General

Maplestory: consumerism and affluenza

Y'know, it's kinda funny. We were discussing consumerism and affluenza in one of my college classes (my ethics class, which, to be frank, might as well translate into a philosophy class...) a few weeks ago... and then I come into [url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/1755491/0/LOL__everyone_who_thought_dexless_couldnt_work.html#]this topic[/url], read it for a bit. The comments are generally pretty generic in these types of topics, though it's fun to watch people go at it... so then get ready to close my tab for the site (as per the usual forum lurking routine).

Then, upon rereading a few messages on the later pages, it hit me. This game (and almost all F2P MMORPGs) reek of consumerism and affluenza so hard that it's kind of scary that I was blind to something so obvious so long. I thought it was all philosophy that made sense, but wasn't really present in my daily activities... then I got a bit of a shock after coming here.

Everyone wants to get a better item than the guy next to them. Everyone wants to look more unique... etc.

Material goods are the key!

Invest more time -> achieve more material goods (well, electronic goods, technically).

By common principles of economics any time investment comes at an opportunity cost. So one way or another these games teach (or rather, work upon the principle, since it's already instilled in our society) you that the purchase of material goods is better and the right way of things.

Since this comes linked with NX purchases (generally), you're practically like a hard worker at NX that works a long shift and then turns whatever you get out of that into something you can purchase in the game. At some level, this makes you feel better, and is probably an (electronic) extension of social insecurities that are mentioned by Stuart Ewen.

Oh boy, and does Nexon LOVE ambitious workers!

Geez, does this mimic how we're currently raised in our consumerism society! It's no wonder such a plan is so successful. Who hasn't heard of consuming as a way to make themselves feel better?

I could go on and on, but I'd prefer to make a point that maybe changes the way players play a bit (though needless to say someone has probably put this message out in one way or another already):
Summary: [b]don't worry about your damage or items too much.[/b] When you see people around you with crazy items that you could think you could probably never hope to attain... flip the situation the other way around. They invested, you didn't. It's a personal choice of opportunity cost, not something to flaunt...
Though naturally the current market economy and its obsession with material goods and social insecurities related to them will definitely tell you otherwise.

Basically, I would really start looking at this game as a matter of [i]what you need to [b]personally[/b] enjoy it[/i], rather than [i]what will make you better than the guy next to you[/i]. That's easier said than done, though. Personal enjoyment and enjoyment that comes from fulfilling a need that's dictated by social insecurities is pretty hard to distinguish. Some people are indoctrinated so badly that it's indistinguishable. It's even harder in MMORPGs because the numbers are right there in front of you! "This guy does 2k more than me!" It's apparent in every way, shape, and form.

For higher success rates, I'd suggest reading about what affluenza is a little bit, as well as reading up on consumerism; Huxley also has some of this mentioned in Brave New World. As de Graaf defines it:

affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.

Thinking about this a bit more, I kind of feel sorry for the younger community that's being exposed to this at such an early age. As if the media and corporations were already not doing a good enough job of infiltrating young heads.

Anyway, this kinda came up at the spur of the moment (I speed typed this all up as it popped into my head). Many of you probably won't read it, but I thought I'd put it out there. Any discussion is welcome. I realize this isn't valid for all MS players, and no, this isn't meant to diss anyone. It just kinda came to me in one moment. Upon reading this, it may seem obvious, but for some reason it never quite fully hit me until now. As a person that's played MMORPGs for a good while (like you folks, no doubt), it was interesting to think about.

Hope it's on the right forum, too.