Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 299 - 308 How Should President Gu Change?

Chapter 299: Chapter 308 How Should President Gu Change?

Lilith completely lost her cool.

Actually, by this point, the cause and effect had become very clear.

Whether it was Shengjing Group’s bug fix for the Starlight Healer and Dark Chain BDs in "World of Star Spirits", or the research on electrotherapy healing in Shadow World, things had basically been analysed to the bone.

Even some of the details, as long as someone was willing to dig in, could be made clear.

But here comes the problem, why did the different approaches of Shengjing Group and Nitiandang lead to such vastly different outcomes?

Why did Shengjing Group conscientiously fix the bugs, only to trigger players’ rebellious psychology and lead to a massive loss of players, while on the other hand Nitiandang did nothing, didn’t fix the bugs, and players actually praised them to the skies?

This was what truly needed to be delved into.

Lilith was perplexed, "But Gu Fan, I still don’t understand. Shengjing Group fixed the bugs, seemingly for the balance of the game, and to give players a better gaming experience, isn’t this starting point correct?

"But why did it still generate so much negative emotion?

"Or say, would it have been better if they had done nothing? The Starlight Healer and Dark Chain BDs clearly impacted the living space of the other BDs.

"What should they have done that would have been right?

"These two bugs, are they, as many players say, godsent blessings, or are they a curse?"

Obviously, Lilith brought up this question partly out of curiosity and partly because she wanted to understand why Shengjing Group’s actions had instantly gathered so much negative sentiment, to facilitate her subsequent frame-by-frame study.

Gu Fan was silent for a moment, "Of course it’s godsent blessings, it’s just that their recognition and abilities are insufficient to partake in this feast."

He had actually been paying close attention to these matters in secret. Although the fiasco of Shengjing Group wasn’t directly related to him, Gu Fan had more or less anticipated it.

Because "World of Star Spirits" was essentially built up from a mountain of shoddy code. The game had rapidly changed its mode, and forcibly made various skills and talents interact with one another, so it was normal for bugs to appear; not having bugs would be the real surprise.

However, different approaches to dealing with bugs often decide whether a company’s operations can be successful.

Actually, Gu Fan hadn’t expected Shengjing Group to make the worst choice; he had just been surprised to find that their capabilities were even lower than he had imagined.

That’s also normal, after all, as a big domestic company like Shengjing Group, which has been making games for so many years, had long been brainwashed by data.

In the gaming industry, focusing on data certainly isn’t wrong. Many times, data means objectivity. Making decisions based on data rather than feelings is progress.

But the problem is that data is often one-sided and deceptive. A truly excellent producer must understand how to see the essence through the data.

They need to stand in the players’ shoes to carefully gauge the gaming experience, then combine that with the data to make a decision.

This decision doesn’t have to be the most correct, but it must be the least wrong.

Gu Fan also had no intention of continuing to deceive Lilith, because Lilith wasn’t that naive. The case was right there, and surely Lilith would ask others about it afterward.

So it was impossible for Gu Fan to keep it a secret. Rather than that, he might as well make it crystal clear to Lilith, further clear himself of any blame, and strengthen Lilith’s trust in him.

That way, the next game would be even easier to... oh no, guide!

Gu Fan struck a pose and browsed through several hot posts on the forum. He then watched two prominent video reviewers share their thoughts on the recent events and slightly nodded, "Hmm... I think I’ve got a complete understanding now, President Li."

"Shengjing Group probably thinks they only have three options in front of them, but in fact, there are far more than just three."

The so-called three options were the same three solutions Kang Yong had once agonized over.

The first was to issue a notice and then urgently patch the game.

That was Ji Heng’s suggestion. The advantage was to experience the pain quickly—patching it before most players had the chance to use the Starlight Healer and Dark Chain, thus avoiding a massive exodus of players like it was happening now.

The downside was it would impact the influx of new players, unable to capitalize on the surge of traffic.

The second option was not to fix it at all and just let the players continue to enjoy themselves.

But this approach was met with strong objections from Ji Heng, and Kang Yong himself also found it unreliable.

Although this method could create a tremendous buzz for the game in the short term, it would severely disrupt the balance of various BD (Battle Designs). Especially with the Starlight Healer—anoplayer would want to play any other healing BD.

So what would happen when players got tired of playing with these two BDs, the Starlight Healer and Dark Chain? It was still possible they would quit the game.

The third method was what Kang Yong came up with by himself, a supposed "win-win" solution.

First, remain silent and let players have their fun for two weeks, trying to use these two BDs to boost the game’s popularity and dupe new players into coming. Then, suddenly implement a hotfix and cut down the BDs.

This way, even if some players did leave, considering the prior effect on drawing people in, the overall number of players would still likely be on the rise.

However, reality proved that this was just wishful thinking on Kang Yong’s part. In fact, the data from the past few days revealed that players were leaving at an alarming rate, even more severely than with the first approach.

On the surface, it seemed there was nothing wrong with this method. Fixing bugs is part of a game company’s job; it’s only natural, and moreover, after the fix, the game would become more balanced.

Then why did players still leave? Couldn’t they be a bit sympathetic towards the difficulties faced by the game company and not just focus on their own pleasure?

Yes, that’s precisely what players do.

But it’s not the players’ fault. The real test for a game operation team is to find that optimal threshold between players’ demand for "fun" and the company’s strive for "balance."

Lilith looked puzzled, "There’s more than three approaches? What other methods are there?"

Gu Fan explained, "There are many strategies, but let me just outline one.

"First, immediately post an announcement stating that the company has noticed the Starlight Healer and Dark Chain BDs and acknowledging that their emergence is indeed due to a bug, followed by an emergency patch on the same day."

Lilith was taken aback, "Huh? An emergency patch the same day? Isn’t that just the first option? Besides, considering this involves a bug in the core code, it’s doubtful it’ll be fixed in one day."

Gu Fan shook his head slightly, "Who said I’m going to change the code?

"I would only do two things: first, change the text descriptions of skills and talents in the game to match their actual effects.

"The second thing, add an extra mechanism to the ’Starlight Illumination’ skill: After the first cast, the healed player will receive a debuff called ’Starlight Saturated.’ This debuff would last a certain duration and could stack multiple times. Its effect would be to reduce the healing effect from any subsequent ’Starlight Illumination’ cast on the player.

"Such changes are simple to implement and can be done in one day. But that’s just the first step."

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