Not content with drinking tons of beer in the real world, MapleStory is recreating the German festival in their online realm.

To take part in the event – which is open to everyone and can be participated in once a day for the duration of the promotion – players must deliver a hidden sample of ‘malt’ to MapleStory Europe’s ever present event-NPC Charles. Doing so rewards them with entry to an exciting new beer tent map, where they can enjoy a traditional, hearty German atmosphere of ale, sausages and lederhosen. By completing special objectives within the beer tent, such as fighting off a horde of red-faced, staggering monsters, players can win themselves special Oktoberfest themed items such a German sausage-shaped hat and power boosting mugs of (non-alcoholic!) beer. Players are also encouraged to collect empty beer glasses dropped by monsters, which in turn can be exchanged for special stat-enhancing food items.

Sounds like fun to me. MapleStory has added new features frequently over it’s life span, which definitely adds to the gameplay.

Here’s the full press release:

MapleStory Europe says “Cheers!” to Oktoberfest

World-famous German cultural event is set to appear in the popular online RPG MapleStory Europe, with beer-drinking monsters in tow.

Thursday 13th September/… MapleStory Europe, the hugely successful, free to play MMORPG from world-leading innovator and publisher of online games, NEXON, is busy polishing the steins and tapping the barrels as it prepares to become host to the world’s first virtual beer festival.

From September 18th to October 11th, MapleStory Europe will be holding its own version of Germany’s famous Oktoberfest as part of its continuing series of fun and entertaining promotions based on popular European cultural events. Following a packed summer event schedule that saw players face off against a demonic Bastille Wall and a giant, rampaging Spanish tomato, MapleStory Europe players can look forward to an Oktoberfest to remember, with a giant beer tent literally bursting with over-indulged monsters.

To take part in the event – which is open to everyone and can be participated in once a day for the duration of the promotion – players must deliver a hidden sample of ‘malt’ to MapleStory Europe’s ever present event-NPC Charles. Doing so rewards them with entry to an exciting new beer tent map, where they can enjoy a traditional, hearty German atmosphere of ale, sausages and lederhosen. By completing special objectives within the beer tent, such as fighting off a horde of red-faced, staggering monsters, players can win themselves special Oktoberfest themed items such a German sausage-shaped hat and power boosting mugs of (non-alcoholic!) beer. Players are also encouraged to collect empty beer glasses dropped by monsters, which in turn can be exchanged for special stat-enhancing food items.

Calvin Yoo, Director of International Business Development at NEXON Europe Limited, commented: “We’re really excited to be celebrating Germany’s national Oktoberfest event exclusively in MapleStory Europe. The fan feedback from our previous events has been amazing, proving that MapleStory Europe continues to offer players the very best in fun and innovative new content. We want to keep MapleStory Europe fresh, exciting and relevant for all our players, and we shall continue to do so with more great European-specific events in the future.”

MapleStory originally launched in South Korea in April 2003 and quickly went on to become one of the most successful online games of all time, with over 72million registered accounts across the world. MapleStory Europe, which launched in May 2007, is the latest iteration of the completely free to play franchise, and offers gamers in Europe the chance to play MapleStory in five different languages – English, French, German, Spanish and Dutch.

For further information on MapleStory Europe, and to sign-up to the game and take part in the Oktoberfest event, please visit www.mapleeurope.com.