General

It's all Up-Hill from here.

Maplestory has changed. I've been playing Maple Story for years now, in fact , I just missed closed beta and began playing when I was able to. This was in '05.
MapleStory was fun. It was fun because leveling was harder. There was no 2x card coupons and you'd spend more time in a certain map which gave a greater opportunity to meet new people. The communication is what always magnetized me to play the game. Relationships were able to be built and damage almost meant nothing to me. When the patch that introduced the guild system became present, a door opened, a new form of communicating, a new form of making friends became possible. It took me ages to get my first character to level 70, I became a Crusader. I remember the harsh conditions of 9~10% an hour. I remember when Maple Story's society has failed me, when someone that was beyond ignorant in the past, myself, gave away his character for a trade off. I met a guy in Maple Story that agreed to trade accounts. My 7x Crusader, for his 8x Hermit. I love mobility. I became a Crusader, let alone a warrior because I didn't know what I was doing, and well, I ended up in Perion. I advanced at level 11 and added ability points into HP. I've always wanted a thief class, so with the assistance of my blind ambition, I accepted his terms. He wanted me to give my information first which I gave willingly. I then realized what it felt to be mistreated. In an anger pursuit to get my account back, I filed an inquiry to Wizet and in one to two months, they gave me back my Crusader. But during the one to two months wait time, I made a new character, an assassin. I managed to get him to level 41, but I ended up going back to my Crusader after getting it back. When the time was still hard to train, I retired my Crusader which is now level 8x. I made a thief to clench the thirst for a Hermit. And so, a thief was made. And after a year of hard work, I got to level 100, and after a few months, I hit 120. I became a Night Lord. It later on got hacked after a few months. I then quit for several years and came back when KoCs came out. And so, Nandel0v3 was made. I hit 120 in a month. I was surprised of how quick I was able to accomplish it. At this time, there were 2x cards. I took advantage of it. At this point, I didn't bother partying or really looking for any friends. I'd just simply train. After hitting 120 on my Dawn Warrior, I didn't want to feel like ending my Story, my "Maple Story," so I made a Mage which later on became a Bishop. From level 1 to 14x in 2 months surprised me. After having spam Genesis to my content (I've never KS'D and sold leech for a total of maybe 2 hours), I wanted to remake that NL that got hacked. And so I did. From levels 1 to 15x only took 3 months. It surprised me truly. This was not the same game as before. When Dual Blader came out, I 'retired' my Night Lord and made one, within a month, I was level 14x. Again, pretty surprising. My old characters had almost capped buddies in my buddy list and they were active. At the time, I only had 5 or 6 friends in my buddy list and they weren't very active. Such a big change. After the Dual Blader, Wild Hunters came out and I managed to get to 13x in 3-4 weeks. I wasn't as surprised because at this point, Big bang has been planted, I ended up quitting and now I have a mechanic that's 14x. Training has become much more easier... As a Youtuber, I've watched countless Zakum run videos. I see a boss being attacked by many partied maplers. On my DB, I was able to solo the rock Beast, It was pretty disappointing, but accomplishing at the same time.
Overall, Maple Story is not Maple Story. It's a new game. But just because it's a new game, doesn't mean it has to be bad.
You make the game what you make it as. I'm not quitting or anything, I just felt like I needed to say this.
Damage is not everything, but on the contrary, so is making friends. Key thing is balance.