MapleStory Chain Game Testing and Gold Farming Evaluation (Open Beta Testing)

After two days of testing 'MapleStory' @MaplestoryU, let's talk about this real gold farming experience. I originally thought it would be the biggest hit this year, but the economic model turned out to be a mixed bag. (Airdrops are still quite appealing)

The gold farming experience from the past two days: when the game first launched, a large number of players couldn't log in at all; on the first day, many computers crashed completely, and players couldn't enter the game, resulting in a very poor experience. (This is understandable, given the outrageous hype)

For new accounts, the pace is relatively friendly; following the quests allows for quick development. The Galaxy quests are very generous, being the biggest highlight this round, I won't mention how much I've farmed, lest you get jealous. Fire and Poison farming yields about 13,000 NOES per hour, which is roughly 1.6 RMB. (The workers are all crying as they resign)

Looking at it now, the official direction is boss-centric: casual players spend money, farm dungeons, and forcibly boost combat power. The enhancement and potential systems are completely based on luck, a pure consumer trap; it's not guaranteed that spending will make you stronger, but rather you need to spend enough + have good luck. (With good luck, 2500 NPXC can elevate to 500,000 combat power)

After several rounds of updates, dungeon yields are being adjusted upwards, while monster yields are almost ignored, which directly kills off free-to-play players. (Those playing for nostalgia don't count) Studio workers and bots can't survive here; they come and leave in tears. (They might not even recoup their script costs) If you want to enjoy nostalgia, Web2's MapleStory can satisfy you without burning money; if you want to farm gold, with the current drop rates and yield adjustments, it truly makes one shake their head; there seems to be no stable path to make money, and spending money doesn’t show significant returns, it’s pure gambling.

In summary: this game has decent quality, but the planners have turned it into a mixed bag. Poor for gold farming, nostalgia is fragmented (the open beta model is really less comfortable than the second test)

It would be better to learn from #BigTime: ease players into the game early on; change mechanisms later to retain users. The once-bustling community has seen little conversation these past few days (disappointment exceeds expectations). Let's wait and see for a while, it's a bit of a shame for such a good game IP.