A Borderless World: MapleStory Universe
This is Part 1 of a two-part post that reconstructs the MSU GDC session titled “MapleStory Universe: Perfecting the Core MMORPG Experience with Blockchain.”
Many of the people interested in our project seem to have fond memories of MapleStory. When users tag us on Twitter and share their experiences with MapleStory, it serves as a reminder that this 20-year-old IP owes its success to the love and support of its users.
In the previous post, we discussed our desire to continue the journey with our players for many more years and how we plan to utilize the blockchain technology to achieve this goal. Now, we’d like to share Nexon’s plans for the MapleStory Universe in this post.
Quick Introduction to MapleStory IP
For those who may be unfamiliar with MapleStory, we’d like to start with an introduction to the IP and why we have chosen it for Nexon’s first blockchain project. MapleStory is Nexon’s flagship IP, which was first released in 2003 as a 2D side-scrolling MMORPG and has been available on multiple platforms for nearly 20 years.
During the first boom of MMORPGs around 2000, there was a common belief that MMORPGs were serious, difficult, and complex games. MapleStory defied this stereotype and gained popularity by being an MMORPG with adorable graphics and casual gameplay. It was loved by many users (particularly younger gamers) and played a crucial role in popularizing MMORPGs and online gaming.
MapleStory has also been promoting its unique and lovable characters in various ways beyond the realm of games. It is expanding its influence and value as a global IP through cultural events such as art balloon exhibitions, regular showcases for players, and collaborations with world-class celebrities.
MapleStory is an IP that has experienced steady growth in terms of sales and services over the course of 20 years. This level of longevity is particularly impressive within the gaming industry, where technology and trends change rapidly, and user preferences shift as new games enter the market. When compared to the lifespan of other platforms or genre-specific games, the fact that MapleStory has grown for so long is even more noteworthy.
We have decided to incorporate the IP into Nexon’s first blockchain project, not only to demonstrate our sincerity but also because we believe that MapleStory’s 20-year-old ecosystem of items and features provides the ideal foundation for building the MapleStory Universe, a massive blockchain ecosystem that extends beyond gaming.
About MapleStory Universe
We aim to take the MMORPG MapleStory to the next level by expanding it beyond the scope of a mere game and creating a virtual world, the MapleStory Universe. Essentially, MapleStory Universe is a virtual world where different games and applications that share the MapleStory IP can interact through MapleStory NFTs.
The first addition to this universe is ‘MapleStory N’, the evolution of the existing MapleStory MMORPG. MapleStory N is a new MMORPG that merges NFTs and blockchain technology with MapleStory. While players can acquire items by playing the game in the traditional way, they can also convert the items they earn into NFTs. Users will have complete digital ownership of their items and will be able to trade and transfer them freely.
Moreover, we plan to leverage the unique properties of blockchain and enhance the underlying item generation structure of MapleStory by introducing a limited quantity item generation structure per server. The total quantity of all items that can be generated during the entire service period will be predetermined for each item type, and a specific number of items will be generated periodically within the server. By fixing the total amount of items generated, the inherent flaw of infinite item issuance that existed in the past will be eliminated, and we are excited to offer a MapleStory where players can enjoy a more powerful RX (Reward Experience).
What is the “limited quantity item generation structure?”
To give an example, let’s say there are a total of 100 items predetermined to be generated on the server. Only two of these items will be dropped every week, no matter how many people are hunting for items. If two people are hunting, two items will drop; if 100 people are hunting, still only two items will drop. If no one hunts for items in a certain week, the items will accumulate, and the next week, the total number of items that will drop will be four, and so on. After week 50, no more items will be generated because all 100 items will have been generated. Ultimately, the overall number of items generated on the server is controlled, regardless of the number of players and other variables.
Caution: This is an example to help you understand the concept.
More details of the system will be released in the future.
This strict limitation on the number of generated items will create a unique experience for each player, and various new playstyles will emerge as item farming is no longer centered around the player. This will be a key differentiator for MapleStory N. We will discuss RX in more detail in the next article since it is the core concept of MapleStory N.
The second component, ‘MapleStory N Mobile’, is the mobile version of MapleStory N. It offers a diverse NFT playground tailored to users’ lifestyles and play preferences, featuring the same characters and NFTs as MapleStory N. With MapleStory N Mobile, users can play the game anytime, anywhere.
However, Nexon alone cannot develop NFTs to expand their utility, so the creators’ role is crucial in the MapleStory Universe ecosystem. The third member, ‘MapleStory N Worlds’, is the backbone of the creator economy. MapleStory N World is a sandbox platform of the MapleStory Universe that allows creators — from casual amateur creators to professional professionals — to develop products with various resources and NFTs from the MapleStory IP.
Creators have access to an overwhelming pool of resources and convenient dev tools, allowing them to build games and become the official owners of their content. Players can play contents created by many creators with their own NFTs in both PC and MO environments. All activities will be rewarded by the MapleStory Universe according to their contributions.
We have yet to fully break through the boundaries of “Nexon’s MapleStory game, Nexon’s platform.” To overcome this limitation, we will be providing an SDK for creating various applications. With the ‘MapleStory N SDK’, users can not only develop games but also any application they can imagine.
These applications can range from a healthcare app that allows users to check their health and receive daily reminders from their MapleStory character, to a scheduling app that enables users to invite friends to manage schedules and to-do lists together, to an app that rewards users with exclusive NFTs for completing integrated quests across MapleStory Universe projects. The possibilities are endless and entirely up to the imagination of the user.
Furthermore, we plan to integrate external NFTs in the future to help users create their own content. This means that users will be able to play with other NFT projects they know and love inside MapleStory.
The MapleStory Universe provides a space for various NFTs to coexist and grow together, not only through developers but also through creators and players.
One of Nexon’s top priorities is to create a reward structure that makes the MapleStory Universe sustainable. To achieve this, we plan to measure each participant’s contribution to MapleStory’s RX so that developers, creators, and players can all contribute to the ecosystem and be rewarded with Nexon’s own coin. The development team at Nexon will also act as a creator within the universe. More details about the coin will be revealed in the future.
The MapleStory Universe encompasses MapleStory N, MapleStory N Mobile, MapleStory N Worlds, and the MapleStory SDK. Within this NFT ecosystem, the development team will update contents while creators create their own derivative ecosystem activities to expand the utility.
Our ultimate vision is to build an ecosystem where MapleStory NFTs can be used in various blockchain projects around the world in a global market, and where other NFT projects can enter MapleStory Universe to expand their utilities, ultimately converge with each other.
This is what we believe is the “NEXT LEVEL” of MMORPGs — an evolved virtual world based on blockchain, the MapleStory Universe.
