MapleStory's World's First Level 300 Didn't Actually Happen

The supposed historic moment for MapleStory with the world's first Level 300 didn't actually happen as renowned MapleStory player Niru just stopped at 99.993% before completing the said milestone.

Hitting The Brakes Near The Finish Line

With more or less 20,000 pairs of eyes watching the stream, Niru was inching closer to the current max level cap of Level 300 in MapleStory during his approximately 46-hour-long stream grind back on Twitch last April 26, 2024. MapleStory itself even acknowledged the imminent milestone as they promoted the stream in their socials.

However, Niru then went on a rant midway through that stream which eventually led to his decision to stop the max-level grind to Level 300, a grind that he described as happening for far “too long” in his Frequently Asked Questions part of his Twitch bio. The reason for that? He felt upset about the game's status quo.

Niru, who has been playing the game since 2006, has been grinding max levels in MapleStory just for the sake of it, just like when he hit the max levels caps when it was just in Level 200, 250, and 275, respectively.

Prior to the near-Level 300 moment, he gauged that he would be able to reach Level 300 just before 2024 ends, which he could have done much earlier than scheduled this year if it were not for his decision to abruptly end the grind.

So Close Yet So Far

During his rant on stream, Niru criticized Nexon, the publisher of MapleStory, for all the shortcomings of the game.

In one of his uploaded YouTube videos, Niru expresses how he thinks reaching the milestone might overshadow the issues that plague MapleStory.

“I am very sorry, but I just don't want to do anything because I feel this needs attention and anything I do will take away from it, which is why I decided not to level up,” Niru states in his YouTube video's caption.

Given the situation, he admits he feels sad about not finishing his year-long grind but remains steadfast in his decision to step away from the grind.

“I am very sad over this, and [I] worked very hard to build up a Twitch page that I really wanted to do for years and I feel I am throwing it all away, but this is probably the best chance that I can think of to try and improve this and if not I just won't return,” Niru expresses in the same YouTube video caption.

Niru Just Wants MapleStory To Improve

In a follow-up video, Niru then clarifies it was not his intention to “dunk” on MapleStory. Rather, he just wants the game to improve, and doing a big stunt was his way of urging the developers to hear his pleas.

He also revealed that MapleStory reached out to him and offered several proposals which he turned down. Despite that, Niru discloses that MapleStory was still eager to collaborate with him, even sending him a goodie box meant for an unboxing stream which he has yet to open given the situation.

He also remorsefully acknowledges the disappointment of some members of the community in his decision not to reach Level 300 and hopes for a constructive resolution to the fiasco he caused.

MapleStory Plagued With Issues

This is not the first time MapleStory has come under fire for issues that plagued its game. Last January, we reported on how Nexon was fined $9 million by the Korea Fair Trade Commission for alleged deceptive practices in MapleStory, specifically regarding ‘Cubes' which are basically a type of randomized in-game item in MapleStory that are used for enhancing equipment.

Besides that, the player community of MapleStory itself also has been complaining about other issues regarding the game, and, as one X formerly Twitter user pointed out, most of these complaints are often ignored.

With Niru suddenly becoming the community's reluctant anti-hero, some members of the MapleStory community commend his decision to stop the Level 300 grind.

“[Niru] cooked y'all. Hopefully, [MapleStory] can do what's right with making changes,” said one user.

As of this article's writing, neither MapleStory nor Nexon has officially commented on Niru's actions.

As for Niru himself, he has yet to play and stream MapleStory ever since he stopped his last level grinding stream. Instead, he has been playing other retro video game titles Banjo-Tooie and Super Mario 64.

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