This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 87 The Debate on Balance

Chapter 87: Chapter 87 The Debate on Balance

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[Heavy snow falls today, with surface temperatures dropping to 0 degrees. The "Winter is Coming" DLC is nearing its end, so we’re releasing an additional 10 closed beta spots to reward those little players who have been patiently punching in on the official website for a long time.]

[Also, as the temperature drops, remember to bundle up.]

Today’s version number is still Alpha0.4.

The announcements on the official website still don’t mention anything about the Alpha0.5 version, only an announcement regarding the testing situation of the "Weather System".

However, the content discussed by netizens on the Forum today has nothing to do with the planning team’s announcement.

Almost all the topics and gripes are focused on the in-game enhancement of players who pursue life professions.

Teng Teng: "This is way too outrageous! First 2000 silver, now 5000 silver! Planner, come out and manage your NPCs please! QAQ"

Mosquito that really exists in WC: "I don’t care, dark curtain! Unless you give me money too! Goblin Industry needs subsidies! (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻"

Midnight Chicken Killing: "Strength Types need a boost! It’s unreasonable if an axe can’t chop through a crab’s shell! ┬─┬ノ(’-’ノ)"

Debt Giant Eye: "Intelligence Type players protest! Strongly request that weapon shops add drones and floating turrets! (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻"

Makabazi: "Farming! I want to farm!"

Stop Pulling the Calf’s Tail: "Does no one care about the fishermen? 500 Contribution Points is too painful! QAQ"

Crow: "Hahahahaha, lame! Even fishing can kill you, weakling! {*≧∀≦}"

The players on the official website have a lot of opinions, almost arguing to the sky.

Actually, think about it, what’s the most important thing in a game?

Of course, it’s balance!

In reality, one might selectively ignore the wealth gap, but not in a game! Everyone grinds the same way, so why should you guys have all the fun?

Unreasonable.

This is just too unreasonable!

Especially since Outpost Base is no bigger than two sports fields, which might not even add up to 20 acres, yet a brick factory there takes up 15 acres, practically establishing another sub-base.

Even if players only have 20% control, it’s a bit unbalancing.

It would be more reasonable to keep it below 5%!

Of course, there are also players who pursue a different kind of realism, such as the Mole escapee from the canyon who’s always squawking about developing a "Free Trade" system.

This guy started a separate thread and rationally analyzed the realism in it.

"Actually, it’s not as exaggerated as you guys think. A good economic circulation system is necessary for a game that strives for detail. Have you heard of ’Albion’? Although it’s an MMORPG, its Economic System is very well designed. All equipment in the game is crafted by players, and basically, your profession is determined by ’what you wear’."

"The most impressive design in it is that the economies between cities in the game are independent of each other. There’s an auction house for trading, but there’s no active circulation. Players can buy storefronts, set up workshops, craft their equipment, or rent them out to players for a fee. The equipment produced can not only be auctioned to players but can also be sold to the Black Market."

"The most eye-catching part is the Black Market; equipment sold there will be ’bought by monsters’ and become the spoils of war when players kill these monsters. If no one sells a piece of equipment, the Black Market will raise its price within a certain limit to entice players to produce it."

"Obviously, Wasteland OL is also creating a similar Economic System. However, based on my observations, Wasteland OL’s Economic System will be closer to reality. Have you noticed that different NPC outposts actually use different Money? So most trade is bartering!"

"Later on, there might be a setting for exchange rates, but this would make the System very complex, even approaching a ’Chaos System’, leading to unpredictable fluctuations in the game’s economic-related values. I’m not even sure the server CPU can handle it!"

""

"No matter how you say it, daring to innovate is a good thing. Kudos to the production team for their guts!"

Chu Guang actually read through the post and, as usual, took notes on aspects worthy of emulation. With enough notes, wouldn’t that lead to Alpha 0.5?

However, it’s uncertain whether the server can handle it or not. Just a few minutes after this post was made, a certain little rebar already came to argue.

Thunder Mage Professor Yang, "Heh, I haven’t played the game you mentioned, but my view remains the same, letting players meddle excessively in tasks that should be done by NPCs is a misstep! Where there are people, there are societies, and you can never guess where the players’ bottom lines are! If I were the brickyard manager, I wouldn’t sell to the NPC warehouse. Then I would jack up the brick prices. Buy or don’t buy – that’s up to you!"

Hmm.

This is indeed a problem, but it’s one that could only occur in later versions, not right now.

This backseat driver probably forgot, once you take on a hidden quest, it means you’ve ceded 80% of the control to "NPCs".

Running the business properly is fine, but if you’re thinking about price gouging to create a shortage sale?

Then just watch how the NPCs deal with you and that’s that.

The methods available in the game are far more numerous than in reality.

Yet this player’s train of thought has given Chu Guang a hint. One can trust in the players’ abilities, but never overestimate their moral standards, nor should one forsake using rules to constrain them.

Even if one day the shareholding ratio for players were to be adjusted, it would never exceed 50%.

And there must also be an alert line set for inventory liquidation.

Once inventory reaches that alert line, an automatic balancing mechanism would trigger, and no matter how tightly you’re holding on to your stock, not wanting to sell, you’ll have to sell half at a discount.

What’s that, you want to stop production? Limit output? Do like the Bostonians and throw bricks into the water?

Heh, the warehouse orders from NPCs won’t stop. Try halting production and see what happens – the penalty is a "limited time quest" to reduce your shareholding. Whether you do it or not is up to you.

There’s always a way to deal with these little tricks.

Little did Professor Yang know, his theories had already caused a certain NPC to jot down two more notes in their little book, but a normal person probably wouldn’t even imagine that an NPC in the game could browse the official Forum.

At this time, someone from the Ox-Horse team spoke up.

Fang Chang, "Ahem, to clarify the issue raised by Professor Yang, first of all, you can’t treat the player community as a homogenous whole. Just like in chicken-eating games, there are cheaters, but also those committed to maintaining a good gaming environment, right? I can’t control others, but our Ox-Horse team has integrity; we won’t engage in price-gouging within the game, not now, nor in the future, everyone please rest assured."

"Besides, we’re also working for a paycheck. 80% of the brickyard’s shares are owned collectively by the Outpost Base, we have only 20%. Frankly, this is a hot potato where the effort doesn’t match the rewards, it’s not as good as you all think."

He didn’t really want to clear things up, but seeing the intense discussion on the official site, he was afraid the planners would interfere with the game and directly cut down the profits from brick making.

With a meager 20% share already, cutting down the brick-making profits would literally leave them eating dirt.

In short, it’s time to play up the pity card!

Canyon Runaway Mole, "You’ve had enough! Give it to me! If you don’t want to do it, let me do it! (Crazy)"

Fang Chang, "Cough."

Thunder Mage Professor Yang, "Heh, You say you won’t, then you won’t? And what about the 20% shareholding, isn’t it still players who are managing it? I’ll say it again, you can never underestimate a player’s moral bottom line, there will always be someone looking for loopholes!"

"For instance, I could deliberately lose some inventory, claiming the bricks were burned incorrectly, but actually divert them through a third party, selling them in large quantities to players in need at below-market prices. Not only does this bypass the NPC warehouses, but it also skirts around corporate account limitations! You get what I’m saying, right? Even if it appears as a loss on the books, players can still make a stable profit – and it goes straight into their pockets! (Smug)"

Chu Guang was shocked when he saw this post.

Damn.

This guy’s got criminal law down pat!

WC There Are Really Mosquitos: "Dang, in real life, you’d start with execution by firing squad."

Tomato and Eggs: "I think it’s even more criminal than mosquitoes! (gritted teeth)"

WC There Are Really Mosquitos: "? What does it have to do with me."

Elena: "Bro, your wolf got killed. (amused)"

Fang Chang: "It’s all about the big picture—do you think you’re the only clever one? That only you could think of this? If you were smart, you’d think about why I didn’t go this route and even made a post to declare I wouldn’t. (side-eye)"

Night Ten: "Want to come and bricklaying at our factory during the closed beta? I’ll appoint you as the workshop director. (amused)"

Old White: "Hahahahaha, probably in the open beta! I think that should be doable."

Light: "(applause)"

Teng Teng: "Great planner!"

Thunder Mage Professor Yang: "...Uh, it’s all hypothetical, don’t take it seriously, just thinking out loud, cough cough. (sweating bullets)"

Grandpa Ao: "Laughing, you talk as if it’s the real deal. Keep pretending, I want to see how long you can keep this up. (picking nose)"

Quit Smoking: "Dad! I’m begging you, give me a chance. T.T"

After closing the forum and taking a tour around the official website, Chu Guang noticed that the number of reservations had risen from 888 to 996.

Although the clickbait method of drawing in willing participants is not the most efficient, the advantage is that it filters out a large portion of the non-target group.

What’s a non-target group?

The likes of Professor Yang, who slipped through the filter, are certainly not the target group during the closed beta phase.

Always scheming about how to cheat and engage in a battle of wits with the game bugs and the planners—does that honor the hard work that went into making the game?

Can’t they just move bricks for the NPCs decently?

They’ve even been promised non-wipe privileges, allowing them to become T1, T0 players!

"I need to find a way to get Level B2 opened... There are still so many new players waiting to get online and move bricks."

I have no idea how many cultivation chambers there are on Level B2.

But there’s a problem: There are fewer than a hundred players right now, and the elevator capacity is already somewhat strained. What are we going to do when thousands, tens of thousands of players show up?

What about when the numbers reach millions or even tens of millions?

Of course, Chu Guang thinks that the designers of this shelter must have considered these issues, such as the possibility of other exits reaching the surface on different floors.

After all, it wouldn’t make sense for such a large shelter to have only one exit to the outside world. Moreover, if the "technology for connecting to parallel worlds" was completed within this shelter, then the First Generation Manager would have left behind the technology to produce such cultivation chambers.

Once it’s possible to send "players" from the shelter to the surface en masse, it will naturally be time for the closed beta.

And when they can produce "players" in large quantities on the surface, beyond the spatial confines of the shelter, it’ll naturally be time for open beta.

"Xia Yan."

Hearing Chu Guang call her name suddenly, the weapon shop owner who had been reciting textbook content to the point of dizziness in the corner looked up at him, confused.

"What?"

"Do you know how to contact a slave merchant?"

Hearing the words ’slave merchant,’ the young woman’s face turned pale, she gripped her book tightly, and her body seemed to shrink.

"What, what do you plan to do?"

"...?"

While Chu Guang figured she was probably overthinking things, he also imagined the possibilities in his mind as a branching tree diagram.

Tch, annoying.

He hates guessing the most.

Seeing Chu Guang not speaking, Xia Yan’s complexion cycled through shades of white, red, and even a hint of blue, deepening the misunderstanding as she tremblingly said,

"If, if there’s anything I’ve done wrong, just tell me, I will definitely change. Please, please don’t sell me... I’m begging you."

"...What are you babbling about? You still have one leg, why would I sell you," Chu Guang rolled his eyes, urging her, "I’m thinking of buying some labor. Do you know anyone who deals in this sort of business or not, say it quickly."

This girl was obviously still too idle.

Typically, when you hear the company is downsizing, the most terrified are the ones always slacking off. If you’re not slacking, what’s there to be scared of?

Hmm?

Although she felt there was something off about Chu Guang’s response, it wasn’t about him selling her off.

Xia Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense shoulders relaxed.

She slowly leaned back against the wall, raised an eyebrow, and muttered to Chu Guang.

"Me, where would I know such a merchant? Do I look like I can afford slaves to you?"

"Tch, have you never sold any before?"

"What kind of person do you think I am? I’m a proper Mercenary, not a Looter." Xia Yan argued with a red face.

Chu Guang just shrugged, offering no judgement.

Is there a big difference between a Mercenary and a Looter?

Even Merchants occasionally dabble as Looters. Given that Mercenaries earn their living by the gun, what’s the point of interrogating further? It’s a boring pursuit and irrelevant to him.

"I really haven’t!!"

"Ao, that’s a real shame. I was hoping to buy some labor to alleviate the burden on my citizens."

Xia Yan looked at him, strategically scared, and shrank her shoulders without speaking.

The last time, this guy used the word "Residents" to refer to the non-talkative Blue Jackets; he’s already calling them "citizens" now.

Would the next term be "Servants"?

Truly frightening...

This guy must have been a devil in his past life!

No, he still is in this one!