[EMS] That 5000 day milestone

Well then, it seems that it's been 5000 days since my character was created. Usually I tend to only write each year on the 30th of September to commemorate my character's birthday. But since five-thousand is such a ridiculous number, I thought it would make for a nice blogpost that also doubles as an informative one.

Two years ago I've written about the elusive ID Card Chair, which is an item that shows your character's creation date. A new item that utilizes this variable came out last December: the "[BTS] Our Time With MapleStory" hat.

Originally designed with the intent to display the time you've spent in-game, it was changed to display the amount of days since your character creation's instead. This is probably done because it's unlikely that anyone's true in-game playtime has been recorded by Nexon themselves, given the nature of the game's engine and its age. However, since they've already implemented the usage of one's creation date for the ID Card Chair, it probably wasn't a difficult task to write a formula that calculates the amount of days that have been passed. That, and I can't imagine how much this hat would strain the server if it had to continuously update a clock for each player owning this hat.

Anyway, as you can probably expect from any community, the existence of this hat became a sausage fest where everyone starts to compete for whoever has the highest number above their head. However, having a high "score" on this hat means little if the player themselves has hardly spent an appropriate amount of days that's in line with the character's creation date. It'd be no different from having an Europe Bandana lying around on an abandoned alt. Sure, it's a fun novelty to own any of those. But in context it wouldn't hold much gravitas, if that makes any sense.

I understand that to many foreign veterans and hardcores a "mere" 5000 wouldn't mean much. But to those who aren't aware and need a refresher: EMS officially released on the 12th of April, 2007 (beta started in late 2006). There aren't that many characters left that have the age over a five thousand days because of the migration. Keep in mind that 2,7 of the 3 million characters didn't migrate, so they were all purged. Gone, deleted. I'm only aware of less than twenty characters that are older than Rayque and have successfully migrated. However, I do believe that it's very likely that there is about one-hundred characters left with an age of 5000+ days (FYI: I'm being generous and optimistic there).

But here's the catch: have any of them experienced almost every single day in-game? As in, have they played almost 5000 days daily on that same character? If you are a frequent reader of my blog or know of my reputation, then I don't need to further explain that one. While I'm not one of those fortunate enough to have experienced EMS beta, and by no means am I among the "the highest level", "the strongest" or the "most loyal and experienced" in EMS, I do know that I've been playing on my Hero daily since EMS 0.30, starting my journey 5000 days ago. Without a break.

Whether if that means or should mean something is entirely up to you, but I can't deny that I find myself often longing for recognition. While I play Maple because of my love for the game regardless what others think, I do have my moments where I can't help but feel that my long-term dedication for it has been rather unrewarding. Unfortunately EMS isn't really the type of game where pouring over 22.000 hours in the course of almost 14 years would get you anywhere in either community recognition or in-game progress. As it stands, it seems I'm destined to remain a myth.

But y'know? Perhaps that is what suits me best.

[Other] And now for something entirely different...

I rarely add new games to my collection. At least, compared to what you could (or would) expect from someone who sinks an ungodly amount of hours in video games.

As I grew up with a Nintendo 64 during my childhood in Japan, console gaming became pretty much my only way of life when it comes to playing video games. As time went on, newer Nintendo consoles came out, and so did my budget to spend in games - in other words, the ability to own (read: buy) more games.

This natural growth in life eventually collapsed upon itself, as my Wii library at the time, grew out of hand. Gaming as a hobby became too expensive - I couldn't necessarily keep up with "the next big release".

Initially my plan was to retire from console gaming, so that I could focus my future efforts towards becoming a LEGO^® Product Designer. However, through the continuous support from the people around me, I was shown by them that it is possible to have both in life. It's not about how many games I own; it's about which ones that matters the most.

That perspective allowed me to pick up console gaming again, without the need to keep up with whatever's the next "big thing". Instead, I followed my own desire on the most fundamental way possible: by asking myself how much a game interests me, and how much I want to play that one.

By simply being sincere and thoughtful, the choices of what games I end up with are more specific and tailored to my preferences, and as a result, they are far more likely to be loved. Yes, my game collection will probably remain small because of that, but at the same time, each individual purchase ends up feeling more worthwhile and/or special. By the end of the day, isn't that kind of fulfillment what should matter the most as a hobbyist?

Anyway, about the actual game itself: Hyper Light Drifter is an indie game that's been brought to my attention when it came out on Steam. While it's been recommended to me several times, I never got to purchase it on PC. I just don't get the same immersion for games when I play it either digitally or behind my computer screen with a keyboard and mouse. Nothing beats that archaic experience of inserting a game into a console, picking up a controller and playing it on a TV. It's that "gamey" feeling that made me love playing video games, and it's a feeling I desire to keep afloat.

Expect a certain shark blogpost next month, or in July. Now, where is that physical release of Cyber Shadow...

[EMS] Level 256!

Ding! The Mitra's 3x EXP Coupon Box that was given out during the compensation event is starting to run out of coupons, so this will be the only level up for a while. Coin grinding will still continue, but the EXP gains will be at a lower rate. Perhaps I might hit 257 somewhere during, or after the Neo update.

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

[EMS] Maple Union: 7500 Total Levels!

Sup guys! My Maple Union has reached the 7500 Total Level milestone today. 

The usual still applies: I don't tend to grind any of my mules after Level 120, 140 or 151 (depending whether a Burning event is applied, or if the goal is to obtain a character's Skill Link or Union card effect). Any of these mules are pretty much exclusively leveled through level up potions:

• Up to Level 180 through Union Growth Potions (this is where my Union coins go)
• Up to Level 200 through Storm Growth Potions (frequently distributed through events)
• Any of the 200~209, 210~219, 220~229 Growth Potions are used on mules in that corresponding level bracket (i.e. 200~209 go to my Beast Tamer, 210~219 to my Hayato, 220~229 to my I/L)

It's pretty straightforward, but it does the job. Of course, each rank up does take a while, given that I've only ranked up my Union about once a year. However, from a long-term perspective, it's definitely been worth making good use of my continuous daily efforts of simply claiming Union coins and participating in events.

Currently, all of my Union attackers (minus the 31st that joined the group with today's rank up) are already Level 180+, and the majority of them are already Level 200. Events have been incredibly generous with giving out Storm Growth Potions. For instance, the currently ongoing Hotel Maple anniversary provides me at least 2 daily level ups (soon 3) on a Level 180+ character of choice, and the event is still available until the start of June.

There's definitely a trend of events becoming gradually more rewarding, as the total amount of levels (or, total EXP) provided by newer events are definitely increasing. Heck, in a few updates, the Fairy Bros' Daily Gift will start to distribute a single Storm Growth Potion each month, which will help to further level mules between event seasons where there aren't any potions given out. And that same update will allow players to use Storm Growth Potions on characters past Level 200, which gives them further use for those who are already decked out on Level 200's (i.e. four Storm Growth Potions is enough EXP to hit 201). Good stuff.

Looking at my current grid set-up, I should be able to max out Boss Damage after five additional mules hit Level 200. I'm still not sure about whether I want more Status Resistance or Buff Duration after that. At least the Union system is flexible enough to allow you to change the grid at any time, so I can always choose whatever I feel like running.

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

[EMS] Blitz Shield - Level 30!

Aaaaand that's Blitz Shield maxed out. Pretty much the same situation as Rope Lift, Erda Shower and Body of Steel: plenty of Nodestones from grinding daily and even more are sourced from a multitude of events. No need to use any of my stockpiled Nodeshards - those are best spent elsewhere. Y'know, like the upcoming Blink changes.

Speaking of daily grind, I still have about two weeks worth of coupons left to burn. Although to my surprise, the total EXP accumulated over the past month has been that significant, that I'm close to Level 256 already. I thought that I would need the upcoming Typhoon Growth Potion for that (the one that is rewarded by the end of this event), but it seems that I might even hit 256 before the item is given out.

While Combo Death Fault is currently Level 24, it would still require about four duplicates before it's maxed out. That is unlikely to happen any time soon, though. Probably towards the end of this year.

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