Mikin

[PP_MSU @4521mmm]

Why did NEXPACE switch to a mixed prize pool of NESO + Power Crystals? Here's my hot take on the economic model in MapleStory N 🧵👇

1. Why switch to a NESO + Power Crystal mixed prize pool?
What the official team is truly controlling has never been “how much money to give players,” but the health of the economic loop.
a. NESO is the currency with the highest inflationary pressure:
During the Hard Lucid period, fixed large amounts of pure NESO were essentially the official team printing money and dumping it into the market. Players used it to buy gear, enhance, or speculate, further driving up prices. Now, converting half of the rewards into Power Crystals means turning half of the rewards from “directly circulating money” into “materials that must be consumed on enhancements.”
b. Power Crystal is a strong currency sink
Forcing players to use Crystals for enhancements keeps the enhancement costs of popular gear at a high level, indirectly supporting completed gear prices and increasing their circulation. This is a win-win for the official team — they can distribute rewards that “look bigger,” while channeling money back into the enhancement system and reducing large amounts of NESO being cashed out through the exchange. This prevents MapleStory N from turning into a pure numbers-based money-making business.
c. Expanding participants from 12 → 27
This is not simply increasing the prize pool, but expanding the “player tier that can receive rewards.” Previously, only a small top-tier group could share in the 500M-level rewards. Now mid-to-high tier players also have a chance at 250M-level rewards. This helps activity levels, guild organization, and bossing motivation — especially important when the game enters the mid-game stage, where the official team usually prioritizes players who can keep playing consistently but haven’t reached the absolute top yet.

2. “Since Hard Lucid launched in February 2026, 6 months have passed, player spending has doubled, yet the prize pool has barely changed” — Is this reasonable?
From a player’s perspective: Unreasonable, and it feels lacking in sincerity.
From the official economic design perspective: Reasonable, and almost inevitable.
The reason is simple:
a. In the early game (when Hard Lucid first launched), rewards needed to be relatively generous to incentivize players to push combat power, spend money, and form a functioning market.
b. Once the game enters the mid-stage, overall player purchasing power rises significantly (my CP went from 10M → 36M, and the gear prices I purchased jumped from the 10–20M range to the 100–200M range).
If the official team continued using the same or even higher pure NESO prize pools, it would cause severe inflation, uncontrolled prices, and ultimately hurt everyone (including the top players).
c. Therefore, the mature-stage strategy is usually:
keep the surface reward numbers flat or slightly increased, while starting to tighten the actual “pure liquidity” given out, and use more “conditional rewards” (like Power Crystals) to guide player behavior. This is not the official team becoming stingy — it is a typical signal that the game is moving from the “player acquisition phase” into the “balance control phase.” Many long-running games (including classic MapleStory) make similar adjustments at this stage.

Pros & Cons of this approach (Official perspective) ✅Pros:
a. Enhancement prices are supported
The completed gear won’t crash too quickly just because the enhancement costs are too low.
b. The reward structure becomes more purposeful, rather than simply throwing money around.
c. More players can share in the rewards, increasing the sense of participation among mid-to-high tier players.
d. Official actual NESO expenditure has barely increased, keeping the risk under control.

❌Cons (and what many top players are feeling):
a. Top-tier players’ sense of relative return has clearly decreased.
Their investment of time and money has grown several times over, yet the rewards for the highest-end content have barely grown correspondingly.
b. It easily creates the feeling that “the game is entering its mature stage / the official team is starting to tighten,” which can affect long-term expectations.

My overall take:
This adjustment by the official team is essentially using lower real costs to exchange for higher system activity and economic stability. From their perspective, this is what a mature-stage game should do.
From the perspective of deeply invested players (the big spenders), it does feel like “not enough sincerity.”
However, reducing the proportion of pure NESO distributed and shifting toward exclusive materials needed for combat power growth (Power Crystals) is a way of extending the lifespan of the game’s content. Looking back at MSU’s weekly burning tokens, which have been steadily increasing over the long term, this direction is correct. Keep it up, NEXPACE!🚀
#DearMSNDiary @MaplestoryU

[Mikin @MikinFPS]

@MaplestoryU Sadly Will out of my reach. I hope this exp event makes it easier to hit 235 so I can at least attempt easy will

[Mikin @MikinFPS]

@MaplestoryU Road to 235, maybe can fight Will one day. Hope these exp is good ... feels forever to level up now... only people with no lives can reach 250.

[Mikin @MikinFPS]

@MikoNeko @MaplestoryU HAHA, goal is 235 for me - 700 bil exp now cant imagine those without 520%+ exp like me grind like.

[Mikin @MikinFPS]

@MaplestoryU Is this a check to see which class should be nerf next patch? I also think shadower should be nerfed to OP.

[Bybit Plus @BybitPlus]

📣 Introducing Bybit Megadrop, your new go-to for early token access. Lock in $MNT or $USDT for SHARDS to earn from a pool of 60,000,000 $SHARDS.

Start farming airdrops the smart way!

Megadrop: https://t.co/Q9clz46dC2
Learn more: https://t.co/w0YljT3uXd

[Mikin @MikinFPS]

@WorldShardsGame TGE Woot

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

🔥 It's shaping up to be a purrfect August! 🔥

The last month of summer in WorldShards is going to be a hot one and it’s all leading up to our TGE! Don’t miss a thing, adventurers! 📅

Here’s what’s coming:

🔸 August 11 – New friend arrives! 💼
Mysterious stranger might visit your Home Island while you're exploring the Wild Islands. They're bringing some very interesting offers… Get ready for a surprise visit!

🔸 August 15 – Rewards for our early supporters 🏅
To all our early players: thank you for being with us from the start! We’ll reveal special rewards to show how much we appreciate your support.

🔸 August 15 – Final minting & feeding of your Murrmic 🐱
This is your last chance to mint and feed your Murrmic!
🔹August 20 – Those who have taken good care of their cute companion will soon be able to meet them in the game.

🔸 August 18 – Adventure Board Airdrop reveal 📩
You’ve been asking about it – and the time has finally come! We’ll reveal all the details about the Adventure Board airdrop and how to get your rewards.

As you can see, August in WorldShards is shaping up to be hot, thrilling, and truly unforgettable. And this is just the beginning.
Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing all the details in upcoming announcements! 🚀

[Mikin @MikinFPS]

@WorldShardsGame LFG

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

Adventurers!
To ensure everything runs smoothly ahead of the upcoming TGE, we're launching a quick test run! From 11 August, 12 UTC to 15 August, 12 UTC, a Proxy Token will be dropping in adventures! Before the TGE, $SHARDS Proxy Tokens will be used instead of $SHARDS. Proxy tokens function the same way and will be exchangeable for $SHARDS once the TGE takes place.

Charge your collectible items, activate the 'Attraction Force' effect, and explore Wild Islands! ⚔️

For full details, check out our Wiki – https://t.co/L5HFuTKZYt

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

Someone’s near your Home Island…👀

From time to time, Traveling Merchants may find their way to your Home Island. These guests don’t visit everyone – only the most active and fortunate adventurers can hope to meet them.

This time, rumor has it they’re bringing something truly special – the Mysterious Visitor Box 🎁

👉 Learn more about who the Traveling Merchants are – https://t.co/VilL0E6Fb0

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

🔥 ONGOING EVENTS 🔥

🐊 Swamp Spirit Contest
Make a 1-min swamp video (by July 31)
🔗 https://t.co/zSesmi1jWJ

🎀 Jane is back!
Collect Amber Ribbons & merge artifacts (until Aug 26)
🔗 https://t.co/bX6InJmUH2

😺 Mint your Murrmic!
Magical pet + rewards (until Aug 15)
🔗 https://t.co/Ng6nu0GBaS

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

In case you missed it…👀

We wanted to highlight Andrei’s words once again regarding the TGE and the countdown timer – just to make sure everyone’s on the same page.
Big things are coming, and we’re moving with intention and care.

👉 You can read the full message here: https://t.co/FBOCpPsWmp

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

We’ve successfully joined the BNB Chain! 🎉🎉

Big thanks to the @BNBCHAIN team and our passionate community for their support of WorldShards! 🔥🔥

Follow us so you don’t miss the latest updates on the game!

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

The long-awaited rewards are almost here, but there's still time to get a legendary pet! 😻

Make sure to feed your Murrmic before the August 15th to get yours!

After that date, minting and feeding will be permanently closed and prizes will be distributed across live Murrmic owners.

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

The announcement you've all been waiting for 🤩

All the details will be unveiled while the timer expires, so stay tuned!

👉https://t.co/FOlI9GSWrd

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

WorldShards will join the BNB Chain! 🔥🔥

Our team is excited about reaching this major milestone ahead of full scale economy launch! 🤩

We’re continuing to actively work on the WorldShards — stay tuned!

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

New chain for Murrmic — Arbitrum!

How's your Murrmic doing? Hope you're not letting it go hungry! Everyone else — now’s your chance to get a Murrmic on Arbitrum!

What do you need to do? 🧐
1️⃣ Add the Arbitrum network to your Metamask wallet
2️⃣ Go to the Murrmic website https://t.co/uFYXKHgL7M
3️⃣ Click the "Connect Wallet" button and select the Arbitrum network

‼️You can’t own Murrmics in different chains on the same wallet.

We've laid it all out in more detail in our updated wiki 👉 https://t.co/JNBv5cucsH

You can read all the conditions for minting and feeding in the table! 😌

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

Big News from Meowtown! 📝

While meowkles are preparing the latest update, get familiar with the Catolyst!

Catolyst is WorldShards’ premium currency, obtained by exchanging $SHARDS Proxy Tokens or $SHARDS Tokens at the in-game vendor Catolyst Supplier – Mr. G at a 1:1 rate in Meowtown, or by trading between players on Open Loot. It replaces direct token spending and helps stabilize Web3 gameplay costs.

Purpose of Catolyst:

🔵 Crafting Collectible Equipment
🔵 Increasing Rarity of Collectible Item
🔵 Improving the "Luck" parameter
🔵 Processing Rifts
and others

More information about the Catolyst can be found on our wiki - https://t.co/QUOGkWR4Ii

Find Mr. G in Meowtown and strike an advantageous deal! 💯

[WorldShards | Wishlist on Steam @WorldShardsGame]

Surprise Box #2 is Here!
All items have been completely refreshed, bringing brand-new NFTs for you to share with your community!

📌Quick Reminders:
1️⃣ All Ambassadors can request up to 10 boxes per week
Guide: https://t.co/eDKSq001uY

2️⃣ Each participant can win only 1 box per week – a 7-day cooldown starts after each win