Explanation of the general GMS landscape and Justification for increased but fair Monetization
It's pretty obvious that Reboot is not as profitable as Regular Servers. Because of this fact, Reboot has been subject to a handful of nerfs, alongside numerous improvements to Regular Servers.
However, here on Global Maplestory, the majority of players already have made the move to Reboot years ago, and with Reboot Hyperion being an attractive option for players looking to get a fresh start as well as some potential upcoming nerfs to Regular in New Age (Spawn enhancers not working past 260, untradeable erda), it seems that Reboot will remain the dominant force here.
That being said, I think if Nexon wants to make more profits from this Region, and GMS players want to stop being treated as "Second Class Citizens" by having more of a financial impact on Nexon's overall profits, I think the Maplestory Dev team over here should focus more on how to Monetize Reboot rather than how to get more/keep more players in Regular Servers.
Adding very impactful Gameplay Monetization to Reboot would without a doubt cause a massive uproar here in GMS, but on the other hand nearly nobody complained about the non-gambling Gameplay Monetization that was added already to Reboot in the form of the recent Battle Passes in Destiny, Ignition, and Savior, as well as the Clover Guild, so clearly players aren't totally opposed to paying for a little power, convenience, or added event rewards as long as it's not necessary for progression like Cubes, Protection Scrolls, paid Red Cards, etc (especially paid progression that relies on Randomness)
My Suggestion is to add a new Subscription Service option to Maplestory.
This game has always been free to play, and I think that's where it always belongs, but I don't feel there's much of a downside in adding a new Subscription Service option to the game that'd mainly focus on lightening the burden of having to play every day.
Dailies and weeklies are very important for progressing in Maplestory, and while I love how they let you chip away at progress towards endgame at a good pace, I think for working individuals, they contribute a lot towards burnout in the game.
The Subscription Service could offer these benefits, which don't speed up any existing gameplay or totally remove playing from the equation, they'd just lighten the load a bit:
- 2 ALL Dailies Skip Passes per Week: By using one of these, you could complete all Daily Quests that day, including Arcane River, Grandis, 2 Monster Park Clears in your level range, 1 Monster Park Extreme clear, and any ongoing Daily Check-ins / Challenges / etc, allowing players to take a break for 2 days out of 7 every week.
- 1 Skip All Weekly Bosses pass per Month: This one is a bit more controversial than the last. This item would allow you to enter any weekly boss you've completely the Solo Kill Achievement for and skip directly to the rewards room.
If that's too extreme, perhaps this feature could allow you to claim a Boss Kill Reset Ticket once Per Weekly Boss Each Month if you didn't kill it last week.
Both would accomplish the same goal of allowing players with this Subscription to take a break from bossing once week each month, but the first skips it entirely and the second would still require you to kill each boss the same amount of times but instead allows you to basically save a boss kill for another week here and there.
- Fairy Bros 1hr Check-ins are always instantly available
- Throw in some cosmetics or a bit of NX (i.e. your choice between a single PSSB, Royal Hair, or Royal Face coupon)
Perhaps there could be an upgraded version of this Sub that'd include some additional stuff more appealing to hardcore players (in addition to the above):
- Vac Pet water of Life
- Single choice between PSSB/Royal Hair/Royal Face Selector
- Increased MVP rewards
You could also have yearly bundles that include a few bonus items and offer the subscription at a slightly reduced rate in exchange for paying for the whole year in advance (this discount more than pays for itself by generally helping with player retention throughout the entire year rather than many players only subbing for a month or 2 following each major update).
Comments
But problem is this strange line of Reboot not being a p2w server, but having p2w mechanics. It's a very strange place, and I don't know one way or another what an ideal environment would be. Given the current state though, and maintaining that state, i'd have this feedback:
I would take boosts over skips. I don't wanna pay to not play the game, I'd rather pay to get a bonus. Otherwise, I'd be dropping stacks on Arcane Dailies, cuz that's basically paid skips. And Battle Passes from Ignition, Savior, etc is an example, though I dislike the price of them. I believe skips/catch-up mechanics should not be monetized. It feels extra bad, feeling like my punishment for missing a daily is that I have to pay for it. On the other hand, If I did the daily everyday, why would I buy this to skip it? Sure I COULD get some free time back, but I wanna play. I just don't wanna play every day for 2 years to max the currently available skills. Double my rewards or 1.5x or something.
Definitely can't do that as is. Solo Kill Achievement is account-wide. I could go use the skip on a mule and get a bunch of free meso. If we want similar results that limits it to character, more work would need to be put in. That's for nexon to decide there, but I'm not gonna ask for it.
Paying to spend more of my time feels bad in my opinion. Take my money so I can get an opportunity to grind more feels no different than being capped and paying for a solution.
Honestly, this shouldn't be behind a subscription. It should just be instant. Mobile Games respect my time more than this. Make it a one-click done, and move on.
MaplePoints is an easy throw in for here. I wouldn't necessarily provide Cash Items. Not all people want to roll one of these, and may want to buy specific items.
This is already a subscription. So it probably isn't hard to bundle things, probably all good.
I wouldn't touch MVP at all. MVP is meant for high spenders, not for routine low ones. Any subscription SHOULD count towards MVP though, as it help entice some players to spend a bit more to hit MVP status.
Here are some daily login suggestions to attach to a subscription. These are intended to only be rewarded to subscribed players who login daily and claim which entices players to get on everyday.
1. EXP Tickets - All these events giving tickets that are exchanged for levels (from 200-260). Those are nice. Give those out daily to subscriber, help us level our mules.
2. Arcane Symbol Selectors - Give out 100-200 symbols a day. Help us make mules stronger, and if new player or swapping mains, main stronger.
Maybe drop in a free Hyper Teleport Rock for every character to collect, so as the subscription lasts. It's honestly such a QOL, but isn't really so amazing that I'd spend to hit MVP for it. Locking it behind MVP feels like a lost opportunity like the subscription.
I would suggest something about afk EXP boosts, but honestly, i don't think it's good for the server to have those. It just makes a bunch of players afk there, and lag the hell out of things. Just get rid of the dojo training center and give us Extreme Bonk pots or more EXP tickets instead. Not just for subscription, but for MVP too.
3 pet 15$
1 pet skill pkg 8$
3 pet skill pkg 24$
I character with 3 subpar pets 39$
3 month duration.
52 characters in legion...
I fail to see which part of maplestory isn't already a paid subscription service. Nexon doesn't need more money grabbing ideas.
(OH and I did not mention vacuum pet packages at 300$ to initially buy 3 that last 1 month and 45$ a month to maintain them... let's just ignore the cost of optimal pets on one character.)