General

This isn't so much about nostalgia or even socializing in game, but more on the lines of being more fair to older classes vs. the KoC's getting revamped and will NOT need ANY form of skill book or mastery book.
Most of the time in the FM everyone is afk so socializing is already bare there, yes i have chatted with a few store owners but that will not always be the case.
If they had it back to where you HAD to do a quest to even obtain the skill that involves other players, would increase chances of working together, socializing, and helping one another. But there are just SO many things just wrong with the current mastery system in itself.

@zacmur That's a personal issue, the game hasn't lost any social aspects. It's up to the players to do that themselves, Maplestory didn't take away the chat box, what's stopping you from joining a party, doing PQs, and talking to other players? You made that decision yourself when you decided that maplestory lost all social aspects so you stopped attempting to do anything besides leveling up.

Mastery books don't make people interact with one another, I have no idea where that bogus came from. Mastery books make people go into FM and browse shops to find their book and waste their mesos. It doesn't suddenly initiation someone to type or slow down a long rugged path. If people wanted to slow down and talk with other players, they'd do that, and there [i]are[/i] many people who do and mastery books have [i]nothing[/i] to do with it. That's like saying going into potion shops to buy potions increase maplestory's social aspects because it causes players to go to town and buy potions, thus slowing them down; that makes absolutely no sense. 5 years ago, the game wasn't social because of mastery books, the game was social because people wanted to be, and they still are. All you're doing is preaching how maple lost its social aspects when you're doing nothing to prove that it's gone other then leveling up.

And on top of that, @TheTot doesn't have to repeat the same argument because he's talking about immigration while I'm talking about mowing the lawn. The only argument he has against mastery books are his nostalgia and dedication. He has nothing new to contribute other than his 1 line posts attempting to stall and dodge the question.

The removal of mastery books just means that we won't have to deal with those MMBs and save us the time and money of browsing through free market and purchasing dozens of books that will fail. It won't speed things up, it won't slow things down. It'll just be more convenient. Why is nexon constantly putting those mastery books in those event shops? Because they're almost unobtainable, look at Jett mastery books, they're almost non existent, those poor Jetts.

@zacmur: I'm glad it isn't just me who felt like his last few posts were meant to be trolling posts.

@Amuro: Yeah, again, I don't want people reading my comments to think I'm like all for mastery books because I think they're epitome of good game design. That's not at all what I'm trying to convey here.

Furthermore, despite all I've said defending them as a feature, if they were completely removed for all classes, I would at least be in favour of it because then it'd be equally fair for all classes in that respect.

@TheTot Okay, fine, I'll give you dedication. But it isn't the type of dedication that any game should encourage. I almost entirely rely on events for special mastery books from coin shops because I refuse to drain my resources on anything that requires luck. It's the same reason I don't waste my time and money on the potential system. I've been casual since 2005, and I'd much prefer to spend my time talking to, helping, and training/PQing with friends and strangers when I am online.

I look back at all the years I've spent on my characters, and not once have I seen using skill and mastery books as a representation of the effort I put into them. I've always viewed skill and mastery books as those thorns in my side, preventing me from enjoying the game at my own pace.

[quote=TheTot]@rubiksmaster123: You realize that "10,000,000 > 1" is equally as true as "2 > 1"
More symbols do not make it "more" greater than.

@ExpiredMilk: What question did I dodge?

@Amuro: Again, I've never meant to be seeming to claim the system intact is perfect. Nor the way I would ultimately desire it to be. But do you mean to tell me that earning and then spending those mesos to get max skills is not a form of dedication aside from the time dedicated to simply gaining a level, as it would be without mastery books at all?[/quote]

2 > 1 means 2 is greater than 1.

2>>>>>1 means 2 is greater greater greater greater greater than 1.

Nexon actually did put effort in devaluating the price of most mastery books through the tempest shop and removing the monster drop method of acquiring books, focusing on fitting them into mmbs, I remember when the bstep 20 book was 200m, now its 5m. This could be precursor for their eventual removal.

I believe they should just scrap the mastery book system altogether. It's not fair for poor folks to have their skills capped for a book they can't afford. Having a chance to pass the book is also useless and serves no real meaning, it's not like a scroll where you can sell your enhanced weapon.

[quote=sukansbubu]I'd rather kill 10,000 monsters than buy a Maple Warrior 30. Its strange that somebody should reach 4th job only to be road blocked by a lack of mesos or unreasonable mastery book chances. Gaining on average 10~20% more damage for a skill doesnt warrant the gamble nature of mastery books. Especially that mastering your skills early in a jobs release period is reserved for the rich mostly. Typical Nexon catering to the spenders I guess.[/quote]

Not true with the Tempest events.
Getting all the mastery books (except Maple Warrior) on Luminous takes only a few days of grinding tempest coins and buying SMMBs from the tempest shop.
For Kaiser and Angelic Buster, they get max MW for free.

@rubiksmaster123: You realize that "10,000,000 > 1" is equally as true as "2 > 1"
More symbols do not make it "more" greater than.

@ExpiredMilk: What question did I dodge?

@Amuro: Again, I've never meant to be seeming to claim the system intact is perfect. Nor the way I would ultimately desire it to be. But do you mean to tell me that earning and then spending those mesos to get max skills is not a form of dedication aside from the time dedicated to simply gaining a level, as it would be without mastery books at all?

[quote=Breezepoint]In the old times, you had to go hunt certain monsters for certain books. NOT flinging around four leaf clovers and praying for MW30 from a grey book with a question mark on it.[/quote]

I know, but we're talking about how mastery books work [i]now[/i], not how they worked in the past. So I don't understand the purpose of your reply other than "Hey look at me I'm a veteran and this is a good time to show that".

@TheTot Dodging the question again, huh? Just don't reply if you don't have anything relating to the topic since you like talking about everything else but why mastery books are good/bad.

[quote=TheTot]Mastery books have become a staple of the Maple game experience. It represents putting actual effort and determination into a character you care about.

The fact that they continually bring in new features that give classes an absurd edge over others classes has me dumbfounded. This game is among the most unbalanced games I've ever seen in my entire life. That said, I've been playing since '06. So I'm no longer surprised, frankly. KoCs will have no Mastery Books and that will be stupidly unfair, and then the next patch after that will make another class unfair, and then etc, and then etc.

All the while, I'll be playing my '06 Bowmaster, still not level 200, and enjoying the game at my own pace with my friends.[/quote]

no mastery books > quests to get mastery books >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> current mastery book system

I've been waiting for them to replace the skill+mastery book system with relatively simple quests for years.

@TheTot What effort? What determination? Two or three years ago, I remember a topic on the NL section of basil where some poor souls spent hundreds of millions to billions on a 30 book (I think it was TT30 - I can't really remember). It was one of the most expensive mastery books out there and one guy failed almost two dozen of them. I like playing at my own pace as much as any other casual, but I do not want to spend hours of my time searching FM for books and praying I get lucky.

[quote=taotapp]Damn straight! Agreed with everything except "it [mastery books] represents putting actual effort and determination into a character you care about," since these days mastery books come down to buying them in the FM and crossing your fingers.

I'm in favor of a quest system replacing the books. To master maple warrior, for example, you have to go through a long quest that truly tests one's endurance. Nothing like that peridot nonsense, but something like the Alcaster quest. A long, meaty quest full of witty dialogue and an interesting storyline, culminating in a boss battle and ending with an advanced Maple Warrior skill. And you could talk to your job instructor to do the quests for any of the skills, whenever you saw fit, allowing for full customization options. THAT would show effort and determination; not the current system, which only shows how much money one possesses, or in most cases, how much NX one spends to gain all that money in the first place.

I mean, goddamn, MW 30 is over half a bil, and that's just for a CHANCE at passing it -- the whole system is absurd.[/quote]

[i]half[/i] a bil cuz it only work [i]half[/i] the time

Yes they should.

It'd be more fair if they actually dropped from certain monsters but noooo, they only come from MMB's and bosses

KoC were always a easy class

should they remove job advancement quest i mean evans automatically job advance so other classes needing to do a quest for more skills is pointless
i spent like -200m mesos on my evan to get maple warrior 20/30 -200m due to the fact i profited from it and didnt spend one meso
(mw20 red dragon turtle back when books droped, mw30 from MMB had 10 of them made 200m and passed mw30 1st try)

but yah every class has its own uniqueness in some way or form why take that away?

So far a tedious amount of hunting a certain monster or doing a skill quest line seems like the most sensible way to fix the current system. Or even something like the tempest shop every few months for a couple weeks would be heavily beneficial, but with merchs controlling prices of books it just gives "unfunded" or people that aren't great at making money another setback in order to keep training a character they enjoy playing.
Any maybe do something seperate for MW/NW, it is complete BS how you can get NW 30 for 83 coins but not MW-it's the same thing >.< and NW should be treated EXACTLY like MW is. i do like the idea that you could buy a 100% mw in cs for NX but at the same time i don't for people who don't buy NX.

@ExpiredMilk: I really hope you were being sarcastic there.

Yes, mastery book system is sh()tty crap.

I wouldn't mind if they kept the (Maple/Nova) Warrior books since they are, well, Maple/Nova Warriors. Other than that, it's really frustrating having to find the actual book from FM or through MMBs, spend mesos, and pray to whatever it is you believe in that the book works or you'll have to go through this annoying process again, and again until you pass it.

[quote=TheTot]Because I disagree with you, I'm nostalgic and everything I said is pushed aside. I've made my case for them and I'm not going to retype the same arguments five times.[/quote]

You said not to call you nostalgic and now you said you're nostalgic. You're not very consistent.

'Oh hey, I just got my last book!' It took me various hundreds of millions of meso, but- 'UNSCHEDULED MAINTENANCE, WE'RE RIPPING OFF BOOKS. THANKS FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.'

....FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-!

Just blew 2 70%s and 1 50% MBs. Not a good day.

Because I disagree with you, I'm nostalgic and everything I said is pushed aside. I've made my case for them and I'm not going to retype the same arguments five times.

@thetot
Uh..... Bro? Hello? Mastery book and dedication? If you fail your MW20/30 you'd have to either be rich in game or spend money on NX to buy a new one, and I call that a waste of money, not "dedication". MW20/30 is the reason why Mastery Book is so irritating. So there comes a time when a person will be too frustrated by spending 400mil on a book just to watch it glow and nothing happen, they will quit and stop buying it. By the way, how do you read a book and fail to understand it? They should just be remove.

[quote=TheTot]@taotapp: I never meant to imply that the system was perfect. But using mesos that could otherwise been spent on other things in order to advance the skills of your character is an investment. If you have eight characters, but only have enough for the mastery books for one, you're going to take one of your characters much more seriously than the other seven, won't you?

@ExpiredMilk: I've said a millions time that without them this game would be even more one-dimensional. Me wanting more than one dimension to my video games =/= me telling other people they need to play the game that way. I'm not telling anyone what they should or should not be doing with their time on Maple. Also, I enjoy the vast majority of all the changes to Maple over the years - that's why I'm still playing. Please stop calling my nostalgic when if given the actual choice to go back four or five years, I'd steadfastly turn it down.[/quote]

Again. You buy mastery books from FM. Making people not buy mastery books from FM won't make the game one dimensional, the other dozens of things they are making now will. And your post [i]are[/i] nostalgic episodes, we're talking about something the size of a rock and you go off spouting your nostalgic series into three unnecessary jargon paragraphs riding a truck down south from the up north. We can talk about mowing the lawn and you'll go into an episode of traditional values and immigration.

The best situation would be every class needs skill books. They should be tradeable and automatically at level 30 when used. Mastery books should be completely removed, and there should be "mystery skill books." This way, it makes you feel better to find a skill for yourself.

Skillbooks should be removed/ or get a drop rate buff/ do not require a PSOK/ increase accessbiliity to player, tbh i'd much rather doing a quest for the skill book than surf fm looking for a book over 100mil which i can't even afford.
I don't mind mastery books if they weren't so hard to get/ expensive/ time consuming since they removed book drops from monsters and replaced them with ludacrously rare MMBs which don't even have a chance to give you a book you want however you could sell them to get the book you need.
OT: And is it me but are people forgetting that KoCs were meant for beginners? KoCs not requiring books is useful to total newbies since being new they wont be able to merch for their books they need. Nexon porbably wants more begginers to level w/o their books and then using the KoC they leveled to boss for money which they can use to make an explorer/other class etc.
tl;dr- Don't flame the KoCs revamp, they were meant for begginers to get a grasp on maplestory, level to higher levels to boss for money, usse the money to buy better gear and fund another charcacter, Skill books should remove PSOK requirement (already in KMS acorrding to orange mushroom), Increase drop rates/acessibility. Use your leveled KoC to buy books for other classes from the items you get from bossing (with friends/duo/party) (Since KoCs do not need money to buy books they can focus on buying better equips for themselves than books) , or remove stupid MMB so you can grind for your book, increase dorp rates so merching them won't be so expensive and increase the accesbility to books for everyone (if they don't plan on removing the whole concept )

I don't know, I mean, most of the lower tier bosses are already unprofitable, the only thing keeping them from giving some sort of income is the fact that they drop MMBs.

@RenegAIDS I just looked in the cash shop and found nothing on synergizers.

besides mw i dont see a reason to get rid of books. now a days i rarely see books over 50mill where as most are under 20mill per. its really not alot of money to buy them so i never understood why people thought it was so dumb.

To my opinion they should just balance the mastery/skill book system, I don't care if it's more complicated or easier [b]as long as it is the same for everyone[/b]

Like if some classes need skill books, all other classes should need at least 1 or 2 at most OR remove them and just give them their skills after advancing

For mastery books, same thing as above, especially with new KoC jobs, plus they could just make MW/NW and skills that are basicly the same thing for 2+ jobs as 1 book, like with AFA (which leaves aran out, but still, and why don't they make Jett-Corsair books the same, like RF and Jolly Roger) OR again, just remove them.

@taotapp: I never meant to imply that the system was perfect. But using mesos that could otherwise been spent on other things in order to advance the skills of your character is an investment. If you have eight characters, but only have enough for the mastery books for one, you're going to take one of your characters much more seriously than the other seven, won't you?

@ExpiredMilk: I've said a millions time that without them this game would be even more one-dimensional. Me wanting more than one dimension to my video games =/= me telling other people they need to play the game that way. I'm not telling anyone what they should or should not be doing with their time on Maple. Also, I enjoy the vast majority of all the changes to Maple over the years - that's why I'm still playing. Please stop calling my nostalgic when if given the actual choice to go back four or five years, I'd steadfastly turn it down.

[quote=TheTot][url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfYJsQAhl0]Wrong.[/url] You're still putting words in my mouth, and I don't appreciate it. I'm not telling anyone how to play the game. How you even got that out of my posts baffles me.[/quote]

"Mastery Books represent one of the last features of the game that encourages people to pursue other activities in the game. Whether it's specifically hunting for the actual book you need or a MMB, or just pursuing other activities to make money in order to afford the books you need, they both still represent an effort and a level of dedication that this game would be [even] worse off without."

Your argument to why we shouldn't remove mastery books is because you want people to hunt or buy them for them as some sort of "dedication" rule. You have yet to provide any reason to why mastery books are useful aside from your nostalgia episodes which are your own personal bias.

[quote=TheTot]Mastery books have become a staple of the Maple game experience. It represents putting actual effort and determination into a character you care about.

The fact that they continually bring in new features that give classes an absurd edge over others classes has me dumbfounded. This game is among the most unbalanced games I've ever seen in my entire life. That said, I've been playing since '06. So I'm no longer surprised, frankly. KoCs will have no Mastery Books and that will be stupidly unfair, and then the next patch after that will make another class unfair, and then etc, and then etc.

All the while, I'll be playing my '06 Bowmaster, still not level 200, and enjoying the game at my own pace with my friends.[/quote]

Damn straight! Agreed with everything except "it [mastery books] represents putting actual effort and determination into a character you care about," since these days mastery books come down to buying them in the FM and crossing your fingers.

I'm in favor of a quest system replacing the books. To master maple warrior, for example, you have to go through a long quest that truly tests one's endurance. Nothing like that peridot nonsense, but something like the Alcaster quest. A long, meaty quest full of witty dialogue and an interesting storyline, culminating in a boss battle and ending with an advanced Maple Warrior skill. And you could talk to your job instructor to do the quests for any of the skills, whenever you saw fit, allowing for full customization options. THAT would show effort and determination; not the current system, which only shows how much money one possesses, or in most cases, how much NX one spends to gain all that money in the first place.

I mean, goddamn, MW 30 is over half a bil, and that's just for a CHANCE at passing it -- the whole system is absurd.

[quote=Rimkii]I would be perfectly happy if they made it as a series of quests to obtain the skill, then once a skill hits lvl 10,20, or 30, another quest will be given to unlock it to advance it (you may save your SP for when you have unlocked the skill you want). Maybe have it like the rest of the skill books like you would get at bosses but make it untradeable (not SoKable),OR make it like how it used to be by certain monsters dropping it heck i'd even be happy to do THAT again.[/quote]

I like the quest idea, it kind of reminds me of Ragnarok Online, when you have to do quests to obtain certain skills. And the quests weren't LOLHARD or super easy.

I recon remove all skill books apart from mw 20 & 30 and lv 10 skill books, annoying as getting books for me

[quote=ExpiredMilk]Here's what's wrong. We're talking about the removal of mastery books, and you go spouting out a bunch of dedication nonsense when buying books are simply buying books. You're complicated this more than you should have. What makes you think you have the right to tell players how they should play the game. If they enjoy grinding, let them. If players don't like grinding and would rather party quest or hang out with friends then let them do that. It's up to the player to decide how they want to play the game and how they want to spend their time online, nothing socially changed about maple, it's how you perceive it. You're taking your personal issues as a veteran and trying to make everyone else play the game how you play, and the truth of the matter is, mastery and skill books are a nuisance, they were then, and they still are now.[/quote]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfYJsQAhl0]Wrong.[/url] You're still putting words in my mouth, and I don't appreciate it. I'm not telling anyone how to play the game. How you even got that out of my posts baffles me.

I would be perfectly happy if they made it as a series of quests to obtain the skill, then once a skill hits lvl 10,20, or 30, another quest will be given to unlock it to advance it (you may save your SP for when you have unlocked the skill you want). Maybe have it like the rest of the skill books like you would get at bosses but make it untradeable (not SoKable),OR make it like how it used to be by certain monsters dropping it heck i'd even be happy to do THAT again.

[quote=TheTot]Please don't put words in my mouth, unless you simply misconstrued them. For one, I never [i]encouraged[/i] buying owls. I said that, as the other poster suggested, if you're buying an owl simply to find the book in the FM you're looking for, you're investing that NX or real life money that could have been spent otherwise. That's a lot of mesos that could potentially be made even just from the cost of an owl - I have a hard time believing that any [i]typical[/i] Mapler would do this for each of their characters.

Secondly, I never [i]discouraged[/i] 2x exp events. All I said was that as they become increasingly frequent, or at least consistently, players are far more inclined to take full advantage of those time periods by doing practically nothing but training - and unless you're in a place like LKC, I'm betting it'd be solo, fighting for one of a few maps, and generally being a recluse. This does not promote, as I was trying to say, other activities. But I'm not at all telling people not take take advantage of them. And as for buying a 2x coupon, that is quite a different scenario. If I need to go into detail about how spending NX is an investment, I'm not sure what to say.

Lastly, I never meant to imply that spending time to level up wasn't itself an investment, which you seemed to think I meant to say. Quite the contrary, even though I tongue-in-cheek mocked people going from 0-100 inside of 24 hours these days, being willing to do that is certainly an effort. My point was only to say that this makes for a very, very one-dimensional game. Without Mastery Books, I am very hard-pressed to think of any way the game encourages players to pursue any activity outside of pure leveling until level 200 when you simply can't anymore. Their events have even been reduced to simple "hold this item for this length" affairs, which don't really require any effort as you could just minimize Maple as you wait.

I will say, actually, that some of the more recent quests additions have awarded rather decent experience compared to past ones, from what I've seen.[/quote]

Here's what's wrong. We're talking about the removal of mastery books, and you go spouting out a bunch of dedication nonsense when buying books are simply buying books. You're complicated this more than you should have. What makes you think you have the right to tell players how they should play the game. If they enjoy grinding, let them. If players don't like grinding and would rather party quest or hang out with friends then let them do that. It's up to the player to decide how they want to play the game and how they want to spend their time online, nothing socially changed about maple, it's how you perceive it. You're taking your personal issues as a veteran and trying to make everyone else play the game how you play, and the truth of the matter is, mastery and skill books are a nuisance, they were then, and they still are now.

feeling smug when mw20&30 only sets u back 70odd mil now in ems. Even more smug when u bought ur for 10mil each when they were cheaper and worked first time

Just the whole idea of opening a "Mystery" book is horrible.

Should've stayed at hunting for what you need.

[quote=ExpiredMilk]What a contradiction @TheTot , you're discouraging frequent 2x exp events yet you're encouraging the purchase of an owl when both fall under convenience of the player to save time. Money and time go hand in hand, if you're using nx to buy an owl or 2x exp cards, you're saving time. If you play on a 2x experience event, you're saving money. There's no difference.[/quote]

Please don't put words in my mouth, unless you simply misconstrued them. For one, I never [i]encouraged[/i] buying owls. I said that, as the other poster suggested, if you're buying an owl simply to find the book in the FM you're looking for, you're investing that NX or real life money that could have been spent otherwise. That's a lot of mesos that could potentially be made even just from the cost of an owl - I have a hard time believing that any [i]typical[/i] Mapler would do this for each of their characters.

Secondly, I never [i]discouraged[/i] 2x exp events. All I said was that as they become increasingly frequent, or at least consistently, players are far more inclined to take full advantage of those time periods by doing practically nothing but training - and unless you're in a place like LKC, I'm betting it'd be solo, fighting for one of a few maps, and generally being a recluse. This does not promote, as I was trying to say, other activities. But I'm not at all telling people not take take advantage of them. And as for buying a 2x coupon, that is quite a different scenario. If I need to go into detail about how spending NX is an investment, I'm not sure what to say.

Lastly, I never meant to imply that spending time to level up wasn't itself an investment, which you seemed to think I meant to say. Quite the contrary, even though I tongue-in-cheek mocked people going from 0-100 inside of 24 hours these days, being willing to do that is certainly an effort. My point was only to say that this makes for a very, very one-dimensional game. Without Mastery Books, I am very hard-pressed to think of any way the game encourages players to pursue any activity outside of pure leveling until level 200 when you simply can't anymore. Their events have even been reduced to simple "hold this item for this length" affairs, which don't really require any effort as you could just minimize Maple as you wait.

I will say, actually, that some of the more recent quests additions have awarded rather decent experience compared to past ones, from what I've seen.

Hunting for books when 4th job was released was incredibly fun.

In my opinion, books are a waste of time. The time to find a book, buy it, see it fail, and then repeat till it works is really irritating. However, being able to just get max skills is definitely not a good idea. Instead, there should definitely be quests, maybe something like peridots but easier, to obtain the max version of skills. Books were good when u could actually grind at a certain map for hte book you wanted. But that was ruined by botting for mw20s and what nots. And the mmbs were good with a chance to get rarer books (mw20/30) but now theres just so many books its nearly impossible to get it. Nexon should consider a way to remake the upgrading system.

On top of hat buying books for 10mil+ gets really hard on your mesos per fail, plus having to keep searching the FM endlessly for a book-and hoping to dear god it isn't overpriced it could be days or weeks before finding the book you need if you don't have and owl or smega. I mean seriously, HALF of the 20s are a nightmare to find!Especially for players that aren't great at making money.
Also:
Explorers-had to travel to job instructors to advance+kill manon and griffey
Resistance-had to travel to edelstein and rescue job instructor
Heroes-had to go back to job home and talk to someone to advance
Novas:click the freaking sidebar and TALK to advance.

Things have gotten too easy yes, for the NEW classes.

[quote=TheTot]In an era of Maple where people can take a character from first to fourth job on the same day, yes I mean buying books in the FM. Ignoring the fact that there are other ways to get mastery books, when classes are becoming more and more cookie-cutter, they're nearly the only thing separating people from all being essentially the same class. While a very funded person could easily purchase all the skillbooks, even MW20 and 30, that he or she will need and power a character to 200, this is not even close to the case of a typical Mapler. Regular players, and definitely new players, may be hesitant about creating new classes and powering them through to 200 knowing they may not be able to be all they can be until they have the financial means to ensure it - or puts the time and effort needed to find their books otherwise.

It's one of the last remaining features of this game that doesn't support pure, solo, repetitive grinding. Party Quest experience and rewards are so undeserving and inefficient that, with the glaring exception of perhaps two, they're entirely ignored, particularly as a means to gain experience. People only party in maps like LKC because of the bonus experience - you can bet your butt that without it, people wouldn't party there even a fraction as often. Frequent 2x experience events, or otherwise experience boosting events and items like the Pendant of the Spirit (always temporary... yet they always give it out like candy) or the previous 3!6!9! event, continually encourage people to grind without remorse.

Mastery Books represent one of the last features of the game that encourages people to pursue other activities in the game. Whether it's specifically hunting for the actual book you need or a MMB, or just pursuing other activities to make money in order to afford the books you need, they both still represent an effort and a level of dedication that this game would be [even] worse off without.[/quote]

Buying books in FM doesn't represent anything you make it out to be. It's just buying a book. You're exaggerating on this nostalgia and dedication shenanigens. Buying books hinders people from playing their class to their full potential, removing it makes it convenient for people to do stuff like bossing, training, quest lines, or party quests. It doesn't encourage hunting, making money, or anything. That's something that's already done on the side line, buying books is just a by product.

If you're going off on this "dedication" aspect, training your character is dedication itself.

EDIT: What a contradiction @TheTot , you're discouraging frequent 2x exp events yet you're encouraging the purchase of an owl when both fall under convenience of the player to save time. Money and time go hand in hand, if you're using nx to buy an owl or 2x exp cards, you're saving time. If you play on a 2x experience event, you're saving money. There's no difference.

They shouldn't take away mastery books because more ppl will QQ about maple getting too easy >.<

[quote=BurritoMan]@TheTot

->Buy NX
->Buy an owl
->Search book you need.
->Buy the book

I fail to see where the "dedication" is in this process.[/quote]

Buying NX is an investment. If you're doing it just to find your book, I would call this a form of dedication.

What if Cygnus Knights having no mastery books in 4th job is a sign that they will remove them for all other classes, and enforce new ones in 5th job?
In any case, I want skill books gone, NONE of the new classes have had to get skill books, so all skill books are doing is making life harder for the people playing old jobs.

[quote=ExpiredMilk]You mean buying books in the FM?[/quote]

In an era of Maple where people can take a character from first to fourth job on the same day, yes I mean buying books in the FM. Ignoring the fact that there are other ways to get mastery books, when classes are becoming more and more cookie-cutter, they're nearly the only thing separating people from all being essentially the same class. While a very funded person could easily purchase all the skillbooks, even MW20 and 30, that he or she will need and power a character to 200, this is not even close to the case of a typical Mapler. Regular players, and definitely new players, may be hesitant about creating new classes and powering them through to 200 knowing they may not be able to be all they can be until they have the financial means to ensure it - or puts the time and effort needed to find their books otherwise.

It's one of the last remaining features of this game that doesn't support pure, solo, repetitive grinding. Party Quest experience and rewards are so undeserving and inefficient that, with the glaring exception of perhaps two, they're entirely ignored, particularly as a means to gain experience. People only party in maps like LKC because of the bonus experience - you can bet your butt that without it, people wouldn't party there even a fraction as often. Frequent 2x experience events, or otherwise experience boosting events and items like the Pendant of the Spirit (always temporary... yet they always give it out like candy) or the previous 3!6!9! event, continually encourage people to grind without remorse.

Mastery Books represent one of the last features of the game that encourages people to pursue other activities in the game. Whether it's specifically hunting for the actual book you need or a MMB, or just pursuing other activities to make money in order to afford the books you need, they both still represent an effort and a level of dedication that this game would be [even] worse off without.

[quote=TheTot]Mastery books have become a staple of the Maple game experience. It represents putting [b]actual effort and determination[/b] into a character you care about.
.[/quote]

You mean buying books in the FM?

[quote=BurritoMan]Yes, they should.

I believe they will eventually. It could be a long time, though.[/quote]

I hope they will remove them soon, plus buying so many to only fail is really frustrating then to look for it again and having it being overpriced is horrible (my ds has failed 6 demon impact 30, and 4 demon cry 20s-ragequit it). but maybe do something special for maple warrior