MapleStory’s New Generation

This is written by me, and was originally posted on MapleTip. I decided to post this here in hopes from hearing other points of view and opinions.

I quit MapleStory quite a while back. Couldn’t stand the drama (and the level envy, to be honest).

I decided to plop back in and see how Maple’s been doing since I left. And I couldn’t agree more with you guys, it’s sucking.

But, keeping an open mind like I prefer to do on things, I came up with a different point of view on this matter.

Nexon wants to attract kids to this game. Why? The mainstream US populace would call MapleStory at first glance a “kiddy game”, so the main gamer audience would probably just shun it and kick it aside, saying “Hell no way I’m playing this game, this is way too kiddy for me. Gimme sum Halo.” Knowing this, Nexon just focuses all their efforts into attracting the easiest audience they can snag: The children. Put two and two together, and you got yourself ants and sugar.

Since Nexon’s primary focus is on kids, they should make MapleStory as G rated as possible. To start: Disallow all opportunities for any given player to say any kind of bad word. I applaud Nexon for their wide vocabulary, banning racial slurs that most of us have never heard of. But with this kind of swear filter sensitivity comes with a bit of OCDness. “No no, you can’t say got it.” But you know what? Nexon doesn’t care. Why? Nexon’s aware of the “chat speak” fad that surrounds what we all call “noobs”. But hey, most of those “noobs” are the kids who want to be cool. So, in Nexon’s logic, “Let’s keep the swear filter sensitive. They’ll find some form of shorthand to replace it with.”

With that out of the way, I come to the Cash Shop.
When kids want something new, their impulse goes “Oooh, Mommy/Daddy! Can I have it? Pleeeease???” Kids have very short interest spans; when they tire out of a toy, they want something new ASAP. Same with MS, when the kids’ toys (the cash items) expire after whatever days, the kids come to their parents saying “I want to buy ___ again!!!” or “I want a new weapon!!!” It’s the typical childrens’ business ploy.
And, when people want something new, Nexon comes up with great ideas. On paper, anyway. Like that new megaphone in the corner thingy. Doesn’t it sound great on paper? Serious! But when it gets applied to the game, it’s a gamer’s nightmare. But hey, Nexon’s making money and the kids are happy with their new toys, that’s all that matters to them.

And what happens when someone quits? Well, probably 3 more interested kid gamers will probably fill in the hole. And with more members joining than there are quitting, that just means more potential NX Cash buyers. There’s no denying this game is spreading faster than a pandemic. Nexon is still a business, and for businesses, it’s profit first, customer service second.

15 thoughts on “MapleStory’s New Generation”

  1. True, but somehow, this report/essay here ain’t proving anything, since at the end of the text, the last sentence kills it.

    Nexon is still a business, and for businesses, it’s profit first, customer service second.

    Well that’s the whole point ain’t it? 99% of it talks about Nexon reaping in the cash, denying what normal players would call fair. But it seems that the person who wrote it agrees with the whole fact that profits more important for businesses. Of course it is.

    It’s very well written, lots of true stuff are in there, and he doesn’t seem to be complaining. (or she).

    And it is sucking, so that’s why I’m moving to cMS. gMS went downhill, ever since Nexon took over Wizet’s main course. Let’s face it, they come up with the WORST commercial ideas, they banished hackers then actually got SUED for BREAKING their OWN ToS. Apart from making money, how dumb can Nexon get? And now they’re getting massive complaints about screen shot errors and gameplay problems, it’s a wonder there’s customer service at all.

    I suppose a part of it IS generated by the community though. If everyone took the time to be a little more literate before playing, ugh, what am I saying, that’s impossible isn’t it? =p, folks, some things aren’t possible! >=O

  2. Gotta agree with Dark here. I nod at each point, but at the end, I kind of just shrug.

    And yeah, Nexon’s got lots of bugs to work out at the moment. There’s gonna be a server check tomorrow, so hopefully that’ll help.

    . . . Help, US, not the people with NX cash to burn, I mean.

  3. Well, yes I do agree with there being more advertising products placed to catch kids’ attention because I have experienced it.
    But you must also remember how kids get bored of something really fast, which you mentioned in your blog.
    Chances are that their parents will really think it’s stupid unless they’re spoiling the kid and also kids have no knowledge of motivation and determination therefore they quit right away.
    You can call it a generation but I expect this to actually backfire, more kids will get bored of the game since they are not actually the appropriate age to play the game and understand most of it and that will lead to less people playing when they are 13 or above. I mean once you determine something bores you there is only a slight chance you will come back to that activity.
    Plus, if this does work, Nexon’s really got to boost up it’s performance and bring us patches faster and make things more better to keep the audience.
    So, in a way it’s good but it actually really sucks!

    ~LaZzz. . .

  4. Looks like I forgot to mention, I’m the one who wrote this. Whoops ^^;

    Darkwar4ever said: “99% of it talks about Nexon reaping in the cash, denying what normal players would call fair. But it seems that the person who wrote it agrees with the whole fact that profits more important for businesses. Of course it is.

    It’s very well written, lots of true stuff are in there, and he doesn’t seem to be complaining. (or she).”

    This was because the big ring of my friends kept complaining about how much Maple is sucking, and “omg they can do better than this come on”. Well, I wrote this to try and show why Nexon does what it does, in my theory anyway.

  5. Kiyobi said: “Looks like I forgot to mention, I’m the one who wrote this. Whoops ^^;”

    It says it was written by you at the top. (also your MMO badge is hanging up there)

    Btw, welcome to MMOT– hey, wait a second you’re not new! D<

  6. I just edited it in right now.

    Lol, thanks for the “welcome”. This is my first (and probably only) blog since I quit months ago.

  7. LOL poor Kiyobi. (I like your SN btw, very very cute! ^^)

    But like, yeah. Maplestory also affects grades. I’ve actually found it to be a really widespread trend, yup.
    1. Start playing
    2. Get addicted
    3. Neglect schoolwork
    4. Result? Slumping grades. Sad but true.

    But yeah, what you said rings pretty true to me. :3

  8. yeah what the shinster said

    BE MY FRIEND PLESE! =D

    AND I LIKE UR IGN! IT ROX! LIKE PEBBLES!

    yeeeaaaaaahh

    ~Cheezy

  9. OH.

    Well, when I read it, it said: This was originally posted on Maple Tip, bla bla bla, o_o;

    So I didn’t know it was written by you. Credit goes to you then, however, I still think that you should go all out and explain WHY Nexon does it. :p

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