Original | Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )

Author | Asher ( @Asher_0210 )

On May 15, MapleStory Universe token NXPC was launched on major exchanges such as Binance, Upbit, and Bithumb. Driven by the strong wealth effect, the price of NXPC rose rapidly after its launch, reaching a maximum of $3.98, with a total market value approaching $4 billion. Users who received Binance Alpha airdrops posted their earnings on X. The 198 NXPCs they received were worth nearly $600, which can be called the "fattest" airdrop since the launch of Alpha .

However, as the game was officially launched, just as "chain players" were looking forward to making money, problems such as "client crash" and "unable to receive verification code" emerged one after another, seriously affecting the gaming experience. In addition, the income from making money kept falling. According to feedback, "for a level 190 account, whether it is fighting bosses or clearing maps, the income from making money for 10 hours a day cannot exceed that of Meituan Takeout." The myth of getting rich failed to materialize, market enthusiasm quickly receded, and the NXPC coin price only remained strong for one day before it began to decline. Yesterday, it fell below $1.8, which was half of its high point.

So, is MapleStory still worth participating in?

Project Introduction

MapleStory Universe, the chain version of MapleStory, is an MMORPG game. Its parent company is Nexon, a South Korean gaming giant that developed classic online games such as MapleStory and KartRider. MapleStory Universe is currently in the Genesis stage, "providing brave explorers with the opportunity to explore the unknown world of MapleStory Universe."

It is worth noting that Nexon announced in December 2023 that it would invest $100 million in its Web3 game project MapleStory, aiming to expand the MapleStory universe. The investment will be used to develop a blockchain-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

Image source: cryptorank.io

Earning 2 yuan per hour, the income from gold farming is far lower than expected

Compared with the previous internal testing phase, the gold-farming income has shrunk significantly after the official launch of MapleStory. For most players who have just started MapleStory, the daily map refresh for 10 hours will earn less than one token. The hourly income is only 2 yuan. Even for a level 190 character, only a dozen NXPCs can be produced after a full day of investment. The NESO drops from monsters and bosses are very limited. Even for high-level accounts, the return for a whole day is only a few hundred yuan, and the cost-effectiveness of gold-farming has dropped significantly. At the same time, the cost of strengthening the system in the game is high, which further dilutes the income.

What's worse, there are still many bugs in the game that affect the experience, such as frequent interruptions when talking to NPCs, some NPCs disappearing for no reason, resulting in the inability to advance the task, and rollbacks after strengthening, causing direct losses to NESO. The accumulation of these problems has completely dashed the expectations of many players for "getting rich by making money", and the feedback sentiment has gradually turned to disappointment and doubt.

The team responded that they will gradually increase the income from gold farming

MapleStory Universe's executive producer and Nexpace CEO recently responded to the community's heated discussion on the X platform, saying that the player response after the project was launched exceeded expectations, and the team also noticed everyone's concentrated feedback on "low gold farming income". The official admitted that there are indeed problems with MapleStory N's current revenue mechanism, mainly because the player activity in the early stage of the launch was higher than originally estimated, resulting in an imbalance in the supply and demand of NESO and game materials, affecting the overall return experience. The team is currently urgently adjusting the revenue algorithm and resource distribution mechanism, and promised to make "gold farming" truly have positive incentives as soon as possible.

In addition to the revenue issue, technical issues such as flashbacks, invalid verification codes, and plug-in interference that everyone complains about are also being dealt with simultaneously. The official also revealed that the core system Reactor (composed of Fission and Fusion) will be officially launched in the next few weeks, when the economic linkage between NFT and NXPC will be further strengthened, which may become the key link between gameplay and value. The team finally emphasized that it will continue to listen to the voice of the community, make changes as it goes, and slowly polish the game ecology to be more solid.

In general, the official is gradually increasing the income from gold farming. On May 22, the enhanced version of the NESO and experience value drop activities will be updated, and a new reward distribution mechanism will be launched on May 30.

summary

Although the current gold-making income of MapleStory is far lower than expected, the blockchain game community has been collectively complaining, and some studio members have even reported that the daily gold-making income cannot even cover the basic labor costs, and the overall rate of return has fallen into a "negative return" state. From the perspective of players, "the effort is not proportional to the reward" is becoming a mainstream consensus.

But it is worth noting that market sentiment seems to be undergoing subtle changes. Last night, the price of NXPC stopped falling and stabilized, breaking the previous downward trend. At the same time, the project has also made it clear that it will increase the game's gold-making income in the near future and simultaneously fix a series of key issues that affect the experience. Although the dual-token model still has difficulty solving the long-term structural problem of the death spiral, in the context of the "wealth-making effect" not yet really starting, the current coin price and income have a short-term "quick money" possibility window.

After all, this is not an unknown project, but a super IP backed by Nexon and loved by players around the world. Perhaps, it is at least worth giving it another chance.