Nexon's decline in traffic

[Fiel]

Have you seen the absolute spike of games switching to the F2P model over the past year? Before, Maplestory (and most Nexon games) were one of the few, especially in 2009. Now you can play what was once premium games at no charge. DCUO, Evercrack 2, D&D Online... The age of the P2P MMO is behind us. It would seem that WoW stands alone as the last bastion of P2P profitability.

The other issue is that there are TOO MANY DAMN REVAMPS. Every three months there's a new revamp of a revamp or new classes. THIS IS NOT CONTENT. This is constant rehashing of old content so much I don't even know what the current fighter skills are anymore. In my opinion, the last true content for Maplestory was ToT/Pink Bean and Big Bang (of course I'm talking about KMS - not GMS). And even the classes and stuff that they revamp are NEVER balanced. EVER. They always screw it up and create bandwagon classes which the community does not like because it leads to massive price speculation, overpopulated classes, and imbalanced parties. I don't think they play with the numbers enough.

Hey guys. I bet I know what's coming in the next patch. IT'S A NEW CLASS AND A REVAMP. HOLY S'HIT, WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT.

[bast963]

Have you seen the absolute dearth of games switching to the F2P model over the past year? Before, Maplestory (and most Nexon games) were one of the few, especially in 2009. Now you can play what was once premium games at no charge. DCUO, Evercrack 2, D&D Online... The age of the P2P MMO is behind us. It would seem that WoW stands alone in this regard as the last bastion of P2P profitability.

Runescape is still p2p, but I get the feeling they're going to switch to perma-f2p pay to win micro transaction standards by 2014. Mostly due to the same reason Maplestory did back in... what, 2008? 2007?

Thank god Blizzard is with Activision and not a bunch of greedy piece of pomegranate sellout American investors.

[0shikuru]

If Fiel doesn't know what's going on, I think the rest of us are pretty much screwed.

Personally, been playing Evercrack II for the last 3 weeks or so to burn up my spare time until D3 comes out. Maple is just bleh for me anymore.. I log in, see all the PQ's dead, no one on in my bl, guild dying away or afk in the FM, and log off within 10 minutes from boredom, or afk myself and watch tv.

Good luck to the people that are sticking it out, but I can't do it anymore. Was fun (at times) while it lasted.

[EmpireSun]

Runescape is still p2p, but I get the feeling they're going to switch to perma-f2p pay to win micro transaction standards by 2014. Mostly due to the same reason Maplestory did back in... what, 2008? 2007?

Thank god Blizzard is with Activision and not a bunch of greedy piece of pomegranate sellout American investors.

What exactly is P2P? I can play Runescape just fine and I don't recall ever paying a single cent. O_O
Unless they changed that. (I made that account like 500 years ago)

[Fiel]

What exactly is P2P? I can play Runescape just fine and I don't recall ever paying a single cent. O_O
Unless they changed that. (I made that account like 500 years ago)

P2P is pay to play. Most MMOs are technically not F2P but Freemium

[Chew]

P2P is pay to play. Most MMOs are technically not F2P but Freemium

More like free to play. Pay to win.

[Edeott]

At this point, I just want to hit 200 and leave.

[Locked]

More like free to play. Pay to win.

Yes that is what Freemium means...

[Elven Emily]

Some players will leave later because of no constant 2x.

[MissingLink]

I don't know why most players are leaving, but for me the main problem is getting disconnected several times per hour any time I try to train, plus I was getting one-day autobans every few days which is very discouraging, though this hasn't happened recently (maybe they finally fixed /removed that?).
Also there is the constant threat of getting account hacked, with guild or alliance members getting hacked every week or so, to the point where people consider eventually getting hacked despite precautions to be normal in this game.
I was staying logged in all the time as much as possible to avoid getting hacked, but this was getting to be a pain after 6 months of it, so I started locking my account. Locking and unlocking is enough of a pain that once locked I am likely to just leave it locked for a week or two and not play at all.

[Satellite]

Have you seen the absolute spike of games switching to the F2P model over the past year? Before, Maplestory (and most Nexon games) were one of the few, especially in 2009. Now you can play what was once premium games at no charge. DCUO, Evercrack 2, D&D Online... The age of the P2P MMO is behind us. It would seem that WoW stands alone as the last bastion of P2P profitability.

The other issue is that there are TOO MANY DAMN REVAMPS. Every three months there's a new revamp of a revamp or new classes. THIS IS NOT CONTENT. This is constant rehashing of old content so much I don't even know what the current fighter skills are anymore. In my opinion, the last true content for Maplestory was ToT/Pink Bean and Big Bang (of course I'm talking about KMS - not GMS). And even the classes and stuff that they revamp are NEVER balanced. EVER. They always screw it up and create bandwagon classes which the community does not like because it leads to massive price speculation, overpopulated classes, and imbalanced parties. I don't think they play with the numbers enough.

Hey guys. I bet I know what's coming in the next patch. IT'S A NEW CLASS AND A REVAMP. HOLY S'HIT, WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT.

I couldn't agree more here. In fact, this is what I've been saying for the last year or so. Like I said in some other thread, it seems Nexon ran out of ideas. They simply don't know what they could add in anymore. That, or it's easier and more profitable for them to make new classes, because of that 10% that are dumb enough to invest a fortune for funding every single new class that comes out.

But seriously, Mikhail class? That was the final straw. That idea seems like something Nexon America would come up with while on a binge. How I wish it would have been a bad april fools joke. I was expecting that they would release Pirate legend, but that they are going to add cygnus instructors that basically have same skills as cygnus classes with 2-3 new, but unoriginal skills?

Nexon must be trying to kill original MS, before the release of MS2.

[Combattente]

Have you seen the absolute spike of games switching to the F2P model over the past year? Before, Maplestory (and most Nexon games) were one of the few, especially in 2009. Now you can play what was once premium games at no charge. DCUO, Evercrack 2, D&D Online... The age of the P2P MMO is behind us. It would seem that WoW stands alone as the last bastion of P2P profitability.

The other issue is that there are TOO MANY DAMN REVAMPS. Every three months there's a new revamp of a revamp or new classes. THIS IS NOT CONTENT. This is constant rehashing of old content so much I don't even know what the current fighter skills are anymore. In my opinion, the last true content for Maplestory was ToT/Pink Bean and Big Bang (of course I'm talking about KMS - not GMS). And even the classes and stuff that they revamp are NEVER balanced. EVER. They always screw it up and create bandwagon classes which the community does not like because it leads to massive price speculation, overpopulated classes, and imbalanced parties. I don't think they play with the numbers enough.

Hey guys. I bet I know what's coming in the next patch. IT'S A NEW CLASS AND A REVAMP. HOLY S'HIT, WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT.

Can't agree with you more.

I'd rather have a crapload of new areas than new classes and revamps. Why can't they just do that? It's not that hard, and really, you don't need much imagination to think about what you could add more to this game. It has potential to be expanded forever. They could continue the Black Mage's storyline, or they could expand Omega Sector and continue its storyline, or they could revamp Guild PQ and add it back and finally add a HUMANLY POSSIBLE way to level up guilds faster. There are hundreds of things they could do which don't involve revamps and new classes.

But they're probably following a scheme, so they will keep doing that. Maybe they noticed that, when releasing new classes, more people play the game, or something. I don't really know anymore.

Now their target audience likely is new players, since most of the old ones quit because of their incompetence. That would explain the reason behind the new revamped small and "easy" maps / game systems / PQs, the stupid storylines (*cough* Masteria *cough*) which seem to be aimed at 10 year old kids, etc.

So yeah. I guess that, if this keeps going on, Maple's future won't be bright.

[Mazz]

New classes are cool every so often. Even the revamps would be fine - if there was other content in between. I sort of like how they change up the classes, but when it's like this, when the ONLY content is going back and adjusting things that really didn't need adjusting (WHY ARE HEROES SO STRONG NOW?) it just feels really boring and stupid. I'd love to see an expansion to Ludus Lake (Omega Sector maybe, something in Aquarium) or a brand new area with challenging quests/expeditions. Knowing what GMS is going to get roughly 6 months in advance is kind of a blessing and a curse I guess, it's awesome being able to see what's happening in the original version, but when it's just a bunch of reused or rehashed rubbish we get the disappointment early and then a load of time to brood over it. :|

[valhala556]

Yeah im fine with revamps and stuff as long as they actually CHANGE gameplay of that class. Not like % buffs (unless they are despreatly needed. looking at white knights before leafre.) Right now about half of the classes in the game play the exact same way. Honestly all the warriors are the same. Rush-> mob or buff-> 1vs1. Maybe not Drks cuz sacrife needs % hp but with soo much healing skills i figure its about the same. they need to make the classes more diverse when they actually revamp them. Not make them all the same.

Actually I think thats there problem. Everything in maple is a rehash of something else. Looks at maps now. Everyone is a small flat map with a few platforms. Look at bosses. All stationary ones are the same. they are comprised of multiple parts and all attacks are AOE. all moble ones can be KBed which makes it boring becuase they end up just staying in the corner for the duration of the time. Maple just needs true variation. But I dont think thats gonna happen because nexon is running the show.

[SaptaZapta]

Yeah im fine with revamps and stuff as long as they actually CHANGE gameplay of that class.

Actually I dislike those the worst.
You pick a class because you like its gameplay, and then they change it completely and it's not even the same class anymore except for the gear.

People keep asking "which class is best? you know, like, strongest?" and we could reply that "strength is mostly a matter of funding, pick the one that you enjoy playing". But now you can't even do that, because whatever feature you enjoy can be removed in the next revamp - or given to half a dozen other classes which you might enjoy more now. (Example: if you once picked NL for the speed and FJ, as of this recent KMST revamp you could pick DK and have the same mobility without the low HP fragility. So what's the point of making a sin?)
I hate not being able to plan ahead. % and range tweaks are fine, but completely revamping classes shouldn't be something they do on a monthly basis.

[Chew]

Actually I dislike those the worst.
You pick a class because you like its gameplay, and then they change it completely and it's not even the same class anymore except for the gear.

People keep asking "which class is best? you know, like, strongest?" and we could reply that "strength is mostly a matter of funding, pick the one that you enjoy playing". But now you can't even do that, because whatever feature you enjoy can be removed in the next revamp - or given to half a dozen other classes which you might enjoy more now. (Example: if you once picked NL for the speed and FJ, as of this recent KMST revamp you could pick DK and have the same mobility without the low HP fragility. So what's the point of making a sin?)
I hate not being able to plan ahead. % and range tweaks are fine, but completely revamping classes shouldn't be something they do on a monthly basis.

I know what you mean. They should plan the revamps but for ALL of them at once.
It's cool that warriors have some sort of FJ now but they should have add something more to thieves, something that no other class has, something that marks them as thieves. High avoid isn't enough as any job with the right equipment can achieve that.

[iamflip]

I think we'll know the end of MapleStory is near when the Black Magician finally appears.

...which will probably happen sooner rather than later if this keeps up.

BTW, I see those stats are mainly for GMS. What about the traffic for the other local versions?

[valhala556]

Actually I dislike those the worst.
You pick a class because you like its gameplay, and then they change it completely and it's not even the same class anymore except for the gear.

People keep asking "which class is best? you know, like, strongest?" and we could reply that "strength is mostly a matter of funding, pick the one that you enjoy playing". But now you can't even do that, because whatever feature you enjoy can be removed in the next revamp - or given to half a dozen other classes which you might enjoy more now. (Example: if you once picked NL for the speed and FJ, as of this recent KMST revamp you could pick DK and have the same mobility without the low HP fragility. So what's the point of making a sin?)
I hate not being able to plan ahead. % and range tweaks are fine, but completely revamping classes shouldn't be something they do on a monthly basis.

I see your point. But when i said change it probably would of been better to be divergent change. Like as of now all of the gameplay changes to chars have made it into this convergent class in which has all of the following:
1) has damage to solo HT with moderate funding (30~50% stats)
2) has some kind of movement skill
3) has a Hp recovery skill
4) has a spam one skill. then buff. then spam some more
5) Has either HP buffing skills or a defencive move (this one i find ok as way before archers couldnt train at skeles till 150)
6) have a mob control skill

SO when i say change gameplay of characters I mean to diverge from this. Not like what they did to buccs in the pirate revamp. the originally buffs were awesome they just needed boosts in actual damage and they needed better skill ratios. like ORB should be better than DS in all cases. Not only when it hits more mobs.

I hope you understand what im trying to say. Though some classes dont have to change I think most should. Not like a total 180 but like what the class description is, is how the character should be.

[MrTouchnGo]

I see your point. But when i said change it probably would of been better to be divergent change. Like as of now all of the gameplay changes to chars have made it into this convergent class in which has all of the following:
1) has damage to solo HT with moderate funding (30~50% stats)
2) has some kind of movement skill
3) has a Hp recovery skill
4) has a spam one skill. then buff. then spam some more
5) Has either HP buffing skills or a defencive move (this one i find ok as way before archers couldnt train at skeles till 150)
6) have a mob control skill

SO when i say change gameplay of characters I mean to diverge from this. Not like what they did to buccs in the pirate revamp. the originally buffs were awesome they just needed boosts in actual damage and they needed better skill ratios. like ORB should be better than DS in all cases. Not only when it hits more mobs.

I hope you understand what im trying to say. Though some classes dont have to change I think most should. Not like a total 180 but like what the class description is, is how the character should be.

When you first said "change gameplay" I just completely shook my head. But now that you've explained what you mean... I've noticed that the recent revamps have been merging classes into one super-class. I don't think it's prudent for Nexon to be removing mobility skills from almost every class; it's just that Nexon shouldn't have given them the skills in the first place.

[SwordStaker]

Can't agree with you more.

I'd rather have a crapload of new areas than new classes and revamps. Why can't they just do that? It's not that hard, and really, you don't need much imagination to think about what you could add more to this game. It has potential to be expanded forever. They could continue the Black Mage's storyline, or they could expand Omega Sector and continue its storyline, or they could revamp Guild PQ and add it back and finally add a HUMANLY POSSIBLE way to level up guilds faster. There are hundreds of things they could do which don't involve revamps and new classes.

But they're probably following a scheme, so they will keep doing that. Maybe they noticed that, when releasing new classes, more people play the game, or something. I don't really know anymore.

Now their target audience likely is new players, since most of the old ones quit because of their incompetence. That would explain the reason behind the new revamped small and "easy" maps / game systems / PQs, the stupid storylines (*cough* Masteria *cough*) which seem to be aimed at 10 year old kids, etc.

So yeah. I guess that, if this keeps going on, Maple's future won't be bright.

One thing I remember NEXON saying is how long it really takes just to make a new area. Like 8months to a year or something. Problem is NEXON Korea only cares about the Korean players. The korean players say they like new classes, WE GIVE EM NEW CLASSES! I have noticed when it comes to GMS if the patch is small they tend to throw in their own little flare into it. This last patch is a good example, we got a new Masteria area with a patch that was basically just a revamp. Idk they just seem to throw in their own little flair. But, I agree new areas need to come out more=\ When they do the areas are good and usually well done. Plus like you said I can think of a few areas they can do off the top of my head right now:
Theme Dungeon:Inside Netts pyramid 90+
Theme Dungeon:Mu Lungs Shaolin Temple: 120+
An expansion of Omega like you said
They could make a Theme dungeon based off of Ulu City which could be spectacular
Expansion more into Elin forest of what is the Island like.
Expansion of the future.

Something like that.