General

Pay to Win

Is Maplestory really a pay to win ?
How do you win at Maplestory? What am I doing wrong ? I haven't seen the end of this game.
I don't think maplestory is a pay to win game. Sure people pay to get stronger faster, but they don't have to.
Then the next person follows cause one player is hitting higher damage than them.
It's more of a pay to be stronger. Then you hear people cry.....It's a pay to win game......Ugh ! BS....
Either pay to be stronger quit crying and stop being jealous. You can still enjoy the game without paying...

June 1, 2015

11 Comments • Newest first

AshleyAttacked

In order to be pay 2 win the game would have to have some concept defining what it means to have 'won'...and it doesn't. You define your own goals and you define what rules they're limited by and you alone define the value of any given concept or idea in the game. Maplestory has no absolute in place by any stretch that could even remotely be argued to represent a set of rules on how to play and what it means to succeed in the game and there is definitely nothing to enforce such an idea if ever there was one. To me the game is just a glorified chat program that allows me to have some creative methods to have fun and hang out with my friends, rl and in game. It further made itself and the definition of what it is even more complex and prosaic by the idea of using third party programs like skype and team speak to enhance and give different meanings to what it even means to play Maplestory. As far as I'm concerned I'm playing Maplestory by reading Basilmarket and posting in threads. That's all part of what I define as Maplestory in my mind.

So yeah, unless you can find some sort of absolute value enforced in some manner by Nexon to outline and define what it means to play and how that differs from winning or losing...then it's not pay 2 win by any stretch of the imagination. I got myself a Giant Ducky Chair with mesos I made from consistently selling things like 12 slot mineral bags and exp potions at a slow but regular rate over the course of a very, very long time. No real life money was exchanged by me in the process of acquiring my Giant Ducky Chair. And...that chair is my definition of winning.

-> http://i.imgur.com/3iI6Gke.jpg

Further, as you can see by my image, Nexon has defined me as a Superstar. I not only won the game without paying, I became a Superstar to boot.

Reply June 1, 2015
Darthic

[quote=Genostigma]The official term is P2W.
End thread.[/quote]
True like you said, it's just a term not a fact.

Reply June 1, 2015
Genostigma

The official term is P2W.
End thread.

Reply June 1, 2015
kiue

This is my opinion.

There are so many games out there now that are "grind" based be it 2D or 3D. One thing that makes MS more p2w is due to the time+effort to put in.
Assuming we are completely new to MS and don't know crap, the player needs to learn where to train, what items/equips are good and what are the value of each item. Yes, going to the Fm will help but that is for a player who knows he will stay. But lets assuming he is just a casual player who is here to have fun. He will most likely find some guides and just learn from there. But that can only get you so far.

As a player who been here from v4x? ,I have seen a lot of changes. But from all the time+experience from playing, I can almost guarantee you I can get to around a 500k+ range within 1 years with my current knowledge and abilities in the game but that is by buying the equips from other players (assuming they pay and cube equips) and putting over around 6+ hours minimum a day to make sure it happens. That is a lot of time and effort.
And now, assuming I have all the knowledge but don't buy the end-tier equips from other players and make it myself? The answer is... probably 3-5years+ with same dedication or even more. In this case, I will need to farm/craft all the cubes myself which requires tons of time + mesos(assuming I buy materials) which means that i will need to put in more time to get those mesos.

So for players who just started MS and have fun for casual play, getting end-tier equips are usually everyone's goal in the game. But CRA? That will require at least 500k to even solo. And what casual player will get that lucky to find a group of OP people that looks at him or even take him for a run? Almost never?

Anyway, this is for casual players who jumps from game to game for entertainment. Too time consuming for anything major to ever happen (CRA bosses,etc) To me, staying with a game for that long of a time is... </3

Reply June 1, 2015
RitoPls

Agree with the above posters -- it's pay for convenience.

Reply June 1, 2015
Darthic

[quote=JuniorOreos]I enjoy the game and I pay every now and again.
I'm not trying to reach 2m~2m range though.
And most people don't really have the money to buy stuff, thats probably why they complain.
But, I totally agree with this post.[/quote]
I agree some people can't afford to buy NX and for them it's unfortunate. I think for these types of players it would be nice if Nexon made a system in the game to earn real NX Cash and not maple points or reward points.
[quote=Graystoke]Some people can only enjoy the game if they can easily defeat all content. It's a pay for content game. Fewer and fewer people truly appreciate the social aspect of this game.[/quote]
I miss the social aspect of this game. An for the people who enjoy the one hit kill Bosses. That's OK their not hurting anyone else unless they are ksing an map stealing.

Reply June 1, 2015
KnuckleBrown

People call it p2w when really it's more accurate to call it pay-to-grind-less(although that doesn't roll off the tongue). You can accomplish everything a paying player can in this game freely through smart participation in the in-game economy. It's the required amount of grinding time, actual grinding content and other alternatives that people should dispute over. If you asked me 7-8 months ago my opinion on the viability of non-nx progression, it would have been a very negative response. But with new changes that increased the viability of certain money-making options in the game, I'd say that 6-9 months of taking advantage of said options you should be at or approaching end-game level. I'm sorry I'm being vague with my points here but I don't want to digress into a merching/farming discussion.

Reply June 1, 2015 - edited
aapjestan2

Trow dollars at your screen

Reply June 1, 2015 - edited
nhan1st

Noob players no backtalk to clown overlords!

Reply June 1, 2015 - edited
JuniorOreos

I enjoy the game and I pay every now and again.
I'm not trying to reach 2m~2m range though.
And most people don't really have the money to buy stuff, thats probably why they complain.
But, I totally agree with this post.

Reply June 1, 2015 - edited
Graystoke

Some people can only enjoy the game if they can easily defeat all content. It's a pay for content game. Fewer and fewer people truly appreciate the social aspect of this game.

Reply June 1, 2015 - edited