Changes that will bring more players

[MATThew]

Hello! 

I want to add some features here that will bring more players and make the game overall better:

 

Must change

- Website design: Make it possible to identify that it is a MapleStory game.

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Should change

- Class balance: I don't need to say that the original maplestory was never balanced well enough.

We should buff: Archers 1st job; Thief-melee 1st job; Wizard F/P; Page 2nd job 

We should nerf: Clerics; Hermit; Dark Knight

- Party Bonus EXP +5% per player: Oldschool servers always work around people playing together as a community, the best way for anyone to play together is partying while grinding. If it is not worth inviting people to party they will solo grind.

- Buff maps that no one would ever grind

- Ban BUFF MULES: most players dont want to create characters that they dont like just so they get the same advantage as others who will do it.

- Add maps post-big-bang but in a way that they could work with pre-big-bang 

- Buff quests reward: this way it will be worth leveling by quests

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Optional changes

- Make mobs drop NX (not items that you pick and get NX, directly getting NX as you get EXP)

- Add all hairs and faces available until v90+

- Let mobs drop GACHAPON items (the skull hat was pretty cool)

- Add a way to get more MAX HP or NERF BOSS DAMAGE

 

I am not native english so whatever its wrong about my typing you can correct me.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2020 by MATThew

[miup]

Quote

- Ban BUFF MULES: most players dont want to create characters that they dont like just so they get the same advantage as others who will do it.

In my opinion: 

This server was made with the intent to make buff mules if you want.

You have to put so many hours into buff mules to make a lil bit more exp for your main or whatever the buff is so that its worth..  so i dont think it should be banned  - by the time you actually finish a buff mule you already feel the burn if you dont pace yourself out. (i have 4 buff mules)

Just to tell ya an example: At the beginning of this server i made a hs mule before leveling up my main character, and by the time i got 81 (full hs) i had to take a break because i really could not play anymore.. This slowed me down so much on my main that all my friends got to 100+ by the time i was leveling up the hs. 

Besides that, most of top rank players do not use buff mules. They have a ton more hours played in their main character which is why the reason of their ranks.

If the thought that other players might have a buff mule that could help you and him to progress is so annoying i would recommend  you to look at other servers that dont allow buff mules such as RevivalStory or MG2. 

The way i see it is: Buff mules are like suplements for your diet - you dont need them to succeed but it helps a lil bit.

 

Let me know your thoughts!

Sincerely,
Miup
 

Edited February 1, 2021 by miup
Just wanted to complement my answer

[Phantom]

On 12/1/2020 at 8:24 AM, MATThew said:

We should nerf: Clerics; Hermit; Dark Knight

If your goal is to balance the classses as evenly as possible so that every class does the same amount of DPS to all bosses, then yes I agree.

If your goal is to simply atttract more new players, then no. Nerfing sins might make people happy who dislike that class and weren't gonna play that class. But it will turn off people who wanted to play sins and those people will simply leave.

Buffing up the weak classes is always better than nerfing the strong classes, as far as keeping the player base happy.

Another thing is that whatever one person thinks is a good and useful change from vanilla GMS maplestory, will piss off another person for ruining their nostalgia because things are diffferent than what they remember from their childhood. So anything you do to make the game different could potentially make some people happier but piss off some other people. Therefore my advice would be to change as little as possbile, keep everything as pure GMS as you can and only make changes when absolutely neccessary.

With that said, since this is a 3rd job only server and there will never be a 4th job, I do believe that giving extra buff to bowmen/xbow is absolutely needed. There is zero reason to play bowmen in this server, sins are just better in every single possible category. There is no Sharp Eyes to look forward to either, nothing. I'm saying this even though I do not play bowmen and I'm not gonna make a bowman in the future.

4 hours ago, miup said:

In my opinion: 

This server was made with the intent to make buff mules if you want.

 

I'm not for or against buff mules, I can see valid argument for both sides. What I wanna say is that buff mules have zero effect on attracting players. OP is simply wrong to think the existence of buff mules in Phoenix is reducing the playerbase. Just look at the #1 and #2 maple servers, they both get about 500 - 1,000 players online at any given time. They both allow buff mules. Obviously it's not hurting their popularity.

The buff mule issue is a completely separate topic and should be discussed on its on merit, not lumped together wth the "let's attract new players' discussion.

I'm not trying to diss the OP in any way, I sympathize and I agree with him that we need to do something to attract new players.

But IMHO tweaking various little things in the game have little to no effect on attracting new players. The really BIG things that attract people, in my opinion, are:

#1 New server/wipe. This always attracts certain people who are looking to get in but don't wanna compete with older established players who have been playing for 2 years and have 20billion mesos and godly items and high level chars. Also there's just the sheer joy of going into a brand new world and starting fresh, competing with other new people to see who can be the most pro starting from scratch.

#2 ADVERTISING. Spending real dollars/Euros. There's a reason Google is worth 1 trillion dollars... advertising works. The current #2 server (name starts with L) was actually doing very poorly 1 - 2 years after it opened, only getting like 50-100 players.  Then the server owner strategically placed paid ads in various places. One particular ad campaign paid off spectacularly, not sure exactly how it happened but he/she put an ad on a Taiwan game site and it brought in a large number of Taiwanese players.  After that the online numbers  went from 50-100 to over 200 regularly.  And they zoomed up in GTOP. Both factors attracted even more players and eventually they went to 1,000 players and briefly held the #1 crown.

Personally I wouldn't mind if Arnah opened up the donation perks a bit more so that more people are encouraged to donate $, if he uses that money to adversise the server.

It doesn't mean let's turn this into a P2win server, you can add lots more stuff to donator rewards that don't affect how stronk your character is.  For instance Smega.  Currently it's super cheap, you can vote once a day and pretty much smega to your heart's content.  But keep in mind in GMS you could not smega unless you spent real $. So you had to think real hard before you bit the bullet and used an smega.  Unlike how it is here currently, morons spamming useless smega with literal meaningless garage text "aaa  bbb".  So..... maybe jack up the price of smega to 400 NX each (exactly what you get per 1 day of voting).  And of course you can gain additional NX by donating.

Also maybe more unique NX items and/or chairs you can get by donating. Chairs are great, everyone love them but they actually have zero affect on gameplay or how stronk your char is.

 

[Guyy]

- Ban BUFF MULES: most players dont want to create characters that they dont like just so they get the same advantage as others who will do it.

I second this. 

[opman]

14 hours ago, Guyy said:

- Ban BUFF MULES: most players dont want to create characters that they dont like just so they get the same advantage as others who will do it.

 

its a choice to create buff mules, just like it's ur choice to play or quit the server. anyway ure getting supported by players with buff (dedicated n helpful players) mules later on at party play maps like fog or coolies and goby and so on, so i dont see the need to ban buff mules. Even so, u could head off to lpq or opq that isnt affected by buff mules, also without mules, good luck finding a filler for lpq or opq parties when u lack 1 member or so to start the PQ. so ure pretty much screwing urself over

Introduce seasonal events for:

1) Chairs (token based/ drops from monster or mini boss)
2) NX clothes (token based)
3) Gachapon ticket (via monster drops in future? without those OP scrolls n weapons)
 

Edited February 8, 2021 by opman

[Guyy]

13 hours ago, opman said:

its a choice to create buff mules, just like it's ur choice to play or quit the server. anyway ure getting supported by players with buff (dedicated n helpful players) mules later on at party play maps like fog or coolies and goby and so on, so i dont see the need to ban buff mules. Even so, u could head off to lpq or opq that isnt affected by buff mules, also without mules, good luck finding a filler for lpq or opq parties when u lack 1 member or so to start the PQ. so ure pretty much screwing urself over

Introduce seasonal events for:

1) Chairs (token based/ drops from monster or mini boss)
2) NX clothes (token based)
3) Gachapon ticket (via monster drops in future? without those OP scrolls n weapons)
 

I would leave it to the server makers to decide, though I believe the reason people play these old servers is for the nostalgia.

We wanna play the game like it used to be. I don't know if they have the same opinion as me on this(so I could be wrong) but I believe it should be as close to the original as possible and then it would be the old maplestory experience.

Which is what many of us look for.

[Emperor]

15 hours ago, Guyy said:

I would leave it to the server makers to decide, though I believe the reason people play these old servers is for the nostalgia.

We wanna play the game like it used to be. I don't know if they have the same opinion as me on this(so I could be wrong) but I believe it should be as close to the original as possible and then it would be the old maplestory experience.

Which is what many of us look for.

in the OLD GMS, people used to play with buff mules, it's not something special.

[Yaoi]

Buff muling is nothing new. Either do it or deal with it. I personally feel like they're necessary due to the population size of the server. 

[opman]

to mule or not to mule

Edited February 12, 2021 by opman

[opman]

On 12/2/2020 at 12:24 AM, MATThew said:

- Add maps post-big-bang but in a way that they could work with pre-big-bang 

idk why but after playing on the server for a total of 6months, im starting to loose interests as it's getting content heavy and im loosing some sense of nostalgial. I find myself getting more interested in streams and old youtube videos of the coolie grind and deep ludi. Yes coolies r good to grind at now but it just doesnt feel nostalgic with the current setup (including leafre/ mulung/) and its doesnt draw much players there (coolies n ludi), with newer training spots spreads players out too thin.

somehow im starting to see why other players choose to remain in the nostalgic coolies grind era and servers, maybe we can look into something here (replacing the old flat lane coolies map and removing some contents)?

Edited February 13, 2021 by opman

[Emperor]

On 2/14/2021 at 12:13 AM, opman said:

idk why but after playing on the server for a total of 6months, im starting to loose interests as it's getting content heavy and im loosing some sense of nostalgial. I find myself getting more interested in streams and old youtube videos of the coolie grind and deep ludi. Yes coolies r good to grind at now but it just doesnt feel nostalgic with the current setup (including leafre/ mulung/) and its doesnt draw much players there (coolies n ludi), with newer training spots spreads players out too thin.

somehow im starting to see why other players choose to remain in the nostalgic coolies grind era and servers, maybe we can look into something here (replacing the old flat lane coolies map and removing some contents)?

Everyone want the old coolies map, but lets from what i know, arnah is making goal to the future.

Lets see what arnah decide.

[Guyy]

On 2/9/2021 at 1:55 PM, Emperor said:

in the OLD GMS, people used to play with buff mules, it's not something special.

I don't really mind about people with mules, i personally am against this, and at the very least we should keep it to the original where if u wanna multi client u cant do it without a software

[Brick]

If you want to help newer players, make more noob quests for potions. I am dying for potions as a newer player and it could be discouraging for others.

[opman]

15 hours ago, Brick said:

 

If you want to help newer players, make more noob quests for potions. I am dying for potions as a newer player and it could be discouraging for others.

 

Use a chair n chill 🙂 PQs give tons of pots too

[Brick]

14 hours ago, opman said:

Use a chair n chill 🙂 PQs give tons of pots too

Took me 10 hours of chair and chill to hit 20 and no one seems to do HPQ and not seeing much for KPQ either.

[opman]

20 hours ago, Brick said:

Took me 10 hours of chair and chill to hit 20 and no one seems to do HPQ and not seeing much for KPQ either.

well chair n chill works wonders when training 2 or 3 characters at the same time too

[RexZet]

On 12/1/2020 at 8:24 AM, MATThew said:

- Ban BUFF MULES: most players dont want to create characters that they dont like just so they get the same advantage as others who will do it.

Ya man let make it even more difficult to party up because there obvious enough player to provide all the buff people need right? Partying up in old school maple already sucks unless you have HS or the other person provide a buff that helps you. Removing buff mules just make it so people are less likely to party up because its not worth it. I already experience this at FOG here where I kill faster than most people grinding there so partying up with anyone drags my exp gain down more than not. This is with mules allowed still don't have enough HS appearing to make it worth partying up much less without mules.

Also you don't have to make mules, someone else will likely make it instead and you get to enjoy the benefit without the work. Also just removing mules won't magically open up party spots since mules don't take a grind spot. If a map only fits 4 people and there 2 mules in there even without mules its still 4 people and there won't be a room for a 5th.

On 3/17/2021 at 5:01 AM, Brick said:

Took me 10 hours of chair and chill to hit 20 and no one seems to do HPQ and not seeing much for KPQ either.

Again where mules help a lot on a low population server. I got through kpq, lpq, and opq with mules to pad out the party. Try to find lpq and opq now is near impossible to get the 6 people. However with 2 mules you can instead run them with 4 people which is much easier to get together.

[opman]

we're marketed as a 1x 3rd job only on GTOP, so I'm not surprised by the low population, let alone to any changes that most likely won't result in any or much more growth, unless we're changing the rates.

i mean, let's face it, majority of maple players in the whole community r casual, and that usually means wanting more than 1x rates (somewhere around 2x) and gaining faster sense of fulfillment but phoenix is meant to be as vanilla as possible with tweaks to the game and retaining nostalgic factors, yes that means 1x rates and no we can't increase that cause it'll be very upsetting to some people who think that it's nostalgic and that they put in the hours on a 1x rate. With newer maps being released, usually newer maps are meant to give better exp rates and hence a faster levelling process, but again, its a 1x, it's a turnoff for most players.

If the server goes into being a 1.5x or 2x rates (very unlikely, since the goal is to remain 1x), i can see maybe some jump in playerbase and retention, but instead we can some efforts by admin n community to keep it 1x with tweaks examples like: future buffing of the party exp bonus rates, sure we can market the server on gtop as "Buffed party exp bonus rates", but again, it's 1x and majority of newcomers will just turn elsewhere. Afterall, at least those server has something to look forward to like 4th job skills or bossing oriented server, but a 1x with a slight buff to bonus and newer maps to help with levelling, just does not appeal at all to the majority.
TLDR; I wouldn't place much hope in increasing population base.

[RexZet]

18 hours ago, opman said:

phoenix is meant to be as vanilla as possible with tweaks to the game and retaining nostalgic factors

I just find it funny this is suppose to be as vanilla as possible but we keep getting stuff that exist in vanilla patched out coz few people bitch about them lol.

[opman]

1 hour ago, RexZet said:

as vanilla as possible but we keep getting stuff that exist in vanilla patched out coz few people bitch about them lol.

Well, it happens

[RexZet]

6 hours ago, opman said:

Well, it happens

Just found it funny. That's always the excuse given when actual interesting suggestions are made but some how same thing don't apply to changes that get made that make it different from vanilla.

[opman]

 

12 hours ago, RexZet said:

actual interesting suggestions are made but some how same thing don't apply to changes that get made that make it different from vanilla.

u can call it, personal  preference 😉
hopefully in the future theres some plan/content that'll attract more 3rd job enthusiasts