A little experiment

So, basicaly I'm done with ms but recently I've been writing on mmos on my blog and I've changed the way I look at mmos from a sort of linear way ( grind to get somewhere to enjoy things ) to ( the journey is the "fun" part ) .. well thats as good as I can summerize it. basicly I want to test this method to see if it'll work. I know that sounds bizzare since its really just a different way of viewing the game but I want to see If its more entertaining to play an mmo that way. so I figured instead of waiting for a new mmo to come out I'll try it with MS. and well, if its do able on MS you can do it on any mmo. seeing as MS is king of korean grinders . basicly I'm going to do all the quests there are etc. but I'm not sure what the criteria should be. should I start off with 0 funding ?. I'm gonna test this with either a Blaze wizard or a Wind Archer , not sure at the moment.

I'm looking to see if MS is truly just a grind fest or is it a fault on the mentality of the players. maybe MS is packed with content and people are ignoring it to get to a high level since everyone wants to feel superior and well thats how you go about doing it in an mmo.

the reason I narrowed it down to WA or BW is because

BW = magician = needs no funding.
WA = unlike magicians without funding the wep attack classes are significantly weaker/unable to do certain things.

Why Cygnus ? Well cygnus get 6 AP and their max level is 120 so thats a good level to stop this test.

I'm not gonna test this on Evan because IMO they are way too overpowered.

my question to you guys are these - should I do this with no funding at all or does that not matter ? what job should I test this on BW or WA ?
do you think this is silly/stupid/pointless?

Well, there are things people dont use because it is slower, but yea, you can do other things besides grind to lvl.

It's quite hard to go back the mentality of "fun of the journey" after you've read alot about the game (mechanics, builds, etc).

My view on it:
-Never train for too long on the same training spot.
-Sometimes go and fight monsters you shouldn't normally be on to see how strong you are.
-Never train for too long non-stop.
-Do PQs and talk to random people.
-Obsess over non-hardcore stuff like monster cards, medals, quests, etc.
-Spend time on maple just chatting with friends or random people.
-Don't buy 2x cards to force a schedule on your playtime.
-Play on parties for training/questing/exploring, it's more fun that way.
-Explore new areas and maps to the best of your ability.
-Don't obsess over having the minimum possible secondary stat, relax and build your character without too much stress.
-Savour every new level, new skills, job advancements as great accomplishments.
-READ the stories that are on the quests.
-Set short-range achievable goals and work towards completing them.


This should probably make you have a more enjoyable experience in maple.

I wouldn't have been here for 4.5 years and only have a main in the 12X with a maximum of a 3 month break if I didn't have this mentality. And I was never a heny hoe either. In fact, more or less since FoG parties, I went solo for my entire time.

It's quite hard to go back the mentality of "fun of the journey" after you've read alot about the game (mechanics, builds, etc).

My view on it:
-Never train for too long on the same training spot.
-Never train for too long non-stop.
-Do PQs and talk to random people.
-Obsess over non-hardcore stuff like monster cards, medals, quests, etc.
-Spend time on maple just chatting with friends or random people.
-Don't buy 2x cards to force a schedule on your playtime.
-Explore new areas and maps to the best of your ability.
-Savour every new level, new skills, job advancements as great accomplishments.
-READ the stories that are on the quests.
-Set short-range achievable goals and work towards completing them.


This should probably make you have a more enjoyable experience in maple.

Mostly this. In addition, I looked forward and USED every single class piece of equipment avaliable from 1-110. And it's not about funding, I personally searched out the items that dropped and made the ones that didn't. Long while ago, nothing dropped the level 50 crossbow, Rower. I used the NPC in ludi to make it myself using a stimulator way back. Mind you, the definition of funded is different from what it used to be. Back in the perion age, I couldn't afford regular pots until about level 37, but I think that opportunity for just standing there while you heal gave you more time to strike up conversation with people.
I do like some of the things that NEXON has done over the years such as the addition of Maker, the monster book, and jump-down (somewhat unrelated); however they have also added things to make it too streamlined so that people skip through the areas worth experiencing. Common equipment and the extreme emphasis on stats which in the long run don't do that much and systems that emphasize on leveling as fast as possible has made it into the game you see today. The game you actually have to look hard to find the experince that I've had and you are looking for.



Genuinely, I don't think you'll really be able to achive this in MS now unless you can completely ignore others asides from friends and go nowhere near the FM. My recommendation is to either wait for a beta of a game you like to open or find a game without much of a market. Economics creates standards and values on both people and expectations. Tespia and Mabi Beta were quite fun in this reguard. People treated each others as equals and gave items they didn't need or couldn't use to anyone who asked or happened to be able to use them. The transition from a game to a buisness is the ultimate bain of MMOs in my eyes. Yet it happens to all of them over time it seems...

Quest man do quest, omg i have had so much fun on my evan, i just made it to lvl 70 and have completed 760 quest so far. It has been a long time since i have had so much fun. Good luck on your experiment.

back when maple first came out the quests where not enough to get you to a higher level, thats where maplestory got its grinding image, though i believe the new quests that have been implemented are a great way to go!.

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I'm not saying you didn't have this mentality when starting the game. Also, I've been playing maple since BETA and then started on windia when it was out. I've always played classes based on liking the mechanics of it and not DPS tables. I never trained hardcore and I'm pretty much a casual player with lots of experience, I don't lose a chance to strike up conversations, do quests, explore new areas, test out my limits in strength, do new bosses, etc.

I can say I still have fun on maple and I don't grind endlessly (normally not more than 45min-1h training at once).

WOW! omg thanks guys, your responces are really encouraging :-). and I don't plan on paying attention to other players, without any intent on showing off like an immature kid, I've been on the "pro" side of ms. I was argueably the richest legit merchant in Broa and had infinite resources till I got a keylogger 2 years ago and lost it all. since then I've hated FM. ( keylogger was sent to me by a "friend' ) but thats all off topic.

I don't mind ignoring all the other players thats easy, I just don't know If I should play broa because its packed I was thinking of starting in demethos ( the empty server, or so I've heard ) but its just the meso crutch thats bothering me.

If you want to have fun without merchanting then I suggest that you make a luckless mage. Being luckless gives plenty of power and mages don't get as much out of great equips as other classes do. Since you have been funded in the past I don't think you would enjoy a warrior with dex or an NL with clean equips. If you enjoy being around lots of people then one of the higher populated servers might be better. If you enjoy entering a map and being the only one there then play one of the "empty" servers.

I enjoy chatting, questing, and being all by myself on my map. You certainly don't have to grind to have fun (grinding is more about getting higher up to show off to others how cool you are, which is fun for some people).

I'd like to hear what you end up with.
I myself have reached another roadblock in MS. I've semi-quit my corsair, made a DK, but only got it to 73 - I just don't like grinding! I log for the people only. I need to find a way to make grinding more fun, so i'd love to hear advice.