Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 294 - 303 Hatred Transfer

Chapter 294: Chapter 303 Hatred Transfer

The forum soon became a boiling pot of contention, with several posts angrily criticizing the official stance rocketing to the top of the homepage, garnering intense popularity.

But to the surprise of many players, the forum was not filled with a single narrative.

There were also numerous players applauding and cheering for the officials!

"About time! The Starlight Healer and Dark Chain should have been fixed on day one!"

"Exactly, is there anything simpler and more mind-numbing than Starlight Healer? Just press one button and you’re done. What kind of infantile paralysis patient would enjoy playing a game like that?"

"Let me just say that anyone who likes playing with these two builds is an idiot, no mistake about that."

"It needed balancing. With Starlight Healer around, all other healing builds are a joke. How are we supposed to play without nerfing it?"

"I think you’re all missing the point. Forget balance, these two are outright bugs, got it? Isn’t it only right for a game company to fix a bug? Why should they need to ask for your permission?"

"Yes, it’s a bug—clearly the skills don’t match their descriptions. You still want to play with it, can you blame officials?"

"All I can say is, good riddance! Players who say they’re quitting because Starlight Healer and Dark Chain got nerfed, please do quit immediately. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. As if the game can’t survive without you unicellular organisms, what a joke!"

"You’ve all been living it up on this bug for two weeks. With your lousy skills, you don’t deserve to clear raid instances or ascend in high-level dungeons. You’ve been feeding off the bug’s benefits, taking raid equipment and ascension dungeon equipment, and now the nerf just brings you back to your rightful level, how can you claim injustice?"

"If you ask me, players who maliciously exploit bugs should be banned outright. The officials didn’t take back your equipment or revoke your raid achievements, which is already merciful of them. Be happy with that and stop whining on the forums."

These replies made the already irate players even more infuriated.

"Hold on, am I mistaken, or isn’t this a PVE game? It’s not PVP where I killed you and affected your gaming experience. I play with a few friends, clear some raids, grab some equipment, and use Starlight Healer to free up my hands. Did I eat your rice or step on your tail?"

"If you think other healers are weak, ask the officials to strengthen them instead of gutting the whole Starlight Healer build. What’s the point?"

"The problem is, there aren’t that many fun builds in this game to begin with. All the other healers feel like imprisonment. Now that Starlight Healer is unplayable, which build should I play, huh?"

"Isn’t Starlight Healer fun? Who says simplicity can’t be enjoyable? You all must like that frantic game of whack-a-mole, right? Or do you just love clicking on the raid frames to hit that heal, addicted to self-torture? Why does a 25-man raid need seven or eight healers? If two can handle the healing, isn’t it better for the rest to switch to DPS?"

"It’s just a minor bug. If the officials really wanted to fix it, they would have done so long ago. They deliberately waited two weeks, didn’t they see that these two builds were popular and effective for drawing players in, so they waited until the hype died down to fix it? Isn’t this playing both sides?"

"The officials knew about the bug from the start. If they had announced on day one that they would fix it soon, not so many people would have gone out of their way to gear up for these two builds. In plain terms, the officials deliberately created an illusion that they approved of the bug as a game mechanic, tricking you into playing, only to turn around and wreck it with a single blow. Well played, I’m out!"

These two camps of players were at each other’s throats, and in the short term, it seemed impossible for either side to convince the other!

For a time, whether it was in-game chat channels or major gaming forums, everything was abuzz.

And this intense debate was set to continue indefinitely, likely to rage on for at least another three to five days before dying down completely.

...

The next morning.

In the Vice President’s office of Shengjing Group, Kang Yong looked at the online public opinion with a distinct sense of satisfaction.

"Ji Heng, you’re here?"

Kang Yong pointed to the sofa beside him for Ji Heng to sit down, then said with considerable pride, "You see, I told you, this method is definitely a win-win solution!

"Lately, because of the ’Starlight Healer’ and ’Dark Chain’ bugs, there was already some pent-up resentment from other players, and it just so happened that we released it all while fixing the bugs!

"Now, we don’t even need to explain anything to the players, someone will naturally fight this public relations battle for us.

"This is a classic case of shifting the blame.

"By now, hardly anyone is criticizing us anymore, it’s just the two factions of players going at each other.

"You see, if we had followed your approach and fixed the bugs right from the start, would we still have such high engagement?"

Ji Heng fell silent for a moment, then reluctantly gave a thumbs-up: "President Kang, that was a very insightful point."

Kang Yong, quite pleased with himself, continued to ask, "So, how are the numbers looking now?"

Ji Heng hesitated before replying, "...They’re okay, even showing some improvement."

As he spoke, he pulled out the printed data sheet and passed it over.

Kang Yong was a bit surprised, "Hm? Indeed, there’s actually a slight increase. Doesn’t that mean there’s no negative impact?

"...But that’s not right, either. These people are probably just logging in to check out the specifics of the changes. Whether they’ll quit the game or not, we’ll have to keep an eye on that over time."

After all, Kang Yong was the Vice President in charge of gaming, and he could understand the most basic of data.

Seeing a slight increase in the numbers, his first reaction was joy, but he soon realized that this was obviously because the ’Starlight Healer’ and ’Dark Chain’ had been changed, and since there was a lot of criticism online leading to high heat, players all logged in this morning to see exactly what had changed.

As for how many players will choose to quit the game or reduce their playing time, that will only become apparent after a few more days.

But from Ji Heng’s expression, one could clearly see his concern.

It was evident that as the game’s producer, Ji Heng could see the risks more clearly. Moreover, it was Kang Yong who had initially proposed this handling method, while Ji Heng had leaned towards fixing the two bugs right away, just that Kang Yong didn’t want to let go of the heat.

Kang Yong cleared his throat lightly, "Alright, it looks like the problem isn’t too big right now.

"Keep busy. Remember to do a good job with the compensation event, distribute some items and currency for cosmetic transformations to everyone, and then offer a discount in the shop.

"After this period, everyone should gradually get used to it.

"As for a minority of players quitting the game, that’s unavoidable. After all, the interests of a few have affected the interests of many, and we need to distinguish which is more important.

"Also, speed up the development of the content for subsequent updates, aim to go live within two months, no, within a month and a half."

Ji Heng didn’t say much more, just nodded his head, "Alright President Kang, I’ll go handle it."