MapleStory

MapleStory

The current logo of MapleStory.
Developer(s) Wizet
Publisher(s) Nexon
Version KOR 1.2.70 (Test Server 1.2.158)
NA 0.62 (Test Server 0.05)
SEA 0.64
EU 0.47
Platform(s) Windows (98/ME/2K/XP/Vista[1])
Release date(s) KOR April 29, 2003 (Test Server 2003)
NA May 11, 2005
SEA June 23, 2005
EU April 12, 2007
Genre(s) Fantasy Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game
Mode(s) MMO
Rating(s) ESRB: E10+[2]
System requirements Intel Celeron 500 MHz CPU, 64 MB RAM, 750 MB hard disk space (depends on version), Internet connection (at least 56 kbit/s) and Direct3D support
Input methods Keyboard, mouse

MapleStory (Korean: 메이플스토리) is a free-of-charge, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by the South Korean company Wizet. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, and each is published by various companies such as Wizet and Nexon. Although playing the game is free, character appearances and gameplay enhancements can be purchased from the "Cash Shop" using real money. MapleStory has a combined total of over 50 million subscriber accounts in all of its versions.[3][4] MapleStory North America (Global), for players mainly in North America and outside of East Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe, has over three million players.[3]

In the game, players travel the "Maple World", defeating monsters and developing their character's skills and abilities as is typical in role-playing games. Players can interact with others in many ways, such as through chatting, trading, and playing minigames. Groups of players can band together in parties to hunt monsters and share the rewards. Players can also join a guild to interact more easily with each other.

Contents

Gameplay

Like most MMORPGs, gameplay centers on venturing into dungeons and combatting monsters in real-time. The players combat monsters and complete quests, in the process acquiring in-game currency called "Mesos", experience points (EXP), and various items. Players can kill monsters alone, or they can form a party with up to six total characters. Loot is shared based on relative damage and level of characters in the party, more being awarded to the higher-level members.

MapleStory's 2D scrolling viewpoint more closely resembles a platform game rather than the typical 3D environment or top-down perspective of other games, such as Guild Wars or Mu Online. The controls for the game are executed using the keyboard and mouse. The keyboard is used for many game functions, and much of it can be rearranged to suit user's needs. The mouse is mainly used to trigger non-player characters (NPCs) and manipulate items.

MapleStory characters exist in "worlds" or "servers." Players are allowed to create multiple characters in each world. Each world, similar in content between each other in the same version, is split into at most twenty channels, among which characters are allowed to freely switch.[5] The ability to transfer entire characters between worlds was added in December 2007 to GlobalMS. However, this feature has restrictions — transfer of mesos is limited to 1 million, and players cannot transfer to the newest world.

Characters

New players are sent to Maple Island, a floating island specifically designed to be beginner-friendly. Unlike in many other MMORPGs, players in MapleStory cannot choose a job when they create a character. Rather, every character starts with the "Beginner" job. When characters meet certain requirements, they can complete the first job advancement and become a Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Pirate, or a Thief. Further class progression is only allowed within the scope of the first class advancement chosen. There are four class advancements available progressingly through out the game.

In addition to combat statistics, characters have "Fame". Although publicized by the game's creators, fame serves little practical purpose besides fulfilling some quest and equipment requirements. Once characters reach level 15, they are able to raise or drop the fame of any other character once per day. A character cannot raise or drop the same character's fame more than once per month. The maximum amount of fame a character may receive is 30,000. A ranking feature, available in certain versions of MapleStory, keeps track of players that are performing well in total ranking, job ranking, world ranking and fame ranking. Rank information is available from the region website of the player and can also be found in-game.

Guilds

Players can form Guilds[6] with other players. Guild creation costs a certain amount of Mesos, depending on the version being played. Guild extensions and emblems, which have separate costs, are also available. The purpose of a guild is to be able to find and chat with others more easily, bond with other players, promote cooperation, and battle using teamwork. Members have their guild's name listed under their character name along with the guild's emblem, if applicable.

Quests

There are over a hundred available quests,[7] each with varying prerequisites; most quests may require the player to have attained a certain level or to have completed another certain quest.[7] Most available quests require the player to retrieve a certain amount of spoils attained from monsters or to traverse an obstacle course. Some quests can be repeated, although the reward(s) and given EXP may be different from those attained during their first completion.

Jump quests are a unique type of quest in which a character starts at one area of a map and uses timed jumps to get from one to another specific platform. Players attempt to avoid enemies and obstacles that can knock them off of the platforms. Skills and abilities that increase jumping distance or speed do not have any effect during these quests.

Economy

Items can be acquired from monster drops, purchased from other characters or shops, or obtained as rewards for completing a quest. These items are used for various purposes. Players are also able to trade items, but higher value transactions attract a virtual tax.

Since MapleStory is free, the developers introduced the Cash Shop to generate revenue. This is a virtual shop where players can buy items using real money, so called microtransactions.[8] Most Cash Shop items expire after a certain period of time. Pets, modeled after animals such as monkeys, dogs, cats, bunnies, pandas, and pigs, follow the owner around and can be equipped to pick up spoils dropped by enemies.[9]

The Free Market is a place set aside for people who wish to sell their items amongst other players. Miniature shops can be set up in this area, allowing people to browse their stock. Store permits, which are required to set up a shop, are only available through the Cash Shop. There are two types of store permits: a standard store, which requires the presence of the player, and the hired merchant which does not require the presence of the player but requires additional cash shop money to use this feature. The hired merchant store is only available in time periods of 24 hours, one week, or two weeks. Conversely, the standard store lasts ninety days but only works with the presence of the user. One can meet with players located in other towns, provided the town contains a Free Market entrance. However, one cannot use the Free Market to travel between towns.

Real money trading between players is prohibited in MapleStory, and results in a ban. This includes trading mesos (ingame currency) with NX Cash Items (items bought with real money).

World

There are four main continents common to all versions in the MapleStory world: Maple Island, Victoria Island, Ossyria and Masteria. Maple Island is where every new player begins the game, and has short tutorial quests. When a player leaves the island, they are unable to return to it (except some version). Victoria Island is where players arrive after leaving Maple Island. The island has eight cities, and is where Beginners will upgrade to their first class. Ossyria is currently divided into seven distinct regions with varying environments: El Nath Mountains, Ludus Lake, Aqua Road, Minar Forest, Mu Lung Garden, Nihal Desert and Temple of Time. Masteria is a new continent. It is believed to be off the coast of Victoria Island,[10] though there are no world maps or regional maps to show this. There are only two towns on this continent: New Leaf City, the Prendergast Mansion and Crimsonwood Keep.[11]

World Tour regions can be reached by talking to Spinel the World Tour Guide, located in almost every town in Victoria and Ossyria. The world tour consists of additional continents that are based on real life countries. There are currently four world tour continents: Zipangu, China, Formosa, and Siam.[12] The newest area is Singapor.[13]Currently, there are no regional maps for any of the world tour continents.

Minigames

Players can play various minigames, both solo and multi-player.

Marriage

Players may participate in in-game marriages at the town of Amoria. Guests may be invited to the wedding, and the marrying couple will receive wedding ring items. The wedding "ceremony" requires the completion of various quests. If a premium wedding ticket from the Cash Shop was purchased, the player is entitled to have a party after the ceremony. In Amoria Dungeon, players can fight exclusive monsters. The KoreaMS version of Amoria has been altered to remove the training grounds and the Chapel area, leaving only the Cathedral. MapleStory currently does not allow same-sex marriage.

Events

On certain days, the Game Masters (also known as GMs) host special events in which any player is capable of participating, given their character is at a given map during the event time. All participants receive a trophy, and winners receive a random prize. Users are notified of an upcoming event by a scrolling box at the top of the game screen. Events are known to bring an influx of players to the event's respective locations, which generally causes massive connection lag and sometimes even disconnections.[16] The large amount of special effects during an event can significantly slow down the player's PC.

Occasionally, certain versions of the game hold events that celebrate a certain event in real-life or an event specific to that version, such as a holiday or new server release.[17] During these events, certain aspects of the game are modified in celebration; for example, the experience rate or drop rate may be increased, or special items may be released.

Versions and registration

MapleStory has been released in various countries around the world. The main ones are:

Version Language(s) Countries/Regions Local publishers Released Date
KoreaMS
메이플스토리
Korean Flag of South Korea South Korea NEXON Korea Co., Ltd. April 29, 2003
JapanMS
メイプルストーリー
Japanese Flag of Japan Japan NEXON Japan Co., Ltd. December 3, 2003
ChinaMS
冒险岛
Simplified Chinese Flag of the People's Republic of China China Shanda Corporation Co., Ltd December 5, 2004
GlobalMS
(NorthAmericaMS)
English (Flag of World Global) NAFTA logo.png North America: NEXON America Co., Ltd. May 11, 2005
Flag of Canada.svg Canada
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Flag of the United States.svg United States
MapleSEA English Flag of ASEAN.svg South East Asia: AsiaSoft Online Pte, Ltd. June 23, 2005
Flag of Malaysia Malaysia
Flag of Singapore Singapore
Flag of Thailand Thailand
TaiwanMS
楓之谷
Traditional Chinese Flag of the Republic of China Taiwan Gamania Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. July 4, 2005
ThailandMS
เมเปิลสตอรี
Thai and Semi-English Flag of Thailand Thailand Asiasoft Corporation Co., Ltd. August 16, 2005
EuropeMS English, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch. Flag of Europe.svg Europe: NEXON Europe Limited
April 12, 2007
Flag of Austria.svg Austria

Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
Flag of France.svg France
Flag of Germany.svg Germany
Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Liechtenstein

Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg

Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland
Flag of Spain.svg Spain
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom

HongKongMS
(MacauMS)

楓之谷
Traditional Chinese Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong
Flag of Macau Macau
Gamania Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.. November 1, 2007
BrazilMS Portuguese Flag of Brazil Brazil Level Up! Games Interactive, Ltd. June 10, 2008
(closed beta)
VietnamMS
Nấm Lùn
Vietnamese Flag of Vietnam Vietnam Vina Games, Ltd. June 25, 2008
(closed beta)

MapleStory Korea was the first version to be released; therefore, it currently has the most features compared to the rest.[18]The other versions are at different stages of development and most are not as advanced in content as MapleStory Korea's. With this advantage comes the problem of players (mainly from the North America (Global) version, but some from others) trying to play KoreaMS. These players are often referred to as 이주자, or "immigrants" by a majority of the Korean MapleStory players. These "immigrants" are the reason why a Korean Social Security Number is required to play. IP blocking is used in some of the other versions of the game, mostly for the same reason. Some attempt to bypass this by using Proxies, which spoof IP addresses to make it seem like a player is playing from a different country - however in Europe MapleStory a GameGuard proxy check has been implemented. This is also because foreign text in the Latin-character-based North America (Global) version causes glitches to occur. This is the same for Koreans in the Chinese version, and so on.[19]

Though some versions share the same world names, they are different and independent of each other. They are defined by their language used, publisher, server location and specialized worlds.

Versions Content
Content Korea Japan China Taiwan Thailand SEA Global Europe Hong Kong Brazil Vietnam
Number of Worlds 25+1¹ 12+1¹ 40+1¹ 14+1¹ 3 6 10+1¹ 1 1 1 1
Town Availability (Ossyria)
Omega Sector Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Korean Folk Town Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Leafre Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Mu Lung Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Herb Town Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Ariant Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
Magatia Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Town Availability (Wedding Towns)
Content Korea Japan China Taiwan Thailand SEA Global Europe Hong Kong Brazil Vietnam
Peach Blossom Island No No Yes No No No No No No No No
Amoria Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Town Availability (World Tour)
Content Korea Japan China Taiwan Thailand SEA Global Europe Hong Kong Brazil Vietnam
Mushroom Shrine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Showa Town No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
Kaede Castle* No Yes No No No No No No No No No
Shanghai Wai-Tan Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No
Yuyuan Garden No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No
Ximending Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes No No
Night Market Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes No No
Taipei 101 No No No Yes No No No No Yes No No
Floating Market Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Golden Temple No No No No Yes No No No No No No
Central Business District (CBD), Singapore No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Boat Quay Town, Singapore No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
New Leaf City No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No No
Area Availability
Content Korea Japan China Taiwan Thailand SEA Global Europe Hong Kong Brazil Vietnam
Aqua Road Dungeon Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
Pianus Boss Area Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
Ludibrium's Tower Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Perion Excavation Site & Ruins Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Leafre Dragon Forest/Canyon Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Mushroom Town Training Camp No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes
Amoria Dungeon No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Amoria Dungeon Expansion No No No No No No Yes No No No No
Coke Town Exclusive No No No No No No No No No No
Shalom Temple No No No No No No Exclusive No No No No
Beer tent ("Oktoberfest" event town) No No No No No No No Exclusive No No No
Multi-Person Quests
Content Korea Japan China Taiwan Thailand SEA Global Europe Hong Kong Brazil Vietnam
Zakum Quest Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Papulatus Quest Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Sharenian Guild Quest Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Orbis Party Quest Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Horned Tail Quest Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Henesys Party Quest Yes Removed Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No
Ludibrium Maze Party Quest No Yes No No No No Yes No No No No
Herb Town Party Quest Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Monster Carnival Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Amoria Party Quest No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
French Revolution Event PQ No No No No No No No Exclusive No No No
Magatia Party Quest Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No
Valentine's PQ No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No
Character Progression
Content Korea Japan China Taiwan Thailand SEA Global Europe Hong Kong Brazil Vietnam
3rd Job Advancement Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Legendary Spirit (Skill) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Monster Rider (Skill) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
4th Job Advancement Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Level 200 Skills Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Pirate Job Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Minigames
Content Korea Japan China Taiwan Thailand SEA Global Europe Hong Kong Brazil Vietnam
Omok / Match Cards Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Gachapon / Pigmy (in KoreaMS/EuropeMS/BrazilMS) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Pachinko No Yes No Yes No No No No No No No
Rock Paper Scissors Removed Yes No No Yes No No No No No No
Fishing King No No No Yes Yes No No No Yes No No
Fishing System No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Others
Content Korea Japan China Taiwan Thailand SEA Global Europe Hong Kong Brazil Vietnam
Ranking Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Premium Road (Kerning City Internet Cafe) Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No
Premium Road (Bowwow Mantle & The Seashore Where Dead Spirit Meets) No Exclusive No No No No No No No No No
Premium Road (Floating Market Swamp) No No No No Exclusive No No No No No No
Maple TV No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
PvP Arena No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
World Tour Guide Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Maple Quick Delivery Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
Guild BBS (Forum) Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Removed Yes Yes No
Zakum Squad System Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Free Market Storage Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
Hall of Fame (level 200 NPCs) Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No No
Monster Identifier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Upgraded World Maps Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
* = Unofficial English Name
¹ = Test servers

Revenue and game population

As of February 2006, Wizet has generated 200 million USD from the game service in South Korea. Wizet received 110 million USD for licensing the games to other parts of the world.

Game population (as of February 2006):[20][21]

The statistics did not consider that players can have multiple accounts, but it also did not state if multiple accounts were not counted. Therefore, the actual number of players could be less than the announced statistics.

In other media

In 2006, an upcoming MapleStory game for the Nintendo DS was announced, titled MapleStory DS. Unlike the PC versions, the DS game will be a single-player action role-playing game.

An anime TV series based on this game began airing on TV Tokyo on October 7, 2007.[22]

MapleGlobal released its own trading card game on November 6, 2007.[23] In conjunction with Wizards of the Coast, the release is available in two parts: a starter pack box with a CD case containing 32 cards, two character cards, one booster pack, and game rules; and a CD containing the software for the online version and a card checklist.

Critical reception

In a brief review of the game, IGN praised the game's accessibility and colorful art direction, while questioning the game's slow pace.[4] Players often criticize the game for the need for constant "grinding", or repetitive tasks done to level up. At higher levels, it can take up to a month before a player can level once, depending on how often the user plays.

Controversy

Negative influence in Korea

A KTTV investigative report showed that the game could be addicting and costly, citing cases related solely to MapleStory where children stole their parents' credit cards or PayPal accounts to buy Nexon cash.[24]

MapleStory murder

In October 2008, The Register reported that a 43 year old Japanese woman was jailed for illegally accessing her virtual husband's online account for the game, and deleting his character in May 2008. When apprehended the woman said her reason for doing so was because her online husband divorced her.[25]

When the man had realized his online character had been deleted, he proceeded to call the police. The woman was apprehended by the authorities and jailed for illegally accessing a computer, and manipulating on-line data. She could be facing a five year prison sentence or a fine of up to $5,000. The woman was quoted as saying, "I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry.”[26]

GM Favoritism

It has been noticed by some players that in some regions, some GMs (game masters) practice favoritism, and abuse their power by banning people just because a friend from real life who is also playing the game requested for the ban. In other regions, the GMs are sometimes criticized as lazy or ineffective in taking action against offending players.

Regional segregation

Some players do not like the idea of region divisioning, as they would rather play with their friends who're in a different region than they are. Also, regional segregation forces a player to start anew if they should emigrate to another country, as they would lose access to the servers that they originated their game.

See also

References

  1. "Windows Vista Compatibility Concerns". Asiasoft (19 December 2008). Retrieved on 22 November 2008.
  2. ESRB Ratings Search
  3. 3.0 3.1 Jun Sok Huhh (2006-04-21). "Some facts on MapleStory". Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Aihoshi, Richard (2006-12-01). "MapleStory Minute View". IGN. Retrieved on 2006-12-22.
  5. "MapleStory - Intro - How to play". Asiasoft. Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
  6. "Various Features - Guild". NX Games. Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "MapleStory - Info - Quests". Asiasoft. Retrieved on 2006-05-04.
  8. "Gamasutra - Q&A: Nexon America Talks Maple Story".
  9. "Various Features - Pet". NX Games. Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
  10. "Masteria". Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
  11. "GM Blog: A Brand New World...". Retrieved on 2007-07-03.
  12. News Previews
  13. "Singapore now released!". Retrieved on 2007-07-03.
  14. "TaiwanMS ver. 0.43". Gamania. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
  15. "ThailandMS vers. 0.29". Asiasoft. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
  16. "Intro - Game Events". Asiasoft. Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
  17. "Maplestory Mapleglobal English Site". Nexon. Retrieved on 2007-03-08.
  18. "KoreanMS Ranking to display the diversity of unavailable Nexon cash related features".
  19. "FAQ: General - Why is my country blocked from MapleGlobal?". NX Games. Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
  20. "Revenue of Maple Story and Game Population". GameStudy.Org. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
  21. "GM Blog: 3,000,000". NX Games. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
  22. "Anime News Network, August 8, 2007".
  23. "MapleStory iTrading Card Game". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
  24. "Fox 11 Investigates: Online Video Game". Fox. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  25. "Woman cuffed for deleting virtual husband".
  26. "Maple Story Murder".

External links

Official game websites

Informational fansites