State of the community, whats your opinion?

IMO the community events that have been put on by staff haven't really felt like community events -- or maybe I'm just misunderstanding the intentions behind them. Here are the last few community events:

• Lunar New Year 2023 - Jump Quest leaderboard (Mostly solo content, somewhat exclusive to those who particularly enjoy JQs)
• Summer Event 2022 - Design your Chair leaderboard (Off-game design event, somewhat exclusive to those with art-related experience)
• Summer Event 2021 - Stranded! (Writing/Creative event, not really exclusive but extremely sensitive to bias from judging)

My comments are in parentheticals. It's a little weird to me that something deemed as a 'community event' is often exclusive to a small niche of players and ironically sometimes even more polarizing.

Personally, I think community events should incentivize ways to bring different people of the community together. From what I remember, the events that bridged the gap between different communities best were the ones that could be 'exploited' together -- things like farming event points at reset or 30-man bossing point expeditions at the weekly reset. Hell, even that stupid Maple Tree event saw more community engagement than these recent official Community Events, even though most of it was AFK - remember those % pings and player-managed event discords? Every player had something to gain from being a part of these events, and it really felt like the more the merrier.

Most content these days go directly against this way of thinking. The less, the more profitable. The less, the more EXP gained. The less, the easier to manage and coordinate. The more the merrier doesn't really exist in MapleLegends.

I would like to see a reversion of some event balancing philosophies staff has been agendizing so that we can bring back some incentive to do whacky/suboptimal things, like appling in a 6-man Zakum or Scarga speed run. I would like to see staff reaching out to people in the community like Journalist and The Maple Times for community role-building/collaborating. Utilize the players more and build connections with each other. Make Community Events in collaboration with people like Coorie, or highlight people in the community like Mirrors and her quest for Pouch 5. There are so many personalities out there in this community that Staff can utilize for community events.

Also, I would like to see some meaning behind guild membership.

 

so true. nowadays, guilds are more like social contracts.

 

This right here is 100% true. This to me was one of my best event-experiences just by looking at the 10 agree's on the post, I believe other players might fell the same way.
Farming points as a group gave meaning to Guilds, Alliance and Expedition gameplay and I really thought this was the direction new events was heading, but still shocked that we haven't had anything similar to this even though people love it.
Why keep making us do the same raffle shit over and over again with 30 raffle mules go kill 1 boss here and there 100 monsters there it is not funny after 5-7 events of same junk people don't even get to play the game and make progress on their characters horrible horrible event design. there isn't even a pouch 5 in the raffle and you get so many shitty chairs so they have no value. I pray to never see this shitty raffle system again.

 

This community is already top tier, but going against nature is impossible.

Core gameplay is what creates the community in the first place. Goals and severity might differ, but people are always looking to optimize. It's natural that as the server ages, the meta becomes increasingly efficient.

In an ideal world, content updates would periodically revitalize the game.

 

It’s a shame the only content update we had recently is arguably the most exclusive and restrictive content we’ve ever seen, on top of being universally hated.

 

Its for this reason (profit vs social enjoyment) that I wish rewards were scaled based off of party size, with a greater number of participants equaling a greater reward. The scaling shouldn't be so large that a 6 person party equates to 6x the reward, as I do feel like it is of value to keep highly efficient but low party size groups as the optimal method of boosting profits (otherwise why invest in perfect weapons, etc), but boosting the scaling to limit the potential profit loss of running with more players I feel would help the community. It would vary from situation to situation, but maybe standard rewards for 1-3 player parties, and then at 4+ players it starts to scale up to +50% reward at a max party size of 6. For larger expeditions maybe an increase of +50% of the original reward for each full party. This of course would be taken advantage of by people multi-clienting and running mules purely for the sake of the increased rewards, but then again anything and everything in this server will be taken advantage of by multi-clients.

 

I cannot speak for bossing content, i sadly never got to the point of running bosses lategame.

But i'll agree with the points made before me
The meta and multivoting has drastically shifted the game towards solo play
Gachapon being dropped by monsters, and incentivizing multiaccount mentality for extra profit ,make players focus on solo content.
Trying so desperately to buff bossing only for the bossing community to become more optimal and try hard
The bars set higher than ever before and creating a rift between players
Events that benefit parties get defeated by players who will just party with themselves
It broke my heart that i couldn't help people with their raffle killings because party kills don't count but i also can't blame when i find
Burger1 Burger2 Burger3 4 5 6 in the event lobby mass profiting from events

and while there's many players out there who really don't care and are friendly, trying desperately to hold the community together
PQs are dying, since most people either leech, or INTlords just want a PQ carry on them, making PQs less of a cooperation and more like a chore since probably 1-3 people must carry the weight of the whole party.

Wishlist to improve the community at least of my POV.
1.- Discourage solo play , limit it to only buffs, and destroys this Pally/MM mule abuse for damage that will inevitably nerf those classes unfairly, so if someone wants the power of a certain class they'll bring that certain class
Just penalize / enforce rules against mule abuse.
2.- HP challenges will loosen up the washing meta for some people.
3.- Distribute Rewards on bossing based on contribution, that way parties will be incentivized to run with more people, but mules/carries won't be benefitted (like giving P.Coins to anyone who did an amount % of damage to the boss (easier on bishops))
(level 50 mules, or someone bringing 5 mules wont get anything since they didnt attack)
4.- Buffing PQs to make them relevant again, i made a thread about possible buffs
5.- More community events but less about videos and more about other forms of involvement.

Literally an event of touching grass where everyone shows their best garden/flowers, many memes would come for fun making fun of the thing but also other people would showcase their own stuff or near them.

(Disclaimer: I suck at gardening and i don't think i have something like that near me so this proposal isn't tweaked to benefit me at all if anyone is thinking i make stuff just for my own benefit)

 

This just made me LMFAO when I see shads as 'flexible attacker in any situations with any conditions, not become super lame for lack of certain buffs (sorry NLs kekw), so I can rely on them whenever, especially when shad was you. (You were the highest dpmer when you attended my HT run in that day, even though you disliked our playstyle - especially for muling - so you left us :sob: )
for cwkpq, when I combi cleave with shad, I was able to almost fully focus on bosses only, almost ignoring summons except first rush to pin them to help shads clear them easily, is FAR BETTER than partner cleaver just focuses on bosses ignoring summons making them leak over and over.

even when magehitter dcs, shad can go to magehitter and do decent single target DPM, is also great flexibility for dealing with unexpected situations. You'd just ignore such silly opinions, he obviously don't know 'how to play with shad players effectively'.

Actually, as drk player, I see drk + shad combi on cleave as fantastic combi, likewise, each players helps each others. From drk, with HB + Weapon crash + decent dpm on bosses + initial rush on summons to pin so shad can deal with summons easily, and from shad, 4~6 target mobbing so drk can focus on bosses, and smokescreen which makes drk even hyperzerk with 0 risk. Is my fav composition.

Yes, I stick on small group run for more profit and easier party making but I completely can't understand why shad is so underrated. as I love to joke, when I bsp for 6man HT, i'm hell nty for having 5x NLs as attackers but hell yes for having 5x shads as attackers.

(And they refuse to run if I make team like that, sadge)

 

hey let’s slow down a bit with some of these suggestions and ponder how they will inevitably be abused

 

I miss twitch streaming

 

If someone asks me to carry him having 400 ints in HT, under name of friendship, I'll seriously doubt his definition of term 'friendship' because it's nothing but just stealing exp/split doing nothing. I wouldn't mind someone doing 60~70%ish dpm of normal washed attackers because of washing in 10~12man HT because washing is not ignorable thing in ML and it's too harsh to banish them all just because of lack of DPM, but to make certain goals, everyone need to contribute on progress, and when someone knows he's literally doing 0 work but still asks benefit from others, that's not friendship, but just abusing with 0 conscience. My friendship isn't for such greedy morons. It should go to who is deserved, not for them.

Also, about 'good ol days of single clients', As who even multicliented with various ways when ML didn't supported multiclienting in official, I'm heavily against of it. I remember you told me you dislike 'unhealthy playstyle using mules' but it's not tools which deserves for being blamed, but players mindset using it. You may got shocked for we were bringing extra res mule + SI mule + SED mule making run 'so boring' for you, but thanks for those, I was able to lower requested hurdle quite a lot compared with other squads, and was also able to make stage for 'practice' for newcomer HT runners. likewise, in general, 6man HT bsps death is game over, but I was able to give them backup so they can attend with lesser pressure, holding their backs, and I'm so thanks for muling opened such 'newcomer friendly options'. Also, thanks for having 2res + 1SI, runners who died didn't need to feel sorry (my squads one of meme - never fucking sorry), but we were able to just 'LOL' and continue in good vibe. Again, muling can used in various ways - to help newcomers entering into deeper stages holding their hands, or, as well know, business purpose, maximizing profit, and even 'same time on every purposes'. If this wasn't possible, I had to choice way more strict ways for getting members, which I really don't want to. likewise, as well known, R>4 NL and 1 SE, veterans only.

Imo, it's risky to say 'everyones playstyle should be fixed like this, because it seems healtier in my viewpoint'.
So I think, Partially I agree on you, but that shouldn't be 'forced' to others. I think, every playstyles should be respected.

There should be various ways to be 'friendly and kind' to others, not only like that.

 

they should be hanging on the rope. friendship or not. simp maybe ok.

consider snipers too with big aoe/range arrow eruption and snipe CD meta. just got to find the right maps to abuse.

 

It's unfortunate that the casual bossing community is not as large as we would like it to be, as it can be difficult for more casual players to find groups to run bosses with. However, I think it's important to acknowledge and appreciate the dedication and effort that more experienced players put into optimizing their gameplay and strategy.

It's all about finding a balance and playing the game in a way that brings you enjoyment, whether that be casual bossing with friends or pushing for higher levels of success. Ultimately, as long as you are having fun and making connections with other players, that's what matters most.

 

I'm such an abnormal player that my perspective may seem unique but also irrelevant. I am a solo player by choice because I have to be given my goals. Once I have 12 4th job chars, I'm probably going to be a more active social player. That should say something, I guess. I mean, I'm in the final stage for my goal - which means grinding 10 more chars from level 100 to 120 w/o leech while getting as many quests completed and as many Monster Cards as possible. The only PQs available to me are APQ and GPQ - neither of which have enough experience to gain to lure me over to them.

TL;DR - PQs, like CPQ, for levels 101-120 could help with the social factor.

 

Players have a tendency to sqeeze out the fun of whatever game they play. For some, this includes the social aspects while others find trading, clearing content or simply farming more "fun".
Since everyone has a different take on why they play the game, we can't really put everything in a box and expect all to have the same amount of fun out of it. Therefore, when we think the diversity of what ML offers to us, we can say that it's quite fun for almost every player type.

Want to clear content? There are vast amount of groups.
Farming? Sure
Social? Making friends is very easy, especially if you spend some time in our Discord.

Overall, the community of ML is quite helpful towards each other. There are personal goals all around here and people are supporting each other -especially in forums- whether the challenges are hard or just time consuming.

I'm very happy with what we have, and I'm enjoying it so far. The community is great, mods do work towards a more inclusive and hate-free environment, so kudos to them as well.

 

It's funny that your expectations have now shifted as you are reaching endgame, except 1 year earlier, you wanted (P)erion Jrs. to regularly host 6-10 man CWKPQ runs.
How about the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, 10th person being cut out? Now the 5th happens to be a shad. Host your own runs and it won't be a problem!

I used to be a pretty active host in your guild (and at one point, the only one), but this attitude of expecting people to host community/charity consistently when sometimes we just want to make our own bread or test our capabilities to optimize pushed me out and later the game entirely. I was at one point called out on for wanting to host a smaller man run after a long hiatus of not playing because the "expectation" was that I host community runs. After that, I didn't really feel safe hosting anything, and smega-ing any R> because I felt that I would get called out on by what I thought was my "home".

Now that you are a lot stronger, 18x, I wanted to ask how it feels to run CWKPQ and carry a bunch of 16x when you realize you probably do 70% more than their damage. Maybe you are okay with the first few guild runs, but repeat that for dozens of runs and realize you aren't making that much progress and you get bored. A quick daily has now taken double the time with half the rewards. Friendships good, but probably only for the first few teaching runs carried by the pros, then its on your own.

Especially when you realize the carries are the ones typically signing on multiple jobs and characters. Community runs are good, but in moderation, and should be a favor rather than an expectation. Also, dont call out or piss off your hosts. Good luck.

 

Responding to this. I believe it's important to understand that any relationship is a two-way street, both sides must give and receive. If endgame/high level players help lower level players, lower level players have to offer those endgame players something in return, not necessarily monetary, for both sides to be "happy". If this simple transaction cannot be fulfilled, it's just called charity. You cannot expect those helping you out give out their time and "money," to every person they meet, unless they can afford to. Players with only a few hours a day to their own content and socialize probably do not have much time to spare for charity work regardless of their economical status and level.

 

I don't know about any of the other stuff because I don't think I was present for it but I want to add that Raso always has and still does most content with lower levels just for community and friendship. She even runs with my lvl 135 Bucc as I barely pin the Mage in cwok because she enjoys hanging out and being social with us, especially through bossing. It's ok to want to optimize and have a different opinion on it, but Raso has stuck to her values since then and still proves that through many examples. It doesn't bother her that she didn't make as much progress because she prioritizes the effect on her surrounding communities more than her solo progress. It's okay to have different priorities, but I think you are misrepresenting her by implying that her opinions and goals have changed when they have shown to remain the same. I do also want to add that it is in her best interest to push Jr.s and regular hosts to do more community driven runs to improve the social aspect of Perion since she is a leader of it. If she doesn't push others to run more of them, then there wouldn't be any change. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable or feel unwelcome, but it seems she was trying to do it for a more connected community in the guild like you would find more commonly in the good ol' days. I don't want to make you seem like a bad guy, bit I don't want misinformation to be spread on Raso either.

 

Kyrin DO KNOW Raso is friendly for newcomers and always willing to introduce them deeper stages, and willing to handhold them so they don't dive in nervous. Issue was this - such kindness should be from host himself with his/her own heart, not being driven by others. Even though I'm not in perion, but as another player who hosts stuffs A LOT, I wish to say clearly - each hosts has their own principle for style of hosting. Someone may focus on opimitizing, minmaxing for best profit. Someone may focus on being friendly and social (OMG I respect you 10~12man HT hosts and 30man PB host I attend and chill around <3) , Someone may mix between two and balance out of it. (I see myself as this type. stick on 6man but use multiple methods to make it newcomers-friendly and make profitable runs in same time, even though this playstyle is seemed as 'unhealthy playstyle' by many players. more than 15+ players did devut 6man HT run from my squad this year and they're doing awesome now, helping making my run super solid, and I'm so proud for them, appreciated for having them.)

Now, issue is this - NO one has right to ask hosts to do stuffs against his/her intention. I personally see, hosting as 'dealing with ppls demands and get balance between their satisfy', not R>pepega and autopilot killing bosses. Actually I got many requests like 'Host contents which is friendly for me! - in timewise, or in specwise, w/e'. and my answer for that was simple - 'So you want to be lazy, asking me to do all the stuffs, and even asking me to do in ideal for you? go fuck yourself, host your own one in your taste, it's my run, not your run'. Yes. anyone can try to host in their own taste, and If you dislike someones hosting style, you may try to persuade if you seriously think he/she's going 'wrong', but if it's just for your greed, you'd just better leave and find other ideal ones, rather than bothering tilting hosts 'match with my demands i want it'.

This is hard to understand if you have no experience for being struggled, for issues follows from hosting runs. Sorry in advance, I wish to stick on 'hosts previlige for deciding path of his/her own run' MUST BE respected.

(My squad runners love to joke like I'm dicktator and I do think it's true, I just try my best to make my condition satisfies as many players as possible, but I do agree on I can't match every demands, and when I think runners request is just nothing but their greed, never hesitate to say 'gtfo'.)

 

Guildmasters can accomplish that in many ways, including hosting themselves, communicating the need to the entire team, or encouraging other Jrs. to step up as team.

Just because I did host a lot, doesn't mean they should push more burden on those who did. If Atlas is carrying weight, you don't add more weight, but offer to help.

I helped organize the negotiations for alliance between Sleepywood and Perion before I left and am happy to see that the alliance is doing well.

She is a good guildmaster in that she tries really hard and does genuinely care about her community. But our differences in communication, leadership, and approach to hosting showed me that it was time for me to part ways.