MapleStory

First of all I'd like to state that I have played Maple Story since 2005 so I know the game through and through.

Up until a couple of months ago I had always found ways to get NX (ingame Cash Shop currency) without spending real money. But security sharpened, the trustworthy sellers were replaced with scammers and in the end there was no way of getting NX without spending real cash on it.

I had started a new part time job in October 2007 so I had some more cash than usual so I didn't mind spending $10 on the game to get a VIP Plastic Surgery Coupon. Nothing special about it right? But heres the problem: buying NX is addictive! Once you start you keep spending money, especially because it's done within minutes with just a few clicks on the website, and before I knew it I had spend over $400 within 3 weeks on NX for multiple characters! I felt the pain in my wallet and eventually I got nothing out of it because it's just some pixels on a screen that you pay for.

So what I'm trying to say is: do NOT start spending money on NX in this game. ESPECIALLY if you have easy acces to money (you could be spending on paying the rent or groceries). It's addictive and you will keep spending more and more.

I'm not saying everyone will but they designed the Cash Shop for a reason: to get players money even tho' it's a free MMORPG. So certain players, like me for example, will fall for it and spend idiotic amounts of money on it.

How it all ended you say? I had spent all my money I had at that time on the game and felt broken, robbed even. I woke up from some sort of coma and decided to stop playing.

I just got the urge to play it again (3 or 4 months later). I checked their website and got flashbacks of how I felt and decided to post this Thread. I don't know if it's just garbage to you but I sure hope I can prevent other players from making the same mistake I did.

This is exactly why SOE is pushing so hard for new payment methods for their games.  This is the same thing as Micro-Transactions.  They sell the game as "Free to Play" but in reality, they really end up making more money than a flat $15 a month rate.

I've been against Micro-Transactions since I first heard about them, and this is only one of the reasons why.  This marketting strategy allows people to be irresponsible with their money, and what's worse, kids often times have access to their parents' credit cards.  It's not hard people - Micro-Transactions are just like gambling.  Anyone who has ever been to a casino knows how quickly $100 bucks can slip right through your fingers... even if you're being modest. In Vegas, $20 buys you approximately 30 seconds worth of fun.

Think about it in a game like WoW.  You pay for a sword you want - it costs you $2.50.  Okay, no big deal.  But you get the sword, and turns out, it sucks, or you find out it's not really what you wanted or something you can use.  That's $2.50 wasted.  Except, now you're still needing a sword.  So you get another one - you're up to $5.00 spent.  That's $5.00 in less than 10 minutes.  You play on average 4 hours a day.  You will appropriately level up once a day.  That's a new peice of equipment every day.  Assume that $5.00 you spent today, was a "light day of spending".  There are 14 days in 2 weeks, which is the usual pay day cycle.  This stuff is set up to take you for all the money you have, and they have no legal responsibility to care.  They don't even have to warn you.  At least at a casino, they will cut you off after you've been there a while.

It's all a scam - a marketting ploy that will in turn, make them more money than they already make.  My contention is this.  Why would I pay you more money, and pay the way you want me to, when you can't even make a game correctly in the first place?

Don't buy into this bogus bullcrap people.  It's a scam, and SOE is the mainstream company pushing or this payment model.  Do you ever wonder why?

I have utterly no clue why on earth you would spend money on something like this, but its good advice to those inclined to waste cash on "games" like this.