2012-10-05, 04:39 PM
FrozNlite Wrote:The point we're trying to make is that all of the elements that made bossing challenging back in the day are now gone, and have been since Big Bang, quite honestly. Technically, MapleStory as a game is not hard, as anyone on this forum will tell you. What made it hard back in the day was the combination of external factors unique to MMOs, things like having to coordinate a 30-person squad of players from around the world, and making sure everyone could perform what and when they needed to, with regards to their computer/internet capabilities and presence on chats like Ventrilo.
Did it SUCK losing a good chunk of your day waiting for other people to log on for an HT run, only to be told, "You know, we are short on DPS with so-and-so missing today, so we're going to take this NL that just logged over you as a LOLFP, sorry," and have NOTHING you could do about it? Absolutely. If you wanted a Horntail Pendant, that was the only way you were getting one if you didn't have billions of mesos lying around (with the note that, of course, that was actually a lot of money back then, unlike today). You couldn't just spend another swath of NX, level another 20 levels in 10 minutes, and all of a sudden solo the damn thing.
But those negatives are what made it a challenge, and ultimately, fun. Exclusivity in the most expensive abstraction in this world, as the ability/price of exclusivity, mixed with a broad dose of publicity, leads to prestige, fame, and status. So yes, did it suck to wait hours on end to maybe get into a Horntail run that was maybe successful? Sure, but the reward of being one of the first players in the server in a successful run, and maybe one of the first of your class in gMS with the coveted pendant, was absolutely worth it.
And fame aside, the negatives like low damage and coordinating so many people made it FUN. Some of the fondest memories I have of the game were entering the second hour of an HT run standing at the base of the dragon, Meteor Showering Wyverns the instant they spawned, and joking with seduce party Bishops about the importance of keeping Mana Reflection on to increase our "GODLY DPS." By working with what we had, and dealing with challenges as they arose (essential people DCing, random deaths in the era of NO WHEELS), we really did have fun staying on our toes and making it all work.
You're right to say that I've been from this game for a long time and don't know everything. I actually didn't know that newer bosses have 18 or 6 person caps, but that only goes to further my point and the emphasis [MENTION=4341]CarrionCrow[/MENTION] provided: the game is nothing like it once was, and will never be that way, due to anything from the potential system and skill changes making anyone so strong they can kill anything in a flash, to a playerbase that, because of these changes, isn't close anymore because they don't need to work with more than a small handful of people at most to accomplish anything.
I just hope CPB brings back having to coordinate more people. It should be able to allow 30 people, since all chaos monsters seem to allow the same amount to join an expedition as their counterparts.