Nostalgia of Pre-BigBang Maplestory

You are wrong. Overfunding is not enough to explain it. Every time I make a new link skill mule I never bother with any form of upgrades except the free clean gear they are given. Sure, I have some card bonuses, butthat is it. The monsters still roll over and die like the weak pathetic pixels they are, and more importantly, they can't even begin to threaten my life unless I fall asleep. Compare that with trying to finish a quest involving killing Tauromacises at lvl 40 or so back before all the revamps.

The nostalgia goggles is not a sufficient explanation either, because it is not some kind of pandemic dissease that everyone suffers from.

Compared to pre-BB Maple is easier, dumbed down, less challenging in many respects, more money demanding if you want to try what the game has to offer, more inviting to a community that is in the end only hurting the game (read exploiters), less inviting to real rpg players without deep pockets, because you will be forever a scrub unless you buy all the cubes and scrolls and what nots in the CS over andover again. There is no middle ground and it is more about classes and dps than vibrant areas and exploration.

Facts.

except it's less money demanding now than it was back then
time is money
you're getting a greater return for your time investment after big bang than you are pre bb
so what if things are dumbed down a bit

i'm never going back to the days of "Congrats on level 50 man, maybe in a few months you'll hit third job!"

Because... No.
That's not at all worth it. The game was a grindfest beforehand, they've shifted focus from training to bettering your gear, which is also, entirely possible through crafting, merchanting, and other various means. Yeah you could spend a fuckton of money and perfect all the things and get potential out the ass, but wheres the fun in that?

The grind still exists, its just different now.