Why do you think the boats are timed?

Probably a bit of all, but I think realism is a good answer. There are alot of servers where transport is instant and to me it makes the game world feel smaller and less real.

 

Yeah, I do think that it actually makes Orbis and Ellinia places which are separated by a truly far and unreachable distance. It could be a mechanism to force players to take a break.. although back then, the boat rides were packed and there'd always be people chatting and goofing off with each other.

Population control? What? I don't see how...

Now here's another interesting perspective: money. Since Neckson's whole goal is to make money, the "realism" of the boat ride was a good thing for them since we have impatient players who just want to skip it. Enter the teleport rock:

 

Realism? Yea maybe. My answer would be to help show a sense of distance. If it takes 10 or so minutes to reach Orbis by a fast airship then can you imagine how long it would take to walk a ground/ bridge route? (if one existed)

 

What better way to play a game of Match Cards or Omok than in the comfort of the cabin, away from the Crimson Balrogs outside, with some friends? When MapleStory began to skip the voyages, Henesys became a ghost town. The social aspect of the game relies heavily on being bunched together from time to time waiting to move onto the next place. World of Warcraft had their "boat rides" of sorts. The actual boats were near instantaneous - you'd never strike up a conversation with anyone. And then the griffin rides were always solo, so there was no one to talk to. The boat rides in MapleStory are the best way to make friends...that and LPQ.

 

Makes the maiden journey to ossyria more exciting. Forcing you to wait makes you value the experience more.

 

"Sense of distance" might aswell be the reason, and no only realism..
Don't forget that there's a "background story"/tale for this game, with the black mage and the explorers that got frozen in the war.
It's not there for nothing, Neckson wanted people to pull up some theories regarding the story of the game so for that reason, they made it so the travel would be kind of a long time to show the distance.

did i go too far? lol

 

At this stage, the only thing mentioned about the Black Mage is Muirhat in the Nautilus and his few quests when you're a noob. Well, that and the quest string in Magatia. Either way, the Black Mage story was weak...and stupid...and lame... It would be cool if MapleLegends, when the time is right, took up a better story line for the whole thing.

 

They made it for fun and a talk, bonding with other maplestory players. Just like PQ`s are essentially for fun and bonding.

 

Nah~ it's an MMORPG for a reason. Story-telling and role-playing is part of the game.