Hello whoever reads this blog(I think theres no one) today's post is once again about another MMORPG in the Gaming World known as Maplestory or Maple as most would call it. Here's a little description:

Maplestory is a "free" 2D-Side Scrolling Game developed by the South Korean Organisation known as Wizet.There are several versions made for different regions,resulting in a global enterprise with millions of players playing this game. The game revolves around the "Maple World" where millions of players can interact with one another and travel this fantasy world and killing "Monsters" or "Mobs" to gain "Experience" in order to develop their characters skills and abilities like in all MMORPGs.

Currency:

The currency in the game is known as "Meso" which can be obtained by looting various monsters,vendoring items or trading with other players. "Meso" can be used to purchase in-game Items,Gear,Restoration Potions and other items to help the character in the game. There is also another kind of currency known as "Nexon Cash" or "A-cash" or other terms. This new "currency" can only be bought with real money,which contradicts the game's idea of "Free-To-play". This currency gives one the ability to purchase fancy displays on one's characters,to change ones hairstyle or color,purchase pets,etc. Although it may seem innocent,but there are several reports of kids stealing their parents' credit card or paypal accounts to purchase these "cash". The currency can be spent in the "Cash Shop" and in my opinion it is rather ridiculous and its a rip-off.For example,5,000 cash(Around 5 Dollars in real currency) is used to purchase a toysword which provides no stats,but is used to cover one's in-game weapon bought with "meso".And the worse news is that these items which are bought,can only last for a certain period such as 90 Days,60 Days,30 Days or even 1 Day,and that is seriously stupid,we paid for something that we can only keep for a while.

GamePlay:

The objective of this game is to reach the highest possible level to access end-game content and to be able to defeat higher-leveled "monsters". The fastest,and probably the only way to level in this game is to constantly kill "monsters" and gain experience until you level. The quests in the games are usually retarded and give miserable experience and rewards,so the game thus becomes very grindish and forces one to sit in front of the screen and to macro a skill before spamming on it. The experience rate is also very slow,and higher levelled players may have to grind for a month before being able to level up just once. This tempts many people to download "Bots" to help them 'level up" their characters using a automated system,although this is an offence against the Terms Of Service but with the terrible experience rates can one resist this temptation?Another way to speed up ones levelling rate would be to purchase "2X Expericnce Cards" that doubles the amount of experience received and speeds up the levelling process. This however can only be purchased by real cash,which is once again another Rip-off by the company to generate more income for their own use.

Graphics:

The graphics in Maplestory is unlike most other MMORPGs which are 3D,but it is more like a 2-dimensional game with an anime-like feature in it. The keyboard is usually used to control the characters and the mouse is only used sometimes. It is in my opinion rather childish in a way but to others it may seem very interesting and adorable. Well one man's wine is another man's poison I guess..

Storyline:

There is no storyline to the game,the promotional cinematic only promotes the characters and areas and thus there is no specific clues to whether there is a storyline to the game or not. However there is a Maplestory Anime produced to help promote Maplestory,the storyline is as follows:

Ten years ago, the World Tree that protected peace and order of the world was being targeted by an evil organization called the Zakum. The Human race led four other races: the brave warriors, the intelligent magicians, the agile archers and the sly thieves in a fight against the Zakums. In the end, the World Tree activated self-destruction to protect itself. However, the other races thought it was the Human race that destroyed the World Tree. When the World Tree was destroyed most of the races had nothing left, so a number of them went to Maple Island thinking the ones who stayed would die. They escaped Victoria and lived on Maple Island where living is getting harder and harder. Since then, a never-ending war between the different races began.
Ten years later, the main protagonist, Al, is determined to revive the World Tree. Al and his companions begin their journey to seek the seeds of the World Tree. At the same time, the Zakums reappear…

Taken from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MapleStory_(anime)

Classes:

There are four classes to the game, the Warriors,Magician,Thief and Bowman which can later be advanced into higher classes. Unlike in other MMORPGs,characters do not receive their classes at the start of the game,but instead they have to go through the tutorial and reach a certain level before they can select their classes. This could be the only thing that is pushing the millions of people to grind for months without quitting and that is really cheap,making use of such idea to "push" a person to continue playing the game.

Quests:

There are a hundred over quests to allow characters to gain a little experience boost and a small reward. There are many different types of quests which I will not go into detail but there are some quests which change ones hairstyle and hair color which I'd like to mention. Most likely the quest will give a terrible hairstyle and force one to buy Nexon or "A-cash" to change back their hairstyle and color. Yet another cheap way to generate revenue.

Free-Market:

In the Free Market,a character can shout out their trades to any other players in the same map and hope that someone would trade with him/her. Players are forced to access this market and endure its crazy amount of lagging and game-stalling just because there is no "General Chat" or "Trade Chat" to allow one to chat with anyone in the region. But one can do so by using "Megaphones" which is bought by real cash(Jesus,thats another cheap idea?). Also in the Free-Market players can set up "Shops" to showcase their goods so they dont have to actually go into the shop and spam on the chat. The "Shops" however,can only be purchased with real cash...

Marriage:

In the game, a male a female character can get virtually married to one another and thus be known as "Husband&Wife" in game. However,there are several procedures required to get married. Firstly both players must wear wedding suits . There are several wedding suits that are available in the *cough* cash shop... Also invitation can only be purchased with real cash and registration is needed using in-game currency or "Meso"

Game-Masters(GM):

GMs are employees of the compnany that distributes the game in a certain region. Their main job is to organise events during certain dates and to suspend any character who is violating the Terms Of Service. But there are many cases of favourtism where a GM would ban a certain player because he/she has a real-life friend who requests so. This clearly shows how inefficient and how much effort is put in to train these characters. So Kids out there who is reading this,watch out for your cash.

Personal Opinions"

Now it is time for my own opinion on this game. I've been hooked up by Maplestory for a couple of years,maybe 2-3 years. Although in between I switched games here and there but still the addiction towards this game was still there. I was introduced to this game by a fellow classmate of mine and as usual I joined it due to peer pressure. Honestly I didnt really like the game,but it was more of a way to release my anger and also to get "IN" with the crowd. The game had wasted away much of my life,and only now do I realuse how foolish and how stupid I must have been to spend hundreds of dollars on the display items in the game which only lasts for a while. The only memories I had in the game was jumping around and smashing and monsters with my character,using the macros I had for the only skill that I ever use. It was really stressful,tiring and I had no fun whatsoever. The only achievement I have ever had was seeing that terrible level-up animation on my character. It may seem like a free game,but millions out there are spending thousands on this game,its crazy. It targets young children with its colorful features and somehow "hypnotizes" someone into purchasing their so-called cash and buying its stupid cash. I cannot imagine how much I have suffered for this game,and how could I have ever lived in this nightmare before. Other games like World Of Warcraft or Guild Wars or even RUNESCAPE may seem addicting and expensive,but the innocent Maplestory is the real killer,the one that truly siphons away one's life. The community within is bad,with many higher levelled players calling me a "Noob" also known as a weaker and lower levelled character.This is just stupid because people can go crazy over this,it is known as "Cyber-Bullying" by many. I've played Warcraft,Pirate King Online,Rakion,etc and none of these games have as much cyberbullying as in Maplestory,the times in that game was simply...inexplainable. It is like a giant toyland that hypnotizes someone into staying there...forever. I still cannot understand how so many people is addicted to that game. The only reason I still have that bit of respect for the game is because of its originality,and the fact that it did not copy any other MMORPGs too much and also because of my friends inside,the few friends who are truly good and also the best guild ever BBG or Black Bandana Guild. Sorry for offending you guys,really,I was going through some stressful times and didnt know what the hell I was typing. Anyway this review may get me hated and flamed,but the words were from the bottom of my heart. I recommend this game only to those who have self-control and discipline and have alot of time in your hands.

Ratings: 2/10

Maplestory Websites http://maplestory.nexon.com/(Korea)

http://maplestory.nexon.co.jp/beginner/

http://mxd.sdo.com/homepage.htm (China)

http://tw.maplestory.gamania.com/ (Taiwan)

http://maple.asiasoft.co.th/ (Thailand)

http://maplestory.nexon.net/WZ.ASPX?PART=/Main (North America)

http://www.maplesea.com/index_piratelaunch.html (South-East-Asia)

http://en.mapleeurope.com/common/MapGuide.aspx (Europe)

http://www.maplestory.com.hk/ (Hong Kong)

http://games.levelupgames.uol.com.br/MapleStory/ (Brazil)

Black Bandana Guild : http://bbg.ebloggy.com/eod4.html