First round battle in the MMORPG Showdown 2 series. 

The Match-Up

Two of the best free MMORPGs and most reviewed games on GameOgre met in this match. FlyFF has consistently been on or near the Top Ten for years, while Maple Story has too many players who absolutely hate it to have a high review score on a regular basis. FlyFF has even shutdown for a long period of time in the past and returned without getting the same type of hatred that some players feel for Maple Story. Keep in mind, however, that FlyFF hit a road bump with a very unpopular update in September known as Version 9. This update enabled free player killing and kill stealing. Minus this controversial update, FlyFF had the potential to demolish Maple Story. In fact, FlyFF appeared to be walking away with the match until the final two days of voting. Not only did Maple Story manage to close the distance between itself and FlyFF in those two days, but Maple Story also pulled off its second straight first round upset in a row. The margin of victory was not large, but was enough to show that Maple Story should not be underestimated in this tournament.  

Tale of the Tape

FlyFF

• Free to play.
• Among the best rated free MMORPGs on GameOgre.com for years.
• Colorful 3D graphics.
• Allows players to fly on brooms and boards.
• Went offline for over month a couple of years ago but came back strong.
• Won the Best Fantasy MMO Award at the Freebie Awards this year.
• Changes in Version 9 such as free player killing and kill stealing were not popular with players. 

Versus 

Maple Story

• Free to play.

• Won of Free MMORPG of the Year at the 2006 Online Game Awards.

• Resembles a console platform game.

• Classes have their own themed city.

• Offers a cash shop for special items.

• Upset RuneScape last year in the first round. 

Select Comments For FlyFF (Edited for Presentation)

Rating: 10
Author: midevile
Comment: Great game with very good graphics. There is a lot of fighting, killing, and flying. If you like helping people or attacking from a distance with arrows or even hitting people with swords and axes then this is your kind of game. It is easy and flying is awesome! Once you get to level 20 you can have a choice of 4 flying boards or 4 flying brooms. A great game that have you will be wanting to stay up longer to continue playing.

Rating: 0
Author: anigous
Comment: The world lags and is bad. I disconnected and I hope this game loses to Maple Story. FlyFF just has a bunch of moochers that take all my stuff. Maple Story is so better with a cheaper cash shop.

Rating: 10
Author: Tiraldric
Comment: Possibly the best online F-2-P MMORPG out there. Not many other games come close to it. I would rate it higher, but the definite lack of a crafting system to cater to players who feel the pursuit of money is more important then leveling makes it feel less wholesome. The graphics are well done, but as per a recent update may be a little laggy. Some companies just don't understand what a low polygon count is. Upgrade system is solid, although far too heavily based in the cash shop, which means that I need to pay to be the best. Cash items can be traded for real items, making this pursuit more accessible. Upgrading can have some fairly nifty and cool effect on player weapons. Party's have a unique leveling system; and they become more useful the longer you stay in them, and the more players that reside in one. Shops allow items to be sold while aft at any price, although limited to only 20 items per shop. Inflation within some servers causes economic problems. However, most servers don't have too bad of a deal in this respect.

Select Comments for Maple Story (Edited for Presentation)

Rating: 10
Author: Jokermannice
Comment: This game is the best game ever! It has the best graphics. This game definitely rocks way better than RuneScape and just as good as Guild Wars.

Pros-
-Quite addictive.
-Awesome game play and graphics.
-Very creative.
-Many items, quests, events, and cool updates.
-Now has over 15 towns to visit with cool backgrounds and music.
-Community is great.
-Nice cash shop items.
-5 jobs to choose from.

Cons-
-Has a lot of hackers.
-Can lag a bit if many people are online.
-Harder to grind after level 30.
-Has many beggars and noobs.
-Can sometimes slow down your PC.

Rating: 6
Author: sirgiggidy
Comment: It may not be a great game like WoW or LOTRO or any of those, but it sure beats FlyFF!

Rating: 7
Author: tottalyloco
Comment: It is a great game, with great community and great gamplay. However, GMs messed the game up. All that counts to them is money. FlyFF is a boring game with hackers and average game play but it does have very good GMs. This is why Maple Story gets 7 instead of a 10.

The Voting

FlyFF received a total score of 5.43

Maple Story received a total score of 6.67

The Result

Maple Story Wins!