MapleStory [Quick Tip] Free to Play or Pay to Win?

Channel:

KuzuRanger

Subscribers:

9,860

Published on May 26, 2015 4:05:51 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfig4odnYrM

Game:

MapleStory (2002)

Category:

Guide

Duration: 5:42

4,190 views

42

Today I want to discuss the big question that anyone interested in the game should be worried about: Is MapleStory free-to-play or pay-to-win? Just to start out with the basic concepts, a free to play game is one that allows you to fully download and play the game, with no strings attached, absolutely for free. This is a very misleading phrase though since most often these games make their money by selling in-game items or services which inevitably many people buy. And this is where the term pay-to-win comes from, because most often the player that pays nothing will be out-classed and out-gunned by the player with store-bought items and buffs, leading to more people buying items in order to compete. It is also a hard one to analyze accurately since most of it comes down to perspective.

This is why I want to break things down into 2 categories; the very casual gamer, and the serious gamer. For a casual gamer who just wants to try the game out on the weekend, to mess around and experiment with things but not really invest alot of time in, I would say MapleStory can indeed be considered legitimately free-to-play. I myself played it for many months without ever spending a dime, even grinding, and this was back 9 years ago when leveling up was 10 times harder than it is now! The game can be enjoyed by exploring different areas, going on quests, playing mini-games, finding parties to join, shopping in the free market, collecting items, you name it.

However, for anyone who plays it seriously and puts a significant amount of time and energy into it, it is very difficult to consider it completely free to play. And here’s why: The core part of the game is all about grinding, whether it be to level up your character for stronger attacks, better stat points, or upgrading your gear - so the serious gamer is going to be spending a big chunk of their time fighting monsters. When you do that, you obviously want to kill the most monsters in the shortest possible time. It’s all about efficiency. And in order to be efficient when grinding, you are going to need a pet. The pet’s you can buy will automatically pick up mesos, the money in Maplestory, and any items dropped by monsters. This is a HUGE time saver, letting you train on monsters without having to stop and collect all your loot. Let me put it this way; If you were to train for 5 minutes without a pet, you would also need to spend several minutes just picking up all the drops. Each monster may drop anywhere from zero to around 4 drops, and when picking up you can’t physically attack so you are wasting precious time and perhaps DOUBLING your time needed to train. With a pet, you can continue training and never have to stop. If you play regularly, you’ll understand just how much money and items you can collect from training.

So to sum it up, yes there will always be people who want to buy their way to the top and will literally pay-to-win, but it is also very possible to play the game seriously and put very little money into it. All in all, it would only cost around $1-2 per month to play the game at a solid, competitive level without falling too far behind other players. This to me is a very good bargain, and even if it’s not completely free-to-play - it’s very close.
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American gamer in Japan playing on PS4.

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