How can people argue that anything is truly free? TINSTAAFL - you learn it in the first week of economics.
rant on Nexon investment
Also, most MMOs (Maple included) are not zero sum games. A zero-sum game is a game in which everyone starts out with the exact same as anyone else (probably a better description out there). For example, when you started Maplestory, did everyone else in the game have the same stats/items that you did? Of course not. There were fourth jobbers out there. Maplestory can only be considered a zero-sum game for maybe 15 seconds after a complete server wipe.
A close-to perfect example of a zero sum game is Street Fighter. When you start the game in the battlefield, everyone has full health. One person usually does not start off stunned or with a status effect. Everything is equal. The only thing that could make the game perfect would be a Ryu vs. Ryu match. Akuma vs. Zangief is not a zero-sum game.
Why do I bring this up? Investment. Since Maplestory is not a zero-sum game, it allows you to invest things in your character for the long run, such as cash shop advantages and meso savings. The more and more you play Maplestory, the more powerful you can become. Since higher leveled players have more invested in the game (time, mesos, or otherwise), they are more willing to invest in their characters. So it is in Nexon's best advantage to have higher leveled players that are willing to invest in their characters. The best way to offer this is by having regular 2x events (which they have), NX sales (duh, they have those), and more ways for you to invest in your characters (Cygnus - perfect). Can't deny that they are good at marketing their product, and that's probably why they are so successful as a business no matter how much everyone harps on their notorious unethical business practices.
Some people do not spend money on NX. So how can that be good for Nexon? Well, maybe some people are playing because you are playing. I can feel confident in saying that hundreds of people are playing more Maplestory because I'm here. No matter what, by even playing the game and interacting with other people, you are giving Nexon profit. So this is why Nexon wants to get rid of hackers - they are a deterrent. They cause other people to not want to play the game.
