What's Next for Maple.Community

Maple.Community is still fairly early, and there's quite a bit more we want to build on top of what is already here.

The goal isn't really to add features just for the sake of making the site bigger. Most of the things we're looking at are aimed at making trading easier, giving guilds more useful tools, and helping the website and Discord feel like parts of the same community.

This isn't a fixed release schedule and some ideas will probably change as we work through them. Priorities may move around depending on feedback, technical limitations and what people actually end up using.

With that said, these are some of the bigger things we're currently looking towards.

IGN Verification

One of the more important things we want to introduce is a way for users to claim their in-game name and have it verified.

At the moment, somebody can have a Maple.Community account and a Discord account, but there isn't necessarily a trusted way of knowing which character belongs to them.

Exactly how the verification process will work is still being figured out. Whatever method we use needs to be reasonably easy for players while also making it difficult for somebody to claim an IGN that isn't actually theirs.

Once verified, an IGN could then be shown alongside things like auction listings, Free Market stores, profiles and potentially guild membership.

Richer Guild Rooms

Guild rooms are something we want to build out more.

One feature we're interested in is a community-style guild bank. Guild members could list items they own that they're happy to make available to other guild members.

Members could then browse what other people in their guild have available and organise the exchange between themselves.

Live Chat for Market Listings

We'd like to eventually add live chat directly to Auction and Free Market listings, allowing buyers and sellers to talk without having to go in Discord or in-game.

Discord will still be an important part of Maple.Community, but not every conversation really needs to turn into a DM.

We're hoping that keeping some of that discussion attached to the listing also makes the trading experience a lot easier to follow.

Polls and Nexon Involvement

Polling is one area where we think Maple.Community could become particularly useful.

One idea is allowing Nexon staff to take part in the polling system.

This could include helping introduce polls around particular topics, or allowing a poll to be marked as having been seen or acknowledged by them.

A poll being marked as seen wouldn't mean Nexon agrees with the result, or that a change is going to happen. It would simply give the community some confidence that the feedback reached somebody in the office.

Any involvement like this would obviously depend on Nexon's willingness to participate, so this is something we'd like to explore rather than something we can promise.

Richer Community Posts

Community Posts will also continue to get more forum features over time.

One of the main things we'd like to add is better integration with visually displaying items.

Instead of having to type an item's name posts could allow items to be linked directly inside the text.

We'd also like to make sharing forum content easier in general, whether that's sharing a particular post, reply, item or discussion with somebody else.

The goal is for Community Posts to gradually feel less like a forum and more like something designed specifically around Classic.

Where We're Heading

A lot of these features connect with each other.

Verified IGNs make marketplace identities more trustworthy. More completed trades create better pricing history. Better item data makes forum discussions more useful. Guild tools give people more reasons to use the site outside of public trading.

That's generally how we want Maple.Community to grow.

There are plenty of smaller improvements that will happen along the way too, and some of the ideas above will almost certainly change once we start building them.

Community feedback will play a pretty big part in deciding what comes first.

If there's something here you think would be especially useful, or something we're missing entirely, let us know.