How many people are REALLY still playing Maplestory?

Might be an easier process to ban them.

please clarify your ambiguous statement.

please clarify your ambiguous statement.

Please use your head.

Assumptions are never good

Anyone else think the summer events really sucked this time around? Nexon had one chance to bring back players, and they fucked it up big time.

Anyone else think the summer events really sucked this time around? Nexon had one chance to bring back players, and they pineappleed it up big time.

Yeah. The items in them were actually one of the best ones I can remember, but everything just cost too much coins. You get like 1 coin for every 10~20 boxes you open. and opening boxes was a pain in and of itself.

Yeah. The items in them were actually one of the best ones I can remember, but everything just cost too much coins. You get like 1 coin for every 10~20 boxes you open. and opening boxes was a pain in and of itself.

it's like they did everything they could to make it a pain.
not only the maple admin popup message, but filled with junk equips and junk scrolls so you had to stop frequently to empty out your inventory.

Please use your head.

Makes no sense as both botters and FM spammers have exactly the same ban process so there is no such thing as easier process for one of them.

If the case of getting caught by Nexon:

Botter: gathering proof/prooves>ban.
FM spammer: gathering proof/prooves->ban.

In the case of getting reported by a player.

Botter: Nexon viewing the report->checking game logs to see if the player has really done it->ban if the player is guilty, else no ban.
FM spammer: Nexon viewing the report->checking game logs to see if the player has really done it->ban if the player is guilty, else no ban.

Makes no sense as both botters and FM spammers have exactly the same ban process so there is no such thing as easier process for one of them.

If the case of getting caught by Nexon:

Botter: gathering proof/prooves>ban.
FM spammer: gathering proof/prooves->ban.

In the case of getting reported by a player.

Botter: Nexon viewing the report->checking game logs to see if the player has really done it->ban if the player is guilty, else no ban.
FM spammer: Nexon viewing the report->checking game logs to see if the player has really done it->ban if the player is guilty, else no ban.

now that I have finally deciphered his syntactically ambiguous statement, I'd have to agree with him. It really is an easier process to ban the FM spammers than the botters. You don't have to hunt spammers down, they come to you. All you have to do is save a chatlog and then ban.
With botters you have to track down the character who may or may not automatically change channels once you get there, and then you have to collect video evidence that shows without a doubt that hacks are being involved (as opposed to just severe lag or something).

Plus, to just permaban only the spammers is easier in another sense. Ban an account with just a level 10 character on it, and they'll just make a new account. But if you ban that level 201 character botting in Singapore, you risk the possibility that they will submit a ban appeal ticket, which will have to be reviewed by CS, which means you'll just be creating more work for your department.

While my Wife and I met on Maple...we don't come on as much as we'd like to, haha. Life got in the way, and I don't think we mind too much. But we do like going on and training lower level characters up every now and then. And making the new classes if they seem interesting. Feel like the game is kind of dying though.. Here is hoping MS2 isn't so bad.

it's like they did everything they could to make it a pain.
not only the maple admin popup message, but filled with junk equips and junk scrolls so you had to stop frequently to empty out your inventory.

This is right on the mark. Outside of Bingo and OX quiz, we don't even have a good way of getting coins anymore, but that hasn't stopped the items in the shop from being stupidly expensive.

I'm venturing a little off topic here, but I will never understand why this game goes through so much trouble to stop its players from having fun. Like, just look at all the limitations maplestory imposes upon its few remaining players. Everything's "one entry per day, two entries per day," and pqs are all "ten entries per day." Why can't I just go in however often I want? Are they worried I'll level too much? Who cares? After a certain point, there's NOTHING to do anyway; might as well let me zak nonstop. And then you have bosses with pre-quests out the ass, like Gollux -- jesus christ, over seven hours of fetchquests and uninspired kill quests to face a boss that I can only do once a day. Then you've got tomorrow's hot time, which might as well be nothing, and it's just -- I don't know. Do they want us to quit? I really think they want people to just stop playing. I want to enjoy this game, but there's something stopping me at every turn. Even when I start to have a little fun, the client crashes because of memory leaks.

This is right on the mark. Outside of Bingo and OX quiz, we don't even have a good way of getting coins anymore, but that hasn't stopped the items in the shop from being stupidly expensive.

I'm venturing a little off topic here, but I will never understand why this game goes through so much trouble to stop its players from having fun. Like, just look at all the limitations maplestory imposes upon its few remaining players. Everything's "one entry per day, two entries per day," and pqs are all "ten entries per day." Why can't I just go in however often I want? Are they worried I'll level too much? Who cares? After a certain point, there's NOTHING to do anyway; might as well let me zak nonstop. And then you have bosses with pre-quests out the ass, like Gollux -- jesus christ, over seven hours of fetchquests and uninspired kill quests to face a boss that I can only do once a day. Then you've got tomorrow's hot time, which might as well be nothing, and it's just -- I don't know. Do they want us to quit? I really think they want people to just stop playing. I want to enjoy this game, but there's something stopping me at every turn. Even when I start to have a little fun, the client crashes because of memory leaks.

I actually really like entry limits. It gives people reason to have to come back and do more of that thing, rather then doing something until they're sick of it and never coming back. With entry limits, what could possibly feel like a grind (as you have no reason not to just do it over and over until it's no longer relevant to your character) instead sticks to you as a possible daily activity.
A perfect example is PQs... *note, this is how I see them, I'm sure others aren't bothered by this as much* Ever since they removed their daily limits, I just gave up on ever doing them on my characters. PQs like LPQ and R/J have become extremely boring without a daily limit, and because those PQs don't have limits, no one bothers to do any other PQs like they used to! I remember doing all sorts of PQs during the Ascension Update, I leveled a BowMaster to 120 through PQing everyday! It was fun! But now it's just LPQ and R/J...you can never get people to do anything else, and that sucks!

Maybe that's just how I feel though. Maybe everyone else really loves ignoring the PQ prizes and would rather grind in R/J until it no longer gives them good exp.

I actually really like entry limits. It gives people reason to have to come back and do more of that thing, rather then doing something until they're sick of it and never coming back. With entry limits, what could possibly feel like a grind (as you have no reason not to just do it over and over until it's no longer relevant to your character) instead sticks to you as a possible daily activity.

no.

no.
-giant image-

That's not quite how I meant it...

But on that topic, there's a reason why that business-model works. You don't want people to lose interest after playing something over and over non-stop, so limiting them makes then come back for more.
I wouldn't want them to start baiting me to buy more entries, because there's a clearly scummy feeling about that, but I like the feeling of wishing I could do more (instead of just doing it until I'm just sick of it or don't need it anymore).

EDIT: Oh, and since this just popped into my head, I should clarity that I'm only okay with entry limits when there are other things you could be doing at that level range.
I'm not at the level where I've run out of options besides bossing and grinding, but I can totally see how that can suck.
People at the upper levels (I'm thinking 170+ and all of that) have it rough, but that's a problem that needs to slowly be resolved with new content - more options to choose from besides just doing all of the bosses you can beat daily and grinding at the same map over and over.
My opinion about entry limits was formed as someone who plays characters around the 120~140/150 range, where (aside from whatever bosses you can beat) you have multiple PQs to do for their items, Dimension Invasion, Evo World, Monster Park, Dojo, LKC Dailies, Heliseum Dailies, Tower of Oz, etc. The entry limits for those varies pieces of content also give you a reason to mix things rather than stick to the one thing that gives you the best reward.

I wouldn't want them to start baiting me to buy more entries, because there's a clearly scummy feeling about that, but I like the feeling of wishing I could do more (instead of just doing it until I'm just sick of it or don't need it anymore).

I wouldn't want them to start

 Spoiler

I know that they sell those, but that doesn't mean I'm in support of them selling those.

Speaking of which though - I do like that the shop in Kritias seems to have entry tickets (According to this).
It fulfills a double-purpose:
1. It allows you to earn another entry once you've hit your limit (without paying for it, like those CS ones).
2. It gives you a reason to do Kritias stuff, because you want those entry tickets.
You do one piece of content until you hit the entry limit, then switch to another piece of content that you have available to you. That's how I like it.

Speaking of which though - I do like that the shop in Kritias seems to have entry tickets (According to this).

if they actually have these in our version of kritias at an equal or lesser price, and the coins are reasonably obtainable, I'll

I'm venturing a little off topic here, but I will never understand why this game goes through so much trouble to stop its players from having fun. Like, just look at all the limitations maplestory imposes upon its few remaining players. Everything's "one entry per day, two entries per day," and pqs are all "ten entries per day." Why can't I just go in however often I want? Are they worried I'll level too much? Who cares? After a certain point, there's NOTHING to do anyway; might as well let me zak nonstop. And then you have bosses with pre-quests out the ass, like Gollux -- jesus christ, over seven hours of fetchquests and uninspired kill quests to face a boss that I can only do once a day. Then you've got tomorrow's hot time, which might as well be nothing, and it's just -- I don't know. Do they want us to quit? I really think they want people to just stop playing. I want to enjoy this game, but there's something stopping me at every turn. Even when I start to have a little fun, the client crashes because of memory leaks.

I would say multiple reasons.

1) They actually don't want you to level too fast.
2) "This is why we can't have nice things" (ie., abuse)
3) Keep players engaged
4) Artificially boost numbers; explanation: Part of the reason we (probably) still have Hot Days/Times, 2x EXP/Drop events, and Attendance Events is so Nexon can be like "look how many people are playing". This kind of ties back to #3.

The only thing that could drag me back is a spectacular, revolutionary 5th job update as well as a total revamp (read removal) of the potential system and all its ilk.

I am sure I aint alone in this, and I am equally sure a lot of people love the current heights of the power creep and pay2win.

I actually really like entry limits. It gives people reason to have to come back and do more of that thing, rather then doing something until they're sick of it and never coming back. With entry limits, what could possibly feel like a grind (as you have no reason not to just do it over and over until it's no longer relevant to your character) instead sticks to you as a possible daily activity.
A perfect example is PQs... *note, this is how I see them, I'm sure others aren't bothered by this as much* Ever since they removed their daily limits, I just gave up on ever doing them on my characters. PQs like LPQ and R/J have become extremely boring without a daily limit, and because those PQs don't have limits, no one bothers to do any other PQs like they used to! I remember doing all sorts of PQs during the Ascension Update, I leveled a BowMaster to 120 through PQing everyday! It was fun! But now it's just LPQ and R/J...you can never get people to do anything else, and that sucks!

Maybe that's just how I feel though. Maybe everyone else really loves ignoring the PQ prizes and would rather grind in R/J until it no longer gives them good exp.

YES THAT'S ABSOLUTELY CORRECT, LPQ WAS KILLED OFF BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO LIMIT, THAT'S THE EXACT REASON.

Now I know why you're the type of person to just pom my posts and not f`ucking comment, thank god you don't rather. LPQ and a lot of other PQ's lost their popularity for a few reasons, one being the rewards are now sh`it, when back then, a 60% scroll was worth something. I mean it couldn't be that LPQ was social kind of "raid" to rush you to level 50, which allowed you to enter el nath, WHICH YOU WERE DENIED ACCESS TOO, and they have no streamlined it to the point where everything before level 100 is a frekin blur.

Back when I played, limits made sense, so when a new boss came out, their "one of a kind" item wasn't as common as a snail shell, oh and it needed the maximum number of people. Why bother limited things like zakum, even horntail when half of the classes can frekin solo it, when their items are now replaced by hot time events, when their potential isn't even good?

Your entire explanation of why they need to be limited sounds more like a chore rather than "HEY AN ACTIVITY WE ALL (lolnoyou'resoloingit) ENJOY".

YES THAT'S ABSOLUTELY CORRECT, LPQ WAS KILLED OFF BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO LIMIT, THAT'S THE EXACT REASON.

Now I know why you're the type of person to just pom my posts and not f`ucking comment, thank god you don't rather. LPQ and a lot of other PQ's lost their popularity for a few reasons, one being the rewards are now sh`it, when back then, a 60% scroll was worth something. I mean it couldn't be that LPQ was social kind of "raid" to rush you to level 50, which allowed you to enter el nath, WHICH YOU WERE DENIED ACCESS TOO, and they have no streamlined it to the point where everything before level 100 is a frekin blur.

Back when I played, limits made sense, so when a new boss came out, their "one of a kind" item wasn't as common as a snail shell, oh and it needed the maximum number of people. Why bother limited things like zakum, even horntail when half of the classes can frekin solo it, when their items are now replaced by hot time events, when their potential isn't even good?

Your entire explanation of why they need to be limited sounds more like a chore rather than "HEY AN ACTIVITY WE ALL (lolnoyou'resoloingit) ENJOY".

Limits allow a slow power creep for gear. Unfortunately $$ allows you to skip this entirely so it makes no difference in the end.