Maplestory Vs. Private Servers

In today's online gaming industry, the game known as Maplestory has risen to the top to become one of the most played free MMORPG's ever. In the game, you begin your journey as a level 1 noob. As you kill monsters, complete quests, and have fun, you work your way up until you hit level 200. Well, maybe hit level 200. By hitting the peak level in this game, the player not only demonstrates his dedication and perserverance, but the fact that he/she has WAY too much time on his/her hands, or that they hacked the game. Now that the hacking part has become virtually impossible, it's mostly the first option. This is where the private servers come in.

The private servers of the game offer players a wide range of choices. These servers were created for the people who don't want to spend forever leveling up, and recently, were also ways for people to try out the pirate class before its release in Global Maplestory (since they were released sooner in some private servers). Not only do many servers offer pretty much the same game content (including items usually bought with Nexon Cash), but they also offer incentives like 500x exp/500x drop rates. With such ridiculous rates, anyone can reach level 200 in no time. Also, there are even private servers that allow you to reach level 200 with one character, then "rebirth" that character and choose a different job while keeping previous job skills.

With all these incentives available, it's easy to see why people would switch over to private servers. However, there are some cons to these simple solutions to fast leveling. One flaw is the lack of players. The most populated of these servers probably have only a few thousand players, with maybe only a few hundred on at a time. Private servers have also been known to have lots of problems/bugs, or maybe even contain viruses. Also, even though they can release content quickly, it's not always as in depth. For example, when the pirate class was introduced into some private servers, only limited skills were available to try out. Finally, there has recently even been news of a lawsuit by Nexon against a private server.

There is a lot of controversy over the use of private servers. It may have even gone too far with the recent suit; especially since there are private servers for almost every online game out there. The private servers allow you to try out all the classes quickly and easily. However, if you want the connection to other players and the challenge that the real game provides, then that's obviously your best bet. There have been many times when I just want to give up and switch, but I tell myself that if others can do it, so can I (even though I'm currently only level 49 =P).