2008-10-20, 05:40 AM
I'm really sorry for derailing this topic but I'm frankly surprised at the off-handed hostility being thrown at Flowsion implicitly and explicitly in various posts. Even though Flowsion isn't a developer, he is the one meeting payments for server maintenance when the upkeep isn't being met. It's already coming close to the end of October and the month's donation is only 32%. That means that Flowsion will have to foot the 68% out of his own pocket because it's an endeavor that he enjoys doing. There are additionally unstated payments that he might have to make here and there but he's just as important to FlowsionMS as the developers who keep the game up and running.
Back on topic, it's difficult for me to really comment on this. Internet resources are always an open can of snakes when it comes to legal justice and moral opinion. Emotionally, I really did not enjoy my time playing Maple Story. It seemed like such a struggle to just have a decent conversation with someone and leveling was frankly boring to me. I thought the game was poorly made, yet I persisted to play believing it would get better at the end.
I think there are numerous ways you can twist and manipulate Nexon's TOS and free-to-play game mechanic. One could always ask the question, "What if we removed cash shop from our private servers? Would that free me from legal responsibility because I'm not stealing anything that it sold for profit at Nexon anymore, therefore I'm not stealing away from revenue." But ultimately, it comes down to the fact that Maple Story is an intellectual property not owned by you or me, but by Nexon.
And even though we can make better iterations of it, the base material such as the graphics, the executable files, and the programming was done by the company and not by private servers. It would take a lot of time and effort, but it would be so much more meaningful to have everyone pool together and create their own MMO instead of relying on Nexon's defunct and deformed 2-D game that relies on exploiting children and promoting values of escapism.
I have no doubt that it is extremely difficult to pool everyone together and to fund such an enormous project as developing a new MMO. But there are so many artists, musicians, and computer savvy technicians across these forums that I frankly do not doubt that it is impossible to accomplish.
The difference is waiting for Nexon to put another teenager in court versus showing Nexon how a MMO should be run.
Back on topic, it's difficult for me to really comment on this. Internet resources are always an open can of snakes when it comes to legal justice and moral opinion. Emotionally, I really did not enjoy my time playing Maple Story. It seemed like such a struggle to just have a decent conversation with someone and leveling was frankly boring to me. I thought the game was poorly made, yet I persisted to play believing it would get better at the end.
I think there are numerous ways you can twist and manipulate Nexon's TOS and free-to-play game mechanic. One could always ask the question, "What if we removed cash shop from our private servers? Would that free me from legal responsibility because I'm not stealing anything that it sold for profit at Nexon anymore, therefore I'm not stealing away from revenue." But ultimately, it comes down to the fact that Maple Story is an intellectual property not owned by you or me, but by Nexon.
And even though we can make better iterations of it, the base material such as the graphics, the executable files, and the programming was done by the company and not by private servers. It would take a lot of time and effort, but it would be so much more meaningful to have everyone pool together and create their own MMO instead of relying on Nexon's defunct and deformed 2-D game that relies on exploiting children and promoting values of escapism.
I have no doubt that it is extremely difficult to pool everyone together and to fund such an enormous project as developing a new MMO. But there are so many artists, musicians, and computer savvy technicians across these forums that I frankly do not doubt that it is impossible to accomplish.
The difference is waiting for Nexon to put another teenager in court versus showing Nexon how a MMO should be run.