Would you survive without NX?

Now, yes.
I used NX to buy 2x EXP cards (which are gone), permanent equips (which are also gone) and I used MTS to buy equipment (I haven't seen any reasonably priced Nescheres in a full year, so yeah. pineapple that).

I guess I could use it for cubes, but I don't see the point if I'm just getting from 0-120. It's not like I'd be cubing my Icarus Cape or something like that.

Only for asthetics/entertainment, my motivation is tied to them, i treat my characters literally like 'characters', so i want them to look a certain way.

As far as using NX for gameplay directly, then yeah i could survive. I already rarely do so anyway. I hate gacha and i only use MTS for the odd 'im sick of this archaic FM system fuckfest that takes an hour to find one item' purchase. I hardly worry about being godly by any means and i won't go no further than 60%ing any equips i get. Heck, i've once bought a shop pass and only used it like 3 times out of a 90 day time period.

Will big bang's damage requirements post 120 change my mind? we'll see. though with the ability to luck out on potential equip drops now im doubting it. Why burn money on cubes when i can just hunt the same drops?

Yes

Yes. But it would take longer, I'd die more often, be broke and I'd have less fun.

Could I survive? Of course.

Would I boycott purchasing/using NX? Absolutely not.

Do I consider myself an "NX Whore"? Not at all.

I've gotten used to the luxury of a regular store permit and pets with accessories. I'm financially capable of Mapling with said luxuries and find their benefits well worth the price to enhance my experience with MapleStory (That and AutoHP for Pets has become a very invaluable asset for bossing and I'm AFK a lot and always have stuff to sell ).

My NX goes towards Pet-related merchandise and a Store Permit. Any leftover goes towards Cubes and if I have a few bucks to spend I'll pick up a card to cube a bit or Hammer any gear I plan on keeping indefinitely, maybe a 2x drop or two if I'm going to be training/hunting for a particular skill book of value (Mainly TT30 & MW20). I don't bother with a lot of the other gimmicks like Safety Charms, Wheels of Destiny (Might reconsider these for specific Boss Soloing, mainly HT when I'm capable), Gachapon, Meso Bags / Cash Shop Surprises / Gacha Box / etc events.

My Bishop was leveled from 1 to 147 without NX. If MTS Nx is not included, then my Aran was leveled to 117, without nx.

Last time I got nx was 2007 December, till now 2010 December, cause my aunt sent me an ultimate game card. Still haven't spent single dime of my own money on NX.

So yah, If I survived 3 years without NX.

Done X hmmm 4? only three were consecutive.

No funding (pre bb, lawl) is far worse. But they are sort of similar in a way.

Since I started playing in 06 I've only bought NX maybe three times? Four tops, never more than $25 cards and other than an apple wedding, no purchase over a few dollars. Up until cubes came out, it really did not matter in the slightest. Even now, 1-120 doesn't really require any cubing for the sane end of the player base considering how smooth those levels go; with the possible exception of a wedding to access APQ, I don't see any compelling reasons to buy NX, pets included. Even PAST 120, I don't see much point save for the poor souls that take the game seriously enough to cube regularly.

I don't think I could because I hate when my characters look ugly. I'd be fine with in-game equips, but I'd need at least a face/hair coupon for me to take my character seriously.

Sad I know, but the aesthetics are so much of the game for me.

I probably could. "Probably" because I am not able to merch by spamming FM entrance, so without a shop I am limited to what meso I loot or can get by npc'ing dropped items. Not sure whether post-BB drop rates vs. potion consumption rates would let me do this, but I assume it's possible, especially since 120 takes so little time now and doesn't really require anything special by way of gear. (And by special I don't mean just the high end, I mean anything that costs millions of meso).

However, that is not the question, at least not for me. The question is "would you enjoy it?"
This is a game. If it's not fun, I don't want to play.
I have very bad loot and pot lag, possibly due to living halfway around the world from Nexon.
Not having a pet to loot for me is physically painful, as well as considerably slower training.
Depending on class, not having a pet to pot for me means a lot more deaths = much slower training.
Call me spoiled, but I don't enjoy that.

Now, if I had to raise a secondary char to 120, like say a Cygnus for UA, or an SE mule, and it had funding from my main, I just wouldn't bother looting. I would not get it a pet. Mules aren't worth it. I've done this before, not to 120 but I've raised numerous mules to 50 and a few beyond that (highest is 95) without a pet or anything else NX.
However, for my main, far beyond 120, if you told me I could never use NX again, I'd just quit the game. I hate having to manually loot. I can't make the kind of meso I need, without a shop. I can train or boss without auto-hp, but it's stressful; all the more so for having no charms or wheels. And being unable to cube means being very, very weak, especially if I also don't have a shop to earn enough meso to be able to afford pre-cubed gear. Or even scrolled gear, for that matter.
I would not enjoy the game under those conditions.

These two are pretty much the reason I wouldn't. I -could- survive a while, I guess, but I'd have so little fun that after a while, I'd just quit. s:

Only thing I hate about being NXless is having to loot on my own because that is really annoying and makes training a bit slower, but I can do without that.

Throes' answer applies to me as well, but I can do without that as well. Only thing I really worry about is an NX hat because I love the way most equips look but if I were to use a ZHelm, I wouldn't stand even looking at my character. Heck, I bought a permanent set for my I/L Wizard, but I only used the hat because Mage overalls are so pretty. :3 Same goes for my Corsair and Pirate overalls.

So basically, yes, I can survive without NX.

I pretty much did get to 1-120 two times. One pre-BB and one post-BB

Only used NX for looks, never bought 2x.

I only bought 2x once and it wasnt worth it to me so i never bought it again.

I did survive without nx on my evan. I told myself id get clothes, hair and pet (with equips) when resistance came out. 60k spent that i immediately felt guilty that i wasted on something not worthwile D:

PreBB, Cs stuff gave me motivation to level because my character looked good. Its so speedy to level now that ive had my stuff for a week and im already bored of the game again. I feel like i have to force myself to play every day now to not feel the incredible guilt of 60k spent
The nx would be more worth it if i could move it to my evan, or my future mech, but nexons greedy side shows when they decided to put separate cash inventories for every class :l

I don't think I could because I hate when my characters look ugly. I'd be fine with in-game equips, but I'd need at least a face/hair coupon for me to take my character seriously.

Sad I know, but the aesthetics are so much of the game for me.

This. I agree. I can't play a character without it being aesthetically appealing.

0-120 easely, Did it with my thunderbreaker. After that it depends, example a bow master is HELL without auto-hp pot, while paladins don't even use one even if's available due to hp recovery skill. NX clothes are nice but sometimes I'm even too lazy to go get them if they're on another char and I just play with a visible scarlion hat.

Aside from at least an nx hat, I could do it.
As long as nobody uses cubes, its all fine and dandy.

I would survive
Never used NX on my Aran or Evan, nor my Striker in EMSDemethos

I think I see a pattern between the stance on the NX topic and character level here. Rule of thumb seems to be that people who do not spend a penny aint very high leveled in return. Be that because of less commitment or slower leveling without NX, I cannot say. xP

I feel like if you have gone through the [expensive] process of completely NX-ing a character once (hair, face, colours, outfit), it's difficult to go back to playing an "ugly" character again.

0-120 isn't that tough even without 2x cards so I think you may be on to something, CarrionCrow. I remember getting 1-2% an hour on a 2x card at 190 and I doubt anybody would be motivated to train without a 2x card in this situation. Auto pots are also quite helpful for training and once you try auto pots for the first time, it's quite difficult to give up on them once they expire

I think I see a pattern between the stance on the NX topic and character level here. Rule of thumb seems to be that people who do not spend a penny aint very high leveled in return. Be that because of less commitment or slower leveling without NX, I cannot say. xP

Yeah, at 15x I've pretty much reached the upper limit of what's reasonable without 2x cards. I could go a few more levels but it was getting more and more a chore. I'd still like to get up to 160 for HT but I dunno when I'll bother.