I apologize for the time it took me to post another entry. Many things have come up in the past several weeks that desperately needed my attention. I decided to take the commentary a step further. First I discuss the worst MMO I have ever played in the paragraphs below. Part two of this entry will be on the best MMO I have ever played. Keep in mind that when I say MMO I mean free MMORPG (I tend to specialize in those since I have no money–really, no money). Below is a detail of my time with Maple Story, like I promised in my last entry.
The gameplay in Maple Story was occasionally fun and interesting, but had some downsides as well. The first thing you will learn about the game is that it is a 2D platforming MMORPG. Overall the platforming made travel by walking a little more difficult and time consuming (as you could fall and would have to start all over from the beginning of the map.) It made finding new areas difficult as not all exits were highlighted by a light blue glow. Some places were more discrete such as doors (some led to places and others were just decorative.)
The second thing to take note of is the surprisingly good and simple class system in Maple Story. This was one of the few reasons I played for as long as I did (about a month). Everyone starts out as a vagrant (or whatever it was called); from there you can chose to become a mage, fighter, rogue, or archer. From there each class splits again and then the next class change is more of a further specialization for each of the 8 advanced classes. The skill and stats systems were typical of most free MMOs but still pretty fun. Each class appeared to have helpful skills (though some were better than others). I personally was a mage; then, I became a cleric. I didn’t get past level 40 though.
Grinding in Maple Story became complicated after leaving the novice area. It’s after you get your first class change that you first struggle to find a good ’spot’ in which to level. You could usually spot the popular areas pretty quickly by the incredibly fast spawn rate. In some places there would be 10 or more people (usually many parties as well as individuals) vying for relatively small pieces of land. As often as not you would have to share your ’spot’ with another player and kill stealing or ksing became a common occurrence. If you did manage to get a spot to yourself, someone could easily come in and claim it as there own–that they ‘went back to get more potions.’ It was not better going to a place where there was no one as the spawn rate would be so low that even after clearing out the whole area, creatures would come back relatively slowly. It was even harder to find the right monster for your class and level, you usually had to ask. Grinding became an art form and a matter of ‘negotiation.’
Fourthly, questing in Maple Story was also an issue for many reasons. First off were the platforming quests. It was easy jumping from platform to platform at first, but got progressively harder. When you missed a jump, the progress you lost was often major. It was back to the days of Mario Brothers, but much, much, much less entertaining. Quest availability was determined by level, and you found your quest log filling up faster than you could complete them. You were often never told where to get these quests, only who to get them from. It became very difficult to track such a great number of quests. Often the rewards were not even worth it. For killing 99 of a monster you could get 50 good quality potions, and for killing 999 of the same monster you would get 30 potions of less quality than the first set. There was one quest in particular that really bugged me, and I will get to that after talking about travel.
Travel was a major monetary issue in Maple Story if you refused to dish out real money for perks. In game gold was hard to come by if you didn’t regularly sell decent items on the player market. Teleportation scrolls were fairly expensive and quests had you traveling between the five major towns regularly. Walking was doable only if you had the patients for platforming your way along the main ring of roads. The worst part of travel was between the main island and other continents. You had to wait up to 15 minutes for a boat to arrive that would take you to the next area and that ride itself could last 5 minutes. It was worse if you needed to travel two continents away; that could be up to a wait of 40 minutes in all. It gets even better when you must complete a certain quest on one of these voyages. The quest item you need to complete the quest (actually only one of three) is dropped by a boss that you encounter during the voyage from the main continent to the next one. There is only a chance that he will appear. Even then, you would need a party to deal with him as your level is so low when you get the quest that it is best to stay out of the battle altogether. Needless to say, I didn’t even bother with this one and stayed inside, away from the flying demon.
Lastly, there is the market system in Maple Story. Even though shops are regulated to one giant market area, it’s just chaotic as any other individual vendor market. There are many rooms to explore, but you still have to wade through overpriced goods looking for the one thing that you need (often a quest item, as some are just a pain to get). The biggest nuisances are all the people hawking their wears. Everyone is inputting their text so fast that you can’t even read the messages in the chat box. Therefore, since everyone has speech bubbles, it becomes more of a matter of whose bubble takes up most of the screen. The typical message would be something like, “WTS [insert item here], best offer, whisper [person's name]!!!!!!1@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.” I like to call it the atat syndrome.
The ‘best’ part about Maple Story is its memorable community. It all began back in my newbie days when I first left the ship from newbie island. I spend a few minutes exploring the port and meeting all the NPCs there. I catch a fellow walking by, and the first thing to escape his lips is, “i want to lick ur boobs” (punctuation is intact). I had hoped that this would be the last I would have to hear of such inanities. I was very wrong; it was only the beginning. So, here are my memoirs from those times. Some are mere examples of what go on in this place called Maple Story, and others are the real deal.
Maple Story has a faming system where most games would have a reputation status. Fame was sometimes gained for doing quests (very rare), but the majority of your ‘fame’ came from other players. You could fame (or defame) one person of your choosing each day. There were minor benefits to having fame, but that is something else altogether. Fame possessed the citizens of Maple Story to act in ways that under normal circumstances they would never do (at least I would hopes so). One of my favorites was people randomly defaming you ‘just because they could.’ Another was offering 5,000 gold for each fame point given. And then there were those ‘innocents’ that would say, “OMG, someone famed me! [Imma rock star now!]” Er, that last part was my own take. Anyhow, moving on….
Hacking in Maple Story was supposed to be prevented through a state of the art hacking prevention program that took just as long to load as the game itself. Then, I heard about the ‘third wave of hacking’ and realized that the hacking software meant nil. Hacking was more of an annoyance and an inconvenient than a real threat. But every now and then you would see one person in a corner of the map and no enemies would be in the area. Then one would spawn and immediately fly away…to that corner. Usually I would switch channels if I wanted to grind in that area, otherwise I would just be passing through. The problem was this: those flying monsters became projectiles that could hurt you and potentially kill you (especially if you were a low level mage). But I digress. The real stupidity were those that would accuse you of hacking if you were either of a high level (like level 40) or if it appeared that you were never hurt (or just that good at playing). Some would even threaten to report you. I was never worried, but it becomes impossible to tolerate so many levels of stupidity at once.
It gets better after you have braved all these fellow citizens of Maple Story. There are also the people who can’t talk, beg, or try to scam you. What I mean by people who can’t talk are those whose understanding of the English language is so limited that they speak in one word sentences. I have the perfect story for this. A player came up to me saying only the word ‘friend.’ It must have been at least three times before I decided to add her (hoping she would leave me alone). Next she asks, “party.” Note the lack of capitalization and question mark. I must be psychic to understand these people. I shrugged and say to myself, “Why not?” Then she says, “follow.” I can’t remember what happened after that, for I must have hit my head on the wall a few times. People who talk in this manner also often beg. It can be for items, potions, or money. You name it, they would probably ask for it. The more ‘creative’ beggars will often strip down to nothing and ask you to follow them to an undisclosed location. These people are the scammers that think they have it all figured out. They will ask you to drop up to five items ‘of high value’ just so he can ‘check them out.’ I should be able to ‘trust him.’ I mean, after all he’s naked and would never steal them, wink-wink. (Note: I imagine that they are naked to get you to think that have absolutely nothing, and that you would give them stuff out of the kindness of your heart. Or they are just immature.)
There are other common occurrences in Maple Story in regard to conversation. There are the awkward conversations that you find all over Maple Story. Such as a Spanish speaking person trying to talk to a French speaking person. Or 13, 26, and 60 year olds having a conversation with each other. There are also people that will randomly come up to you and call you ‘hot’ (if you have a female avatar). Though, I find it odd that a big headed freak with limited customizability could be considered that. Since there is a marriage system in Maple Story (I am told) this same person may also ask you to be his girlfriend. I’m sure it can work the other way too. They often do this without knowing anything about you! It is just so absurd I think I split my side laughing as these poor players. Ultimately, it is the player base that kills this game.
What sets Maple Story apart from other games is its 2D platforming nature and its horrid player base. This is a double whammy for some people, and I would recommend that if you know what’s good for you, you will stay away. Though I am sure my words will invite the morbidly curious to experience it for themselves to see if what I say is truly valid. I doubt anyone will have the same experiences that I had, but I can safely say your own will be… memorable.
Random Encounters: MMO Players (Part One)
What follows is a list of creatures you may or may not encounter if you ever play Maple Story and other such MMOs. They are the ‘bread and butter’ of evil MMO players.
NAME: Whiners
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Ignore or spend all your patience to help them.
EXPERIENCE: You can vastly increase your patience skill from helping them.
WEAKNESS: Attention
ABILITIES: Whine, Complain, and Cry
ITEMS DROPPED: Essence of Tear Drop
DESCRIPTION: Whiners are a special breed of beggar that often complains about no one thing. They have questions that ask nothing specific at all. They crave attention, but it can also be their downfall as they are not use to getting it. You can choose to ignore them, but, chances are, you won’t get a thing from doing so accept maybe some peace and quiet.
NAME: Beggars
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Ignore or give them what they want.
EXPERIENCE: You gain nothing from helping them save empty pockets.
WEAKNESS: Spare change (only temporarily stuns them).
ABILITIES: Beg, Whine, and Complain.
ITEMS DROPPED: Alms Cup
DESCRIPTION: It is not so much that there are many types of beggars, there are simply degrees. Some only know how to beg, whereas others have also learned to whine and complain. With these more advance skills, it is easier for them to get attention. It is best if you level up your ignore skill before approaching one (or let the wax build up in your ears). There are very limited ways in which to deal with them as giving them things only encourages them. If you are unfortunate enough to give in to one, you may find yourself with a new ‘friend.’ Now he or she can contact you remotely!
NAME: Leecher
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Kick from party.
EXPERIENCE: The joy of normal experience gain.
WEAKNESS: AFK
ABILITIES: AFK, Rest, Excuse, and Stall.
ITEMS DROPPED: Scroll of Experience Rate Normalcy
DESCRIPTION: Leechers are party members that do absolutely nothing. Well, they do watch you work hard, beating enemies senseless. Thus, they leech a percentage of your experience, your hard work. They will do anything to stay in your party. They will pretend to be busy, and assure you they will get back to fighting. They stall, make excuses, or say they need to rest. Often, they will be afk–that’s your chance to strike and kick their sorry rears out of your party.
NAME: Ksers (Kill Stealers)
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Pre-empt or get even (become a kser yourself).
EXPERIENCE: Competitive spirit.
WEAKNESS: A taste of their own medicine.
ABILITIES: KS and Complain
ITEMS DROPPED: Consolation Prize (because you’re now a kser too).
DESCRIPTION: Ksers are the bane to basic combat. They come in claiming your spot as their territory and they proceeded to take your kills as there is only enough room for one to hunt there. Leaving is not an option (at least for me). Therefore, you can either finish the kill before they catch up, or begin taking out their marked creatures. Either way, you will end up enriching your competitive spirit. Just be warned if you choose the latter path. You will become a kser yourself. The road is filled with its own dilemmas. Choose wisely (or be a chicken and give them your awesome hunting spot).
NAME: Looter
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Fast reflexes or auto pickup.
EXPERIENCE: A possible agility or dexterity increase.
WEAKNESS: Lack of treasure.
ABILITIES: 5 Finger Discount
ITEMS DROPPED: None
DESCRIPTION: Looters are more bold versions of their kleptomaniac scavenger counterparts. Rather than going after abandoned loot, they target more resent drops instead, hoping for something good. They become stalkers and don’t give up even when it’s apparent that you pick up your stuff long before it becomes available to anyone. They still pathetically try to pick up stuff they cannot (beware of mistaking bots for simple looters!). Sadly, there is little that can be gained from these sorry creatures, and even less that can be done about them.
NAME: Agroers
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Their own demise.
EXPERIENCE: A good laugh with a small chance of party defeat.
WEAKNESS: Pretty Monsters.
ABILITIES: Mass Lure
ITEMS DROPPED: Essence of False Bravery
DESCRIPTION: Agroers should be labeled and ostracized–for their own safety of course. They have absolutely no sense of self preservation and often lead unsuspecting parties to their doom. They are also known as agro retards (often warriors) that run about agroing everything in their path. Then, the agroer usually brings this wave of monsters right back at the party, thinking you will save them. This is where you do absolutely nothing. Set back, get out some popcorn, and enjoy. Warning: When going into a dangerous situation with a party, make sure that everyone is ready or you may be mistaken for an agroer.
NAME: Farmer
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Gaming update.
EXPERIENCE: You notice the prices going up.
WEAKNESS: Game balancing.
ABILITIES: Farm, Farm, and More Farm with a side of Botting.
ITEMS DROPPED: None.
DESCRIPTION: Farmers are creatures that affect your gaming experience indirectly. They often take advantage of glitches or good drop rate, ever in search of easy gold, items, and experience. These people are usually the first to exploit and glitch. If you have ever played an online game you know this is a very bad idea. It is often hard to tell who is a farmer, and who is not. Ultimately, it is up to the developer to take care of this type of creature. In this sort of situation, nobody wins. When the game is ‘balanced’ to prevent farming, it becomes harder for legit players to get certain things.
NAME: Griefers
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Ignore
EXPERIENCE: The urge to put them out of their misery.
WEAKNESS: A good PvP system.
ABILITIES: Grief, Whine, and Complain
ITEMS DROPPED: None.
DESCRIPTION: Griefers are a type of pker. This type specializes in–you guessed it!–griefing. This often happens after a defeat at the hands of a fellow pker. Rather than directly blaming the one who killed them (which sometimes they do), they blame the system or various game features instead. They will use anything as an excuse in order to hide the truth. Griefers often have no one but themselves to blame for their utter lack of mad skills.
NAME: Campers
DEFEAT/DISABLE: Relocate or bring friends.
EXPERIENCE: Revenge is so very, very sweet.
WEAKNESS: Lack of fresh meat.
ABILITIES: Camp, Bully and One Shot; One Kill.
ITEMS DROPPED: Essence of Self-Esteem Boost
DESCRIPTION: Campers are another kind of pker. They often lay in wait in various low level hunting grounds waiting for the ideal target that they can take out in one kill. Campers will hardly ever be anywhere near the level of the person they target. The good news is that they are easy enough to avoid by moving to another hunting ground. If one is attacking you, it’s easy enough to run away as a camper will seldom follow. Feel free to come back with some friends and exact your revenge–or prevent future attacks.
