The fatal flaw with the current business model.

Not sure where i'm supposed to check for the numbers but seeing less than 1k online for the biggest ones, i'll check back later in the day to see how high the numbers will go up when people wake up. Is there is way to check the numbers for GMS as easily?

sup.

But is that really enough, after thinking over what people buy in the original MS, i have to give the current model the advantage in reaping more money. Whether it's flawed for us or is exhaustible is merely opinion. Currently nexon is making enough to keep them afloat given that the game is old and pretty monotonous, their strategy has keep them alive for 7 years now? I honestly can't see them surviving financially using suggestions i'm seeing put forward in this thread and here is why.

No, bust it up into their respective monetization models. There was a strategy that worked just fine for 4 years, and then potential came, and 3 years later, here we are with everything being pay-to-power.

Can't see them surviving financially using the suggestions in this thread? Most of what we are asking for is stuff they have already done in the past successfully; they've just abandoned the strategies.


This game started out with a microtransaction business model, but as it's really evident with all these packages on sale containing multiples of the same item for more than $30, there's nothing "micro" about it.
Honestly if Nexon would return to their REAL microtransaction business model, less people would feel so alienated and would be more receptive to spending very small amounts on numerous little things, as opposed to plopping a hundred bucks on crappy-ass miracle cubes with nothing to show for it. No one can see the cubes you buy, so there's no

You can't sacrifice game quality for community, but if you have all your friends playing, you're going to have a great time.

The first need that you really have to satisfy is fun. I think people start off thinking business model, but if your game is not fun, the community is not going to stick around.

Remember the key of the sales products microtransaction business model: function, envy/prestige, recognition, collecting, rarity/scarcity, competition, friendship, peer pressure.
Miracle Cubes ultimately fail to meet up to this standard. They don't reliably upgrade potential tier, or even provide a potential that benefits the player. The items are trash, and I seriously doubt that there is anyone who actually enjoys buying and using them.

What you're trying to do is a mimic the subscription. When you're mimicking that subscription you know that most of your players aren't going to pay. Don't make the non-payers for that subscription. Don't shoot for an ARPU of $100 because you know 10 players won't pay.

It's a cruel irony that this philosophy has been entirely abandoned.


Sane players won't spend money on things they won't enjoy.
New players will be intimidated at the thought of spending, say, an hour's pay of minimum wage, on something that they aren't familiar with, or something that isn't a sure thing.

Nexon blames their losses on hackers. The drop in revenue is not due to hackers. It's due to terrible business practices.

 Spoiler

You should have made the rope be on fire, and a lot longer.

I'm still reading through this thread but i had to stop and comment here: Skill books are single handedly what stopped me from bothering to level past 130 as a casual player. Ever since i got hacked in 09' i could NOT ever bring myself to play the game deep enough to ever invest time into farming and stuff again. NPC and event stuff sustained my solo boss free play.

But because of this particular system which basically FORCES casual players to interact with Maple's beyond screwed economy, i decided it wasn't worth it and stopped everytime i got a new char around that level.

With that the money from my casual purchases too. This is the kind of bad planning that alienates even players who WOULD be comfortable with not aiming for endgame gear.

This system wasn't flawed from the start; Nexon ruined it by monetizing it.
The original purpose of the skillbook system was to force players to interact with other players...to team up and participate in boss runs to acquire the skillbooks. The "beyond screwed economy" didn't factor in until Nexon brought out Scissors of Karma and made those skillbooks an economic item. People really like to put the blame on the community itself for all sorts of things wrong with the game and its community; but the blame is mostly on Nexon for shaping the community to be this way.