Multiplayer, NPCs, PVPs, extra points, adventure, guilds, right hand on the mouse, left fingers splayed out on the keyboard, eyes transfixed, hunching over the screen, pleasure centers in the brain firing, elation from acquired rewards, and bonus points…gamers paradise! The MapleStory game has had its fair share of me, I must say!
The multiplayer role-playing game MapleStory, since its inception back in 2003, had been a trending sensation in the world of 2D gaming, with several versions of the Korean game on PC and desktops available and fitting for different regions and countries across the globe.
Players are able to communicate with other gamers on the server in ways that allow chatting, and trading earned rewards.
Teams of players cluster in parties to hunt gargoyles, monsters and share spoils and can also form guilds to communicate easily with each other.
Up until a decade ago, it had been a free-to-play game. Still, as with other gaming ventures influenced by the modern-day Nexon, took a large part of the fun away by introducing the pay-to-win factor, which caused a steep downhill fall in the overall game rating, and a massive popularity decline as well.
As with every profit-driven company, new elements are introduced to whip up extra revenue for the company. Nexon, in this case, alongside Asiasoft and Gamania, publishers of the MapleStory multiplayer game, decided to increase said revenue by bringing into practice the pay to win, which definitely did not go down well with its active users.
Now then, is the revered MapleStory directly paid to win after all this time?
The truth is, the MapleStory game has now been sectioned into two different gameplay types, namely;
- The Normal server
- The Reboot server
Via the normal server, yes, the pay to win feature is active here, and any player can easily keep buying until they reach the top. If you have the greens, you’d be the king. Does kind of suck, yeah? However, then again, there’s the Reboot server that does not run on this wall street money rule for the decent, well-meaning gamers, as it were…Yes! We are gamers, but gamers with integrity and passion and empty pockets but gamers nonetheless!
There is also the option of playing MapleStory using the Reboot servers and reaching the end of the game like the paying players on the normal servers. Still, it can take a seemingly lasting time that might prove tedious, dull, and generally uninteresting down the line.
So, Is It Now a Pay-to-Win Game?
In answering the question of whether MapleStory is pay-to-win or not, it is necessary for you to define how both servers, that is the Reboot server, and normal servers differ from each other.
As of the last month (December) of 2015, MapleStory launched a completely new special server in addition to the Normal server called the Reboot server.
The Reboot server was designed out of unremitting clamor from the players agitating for a non-pay-to-win MapleStory experience, which is what the server provided.
On the Reboot server, monsters have more health points than usual, giving much more Exp. There are restrictions set as you can’t be involved in trading with other gamers, there’s the inability to scroll through inventories. Only star force improves them and gives them potential.
However, more significantly, on the Reboot server, all the NX items that give chances for you to improve your weapons and gears like miracle cubes are purchased using mesos in contrast to using Nexon cash as with the Normal server.
This, in conjunction with the fact that you are not allowed to trade with other gamers, prompts an entirely different progression in the gaming experience, where getting mesos from monsters is a crucial task.
Playing MapleStory on the Reboot server is, therefore, a non-pay-to-win mode. Consequently, you cannot pay to make your character better.
The reboot server also allows you to spend NX to purchase pets as well as other cosmetic items for your character.
Most Reboot server players have the option and choose to purchase a pet, which doesn’t cost much, lasting for 90 days, as it makes gameplay more pleasant.
It is, however, a chance of getting a pet in the game as a boss drop, but that occurs mostly later in the game, and it will take a while to get.
On Normal servers, which is the classic MapleStory experience, you have the freedom to buy as many different items in the game’s cash shop to upgrade your character, including miracle cubes.
This infers that if you play on the normal servers, the MapleStory game definitely is pay to win as you can use the money to amp up your character’s upgrade until you are good enough to take on the strongest bosses.
Can You Reach the End-Game Without Spending Any Money?
Of course, you can reach the end of the game in MapleStory without spending a dime on both the Normal server and the reboot server. Simple, don’t buy stuff. It’ll take a long time but saves money. It’s one or the other with this no spending option.
Ways MapleStory Has Become More Free-to-Play Friendly
MapleStory with newly added features allows non-paying users to earn things that were before now only given to paying users.
There are two things that have greatly influenced how non-paying players can have a good experience playing the game.
- The Auction house, which provides a search option for easy search and finds in the game
- The Meso market, allowing NX and Mesos trading easier to carry out.
This is, in summary, all you need to know on the MapleStory game with regards to its pay-to-win features.
