2013-05-26, 03:30 PM
I've played since May 2005, when I was introduced to the beta version of MapleGlobal by my friend across the street. I too, like everyone in this thread, remember as the OP put it, the 'resourcefulness' and 'dedication' of the pre-BB MapleStory.
Ironically, the biggest complaint before BB was leveling. Now, everyone is complaining that it's too easy to level. I don't think that it's necessarily the ease in which you can level these days, but that the changes made post-BB have made interactions with other players less vital and important. There were always 'grinders' who would grind silently for hours at a time to level. For those of us (the majority of people) who didn't enjoy grinding, friendships and relationships were much more important.
I remember the day MapleGlobal Beta closed and the official version began like it was yesterday. I'm not sure if any of you who joined after beta would be interested in reading more about it, if so I'm working on an article for Maple-News if I can dig up some old screen shots on my 2000 Compaq computer I have stashed away with screen shots from beta and the early years of MapleStory up to 2006. Back then, there wasn't even Ossyria. There weren't cash items. For fun, my friends and I would go to Lith Harbor and buy the cheap beginner clothing and pretend they were cash items and do whatever we could to look unique when there were only a few hairstyles, colors, and faces available when creating a character.
I remember seeing my first 'high leveled' character in 2005. His IGN was joeyjai and he was a level 66 bandit. I also have a screen shot of Tiger I took when he was level 74. Back then, and it could have been that I was still pretty young, leveling really wasn't considered the end-all-be-all. Everyone was so new to the game that we would explore every map in Perion, Sleepywood, and Elinia. Every hidden street was considered a new discovery. Level 30 was considered a big deal. I remember at one point, when I still had friends I knew from my local town who played, we would play the game together well into the night trying to get to level 30 on our magicians, warriors, bowmen, and thieves...messing up our stats of course! Things changed with Ossyria, but we loved it. Once the Cash Shop came along, we embraced the new looks we could get. I remember when they put the beta version of the Cash Shop up and you could only buy items that lasted 2 weeks!
![[Image: Maple04591.jpg]](http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c113/SinIceCold3000/Maple04591.jpg)
Every player was different, but I certainly felt less pressure to achieve a certain level than there is now. Getting '1337 damage' and godly items wasn't even thought of. It was much more about the people you met, the friendships your forged, and the goals you achieved together. Guilds were different then. They were a community. It wasn't about connections for parties, but about meeting new people and going on adventures together. We would hunt monsters in a party just for the hell of it, not for EXP. We would have guild meet ups, guild events, and started guild websites because we were passionate. Fan Sites were thriving. Forums were thriving. I started Maple-News in 2007 after I was inspired by the fan sites and forums I was a part of. People wanted to be part of communities just to meet people. The selling boards were actively used marketplaces, even after the FM stores came to pass.
Things have changed not only in the game but on the Internet since that time. Facebook and social media is now huge, and although one would think that would encourage even more participation in the fan site communities, they seem to be dwindling. I was once someone who was passionate about the game. Someone who, even when friends quit and things happened in the game that would make people quit, I kept moving on just like a lot of you here. But now, as is evident by this forum topic, a lot of us are losing that will - or have already lost it. We can speculate all we want about why we feel the game has died or has lost that spark that interested so many of us. Maybe we have just grown out of it and cannot recapture the nostalgic idea of what the game 'used to be'. Maybe we have put it on an untouchable pedestal that is so high above us that we can only make out the largest features of the game - the ones we choose to see. Maybe we all need to move on.
Everyone's experience is different, there's no denying that. However, I think we have all felt a shift in the dynamics of the game. Nexon doles out tons of events, most of which are unimaginative and uninteresting, in the vain attempt at keeping the game going. They boast about quarterly profits and their users, but who knows if that is accurate. It can't be. Nexon has lost sight of what made the game great - the community. They fail to connect with players and fan sites except when it is convenient or benefits them. They are completely clueless, and I think we have them to thank for the way the game has dwindled. Perhaps they're just not as motivated as they once were...perhaps their heart isn't in it anymore. Who knows.
I guess we all have to make the decision if we want to continue on and try and forge new friendships and new experiences, or if it is better to remember what once was.
Ironically, the biggest complaint before BB was leveling. Now, everyone is complaining that it's too easy to level. I don't think that it's necessarily the ease in which you can level these days, but that the changes made post-BB have made interactions with other players less vital and important. There were always 'grinders' who would grind silently for hours at a time to level. For those of us (the majority of people) who didn't enjoy grinding, friendships and relationships were much more important.
I remember the day MapleGlobal Beta closed and the official version began like it was yesterday. I'm not sure if any of you who joined after beta would be interested in reading more about it, if so I'm working on an article for Maple-News if I can dig up some old screen shots on my 2000 Compaq computer I have stashed away with screen shots from beta and the early years of MapleStory up to 2006. Back then, there wasn't even Ossyria. There weren't cash items. For fun, my friends and I would go to Lith Harbor and buy the cheap beginner clothing and pretend they were cash items and do whatever we could to look unique when there were only a few hairstyles, colors, and faces available when creating a character.
I remember seeing my first 'high leveled' character in 2005. His IGN was joeyjai and he was a level 66 bandit. I also have a screen shot of Tiger I took when he was level 74. Back then, and it could have been that I was still pretty young, leveling really wasn't considered the end-all-be-all. Everyone was so new to the game that we would explore every map in Perion, Sleepywood, and Elinia. Every hidden street was considered a new discovery. Level 30 was considered a big deal. I remember at one point, when I still had friends I knew from my local town who played, we would play the game together well into the night trying to get to level 30 on our magicians, warriors, bowmen, and thieves...messing up our stats of course! Things changed with Ossyria, but we loved it. Once the Cash Shop came along, we embraced the new looks we could get. I remember when they put the beta version of the Cash Shop up and you could only buy items that lasted 2 weeks!
Every player was different, but I certainly felt less pressure to achieve a certain level than there is now. Getting '1337 damage' and godly items wasn't even thought of. It was much more about the people you met, the friendships your forged, and the goals you achieved together. Guilds were different then. They were a community. It wasn't about connections for parties, but about meeting new people and going on adventures together. We would hunt monsters in a party just for the hell of it, not for EXP. We would have guild meet ups, guild events, and started guild websites because we were passionate. Fan Sites were thriving. Forums were thriving. I started Maple-News in 2007 after I was inspired by the fan sites and forums I was a part of. People wanted to be part of communities just to meet people. The selling boards were actively used marketplaces, even after the FM stores came to pass.
Things have changed not only in the game but on the Internet since that time. Facebook and social media is now huge, and although one would think that would encourage even more participation in the fan site communities, they seem to be dwindling. I was once someone who was passionate about the game. Someone who, even when friends quit and things happened in the game that would make people quit, I kept moving on just like a lot of you here. But now, as is evident by this forum topic, a lot of us are losing that will - or have already lost it. We can speculate all we want about why we feel the game has died or has lost that spark that interested so many of us. Maybe we have just grown out of it and cannot recapture the nostalgic idea of what the game 'used to be'. Maybe we have put it on an untouchable pedestal that is so high above us that we can only make out the largest features of the game - the ones we choose to see. Maybe we all need to move on.
Everyone's experience is different, there's no denying that. However, I think we have all felt a shift in the dynamics of the game. Nexon doles out tons of events, most of which are unimaginative and uninteresting, in the vain attempt at keeping the game going. They boast about quarterly profits and their users, but who knows if that is accurate. It can't be. Nexon has lost sight of what made the game great - the community. They fail to connect with players and fan sites except when it is convenient or benefits them. They are completely clueless, and I think we have them to thank for the way the game has dwindled. Perhaps they're just not as motivated as they once were...perhaps their heart isn't in it anymore. Who knows.
I guess we all have to make the decision if we want to continue on and try and forge new friendships and new experiences, or if it is better to remember what once was.