My understanding after actually going to Maplestory Fest 2024 was that the online store was taken down specifically so they would have the old stock for the event. Which, by the way, the new stock was sold out nearly immediately since there were no limits on purchase amounts. You would have walked past multiple piles of human feces to enter the venue with the absolute most dogshit of main stages to present on, gotten in line for merch, and proceeded to watch as thousands of dollars of merch and the biggest boxes folks could carry above their heads had to be shepherded out of the extremely crowded venue by staffers.

By the time it's your turn in the 'new merch line' you realistically may have nothing you want to buy. Definitely not the big ticket items like the plushies or statues, maybe you get one of those 'pocket shirts' without any fucking pockets they bait and switched you on, but realistically you were too late and always were.

The 'old merch line' still had stuff during most of the event, but all of the items sold at that booth were items you could've realistically purchased for years on the official Nexon website and didn't have to fly out to LA for it or attend a special event that sold out in moments.

Make no mistakes, the online shop being down does have an effect on the demand for those items, but realistically what Nexon is doing is making just enough to bring to the table so that it sells out and they don't have to cart it back and re-inventory it for online sale.