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MapleStory
File:MapleStory.png
Developer(s)Wizet
Publisher(s)Wizet, Nexon, Shanda, AsiaSoft, NXGames, and Gamania
Platform(s)Windows 98/ME/2K/XP
Release2002, 2003, 2004 and, 2005
Genre(s)MMORPG
Mode(s)MMO

MapleStory is a free 2D side-scrolling MMORPG developed by the Korean company Wizet. It is published by various companies like Nexon (NexonKorea & NexonJapan), NXGames, Shanda, AsiaSoft, and Gamania. Although gameplay is free, many appearance and gameplay enhancements can be purchased from the Cash Shop with actual currency. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, each of which has its own set of worlds. MapleStory has total over 45 million players in all of its many versions. Maple Global, for players mainly outside of East Asia and Southeast Asia, has about 1 million players.

In the game, players defend the "Maple World" from monsters, as in a typical Role-playing game (RPG). Players can interact with others in many ways, such as chatting, trading, playing in parties and playing minigames such as Omok (based upon the Japanese game of Gomoku) and Match Cards (based upon Memory).

Registration and server, world

File:MapleStorySite.gif
Screenshot of the menu bar of its portal website "maplestory.com"

Sign up info

MapleStory South Korea (KoreaMS) has nineteen worlds and one Beta Tester world. In this version of MapleStory, "passports" for NEXON Korea Co., Ltd. are given upon sign-up. It is commonly referred to as 'KMS'. A South Korean social security number is needed to create an account, probably to keep foreigners from playing this version.

MapleStory Japan (JapanMS) has seven worlds. For this version, "passports" for NEXON Japan Co., Ltd. are given upon signup. In turn, these passports can be used to create accounts for all Nexon-created games. MapleStory Japan is commonly referred to as 'JMS'.

MapleStory China (ChinaMS) has 30 worlds, and a People's Republic of China social security number is needed to sign up. It is hosted by Shanda Corporation co., Ltd and is commonly referred to as 'CMS'. Naturally, conflict over Chinese reunification means that citizens of the Republic of China have to use MapleStory Taiwan.

MapleStory Taiwan (TaiwanMS) has eleven worlds. New users are given passports for Gamania Digital Entrainment Co., Ltd and it is commonly referred to as 'TaMS'.

MapleStory Thailand (ThailandMS) has three worlds. New users can register a passport on Asiasoft Corporation co., Ltd. It is commonly referred to as 'ThMS'.

MapleStory Global (GlobalMS) takes place in five worlds. Originally, a beta testing world called 'Tespia' existed, which was later split into two worlds called East Tespia and West Tespia. However, Tespia East was closed on June 2005 due to opening of MapleSEA and Tespia West was closed on November 16 2005 due to most players having stopped playing the Beta version. To play, players must signup for a NXgames passport. The Thai and South Korean versions of the game also use the same world names as Global version, but the servers are not otherwise connected in any way. Also users South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia are not allowed to play or sign up for MapleStory Global, which is enforced by blocking the IP addresses, although it can be circumvented by SOCKS proxy. MapleStory Global is commonly referred to as 'GMS'.

MapleStory South East Asia (MapleSEA) has three worlds that are named after constellations, such as Cassiopeia, Bootes, and Aquila. For MapleStory SEA, "passports" in AsiaSoft Online Pte, Ltd. are given upon signup. Each passport is entitled to three MapleStory accounts, therefore, users of these servers can have up to nine characters in each world in MapleStory SEA. MapleStory SEA is commonly referred to as 'MSEA'.

Current MapleStory versions and worlds

Versions Other Names Language Countries Worlds
MapleStory South Korea KoreaMS or KMS Korean South Korea Official worlds: Stius, Bellocan, Demethus, Yellonde, Kastia, Elnido, Windia, Scania, Bera, Broa, Khaini, Zenith, Croa, Mardia, Plana, Arkenia, Judis, and Khadia
Beta worlds: Tespia
MapleStory Japan JapanMS or JMS Japanese Japan Popura, Sumomo, Khalin, Sakura, Momiji, Kaede, and Anzu
MapleStory China ChinaMS or CMS Simplified Chinese China Gateway 1: Pepe, Yeti, Curse Eye, Wild Cargo, Hector, Small White Rabbit, Copper Drake, Fire Boar, Ligator, Orange Mushroom, Blue Snail, Shroom, Slime, Pig, Jr. Necki, Lorang, Tortie, Octopus, Lupin, and Star Pixie

Gateway 2: Emerald, Black Crystal, Diamond, Topaz, Sapphire, Amethyst, Aquamarine, and Opal
Gateway 3: Rina, and Alex.

MapleStory Taiwan TaiwanMS or TaMS Traditional Chinese Taiwan Yeti, Orange Mushroom, Star Pixie, Ribbon Pig, Blue Snail, Slime, Octopus, Stump, Evil Eye, Fierry, and Jr. Barlog
MapleStory Thailand ThailandMS or ThMS Thai Thailand File:Scania (gMS).gif Scania, File:Bera (gMS).gif Bera, and File:Broa (gMS).gif Broa
MapleStory Global GlobalMS or GMS English Any country without a localized version File:Khaini (gMS).gif Khaini, File:Windia (gMS).gif Windia, File:Broa (gMS).gif Broa, File:Bera (gMS).gif Bera, and File:Scania (gMS).gif Scania
MapleStory South East Asia MapleSEA or MSEA English Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand File:Cassiopeia (mSEA).gif Cassiopeia, File:Bootes (mSEA).gif Bootes, and File:Aquila (mSEA).gif Aquila
  • People living in Thailand can play both MapleStory SEA and MapleStory Thailand.
  • The Korean version was created first, and thus has the most features. Other versions are at different stages of development, mostly a few months behind.

Gameplay

File:Maple0030.jpg
Screenshot of the game in action

Characters in MapleStory advance by gaining experience points (EXP), leveling up, and collecting various items and pieces of wieldable equipment. The players combat monsters, acquiring money, which are called mesos or meru in-game and various items as well as completing quests.

MapleStory gameplay takes place on "worlds". Players are allowed to create up to three different characters in each world for every account made. Each world, which is identical, is split into up to 20 channels where players can play. Each channel is identical in terms of maps, monsters, and other things. The only difference is that there are a different people on each channel. One physical server hosts two channels. Characters, items and money can not be transferred between worlds.

New players

New players are sent to Maple Island, a floating island specifically designed to be beginner-friendly. Unlike many other MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Everquest, players in MapleStory cannot choose a character class when they create the character. Rather, every character starts with the class Beginner until they meet the requirements to complete the first job advancement.

When a player creates a new character, he or she is able to spread 25 ability points amongst four different statistics: STR, DEX, INT, and LUK (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Luck, respectively). Players cannot manually choose where these points will be place, as the distribution is randomly generated. However, the player can have the stat allocations reshuffled as many times as required, until the stats are placed in the order that is fitting to their planned occupation. The minimum possible point level which can be generated is 4, and the maximum is 13. Players tend to raise only the statistics which their desired class specializes in, and they will keep the other ability levels at 4.

Leveling up

To level up, a character must acquire a certain amount of EXP (experience points), which are accumulated by killing monsters or completing quests. At each level-up, a player receives 5 ability points (AP) to be distributed among the stats of STR, DEX, INT, and LUK as necessary. After undergoing any job advancement, the character gains 1 skill point (SP) however 3 skill points are given for each level following a job advancement. Each skill point can be used on various class-specific skills.

AP can also be put into Maximum HP (Health Points) or Maximum MP (Mana Points). However, because these stats increase automatically at each level-up, putting points into them is strongly discouraged by many players.

All characters in the game are ranked based on how much EXP they have gained, or equivalently their level and percentage. When a player logs on, they can see how their character is ranked in comparison to all other characters of any class as well as all other characters of the same basic class. It will also tell the characters change in ranking from the previous day but history over the last week or so can not be seen.

Stat points

There are four main types of stats, which are necessary to advance through the jobs:

  • Strength (STR) increases the maximum power of melee attacks. It increases the maximum damage for warriors. Warriors need at least 35 AP in STR to make their first job advancement.
  • Dexterity (DEX) increases the accuracy, avoidability and minimum damage of all attacks, except magic. It increases the maximum damage for bowmen. Bowmen and thieves need at least 25 AP in DEX to make their first job advancement.
  • Intelligence (INT) increases the magic attack and magic defense stats. INT affects a magician greatly as their damage and accuracy is based on it, although INT isn't too useful for other classes. Magicians need at least 20 AP in INT to make their first job advancement.
  • Luck (LUK) increases the avoidability and accuracy of all characters, and decreases the EXP lost when a character dies. It increases the maximum damage of thieves.

Exact effects of each stat depend on the player's job and class.

It is recommended by most game guides that the various classes should only increase class-specific stats. Warriors should only increase STR and DEX, (with STR being the main priority) as they only use physical attacks. Bowmen should also raise STR and DEX, (with DEX being the main priority) . Magicians should increase only INT and LUK (with INT being the main priority). Thieves are advised to increase LUK and DEX (with LUK being the main priority), although STR dagger thieves (thieves who use a dagger that requires points in STR) also need some points in STR.

Skill points

File:MapleStory powerstrike.jpg
Image of a Warrior using the skill Power Strike on an Orange Mushroom.

Every character class has specific skills to invest in. The effects of Skills vary greatly. Skills fall into one of two categories, passive and active skills. Passive skills (such as an archer's 'Eye of Amazon') take effect as long as SP has been placed in the skill. They always enhance the character and do not require MP to use. Active skills can be used when necessary. There are two types of active skills: attack and enhancement skills. Attack skills tend to do more damage and can be used as the main attacking method (such as a magician's Magic Claw). Enhancement skills add temporary enhancements to only the character (such as a thief's Dark Sight) or the character's party (such as a cleric's Bless). Most skills become more effective as SP is added, though there is usually an increase in MP used. Other skills cost less MP as SP is added to the skill.

Items

There are five different item categories in the game: Equipment, Use, Set-Up, Etc, and Cash/Pet. The equipment are clothing, accessories and weapons that are worn and provide stat bonuses and attack or defense. Normally, only Magician items and the all-class earrings provide Magic Defense; equipment for Warriors, Rogues, and Archers usually provide Weapon Defense only. Some equipment also gives extra HP, MP, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, or Luck. Every item has specific "average" stats which the item always has when it is crafted by an NPC or bought from a store. When equips are dropped by monsters, the stats have chance to differ from their average. Items with stats close to the average ones are more common than ones with a lot more or less of certain stat. Equipment can be upgraded by using item upgrade scrolls on them. These scrolls have a certain percentage of success, and the lower it is, the higher the stat gains are. The Use items are consumable items, such as potions, upgrade and town scrolls, arrows and throwing stars. The Set-Up items are mainly decorative special items for events such as Christmas and special quests. Etc items are mainly monster leftovers, ores and quest items. Cash/Pet items are the items bought in the Cash Shop.

File:JaneDoe.JPG
An NPC who gives the player a quest, should the player be a high enough level.

Quests

Quests are tasks that players may perform for NPCs and non-playable characters for rewards and experience. An abundance of quests are available, each with varying level requirements and some having additional requirements such as job or fame. For example the quest "Building Blackbull's New House" requires 10 fame and a level requrirement of 30. Some quests have quite a low level requirement for their difficulty and are literally impossible to complete straight away. Different rewards such as experience can be received by the player after completing certain quests, and some have substantial rewards. Some quests can be redone after completing it for the first time, though the reward(s) and given EXP may not be the same (all jump quests are repeatable with random rewards). Unlike most MMORPGs, it's not possible to escape the grind by completing quests.

Party Quests/Accompaniments

File:Partyquestclear.jpg
Players completing a stage of the Kerning City Accompaniment

Party Quest is a term that was created in the Global version, suspected because it was easier to type. MapleStory's official name for Party Quest is "Accompaniment". In the Japanese and Korean versions, there are currently 2 accompaniments that can be done. The 1st Accompaniment is in Kerning City. A party of 4, including the leader, goes through 5 stages solving puzzles and killing monsters. The main idea is teamwork, since each part requires all party members to participate. At the end, a prize is given to each person ranging from ores, equipment, scrolls to potions. Only one party can be inside the party quest at any given time on one channel. There is also a time limit for completing each stage of the party quest. The time is inaccurate, though, as it usually does not boot people out until about 30 seconds have elapsed after the minutes are over.

The 2nd Accompaniment, which has not been released in the Global version, can be done in Ludibrium (English name). There are 9 stages to this quest, requiring 6 party members. This quest pushes on the fact that a variety of jobs are needed to complete the quest. The many skills each character has, such as Haste, Heal, Darksight, and Teleport are needed in order to pass some of the stages. This accompaniment has a new attribute that the first one does not, boxes. Boxes are opened by using a melee attack, opening the box either drops a pass, or spawns monsters. After defeating the boss on the 9th stage, there is a bonus stage in which characters open boxes. The boxes will drop lots of coins, potions and sometimes, a random equipment (earrings, and capes). After this stage, which lasts for 1 minute, the prize is given. Prizes consist of potions, ores, equipment, and sometimes, special items, like a mysterious bag (usually summons a monster). In any Accompaniment, there is also a large amount of experience to be won.

Zakum Dungeon Quest

File:Zakum1.gif
Zakum

The Zakum Dungeon Quest refers to the special quest located at the end of the El Nath Dungeon. A player must be at least Level 50 and obtain permission from that character's 3rd Job Instructor in order to play the quest, which can be started by talking to Adobis. Zakum's quest can only be played once per day. Most players recommend being at least Level 100 before attempting to beat the quest, and generally will send in multiple full parties to tackle the challenges presented in this quest. In this regard, the Zakum Dungeon Quest is different than a regular Party Quest. In order to progress through the quest, players must progress through many maps in order to obtain special items. These maps will be either filled with monsters or a "jump quest". After finding these items, Adobis will create the Eye of Fire, which will allow passage into the Zakum's Altar map. In here, players will face a huge statue named Zakum who possesses eight arms. Each arm has its own abilities, ranging anywhere from casting offensive magic to summoning monsters to healing Zakum. Beating Zakum will net a large amount of experience as well as powerful items and weapons. The Zakum Dungeon Quest is currently unavailable in GlobalMS, ThailandMS and MapleSEA.

Dying

A dead player

When a character's HP on the health bar (red) reaches 0, a character dies. This is depicted by a tombstone falling from the top of the screen, and the character becoming merely a head on a floating ghost-like body. Upon dying, a character is returned to the nearest town and revived with 50 HP. The amount of MP after a character's death does not change. Beginners lose no EXP when they die, which suggests that dying is a quick and free way of getting to the nearest town. However, once a beginner makes his first job advancement, each death will cost him a percentage of EXP based up the amount of LUK they have. Thus, Thieves and Magicians will tend to lose less EXP than Warriors and Bowman because the former classes' AP builds tend to favor high LUK more than the latter classes'. Dying in towns or other safe areas will always result in EXP loss of 1% regardless of the character's LUK stat. A character cannot fall below 0% EXP of its current level, so players will not drop down a level, but instead just drop to 0 EXP. If a character dies, the character can still speak, but instead of the usual speech bubbles, a "thought bubble" is subsituted. The character can still make faces. Items such as the Safety Charm can prevent EXP loss when the character dies (however, the user loses the item after they are dead). Note, however, that the Safety Charm is not yet avaliable in all versions of the game.

MapleStory world

Main article: MapleStory World

There are four main continents in the MapleStory World: Maple Island, Victoria Island, Ossyria, and Jipang. There also four sub-continents in the MapleStory world: Florina Island, Ludibrium, Fairy Tale Village, and Peach Blossom Island. Ludibrium is actually a subcontinent of Ossyria, though some people consider Ludibrium to be a main continent. In the Japanese MapleStory version there is a sub-continent called Jipang. It is exclusive to Japanese MapleStory game servers and is based on the Japanese culture. Fairy Tale Village is a sub-continent on the Korean MapleStory version and is based on the Korean culture. It is unknown whether this sub-continent will be exclusively found on the Korean MapleStory version and also belong to Ossyria main continent. Peach Blossom Island for MapleStory China and MapleStory South East Asia where couples can become "married" (via purchasing a large amount of Cash Shop items). There are also event towns such as Happyville, only available during Christmas. There are also the Internet Cafe areas such as Premium Road that gives an EXP boost, but this is only available on KoreaMS, JapanMS, and ThailandMS and the only way to enter the Internet Cafe is by going to a real life Cyber cafe that has a contract with MapleStory.

  • Main Continents: Maple Island, Victoria Island, Ossyria, and Jipang.
  • Sub Continents: Florina Beach, Ludibrium, Fairy Tale Village, and Peach Blossom Island.
  • Event Towns: Happyville.
  • Internet Cafe: Premium Road.

Character classes

Main article: MapleStory character classes

All characters begin the game as Beginners. Once players have gotten their characters to the appropriate levels and meet the stat requirements, they are able to complete the first job advancements and choose new jobs. There are four choices for the first job: Magician, Bowman, Thief, and Warrior. All of the jobs require a minimum level of 10 except for the Magician, which requires a minimum level of 8. Each job also has different stat requirements which are discussed below. This choice decides the class of the character and all future job advancements will merely refine and strengthen this initial choice. It should be noted that once a character has chosen a certain job, it cannot be changed.

Once players reaches level 30, they are able to complete the second job advancement. After completing a quest consisting of collecting 30 dark marbles in a given location, players are given the option of selecting their specialities and changing to the second job. The classes that are made available this time differ based on the class chosen at the first job advancement. Thieves will be given the option of choosing between becoming Assassins or Bandits. An Assassin's weapon of choice is a claw with throwing weapons, whereas the Bandit's weapon of choice is a dagger. Magicians will be given the option of choosing between becoming Clerics with healing and Holy based attacks, or two different types of Wizards with either fire and poison or ice and lightning attacks. Magicians have a weapon choice of either a wand or a staff. A Bowman can choose to become a Hunter with a bow, or a Crossbowman/woman with a crossbow. Finally, a Warrior can choose between becoming a Page who specializes in blunt weapons or swords, a Spearman who uses spears or polearms, or a Fighter who uses swords or axes. Each class has its own merits and disadvantages. With each new job advancement, new skills are introduced to the player.

At level 70, characters can once again change their job at the Mystics' Hut in El Nath of Ossyria. Unlike previous job advancements, the player is not given a choice for their third job. Thieves who became Assassins become Hermits, but Thieves who chose to become Bandits become Chief Bandits. Magicians who chose the Cleric path become Priests and Wizards of both types become Mages. Hunters become Rangers and Crossbowmen become Snipers. Lastly, Warriors who became Pages become Knights, Spearmen become Dragon Knights, and Fighters become Crusaders, respectively.

At level 120, the character can again change classes and become even more powerful. However, 4th job advancements have not yet been implemented in any versions of the game, possibly due to the lack of level 120+ players. There are rumors that the Korean version of the game have been testing the 4th Job, however these are only rumors and not guaranteed to be true. Wizet has released the names of the 4th jobs, but has not released which types of skills, abilities or equipments will be made available.

Monsters

List of Monsters:Monster List
File:234234324.png
Populatus Clock, a boss
File:Curseeye.PNG
Two Curse Eyes

MapleStory differs from most other MMORPGs in that many of its monsters, especially low-level ones, are designed to look cute and harmless. Some notable exceptions are Curse/Evil/Cold Eyes, Werewolves, and Jr/Crimson Balrogs.

Monsters residing on the beginner island (Maple Island) are suited best to beginners, just as Victoria and Ossyria Islands' monsters are to higher levels.

Killing monsters gives the player experience, common drops (leftovers from the monsters), ores (used to make items), equipment, quest items (for certain types of quests), useable drops (potions, throwing-stars, etc) and, during certain periods of time, "set-up" items, used for the special events. Usually the higher level monsters will have the more valuable drops, but low level monsters can also drop scrolls, amongst other valuable items.

Some monsters are more vulnerable to certain elemental attacks. For example, fire boars are weak against ice-elemental attacks, while undead monsters such as zombie lupins are weak against holy attacks.

Other monsters are more or less vulnerable to the type of attack, wheather it be weapon attack or magic attack. For example, a Sentinel (a monster residing in the Orbis Tower) is very armored against weapon attacks, making it hard for most characters other than mages to defeat, and Luster Pixies are less vulnerable to magic attacks.

Other monsters, such as Jr. Boogies, will use their own skills on characters in a certain range when attacked. These skills will include Sealing, which locks skills so that players cannot use them, Darkness, which decreases accuracy, Weakness, which disables jumping ability, and a curse that halves experience. Some monsters also have skills that can raise certain attributes of themselves or monsters around them. For example, Stone Golems, and Lunar Pixies can increase their weapon defense, and fairies can increase defense of other monsters around itself.

Some monsters can attack characters from a distance. Monsters like Sentinels, Torties, Lupins and Lunar Pixies, when attacked, will attack back with a physical attack, like the Lupin's Banana, or a magic attack, like the Luster Pixies' Magic Attack. Some monsters will attack without provocation; until the newest patch, the Nependeath would attack anything in range. More powerful monsters usually will have a very powerful area attack that can attack anything in its range. For example, some bosses, the Mushmom and King Slime (found only in the Kerning City Accompaniment), can slam into the ground, causing damage to anyone nearby.

File:King Slime 2.jpg
King Slime, the lowest level boss monster under attack.

Zakum (found only in a level 50 and above Party Quest), however, attacks with fire, ice, and poison-based attacks. It has a number of arms, each with an individual amount of life, which players must kill before attacking its main body. Zakum can be extremely difficult to defeat, usually requiring two parties of very high level characters. Correspondingly, the rewards for killing Zakum are great - experience points in the millions, and several drops and mesos.

File:Jr cellion.gif
Jr. Cellion

Cash Shop

Since playing MapleStory is free, the developers of MapleStory introduced the Cash Shop to generate revenue. This is a virtual shop where players can buy items using real money. However, most items do not give bonuses to the character. The items sold in the Cash Shop include clothing items, haircut coupons, pets and many more.

Cash shop items are mainly for looks, and can only be obtained through the Cash Shop itself. Other than fancy equipment that the players can wear, some other items from the Cash Shop can also grant the players special abilities, such as negating the experience points lost from dying and giving players a 2x EXP gain bonus (only available in some versions of the game). Pets can be useful apart from looking cute, mainly through the fact that they can be trained to pick up items and mesos for their owners, speeding up the training process, but to use these features, players have to buy extra items, for an example, if they want their pet to pick up their Mesos for them, a Meso Magnet must be purchased from Cash Shop and equip it to them. However, all cash items bought will disappear after 90 days.

Players who are not able to afford these items due to real life monetary constraints might trade the in-game currency, mesos, for the Cash Shop items. Scamming is likely to happen in such cases, which is why trading of in-game items for Cash Shop items is a bannable offense, even if the trade goes through succesfully with no stealing involved.

Cash items are available for sale in the Cash Shop. There are two currencies the Cash Shop accepts. One is Nexon Cash, frequently shortened to NX Cash. MapleStory Points is the other currency used in the Cash Shop. NX Cash is purchased outside of MapleStory through the MapleStory web site. MapleStory Points, however, can be earned through special events. PayPal is the only accepted method in MapleStory Global, although Wizet has stated that they will soon implement direct credit card transactions. Additionally eChecks are currently not being accepted.

In MapleSEA's case, in addition to credit card payment (through PayPal), it has also released Prepaid cards that are sold at a fixed price of S$10.50 [Tax inclusive](approximately US$6.30) per 10,000 A-Cash (which can be used to convert into MapleCash) or RM 24 (approximately US$6.40) for 24,000 MOLePoints (which can be used to purchase 10,000 A-Cash).

Free Market

The Free Market is a place set aside for people who wish to sell their items without clogging up a certain town. They can either use the regular 'Buying item' or they can set up their own miniature shop where a maximum of 3 people are allowed in at once. In order do the latter, players will have to purchase a special permit available only through the Cash Shop. Even while on another island, such as Ossyria, one may still make contact with people in Victoria Island through the Free Market. The Free Markets in Henesys and Perion also link with the Free Market in El Nath, and also links with the Ludibrium Free Market.

Mini-games

There are three mini-games that can be played between three MapleStory characters. They are called Omok, Match Cards, and Pachinko. If a player plays with other people, his or her history for the game will be listed on the screen so the other players can see how well he or she play. Playing mini-games costs 100 mesos per game.

Omok

Omok is a remake of a classic Japanese game named Gomoku. This game seems very similar to tic-tac-toe except that the board is much larger, and players must get five in a row rather than only three. Consequently, a lot more strategy is involved. The game follows the standard rule, which requires exactly five stones in a row, and the three and three rule, which states that players cannot make two unblocked rows of three stones in one move.

Match cards

This is also known as the game concentration. Match cards games can be opened in 3x4, 4x5, and 5x6 versions. The flip side of the cards contain images of MapleStory monsters which players take turn matching.

Pachinko (JapanMS exclusive)

Pachinko is a popular game in Japan. It is a one player game. To play Pachinko it is necessary to buy Pachinko balls (coins) in the Cash Shop and to play, the player must be in a Pachinko store (these are located in Kerning City, Shouwa Town, and Ludibrium). In order to win, one needs to try get the Pachinko balls in a mushroom hole below a slot. Once it is in, the slot will start. Sometimes an angel or a lady will try to help the player move the monsters in the slot. The chart of winning table is as follows: Stirge, Orange Mushroom, Blue Snail, Chopiter (=400 balls), Red Snail, Jr. Boogie, Jr. Wraith, Jr. Sentinel (=600 balls), Jr. Cellion (=1,000 balls), and the Jackpot, Jr. Balrog (=1,500 balls). Also there are prizes to be won if the player got the amount of balls.

Events

Event may often occur during holidays like chance to win items in game or real life, GM(Game Master) events where a GM host the event in seven different games such as Coconut Harvest, Find the Jewel, MapleStory Physical Fitness Challenge, OX Quiz and Minigame Challenge, Ola Ola, and Snowball. Rewards include an Event Trophy and a Devil's Scroll, which requires the player to decode it through an NPC to get a Magic Box, which contains a random prize after being opened by another NPC.

Coconut Harvest

Participants will be divided into two teams: Team Maple and Team Story. The team which harvests the most coconuts in the set amount of time wins.

Find the Jewel

The goal of this event is to find maps hidden in various rooms to find a map. Return the map to Vikan to complete the event.

MapleStory Physical Fitness Challenge

A jump quest with four levels: finish the quest within 15 minutes to complete the event. The player will not be able to haste or teleport in this quest.

OX Quiz and Minigame Challenge

The OX Quiz consists of answering question asked by the GM correctly. Once a player answers them correctly, they will be teleported to the Minigame Challenge room, where players will compete in minigames. The winner will go on to the next level of the tournament, competing against players in (presumably) steadily increasing skill.

Ola Ola

Ola Ola takes place in a maze set in a forest with three maps. The goal of this event is to reach the end within 4 minutes. At the top of each map there are a series of portals which may bring players to the next map, bring them back to the beginning of the current map, or fail to do anything whatsoever. In Ola Ola, the player will not be able to jump, haste, teleport, et cetera.

Snowball

Snowball is a GM event where players are divided into two teams: Team Maple and Team Story. The goal is to push a giant snowball to the end of the stage before the other team by attacking it. The players can also attack a snowman which prevents the other team from pushing the snowball.

Other events include Christmas tree events, wedding events, drawing events and quest events: for example, find an item and return it to the event quest NPC or GM.

Game issues

Scamming

Scamming is rather common in MapleStory, as in most MMORPGs. The most usual scamming type is tricking new players into buying items for several times their actual value or by stealing their items. Scammers do this by daring other players to drop valuable items and then picking the item up before the player has a chance to pick it up again. This is aided by using an "autoloot" program to automatically pick up any items dropped nearby. This was later addressed by the MapleStory Global staff to be the "drop game". In an older variation of the drop game, the player being scammed would be told to drop an item and type /mapclone, /mapsuperitem, or /map100 et cetera, causing the server to kick the user (and in some cases crash the client), allowing the other player to take the dropped item.

Another common scam is "tab tab space enter". To perform this scam, a scammer will open a trade window with the victim, ask him or her to show the scammer a rare item, and try to get the victim to press this combination of keys. The key combination moves the cursor to the accept trade button and accepts the trade.

There are also some people who scam about faming (the act of increasing one's fame) since players cannot trade fame in a secure trading window. One will ask to buy or trade fame with other players, under the condition that the other player will fame them first. When the scammer receives the fame he/she will then leave without finishing the trade. There is not much a MapleStory player can do about this since trading and buying/selling fame is not encouraged by the creators of the game.

In the Cash Shop, there is a "Gift" feature (currently in GlobalMS this feature is disabled). A player can buy that item and give it to another player. Players would trade in-game items for the Cash Shop items. Since there is no trading window the items must be traded one at a time. Similarly to fame scamming, the scammer would take the other player's item first and not give the item they promised, either from the cash shop or the in game item. It is difficult to catch such scammers, as trading of Cash Shop items is deemed illegal, and players who get scammed dare not report them. Any user caught doing this will be banned if they are caught.

There are also some people who try to scam people together, as in one person hiding while the drop game is happening and jumping out and stealing the victims item. There are also some cases where people in trading areas are trading something highly valuable for something of less value, (ie: "steelys for red tai") and usually have a partner who is selling the item the person is looking for on the other side of the map. Both characters log off when the item is bought.

Another technique that people use to gain money is to show someone a scrolled item. The person buying it will offer their price and put up the money. The person with the item could then say something that will allow them to close the trade. Later, the person with the item will retrade the buyer and tell them to put the money again. The item-holder will then put up an item with worse stats and accept the trade. The buyer could forget to check the stats and trade, thus losing money. A similar scam is using scrolls, since all scrolls with the same percent work-rate all look the same.

A less plausible technique would be to unequip all items, weapons, and clothing, and claim to be hacked, and has lost all their items and/or mesos (in game currency). They would then request people to donate items or mesos, and once the items/mesos are received, they would simply leave the area in the search for another victim, or re-equip the weapons and clothing to smite and mock the person who has donated.

External programs

Botting is a problem in MapleStory. Instead of playing their character, a player will leave a program to control their character. The program will automatically do a sequence of steps to kill enemies and gain experience for the character without human intervention. It is considered unfair as the player is able to gain experience for their character without actually playing the game.

It was at one time common for players trying to enter a PQ (Party Quest) to use an auto click program (or "AC"), but with the recent implementation of nProtect GameGuard into certain versions of MapleStory, using auto click programs has become significantly less common.

Another problem that has become more common recently is keylogging, but the risk of losing one's account to keylogging has been decreased significantly due to the Security PIN feature that has been added. The keylogger records all keystrokes typed by the person and sends a log back to the hacker who then uses that username and password to log in to that account and steal everything. However, keyloggers need to be installed into a computer for it to work and are usually contained in computer viruses.

Other issues

Another issue about fame is "mass defaming". When one person wants to "mass defame" another character, the player calls upon their friends or any other characters they may have to defame the other character, decreasing the victim's fame stat significantly. Although a defaming may not have any lasting effect in the game (as it is possible to buy fame from other players), some players threaten others with mass defames in the hope of intimidating others to do what they want, particularly to drive away other characters in the same training area.

Another issue is the existence of fake GMs (Game Masters). These characters are ordinary players who imitate names of GMs and claim to have GM powers. Some of the names include, but are not limited to, Wiznet, GlVl, GMDiddy022 and names with GM in the end. They pretend to be GMs and ask for money, items, or passwords. They threaten to ban players if they do not give them what they request. There are many ways to find out if a character is a GM. GMs always have a floating "GM" sign on top of their character and always type in a distinctive blue text. It is impossible to view the character information of a GM. If one spots a fake GM, they are able to alert a real GM by using a special feature called "Alert GM", which they can access by right clicking on the character. Wizet states that all GMs are full time employees.

Security and reporting abuse

Recently Wizet has added a loader called GameGuard created by nProtect to protect the MapleStory client from modification in the Global, South East Asia and South Korea version of the game. Most of these autoloot program have been blocked by GameGuard, which is also used by Softnyx for its Gunbound, Rakion games, Webizen for its "MU Online" game, and FlyFF, by Aeonsoft. Although GameGuard stops many hacks, hacking is still a problem. Though many players are skeptical of this, Godmode (invincibility) hacks still work under certain circumstances. The players who use this hack most likely train in obscure spots, or use Godmode to reach areas most people avoid. Contrary to popular belief, these players can be hard to catch, as GMs tend to stay in areas that have more people, and Godmoders can sign off if they notice someone approaching. Lag also contributes to making them harder to catch, as if someone sees another player walk through an enemy undamaged, they will most likely think it was only because of the lag between the two characters.

The "Alert GM" feature can be accessed by right clicking on a character and selecting Alert GM. A window pop out that lets one choose the situation they want to alert this person for. An alert to a GM can be made only once a day. Too many false alerts from a player could result in penalties (such as suspensions). This feature is more updated in the South Korea version, where now a player can report specifically what the abuse was.

The latest security measure implemented by Wizet is the "Security PIN" feature, which is currently implemented in the Global and South East Asia (SEA) version. A keypad will appear on the screen and the user has to enter their PIN by clicking on the numbers with their mouse to access their account. It has been implemented so that hackers using keyloggers that only monitor keyboard button presses are not able to get into people's accounts. The numbers change position as well so that tracking the mouse will not reveal the PIN number either. However, new-fangled keyloggers will take a screenshot whenever the left mouse button is clicked.

Website requirements

The MapleStory Global & MapleStory South Korea website will only allow access from the newest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.

See also

Wikibooks has more on the topic of: MapleStory
Official websites
MapleStory fansites
  • Hidden Street - Library of game information [GlobalMS & MapleSEA].
  • BasilMarket - Item auctioning website and forums [GlobalMS & MapleSEA].
  • A Drop of Maple - Library of game information [JapanMS].
  • Sleepywood - Message board with extensive trading forum [GlobalMS].
  • Mapletip - Library of information with unique featues such as a maple wiki [GlobalMS & MapleSEA].
  • MapleStory Sauna - Library of information taken directly from game client [GlobalMS]
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