MapleStory is a constantly evolving game, full of heroes, villains, and everything in between. But none of them are as important to us as you, our players who make Maple World what it is! The history of MapleStory is a long and winding one, but now we'd like to turn the attention to you, and hear more about your own journeys that you've taken as MapleStory has grown over the years. The question we'd like to ask you all is: What's Your MapleStory? If you'd like to submit your story, you can do so via this form.
For today's edition of What's Your MapleStory, we spoke to TheTabKey about their Shadower and their race to create an Ultimate Adventurer.
What is the meaning of your screenshot above?
The map I'm in for my screenshot (Ellin Forest's Camp Conference Room: Library) is a very special place. It's the guild HQ for a guild I was in years ago that's not around anymore, in which I met a friend who has since become my longest lasting friendship. We've been buddies for the better part of a decade now, we live half a world apart and even though we don't talk as much as we used to, we still catch up every now and again. There were a few other people from that guild that we both grew very close to as well that we've lost contact with, and I've probably spent more time in this map than any other in the game just chatting with them all.
How were you first introduced to MapleStory?
I was first introduced to MapleStory in the 7th grade, so around 2008-2009? It was just after Pirates were first released. I was actually introduced to it by two separate people at the same time - a friend from class and my cousin. Even though I started as an I/L on Yellonde, my favorite class has and still is to this day, Shadower. I originally picked it on accident, I wanted to play Night Lord but got my class progression mixed up and thought that the dagger path was Night Lord, but fell in love with the gameplay. Just kind of stuck with it. Love the visuals, love the gameplay loops. I mainly play on Reboot now so I'm forever without the Dragon Khanjar as a shield anvil but even still the class just feels great to play and is very nostalgic at this point. Buccaneer is a close second, and honestly if Shadower wasn't so nostalgic I might have switched permanently at this point.
What is your favorite memory while playing MapleStory?
My favorite memory is of competing with my cousin to max out our Cygnus Knights and create our Ultimate Adventurers together. We raced from character creation to 120, and then to finish the peridot collection quest. I beat him by only a few hours. Our goal was to create our Ultimate Adventurers together and try to beat whatever bosses existed at the time, I don't remember what they went up to at the time but probably not much past Pink Bean. He eventually stopped playing so I put my UA on hold in case he ever came back, which he never did so the character kind of retired at around Lv. 125 or so. It was super fun racing him, though. We would only play those characters when we were both available, which usually just meant visiting each other during weekends to play.
What do you enjoy about MapleStory today?
Today, my favorite aspect of MapleStory is progression. For a long time, I was here for the community and friends more than anything else. But I missed out on so much progression and content as it was being released due to being busy with college that I have so much to catch up on now, and it's been a thrill. I'm very close to being Black Mage ready, and gearing up towards liberating has been great fun. The bossing mule meta being so prevalent has been a joy as well since it gives me an excuse to play all the classes I would have otherwise ignored to play my Shadower more, I'm actually getting to the point where I have more boss mules than time in the week to boss... It's a bit of a problem! But a great one to have. The game is obviously not perfect, there's a lot I'd like to see improved on in the future, but it feels like everything since around Destiny has been the best the game's ever been.
