There have been a large amount of players who have been unhappy about the closed content, especially with the recent closure of the entire Singapore area. Although I do understand the reasons for all of the closures, I believe that the currently closed areas (Singapore, Tera Forest, Florina Beach, and any others I have forgotten) should actually be re-opened, although with one difference - all mobs and quests removed.
The reason for this is simple - MapleStory is largely an exploration game. It is extremely enjoyable to have a giant world to explore with others; the larger the world, the more opportunities to find new areas. While closing areas may seem like a good idea (especially if the area has become a problem in terms of botting/hacking, lack of updates, and low visit rates by users), I believe that leaving the area open to explore is a better idea.
Removing all mobs and quests from the area will fix almost all of the propblems with the current closed areas; with no mobs, there will be no reason for botters/hackers to travel there, and therefore no need for GMs patrolling the areas. Removing quests is a logical step afterwards, since there would be no mobs to complete the quests, and would therefore make almost all of the quests useless (although the NPCs should still be left, as it would add to the enjoyment of the area, as well as keeping stores/storages available for players in the area).
In short, MapleStory is more than just a giant grinding area; we enjoy the exploration aspect (and for some of us, that is why we continue playing). Therefore, removing an area because of issues with the area's mobs and quests shouldn't be the first response, but the last. Removing the mobs and quests, while leaving the field, background, music, etc. untouched, would still keep the area fun for explorers.
Thanks,
AK712
Comments
Best case scenario would have been if they scaled everything to how meso and exp is scaled in KMS regions (this is, of course, assuming they would have closed it anyway if this wasn't done). Unfortunately, there is nothing to be done for the removed content other than the hope that they might one day backtrack this decision or re-open some of the old content again.
Could we at least get the content closed off properly?
that would require effort, something the director doesn't want to spend on old things. gotta pump out hamfisted cliché supernazi elves stories because that brings in the star wars audience or something