In celebration of their upcoming 4th birthday, Nexon America is rolling out the red carpet for loyal fans of one of the very first free-to-play, microtransaction monetized games. Launched on May 11, 2005, MapleStory quickly became an online legend with it’s groundbreaking social features, unique art style, open world opportunities, and again, unique and innovate method of play vs. monetization. Worldwide, MapleStory counts over 92 million users, 6 million of whom reside in the US.
But to MapleStory players, it’s not just a game. It’s gone far beyond just a 2D side scrolling virtual world/game. One might even say there might be a cult of ‘Story going on, as fans of the game have solidified the title’s place in gaming history through countless blogs, fanboy (and girl) community sites, and videos. A quick pass through YouTube reveals close to 200,000 video results.
“After four years of service in North America, MapleStory continues to evolve and surprise us all. We are very grateful to our loyal fans and this celebration is for them,” said Min Kim, Nexon America’s Vice President of Marketing. “MapleStory fans have helped create something special and we’re going to reward them with new, exciting content to enjoy throughout the summer and beyond.”
And reward Nexon will. The new birthday goodies looks like so:
- Fourth Anniversary Maple Weapons – Monsters will be dropping special anniversary weapons. Or the players can exchange previous anniversary weapons and Maple Leaves for new Fourth Anniversary Weapons, Maple Hats, Maple Shields, Maple Earrings, or Fourth Anniversary Scrolls.
- Item Upgrades – Maple Hat and Maple Earrings obtained through monsters are upgradable using Maple Leaves. The earrings can be upgraded by completing additional quests.
- Leveling Up Event – Each time players levels up, they will receive Maple Leaves. The number of Maple Leaves rewarded will vary depending on the level. Higher level players will receive more Maple Leaves.
- GM Events – The GMs will run special events and summon last year’s anniversary boss, Big Puff Daddy, at random times.
- Monster Transformations – Any player can transform into one of MapleStory’s monsters for a given period of time.
- 4 Candle Event – Nexon is giving away 1,200 prizes over 40 days, including in-game items, Nexon Game Cards, digital cameras, iPod Touch and a laptop computer. Players who play for 40 minutes will receive a candle. Once a player has a candle, they can receive up to four pieces of cake for each successive 40 minutes of game play. Players who get four pieces of the cake will have a chance to win.
- Maple Quiz – Players can take the Maple Quiz. For every question a player gets right, five Maple Leaves and a special cake will be rewarded.
In addition to this content, Nexon has a whole slate of daily events planned.
So if you’ve never given MapleStory a try, or were just looking for the right moment to jump back on the train that started it all, look no further. MapleStory – a story of how one game could change the entire way we look at the gaming industry.
Tags: maplestory, Min Kim, MMO, monetization, Nexon, social features
