Would Pre Big Bang MapleStory Have Made It In 2014?

Every bit of NX in the MTS was money in Nexon's bank account. People bought NX to use in the MTS to get godly gear. The fact that the NX moved between player accounts (leaving a bit of tax behind) didn't change that.
You can't buy a car from MTS.
You can buy it from MoneyPak, Paypal, and whatever other real-world methods people use to buy and sell in-game gear. Shutting down the MTS moved all the dollars people were willing to spend on godly gear out of Nexon's hands and directly to the hackers'.

Or people that were fed up and quitted the game.