This game is too hard

First, allow me to state that I am a long-time player of this game, pre-dating the BigBang. I have returned after quiting a long time ago and found that the game is a lot harder than it used to before.

Here are the very hard aspects that I found about this game:

) I needed to make 7 mules + 1 mule(because of a free character slot from an event) and I needed to level all of them to lv.120 just to unlock their link skills lv.2. Those characters are all trash and the only character worth playing is your own main(1 character). Could any of these characters have any use but link skills, character cards, and storage? We didn't had these so-called "link skills" before, hence there is no need for me to make these useless piece of scum mules and worse, get them all to lv.120 and one of the mules to as high level as possible for the blessing (just for an extra attack bonus). Link skills and character cards are just another added of heavy bureaucracy and red tape to this game! Without them, life in Maplestory is much easier.

) Leveling is so much harder right now. Let me get my facts straight! I needed to level all those mules that I mentioned to lv.120 and what is hard about it is it takes 4 to 5 days (of playing the entire day on each day, excluded are the amount of time for you to sleep without dying, and having your food thrice a day). It just takes that long and it is much easier before! Before, if you can just get to 70+, you can trade wins in GSPQ and be level 120+ in no time(a few PQ will get you to 90+, and you do the other higher level PQs and you get to lv.120+ in just a day). 4 to 5 days of playing the entire day on each day just to get to lv.120 on a single mule (and by the way, I still have many mules to level and get to lv.120!) is very hard to do and considering right now that leveling is so much harder. GSPQ is so much better than RNJ! Why? because RNJ have bad spawn (without a Kanna), bad exp (even at 2x exp event and 2x exp coupon on stack!), and the difficulty of finding a party because channel 1 is dead. Way to go! This game had forced me to level 8 mules to 120+ and leveling is this hard to get to 120+? 5 days/1 mule to lv.120 * 8 mules = 40 days(or 2 months). Look at this! 2 months of added bureaucracy!

) End-game equipments are now extremely expensive and unaffordable, not unless you are the Rothschild, Rockefeller, and the Watson(a Walmart magnate) of this game. I am opting for 70% traced full set of CRA and Fafnir Brionak(unique potted, 3 lines, I don't care if the lines are all crap); full Reinforced set, 1 HTP, 1 Solid Gollux Ring, all 70% traced unique(3 lines, I don't care if the lines are all crap). I did not even mentioned the sup gollux, tyrant set, and Sweetwater (even just clean). You know I will not be able to afford them but what I am talking about is the cheaper to farm clean set of equipments such as the RA and Fafnir just 70 percented and cubed to unique(which cost 100M+ in the FM just with the pot, unenhanced and unscrolled). I could never afford a single piece of any of these with 700M Mesos of cash. (I am talking about 70 percented unique piece of CRA/Fafnir with crap potential lines, no nebula, un-anvilled, which I think is not even godly and falls under the category of basic end-game equips for the unfunded, and yet, a single piece of these is beyond reach for a person of my ilk). Pre-BB, end-game equips are much cheaper than the price right now. I know that Meso value inflated but how come the rates of NX:Mesos still never changed? It actually dropped in favor of the Mesos (meaning, you get less Mesos than what you used to get before and you will put up with the inflation). I can afford end-game equips before (even 3 of those slots 15 percented and the rest are 60 percented), a good attack PAC, a good scrolled CZak helm + HTP, 15 att. SCG, 124+ att. PSB. What in this world happened right now? I could not even afford to buy a single piece of what I call a "basic end-game equips for the unfunded". Now that equipments are farther beyond reach, you can tell me that this game is a lot easier.

) It is a lot harder to make Mesos in this game so you can better gear yourself, now that the population in Scania dropped, the FM entrance is dead, and selling has been realigned to the FM shop. It is so hard to sell things right now without a shop, buying also is a lot harder without paying overpriced. You are forced to scavenge in this game like a vulture.

) Everything(atleast everything that is worth) in this game requires a SoK and PSoK right now! (That is 3.5K-4.5K worth of NX). Since NX = Mesos, consider this a "tax"(a very heavy tax!) if you wish to resell something or you wore something. That is why I am stuck wearing my own-made scrolled and enhanced Frozen/Pensalir set instead of wearing a clean CRA and Fafnir Brionak to dump money temporarily and throw those set away once I get the 70%. You can never wear an equipment(that requires a SoK/PSoK) that is never perfected, that will make that equipment untradable/untransferable forever(unless you are willing to burden the costs), and you are going to be needing services (such as cubing). Pre-BB, the only end-game gears that requires SoKing/PSoking is CZHelm and HTP, that's it! I couldn't care less about Scarlion and ZHelm(I can get to end-game level without those). Right now, the entire end-game equips that is in existence require a SoK/PSoK! Do you really expect us to make our own equips with 15 CSS failing before recovering a single lost slot? I do not think so!

In conclusion: This game had became a lot harder: a lot harder to level, more bureaucracies and redtapes (such as link skills and SoK/PSoK), harder to make Mesos, dead population(it matters because of RNJ, I actually recruit in the FM CH.1 because of this), and even a single piece of 70 percented cheap when clean end-game equips is impossible to get, nonetheless a full set of 70 percented. My DK pre-BB was already basically geared for end-game. The current DK that I have, could never afford a single piece of "basic" end-game gears. You can tell me that this game had became a lot easier with the frustration I am having now of leveling all of those mules when during pre-BB, it does not require me to level any mule. I did it so many times already and it is very hard to do it.

lv.130 Kanna, lv.123 Phantom, lv.120 Demon Avenger, lv.60+ Luminous, lv.10 Kinesis, lv.0 Beast Tamer, lv.0 Demon Slayer, lv.0 Xenon. Pre-BB, my guild will just BF leech it and I get to lv.120 in a day if these mules are even required. I am not having fun of how long it takes to do this and doing this over and over again like an idiot.

In RNJ, my party is two overpowered Kaisers, one Kanna, and my mule on 2x event. We still find the letter (even though we have a Kanna already), everyone is within level range, and we grind on the entire PQ time like animals, and the exp is still not good to get me to lv.120? 2 levels per PQ? are you insane? What is left is buy Winter Enjoyables for 5M each, SoK/PSoK the temporary event exp pendant and transfer it to this character, buy 2x Exp Coupon, to force stack these with that 2x, and ask a Priest/Phantom in the entrance for HS before starting the PQ. If these are not enough, buy 1 character slot and make a Mercedes mule for exp. Ridiculous! How long should it take in terms of hours to get to lv.120?