Why do all of the Maple copy cat games keep dying?

Sure, we know that Maplestory is one of the better 2D rpgs around but how come it has so little legitimate competition? Is it really that hard to not blatantly copy someone elses work and create something original? And how come there are not any 2D MMORPG developers in North America?

Come on guys, we need some more games like Maple but that are not cheap knock offs!

More people looking for 3d games than 2d games I think...

There really hasn't been many copycats I am aware of. And the ones that "were" copycats didn't capture the same essence. I found a lot of them lacked the customization for looks, a solid art style, and most had bleh gameplay in general.

We really are lacking quality 2D MMORPGs and it's a shame. I don't like the awkwardness of 3D games (the camera, movement, and it just doesn't feel fun or even welcoming to me.) I don't know why people instantly assume 3D is better.

The things that set maple apart to me at first were, the amount of customization you could put into a character appearance wise, as in most equippable items were visible. The simplicity of the chat and buddy system as opposed to lots of other games, and the pretty much straight forward gameplay.

Wonderking is coming back. https://www.facebook.com/WonderKing

Oh god Kill3rCombo / KOG might host WK? Not sure how I feel about that if it ends up going that way.

the current generation of gamers believes graphics are more important than gameplay, or so I've seen.

the current generation of gamers believes graphics are more important than gameplay, or so I've seen.

I heard Minecraft is quite popular.

I heard Minecraft is quite popular.

I was more speaking of the CoD generation, but Minecraft is basically legos. Everyone loves legos.

Well, everyone thinks they are Maple copycats, oh and bad management.

Technically MapleStory itself is a copycat game...

Technically MapleStory itself is a copycat game...

Wonderking, mates.

It's not a "Hmm, most Maple copycats seem to die off" as it's more of a "Most MMOs in general tend to die off". MMOs typically do very poorly to be honest regardless of whether they're 2D or 3D.

MMOs look similar to others because creating and hosting an MMO is expensive as f.uck, so instead of taking too many risks you see reused concepts and mechanics often.. In some cases they hit the "sweet spot" and capture a particular demographic well, or very rarely they'll actually be quality MMOs in general, and the rest all die off little by little. The same can be said for the general video game industry where developers create "generic" games because taking risks might cost them millions.

There's an aversion to 2D in general as it is seen as "dated" and typically only has niche demographics. Preference for 3D isn't really about "dem graphics" but more so the feeling of playing something more modern and that has more depth to it. It's like wondering why most gamers play current video games over SNES games. 2D itself applies very harsh limitations to the design of your overall game, and it can be quite difficult to make something interesting because of these limitations. A lot of Maple's problems come from its old foundation for example, as well as it being in 2D; there's only so much they can do within these limits. Maple players who hope for more in-depth combat, or complex mechanics will literally never see them in Maple as they aren't possible to implement, which I'm sure is where Maple 2 comes into play as it will offer them more room for development.

Wonderking, mates.

mmmyep.

The reason I bring this up is cuz everyone needs at least a little competition. Mcdonalds has Burger kiing, Sprint has Verizon, Sony has Microsoft, etc.

I hope Wonderking does make a comeback because if not then there is a chance that Nexon could start slacking off or become lazy.

I've been wondering the same question a long time.

I said this in another thread but I wish a company which has the tools and the experience on making sidescroller platformers like Capcom or Sega would decide on making a fantasy 2d MMORPG. I mean, look at megaman ZX advent, the game is almost 7 years old and it still looks better than maplestory at the same time its gameplay is awesome.

Have you looked into Soul Saver?

I've played it for a few days, but kinda got bored of it. Reminds me of a more complex snes game, really because the movements are just..different than maple, I dunno how to describe it.

It's an okay time killer and free, so you've really got nothing to lose.

I'm actually surprised La Tale isn't dead.

Real pretty game with nice customization, but dear God was the movement system awkward and 80 levels until a job change drags.

Have you looked into Soul Saver?

I've played it for a few days, but kinda got bored of it. Reminds me of a more complex snes game, really because the movements are just..different than maple, I dunno how to describe it.

It's an okay time killer and free, so you've really got nothing to lose.

I checked it out but it seems too Korean for me.

I checked it out but it seems too Korean for me.

Yeah, it's not really my cup of tea (I prefer coffee anyways hehe).

Once again, just a time killer, really. I think I'd have to get pretty high level and decently geared to enjoy the bossing and such of it.
I mean, this looks decent..I just don't know if I wanna put in the time to be able to do runs like that and such:

[video=youtube;hWethBmwFP4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWethBmwFP4[/video]

Perhaps I'll just stick to my gamecube and ps2 games for now haha.