How many people are REALLY still playing Maplestory?

As if the maplestory lore has been consistent since like, I don't know, the frekin NLC revamp? I mean unless you're into bad stories like frekin sword art online or naruto.

Wooaaaahh now, Imma have to ask you to back up for a moment.

Maplestory's storyline isn't consistent, but that doesn't mean it can't be interesting. That doesn't make it "bad" either. (Mainly that's a personal taste and an entirely different discussion.)

The heroes, the resistance, the villains, and every important character has a grounding story that ties into a bigger picture. Can the story be changed? Absolutely. But as the KoC revamp showed with the Library, just because events are taken out from one place doesn't mean they can't be reimplemented.

It's like a living puzzle, with a cast full of interesting characters. You've got some great set up for an amazing story, that's developed far cry from what Maplestory was originally intended. You may not need to like it yourself, however, I can appreciate characters like Luminous and the White Mage. I can get emotional about Eun Wol/Shade's storyline. I can have a blast on my adventurers but still get really upset when Maple Island is attacked.

Because that's why I am here. The story. the characters. It may change, but to me, it's just something new for me to experience. That's all that matters to me in this game...