Seems like they're preparing a new part of Time Temple.

Actually...
CMS has it.
TMS has it.
MSEA has it.


Weird. I thought MSEA got it first. Seems I was wrong.
Fair point on the rest since it didn't originate in KMS.


I played it for the Maple crossover event, but found it to be god-awful. Like, literally one of the worst games I've ever played.
Will give that a look though.


No worries. I was actually researching WoW last night because, despite having never played WoW, I'm aware of some of the lore, and was wondering how they dealt with a progressive storyline. More specifically, I was wondering how they dealt with the fact that the Lich King was defeated, as you mention.

Well, they didn't.
This exemplifies what I was saying before. Even if a boss is defeated story-wise, it will never be removed because that means removing content.
Luckily, Maplestory has a plot device that would easily allow people to return to this old content without restricting the plot from marching on: The Temple of Time.

That said, the Black Mage will be back. He doesn't have to be, but trends dictate that he will be.
He isn't "one of the biggest villains", he is the main villain.


I don't play Mabinogi, but, sure.


You're either a hypocrite or your definition of "more than once" differs from mine.
If a villain returns for more than one story arc, he's been reused.

Speaking of which, I can't put my finger on what series your avatar comes from...

First things first:

CMS, TMS, and MSEA are NOT KMS. Furthermore, I think they deal less with the Black Mage than we or jMS do.

As for Bakal, here. A picture of what his humanoid form looks like (taken from DFOSource, I credit Neople and IamSummoner for its use):



Now, regarding the Lich King - the article you posted is a year old. Furthermore, if memory serves correctly, we ACTUALLY didn't unlock the Lich King fight until late 2010. That article was most likely posted before the World Firsts, or a little after (due to how it doesn't show his Citadel battlefield).

As for the Black Mage always being a boss? Sure, it's like redoing the final battle of Zelda 64 after you've beaten it - sure he's still alive, but that's because you're pretty much not killing him for story reasons - you're farming his drops. When I said what I did, I meant killing him for the purpose of ending that specific plot, not for putting him on farm status, like how Zakum is (and quests in Maple aren't in real time, which further backs up my point).

Cichol is basically to Mabinogi what the Black Mage is to Maple - the penultimate evil, as of now. He's died once before, but was revived/retconned back at the end of Episode 12, and it's quite clear to me he faked his death.

My definition of more than once equals just that. You can reuse him for a plot, sure. But do that more than once, and it suddenly becomes ugly. It's like Team Rocket - technically they SHOULD be over and done with, but every episode they come back, like flies.

Basically:

One time plot appearance = Best
Two time plot appearance = Okay
Three or more plot appearances = Bad


EDIT - As for my avatar, it's Megaman Star Force, the pseudo-sequel to Battle Network.