[WELCOME] Information About The Game

[Konfig]

“Hear the call, from the big to the small - Fantasia welcomes you all!”​

What is Fantasia?​

Fantasia is the culmination of years of work, an emulation of v0.62* MapleStory with low rates.

We love old MapleStory, and we want to share our passion by providing an old-school experience that matches the memories we have from our youth, without the headaches brought on by modern tactics and loopholes.

By observing previous attempts to deliver an old-school experience, we have sculpted a unique and compelling gameplay experience that offers players of all calibers something new, yet delightfully familiar. Our goal is to provide gameplay that helps players enjoy every part of the game without missing out on key aspects.

We acknowledge that the original game was not perfect, and through careful alterations we have tried to steer clear of many of what we consider to be issues with old MapleStory. Things such as leeching and HP washing are a thing of the past.

We are passionate about preserving the intuitive simplicity of MapleStory, and therefore place the focus on character progression and core gameplay; watching your character grow, exploring the world, defeating countless monsters, and making lasting friendships along the way.

Although we recommend primarily thinking of Fantasia as being authentic to the vanilla game, we have taken creative liberties in order to improve on various aspects that we felt detracted from the old-school experience. You will find more details on this below.

* The game is running on a v0.83 client in order to support better functionality. However, efforts have been taken to preserve certain characteristics of the older game. From the perspective of a player, the game plays more akin to v0.62. However, we have pulled assets and inspiration from a plethora of versions, from both pre-v0.62 and post-v0.62 as well.

What are the rates?

EXP: “1x ~ 3x”, Meso: 1x, Drop: Custom, Quest: Custom

In Fantasia, the EXP rate is 1x. However, the rate of progression is not quite the same as in the original game. We offer a unique EXP table, and gameplay that slowly picks up speed as you level up.

There are two reasons for this change: firstly, most players don’t have the time that is needed to play the game at its original pace, and secondly, we find that a flat EXP multiplier leads to crucial parts of the game passing by too quickly. Our unique EXP table grants you a fuller experience of the early- and mid-levels, and simultaneously allows you to experience the later levels at a less agonizing pace.

The meso rate is 1x, and the drop rates vary depending on the item type. The drop rates are based on the original game’s rates, but have been modified to suit a smaller server population and the faster progression provided by the new EXP table. In general, the drop rate provides a challenging experience that grants you a great sense of reward upon finding what you are looking for.

In order to offer players viable, alternative paths through the game, the rewards of quests have been adjusted on a per-quest basis. Virtually every quest and party quest in the game has been fine tuned.

If you want a more thorough explanation of how the unique EXP table (or the EXP “rate”) works we refer you to the post below (click on the image).

Features & Functionality​

Our goal is to provide a smooth gameplay without hiccups that take you out of the immersion. We can proudly claim to emulate the functionality of the original game to a high degree. Quests, NPCs, pets, special items, job skills, visual effects, mini games, guilds, alliances, parties, monster behavior and monster debuffs, monster respawn timers, party quests, merchants, weddings, the monster book, medals, scrolls and special features all work in Fantasia.

If something doesn’t quite work yet, it’s our ambition to fix it. Please report such instances in this forum. Additionally, we have patched multiple client issues, and our well-rounded source code provides great performance!

No Leeching, No HP Washing & No Multi-Clienting​

Crucially, Fantasia is free of both leeching and HP washing. It is no longer possible to move Ability Points (AP) out of HP or MP using AP Resets, and players who do not actively contribute in combat will not receive Party EXP. Additionally, players will not be able to gain Party EXP from party members if their job and level difference is too great, regardless of if they actively contribute in combat or not.

The absence of HP washing creates a diverse and nuanced game where each class is given the opportunity to shine in different scenarios and in different ways. The metrics by which class performance is evaluated become more interesting, players must take care to avoid being hit by mighty foes, and it lends relevance to many party support skills, equipment choices, and scrolls. To this end, we have also modified the MP gain formula for all characters. The changes make it so that a character's INT stat does not provide additional MP on level-up. Since a large portion of magicians’ MP previously came from their high INT, we’ve devised a new formula that grants magicians MP based entirely on their level instead. These changes make LUK builds for magicians more viable, as LUK-magicians will no longer lose out on significant amounts of MP due to not investing into INT. Additionally, non-magicians will no longer have an incentive to pursue the infamous INT builds.

By removing leech, we encourage exploration of the in-game world, and invite players to experience the growth of their character, through their own hard work.

Finally, the practice of multi-clienting is also strictly prohibited. Players are allowed to operate only one account at a time. In order to enable players to experience and enjoy all the available jobs in the game, we have increased the default character limit from 6 characters per account to 15 characters per account (may be increased further in the future). We have also increased each account's default storage slot capacity to allow easier transfer of items between characters on the same account.

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Original 5 Classes​

In Fantasia, you can play as the original 5 Adventurer classes: Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Thief and Pirate. All classes have been balanced, and each class offers something charming, unique and useful!

Start out as a Beginner on Maple Island, and use your Ability Points wisely! Ability Points do not reset after level 10! Beginners must meet the following requirements to job advance:
Warrior: Level 10, 35 STR;
Magician: Level 8, 20 INT;
Bowman: Level 10, 25 DEX;
Thief: Level 10, 25 DEX;
Pirate: Level 10, 20 DEX.

No Pay-2-Win​

Donations serve only one purpose: to ensure the upkeep of the game servers and necessary protection against illicit users. Players who donate gain no in-game advantages or preferential treatment whatsoever; only credits with which they can purchase cosmetic items.

Party EXP Changes​

To encourage socializing and player encounters, partying has been made slightly more profitable. Active players receive bonus EXP for every monster they kill on top of the vanilla party EXP distribution. The amount of bonus EXP points awarded grows with the number of active players in the party. The bonus EXP corresponds to a bonus of +10% of the monster’s base EXP, per active party member.

Open World & Improved Maps and Mobs​

In Fantasia, the in-game world is a space which is free for all to enjoy. Players cannot claim or own maps, so anyone is free to play wherever they want, however they want. The in-game world is a bustling place inhabited by many fantastical creatures, and players are free to roam and explore, whilst leveling up their character, hunting for items, or completing quests.

We believe that the concept of map ownership fosters an undesired mentality of min-maxing and gamification of what should be a wholesome experience. Naturally, players are competitive, and to counteract the effect of crowding in popular maps, we have, and will continue to, manually adjust most maps and mobs in the game to be on as even of a level as possible, within their respective level brackets.

In short, we believe that MMORPGs are self-governing to an extent, and we trust our players to make use of this open world in a good way.

Traversing the world is by default authentic to the original game, by boat, train, or ship.

Cash Shop & Monster Eggs​

Cash can be obtained by voting for the server on Gtop100.com, and through slaying monsters. Occasionally monsters will drop a special Maple Leaf item, which upon entering the Cash Shop will be converted into Cash!

Cash can be used to purchase various cosmetic items, and usable items such as messengers, megaphones, safety charms, and many others. It can also be used to purchase special Incubators, which can be used to hatch Monster Eggs.

In Fantasia there is no Gachapon, but monsters drop Monster Eggs at a low rate. These eggs can be hatched using an Incubator to yield a reward. There are many different types of Monster Eggs, and monsters in each region will drop a unique, regional Monster Egg. For example, monsters around Henesys will drop Henesys Monster Eggs, which have their own, unique list of rewards suited to the area.

Higher Resolution Client (1024x768)​

Fantasia offers only one client, in the 1024x768 resolution. This resolution retains the classic 4:3 aspect ratio but feels a little less cramped on modern high-resolution monitors. Every map in the game has been lovingly revised to work with this higher resolution, including custom map objects and interior designs!

Revamped Equipment Crafting​

All equipment crafting recipes in the game have been revised to be more realistically accessible to players of all levels. Recipes for Pirate equipment have also been added. Low level equipment can be crafted using ores, instead of refined plates. It is also possible to turn refined plates back into ores. Screws can now also be crafted using ores. On top of this, crafting materials, including screws, processed wood and ores, can be acquired in new ways, and the drop rates of ores have been tweaked to encourage crafting.

Item Changes​

In Fantasia, select items have been changed, and some have been removed. This has been done in cases where single items rendered most others obsolete. Our changes bring relevance to a vast number of items and make for less linear gameplay.

For a detailed account of all the changes we refer you to the post below (click on the image).

Job & Skill Changes​

Much thanks to the absence of HP washing, only minor balancing changes to job skills have been applied. This feature, HP washing, heavily impacted the metrics by which class performance was judged. We believe in the original class designs, and that each class brings something unique, useful and charming to the table. Without HP washing we can let the original classes shine. The one divergence from this rule comes with the 4th job advancement for magicians, all three of which have received a moderate overhaul, to better match the gameplay of earlier job advancements, which we consider to be more dynamic and interesting.

The skill changes in Fantasia aim to revive underutilized skills for all job advancements by making them better, as well as slightly tweak the 4th job balance to even the playing field and rectify some of the original design flaws. We have written a whole post about this topic alone, which also covers the whats and whys of the 4th job magician rework, which you can find below (click on the image).

Client Changes​

In addition to the above, we have made some careful changes to the client to improve gameplay, without losing the charming quirks of old MapleStory.

Several skills have been fixed, and odd crashes due to memory leaks and overflows are a thing of the past. Furthermore, most compatibility issues and client errors have been ironed out, for a smoother gameplay experience.

The damage multipliers for different weapons types (Blunt Weapons, Axes, Guns and Knucklers) have been modified to even the playing field; you can read more about this in the thread about Item Changes.

Various UI elements have been altered, to preserve the aesthetic of old.

As a general rule we have been, and will continue to be, conservative when it comes to custom changes, in order to preserve that special and sometimes silly charm we know and cherish about old MapleStory.

General Feature List​

Below you will find some of our features listed. Note that the list is not exhaustive!

• Fully functional Party Quests! We have chosen to only make the following Party Quests available for now.
  • Henesys Party Quest (Level 10~200, 3~6 Players)
  • Kerning City Party Quest (Level 21~31, 4 Players)
  • Ludibrium Party Quest (Level 35~51, 6 Players)
  • Orbis Party Quest (Level 51~71, 6 Players)
  • Sharenian Guild Party Quest (Level 1~200, 6 Players)
  • Amorian Challenge Party Quest (Level 10+, 6 Married Players)
• Imported towns and areas! This list will grow over time, as we introduce more areas to the game.
  • Shanghai-Waitan (Level 15~50)
  • Thailand: Floating Market (Level 5~60)
  • Ximending & Night Market (Level 20~100)
  • Magatia (Level 30~90)
• All quests work! Various special functionality surrounding quests works as intended. From special item drops and quest item visibility, to timed quests and monster hunter quests for medals, it all works in Fantasia.
  • EXP rewards from quests have been adjusted across the board, to provide a satisfying questing experience.
  • 4th job skill quests work as intended.
• Pets work as intended!
  • Pet items such as Item Pouch, Meso Magnet, Magic Scales, Item Ignore Pendants, and more, work.
  • Pets turn into dolls and must be revived by Mar the Fairy in Ellinia, using Water of Life.
• All character skills work as intended, and their visual effects are properly displayed to third parties. This applies to critical hits as well!
• Visual Effects related to items, NPCs, reactors and special events work as intended.
• Equipment Crafting recipes have been reworked to be more accessible.
• Mini-Games work as intended!
  • Mini-Games can be hosted by any player outside of the Free Market.
  • Mini-Games (Omok and Match Cards) can be crafted using ingredients found from monsters.
• Guilds are fully functional!
  • Guilds can be created by assembling a party of 6 members in the Guild HQ, and paying a fee of 5,000,000 mesos.
  • Guilds can be expanded by paying a fee, up to a maximum capacity of 250 members, instead of the original maximum of 100.
  • Guild BBS, members ranks, and level-up notifications are fully functional.
  • Guild Emblems can be purchased in the Guild HQ.
• Alliances are fully functional, and support up to 5 Guilds!
• Parties are fully functional!
  • All party functionality is supported, including passing of Party Leader.
• Monster behavior, including debuff logic, is accurately emulated.
• Monster respawn logic is accurately emulated.
  • Special area bosses respawn at regular intervals (plus/minus some minutes), and are not affected by server checks or restarts.
• Improved maps and monsters!
  • A great number of maps and monsters in the game have been tweaked and improved. Some maps and monsters have been toned down.
• Hired Merchants and Store Permits are fully functional, and can be purchased from the Cash Shop.
  • The proceeds can be retrieved from Fredrick in the Free Market, and a portion will be deducted for every day they are not retrieved.
  • Taxes on sales have been simplified to a flat 3%.
  • Some Hired Merchants will notify the player when an item has been sold.
• Weddings are fully functional, and same-sex marriage is supported! Choose between a wedding in the chapel or the cathedral!
  • The invitation and gift-giving systems work.
  • Wedding Rings and their effects work, and divorces are possible.
  • Marriage will give the player permission to participate in the Amorian Challenge Party Quest.
• The Monster Book is fully supported! Collect rare monster cards, and fill your collection, piece by piece.
  • Visual effects, notifications and buffs associated with picking up monster cards are all functional.
  • Collecting cards for a specific monster gradually unlocks more information about the monster.
  • Monsters which lacked monster cards have received new ones.
  • Special rewards which grant bonus stats can be acquired by completing monster card sets.
• Medals are supported in the game, and can be acquired by completing various missions.
  • Medals have been made not to show underneath the character’s name or guild name, to preserve the simpler aesthetic of old. They can still be viewed from inside the character equipment inventory, and by clicking on a player and viewing their equipped items, and of course, they still grant bonus stats!
• And much, much more! Hop online and check it all out for yourself! Welcome to Fantasia!

Thank you for taking the time to read this introductory post! We hope your interest has been piqued, and we are very much looking forward to seeing you in-game!

Happy Mapling!
- The Fantasia Administration
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[Konfig]

The leveling pace in Fantasia feels different. Why?​

This is because Fantasia uses a unique EXP table, meaning that the only difference to the original game is the amount of EXP you need to level up.

When you create your character, you will level up at a rate identical to the original game. After level 10, you will require less EXP to level up than in vanilla. The EXP table reductions aim to keep the pace a little more consistent throughout the game.

The graphs below show the EXP required to the next level, relative to vanilla values

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These values correspond to:​

Level 10-50: Linear scaling from 1x to 2x progression rate.
Level 70-150: Linear scaling from 2x to 2.5x progression rate.
Level 150-190: Linear scaling from 2.5x to 3x progression rate.

Why a modified EXP table?​

1. A considerable part of the game’s content is clustered around the early levels. We wish to give players enough time to experience this content without fear of outleveling it. Additionally, the early levels made up the bulk of the experience for many in the original game. We’d like to slow this part of the game down and give it a sense of meaning, as opposed to it merely being an obstacle on the way to the endgame.
   
   
2. We believe that the original EXP curve was too unforgiving at later levels. Players of today are busier, and increasing the progression rate helps them maintain a steady pace through the whole game, making the late game more approachable for the average player. It also encourages trying out different jobs.

Monsters & Maps​

Our aim has been to provide a less linear character progression in terms of viable training locations. To this end, most maps have been tweaked in several iterations, both to ensure that no map outshines the rest, and that maps and monsters for all level ranges are usable. This has involved tweaking the spawn rates and spawn locations for hundreds of maps, as well as the HP and EXP values of many monsters, and in some cases also their attacks and skills.

The result encourages players to explore beyond what used to be the best training spots in the old game, breathes new life into a lot of content, and leads to a more varied and rich gameplay experience.

Maps and monsters will be continue to be tuned over time with the ambition of honing in on a well balanced game world.

Drops​

The drop table has been meticulously built up and balanced to ensure that items of all kinds drop at rates appropriate for their level, value, and optimal player satisfaction. The level of equipment and weaponry plays into their drop rates. Scrolls and mastery books drop at rates appropriate for a smaller playerbase, but which still make item and character upgrades convey a real sense of reward and accomplishment. The power of consumables are matched by their rarity.

In general, the drop rates remain low, but are more predictable than in the original game. There are fewer outliers, and we have put a great deal of thought into matching the drop rates of items with their power level.

Additionally, the changes made to various items mean that a wider range of items are truly relevant, giving rise to a more complex and less linear item progression. You can read more about this by clicking on the image below:

Begin your journey with an open mind!​

The leveling pace may feel different, but we suggest you take it easy and enjoy the journey. Create a character with a name that you like. Choose a job whose mechanics you enjoy. Play alone or with others. Take in the sights and sounds, and explore the Maple World as you did all those years ago.

With Fantasia, we have made design choices - sometimes deviations from the original game - in order to try to provide a more balanced experience whilst still preserving the simplistic charm of the original game.

Our goal has been to provide a well-rounded game where each level range, area and job is given the attention it deserves. Throughout the development we have tried to maintain the soul and spirit of the original MapleStory, without introducing unnecessary complexity.

 

[Konfig]

In Fantasia, you will find that some items have had their stats altered, others made untradeable or had their stack sizes changed, and some outright removed or made attainable in novel ways.

Below we describe most of the major changes made to items in Fantasia!

First up are weapon damage multipliers. Some weapons deal more damage when being swung, and others deal more when used to stab. What decides how much damage is dealt is a number called a ‘damage multiplier’. These numbers originally caused some weapon types to perform better than others. In Fantasia, the damage multipliers have been tweaked so that the unique characteristics of the various weapon types remain, but the playing field is leveled.

The defense stats (both WDEF and MDEF) have been completely reworked to be more impactful. In the original game, damage reduction was approximately linearly related to the amount of defense of a character. In other words, each point of defense roughly reduced incoming damage by 1~2. In Fantasia, weapon defense scales with the power level of the monster, so that you reduce more incoming damage from stronger monsters. As a result, high level equipment, shields, defensive skills, potions and scrolls become much more impactful, and the option of speccing for damage output or defense becomes an aspect worth considering.

The equipment selection in Fantasia has been revised to provide a better sense of progression. This means that some weapons have had their stats tweaked and others have been removed entirely.

The Maroon Mop was simply too powerful and has been removed to make the Beginner weapon choice less one-dimensional. The Purple Surfboard has brought the weapon into line with other similar polearms. The Sake Bottle has been tweaked to be competitive with some other Beginner-friendly weapons.

Additionally, new Beginner weapons have been added to the game!

The changes to Stonetooth Sword and Sky Ski bring the weapons into line with other swords under solo-play conditions, which revitalizes many Warrior weapons. With the changes to Blunt Weapon damage multipliers, the Crushed Skull became too powerful, and the changes brought it in line with other top-tier One-Handed Blunt Weapons. The Black Crystal Blade provides a sizeable boost to accuracy, a hard-to-come-by stat for warriors, and to compensate, its W.ATT stat has been decreased. The attack speed of Berzerker and Beheader has been improved to bring them in line with other Two-Handed Swords. To better keep up with their Spear counterparts, the lategame Pole Arms, Hellslayer, Zedbug and Dragon Chelbird have had their attack speed increased slightly.

When Elemental Wands (and Staves) were originally released, they radically disrupted the market for magicians' equipment. Their tremendous damage multipliers and zero LUK requirement left magicians with virtually no other option but to use them. We have removed these weapons in order to give other Magician equipment relevance - and we have balanced mages in other ways to compensate.

The change to Doomsday Staff’s LUK requirement has brought it in line with other Magician weapons. Finally, the Crimson Arcanon, together with its siblings, has been changed into a level 110 weapon and has been rebalanced accordingly.

The Bow of Magical Destruction remains a low-STR option compared to other bows in its level-range. The Crimson Arclancer has become a level 110 weapon, and has been rebalanced accordingly.

The changes to the Wristguard shields gives them renewed purpose. These shields now follow the trend of the later Khanjar shields in terms of giving the user bonus weapon attack. The W.DEF stat of the Khanjar and Dragon Khanjar synergizes with the improvements to the W.DEF formula, and makes them even more useful. The Kebob has been given a DEX requirement which roughly follows the trend of other daggers in its level-bracket. Neva was a bit too powerful given that it has no DEX-requirement. This change brings it more in line with Shinobi Bracer.

The legendary Zakum Helmet has had its stats adjusted to be more similar to those seen in JapanMS. While it remains a formidable and top-tier helmet, other endgame helmets can still compete with it in terms of primary stats. This lends some much-needed variety to the endgame helmet market. The changes to necklaces' defense stats were necessitated by the changes to the defense formulas. The changes to Mark of Naricain means the choice between it and the Horntail's Pendant remains interesting, each with its own pros and cons. The level 64 Maple Weapons have been removed, and will not return in future patches. The level 35 and 43 variants will be available during future Anniversary events! The infamous Bathrobes of Showa Town were too cheap, enabled easy mass-scrolling of a rare 10-slot item and provided too much utility for the price. We'd like to keep these iconic items around, and their +10 speed stat remains a welcome relief for new players, but we are removing their upgrade slots. The Crimson Arcglaive, together with its siblings, has become a level 110 weapon, and has been rebalanced accordingly.

Masteria, the land of quirky and lore-heavy items. Unfortunately, many of these items seldom saw use because of their lackluster stats. To breathe new life into the iTCG items, and to reward players for their crafting efforts, we have made significant changes to both the Taru Weapons and Glimmerman's Weapons, as well as improving many of the other crafting rewards.

Fiona of the Raven Ninjas can now craft 3 new types of weapons, each with its own normal, Dusk, Dawn and Night variant, all exclusive to Fantasia. The Night Raven's Claw has received a DEX requirement to maintain balance between DEXless and DEX-based builds (its DEX requirement remains lower than the regular Casters, however). The Night Raven's Wing has had its weapon attack decreased to be more in line with other Swords given its attack speed.

We've imported many rare and forgotten items from all period-appropriate regional versions of the game. Some of these can already be acquired in various ways. Others will be made available in future updates. You'll have to play the game to find out how to get a hold of them!

Consumables such as potions and food have in places been slightly tweaked to provide a more sensical balance.

The changes to Heartstoppers, (Unripe) Onyx Apples, Naricain’s Demon Elixir, Ssiws Cheese and Subani’s Mystic Cauldron aim to reduce the number of these attack potions a character can bring into battle at once. This prevents endgame content from being too easy.

We've removed the percentage-based potions from the vendor in New Leaf City, as they were simply too powerful. Additionally, we've balanced the prices of some other potions that were out of line with the rest of the game's potions.

The removal of the White Scroll is a rebellion against modern game-design. It is an embrace of the randomness that was core to the games we remember from the old days. While this does not provide players with a guaranteed and safe path forward, we believe it makes the game and its market more dynamic and interesting.

The removal of the Chaos Scroll enables a lot of other equipment to be relevant, along with many otherwise neglected scrolls. It also makes the balancing act of items easier and more predictable.

Finally, until further notice, Dark Scrolls, as well as the Auto HP & MP Potion Pouches, Binocular and Wing Boots are not obtainable inside the game. They may however be introduced in the future, either in their vanilla state, or re-balanced.

 

[Konfig]

Our goal with the skill changes listed below has been to achieve a balance between the classes, without giving rise to the power creep that the game saw between 2007 and 2010 through incremental buffs to various skills. This necessitated changes for classes which were originally poorly balanced, but as we wish to preserve the gameplay and feeling of the original game, we have proceeded with great caution. Our goal is not to re-invent the old game, but rather to present it in a way that can allow it to endure the passage of time, without degenerating into linear gameplay with very fixed metas.

In addition to their skill changes, magicians have also received an improved damage scaling in the late game, to allow them to remain effective in combat even without being able to spam their ultimate skills (Blizzard, Meteor Shower, Genesis). Previously, the majority of magicians' late game damage output came from investing skill points into their attacking skills, while additional investments into INT, LUK or Magic Attack did not play as big of a role.

With our custom changes, late game magicians will find that investing into their equipment will pay off, just like for the other jobs.