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An open letter on the state of the game

RedSlayerRedSlayer
Reactions: 1,055
Posts: 8
Member
edited January 2021 in Suggestions, Feedback, and Requests
I hate farming mesos, but the only way to progress in this game is by farming and spending mesos - so I farm mesos, on a Kanna.
I go to CLP (as a lazy farmer does), and start killing mobs while watching netflix, and 10-20 mins later I get disconnected. When I relog, the wealth potion is gone (unlike cooldowns that the game keeps of for weeks if not months or years), all the mesos are gone, and ALL the items dropped are gone, this includes droplets and nodestones. This is infuriating, and the items disappearing leads me to believe this is intentional as a counter measure against bots that targets normal players as well multiple times per session.
So here's your feedback - make wild totems a 5th job skill so players are not forced to play Kanna and suffer because of poor game design. I don't want to play Kanna - I'm forced to, and your policies make sure that this experience is excruciating.

The gearing RNG wall that takes Billions of mesos to overcome is bad game design.
I just thought you should know: I don't enjoy star forcing, I ******* dread it. I'm not exited spending 2B mesos on resetting flames while making no progress - I despise it. I don't enjoy scrolling items - I know that once again, the system is stacking the odds against me. These are all awful mechanics.

And if we're discussing bad mechanics - introducing RNG familiar potentials was a really really really bad Idea. I can't make a new character, because for the entire level range of 200-240 - the majority of a character's lifespan (I'm not talking about people that grind to 260+) there are no familiar drops available. None, Nada, Zilch, Zero, Null, Nula, Efes, Nul ,Cero, 제로. not a single monster in the most populated regions of the game drops familiars. The gap between players that have big spiders and any other new player is monumental. Even worse - this gap can never be bridged - you literally changed the potential pool to make it impossible for rare familiars to get epic potentials. Not that you bothered to nerf big spiders to maintain any form of balance.

I came here to play maple and have fun, and I'm all out of fun - the day a half-decent alternative to this game comes along - I'm jumping ship.

/rant
SuperSiiliSenzuBeann0ReasonKrownopHeweydarikLyulph

Comments

  • SuperSiiliSuperSiili
    Reactions: 210
    Post: 1
    Member
    NO MORE KANNA FARMING, GIB US TOTEMS
    darik
  • RedSlayerRedSlayer
    Reactions: 1,055
    Posts: 8
    Member
    edited January 2021
    SuperSiili wrote: »
    NO MORE KANNA FARMING, GIB US TOTEMS

    There has to be a better option than relying on them, heck even a skill with 50% uptime would make farming on your main a possibility...
    darik
  • SenzuBeanSenzuBean
    Reactions: 775
    Posts: 71
    Member
    edited January 2021
    At this point let's just make it a thread of things wrong with the game

    Continuation Letter:

    Take a Look at Maplestory Regional Earnings reports
    nexon-revenue-by-region-2017.jpg
    q3-2020-rev-breakdown-1024x610.png
    P2W is fine to an extent because it adds value into the game currency, but when you abuse it like China's CMS you lose the hearts of people.
    China Revenue 43->20%
    Then Korea Dominates: 40-> 64%
    On the other hand, Korea is dominant. Why? The f2p systems in place

    -Mileage System (Ability to get anything in the cash shop with gameplay, few exceptions)
    -Tradable Cubes
    -Halved Starforce Costs
    -Releases don't take half a year MINIMUM to come to other regions
    -Hack/Botter Protection
    -A support that aren't bots who give stock answers
    o (GMS Support is so bad even if a false ban is overturned they don't give any compensation ... not even exp bebe boxes which I would think was the minimum)
    -No P2W Items (Frenzy, Breath of Divinity)
    -TBC

    All this has made a flourishing playerbase in KMS.
    No Systems in place have been adopted from the KMS branch even though the numbers don't lie
    The developers (if there are any) for GMS don't seem to give a sht about the wellbeing of the game
    My patience as well is reaching a peak.

    The only thing the main branch at KMS had to do was hire a localization team for the translations
    Leave the systems in KMS to GMS it's fine
    But they didn't and there are so many unnecessary systems to hinder players

    The guy above fell prey to the 2x KMS Starforce Costs idea
    And these terrible ideas have to come to an end
    I'm talking to you...developer who designed the magic wagon


    Not much time left to fix the game
    Shame these unnecessary restrictions ruined GMS


    RedSlayerJettLuvsUn0ReasonHeweydarik
  • rayzorsamarayzorsama
    Reactions: 440
    Posts: 4
    Member
    edited January 2021
    Would be cool to have more things to better align us with KMS.
    darik
  • AKradianAKradian
    Reactions: 40,310
    Posts: 6,340
    Member, Private Tester
    edited January 2021
    SenzuBean wrote: »
    Take a Look at Maplestory Regional Earnings reports

    Those are Nexon regional earnings. Not Maplestory alone. The China changes, for example, were caused by Dungeon & Fighter trouble.

    If you want specifically Maplestory info, look at this
    unknown.png

    Nexon's revenue from Maplestory in North America and Europe has grown almost 3-fold within a year.
    That must mean that whatever Nexon is doing with Maplestory in America, is working well for the company.

    Note that I'm not saying I think GMS is handled well. I don't like the client instability, the predatory cash shop practices, or the poor customer service any more than you do. I'm just saying that you can't spin Nexon's financial reports into meaning "just turn GMS into English KMS and everything will be perfect".
    SenzuBeanRedSlayer
  • SenzuBeanSenzuBean
    Reactions: 775
    Posts: 71
    Member
    edited January 2021
    AKradian wrote: »
    SenzuBean wrote: »
    Take a Look at Maplestory Regional Earnings reports
    Note that I'm not saying I think GMS is handled well. I don't like the client instability, the predatory cash shop practices, or the poor customer service any more than you do. I'm just saying that you can't spin Nexon's financial reports into meaning "just turn GMS into English KMS and everything will be perfect".

    I hear you, but to put it simply.
    There are alot of issues that need to be fixed fast
    Maplestory as a game is fine, but there are so many added restrictions that make gameplay pain inducing to get us to bring out our wallets

    I'm not saying GMS adopting KMS practices will fix all the problems of GMS
    KMS also comes with it's fair share of issues
    But you can't really deny that the main GMS issues would be fixed simply by doing nothing to KMS and adding localization

    I know you're passionate, but how long will you last?
    Of these features, which are bad for the game:

    -Mileage System (Ability to get anything in the cash shop with gameplay, few exceptions)
    -Tradable Cubes
    -Halved Starforce Costs
    -Releases don't take half a year MINIMUM to come to other regions
    -Hack/Botter Protection
    -A support that aren't bots who give stock answers
    o (GMS Support is so bad even if a false ban is overturned they don't give any compensation ... not even exp bebe boxes which I would think was the minimum)
    -No P2W Items (Frenzy, Breath of Divinity)
    -Better servers

    I feel that all of these features would make the game astronomically better
    I don't think anyone would disagree (Except for the one where you have to register for an account with your SSN in Korea)
    And the thing is, besides the better servers
    The cost is literally free
    Even the 6 month content localization delay
    I do not believe it takes 6 months... voice acting/translation can be done in development of the content giving all content simultaneously to every region
    There is absolutely no reason it should take 6 months
  • SenzuBeanSenzuBean
    Reactions: 775
    Posts: 71
    Member
    edited January 2021
    Can't believe this got 2.2k views in one day though
    @GMs Should tell you the attitude of the playerbase
    darik
  • PirateIzzyPirateIzzy
    Reactions: 5,265
    Posts: 862
    Member
    edited January 2021
    SenzuBean wrote: »

    I'm not saying GMS adopting KMS practices will fix all the problems of GMS
    KMS also comes with it's fair share of issues
    But you can't really deny that the main GMS issues would be fixed simply by doing nothing to KMS and adding localization

    I know you're passionate, but how long will you last?
    Of these features, which are bad for the game:

    -Mileage System (Ability to get anything in the cash shop with gameplay, few exceptions)
    I'll admit I would like to see Reward Points be more useful for the Cash Shop, but changing the name to Mileage won't automatically add these features (though renaming Reward Points to Mileage would be a nice distinction from Maple Points, but I digress).

    -Tradable Cubes
    I (and most other people) would rather not deal with KMS's awful cube tier up rates. For reference, their Double Miracle Time tier-up rates are equivalent to our normal rates.

    -Halved Starforce Costs
    I would like to see Star Force costs reduced, but if MapleSEA can get it when they have better Kishin, along with similar botter problems, so can we.

    -Releases don't take half a year MINIMUM to come to other regions
    You realize that the major updates come in the winter and summer for all MS regions, right? It does take time to translate and localize content, and there are likely other procedures that go into it that we don't know about. If it were to take 2 months instead of 6, that still wouldn't work because they would miss releasing content when the iron is hot.

    -Hack/Botter Protection
    The main anti-hack protections that KMS has involves linking your Nexon account to your real-life identity (with alternatives aside from KSSN). Unfortunately, that wouldn't work in other regions due to differing laws that would prevent such a thing. Nexon also uses various lie detectors that disrupt gameplay, usually affecting legitimate players too. The most notorious example of this would be the Violetta minigame, which can occur at the most inopportune moments such as during bosses and cutscenes (the latter of which will not let you actually click on the minigame. Somacguffin's video on the Violetta minigame is more than satire, but something that actually happens to players:



    -A support that aren't bots who give stock answers (GMS Support is so bad even if a false ban is overturned they don't give any compensation ... not even exp bebe boxes which I would think was the minimum)
    How exactly would KMS-ifying other servers improve this? Customer service has nothing to do with the game's content.

    -No P2W Items (Frenzy, Breath of Divinity)
    While I have issues with P2W items, I have more issues with the awful spawn rates that KMS has, and definitely would not get as far as I have.

    -Better servers
    Turning us into a KMS clone also won't magically solve the server issues we have.
    All this has made a flourishing playerbase in KMS.
    Never mind the fact that Korea in general has a much more grandiose MMO gaming culture than the West, or most other MS regions. MMOs in the west are nowhere as popular as they are in Korea.

    My replies in bold. People who want to turn other servers into KMS clones are snake oil salesmen; it will not magically solve any and all issues since some of them go beyond being KMS clones, and while the other servers have slow progression rates, KMS takes it one step further with how slow it is. As much as some of these issues hinder GMS, such as the constant disconnects and bad customer service, there are other solutions besides KMS-ifying the non-KMS regions.
    SenzuBeandarik
  • SenzuBeanSenzuBean
    Reactions: 775
    Posts: 71
    Member
    edited January 2021
    Snake Oil Salesmen eh? Quite an old term, but quite right :D
    With a thousand opinions we form one that's truly right
    That's the nature of a discussion
    So I'll go ahead for a second round to find a solution:
    PirateIzzy wrote: »
    -Mileage System (Ability to get anything in the cash shop with gameplay, few exceptions)
    I'll admit I would like to see Reward Points be more useful for the Cash Shop, but changing the name to Mileage won't automatically add these features (though renaming Reward Points to Mileage would be a nice distinction from Maple Points, but I digress).

    Response:
    Yeah just a name change won't do, but the whole system

    -Tradable Cubes
    I (and most other people) would rather not deal with KMS's awful cube tier up rates. For reference, their Double Miracle Time tier-up rates are equivalent to our normal rates.

    Response:
    I meant just making the cubes tradable. This is only to make trading cubes easier and not having to risk getting your items scammed. It also raises the cap on how much people you can buy cubes from. Ex: The whole world instead of your alliance


    -Halved Starforce Costs
    I would like to see Star Force costs reduced, but if MapleSEA can get it when they have better Kishin, along with similar botter problems, so can we.

    Response:
    Would be nice eh?


    -Releases don't take half a year MINIMUM to come to other regions
    You realize that the major updates come in the winter and summer for all MS regions, right? It does take time to translate and localize content, and there are likely other procedures that go into it that we don't know about. If it were to take 2 months instead of 6, that still wouldn't work because they would miss releasing content when the iron is hot.

    Response:
    Their process right now is create the entire patch, then localize...6 months later? If they put localization into the development of the patch then released it all at once, I really believe having no differences in content would be more engaging to every region. Even so, 6 months delay is terrible for a company who makes $500 million every quarter. I really don't believe it's possible that nexon doesn't have the ability to localize faster than half an entire year. It's 100% intentional. Such a large content gap shouldn't exist


    -Hack/Botter Protection
    The main anti-hack protections that KMS has involves linking your Nexon account to your real-life identity (with alternatives aside from KSSN). Unfortunately, that wouldn't work in other regions due to differing laws that would prevent such a thing. Nexon also uses various lie detectors that disrupt gameplay, usually affecting legitimate players too. The most notorious example of this would be the Violetta minigame, which can occur at the most inopportune moments such as during bosses and cutscenes (the latter of which will not let you actually click on the minigame. Somacguffin's video on the Violetta minigame is more than satire, but something that actually happens to players:

    Response:
    Yeah I agree with the SSN part, I even left a small note to cut off that possibility. Lie detectors could work if they gave you temporary invincibility and could only activate in mobbing/safe zones. Gotta make it a point to make the good parts work



    -A support that aren't bots who give stock answers (GMS Support is so bad even if a false ban is overturned they don't give any compensation ... not even exp bebe boxes which I would think was the minimum)
    How exactly would KMS-ifying other servers improve this? Customer service has nothing to do with the game's content.

    Response:
    It really doesn't, but once GMS changes a hack detector and makes the scope too big, a lot of innocents get banned. Hell I got banned a month ago for potion selling and they said it was RMT -.-(false ofc). You have to ask for a senior to overturn your ban, but nobody actually knows that. So people just usually get a stock answer multiple times and quit. This is more a secondary objective, but still something good I think

    -No P2W Items (Frenzy, Breath of Divinity)
    While I have issues with P2W items, I have more issues with the awful spawn rates that KMS has, and definitely would not get as far as I have.

    Response:
    Very true, whales would also quit if they don't handle the compensation right because the value of a fz is player decided. Once that happens, servers down and it might be over for GMS. Fz/fs is too deeply ingrained into GMS so I guess not.

    -Better servers
    Turning us into a KMS clone also won't magically solve the server issues we have.

    Response:
    I meant actually investing in a good server and reworking the code. I literally crash every day and crash 3x on a bad day. This game is way too old for this to happen. Many improvements can't be done because of the server we have. Our non-reboot pop is too split and divided to have a healthy economy and a populated world, but if we do a partial world merge right now the lag would destroy the server. Bera is only 14% of NA GMS and it still lags and crashes.. like wtf is this?

    Your previous reply wrote:
    All this has made a flourishing playerbase in KMS.
    Never mind the fact that Korea in general has a much more grandiose MMO gaming culture than the West, or most other MS regions. MMOs in the west are nowhere as popular as they are in Korea.

    Response:
    Didn't actually think about that but to be fair, I don't think culture differences would make such a huge difference that revenue would go
    NA : Korea
    1 : 10

    NA revenue should've been a lot better if GMS was better maintained for the players

  • AKradianAKradian
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    Member, Private Tester
    edited January 2021
    The reason for the six-month gap is because there are two peak seasons in a year, times when people are on break from school and can devote their days to the intensive Summer and Winter updates. Nexon could, no doubt, localize the content in two months, but then you'd have a demanding event (cap coins on a dozen chars while leveling the newest class to 220 while also burning three other chars) in February or September, when nobody has time for it. Nexon wants these events to have maximum participation, which is why they intentionally release them for Christmas and Summer vacations, everywhere in the world.
    It being later gives us the advantage of being able to prepare for the events or the new classes, and also get some content after it's been fixed (balance changes for the new class are often present from first release in GMS).

    Investing in servers would be nice, but a lot of our disconnection problem comes from the internet infrastructure. The game is coded for Korean internet, where everyone has single-digit latency and no packet loss. GMS doesn't have that luxury. Our problem, ironically, is that the code was in fact copied 1:1 from KMS.

    You wave away the point of KMS having real-world identities for their users, but it is a key point for many of the issues you describe. It is because anyone can create infinitely many untrackable GMS accounts that, for example, our Reward Points are nearly useless. And of course the hackers, botters, meso inflation, and all that derives from it. Nexon America can't have that kind of Korean control over all their users, and therefore they can't "do like KMS" on a lot of other topics.
    Lie detectors won't work because our cheaters use very different tools than Korean cheaters do. I won't go into details, but it is ultimately made possible by, again, the lack of personal identification when making accounts.
    SenzuBean
  • SenzuBeanSenzuBean
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    Member
    edited January 2021
    Ah coming in with the knowledge I like it
    This makes alot more clear
  • SenzuBeanSenzuBean
    Reactions: 775
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    edited January 2021
    (Focusing on the Content Gap First)
    In depth on to what AKradian is talking about

    School Seasons (South Korea):
    March to July , September to February
    (3 - 7), (9 - 2)
    School Seasons (NA):
    January to May, August to December
    (1 - 5), (8 - 12)

    This essentially means that NA reaches those peak times 2 months before KMS does, so the old patches come in. Content releases 2 months later on the peak time of KMS
    But by that time you're already 1 month into college/school, so to hit the peak time:
    They release the content from KMS July to December creating that 5-6 month delay

    TLDR;
    So since we reach the peak time 2 months before the KMS release, they have us to wait the entire school season for the next peak time to drop content.

    There are two content gaps:
    KMS 2nd Month -> GMS 6th Month (4 Month Gap)
    and
    KMS 7th Month -> GMS 1st Month (6 Month Gap)
  • SenzuBeanSenzuBean
    Reactions: 775
    Posts: 71
    Member
    edited January 2021
    So I guess now:

    -Mileage System (Ability to get anything in the cash shop with gameplay, few exceptions)
    -Tradable Cubes
    -Halved Starforce Costs
    -A support that aren't bots who give stock answers

    Are approved, but

    -4/6 Month Delay
    -Hack/Botter Protection
    -Better Servers
    Have some issues

    From knowing all this, I guess ridding the 4/6 month content delay isn't a good idea, because yeah I'd not coin cap swamped in college work. Even veterans will struggle a bit.

    The lie detector could still work if you changed the variant to english. Don't really believe that isn't possible. Otherwise you have kanna farmers running rampant in every popular mobbing map. Like you said, GMS cheaters have the ability to create an infinite amount of accounts. Will be a ways off until we find a solution, but things like the 0 death exp loss patch will directly affect these cheaters so just have to find a bit more.

    Now it can be confirmed that the server code is really the issue. Then this is even better! The cost of getting a programmer to fix the netcode is much better than getting a better server. This really is in the realm of possibility.

    Everything else besides the content delay and servers were simply auxiliary boosts for the experience.
    It seems as though the Content Delay is set in stone...but it was really the main thing to be improved upon
    Any ideas?
    Lyulph