be a great alternative to training.

But that's just a few ideas I would change about this game. It's likely never going to happen but oh well, can't wait for Chaos Mushmom or what ever other lame ideas they have going on these days.

But is that really enough, after thinking over what people buy in the original MS, i have to give the current model the advantage in reaping more money. Whether it's flawed for us or is exhaustible is merely opinion. Currently nexon is making enough to keep them afloat given that the game is old and pretty monotonous, their strategy has keep them alive for 7 years now? I honestly can't see them surviving financially using suggestions i'm seeing put forward in this thread and here is why.

Population drops, even seasonal players, such as yourself are becoming more common. Other nexon branches have in fact shut down, nexon america is surviving off a small percentage player base, they know it too. That's why they are going outside of their forum, that's why they're trying to come up with better ways of communication, that's why they try things like the leaf brigade. They want to make the user's longevity longer, their current model discourages that.

Their current model makes it so hard it takes ages and money to get stuff done, whether anyone wants to believe it or not, this keeps players in the game long because they take a while reach all the content and even get strong enough to take it on.

You're arguing a perspective with no basis. I'm arguing a fact that the population has dipped and players only come around and stay a few months after every patch. The metagame gets stronger for those who invest time and money, not or. You are rewarded for sticking around, but those rewards are small %'s compared to the NX you would have to spend to enjoy the metagame.

These players that you have made up do not spend long periods of times just working to get basic privileges, they either spend nx, quit, or come on to socialize until that itself gets boring. The last two do not make nexon money. The first one is something you chose.

This works because let's face it games are exhaustible, after fighting a boss once in a game like this, especially the "strongest" there is no reason to continue improving. Even if the bosses had great drops, as i said it would only make getting to the hardest boss faster and then the boredom after you complete it will set it in pretty fast.

Maplestory is a game mostly about upgrading. By killing a boss, the strongest mind you, the goal is to do it faster, to get money faster, to upgrade better, for all of your characters. Although, killing the same bosses over and over again, if you're making money doing it, it'll never get boring because that players is thinking of the long term. They are trying to get strong enough so when the next boss comes out, they are apart of the first kill. It'll only gets boring when you're making a small profit out of it, which eventually happens because the metagame catches up with the "elite". So what nexon should do is allow players to reach the metagame in a reasonable proportional method, long term it's a better method as it encourages players to actually play the game, rather than to buy to win. This is like really basic marketing. The 3ds is a $200 product, they released the 2ds and the 1ds to make affordable alternatives to those who want the upcoming release of pokemon. Granted nintendo is still making money, but you also forget that every cash shop item in existence has no operating cost. It's simply a collection of data out of thin air. Operating costs are already budgeted.

There is a certain satisfaction you gain by having to dedicate and strive through what seems like a mountain of tedium to finally arrive where you wanted, it's about the journey. I'm usually more satisfied by the process of getting to my desired level then actually just being there, it's something to look forward to, when you get there it's like meh now what, and you find another "useful" mountain to climb. That's how maple ropes people in, that is it's gimmick.

...Until you hit a wall where you're essentially forced to buy NX to continue. You can still create a journey to get there, and all the way there. In fact that's what I'm suggesting...there should be no "rope" that is nearly impossible because of the ocean of time or money you'd have to invest, especially for the better part of the game, where you actually have the potential to make profit.

They have alot of options for customization that you pay for, whether it be looks or more practical stuff like equipment upgrades and pets etc, people are willing to pay for what they want once they can, is it crappy that the clothes last 90 days? That's 3 months, that's 9 times longer than i spend on any other game besides dota and maple, and person can finish other games in a week or a couple days and toss it.

When people start, they want to work for the items, and would probably do so for the first two/three makeovers, pets, cubes, whatever. After that, they would start purchasing because they just want the reward. I don't know your personal experience with video games, but every game I have purchased has insane replay value, battlefield 3 is a different game everytime you play it.

So even if it's a triple A game that costs $50 dollars, nexon makes way more than $50 on average per person for certain items, that alone is enough reason to keep the current business model, because games get boring super fast when you can get what you want, and believe me those who you can get it without paying won't pay for it if they have the time, so that feature is useless to you as a business, It doesn't help you make money whatsoever. Those who want to buy and save time will buy and given how people usually buy in bundles you will automatically pass the $50 per game standard without noticing.

Uh what item's outside of cubing, or marvel machine events? Then you're disregarding that most games are in fact $60-80 dollars, which goes to show how familiar you are with the current market, not including the DLC (Borderlands 2 alone had almost $100 in additional DLC). The point of my suggestion is not to give everything to a player on a silver platter, I don't know why this concept is so hard for you to understand. I'll draw you a picture instead.

 Spoiler

Yes they may rely on the 10% as you said for the big bucks but that is not to say the 90% doesn't spend any money at all, and i'm pretty sure the 90% will spend more than $20 on average compared to what you were saying for the PS, so inaddition to the big bucks they are getting from the 10% they are still getting a fair amount from the other 90%.

...Considering I just sent you the IPO for the last 3 frekin quarters of a steady drop, for nexon america specifically, your entire statement is fallacious at best. Considering that "90%" we just spoke about actually go to private servers to save money as the cost steep is no where near the same, I would reckon to say they are losing a considerable amount of potential profit, based on their current model.

Also like to point out with the red update they are taking baby steps to attempt to fix this, which would mean they are aware of the problem, which would mean your statements are not only unresearched speculation but you faith in this companies "business finesse" is grossly over estimated.

It's easy to say they should do this and should do that, in terms of us as players yes it may be a bit unfair or w/e you want to call it, but from a business perspective, it hasn't failed yet, and other options that i'm seeing being put forward don't seem to come close to bringing in the same revenue they are seeing with their current model.
If they was a better way to make more money i'm pretty sure they would have done it.

How can you speak on the business perspective when I just showed you their business is actually doing worse every passing quarter. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I work with business' every frekin day of the week, you're trying to sound like you have any remote idea about, but you're clearly oblivious. Considering other branches of the nexon company have in fact failed, based on indulging this model, your opinion is not only wrong, it's downright hilarious.

Not sure where i'm supposed to check for the numbers but seeing less than 1k online for the biggest ones, i'll check back later in the day to see how high the numbers will go up when people wake up. Is there is way to check the numbers for GMS as easily?

Votes are a very good indication. Extalia has 1300-2000 per day. That's ONE server, and it's very difficult to do a duplicate vote.

It makes me glad they're getting rid of that retarded system when RED hits. No one thought they were a good idea, and I'm surprised it stuck around for as long as it did.

I'm still reading through this thread but i had to stop and comment here: Skill books are single handedly what stopped me from bothering to level past 130 as a casual player. Ever since i got hacked in 09' i could NOT ever bring myself to play the game deep enough to ever invest time into farming and stuff again. NPC and event stuff sustained my solo boss free play.

But because of this particular system which basically FORCES casual players to interact with Maple's beyond screwed economy, i decided it wasn't worth it and stopped everytime i got a new char around that level.

With that the money from my casual purchases too. This is the kind of bad planning that alienates even players who WOULD be comfortable with not aiming for endgame gear.

Not sure where i'm supposed to check for the numbers but seeing less than 1k online for the biggest ones, i'll check back later in the day to see how high the numbers will go up when people wake up. Is there is way to check the numbers for GMS as easily?

sup.

But is that really enough, after thinking over what people buy in the original MS, i have to give the current model the advantage in reaping more money. Whether it's flawed for us or is exhaustible is merely opinion. Currently nexon is making enough to keep them afloat given that the game is old and pretty monotonous, their strategy has keep them alive for 7 years now? I honestly can't see them surviving financially using suggestions i'm seeing put forward in this thread and here is why.

No, bust it up into their respective monetization models. There was a strategy that worked just fine for 4 years, and then potential came, and 3 years later, here we are with everything being pay-to-power.

Can't see them surviving financially using the suggestions in this thread? Most of what we are asking for is stuff they have already done in the past successfully; they've just abandoned the strategies.


This game started out with a microtransaction business model, but as it's really evident with all these packages on sale containing multiples of the same item for more than $30, there's nothing "micro" about it.
Honestly if Nexon would return to their REAL microtransaction business model, less people would feel so alienated and would be more receptive to spending very small amounts on numerous little things, as opposed to plopping a hundred bucks on crappy-ass miracle cubes with nothing to show for it. No one can see the cubes you buy, so there's no

You can't sacrifice game quality for community, but if you have all your friends playing, you're going to have a great time.

The first need that you really have to satisfy is fun. I think people start off thinking business model, but if your game is not fun, the community is not going to stick around.

Remember the key of the sales products microtransaction business model: function, envy/prestige, recognition, collecting, rarity/scarcity, competition, friendship, peer pressure.
Miracle Cubes ultimately fail to meet up to this standard. They don't reliably upgrade potential tier, or even provide a potential that benefits the player. The items are trash, and I seriously doubt that there is anyone who actually enjoys buying and using them.

What you're trying to do is a mimic the subscription. When you're mimicking that subscription you know that most of your players aren't going to pay. Don't make the non-payers for that subscription. Don't shoot for an ARPU of $100 because you know 10 players won't pay.

It's a cruel irony that this philosophy has been entirely abandoned.


Sane players won't spend money on things they won't enjoy.
New players will be intimidated at the thought of spending, say, an hour's pay of minimum wage, on something that they aren't familiar with, or something that isn't a sure thing.

Nexon blames their losses on hackers. The drop in revenue is not due to hackers. It's due to terrible business practices.

 Spoiler

You should have made the rope be on fire, and a lot longer.

I'm still reading through this thread but i had to stop and comment here: Skill books are single handedly what stopped me from bothering to level past 130 as a casual player. Ever since i got hacked in 09' i could NOT ever bring myself to play the game deep enough to ever invest time into farming and stuff again. NPC and event stuff sustained my solo boss free play.

But because of this particular system which basically FORCES casual players to interact with Maple's beyond screwed economy, i decided it wasn't worth it and stopped everytime i got a new char around that level.

With that the money from my casual purchases too. This is the kind of bad planning that alienates even players who WOULD be comfortable with not aiming for endgame gear.

This system wasn't flawed from the start; Nexon ruined it by monetizing it.
The original purpose of the skillbook system was to force players to interact with other players...to team up and participate in boss runs to acquire the skillbooks. The "beyond screwed economy" didn't factor in until Nexon brought out Scissors of Karma and made those skillbooks an economic item. People really like to put the blame on the community itself for all sorts of things wrong with the game and its community; but the blame is mostly on Nexon for shaping the community to be this way.

\
You should have made the rope be on fire, and a lot longer.

That line is the ceiliing in which how far you can get with just effort. As in it caps quickly.

sup.




No, bust it up into their respective monetization models. There was a strategy that worked just fine for 4 years, and then potential came, and 3 years later, here we are with everything being pay-to-power.

Can't see them surviving financially using the suggestions in this thread? Most of what we are asking for is stuff they have already done in the past successfully; they've just abandoned the strategies.


This game started out with a microtransaction business model, but as it's really evident with all these packages on sale containing multiples of the same item for more than $30, there's nothing "micro" about it.
Honestly if Nexon would return to their REAL microtransaction business model, less people would feel so alienated and would be more receptive to spending very small amounts on numerous little things, as opposed to plopping a hundred bucks on crappy-ass miracle cubes with nothing to show for it. No one can see the cubes you buy, so there's no

Thanks for the link i'll be checking it. You realised what you said, they abandoned it....why was that?

Thanks for the link i'll be checking it. You realised what you said, they abandoned it....why was that?

Why are you asking a question that would only give a speculative answer

This system wasn't flawed from the start; Nexon ruined it by monetizing it.
The original purpose of the skillbook system was to force players to interact with other players...to team up and participate in boss runs to acquire the skillbooks. The "beyond screwed economy" didn't factor in until Nexon brought out Scissors of Karma and made those skillbooks an economic item. People really like to put the blame on the community itself for all sorts of things wrong with the game and its community; but the blame is mostly on Nexon for shaping the community to be this way.

Only certain skills dropped from a boss when it released, to initially learn the skill.

However certain books still required to be dropped by certain bosses... bosses that could be KS'd. Or Bosses that were controlled by DC hackers, this required you not just interact with other players: but be in with the RIGHT players depending on how bad your luck was.

People aren't fair and that's where the problem lies in restricting skill levels to people. People sold zakum runs as opposed to working with others and sharing drops. Additionaly, only the initial learning books were the untradable ones, the 20 and 30 books for all classes were always tradable and were better off being sold rather than adding an attacker just to loot it.


I'm fine with gear progression being limited by who you know. Its actually good to have that in. but something as basic as skills is just taking it a tad too far in my book.

Only certain skills dropped from a boss when it released, to initially learn the skill.

However certain books still required to be dropped by certain bosses... bosses that could be KS'd. Or Bosses that were controlled by DC hackers, this required you not just interact with other players: but be in with the RIGHT players depending on how bad your luck was.

People aren't fair and that's where the problem lies in restricting skill levels to people. People sold zakum runs as opposed to working with others and sharing drops. Additionaly, only the initial learning books were the untradable ones, the 20 and 30 books for all classes were always tradable and were better off being sold rather than adding an attacker just to loot it.


I'm fine with gear progression being limited by who you know. Its actually good to have that in. but something as basic as skills is just taking it a tad too far in my book.

Hey, you were specifically complaining about skill books, not mastery books.

Anyway, it wasn't a perfect system, of course. Having a skillbook randomly drop wasn't exactly the best way to go about it, especially with the potential for people who don't need it to loot it, whether accidentally or not. I remember that some 4th-job skills had to be earned through somewhat intricate quests. They could have made other skills be obtained through quests, with the bosses dropping the requisite quest items. This way, anyone who didn't need it couldn't accidentally pick it up, and players would still need to team up with others.

Hey, you were specifically complaining about skill books, not mastery books.

Anyway, it wasn't a perfect system, of course. Having a skillbook randomly drop wasn't exactly the best way to go about it, especially with the potential for people who don't need it to loot it, whether accidentally or not. I remember that some 4th-job skills had to be earned through somewhat intricate quests. They could have made other skills be obtained through quests, with the bosses dropping the requisite quest items. This way, anyone who didn't need it couldn't accidentally pick it up, and players would still need to team up with others.

Then what you forget, is that nexon had a similar system to what you described, some skills, lets say snipe for marksman, originally needed you to have a quest item that was dropped by bosses/mobs. Even when the items were available to everyone to find from said bosses/mobs, they were extremely rare and hard to find,I remember how much time i spent grinding at mobs trying to get the green book for my marksman snipe, or how many cwkpq i went to to get the book i needed to get the skill

Dont even get me start on el nath pq to get dragon breath ._.

Why are you asking a question that would only give a speculative answer

Why state something if it's only speculative? That's why i'm trying to get y'all to see, you are saying stuff like it's fact and it would definitely work if nexon just did this or just did that etc etc, when you have no idea how it would really affect their overall revenue be it good or bad. It's all speculative.

Think about it, everyone is saying why not do it this way and why not do it that way, but is that really going to help in the long run? The game might not even survive another 3 months with the suggestions you guys are putting forward. Unless you can say for certain that by implementing X it will increase revenue AND encourage more people to play for longer time period than they are sticking to now.

And Seanny brought up another factor to the mix, the selfish people who monopolize certain part of the game so that THEY can have an advantage.

There is alot more than meets the eye than just saying do that and do that, sure i get why are you saying it and what you would like to see, but in the end you have no idea what will work 100% given nexon's current structure. Maybe it would have worked x years ago, or before Y happened but can you say with at least 90% certainty that what you are suggesting will increase revenue and keep people longer than they stay now.

They are a business, they will have had to have been constantly researching different pathways for the game and trying to optimize it, to say that they are stupid and don't know what they are doing is highly naive. Alot of games Don't last half as long as MS has so why dog them on doing something that is actually working.

Is it so bad that i have to actually pay for a few things in the game to get a better experience? Hell no, it's there to make money, if i can do everything i want without paying a cent, THAT IS A REALLY BAD BUSINESS PLAN FOR A GAME, especially one that needs constant maintenance and updates. I don't think you guys are thinking straight. Ms could be a bit better i don't disagree, but what they are doing now is working like a charm and they are even seeing profits from what i gather from the yearly reports.

If you look at Red they are making it easier for free players to get past all of that crap of mastery book and skill books which only hinder your progress and slow you down of reaching that point where you tell yourself hmmm i need to spend some NX if i want to really be able to fight these bosses.

Fix the bosses that are actually in the game more often instead of leaving them as a time waster because they are glitched, that to me is one of the biggest problems we face in maplestory, the constant glitches and bugged bosses. Because if you notice once those bosses are killable, the "pros" tend to flood the market with their drops making them at least a bit more accessible to the people who can't even get close to defeating the bosses. I mean in real life not everyone is capable of great feats, but it only takes one person to be able to jump that hurdle and find a solution that allows the rest of the world to benefit, and that's pretty much how the "pros" help out non-paying players. It may sound weird but having that divide allows you to have something to strive for, as i said before if everyone could reach the top, they game would have fallen flat years ago, or they would have to release updates/ content every couple weeks.

As someone posted on basil to remove the junk stats from cubes, or actually make a cube that's worth it, instead of all these junk cubes that are just a big gamble, maybe more poeple would be interested in buying cubes if it was that way. No idea if that would actually lower revenue or not but it's a thought worth playing around with.

Some of the stuff i just said i'm not sure about, just throwing stuff out there to think about, chew it all and spit out the bones.

Then what you forget, is that nexon had a similar system to what you described, some skills, lets say snipe for marksman, originally needed you to have a quest item that was dropped by bosses/mobs. Even when the items were available to everyone to find from said bosses/mobs, they were extremely rare and hard to find,I remember how much time i spent grinding at mobs trying to get the green book for my marksman snipe, or how many cwkpq i went to to get the book i needed to get the skill

Dont even get me start on el nath pq to get dragon breath ._.

I do remember. I had a nice time doing all of that.

Why state something if it's only speculative? That's why i'm trying to get y'all to see, you are saying stuff like it's fact and it would definitely work if nexon just did this or just did that etc etc, when you have no idea how it would really affect their overall revenue be it good or bad. It's all speculative.

Well, considering I was making a quote from Min Kim, the freaking CEO of Nexon America, I highly doubt that it's "speculation" that it was at one point a company philosophy that has since been abandoned.

They are a business, they will have had to have been constantly researching different pathways for the game and trying to optimize it, to say that they are stupid and don't know what they are doing is highly naive.

Ms could be a bit better i don't disagree, but what they are doing now is working like a charm and they are even seeing profits from what i gather from the yearly reports.

They have done some pretty stupid things in the past, like verbatim copying a version of kMS, and with it, exploits that had already been solved in later versions in Korea. Not to mention some evidence of lack of research in general, including lore inconsistencies.
So yeah, I'd say that on any given day there's a fairly good chance they have no idea what they are doing.

Also bear in mind that there's a difference between revenue and profits. Furthermore notice that the trend has been a continual decrease in revenue.