Mom, can you power-level my avatar for me? [Update 1]

by Ross Miller { Apr 19th 2006 at 8:25PM }

When I was growing up, I forced my mom to get up at 6 in the morning and wait in line at the local Toys R Us just for a shot at a Power Rangers action figure (these were the original Power Ranger figures, that had the moving fingers -- to my little feeble brain, that was innovative). Years later, I laughed at all the kids who so frantically forced their mothers and fathers to seek out Pokemon booster packs in the hopes of finding that ultra-rare card that compliments their deck. Sure, I am a hypocrite, but now I have seen the follies of my youth. Apparently, such a childish obsession is not limited to American children.

In Korea, the latest fad is Maple Story, an MMO played predominantly by children ages 6 to 13. If you do not play Maple Story, you may be considered uncool (sounds familiar). Of course, school children have hours and hours upon homework (I never did, but of course I went to public school), so how can one keep their online avatars in top condition? Simple, they get their parents to power-level! According to an article translated by GameStudy.org, some parents are spending upwards of 3 or 4 hours each day building their son or daughter's character up. It may seem like a foreign phenomenon, but our guess is that this trend will spread to other countries as soon as said country's parents have a firm grasp on the working of MMOs (we give it 15 more years in the United States).

[Via Game Set Watch]

[Update: fixed a typo]

Tags: Korea, korean

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Matters @ Apr 19th 2006 8:35PM

Jesus christ. You're young. What are you like 17?

You played with power rangers as a kid? Fuck now I feel really damn old.

vidGuy @ Apr 19th 2006 8:39PM

Two things:

1) I've heard of Maple Story here in the US. I don't know how big it is, but my brother and sister (ages 13 and 14) play it all the time, and so do all their early-teen friends.

2) How old are you Ross? I had the impression that all of the bloggers were in their early 20s, but if you were into the Power Rangers you are either young (17, max) or you stayed with the action figures a little long. I grew up on TMNT... by the time the Power Rangers were out I was interested in a little thing called the female sex.

Probot @ Apr 19th 2006 8:41PM

I know a few people that had their parents play while they were at school. And this was FFXI. One guy's dad enjoyed the game enough to start his own character. I don't think it's uncommon.

Then again, I think the average age for MMOs is higher than other types of games.

RevJonathan @ Apr 19th 2006 8:43PM

"Of course, school children have hours and hours upon homework (I never did, but of course I went to public school), so how can keep their online avatars in top condition?"
It may be just my game-riddled brain, but I must yell grammar/typo/jabbing at your youth.

vidGuy @ Apr 19th 2006 8:50PM

And, of course, the obvious question is, if the parents have hours upon hours to play an MMO while their kids are at school, what are they not doing that they should? Work, maybe?

Now we'll have old Jack Thompson claiming that, along with violence, video games lead to unemployment!

The_Predator @ Apr 19th 2006 8:54PM

Maple Story is worse than Runescape, it's just awfull. Although nothing can trump Runescape's (or is it RuneQuest?) 'colourfull community'. Or course, it is not really aimed at my age bracket, I did not know this before trying it. I feel dirty remembering that I've played both for at least an hour.

The closest I've come to having a parent help me on a video game is when I got told off for snipping a ribbon cable on a BBC MicroComputer. Apparantly it really wasn't a good idea.

dan s. @ Apr 19th 2006 9:08PM

The parents probably enjoy it.

#2, power ranger toys came out when I was in fifth or sixth grade at the latest, and I'm 23. So yeah, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to pull out the lame gamer sex insults so quick.

Ross Miller @ Apr 19th 2006 9:17PM

For the record, I'm 20 :-p. When the Power Rangers originally came out, I believe I was in 3rd of 4th grade, so about then, I'd say.

Saying that, wow what an awful time to have an error (when I discuss coming from public school). I'm gonna fix it right now, thanks.

vidGuy @ Apr 19th 2006 9:21PM

If I'm not mistaken, Power Rangers started in the US around 1993. That would put the 23ish blogger at 10 playing with Power Ranger action figures. I don't know, that just seems a little old to me. I was done with the action figure thing when I was 6.

More on topic, though, I'm glad the games are appealling to older gamers. It's about time games became an accepted medium. Hopefully, once all this "video games = bad, bad, BAD" stuff goes away, people will realize how interesting, innovative, and out-right fun video games can be.

Oro @ Apr 19th 2006 9:35PM

MS is aimed at 6-13 year olds? An 18 year old good friend of mine completely stopped talking with all of us because all he does is play Maple Story. It's bad enough that we never see him, but it's also a little kids MMO? Geez.

Einhanderkiller @ Apr 19th 2006 10:18PM

Maplestory is quite big in the U.S.
Well, at least I think it is.

Quite a few of my friends play it, and my friend's friends (and even a few of my cousin's friends).

Personally, I hate the game. It's filled with annoying kids that spam random messages and speak with absolutely horrid grammar ("instant messenger" horrid). I'm still a "kid", but these are 9 year olds I'm talking about. Yeah, so that and the repetitive and boring gameplay make me hate this game.

Andrew Hsieh @ Apr 19th 2006 10:32PM

Yeah, so that and the repetitive and boring gameplay make me hate this game.

Talk about it. I could never level after fifteen. >>;

But yeah. What about work for those parents?

Pedro @ Apr 20th 2006 1:35AM

http://www.mapleglobal.com

is the US home page for this game.

Fat Cat Lim @ Apr 20th 2006 2:12AM

It's not only in Korea. Some younger players in Malaysia and Singapore even have their maids play for them. My colleague knows of one player whose maid power levels for him when he's at school.

The problem with Maple Story is the ridiculous amount of grinding that goes into building up your character. It starts to get really hard to earn experience points from level 20 onwards. Sometimes when I power level, I tend to doze off because of the sheer repetition of killing the same monster over and over again.

MapleSEA now has a 30-day 2X exp card that allows you to earn 2X the experience per monster kill, but it's a cash shop item (meaning you have to buy it with real money) and it's only limited to 4 hours a day.

Mike @ Apr 20th 2006 2:17AM

Getting your parents to play is something I've come across more than once in MMO's. In WoW for example I used to frequent battlegrounds with this guy. He was unguilded and most people didnt really care for him, one day I found out why.. I greeted him as normal and the response was "oh so and so is at school, I'm playing his character to get him rank 14". This guy was in his 20's...

Tanster @ Apr 20th 2006 5:14AM

i think its kinda cute in a way.

Suhail @ Apr 20th 2006 6:01AM

I've played Maple Story and I found repetative and boring.I don't know how people can sit their for hours on end pressing attack over and over again.

TeaTom @ Apr 20th 2006 7:25AM

I played this for a little while last year, more for the nostalgia than anything though because I used to love the monsterworld/wonderboy titles and this reminded me of those. It's OK for a quick blast, give it a go, it is free after all.

TeaTom @ Apr 20th 2006 7:28AM

If you want a great free browser game though you all might enjoy Kingdom of Loathing. It's very funny.
http://www5.kingdomofloathing.com/login.php

jason @ Apr 20th 2006 8:35AM

Yeah, some friends and I went over to this for about 6 hours after Ragnarok got boring for the Nth hundred time (somehow, I can't bring myself to pay for a game with no plot/quests). Sure, the characters are cute looking, and the equipment choices mean you can look pretty cool, but in the end I couldn't stomach killing the same slime over and over for no reason other than to hit level 18.

Although... I did play FFXI for 8 months, and I've been playing WoW for over 2 years now... so maybe all I need in an MMO is quests... o_o

Jellodyne @ Apr 20th 2006 10:03AM

It's a GAME... It's supposed to be FUN to PLAY. If it's such a dreary chore you have to get someone else to do it for you, or for that matter purchase gold or items to save you the HASSLE of collecting it yourself, you need to find a different game. Because that means the one you're playing ISN'T FUN.

Merus @ Apr 20th 2006 10:32AM

Those people who can't remember the name RuneScape: think of it as RunEscape.

I want to see an MMOG where exceptional player skill grants you accelerated levelling up. Or, even better, poor player skill gets you no XP and exceptional play nets you double XP. If you're casual, but awesome, no problem keeping up with the grinders, because to get anywhere you've got to improve.

You could take that further and put the real skill requirement onto items, so people who sell their characters or items for real money need to sell it to someone who's just as good if not better, or else it basically becomes a useless pile of crap.

Paul @ Apr 20th 2006 10:42AM

I just got to throw down for my Power Rangers. I'm 23 but I love em. I've watched since the original series, know all the names, actors, zords, the whole kabang. That is quality entertainment right there. And no one can say Jason David Frank doesn't kick ass.

P.S. Thanks to this article there are a ton of Google Power Rangers ads. Very funny.

John H. @ Apr 20th 2006 12:56PM

How big is Maple Story in the U.S.?

It's not small. I know at least two people who play it, one a lot. Since it replaced Neopets addiction in their lives, I get the feeling that it's of most interest to casual gamers.

In any case, enough new people are playing it, and want help with it, that it's been known to pop up sometimes towards the lower-end of GameFAQ's Top 10 FAQ Pages list. That's not iron-clad proof of the game's popularity, but it could be taken as indicative.

hikaru @ Apr 20th 2006 12:59PM

I work in the online gaming biz. I've played Maple Story. IMO it's good, innovative, and yes, repetitive like every other MMO (level-loot-grind), but still fun. It's more fun than any other Korean MMO I've tried, including L1, L2, Ragnarok, etc. The 2D perspective is very cool and lends itself to unique level design. It's like a blending of old-school platformers with MMO's.