Yes, exactly this. I have a 20-something friend I made through online games who was trying so hard to get me to install this, and he had never even heard of Nexon.
As a gen z myself, this isn't universally true. Some of us were around when Maplestory was big and remember the shit show when they ruined it. Also rip combat arms
You have to buy new character classes with premium currency, and they're not what I would call "micro" transactions. Technically I guess you could earn them through play, but you'd have to willing to grind a lot.