MapleStory Classic Roadmap and Post-Launch Updates

Nexon has confirmed one thing about the MapleStory Classic roadmap, and it is a big one: Orbis, El Nath and 3rd job advancement are not in the launch build. They were playable in the second closed test in August, and Nexon's 21 August Ossyria Exploration Report, the video that also gave the 6 and 21 October dates, says they are being reworked and will be introduced gradually after launch. There is no month attached, and there is no published schedule for anything beyond that. So the honest state of play is: a staged release is confirmed, the first stage is known, the timing of the second is not. Below is what Nexon has said, what the tests showed, and our guess at the order, labelled as a guess.

What Nexon has actually said

Nexon's own description of the game, on the founders page, is that Classic World "revisits MapleStory as it was when it first launched, but with gameplay improvements, balance adjustments, and quality of life changes". "As it was when it first launched" is the phrase to notice. Global MapleStory in May 2005 was Victoria Island and four classes, and that is what the first closed test in April covered: Maple Island and Victoria Island, plus Forgotten Hollow, a new area Nexon added mid-test according to the April test notes.

The second test page lists what August added: 3rd job advancement, Ossyria with Orbis and El Nath, macOS support, controllers and more languages. Then the August report pulled Ossyria and 3rd job back out of the launch build. So the content exists in a playable state, and Nexon chose to hold it. That is a staging decision, not a "not built yet" decision, which matters for how soon it can come back.

What Nexon has not said, as of 14 September:

• When Orbis, El Nath and 3rd job arrive, beyond "gradually" and "later".
• Whether Ludibrium is in the launch build. It is not in any list Nexon has published for either test or the launch.
• Anything at all about 4th job or Leafre (see our 4th job post).
• A level cap. Testers in August reached level 100 according to the community exp table, but no cap has been announced.
• Any plan for seasonal events, or what happens to Classic characters long-term.

How other classic servers staged content

The pattern from other classic-style relaunches, across several publishers, is fairly consistent. Launch with the early game, gate the mid and late game behind timed phases, and space those phases weeks or months apart. Nexon has now told us it is following that pattern, at least for the first step. The economic reason matters more for Maple than for most games, and we get to it below.

For Maple specifically, the closest reference is how the original GMS rolled out between 2005 and 2008, Victoria Island first, then Ludibrium and Orbis, El Nath and Zakum, Leafre with 4th job, and Pirates last, each months apart and each one changing what the economy valued; our content timeline dates them patch by patch.

The one thing every staged relaunch has in common is that the first phase feels small. That is the point. Nobody needs Leafre in week one.

What we expect in the first three months

This is our guess, based on what has been tested and the old GMS order.

Launch, 6 and 21 October. Maple Island, Victoria Island, Sleepywood, KPQ and Forgotten Hollow. Four classes, first and second job. Mushmom, Jr. Balrog and the Victoria Island area bosses. No Zakum, because Zakum lives in El Nath and El Nath is held back. Whether Ludibrium and LPQ are in is the open question, and we would not plan a character around them.

The first post-launch phase. Orbis, El Nath and 3rd job at level 70, together, because they were tested together and Nexon named them together. Our guess is that this lands once a meaningful number of founders characters are pushing 70, which on the old exp curve is a couple of months in, not weeks. Zakum would come with El Nath or shortly after it.

After that. Ludibrium if it was not at launch, then a long gap, then Leafre and 4th job, or at least an announcement. How many months is a guess we keep in one place, our 4th job post.

We are more confident in the order than in any date. Nexon said "gradually", and we take that at face value.

Why staged release keeps the economy healthy

Old Maple's economy ran on scarcity. Ilbis were valuable because Ludibrium was new and few people farmed them. Zakum Helmets were the best hat in the game for years because there was nothing else. Chaos Scrolls mattered because the ceiling on gear was low enough that a good roll on a Work Glove was the difference between average and excellent.

If Nexon had dumped everything on day one, that scarcity would evaporate before anyone had built up the mesos to enjoy it. Holding 3rd job means level 70 is a real ceiling for the first phase, the Victoria Island drops keep their value, and the mid-game is worth something when it opens.

Staging does that. Each phase resets what "endgame" means, gives the current top players a new bottleneck to fight over, and lets prices for the previous phase's gear settle at something sensible. We saw it happen with Leafre in 2007: the day it opened, mid-level gear prices dropped, and everyone with a stockpile of Ilbis was suddenly holding the wrong asset. We were. We had bought eight sets on Broa and were quite proud of ourselves for about a week.

Whatever Nexon does next, our expected content timeline goes into the old order of things, and we will keep both posts current as announcements land. Until the next one, plan for a game that ends at level 70 for a while.