I have no reason to lie to anyone. I have no reason to make you doubt me, although I cannot expect most to believe me. I remember when a friend of mine told me about a weird game called "Maplestory". I thought to myself, "That sounds strange, what even is that? Do you level up by drinking maple syrup or something?" Even more strange, when I tried the beta version in 2005, there was something so strange about killing snails that were almost as big as my character. So strange, yet I immediately felt a nostalgic feeling. I'm well aware nostalgia means to reminisce of good times past, but every time I played Maplestory, I felt that feeling in me, even back then. I can't explain it better than that. The BGM music, the sounds of slimes being squished when you finish them off.
I didn't have a normal childhood, I moved around a lot as a kid, and so I never really made friends for too long. Maplestory was the definition of my childhood, it was always something I could come back to, like an old friend. I've often found myself getting lost in the game's mesmerizing tranquility, while I would train, friends I've made along the way would tell me cool ways they discovered of how to upgrade weapons, or what scrolls/weapons they'd find from certain monsters. There was a time before hiddenstreet or sleepywood sites to help us in the game, where we had to figure things out on our own, and it was exciting to discover things like that for the first time. I remember when DerangedCow and Stephen were the first two level 100 clerics (before 3rd job) when they were (hacking) training at FOG or Taurospears/macis.
Tiger wasn't just one person, we were multiple people. We each split our time individually to train nonstop, almost like a clock-in, clock-out type of position. I was the last one to train Tiger to 186, before things went sour. Aside from the guild drama at the time, the actual creator of the character Tiger, Gavin, was going through a rough time in real life. His father killed himself, and when he turned to the game for comfort, he only found that he came back to guild drama in the game. So he decided to leave the character to myself and the other two people in charge. Sadly, before I even got a chance to continue training Tiger, one of the others in charge of the account, claimed it for himself, pillaged it, and sold the IGN to someone, who then hacked it to 200, got it banned, and it was eventually deleted. Tiger, technically was the first level 200 before Fangblade. Not many remember that, and it's easy to understand why. The only difference was that Fangblade somehow didn't get caught hacking, so stayed on the roster.
As time moved on, I never saw or heard from Gavin again. When we played, we were good friends, he was kind of socially awkward, but nice. we didn't have any deep meaningful conversations, we didn't go to a mountain and travel back together. For the most part, we took turns training Tiger, and stayed on each other's buddylist. After that ended, I took about a year's break from Maplestory. My main character at the time before I temporarily left was "Airster", a crossbowman in the guild OMS40Archers and XFORCE, and AutumFalls. When I came back later on, it was around the time right before the Big Bang patch was about to happen. I was excited/nervous to see what Nexon had in store for us. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed, but I struggled on like anyone else did. As I was playing my crossbowman, I would always get caught up in nostalgia, and it would eventually come around to me thinking about Tiger and what an adventure that was. So, I did the next best thing, and made a character named TigerBeta, in respects to my old friend, and a good time. I joined a guild called BossCrew, there was a guy named Brian (his character name was Wegy), and we hit it off from there. Things were good for a little while for me, until one day there was a glitch from a patch where you could instantly level to 200. My friend Wegy was doing it on mule characters, I was an idiot and did it on a mule character attached to the SAME account as TigerBeta, and got perma banned.
I was pretty upset at myself for doing that, but I was able to make a new account, this time I named him TigerAwoken. This was the character that really stuck for me. I made so many friends, and so many memories with this character. To this day I still have my guild, Beholden, I swing on TigerAwoken from time to time to check in. And I owed it all to an old friend. To a character that I trained on before-hand. I met someone named RoyalTigers (coincidence) and we hit it off, we even got together in real life, but things went sour after eight and a half years, she ended up cheating on me with someone else from maplestory.
It only saddens me to see how the game is now. A truly empty shell of it's former self. The game used to have so many people, socializing. Not just bossing solo. A simple boss, was an adventure back then, you made friends through it all. It was something that logged good memories in your life. And that's what Maplestory is to me. Memories that will last a lifetime. I have no sour opinion on Nexon in all truth. Although I disagree with their current actions. I thank Nexon and Wizet for giving me something that no one and nothing could at the time of my childhood. Friends, love, and hope. Although my guild is dead, and most likely all of my friends have quit, my character still lives, my memory lives. And as long as I still have my memory, I'm still part of the Tiger that people remember, the good and bad. My name is Aaron, I am TigerAwoken, one of the 4 players of Tiger, and that is my story.
Comments
You've created a self-fulfilling prophecy. MapleStory sucks because people are constantly going around saying it sucks.
The biggest issue with MapleStory right is probably population. This is an issue that is easily viewed as a cultural difference between the west and east.
There is no one group that can be blamed for this. Society has conditioned us to not be content with these types of games anymore.
The west as a whole has given up on MMOs. MapleStory is not some exception.
MMOs are a slow paced game designed to eat up as much time as possible. A game where you're never really finished.
With short attention spans these days, who on earth wants to play a game like that?
MapleStory's problems comes from society itself. This isn't something Nexon can fix. Not without changing the core game.
It is not MapleStory that drastically changed, but the world around it. This is still the same game that you and your friends used to love.
Power Creep and New Mechanics happen in every MMO. If you come back from years of not playing, of course it's going to have changed.
MapleStory will continue to evolve through the years.
Are you willing to keep up, or just give up?
Nostalgia is fine and all, but man. I don't go posting around in forums for games I don't care for anymore.
If you do care for the game and still play it, stop living in the past and go create some new memories.
Point is, people seem to be wanting less and less to do with persistent online worlds. Ain't nobody got time for that.
Fallout 76 being an "MMO type" just once again proves that the west doesn't understand why people like to play MMOs.
The point still stands that it's a societal issue. People not having time (or not feeling like they do) I would still argue is an attention span issue.
It really doesn't help if we're going to be actively destroying people's opinion on MMOs with rushed games.
so you're not the 'real' Tiger then...
Opening statements like this always make me sceptical. I've seen dozens of threads like these in various forums over the years with diverging narratives and this is no different. The information you posted here about Tiger and Gavin has been public knowledge for a while now (how his dad passed away, how his in game drama led to his departure, and the account allegedly being hijacked/hacked). The only new info is your claim that someone botted it to 200 and got it 'banned', because the character never got passed 18x when Gavin deleted it. There is no evidence that he got to 200 in some way, or else someone would've surely noticed it. I don't even recall Tiger being 4 players (those were always just rumours). He was 2 players (Gavin and Mark) and at some point 3 (Craig, aka Suuushi). As a long time Scanian who was in the know, I have never heard of an 'Aaron' until now.
Sorry to be 'that guy' but your story doesn't add up.
Then move on. You've said what you came here to say, now others are going to come and add their own thoughts or opinions on what you've said or what people who've already posted have said. If personal closure on a chapter of your life is all you intended for this post to be, then you've accomplished what you set out to do and you can freely move on.
Actually I've heard that one before. There are so many rumors and pieces of information out there. It's pretty easy for anyone to come and claim they're the real one at this point.
Please take your own advise and learn how to format...
pssh women aren't that good storyteller except for Mya Angelo
Let’s save the trolling banter for Reddit, shall we?
@AnOldFriend
Thank you for sharing this tale.
Learning how individuals came across MapleStory years ago and the positive impact it made in their lives always fascinated me.
Perhaps because it’s something relatable way back ages ago while stuck in a troubling spot; seemingly alone, and unable to reach out.
MapleStory has certainly evolved for better or worse, but there remains a dedicated community over the years. So much so, MapleStory has begun hosting their own MapleFest gatherings celebrating the MS culture and anything Maple-related. Sad to say, tickets are already sold out for this year’s venue, but you might be able to find livestreams available throughout the event.
Not everything is trolling though scholar some times truth can be found in rhetoric or a comment. But classifying everything a person saying into a troll category at times can be found unfair, and unjust. If you think what I'm saying is a trolling it actually a scientific and psychological theory called "Genderlect theory" made by Deborah Tannen some people disagree due to feminism but it is a real thing as it a general and broad view of how dialogues happen. Guys tend to talk more in bigger crowds while women do it more in private and control the conversation better when it one on one. Which shows we all have strengths and weaknesses in different situations. But yea I'm not trolling if you were thinking that.
Also, the real tiger are you in bera server? If so I do like to see your growth as an old veteran return like the great late Lucsean. It great to see old great maplers coming back to the scene and showing us how maple can be great again, it gives us hope that we can bring maple back to its old glory before social media take over. I also like to see maybe you bring a new type of brand to maple as with lucsean he was more of "I am a veteran mapler" this is how it should be done type of brand. So maybe something catchy and amazing to catch the audience. I do believe you the real tiger as most people nowadays won't write more than 3 paragraphs so I definitely believe you. Like I said I'm rooting for your success and hope to see you make maple great again
I think you are partially correct, but I wanna add some comments on why I disagree with most of what you said. Have in mind that such "mentality" didn't arbitrarily came from thousands of maplers around the world; they think like that for several reasons, and I personally agree with most of them.
If ao many people are saying something sucks, then they either have a point or they're engaged in a plot to make the game look bad. I don't see how the second thing could apply, and the usual reasons for the game's downfall tend to be very specific:
-The classes are losing diversity;
-Any character can level up alone with little to no encouragement to make friends;
-Bosses aren't a challenge anymore, maybe until the endgame content;
-The game isn't about leveling up and growing your character anymore - you can skip from 1 to 150 in no time.
I remember the old times when you needed at least three different classes (Cleric, Thief and Spearman) to stand a chance in OPQ full. Killing Zakum was a real deal and demamd several experienced characters fighting together. The leveling curve was awful, yes, but all the "hard" bits about the game practically forced you to socialize with other people. Today you can simply play it like a singleplayer game, you hit a button, nuke the entire map in one shot, rinse and repeat.
This is true, especially considering the vast amount of MMOs today. Why would someone play MapleStory when they fan play WoW, ESO, Albion, TERA, NW, Black Desert, Tree of Savior, etc? And vice versa for every other MMO. It takes a while to get invested in a game and find out which one suits your better; it's no surprise that MapleStory is seen as "another MMO I don't have time for" for new players.
That being said, ...
...however, I think you are taking part of the problem as the culprit. When people make complaints like "MapleStory is a shell of its former self", "it isn't the same thing anymore" or "it has lost all its magic", they do so because of personal reasons, some of them very common (as I stated before). I don't think the game is now easy to levelup from 1 to 150 because of "evolution". I also don't call every class having sustain and at least one "hit 15 enemies 3 times at once" ability as "the world is changing". MapleStory changed to the point it has lost its essence. People have less and less time to dedicate to MapleStory, but in the past, leveling your character had a lot more meaning. I simply can't find a reason other than nostalgia to spend my scarce time in that game
I don't think "It happens to every MMO" is a good point. It's like saying "every game starts to suck at some point so get over it". And the problem isn't the changes by themselves, but how they were applied, and the fact that many consider the changes to be for the worst (and, again, with very good reasons).
He is probably simply not willing to invest time in a game that gave up on its own roots. MapleStory isn't a game about friendship, party quests, leveling up together and overcoming hard bosses. It's now "grind alone until you're 200+ and grind more to upgrade your gear". It's weird how the grinding used to be harder but way more meaningful than today.
I don't know why you're saying he doesn't care about the game when it's clear that MapleStory still means a lot to him. Why replying in other people's topics dismissing everything they said and basing your entire argument in "it's just the normal course of things, everything you said is WRONG"? Why are you being so aggressive?
I can understand and accept people playing MapleStory and enjoying it, but please understand that many of us can find solid reasons to feel the "it was better before".
Overall maple sux for obvious reasons
-lack of diversity
-mob mentality or group culture
-no free thinking
-moves that used to be exclusive are now open to all cough* cough* hs
-people having to come in and give 2 cents for things they can leave be
-taking out great content such as star planet, pvp, ice knight and many more great and amazing content
-hitman style
-lack of staff listening to its players
-lack of real and old great maplers the real tiger, fangblade, kewra and many other greats
overall there many toxic and bad reasons why the game is in the state it is rn. I think ms2 staff realizes that with ms2 as well as it not doing too good but doing better then ms1 due to keeping in players and keeping members and players unified. I realize after my transfer to bera the way maplers were unified changed and rn people are mad and have no hope. I feel we need a champion or someone to come in and fix that.
I feel that the real tiger can possibly be that one old mapler who can come in and be that voice of the voiceless probably even the people's champ. But overall with the bannig the people and flaming certain individuals you lose the manpower you would need to fight and keep the community in tap. we had an old great mapler called lucsean come back and I saw the purge with him. We need people like him with that old school and elder knowledge to learn from, remember a wise community and groups always keep their elders and hold them in high esteem. I feel we need to reevaluate our maple culture and check our values as a whole.
So I mean there's good reasons why it sux but it doesn't have to be that way, I mean we do have a voice and a people champion why not use them
The real problem is the Koreans, if they don't wanna change, the game won't change it's core, which isn't how it was the old maple, as soon Big Bang the game already changed, for me they didn't need to powercreep the hell of the game since it was already good, lv200 took a long, but not like eternity for normal players, and there was still stuff to do(well, it would get stale eventually tho...).
Also one person can't change the game, it depends on EVERYONE, the players, the legends and Nexon, if the game's nature support toxicity and solo play you can't make everyone just group up cause one dude is incentivating a bit or a even lot, unlike old times where it forced people to group up, tied with how people would normaly bound and talk to each other, people are usually more closed minsded, well at least that's how it feels ingame, i know social media makes people bond in with the game beyond just in game, but the game needs help a bit too.
The game's nature have to change, which honestly i have no idea if it could make the game with similar feeling like old times, people changed as well, and they will never be as invested in a game like before, too many chains will hold em back from adulthood and other things even for younger players.
I don't know a lot of old school players are really invested some who came back left for ms2 due to the community unwelcomeness. That's the issue as we can't fight internally if we want to change the game, we need unification. The other thing is Koreans are part of the problem but not the overall problem. We have the power to change it, it just within the community we have people who would comment or put their 2 cents in and give reasons why we can't change or come up with some excuse for not acting.
This is an issue as in history we knew that the reason why change never happened in some parts of it is due to people having border bullies. These border bullies would block the pathway to change and always come to stop the person who can make it happen. We have many border bullies here, and they need to be called out and dealt with before we begin to change. once you know who the border bullies are and take away their power change can happen overnight.
But like I said before unification, elimination of border bullies, reevaluating our values as a community, and having a people champion is all that needed to make a change. It can happen just people don't know we got the power