[Maplestory] Implement Universal Cash Shop (UCS) in GMS

#Why make this post? [The latest Inkwell Note](https://www.nexon.com/maplestory/news/general/35565/inkwell-s-note-our-journey-into-a-new-year) shows that Inkwell is actively ignoring certain huge issues in GMS or choosing to kick the can down the road hoping the community forgets (Universal CS). The majority of the announcements in this note were things the community was already aware of or recaps of recent events. In past Inkwell Notes, Inkwell showed a great understanding of the happenings in the game and community as well as giving future solutions to issues the community is facing. Even with lots of feedback through several avenues (Discord, Reddit, YouTube videos), the majority of these recent issues were not even touched on in the latest Inkwell Note and it felt like it was used primarily as a promotional spot to generate more hype for Classic World. #Casual Player Perspective The majority of this post reflects criticism from a casual player’s viewpoint, intended to represent issues commonly experienced by the broader player base. **Why take this point of view?** Whales and giga-grinders in Maplestory will always overcome any wall that is presented to them through sheer will of grinding (or also money in the case of Interactive). Whatever benefits the casual players will nearly always benefit the End Game players just as much, but the inverse is often not the case. This post focuses on increasing quality of life for all players as much as possible. # Credits Over the last few months, there has been a lot of discourse within the community regarding issues unique to GMS and I have been trying my best to keep track of them. With the help of Maplestory subreddit posters, Discord community discourse, my own play experiences and content creators I have curated a list of issues that hopefully people in the Nexon America team (Inkwell, Calahan, etc.) can take a look at. A huge thank you to all of you in the subreddit and other communities who take the time to voice your criticisms in a meaningful manner. I strongly believe that voicing our opinions as a collective is the best way to work with Nexon to create a better GMS. I also would like to shoutout two content creators who have been making some great videos regarding these topics. They had some great viewpoints and suggestions that I took much inspiration from. Please check them out after reading this post. * **Duky:** [Youtube page.](https://www.youtube.com/@Duky/videos) [Twitch page.](https://www.twitch.tv/duky) Duky shared with me a great document that had a comprehensive list of issues gathered by multiple passionate players. All the issues listed in that doc won't be in this post due to length concerns, so I chose as much of the big hitting topics as I could. * [Video: Nexon NEEDS to Fix These Issues with Maplestory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcliM2yq448) * [MORE Issues With MapleStory That Nexon NEEDS To Fix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEnuud-RGjA) * [The Newest MapleStory Inkwell Note Was A DISASTER](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uNUeWKxxWw) * Ereklo Game: [Youtube page.](https://www.youtube.com/@ErekloGame/videos) [Twitch page.](https://www.twitch.tv/ereklo_game) The twins are some of the biggest Maplestory hypers in the community. They make great guides/entertainment for the community and their content oozes with the passion for the game. If even they have criticisms of the recent happenings in Maplestory, you know something can be fixed. * [Everything Maplestory NEEDS to Change About the NEW Pity Systems...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8rZkZw5NTA) * [The Maplestory Heroic Damage Issue NEEDS To Be Fixed...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZxDmxt_t_0) * [Maplestory Just Released a BRAND-NEW Inkwell Note... Here Are My Thoughts....](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ08AcmMs6k) With the introduction out of the way, here we go. # RNG Trust At An All-Time Low There has long been speculation within the community that Nexon uses dynamic RNG in Maplestory to adjust rates over time. Since Nexon has never released numbers for things like boss drop rate, these discussions were mainly speculative, based largely on observed trends and the fact that Nexon [holds a patent on Dynamic RNG.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MMORPG/comments/18y2tf5/nexon_holds_patent_for_dynamic_rng_rates_based_on/#:~:text=By%20giving%20someone%20with%20low,appreciate%20that%20they%20are%20hooked.) However, in recent weeks, there have been two Maple Memos confirming that RNG rates were altered, with Nexon stating that these rates were unintentionally nerfed. First was the [Arcane/Absolab Armor/Weapon Boxes](https://www.nexon.com/maplestory/news/general/34869/maple-memo-additional-issues-addressed-during-the-december-22-scheduled-maintenance), followed by [Star Speck Boxes being nerfed.](https://www.nexon.com/maplestory/news/general/35402/maple-memo-addressing-issue-regarding-star-speck-box) While these nerfs may not have been intentional, their confirmation has significantly impacted player trust. This is even further discouraging when in 2021 Nexon was caught rigging their cube rates and flame rates for years and spent the next several years trying to earn back player trust. It was also discovered a week ago in the new Maple Idle (mobile Maplestory) that a certain line that players paid money to roll was technically impossible to roll! When rate changes are discovered only after prolonged community concern, without prior transparency, it only reinforces the perception that RNG systems are rigged against the player. For casual players especially, this uncertainty makes progression feel discouraging. The meme that the community likes to repeat is that “if it benefits the players, it will be immediately fixed in minutes. If it doesn’t benefit the players, bugs or fixes take forever.” It is frustrating to have game breaking bugs stay in the game for days/weeks. #Universal Cash Shop Universal Cash Shop (UCS) is widely regarded as one of the most player friendly changes ever introduced to Maplestory. Korea Maplestory and every other region (MSea, CMS, TMS, JMS) have implemented this system. GMS now remains the only exception. With the latest Inkwell note, it is also now obvious that Inkwell and team GMS are avoiding talking about this issue and pretending it doesn’t exist. Many players believe the decision not to bring UCS to GMS comes from Heroic servers being non-trade and the general population of GMS being smaller. The prevailing assumption is that allowing Cash Shop items to be freely shared would reduce spending since players would only need to purchase items once. Even if this concern is valid, this is a flawed and short sighted strategy by Nexon. Nexon America has failed to recognize that when players are treated well, many will respond by engaging and spending more willingly. The majority of GMS players were already well aware of UCS having been implemented not just in Korea, but other regions like Maple Sea thereafter. The GMS community was waiting with bated breath for UCS to be ported. The disappointment across the GMS community when UCS wasn’t implemented was palpable. As a result, many casual players have chosen to stop spending entirely, due to the frustration with having to repeatedly repurchase the same Cash Shop items across multiple characters. Rather than encouraging spending, this approach creates irritation and discourages long term investment. The current GMS Cash Shop strategy built around class division, FOMO (fear of missing out) tactics, and reliance on whales to spend large amounts of money reflects an outdated and despised monetization model. Even KMS, the most heavily monetized region, has somewhat recognized this and loosened the restrictions by adding UCS. Additionally, the current GMS approach of having Cash Shop transfer events only twice per year is extremely outdated. In KMS, for almost two years leading up to the introduction of UCS, a Cash Shop transfer event was held on the first weekend after every patch. This effectively meant Cash Shop transfers on a monthly basis. By contrast, Nexon America’s reliance on infrequent transfers only reinforces a strategy of “creating a problem and then selling the solution,” which feels deceptive to players and ultimately breeds consumer resentment rather than goodwill. **Implementing UCS in GMS is not only one of the biggest community wants, it is a necessary step toward rebuilding trust, improving player satisfaction, and encouraging spending.** # GMS Server API Several years ago, KMS introduced a public API that allows for live player data tracking. The MapleStory community widely uses websites such as Maplescouter.com, which leverage this API to help players track their progress, compare relative strength for bossing, and plan their progression more effectively. This tool has become a major quality of life resource in regions where it is available. Players in the Western community have been requesting access to this feature for years. More recently, MapleSea implemented this API as well, yet GMS has still not received access to this functionality. Inkwell, you previously asked the community for time to assemble a team capable of developing features tailored specifically to the Western audience. Nearly two years have passed since that request. At this point, it would be reasonable to either see progress on initiatives like this or, at the very least, receive clear communication on whether such a feature is being actively worked on. # Arthur’s Equipment Rental Arthur’s Equipment Rental system is one of the best unique pieces of original GMS content introduced in a long time. It allows players to temporarily gain the power needed to overcome specific progression walls particularly when they are slightly short on damage for certain bosses. This system is especially valuable for casual and newer players who are still building their gear. The rental equipment helps bridge the multi-week gap where players are farming Gollux accessories but lack the Combat Power to progress. For many, this temporary boost makes otherwise inaccessible content feel achievable. However, the current rental time of 24 hours is seen as too short by the community. Most casual players can dedicate one or two hours per day to MapleStory before real life responsibilities take priority. As a result, much of the rental period often goes unused. Increasing the rental duration would allow casual players to better take advantage of the system across multiple play sessions. The most commonly suggested improvement from the community is extending the rental period to 3 days. This allows casual players to take advantage of the rental gear to use it over the weekend starting from Friday. #Too Much Event Importance On RNG One of the biggest things that stops player progression, especially casual players right now, is how much importance is placed on saving up for events that only come around a few times a year. The events in this game are so good that it is seen as mandatory to save up all your farming and mesos. This creates a gameplay loop where players spend months saving up for an event to go “all or nothing” in order to make progress. As is the case with RNG, there are times where you win and lose. However, for a casual player to spend months saving up for something just to not make any progress will often make the player quit. This is especially true with the new Starforce system that was introduced recently. **The New Starforce** In the new Starforce system, it is statistically viewed as throwing away your money since the boom rate is so much worse compared to the old system. On a Shining Starforce event (-30% boom reduction and 30% meso discount), the boom rate goes from around 4 booms expected to 22 star an item down to around 2. That is nearly 2 times the difference when you Starforce off event! This has caused a meta where players are actively discouraged to Starforce anything and hold off progression until a Shining Starforce comes around. The problem with this is that the Shining Starforce event only comes around every 2-3 months. In the latest Inkwell note, Inkwell acknowledged this issue and said there is a plan to implement a fix to bring Shining Starforce more often… **IN JUNE.** This is a disingenuous “fix” since this just follows the KMS timeline. The frustrating part of this is that the new Starforce is acknowledged as a “burden” by Inkwell but refuses to copy and paste the fix that already exists in KMS! **This change to Sunny Sunday is something he can fix TODAY, but chose not to.** #Miracle Time Miracle time is an event that increases the chance to upgrade a potential tier on an item with cubes and it only comes around twice a year. In the past, Miracle Time caused a large amount of lag and server instability. To fix this issue, what the Nexon team decided to do is limit what kinds of items can be boosted with Miracle Time over the span of a month. One weekend is only Accessories, another weekend is only Gloves and so on. This did solve the lag issue, but this method is short sighted and poor for player experience in a few big ways. * **Why did Miracle Time cause lag in the first place?** The event only came around 2 times a year for only a day or two each time. This created huge amounts of FOMO and the habit to save up and use everything all at once. The entire server spamming cubes and items they have been saving for months will obviously cause issues. The solution is not to split up the items, but have it be more often throughout the year. A monthly or every other month cadence to the event would do wonders to lessen the FOMO created and reduce the burden on the server. * **No one uses Miracle Time in the way it is intended.** Telling a new player that they can tier up their Cape today, but have to wait 5 weeks to tier up their Shoes is nonsense. Players do not wait months or weeks to tier up an event at a slightly more efficient rate. * **Playing around events that are 6 months apart is terrible.** Missing out on a Miracle Time event due to IRL happenings then having to wait 6 months for the next one feels terrible. It promotes a “you snooze, you lose” mentality to casual players when they should be encouraged to come back and interact with upgrade systems (arguably the most fun part of the game) more often. **The Miracle Times need to come around way more than twice a year and have it be applied to all items during the event.** # Cube Sales Much like the Miracle Time event, Cube Sales suffer from the same problem of being too infrequent and creating the same FOMO and “all in” mentality. But, I would argue even more so since cubing for potential lines is a much more important part of the gameplay compared to just tiering up. **Cube Sales should occur more often than twice a year.** # Familiars / Expedition The most recent refresh of the familiar system is a welcome change. The most sought after line rates (boss/att/drop) were somewhat improved, and the new Familiar Expedition system encourages players to keep leveling up familiars for both damage potentials and expedition potentials simultaneously. With that being said, there are some easy fixes to maximize the fun of interacting with the familiar system. * The RNG behind tiering up familiars is still a big pain point. Players would rather have the cost increased for a guaranteed tier up, rather than being burdened with a dozen tier up attempts just to hit pity. When players are farming hundreds of familiars over hundreds of hours, hitting a streak of poor RNG is demoralizing. * Why are the familiar combine and tier up animations so long? They are around 5 seconds each time and lock you out before you can do anything else. Just remove the animations entirely or significantly reduce the delay. * Familiar sounds need their own UI option to adjust familiar sounds. They are currently tied to Monster SFX and when players want to hear boss sound effects it gets drowned out by Familiars constantly attacking. * The rewards in the Expedition can be better tailored to each server. * Heroic: Add more fragment rewards and things like Blue Cards. * Interactive: You can add Chains of Resentment as a chase item like a Pitched Accessory box. * The Familiar Expedition rewards have a unique ID so they cannot stack with other existing items (a WAP from Expedition won't stack with a normal WAP). Please work on fixing this since it fills up the bags when they can be easily stacked. * Heroic finally got a way to increase familiar expansion slots as well, but with NX. Consider putting these expansion slots in the reward shop as well in both servers. It doesn't have to be unlimited, even a few free 2 play familiar expansion every month will go a long way. # Mysterious Star Speck Boxes (Heroic) This is more of a Heroic issue since Star Speck Boxes are tradable on the Auction House. Star Speck Boxes are a great addition (on paper) to the game for players to make up for the fact that Pitched items are historically gated by RNG from bosses. It is the "farming" way to obtain Pitched Boss Pity from the three new systems added recently. However, the limitation of 10 boxes a day to get a single replacement of a Pitched Boss item keeps the system from reaching its full potential. * On average, it takes 700 boxes for 1 Pitched Star Core (1 Star Core + 50 Shining Star Specks). This is 70 days of capping boxes. * This ends up being around 5 Pitched Star Cores a year. On average, it takes 3-4 booms to get a single item to 22 stars. That means a full year of farming Star Speck Boxes may help with *a single* item get to 22 if you cap boxes every day. * The timeline of 1 Pitched Star Core every few months is too slow in the grand scheme of things when future content from KMS will have higher star counts (23+ stars) as a part of the balance. For each star after 22, the boom count essentially doubles! **50** expected booms for an item to reach 25 stars. * A limit of 10 boxes a day also hurts both casual players AND end game players. * A casual player won't be able to farm 10 boxes everyday to make progress. However, on the days that this player *can* farm longer durations, they are hurt by this system only limiting them to the 10 boxes for the day. * End game players gain an advantage over casuals just through the raw amount of hours farmed. More hours farmed means more Meso, Sol Erda fragments, honor, levels, and progress in general EXCEPT for being gated by RNG due to Pitched Items not dropping from bosses. Let Heroic farmers earn their advantage through hard work in the Star Speck Boxes system just like any other system. You can even have the Box drop rate lower after the initial 10, think of it as a soft cap. # Pitched Whisper Crystals [Thank you to bamba for making a video on the math.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxlqj9eOEPE) Pitched Whisper Crystals are the "Weekly Bossing" method to obtaining Dawn Boss, Pitched Boss (Total Control excluded), Mitra's Emblem, and Genesis Badge through the new Pitched Pity systems added. On paper, it is a great passive way to earn Pitched Boss Items through bossing weekly and obtaining Whisper Crystals. However, only 9 Whisper Crystals are given a week. * That means it takes 16.25 weeks (4 months) for a single Pitched Boss item. For an average of 22 stars (3 booms), that is 48.75 weeks (over 11 months). * Genesis Badge is also obtainable in this system and fortunately only requires 1 purchase. However, 390 Whisper Crystals is 43 weeks of saving up (over 10 months). * When calculating anything above 22 stars, the amount of time required starts going into the **years, not months.** The system is simply too slow for any meaningful progress for players past early/mid game. # Boss Trace Restoration The Boss Trace Restoration system is the "Boss Challenge" method to obtaining trace restores for Eternals, Brilliant Boss Items, and Pitched Boss items using Trace Points obtained through solo Boss Challenge missions. Unlike the other two systems, there is essentially no restriction on what items you can restore as long as you have enough points. However, there are still issues with this system. * When the system first came out, certain boss missions were extremely difficult (get stringed 20 times in Verus Hilla). Thankfully the most egregious of these missions were made much easier. * When one character started Trace Missions, the entire weekly lockout was now tied to that character. Thankfully, they made it so that you can complete these missions also in practice mode so you can do them on your main and not sacrifice party bossing. For example: You can get the "Normal difficulty" boss trace mission complete for Darknell with other difficulty modifiers in practice mode, then clear Darknell in Hard difficulty for the actual clear. * Just like the other two systems, the amount of weeks/months to save up enough points for a **single** restore makes this system too slow. * If an end game and established character did all the possible missions, it would equal 133 points a week. That would mean... * Eternal Equipment (2312 points)= 17.38 weeks. A 22 Star Eternal takes on average **1 year** with this system. * Brilliant Boss Accessories (2500 points)= 18.79 weeks * Pitched Boss Accessories (1680 points): 12.63 weeks * The biggest negative with this system is that the point cap is **2500**. So, no matter what item you choose to restore, you will only have one replacement to use an entire event. On top of that, if you cap points and do not use them, any additional bosses killed will waste points. That means points may get wasted if the player cannot time restores with Starforcing events. The point cap needs to be increased or the points required for a restore needs to be dramatically reduced. # Sol Erda Fragments (Heroic) [Duky made a great video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIsvmtRGSdk) on this topic that I will condense here. In Interactive, players can farm and purchase Sol Erda Fragments to level up their 6th job progress. In Interactive, players are Sol Erda energy gated. Although it can get a little bit expensive sometimes, players can ultimately supplement their Sol Erda fragment needs through trade and it is also a great source of additional income for players to make meso. The market works as intended. In Heroic though, the opposite is true and players are Fragment gated due to lack of trade. However, even with updated events and more sources of free Sol Erda fragments, the methods to acquire Sol Erda fragments have not meaningfully increased in the two years 6th job has been out. In Heroic, the vast majority of fragments still come from raw hours of farming. * In the first 6th job patch, players needed 20,184 Fragments to max 6th job. * In the latest 6th job patch, players now need **43,876** Fragments to max 6th job. More than double! * If an **already established player (with max drop rate)** farmed for **6 hours a day** on top of doing Angler Company and the Weekly Sol Erda quest (excluding events), this is how long it would take to max 6th job. * 20,184 Fragments: 144 days. * 43,876 Fragments: 312 days. * Keep in mind that this is only for a **single** character. The game also incentivizes you to create multiple Legion Champs on top of this (even though you don't have to max your 6th job all the way on Legion Champs). The game is telling new players that in order for them to maximize their character's potential, they will have to spend over 10 months training 6 hours a day! Due to recent events and quality of life changes players are able to quickly reach 285 faster than ever before, BUT their 6th job progress doesn't come close to what's required to actually do bossing content at level 285. There need to be more ways for players to earn Fragments in the game. Here are some suggestions. * Grandis Dailies should add some Fragments for completion. * Bosses that drop Sol Erda Energy should also drop some fragments. * Familiar Expedition should drop MORE fragments. It already gives out some, but it is extremely small amounts. * Sol Erda Fragments need to be tradable within the account. This way a finished main character can continue to grind for further levels while also supplementing some progress on a Legion Champion mule. In a game where multiple huge progression systems like Legion Champ incentivize players to play multiple characters, untradable fragments goes directly against this design philosophy. #Chains of Resentment (Interactive) Chains of Resentment were introduced to the game as a way to alleviate the lack of Frenzy Totem in the game. Sometimes Frenzy Totem service sellers (legal as long as it is with meso) are not online or service is not reliable. This was a great idea on paper, but Chains of Resentment in practice are treated like a rare item rather than an aid as it was originally intended. Chains of Resentments are only available during the Ride or Die event or Philosopher Book sales. **Ride or Die** * This event only comes around twice a year. * The CoR totem coupons can only be gotten through the 50 RNG boxes per week. * They are so rare, that many people will **go the entire event (300-350 boxes) without a single one.** * The Event CoR totems last 30 days when redeemed. * The CoR coupons all expire when the event ends. * That means that 30 days after Ride or Die ends, players have to wait another 4 months until the next Ride or Die event and pray to get lucky again. **Philosopher Books** * Philosopher Books also only come around twice a year and each book costs 2600 NX ($2.6 USD). * The CoR coupon from Philo Books is tradable in Auction House and lasts for 90 days once redeemed. **However, the coupon is only a 0.5% drop rate. That is one in every 200 boxes!** * This essentially means that although players can technically get CoR in between Ride or Die events, they are essentially priced out since CoR are around **60b in the Auction House (which is around 170,000 NX ($170 USD)).** **Chains of Resentment coupons (the free version) need to be available more often in more events throughout the year. You can also add the 90 day version of the totem to the recently added Cash Shop item Divine Wishing Bell. This way, both the paid and free versions are more accessible (and Nexon makes more money...).** # Cube Prices (Interactive) * Cube Prices in general are not only too expensive, they are outrageously expensive. * $12 for 11 Glowing Cubes. * $22 for 11 Bright Cubes. * $24 for 11 Bonus Glowing Cubes. * Bonus Bright Cubes only go on sale around once a year (3-4 total sales in the past 5 years). **They cost $3.5 EACH.** * I'm sure most players know, but it can sometimes take HUNDREDS of cubes to get a proper 3 line. This applies for both main potential and bonus potential. You can do the math in your head and see that the cost skyrockets quickly. It is easily possible for an item to get into the hundreds of dollars (thousands if you want perfect lines) just from cubing alone. ONE ITEM. * In certain cases like 3L ATT BPOT, the average is **13,000 CUBES** (and you have to do that for Weapon, Secondary, AND Emblem!) * In KMS, they introduced the Magic Wand system because KMS got in trouble with the Korea FTC (Fair Trade Commission). The Magic Wand system got rid of cubes and introduced a way to reroll potentials with meso instead. **This needs to be brought over to GMS or cubes need to get significantly cheaper.** * In KMS, they introduced more avenues for players to pay for progression (VIP Sauna, Genesis Passes, etc) to make up for the lost revenue when they got rid of cubes. **However, GMS Interactive KEPT cubes and also brought all the pay for progression content.** * The amount of people slowly leaving Interactive to either quit the game or go to Heroic show that the monetization model for Interactive needs to get much more consumer friendly quickly. This created an environment in GMS where it is SO expensive for the average player to make progress that when things like Violet Cubes and Unicubes come around players are desperate to buy those instead. If the majority of the players refuse to interact with cubes outside of Violet Cubes and Unicubes, that is a reflection on poor pricing and players being sick of FOMO strategies. #Ride or Die A lot of feedback has been given to the Maplestory team regarding Ride or Die across the three times this event has been ongoing. However, the "improvements" that have happened from event to event leave a lot to be desired. * No way for players who participate in Ride or Die in Challengers World to bring their Legion Piece reward over to their home world. * Knowing that players are fiending for the return of pottable badges, they brought in a temporary pottable badge which only angered the playerbase. Nexon then just removed the item entirely from the prize pool this time around essentially just ignoring the problem entirely. * Trying to maximize the points in this event just turns into... Buff up -> Go in and origin burst/ascent -> Leave and wait 6 minutes -> Repeat. It is not a satisfying gameplay loop and actively discourages interacting with Ride or Die bosses the more points you want. * For new players that are attempting this content, the modifiers essentially make any meaningful progress impossible due to attacks being spammed constantly left and right. * Bronze coins are useless and only serve to fill up our bags. If the ONLY use for bronze coins is to convert them to silver coins, then just give the silver coins instead. * The new Libae's Ring system was a great addition. However, the Grindstone coupon being tied behind the boxes made it so that many players never even had a chance to level up the ring. They had to pray for a Grindstone coupon to drop in a box, then pray the low RNG chance of upgrading the ring passed. This is RNG upon RNG and poor design. Grindstone coupons should have also been sold in the Event shop. * The other chase item Chains of Resentment in Interactive should also be sold in the event shop, even if it is only one. * The popular Mapae Nodes should also have their supply refreshed weekly. #Cross World Bossing It's been about a year or more since KMS players have had the ability to do cross world bossing. Last year, GMS Interactive had a server merge and consolidated the four Interactive servers into two. During that process, the Auction House was also unified so that both Scania and Bera players can cross world Auction House. * The successful unification of the Auction House shows that GMS already supports cross world systems at scale. * Several events throughout MapleStory's history have also had Cross World functions. The soccer mini-game during the Olympic Themed event had both Interactive and Heroic players playing together Cross World. * Both Heroic and Interactive servers can greatly benefit from Cross World Bossing. * In particular, Heroic servers would see immediate improvements. Hyperion has a much smaller population compared to Kronos, which limits party based bossing opportunities, especially in the end game. Allowing Hyperion players to boss with players from Kronos would meaningfully improve progression access, reduce the feeling of server isolation, and make Hyperion a more attractive server overall rather than one that feels underpopulated. * A more attractive Hyperion server can also help out with Kronos being overpopulated. #How You Can Contribute Please understand that even though this post is long and I often sound like a doomer... I write all this due to my passion for the game and the community. I truly believe that this game is great and can be made *even better* with our contributions. Who does Nexon make the game for anyway? Us! The players! We have a right to voice our opinions in how we want the game direction to go because this relationship between us (consumer) and Nexon (producer) is a two way street. If you agree with the concerns outlined above and want to see meaningful improvements to MapleStory, there are several constructive ways you can help amplify this message. * **Help spread awareness.** Share this post with others who care about the game! This includes the community as a whole and also Nexon directly. While they may not actively engage on every social media platform, they have stated that they do pay attention to communities such as Reddit and YouTube. For example: Inkwell and Calahan both have told Duky that they watch his videos. So, spread the word! * [Consider upvoting this in the Official MapleStory Discord](https://discord.com/channels/309809230095843328/1110567743670988833/1467292098029162506) and keep on spreading awareness where possible! * The #1 way to get Nexon to pay attention is through their pockets. If you believe in the message, consider spending less or refraining from purchases altogether. * The #2 way to get Nexon to pay attention is with population numbers. With ELTEPT event over and nothing huge being on the horizon for the next few months, if you are feeling burnt out feel free to explore other games or take some time off from the game to recharge your batteries. Let Nexon know that your time should be earned, not assumed. * Even if you do still want to play, consider reducing the time spent since playtime metrics are also something Nexon considers important. * Continue to provide feedback through official channels like Discord, in-game tickets, and the forum. But, please remember to be respectful. * Please support content creators who also speak on these topics! * While Interactive and Heroic servers each face their own unique challenges, we are ultimately one community and should approach these issues together. Thank you for your time reading this lengthy post. Happy Mapling!