A Letter to the MapleRoyals Community

So I've noticed something that's been becoming more and more apparent as time goes by: the overall community has changed. I'm not talking about the fact that we've had many staff members come and go or that basically everyone I knew suddenly decided to leave the server for another one. I'm talking about the fact that I'm seeing so many players who literally don't give a shit about the community anymore.

One of the main reasons I loved playing on this server while I was much more active is the fact that when you needed someone for whatever reason, whether it'd be to have a conversation, help with a quest, or provide some information, there would usually be a person there to assist you. Occasionally that would even be a GM on their player account. It made me enjoy promoting that sort of behavior and felt pretty damn good when you see it snowball into many other players doing the same thing. The community felt like an actual community.

Nowadays, I see a lot more people who literally take advantage of new players. There have been quite a few posts where you'd have Player A (New Player) being (KSed/Scammed/Etc) by Player B (Experienced Player), but with the result of Player A being banned for attempting to get back at the first offender. Now, I along with basically every other player on Royals who has been here for a while agree that reading the rules is obviously the first thing you should do when you register for a private server, but its almost as if the spectators of these situations live for that kind of drama. I'd be willing to bet that a majority of the people who frequent the forum only check out the General Discussion or Ban Appeal section just to get their daily dose of entertainment. There's always some newbie on the shoutbox whining about being banned for something they felt was unjust. To make matters worse, literally every reply I've read on the forums to these kinds of posts were either condescending or just plain rude. Anyone who tries to reduce the toxicity within these conversations is often flamed themselves for doing so.

The above scenarios are only a portion of what I've noticed while lurking on the forums. Things like AFKer killing with summoning bags, zombie tooth scamming, boss looting, and all these other things were definitely not things you'd see very often. It has gotten to the point where any new player that asks for help in the shoutbox I've recommended/reminded to re-read the rules before they ended up being banned for something stupid. Now, I'm well aware that these types of players were always there to begin with, but it feels like the friendly player type has more or less become the minority. One could argue that if you want to resume that sort of experience in MapleRoyals that you should join a guild or make more friends. Yes, this has always been an option, one that I've opted to do since day 1, but let me ask you this, "Why do I need to be a part of a group or clique in order for someone to treat me like a human being?" Even as a veteran, I don't feel this should even be a thing that happens.

The funny thing is, a lot of us scapegoat our blame on the GMs for making bad decisions when in reality, most of the bans and arguments that take place are a result of us being just plain morons with them having to intervene and make a decision. They're literally wrong when they're wrong, but also wrong when they're right, at least in the eyes of many. Talk about a shitty situation to be in if you were them.

Anyways, to the people who read this post (including previous and current staff members), I'm asking you, as a member of the community to do two things. The first is to describe your experience interacting with players in-game and on the forums. Considering that I've been here for an extremely long time (almost to the point where I'm about to turn to dust), its very likely that my experiences and expectations are much different than yours. Tell me if you feel the same as I do or if you're fortunate enough to have not run into these sorts of situations. The second is to respect each others' answers to this post and to stay on topic. I understand that you may have different opinions and preferences, but do not suggest or criticize others' beliefs. To be clear, the goal of this post is to raise awareness of the behavior we engage in and to hopefully improve it, not to pointlessly debate about who's right or wrong. I will request the thread to be locked the moment it derails as I really don't want to see this thread end up in vain like countless others.

Thanks for taking the time to read the less-filtered wall of text than I usually write up.

 

People realized how easy it is to be banned for toxic behavior. To continue being rude while avoiding bans a lot of maplers have become more focused on being passive-aggressive, rumor hungry and meme obsessed; all at the expense of another.

If you try to defend your opinion on a subject you will most likely be met with many people (who are all acquainted with each other) who low-key mock your point and insult you.

 

Bump cause this needed one.

 

I do apologyze... (you know what im talking about)

 

Bump.

Can the lowballing merchants who go out of their way to undercut other players please read this thread you guys are kinda annoying tbh and it's not particularly nice to new players

 

I think defame was originally design for us to use when someone doing something unfair to you.
And when u see someone with a lot of negative fame and have toxic behavior. Its indicate that this person have problem and should avoid to deal with him/her.
Its ridiculous that mass defaming people would get ban but the one that done something bad to you didnt get ban just because he/she know how to play with the RULES.

Just my "Twenty cents"

 

I don't have any perspective on the community as a whole changing over time because I have not played long enough compared to some players, plus im not that close to the end-game. but to answer your question, personally I have not had any shortage of running into positive and social players in-game (and forums, but that's mostly trading). And im not going out of my way to find it (maplestory being a game that basically requires cooperation for most of its mechanisms). Never had problems with the rules either, they are mostly obvious, and the ones that are not warrant a quick read-through like you said. I have had a few extreme cases of players taking advantage of others etc that make you want to escalate the situation but decided it was not worth it, and it payed off in the end.

Personally I would expect no less, most people don't have much to do on the website besides voting, checking patch update, buy/sell threads. I also entertain the idea that people go out of there way more often to be vocal if they are complaining or being a disturbance compared to people who might have something positive to say, I mean have you ever seen a youtube or twitch chatbox? well I hope its just surface wounds and that the community see's growth and continues to support this maplestory, not that shriveled up dead thing they call GMS or maplestory 2 (sorry, not sorry)

 

When I play Maple, I try to be as friendly as possible. I know how great it is to be around nice people, which is why I want to be the same. It's so important to treat each other as humans, and even writing "Hi" is often forgotten.

Being nice to others makes you feel better.

 

well imperable70 got banned for rwt.

 

“it feels like the friendly player type has more or less become the minority. One could argue that if you want to resume that sort of experience in MapleRoyals” from OP

Royals has been here for around quite a long time, and many of us experienced bits and parcel of dark and of course happy times.

Whenever looking back, you only recall quality memories, and if u recall carefully, minor toxicity of the server back then and now is still similar to a certain extend.

Well losing a large group of friends/guildies, when returning, everything feels very foreign and definately, might be overwhelmed by the little slight changes of players/community.

The community definitely shifted, and feels alittle less friendly, but for sure, everyone still treats you more foreignly, but still as human.

Well, you already stated in your post, perhaps you might haven’t actually give it a try or a good push.
Instead of looking at the current state of the newer community then before, why not make some new friends and join a Guild that targets at your view of gameplay?
Your friend become my friend, and the pool of friendliness and joy will probably overwhelm you soon enough!
Perhaps, like before or hopefully the better.

 

True also, maybe this is not applicable when come to people allow to have multiple account.

 

Once you get past the superficiality, the elitism, the sexual tension, the immaturity, and need to feel accomplished...

You might find that genuine person, maybe even, a friendly person.

I can't tell you how many people I've helped for free in this game. I'm talking free leech, free pink gaia capes/other equips/scrolls/items (I'd love for a GM to verify these just for my own amusement), mesos donated (atleast 1B+ across varying persons), helping people LPQ/KPQ/HTPQ.....

You know what I've found? In that moment of kindness I was nothing more than a pawn to help move someone towards whatever their "goal" was in this game. Profound conversation that has depth, meaning, purpose... is fleeting on any game. It's the search, perhaps even desire, to meld true sincerity to a superficial environment.

I would, in no uncertain terms, call myself one of those "friendly" players that are now in the minority. When you are reduced to pixels that carries with it a range, equips, power, abilities, someone who has buffs, is experienced....
you inherently rob that person of their human character.

I don't know if I've even remotely addressed your OP, but I feel there is an essence to it that I can pick up on. I can sympathize with your frustration... if even in a different fashion.

 

Theres people of all kinds that make up the community and as time goes on people come and go, cliques are born and conflicts get started etc.

Staff does get alot of flack for the things that go against player wishes. But many people within the community have no idea what goes on behind the scenes so in many cases they aren't really justified. Certain ban appeals for example can be looked at much differently if people were aware of the classified details(which they are classified for a reason). And certain decisions that change long-time game mechanics are met with backlash, even though they can be necessary in the long run. I cant say I've always thought positively of staff, but over time I've had a change in perspective.

Personally I think its silly to take this game too seriously on some "pro" level. Like theres no test of skill, just grind more or get lucky to get those extra numbers. On the other hand though, I personally take abuses like hacking and rwt very seriously. Even scamming is unforgiveable in my eyes because of the level of trust and respect players can build here.

For me, playing here for a while does get discouraging when you see rwters and scammers succeed while you follow the rules like a normal citizen. One of the reasons I made my shedding some light post is because of these illegit players. Also, because I like memes, I didn't mind causing a shitstorm. Of course, I apologized to the people i unintentionally offended and won't pull another stunt like that for respect to the community. Many people don't know what I was trying to do, but I can assure everyone it gave me the results I wanted. To finish shedding some light, a certain person that people thought I was "defending" exposed themselves to be a real scamming criminal and I'm sure the rwters I wanted to call out were put on notice.

I've been on and off here for a while now so I can't say much on the shift of the community. But people come and go, and it helps to look at things with perspective.

 

I’m genuinely curious about this one. Do you mean like guys harassing girls online?

 

May i add a simple correction on that for you?
Guys harrassing “Girls” online.

 

:^)

 

:^)