Quest Sanctuary

Quests and exploring the Temple of Time (ToT) go hand-in-hand since each map in the area is quest-locked. The only way to access all of the maps is to do most of the relevant quests that are offered by the Temple Keeper. The quests are pretty straightforward though; they mostly just ask you to kill a boss or a mob 999 times for EXP.

My understanding of the quests is that they talk about you, the adventurer, losing some quality of yourself — something that has made you "you"; whether that is a beautiful memory, a regret, or something that you had wanted to forget. So the purpose really by doing them is get back whatever it is that you've supposedly lost. So as you complete the quests, you go through a process to experience what it is like to hold on to a memory; to be able to gain them back, then to lose them, only to get them back all again at the end.

I can't speak for everyone else, but to me the idea seems fairly unusual. Else, it might just be another sophisticated way of seeing the world.

 

To expand on my point above, I think I wouldn't mind seeing the quests in ToT being re-organised, especially content-wise.

My opinion about the storyline is that it feels somewhat forced — and perhaps even incomprehensible — especially with the parts that make it out to be about "you".

I feel the quests that are offered could align better with the descriptions that were provided by the Monster Book. I give a few examples here to show how I personally would have approached ToT. Even though it doesn't contain much rich detail, I wrote them based on what I understood about the items and the monsters in the area.

I also feel the one quest where the Temple Keeper helps you to make you a Marble of Chaos could be improved. I don't get why you should be made to collect (let alone recollect) all of the items; the masks, and the ETC drops from area bosses. I feel you should be allowed to get a new marble after every 24 hours just by speaking to the Temple Keeper.

Finally, I find the 999 quests dry and pointless. I don't see why each map should be locked behind the completion of a 999 quest. I feel that sort of arrangement was kind of unnecessary. I would've opted for a more simple arrangement by allowing any player to visit every map, except for the map that leads to the Pink Bean expedition, which would remain open to any player who had the Marble of Chaos with them.

 

At level 95, Nanuke asks players to help her to find ingredients for Muse at the Aquarium. The actual quest is quite straightforward: you just need to collect 150 Ink Bottle and 80 Frozen Shark's Fin, all which come from the Deep Aqua Dungeon. After collecting these items, Muse then asks you to take a dish to Nanuke: "Shark's Fin and Squid Ink Pasta". You're given only one hour to take the dish to her as Muse says that is how long it will take before the food "gets cold".

. . .

I feel the way the quest has been titled is slightly misleading. Aren't you're helping Nanuke to collect ingredients for Muse that she says she wants? So, by that logic, wouldn't it make more more sense if the quest was renamed to "Muse's Ingredients"?



I also feel that this quest could been rewritten and reorganised to be enjoyed by lower levelled players. There's quite a lot of unused items in Aqua Road, such as Flamboyant Flower Petal and Flamboyant Scale Skin. I think with some Shrimp Meat, you could actually put together a "tasty dish". I just think it's a bit strange to ask for Ink Bottle if the ink inside it is said to be "poisonous".

 

A random thought: I feel like Papulatus could be reimagined as something that you could do as a repeatable daily quest. And by extension, Papulatus would effectively become an instanced and timed activity (i.e. say, that goes for 1 hour, 30 minutes). (Of course, Papulatus isn't that hard, compared to other bosses, so the time frame could be even shorter).

For instance, it could be designed in the following way.

Spoiler: Example

Each portal would be locked until you kill all of the monsters in the map.

Stage 1 - Eliminate the Gatekeepers for the Ludibrium Medal.
Stage 2 - Eliminate 1 Thanatos.
Stage 3 - Go into The Forgotten Darkness. Find a crate and break to get a "Dimension Crack".
Stage 4 - Thanatos is back, so kill it.
Stage 5 - With the crack, go into the Clocktower and eliminate Papulatus.

I'm not following why you should be made to hunt for three different Dimension Cracks if it's clear that Crack C is the Crack you actually want. I personally don't see the purpose of having to need the other two Cracks.



I feel items such as Gatekeeper Armband and Thanatos Strap could be asked for by an NPC for in exchange for something that could be used to upgrade the Ludibrium Cape; assuming also that the Ludibrium Cape becomes an item that can get "upgraded" in a similar way to how Spiegelmann's Necklace gets upgraded (with the Marble).

 

At level 15, if you go to Luke at the Henesys Dungeon Entrance, he will have a quest for you. Luke wants to give to his mom "a special, healthy & tasty dish", and he wants you to help him to gather the ingredients for it: Jr. Necki Skin; Stirge Wing; and Salad. Once you do that for him, he will give you a refined Ore as a reward, and some EXP.

If you complete the quest at level 15, you get 4,500 EXP (3x base). That accounts for 63% EXP, which is fair; so I personally would leave it as is.



Getting Jr. Necki Skin can be hard. If you have low accuracy, you won't be able to hit the Jr. Neckis. Luke also mentions that he wants a "Snake drink", but that personally doesn't come to my mind as being a "healthy" dish.

I feel this quest could have been reorganised and made into two separate quests. For instance, I think getting the Salad would have been enough for this quest. And as for the Snake Drink, that sort of request could have been turned into a separate quest that gets offered at level 20, after having completed his first request (of helping him to get the Salad).

 

Nella is an NPC who can meet at Kerning City. If you talk to her at level 15, she'll have a set of quests you can do. At level 15, she agrees to help her with three requests for three people, but if you only pay her 1,000 mesos in advance.

According to Nella, she says that Don Hwang wants "rare items" so he can make a "new armor", Shumi wants materials to build a dog house, and Nella wants ingredients so she can make Seafood Soup to give to Andre.

And then at level 25, if you return to Nella, you can help her to complete three more requests: Dr. Faymus wants ingredients to make a new potion, Chris wants materials to make a new pillow for himself, and Cutthroat Manny wants Evil Eye Tail so he can make Evil Eye Tail Stew.

The quests have been designed to be completed sequentially. That is, you cannot start the next request until you finish with what you've been given. What you also get given after doing every request is ok; usually it's just potions or armor (i.e. glove or shoe).

. . .

There are a few comments I want to make about the quests themselves.

• I don't get why Nella wants you to pay 1,000 mesos just to have her "connect" you with every townsperson. I feel like some of the quests could have started from the NPC themselves (e.g. Dr. Faymus).
• I find Shumi's request kind of random. Shumi is probably more concerned about where her money went (hence the subway quests).
• The difficulty of the quests is uneven. I'd argue that some of the requests (e.g. Cutthroat Manny) are quicker to do than others (e.g. Chris). And that being said, I feel there was little reason to make the quests sequential.

Some of the way I personally would reorganise it could be as follows:

• Change Shumi's request such that it now becomes Nella who wants to have a dog house.
• Don't make the quests sequential; rather, have them as separate quests.
• I personally would take away Don Hwang's Request. I find the items that he asks for you to gather to make the new armor a little strange.
• Have Andre and Cutthroat Manny themselves tell you what they want to eat, and give Alex who is standing above the "Chinese food restaurant" a function to make you Seafood Soup and/or Evil Eye Stew. After you collect the items for him, he can make the food, and then wrap it in a present in the same way that Muse had wanted you to deliver the food to Nanuke.

All of the rewards could change; if not USE items, maybe scrolls or possibly another item (e.g. a refined gem).

 

At level 20, you can talk to Mrs. Ming Ming at Henesys to start a quest. She has been tasked with the responsibility of managing a Carnival. The reason she asks for your help is because she wants to have both "flashy materials" and enough food to cater for the visitors.

The way the quest has been organised is that you complete the first quest at level 20. And then at level 21, you get to do the second quest.

The items are fairly varied, but what trips up the rate of completion for the quest is the amount of Pig Heads that you have to get. In the second quest, you're asked to collect 20 of them. That can take a while since only one mob has been made to drop the item: Pig. Another thing that might stop you from completing the quest (at least quickly) is also getting the Garnet, which you give to Estelle in exchange for the Special Sauce that Mrs. Ming Ming says she wants.



I think the quests could have been simplified and reorganised. For instance, Mrs. Ming Ming could have asked for only Pig Ribbons in the first quest; Pig Heads in the second quest; and for Estelle's Special Sauce in a third quest.

It makes sense that Mrs. Ming Ming wants to prepare more food, hence asking for Octopus Legs, but I also think her request would be more "friendly" if she didn't have to ask for that. In the same way, I also don't see why Bubbling's Huge Bubbles and Slime Bubbles are needed. I don't know how you will be able to hang as decorations. And also to some players, killing Bubbling might be hard since it moves quite fast.

I also think starting the first quest at level 20, and then asking for items in the next quest at level 21 a bit strange, seeing that Octopus is 3 levels lower than Bubbling. Without Octopus and Bubbling, it could be argued that the quest level requirement could be lowered to 10 since Ribbon Pig is a level 10 mob.



I feel the Ribboned Pig Headband you get as a reward can be quite helpful due to its +HP bonus. If the quest requirement were to change, I think it might also be useful to consider lowering the requirement for this item to 10.

 

Once you make the job advancement, you might be given a chance to do job training quests. What's to be accomplished from doing them is that you get "stronger"; you gain experience against fighting monsters.

If you're completely new to MapleStory, these types of quests might show value. I think it at least makes the game feel more friendly in terms of the rewards you are able to get. That is, you get EXP (which with the 3x quest multiplier I consider to be generous) and some USE items (potions, scrolls) to help you with your journey.

However, the quests are designed to help lower-levelled players. That's why the levels of the quests are restricted to a certain range. In other words, you can lose the opportunity to get training because the job instructor will assume that you're strong enough to fight against monsters alone, and that you won't benefit from taking it.

These quests were actually not a part of the original game, which is why I think a lot of the older players are quite comfortable with not having to do them.

I feel these quests are quite "easy" in comparison to the other quests offered in the same level range. I even think they overshadow the other quests, and that, for me at least, is why I partly don't do them on any of my characters.

I also find these quests less entertaining knowing the content is quite repetitive. The quests could be summarised and being asked to "kill this and you will become stronger"; which is a message I think that could have been sent to any other quest.

These quests also feel exclusionary towards those who have adopted a specific type of odd-job gameplay because of the assumption that you once reach a particular level that you must be considered strong. Of course, the game was never designed to cater for them, so this point might not be as relevant in light of all of the other things I've mentioned.

Although if the type of quests were designed in a way that by doing them you could gain access to skills, then that might be a bit different.

 

If you haven't made your second job advancement, at level 30, Byron will have a quest for you, where he asks you to take a recommendation letter to your job instructor. You have to go to Ariant to meet him. Once you give the letter to your job instructor, they will give you 11,500 EXP (3x quest multiplier), which is considered fairly insignificant at level 30.

Just like the job training quests, it was designed to be missable. In fact, it's something that you can actually unintentionally skip over and not realise that you've done so. (I don't think you get a light bulb for this quest that appears above your character at level 30.)

Even though the quest is enabled at level 30, I read the quest as being written for players who have yet to make the first job advancement. I point specifically to the part where your job instructor has to ask "Who are you?".

While I think the quest is a bit lacking in this respect, I do however find the idea of the recommendation letter intriguing. It makes me wonder whether this idea could have moved to what Olaf was doing with his quests. In other words, if you were expected to now bring a letter from him to the job instructor of your choice, before making the job advancement.

 

These items are specific to the Henesys quests, and I think if they weren't given as equips, then they would just be regular quest items. (That, of course, isn't to say that Chief Stan Hat isn't a quest item, but it just hasn't been asked for in any quest.)



In GMS, the developers seemed to have wanted to introduce a new quest for Henesys, and it gave birth to the idea of Jay's Curiosity, which they tied with helping Bob the Snail. Despite writing as a story that would involve many different people, the details in the story remain incomplete; and to this day, only speculation can arise from reading the scraps that come from it.

If Bob the Snail were never a part of the story for Jay's Curiosity, I sometimes just think the quest could be anything else. It would be a regular Henesys quest where you'd bring an item from one NPC to another. For example, bringing the Pig Illustrated item from Utah to Jay.

 

Hughes is an eccentric scientist who hides in the Orbis Tower. If you start his quests at level 35 and complete them, you can get access to an Oxygen Tank. Even though Air Bubbles are quite common to encounter (from buying or breaking the chests around you), it still feels convenient to have an Oxygen Tank. I would prefer to leave my character in the map than to go to FM to AFK. (I usually only access FM when I want to send items to any of my other characters.)



I don't mind the quest that you do for the Oxygen Tank. Although, I don't know why you need to collect 5 Steel Plates for Hughes, and why, for the quest that precedes it, you need to eliminate 50 Scuba Pepe. I personally would've left them out.

There's been a bit of a debate previously whether you needed the Oxygen Tank to enable the following quest. The way I read the quest that follows from it is that it should be treated independently. In other words, it's only important if Hughes knows that he has given you an Oxygen Tank to use. I think what sparks this debate is that the Oxygen Tank has been erroneously labelled as a "quest item". But if it was to be treated as such, then it would make a lot more sense to me to get the Oxygen Tank at the start of a new quest, so that way, if you lose it, you can ask Hughes to make you another one.

Either way, my thoughts about the next quest are still the same. It's currently a repeatable quest, where every completion gives you 45,000 EXP and only 10 Mana Elixir. The EXP amount is fair at level 35 — it accounts for a little over 25% EXP — but the amount of Mana Elixir you get from doing it is fairly low. If it had to left as it was, the only change I'd suggest is for the amount of Mana Elixir to be raised to 20. (It makes sense to me to give 20 pairs of items (Seal Skin and Seal Tooth) and to get 20 items for that in return.) Otherwise, if the quest wasn't something to be put on repeat, I'd prefer a scroll, or something else that might bring more value to my character.

In later versions of the game, you can start Hughes's New Experiment by talking to Hughes instead. I also wouldn't mind if the level requirement for that was lowered to 35. I don't think it's any different to the other quest that I've just discussed.

 

I feel the quest that involves the Maple History Books could be reorganised and split into three smaller quests where you find one book at a time, rather than all of them.



At the moment, if you want to start the quest, you talk to Jay at Henesys. Even though Jay can be quite inquisitive, I do think the quest could well just start from Wiz the Librarian since he is keeping books in the Helios Tower library, and is doing his best to keep the space tidy for anyone who visits.

I find it a bit interesting how Jay somehow knows where you can find all the books. It just sounds a bit off to me.

I feel it could be restructured such that learning about something leads to the discovery of another. For instance, if Wiz doesn't have the first book, he might not know where to find it, but he could direct players, say, to Grendel the Really Old, since he knows that he sits in Ellinia in his Magic Library. And then from there, Grendel could tell you that he had put the book in a crate, which you can then break to open to take. And then that would be that for the first book.

The second book could be something you discover by adventure while travelling on the Ellinia-Orbis Ship. Again, Wiz might not know where the book is, but he could still know that something from the library is missing.

And then lastly, you could, instead of making it drop from Chronos, could make it come instead from another monster like Green Trixters. Books sometimes can get dirty; it can get covered in dust, and might even sometimes have spiderwebs. So making this change could make it a bit more friendly since the quest is already designed in mind to be completed by lower-levelled players.



I feel the Medal of Honor is a unique aspect of the story as you get acknowledged for your efforts, but I sometimes think it could made into a useable item. If not used in another story, it could be turned into a pendant.

 

Scadur has a quest at level 60 where he asks you to collect items so you can help him to make a new fur coat. Although, in order to help him, you need to first get a letter of recommendation from Lisa, who is at Orbis. But other than that, the rest of everything else that you do will be done in El Nath.

Scadur asks you to bring a lot of materials just to make this one fur coat for him. I don't think that helping him to get the materials would be hard if you decide to treat doing that as just playing there regularly. Although, it does feel tedious because he is asking for it in mass amounts.

The EXP reward is fairly negligible at level 60 — 6.7% EXP. That's also considering that you're having to expend more effort to do it than for what you would get in return. That being said, getting a 60% Scroll for Overall isn't too bad to have as a reward.

I feel that many of the things Lisa said could have been said by Scadur himself. I'm not following why there is a need to have a recommendation. I believe if Scadur wants help, he can ask for it himself. And so, because I think Lisa doesn't have much of a role to play in this quest, I would leave her out of the picture altogether.

Scadur isn't just asking for too many materials, he's also not saying why he wants them. For instance, I don't see how Yeti Horns are going to help him to make a fur coat, or the purpose of Sapphire Ores in making the coat. And without those items, Scadur now would just have the tails, which he is somehow able to make into a coat. It just seems unusual to me. Maybe Scadur has a hidden talent for making armor; potentially, a new crafting capability, but that isn't explored.

It's not treated as being an essential quest, so I lean more towards not having it altogether. But it does read, at least to me, as being more suitable as an event quest; a quest that could come by every winter assuming that Scadur himself to get a new fur coat every time. If this quest didn't have to involve killing mobs, it'd just be treated as another quest where you'd deliver an item from one NPC to another; and that's probably where I personally would take it.

 

The Orbis Exchange Quest is technically not a quest, but if I were to give a general meaning for the word "quest", it should include anything else that also isn't covered by the quest log. Hence, I continue the discussion for it here.



Staff Sergeant Charlie at Orbis allows for you to trade ETC items in exchange for rewards. The ETC items that he accepts come from the Ossyria region (i.e. Orbis, El Nath).



For every exchange, you get 1000 EXP provided you bring 100 of the same items to him. Charlie will give you a reward: mainly USE items (i.e. potions) or ores, but you can also get 10% scrolls.

The exchange is not limited; you can repeat it as many times as you want, and on as many characters as you want. I'd say it's convenient.

It might be useful to transfer your ETC items to another character, preferrably one that is at a lower level, since the 1000 EXP bonus might help that character to "power-level". Those characters who are unable to train effectively can also benefit from this method.

Many of the items in this exchange (e.g. Pepe Beak) are not currently asked for in many quests. Even though I prefer seeing more ETC items used in quests, it does take time to write a quest. And so I think it's nice to have the exchange because it gives these items a purpose.

. . .



Orbis Exchange Quest has existed from the beginning of the game. It hasn't changed; much of it remains the same. And so I feel that we deserve to take a second look at it, perhaps to draw insight as to what could be done to improve upon it.

I will touch only on a few points: namely, the location of the exchange, a bit of talk on the items themselves, and some of the rewards that you get.

Location

The location of the exchange quest is appropriately placed at Orbis. If you're getting the ETC items by yourself, for yourself, it might be recommended that you hunt on Orbis mobs since the exchange is conveniently located in Orbis. You can use a return scroll to go back to town. On the other hand, for El Nath, you'd have to travel back up the Orbis Tower. With the Orbis Rock Scroll, it might be a fast journey; but if you don't have that, then your other option would be to use a Teleport Rock; and if that isn't something you want to consider, then you're left with having to walk back up the tower to Orbis.

My main point is that with items coming from two different areas (i.e. Orbis, El Nath), it might be preferrable to separate them into two (or more) different exchanges. That is to say, ETC items that drop from Orbis mobs (e.g. Cellion Tail) could be exchanged at Orbis; and that ETC items that drop from El Nath mobs (e.g. Pepe Beak) could be exchanged at El Nath instead via. a different NPC(s). It just makes more sense to me to exchange items in the area from where you obtain them than to exchange them with someone who is in an area where those items cannot be found.

ETC Items

I mentioned earlier about the items being unused in quests, and I want to continue my discussion around that.

In keeping with the tradition of GMS, ETC items from regular monsters won't drop 100% of the time. If you're doing a quest by yourself but asked to bring 100 items, you're almost more likely going to need to kill the same monster more than 100 times. In the same way, for this exchange, to get 100 of these items, you would have to kill the same monster that drops it more than 100 times.

If you play in a map where the spawn rate for the monster is good — meaning you can get your items relatively quickly — that will be less of an issue. But consider moving into a map where the spawn rate is lower. Getting 100 of these items will feel like an eternity, but of course, it might be challenging to some; and that might be what most prefer.

Somehow, I feel the amount (100) is a bit arbitrary. Unless the NPC whom you want to do the exchange has a lot of room in their backpack, it feels strange to have to request for that many. Not to mention, it also feels weird to not be able to exchange with them, say, if you're 1 item short from the amount they said they want.

It's possible to make the exchange work with just 1 item, assuming the ETC item changes into a one-of-a-kind item; and where it's made to drop at a different rate compared to other regular ETC items. For some quests, it might be hard to use the same items, unless you intend to remove them from the quest altogether; which in some cases can be justified. I suppose this type of idea would work better if used with El Nath ETC items rather than Orbis ETC items.

Rewards

Surprisingly, the Orbis Exchange Quest is actually quite consistent in its rewards. As you get higher, you stop getting Orange Potions and Blue Potions, and "upgrade" instead to getting White Potions and Mana Elixir. In some cases, you get other USE items, such as Pure Water (the highest MP-healing potion) and Hot Dog Supreme (the highest HP-healing potion). Getting ores are also very common, especially if you're exchanging it for an ETC item that has come from a higher-leveled monster (e.g. Bain).

I think the choice of rewards could be improved. For example, you could add some %-healing potions, such as Elixir and Power Elixir. Some other type of scrolls could also be added. If ores aren't being utilised as much, maybe they could be replaced with anything else that isn't a potion or a scroll.

I think the rewards should be better for you if you have hunted for those items yourself. And so, I think two types of exchanges could exist with two different pools of rewards: one could be accessed without the level requirement; and another type could be restricted by a level requirement.

In any case, the EXP amount, I believe, should not be set to a single flat value of 1,000. It's possible to have an NPC reward you with varying degrees of EXP. That is, percentage-based EXP gain could be made possible; but it's something I don't think I want to discuss here.

 

If you notice a hole in a ship made out of wood, I would think naturally you need more wood. I personally would have chosen Screws and Processed Wood as items to collect, rather than Solid Horn. And since Bonnie will continue to be there — even after you help her — I assume that part of the ship is most vulnerable to damage, and so, in that respect, I would also consider looking to turn this into a repeatable quest for the lower-levelled players.

 

Initially I had wanted to give feedback about the Valentine's Event in its own thread, because I had spent more time playing during that period than Lunar New Year. But since there isn't a thread for that, I'd thought I'd talk about one of the quests here instead. I completed all of the quests on my one character.



I will share my thoughts here about the "A Love Story to Chair-ish", which, in my quest log, is referred to as "MapleLegends Valentine Event". It's a story that involves delivering a Love Letter and other Valentines-related items from Romeo to Juliet. During the quest, you get rewarded with Amorian-themed chairs and EXP.

It is fine to have Romeo and Juliet as NPCs for a Valentine's Day quest. The original play is popular; at least, it has considerable cultural impact. (I also had personally studied Romeo and Juliet in class while I was growing up.) So I guess I'll talk more here about my experiences doing the quest rather than what's written about it.

One of my characters isn't strictly OSSS-locked, but it is playing currently in an OSSS-inspired way. Romeo and Juliet are both NPCs in Magatia, which itself is not been recognised as an OSSS area. I eventually decided to go to Magatia to do the quest anyway. And the simple reason for this is because I didn't want to feel like I had locked myself out from being able to enjoy any content from the Valentine events on the character I was playing.

From doing the quest, I was able to receive 4 different chairs. I didn't mind getting it as a reward. Although, the chairs are all Amorian-themed, which seems slightly out-of-place. More specifically, the chairs would suggest I had played in Amoria, when in fact, I got it elsewhere (i.e. Magatia).



This is more of a side note: I had understood that Maed and Carson were NPCs who belonged to different factions (Alcadno and Zenumist respectively). But then Maed referred to Juliet as "his daughter", which I didn't understand. I didn't think this was referred to anywhere when Magatia was introduced, at least not that I know of. I personally don't think that belonging to a different faction means you are connected to each other by blood.

For myself, I usually just accepted the quest and then went back to the area where I was already playing. I wasn't bothered by the travelling. I was a bit confused about the Love Letters dropping from a monster within your level range. But that didn't matter too much since I was able to get it from the mob I was already playing at anyway. It took some time to get it, and so once I got it, due to a lack of inventory space, I immediately went back to Magatia to give it to either Romeo or Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet is culturally relevant but many other stories also explore the theme of love. I think there were opportunities to look into sharing different stories (e.g. The Princess Bride with the romance between Westley and Buttercup) and to use them as drivers of inspiration for the Valentine's Day event; or even to just use other existing NPCs (e.g. Cody and Naomi). I think asking for it would also mean more work for graphic designers but I guess I'm saying that I would rather see something different.

As with most of the other Valentine's Day quests, I personally would have liked the quest to be moved to Amoria to show that the event can be inclusive rather than exclusive. Romeo and Juliet in Magatia goes against that.

I also feel all of the chairs could have been spread out among a few different Valentine's Day quests, rather than put into just one. Again, more writing to be done, but I think it is worth considering.

 

Love Counseling ?! was at one point available as a Maple Island quest. Sam mentions he is able to provide relationship counseling.

Bari hopes to build a boat. He also wants to take Yoona on a trip with him on this boat because he says doing this would make her feel happy. Sam agrees with Bari: that is why he wants you to help him.

Sam also mentions that if you want to know more about love, you can also visit the town of Amoria, which you can get to by talking to Thomas Swift in Henesys.

I believe Yoona and Bari were once together in the same map: Southperry. Maple Island used to have NPCs in different maps. For example, Mai used to be in Amherst; then she moved to A Split Road, before settling in The Field East of Amherst. (In v83, she's at the "Entrance to Adventurer Training Center". Yoona and Bari, surprisingly, are also placed together in this same map. Although, if I recall correctly, Love Counseling still remained disabled.)

Even though Bari and Yoona are in different maps, it might still work to bring back this quest. Other Maple Island quests were brought back by choice. So it could be argued that this particular quest could have returned too.



Yet it is worth saying that the amount of quests that you can do on Maple Island is already enough. All quests on Maple Island can take quickly enough to level 7 or 10. So if seeing it in that way, there might not be any reasons to give to have it.

Although, I still like the idea of the quest. I think it should be kept but reintroduced in a different way.

Most Maple Island quests are simple. All you need to do is to collect one item and bring it to the NPC who wants it. In this case, it was just about bringing Tree Branch to Bari.

Something similar to that could be done. Instead of using Tree Branch, you can use other ETC items. In KMS, players used to express how much they loved or appreciated each other by sending 1 Bubble Fish's Thoughts via. Duey. (If you look at the item itself, the jewel inside the bubble looks like a heart.)



Love Counseling could be re-introduced as a quest that could be done while playing in Aqua Road. Muse at the Aquarium could initiate the quest and ask you to bring Bubble Fish's Thoughts to her. Then, she could use that item to help her to "analyse" and decide on the type of advice she should give to other NPCs, assuming they came to her for help.

 

At level 32, Icarus asks for your help to gather items so he can make a hang glider. He wants regular items, such as Stirge Wing, Stiff Feather, and Processed Wood.

Icarus reassures players that the hang glider would be ready to use when you next visit him. Sadly, we never get to see the hang glider. We're told in the following quest — Icarus and the Balloon, available at level 37 — that making the hang glider came with difficulties which prevented him from being able to fly.

The story of Icarus is based on a story that can be found in Greek mythology. This hang glider quest borrows some aspects of the original plot, namely that of flying. However, the quest, unlike the story, does not end in tragedy — or death of the character itself. That is why they added a follow-up quest, not only to show a difference from the original story, but also to avoid giving any references to it.

In my view, MapleStory has always tried to avoid sensitive topics, such as death. So keeping Icarus alive fits with the game's original intent. That partially explains why the Sauna Robe quest may be considered inappropriate when viewed in this way. To take a similar example, it is the same with animated children films, with some notable examples being Pocahontas and Anastasia. Even though I mention those stories for the purposes of illustrating the example I have given, I do not, however, wish to talk about them here.

If you complete the quest at Level 32, the quest gives 14.6% EXP (18,000 EXP from the 3x quest multiplier) — which I find kind of low. It can be argued that this quest could be lowered to level 20 as Stirges are a level 20 mob. Stiff Feathers also drop from Ribbon Pigs. Processed Wood can be easily made using Tree Branch (Stump) or Firewood (Axe Stump, Dark Axe Stump). Completing the quest at level 20 instead would yield significant EXP — 89%.

I will keep my thoughts short here about Icarus and the Hang Glider quest. Although I plan to revisit him again in a future post.

 

In this post, I will talk about Camila's Lost Letter which, as the name suggests, involves finding a letter written by Camila. Camila can be found topright in the town of Henesys — near to the portal that leads to "The Road to the Dungeon".

Camila's letter contains writings she intended only for her "pen pal" to read. That is, we never get to read it. So, whatever might have been written inside it remains an open answer.



The item you collect is named "The Letter to Camila". The title of the item suggests it was a letter written to Camila, and yet, Camila mentions this is a letter that she wrote.

Camila seems able to write more letters, given that she prepared a "reply" — that is, after you retrieve the letter for her. So, it puzzles me as to why she couldn't just write a new one.

Nonetheless, Camila directs you to Curse Eye whom she asserts took the letter. So, you kill them to retrieve the letter.



In the following quest, Camila mentions that she wants to take this letter to her pen pal. Camila mentions her pan pal is none other than Kong Ji, who can be found in Korean Folk Town (KFT); a town in the Maple World, which is better remembered for offering quests, many of which follow the names of Korean fairytales. So, this quest does involve travelling to KFT.

Camila gives you directions on how you can get to KFT. She suggests there are two ways to get there: that you travel either from the sky or from the ocean. (This quest was written before the introduction of Nautilus Harbor and Herb Town. And so, now, there are, in fact, two other ways to get to KFT.)



Originally, Camila would give you boat tickets. That has since been removed on MapleLegends (and, eventually, official servers) since traveling on boats no longer requires for checking of tickets.

Regardless, you go to KFT and then deliver the letter to Kong Ji. Quest is done.

***

I will share a few more notes.

• You can do this quest without having done Camila's Gem. Camila's Gem is offered at level 23 and that involves traveling to Utah's Pig Farm (found at the outskirts of Henesys) to deliver a Sparkling Marble.
• The quest was introduced alongside the KFT storybook quests. It was intended to be written as a segue for continuing players, especially for those who were curious about "new content". Unless you are completely new to MapleStory, many of us, however, will know about this town, and so the element of surprise is not there.
• I think we can accept that the EXP you get from finishing this quest, relative to the total EXP at level 35, is low.
• The quest was scaled up to level 50 in a future version.

I personally think it's cute that two friends want to bond with each other. Although, it does feel to me like an event quest. Combined with the knowledge the quest gives low EXP, I also see it as "skippable" content. You don't need to do this quest in order to access KFT. If it was changed such that you needed to, then that would be different.

There are some other ways to reimagine this quest. I would like to take this opportunity to point to one example. Let us say a letter was written for Camila. It could be something that Camila herself didn't know about, and could be made to be found somewhere on the ground or in an area like the Golem's Temple. For instance, you could click on a bush NPC to get the letter, just like you would at The Nautilus with the Crumped Letter, which you get from talking to the garbage can. And so, holding the letter is what could initiate the quest itself, rather than hunting for it.

 

Jr. Officer Medin has a task for you at level 40. He wants to build a wall to stop aliens from attacking Omega Sector.

In every region of the game, except GMS, the name "Omega Sector" is better recognised as "Earth Defense Headquarters". The area is especially vulnerable to attacks from aliens. Even though this quest has a higher level requirement compared to other quests offered at lower levels (e.g. Korin's Memory), it reads as a quest intended for new players.

The area of Omega Sector, which Jr. Officer Medin describes as a "base", is connected with Eos Tower. He notes: "There are countless Block Golem around our base.". Medin is suggesting that you will need to eliminate them and use their blocks to create the wall.



Medin is proposing to take this idea to Dr. Kim who he describes as being a "busy person". Medin sets a timer (i.e. 30 minutes) for you to retrieve 20 Yellow Toy Block and to bring them all, within that same timeframe, to Dr. Kim.

If you are completely new to the area, collecting 20 Yellow Toy Block in 30 minutes can be daunting, considering the time it may take to walk up the Eos Tower and to kill the Block Golems. It's possible to fail completing the quest. However, Yellow Toy Block is a regular ETC item. Those who already know the quest in advance can go to collect the items without having to adhere to pressure from Medin's timer. So, you can effectively dodge the timer altogether.

When you go to Dr. Kim, he'll say that he doesn't know why you brought the items to him. He'll praise Medin for his hard work and loyalty but also mention that his plan of building the wall is fallible, that is, it's unable to provide a safeguard against alien attacks. Then, Dr. Kim gives you 75,000 EXP — 25%, at level 40, with the 3x quest multiplier — to reward you doing "nothing".

***

Some general thoughts:

• If we treat the bottom of Eos Tower as being part of the "base" for Omega Sector, then what Medin has said about Block Golems roaming makes sense. However, I see the Eos Tower as not being part of the base itself. So, if we look it at in that way, what Medin said about Block Golems might not be true as there are no maps in Omega Sector with Block Golems.
  

• According to the Monster Book:
  
  
  
  
  Rombot can be found in the Hidden Tower and once killed, they spawn again every 30 minutes. Even though Dr. Kim has many quests, none of them, surprisingly, deal with Rombot. I feel this reference to Dr. Kim's curiosity about Rombot hints at a particular direction that MapleStory would have taken but did not get to fully explore.
  
  I can envisage Rombot as a mob in Omega Sector, but not in any of the existing maps. Rather, I see them being in their own map, which could be placed close to the "Safety Zone" — not inside Eos Tower itself, but somewhere closeby near to the base.

• Dr. Kim is right to say that a wall may not prevent alien attacks. He may also be correct in saying that he wants to work with General Maestro in thinking of a way to stop it from happening. But that still doesn't change the fact there may be golems around the base. Medin's concern is valid — it isn't over "nothing". It leads to my next point.

Medin's quest is good if we see that it has a story. We learn a little bit more about Medin and his relationship with other NPCs (i.e. Dr. Kim). Although, there was an opportunity for you to interact with General Maestro, other than to have Medin himself mention General Maestro. For instance, he could have had you pass a message to General Maestro.

I believe the idea that comes from this quest has potential and think it could be further developed (and re-written) into anything else. If it wasn't a regular quest, it could be, for example, a timed activity where you get warped to a map to eliminate Golems / Rombots for 30 minutes as a way to "protect the base" — limited to one entry per day. It could be made to work similarly to the Abandoned Subway Station in Kerning City, as was shown in future versions of the game. Even though the implementation is different, it's one way to keep the choice of a timer, and to make that relevant. Other NPCs (e.g. Dr. Kim, General Maestro, etc.) could join in too.