Aug 10 Developer's Note - Hacks & Macros Enforcement : Our Standards and the Recent Issue

Dear Maplers,

We have recently noticed a lot of discussion regarding our hack and macro enforcement. Before speculation and misunderstandings spread further, we would like to address it directly and share our standards, appeal process, and how they were both applied in the recent issue.

What we have done so far

Due to its nature, MapleStory N has been targeted by hacks, macros, and organized farming operations since the launch of our service. We were aware that leaving these unchecked directly harms our legitimate Maplers, and thus have treated this issue as our top priority and taken strict action. As a result, the number of suspected accounts has decreased by over 95% compared to our initial launch.

Our stance on Hacks and Macros

The development team’s stance on unauthorized activities, including hacks and macros, remains unchanged - and it never will. Any behavior that disrupts fair gameplay is subject to penalties, regardless of how much NESO Maplers have spent across the MapleStory Universe ecosystem. All actions are taken in strict accordance with our policies and based on verified evidence.

However, as macros become increasingly sophisticated, we face limitations in completely eradicating them, leading some to still persist. In response, our development team is continuously preparing new detection mechanisms. We are also fully aware of methods used to evade penalties by routing assets through multiple wallets, and we are developing verification systems to counter these tactics as well.

We have significantly reduced unauthorized activities and the outflow of in-game assets through ongoing efforts. We will continue to update, supplement, and strengthen our response systems to keep pace with new and evolving methods.

The Penalty Appeal Process

While some detections are clear-cut, there are others that remain at the level of suspicion, as well as the possibility of false positives. Therefore, in accordance with Section [3-2-5] of our Operation Policy, penalized accounts may submit an appeal through Customer Support within 15 days of the penalty date.

When an appeal has been received, we conduct a comprehensive review, cross-checking the appeal against our actual system detection logs, assessing the repeatability and persistence of the violation, and analyzing other abnormal signs. Penalties are not adjusted based solely on what has been claimed in the appeal, and the original penalty may be upheld depending on the outcome of the review.

This process is open to all players, and a player's MVP tier or NESO spending across the MapleStory Universe ecosystem has entirely no influence on how the appeal is processed or decided.

Penalty Reduction Standards after Appeal

Penalty periods are applied based on the type and severity of the violation. If our re-examination reveals that the initial penalty was applied at a higher level than the actual violation, it will be adjusted to the level corresponding to the verified violation.

Furthermore, for low-level violations, if the player acknowledges the violation and commits to preventing any recurrence, the penalty period may be partially reduced as a one-time leniency. If the same violation is repeated in the future, the player will face escalated penalties with no possibility of reduction.

Under these standards, there have been a total of 19 cases where penalties were readjusted following the appeal process. These standards have been applied regardless of MVP tiers or NESO spending across the MapleStory Universe ecosystem, and indeed, Maplers of various progression levels and MVP tiers have received mitigated penalties.

Regarding the Recent Incident

Recently, there has been much discussion in the community regarding the severity of a penalty placed on a specific account. To prevent misunderstandings from spreading due to inaccurate information, we would like to walk you through the chronology of this account's penalty.

1. Initial Penalty:

An automated permanent ban was applied to the account due to suspected abnormal patterns typically associated with bot farms.

2. Appeal Submission and Re-examination:

Upon reviewing the Mapler’s appeal and cross-referencing various actual in-game records, we verified certain violations. However, we found no evidence linking the account to bot farm operations, data modification, or the use of hacking tools. Consequently, we determined that the account was not subject to a permanent ban, which was the initial penalty applied.

3. Final Penalty Adjustment:

We have recalculated the sanction period based on the specific infractions confirmed during the re-examination. Taking into account the player's appeal and commitment to preventing recurrence, we applied our one-time penalty mitigation, resulting in a finalized 15-day ban. The ban has now been lifted as the account has completed the full 15-day penalty.

Should this account commit any similar violations in the future, it will face escalated sanctions without the possibility of reduction.

Our Principles

As illicit methods constantly evolve and we are continuously adapting our detection systems and operating policies, they cannot always be perfect.

However, we would like to state with absolute certainty that we never tolerate or overlook actions that disrupt the experience of legitimate Maplers through unauthorized activities. Furthermore, we would like to emphasize once again that all penalties are enforced solely based on our systems and policies, and that no other factor, including NESO spending across the MapleStory Universe ecosystem, can create an exception to these rules.

This principle applies equally to all violations, including not only hacks and macros but also abusing, bug exploitation, and other unauthorized behaviors.

Our Future Direction

Just as we have until now, we will continue to advance our detection systems to improve both speed and accuracy. Our goal is to minimize false positives while restricting unauthorized activities with even greater precision, to create a cleaner and more enjoyable environment for legitimate Maplers.

We are committed to maintaining our operations with fair and consistent standards.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

MapleStory N Team