Fidens

a long time ago Mabi was the best F2P MMO. but that was a long ago. it's still an okay MMO but i haven't enjoyed Mabi in years.

there were many things that made Mabi great but above all else i think the combat and leveling system is what made Mabi stand out. i also feel that the recent updates over the last 4-5 years are what ruined this. let me explain why i liked the combat and leveling system so much.

the combat is more slow paced, requiring a more tactical approach. this allows weaker players to take on stronger enemies as long as they can keep their wits about them. this is also what i feel that recent updates have ruined by adding new, faster paced skills.

the leveling system is rather interesting. it features a mechanic called Rebirth which allows you to reset your level to 1 and all the stats you gained from leveling up is also reset. you might think this mechanic is pointless if all your stats are reset however every time you level up you gain an ability point which you can use to increase the rank of your skills. you also level up faster at lower level so using the rebirth system often allows you to gain ability points faster. increasing the rank of your skills doesn't just make those skills better, most of them will also increase your stats and these stat increase are not reset when you use the rebirth system.

with the way these 2 mechanics worked it removed a problem i have with other MMOs. when i played Blade and Soul i was always playing it alone. it's an MMO so i want to be playing it with my friends but no, my friends who started out before me were many levels ahead of me and those that started after me progressed through the game much faster than me. because of this i was always alone and it's not just Blade and Soul, i've had this problem with other MMOs. i can't just ask higher leveled players to come to areas for lower leveled players just to hang out with me cause then they'd be bored by fighting underwhelming enemies, they'd gain nothing worthwhile out of it and because they'd one shot everything i wouldn't be able to do anything and i can't just go where they are cause then all i could do is just stand there contributing nothing till my level catches up plus i'd be skipping a huge portion of the game which is not something i like to do.

with Mabi's combat and leveling system i could feel like an equal with other players even if there was huge difference in how strong we were. while there were times i went solo i found that i played with others more often in Mabi than i ever did with any other MMOs out there. i wish more MMOs were like this cause i don't feel much like playing Mabi anymore. most of my friends barely ever log on anymore and when they do i don't think it's because they want to but rather it's because Mabi is mainly where our guild gathers.

when it first came out Mabi was ahead of it's time. but the times eventually surpassed Mabi and i feel it failed to keep up with the times. as it currently stands no updates could fix how bad Mabi has become. the past 4-5 years mostly feels like a failed attempt to do so.

a lot of people are probably gonna hate me for suggesting this, and i highly doubt it'll happen, but i honestly wish the developers would shut down Mabi and start over from scratch. making a modern, F2P MMO that has the same appeal that Mabi once had back when it was great. keeping an outdated MMO running when it feels like it's just getting worse and worse seems pointless.

this whole thing has been nothing but a complaint from me that's probably gonna piss off a lot of people and get a lot of backlash. for all of you who disagree with me let me make it clear. if you still like Mabi then good for you. it doesn't bother me one bit what other people like or dislike. my intent with this was to get people thinking about where Mabi's going from here on out and open up discussions about whether Mabi's getting better or worse? i've already made it clear what my opinion on that is.