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MapleStory 2

The Road Ahead: Nexon on the Launch of MapleStory 2

The sequel to one of the most successful MMORPGs of all time launched globally last month.

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The original MapleStory has been incredibly successful, particularly in Asia, over the course of the 15 years it's been in service. The sequel, MapleStory 2, originally launched in South Korea back in 2015, but had its Western (global) launch last month and is now available via Steam. With that being the case, we reached out to Miyoung Oh, lead game designer at Nexon Korea, to learn more about the game, its launch, and the road ahead.

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Give us the elevator pitch — what is MapleStory 2?

MapleStory 2 is an all-new game in the popular MapleStory franchise in full 3D and provides a unique experience that both hardcore and casual MMORPG players can enjoy. Like the original, MapleStory 2 boasts a rich variety of content: from immersive epic quests to difficult dungeons and raids for players looking for a greater challenge. Additionally, MapleStory 2 features all-new creative features for casual players to enjoy. Players can customise and design their own outfits, construct their dream homes, improve their instrument skills, play fun mini-games, and so much more! Regardless of your playstyle, MapleStory 2 has you covered with its passionate community of fellow Maplers!

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What has the feedback been like from players since launch?

We have received a lot of positive feedback regarding the game since launch. Starting with our very stable launch (especially for an MMORPG), many players praised the various customisation aspects and casual activities found within the game. What sets MapleStory 2 apart from other MMORPGs is the sheer variety of different activities players can enjoy within the game. In addition to going on adventures, fighting monsters, and completing quests, players can become a fashion designer by designing their own clothes, an architect by constructing their dream houses, or even become a musician while composing their own music scores. Casual players who are not into dungeons and raids have been enjoying playing mini-games, exploring the world, and excitedly posting creative designs within the MapleStory 2 community. There are so many activities that players will almost never run out of things to do. One of the best pieces of feedback we have received was regarding our team's stance on having no "pay to win" items in the global version of our game. As part of our effort to give players the best MapleStory 2 experience, we have removed every bit of possible pay-to-win content from the game. Players definitely loved the change, which we also feel is important to the long-term success of the game.  Since then, we have also been communicating with our players frequently to provide a level of transparency with our community and to introduce more features and improvements based on our players' direct feedback.

MapleStory 2
MapleStory 2 offers a mix of casual and hardcore gameplay, from building and customisation to challenging raids.

What have you learned from the previous game and what have you taken from that into the second?

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MapleStory has been in live service for quite some time, and we have definitely learned and experienced much throughout the years. When preparing to launch MapleStory 2, we wanted to focus mainly on three key things: stability, communication, and content. First, we had made sure we were confident in the global servers' stability before launching the game to the public. Throughout our two closed betas, we have done numerous testing to secure stable servers where all our players can play without running into any critical issues. Secondly, we made sure to pay close attention to our players' feedback. We have been communicating directly to our players through various social channels, and have been providing detailed information frequently through our Producer Blogs as well. We believe that part of MapleStory 2's successful launch is from the valuable feedback we have discussed and received from our players. Lastly, we have prepared and are continuing to plan many engaging events and content updates for the future to ensure players have the best experience possible. Although MapleStory and MapleStory 2 are two different games, we have tried our best to combine all of the successful elements of MapleStory with MapleStory 2's new and unique gameplay to create an all-new MMORPG experience for our community.

How do you approach both character building and progression?

In a character building perspective, you get a sense of growth as you gradually learn skills in the process of levelling up each time. You learn the basic skills of the relevant job once you reach Lv. 50, and you can freely change the skills based on the content you play. We approached this in a direction where there's not [many hurdles] in testing out various builds. Spec-wise, there are attribute points and skill points in the levelling up of the character, progress from gears, and progress from additional content such as pets or gemstones that are provided in stages for you to constantly have things to do, and enjoy and progress through various methods.

Tell us about the world that you've built, how players interact with it, and how you plan to evolve it over time.

The world of the original MapleStory is still changing and there's a need for the original MapleStory and MapleStory 2 to tell different stories. The world of MapleStory 2 was set as a parallel world before the times of the original MapleStory. Well-known areas and characters from the original MapleStory make an appearance, but they are in a different situation and story. The world of MapleStory 2 will continue to follow the larger flow of the story making an appearance appropriate to that time by mixing the elements from the original MapleStory with new elements.

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Gobble! Gobble! The current Thanksgiving theme includes a giant Turkey pilgrim...

How important is the art style for your game, and how does that shape the experience from a narrative perspective?

MapleStory 2 places emphasis on character customisation. Since the map is in block form, the art style is a core part of the game and very important. The characters are cute but can appear very different depending on how you customise them. We put in much thought to every element in the map to be in block size, but not to deform from its original proportion to look awkward when they combine into objects of varying sizes such as buildings, tree, grass, and so forth.

So what can you tell us about the customisation options that you've built into the game?

MapleStory 2 has various parts and clothes that give a different feel based on the combination of clothes. The position, size, and angle of hairstyles and hats can be changed and dyed in various colours. You can dance and express emotions through emotes, even use mounts and badges to express your character in a variety of ways. Even if the game doesn't have an item for the look that you want, you can make or purchase one from the Maple Workshop or Design Shop to show off your unique personality. We plan to continue developing character customisation as it is a key factor of MapleStory 2.

How are you dealing with bots, ad spammers and those who threaten to ruin the game experience for other players?

This is an ongoing issue every MMORPG experiences throughout its live service. Even before launch, we made many precautions to prevent bots and ad spammers from ruining the player experience. We have Game Masters and Moderators patrolling the game for ad spammers along with our ever upgrading security tools to automatically detect and catch bots within the game. We also have in-game features for players to block or report any suspicious activity they see, and we review and take action on these reports from our community constantly, and with extreme priority. This will be an ongoing effort as we will continue to update our tools and work on different solutions to provide a better game experience for all our players, and we thank everyone for your patience and support as we work to eliminate bots and ad spammers from our service.

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The cute visuals are no doubt a big part of the appeal MapleStory has enjoyed over the years.

The "Dungeon Limit" has been a major talking point among players. What's your position on this and are you planning any further changes?

Dungeon Limit has definitely been in the talks since launch. As part of our ongoing efforts to communicate more regularly and openly with our players, we had posted detailed information regarding some Dungeon Limit changes through our Producer Blog back in October. As this is a sensitive part of game balancing, we have positioned ourselves to make some BETA changes for our players to experience first-hand. In our November 8 update, we [added] the "reset" function that allows players to reset their Dungeon Limit. With this feature, players will be able to reset their dungeon count once per week per account, for up to an additional 30 more dungeon runs. After this Dungeon Reset function update, and the addition of brand new Chaos Raids (also November 8th), we will assess the data and review players' feedback to discuss any further changes. Our current stance is that we will continue to make improvements based on the game balance data and the community's feedback

What's next for MapleStory 2 in the short-term?

Well, we have a major update, [Chaos Rising, which is now live]. Look forward to not just the new content like Chaos Raids, but many interesting contents reflecting the various feedback from players. Also, we have scheduled major content updates [in] December to expand the content even further. Our next objective is to provide a stable service in the long run by continuing to be transparent and communicate with players as we are doing right now.

And then, looking further ahead, what hopes do you have for the game in the long-term?

While preparing for the global service, it was a special experience developing the game in a positive direction by communicating and listening to the players. We will give our all in operating with transparency and not losing the value of smooth communication while keeping MapleStory 2's unique gaming nature. We hope that many players will continue to play freely, and have a happy and enjoyable experience throughout their gameplay.

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