Classic World Founders Access Is Live, and So Are We

The servers are open. Founders access for Global MapleStory Classic World went live at 6:00 PM UTC on Tuesday 6 October, which was 8:00 PM here in Sweden, and two days in it is busy, the channels are full, and our shop has been taking and delivering orders since the first evening. Nexon's founders access release notes have the official detail. This post is the short version, plus what we are seeing from our side.

If you bought an Orange Mushroom or Zakum package, you are already in. If you did not, the free grand launch is on 21 October, and everything below is a preview of the world you will walk into.

What is actually in the founders build

Every character starts as a Beginner on Maple Island, the way it should be. First job comes at level 10 from the four familiar faces (Dances with Balrog in Perion, Grendel in Ellinia, Athena Pierce in Henesys, the Dark Lord in Kerning City), and second job at 30. The level cap for this phase is 100 and each account gets three character slots, so pick your main with some care.

Victoria Island is the whole map for now. Forgotten Hollow, the new area from the spring test, is closed during founders access, and Nexon says it will arrive later. The bosses on offer are Mano, Mushmom, Shade, Zombie Mushmom and Jr. Balrog, which is about right for a world where nobody is past second job yet.

Two new systems are worth knowing about early:

• Crafting opens at level 10. Six trades, from Smithing to Leatherworking, each with its own NPC and recipes that grow as you level the skill.
• Citizenship opens at level 12 in Henesys and Kerning City. Residents get cheaper cabs, cheaper storage and a discount on some general store items, which adds up faster than it sounds.

There is also a Modern key layout with WASD movement for anyone whose hands have moved on since 2005. We switched it on for about ten minutes and went straight back to the arrow keys. Old habits.

How busy it is

Busy enough that Nexon had to move things around on day two. On 7 October the release notes were updated to say that Kerning City Party Quest is now limited to channels 3, 4 and 5, "due to increased activity on Channels 1 and 2". If you have been standing next to Lakelis on channel 1 wondering why nothing happens, that is why.

That is a good problem for a classic world to have. Crowded channels mean parties form quickly, the Henesys market has buyers, and people are actually talking in town. The first week of a Maple world was always the loudest, and this one sounds the same.

When a new world opened back in the day, one of us used to spend the first night just walking between towns to see who was around. Nobody does that now, apparently, because everyone is already level 30.

Dates that still matter before grand launch

A few things run on a timer during founders access, all from the release notes:

• Founder's First Step runs until 20 October. Hit level 10, talk to Maple Administrator, and check in each day. Day one gives 5,000 Leaf Points as an exchange coupon, days two to seven give 1,000 each, plus potions.
• GM events run from 12:00 to 2:00 AM UTC on several nights (8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19 and 20 October). Talk to Paul in Lith Harbor. That is the middle of the night in Europe, so set an alarm only if you really want the Scroll of Secrets.
• Founder's Packages stay on sale until 14 October at 11:59 PM PDT.
• Grand launch is Wednesday 21 October at 11:00 AM PDT, free for everyone, and founders progress carries straight over.

Our launch day checklist still holds for anyone starting on the 21st. Skip the part about grabbing a name on day one, though: founders players have had two weeks of head start.

How our shop is running

We opened with the servers and we are up and running. Orders come in, the buyer adds mscollectors on Discord to agree a time, and then we send their character a party invite and a trade. That is the whole delivery, mostly within the window we list, and every order has a written record on both sides.

Classic's economy is young, so everything is quoted in K, thousands of mesos, and priced per 100K. That will change as the world gets richer. If you are new to how any of this works, our step-by-step guide to buying mesos for Classic walks through it, and the delivery guide explains exactly what happens after you pay. Prices live on the shop page, updated every hour from the going market rate, with a chart so you can watch them move.

One honest note, the same one we put everywhere: buying mesos is against Nexon's terms, and Nexon's FAQ says sanctions now apply to your main MapleStory characters too, since both run on one account. Our honest take on buying at launch is worth the ten minutes before you spend anything.

What we would do with this week

Get to second job before the 21st, because the free crowd will turn every level 30 map into a queue. Check in with Maple Administrator every day for the Leaf Points, even on days you only have five minutes. And run Kerning PQ on channel 3, 4 or 5, where the parties actually are.