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Maplestory and Legends

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Yeongie, Jan 12, 2022.

  1. Yeongie
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    Yeongie Blue Snail

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    Jan 12, 2022
    Male
    6:07 AM
    Hello, my name is Yeongie and I started this server back in 2017 and went by the ign Touhoutally. I am an absolute diehard Shadower fanboy. On GMS I ended up having around 4-5 chief bandits because whenever my level got high enough I would eventually get bored of having all my skills maxed out and make a new one. :unsure:

    Famous artist's depiction:
    [​IMG]

    I wanted to share some thoughts I had on Maplestory and private servers and I permit myself the excuse of having to be elaborate and constructive as I type this at 3:00 AM in a caffeine induced rant.:D

    My History
    I've been playing Maplestory and its private servers for many years now. Although I had dabbled with OdinMS around 2010, ClassicMS 2012-2013 was my first private server I had ever dove into. I remember the slow agonizing grind of the 1x exp grind and while you could buy 2x exp coupons from the cash shop it was never very clear whether or not they actually worked. The server, at least when I had played it, only had a small population of 20-50 people online and progress and staff communication was low. I consider at this time Maplestory private server development was still in its infancy and things were being tested for the first time. I had quit the server shortly before its spectacular implosion with the server owner but that's ancient history only a few remember! :eek:

    Fast forward April 2017. Having been exhausted of a myriad of failed classic private servers that either dwindled or fell victim to Neckson's copyright strike, I saw a server with a healthy 100-150 player count, boasted no p2w, no hp washing required(whatever that is), and decided to install Legends. A lowly lvl 14 rogue who had just finished his introductory thief quests then went off into Henesys to try and find some people for Henesys PQ. I found some friendly fellow noobs, did some PQ runs and later became friends with them. This happened again with Kerning PQ, Ludi PQ, and LMPQ. Run some party quests, meet new people also trying to relive the old days, and possibly even make new friends. In all my history of playing Maplestory, this was the peak of my happiness. It truly felt like I had captured the innocence of my boyish days but this time I could cherish and appreciate what once I had lost.

    The server count had started rising to an unprecedented 300 then 400 then 500. One day the server had broken the 1,000 user mark and I remember Kimmy was ecstatic. The number of channels increased and people were so excited about this huge milestone the server had accomplished for the first time! Mid-summer to early fall of that same year however the server was constantly being bombarded with DDOS attacks and the 1,000 user celebration was cut short.


    Official vs Classic
    v0.62 Maplestory is amazingly broken. Certain classes are inherently better than others in every facet, certain skills simply do not work they way they are described, and there are countless exploits. It is really up to different servers to mask the ugliness of v.062/v.0.55 by adding custom QOL improvements or straight up skill rebalancing. Which is why any server worth their salt does not keep assassinate in its vanilla state. (Did you know boomerang step didn't work off cliffs or ledges?)

    The core aspect of the game is the social element. The charming art style's ability to bring people to interact is something I have not been able to find in any other 2D MMO. The game's strength is how players can interact with each other by party questing, grinding, squabbling. GMS Lion Heart Castle (LHC) was such a memorable moment in many players' memories because it introduced a simple way for people to progress with each other, grind in a full party. If you play the official live servers right now you'll know that partying outside of bossing is completely dead. Every class is designed around clearing the map before the next spawn timer and the LHC style of party play has been absent for many years. The game is a lonely, barren experience without a guild because it has put an emphasis on soloing everything. Reboot-wise, you make the most income by killing things yourself and sharing something you could do yourself hurts your progression. Imagine if you alone could completely wipe a skelegon map before the next spawn, holy symbol didn't work in the classic sense so you got less exp by being in a party, and were able to loot all the drops(vac pets lul). This is what live Maplestory is.

    Outside of the potential system being dependent on real money(nx) to purchase cubes, I believe Big Bang and the proceeding patches actually fixed many of the problems old Maplestory had. Bishops and archmages were no longer the undisputed map ksers, night lords did not gap every other class in the dpm race, the game seemed to be following a structured story for the first time, and new interesting skills were introduced. History will not remember the Big Bang update fondly however and the cash grab of miracle cubes will be the everlasting imprint that started the decline of Maplestory's population and rightly so.

    I'm so ashamed of the amount of money I blew on these bad boys.

    [​IMG]

    If you progress far enough into live Maplestory you'll know people are hitting numbers into the billions. Yes, billions of damage. Every second on multiple lines. It gets so bad they've implemented a feature that lets you hide skill graphics and numbers up a point because of all the visual clutter.



    If you look at old Maple vs current numbers in juxtaposition... well there's a certain visual clarity that doesn't exist anymore. :vomit: Although I would be lying if I didn't admit hitting 1B lines felt good.

    Hp Washing
    No.


    The state of private servers
    If you visit any server it only takes a week or two to discover the inane drama that surfaces to the top. You'd think by now being more grown up the private server community would be more organized and orderly. Would you rather join a more developed server with proper infrastructure, a dev team, ddos/hack protection or a new fledgling server that 9 times out of 10 crashes and burns with a slim chance of making a name for itself and surviving. The choice seems obvious yet I say this having joined Legends when the player count was around 90 people. I believe player count is a number people put too much emphasis on and doesn't accurately paint a fair picture of the server state (quality over quantity), especially when you consider the amount of botters and afkers. A rich, tightly knit community of 50-100 people in my eyes is far more valuable than 1,000 people(mixed with botters and multiclient afkers) who hate the game they play in a divisive community.

    Believe it or not there are new players that try the live version of Maplestory nowadays, albeit a small percentage. Most players playing private servers, the live version, or both(if you're me) are from the older generation of Maplers. The live server has to attract new and old by adapting to modern needs and pleasing current players. New classes, new skills, bosses, etc. How does a classic private server look to maintain the longevity of its userbase and keep it new and updated? Perhaps a boss imported from later version of the game but you won't see Legends or Royals ever introduce a new class or drastic new skillsets that normally get new players to try the game for the first time. I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of us are all to some varying degree veterans of the game. How long will it take until players are recycled from server to server until there's no more new faces in private servers. Do classic servers need to players to stay alive like traditional games. I don't know.


    What I think of MapleLegends

    I no longer consider Legends the authentic classic Maplestory experience that I once loved but that's OK. There are a number of design choices this server has made over the past few years that I hate but that's OK. I love old maple but only someone with nostalgia binoculars would see vanilla v0.62 as a good version. The changes the server makes and doesn't make are ultimately a reflection of what the owner envisions is the best path for the future. I hate the FM button. I believe it kills the rest of the world's map interactivity when everyone has a hub to warp to and encourages mulestory - having multiple alt accounts for the sole purpose of buffing your main character with party buffs- killing class diversity and engagement. But I also understand the argument that it acts as a hotspot for people to engage with each other in an otherwise empty world with no people. I hate how jarring the maps in the Free Market look from expanding outside the original dimensions to accommodate more FM stores in each individual map. But I understand this is a compromise from having to create more channels and weaken the player base numbers across an increasing number of channels. I hated how the server moved away from focus on the forums and put more resources into developing the Discord server. But it did end up being a large community and arguably better for place for quicker feedback.(although it's dead now at no fault of the server). Games change to fill new needs; the reason you aren't playing on Legends 2017 version in 2022 is because the needs of the server have changed and the economy, playerbase, community, world with it.

    It's not all complaining though, Legends has a working database/autoban something even some of the larger servers don't have. soon tm right?



    [​IMG]

    I continue to play old school Maplestory but don't play Legends anymore and I tell myself it's because of those damn server changes made that my boomer brain won't agree with(!) But I know inside it's because the friends that I made on the server long ago that made such an impact on me are no longer with me either because they've quit or moved on. And let me tell you, logging in, going to FM and being surrounded by people but being alone is an absolutely gut wrenching feeling.

    Honestly with all my problems with the game, I will probably still be playing Maplestory for many more years. I just love this damn game too much. And I hope your time in Legends, while near its end or just beginning will leave you with memories you cherish for a long time!

    Here's my ugly dog, Cookie.:D

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. Slime
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    Slime Pixel Artist Retired Staff

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    3:07 PM
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    Big agree, I like small communities too. I mean I don't mind high player count but I definitely feel like people put way too much emphasis on it.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  3. Huiae
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    Huiae Headless Horseman

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    10:07 PM
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    Bishop
    WeenieHutJrs
    Awesome TED talk which makes me to think about this game deeply once again too. Thanks for sharing your opinions and making me enlightened. GL for your journey!
     
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  4. randomhs
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    randomhs Timer

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    9:07 AM
    randomHS
    Oyasumi
    Enjoyed the read, thanks for writing this up!

    Just wanted to highlight this because I loved this line and can relate!! SlimeCry
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  5. UnknownCode
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    UnknownCode Nightshadow

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    6:07 AM
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    I remember this.. it was like 4 or 5 years ago..

    Noobie: Hey, whats your damage?
    Level 145 hp washing NL: Clouds and Rainbows!
    Noobie: No, seriously.. please I'd want to make the same class it looks cool
    Level 145 hp washing NL: Oh.. (changes damage skin) Kittycats and Rainbows!
    Noobie: ...
    Level 145 hp washing NL: Why F4? Oh you mean damage number?
    Noobie: Yes!
    Level 145 hp washing NL: Oh.. Squeaky Toy
    Noobie: -Logs out uninstalls GMS, finds MapleLegends- THIS.. THIS IS IT!

    A few hours later.. meets someone else with the same job
    Noobie: Yo, Thats so cool!
    TimmyDC: Yea, kitties are cool.
    Smile.gif
    Noobie: Not that but yeah they are kinda cool.. whats you damage?
    TimmyDC: Kittycats and Scratchposts!
    Noobie: GOD DANGIT
    TimmehDCTimmehDC : ...
    Neutral.gif
    csu_010120_damageTop.png
     
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  6. Kimmy
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    Kimmy Administrator Staff Member Administrator Game Moderator

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    2:07 PM
    Moderator Post
    Oh hey, someone from ClassicMS. I don't know if you were around in the early days with JonH, Unicorn, Twister, and NonY, but yeah those were some fun times. MapleLegends changed but I still stand by that this server likely wouldn't have existed anymore if we stayed vanilla, or at least, the vanilla it was back in 2015.

    Even back into 2016, it was clear the server was more or less dying, and only the very high up people remained, who then also had guild drama with each other which tackled out the few casuals remaining because the community turned into the worse and generally negative.

    Regarding community amount =/= quality. I agree. The reason why user amount can matter a lot in MapleStory is because of an active market. I have seen so many "smaller" servers have pretty much a non-existing market, that you probably have to grind everything yourself or expect every trade to be 1 vs 1 (trades and not merchants), which can be quite stinky. Another massive issue with smaller communities is that 1 rich person can pretty much buy out the whole market or control it, which I have seen happen countless times (unfortunately even in MapleLegends), that it becomes a major issue. A bigger community can help maintain that better.

    Another important thing in a smaller community is that everyone has to be tight with each other. I have seen this especially going wrong in "3rd job" servers, where there's a lot of drama even in smaller communities, which then tears things apart even further. "Drama" as one would say it are less "noticeable" in bigger communities because it's a way smaller group that is causing the problems.

    Lastly, a small community can be a massive problem if one "loyal" user violates rules and get themselves banned. Many times the "loyal" user start getting other people to leave the server, claim its the fault of the staff, and so on, which usually makes a big impact on the already small server, which again is way less severe in bigger communities because people are way more separated from each other.

    Smaller communities can, however, work extremely nicely if everyone gets along with each other. The smaller servers I've played such as NobleStory, AltruisMS, and even ClassicMS if you didn't count the blatant owner abuse that was, unfortunately, going on was extremely tight, and I have a lot of memories still when I played at those places that can't be replicated in Legends.

    Very fun read! Thank you for your thoughts. :)
     
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  7. Slime
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    Slime Pixel Artist Retired Staff

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    CMS gang. those are names I haven't heard in a while. RegieRegie
     
  8. Lin
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    Lin Headless Horseman

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    Linny,BangHero,Carbide
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    This was a good read, thanks for writing this up! A lil trip down memory lane for me.
     
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  9. Regie
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    Regie Orange Mushroom

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    good old days! :O SlimeSlime
     
  10. CloudedMusic
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    CloudedMusic Orange Mushroom

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    “Spectacular implosion” of CMS, hilarious and so accurate
     
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