This game has a large barrier to entry

The title seems a bit ridiculous, as all you need to do to play is register and download the client, but hear me out. This may seem like a rant, i'm going to just close my eyes and type out all that I feel as a new player.

After the demise of a certain other server, I came here. I'm not a first timer here, I played about half a year ago, had fun, and then school caught up to me so I left for other mmos, real life, etc. This server is shaping up to be the next #1, so I decided i'll come back. I always wanted to recreate my original Marksman from GMS in a pre-bb environment, so here I go.

I just feel that players are locked onto a specific path of progression here. Newbies should make a Priest to save money, sell HS service, become a bishop, leech people, to get money to HP wash their true main. It's not possible to fight horntail without HP washing. I just feel a little bummed out being forced to make a priest, and this whole leeching thing being the most viable way to play. I know this is how it was back in the days, but jeez..

It's just really demotivating levelling a class I don't really enjoy that much, just to spam Genesis in two spots for a long time before I really get to make my main and have fun. I know i'm not forced to, but I'd feel bad if I was locked out of Horntail and PB forever just because I didn't dedicate myself to washing. I'm currently a level 57 cleric and i'm not looking forward to the mage ultimate playstyle at all. I remember in GMS when my brother's girlfriend had a bishop she'd let me borrow and I could leech my character at harps in Leafre. That's when I quit maplestory.

I dunno, feel free to flame me or w/e, i'm just disappointed. I don't even know why i'm bothering to say this, something like this is a core part of Maplestory after mages got their ultimates and Nexon gave bosses such high damage.

 

Hey, it's not really compulsory to create a bishop actually. If you can, try to vote everyday and amass as much NX as you can. Once you get enough for perhaps a 30 or more gachapon tickets, head over to Mushroom Shrine and spend your gachapon tickets there. You'll probably get some decent dark scrolls, Purple Gaia Cape or even a chaos scroll to sell. Once sold, use the money to scroll something, perhaps a shield, a hat or gloves. I myself went without a bishop, and I'm doing quite fine on my Hero at the moment. Earned 200M from Genesis sales, used the profit to scroll a 27 TMA shield, sold it for 1B, used the majority of the profit to scroll a 29 TMA shield and now I'm waiting for it to be bought up at 1.4B. If you don't feel like messing with scrolls, go the farming way. Pretty sure there're a bunch of guides telling you the best place to farm.

Since you're hoping to create a Marksman, I'd suggest you split your accumulated NX into some AP resets and a bunch of gachapon tickets, or simply go all into gachapon tickets if you feel like gambling!

 

Thank you so much for the encouragement. Sometimes I let my emotions get the better of me and i get discouraged..

On Extalia when I started out, I made a luminous and farmed cubes to sell for 4m each. It took a while, but eventually I had a billion or two to start off with. In a sense I was trading my time for mesos, I guess the same could work here just with NX. I'm sort of considering making a melee character too, but I really want my Marksman back.

 

You are welcome! Doesn't hurt to try out various classes as well. You can still start off as a Marksman anyhow. It's up to you if you want to take up the challenge.

 

I didn't really start off with a bishop either, I think you would have more fun if you started with something you liked then making a bishop afterwards, I know many players including night lord who start off without washing and have done horntail successfully. Not saying you should play unwashed, but it's possible, just a hassle. In fact a lot of rich players on this server don't even sell leech at all. As I do think a bishop is mandatory because of obvious reasons(HS,farm,etc) it's not a "make bishop get rich instantly". So don't feel forced you should start with one because you think you HAVE to and definitely don't if you aren't you having fun doing so.

 

I started with a NL and hp washed at the same time without any mage class, might be a bit harder now.
HP washing is not a requirement, maybe you need a few washes but with natural gear you should reach the MP required for it.

If you don't like bishops don't make one, I didn't enjoy playing one so never bothered.

 

It may seem like thats the case but it really is not .. Its up to you entirely

I myself had only one char a NL got it to 157 ht'ed as well with it. Had an amazing time here while playing with my friends. Even though I quit now and haven't been playing I still think its really up to what you want to get out of this server . If you just wanna come here have fun make good friendships and play with, them you really don't have to make a bishop or any mage class to do that . People are really nice on this server in general and I'm sure if you have good friends here they won't hesitate to help you out with anything (from leeching to even equips) even for a second . That way you can enjoy the gameplay and have fun and go do your boss runs, hp wash when you can but most importantly play the char you feel like playing without being obligated to play a class that you don't like . But if you want to go all out and try to be strongest , then i guess , even though you still don't have to , making a bishop and going that path would be preferred .

As i said i think its really up to you and up to what you want to get out of this server .

 

Honestly, most bishops don't even sell leech. I'm really lazy and tbh, leeching is really boring. I just sit around and wait until I have enough nx for gach and pray for a white scroll or something. It's totally possible, though. Good luck :^)

 

I wasn't trolling when I said leeching destroys the server months ago like a billion times.

The problem here is leech (and to an extent, the design of washing).

See if leeching didn't exist, a player like Mango Juice can comfortably make a Marksman first and train with a priest / bishop instead of having to make one himself. A player like my CB or my priest would gladly party with him and grind in a map like gobies / grims / ulu / vikings=D.

The problem is that leeching is too fucking OP and isolates everyone.

Leeching shouldn't be faster exp than grinding with parties like in the old times.

Now as a result, a player like Mango Juice is forced to make a bishop he doesn't want to.

 

I have been reading your posts for a while , always about the same point , I can't believe you got me to reply but there goes ,
You realize that you are arguing about the game 's mechanics ? That's how the game works , some classes can't grind as efficient as a bishop's leech , and some classes can .
This is how the game was coded , I don't see how whining about this on every single thread can help you.
If this issue bothers you that much , maybe you are playing the wrong game ?

 

No man I enjoy the game. I don't enjoy how the game is centralized around leeching as the main source of exp gain up until bossing.

I understand that's how the game was coded. That is why Nexon nerfed leeching exp and gave CD to genesis immediately so that grinding parties would exist. If they didn't the server would be like 80% bishops like ours currently is. '

 

I am a relatively new player on this server, and I can understand what you mean.
You feel psychologically "compelled" to do something you don't like, and this is a not nice feeling.

It is perfectly possible to actually progress through the game without crazy investments, but if you want to be competitive (or “received”, “perceived” as a competitive player) in terms of damage or levelling, yes, there are a few “optimal”, accepted routes. Veteran players will always try to give you the most “optimal” min/maxed advice regarding levelling, formulas, gear options and availability, because they think they are doing you a favour.
Since I think the problem lies more in the original old-school gameplay than the server itself, I ended up not bothering, and I am still having a fulfilling experience.

Old-school Maplestory is a charming, fun, addicting, supersmooth 2D side-scrolling action mmorpg, but sadly the original gameplay itself is not flexible, nor balanced.
Even if many gameplay aspects have been balanced (and the staff did and keep doing an impressive job in this respect), private servers cannot help but retain some of the original “skinner box” design. A crazy nonsense high damage endgame boss is nothing but a huge artificial “barrier” designed to milk time and money from players.

Probably this is not the most “optmistic” piece of writing; as a long-term videogames lover, I accept Maplestory for what it is. There are many things I still find fun about it. I am sure that now that you've stated your point of view, everybody will just try to help you enjoy the game your own way. Good luck!

 

I love the art of HP Washing; I love complicated things, but it is, from a game design stand-point, kinda lame how expensive and complicated it is just to make a Gunslinger, Sin, or Archer. I, personally, would be happy to see if these three classes HP Gain was doubled, or something, so that they would hit 9k HP by level 155, naturally.

On the other hand, Gunslingers, Assassins, and Bowmen all have the highest DPS in the game, and therefore, having to wash them kinda makes the game more balanced, in a currency-type-of-way: you gotta pay for that nice DPS.

So, honestly, I've never been able to sort out how I feel about it. I'm cool with the way the game is now, but I'd also be cool with their HP getting buffed.

 

I comfortably made a Marksman as my first real character and managed just fine, so I fail to see your point. This topic is not about leeching, it's a general statement of distaste for the way the progression of this game works. Please take your deep-seated rage about leeching elsewhere, as it's been shown multiple times that it's not a topic worth discussing.

To the OP, there is a fast and efficient way to do things, and there is a slow and inefficient way to do things. The fastest way to reach end-game is to start with a Bishop and farm as much money as you can until the point that you can purchase anything that you need to make whatever class you want. That's not the only way to do things, though; efficiency is not everything, and often comes at the cost of your own happiness.

When I first started on this server, I did make an Ice/Lightning Mage, and I got it to level 71 before I realized that I wasn't happy with it. I didn't touch that character again for about a year and a half; instead, I made a Marksman (just like you want to!) and managed to HP wash it to 6k HP without ever leeching a level. I had a lot of fun playing that character, and the only reason I stopped playing it was because I stopped having fun on it and wanted to try playing different characters; my next was a Corsair, then a Hero, then after that was when I finally made a Bishop.

My point is that, no matter what anyone tells you, you can definitely get by in this game and accomplish a great deal of things without making a Bishop (or any other mage). Yes, the game will become more difficult. Yes, it may take longer to reach what you want to reach. And yes, some things (excessive washing of ranged characters, for example) will become difficult to the point that they can be considered impossible. But if your enjoyment of the game comes from playing classes that aren't mages (just like me! I cannot stand playing mages, they actually frustrate me, but that's a different topic) then you do you.

 

Micheal you have great dedication and knowledge towards the game but you are seeing it from your perspective.

For a player like OP he just wants to play a Marksman comfortably. But if he makes one without making a bishop first, he will be miserable as he cannot wash effectively or grind effectively.

I don't understand what you mean by "you do you" when enjoyment of our server is based on player interaction.

When an entire server is leeching. How fun is it to grind a Marksman solo?

 

It is entirely a case of "you do you" as this game, and the server is what you make of it. I can speak personally to this.

I seldom play my legit (a 12x BM) but when I do, I usually am playing along with someone to pass the time grinding. This character has never Zakked, never done Krex, never done HT, and I only followed the strategy of HP washing because others taught me what it was about and why it is a good idea. Nonetheless, I have max mesos on the character, and if I was really in a bind could make TONS more just by selling the hundreds of scrolls I have. Should I run out of scrolls, I can get plenty more by doing a several thousand Gach ticket with the 1+ million NX I have on my account from voting every day.

I could go even further and say look at the Islanders of this game. They never job advance, yet take a look at the Islanders Guild thread. They are having a blast playing the game, and yet they aren't bishops raking in tons of mesos, they're just constantly poking away at snails.

So in essence what I am trying to say is, while my approach to this game is probably completely different from most people's on here yet I still have fun when I'm on and so do many others. Why? Because this game is about the community, not being able to boss or the quickest path to max mesos, or anything else.

 

i would like to start off by saying this. it is 100% possible to Krex, Zak, and HT with minimal (and im talking like maybe 10-20) HP washing. Selling leech and HP washing are aboslutely not necessary to be able to enjoy end game bossing

let me put it like this. let's say 2 people are playing pokemon red version. if person A doesnt bother to fight the wild pokemon and avoids battling trainers here and there, their pokemon might be lvl 40-50 by the time they get 8 badges. person A might struggle against the elite four the first time around and they probably have to bring a number of hyper potions and revives and whatnot. lets say person B fights every damn wild pokemon they encounter and fights every pokemon trainer available in the game before fighting the elite four. i would guess person B's pokemon would be around lvl 55-65 by the time its time for them to go up against the elite four. person B will beat the elite four easier than person A, but at the end of the day, both person A and person B are able to accomplish the end game goal, which is to beat the elite four.

but just in case you've never played pokemon...

i feel like some people on this server feel like they are entitled to OP NLs or sairs or BMs or MMs or whatever, without putting in the effort. Selling leech for money and HP washing is a luxury and is earned through the time and effort that YOU put into the game. If person A is not willing to put in the time and effort as much as person B is, then person B should definitely be at an advantage. But at the end of the day, person A and person B are able to both accomplish the end goal, which for most people, is to be able to kill HT.

so no, a player like Mango Juice is not forced to make a bishop. she can fight krex, zak, or HT and succeed without ever making a bishop. if she wants the actual bossing to be easier, then she will put in the effort to make it happen. if she wants to enjoy end game content casually, there is no game mechanic that prevents it from happening.

 

Dear leoye123 and Mango Juice

I started playing on this server 2 month ago. My main and only character is a bowman and I am HP washing it with out the help of a bishop. I have now, 44 Int on this character and 90% of the founding was by selling every monsters drop and collecting every coins I got from grinding. This process is may be slow, but I feel proud of my hard work. You do not need to create a bishop and buying leech to advance in this game. It’s not because everybody want the fastest and cheapest way that it is the only way around. I do believe that buying leech it a lazy thing but, I’m not mad about people doing so. I don’t like it, I don’t do it. That’s it! So if some of us can, so you to.

 

"you do you" in your case is to fight HT with an attacker and be a competitive player, so i'm not gonna tell you to become an islander or main a PG fighter. it is difficult to get to where you want to be without a bishop or an archmage to farm and sell leech, but it is definitely possible. a lot of players don't like that making a bishop is the safest way to get to that point, but that's the way it is on this server since game mechanics aren't significantly altered enough to balance out classes, so we can't do much about that. however, it is entirely possible to get to the point you want to be at without maining a bishop. i've done it and i know other people who have (including the #1 marksman on the server). granted, it is harder now than it was back then because of the higher HP needed to HT comfortably. but you can overcome that issue without having to first make a bishop and spam genesis. don't be discouraged, it must be hard starting from scratch in a new server after being successful in another, but if it was that easy then it would be no fun.

early on you can learn prices and merch/scroll, farm for good low level items (skanda, nishada, mithril ores, heartstoppers, etc), sell TP rocks with your nx or get your own resets. then you can farm bosses for drops by yourself (rare skillbooks, clean end game weapons) or with a party (gene 20). you can gamble with chaos or crafting level 110 weapons. and with that money you'd wash along the way and eventually reach enough HP to HT.

basically yes, there is a barrier to entry, but you can overcome it and reach your goal of fighting HT with an attacker without having to make a bishop first. let me know if you need any help, or look around in the forums for ways to make money without making a bishop first.

 

To reiterate prior points, I made my bishop after having already lvled a shadower to 15x and a washed NL to 150+. I'm not saying this route was particularly easy (although i attribute that to the fragility of the shadower race than because I didn't main a bishop) but, it its entirely possible to get to a point where you are a very competitive player reaching for godly equips and perfect weapons without ever having to really make a 4th job mage. I made my bishop mainly because it looked fun (and it was! grinded at skeles for dayssss), and now I've very close to a 30k hp hero and the majority of the reason of which why I am able to so easily make him is the mesos I have accumulated from my NL and above all, the friends that I have made whilst playing the classes that I enjoyed at first, that have offered me BF/skele leech and washing equips.

Anyway that you dedicate your time in this server furthers yourself and pushes you towards a goal, no matter how inefficient or exp waste it may seem. (Unless if you're an arsehole and everyone ends up hating you). There is no real barrier to entry in this game apart from time. Afterall, thats what maplestory was always about; time, luck and friends i.e. little to no skill whatsoever lol.