Hey there Royals community ! I've been hooked on MS a long time ago and I've been wondering: Why do I spend so much time playing it ? I came up with a few possible reasons: 1. Socialising - To meet new people online 2. Levelling - To hit the max level ASAP 3. Eq hunting - To gain as much mesos as possible to get Godly eqs that can boost damage For me, it's mostly levelling which is why I spend most of my time grinding (although I hate it lel). I like socialising too and love my guild members (S/O to SELECTED BAAS TANAMI XORIELX BLACKJACKS & THE OTHERS) So, why do YOU invest so much time in MS ?
You can always try to place a finger on what exactly is making you feel good when playing a game, but it's never an absolute truth. Somehow, sometimes, all that a game and its community have to offer come together in moments of unexplainable joy and relaxation. You feel at home, it's a weight of your shoulders, you're immersed in the game or the community. You can forget about your daily business, and experience personal satisfaction. Where exactly that satisfaction comes from, is very hard to pin-point. So yeah, I play Royals for Royals, and that's it.
Ultimately the goal is to have fun, but as your thread implies, there are many ways to about doing so. Ideally I'd play mainly to socialize, but since my expectations regarding royals' community have proven to be somewhat true, it's practically impossible to achieve that goal. So I guess the main reason I play now is to grind and make mesos, since at least these two things afford a sense of linear progression which, when coupled with this server's great economy, allow for very steady and guaranteed progress in the game (outside of mastery books, which rely purely on dumb luck and are inherently a stupid and flawed system). The main reason I like royals is for its established economy.
I love talking to peeps and dressing up my character. I like the game itself a lot. v63 feels a lot more like a solid, complete theme and I love that it's a version of the game I know like the back of my hand. The people who make up this community are also incredible, and a huge reason I keep coming back. The fact that people will actually talk to you on the street in this game is so great and surreal.
I've been playing maplestory since 2006 I think, and I've been on and off. I loved pre-bb maple and after that happened, it just became so boring. I mean, the art of this game is amazing and that alone is a reason to play it, so there's another thing to take into account. Back in 2006 I used to go to different places and just look at all of the mobs in the game and listen to the music of each place. But somehow, the game always managed to bore me after a few days. It became about training and getting mesos. So I kinda noticed big bang made people become more focused on just getting better, lvling up, grinding, etc, and less on questing or socializing. I downloaded mapleroyals a few days ago to see if it had a community like old maple used to, since this server is based on nostalgia. I still don't know if it does have a strong sense of community, but the point is, for me, the best part of playing is being able to customize your character and socialize with others while still doing things such as party quests or questing. I really miss that and it was what made me love the game in the first place.
In terms of community, Royals delivers an almost identical type of playerbase to what you'd expect from pre-BB MapleStory. Make of that what you will.
For me, Royals is more than just a game. I don't care about my ranking, damage, or anything competitive, really... I play Royals because I love the people here. There's a certain stigma, at least in the U.S., about friends you make on the internet. But I never understood it. I think people are more sincere, more honest, more them on this game than in real life. And this game stops me from being too jaded about the selfishness and callousness that I see day-to-day. To be truthful, I value friendships made on this game more than people probably realize. There's a certain escapism in Royals, too. When my personal life gets bad, I go to Royals and for a time, I'm not mired in my real life problems. Although it's "just" a game, this game affects us in very human ways. I love, more than anything, being kind to people. So I spend my days giving away things like meso, items, leech... I do that because I enjoy it, and I never accept payment or even hold an expectation of being thanked. But it makes me happy to see that I make people happy. And just chatting with people, celebrating over them passing MW 20 or trading old MapleStory stories at skeles, is what I find the most fun. And this is why I play. ^^
People can never be as sincere via text and in-game avatars as they can in real life, with voice inflections, tone, and the myriad of non-verbal communicative processes that we as a species use to relay information. I'm not understanding your point here. You really think royals has less "selfishness and callousness" than in real life? I log in and see a bunch of self-centered, narcissistic people doing their own thing who don't have enough time to give a damn about anyone outside of themselves; at least in real life, there are plenty of people who actually will take some time to talk or greet you with a smile, if nothing else. I log in and if I accidentally happen to press "r" and gaze upon my empty buddy list, am reminded of past "friends" who never talk, engage in conversations with others, or ever help out anyone even if given help previously; at least in real life, I've known people who have reciprocated to some extent. I log in and if I happen to accidentally press "t" and gaze upon the guild window, am reminded of all the cliques that go around the community who call themselves "guilds" and who never talk with others outside of their small in-groups; at least in real life, this sort of behavior is relegated to high school. I log in and see people with their masturbatory, self-congratulatory attention whoring about how their close friend attained some random level which ultimately means nothing in the grand scheme of things; at least in real life, these type of attention-seekers aren't given a platform by which to talk about themselves all the time. I log in and see hilariously pathetic smega drama and people getting banned for calling each other names; at least in real life, seeing people breaking the rules and getting arrested isn't an everyday occurrence unless you live in the ghetto. I log in to this forum and see edgelords fighting special snowflakes in the ban appeals and today in the general discussion; at least in real life, these people are not given a platform to do this. Please, please explain to me how this community is, as a whole, anything other than laughable, empty, and devoid of any authenticity. When it comes to most Maple private servers, community is the last reason I'd be drawn to the game. The only thing enjoyable about this community is the entertainment that the stupidest and most thoughtless forum posts provide.
That's your opinion. People can be as harsh irl as they can be in maple. The only difference is that, in maple, we have something in common, and in this server, it's nostalgia. And man does nostalgia join people. Yeah, there are selfish people, but I do think your buddy list might be empty simply because you haven't met the right folks. And hey! If YOU don't like the community, there's no reason to ruin it or say bad things about it in a thread that's asking exactly why people LIKE this game. I do think there is a sense of community, and people are pretty friendly in Royals. There are people who help. There are people seeking old times and old friendships. Maybe it's you who hasn't found that yet. Anyway, if you need someone in your buddy list, you could add me. I'm low lvl but at least I can make you company if you want.
Sorry you feel this way. But I disagree that "people can never be as sincere via text and in-game avatars as they can in real life." Sincerity is independent of whatever communicative nuances are lost in interaction through a game. As far as hearing things like tone though, I perceive them pretty well through Royals and that's what makes talking and teasing people so much fun. ^^ Yes I do. Very much so. I wonder why our experience on Royals is so vastly different... I log in and see a bunch of friends spamming buddy chat with "HI AKIRA." I'm surrounded by selfless and kind people who like messing around together or slacking in FM for hours. If I look at my buddy list, I see on average 60 people online who all chat with each other since everyone knows everyone and is always willing to help out even friends of friends, people they don't know personally. If I look at my guild window, I see a group of trolls who I love dearly and share far too many inside jokes with. As far as the clique thing goes, there are several circles that different people run in, but it's not hard at all to befriend them! Even language barriers are easy to get around. Also, I wish you wouldn't call people who celebrate their friends' or their own achievements in this game attention whoring. People are allowed to be happy and have fun, and things like "AKIRA, CONGRATS ON 200!" doesn't mean my friends or I are attention whoring. I have never disagreed with a smega drama ban and I have found the GMs to be fair in enforcing the rules of the server that we all agreed to when we signed up. I read ban appeals in my free time and have yet to look at people in such ways like "edgelords" or "special snowflakes." I refuse to explain to you "how this community is, as a whole, anything other than laughable, empty, and devoid of authenticity." You'll have to find out for yourself. But before that, please reconsider holding people in such low regard. There are many wonderful people here, and I hope you see that someday. <3
Almost seems to me like you're asking us to give you reasons to stay but unfortunately, we can't do that. Don't stay in a place you don't like, and that applies for life as well. If you simply do not like the game, that's your decision and we will respect that. I love this game because the friendships I've made throughout the years are ones I want to keep. Like Rhino said, maybe you just haven't found the right friends yet. I feel a bit offended when you say "this community is, as a whole, anything other than laughable, empty, and devoid of any authenticity." Perhaps you've made that assumption based on a group of people because I do not feel that way. People can be whomever they want to be and you've got to be mature enough to accept people for who they are, and if you can't accept that, then that's too bad. If you continue to play and find that this community is not for you, then perhaps you're playing the wrong game. Maplestory has always been an extremely interactive game for me and many others and I don't know how you can enjoy the game without the help of some friends. Most are not the people they appear to be and it's disappointing that you've jumped to the conclusion that there are lots of "self-centered, narcissistic people doing their own thing who don't have enough time to give a damn about anyone outside of themselves", when I don't find that true. Many of your points relate to IRL scenarios and Royals just isn't "IRL". It's a virtual with online interactions. You can't expect an online game to be the same as real life. Even if you removed the entire community, Royals is still a good game to play, although it'd be extremely boring.
I used to play constantly when it first came out. I came to Royals after a friend gave me the link So I joined to play with her and her hubby. Then they quit playing. I guess I stayed because I was having fun in my spare time and met some nice people I enjoyed talking to and playing with! Now i'm just addicted again! Ahh. Really it's my get away from life. So I play for "me time" haha
I think this happens everywhere in the world though. It's like if any of your irl friends tells you 'hey wtf do you play maple?' You're like.. erhm..
I think you overgeneralize this comparison of authenticity. I work in the financial sector, and using adjectives like "selfish" and "callous" actually understate the personalities you interact with. For me, I appreciate the relative anonymity of this online community: it lets me interact more freely and sincerely without anxiety over office politics, political correctness, and other common stigmas. Of course, this may not apply to everyone. I'm just cautioning against applying these labels without proper context, which inevitably varies with each individual. I agree that there's individuals who overly focus on their personal achievements—lol I'm actually a little guilty of that. But at the same time, there's plenty of people who are cool, affable, and empathetic. Just like with finding any other niche, it takes some time and effort to surround yourself with people whom you can relate to. In most real life environments, you'll also meet people you may deem "self-centred" or "narcissistic". That's not exclusive to this community. If anything, this very thread has illustrated that people play MapleRoyals for different reasons. Some view it as a social platform, others a competitive arena, and some a combination of both. So what if someone is obsessed with doing their own thing. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just let them? This is the part that resonated with me the most. I've joined guilds where you simply do not feel like you belong, and that isolation is one of the worse feelings. This is why I always have tremendous respect for people who constantly expand their social circles and try to enrich other people's experiences. From a personal action standpoint, you have the freedom of bouncing between groups and "cliques" until you find or create your own. Isn't that kind of how we survived "high school"? I agree with your depiction of toxicity, but it's not exclusive online. You can find pettiness to frown at in every environment and on every level, I like to think it's how you deal with it (or ignore it) that makes the difference. As much as it seems that I've been repudiating your post, I can see where you're coming from and I'll bring everything back on topic. I've quit before, and partially because of the exact essence of what you're saying: it's incredibly easy to get caught in the pixels, pettiness, and social veneers and lose sight of the important things in life. But at the same time, what endears me to this game, and what motivates me to continue playing, is the people that positively define my experience, and the opportunities I have to enhance the experience of others. I'll freely admit that my goals have always had a personal focus: make shiny items, acquire big stacks, do white damage, that kind of stuff—but along the way, I've found a niche for helping others with price checking, financial consulting (lol), and all things market related. My ultimate goal, beyond the stacks on stacks on stacks, is to leave this community a better place than it was when I came. I'll borrow a timeless quote from a former American president. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." In my experience, anytime I've selfishly expected this game to deliver a favourable outcome, I've been disappointed. Anytime I saw the petty drama and brought out the metaphoric popcorn, my laughter was short-lived. But when I went out of my way to add value to others and to the community, I've found more personal contentment and often enjoyed the organic, authentic interactions that you claim to be lacking.
Then why are you even here? Why post? Why talk to people on the forums other than to be a self-centered narcissist that takes advantage of this platform to force his views upon others?
Of course I would've responded earlier, but apparently some oh-so impartial mod here decided to give me a 3-day ban for no stated reason other than "violation of terms of service." Well golly gee, no shit sherlock--obviously someone thought I broke a rule, but if you look on my posting history, nothing I did went against any of the rules, and I state this after carefully perusing all of the ToS multiple times. You raise a valid point in that I realize now that getting involved in any capacity in this community is a mistake and that the rational responses such as those I've seen from Matt (on another thread) and Dapper are the exceptions rather than the rule. So yes, I can give you no more good reasons for posting on this forum any longer, because in the end anything I post gets me nowhere and is really just a waste of time. As for being a "self-centered narcissist," I've tried repeatedly to make attempts at branching out and making friends in this community, both within this forum and within the game itself. I've tried to help out newer players as I see them, and I've tried to get connected via PQs, guilds, and boss runs, but everyone I've seen has been a) a complete idiot who can't carry a conversation, b) someone whose English is so terrible that I can't effective communicate with her/him, or c) a self-absorbed individual who has no desire to reciprocate anything I've put in. To assume that I'm the one being self-centered is a baseless and disingenuous assumption. As for "forcing my views upon others," you're giving me too much credit; all I have done is simply state my observations as I have honestly seen them and have never once "forced" anyone to agree. Seems to me that people like you and j_resent who implicitly and/or forcefully tell me to "stay quiet" or "not post" are the ones forcing me to some pattern of behavior, rather than the other way around. To say that I'm the one "forcing my views upon others" is a statement wholly lacking in self-awareness and is instead mere projection. I don't like people blindly listening to what anyone says--myself included--and I'd much rather people critically evaluate propositions before accepting them. I simply state my observations, sometimes (and more recently) in a provocative manner, to which your response can either be to ignore me if you really hate what I'm saying, or to respond with thoughtful and well-balanced points, like Dapper has done. Those sort of responses are much appreciated and provide me some insight into other viewpoints. Attacking me personally in response to general statements I've made about the community--while in no way calling out anyone specifically or personally--gets us nowhere and only makes you look the part of the fool.
