General Feedback Thread: Mules and Multi Client

Discussion in 'Closed' started by Dasha, Mar 14, 2021.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Dasha
    Offline

    Dasha Donator

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2018
    Messages:
    3,839
    Likes Received:
    1,656
    Gender:
    Female
    Guild:
    Degeneracy
    [​IMG]
    Greetings Royallers,

    We are proud to be part of the conversation on how we can improve MapleRoyals and would like to thank you for taking the time to voice your thoughts on the forum, in-game, and on our Discord. We see your suggestions and are endlessly inspired by your passion for our little mushroom game! Without each and every one of you, our community would not be as awesome as it is, and for that, thank you.

    On today's topic, are interested in hearing about your experience with mules, multi-client gameplay, and how you feel it has affected your story.

    Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for? Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals? What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game? We are interested in hearing your opinions on mules so feel free to share thoughts and ideas beyond your answers to the questions above!

    Just like our community, we, the Staff, all have different opinions, and some points we raised during our discussion were the negative: contribution to alienation and an exclusive, solo-oriented atmosphere, as well as the positive: efficient and engaging gameplay that allows you to navigate the fields of the battle alone. Now, It's our time to hear you out! Remember to keep the discussion civil and share your experiences in a respectful way.

    [​IMG]
    Note: The purpose of the thread is to gauge the community's feelings on the topic, and to generate some interesting discussion. The Staff reserves the right to balance the game in whatever way it ultimately deems most beneficial. With that being said, we do take your input into careful consideration and as always we are very interested in hearing your thoughts!

    Happy Mapling!

    - The MapleRoyals Staff


    [​IMG]
     
    Tights, ilyssia, MoriForest and 15 others like this.
  2. Johnny
    Offline

    Johnny Donator

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2016
    Messages:
    4,920
    Likes Received:
    13,386
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Toronto
    Country Flag:
    Level:
    200
    Guild:
    #Create
    Going to quote my reply from this thread since it seems pretty relevant to how I feel about a limit:
     
    bibz, CreamGoddess, ilyssia and 61 others like this.
  3. patnais77
    Offline

    patnais77 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2018
    Messages:
    146
    Likes Received:
    842
    Gender:
    Male
    I believe this thread can be closed now!
     
  4. Doo
    Offline

    Doo Donator

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2015
    Messages:
    1,258
    Likes Received:
    8,458
    Country Flag:
    Guild:
    #Create
    I want to know how to limit client numbers?
    what if ppl have a lot of computers? I know many ppl playing royals with 2~5 computers ( connect wife and connect cellphone)
    can royals limit also?
     
  5. Matt
    Offline

    Matt Administrator

    Joined:
    May 8, 2013
    Messages:
    14,584
    Likes Received:
    18,698
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Country Flag:
    IGN:
    Matt
    Level:
    N/A
    Guild:
    Staff
    The purpose of this thread is to gather input on how players feel multi-clienting and mules have affected their gameplay, we are not asking about how players feel regarding a multi client/mule limiting, thus why it wasn't mentioned in the thread.

    So to reiterate some of the example questions in the thread:
    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?
    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?

    These are the sorts of things we are interested in hearing about!
     
    Aradia Megido, Kenny and ImVeryJelly like this.
  6. Jooon
    Offline

    Jooon Donator

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2015
    Messages:
    2,228
    Likes Received:
    13,496
    Location:
    Ulu1
    IGN:
    Shinsoo
    Level:
    200
    Guild:
    Rogue
    Straight to the point.
    Multi-clienting is the reason why Royals is unique in its own way.

    In other servers,
    more time spent = more progression = higher player value.

    but here in royals, we are able to open up a sandbox creativity for our players to maximize their skill level. example.
    x2 Nightlord 5k range will out DPS a 10k NL range easily.

    But the requirement to do this is basically the player needs to be skillful & creative enough to come out with this multiclient control in whichever bosses they go. and willing to apple & perhaps gizer on both.

    ---------

    Multiple mage farming.
    Yes its not easy, it takes time & practice for sure, but over time if your able to handle such techniques, it makes your mesos/h improve significantly.
    I'd say the change to meteor / bliz / genesis unable to be marco-ed truly allowed players to push themselves above their previous limits just to obtain a slightly better mesos/h.
    Making Hex/Quad/Duo ulu , or our all popular trio duku leech + stopper farming more challenging. which i believe players somewhat hates, yet once they are able to outperform others taking it as an accomplishment by itself.

    If you work smart enough, you probably can out progress those who doesn't try to be creative.

    ---

    On september 2020, i joined our dear competitor server , Croosade.
    Yes yes i'm mentioning another private server, don't hate me on it. but let us look at this change they did. LOL
    Obviously when you enter a server and found out farming is possible, whats a first veteran idea to do?
    Make 4 mages and a looter obviously.

    aaand i got banned in 3 days after i started farming using the same method that most of our community here does nowadays, for botting suspicion.
    They decide to change the T&C after unbanning me, at that point i was stunned and felt crippled.

    Croosade T&C Changes.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    You may also not attack constantly on more than one character at the same time while multiclienting/ mutli computer?

    I spent a good amount of hours to make 4 mages, now they're pointless? a simple reaction. WTF?
    Me and my buddies left the server immediately donating all our progression away.
    Oh seems like a bunch of veterans in that server there left too due to this reason, along with a riot until they decided to change it to allow 2 attacking while multiclienting.
    Maybe a few went back.

    How we should view this example and how would our community react if there might be any changes to this.
    Royals is perfect as it is right now in terms of multiclienting rules.


    ---------
    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    6 Mages, multiclienting farms.
    Paladin Mule = Crash for HT only
    Shadower mule = Sed for HT & good looter + meso storage mule.
    SE mule = SE for daily bosses & HT.

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?
    Beautiful 100/10. don't change it.

    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?
    It accelerates the aging process of the server at a much reduced time with less effort.
    But then again, newer contents, mesos sinks, balancing can combat this issue efficiently.
    ----
    Now another question for our players.
    A discussion with @sparky95 lead me to this wonderful question recently.

    - What if royals end up only allowing single client. what will you do.
    T&C Changes. If caught online with x2 character at the same time.
    First offense = 14day ban / Second offense = perma ban. (kinda answers @Doo question too)

    Farm daily bosses of course.
    Lets just say you take 10min (Average 6-7min for high leveled characters)
    to kill x4 ellin forest boss or 2x pap each. on each character. = average 5k NX each
    Without multiclienting and killing two or three bosses at the same time.
    1hour = 30k NX.
    its still 150mil/h excluding additional drops & potion sales without considering pot costs, which is already superior then quad ulu.

    those who already have a bunch of characters will eventually benefit too much to a point it creates unfair gap.

    Sink all the NX into gacha to reroll for perfect DSC / Revolver / Taru / WS / CS
    Doesn't really solve the aging server problem huh.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2021
  7. Doo
    Offline

    Doo Donator

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2015
    Messages:
    1,258
    Likes Received:
    8,458
    Country Flag:
    Guild:
    #Create

    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    Yes

    I have LV 200 Dk/Pala/Hero/Bm/mm/BS/NL/NL/Shadower/Sair/Bucc < 11 dps mules to do any boss i want , also if do all prequest can do 20run papu / 22run chao / 22run ephenia (ellin 5k so good )
    Lv 150~160 Fp/Il (purpose control lv to leech (petris F , hard to find buyer if u lv too high, price bad too >>trio duku...) Leech mule
    Lv 84 hs mule > Hs/Door mule
    Lv 141 blood wash shadower > Ht Sed / Smoke mule
    Lv 120 shadower > Mesos boom mule
    Lv 158 blood wash bm > Se mule for Auf/Ht , no need hb
    A lot low level mules > Fame/Storage

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?

    Positively
    It helped me a lot when start , I played many private servers before , honestly , multi-clients is best
    When I joined this game, after tons of leech and hardwork , made mine 1st attacker , but range very noob , who will want boss with me ?
    I rem mine roommate pretend girl in game to play , and ez boss team (especially Ht for him , what about me?
    the only way I find team is that I can multi-clients , bringing 4+ charac in one HT (attacker /se/hs/sed no need crash last time , or 3+ in zak (attacker/se/hs and any other boss
    pro players willing to boss with me, after I find out if I bring a lot mules and let them easier
    also I am lucky that I main NL as 1st attacker, even more ez to find team thx @Aram recommend me quit shadower main nl last time



    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?

    Mules will let ppl play longer , buz u need invest time to make one>> server life longer
    not like other server , I just need to make 1 attacker hit 200 and leave.
    royals let me can do more things here.
    I joined maple royals buz multi-clients and Nx can trade to ap /gatcha

    I want sit in fm/inactive and gain mesos still
     
  8. MaiAh
    Offline

    MaiAh Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2017
    Messages:
    381
    Likes Received:
    1,101
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Serbia
    Country Flag:
    IGN:
    MaiAh
    Level:
    199
    Guild:
    Labyrinths
    auf is one of the smallest boss that is not mulestory oriented as much as other, HT and mules there could have been better image reference...

    anyway
    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    from mules i'd say just bloodwashed paladin or known as cr mule (other chars i got i don't consider them as mules altho somtime for example is inevitable to use my bishop only as HS/MW20 mule ... ~f7)

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?
    "positively" in a way that i got quicker to items that otherwise would take much longer time and efort (but i don't care much about items after GMS and KMS, i escaped that chase for items and fancy dmg numbers-range in GMS and KMS servers where all that can be done much faster even without P2W to join nostlagic mapleroyals )

    negatively in a way that it reduced the joy and brought the need to make more mules,washing,leeching and solo play (PQ lost the meaning or is highly discouraged...)


    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?

    mulestory has to end at somepoint unless people want to kill royals and turn to mulestory fest that ages this game fast

    we should be limited at bossing and farming areas for start just like GM events/boss events like snowman/slime/cake...
    the constant ninja drop nerfs on content that is abused by extreme multiclienting gets players away from this game
    progression lost value with all the mules going on (especially after duku and 3x noob mage fiasco that still goes on... )







    edit:
    in other hand if limit comes there will be unfair advantage and further complains for people who missed to abuse the mulestory
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2021
  9. ImVeryJelly
    Offline

    ImVeryJelly Donator

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2016
    Messages:
    1,038
    Likes Received:
    2,259
    Gender:
    Male
    Country Flag:
    IGN:
    ImVeryJelly
    Level:
    201
    Guild:
    LiquorStore
    I like the ability to mule and multiclient so that the characters created can be used for multiple purposes, it also allows characters which someone has stopped playing completely to still be used. I can also pre-make a washing character and use it for stuff before I even begin the whole washing and gearing process.

    For example:
    NL and Shads can be used for taunt/haste/smoke screen/steal. NL can also be used for speed advantages in hide&seeks or special monster spawn hunting (gold mush)
    BM and MM can be used for SE/speed up boss fight with hurricane alt tab (krex). MM can also be used for CWK bow room with snipe.
    Bucc can be used in auf/SI, sair can be used to speed up boss fight with rapid fire alt tab.
    Warrior can be used for rushing mobs away from bosses (like himes, shao summons), Drk can be used for HB and 'crash', Pally for freezing mobs and crash, hero for ...?
    Mages, do I even need to say?

    And of course, some mules are good if you cannot find another active member with the buff you need, saves the time to keep finding one and mesos on smegas.
     
    Sylafia, CreamGoddess, Nessi and 4 others like this.
  10. Johnny
    Offline

    Johnny Donator

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2016
    Messages:
    4,920
    Likes Received:
    13,386
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Toronto
    Country Flag:
    Level:
    200
    Guild:
    #Create
    Sorry I guess I misinterpreted the thread but Dasha clearly says this here:
    Anyways on to the questions:

    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    Yeah I have every "mule" in the game (I consider my level 200s to be mules too so about 20) and use them for various bossing expeditions like auf haven, horntail, zakum, krexel, wulin yaoseng, or for farming purposes.

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?
    Positively because there isn't enough concurrent players to enforce a multi client limit. It would take so long just to organize a bigger bossing expedition like horntail. I personally would only mule if I can't find someone to fill a spot for a boss run, ie can't find a bowmaster or marksmen so I just bring mine along.

    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?
    My opinion would be just let players decide how they want to play the game. For the people that don't want to mule, they can just party with others with the same mindset. I personally think the total crash skill is encouraging muling so that should be reworked or removed completely.
     
    bibz, Aradia Megido, magico and 40 others like this.
  11. DickDann
    Offline

    DickDann Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2021
    Messages:
    664
    Likes Received:
    2,206
    Location:
    18-18
    IGN:
    DLCKDANN
    Guild:
    KERNING
    I think it is too late to remove the multi-client function because too many people already made mules. I think you cannot say people with mules are greedy. If I take my Meso and I buy leech for mules and spend time on job advancement, equipment, skill, potion, pre-quest, NX, I have invested my labor in doing that because I didn't get the Meso or mules from nowhere. I'm willing to invest time in it, so I expect to make my game experience easier and profitable.

    If you are not enjoying the experience with mules and thinking gaming experience > convenience & profit, then you sure can choose to not do it.
    Hard to find a party for the boss run as a newbie or independent player?
    A: Make friends or join a guild

    The only way I can see it works without damage to the old players is by creating a new hard mode for bosses and party quests that limited to one client only.

    Players with mules still can receive the same profit in normal mode.
    The hard mode that limited to only 1 client and additional drop rate or prize can sustain players who enjoy the game without mules.

    It can fulfill the desire and experience of both communities. PROBLEM SOLVED!
    Maple0000.jpg Maple0000.jpg Maple0000.jpg
    Maple0000.jpg Maple0000.jpg Maple0000.jpg
    Maple0000.jpg Maple0000.jpg Maple0000.jpg


    v To the love of @bongblaze below v
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2021
  12. bongblaze
    Offline

    bongblaze Donator

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2020
    Messages:
    68
    Likes Received:
    272
    Location:
    Scandinavia, Europa
    I haven't had any negative experience in regards to multiple clients. I find it convenient if I have etc items I want to trade to a character on a different account.
    Also people have the option if they so choose to leech themselves, limiting the amount of leech selling that could of been without it.
    As for mules I don't understand this question, unless it's the same thing. I have a few characters that I use for storage, I'm quite simple with my gameplay

    Edit: The only thing I find slightly annoying is the image above^
    But that is more an inconvenience than interference.
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2021
    Doo and Dasha like this.
  13. Henray17
    Offline

    Henray17 Donator

    Joined:
    May 16, 2020
    Messages:
    415
    Likes Received:
    352
    Gender:
    Male
    Country Flag:
    IGN:
    TubbyBubby
    Level:
    200
    Guild:
    Crew
    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    cr/sed/se/ si/ 4 bs/ 4 fp/ cpq1/ cpq2 (lul nice nerf - pls rebuff dead cpq2 :/) / 30+ storage mules

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?
    Positively, without multi-clienting I would have quit this server long ago.

    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?
    The ability to multiclient farm and mule in bosses is easily the best feature MapleRoyals has to offer. Once you've played on multiple clients, going back to single client makes you realize how slow it is in terms of progression.

    The disparity between old money and new money is not bridgeable without multiclient farming. As others have already mentioned, MCing offers a new gameplay experience.
    If the option to multiclient is removed from Royals I would lose motivation to continue playing here.
     
    negachin, Ellesmere, Charu and 15 others like this.
  14. GunzGaming
    Offline

    GunzGaming Donator

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2017
    Messages:
    912
    Likes Received:
    1,887
    Gender:
    Male
    Country Flag:
    IGN:
    JohnSilver
    Guild:
    Tenacity
    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    yup. so many. 3 archmages for leech/farming, BS mule bloodwashed, 2 crash mules, haste mule, HB mule, SI/TL mule, SE mule, sed mule. I think that covers it, if I missed one, I have it somewhere.

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?
    both negative and positive depending on the occasion.

    positive: farming and non-bossing activities. pretty much everything except expedition boss runs. I think if you put in the effort to have tons of mules to make farming more efficient, you should be rewarded. Creating ANY hindrance to making Mesos legitimately is a bad move (example: nerfing mage ults macros). If I wanna work hard for mesos, then let me. For PQs - ok yea "party quest" is supposed to be an actual party but there are some psychos out there that LOVE solo GPQ or other PQs. they're maniacs IMO but hell, they're not bothering anyone. let them be happy. HS mules for grinding, haste mules for hasting myself in ToT on pally, etc etc. if I put in that work, let me be rewarded for solo content

    negative example: bossing. I made so many damn mules to boss with friends, then realizing how much of a hassle it is. As an example, you start seeing "R>HT must have crash mule". Crash was intended to buff paladin, not make it a mule. If you argue, "I boss to make money so I make tons of mules to make my mesos income more efficient" I get it, makes sense. but it sucks compared to farming, it's not even that fun to mule so damn much. It causes so many players from playing the game the way they want when there is a meta that is annoying as fuck to adhere to unless you're a psycho like me that makes a mule for every situation.

    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?
    Just having a negative impact on bossing for a lot of players. yea I can decide to run a mule party or not, "make friends that don't run with mules" blah blah, BUT, that's just plain harder to do!

    Paladin: nice buff, much dps, cool. Crash??? NICE. now just a mule
    Shad: cool buff, smoke screen is dope! still mule
    BM/MM: fuck washing a bm, make a mule and bloodwash. GG
    DK: mmmm more hp, mule that too please
    Bucc: oof i love that tl/si, lets bloodwash that.
    Hero: lol wtf gtfo unless your TimK damage

    =party full of Sairs/NLs. wtf is balance?

    So, there are many things we can do to limit the use of mules in the game during boss runs, which is kinda the GMs thing to figure out how. but we are really discussing the impact of mules in the game overall. Multi clients is great, if you wanna do it, by all means, do it. but I honestly think the meta of muling in expedition boss runs is NOT a good thing for the game. EVERY game i ever played, this isn't a thing. the whole, lets people do what they want argument is a bit just, meh. like ok, but it then creates the situation we're in now. I believe royals could be a more enjoyable game for the majority of people to limit multiclient in expedition boss runs.
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2021
  15. Dentology
    Offline

    Dentology Donator

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2020
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    92
    Gender:
    Male
    Country Flag:
    IGN:
    Dentology
    Level:
    200
    Guild:
    Akatsuki
    Do you have mules? Yes, many mules (lots of time, mesos, and hard work spent to make them)

    If so, How many and what do you use them for? Blood SE (various bossing), CWKPQ BM room solo SE, Sed mule (HT), crash mule (HT/Zak), CPQ1 mule (to leech new chars), bishop (used for HS/ress/farming), arch mage (to sell leech/farming/APQ), HS mule, echo/mw20 mule (self-explanatory), HB mule (toad+zak+leech)

    Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?

    Multi-client gameplay has positively contributed to my playing experience. As someone who was maining a Nightlord for the longest time, an SE mule was a must. There are many times where it would be difficult to run bosses such as krex/shao with other ranged/melee attackers as SE was unavailable. Being able to duo-client allowed me to mule SE and be able to run bosses with others whom I would probably not run with. In addition, having a crash/sed mule helps immensely in bosses such as horntail and zakum. In general, not only does the person with the mule benefit, but the entire party as a whole. Many times I will mule multiple characters to ensure that lower-leveled new players have smoother boss runs (i.e. bringing BS mule or crash mule to runs).

    What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?

    The overall effect is positive. MapleRoyals is already challenging in terms of obtaining mesos/grinding/farming. It takes a lot of hard work (or luck) to make it far in this game. I feel that a lot of players/guilds/parties use muling as a tool to progress through the game. Many players have spent countless hours investing time and money into their mules and it would be a shock to have multi-clienting removed. Everyone has equal opportunity and has the choice of whether or not they'd like to create mules. I have several friends with mules and those who have not created a single mule (but are friends with those who have mules) and are able to get through the game fine. If it ain't broke don't fix it :D
     
    Charu, SleepySleepy, -Tommy- and 5 others like this.
  16. lxlx
    Offline

    lxlx Donator

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2017
    Messages:
    723
    Likes Received:
    6,788
    Gender:
    Male
    IGN:
    awlz
    Guild:
    Create
    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    yes, all mules for buffs or simply provide quality of life bossing experience + alot of mages

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?
    positively for sure. I always loved the fact that i could just fire up another client and bring my own mule to "form" the party for bossing. Min maxing efficiency has always been a significant practice in all games general, and i guess in terms of maplestory, muling provides that. Also, lower chance to deal with stupid people-related issues like looting or people dcing during boss runs is nice.

    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?
    Having the ability to mutliclient gives more avenue for more varieties of playstyle which is always a good thing.
    Let's take earning mesos as context -
    player A - I hate multiclient so i make a bishop to sell leech, that way i don't have to multiclient.
    player B - I don't mind multiclient so i make an AM + HS mule to sell leech.
    player C - I don't mind multiclient and want to be crazy rich so i make 3 AM + HS mule to sell trio duku leech like a madman.
    -OR-
    player D - I hate selling leech and multiclient, so i HT on my attacker.
    player E - I hate selling leech but don't mind multiclient, so i do quad HT and bring a few mules to *patch up* the party.
    player F - I hate selling leech but don't mind multiclient and want to be crazy rich, so i bring everything and solo HT.

    There's a lot more different kind of examples and factors that can be used as context, like optimizing leveling speed progression, or which maps to farm depending on how many mules you have (e.g : yeti vs ulu1 vs stopper farm ).

    tldr : without multiclient, everyone would just be doing the same thing which makes overall gameplay stale and not unique.
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2021
    Minty, Leyonce, Charu and 13 others like this.
  17. citizenlenny
    Offline

    citizenlenny Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2020
    Messages:
    96
    Likes Received:
    611
    Location:
    Larry's Cave Hotel (that mine is his)
    Country Flag:
    It's definitely a mixed bag.

    I started playing Royals last July out of a desire to relive nostalgia from my youth, and while I've definitely enjoyed (and still am enjoying) the game, mulestory is probably the biggest driving force towards me having considered quitting on occasion.

    What I found as a casual noob in this server was that the more I progressed through the game, the less personal it began to feel. Early on, there's loads of exploring, questing, party questing, and just generally content to parttake in to keep you busy. But due to the game's lack of endgame content, high level players are slowly but surely inched towards bossing.

    Now this wouldn't be an issue, bossing is fun and exciting and obviously fits being the late- and end-game well, but bossing comes with its own meta. It's this meta in particular I found was rather, how would one describe it, "diluting" the engagement I was having with the game. This first occurred to me when I started joining boss runs, and I noticed the party leaders were recruiting for "SE" and "HS". I had seen these acronyms in smegas before but since I didn't boss yet I mostly ignored it, and now that I was directly engaging with them I soon learned they were looking for "Sharp Eyes" and "Holy Symbol".

    They were looking for skills, not people.

    As I ascended the 4th job levels and became eligible for the rest of the bossing and late-game meta, this tendency for runs to be organised in a purely time-efficient manner became clearer and clearer, and the clearer it got the more diluted the social aspect of the game became. Zakum is the weakest offender in this regard, parties usually still consist of 6 members and while people recruit for "SE", it's still a person that usually joins. Rarely people bring in a crash mule, sometimes a "HB" is required for a buyer with little health, but the runs are mostly organic. The dilution becomes much more explicit if you look further, however. Krexel runs are still similar to Zakum, but specific mule requirements begin to show themselves, and running the boss with more than 4 people is rather uncommon. Crimsonwood Keep runs are simply not done with a full raid party, instead it's 4 people and 6 husks resembling people dragged along to gain entrance. For Horntail, you either are a Night Lord, or you are any other class with a crash mule. If you lack the latter requirement, you are not getting a run. Neo-Tokyo is barely ran at all, but Auf Haven expeditions are typically three people with mules, and you either have to be truly exceptional to join one without a mule of sorts, or you are not getting a run. Toad again has you either playing Night Lord, or a different class with a required mule, otherwise you are not getting a run.

    Being someone who started casually wanting to relive his old Crusader escapades and ended up maining a Hero to level 179, I can tell you that all the end game content I've experienced, far and between they were, were either Zakum/Krexel, or the result of waiting days (sometimes weeks) on end to hope to be invited by good friends I've made in my Guild, and their kindness and comradely being more valuable to them than running with full optimisation.

    As it stands, the end game of Royals downright isn't played casually 99% of the time.

    The game having existed for over 7 years now has bred a meta that is so advanced and so optimised, all semblance of casual gameplay is weeded out in favour of mule efficiency.

    For anything beyond Zakum and Krexel, this doesn't exist.

    The vast majority of recruiting smegas demand beyond your level and class to know which mules you have. If you don't fill in this last part, you will be rejected. Even the smegas which mention not requiring additional mules and just seek an attacker-- I still get rejected for due to maining a Hero: being told that since the party doesn't include a Speed Infusion mule, my class need not apply.

    Smegas that don't follow this structure of recruitment, don't care about mules, and simply want to enjoy a tough boss fight for the sake of having it, simply do not exist in my 8 month experience on this server.

    As it stands, I've felt forced by the server's meta that, if I ever want to join late-game content more than once in a blue moon, I have to give in to it.
    So I've been levelling a Paladin, hopefully allowing me to join and enjoy a Horntail fight once he's beefy enough.

    But all this experience puts a strain on my enjoyment of the game.
    I feel that if I were to level a Paladin (which admittedly I am enjoying since my Hero doesn't qualify for any of the late-game content on his own) I should be doing that because I want to enjoy the intricacies and strengths of that specific class, not just to make my main character viable at all.

    The social component of the game is diluted so much through this meta that I've at many points considered quitting, since I apparently did not play this game robot-like or efficient enough to be worthy of enjoying it at all. The only thing that's kept me from doing so are again my Guildies and friends, making up the social component that the server as a whole has seemingly discarded for the sake of efficiency and optimisation.

    It bizarrely feels like I, for the longest time being a no-mule casual, has been automated out of the picture like a factory worker is replaced by a machine which does their job better than they ever could, and should I want to actually enjoy the late-game content, I should strive to be less human and more machine or just forget about it.

    I'm only grateful I didn't choose to main an Arch Mage for my first character, because those classes only exist to be automatons who repeat the same action (casting an ultimate) for literal hours on end for the benefit of other classes who do actually get to engage with the game in a meaningful way!

    -----------------------------
    HAVING SAID ALL THAT:

    Multi-clienting has some genuine benefits.

    It rewards players who can master the skill of multi-clienting with greater efficiency in their efforts within the game, trio duku leech is a sight to behold and a player who can pull it off getting more value out of their game seems only reasonable.

    Furthermore: being able to bring in a mule to fill in a key position during a bossing raid when repeated smegas left no responses allows many players to actually engage with some content at all. I mentioned previously that Neo-Tokyo bosses are barely ran at all. The 3-man requirement for each new section of the area is like a massive granite wall to many players, with mules and multiclienting being a perfect solution to getting through the area and into more new content (assuming you have the patience, but still).

    At the root of this lies one key element of Royals itself: the server population is small.

    Even if it's at the top spot of private servers sorted by popularity, we still have a 24-hour high at perhaps 2000 players online at one time (and I don't even know if that's unique connections or including mules). Ten years ago, during GMS/EMS at around the same version this server seeks to emulate, towns were crowded, getting a spot in the FM in the first few channels at all was an utopian dream, you actually had to snatch a spot in Party Quests by quickly acting when the previous party reappeared on the map because all channels would be filled, and there'd be always at least one person online you could recruit to fill out an important or neccesary role.

    It's Royals' relatively small community that perhaps requires multiclienting to properly enjoy a lot of the end-game content at all.
    It simultaneously adds another dimension to the gameplay for those trying to take their abilities to the next level, having exhausted all non-mule content (I don't think any server that disallows multiclienting can produce a solo Horntail run in this version of the game) and may have saved the server from dying out long ago.

    -----------------
    In the end, I dislike mulestory and feel like it disrupts an essential part of the game that is the social component.
    But at the same time I feel like it might very well be a necessary evil to allow the game to be enjoyed to its fullest.
     
  18. Starllling
    Offline

    Starllling Donator

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2019
    Messages:
    164
    Likes Received:
    53
    Gender:
    Male
    Country Flag:
    IGN:
    starrling
    Level:
    179
    Guild:
    Devotion
    At first, I need say I'm a fm-player, who like siting and chatting, and scrolling in fm.

    - Do you have mules?
    No, I think I may be the very few player who don't want make mules.

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?

    Just for my experience
    (not for others), multi-client gameplay makes this game more technical, reducing the entertainment I can get from the game.

    For example, if u do trio duku leech with three mage mules, u can earn 200+m in one hour, while u will just get 100+m with only one charcter. People who want to gain more profit would tend to make mules to do trio leech themselves. But I don't like this part, I enjoy chatting with others. So I sometimes give free leech to others. I can chat with them while hunting, don't have to worry about if the exp I give them is good, don't have to t&c or do something would make me tired. In my view, it's just a game, an entertainment.
    When people get used to multi-client, they make it like a conventional rules to bring mules. Like se/hs/cr mules. I don't understand if people just need a skill from mule, why not make it a skill link like the official Maple do, so they can be totally independent.
    I think this game is a social game. I won't play this without my friends, guild member and other friendly player in the Maple world. Also, the rule of non-rwt decide that u can't and shouldn't try to make profit from this game. So I don't think technical skills explains the original of happiness if u can't gain real world profit. And if u memorize the most happiest time in Royals, that can't be multi-client to sell leech or boss.

    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?

    Content above is my experience. In this question, I agree with the 2rd floor's statement which writes " I believe it's best to just let players play the game how they want to play it, not envision on what old school MapleStory was 10 + years ago". Though I don't like it very much, I can understand the efficiency it brings and I won't disapprove it or limit it.
     
  19. kyoko3102
    Offline

    kyoko3102 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2018
    Messages:
    588
    Likes Received:
    795
    Country Flag:
    - Do you have mules? If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    Yes, I have 2-3 mules, as we are playing as a small closed group of friends (3-4), i usually mule for buffs that are not available

    - Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?
    positively, back in the 2008 days i would mule myself but with multiple PCs so royals made my life so much easier. Also my mules turn into mains eventually, it keeps me engaged with the game much more longer than it should.

    - What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?

    Mules are OK as it is. Multiclienting is not to blame, in fact the staff already did a good job nerfing multi mage macro and summon.
    As for bossing, those crybabies should stop being lazy and R>boss runs them selves, imo nobody really cares if u have mules or no if u are the leader, JUST DONT REJECT PEOPLE WITHOUT MULE YOURSELF(yes there are people like that).

    Also, if muling in boss runs is a bad thing, release bosses that are harder to mule, that constantly needs attention in order to keep alive, not limiting the players's playstyle.
     
    Filter, Charu, MaiAh and 6 others like this.
  20. ddawg
    Offline

    ddawg Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2020
    Messages:
    28
    Likes Received:
    13
    Country Flag:
    Do you have mules?
    Yes

    If so, How many and what do you use them for?
    Currently 53 Accounts Created
    Utility:
    SE | HB | CR | SED | 3 FP(Farm/Leech) | 1BS(Farm/Leech) | 1IL (Farm/Leech)

    Characters:
    DK | BM | BS | Bucc | Hero | Pally | IL | FP | Sair

    Storage:
    Lots.

    Do you think multi-client gameplay has contributed positively or negatively to your experience playing MapleRoyals?

    Positively for sure. If I were to imagine the extreme where you can only play 1 character max at any given time I think I the server would have an even greater divide. This would be due to the progression differences between new and old players, especially in regards to end game content. If you think about just making multiple characters and just playing them independently, it makes levelling up much harder and it would still be mulestory for party quests that require signs to enter(IE. CWK). In my opinion it'd just be a less efficient maple experience. Also there are people with multiple devices that can play maplestory, and would just result in another form of multiclienting, so unless you block clients based on IP then I'm not sure you could stop multiclienting anyways. This would also hamper people who live under the same roof and want to play maplestory together.

    Specifically in my experience, I've met a lot of cool people on the server, but the content they are interested in doing is content I'm not even close to doing yet (3 man Auf Haven/ 3 Man CWK/ 4 Man Honk etc.). The most efficient way I can bridge this gap is by multiclienting to farm mesos to buy leech or to leech myself.
    If I were to just train traditionally it would take way too long and that rift would never be closed. Also, there aren't enough players, at least in my experience, to fill those gaps.

    What's your opinion on the effect of mules on the game?
    In regards to storage, amazing. There are so many items but limited storage on a single character. Being able to store all these valuables is amazing.

    In regards to gameplay, also amazing. I just like having the possibility and capability to buff myself, leech myself, hunt for items by myself, and to fill in signs for pqs by myself. Without mules there would be many PQs gone undone.


    I agree with the sentiment of just letting players play Royals how they want.

    This isn't a complete 1:1 remake of v.83 and I doubt its meant to be. If anything I think the nerfs to people who multiclient should be undone. As a newer player I am amazed at some of the items that are smegad and wonder how anyone gets to have like 200b mesos on top of their 60+ attack gear. Even with Duku Leech at 210m an hour, that'd be ~952 hours of leeching, so like 40 days straight of duku nonstop. Now that's no easy task, but old players who were able to do crazy things like pap nonstop over and over and accumulate NX to gach vs new players who sell duku / farm Ulu1 have accumulated crazy wealth that new players will never get to without multi clienting. Even with multi clienting that gap looks impossible to close.

    This open conversation must be trying to address the gameplay differences between players who multiclient and players that don't. The ability to make mesos is probably one of the greatest differences between these two types of players. I think the solution is to find ways to let players who don't make their money from multi clienting(selling duku/farming maps) make money as good as those that do. Perhaps a PQ that only allows 1 char from an account in once a day that gives crazy drops? Maybe dungeons that can be done by 1 char per account a day?

    I'm very much against nerfing/punishing people who multi client by making it harder, and very much for bridging the gap for players who don't multi client have the ability to make comparable money through alternative means.

    Why make it harder for the people who put in the work to maximize their meso generation or levelling up other characters? It's not like they've done anything wrong.
    Why not just find better ways for every player to make meso and level?

    If there are multiple ways to make meso and to level characters up so that players can complete content, then maybe there wouldn't be such a concentrated amount of players that do just the optimal thing(multiclient).
     
    Charu, Henray17, Snake and 2 others like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page