Dear Maplers,
As the year 2011 comes to a close, we would like to share directly with you our thoughts and plans regarding your main concerns over the past year, including cyber-security, in-game disruptions, server stability and in-game items. We would like to communicate our thoughts regarding these issues, and then, share directly with you, our plans for addressing them.
Before we start, we would like to thank you all, for your support these past six years, for your patience during server maintenance and downtime; for your forgiveness in times of technical glitches and bugs that we could not fix immediately; for your passion of the game that has seen many of you giving us honest and valuable feedback that will enable us to enhance the content in MapleSEA, improve our services for Maplers, and most importantly, to grow and enjoy the MapleSEA experience together as a community.
We acknowledge that 2011 may not be the best year in MapleSEA’s history but there were still key highlights and occasions to cheer, especially the launch of Big Bang Patch on 18th May and the CHAOS Patch on 19th October where an extensive of updates and new features were introduced to Maplers for the first time. We are grateful for your overwhelming responses to the new patches as we look to the new year to bring more excitement and joy to you.
And now, we move on to the issues at hand.
1. In-game Security & Exploits
The number one issue based on the feedback gathered from Maplers is undisputedly the in-game disruptions caused by unethical players. This widespread problem with cyber-security that affects the security and gaming experience of players throughout the entire gaming industry is definitely a matter that we take very seriously.
With the rapid rise and easy access to many programs that take advantage of game exploits and bugs, the implementation of measures to stop and eradicate these illegal acts has been placed as our top priority for the new year, as it has been for the past months.
However, moving forward, we will be working with the developers even more, to take an aggressive stance against the cheaters who gain an unfair advantage against Maplers whom have invested time and money into MapleSEA. We will be working more closely with the developers and other Maple Story services to devise new implementations and features to safeguard our community against those illegal acts.
For those that do not use any of the illegal programs, please know that our team is always working around-the-clock to put into place measures to block the exploits but do understand that it is a never-ending battle as the cheaters will look to tweak and modify their programs to get around the newly implemented fixes. All we would like from you is your kind patience and understanding in granting us more time to come up with better fixes and long-term solutions in stamping out these issues.
2. Server Stability
We understand that many of you were inconvenienced by the intermittent server downtimes, especially from 25th July to 19th October when the Chaos Patch was launched.
This was due partly to the higher number of open exploits we found in the game during this period and emergency fixes and preventive measures were taken in order to plug the loopholes. During these server maintenances, we also tried to fix the many bugs and lapses in the game content, clients and security measures that had occurred as a byproduct of the sheer size of the new patch.
We apologize for the less than ideal situation of the frequent downtimes experienced by Maplers. In addition, we would also like to thank many of you whom have still supported us and waited patiently while we try to get the servers up in the shortest time possible. Since the Chaos Patch, the situation has improved significantly and we pledge to maintain further minimize any extended downtimes in the new year.
3. In-game Items and Pricing
MapleSEA is an ever-evolving world, filled with countless possibilities and situations. With it being so, we are constantly trying to juggle the balance between supply and demand, evaluating every single item on a daily basis and making sure we even out the playing field for all Maplers.
All along, we have always maintain and uphold the firm belief of creating the best gaming experience for Maplers in the game, with the changes and introduction of various in-game items only for the benefit of the players. We will be striving to make the appropriate changes to the in-game items and pricing based on the feedback and comments received from Maplers. Do look out for them in 2012, with the first content update of 2012 – Jump Patch.
We hope that the above information has helped cleared some of the doubts or misgivings that you have had over the past year. Without Maplers, there would be no MapleSEA, and with that we would like to, once again, thank you for your support.
-Maple Administrator
