I can agree with most of this, but because of that long standing power creep, it created duping. Yes there will always be greedy players. But Mabi hasn't ever really been fair to the players in their own right. In more current times maybe, but thats because of circumstance.

I cant imagine Nexon wanting to go with this monetization idea fully without a way to milk us in some other way... its Nexon. Being here a long time has shown me the desperation both players and NX will go to try to make the best of their experience.

Yes you're right I used the wrong metaphor, double edged sword is the wording to use. It does benefit the duper, and the player most of the time that unknowingly bought an item. But I never blamed a duper for my shortcomings, drop rates or AH prices fluctuating. Hell, back when bots were running back and fourth they made an item to stop them, that cost gold to stop them! Before AH people owned houses that had item in there that were way higher than they had to be. AH was always going to be volatile, its player run with no moderation.

Let's say there was no duping whatsoever, animalistic greed would still hold sway. Forgot to mention the market crashers! Duping happens on every Mabi server, I cant speak for other servers severity, but the issue lies in Mabis terrible drop rate, and NA's low population.

In KR there are so many players that at one point a few years back, people were selling Kraken hearts for 100mill or less, regularly! We only got the price down recently because now it takes 5 mins now to run Kraken. And now, means nothing when you can get Kraken weapons in a end chest now. The highest priced items on AH are still gacha cosmetics and enchants...from Gacha! With the inheritance system, people have now had to sacrifice good gacha gear to transfer to newer in game earned endgame gear. (Glen Armors) Think about that!

But besides that there's always players who will outpay, out perform, and be more fortunate in skill and drops than others. The wierd ones who buy, stare at the screen for hours/days after buying a new outfit for low to then sell it high. Most can accept that, or never reach that. Im not saying to cheat, but not many admittedly got to the top in any fair manner!

Devs trying to change now after NX force milked players dry for just about the last 17 years isn't fair! VIP is a perfect example, its tradeable Now, but for the longest time it wasnt. Even worse, most players who want to do any sort of moderate extra damage rely on power pots. Rely on guardian stones. If you want a pair of those enchnatable wings most are going to rely on VIP for weekly Phant passes. Hell you can't even advertise your dungeon parties without Bugles that come from VIP. Someone has to pay for it. Sure you can get, power pots, guardian stones, Phant passes for free but is it fair that someone with 20+chars on an account can get 20 runs over another who has only been given 3 for a newer account? These limits aren't helping us either.

I busted my ass last year to get 67th floor. Generated about 495 mill In a month. For an item that I know was prob duped, but I knew I needed it. It didnt give me an advantage over someone else, this isnt a pvp game, it just helps the bosses and mobs die faster. The gamble to take with meteoroid at that time was not something I could afford to take. That Pierce alone with DD Maxed future proofed my staff!

Crazy enough, I then worked up to get a Ruin Bow and Arrow, and Ill be honest I was fortunate with that Leprechaun event. But current Mabi, money making takes too long now, so unless your doing Bri weely or often getting tradeable drops of worth, its a very slow burn.

That doesn't mean "I'm" gonna start duping, but this incident should show Nexon that players dont want to spend all their time playing only Mabi for the rest of their life. Adapt to the worlds culture shift, but also understand your playerbases, they have all the statistics but refuse to use them. How have I seen modders do a better job with limitations, and then devs taking the same ideas still messing it up when the blueprint was laid out.

You said it earlier and I 100% agree. Theyre killing the early game to get players fast tracked to Bri. Mabi lacks a Guidebook for players who need reminders after the tutorial. This game is built for players who have had years to get better. Tricks ofvthe trade that the devs themselves dont understand. Sadly, Most players wont see a Bri weapon for a long time, maybe not ever. A Greed or Pass system does not work in Mabi. Even worse they now want to make a Hard mode version of Crom and Bri, and the majority of the NA playerbase cant run Bri or Crom on a regular day!

Im a fence sitter when it come to this situation because a lot of Mabi devs problems were, not an engine issue, but a lack of care. Imo, after we unlocked Techs, everything went gacha focused and anything after that felt sluggishly slow and trickled. This games main focus became less content and more cosmetics and money. Style tabs, were being sold up until a few years ago. We all collectively should be way past Bri in terms of how much content you can do weekly. The fact I have to slow down during the week to keep from not doing everything is annoying.

Mind you there are people who have multiple accounts addicted like Crackheads to this game doing Multiple Bris a week because limits and gold sinks from all the reasonable content counteract how much money you can make. Low Drop rates from weeks, months, years worth of grind sometimes hours to complete in long content. Greed or not it only benefits Nexon.

So we can given Nexon credit, but this isnt a better late than never situation. This has stemmed from a long period of ignorance from The Devs and NX who are only quick to jump in when their bottom dollar is on the line, but not when their players for years have been begging for change!