The increasing gap between players and bosses.

Obviously I can't speak for your experience but from my own personal experience most of the cheaters, hackers and beggars I've met in game are in some way connected to or comfortably placed in that top tier 1%. I know many people personally who scammed and hacked their way to "godly" funding. And the greed doesn't magically stop once they are on top. It just gets worse... Every time something new is introduced to the game these same people are in a rush to find a way to cheat or scam their way to the top again. So it should not be a question of whether or not these people deserve to be closer to average or funded players. From what I've seen more often than not, they are already miles and miles ahead.

You're highly speculating when you say "most". A good indicator would be: If you look at the ranked dojo lists, most of the names I see in GAZED are not known hackers. If players can hack/cheat/scam to become godly, they wouldn't need to buy a dime of NX in the first place (unless using it as a cover to get away with what they're doing, even so, the amounts to be bought would be minimal). If players can hack/cheat/scam and get away with it, there's no point for them to buy NX at all (again, unless as a cover). The cheaters, regardless of how godly or poor they are, are not to be included in the thought process of how wide the disparity between the rich and the poor is. Alleviate cheating and hacking, Nexon, before you think about lowering the gap. And if you can't do that, make the game pay-to-play with at least a manageable 5 dollar monthly fee or something to that extent. And making the game pay-to-play should within itself alleviate hacking and cheating because real money comes into play.

[FONT=Arial]And to address what you said in your other comment about the gap between the rich and the poor... Yes the rich arguably contribute a lot to the game but there's a massive pool of "middle class" players that contribute to the game too. They may spend just as much as the rich players but perhaps they don't spend on the same sorts of things. From personal experience I've spent thousands on this game through my years of playing and I've never had my range on any character reach over 70k. The majority of my money has gone to cosmetics, pets, and shops. I've gotten what I've paid for and I'm not complaining about it but with that said, I wouldn't see it as asking for a handout if I wished Nexon would do something to close the gap a bit. I've contributed enough to show my loyalty to the game. The least they can do is consider this request. I don't think it's asking too much. Overall closing the gap between the rich and the poor in maple can and will help players who deserve it. It may even encourage more players to spend to support the game.

This "middle class" of NX spenders is basically the engine which keeps maplestory running. I'm not excluding them from giving just as much of a contribution as the highly-funded people who've spent as much as hundreds of thousands on NX since 2006. One group is not more important than the other at all in this case.

[FONT=Arial]Perhaps this is slightly off topic but sometimes I wonder if the people who create and publish this game ever tried to play it themselves. I'd be curious to see how far anyone from Nexon (GMs included) would get without taking out their credit card. I wonder if they'd see this game as balanced and fair if they knew personally how much it can cost to fund a character to the extent that late game bosses require for participation.

I'd bet that most of Nexon's management (middle-to-upper) are more concerned with how to further their profits from the cash cow which is this game, than to poke slimes.