Why so negative?
I've been reading these MapleStory 2 threads for a while now, and I'm surprised to see such a plethora of negative reactions to the upcoming "sequel". Most of the arguments are based on plain nostalgia, or a generalisation of "everyone playing for the 2D side-scrolling". To a certain degree, I understand where some nay-sayers are coming from: I myself played in beta, and my favourite MMORPGs are 2.5D tops. But overall, I think a lot of you got a little too upset a little too soon. At this time, we don't have that much information regarding the new game. It seems to make sense that MS2 would stay true to its prequel in the aspects that [i]matter,[/i] those that truly make MS stand out from all the other anime MMORPGs out there. You know, the ones with auto-attack that you play for some 10 hours until you have a deja vu and realise you just played the game last week, only under a different title. Now let me briefly get into a few of the aspects I mentioned, a.k.a the amazing features that a lot of maplers seem to take for granted. This list is based on pre-BB content, by the way.
[b]Zoned maps:[/b] A lot of new MMORPGs have opted for seamless maps to enhance realism. In MS, however, you enter a portal to get from one map to another. This makes exploring more challenging and dynamic, because instead of walking down a seemingly endless road somewhere in the middle of the map undisturbed, you'll be dodging monsters here and there. Personally, I think the zoned maps also add a feeling of discovering, since you actually [i]enter[/i] a new area.
[b]Random spawn:[/b] Most modern MMORPGs have specific spawn points in a map for a specific monster. If the player tries to lure a monster too far away from its assigned spot e.g. for mobbing purposes, it'll simply 180 and go back to hanging out in the small area reserved for it and its pals. In MS, if a monster is killed, it'll respawn somewhere else. This way, unless the map is based on a HHG1 type of principle, you get a chance to utilize the entire map. All your party members can move freely and with a little bit of strategising, grinding in a group is much more efficient. Wow, such explore, such freedom!
[b]Community:[/b] The zoned maps and random spawning encourage partying, and Party Quests emphasise teamwork and help build in-game friendships. While a lot of other games have dungeon instances etc., the raids are quite often related to quests that are mandatory for you to do in order to proceed in the storyline. Freedom to fly solo please! And hey, let's not forget the Marrakesh bazaar-like Free Market.
[b]Freedom:[/b] I've touched this a little bit already, but let's expand and extend some more. Unlike a lot of MMORPGs, MS doesn't force you to play your game a certain way. You get to manually allocate your stat and skill points as you wish (i.e. no auto-assign, INT warrior, anyone?), and most importantly, you're not tied down by some silly repetitive quests. You can run errands for NPCs if you wish, but it's definitely not required of you. The game also has a large open world, and due to the zoned maps, exploring is easy breezy beautiful. How many of you remember attempting to go down Eos Tower at a really low level, just because [i]you could and it's free[/i] (okay not necessarily free, but...)?
Now keep in mind, that MapleStory 2 is a new game that's merely based on MapleStory. The features I've listed above are some of the things that make a great [i]MapleStory-like game,[/i] which is what I presume we all love and desire. Add the side-scrolling, and it's basically what we have now (or at least pre-BB). The people who are complaining about the graphics and battle mechanics have played MapleStory for [i]years,[/i] which is why I'm surprised they would still prefer holding down Ctrl to what seems like a much faster-paced battle system. If you're not looking for something fresh, then why don't you just play MS1? And don't give me any BB-doodoo, we all know there's you-know-what.
What I'm trying to say is, if you've played any popular anime MMORPG (perhaps excluding the very similar Ragnarok Online) and disliked it, it probably wasn't solely because of your romantic 2005 nostalgia, or because the graphics just weren't oldschool enough. A big part of Maple's attraction does lie in the fact that it doesn't strive for realism, but the non-realism isn't only present in the graphics, as we can see.
I beg of you to please comment, discuss and enlighten.
8 Comments • Newest first
I'm down for MapleStory 2 ^o^ I can't wait.
Yeah, that's true. I'm surprised that no opposers commented on this thread. Perhaps their heated feelings have cooled down by now. It's a shame though, now I feel like the thread turned out pointless! But I really hope at least someone got something out of the wall of text I wrote. I only recently learnt that the features I mentioned in my opening post were such make or break factors for me when it comes to MMORPGs. For years I thought I disliked 3D MMORPGs because of their graphics, unable to really wrap my finger around the true cause for my distaste. I needed to hear the reason(s) from somebody else first, and the moment I did, everything made perfect sense. Sort of like a gaming enlightenment; hopefully I never have to waste my time or my disk space again.
That being said, I really like what they did with MS2. There's an interesting tension between the modern 3D anime look and the oldschool block texture topped off with the N64-style quarter view. Way to create something new while keeping that element of nostalgia we're familiar with from MS1, which totally reminded me of SNES and Sega games. Now I must say the chibi characters look a little bit like creepy mutant babies close-up, but who knows, might just be my first impression.
Honestly, who cares what half of this community thinks about a game with such little ifnormation that they obviously have not played. Its not like they have the credibility to tell anyone what a good or bad game is lol. Just block dem nay sayers, cause i bet they are just going to be making accounts and playing the game anyways.
Because being a hipster that hates on stuff is cool.
Well put. If you don't like 3D/quarter view games, fine. Just don't use "because MS1 this and that" as your reasoning. MS2 isn't some expansion pack.
As I said in other threads. I love the way they made Maple story 2, it looks really fun and social. I'm hoping that grinding would be made fun or just minimize the amount of grinding. It's a next gen mmo. It's a fresh idea and I hope it will continue to grow.
Now I feel really stupid, because you're probably right. Why didn't I think of that?
But I remember when people were hyping Dragonica on these forums like crazy, even though the game was obviously inspired by the MapleStory phenomenon and didn't look like it's for the Sega. Perhaps it's the people, perhaps it's because aforementioned game went belly-up, perhaps side-scrolling really is that important. Lord, and to think that MS2 isn't even what I would call fully 3D, as it flaunts a quarter view.
Because it's easier to circlejerk by spitting poison/insult a game/company without knowledge
Basilmarket has always been home to these circlejerks "Oh heeey, Nexon is just a $$$ whore and I should get likes for that, also it's not like any company needs money to run the servers/pay the crew right guys? LMAO", "Oh heeey, it's p2w again! Even with free cubes, Nexon just want our money!" , And you can see that in ALL game communities, Hearth.stone? "Heeey, legendaries are p2w, amirite?" LoL? "We can get champions for free, Rito so greedy plz give me karma "