2010-11-01, 02:14 AM
Ok, I've been doing some homework about this whole big bang thing, but I wont say I'm an expert. I need some help sorting all of this out and actually deciding if I'm coming back. I need your help.
First off, this isn't a thread spouting out all the problems with maple. I love the game; I wrote about the game; I played the game for three years; I found a girlfriend in the game. But I grew tired of waiting for the potential I saw to become reality. We (my girl and I) eventually moved on together to new and brighter horizons.
I've been playing a little of bit of maple recently, just to see what has changed. I love all the new pqs and the dojo seems fun. I like the potential system, but I'm unhappy about the permanent decent skills and stat whoring that they perpetuate. The "easier leveling" marketing strategy for big bang seems to have hooked me back for the time being. But after having a run in with a few videos, I'm beginning to feel skeptical about what this patch will do to maple. The recent poll results from the main site doesn't tell me what I want to know, and in fact it asks no single question that I'm actually interested in. The questions I am interested in are as follows:
Will bb alleviate, present an efficient alternative, or bring an end to grinding?
Will bb do something about the horrible economic turns that have resulted from numerous exploit periods?
Will bb discourage exploiting of the game?
Will bb clean up the useless features of the game which include the following:
Will bb make questing a more enjoyable part of the game?
Will bb give us more rewards for hard work, rather than simply 3 and 5 points?
Will bb do more to differentiate the classes, while helping to make sure that no class ends up dead last (as archers have historically been)?
Other than suggesting cash shop items, will bb do more to help people be unique in terms of stats and skills in the game?
Will bb replace stat whoring with a more useful form of competitive fun?
Perhaps I'm being unrealistic. However, one must question the quality of the team that has designed maple if such a revamp patch as this one is needed. If such a patch is needed, was the game ever good in the first place, or was it simply a half-assed bastardized project that never should have been? I see design flaws everywhere in the game, and simple greed could not be the nature of all of these flaws. Nexon did not explicitly design a game to maximize profits, for if they did several components of the game would have been designed differently. Maplestory is but a shell of a game with tons of potential, but they have not spent these years well if they were attempting to build something meant to last this long. I want to know if they've finally pulled their thumbs out of their asses and done something about it, or if they're just going to let the sparkler go on as long as it can until it fizzles.
I'm not at all angry about the changes, but I'm unhappy that Nexon hasn't done much to elucidate the true nature and intention of big bang. I'm going to go ahead and call them out by saying that "faster leveling", a 55% poll turnout by the community, is an outright lie if they nerf exp curves while signfiicantly (exponentially) increasing monster HP. I can't help but see this as another hoax by Nexon to get people to play their badly designed game. I haven't made up my mind whether I should leave or stay, as I'm currently having fun doing what I used to do. I'm wondering why everyone else has their hopes up so high. Help me understand what will happen to maple.
First off, this isn't a thread spouting out all the problems with maple. I love the game; I wrote about the game; I played the game for three years; I found a girlfriend in the game. But I grew tired of waiting for the potential I saw to become reality. We (my girl and I) eventually moved on together to new and brighter horizons.
I've been playing a little of bit of maple recently, just to see what has changed. I love all the new pqs and the dojo seems fun. I like the potential system, but I'm unhappy about the permanent decent skills and stat whoring that they perpetuate. The "easier leveling" marketing strategy for big bang seems to have hooked me back for the time being. But after having a run in with a few videos, I'm beginning to feel skeptical about what this patch will do to maple. The recent poll results from the main site doesn't tell me what I want to know, and in fact it asks no single question that I'm actually interested in. The questions I am interested in are as follows:
Will bb alleviate, present an efficient alternative, or bring an end to grinding?
Will bb do something about the horrible economic turns that have resulted from numerous exploit periods?
Will bb discourage exploiting of the game?
Will bb clean up the useless features of the game which include the following:
- filler mobs that nobody will ever level on
- useless maps that make the game feel as if it's a never ending walk
- redundant items that merely serve to fill up space in one's inventory and that have no collective value
- quests that have outlived usage
- garbage NPCs especially the ones littered about in towns
Will bb make questing a more enjoyable part of the game?
Will bb give us more rewards for hard work, rather than simply 3 and 5 points?
Will bb do more to differentiate the classes, while helping to make sure that no class ends up dead last (as archers have historically been)?
Other than suggesting cash shop items, will bb do more to help people be unique in terms of stats and skills in the game?
Will bb replace stat whoring with a more useful form of competitive fun?
Perhaps I'm being unrealistic. However, one must question the quality of the team that has designed maple if such a revamp patch as this one is needed. If such a patch is needed, was the game ever good in the first place, or was it simply a half-assed bastardized project that never should have been? I see design flaws everywhere in the game, and simple greed could not be the nature of all of these flaws. Nexon did not explicitly design a game to maximize profits, for if they did several components of the game would have been designed differently. Maplestory is but a shell of a game with tons of potential, but they have not spent these years well if they were attempting to build something meant to last this long. I want to know if they've finally pulled their thumbs out of their asses and done something about it, or if they're just going to let the sparkler go on as long as it can until it fizzles.
I'm not at all angry about the changes, but I'm unhappy that Nexon hasn't done much to elucidate the true nature and intention of big bang. I'm going to go ahead and call them out by saying that "faster leveling", a 55% poll turnout by the community, is an outright lie if they nerf exp curves while signfiicantly (exponentially) increasing monster HP. I can't help but see this as another hoax by Nexon to get people to play their badly designed game. I haven't made up my mind whether I should leave or stay, as I'm currently having fun doing what I used to do. I'm wondering why everyone else has their hopes up so high. Help me understand what will happen to maple.