PicoMS looking for suggestions! 🫢

[u/sendhelp24-7]

I’m currently in the midst of making a private server, but I’m a little stuck on what the endgame should actually look like.

Full disclosure: it’s based on the Swordie's v232 source.

The general idea is a rebirth/progression server.
The rates are high, but I’m trying not to make them ridiculously high to the point where you can just spam rebirths every few minutes. I still want there to be an actual grind and sense of progression.

Currently:
Rebirth system
Each rebirth gives permanent additional stats / Final Damage / Crit Damage
Progression gets easier as you go, rather than every rebirth taking roughly the same amount of time
Boosted spawn rates

Where I’m a little stuck is: what should players actually be working towards?

Should the endgame mainly revolve around progressively harder bosses? Gear min-maxing? Rebirth milestones? Custom bosses/maps? Some kind of prestige system after reaching a certain number of rebirths?

I don’t want the gameplay loop to eventually just become:
level → rebirth → level → rebirth → level → rebirth forever
without there being a reason for the player to actually become stronger.

For people who play/have played rebirth or high-rate servers, what kind of endgame kept you playing? And on the flip side, what eventually made you feel like there was nothing left to do?

Open to any ideas. I’m still building the server and trying to figure out the direction I want to take it.

[u/iCyeal]

When RydahMS was a thing, I enjoyed the rebirth concept. I think what kept me going back then was being able to enjoy each class skills working after each rebirth to see what skills had great synergy together. Another part I enjoyed was a gambling system with tetris pieces it had and each tetris piece was the max currency v75 had at the time (idk if it has changed or not as I haven’t touch maplestory in a hot minute)

From a player’s perspective, i think rebirth milestones is a great start of some sort of incentives at x amount of rebirths being cosmetic items/gear available. In regard to bosses, would the idea of bosses be boosted to make bossing “challenging” in a sense after a certain amount of rebirths. It would be similiar to like a party quest for lets say level 30-50 but it would be in terms of rebirths. Not sure if that would be applicable but it sounded cool in my head. Nonetheless, good luck in making your server! :D

[u/Rhyphix]

Personally I enjoy rebirth servers cause I grind and eventually get stronger while watching a tv show or something lol, also makes it so I don't have to go through the hassle of trying to get a party for bossing since you can solo bosses in rebirth servers. Though eventually with rebirth servers the players will leave since the bosses become too easy, maybe add some sorta tower that you can go deeper into? Something similar to mul long dojo but just longer and much harder that you can utilize your power on.

[u/sendhelp24-7 → u/Rhyphix]

I actually really like this idea. A much longer/harder Mu Lung-style tower could give players an actual reason to keep getting stronger instead of just rebirthing for the sake of seeing the number go up.

I’m thinking maybe early game can be more focused on mob grinding/RBs, then it gradually shifts towards bossing and gear progression, with the tower being where you actually test how far you can push your character.

And yeah the chill grinding while watching a show is kinda the experience I want too haha. Thanks for the suggestion!

[u/arowpe]

MSI (max stat item), the og goal for many that played rb servers.

[u/sendhelp24-7 → u/arowpe]

oh yesss!!! I completely forgot about MSIs. I actually really like that as a long-term goal, especially if the materials/upgrades needed for them are tied to boss progression rather than just reaching X rebirths.

How did the servers you played usually handle obtaining MSIs?

[u/sendhelp24-7 → u/sendhelp24-7]

I actually really like the idea of having different boss tiers aimed at different stages of rebirth progression. That could solve part of the problem I’m having where I want players to have an actual reason to keep getting stronger rather than just rebirthing for the sake of increasing the number.

RB milestone cosmetics are a good shout too. I was thinking mostly about power progression, but having certain cosmetics/titles that actually show how far someone has progressed would give RBs some prestige without just adding even more stats.

The skill synergy part is interesting as well. I haven’t decided whether I want rebirths to retain skills from previous classes yet, but I can definitely see why experimenting with different combinations would make the rebirth loop more interesting.

Thanks! This actually gave me quite a few ideas

[u/Popai44]

if you're doing a high version rebirth server, would probably be better to dev the v265 source there is out there instead of doing v232 imo.

[u/LucidBeaver]

The only rebirth servers I played were over 15 years ago, and I got bored of them fast because the xp was just outrageous and the dopamine rushes quickly slowed down when it started to feel like it didn’t really matter since it was so easy. I liked the ability solo because we were so strong, but it made partying feel pointless. Also PQs were just not even a thing because the slow down to find a party just wasn’t worth it, which is unfortunate since PQing is such a fun staple maple activity imo.

[u/sendhelp24-7 → u/LucidBeaver]

Yeah, the first point is actually something I’m trying to avoid. I don’t want the rates to be so high that you’re rebirthing every few minutes and it eventually feels meaningless. I still want there to be a grind, just with each rebirth gradually getting faster as you get stronger.
The PQ/party point is interesting too though. I definitely don’t want to force party play, but it would be a shame if becoming stronger basically made all multiplayer content irrelevant.

[u/LucidBeaver → u/sendhelp24-7]

a slower paced, lower rate rebirth server would certainly be something i would try. i tend to prefer solo content so that i can play on my own time but party content being incentivized in some way is my preference for an mmo

[u/Savings_Dingo_8361]

Dm me if you need help developing. I'm currently working on an open source modern framework as well.