How many people are REALLY still playing Maplestory?

I still play WoW

P2P MMOs have been a dying breed for years. It's amazing that WoW still has ~6.8mil Subs to this day. Hell, it's more surprising that some recent MMOs (FFXIV, TESO, WildStar) have had the balls to go P2P when Freemium / F2P games are the big hit right now, especially overseas in China and whatnot.

Probably because WoW does a fairly good job at appealing all player bases. That and it's reputation is rather amazing.

I have to agree with the decline of the game over the years. It was much more fun when we actually needed to party for content and when everyone had a fair chance to become strong.

Nowadays I really just keep playing because I have a few close people who play as well. Am I a masochist? Probably.

The new content does seem interesting but I know that it can never be the same as before. If another 2D MMO of the same calibre of old Maple came out I would be gone from here. xD

I'm not really conceding because I simply do not believe that there is such a minority. To me, if you care to still play it or keep up with it at all, you don't hate it enough. Cut your ties clean, not this sloppy effort you slump into a "majority".

My point here is that is the game dying? Yes. Every game will die. There is no going back to "the glory days" of Maplestory. You cannot "make maplestory better" and fix the game. Anyone who thinks they know a plan to make Maplestory "better" is laughable because Maplestory is a 10 year old game in a country where games are massively consumed. They can only fight for so long before all these new games win out. This was my point with WoW because even though it was immensely popular back in the day, it's slowly trickling downhill.

This doesn't mean I can't enjoy it, and this certainly doesn't make the plot "bad" as our discussion originally started. That is simply your own view on the quality of the story and considering you cannot put a stasitic on that, you can't even claim that those whom find the story good is in this "minority".

Yes you can put a statistic on it, the rate of which it declines, especially since it's actually a special niche game makes it easily measurable. You're in denial over something that has been proven by the very rate of death. When large numbers of people quit, that means, the game has gone bad. When people on this very forum who spent days scripting out the lore, no longer put that commitment into it, it tells you the lore is sh`it.

If you want to deny factual evidence, than that's on you, but saying "oh all games decay" is absolutely worthless. Do you know why? Because people don't quit because maplestory is old, in fact it, like team fortress 2, established it's own standard of art, it will be timeless because of that and that alone. People don't complain let alone refer to maplestory's age, the things that made maplestory playable have been chaotic, bastardized or just overused to the point where it's a husk of what it once was. A steep population decline supports my opinion, while yours is purely an opinion of why, when the hundreds to maybe thousands of threads of people quitting, along with them filled with people expressing why they quit, contradict your view all together.

The more you try to argue this common sense, the more your credibility is slipping.

Also mathematically speaking, since you're clearly illiterate, there were originally 150 thousand players, roughly, there is now 15k regulars. You are now a minority of who still plays with most people quitting because the game no longer was enjoyable, based on the changes made.

Good morning to your essays, Jim.

Your credibility is pretty much slipping as well. (First of all, people are probably laughing because this conversation has been going on for awhile.) My point isn't that the decline is caused purely by people moving. I'm saying that's a reason why some have left. Some people have other reasons for leaving as well. Just because someone stops playing doesn't mean they permanently hate the game. They just stop playing.

So essentially what it's boiling down to is difference of viewpoints on the matter and opinions for the two of us. Difference is I don't really care what my "credibility" is. I write r18 fanfiction for Maplestory.

Good morning to your essays, Jim.

Your credibility is pretty much slipping as well. (First of all, people are probably laughing because this conversation has been going on for awhile.) My point isn't that the decline is caused purely by people moving. I'm saying that's a reason why some have left. Some people have other reasons for leaving as well. Just because someone stops playing doesn't mean they permanently hate the game. They just stop playing.

So essentially what it's boiling down to is difference of viewpoints on the matter and opinions for the two of us. Difference is I don't really care what my "credibility" is. I write r18 fanfiction for Maplestory.

No, its the difference of you trying to invalidate data with a really really sh`itty justification. If the game was doing better as many of you masochists claim, then clearly the population wouldn't be showing a steady decline.

Instead you're trying to deflect the decline on people just randomly having an epiphany and quitting. But considering we have 3 maplestory forums that all show the consistent complaints, criticism, and frankly just fed up opinion of nexon's battle plan, that's irrational to even think that.

In the end the only irrational people that still play represent the minority of those as a whole who used to play. The numbers are there, and they are also steep, these are not casual dips, this is a constant trend. You're essentially arguing that almost the entire population of maplestory lost interest "just cause".

I don't think you remember why this whole discussion started.

1. You stated the storyline sucked. (Opinion)
2. I came in and clarified it was an opinion.
3. Apparently it's fact because people ("majority") hate the game. (Which still makes point one an opinion. That doesn't change anything.)

Okay... so you keep slamming down on the "people hate this game, so it clearly sucks" idea. Which I may agreeing happens, however, you can't just throw the entire playerbase that left as people whom are like that... Unless you're willing to get some data that proves that you're correct on the matter.

I don't think you remember why this whole discussion started.

1. You stated the storyline sucked. (Opinion)
2. I came in and clarified it was an opinion.
3. Apparently it's fact because people ("majority") hate the game. (Which still makes point one an opinion. That doesn't change anything.)

Okay... so you keep slamming down on the "people hate this game, so it clearly sucks" idea. Which I may agreeing happens, however, you can't just throw the entire playerbase that left as people whom are like that... Unless you're willing to get some data that proves that you're correct on the matter.

If they actually enjoyed the changes than that population would still be playing and grabbing newcomers.

If the lore was any good, people would still be researching and graphing it out to understand it.

What data do you want? Interviews with the entire population that left? How about all the forums where thousands of players over the years have voiced their complaints about how nexon has become a joke. How about the fact the highest population related to maplestory for a forum is a hacking forum.

Do you want to talk about how many people quit after they got hacked from the database leak, how many quit after being falsely permabanned?

Your argument is "Not all apply@@@", is absolutely shallow and tries to distract that the majority have quit for these reasons, the real hardcore players who spent thousands of dollars even play private servers over GMS, since private servers actually make the changes they want. Want evidence of that? How about the #1 private server hosting twice as many players as GMS.

It's still grabbing newcomers. I meet new players all the time and end up helping them find the job instructor or getting out of pet park. Who knows, maybe I'm just lucky and every new player is joining my server.

>People honestly don't graph the lore out already in GMS.
You have no idea what you are missing out on. It's a collaborative effort these days between all servers, but I didn't invest in both Secret Stories for no reason. (Luminous is in them. This is a big deal.) Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there.

I'm not asking for interviews, I'm asking for some actual data to prove that this "majority" of yours is true. You may choose however you wish to prove it.

And good for that private server.

It's still grabbing newcomers. I meet new players all the time and end up helping them find the job instructor or getting out of pet park. Who knows, maybe I'm just lucky and every new player is joining my server.

>People honestly don't graph the lore out already in GMS.
You have no idea what you are missing out on. It's a collaborative effort these days between all servers, but I didn't invest in both Secret Stories for no reason. (Luminous is in them. This is a big deal.) Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there.

I'm not asking for interviews, I'm asking for some actual data to prove that this "majority" of yours is true. You may choose however you wish to prove it.

And good for that private server.

All you're doing is putting your own experiences above everything else. You are surrounding yourself in a bubble to prove a point, when I'm POINTING AT A POPULATION CHART. This thing MONITORS HOURLY, how many players are at a time, if there were PLENTY of new players the population wouldn't DROP.

You can take the time to look through thouussssanndddsss of criticism threads/quit threads, or even people who have been banned off the nexon forums for voicing those opinions. A small group of people investing into the story, being the minority, does not mean anything. You are the minority.

Started with 150 thousand players, only 15 thousand left, private servers, the top 5 in fact have higher populations, because they give players CONTENT they want, they LISTEN to what they have to say. I can't tell a blind girl to suddenly see.

I see everything going on, but I really don't see how you can say these people hate Maplestory when they're still playing it. They play it elsewhere, but alas, they are still playing Maplestory.

Who is this "majority" that hates maplestory then? I want to see these people.

if there were PLENTY of new players the population wouldn't DROP.

That doesn't prove it's not attracting a large amount of new players. All it proves is that the number of people leaving is greater than the number of people joining.

I can't really speak for Nexon since I can't play games published by them, but it does seem that they aren't doing a very good job.

I see everything going on, but I really don't see how you can say these people hate Maplestory when they're still playing it. They play it elsewhere, but alas, they are still playing Maplestory.

Who is this "majority" that hates maplestory then? I want to see these people.

They hate the changes that happened with maplestory. I don't hate the maplestory "game", that was intended and what it was originally. It has no where near the same atmosphere it originally did based on so many crutches it has caused itself, that popular private servers removed. Why do you think this thread exists? It's another player complaining on how maplsetory just seems so dead. You know how many people were on my home server yesterday? 36. I used to see that many people in a single boss.

That doesn't prove it's not attracting a large amount of new players. All it proves is that the number of people leaving is greater than the number of people joining.

I can't really speak for Nexon since I can't play games published by them, but it does seem that they aren't doing a very good job.

...I would assume the definition of large would mean that it would alter a static slope.

I wasn't even a part of this thread until your story remark.

So basically what you are saying now is that "the majority that hates maplestory" is now "the majority that hates Nexon", which is an entirely different topic with its own topics and discussion. Maplestory itself can still be enjoyable. You hate the publisher, not the product.

I wasn't even a part of this thread until your story remark.

So basically what you are saying now is that "the majority that hates maplestory" is now "the majority that hates Nexon", which is an entirely different topic with its own topics and discussion. Maplestory itself can still be enjoyable. You hate the publisher, not the product.

-rubs temples-

Nexon is a publisher that made decisions specifically to make maplestory not to be able to be enjoyed by the majority which is why majority of them left. Whether they "hate" it or not is irrelevant, they left. My proof lies in the mountains of threads/banned users on the forum threads who have criticized nexon as a whole with how they have handled maplestory.

The story/lore is part of nexon jurisdiction, and it's also part of the bastardized version of the game, so all of this is on topic, the idea that maplestory is a bad game is still valid, with nexon to blame. Just because the apple salesman is a twit doesn't mean that the rotten apples are suddenly edible.

So you go from saying that the source, KMS is doing fine, to saying that the story they make is still bad? There are flaws with Nexon, but the fact that they turn elsewhere hardly makes Maplestory the bad guy.

It's like the hand holding the apple is dirty so you are saying it's bad. You are telling me that if a different hand held the apple, it would be good, even though it's still the same apple.

Also my shift started. See you in a few hours.

So you go from saying that the source, KMS is doing fine, to saying that the story they make is still bad? There are flaws with Nexon, but the fact that they turn elsewhere hardly makes Maplestory the bad guy.

It's like the hand holding the apple is dirty so you are saying it's bad. You are telling me that if a different hand held the apple, it would be good, even though it's still the same apple.

Also my shift started. See you in a few hours.

KMS is doing well because of the audience they are serving. It isn't doing well because of the story, the fact you think an entire culture who is known for grinding repetitive content cares about story is just, wow.

You can't even compare our two cultures, we both look for different things, and the very popularity difference reflects that. So your analogy is quite a stretch.

You clearly don't know about petite Maple or other similar maple fan events that are held (and vastly popular) by fans themselves, with tons of Maple merchandise, simply because of the characters and stories alone. They're pretty nice for fan events.

Essentially, you want GMS to differ ENTIRELY from KMS because the audience? Well, as I said before, Maplestory is hardly a game you can enjoy on one server alone. If they were to do that, there would be too much of a distance between maplers, making it hard for unison to exist in multi-server areas. I find it great that GMS keeps things like they are because I signed up for and it allows me to make friends all over the world because of it.

It's a little silly to honestly think any game can keep a high user base when it's almost 10 years old. When was the last time you heard of anyone playing world of warcraft?

7 million subscribers is a dead game, clearly maplestory has long since stopped existing with its almost non-existant playerbase.

Oh and 10 year old game that's keeping a high playerbase? Well if we ignore WoW we still have dota. Still going strong 11 years later with a still growing playerbase.
Good publishers and good developers do wonders for games.

You clearly don't know about petite Maple or other similar maple fan events that are held (and vastly popular) by fans themselves, with tons of Maple merchandise, simply because of the characters and stories alone. They're pretty nice for fan events.

No idea what you're referring too but I do know maplestory merchandise is sold, to like, 8 year olds. Unless you're talking about fan art which is by no means driven by the story but rather the chibi art.

Essentially, you want GMS to differ ENTIRELY from KMS because the audience? Well, as I said before, Maplestory is hardly a game you can enjoy on one server alone. If they were to do that, there would be too much of a distance between maplers, making it hard for unison to exist in multi-server areas. I find it great that GMS keeps things like they are because I signed up for and it allows me to make friends all over the world because of it.

By "one server" you mean regions right? Otherwise I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm sorry but the only reason KMS even gets mentioned so much is because they get content before us, we aren't sitting here discussing the politics and the "warm happy sunshine" carebear friendship with them. KMS has lost its audience in almost 5 different regions. I mean look at MSEA's population, it's less than 5 thousand players, and iirc TWO of regions closed down/merged, and EMS/GMS are barely on the line.

All of these servers had one problem, packet editing, but why did KMS get rid of it so quickly, because they have such a strict superior banning system than other regions. Just so you know, anytime a player who has any sort of legitimate chance, is ever banned, by nexon America, nexon korea bi`tches them out. You have a top heavy CEO company who puts customer satisfaction second to almost everything else. Everyone complains about how the community manager not doing enough, do you know why? Because her communication between us and them is worthless. They don't listen, they have no real understanding of the game, the ones who bark orders arrogantly just demand supreme NX content is available, that any freebies will be minimal. You do realize the next nexon CEO is some crackpot who thinks that the decline in maplestory popularity, is because it's not available on your cell phone, right?

You may as well be comparing two different worlds, but nexon is so distant from the wants of the many to invest everything into the wants of the few. The only people keeping that game afloat are the last big spenders, the last hackers, and whoever just can't let go unfortunately. It's an unhealthy and retarded business model to keep that small minority hooked, the bossing minority by the way, not the story minority. We can start digging into the reputation of maplestory to further prove my point if you want.

So you go from saying that the source, KMS is doing fine, to saying that the story they make is still bad? There are flaws with Nexon, but the fact that they turn elsewhere hardly makes Maplestory the bad guy.

It's like the hand holding the apple is dirty so you are saying it's bad. You are telling me that if a different hand held the apple, it would be good, even though it's still the same apple.

Also my shift started. See you in a few hours.

KMS players are NOT GMS players. The fact that Nexon fails to realize this is why GMS is failing in my strong opinion. It doesn't have to be a completely different game from KMS, but much like JMS and TMS, you have to cater towards your audience or die. Nexon has ignorantly chose the latter.