Notice To clear up a few things

Kimmy, server is the best around.

Keep up the good work! Haters are everywhere anyway...

 

My opinon: The kind of people who want the game to be easier are those that want to experience the high-end content for the sake of getting there, and once they get there they will get bored and quit. The kind of people that enjoy the hard grind are those that enjoy the process of getting to high-end content and will probably stick around longer. I would personally cater to the latter...

 

high end content? with the focus shifted on a new game out of no where, legends could temporarily necro. it would suck but it could happen

 

Responding to the latter of your post, I understand where you are coming from. Debates about these balance decisions have always been hard to make and everyone has a different opinion. I'll give my stance on the issues I think are present currently.

The 0.62 lategame

This point is inevitable but it's nonetheless true. Everyone knows that the amount of things to do in the late game of 0.62 are limited. If you think about the ultimate boss in 0.62 it's horntail, and looking at the book prices and the amount of squads doing 6-man's its clear that HT has become more of an autoscroller instead of being a challenge. Preventing this is quite hard. I still think that the nerf that HT received was a really bad change and made it a lot easier. No random seduce means that people don't even have to pay attention in the majority of the run as there is no sense of danger. The change made it so that mass seduce was put in the game. However, mass seduce is not threatening at all and even at an average run speed there's only one every run usually, and it's not even random targets, so if you go with more then 10 people bishops can enter last.
Of course players get stronger and stronger and that has a lot to do with it aswell. I just felt like this accelerated the issue along with the addition of onyx apples.
Besides HT there is The Boss and Castellon Toad for specific classes, but at their current state they usually aren't worth the time needed to kill them, which I think could be changed for sure.

The Gachapon jail

So with a lot of underutilized content why are many items still behind the Gachapon Jail? Lilynouch, Lyka, The Boss, Castellon, GPQ, the list goes on. Giving players options to hunt for their items along with adding a different way of making mesos seems like a good idea to me. And no, this doesn't mean that they will become common items. You can adjust the rates as is neccesary.

I am immortal

Yeah, HP washing gives you the option to work on your character. But after all this time players have gotten way too much HP for what's good for them. There is no threat of dying at all in most instances, especially if you add HB on top of it. Along with the current monster book system adding even more HP into the game, as well as a few rings, nobody will ever need to worry about their HP anymore. Which is a bad thing in this style of game where threats are already minimal.

B>Leech

Are there even people training without a mage anymore? I'm sure there are, but they certainly haven't gotten any help. When I think about the oldschool nostalgic experience, I often think about the 4-6 man grind parties which are a lot more fun than the current leech meta. I really feel like there were options of adding ways to make these parties at least viable.

TLDR

Making changes like I just mentioned might be too late or controversial. The advantage newer servers have is that they can look at this server, see the issues that players are having and start a brand new servers with solutions from the start, making it so older players don't have a big advantage of being able to abuse older mechanics (for example HP washing, if you'd remove that now it would be extremely unfair). One solution is of course the wipe solution, where you can implement everything you want from scratch. But that would of course be a very controversial thing to do by itself and make many players quit and lose trust in the server, which makes it a really high risk move.

So what do you do? I don't know what the perfect solution is. There probably isn't one. It's all up to you to make that decision. I personally feel like sitting around and doing nothing is an even worse thing to do. In the end the choice is yours. I think you need to realize you can't make everyone happy and just make decisions that you (and the staff team) agree on.

 

A second world is in my mind the same as a wipe. No new player will ever join the older server, and the economy of the first server will die off as everyone moves into the second world or quits.
The sad thing is, even without a second world being added people are still moving, but to other servers, which is probably even worse.

In my opinion there are 3 routes you could take. They all have upsides and downsides.

1. Leave everything as it is and see what happens

Positives: This is the easiest route to take and I can see why this wouldn't be the worst thing to do. Nobody gets pissed over having their character deleted or altered and we should be fine in the short term.
Negatives: The server is already on a downwards spiral, and this trend will continue as no impactful changes will be made.

2. Wipe the server and implement everything you always wanted

Positives: A fresh start where a lot of players will come back, and a more balanced future for the game as great changes are made to ensure this world can last longer.
Negatives: Some loyal players will leave as all their progress is removed entirely, along with a small loss of trust.

3. Make the changes and don't wipe the server

Positives: Players will keep their characters and most items as everything gets balanced around them. The server will be more balanced without people quitting for having everything removed.
Negatives: Players will either lose their washed HP or older players will have a huge advantage along with having abused the older leech system (which I assume you want gone too).


I guess it depends on what your vision is for the server's future and which aspects you value most. Every route you take will end up in certain people being disappointed, so I would personally take a route that you think is best for the server.

 

I think its fine and Legends is already a very good server. In addition to being low rate, Legends also is very advanced for which version it is with World tour areas and such. (after finishing my post, I noticed that it had some similarities to what Gang was saying. Although I approach the topic from a different angle, it seems that great minds do think alike!)

It is true that having lots of players can have an affect on the game play but the game play itself also holds a lot of importance, irregardless of community size. We could say that the server is at a crossroads but maybe not? Here are a few examples of roads I think that Legends could go to for better or worse.

Spoiler

No major changes needed. It might not be perfect but Legends does fine in showing people some of what Pre big bang Maplestory was like and as a bonus it is slightly less time consuming too.

Spoiler

Wipe Hype 2018!
I don't necessarily support this but for the sake of playing devils advocate, I wanted to comment on the idea. Careless wiping sounds like a bad suggestion but would I be ok with it if there was a really good reason? In that case my response would be "maybe". In Maplestory, players can spend a lot of time pumping up their characters and it is the right thing to do to give first consideration to this effort and experience. Having said that, as certain games mature the chances of encountering growing problems increase. So then there is questions of what can be done about Leeching? For instance.

Spoiler

An option to think about: setting the experience rate to x1? Leeching was a part of the original game so should we be trying to adjust it? Maybe and maybe not. The thing about sharing party experience in this way is that it usually needs a Mage of some sort and they need to be strong and high level. Strangely enough I would say the best anti leech is to have even lower experience rates! Truthfully it probably would not completely stop the practice but it would definitely reduce how much it happens. Besides that, if a player is "good" enough to level up a Mage on x1 rates then the reward is the ability to sell leech if they still want to. Really strong characters were rare in past GMS so this issue never got that big before.

Spoiler

HP Washing anyone? To be honest I think this is an interesting and complex mechanic that has been discovered in the game. However since Legends is the kind of server that it is, there is a chance that HP wash could grow out of control, bother people and mess with the end part of the game. The question that this poses is how much Nx cash or real world money would it cost to wash a character up to 30 or 40k of HP? Ha ha, probably a lot but since Nx is more available for everyone, things that might not normally be reasonable are possible here. The answer I would give to this is to take out AP resets after a wipe. Some things could change but it would shift attention away from min, max game play. If anyone considers too much of that to be a bad thing? And there could still be occasional AP resets given out during events to help players make minor adjustments. Does having AP resets in the Cash shop encourage leeching? Well maybe, I cant really say. It might mean that if players want to go to hard bosses they will need to make high HP characters instead. I don't know though, personally I'm not specifically opposed to HP washing either.

Another option (post wipe) could be to take out AP resets but keep the experience rates the same. I think that would also lower the prevalence of Leeching but it probably would not be as much as doing both of those things. (AP resets and x1 rates)

So you see even though a wipe would be painful at first, it would give a chance to fix some end game stuff if enough players think they need to be fixed. Do a lot of players think Leeching and HP washing are negative things to the extent that they would want to try and stop them no matter what? There is a way but part of the cost to do so might be a wipe. Additionally there could be a poll to see if current/ veteran players would be willing to make a sacrifice that could benefit the server in the long run. Maybe the results would not completely decide the matter but help to gauge how players feel about it and then be taken into consideration with whether to wipe or not. I won't claim that is the option that should be picked, only that I'd say it mostly is a factor of what kind of server people want Legends to be.

In conclusion, there are some areas that could be changed but they don't really have to be changed. Great job Kim, great job staff and great job Maple Legends!

 

The golden temple added to GMS was in fact very different. It was added as a solo premium dungeon (v.86) that could be accessed from the dimensional mirror in every town, not as a world tour area. In thai GMS it was an extension to the thailand world tour area connected to the "outskirt of village" map (https://poof.ml/?p=map&id=500020101), with mobs level ~60-100, Spinel could also bring you directly to the Golden Temple. There was a boss called Ravana that could be fought after collecting enough "sun bursts" (etc. items that were pretty rare and consumed on entry) from the mobs in the temple. There was a Ravana hat on par with a zhelm and the boss was roughly the same level, maybe a bit easier. So not really end-game content, but a nice mid-game stepping stone. I do not have a thai client so I can't help with that
There are some videos on youtube like the one you linked that show 'tours' of the area (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m64isaRX2ws) but otherwise information about Golden Temple is scarce, I suspect finding a client will be hard.

I too would like to see this added if only for completion sake, having all the pre-BB world tour areas on one server

 

From what I could tell from watching several of these 'tour' videos, the maps and mobs were the same in TaiwanMS and ThaiMS. So I would guess that everything else is the same too. Every other regional server only had the gimmicky premium dungeon version (and after Big Bang it turned into a theme dungeon extension of Mu Lung). If you have a relevant client for TMS that has Golden Temple, I would go with that. Any client shortly after November 2009 I guess would work. I tried looking up taiwanese/thai MS discussion boards for more information but I'm not having any luck

 

I dont really feel that the server need to be easier than it is already; you may bear in mind that the nature of the people is being lazy thats includes me, and that lazyness make us want to get the things easier (Mesos, Levels, Bosses, etc.). Even with the nerf of bosses i can guarantee you (Sorry if i mis-spell something idk so much about english). So dont bear so much you mind about it, I know people that work so hard to reach a high state of the game, and i know people who love the actual community like how it is.

To be honest i played this server since last December, I ve passed by many things here. and i know how people can act when a game is beaten. its sad when a game is beaten but, you cant change that. People still playing, still wanting to reach a high state, that includes me ofc, i wanna to be the strongest DK and i still wanting it, not care if the game is beaten or not.

And the Leech Issue: I know that people can say that this is leechlegends and anything else, but as you know many servers, who bypassed leech. raise the exp multiplier grind even higher, and that makes those server even easier and you know that. (Even when i playing Final Fantasy i get excited of reaching lv 50 sorry if you feel that im so simple). there is many people like me that dont use mages to grind, we just rely to grind with friends, and we make bounds during that, 2x exp grind rate is cool for me at least, I dont know that ppl think about it. Leech is the way that people live in the server cuz everybody here makes mesos because that to buy items. People that DONT LIKE (hear that clearly) Do bossing. I Know many people that dont like to do Even Zakum, they only just spend all the day selling leech (You are going to take off they fun?: Sounds disgusting excuse me if im being rude). Many maps are Designed to grind easy (Originaly from GMS or Non GMS areas: Such as Himes, Shaolin, Petris, Skeles, Spa of Showa, etc.) you disable leeching and raise the Exp grind Multiplier, i can tell you that you will still bear the feeling that the server is easy, i can guarantee you that.

As for HP washing: I know that makes us a really pain in the ass, thinking about this "HP-Wash" that makes you to think that you Dreamed Night Lord (Lets call them Int Lords because all the int base you raise them to do so) take more than 6 months to enssamble. you guys should be realistic, HP WASHING is really nessesary and you know it. as DK i can tell you that, a lv 150 DK only got less than 16K without washing and with HB, with zerk 30 its 8k of HP, and bosses like targa and scarlion at 3rd body does 7-8k damage. how we can have fun if we cant zerk there?, If you (In any way disable the hp wash progress). or DPS with zerk is low, with out it, VERY MORE SLOW. its pointless, even with HP washing and 30K HP we cant zerk in Toad, so why call the system immortal? NL, BM, MM cant do toad without washing because they need +13,5k HP with HB to survive the magic attack? analize it. dont think about nerf DMG of bosses cuz, you will make more problems that you have now. So HP washing is fine, People just complain because they are lazy to do it, and plus Int items are Expensive: you wanna a solution? sounds crazy but if you can decrease the amount of MP needed to wash for some clases (Pirates need 16 MP to do so. OMG(SORRY: If im wrong about this)). you can make the thing a little easier for people who is starting the server and wanna his/her dreamed Int lord. (hahaha int lords <3). and another way: NOT and easy way to get AP reset.

Sorry if i cant say more things to this right now, but, i want you to read this kimmy. even if you dont feel that im grate for you. see what you think about what im saying.

Sincerely, Tauriel (lv 171 Dark Knight)

 

When you cant happy everyone else, make us happy the way you feel like it.

Why the f**** Stummy doesn't spawn yet...

 

the toad oil inside toad. is tradable. the mini toads inside drops the oil. so people will have them in fms

 

About server getting 'easier' - I think in the beginning not all classes had equal opportunity, and through most of what I've known of the server different classes have had different opportunities at different times. An example is Bishops having 1hko grindnig before arch mages and then fire mages having 1hko earlier than ice mages, then ice mages having ToT, now everyone having their own spot between buffed Skel 1, Shaolin, and ToT still being pretty decent. That's the way I view the evolution is "more opportunity for a variety of classes".
I don't think 'easier is the answer' but continuing to evolve opportunity is a good thing. I don't know how much easier or inclusive the server could get, then again maybe I'm not using my imagination.
HPQ to 21
KPQ (some washing / acc issues for certain attackers but some of them have mob skills to grind early anyway) to 30
30-35 is a natural dead zone you either grind through or you don't -- and its OK for things to take time before being rewarded aka grind before LPQ

After this a variety of guides have various spots until GS2 or MP3 open up for a variety of classes.
The 70-82ish hell zone is another 30-35 type ordeal but its been that way and again, it's OK to work and take time to be rewarded.

82+ all jobs seem fine to me. Some have it easier than others but they all take time. Most people use mesos or have a bishop to raise their characters anyway. The point about these levels is that unless you created an advantage for yourself they're more or less equal in terms of having somewhere to go and something to do.

I don't know how the game could get easier. I don't know how opportunity could evolve.

The one changed I've wanted to see in the server is seeing the players play differently. Include more people in your PQs, maybe use HS mules for things like Newties parties and other 3-4 person attacker parties.
Another thing is **not rewarding people for playing the wrong way** - as in, if you play like a complete doofus, you shouldn't be able to magically get to 120 anyway as easily as a more skilled player. If you don't make a mage or bishop first that's on you, and if you don't concentrate your resources properly that's also on you.

The server shouldn't reward bad players (it has already accommodated the various pet classes) and there's only so much the server can do before player attitudes and habits are the next step in the evolution. Just my 2 cents but any 'easier' from here and it may as well be a new server. Equal opportunity is the route to go and it feels somewhat accomplished.

There still has to be a sense of personal responsibility when it comes to doing things the right way and playing in an effective manner.


Quick edit: Equal opportunity does not mean we all get the same EPH on every job.. that would be bland. It means we all have something to do to move forward obviously at varying paces based on skill level, resources, and the limits of your chosen class. These factors create variety.