Nostalgia of Pre-BigBang Maplestory

[Thorr]

Actually I just remembered my favorite part of pre-BB Maple: there was no town lag!

Something I have discovered in my own exploration of the town lag problem is that it seems that any PC i own with a processor weaker than Core 2 Duo has massive town lag and anything higher than that doesn't. (I don't have any way to speak for AMD processors on this.) So, my Pentium D has massive lag and my P4 HT has massive lag. But, my Core 2 is fine, and anything in the i3-5-7 series is fine. My old P4 and P3 computers simply cannot play the game anymore. The other part of this equation could be the chipset. My Pentium D and P4 HT both have i940 chipsets. My Core 2 Duo has a 965. It might be that the Intel mobo chipset has to be 965 or greater to handle the lag problem. (I have eliminated RAM and Video Cards as being the culprit. These same PCs maxed out with 4G of RAM and a top notch video card still lag exactly the same way.)

[CJScarlet]

The only thing I really miss is my old CB. RIP Assaulter and Band of Thieves, you were my friends.

[KhainiWest]

What I liked about big bang was the level cap was unseen. Sure some really hardcore players fought for it, but for the average player, we just wanted new skills and make them strong enough to be usable. That and classes kind of had their own niche, now they might as well all be the same :| lol

[Bahamut X]

As the point of view from someone that had levelled up a Fire/Poison Archmage through the era, there was some stuff I couldn't even forget about.

People complaining about how poison brace/breath was useless for training. Not really, old version of Ludi PQ allowed me to take some time and drop a few of the mysterious eyes which had been resistant to magic, but could easily be poisoned. Other areas had opened up that some would have said that I shouldn't have bothered with. But now it feels like some of the poison attacks are more versatile, yet less at the same time.

Other places where the old poison formula worked for me were the first generation of Boomers and spent quite some time at purple squid. It may have been ugly, but at least it was decent when I had hit around 74-75 to start training there.

One could be excused for missing the boomers in the few incarnations they had. To put it one way, someone could start off with a single boomer on the map and they would start to look a lot like tribbles running off of one attack to spawn them to some extent. Needless to say, that for little bit the fire/poison wasn't as bad as one would expect. Only downside was essentially having gotten to the point where there were a lot of boomers on screen due to the nature of their spawning more before getting nerfed several times.

[Bomber]

I think the thing I miss the most is monsters actually being a threat.

Plsno. Easter egg mob events were horrifying.

[MuscleWizard]

Plsno. Easter egg mob events were horrifying.

please help, trapped in sleepywood

[Bomber]

please help, trapped in sleepywood

please help, trapped in all towns of victoria.

[MuscleWizard]

The one thing I really miss the most is the Visitor event.

Nexon designed what was one of the most elaborate PQs ever (well, last time I really played was like fall 2011, pre-Legend patch), only to remove it later just because it was part of an event. It saddens me.

(How's Windia these days, anyway? I feel like I might want to return when the Wind Archer changes get here, but I somehow feel as if I might be better off starting over entirely in a newer server, despite having like 5 level 100+ characters...)

windia stronk, best server.

[Chazay]

Something I have discovered in my own exploration of the town lag problem is that it seems that any PC i own with a processor weaker than Core 2 Duo has massive town lag and anything higher than that doesn't. (I don't have any way to speak for AMD processors on this.) So, my Pentium D has massive lag and my P4 HT has massive lag. But, my Core 2 is fine, and anything in the i3-5-7 series is fine. My old P4 and P3 computers simply cannot play the game anymore. The other part of this equation could be the chipset. My Pentium D and P4 HT both have i940 chipsets. My Core 2 Duo has a 965. It might be that the Intel mobo chipset has to be 965 or greater to handle the lag problem. (I have eliminated RAM and Video Cards as being the culprit. These same PCs maxed out with 4G of RAM and a top notch video card still lag exactly the same way.)

My i3 is reeeaaaallly bad.

[Goggyfour]

Pre-BB? Try Pre-maple global.

I started playing at 16, and now I'm 26.

And I still don't have a level 150 character.

*oh and I have a nostalgia post in my blog entries*

[Jamesie]

Yeah, monsters are so easy now! *hits cap with a crouched auto-attack* *hits cap with Three Snails (yes I know it does fixed damage)* *has 99999% mainstat and 700% boss* Yeah..... it's like some of you make your own problems! Now I know I'm sure if you were equally as funded in 2007, monsters would be more of a challenge, but this is 2013 and you're basically making half of your problem.

I wish I could explore more! After visiting Ludibrium about three hundred and four times, there's only so much novelty I get out of it. I bet if you put a couple of thirteen year olds who had never played MapleStory (and are interested in it at least), they would have a field day. And then there's the overfunding argument again since exploration is goes only so far when you take no damage, one-hit every monster, and can clear the area's boss by f3'ing at it.

Leveling's too easy! *kills Aliens at level 55 on 20123x EXP with a HS, AB, MW, and Kishin mule* Yeah...... maybe if you didn't train on those monsters that virtually everyone acknowledges that they have broken HP:EXP ratios it wouldn't be as easy (and maybe Monster Park Extreme as well). Okay, it's still going to be a lot easier than pre-Big Bang, but as someone who's played in both times (I joined in 2006 during the first anniversary-- damn candles), I'd much rather level once an hour than once a week. The furthest I got was level 47 on my Cleric. After doing LudiPQ ad nauseum, there was just nothing in it for me. 46 to 47 was not special at all. I agree hardcore with 案山子. While one level back then may have felt like more of an achievement to some, I'd much rather be able to see my character progress rather than live vicariously through poorly made YouTube videos.

I don't hate pre-BB, I just prefer Big Bang and beyond to it. I have a lot of fantastic pre-BB memories, and that's because I was 12/13 and now I'm 19. Of course I'm going to get teary-eyed thinking about how young I was back then.

[CarrionCrow]

Yeah, monsters are so easy now! *hits cap with a crouched auto-attack* *hits cap with Three Snails (yes I know it does fixed damage)* *has 99999% mainstat and 700% boss* Yeah..... it's like some of you make your own problems! Now I know I'm sure if you were equally as funded in 2007, monsters would be more of a challenge, but this is 2013 and you're basically making half of your problem.

I wish I could explore more! After visiting Ludibrium about three hundred and four times, there's only so much novelty I get out of it. I bet if you put a couple of thirteen year olds who had never played MapleStory (and are interested in it at least), they would have a field day. And then there's the overfunding argument again since exploration is goes only so far when you take no damage, one-hit every monster, and can clear the area's boss by f3'ing at it.

Leveling's too easy! *kills Aliens at level 55 on 20123x EXP with a HS, AB, MW, and Kishin mule* Yeah...... maybe if you didn't train on those monsters that virtually everyone acknowledges that they have broken HP:EXP ratios it wouldn't be as easy (and maybe Monster Park Extreme as well). Okay, it's still going to be a lot easier than pre-Big Bang, but as someone who's played in both times (I joined in 2006 during the first anniversary-- damn candles), I'd much rather level once an hour than once a week. The furthest I got was level 47 on my Cleric. After doing LudiPQ ad nauseum, there was just nothing in it for me. 46 to 47 was not special at all. I agree hardcore with @案山子;. While one level back then may have felt like more of an achievement to some, I'd much rather be able to see my character progress rather than live vicariously through poorly made YouTube videos.

I don't hate pre-BB, I just prefer Big Bang and beyond to it. I have a lot of fantastic pre-BB memories, and that's because I was 12/13 and now I'm 19. Of course I'm going to get teary-eyed thinking about how young I was back then.

You are wrong. Overfunding is not enough to explain it. Every time I make a new link skill mule I never bother with any form of upgrades except the free clean gear they are given. Sure, I have some card bonuses, butthat is it. The monsters still roll over and die like the weak pathetic pixels they are, and more importantly, they can't even begin to threaten my life unless I fall asleep. Compare that with trying to finish a quest involving killing Tauromacises at lvl 40 or so back before all the revamps.

The nostalgia goggles is not a sufficient explanation either, because it is not some kind of pandemic dissease that everyone suffers from.

Compared to pre-BB Maple is easier, dumbed down, less challenging in many respects, more money demanding if you want to try what the game has to offer, more inviting to a community that is in the end only hurting the game (read exploiters), less inviting to real rpg players without deep pockets, because you will be forever a scrub unless you buy all the cubes and scrolls and what nots in the CS over andover again. There is no middle ground and it is more about classes and dps than vibrant areas and exploration.

Facts.

[MuscleWizard]

You are wrong. Overfunding is not enough to explain it. Every time I make a new link skill mule I never bother with any form of upgrades except the free clean gear they are given. Sure, I have some card bonuses, butthat is it. The monsters still roll over and die like the weak pathetic pixels they are, and more importantly, they can't even begin to threaten my life unless I fall asleep. Compare that with trying to finish a quest involving killing Tauromacises at lvl 40 or so back before all the revamps.

The nostalgia goggles is not a sufficient explanation either, because it is not some kind of pandemic dissease that everyone suffers from.

Compared to pre-BB Maple is easier, dumbed down, less challenging in many respects, more money demanding if you want to try what the game has to offer, more inviting to a community that is in the end only hurting the game (read exploiters), less inviting to real rpg players without deep pockets, because you will be forever a scrub unless you buy all the cubes and scrolls and what nots in the CS over andover again. There is no middle ground and it is more about classes and dps than vibrant areas and exploration.

Facts.

except it's less money demanding now than it was back then
time is money
you're getting a greater return for your time investment after big bang than you are pre bb
so what if things are dumbed down a bit

i'm never going back to the days of "Congrats on level 50 man, maybe in a few months you'll hit third job!"

Because... No.
That's not at all worth it. The game was a grindfest beforehand, they've shifted focus from training to bettering your gear, which is also, entirely possible through crafting, merchanting, and other various means. Yeah you could spend a pineappleton of money and perfect all the things and get potential out the ass, but wheres the fun in that?

The grind still exists, its just different now.

[Jamesie]

You are wrong. Overfunding is not enough to explain it. Every time I make a new link skill mule I never bother with any form of upgrades except the free clean gear they are given. Sure, I have some card bonuses, butthat is it. The monsters still roll over and die like the weak pathetic pixels they are, and more importantly, they can't even begin to threaten my life unless I fall asleep. Compare that with trying to finish a quest involving killing Tauromacises at lvl 40 or so back before all the revamps.

The nostalgia goggles is not a sufficient explanation either, because it is not some kind of pandemic dissease that everyone suffers from.

Compared to pre-BB Maple is easier, dumbed down, less challenging in many respects, more money demanding if you want to try what the game has to offer, more inviting to a community that is in the end only hurting the game (read exploiters), less inviting to real rpg players without deep pockets, because you will be forever a scrub unless you buy all the cubes and scrolls and what nots in the CS over andover again. There is no middle ground and it is more about classes and dps than vibrant areas and exploration.

Facts.

I can't deny that there is a degree of monsters not necessarily being weak as well, but overfunding plays the biggest role. Additionally, if taking a couple more hits to kill a monster constitutes an incredible enough of an increase in difficulty that we have to sit in a circle and talk about "when monsters were strong," then that's a completely different problem. So yes, monsters did get weaker. However, you sitting on 200% mainstat is probably the biggest culprit. (That and maybe the free +1500 HP (and more) from character cards.) I don't know about you, but the vast majority of my characters can't kill Crockies (or much else with comparable HP) in two hits.

"This generation sucks, the seventies were better"
"Generation I of Pokémon was so much better than Generation V"
"Final Fantasy pre-merger was so much better"
"The original Yu-Gi-Oh! series was the best"
"Pre-BB was better than Post-BB"

I don't know how you can argue about difficulty in MapleStory when literally all it is is time. It's not difficult for me to press buttons ad infinitum, perhaps if I had a physical or mental disability, but I don't. All MapleStory was pre-BB was a time suck. You spend hours on end to gain ten percent, and when you got ten percent ten times, you did it again. If perhaps your fingers slipped and you died, add some more time.

[Words]

I don't know how you can argue about difficulty in MapleStory when literally all it is is time. It's not difficult for me to press buttons ad infinitum, perhaps if I had a physical or mental disability, but I don't. All MapleStory was pre-BB was a time suck. You spend hours on end to gain ten percent, and when you got ten percent ten times, you did it again. If perhaps your fingers slipped and you died, add some more time.

Seriously. Saying that the game was "dumbed down" baffles me.
Whenever I want to play something mind numbing the first game that comes is MS.
Most skills have no cooldown, other than damage reflect monsters have no life threatening skills, and if it wasn't for the 100 attack/buff limit you could just stand in the same spot for hours and hours and hours without having to do much but press your main attack and maybe buff once in a while. If it means that before BB you needed skills to use your pots in time let me just laugh. Stats? You had three options no secondary stat, low secondary stat or whatever equips required. So hard!!!

[Curtiss]

I can't deny that there is a degree of monsters not necessarily being weak as well, but overfunding plays the biggest role. Additionally, if taking a couple more hits to kill a monster constitutes an incredible enough of an increase in difficulty that we have to sit in a circle and talk about "when monsters were strong," then that's a completely different problem. So yes, monsters did get weaker. However, you sitting on 200% mainstat is probably the biggest culprit. (That and maybe the free +1500 HP (and more) from character cards.) I don't know about you, but the vast majority of my characters can't kill Crockies (or much else with comparable HP) in two hits.

"This generation sucks, the seventies were better"
"Generation I of Pokémon was so much better than Generation V"
"Final Fantasy pre-merger was so much better"
"The original Yu-Gi-Oh! series was the best"
"Pre-BB was better than Post-BB"

I don't know how you can argue about difficulty in MapleStory when literally all it is is time. It's not difficult for me to press buttons ad infinitum, perhaps if I had a physical or mental disability, but I don't. All MapleStory was pre-BB was a time suck. You spend hours on end to gain ten percent, and when you got ten percent ten times, you did it again. If perhaps your fingers slipped and you died, add some more time.

There's things that I do think were dumbed down such as the accuracy system being standardized and monsters becoming a lot less threatening, but overall I agree with all of this. Maple has always been the game I play when I need just a little skill and read timings to prevent a wipe-out by DR and it's also the game I play when I just want to see items drop; in that sense it has a very simple charm to me and that 'simple' part hasn't changed from the time I first logged in until now.

Also, like you almost none of my characters are strong. The only exception is my Phantom who I use for bossing and MPSH hunting these days.

[CarrionCrow]

Seriously. Saying that the game was "dumbed down" baffles me.
Whenever I want to play something mind numbing the first game that comes is MS.
Most skills have no cooldown, other than damage reflect monsters have no life threatening skills, and if it wasn't for the 100 attack/buff limit you could just stand in the same spot for hours and hours and hours without having to do much but press your main attack and maybe buff once in a while. If it means that before BB you needed skills to use your pots in time let me just laugh. Stats? You had three options no secondary stat, low secondary stat or whatever equips required. So hard!!!

Yea, MS has always been a fairly simple game, noone is arguing about that.
By dumbing down most of us mean stuff like that the maps are now always made flat and generic, it take no planning to get the best out of them. When it comes to leveling and questing, they hold your hand and point at what you should be doing, you need absolutely no knowledge of the MS world, secret maps and smart solutions to take you through the levels in an effective way. The game before 120-140 somewhere is practically a big tutorial because of this.
If paying attention to potting is not counted as somewhat of a meaningful playing element, how do you feel about the new maple, where you never even have to use pots at all on many classes?
All the systems, as you say, are far more complicated, but the core is that they add nothing really complex to the experience.
Getting somewhere in the old maple required knowledge, willpower, teamwork and a genuine interest for the game since it was so grindy that only people who loved it could stand it. Now even a near braindead MTV stereotype kid with selfentitlement issues could go through it. Also the old maple would not let you pay your way to victory in anywhere near the same league as the current one.

That is dumbing it down right there, the way I see it.

Do note that I aint against every single update, the EXP curve was simply atrocious before the revamp waves and the lack of high lvl areas was ugly.

[Sorien]

I can't say that I miss most of the pre-BB content, to be honest. I do, however, miss the ever so slightly more complicated system for gameplay. Elemental weaknesses actually mattered in different places and against different bosses, and weapons like pole arms, axes, and hammers had an intriguing system where they would do less damage on stabs while spears would do less damage on swings, leading to more varied skill builds among the Warriors. I was hoping that Big Bang would expand upon most of the game's quirks and make them more fleshed out, but it just removed them entirely.

I also really miss seeing numbers under 10 and 100 like pre-BB. Hitting 1000 damage before level 30 was a pretty big deal, but now most classes are dealing like six times the amount of damage they actually need to kill level 40 monsters with before they even hit level 11. I can deal with the potential system and its pay to win philosophy, and I can actually come to enjoy making link skill and/or card mules so that my characters all start off with really high health and other bonuses; however, I really do think that they made the damage formula too generous. It wouldn't be so annoying if they'd just make low level skills actually deal low damage over few hits so that unfunded players might actually see monsters survive more than one or two.

(How's Windia these days, anyway? I feel like I might want to return when the Wind Archer changes get here, but I somehow feel as if I might be better off starting over entirely in a newer server, despite having like 5 level 100+ characters...)

Well, I can't say whether or not Windia is better than other servers, but I think it's a pretty nice place to be. Though, if you're looking for a more fun experience, I would suggest taking your time with leveling and doing party quests. This mostly only happens around the time of new class releases, but there are a lot of nice and relaxed people who PQ, and I sometimes like to hang around the PQs on mules to meet them. Just ignore the annoying leaders who want to go through runs as fast as they can and tough through those two or three runs of complete silence and you'll scarcely regret it.

I can't say much about any of the other aspects right now. I've been mostly busy with school, so I haven't done much other than occasional misadventures with strangers and helping out passers by with questions about my white jaguar or just asking if I can give any handouts.

[Tash]

Plsno. Easter egg mob events were horrifying.

I remember when Marda first opened, nobody could go to most of the popular training areas because of those things. My brother and I both went Bowmen and stood on top of HHG1 sniping the green mushrooms and managed to be some of the first to hit 30.

[Tranquility]

I’m sure me being jaded with Maple plays some part in it, but I’m not getting the same vibes I used to get from my favorite continent: Victoria Island. Those extra maps added “flavor” to their corresponding towns. Outside of Lith Harbor, newbies were welcomed with maps slightly reminiscent of the original Maple Island, and they successfully gave the impression that there was going to be a lot to explore. The many tree dungeons outside of Ellinia successfully contributed to its mystical forest feel, and Ant Tunnel was deep enough to actually feel like a dungeon (and it gave a genuine sense of danger). The bigger maps, like The Forest North of Ellinia, The Forest South of Ellinia, the 3-Way Road-Split, and Dungeon: Deep Forest, were also thrill to pass by, even if they weren't ideal for grinding.

The slower level progression forced me to smell the roses along the way, and Victoria’s roses smelled great. Too bad they had to be clipped off to compliment the new, speedier gameplay.