[EMS] Level 231!

Ding! I'm back at trying to do a daily grind all the way to Level 235. What changed? A mixture of 5th Job adjustments that came with the Ark update, a slight increase in %-STR, Arcane Force  and a bunch of expiring 2x EXP coupons. Seeing what they did with the Black update in KMST got me motivated enough to give it a(nother) shot as well.

Going from 229 to 230 was plausible due to aiming for 6% each day - with how the EXP curve essentially doubles each ten levels, I knew it was a bit unreasonable to expect 6% a day from that point forward. However, given that the Black update will most likely take its damn time until the end of 2018 to hit EMS, I thought it might be reasonable to aim for one level a month - with 3% each day (dailies + additional grind) I should have at least two months worth of buffer time to ensure results.

Knowing myself too well though, I did manage to keep up the 3% a day - but the closer I get to 100%, the more I would manually grind out myself (16% in the past two days). Plus, the closer I get to Level 235 - the more Arcane Force and less level penalty I'll have, and possibly some more Star Force along the way. That would contribute for a faster 3% gain each day. Either way; the daily 3% works.

Anyway, I'll probably start writing about the 5th Job related stuff from the Ark update in a few weeks. Because I'm not going to hit Level 235 until late 2018, I'll have to park my coverage on the "Spider in Mirror" skill until my coverage of the fifth skill wave that comes with the Black update. I'll also put a reminder in said blogpost. Fortunately, I have plenty of things to write about the adjustments that has happened to 5th Job, and I also have an interesting new column to write about as well, so there should still be a good mass of stuff to read!

That's it for today - I'll see you guys again next post!

[EMS] And now for something totally different...

I've had to wait eight long months for this to arrive in my hands. I'm not a huge geek in collecting merchandise aside from having a respectful amount of Pokémon/Kirby plushies and some artbooks from Xenoblade, but this thing has been on my "to get" list ever since I saw this being released four years ago.

MapleStory never has a lot of merchandise to begin with, because setting up merchandise is surprisingly expensive and often involves third party companies to help you out. It's a community demand that has been asked about (many times) before, but it hasn't helped the supply that much. A lot of merchandise that people own are actually from MapleStory 2, and for the little amount of merchandise from the original MapleStory that exists; it has always been in limited supplies, hard to come by and had a short shelf life.

Even if I'm more of a plushy guy in terms of merchandise, I can't say I have had any interest in owning a Mushroom, Pig, Yeti or Slime plushy. In fact, there has only been one item in MapleStory's merchandise lifespan where I feel it has a meaning and purpose in my life: this artbook. The "Bon Voyage" artbook is one of the very few artbooks that Nexon has published, and it is the only one that interests me.

Nexon published this artbook for the 10th anniversary of the game, and it contains a lot of concept arts from those first ten years of the game - including scrapped designs, which is something that is very difficult to come by given Nexon has always had a concealment regarding MapleStory's development. In the EMS community, I've been dubbed "the maple nerd" by many, because of my knowledge regarding this game, and my never ending hunger to know more about it.

As a passionate hobbyist, owning a physical copy of a game is part of that gaming experience that makes me love playing them. Not just only the CD or cartridge... it has to include at least the original box, a manual and even the box inserts that holds the items within. Owning a digital copy has never felt like I truly own or play the real thing. With digital copies, I don't need to open a box and take the CD or cartridge and insert it in a console, and I don't have a physical representation of said game that is tangible. I don't get the same experience, or the same feeling.

MapleStory has always been just a download on your Windows PC, and it never had a physical CD release like some other MMORPG's did. It has always been on all of my PCs ever since I've start playing, but it never could be found in my physical gaming collection, which still made it rather distant and felt disconnected, if that makes any sense. Meeting over thirty Maplers in real life like I've been doing for the past ten years is a whole different feeling and meaning: it fulfills the role of me as a human, as a friend who cares about them - but not as a gaming enthusiast, or a passionate hobbyist.

So you can imagine, as a person that has played MapleStory for almost eleven years on a daily basis through a digital platform - everything that is not social related to the game itself remains digital, and one could argue it's almost a criminal offence not to have something physical to represent the game outside of my computer screen. Something that is tangible, that I can hold in my hands, and don't need a power source with a digital screen to give it my attention.

With this book now on my shelf next to where I play the game, it now feels like it has filled in a gap that I've had for a long time.

That's it for today - I'll see you guys again next post!