2010-06-19, 02:37 AM
FrozNlite Wrote:So with that said, I invite you to enjoy the nostalgia while critically discussion the evolution of GMS. Have fun!
Some questions to consider during the discussion:
- What time period (ex. 2006-2008 or January 2008 - June 2009) do/did/will you enjoy the most of MapleStory?
- Why did you choose that time period?
- What, if anything, do you LIKE about the progression of the game since beta?
- What, if anything, do you DISLIKE about the progression of the game since beta?
- What feature of the game kept you playing the longest, during whichever period? While "friends" is an understandable answer, I'm curious what parts of the game itself people really enjoy/enjoyed/will enjoy.
- In viewing GMS as a whole since its inception in the world of MapleStory, what are the lasting thoughts, memories, impressions, and emotions you will never forget?
1. Beginning of Beta (200x) and post-beta period (About up to 2005).
2. Well, besides being thrown into the vast world of Maple (Even if Victoria was the entire world back then) and discovering new things in a game (Everybody goes through these), I suppose it was because of the archaic society at the time. See, back then nobody knew what to do with skill or stat builds, but it did not matter as you could easily go into a common training map and talk to people like next door neighbors. Of course, that was only possible because of the smaller population. Even then, everything was still more easy-going without today's standardised gameplay, and I think that I liked the period better than most is because it (the game) was more of a stress-reliever and not as competitive.
3. I could say nothing for this one because everything good is overshadowed by something bad, but I suppose that will be more on the Ne卍on hate thing, haha. Anyway, I am unsure if the question goes towards only the game itself or it includes the community and Ne卍on as well, so for now I would have to say that content and interface has got a good improvement over time.
4. Again, if it is only on the game itself, then I really could say nothing since everything just unfolded as normally. However, if including the community and Ne卍on, then I could go on for paragraphs and paragraphs outlining all the glitches/crap/standardisation/etc. about the game, but I will refrain from that here since it is needless and may even stir up flame wars with some material being controversial.
5. For beginning and until end of Beta, it was all about exploring and getting into the experience of the game, even though the grinding was a turnoff, the general game play was addicting and therefore enjoyable. Post-Beta until around late 2005 I was motivated to play because of my guild (The guild existed back in Beta, but I was not aware of them until somebody introduced me, and back then guilds were not officially in game, so it was pretty cool being in this guild), which is a bit different than friends with this guild, as there were weekly events and meet-ups (And in some cases, unofficial weddings, xD). I originally had more details, but this was unnecessary, so I will just say that I went into hiatus (Originally thought to quit forever) for awhile around late 2005.
So sometime later in 2009 around ~Late March - Early April? I heard news from an old friend that he is playing maple again, and that he is using a character from a friend and is 10 levels higher than me, but he was in a different world and transferring. Without delay, and due to unknown means (I think it may be my competitive spirit) I jumped right back into Maple, looked for fastest levelling place, and rushed ~8 levels to be on par with my friend. I suppose for gameplay, it this would be more of the fun of levelling up as well as getting my new skills since I just reached 3rd job and got past the level 70-82 milestone, and it did not stop there, I continued to play nonstop all the way until today, checking out whatever new content there was (From KoCs to ToT, etc.), and since I was away for few years and had many things to catch up on as well as eventually having a loose link with my guild way back, even though I never got into it again (Though at present time I could say connexions with this guild may be permanently severed).
6. For this section, I am really tempted to use this as a Ne卍on-hate holder, but pushing that issue aside and considering what has happened I would say that oMS (Everybody used to call GMS this because it was "Official MapleStory" up from Beta) started out quite innocently and eventually evolved into something beyond control and hopeless I guess? XD
As for what is to come for the future of Maple... that is hard to answer right now as the things seen are only KMST stages, so there is a chance they will not be finalised and just trashed since it is such a big overhaul of basically everything (And that since it is KMST material, it will be a year before it gets to oMS anyway). Still, maybe perhaps there will be hope in the future, maybe along with the overhaul that is coming, something will happen that the game will shape up. However, there is also a chance that the game will plunge further into despair and beyond help until it crumbles down and goes kaboom. At this point, only time will tell as far as anything is concerned.