Nexon has released a new game called PopTag. It has been in development for about a year now and it seems like Nintendo has something to say… (Well, not really, but this game does seem like Bomberman.)

You know the very similar retro game back in the late 1990’s? Clueless? Well, don’t worry I’ll fill you in. Bomerman is a game that allows the user/player to play as a character in a map. The character on the screen has an objective: to kill the opponent. No matter how hard/tactical/ugly the monster is, the person must fight it. The character has bombs which are used to destroy the enemy.

In PopTag, it seems like the same exact thing. Except we aren’t using bombs, but something much safer: water balloons. The objective of the game is to try to get as many points as possible and to defeat the boss before you feel like a fool standing there with monsters “draining” your life. You are allowed to work in teams.

So let me ask you, (Yes, I mean you…the person staring at the screen) do these look familiar? Compare them and see for yourself.

What do you think? Share your opinions below.

Youtube- (Bomerman Video)

Wikipedia- Bomberman Info

Nexon’s Official PopTag Website

Hi everyone. It’s Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, yet today has been anything but a blast. We’ve just dealt with some difficult things and suffered some blows. I’ve been talking to my friends and staff on Windows Live Messenger and I just need to make this post, and not to plead or be another whining player bitching and wishing we were back in beta. So, I’ll begin.

It’s nothing new to hear the stagnant phrase, “The MapleStory community sucks.” It’s a matter of opinion, but lately it’s becoming more fact. I can’t, and I don’t think anyone can describe some of the immature jack ass behavior that maplers deal with every day. In anything, you get the ass holes and idiots, especially when something goes mainstream. A lot of this is felt in-game, but even more so on the various forums and websites dedicated to MapleStory. I’m sure if you’ve been the victim of some idiot going on a rant and typing in “1337 speak” or witnessed it you’ve wanted to crawl through the internet, climb out of the player’s monitor, and slap him/her silly. This is one among many other reasons why people resort to going to Private Servers to some how “get the beta community back” or just “get away” from everyone. Let’s face it, people suck in general…but the feeling of “invincibility” over the internet doesn’t help.

In recent years the MapleStory community has entered a complete cluster fuck. The lack of manners, respect, and just plain decency is amazing. I have never witnessed human beings treating each other so horribly and viciously in my life. Sometimes I can’t believe that the people playing this game, are actually civilized humans who have a brain and the ability to choose right from wrong. What is wrong with some people? Did their parents not raise them right? Were manners and respect not on the agenda? Was there no time to tell your child to treat others as you would like to be treated. Well, wait. Who cares right? It’s just a person that you’ll most likely never see or interact with again, right? Wrong. There’s something called karma…whether you believe in it or not. If you treat someone shitty, it will come back to bite you…some way…some how…you can’t escape it. You can shrug it off, I’m sure I’ll be getting tons of comments saying “Fuck you Savage,” and “Go die you loser.” I have to deal with those insulting comments daily on this website. Maple-News wasn’t created to be a haven for whining, complaining, insulting, disrespectful, and just plain idiotic comments. You come here to read and discuss the latest news. This isn’t “Gossip Girl.” We’re not “back stabbing each other.”

Ah, fansites…fansites, fansites, fansites. What are fansites? Sites that are fans of a certain game, band, genre, toy, animal, species, etc. The fansites in MapleStory continue to fuel the fire and create pointless arguments and “dramatic” posts that raise hell. I normally wouldn’t name names, but it’s too late for that.  People insult each other daily…some are dealt with…some are not. Fansite rivalries (see previous post) are amongst the most cutthroat I have ever seen for a video game…especially one called MapleStory. You have sites spamming other sites, sites advertising on other sites, sites bad mouthing and sabotaging other sites.  Did they do anything to the other site? No, not always. Does it matter whether or not they did? No. If it’ll help someone get ahead, even if it means stooping so low and kicking them when they’re down, they’ll do it. And this doesn’t just go for MapleStory, it goes for real life as well. Look at our society…greed, distrust, hatred, more greed, violence, and the list goes on, and on, and on. You can look at the current United States economy; hell, the whole world! People have borrowed more than they could ever pay back, and now the global economy is in the shitter! I may be young, but I’m not rich, and I see first hand what’s going on and I can realize that it’s not that different from what we see online. The internet is a powerful thing, and lately it’s been abused in more ways than one.

To sum this long, lengthy, and probably annoying post that most of you will (or have) proceed in flaming me and this post…I’m utterly disgusted at what’s going on in the MapleStory community, the internet community, and the world. I don’t know how much more I can take of these constant comments. I didn’t sign up for this and I won’t take it. Anyone who continues to make idiotic and insulting remarks/comments, will be permanently IP banned from ever commenting on this site again (I know if you use proxies so don’t even try). Think about this next time you think about flaming, insulting, and treating someone like shit, think about what you’re doing to that person and what it shows about who you are and what you will become. Don’t dissapoint your parents and your family and friends, try to do a good deed once in a while, and above all; treat people as you would like to be treated. If anything, let us keep our dignity while playing a video game…don’t turn into wild animals.

14:57: Okay, let’s see now… screen resolution adjustment, check; mouse sensitivity adjustment, check; keyboard calibration, check; brightness, contrast, and hue calibration, check; disk defragmentation, check; hard drive reformatting, check (lol, just kidding). Yeah, I’m a customization freak, and I’m proud of it.

14:59: Oh yeah, I forgot to ask my friends about what a “dk” was.

15:04: Apparently it’s a high-ranking “job class” or something like that in MapleStory… he says they use spears, and that “dk” stands for “Dragon Knight.” Also, they have to be at least level… 70?! Do these people have no life or something?! It’s hard enough to level as it is right now!

15:07: Okay, if someone like that stupid noob bothers me again, I know what to do. Remember, knowledge is half the battle! XD.

15:09: Friends told me I should go somewhere called “Pig Beach.” Seriously, have you ever heard of a beach that has pigs?

15:12: Where the hell is this place? They told me there would be a hidden portal “somewhere around ‘here’.” Way to be specific.

15:18: Finally, found it. Portal was hiding in a totally random patch of tall yellow flowers. What kind of a beach has grass and flowers, anyways? And a crapload of homicidal pigs with ribbons tied around them?! Good thing I still have those potions Icarus gave me…

15:30: Though it guzzles potions, training here is actually pretty fast. I’m already level 20 (after almost dying about 5 times). I wish I had one of those chairs that other people had. They look cooler than my stupid green-striped folding seat. HP recovery really does help, though.

15:35: Damn, I ran out of potions. Training is getting a bit dull. These stupid ninjas with their throwing stars keep stealing my kills. I guess I’ll head over to Henesys.

15:37: Ok, I’m in Henesys.

15:40: Where the hell are their stores?! I’ve been walking around for a while now and I don’t see anything. Oh, wait… eh… heh. I totally knew they were in the Market Place. Of course.

15:42: <sarcasm>Whee! Burning money on potions is totally fun!</sarcasm> Speaking of potions, how do the characters guzzle potions so quickly? They uncork the bottle, drink all of it, and dispose of the bottle within half a second! And why aren’t you at least left with the empty bottle, so you can get refills for a cheaper price? Geez.

15:45: I found a small map with a lot of pigs. Nobody else is here, so I guess I’ll stay here.

16:02: What’s this? I got something shiny from a pig… Huh. “Gold ore.” So I guess pigs are literally gold mines. XD. Oh, and I’m level 21 now.

16:15: You know, this really does get repetitive. Hit pig, hit pig again if not dead, keep hitting pig if still not dead, hit pig until pig is dead, loot stuff, look for another pig to kill, repeat. Bo-ring.

17:00: Yawn. Level 22 now.

17:02: Oh crap, why do I keep forgetting to put my skill points in? Okay, maxed the “Improving HP” stuff. Now what to do…? I want a shiny skill. Killing these pigs is getting annoying, because they don’t die fast enough. I’ll just put the rest into Power Strike. That means that it’s level 11.

17:06: How are you supposed to use the skill? o_0;

17:12: Heh, I totally knew that there was a hotkey box. Totally. On the bright side, this game has an easy-to-use interface, but I’m guessing that it might get a little awkward when you use up all the keys. If you have enough stuff to take up all the keys, that is… I’ll just set Power Strike to Shift.

17:20: This is fun. Now I’m not just whacking pigs, I’m doing it with a shiny red effect! Wait, what’s this? “You do not have enough MP to use this skill.”
…
I’m starting to hate the chatbox.

17:22: Ha! I figured out how to set potions in my hotkey box! I am so 1337! Not. Now I don’t have to dangle on a rope above those maniacal pigs to heal myself. Convenient.

17:30: Ran out of MP potions. Heading back to town.

17:32: WTF?! This stuff is expensive! Why do MP potions cost twice as much as HP potions?
…
I don’t even have enough money for 50… I think I’ll just let my natural healing take care of it.

17:56: Level 23 now. Woot. Ability points go into DEX, skill points go into Power Strike.

18:02: Friend is messaging me. He said that since I’m level 23 now, I should give a shot at something called “Party Quest,” or PQ for short. Apparently, it’s in Kerning City, but I don’t really want to walk all the way there… he says it’s really fast training, though. “If you can get in.” Dunno what he meant by that.

18:05: Gotta go eat now. I’m leaving him AFK in Henesys.

18:58: WHAT THE F-?! WHY AM I DEAD?! HOW DO YOU DIE WHEN YOU’RE AFK – oh… the fatass walking cake might explain. BUT HOW DID IT GET THERE?! Holy shit, it just killed 4 people. WTF!!! Okay, calm down. Just be glad that you just leveled to 23, so you didn’t lose much EXP. (Wait, you can’t de-level in this game, can you? …No, nothing happened to my level. Phew.) “Press OK to be revived. Once you have revived, you will be sent to a safe town nearby.” Wait… didn’t I die in a town? What happens if – shit…

19:00: Messaged my friend about it. He says not to sweat, just revive and then quickly “change channels.” Apparently it’s kind of like an “alternate world” thing. Like there’s 19 channels in every server, not just 1, else it would be crowded. Kinda like the “worlds” in RuneScape. *Shudder.* Okay, here goes nothing. I’m gonna try switching to lucky channel 7 after revival.
…
…
……
WTF.
I spawned right into the cake monster.

19:01: Okay, let’s try this again. This time, I’ll try channel 17.
…
…
…………………
What are the chances that you get spawned in the same place in a town twice?

19:02: Ok, let’s try to switch to channel 13, in the hopes that irony will work for me.
…
…
Sweet. That cake monster ain’t eating me again, nuh uh. Time to head off to Kerning City – aww, I have to go now. Freaking homework. Just noticed it was 7:00. Anyways, I’ll play some more tomorrow.

Hello world! (Lol, sorry for the geeky computer reference.) Since you probably don’t know me, I’m Loliness, the chief editor and image guy around here. I’ve had this idea rolling around in my head for quite a while now, and since Savage has announced that fanfics are good to go, I might as well follow.

This isn’t strictly a fanfic, because the entire thing is based on the game, not an external plot. Eh, whatever, close enough. What counts is that it should keep your attention for at the least 5 seconds, XD. Happy Mapling!

Day 1.

15:01. Pretty excited today! I’m starting this new game called MapleStory or something. It looks better than stupid Runescape, with all its goddamn spammers and swindlers. The pure idiocy makes me shudder. But that’s history, and on to the next generation!

15:08. I’m writing as the game installs its patches. The game’s only 3 years old, but it’s got like 2 gigs of patches or something.

15:12. Done, finally! Now let’s see… blah blah blah, terms of service, already made an account, ok, set PIN to 1337, login… oh shiz. What world should I make a character on? There’s like 7 of them! And it says that characters can’t be moved across servers unless you buy something… Huh. Eeney meeney miney mo, catch a tiger by its toe, if it hollers let it go, my mother says to pick the very best and you are IT! Looks like I’ll be playing Windia. Hey, you can make 3 characters per server! That’s certainly a plus. Well… what the hell?! Why are there only 3 hairstyles? And 3 eye styles? And do the clothes have different defense ratings? And the weapons? Maybe I worry too much…

15: 45. Okay, made my character after 30 minutes of screwing around. His name is dudeguy101 (all the good names were taken, okay?!). I rounded his stats out on the dice roll, so he has 5 STR, 7 DEX, 7 LUK, and 7 INT. At least he doesn’t look too gay, except for the boots. I hope they have a good tutorial…

15:50. That was a pretty good tutorial, except I think that more than one of the graphic designers was on crack… Why do they put you in a green apple suit? Oh well, at least I got myself some potions for the indignity. Leveled up a few times, too. I think I’m gonna start specializing in STR, so stats are 10 STR, 10 DEX, 8 LUK, and 8 INT.

16:10. It looks like this game revolves around combat. There doesn’t appear to be any form of resource gathering whatsoever (mining, fishing, lumbering, etc.). Did a couple of quests, poked around in town. Got myself a new hat, too. A blue bandana, to be precise. Not much of a defense bonus, but now he looks pimper, XD.

17:00. I’m level 9 now. Gave up on building LUK and INT after looking at their descriptions in the character window. I’m not planning on making this character a rogue or mage or whatever. Took the boat to Victoria Island (say, isn’t that an island in northern Canada?) and Lith Harbor. Man, it’s pretty big. I poked around in the weapon store for a better weapon, but I can’t afford any. Those red snails are getting kind of annoying…

17:23. Yay, I’m a warrior now! Went to the town of brown rock and weed-smoking, cannibalistic, weapons-carrying people. Got myself a better weapon, a two-handed wooden sword. I could’ve bought some armor, but looking at the prices for higher-leveled stuff, I decided to save my money. Now how the hell am I gonna get back to Lith Harbor?

17:25. Thanks for the tip, stupid MapleTip. You could’ve told me earlier that I could buy “Return to Town Scrolls” for 1000 mesos apiece. Now I’ve gotta walk all the way back to Lith Harbor, through Kerning City. The monsters are pretty weird, though. Walking stumps and walking mushrooms, and some mushrooms that… move without feet? Also, animated slimes that look suspiciously like the ones in Ragnarok.

17:30. A guy called “CrowdRocker” went by. The remarkable part is that about 100 people were following him, and spamming as they went. Goddamn mob almost crashed my computer. They were asking for fame or something like that, and a few (some were boys) were like “OMG I WANT 2 MARRY U!1!1!1!11!!” Crowd rocker, indeed.

17:50. Finally, made it back to Lith Harbor. A reminder to self not to accidentally fall into any pits while walking from Lith to Kerning. Those mushrooms are freaking evil. Also, I saw a pig and a monkey.

18:00. Gonna go eat dinner now. Left my character AFK.

19:00. WTF? What’s this? Some noob is trying to spam me? I’ll write down what he’s saying so I can try to translate later.

TIG3R15 (that’s his name): mezos pzlzz (he said this line about 30 times)

TIG3R15: y u no talk t o me

TIG3R15: u think ur to cool for me huh

TIG3R15: well go suck c0k bich

TIG3R15: ima get my dk to ks the sh!t outta u

TIG3R15: so long fag (he disappeared after saying this)

Looks like there’s a scummy community in this game too. Gonna try to killsteal me, huh? (Note: be sure to ask friends later about what the hell a “dk” is.)

21:00. Got to level 18, and got myself some armor and a new weapon. There wasn’t a two-handed sword, so I got myself a two-handed axe. Frankly, the armor isn’t exactly cool-looking, but at least it has a higher defense. Oh, I forgot to put my skill points in! What should I build first? Hum. Fundamentals, I guess.

21:02. I maxed out “Improving HP Recovery” and put the remaining into “Improving Max HP Increase.” The attack skills look tempting, but at this point I won’t have much use for them because most things I can kill pretty fast without any damage bonus.

22:00. Damn, I was hoping to get to level 20 by tonight, but instead, I’m stuck at level 19 and 12.01%. Oh well, gotta get ready for school the next day. I maxed HP Increase and put the rest into Power Strike. Frankly, it sucks ass right now, but hopefully that’ll change after a few more levels. Also, I chatted with my friends and asked what stat I should put my ability points into for a warrior, and they gave me a general formula: DEX should be your level x2 (oh crap, mine’s only 27) and just put the rest into STR. They told me my character was screwed up because I put points into LUK and INT, but I’m beginning to like this game, and I don’t really feel like starting over right now. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

I know you guys get a bit bored reading just news all the time…and we get bored writing news all the time. So I decided that I’m going to be writing a MapleStory fanfiction every week. Every week I will try to have a new chapter up of my fanfiction Venom. I can’t promise anything, but if you guys like it I will continue to write more. If you don’t, I wont. Here’s the first chapter. Please comment on what you think.
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DISCLAIMER: Venom may contain content not suitable for those not 13+. Please be advised that Maple-News, nor Savage is not responsible for any mental/emotional illnesses you may get from reading this fanfiction.

Chapter 1: The Head of the Snake

At the beginning there were three: the Snake, the Beast, and Chaos. The world was in ruin and the many continents were shaped into one called, Maprasia. The Snake represented Venom, the one responsible for the darkness laying over the land centuries ago. The Beast represented man and the monsters that lived in the land for ages before. Chaos, was locked away until man disturbed Zakum’s chamber and with each new fight released more of the Zakum Helmets to the people. These helmets appeared beneficial, but they slowly poisoned the minds of the people until Chaos called on the Snake to use the power of Venom to use the Zakum Helmets to drive all the people mad. Nexon could do nothing do stop it, they had no choice but to flee and leave the MapleStory world to collapse in on itself. Their new cannibalistic attitudes brought all faces of the world into chaos, leaving the last 1,000 to flee back to Maple Island, the only place the cannibals couldn’t get them. The world began to be covered in darkness once again, and the monsters and the people destroyed everything in sight.

“Stay the fuck down you moron!”
“Move, move, move!”
“What the hell? Get the fuck out of here! Quick you sons of bitches we can’t hold them off much longer! Ahhhhhhh!”

“What’s up Lerox?” asked Savage as he put his drink down on the table.
“The latest survey team got fucking killed man…the Callobes freaking murdered them…they didn’t stand a chance,” replied Lerox.
“Did we get any message before they were killed…is there anyone not insane on Maprasia?” asked Savage appearing unphased.
“Nada, all we heard was screaming and then the communicator was destroyed. There was still no human-like behavior whatsoever from the Callobes. We’re better off just living our lives out here on Maple Island man, and hoping that they never get here…and that Maple Island doesn’t get pulled into Maprasia like the rest of the fucking continents.”
“Where the hell is May?” asked Savage.
“I don’t know…she better not be with that fucking dumb ass Jax…I’m gonna kick his ass if he tries hitting on her again…motherfucker…” replied Lerox coldly while slamming his fist down.
-May walks in-
“Hey babes.”
“Where the fuck were you May?” said Lerox.
“Sup May,” replied Savage.
“Oh you know…fucking anything that moves! I’m joking geez!” yelled May obviously drunk.
“May, you can’t keep drinking…this is fucking insane…just because the government was destroyed on Maprasia it doesn’t mean you can go drinking at your age,” scolded Lerox.
“Bah, whatever…leave me alone.”
-Bryar storms in-
“Savage sir, we have a big problem here,” reported Bryar frantically.
“What’s going on?” replied Savage.
“After the first survey team went down we sent another to look for survivors…we brought back Wind…he had injuries…but we didn’t think he was in contact with those infected by the Zakum virus.”
“So what’s the problem then?”
“Well…after we took him into the medical room…while checking the blood results the doctors came back and the nurses were all dead. Their heads were torn from their bodies and their legs were chewed off…it was a fucking mess…” stammered Bryar.
“So where the fuck is he now?” questioned Savage.
“We…well…don’t know…” muttered Bryar.
“Fuck…okay everyone I want you to get to the safe houses. Sound the alarm and make sure everyone stays where they are. Lerox and Bryar, come with me…we’ll go find the others so we can mount a search party. Bring your weapons. May, go to the safe house. No questions asked. Got it?” yelled Savage.
“But I-”
“GO MAY!”
[On the loudspeaker over the settlements]“This is not a drill, one of the infected has invaded the camp. Go to your designated safe houses…bring your weapons…and don’t open any doors or windows…this is not a drill. Save those you can, kill those you can’t.”