TachikawaHiyoko

We all want a merge

June 2018

It wasn't until today that I noticed that there are so many people talking about how servers should merge due to their low population. o.o I usually don't come to the forums ever, for many … (more)reasons, but today I thought I'd stop by and see what was being said about this, since I fist heard about the idea of a world merge in a Youtuber's video about MapleStory.

After reading all the pages of this thread, I felt that I had to come and say that I am part of the theoretical minority that doesn't want a merge.

I have played MapleStory since the beginning of 2006 (with pauses here and there, like everyone), and I've seen it change and grow and go up and down all these years. Through all those years, I've been a faithful member of Windia, because it was the world it saw me start my journey with this game and it has kept my characters and given them their space to live. Sure, Windia now is a ghost town compared to how it was back in the golden days of MapleStory, and now you rarely see other people around, there are no friends or guildies to chat and whatnot. That's all true. But I don't think it's only due to the fact that people have moved to Bera (which I didn't even know happened, because I was traveling and not playing the game at that time). I think it has more to do with the fact that many of the old players have grown up and quit the game due to circumstances in real life or personal interests, have moved to other types of games and simply have lost interest in the game, and there aren't as many new players and some would want, because younger people may be more interested in playing 3D games or other types of games, instead of coming to a game with an "old school feeling" like MapleStory.

While I see how the fact that there are less people playing is a problem and that now you can play all day long by yourself without running into another real player (because you CAN run into a whole lot of hackers botting away to their hearts' content ¬_¬) is a problem too, because now there are many things that kinda need you to be in a party of more than 1 (PQs and bosses that you can't really solo and, so, you can't really fight them unless you have some friends in the game willing to do that with you), I also appreciate the fact that nowadays you CAN train and do stuff at your own pace, without having the added stress of having to fight for channels or get ks'ed by some idiot who didn't have any respect for the fact that you were training at some map first.

Like I said, I've played this game almost since its birth and I remember how it was like when every single soul had to fight over the Dead Forest Trees IV map (with coolie zombies) because that was THE spot where you could get from 50 to 70, if you were patient enough and had a support system to help you fight the ks'ers and keep the map even if you had to literally RUN to the bathroom or to get a drink. I DO NOT MISS THOSE DAYS, AT ALL. I do not miss the times when you had to fight to get into a PQ because there were so many people trying to get it (and so many auto-clickers) that it required a very good leader with a good mouse, a good internet connection and some damn good clicking talents to get you in. Yeah, it was kinda cute to have to find good leaders that were legit and all, but all the time you wasted waiting for PQs that never came or trying to best the auto-clickers wasn't fun at all. And yeah, now you can say that there are many more options than before to train and level up, but the fact is that, in spite of all the many options, there are only so many places that are actually GOOD when it comes to grinding (specially at higher levels). And considering that now we all must make like 30 high level characters for the Legion and Link Skills and whatnot, there are many of us who appreciate the fact that, if I'm leveling up one of the many mules I need, I know I can go to X map and fight there in peace, without fear of getting ks'ed by some idiot or having to spend hours trying to find an empty channel. Plus, now that everything is damage-oriented and that people who spend thousands of dollars are the ones who have damage enough to fight bosses or grind at the best places, I know it would be the end of me if my world were to be full of people again. I don't have money to invest in getting the godly damages that people pursue nowadays, I'm a totally unfunded player (by nowadays' standards) and, if I used to have problems defending a map back in the old days when Assassins were the master ks'ers because they were the strongest (and I was simply a Cleric without Flash Jump or high damage or Haste or anything), now I simply could not do anything. I can't boss or do what most people do as it is, because I don't have the ranges needed to solo X or Y bosses, I don't have guildies or friends to make a party with and I don't particularly like bossing anyways (too much stress), so I just grind (and that's already hard for me as a Bishop. I keep dying all the time with the Arcane River monsters, for instance :P) and I could not fight for a map with all these damage-obsessed people that are the majority of MapleStory players these days.

I understand that this is an online game and that's not supposed to work as a "solo game", I do. I, too, miss my friends and the times when my guild was actually alive and we could do stuff together or at least chat while grinding. I do wish those friends would come back and that I could have some people to talk to or to do fun stuff with me. But the fact of the matter is that it's not only that there are less people playing, but the game mechanics have changed and now, even if you meet someone nice and who could become your friend, you leave the game for half an hour to go eat and they are already 20 or 30 levels ahead of you and can't train with you anymore. Most people nowadays (at least, the people I've met and let go) are so focused on getting to 200+ as quickly as possible, on getting to the highest possible damage as quickly as possible and all, that they don't care all that much about chatting or finding good maps to train together or even sharing a map with someone... And I myself have gotten used to training by myself and not having to worry about sharing a map with people and dealing with their stuff.

So, in all honesty, I, too, do not want a merge, and, if the worlds ended up all becoming one and Windia stopped being Windia, the "in-game country" I chose so many years ago and that I like, even if now it's emptier than before; if that were to happen, I think that would be the reason that would make me quit this game for good, in spite of all the emotional attachment I have towards my characters and my world and the game in general, that has kept me going despite everything that's happened and so many changes I haven't liked. :P Losing the identity of the world I've been a part of for almost 13 years, to be merged into a massive amoeba of worlds, to be dealing with laggy channels full of people during events (where you can barely walk, let alone train or do anything useful), to have to deal with ks'ers or having to settle for the "lesser" maps because I don't have the damage or personality to be stealing maps or fighting for them all over again... No. I didn't like that about the old Maple, I don't like that about Reboot and I wouldn't want to see all the worlds turn into one huge mess. I don't know anything about the technical requirements that such a feat would demand, what would Nexon need to make all non-Reboot worlds into one, but... I hope they realize that not "everyone" wants that and that are some of us who would definitely go if that were to happen.

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Why do you play?

TachikawaHiyoko

September 2017

bootlicker wrote: »

It's pretty much been this way

… (more)

Why do you play?

TachikawaHiyoko

September 2017

In my case, there's a lot of nostalgia - like many people have already said - and there's a lot of attachment to my characters and there's a lot of... I don't know, "comfort zone"? To say … (more)it somehow. MapleStory was the first MMORPG I ever played and, after so many years, it has turned out to be the only one I felt comfortable playing.

I'm not a hardcore gamer and I don't play many other things (mostly, The Sims), so I'm not a very experienced and talented player. I've always gotten very nervous, to the point where I'd almost get a panic attack from the tension, when dealing with bosses or stressful missions in most games and, so, I stopped actively playing and became a "watcher" of my sister while she plays a long time ago. But, for some reason, MapleStory was a game I dared to try myself, where I wanted to progress and achieve something on my own. So, I've stuck with it since the beginning, and tried my best to progress even though I can't afford to put money into it and I haven't made it all that far and, for the standards nowadays, all my characters are a big failure. :P

That discourages me sometimes, because I end up feeling like all these years have meant nothing, but then I remember how much I like my characters (for what they are and the stories I've imagined behind them, even if their damage sucks) and how sad it makes me to think they are stuck in the same level and left alone if I quit, so I come back and keep trying to progress and make something out of them even though I don't have an active guild anymore, all the people I knew and that played with me (both friends and family) have quit and even though there are many new things that are hard for me or that I don't like (like bosses!) or that I simply can't do because I don't have the monstrous damage or equips or whatever that is needed to do this or that. :P

So, yeah... Nostalgia of the good old times when my guild (the guild my sister and I made with a lot of effort) was alive, when my sister played and we lived adventures together in-game, when you had to struggle to get to lvl30 and it was kinda rewarding doing so, when there was a lot more people around and you had a chance to just train together for hours, while chatting or something; that's one of my reasons to play. The fact that I don't wanna leave my dear characters to die or to just be deleted someday, that's another. And the fact that this game provides me with a sense of adventure, of self-accomplishment, of "courage" that real life doesn't and that is kinda satisfactory (and fun, to feel like you can live another life through your character and do stuff you'll never be able to do in real life, like fight for a cause or do something epic or use magic or powers), that's another big reason why I keep playing. That adds to the fact that I've always loved the graphics of this game (I don't particularly like 3D games or most modern games, actually), the mechanics of it and all... Well. All that has kept me here, even though I feel more and more that I will never actually "succeed" in anything, I will never actually "accomplish" anything and every day gets harder to do something relatively worth it without having money to invest or friends to help me with anything. :P
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