Final day of Global MapleStory 2. While I did enjoy my very casual time in MS2, I had stopped playing back in 2019 (with the intention of resuming) because there were a bunch of other titles I was spending my time in (like the soft launch of Lost Ark in Korea). And then other things distracted me from actually getting back into MS2 again over the remainder of its short life. Thus one of my main characters (the one I signed into) was only level 61 (and I decided not to spend these last few months since the closure announcement, to level up). This is one of those titles that had its own unique charm (but I also realized there were systemic core issues that made it challenging to really deliver on the non-P2W goals for the global version). The sunset announcement brought back memories of my own feelings when the NA/EU version of Devilian was announced and its own server closure back in March 2018. So I know how players who had really put in a lot of time into MS2 (especially their cosmetics, UGC, and housing) felt heading into the final weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds (and then the after closure effects where you are no longer able to login).
Unlike Devilian (where the game had been left to its own devices on many fronts including technical issues with the game client which slowly prevented more and more players from actually being able to run the game towards the end), it was nice to see Nexon (which before GMS2, I had a very low opinion of) at least try to send the game off properly for its loyal community that stuck with the game until the end (even something that looks simple like the archive, still took effort that most companies won’t spend time doing). So even though I had not engaged much with the game over the course of the past 1.5 years, I still wanted to be in-game to see my characters and the game off for one final time. Again, I know even from my limited time playing that the game had core issues (it is never easy taking a game designed with specific cash shop mechanics for its monetization, and trying to undo it for another region – such is the life of Korean designed MMO’s that are brought over to the west).
The above video was a quick edit that condensed my final hour of recording (I was watching the live stream as they shutdown each server) down to a few short minutes (starting with taking in the music at the server select screen, quickly running through Queenstown to Tria, briefly hovering overhead, to the final chaotic sight and sounds in Tria (channel 1) on NA West, and the moment when the game server was brought down where you are kicked back to the server selection splash screen sans the server listing where your only remaining menu option is to exit). Rest in Peace Global MapleStory 2.
