My humble opinion on Nexon's path.

Some of you may find this to be of interest. Employees of Nexon America rating the company.
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Nexon-R...ding=false

This part in one review really stood out to me :

This adds stress to your workers also, as they are met with a community that dislikes them, especially when we aren't allowed to communicate with them. This has them believing things like bugs and errors are our fault, especially when we aren't giving time to look over the code and fix these things.

What happened? I used to see GMs appear or smega all the time, and actually act human.

I'd even tolerate some of these errors and bugs if they actually appeared sincere and talked about it, and not just sweep it under the rug for the next exploit and unscheduled SC.

Half the playerbase being hackers sounds a little high.

Well, do you count all the gold farmers or not? They probably contribute to half the online characters at any time, maybe more.

I can't figure out who buys from gold farmers though. Is it the same people who bought hacked VSSes and Raccoon Masks? People who just don't think about the consequences of giving their money to hackers? (ie. that more hackers flock to the game to sell hacked pomegranate to them and generally wreck up the game)

Some of you may find this to be of interest. Employees of Nexon America rating the company.
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Nexon-R...ding=false

We have had seen it and discussed it. We can't verify that it's the actual GM's, if they are, majority of them are Korean MS specifically.

What happened? I used to see GMs appear or smega all the time, and actually act human.

I'd even tolerate some of these errors and bugs if they actually appeared sincere and talked about it, and not just sweep it under the rug for the next exploit and unscheduled SC.

You're mistaken. GM's were never that active, even in early 06 they smega'd a few things and logged off. As of post 2008, they might as well be bots. 2011/2012 they have been appearing more to smite botters but the way they were doing it was incredibly insufficient.

Well, do you count all the gold farmers or not? They probably contribute to half the online characters at any time, maybe more.

I can't figure out who buys from gold farmers though. Is it the same people who bought hacked VSSes and Raccoon Masks? People who just don't think about the consequences of giving their money to hackers? (ie. that more hackers flock to the game to sell hacked pomegranate to them and generally wreck up the game)

I've had the same wonder in JMS for a while now. Last I checked the JMS players actively attack the botters, especially in the Free Market. They only advertise there when there's no one else in the FM at all. I wonder just who is buying their mesos.

Well, do you count all the gold farmers or not? They probably contribute to half the online characters at any time, maybe more.

I can't figure out who buys from gold farmers though. Is it the same people who bought hacked VSSes and Raccoon Masks? People who just don't think about the consequences of giving their money to hackers? (ie. that more hackers flock to the game to sell hacked pomegranate to them and generally wreck up the game)

Well playerbase =/= accounts. But yes, as you pointed out the number of active accounts that are involved in hacking should definitely be more than half.

We have had seen it and discussed it. We can't verify that it's the actual GM's, if they are, majority of them are Korean MS specifically.

Perhaps I should have said it should be taken with a pinch of salt, but some of the reviews were spot on as to why the community is so unsatisfied.

You're mistaken. GM's were never that active, even in early 06 they smega'd a few things and logged off. As of post 2008, they might as well be bots. 2011/2012 they have been appearing more to smite botters but the way they were doing it was incredibly insufficient.

I don't know about Khaini, since it was a relative small server compared to Scania and Windia, but even in '08 I used to see GMs smega very frequently, at least once a week. Also many events had opportunities to speak to and see GMs. As for '05-'06, I recall GMs appearing after Zakum to chat with us.

I agree with the Character Slots but more importanly the pineappleING untradeable items...
I would LOVE to trade ALL MY equipment from my old chars to the new ones, WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO PAY ACTUAL MONEY TO TRADE MY OWN EQUIPMENT WITHIN THE SAME ACCOUNT?
I hope nobody jumps with the stupid setence of "your account is Nexon property so they are not your equipment" because that's utterly BS, I worked for those I put my time and effort on those they should allow me to use them IN ANY character I like AT LEAST IN THE SAME ACCOUNT

Just venting out...

I don't know about Khaini, since it was a relative small server compared to Scania and Windia, but even in '08 I used to see GMs smega very frequently, at least once a week. Also many events had opportunities to speak to and see GMs. As for '05-'06, I recall GMs appearing after Zakum to chat with us.

I played in bera from 05-07, scania from 08-09 and khaini from 2010-2011. The only reason GM's were seen initially in Windia during that time frame was because of the release of horntail. Same goes with the zakum episode. The events you are referring to were done by bot's more than interactive GM's, no different than what we dealt with last year to be quite frank.

I played in bera from 05-07, scania from 08-09 and khaini from 2010-2011. The only reason GM's were seen initially in Windia during that time frame was because of the release of horntail. Same goes with the zakum episode. The events you are referring to were done by bot's more than interactive GM's, no different than what we dealt with last year to be quite frank.

Not my SS, but this was pretty memorable to me. I really doubt that was a bot. And this was somewhere in '08? I believe, GMs actually showing a sense of humor during an event.

Not my SS, but this was pretty memorable to me. I really doubt that was a bot. And this was somewhere in '08? I believe, GMs actually showing a sense of humor during an event.

There's also the case of PirateJing became famous, when the gm banned him upon request. These are very rare occurances. Any player legitimately who has played since 05 will comment how GM activity really hasn't changed at all throughout these years. Otherwise there would be dozens of examples, especially in basilmarket ss archives.

Here is a serious question, how is it that no other developer has been capable of creating another 2D sidescroller platformer whatever game like MapleStory?. I'm aware there are/were other games of the kind out there like LaTale and Wonderking but I never got to play any of both so I wouldn't know why they never grew as popular.

There is obviously a huge potential for another game like this to work in the industry though. Heck it shouldn't be even hard neither expensive. Take a game like Megaman X for example, despite being almost 20 years old, it is one of the best 2D sidescrollers ever made and it has nothing to envy from a game like MapleStory in technical aspect (something Nexon and the players should be ashamed of). Producing a game like that, with the same riythm but the medieval thematic (I don't like futuristic MMOs) oughts to be easy and pretty cheap considering some people have even created their own versions of MMX in their homes.

I have been waiting for a game like that to show up ever since I quit MS. The only thing maplestory has to it is the big head, NOTHING ELSE. Companies nowadays keep focusing on better graphics as the main caracteristic to any new MMO, forgetting things like Maplestory's outdated graphics and artstyle are what made it so popular to begin with.

Edit: I must add MapleStory also has its music... that is something you can't take from it or Nexon.

So basically take any existing platformer and add lots of maps, enemies, and bosses? Sounds like a usable formula.

Here is a serious question, how is it that no other developer has been capable of creating another 2D sidescroller platformer whatever game like MapleStory?. I'm aware there are/were other games of the kind out there like LaTale and Wonderking but I never got to play any of both so I wouldn't know why they never grew as popular.

I'm assuming it's because most of the players who first played MapleStory were in their childhood-teenage years. As it went by, MapleStory got popular and players continued to play the game. Now that it's been 5-8ish years, the same players are more matured but probably referred their friends and so on forth, creating this sort of endless cycle.

I don't know; that's what I think. I mean, if you play something for a long time, you would figure that some sort of bond would have been established, making it hard for some people to quit.

^^That's not it

The problem with this is that the car runs, and it is the only car in the world. Your other options are bicycles, trains, busses and planes. If you want to drive cars you only really have one option.

It is exactly this. There is simply no other game like maplestory out there, and even if there's one or 2, saddly maplestory is undeniably the best of its kind (which doesn't mean it is good). If you like the kind of games like maplestory, you'd better suck it because maplestory is all there is. That is why Nexon does whatever it wants with the game and players, because chances are alot lower for people to leave than if there was a direct competitor, That's also why MS has lasted for almost 10 years.

It is exactly this. There is simply no other game like maplestory out there, and even if there's one or 2, saddly maplestory is undeniably the best of its kind (which doesn't mean it is good). If you like the kind of games like maplestory, you'd better suck it because maplestory is all there is. That is why Nexon does whatever it wants with the game and players, because chances are alot lower for people to leave than if there was a direct competitor, That's also why MS has lasted for almost 10 years.

I definitely have to agree with this.

I've played both LaTale and WonderKing, and both lack polish, in my opinion. At least the base game of MapleStory is polished, in a mechanics aspect. It doesn't feel jittery or unresponsive, but I always felt that with both LaTale and WonderKing. MapleStory might have all kinds of problems, but the base mechanics are solid and well done. It's one of the reasons I originally liked the game, it was smooth, easy to play, and it didn't piss you off with bad control.

Plus, the art style and music are far superior to those two games too. LaTale and WonderKing to me just don't feel, look, or play like a good game. That's my personal opinion, and I have to imagine others agree with me when neither are very popular.

It's a shame MapleStory is screwed up on so many other levels.

I definitely have to agree with this.

I've played both LaTale and WonderKing, and both lack polish, in my opinion. At least the base game of MapleStory is polished, in a mechanics aspect. It doesn't feel jittery or unresponsive, but I always felt that with both LaTale and WonderKing. MapleStory might have all kinds of problems, but the base mechanics are solid and well done. It's one of the reasons I originally liked the game, it was smooth, easy to play, and it didn't piss you off with bad control.

Plus, the art style and music are far superior to those two games too. LaTale and WonderKing to me just don't feel, look, or play like a good game. That's my personal opinion, and I have to imagine others agree with me when neither are very popular.

It's a shame MapleStory is screwed up on so many other levels.

*Raises hand*

Maple Story may have a lot of shortcomings but its 2D graphics, music and animations are top notch in my opinion. It's simply so much prettier and vivid and control issues are among the most important things a game has to get right so it's no wonder we'd rather talk about Nexon improving than fantasizing that another 2D game will replace Maple Story.

Mobility in maplestory isn't that good either. Proof of it is that, as of late, to fix it they've had to give every character flash jump and vertical jumps. The jobs that don't have one suffer a lot by comparison when training and specially while bossing. In any case maplestory's main problems don't come from it's technical aspects, they come from the way Nexon manages the game.

My problem with the game is time bosses. I am one of those players who will merch about as much as pots I need. I really can't stand being in the free market to long. Time bosses with cheap instant deaths make it impossible for unfunded players to solo. I can really care less if it takes one or eight hours to do it. I just wanna have an actual chance to do it.

My other real problem is the power scaling in the game makes no sense. I really don't care if you pay to have more power. My issue is that nothing to at keep the less funded players 3/4 or at least 1/2 as powerful. I could do the quest to get nova equips but it will at least take me three or more months to get one equip assuming I do the daily quest every day. The only reasonable things to do is either wait for a good nexon event and take advantage of it. You can't hunt monster drops because they don't drop anything worthwhile. I went from hunting pieces of time before big bang to hunting gallant emblems which I don't think these drop anymore to get a rising sun set.

Root abyss was a good attempt to make some decent items come out but they always put more worthless items in boxes then good items.I don't mind this but don't limit the bosses to only once a day. The items do not have best stats but decent enough if I want to scroll them out they'll be alright. The game isn't totally broken though it can be fixed and saved pretty easily if nexon chooses to.

Mobility in maplestory isn't that good either. Proof of it is that, as of late, to fix it they've had to give every character flash jump and vertical jumps. The jobs that don't have one suffer a lot by comparison when training and specially while bossing.

Mobility != Control. It's a completely different situation. When I try to move around in LaTale or WonderKing, it doesn't feel fluid, it doesn't feel "natural" in the sense that a regular 2D game would, for example Castlevania or Odin Sphere. MapleStory is signficantly better, feeling like a true 2D game where the others fail.

In any case maplestory's main problems don't come from it's technical aspects, they come from the way Nexon manages the game.

Which is exactly my point. Technically, MapleStory is extremely well done while the other games are not, which is why MapleStory continues to be popular even with all of its issues.

Mobility != Control. It's a completely different situation. When I try to move around in LaTale or WonderKing, it doesn't feel fluid, it doesn't feel "natural" in the sense that a regular 2D game would, for example Castlevania or Odin Sphere. MapleStory is signficantly better, feeling like a true 2D game where the others fail.

Latale and Wonderking has this weird input lag problem you press the button but the skills comes like a second after its noticeable to. I do not know if it their servers or something but it totally puts me off from playing the game.