PVP:Yes | Distribution:Download | Retail Price:n/a | Pay Type:Free | Monthly Fee:n/a
Desktop Client | System Req:
| ESRB:E10+
MapleStory - E3 Interview
At E3, MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh dropped by the studios of Nexon America, the makers of MapleStory, to talk about that game's success and the most recent content update.
Founded in 2005, Nexon America’s first launched title was the very popular MapleStory, which is recognized as the most successful Korean MMORPG to be ported to the US market. MapleStory boasts 72+ million users worldwide and in the US alone, it gained over 2 million registered users in the first year. MapleStory is a free to play game that monetizes by micro-transactions. You can buy consumables as well as cosmetic items and one of the most popular items in their item mall is a 2x XP card. Yes, some people just love that leveling treadmill!
Nexon America is in Los Angeles, and they were kind enough to invite me to meet with them at their studio. I first met with Nexon America’s Director of Games Operations, Min Kim at the Ion Conference where he was on a panel moderated by Jason Wonacott titled: Creating a Global Marketplace for MMOGs: Can East and West Really Play Together? MapleStory is THE game that made Western game developers take a second look at a business model other than the monthly subscription. With some one on one time during E3, I was able to ask the question I’ve always wanted to ask. Why is the game called MapleStory? Both Min and Product Coordinator,
"Back in the mists of time…" started Min, "Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far… oops, wrong story…" said Sheloman. After we stopped laughing, the truth came out. Nobody really knows. The favorite reasons for the name lies between someone liking the Maple Leaf and the availability of the domain. Although Sheloman assured me that in the lore, there really is a Tree of Life that is the Center of the Universe, and that the American team has put in items such as maple syrup and maple leaves.
"We just like to confuse people," Min quipped, tongue in cheek. "We call Sheloman a Product Coordinator – that’s equivalent to Producer in other game companies."
MapleStory is targeted at the teen market, but in Taiwan it attracted the elementary market, and in the US, it resonates with the older teen crowd. Their main demographic is 17 – 18 year olds. I've asked Min before why MapleStory was so popular in the US when so many Korean MMOGs have failed. He often laughs and says he doesn’t know, but the more he elaborates, the more information we receive. When it was launched in 2005, there were few competing products. Then, also, they had Nexon America and a localization team. MapleStory is whimsical, fantastic and very much about Pop Culture. In America, that's American Pop Culture.
"MapleStory was created as the ultimate avatar customization game," said Min, "and the fact that it’s free to play really had something to do with it." True enough, most teens have little disposable income, but plenty of time. MapleStory's financial success can be firmly pinned on the launch of the pre-paid card in 2007. In keeping with their motto that they are a service company, MapleStory is heavy with live events, quests, content releases and special events are created around special days such as Valentine's day, Halloween, Saint Patrick's day, 4th of July and the like. For the launch of the pre-paid card, there were two in-game quests that showed players where the cards were available. Seven Elevens and Target department stores were created for those quests.
;)
Sheloman was pleased to tell me more about the content release scheduled for early August. The latest Masteria expansion was specifically created by the American Team for the US market. In it, players will find icons of American Pop Culture such as Bigfoot and a Trading Card Game and they all have been "MapleStory-sized." That is to say, they all maintain the cute, pixel art look and feel of MapleStory characters. There are three new areas that will be available to play in:
Phantom Forest is a 45+ level area which is haunted. There, players will find a Haunted House, Headless Horsemen and Elder Wraiths among other monsters, and may encounter the boss, Big Foot. Sheloman described the forest as a "Forest of Illusion like Super Mario world."
Phantom Forest leads to Crimsonwood Mountains that is a 70+ level area. The first area you must navigate is the Valley of Heroes where huge living pillars of stone known as Menhirs roam. These critters cannot be killed and players must use their timing and jumping skills in true platformer style to get through them. Players will encounter six new enemy types here, and find a number of caves which are actually solo-able dungeons. Finally, they encounter level 120 Guardians which guard the way to the next area.
Crimsonwood Keep is the ruins of what was once a great thriving Keep where the finest Masterian heroes trained and learned their trade. Another level 70+ area and a massive map.
In total, there are 31 new maps, 11 new enemies and new weapons – many which will be player created, and 12 epic quests, each with many steps and mini goals.
"We developed this here, for the US Market," said Sheloman "and the global MapleStory locations may choose to pick it up or not, since every location crates content for their specific market."
One successful feature created in the US was the Wedding system. It proved so popular that globally, many countries have picked it up, then tweaked and localized it for their market. The upcoming patch is the first major content release that is entirely created by the US team and they are justifiably pleased and excited.
Finally, something that many players will probably appreciate, MapleStory’s "Naughty Word Filter" is being revised to be smarter so that entire words will not be "blipped" out just because they contain several letters which may be a "naughty word." Can almost 6 million users (in the US) be wrong? It's fun, it's a grind, it's a cutesy 2-D side scroller with a very distinctive art direction and it's free to play.
72+ million "users" it says. Riiiiiight. I'm pretty sure they mean, "Over the course of time this game has been out....72+ million people have registered and TRIED the game." I don't believe for ONE New York minute that this grind game has 72+ million ACTIVE players (6 million ACTIVE in the U.S. alone?). Nope. No way, no how. Sorry.
I played MapleStory....for about a month. I think my thief is oh...level 17. O.o I'm not saying it's a "bad" game. I think if you love grinding variations of the same mobs over and over and over and over....it could be quite fun. But I got to the point that if I had to pound ONE more mushroom variation over the head....I was going to SCREAM. The graphics are ADORABLE, admittedly. The translations at least are well done and that's a plus for sure. If you've ever played Perfect World Malaysia-EN, you'll understand my delight on THAT point. :) (Even with bad English translations, Perfect World is many times over, a better game than this, in my opinion.)
Now to qualify what I just said, I should tell you that I'm 45 years old, a medical secretary, and mother of three children that are all over the age of 18. PC gaming has been my hobby since homes BEGAN to have PCs. I've played a pretty fair number of games, of every genre, both single player and MMO, both paid and f2p. But I will admit that my taste in games probably differs somewhat from their "target market" of older teens, so it's not my intention to "dis" their game. As I mentioned above, it has some endearing qualitites. What made me want to comment on the story is their boasting of over 72 million users. I think the term "user" should be defined before throwing a comment like that out there. I just truthfully cannot believe that 72 million people CONSISTENTLY want to grind their way to level 130+.
Grinding aside, this game isn't too bad. Though this genre doesn't really appeal to me.
I wouldn't doubt the success of this type of game to another audience though, let's say, the Eastern gamers? Anime, Chibi, Pixels is bound to be successful when it comes to that side of the world, coupled with their immense patience and dedication to something -- it's actually not that hard to realize that they do have that many players.
I've tried this game myself and, as well as most everybody, it's the grind that turned me away from it. Just the simplest levels from 1-20 (usally a feat easily acquired) will take 10+ hours, lesser if you're a veteran know how to be as efficient as possible.
The people that I know that play this game don't really seem that hardcore to gaming other than "overly casual", they've all said that it just takes some time to reach higher levels. As long as you can handle the test of time, you'll reach the better contents of the game.
I too would say this game was fun.. at the start. A lot of fun and addictive. Now I had a bit more patients than the last thread. I played till level 40. But now a level up is so far away and so hard and long to do I just won't do it. I need to collect 1000 of these zombie lupin dolls, about 1 in 3 kills drops one. so 3000 kills??? of the same monster??? I sit in my chair hold down control (using my archer's arrow bomb) and watch Stephen Colbert on TV.
That's when I decided to quit.
For Sure give the game a try, play for a while and make your own decision.
72 million my arse.
For the record I am a dad, with one son of 15 years old. I am 50 years old and have played just about every MMO in existence. I work in 'Defence' in the United Kingdom and have grey hair and a beer belly.
Maple Story is an enigma to me, sure there are prolly a lot of punters playing it, it amazes me just how they manage to maintain their enthusiasm.
Bless 'em all.
Nexon America didn't make MapleStory, haha.
Maybe 7.2 million but absolutely NOT 72 million, that would be stretching the truth WAY too much.
Love how people make up numbers like this and expect anyone with a shred of intelligence to believe them.
Yup, I bet you're right. I bet that was a typo. I could believe 7.2 million (even though that STILL sounds like a lot), but they're including, of course, the Asian market. HOWEVER, they are proclaiming they have 10 million AMERICAN "users" as well? Uhm....World of Warcraft has that many subscribers. Somehow, I just find it hard to believe that MapleStory has a player base that tops WoW by 62 million players.
Nope....sorry, folks. I'm still not buyin' that line o' bull. ROFL
I still think the issue here is what I stated in my first post. Where WoW counts active subscribers, MapleStory obviously counts every single person that has ever registered since the game was first released, whether they've actually ever played or not, and certainly not counting only people that STILL play.
Yup, I bet you're right. I bet that was a typo. I could believe 7.2 million (even though that STILL sounds like a lot), but they're including, of course, the Asian market. HOWEVER, they are proclaiming they have 10 million AMERICAN "users" as well? Uhm....World of Warcraft has that many subscribers. Somehow, I just find it hard to believe that MapleStory has a player base that tops WoW by 62 million players.
Nope....sorry, folks. I'm still not buyin' that line o' bull. ROFL
I still think the issue here is what I stated in my first post. Where WoW counts active subscribers, MapleStory obviously counts every single person that has ever registered since the game was first released, whether they've actually ever played or not, and certainly not counting only people that STILL play.
yeah, there is no way this game could appeal an amount nearly seven times that of WoW, and have them all active, the amount of servers to even hold that many would be insane, considering its a free-2-play MMO. Its also a grindfest if I've ever played one.
I only got to level 8 before quiting, was just too much for me to level, being a casual person, I didnt have time to sit down and grind endlessly to hit the next couple to get my warrior, my friend quit after getting his mage, and I dont know anyone else who still plays, so no way there is that many.
Maybe there is that many registered to Nexon itself playing all of its games, sounds a bit more believable, but no way for that game.
Who makes this garbage?! It is the dumbest most infantile crap I've ever seen or heard of! Maple story? Maple story?!
The success of MapleStory in the Western World is the reason that American developers are giving the micro-transaction business model a second look.
www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php In this story in Gamasutra in early 2007, they were claiming 50+ million users worldwide. They currently claim over 72+ million users. You have to remember that only a small percentage are paying customers.
{edited because I don't know how to insert a formatted link.
}
72m registered accounts not active player..in my guess they probably have a little over 40 thousand active players......not anywhere near 72m
Quoted for truth.
Worldwide? You do realize that there are different servers for different areas... for instance:
Korea, Japan, China, North America (Can, Mex, USA), Taiwan, South East Asia (Malasia, Singapore, Thailand), Europe (Austria, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, UK, Netherlands) to name a few.
by your "guesswork" that is about 2000 players per region, or a better way of putting it, completely absurd. That would mean this company could not possibly sustain their servers or their 2000 employees worldwide, or afford the big guns let alone the rent for their Canadian and US sutdios. Go on hating, but these guys are the model to be followed. If you read any of the articles, you would realize that they are a private company so they have never had to give any numbers out at all. This makes them appear out of nowhere, but they have ran these games since 1995.
Dev
Worldwide? You do realize that there are different servers for different areas... for instance:
Korea, Japan, China, North America (Can, Mex, USA), Taiwan, South East Asia (Malasia, Singapore, Thailand), Europe (Austria, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, UK, Netherlands) to name a few.
by your "guesswork" that is about 2000 players per region, or a better way of putting it, completely absurd. That would mean this company could not possibly sustain their servers or their 2000 employees worldwide, or afford the big guns let alone the rent for their Canadian and US sutdios. Go on hating, but these guys are the model to be followed. If you read any of the articles, you would realize that they are a private company so they have never had to give any numbers out at all. This makes them appear out of nowhere, but they have ran these games since 1995.
Dev
I am STILL not convinced that they have 72 million players, and I don't care if you include Jupiter and the freaking MOON. I understand what "worldwide" means, and so do the other posters. What YOU don't seem to understand is that NO ONE has 72 million active players. They MAY have (maybe) had that many registered users over the course of their company's "career," but there is no way in hell they have any 72 million active subscribers. Nope. It's going to take a LOT more than one anonymous person saying it's so, for MOST OF US to believe that.
So where are they pulling this information from? Hmm? Of course, they never quoted a source. They just pulled some random spectacular sounding number out of their heads, assuming that most people are so gullible they will believe any "statistic" or numbers thrown at them, and thereby be swayed into thinking...."OMG this must be a really AWESOME game!"
I would believe a few million. I'd believe maybe even up to 5 million, being that this is predominantly an Asian market, and that IS, to be fair, an enormous market. But you know what? They have better games to play than THIS stuff over there. And they have a LOT of games with very competitive companies "running" them. No way, no how that this ONE company has 72 million active players....ROFL.
To make a play on a common MMORPG comment....."Screenshots or it never happened".....I want some real evidence of these quoted "facts." Game companies have made SUCH a habit of lying lately, it seems. It's easy for them to do. Most gamers will willingly believe the most ridiculous statements, and it's partially because we've never held any of these companies to any sort of liability for WHAT THEY SAY. Everyone just ASSUMES they're telling the truth. I think Failcom proved that this is a silly thing to do, once and for all. They LIE....when it serves them well to DO so, and I, for one, am NOT buying it.
Since you quoted my post, keep in mind I was commenting on the fact someone suggested they had a mere 40 thousand players worldwide, which is absurd. Also keep in mind that due to their success, they were approached as the authority on free to play models and micro transactions and asked for the interview as they have been in the business for quite sometime and consult for the large North American game companies who are trying to adopt this model.
Ultimately they don’t need to convince anyone, their success speaks for itself, even EA are adopting this model. Whether or not they have 72 million players logging in every week to play the game is another issue but I can pretty much guarantee that they have more than 40 thousand. 16 million a month in revenue does not come from 40 thousand players playing a free to play game. Then again, as you say, maybe they made everything up and its really 16 bucks a month in revenue.
As for where the info comes from, most of the numbers quoted on MMORPG.com came from this Gamasutra interview, a source that I and the majority of industry professionals trust:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15425
It is a smaller part of an in-depth series of interviews consisting of 5 parts with Minho Kim, Nexon America’s director of game operations. Considering the sources, I would not fault anyone for extending a little faith.
So, if you did a little of your own research instead of foaming at the mouth, you would realize that they were actually talking about the power of the micro transaction business model. The numbers were simply back-story to inform the reader of Nexon’s expertise in this area, not an outrageous claim to fool readers and drive sales of Maplestory. They are without a doubt the pioneers of this model in online mmos and they are facilitating the North American gaming industries’ desire to adopt it.
Dev
Well freaking THANK YOU! Finally someone gives SOME credentials to the information that's just being tossed around as though it were fact with nothing to back it up before. I appreciate you "filling us in." (That part of my response is sincere...the rest is peppered with hateful sarcasm and fierce bitterness in regards to MapleStory, itself.)
I have no issues with their micro-transaction gaming model. Whatever works. MY issue is with a game that is nothing at all more than a grindfest where you can dress up your character in cute little outfits. Darling little anime-like characters, yes. They're adorable, BUT.....have you actually PLAYED MapleStory? O.o The game ITSELF is what caused me to question the outlandish sounding numbers. And if you'll go back....you'll see that this is possibly what threw other posters off as well. I got the impression that the "numbers claim" was in regards to JUST MapleStory.
I just couldn't honestly believe that that many people would want to kill the same mushrooms and trees over and over and over and over again to level. Okay....they have some different COLORED mushrooms and trees.....whatever. It's seriously the most annoyingly repetitive game I've ever tried since PONG.
If the story was in regards to Nexon AS A WHOLE (and frankly I don't remember and don't feel like going back to find out).....then it makes more sense. I understand that Nexon is a huge BEAST of a company, where it comes to this type of game and this kind of payment system.
Micro-transaction type payments are not my personal preference for games, and I don't really understand the appeal of them at all. I don't imagine, REALLY, that the larger game companies, such as Blizzard, are going to change something that's working for them and suddenly switch to this Asian type payment model, but....okay....if you (or they) say that North America is going to that....fine and well. Whatever. I suppose time will tell.
It's unlikely that I, personally, will be playing any of the style of games that are going to that model, other than Perfect World, perhaps, which is THOUSANDS OF TIMES better than MapleStory. As a matter of fact....I've already succumbed to buying Cubicards, so....the micro-pay system has already knocked on my door. And that system, from MY experience....was a pain in the butt.
Again....my issue wasn't with whether or not Nexon was the "God of All Things Micro Pay," it was with the fact that MapleStory is an adorable albeit PITIFUL grind. People must truly be bored to play that.
The article initially came across, TO ME....for some reason....as someone saying that MAPLESTORY had 72 million subscribers. And still I say....if that is the case....NO WONDER we can't get any decent MMOs made, if that's the game developers are looking "up to" as a model. (I understand now, that you're saying they're looking at the PAYMENT model....but I didn't GET that initially.)
Apparently, I misunderstood the original article, if it was implying that NEXON (as a WHOLE) had that many subscribers. Considering that they have several games, and are still probably figuring in anyone that has EVER subscribed....I suppose that's feasible. Part of my bitterness is that I am one of the people they're counting in that "subscriber" number, as I've never "cancelled" my account, and yet....I wouldn't play that game again if it were the only PC game on the planet.
I'm obviously very bitter about the degree of SUCK that I think MapleStory is....so let's just not argue about that and agree that Nexon has come up with some innovative new way to pay for your gaming (even if the games they make are nothing more than perpetual grind games). Perhaps some OTHER company will eventually put micro-transaction to GOOD use, on a GOOD game. If Perfect World could get their micro-pay system a bit more organized and less of a HASSLE.....it might be one game that could qualify for a worthwhile use of this new "payment innovation."
YAY NEXON....thank you for bringing us micro-pay, so that we have to think about paying for our games more frequently and worry about whether we have enough "cubits", or whatever each game calls their virtual money, instead of an all-inclusive, easy to remember, monthly fee.
/takes high blood pressure medicine and logs off
Forums are not healthy for me....I should just learn that and quit posting.
lol, ya I play it periodically. I'm level 24 Rogue, although I play it more to see what its all about rather than out of love. I think the part that made me laugh the most was when I completed a "mission" to kill 99 green mushrooms, and eagerly went back to get my reward and the next mission that was unlocked. I had to laugh when I saw that my next mission was to kill 999 green mushrooms.
Yes 999 lol.
Its a grind most definitely. Although some grinds are ok if its fun. I will admit I have a soft spot for platform games from the past so MS has some charm with its art, its platform mechanic and most definately its world. There are some cool areas in the game that remind of the times in Mario or other classic game worlds when you discover new or hidden areas. Ultimately its a social grindfest, and hanging out and grouping with your buds pounding creatures, sharing items and building your characters looks, power and prestige is the core of gameplay of most mmorpgs, and its fun. Also, don't forget a lot of the players are not vets but teens, so sometimes old proven game modes are still valid and lucrative.
But yes, its an agonizing grindfest at its most basic level. IMO it has a lot more to offer than games like Angels Online, Wakfu and the rest of those games which were whipped together and have almost no social gaming aside form the most basic crap.
Did I kill 999 green mushrooms? Yes, I had to see what would happen. I got a mission to kill 99 blue mushrooms... I could guess what came next. There are other missions with more depth of course, but at the core of them all are gathering items through grinding. But, if you like to customize little cute anime style characters and socialize then no other game compares. Will I play the game to the next class job? (lvl 30) maybe but I highly doubt it. Will I play to the max level 200? No chance. Although I like the world enough that it would be nice to experience all the dungeons.
Dev