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I started playing Mabinogi in 2008. I took maybe a 3 month break after getting stuck at the "Elen's Request" quest in Bangor because I was a super noob. When I picked up the game again, I joined a guild and quickly had a group of friends, and I've never put the game down since. Then, each part of the game became something to work towards, even if it was just working towards getting past the pesky Goblins guarding the Iron Ore in Barri Dungeon for "Elen's Request".
I've enjoyed all of the content and events that the game has to offer, and I've enjoyed my time experiencing every aspect of the game. I've always been big on trying to fit everything in - dailies, leveling, building my gear for that Min/Max lyfe, fashionogi lyfe, training skills, doing the events, playing with friends, and more!!! There is just always something to do.
The reason I keep playing is not because I work on the game, it's because my love for the game started before I started my job at Nexon. (DREAM JOB - I MADE IT ヽ(^◇^*)/) I keep playing because there is always a new goal to meet, or an old goal that you're still working towards.. As long as you're enjoying your time spent in the game and are working towards reaching your own personal goals, whether it be a small goal or a large goal, it is just always very rewarding and satisfying.
The games makes me happy, and I always feel nostalgic about it through all of these years of playing. I'm always looking forward to what comes next!
LOVE,
MEWLYNNE
This game is so important to me, and I'm looking forward to reading all of your responses! (◠‿◠♥)
At one point I took a long break starting from G9 when they added Shadow Missions. I returned around the last quarter of 2013 and became very disillusioned with the game by the time I came back.. It's very strange experience to see Tarlach go from having a CH1 that is so full you can't enter the channel itself half of the time, and seeing (Busy) on the rest of the channels, to a server that was barely populated. This in addition to the sweeping number of changes to how combat worked and what people ran to enjoy the game ultimately made it difficult to adapt initially.
It was kind of like a grandparent trying to understand how to use technology at the time. I'd be like "Anyone want to run Ciar Basic?" a decent staple for exp and gold back in G6 or G7. And the kiddies would scoff "Just run it solo...? Shud be ez for even a new lv300 player." Every attempt to run something group oriented really made me feel down at the time because I'd either be too weak or it'd be content no one was interested in. The idea of soloing something combat oriented was almost foreign to me because I didn't see how that could be doable or fun.
But I still wanted to play Mabinogi. I longed for the old combat system and eventually started over on Alexina reluctantly. I say reluctantly because in the short term it felt quite painful to abandon a few years of work on my Tarlach character, but it was such a dead character in comparison I felt that I could ultimately catch up to it in 1/4 of the time it took me to get to where my old character was.
The decision payed off since it was much easier to find just random people to run content with like how it was in the old days of Mabi, but I never got to enjoy old combat again truly. So what originally drew me into Mabi was the combat system and how satisfying it felt to beat even just the simplistic AI of monsters with practiced strategies and tactics. That as well as the slow yet steady progression available. As long as you played you were progressing. None of the grind in a month to max lvl to actually enjoy the game stuff going on. This was still present and I enjoyed it greatly, but I still couldn't quite enjoy modern Mabi to it's fullest until I dipped into fashionogi.
Fashionogi was sort of around back in the day, but not with as many options or affordable outfits as we have nowadays. So the reason I ultimately never quit was because of Mabi's steady progression and fashionogi lol. And the art sub forum. Props to the artists who play. You guys are awesome.
Truly though, there are things I still love about the game. I love the combat style; there's a little bit of skill and strategy involved, and sometimes you can just hack-n-slash your way through things if you want. You can be an archer, a melee tank, a wise mage, or now a chain blader. With dungeons and shadow missions you can choose your difficulty; you're not forced to do the most difficulty for daily missions. You can pick a bit of a challenge or be lazy and go easy but still gain something from it. You can team up with other players from around the country, and even around the world, or who knows, you might meet someone living in the same state as you. Also, you're not just thrown into the skill at a 100% max performance, you have to work towards ranking that skill, to become stronger, and you can do it at your own pace. The quests are also pretty good. I wish they just went one after another and didn't have a mix of storylines together by quest tabs, as that makes it kind of confusing, information wise. I also wish skills weren't locked behind mainstream quests. We also need Hagi and Anju in another storyline... that was waaayyy to short and generic.
Not only is the combat system great, but the life skills are too. Look at the "recipes" for cooking! How cool is that?! You even get to read cookbooks to rank up your skills. Potion making and herbalism needs a cauldron, but hey, it's still great, I can pick herbs from my pigs back... Lol. I like carpentry and smithing and tailoring, all of the life skills. (We need another fairy event though, just saying...) Sheer my own sheep. Ahhhh!!! The pets, I LOVE the pets.... T-T I have too many... like... 50+? Oh boy. The ability to run around and play as your pet is great... I do wish we could use moongates though in a normal fashion when we're logged into our pets... The fashion of the game is pretty good too. Some things are creative, some not so much, but there are sooo many options, theres gotta be something for everyone out there....
I dunno, I love the game, and I hate how much time it takes up in my life. I'll probably stick around for awhile longer, and hopefully the game will continue on forever. Sorry if some of the order of things doesn't make sense, I thought of new things and didn't know where to add them to make sense.... lol. Oops.
Jazmyn of Ruairi (I play on a different character mostly...)
And back then, when there was the tutorial spirit weapon Eiry, it was cool to have a weapon give beginner advice especially if no one else was logged on or there weren't that many people available to help. Mabi also had some real world activities that gives some lessons to life, especially for kids such as part time jobs, and the responsibilities of doing PTJ quests.
There's a good balance of challenge and skillsets to balance out and what later became the talents where in the end, you may not solely rely on one skillset to progress. It gives a player a lot to work on and even though some people work hard and are already at the top of all their skills, there are plenty of players who have a lot they can still work on and that helps set up goals in the game.
The balance between dungeons and the field in Mabi I find quite enjoyable. Players have to challenge themselves as they cannot solely rely on farming the fields and players have to take to the dungeons and etc. to develop.
And it's not just combat skills that can help a player progress, I find that life skills and various crafting skills also help. And sometimes it also helps one get some income in the game or if they aim to make some useful item.
I enjoy being pretty laidback in Mabi as it is relaxing especially after a tough day at school/work and there are a lot of nice geographic features and locations that are good to relax at.
The freedom and balance of the game and how you can have a life of your own in the game is why I think I keep coming back to Mabi even though at times breaks are needed. It's like a 2nd home and that home feeling is why I think it's lasted so long and will have more fun and enjoyable years ahead.
Another aspect that keeps me coming is the deceptively complex market system and all of the ways you can earn wealth in the game. Owning a business and pretty much maintaining the finances of it in real life is fun to me, so being able to run a mini ~~Business Empire~~ in Mabi entertains me and see just how much gold I can hoard (Sorry that Dragon habit.) The fashionogi aspect of it always brings potential new things to buy and dye often enough always putting a new short term or long term goal to purchase. And events even though I don't participate in all of them due to my busy life and honestly I have priorotize which ones I will do in my limited time during the week are always appreciated. I have played games where we went a whole months with out events or an update of any kind.
Over all, the casual atmosphere, freinds I have made in game, and ability to do much more than just that 'leet raid
"end game" keeps me playing casually even in my adult years where I can't invest much time to games any longer.
(Become an adult they said, It will be fun they said)
A Mabi Dragon
What first got me interested in the game was the Lorna and Pan videos, which I first watched when I came across Mabinogi's website back when I was playing MapleStory.
Back when I first saw the game, my computer wasn't even up to the task of playing it (lol...), so I just kept rewatching the shorts and checking it out until I upgraded.
One of my favorite things was when I first made my character and saw the opening video.
I still love that video, it just fills me with nostalgia.
I also liked the combat and skill systems.
I thought it was really cool how you improved your skills through training them, rather than just hitting a level requirement and spending the skill points to get the next improvement.
Then there's the fashion side of things. Though I don't really have to update my fashion all that often, I like how you can really customize your characters looks and equipment in so many ways. You'd be really hard-pressed to find another player whose character looks just like your own.
As for why I still play after all this time...
I have a lot of good memories attached to Mabi, so it's easy to want to stick around.
Also, I just plain like the game.
That and I've got friends who play and like the game. A group of people to do things in-game with makes it even more enjoyable.
And I'm always looking forward to what's coming up in Mabi's future.
Especially when it's in the (hopefully!) near future, like when some old skills are finally going to be uncapped to rank 1, or when our Homestead houses get expanded upon in use and decoration.
Then you'll know why I keep coming back...
Lot to unpack here, cuz the forums plays a big role in my Mabi story.
Mabinogi was my first real MMO. I started on an Elf character in 2013 after a friend and I started to slowly drift away from some people we don't really talk to anymore. For a good couple of years, it was just the two of us playing the game, and honestly, I had enjoyed playing the game, and specifically with that person, so much to the point that Mabinogi was the only thing I did for most of my days. Eventually, though, I ditched my Elf character for a human on a different account for personal reasons, if you can call it that.
However, playing an MMO with only really one other person kinda... sucked. Whenever that friend wasn't online, something didn't feel right. Whenever I started logging in to the game knowing that friend wasn't online that day, the classic G18 piano theme became somewhat bittersweet every time I booted the game up. So we eventually joined a guild, became acquainted with a few people who really helped us, then set off to make our own guild during one of the Free VIP events.
Unsurprisingly, the guild never really surpassed 5 active members (heck, even one of the original five left the day after. I guess that's what happens when you go around just recruiting random people for your guild). One did stay with us however, and I still know them today. Very good person in my book. We were back in a position of "Heck, it's still really just the two of us", though. Yeah we had some friends but our time zones really conflicted with one another. It was around this time I became highly active on the forums under the guise of Sebastian from Black Butler. This is what would eventually usher in the Golden Ages of my time on Mabinogi. Through the forums I began to make some forms of relationships with others, most notably Promestein who would always bring up Grell in some fashion to counter my act as Sebastian (I know you're reading this, you heckin fool, I love ya).
There are some very pivotal things about my time on the forums that I can't really highlight on, because I'm pretty sure it's considered controversial, so I'll try to tiptoe around it as much as possible. Basically, a buncha forumers got added to a Skype group, me being one of the first few. Eventually familiar faces showed up, some I knew, and the group morphed a few times, with fewer and fewer people. And eventually, we reached what's basically still my ride or die group of friends.
I played with this group nonstop, and still do, for more than just Mabi as well. But Mabinogi will always be the place where we all met each other and became good friends. Since then, I'd say that my experience on the game has been hyper enhanced. So, in the present day, I've kinda kicked myself into high gear after a sort of break. I finally got my first GM (I'd been too lazy to actually GM Mage before) and a handful of other talents I can currently GM. I only have two more Magic Skills to dan, and I eventually want to become a Dan 3 Master of Magic Craft (currently only Rank 1 at 35% training) simply because I wanna help people and make neato stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
tldr; I play Mabinogi because Mabinogi is my home, and I don't plan on leaving my home. I met a bunch of people through it. I didn't have many friends growing up, so I'm very grateful for the people I've met, even if we don't still talk. Y'all are all my Mabi family, and nuthin gon be changing that anytime soon.
That's it, thanks for coming to my TED Talk and
sorry for a massive wall of textSince then, I've played the game an insane amount of time (without actually making much progress) and I'm glad I've found an MMO I didn't drop after a few weeks. The combat is engaging, especially since the knockback and the skills force you to be tactical in your approach to combat rather than just DPS through most enemies. Whereas in Lord of the Rings Online, I died because I could not inflict any damage on a wolf five levels above me, Mabinogi let me beat monsters stronger than I was, as long as I didn't get hit. Moreover, I was free to switch from punching stuff with brass knuckles to doing gun fu with two revolvers, and drawing my greatsword when surrounded.
Also, the game's appearance system (including height and weight) allowed everyone to look unique rather than selecting one of three presets for the face and being done with it. Of course, that was before I found out about the lack of beards for non-giants, which is vexing me more than it should. Nonetheless, Mabi gives us the chance to do pretty much anything with our appearance, including changing genders if we feel like playing someone else entirely. This made me feel like my character isn't just someone I play as; it let me play as myself.
In the end, the reason I play Mabinogi is that it offers what none of the ones I've tried offered: an interesting story, (somewhat) realistic fighting and a world filled with characters and players that are worth caring about.
I have made some really unique and long lasting bonds with other players on my server. Even though many of them have moved on throughout the years, sometimes they come back to the game and say hi and we instantly plunge back into talking about really fond memories (and sometimes they even stay around for a while to make new memories!) I consider the friends that I've met throughout the years on Mabinogi to be just as real as my real life friends. The community aspect of Mabinogi has always been so unique compared to other games games that I've played. Sometimes bad things happen within the community, but usually players come together to get through those times and it's always been that way from the day I first started playing until now. At this point, where lots of players are experienced and lots of us are adults, there's a great since of camaraderie among everyone.
I really enjoy the freedom of doing whatever the heck you want in Mabinogi and how some things are good for casual playing, and other things are pretty unforgiving and challenging. It's really up to the player to decide what they're feeling like doing on any particular day, and the game leaves the door wide open for you to go do it if you want to.
Now as to why I play?
I love the game still, even if I've gotten lazy and stopped caring about end game content. I've played this game nearly every day for all those years, if I recall. The most I've missed was around a week+ without logging on (hurricane took out power). Sometimes I leave the game on overnight. Sometimes I login for only a few mins.
I'm in too deep to stop now. I've invested too much time and money.
1) In a world where most MMORPGs are semi-clones of a select few original games, and most of them play out the same way with only minor IP-specific gameplay variations, Mabinogi has a number of unique aspects: the rebirth and skill system, the aesthetic, the storyline, and the overall open-worldness.
2) While Mabinogi does have many bugs and optimization issues and weird glitches, I've gotten used to them to the point where they do not bother me anymore. I've played the game so long that I'm able to simply bask in the nostalgia - it's been my home for a long time and I wouldn't just /leave/ my home.
3) The community. Unlike most games, Mabinogi (especially on my home server, Ruairi) has a very nice, tight-knit community, one that's so vast that the 200-character limit on the friend list is a real heckin' problem. I have so many friends on Mabinogi (product of playing for a long time)!!
My heart and soul belongs to MMO and not liking any of the other MMOs, I stick to Mabinogi. However, now more than ever, I'm strict on time and will be less likely to play as often.
Bring on more anime related crossovers!
I keep coming back to Mabinogi because, despite the many problems and lack of maintenance, I get addicted to the time-based hooks found throughout the game like items with expiration timers, daily chores (repeat quests, shadow missions, squires, festia, ptjs), and especially pushy events. Events are the most potent hooks, with the current O X event being by far the most time consuming.
As for things I like about the game, the (relatively) slow, thoughtful pace of close combat was my main draw along with the anime style. I like having the ability to get wealthy through the player market. I like the way we can advance skills with minimal grinding if we play smart. I like the tetris inventory system even though I feel we have too many superfluous items that clog it up.
I definitely love the freedom and customization that this game has. I love being able to dye clothes and wear anything without the usual level or class restrictions some other MMOs have. I love the pets, I missed them while I was gone and I brought ton more since I've been back. Cooking is definitely my favorite skillset though I love combat and just crafting skills in general. Fashion is probably my main thing I do, I love seeing everyone in different styles and outfits and colors and seeing how my own style on my character. The other thing that keeps me around is definitely friends, met some awesome people who made this game fun and want to stick around. Made lots of good memories and I'll be playing forever haha