Maple Story: "It's Your Story"
MMORPG’s are massive multiplayer online role-playing game(s). They originated in different places of the world, many MMORPG’s have been developed and made. Creating and developing a successful MMORPG is very difficult. For me, I’ve played many MMORPG’s that have failed in the games’ OB, or open beta. An open beta is when the game is being tested if people will play it. It is not the permanent game. Usually, a website will host a game for a while and then a certain company buys the game and hosts it. So online game hosts have to keep their subscribers and players entertained while making a profit out of the game. Though one of the many successful MMORPG’s is Maple Story. In different regions of the world, there are over 92 million players total in all of the Maple Story regions. North America has over about 6 million subscribers. It is not known if people had multiple accounts. With 6 million subscribers and players, you can say that Maple Story is pretty successful.
Maple Story!?
Maple Story, what is it? Is it a brand name? Is it food? Maybe it’s Maple syrup. Well you’re wrong if you thought any of those. Maple Story is a fantasy MMORPG hosted by Nexon.net (North America). Maple Story is one of the biggest MMORPG in North America. Maple Story having a whopping 6 million players, you could say Nexon.net isn’t doing a bad job maintaining and hosting Maple. “I think Nexon is doing a good job so far,” says Anthony, a Maple Story player for several years. “ I think it’s hard to maintain four different MMORPG’s and entertaining players.” Nexon.net has launched Maple Story on May 11,2005 in North America. From that day on Maple Story has been growing and growing.
Gameplay
Have you ever played Maple Story? Maple Story has its own unique game play. Maple Story has distinctive graphics with fine details both big and small. These graphics follow your character’s movement naturally. The higher your level in the game becomes, your skills and attacks become more “flashy and eye catching.” Each town map in the game has its own theme and design. Cupcakex3 a Maple Story forum member says, “[It] adds beauty to the game.”
The controls of Maple Story are different from most MMORPG’s. When you are playing the controller of the game is on your keyboard! Unlike some MMORPG’s, you don’t use the mouse as much in Maple Story. The game uses the up, down, left, and right keys to move your character since the game is a 2-D side scrolling game or a platform game. That way the movement would seem more natural. The main thing is that it’s not a “point and click” game, which gives off some type of uniqueness.
So now do you think the combat or fighting system would be like the arcade since you’re using the keyboard? Err… wrong! The combat system is basically repetitive usage of skills or spamming. Anthony says, “ Sometimes it’s kind of boring to spam skills and use them one after another. I would want it to be kind of an arcade battle thing.”
Features
In Maple Story, there are many ways to keep things fun! In Maple Story there are social features. This is one of the most common features in MMORPG’s. In MS (Maple Story) there is one. The first social feature is a guild. A guild is like a group of people. Think of it as like a chat room. Sometimes other guild members help you and do things in the game. Another one is a buddy/friend list feature. This is also a common feature. To me I think it’s the easiest feature. The name of the feature is pretty self-explanatory. The buddy list simply adds another Maple Story character and their name will be listed on your buddy list. The buddy list can also tell you the location of your friend/buddy and if they are online or offline. And the very final feature is a party. It is almost like a guild but a bit different. A party is usually used in fighting/training. When you are in a party you and the party members share and addition 10% of EXP (experience) bonus. It doesn’t necessarily mean to be only used in fighting and stuff. It can be used in many different ways both you and I might not even know.
Now there is a mini-game feature in game. The mini games are used often in Maple Story. Players in Maple Story often use it as a sign or a blackboard other than actually playing the mini game(s). Most people would write “rep me” or something close to that. Most of the time whenever people use it, it means they are AFK (away from keyboard). In Maple Story there are two mini games. The first one is called Omok. Omok is an abstract strategy board game. The main point of the game is to get five in a row. The second one is Match Cards. The name of it is pretty self-explanatory. The point of the game is to match a set of cards that are face down. First one to match all the cards or have the most matching cards win.
The final feature is the quests. It is also one of the most common features in MMORPG’s. There are sets of quests in game. Some quests are limited so they disappear after a period of time. It is usually relevant to seasonal events. Sometimes a quest has more than one part of it so it might give you more EXP and Mesos(game money). Sometimes some quests are just for fun.
Money
So how does a free MMORPG like Maple Story make money? There are many ways for a game company to make money.
One-way Maple Story makes money is, game is a free and they open up a cash shop mostly referred as CS or NX (Nexon) shop in Maple Story. Cash shops are store(s) in a game that sell exclusive items. Most of the time they are better than the normal items found and sold in the shops. Sometimes they are used to buy power ups, or fashion items to make your character look good. There is a catch about having a cash shop! You can only buy things from the cash shop by using real money! The way most cash shop works is to use a credit card or a pre-paid card. If you use a credit card you charge Nexon cash or NX. Pre-paid cards are usually used if you don’t have a credit card. It works the same way as the credit cards.
If you don’t get it, it’s like going to the arcade. So the games only accept tokens. You exchange your money into a token for you to use the game. Getting cash or NX in Maple Story is like that. Each dollar will give you 1k NX or 1,000 NX. A $10 pre-paid Nexon card will give you 10k NX. Anthony says, “ Though I really think some CS items are overpriced and unnecessary.” Maybe some things in the CS are good and worth the money. Meaning that the demand is high and the price went up.
Also, there are advertisements. Sometimes a game company has extra money or a budget. Sometimes they use it for advertisements. They ask other websites to carry their advertisements. Sometimes there is a TV ad. But they would need a lot of money to do that. And knowing that many people will see it they will try and check out the game and maybe get “addicted” to it. But sometimes you need to spend money to make money.
In Game
What goes on when you start playing MS? First you need to create a character. With your character, you interact with other players from around the world. Sometimes you have to be careful of who you meet and talk to. When you create a character you choose a certain type. There are three; there are Cygnus Knights, Explorers, and Arans (new not much info). Each type of character has different background stories. completing quests, and obtaining game money. There are also several of NPC (non-player-characters) in game. NPC's are usually the one to give out missions/quests to your character. Each NPC have a unique look and theme that sometimes match where they are.
Do you expect a story when you play MS? It depends on the type of character(s) you choose. Explorers are free and they can explore without having any goals. Cygnus Knights and Arans have a story. Cygnus Knights are an elite group created to fend of the Black Mage and his followers. The Black Mage has cursed Arans a long time ago after sealing him. But the Black Mage cursed the Arans by freezing them in ice and taking away their memory. Both Cygnus Knights and Aran have limited freedom in game.
In the game you choose jobs. To get jobs you need to choose a Cygnus Knight or an Explorer/ Adventurer. If you choose an Aran your job will stay as an Aran. If you choose an Explorer you have the choice of choosing Magician, Bowman, Thief, Pirate, and Warrior. Once you choose a job, you can’t change it. When you choose a Magician, you will be a Wizard of Fire/Poison, Wizard of Ice/Lightning or a Cleric. If you choose a Bowman, you will be a Crossbowman or a Hunter. If you choose a Warrior, you will be a Spearman, Page, or a Fighter. If you choose a Pirate, there is Gunslinger and a Brawler. If you choose a Thief there is Bandit and Assassin.
The Cygnus Knights have a different job from Explorers but similar. You could be a Blaze Wizard, Thunder Breaker, wind Archer, Night Walker, and Dawn Warrior. Each class has its own element, which is useful in battle.
When you are in MS you encounter many monsters on your way. In the beginning, you first fight weak monsters like slimes or snails. As you go further in the game you will encounter greater and bigger monsters. In MS looks can kill you. Some monsters may look weak but they pack a punch! Maple Story has a huge variety of monsters, having over 100 monsters in game. Making it enjoyable yet challenging. Sometimes you need a party to kill a monster because it’s so powerful. Sometimes there are quests to kill powerful monsters.
Don't you feel like playing Maple Story now? Well I'm telling you to now try it out! Maple Story; find your inner hero. "Its your story." Click it, download it, play it! Enjoy!!
