Behind the Content: Big Bang Developer Interview

http://maplestory.nexon.net/News/News.as...ageIndex=1

Our developers are known as the Global development team. They are in charge of designing and preparing content for the Global service. We have all heard about this huge update known as Big Bang. So what is it about? How did the planning for it start? Our Global developers answer the questions you are dying to ask.

CM stands for Community manager and GDT stands for Global development team.

CM: Big Bang features many changes to already familiar game systems. What aspect of Big Bang was the hardest to complete and implement?

GDT: The hardest aspect was reworking the map structure and completely revamping the level experience curve. Adjusting the map structure required us to modify and rebalance all the quests to match the new level ranges, and move and rebalance all the monsters to make sure there is always level appropriate content to enjoy and mobs to fight.

CM: After five amazing years in Global MapleStory (seven years in Korea) what was the motivation to create Big Bang?

GDT: When we started out, our biggest focus was in creating new content so our players would always have something new to enjoy in MapleStory. That meant we added lots of new quests, new areas and even new classes to change up the game. Sometimes this meant restructuring the underlying game so that the new mechanics would work. After a while we found that players felt like the experience was a bit disjointed. We spent a lot of time reviewing player trends and player feedback through various channels and found that what most people wanted was a smoother MapleStory that didn’t feel quite so patched together. That’s when we started planning and preparing the Big Bang. It’s creating a better looking, feeling, and playing MapleStory without losing the essence of the great gameplay and all the fun content we’ve created over the years.

CM: Big Bang is unlike any other MapleStory content. What was done differently this time?

GDT: Previous content updates were always primarily developer driven and content-focused. We wanted to create enjoyable content based on various ideas, monsters, stories, or mechanics we thought would be fun for our players. When we put them in, we would then engineer the underlying game to make the addition work.

Big Bang was driven by player feedback, the needs of the players and the game as a whole. We thoroughly reviewed some outstanding issues and refined and streamlined the game’s structure as a whole rather than just adding more content on top of what already existed. We found that we could create something entirely new by just changing our mindset and working on the whole game.

CM: What preparations were made to ensure no minor detail was left out of Big Bang?

GDT: Big Bang involves changing and rebalancing all the existing Maple content – and there’s a lot of it! The entire development team went through the game from beginning to end to identify critical points. We spent many days (and nights!) organizing and analyzing all the game content and deciding what needed to be fine tuned. With Big Bang, we have started planning for the future by leaving in hooks that will allow future game update to be added to the game more smoothly. We’ve also streamlined our process of reviewing the game so we can continue to refine game elements as conditions warrant.

CM: Can you tell us what our players can expect from Big Bang?

GDT: The first thing most Maplers will notice is that the existing content has been changed and rebalanced significantly. Some of unnecessary and inconvenient game systems have been removed to streamline the Maple experience. We’ve removed insignificant or infrequently used class skills and replaced them with skills better suited for the way that class has actually evolved. Some of the original skills have been rebalanced, which should resolve many of the overpower issues brought up by the community.

Players can expect a really different playing experience from what they have grown used to. We hope our global players are looking forward to Big Bang as much as we look forward to bringing it to them!

CM: Thank you for answering our questions, Global developers! Maplers, are you excited about Big Bang as much as we are?!

Some of unnecessary and inconvenient game systems have been removed to streamline the Maple experience.

This worries me...

*face palm*

Oh dear Lord what a load...

No date...

GDT: The hardest part was copying and pasting files from Korea.

GDT: The hardest part was copying and pasting files from Korea.

I thought they copy-pasted from Japan.

Still. No. Release. Date. -cries for hours-.

No, but seriously, they really know how to taunt us (or me), don't they? :\

I thought they copy-pasted from Japan.

They copy paste everything. It's like they have no pride over their own content.

When I first saw Big Bang, I was like OH GOD WHAT IS GOING ON WHY ARE YOU REDOING EVERYTHING

Now I know.

They copy paste everything. It's like they have no pride over their own content.

This. Well, for the upcoming BB patch, its true.

/puke

=\ Yay press release.

More hype? What's new...

They could have just told us the date, and left out all this unnecessary pomegranate.

Yet again, nothing but a tease.

This worries me...

As does me=( Well maybe it won't be too bad. We already saw Tespia

Hm.
As someone who's played (still playing) a newbie in Tespia, all I can say is that the game still feels "disjointed".
- Many quests unrelated to anything else.
- Many quests popping up in your Available tab at the same time all over the world, leaving you confused as to what to do next.

- Quests removed, but reference to them remaining in the text, for example:
--- Dances with Balrogs asks you "Where did you hear the name Andras?" and you "(tell him the story)" even though the whole quest line up to that point got deleted
--- Tigun the Advisor says "You're the person who brought me the books?" when Jay's quest for the history books has apparently got deleted or moved to a much higher level.

- Some quests still not level appropriate, for example:
--- At level 35, Dr. Betty asks for Cogs from level 70+ chronos
--- At level 40, Elpam Gorlab asks for Magnets from level 65 Barnard Grays
--- At level 45, Jane asks for Drake's Blood that can only be gotten in Sleepywood's over-50 area (you literally can't get in before that)

- Some quests hastily changed to match new levels of mobs, but didn't bother to change the text, with absurd results:
--- Nanuke tells you how nutritious seal meat is, then asks you to get some seahorse tails for his huskies.
--- Manji tells you to hunt for the Contract of Darkness among the monsters risen from the dead by its powers: Hector and White Fang :f6:

Granted, none of this stuff is game-breaking, but since they're boasting about going over every little detail to make the game experience smoother... bleh.

Just another hype-filler annoucement while they try to get BB ready for release.

K that's great. I think they pretty much already hyped it up enough. Now release date please.

Hm.
As someone who's played (still playing) a newbie in Tespia, all I can say is that the game still feels "disjointed".
- Many quests unrelated to anything else.
- Many quests popping up in your Available tab at the same time all over the world, leaving you confused as to what to do next.

- Quests removed, but reference to them remaining in the text, for example:
--- Dances with Balrogs asks you "Where did you hear the name Andras?" and you "(tell him the story)" even though the whole quest line up to that point got deleted
--- Tigun the Advisor says "You're the person who brought me the books?" when Jay's quest for the history books has apparently got deleted or moved to a much higher level.

- Some quests still not level appropriate, for example:
--- At level 35, Dr. Betty asks for Cogs from level 70+ chronos
--- At level 40, Elpam Gorlab asks for Magnets from level 65 Barnard Grays
--- At level 45, Jane asks for Drake's Blood that can only be gotten in Sleepywood's over-50 area (you literally can't get in before that)

- Some quests hastily changed to match new levels of mobs, but didn't bother to change the text, with absurd results:
--- Nanuke tells you how nutritious seal meat is, then asks you to get some seahorse tails for his huskies.
--- Manji tells you to hunt for the Contract of Darkness among the monsters risen from the dead by its powers: Hector and White Fang :f6:

Granted, none of this stuff is game-breaking, but since they're boasting about going over every little detail to make the game experience smoother... bleh.

Just another hype-filler annoucement while they try to get BB ready for release.

Yea these things irk me quite a bit too. I'd take consistency in quests over alot of other updates.

Oh, and one more "disjointedness", unrelated to quests:

I have a new skill called "Ground Smash". Would you expect something with that name to be the most useful skill for hunting flying mobs? Yet it is. Makes sense you'd hit more stirges and crows by shaking the ground than by swinging your sword in the air, right?
Oh, and you can also jump-cast Ground Smash...