This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 285 Beta 0.1 Version Update! New Merchant Gameplay and Legion System!

Chapter 285: Chapter 285 Beta 0.1 Version Update! New Merchant Gameplay and Legion System!

The atmosphere on-site was boiling like fire, and the clamor of voices resembled the raucous waves of the sea.

Standing on the third floor, Chu Guang could see face after face brimming with enthusiasm.

He even felt as if he could touch with the tip of his nose the excitement and desire that hit him square in the face.

Passion surged in his heart.

That emotional resonance spread amongst the crowd.

He believed.

He was not the only one waiting for this moment.

At six in the evening.

The tumultuous voices on the square subsided slightly, and it was at this moment that a solemn and loud voice rang out from above the plaza.

"From the moment the gate opened to the present, nearly two hundred days and nights have passed. From the boundless wasteland to the thousands of acres of good farmland outside the farmsteads, we have managed it all in just half a year."

"In this short span of half a year, we have driven out the Variants, conquered the savagery, and triumphed over the Tide, advancing through gunfire and tilling the barren soil."

"We have accomplished miracles that others deemed impossible, and though there were sacrifices, we did not leave anyone behind."

"Now we have enough reason to believe that we have the courage and the ability to bring order to even further places!"

"Let us cheer for this moment!"

"For ourselves, and for everyone around us!"

"Victory belongs to us!"

"To everyone who has fought for this land!"

The spoken words fell with impact.

Applause thundered.

Cheers echoed through the plaza.

"Long live the Manager!"

"May Shelter No. 404 live on forever!"

"Long live the Human Alliance!"

"Long live Demacia!"

"Emperor of Mankind!"

"To be alive is to—sniffle sniffle, let go of me, let me finish!"

Some shouted grand proclamations and long life, while others said things that were difficult to understand and even baffling, yet their pure emotions were the same.

People were expressing the excitement in their hearts in their own way, releasing their emotional resonance in the cheering.

Waiting for the surging sound waves to subside.

At the end of the opening ceremony, Chu Guang announced the decision of the management of Shelter No. 404—in the setting of "Wasteland OL," the Manager’s authority was also granted by the "fictional institution" located at the very bottom of the shelter.

"...According to the collective vote of the management of Shelter No. 404, the shelter will fulfill the mission granted to us by the Human Alliance Era, to join hands with our brethren waiting on the surface, to rebuild a new alliance on the ruins, to reconstruct a new world of equality and prosperity, to rebuild our home!"

In the name of the Alliance, the Human Civilization Revival Unity Front was officially declared established!

To distinguish it from the old Human Alliance, it is abbreviated as "New Alliance" or "New Union."

The vast territory from Qingquan City’s North Fifth Ring to the areas around Far Creek Town, spanning the Elm District, will serve as the first Restoration Zone of the New Alliance.

The large tract of land from Outpost Base to Changjiu Farm will be merged and managed under the name of City of Dawn, as the capital of the New Alliance.

As for the legislative work and the construction of systems, these will also be initiated subsequently, which will not be detailed here. There’s a lot of detailed and complex work to do, but fortunately, there is also plenty of time for people to have enough time to explore and find their own suitable paths.

This task is like developing an app; you can first release a BUG that functions, and then slowly adjust it, making this BUG acceptable to most people, or at least not too bothersome for the vast majority.

A program that satisfies everyone 100%, even in the era of prosperity with an abundance of resources and productivity, does not exist. Even big data, tested through thousands of trials, occasionally has moments that can raise blood pressure.

But in the end, having something is better than having nothing.

Chaos has persisted for two centuries in River Valley Province, and the people living there have waited too long for this moment.

Even if the majority of the Indigenous People still do not understand the significance of the Alliance or do not yet understand it, it does not prevent them from cheering for its arrival.

They needed a reason to unite.

A reason they could proudly speak aloud.

Standing inside a tin can, Batch rubbed the edge of his helmet with his index finger, looking up with interest at Chu Guang standing on the third-floor balcony of the sanatorium.

"The New Alliance... sounds interesting."

Witnessing the birth of an emerging power makes his journey to the west worthwhile.

On Heya’s face, however, there was no change in expression. Her mind was filled with specimens from the Lair, DNA, and the research on the induction serum.

Having been through that farce, she had long seen through the boredom inherent in human nature; she was only interested in things that piqued her interest.

Standing to one side, Yin Fang stroked his nose and mused thoughtfully,

"It’s beyond my expectation."

Batch looked at him curiously.

"What expectation?"

"I thought he would crown himself Emperor."

Even though he said it in a teasing tone, Yin Fang was not joking at all.

Shelter No. 404 didn’t feel to him like a true shelter, at least not like the ones he had been to before.

Perhaps it was because of faith, or maybe due to personal charisma, the residents here obeyed unconditionally, even adoring him.

As long as that man wished, he could do whatever he wanted. Not just becoming an Emperor, but even more extravagant acts would probably go unopposed.

Indeed, Yin Fang knew Chu Guang well enough to know that the man would rarely consider the means when it came to achieving his goals, always managing to pull off maneuvers that left others gaping.

However, what was puzzling was that he rarely did these things for himself.

People are indeed complicated creatures...

"Long live the New Alliance! Long live the City of Dawn!" Detwei shouted excitedly from the edge of the crowd, his actions even more exaggerated than the locals’, drawing sideways glances from those around him.

The owner of Gray Squirrel Clothing Store, Sylvanas Windrunner, glanced at him in surprise. He had come here to restock, and it just so happened that he arrived during the celebration, but he did not expect to see a familiar customer.

"Aren’t you from Giant Stone City?"

"What does it matter?" With excitement on his face, Detwei replied nonchalantly, "We’re all survivors from Qingquan City, we all live on the same wasteland. What’s wrong with my cheering? Nothing at all!"

A person from Giant Stone City?

He didn’t remember ever having such a label.

He was a Merchant, one who travels across the Wasteland for trade; he was neither born there nor a retainer of the lord. He would follow whoever could make him rich, and he would take his money wherever he could earn it.

To be tagged as someone from Giant Stone City simply because he often did business there would be a grave mistake!

Not just Detwei thought this way, but List, standing not too far away, also harbored the same thoughts, though his feelings were far more complex than Detwei’s.

He had a respectable reputation among the merchants in Giant Stone City, and for over a decade, his only desire was to live in the Inner City.

But recently, this thought had begun to waver.

This was quite inconceivable.

List had been to many places more prosperous than here, like the City of Dawn in the Province of Yúnjiānxíng, which was practically paradise.

Yet, he had never once thought about spending his final years there.

The people there cared about things entirely different from his concerns. Even in simple business interactions, he could feel that he was from a different world than them.

If he took his wealth there to live, the most likely outcome would be squandering it all and then shamefully getting kicked out. Those people never thought about including others, and he could never blend into their way of life.

But here it was different, the displaced and the merchants could gain acceptance as long as they followed local laws.

Yes, Giant Stone City was like that too, at least its Outer City was open to everyone, but the vibes he got from the two places were starkly different.

List couldn’t quite pinpoint that feeling.

But in any case, it was different.

Xia Yan, standing at the doorway of the weapons store, stared blankly at the azure power armor, lost in thought.

Little Fish, perched on her shoulder, was excitedly swinging her little legs, stretching her neck to look around, and chewing on a plastic stick held in her mouth.

She didn’t understand what Brother Chu was talking about.

But everyone seemed very happy.

It must have been something good!

Tail, sitting on Meat Meat’s shoulder, looked enviously toward the direction of the weapons store, constantly muttering under her breath.

"Damn it... Why is it Boss Xia carrying Little Fish? Tail also wants to be Little Fish’s Mount!"

Si Si looked at her in surprise.

"Ew! Can I call the police?"

During this great moment of celebration shared by Indigenous People and players, a server announcement also simultaneously updated in all the players’ VMs.

On the official Forum as well.

[Wasteland OL Closed Beta Version Beta0.1 Update Announcement!]

[Major Updates:

1. The player cap for the closed beta test increases from 1500 to 4500!

2. Map enhancement! The scope expands to the surrounding areas of River Valley Province!]

3. New facility "Merchant Guild" added!

4. New "Legion System" added!

]

[Optimization:

1. A large number of in-game modeling enhancements have been made to improve the climate change system towards a more realistic depiction.

2. More commercial teams from outside the River Valley Province have been added, developing unique local languages and cultural customs for them.

3. Little Fish has grown another 1cm taller.

4. A few bugs have been fixed.

...

]

Still the same old routine.

At the same time the announcement was published, Chu Guang had the post he had prepared earlier released on the official forum by Xiao Qi!

"Developer’s Diary: Beta 0.1 Version"

"Hello, everyone, I am your dearest planner, Ah Guang! It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, but I’ve been vigilantly watching over all of you on the forum."

"After sacrificing 200 siege lions, our server has finally been rebirthed, and now we are able to accommodate 4,500 players online simultaneously! The helmets are being churned out overtime, and we plan to release 10-40 activation codes and virtual helmets each day, which means that each day after three days, there will be tender and delicious—I mean adorable—newbies joining us!"

"Aren’t you excited? Aren’t you thrilled? Even though there’s a long queue at the gates of the new world, at least now there’s a small gap in the door! No need to applaud for us; give your applause to those testers, for they have endured much hardship in the servers... What? You also want to come in and suffer? Just wait a bit longer! There’ll be a chance!"

"In short, with the efforts of countless testers, our virtual community has begun to take shape, and Wasteland OL has finally entered its B-round of testing! We promise to complete the closed beta before the launch of ’Give Him Love 6’ and ’Interstellar Pie’ and will decide based on the actual situation whether to add an intermediate testing phase before open beta."

"Let’s talk about this Beta version!"

"In the new version, we will focus more on developing the virtual community itself, enhancing cooperation between players, and between players and NPCs, enriching player career gameplay and choices."

"Traditional quest taking remains the mainstream gameplay, but it’s no longer the only choice. You can opt to skip complex tasks and use the money earned from working to register as a globe-trotting merchant at the ’Merchant Guild,’ starting your business from scratch and then growing it bit by bit before losing it all again."

"If you don’t want to bear all the risks alone, you can also deceive your friends to join your ’black ride’ and share some of the costs, in return for a little dividend."

"If you’re not interested in doing business or don’t have the confidence to haggle with the cunning Waste Land Wanderers in the awkward language of the Human Alliance, you can try hiring NPCs, or being hired by NPCs, to manage your own or others’ trade routes, ultimately becoming a local magnate or a widely known Old Lai."

"You can even register to become a busy, fire-fighting caravan guard, leaving aside the hassles of money, focusing on enjoying the journey itself, since death for you is just a three-day cooldown to return to the city."

"And aside from the above, we have prepared brand new content for combat professional players—the exhilarating Legion System!"

"In the new version, the player forces will evolve from conscript troops to standing legions. NPCs will establish one or more standing legions as needed, with some legions open to player participation, mainly aimed at combat professional players who are not interested in command and focus on mainstream task gameplay."

"Of course, in addition to the standing legions established by NPCs, the new version also allows players to establish their own legions. If you have enough confidence in your command art and have proven it to others, you can consider taking an unconventional path."

"Any player with three Silver Medals or more of honor and a Contribution Level at Advanced Citizen can, along with at least two Medium Citizen friends, form an independent ’Legion,’ set their own flag and regimental numbers, and recruit other players who trust them and share the same goals to join the team."

"We have designed a special growth pathway for the Legion System, similar to the Proficiency Level system with ten levels, scaling from teams of ten, hundreds, or even thousands. With accumulated military merits, one can get promoted, raising the recruitment cap, gaining larger bases, and receiving more budget."

"It’s worth mentioning that although the legions are created for war, their duties are not just to fight. They are also responsible for maintaining order, suppressing rebellion, guarding peace, expelling Variants, fighting the Tide, and building homes."

"In times of peace, legions can choose to partake in mercenary, guard, or weapons testing missions as they see fit, earning funds to purchase and upgrade equipment from the missions. When war breaks out, all legions will automatically respond to the call to arms from the shelter and head to the frontlines to fight."

"We will strengthen the cooperation between lifestyle players and combat professional players, through balanced design that allows both gameplay types to have an equal gaming experience. We will grant player legions more control over the disposal of war spoils, as well as encourage lifestyle players to support the frontlines logistically more and take what they need from the captured spoils."

"Investing in a battle with high chances of victory might be a sure-win deal, but a risky battle can also bring substantial dividends."

"But take note that while player legions can decide on their targets to some extent, they do not have the right to declare war autonomously nor can they declare war on external forces on behalf of the New Alliance."

"As the directly responsible person, the legion commander must strictly constrain their team. The consequences of violating discipline are not just the withdrawal of the flag and regimental numbers—serious violations may even affect whether your account can continue to be used..."

The post was out for less than a minute.

The forum, which had been calm, suddenly exploded.

"F*ck! The B-round test is really starting!"

"D*mn planner, you rock!"

"Ah Guang: Well said, but now your account is gone."

"Hahaha!"

"Why haven’t I seen those with the closed beta tag on the forum today?"

"Those with tags are all online right now! Those damn Europeans are probably playing happily in the game, too busy to come here and show off."

"D*mn! Why couldn’t they hold the celebration after the new version launches! If they do this, won’t I miss the entire Spring Festival event!"

"Calm down, even if the celebration were after the new version, you’d still have to wait three days to enter the game, not to mention there are only at most 40 qualifiers released each day—do you really think you’ll be chosen?"

"F*ck! Does it have to be so realistic!"

"Don’t say that out loud!"

Ever since the game screenshot function was launched, a tidal wave of high-definition screenshots flooded the forum, with the number of reservations already breaking through six digits, rushing towards seven digits.

With so many people lining up at the same time, only forty slots could be filled each day; inevitably, some would succeed, others would fail.

However, compared to the endless wait before, having accounts released every day at least provided a glimmer of hope.

Unlike the Alpha version, where sometimes several releases would occur in a month and sometimes not even a single account released, it was truly frustrating.

Backseat Drivers were cheering for the arrival of the B-round test. The entire forum’s gossip section was bombarded with posts, and only the few sections limited to closed beta testers still hadn’t heated up.

But,

it was only a matter of time before they too would come to life.

Online players’ VMs also received the news of the game update.

As soon as the celebration began, a long line formed at the save point, all players intending to take a shortcut to log out and join the excitement on the official website.

Those who didn’t want to head to the save point had other options; at the festival, beer and corn liquor were supplied in unlimited quantities, with a large cup or bowl available for 5 silver coins.

For veteran players, it was even more convenient. They simply found a spot out of the way to lie down and then used their VMs to ask Xiao Qi to disconnect them.

Since the previous Alpha 1.0 version, there were too many tactical methods for logging out.

Yet not everyone was in a hurry to rush to the official website.

Why bother?

All their friends were in the game.

Wasn’t it the same to discuss anywhere else?

At the plaza,

as the Spring Water Commander looked at the server announcement popping up on his VM, he excitedly stroked his chin, saying,

"To have our own base, funded by the official Shelter’s allocations, and even recruit players... No level restrictions? Does that mean we can recruit newbies?"

Although his level wasn’t very high, he had the highest proficiency level for server-wide command skills.

Edge Shoveling, who was clearly interested as well, met the requirements to establish an independent legion with three Silver Medals and a high-level citizen status, one medal even being the "Special Medal" with a shield emblem.

Debt Giant Eye, standing beside, let out a sly laugh and said,

"How about the name ’Death Legion’?"

"Get lost!"

Although he told him to get lost, it was obvious he was intrigued.

On the other side, the members of the Bull and Horse Team also gathered to discuss.

After reading the server announcement, Quit smoking exclaimed in amazement,

"Awesome! Is this Legion System preparing us for guild gameplay?"

"Most likely," Fang Chang nodded, his face thoughtful, "The information Ah Guang hinted at in the posts was clear, the new version will emphasize more on player cooperation, focusing on community building."

Mole Old Brother, upon hearing this, hesitated to say, "Don’t most MMORPGs start steering players towards guild gameplay after level 30 or even 60? The highest level on the server isn’t even at LV20 yet, isn’t it a bit premature to start warming up now?"

Normally in MMORPGs, by the end of the main questline, players’ levels have nearly reached the cap. To add more game content, all that’s left is to keep patching up the storyline, releasing expansion packs, corrupting popular characters, and redeeming villains.

But clearly, that wouldn’t be enough.

Sylvanas Windrunner can’t burn the tree twice.

The strategy for most MMORPGs is to lead players to form communities, binding them to the game with guilds and personal relationships.

Other methods include mentorship and marriage systems.

However, Wasteland OL clearly didn’t have this issue.

The content of the Waste World available for exploration was simply too vast, almost like a real existing world. Even if the "Dog plan" didn’t update anything, just the existing gameplay would keep players busy for a very long time.

Fang Chang said, "Actually, there’s not much difference. In a typical MMORPG, you grind for half a year and you’ll hit 50 to 60. The leveling difficulty in Wasteland OL is clearly much higher than traditional MMORPGs, so it makes sense to give high-level players more options."

Old White nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, the server used to have few players and plenty of quests, but now with the increase in player numbers, even the trees near the park aren’t sufficient."

It wasn’t just the trees.

The trash in the ruins wouldn’t respawn once picked up.

To get bigger gains, one would have to venture farther.

It was the same for other professions as well.

After a pause, Fang Chang continued addressing his friends.

"Let’s make a prediction. In no more than two versions, the server will definitely open up the Sleep Cabins used for saving games for player purchases, allowing players to establish their own save points and even buy Cultivation chambers to set their own respawn points!"

Night Ten hesitated, asking, "What does that imply?"

Fang Chang replied with just two words.

"Territory!"

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