effects of addition

Hey so today there is a new patch that will be updating a game i have played for well over 3 years, Maplestory. Yes it's a 2d-mmorpg that often little kids play and i've heard enough rough comments from peers that it's a kid's game. But in my understanding mostly all games are about the same - they get you into it and convince you to play for a few incentives. Well this game is probably the most time consuming game i've ever played... Nothing that i've played seriously has required so much commitment and effort to prosper.

This game is probably going to prevent me from playing other MMORPGs alike... even the new ones like World of Warcraft, despite it's great audience, would not sway me from playing the game i started with, Maplestory.

Maplestory is an online RPG that takes place in a kinda "kiddy" environment; a lot say it's anime-like because of the look of the characters. Most people find it cute and stick with the theme of killing cute monsters.... but eventually all this will be old news and you start killing harder monsters like in any game... This game's play style is similiar to playing a game like castlevania (symphony of the night) -- which i have just recently finished playing. You destroy monsters and gain a variable amount of points (called experience) and accumulated enough to advanced to a higher "level" -- leveling up. Leveling up gets exponentially more difficult but as you grow your character, it acquires new skills and flashier moves to help you defeat monsters more quickly. So what does this all add up to? A game that is exponentially harder to progress over time for one thing but it also has something these old games like castlevania don't... community.

The game is an "internet" game so this means that you get to interact and chat with other players while they do their own thing. Sure you can form parties, but the interesting thing about this particular online game is that you are playing amoung kids of all ages... And in most cases, the people who are successful in the game aren't kids at all. They are mostly college kids who have managed to stay in the game and use their education / experiences to their advantages.

The game, oddly, has a more sophisticated side to it... as you play the game more, you will seee that some players are much more powerful than others... that is because there are items in the game that you can craft and upgrade to use as weapons... Aside from weaponry, there is a lot of mathematical thinking involved because each character's damage is based off of a formula... so people who understand the formulas better know exactly how to play the game to get maximum results (like me of course). Kids under 10 probably will underestimate most things, especially math formulas. Another side of this game is the economics and social power. like in real life, you sorta need to make investments and "buy" smart to succeed; in this game it's sorta the same thing. Also knowing the right people helps you in the end -- when you need help the most.

So what does this all mean? it means i have an addiction because all i can think of now is to train my character and enjoy the rest of the game at another level... it's pathetic that i still crave a mindless session of exponentially difficult proportions in order to move on in the game... just to give a perspective, it takes about 1 hour to gain 5% progress towards the next level.