A player of the MMORPG MapleStory faced a record: The Twitch streamer Niru was to become the first player in the world to reach level 300. An endeavor he must have invested over 10,000 hours into. But the player used the opportunity of his success for protest. In the hour of triumph, he gave the studio behind the MMORPG a piece of his mind.
That was the plan:
- On April 25, players of the MMORPG “MapleStory” were to experience a peak.
- The Twitch streamer Niru was to become the first player to reach level 300 in MapleStory. That requires a huge effort: Niru streamed 8,604 hours of MapleStory on Twitch in the last 365 days. On average, he had about 104 viewers.
- The developer Nexon wanted to honor the player at the moment of his triumph, but he did not go along with that. In front of over 21,000 viewers, he gave the creators of the MMORPG a piece of his mind. Then he opted out of the all-important level-up, logged off, and preferred to play Zelda.
MMORPG studio promotes Twitch streamer themselves
This is how MapleStory wanted to honor him: MapleStory promoted the Twitch streamer Niru on April 25 through the official Twitter account. He was the “World First Level 300”, and everyone should tune in (via twitter).
Player simply stops right before level 300 – criticizes MMORPG company
What went wrong? The streamer was indeed just a step away from level 300 after hours of grinding. However, Niru stopped playing MapleStory at exactly 99.993%. He had put almost 17 hours into the MMORPG again.
He criticized the MMORPG and the publisher Nexon in his Twitch stream to a peak of 21,458 viewers.
Then he logged off and played Zelda: Ocarina of Time the next day.
Streamer rants about MapleStory and excessive Pay2Win
How did he criticize the publisher? The Twitch streamer states that he is likely the player who has invested the most time in MapleStory worldwide, so he knows what he is talking about.
Much in MapleStory just doesn’t make sense. He wanted to take the opportunity to explain this to the players so they might understand:
- He criticized that playing as a Free2Play-player on the “Interactive Worlds” is not enjoyable – this urgently needs to change.
- He pointed out that there are too many Pay2Win worlds, which thins out the player base.
- He was annoyed about non-tradable upgrade items.
- He complained that the economy of MapleStory depended on single events.
- He criticized the cash shop of the MMORPG.
A snippet from his rant is embedded here:
Streamer refuses to level up to 300
This is how the stream ended: After almost 18 hours, he said: He would now end the stream. He no longer felt like playing or leveling up the MMORPG.
Then he thanked the fans.
The streamer said he sacrificed a lot by opting not to reach level 300, but if he did, no one would care:
“I risked a lot with this, but I really want the game to change”
He says: The streamer apologizes for having to take this step, but he says: Had he just reached level 300, nothing would have changed. But continuing to play the game at the moment is just not worth it.
He knows that he sacrificed a lot by not reaching level 300. But he really wants MapleStory to change.
This is being discussed: A user on reddit aptly says: Niru indeed sacrificed a lot. He had the opportunity to level up to 300 and be the showcase streamer of MapleStory, with the full support of Nexon.
Now he will surely never be supported by Nexon again.
This is something every MMORPG player has dreamed of
What’s behind it: This is a dream come true for an MMORPG player: To reach the moment in an MMORPG where you feel special and even the publisher listens to you, and then use that moment to release all the pent-up frustration that every MMORPG player has.
This is a realized fantasy.
But the question arises whether that one moment was worth all the grinding time. Hopefully, MapleStory at least made him happy until that moment.
Update 1.5., 10:50 AM: Niru doesn’t seem to feel comfortable with the decision:
Twitch streamer explains how he feels after epic action in the MMORPG: “It’s going poorly for me”
