Overview of MapleStory N since its launch
Since its official launch on May 15, MapleStory N has been highly discussed, with most players exploring how to quickly farm gold to pay for high enhancement costs, how to quickly collect NFT collections to enhance character capabilities, and even comparing it with the nostalgic version Artale. So how has MapleStory N performed since its launch? We can start analyzing from the game performance.
Player Population and Community
Since the launch of MapleStory N, nearly a week has passed. According to my observations on server AIN, popular maps below level 100 still have players in all channels. Even on weekday evenings and weekends, there are instances of 3 to 4 players competing for maps simultaneously.
Community performance is relatively average compared to the nostalgic version Artale. According to data from the Bahamut platform, MapleStory N has a daily view heat of about 35,000, with approximately 50 discussion articles per day. Currently, it ranks in the mid-tier of online game popularity charts.
Launch Events
From May 17 to May 30, MapleStory N launched a launch celebration event. During this period, defeating monsters will yield additional rewards:
Mystery Experience Box: Randomly grants a 130% to 300% experience boost voucher.
Mystery Honor Box: Randomly grants 100 to 100,000 honor experience.
Extra NESO: Monsters and BOSS will drop extra NESO.
Experience and honor boxes can be sold in the market for NESO if players do not need them. Therefore, the launch event not only helps players level up quickly but also allows them to accumulate more NESO in preparation for subsequent equipment enhancement.
Trading Market
At the time of writing, it is the fifth day since the launch, and the trading market has accumulated a trading volume of 46,676,140,961 NESO, which roughly translates to about 466,761 NXPC and 920,000 USDT. This data not only proves player investment in the game but can also generate revenue for the officials, maintaining game quality and continuous event releases.
MapleStory N Gold Earning Efficiency Analysis
MapleStory N adds a cryptocurrency token system to the base of the MapleStory game, turning it into a GameFi. Players can earn NESO tokens through monster hunting, BOSS battles, and events. Below is an efficiency analysis of earning NESO in the game.
Monster Hunting Earnings
Monster hunting is one of the essential tasks for MapleStory players. As the main axis of the game, it is also an important source of NESO. In MapleStory N, the higher the level of the monster, the more NESO it drops. According to the in-game reward panel, hunting a level 90 monster can yield about 0.6 to 0.9 NESO, while hunting a level 160 monster can yield about 1.7 to 2.6 NESO, so leveling up will be one of the players' primary tasks.
BOSS Earnings
Defeating BOSSes not only grants NESO rewards but may also drop exclusive weapons, armor, and accessories for BOSSes, all of which can enhance character strength or be sold at a good price in the market. For mid-to-high level players capable of challenging difficult BOSSes, the benefit from a single equipment drop may outweigh defeating hundreds of thousands of smaller monsters.
Event Earnings
The aforementioned launch event provides additional NESO rewards for defeating smaller monsters and BOSSes. According to current market prices, the Mystery Experience Box (drop rate 0.111%) is valued at 250 NESO, while the Mystery Honor Box (drop rate 0.056%) is valued at 1,920 NESO. For players who do not lack experience boost vouchers and honor, the launch event is expected to provide thousands of NESO in extra income during the event period.
Estimate Wild Map Earnings
In the game, you can use the 'Combat Analysis' function to calculate the number of monsters defeated. For example, if players do not compete for maps, approximately 1,000 monsters can be defeated in 12 minutes, around 5,000 in one hour, and the minimum NESO drop is 0.366. Coupled with the ongoing NESO drop events and extra drop items, the expected value for a level 90 map in one hour is 5000 * 0.366 * 1.6 = 2928 NESO, and various colored Florins and mystery boxes can earn additional rewards of about 6000 + NESO.
MapleStory N Enhancement Ability System
In addition to inheriting the traditional equipment enhancement and skill transfer systems from New MapleStory, MapleStory N has added an NFT collection system, encouraging players to store NFTs in the collection. Each time an NFT is stored, the system automatically increases NFT points, and reaching a certain threshold grants an enhancement to character stats. If a complete set of costumes is stored, additional set enhancements can also be acquired.
Equipment Enhancement: Star Force System
Star Force enhancement is the main way to enhance equipment capabilities. Players can drag forged equipment to the 'Equipment Enhancement' interface for enhancement. The enhancement cost grows in a tiered manner, meaning the higher the enhancement star level, the more expensive it becomes. Additionally, MapleStory N's unique dynamic pricing leads to a surge in enhancement costs across the entire server when players have a high demand for enhancements. Before purchasing or enhancing equipment, players may want to browse the trading market to see if other players are selling discarded equipment at a lower price.
Equipment Enhancement: Potential System
Potential is a system attached to equipment, divided into four grades: Special, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Players need to use Power Crystals to purchase potential cubes and apply them to equipment, with Power Crystals available for purchase using NESO. Players can use cubes multiple times to update potential until they achieve the desired attributes. For armor, most players expect to roll out main attribute bonuses.
Skill Transfer
Skill transfer allows different job groups within an account to share passive abilities, enhancing character capabilities and improving leveling efficiency. Therefore, playing across various job groups has become an essential experience for almost all MapleStory players. The unique aspect of MapleStory N is that characters can be sold as NFTs, allowing players who do not want to level again to consider purchasing characters from different job groups in the market.
NFT Collection
The NFT collection is a unique enhancement system in MapleStory N. Thanks to the game costumes being produced as NFTs, players can retain their collections while also gaining additional stat bonuses. Storing costumes in the collection does not mean they need to be permanently staked; they only need to be kept for ten days at a minimum before they can be withdrawn. However, withdrawing also means giving up the stat bonuses.
However, the NFT collection is a higher-threshold enhancement pathway. For new players, raising critical hit chance and attack power requires 1,600 and 2,600 points respectively, and storing an NFT item only grants 100 points. If we calculate based on the floor price of 90,000 for NFTs that can be stored in the collection, storing 16 items would require about 1,440,000 NESO, while 26 items would need 2,340,000 NESO.
Comparison of MapleStory N, New MapleStory, and MapleStory Artale
MapleStory N, New MapleStory, and MapleStory Artale are currently the three most mainstream MapleStory IPs on the market, representing Web3 innovation, modern experience, and nostalgic sentiment, respectively. The audiences for the three games are also different; below, we will first lead readers to understand the features of New MapleStory and MapleStory Artale, and then compare the differences among the three in a table.
New MapleStory
New MapleStory is a classic 2D MapleStory launched by NEXON in 2003. It has been updated to sixth job advancement and offers over 40 job choices for players. It can be considered the most complete work in the MapleStory universe, whether you want to watch the storyline or challenge novel BOSSes, New MapleStory can meet player needs. The biggest feature of New MapleStory is cash items; for example, the well-known Rebirth Stone can help players level up quickly but also completely disrupts game balance.
MapleStory Artale
MapleStory Artale is a nostalgic version on the MapleStory Worlds platform, focusing on game content and experiences prior to the Big Bang update (2010). Artale retains classic maps and offers the adventurer job group (currently supporting up to third job advancement), along with modern improvements such as auto-looting and markets, while preserving the authentic MapleStory experience.
Comparison of the three MapleStory IPs
MapleStory N, New MapleStory, and MapleStory Artale core features combine blockchain technology, dual-token models, a complete worldview, diversified systems, nostalgic classic experiences, improved game experiences based on older versions, higher costs for late-game equipment resources, good player interactivity, fast leveling speed, cheaper equipment resources, very slow leveling speed, frequent server lag, easy monetization difficulties; players can convert to NXPC for sale through the 8591 digital network, private community trading requires the 8591 digital network, private community trading; weekly trading volume: official market 900,000, 8591 about 190,000, 8591 about 35,000; overall advantages: transparent drop rates, easy monetization, diverse job selections, mature overall game, highest heat and player discussion; freely develop appearances; overall disadvantages: low earnings in the current version, Web3 wallet unfriendly to newcomers, cash items disrupt balance, numerous studios lead to currency price collapse, slow update speed, leveling time-consuming, many players competing for maps.
Conclusion
MapleStory N features NFT trading and a dual-token model that makes "play-to-earn" a game characteristic. From farming NESO by defeating monsters to challenging BOSSes for gear extraction and enhancing equipment and NFT collection ability, adventurers grow stronger step by step. Compared to the fast-paced New MapleStory and the slow pace of Artale, MapleStory N offers a more balanced pace. As MapleStory N continues to update, the officials are sure to launch more events, encouraging players to earn abundantly during limited-time activities!
