Hello.

This time, the keyword is Marathon Online, and I wanted to write about the kind of content that feels a little more meaningful once you have spent a long time with the game.

As a live service game, MapleStory receives regular monthly updates, and with them come new events. The basic framework of staple content like coin shops and attendance events tends to repeat, but the themes and smaller details are changed each time on a regular cycle.

Players who have stuck with the game over the years have probably kept at least faint memories of these things, and because there is an event built around making use of those old elements, I found myself looking back on what that history has looked like through it.

An event that lets you trace past events: [Tower of Dimensions]

[Tower of Dimensions] first appeared in November 2024, and its format revolves around avoiding difficult obstacles as you climb to the very top, and, with this latest addition, descend all the way to the bottom as well.

Since the rewards are limited to a medal and title without options, quite a few players have no real interest in it at all, and in my case as well, although I gave it a fair try, it ended up being an event I eventually abandoned.

Even so, if we set aside the obstacle-course aspect itself, what makes this event appealing to me is that the map is built out of elements taken from past events, just as mentioned above.

Of course, for those actually attempting the challenge, these elements can only feel like obstacles, since the process itself is rather painful, but when viewed from the outside they are surprisingly striking, so I wanted to add some related notes based on that. This post is written with Stage 2 in mind, since that section deals with the more recent elements.

2023 New Year Event [Wongstaurant]

The first thing you see at the very bottom is the [Wongstaurant] event, which was themed around Fairy Wongki appearing as a chef. The plump-looking vegetables were the monsters from [Wave's Challenge Week], the Punch King event that was running at the time, and even now they still look pleasantly full and memorable.

At the time, the event changed once per week, with things like Gold Rich's Secret Safe, an event that granted the effect of Extreme Growth Potions, and EXP mini-game events being held in turn.

Among them, the one that was probably talked about the most was [Fairy Wongki's Greeting Week]. You needed 300,000 participants to complete attendance in order to receive an Extreme Growth Potion as the final reward, but in the end that target was never reached. There was a good deal of discussion over whether that was because it required extra attendance rather than completing automatically. Looking back now, the fact that an Extreme Growth Potion sat at the end of that reward track really does make it feel as though the game has changed quite a lot since then.

April 2023 Event [Spiegelmann's Strawberry Farm]

This was the event where those now-familiar strawberries first appeared, beginning as a standard strawberry farm and eventually settling in fully as Golden Strawberry Farm and Mekaberry Farm.

At the time, instead of tickets, you collected Fertile Soil and used it in essentially the same way.

20th Anniversary Event [Mapril Island]

This was the 20th anniversary event built around the space known as Mapril Island, and what made it especially memorable was the way it drew on elements from past anniversary events throughout.

One of its event components, [Mapril Memoria], took the form of a museum and handed out nostalgic items such as Maple weapons that had previously been released as event rewards.

Not just basic equipment like Snowboards and Ice Bars, but even items like these could all be obtained through the event.

The Zakum and Balrog that appear in this section were the bosses of the mini-games [Dungeon Blast] and [Frozen Blast] respectively, and because they were designed with that old MapleStory feeling in mind, they were received fairly well. Since this was also before Maple Land had officially opened, I suspect that only added to the response.

June 2023 Event : [Identisk]

Identisk Island, the main event of the NEW AGE update, was a region located in Grandis and the first event directly connected to the main story. From this point onward, the game began actively advancing the main story through event content.

The elements that appear in this area are [Eden Aqua Adventure] and [Tisk Tropical Adventure], which was an EXP mini-game. It followed a mini-game event format similar to [Dungeon Blast] above, and that same approach would be used several more times afterward. This was also the event after which the MapleStory director changed.

September 2023 Chuseok Event : [Halfling Autumn Outing]

[Halfling Autumn Outing], which served as the 2023 Chuseok event, was centered on the residents of Leafre.

The red lunchbox that appears as a platform, unlike the yellow lunchbox that gave a guaranteed reward, offered rewards on a chance basis if you chose it. Because of that, players even split into a yellow camp that preferred safety and a red camp that chased dopamine.

The rather intimidating monsters that appear here were the bosses of [Forest Blast], another mini-game built in a format similar to the ones shown earlier. As before, it was divided into four classes with different roles depending on the type of dragon, so I remember cooperation being quite important.

Basically, you entered by choosing one of four dragons, but there was also a chance that the Black Dragon would appear instead of the one you selected, letting you experience its notably stronger performance. I never got it myself and only watched from the side.

Winter 2024 Main Event : [Dreaming Lachelein]

The [Dreaming Lachelein] event, which served as the main event of the [DREAMER] update, had Lucid appear somewhat unexpectedly at the time and take the leading role. Compared with the current Change Burning, the pixel art feels markedly different.

The side events were also filled with Lucid-related elements. Looking back from the later [A Page in Memory] event, this now feels like something that was done in advance as part of bringing the commanders back into focus one more time.

April 2024 : 21st Anniversary Event [Victoria Cup]

The [Victoria Cup], which was the 21st anniversary event, was built around the basic concept of forming teams divided into Warriors / Mages / Archers / Thieves / Pirates. The uniforms also turned out quite well and were charming in their own way.

Alongside it, the Nexon 30th anniversary event was running as well, and collaborations with other Nexon games were carried out through mini-games.

A total of four collaborations were held: [Squirrel Extermination Mission], a collaboration with Baram; [Maple Soccer Online], a collaboration with FC온라인; [Maple Racing], a collaboration with KartRider; and [Fight! Return of the Legend], a collaboration with DNF.

June 2024 Event : [A Page in Memory]

[A Page in Memory], which served as the main summer event, stood out for expanding the past stories of Hilla, Arkarium, Von Leon, Suu, Orchid, and Will among the Black Mage's commanders. Aside from Magnus and Will, who would also go on to appear in Grandis, these are characters who in truth no longer have much place in the main story, so it felt almost like a final farewell to them as characters.

Those past stories were received fairly well because they gave the characters more dimension. If you are interested, you can watch them by clicking the Commander's Book in the Dimensional Library.

June 2024 Event : [Tirnog Blueprint]

Lastly, in the main summer event from two years earlier, Gove, who has also appeared in the more recent story, took the central role.

The red robot visible in the background served the same role as the earlier red lunchbox.

If a new season of [Tower of Dimensions] appears in the future, I think these kinds of details will be worth looking forward to again. Thank you for reading.