So I got ranting in discord about my distaste for the most recent changes of shadowers and I thought I would take a moment to share with the staff about how I feel as a shadower who had previously used MouseKeys DoubleClick function on numpad+ as a normal part of their play. Overall Feelings: The current ruling doesn't promote equal play among shadowers, despite its clear objective to do so The current ruling is both oppressive and arbitrary Shadower is more of a chore to play than it had been previously It's a change that has only affected a small number of players which are easy to ignore post-change So let's just break these points down a little so my feelings can be understood and maybe garner some understanding from community members outside of shadowers The current ruling doesn't promote equal play among shadowers, despite its clear objective to do so What I mean by this is that previously, everyone had access to the tools necessary for quick and comfortable meso dropping with just their computer and nothing else. There was no need to install third party software to get faster dropping or anything like that, because dropping was an easy 3 button combo that was easy to execute and accessible to everyone who had a windows computer. The issue stands now that, if i wanted a similar function, I would need to custom bind 2 keys close to each other and press then simultaneously in order to get a similar effect. This isn't that big of a deal for me, but now players who aren't willing to explore third party software are left out in the cold. This creates a stronger divide among shadowers/CB that was previously solvable by just giving new shads a little advice on how to enable MouseKeys on their computers. I will concede the fact that not everyone has a numpad on their keyboard, but such an argument is really besides the point because no one is playing on an even field as it is. Some players have access to better hardware than others and that's just an inherent fact about gaming. A person with a nice PC and good peripherals will have an edge over a person using a laptop at 25 fps. Trying to even a playing field by bringing down the majority of players to fit into the lowest common denominator doesn't really make sense to me in this situation. It's even possible to purchase a separate Numpad if they felt like it was necessary, but in the worst case scenario, you could use third party software to rebind keys to act similarly to the MouseKeys functions you want but at least that wouldn't be the norm. Moving on. The current ruling is both oppressive and arbitrary An issue I have with the ruling is that, as it stands, most people don't even truly play with 1:1 already. That itself is an arbitrary statement about the game, but I feel like maybe it's a viewpoint people should consider. When a player holds a button down, it repeats it over and over, as it would a text document. This way you can hold the skill button down and it will just cast it over and over. This is inherently a non 1:1 action, but it is generally accepted because that's a feature in all computers. In fact, these settings can be changed and altered in Windows. So, what if I made it so holding a key would click over and over, like any other key press? This would be considered hacking, but to what end? I don't even think this would give any player an edge, but it's just a hypothetical for the sake of things. This type of "hack" would require third party software and a script, but as opposed to MouseKeys it isn't a built in function to every computer like holding down a key press for normal keys is. Even as "normal" meso dropping stands, most players would hold down ctrl+v and then click the inventory window/meso dropping window over and over and it would only require 2 held key presses + clicking. this is essentially giving a 2:infinity ratio of the paste command but this is generally accepted as fine behavior. If we were to abide by the rules properly, we would need to press ctrl+v once, click twice, and then repeat in order to drop mesos "fairly". This is obviously not considered hacking because it would be a huge hassle and everyone has access to it with no problem. Using double click with MouseKeys is justifiable in the exact same way. It's accessible to everyone and eases the hassle of dropping mesos or even NPC'ing lost of items at once. It is of my opinion that MapleStory was originally designed with MouseKeys in mind, since it was made to function almost entirely on the keyboard and was created back when many people didn't have very good mice. Holding keys for multiple key presses is inherently breaking the 1:1 rule, but no one cares because it's for the better of the game. Restricting MouseKeys DoubleClick function is literally just an arbitrary rule that only proves to make the game worse to play for me and the rest of the shadowers who used it previously or may even still be using it now. It also forces me to use my basic computer functions in a way that feels oppressive to me because despite using nothing but a windows computer and the MapleRoyals client with nothing in between, I would be considered eligible for a "game hacking" ban. It's very oppressive because i'm allowed to him numpad 5 just fine to click, but as soon as i move my finger over 2 keys and press it, i'm a hacker. At the most extreme, some players might even accidentally hit it once or twice, at which point they would be considered a hacker, so it very tiresome to avoid pressing numpad+. obviously that's a bit ridiculous, but it's there and doesn't really escape my mind whenever I'm using MouseKeys. Shadower is more of a chore to play than it had been previously I've been over most of the negatives so far already do I'll keep it brief. The utility of MouseKeys to Shadowers was a very nice luxury because it provided great quality of life utility. MouseKeys lessened the strain on the hand/fingers/wrist because it took less hand movement than would be previously necessary and that's literally the entire point of the MouseKeys function. It provides accessibility options to certain situations based of what the user needs. It makes dropping easier/quicker and also made it much, much easier to drop mesos while doing attack macros, although personally I almost never did it (which kind of just proves my point even more). Now to simulate the previous dropping speeds, it takes a third party program and uses more hand movement than before, specifically i mean binding two keys to mouse click and using 2 fingers to press then simultaneously to simulate a double click. The game has overall become less enjoyable for my to play and more tiresome than before just because it was decided that using numpad+ is hacking now. It's a change that has only affected a small number of players which are easy to ignore post-change Lastly I would like to make the point that I feel like it's easy for Royals to get away with a change like this because the shadower community it quite small in comparison to the rest of the player base and the amount of us that used MouseKeys is probably even smaller. It really saddens me that the staff have decided to shut us down and the back lash will never make a big enough splash for anything to change. I honestly don't think that such a rule will ever change, but at least I can make my voice heard and hopefully other people may come to an understanding of the change and how it affects me and other shadowers, even if it seems quite small. It really was a core part of how i played and enjoyed MapleRoyals, but ever since the change I've hardly wanted to log on. So as a closing statement, I just want to say that I wish the staff didn't hamper the way that I played to dramatically and label me as a hacker, even though from where I stood (and many others) it's a totally reasonable way to play the game. I don't expect it to change, but I just want the staff to at least understand me. Honestly the word I would use, at the end of the day to describe this ruling, is Dumb. The reasoning behind considering it game hacking is dumb and it doesn't need to be that way. You can see some of my other thoughts on the matter here LINK. There might be some grammar issues here and there, but i'm sure my point will come across just fine.
I said this before but if a class is essentially "unplayable" not using a 1:2 macro (or more: looking at you mousewheel) then the issue lies with the balance of the class or it's perception that it's only adequate when you cheat. It's probably both- but it's still completely viable to play a CB and Shad without using 1:2 macros or the mousewheel. Problem is it's rightfully slower and it's hard to give that up once you've tasted it. I know that's an unpopular opinion but yeah... CB are still one of the fastest leveling classes in the game when you don't use the macros.
I didn't claim anywhere in my post that it was "unplayable" or "unviable" and I personally played shadower without using MouseKeys for a majority of my play time with the class. It's just worse. Arguing against mouse wheel clicking is totally fine but that isn't the same as MouseKeys because everyone can use MouseKeys as long as they have a keyboard. I don't care about the "perception of the class" or the balance or anything like that I just want to play the game the way I want to, but now it's considered cheating when it hadn't been before when ostensibly nothing has changed. I personally think that dropping mesos will continue to be a strong method of leveling, but it wasn't made worse with a nerf to damage or anything like that, it was made worse by making it more of a chore to do and harder than before. And again, MouseKeys double clicking isn't actually a macro because it's one action sending one function to the computer. Even though it is "functionally" a macro, it technically isn't, nor is any amount of setup or programming required to take advantage of it.
-cries in a11y- Not to mention there is a large difference between scripting a farmbot and using one key for two actions, especially when that feature exists the client already. Unless attacks + movement combined is considered unfair which would be weird given that the Wings + Recoil Shot macro for Corsair has been a thing since forever.
To quote from the recent notice: Performing multiple game actions while having them bound to one key outside of the in-game skill macro system is considered using a macro and violates: ↑ Game Hacking - The act of using or benefiting from any third-party program, macro program or otherwise defacing or modifying any part of the game software to gain any sort of advantage over other players, or otherwise selling, advertising, distributing or posting information related to the act.Punishment: Permanent ban. Mousekey double clicking has been deemed as a macro. I agree with some of the points you're making and I commented on the other thread as well with similar viewpoints, but I'm having trouble understanding what you're advocating here. There's a lot of contradictions in your post: You said you almost never did it (referring to mousekeys) and then claimed right after that it is a core of how you played and how tiresome it is to use them now. With the numpad mousekeys '5' and ENTER already close together as is, I don't see why other shadowers would pursue another third-party program and be out in the cold. The fact that the admins made a notice regarding this issue means enough that they DO respect the "small" shadower community. They made a huge decision to establish an amendment to their rules and pardon those who were previously punished by it. They're very much open to feedback and criticism for this.
Thanks for voicing your concerns! Just a couple things to respond with: Left-click cannot be held down to register unlimited outputs, whereas V along with other keys can. This is something I believe every keyboard/mouse follows, therefore to say the "+" key should be allowed due to consistency with holding down Ctrl + V is not something I feel would be a justified argument. Whether you'd like to consider the double-click function a macro, third party program, or a factory installed feature in PCs does not change the fact that it is not a MapleRoyals client feature yet provides an in-game advantage which saves clicks, a.k.a. macrobotting or a drastically downscaled version of the infamous Auto clicker. Because it was made clear confusion and misunderstandings were to blame for previous bans, the new two strike system was added to let people have a second chance.
