An Exclusive Interview With Inkwell About MapleStory Classic World And His Vision

This past weekend, on October 25, Maple Con 2025 took place in Long Beach, California. It’s a convention for MapleStory fans. I not only had the pleasure of going, but also the opportunity to interview Hanbyeol Oh — the Head of Western Development at Nexon. If you play this free-to-play MMORPG, you might be more familiar with his in-game name: Inkwell. I talked with him specifically about Classic World, a long-awaited project that aims to bring back “Old School” MapleStory.

Please note that during the interview a translator was present as Korean is Inkwell’s native language. He does speaks minimal English, and did here and there during the half-hour conversation I had with him, but most of his answers were translated. Therefore, I will provide direct quotes when possible and summarize Inkwell’s responses when necessary.

MMOBomb: How did you get into MapleStory in the first place?

Inkwell started off playing the game when it was released in Korea around 2003 or 2004 during the open beta. “As a gamer myself, I was really into MapleStory,” he said. In fact, he was one of the top ranked Warriors (around 60) in Korean MapleStory’s Zenith server.

MMOBomb: Is Warrior your favorite class?

“Even in other games I prefer playing the Warrior. Back then in MapleStory, I just picked it and played it, without any thought.”

MMOBomb: Which Warrior did you play?

“It was before they released the 3rd job. I played the Warrior that uses the two-handed sword. Fighter.”

MMOBomb: When did development on Classic World begin and what inspired your team to pursue it?

Inkwell came up with the idea for Classic World 10 years ago, around the time of the Big Bang update, and brought it up to Nexon. However, they weren’t interested back then. After some time passed though, around 4 years ago, he mentioned the idea again. Nexon was a bit more interested this time around. Inkwell began working on a prototype, and they started hiring programmers roughly 2 or 3 years ago for the actual development of Classic World.

MMOBomb: What's your design philosophy for Classic World? Are you aiming to keep it as authentic to the original MapleStory as possible, or are you planning some modern touches? And how are you balancing that?

“I think the important question would be ‘Why did we start Classic World?’ If you think about Classic World, we already have it. Like, there were private servers, and on MapleStory Worlds — our own platform — we have Artale. If you look at that, there’s no need for us to create Classic World. So why did I want to create Classic World? It is that the current GMS is very modernized. There’s a lot of content. There’s a learning curve for new players. So I was thinking, how can I reduce that content? If I did another Big Bang 2, there would be players who wouldn’t like that at all. So I was thinking, ‘How can we simplify MapleStory and make it more simple and accessible to others?’ When I thought about it, we already have all these Classic World type games already. So we don’t need to do it exactly the same. But also have some quality of life changes and change any inconveniences that we had in the original Maplestory, like improve upon those but still keep it Classic.”

In the room with us was an employee from Nexon who interjected to tell me that Inkwell saw the massive amount of calls for Classic MapleStory on the Internet from fans in the West and took that to heart.

MMOBomb: You mentioned that Classic World would be more accessible to new players. How do you feel about the people that play MapleStory now being in their 30s, 40s? Back then, they were teenagers. They're still excited about this game today, and they're looking forward to Classic World — the game that they played back then. How do you feel about your main audience today no longer being in their youth?

“We’re not reviving the old MapleStory as is. It’s more like a modernized Classic MapleStory. So it doesn’t only apply to teenagers, but also those in their 20s, 30s, 40s can also play. I think MapleStory is unique, because it’s like the only online game that has pixel art and is also a platform game. So I think it appeals to all ages and not just teenagers.”

MMOBomb: Are you allowed to share with me your plans for monetization of Classic World?

“There will be monetization,” said Inkwell, explaining that it will be similar to how things were in the Pre-Big Bang era. “A lot of people misunderstand this because our purpose is for players to enjoy the game, to have fun. Not to spend money. That’s my perspective.”

“So for example, there are talks about HP Washing. Will there be HP Washing or not? For me, I think no. We’re not going to have that. Because that’s unfair, and that’s sort of like a bug in the game. So we’re not going to have that.”

“There’s also talk. Are there going to be Cubes in the game? And I’m thinking right now I have no intention or any plans to have Cubes in the game.”

MMOBomb: Do you know what “pay-to-win” means?

Inkwell asked me to explain what I think it means. “Just wanted to hear your definition of pay-to-win,” he said. I responded: Cubes, Gachapon, 2x Coupons, HP Washing.

“You know how like in GMS we have the PSSB. So that is similar to Gachapon but is also not,” said Inkwell. He then asked, “Is PSSB a pay-to-win system or not for you?” I answered that I didn’t think so, because it’s cosmetics.

“All of the Gachapon system. I’m not sure. Is it a pay-to-win system or not? I cannot tell. It depends on the details, the construction of the item.” (I believe Inkwell is referring to specific items that were only obtainable through Gachapon back in the day. This is my interpretation. He might’ve been alluding to the overpowered ones; that including these in Gachapon is still being discussed.)

“I cannot simply answer: ‘I’m not going to do the Gachapon system’ I’m not sure. But pay-to-win, of course, I want to avoid. That’s why I asked what your definition was.”

MMOBomb: I played the demo earlier today, and I noticed there was a new area: Forgotten Hollow. So that means there's going to be new content added to Classic World. Would you ever go past the Big Bang? I understand your whole vision is “Pre-Big Bang.”

“Uhhhhmmmm…”

“I can’t say yes or no here. I have to discuss with my team as well. But since I’m the one making the decision, it's highly likely they’ll follow my decision. I want to take this like a parallel MapleStory.”

Inkwell put his hands out. One symbolized Classic World, the other Modern MapleStory. He drew an invisible line between them, signifying the Big Bang, and posed a question “What if there’s no Big Bang?”

“Do you remember the NPC Manji? We didn’t get the chance to talk about his story. Do you remember the Hero’s Gladius? What happened to Chief Stan in Henesys?”

MMOBomb: So new content that gets added then will always fit the Classic World framework? The slower, more accessible design of the game, instead of the more fast-paced Modern MapleStory?

“I can’t really say if we’re going to go with the update or not, but we’re thinking, ‘Should we release Ludibrium and El Nath together, or not?’ So many people who are waiting for Classic World might want to see Ludibrium and El Nath. Then I think yeah we should go with that update. But are we going to follow the exact updates GMS did? No, we’re not.”

MMOBomb: So it will be different?

“I think it will be different, but no guarantee. We already prepared El Nath and Ludibrium. It’s in our depository. We are ready to release, but we are not doing that. A lot of the new content like the Forgotten Hollow is totally new content.”

Inkwell then asked me if I saw the Spiderman movie. I said, “Spiderverse?” He replied, “Right, Spiderverse! It’s similar.”

“What if the Black Mage didn’t die? I think it might be very interesting.”

“If it is appealing, then why not. That’s one of the reasons we’re having play tests. We wanted to get your feedback.”

MMOBomb: Any plans for new classes?

“The possibility is open, but what do players want? Do they want to see a new class? Then yeah I could consider adding a new class. But if they don’t, I won’t.”

Unfortunately, we ran out of time, and Inkwell had to go. I had more questions, but at least I was able to ask him the most important ones. If you’re reading this, hopefully you now have a better understanding of what MapleStory Classic World will look like.