Why do we play Maplestory?

but its amazing they made it p2w when it "seemed" they were making alot of money all my online friends and most of the community bought nx... i mean there were people who didnt buy nx.. but it was alot of people who did... i mean was nexon not making enough profit?

Do you want another video?

And?
I don't see why a game being multiformat is a downside?

Frankly, we should see more 3ds/phone multiformat games and I don't understand why we don't. Then, there is of course the fact that they're bringing the iOS version of PW trilogy to the 3DS, so they're porting it in the other direction to what you're thinking.

My point was just that the games were not originally designed for that system. They would need to change them to make them P2W


[MENTION=13606]dennyr[/MENTION]; you can look up Nexon's quarterly finances instead of asking if they made profit. It is free and public.

My point was just that the games were not originally designed for that system. They would need to change them to make them P2W


dennyr; you can look up Nexon's quarterly finances instead of asking if they made profit. It is free and public.

Only goes back as far as 2010 iirc

The problem is, things are so far gone I don't really know how Nexon would be able to rectify things without pissing off the majority of the big spenders bankrolling the North American branch at the moment - at least in a drastic way to appease a lot of people in this thread.

The events offering free pomegranate isn't cutting it for those of us who actually have pomegranate to do. I get it's a great way to boost player numbers for a few hours or a day and give people a few cool free items, but it's just giving people the illusion of things changing, in my opinion.

I've taken a step back from the game recently after having tried my best to get back into it last summer/early fall. Like a number of you have pointed out, the rewards at the top are fleeting. This game compared to say a card game - yeah, a lot of card games that came up in the early 2000s are somewhat broken too - but hey, at least you have something tangible you can hold on to and look at or if you want, sell it. Sure, cards lose their value but the fact that they actually have a tangible value and are some sort of investment - good or bad - has really made me look at MapleStory in a different light (plus you don't have a company telling you you can't sell them).

Personally, after playing this game since beta, I just don't see the point. Yeah, you can argue that it's worth it to meet people and make memories. That definitely was what drew me to the game when I was twelve, an only child, and lived farther away from kids I could hang out with. But with all the broken pay-to-win changes that continue to be made to this game? I'm failing to see the point. If people are looking for a hobby or a game to play, there are other types of games out there that are probably more worth your time, money, and effort.

I was hoping against hope that Nexon would make a change in the new year. It's four months in and other than some lack-luster customer support changes - I'm not seeing it. MapleGlobal is too bloated and Nexon America is too platypuswhipped to actually make any effective decisions on their own at this point, in my opinion. How about all of us who have supported this game over the years through buying NX, promoting the game, running fan sites? What the hell do we have to show for it other than a few good friends we've met (if we're lucky) and a bitter taste in our mouthes from all the money and time wasted on something that technically, we don't even own.

I don't know guys…the kid in me would really like to believe what MapleStory had the potential to become could actually be realized but I'm finding it pretty hard to justify giving a pineapple anymore. Play the game if you still like it and I guess the rest of us will go play with a flying squirrel or something.

/endrant

Sure, cards lose their value but the fact that they actually have a tangible value and are some sort of investment - good or bad - has really made me look at MapleStory in a different light.

I picked just this point out of your entire post because I am really sick and tired of people bringing this "at least I have a tangible item" thing up.

MapleStory is entertainment. Entertainment, by and large, does not leave you with anything tangible. Whether you pay $5 for a movie ticket, or $5000 for a cruise around the world, when the fun ends you have nothing but your memories. You can enjoy watching a ball game for an hour, or using a season pass to Disneyland for a whole year, but either way, when the fun ends, you have nothing but your memories. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with that.
Yes, there are hobbies and pastimes that leave you with something tangible for your time and money, but most entertainment is not like that. You pay to enjoy yourself for a time, and enjoy the memories thereafter.

So, just because the investment in Maple leaves you nothing but memories - and friends if you're lucky - is no reason to stop playing it.
If the enjoyment you derive from the game is not worth the money or time it requires, that's when you stop. Just as you decide whether to go to a concert by weighing how much you expect to enjoy it vs. how much the tickets cost.

Do you want another video?

Oh god, please do. I'm dying for another.

My point was just that the games were not originally designed for that system. They would need to change them to make them P2W


dennyr; you can look up Nexon's quarterly finances instead of asking if they made profit. It is free and public.

revenue isn't synonymous with profit.

revenue isn't synonymous with profit.

I am aware of that. But it still shows some trends and can be used to determine if a company is doing well or not.

I picked just this point out of your entire post because I am really sick and tired of people bringing this "at least I have a tangible item" thing up.

MapleStory is entertainment. Entertainment, by and large, does not leave you with anything tangible. Whether you pay $5 for a movie ticket, or $5000 for a cruise around the world, when the fun ends you have nothing but your memories. You can enjoy watching a ball game for an hour, or using a season pass to Disneyland for a whole year, but either way, when the fun ends, you have nothing but your memories. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with that.
Yes, there are hobbies and pastimes that leave you with something tangible for your time and money, but most entertainment is not like that. You pay to enjoy yourself for a time, and enjoy the memories thereafter.

So, just because the investment in Maple leaves you nothing but memories - and friends if you're lucky - is no reason to stop playing it.
If the enjoyment you derive from the game is not worth the money or time it requires, that's when you stop. Just as you decide whether to go to a concert by weighing how much you expect to enjoy it vs. how much the tickets cost.

The comparison between seeing a movie or a cruise is a valid point - but I feel like it's a bit of a stretch to apply that entirely to MapleStory. I'm not arguing that MapleStory may not be enjoyable for some people - obviously we all enjoyed it at some point to care enough to post in this thread - my point (to piggy back on your argument) is that the 'entertainment value' is very low at this point for the amount of money you must put in to enjoy it and there are many other alternatives that are far superior to MapleStory. Several years ago I would have agreed that MapleStory was a way better investment than say, console games, because it was. You didn't really have to charge NX and if you did it would only be around $25-$50 a year to really enjoy some nice perks like cash equips and pets. Compared to console games that range from $50-$65 for something that doesn't get consistent updates Maple was far superior (in my mind, at least) than any console games. Because of that fact, I didn't bother playing a system since PS2.

A lot of this also comes down to taste, cost vs. enjoyment, and other factors that are unique to each person. If you love MapleStory and don't mind blowing thousands to enjoy it to the fullest extent, then by all means keep going. But for me, as a player who once loved this game and saw the value in it, I'd much rather spend the money and buy something like a Nintendo 3DS or something else where I feel like I'll get more enjoyment without the added pressure of having to practically live on this game to enjoy it at all.

That's just my opinion. Obviously everyone here has their own. I've been a hardcore supporter of this game since beta and it's taken a lot to make me stop playing actively.

I decided to hop back on this forum after reainstalling Maplestory again, just to see what people were up to (did not have the drive space previously). I was greeted with "You haven't logged in for 552 days, welcome back!".

I don't plan to ever really play again, just wanted to scope out the changes.

I quit MS multiple times in the past, coming back each time for various reasons. In 2009 i was put in one of the first groups for the MWLB, my name was Sinuatum. It was neat for awhile, but soon realized the limits of our abilities. I hounded them for more power, to let us ban or d/c obvious flying hackers, but to no avail. The system had too many checks, and was too time consuming for very little gain, so i gave up on it except for the few events we could do. (absolutely loved being invisible and summoning tons of bags of monsters in towns when they let us).

In 2008, Diablo 3 was announced. I was stoked, and patiently waited. At the beginning of 2012, after the release date had been set for Diablo, i reached 200 on my main Axe Hero and bid my farewells. Prepared my setup for Diablo's release, and that was about it. I shifted from Diablo 3 to Borderlands 2, then to a few other PS3 games, then played World of Tanks for a solid year. Quit that stressful game recently to go back to Diablo ROS, which i'm currently playing.

I've never spent more money on a game than i did in MS. I played it pretty solidly from June 2005 until January 2012, with a few breaks thrown in. Being able to talk to GMs, i actually asked them 'about how much money have i thrown at this game'. I didn't want to hear the actual number, so i asked if it was over a certain amount. From 2005-2011, i had spent well over $5000 on Maplestory. I will never play such a money sucking game again. I felt required to throw hundreds at MS per month just to try and roll gear for that small % boost, and keep up with some of the top damagers in the game (which i couldnt, quite, because i sucked at merching).

Anyway, good riddance. The game was cool at first, but i've seen first-hand how it mutated over the years to require more and more monetary input just to feel good about my characters.

Was it hard to let go? Not really. 2012 was a big change in my life. I also got divorced that year, shortly after quitting MS. I'm currently engaged to be married again to someone else this year, and she likes to casually play WoW. I got her into Diablo, so we play that together sometimes. I won't jump into WoW, though. That ship sailed a long time ago. Had i jumped into WoW in 2004-05, instead of MS, my life might have been very very different.

I decided to hop back on this forum after reainstalling Maplestory again, just to see what people were up to (did not have the drive space previously). I was greeted with "You haven't logged in for 552 days, welcome back!".

I don't plan to ever really play again, just wanted to scope out the changes.

I quit MS multiple times in the past, coming back each time for various reasons. In 2009 i was put in one of the first groups for the MWLB, my name was Sinuatum. It was neat for awhile, but soon realized the limits of our abilities. I hounded them for more power, to let us ban or d/c obvious flying hackers, but to no avail. The system had too many checks, and was too time consuming for very little gain, so i gave up on it except for the few events we could do. (absolutely loved being invisible and summoning tons of bags of monsters in towns when they let us).

In 2008, Diablo 3 was announced. I was stoked, and patiently waited. At the beginning of 2012, after the release date had been set for Diablo, i reached 200 on my main Axe Hero and bid my farewells. Prepared my setup for Diablo's release, and that was about it. I shifted from Diablo 3 to Borderlands 2, then to a few other PS3 games, then played World of Tanks for a solid year. Quit that stressful game recently to go back to Diablo ROS, which i'm currently playing.

I've never spent more money on a game than i did in MS. I played it pretty solidly from June 2005 until January 2012, with a few breaks thrown in. Being able to talk to GMs, i actually asked them 'about how much money have i thrown at this game'. I didn't want to hear the actual number, so i asked if it was over a certain amount. From 2005-2011, i had spent well over $5000 on Maplestory. I will never play such a money sucking game again. I felt required to throw hundreds at MS per month just to try and roll gear for that small % boost, and keep up with some of the top damagers in the game (which i couldnt, quite, because i sucked at merching).

Anyway, good riddance. The game was cool at first, but i've seen first-hand how it mutated over the years to require more and more monetary input just to feel good about my characters.

Was it hard to let go? Not really. 2012 was a big change in my life. I also got divorced that year, shortly after quitting MS. I'm currently engaged to be married again to someone else this year, and she likes to casually play WoW. I got her into Diablo, so we play that together sometimes. I won't jump into WoW, though. That ship sailed a long time ago. Had i jumped into WoW in 2004-05, instead of MS, my life might have been very very different.

Should have gone with WoW over maple that year

I recently checked how much money I've thrown into WoW and I'm completely appalled as to how much of a difference the total amount of money I've spent on WoW and Maple came to be considering the 3ish year difference.

I've thrown a little over $2500 into Maple over 7 years. How much for WoW? 60% of that amount, and that's including the race / server / faction changes and expansions in the span of 9 years (soon to be 10).
Frankly I'm not sure how I should be feeling after this discovery, but I can say for sure that I'm 100% glad I left Maple over a year ago.

Maplestory used to be better before Big Bang, we need to bring Beta back.

Beta ruined the game thought, We need to bring back Alpha.

because we can and its free?

The game is well suited to casual play and its free and easy to play. I myself have spent no money on this game.
there are also parts of the game which are quite fun and enjoyable. the space pirate laser thing for example.
but it is still sad that the high level bossing content will be out of my reach for many years (I'm sure they will eventually nerf the bosses and make the characters more overpowered)

Beta ruined the game thought, We need to bring back Alpha.

I believe I already said this...

[video=youtube;yfi_tazQbLo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfi_tazQbLo[/video]
[video=youtube;WQQx-DczYGY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQQx-DczYGY[/video]

this kind of thread always reminds me of these two videos.

I'm not going to go into the well-wrought "I..." template you followed in your original post and neither am I going to bother reading other replies. I do not think the structure of anything that involves money in the mix is any different, be it virtual, from the monetary and financial structures of real life: Quite simply, the more that money is no object for a person, the more yield they get. It's irrelevant to say "the only reason they're allowed to act this way" because nobody needs to "allow" them to do what they please or avow their actions as an entity -- they themselves get to set the yield output, which is universally accepted within the game's milieu (otherwise, either the game wouldn't be running, or things would change). Here's an example: For those who live in Manhattan, a decent 1-bedroom apartment (a closet) will cost upwards of $3,000 rent a month. Some will pay for this, others will claim they can use the same money towards payments on a house they can own elsewhere. Throwing a fit over rent prices is irrelevant, as the point is that within the milieu of Manhattan, the yield output for your money is set -- making that choice of opting for living in Manhattan vs. owning a house & choosing to spend money on certain virtual goods aren't very different in their ambiguities and abstractions of money.

On a tangential note, I myself have spent over $10,000 on this game over the past years, but I've had no expectations and have been completely conscious of the fact that I have no essential holdings in the game -- the money has dissipated, as expected. I understand the frustration one can experience with investing and not getting expected returns, and I agree that it would be more pleasing to be rewarded more aptly in spending that kind of money, but it's important to accept that you have zero holdings in the end.

I'm not going to go into the well-wrought "I..." template you followed in your original post and neither am I going to bother reading other replies. I do not think the structure of anything that involves money in the mix is any different, be it virtual, from the monetary and financial structures of real life: Quite simply, the more that money is no object for a person, the more yield they get. It's irrelevant to say "the only reason they're allowed to act this way" because nobody needs to "allow" them to do what they please or avow their actions as an entity -- they themselves get to set the yield output, which is universally accepted within the game's milieu (otherwise, either the game wouldn't be running, or things would change). Here's an example: For those who live in Manhattan, a decent 1-bedroom apartment (a closet) will cost upwards of $3,000 rent a month. Some will pay for this, others will claim they can use the same money towards payments on a house they can own elsewhere. Throwing a fit over rent prices is irrelevant, as the point is that within the milieu of Manhattan, the yield output for your money is set -- making that choice of opting for living in Manhattan vs. owning a house & choosing to spend money on certain virtual goods aren't very different in their ambiguities and abstractions of money.

On a tangential note, I myself have spent over $10,000 on this game over the past years, but I've had no expectations and have been completely conscious of the fact that I have no essential holdings in the game -- the money has dissipated, as expected. I understand the frustration one can experience with investing and not getting expected returns, and I agree that it would be more pleasing to be rewarded more aptly in spending that kind of money, but it's important to accept that you have zero holdings in the end.

You can't really compare the investments in a place to live to a hobby like maplestory, nor do you understand the core complaint if you think it's "CUS ITS A MONEY SINK". It's because your purchases aren't really respected. Hackers can literally dc hack GM's at gm events and barely get a slap on the wrist. You on the other hand, log into many of your legit accounts and you have to fight to unlock it. They even unban the progress they made because they don't think it's worth doing the research to see who was a mistake or not.

You have no insurance and can lose everything over the most petty sh`it and the company will work against you every step of the frekin way. You would think that the hobbies you would invest in, would be ones where the company actually gives two sh`its about you, that give you a voice, and when something happens to your creation have a reliable person to talk to. Nexon doesn't offer any of that, just long lines to copy and pasted answers, that either offer no solution or proof that the people who listen to your problems are just as powerless as you are.

Everyone here already has a good idea about why people have played maplestory. The better question is:

Why would anyone in their right mind still play maplestory?

Everyone here already has a good idea about why people have played maplestory. The better question is:

Why would anyone in their right mind still play maplestory?

Sunk cost fallacy.