Dev Blog -- Big Bang Countdown!

http://maplestory.nexon.net/FunStuff/Art...ageIndex=1

Hello again Maplers!

It’s been difficult to find time to write during the past few weeks. Big Bang is actually made of a million little details, and we’re working like crazy to get them all right. As we enter the final week before the launch on December 7, we’re all tired, but we’re also pretty excited for you to get your hands on it. Before the big day arrives though, I’d like to talk a bit about the Global MapleStory team’s favorite parts of Big Bang.

The New Experience Curve

When MapleStory was first released, the biggest fear was that players would run out of content, get bored, and stop playing. At the time, this seemed like a legitimate fear. There wasn’t much content available at launch. In order to slow players down, the leveling curve was made deliberately slow. In fact, the game was originally conceived as having no level cap at all! Each level was supposed to just take longer and longer to achieve until the next level was essentially impossible. This concept was abandoned fairly quickly, but the legacy of that idea remained. The math behind the leveling curve remained very steep.

The difficult leveling curve was something that concerned us greatly while we prepared MapleStory for release in North America. In general, western game players do not like grinding. Of course, there are always players who enjoy the accomplishment of reaching level 200, but most players find it frustrating to work for months to gain a single level. The other thing that happened was that as we added more and more content to the game, the old argument that we had to keep leveling slow or players would get bored didn’t make as much sense.

We tried to improve the leveling situation in 2009 by adjusting the EXP curve for Global MapleStory. The problem was we could only make small surface alterations. We could change the formula that calculated the EXP needed to gain a level, but without the ability to completely rebalance mobs and quests, there was only so much we could do. That’s what made Big Bang so exciting. It has allowed us to rebalance the game completely. This is by far our favorite feature of Big Bang, not just because it’s something we’ve wanted specifically for Global MapleStory for years, but simply because it makes the gameplay much better at all levels. Once Big Bang is live, you’ll notice that gaining a level will take half the time it used to or less. Players above level 75 specifically will feel the difference in a big way.

[video=youtube;ntviH6JkwgA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntviH6JkwgA&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Skill Rebalancing

Skills are great; they define your class, add variety to hunting, and just look cool. From the beginning, those elements have driven skill design in MapleStory. Unfortunately, what often hasn't been taken into account is balance and consistency. A lot of new skills added to the game since the original launch through job advancements or new classes didn’t get much thought about how these skills would fit together or compare to each other. The result was that some classes were overpowered, other were almost powerless until high levels. Most classes had skills that players never used, and the entire system was too complicated. It had become almost impossible for a new player to understand which skills were good and how best to assign their Skill Points without consulting a guide. This needed to change.

In Big Bang, almost all the skills have been changed and some have been eliminated. Some users will be surprised to see a favorite skill have its power reduced. When you look at the class as a whole though, you’ll find that every class is now playable and fun, even at low levels. We encourage you all to take another look at all your class’s skills and rethink how you spend your SP. Internally, we’ve had a lot of fun playing with less popular jobs, and trying out classes we don’t usually spend a lot of time with.

New Map

One of the really subtle changes in Big Bang is the new world map. The redesign makes the map much more useful. Hovering your mouse over any area on the map for example, will list out the number of quests available, NPCs, and mob types. The map is also much more detailed and up to date. This may seem like a very small thing, and it probably won’t make it into many of the player reviews following the release, but after playing the game for a long time I can tell you it is very useful. With all the changes to maps and mobs, even veteran users will find the expanded information handy and convenient. This change took a long time to make since all the maps had to be redrawn and it was tedious to enter all the NPC, quests, flight paths, and mobs into each map, but it was worth it.

The three features I’ve discussed today are only a few of the changes coming to MapleStory with Big Bang. In only a matter of days though, you’ll be able to decide for yourself what your favorite parts are!

By the way, I happen to know that the GMs are planning something big for the send off of classic Maple World, so be sure to check in regularly or you could miss out!

See you the new world, Maplers!

Eurydice
The MapleStory Team