Nexon Wrote:There have been signs that the Black Mage is returning with massive monsters continuing to shake up Maple World by land and sea. It is small wonder then that not many have noticed the skies until now. Spaceships! Maple World is being invaded! Omega Sector is put on high alert. Nothing like this has ever been seen before and no one knows what’s going on but barricades are being set up for ground defense and an air strike team is being mobilized. Will you join in on the effort and investigate the truth behind the recent events?



"The Visitors" is a unique and exciting update that the Global MapleStory development team has spent months planning, designing, and testing! The Visitors includes many new systems such as the Evolving Suit and the new "stage system." The team also spent considerable time creating new weapons and characters like Dr. Bing, the Omega Sector Secret Service (OSSS) crew, and the actual Visitors.

The Global development team comments:

"The basic idea behind the Visitors update was to introduce some new concepts and systems to Maple World. While UFOs and extraterrestrials are interesting enough, the main focus of the update is the idea of time travel and the introduction of the stage system. Time travel creates whole new gameplay possibilities and gives the game a new fresh feel. Rather than trying to add a third dimension to a two-dimensional game, the Visitors update allows players to jump into the fourth dimension.

The Visitors is also our first update based around the idea of a story narrative that’s expressed over real time. We call this the stage system. Maplers, as in most MMORPGs, are used to stories that are ‘timeless.’ Zakum and other in-game bosses can be challenged multiple times and some storylines can be followed again and again. Time never actually moves forward. With this update, we wanted to try something new -- to create one story that would be shared by all and have a beginning and an end. You and your fellow Maplers will be supporting characters that will help the protagonist, Dr. Bing, save the world. Maple World will dynamically change in real time to flow with the story progression."


That means that the Visitors won’t wait for you, so don’t miss out on this historical MapleStory moment!

Nexon Wrote:"The Visitors" is a unique and exciting update that the Global MapleStory development team has spent months planning, designing, and testing!

Nexon Wrote:The Visitors is also our first update based around the idea of a story narrative that’s expressed over real time.

Chuey Wrote:I also noticed this; note how it reads 'first'. This event isn't so bad, so I wouldn't mind some more if they're equivalent or more preferably BETTER. Let's just hope Tespia made a difference for this patch.

Sn1perJohnE Wrote:Im still curious about the dam 127 weapons, and how hard it is to get and/or make them permanent.

Takebacker Wrote:There isn't a timelimited tag on them in the data but people are saying they expire and cannot be extended with crystanol. >_>

Takebacker Wrote:Who cares? Adding something timeless to a game may be dry eventually, but something that expires in almost every way isn't better at all. Expiring things have been scorned by players for years and yet you want to create an event where everything expires yet introduces new concepts? Use these concepts to make a new masteria expansion, and then maybe people will actually care about it after it's released.

IsaacGS Wrote:This is what i consider a "Trial by fire" test. There are a LOT of new techniques being used in this update - the kinds of things we've never seen before. NPC allies fighting with you, quest progression via real time, map backgrounds changing over time, moving platforms in JQs, etc. These are things that, if it goes well, will undoubtedly be used in future permanent expansions. However, right now, it's important to see if these things actually work in the real game - and what better way than via event? KMS does this literally all the time. Springs, for example, were first used in the moon event. Now they're a permanent fixture of Orbis. Low gravity maps were used in that moon event as well, now the dragon rider PQ. This is promising if only because there's a lot of innovation in this event, and if it succeeds, it means there's a potential for big things in the future and that's something maple desperately needs.

SlayerZach Wrote:New stuff is always cool; though I still wonder: did Nexon AM create this, stole it from ThaiMS, or did they work together?