Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 51 Please rest assured, the company will not go bankrupt!

Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Please rest assured, the company will not go bankrupt!

Similar complaints were numerous, virtually countless.

What infuriated the players most was that no matter whether it was on major forums or video websites, whether they were streamers or friends nearby, they couldn’t find a single player who had beaten Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon!

Of course, by beating the game, it is meant "to aid the Han Dynasty and unify the Three Kingdoms."

The vast majority of players racked their brains, but in the end, they only managed to run out of life either at Wuzhang Plains or Qishan.

As for why most players, playing as Zhuge Liang, ended up succumbing to illness specifically at special places like Wuzhang Plains and Qishan?

Because Zhuge Liang’s objective in his Northern Expeditions was Chang’an, to travel from Shu Kingdom to Chang’an, historically there were only four roads through the Qinling: Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road, each rugged and perilous, making troop movements difficult.

Of course, one could choose to circumvent Qinling by taking Qishan. Although this detour was longer, it avoided the treacherous mountain paths of Qinling, benefiting the army’s advance and supply logistics from the rear.

Although Zhuge Liang’s multiple Northern Expeditions are often referred to as "the Six Expeditions from Qishan," in reality there were only five expeditions, and only three of those took the Qishan route, with the last one passing through Baoxie Road (also known as Xiegu).

And Wuzhang Plains lay right at the northern exit of Xiegu.

As for why Zhuge Liang didn’t choose Qishan for his final Northern Expedition, on the one hand, Wei Kingdom had already reinforced its defenses in the Qishan area, on the other hand, Zhuge Liang felt his days were numbered, thus he set out his final campaign through Xiegu with the determination to give his all in this last endeavor, under circumstances where supplies were ample.

However, as the exit of Xiegu, Wuzhang Plains itself had a unique location. It was backed by Qinling, with Wei River to the north and Shitou River to the east. To continue the eastern assault on Chang’an, one had to find a way to cross these rivers.

Sima Yi deployed the turtle formation, strictly on the defensive, waiting for the Shu forces to make a move, making it hard to achieve any significant victory.

The game also more or less restored this terrain, so players aiming to complete the Northern Expedition would generally also go through Qishan or Wuzhang Plains.

But the Wei Kingdom in the game was exceedingly powerful, and its Sima Yi also persisted with the turtle tactic, refusing to venture out!

If players were impatient and launched an attack, it was certain doom; after all, crossing the river and attacking the enemy’s fortress while handling so many debuffs was a recipe for defeat.

Yet, if players simply waited it out, Zhuge Liang’s lifespan would run out, and it was still doom!

Of course, the players also fully utilized their creativity, especially when they noticed the "Warding off the Star" action in the Wolong Strategy.

"Warding off the Star" essentially means "to prolong life with the Seven-Star Lamp."

The players thought that if this particular Wolong Strategy truly worked and actually extended Zhuge Liang’s life, wouldn’t that solve everything?

But after trying it out, they realized that the success rate of this trick was very low, and even when successful, it only extended his life by a year.

And most crucially, players could only use three Wolong Strategies per turn, already a tight restraint, and now they had to squeeze in a use for "Warding off the Star," making it even more insufficient.

Would you give up "Observing Stars", "Personal Farming", or "Brocade Bag"? Or forego "Verbal Combat" and "Fire Attack"? These Wolong Strategies all seemed much more useful than "Warding off the Star"!

In short, the "Warding off the Star" Wolong Strategy appeared powerful, but in reality, it was quite ineffective!

The players gradually came to realize a fact.

This damn game didn’t seem to want them to beat it at all!

...

Zhou Yang’s expression at the moment was a blend of feeling wronged and bottled-up frustration.

Was it unpleasant to hear the players curse?

It definitely was.

But Zhou Yang also felt aggrieved, weren’t these issues known to us during the development and testing phase?

Apart from Su Tong, the Test Team Leader, and Xiao Mingyu, the Finance Director who was only responsible for financial matters and had nothing to do with the game content, everyone else had more or less raised questions about the details of Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon.

But Gu Fan simply wouldn’t listen!

Ever since the design document was presented, not a single word had been changed, which, in Zhou Yang’s view, was quite explosive even by global game industry standards.

What, bro, is your design document Lüshi Chunqiu? Worth its weight in gold?

In other companies, game design documents are generally like the code for the game programs, needing changes now and again. By the time the game is made, it has usually become completely unrecognizable from its initial design.

After all, everyone is just a regular person, not a deity, how could they possibly get everything perfect from the start?

During development, whether it was a logical problem raised by the programmers or an unreasonable gameplay mechanism, changes needed to be made promptly.

But over at Nitiandang, once the design document was written, they weren’t just talking about leaving features unchanged, they wouldn’t even let you correct the typos!

As a designer, Zhou Yang certainly could view the electronic version of the design document in the backend, but that was pretty much all he could do.

Because this design document was set to read-only format, so it absolutely couldn’t be edited.

And Gu Fan himself was the company’s lead programmer; he seemed very confident about his designs, and no matter how unreasonable a feature was, he would develop it with unswerving confidence and exactness.

Isn’t that why they say that projects led by lead programmers or lead artists often have problems to some extent!

Alas, it’s a long story!

It seems hoping to gain a successful project experience at Nitiandang Games is unlikely, as long as we don’t get tarnished with a professional stain, it wouldn’t be bad...

As for the others, they each have their own concerns.

Of course, their concerns aren’t as direct as Zhou Yang’s; mainly, they fear Nitiandang’s collapse.

Even though it’s only one game, that’s how it goes in the game industry, profits come fast and losses faster, a few consecutive successful projects can turn a startup into an industry giant, but one failed game could sink the company into an abyss.

Nitiandang’s financial foundation is still okay, after all, it’s supported by two and a half successful games. Even if Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon ends up a total loss, it shouldn’t die on the spot.

But if the next game also tanks, then it’s a different story.

Everyone would probably have to pack up and start looking for new jobs.

And considering President Gu’s stubborn state, the chance of the next game making money also seems slim.

With this in mind, everyone became a bit curious, just how did President Gu manage to produce three successful games before? And the kind that players raved about!

Could it really be all left to fate and depending on bugs?

Inconceivable, truly inconceivable!

The entire second floor of the café was suffused with an indescribable atmosphere at this time.

Feeling this, Gu Fan felt it was time to do something.

Thinking this, he stood up, cleared his throat twice, "Okay, everyone put your work aside for a moment, I have a few words to say."

Hearing this, everyone who had been feigning work looked over.

Their expressions seemed to relax a bit.

Thank goodness, it seems President Gu is still rational. With the game facing such setbacks, he must have some remedial measures in mind.

Whether it’s hiring a PR team or changing the game features, anything would be better than nothing. If all else fails, even a pep talk is good enough!

In other companies, everyone usually resists post-launch game modifications.

After all, the game is already made, who wants to do more work? Lazing around and slacking off is much more comfortable.

But after joining Nitiandang Games, everyone actually hoped President Gu would hurry up and make some changes to the game.

Please, the game’s being trashed like this and you can still sit still? We ordinary employees can’t!

We have to do something, right? Are we just going to sit and stare?

Fortunately, President Gu finally came to his senses and was about to say something.

Everyone listened intently.

Gu Fan spoke very seriously, "Everyone has seen it, Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon has gained decent popularity online, and while current sales aren’t great, you don’t need to worry at all.

"Whether it’s this game or future games, profitable or not, even if I lose my shorts, I can assure you, the company will definitely not go bankrupt, and will definitely not lay off any staff!

"Alright, everyone gets back to work."

Having said that, Gu Fan sat down and resumed slacking off in front of his computer.

The entire company was shocked.

Huh?

That’s it? That’s all he had to say?

Dude, is now really the time for this kind of talk?

The game is being criticized like this, what about emergency PR? An apology statement? Gameplay changes? Hotfix updates?

You’re really not planning to change a single line of code?

Is the possibility of the company going under really what we’re concerned about?

Okay, fine, that’s important too, since nobody wants to update their resumes and start the job hunt again in the short term, but compared to the issues above, isn’t that the least of our worries?

President Gu’s few words left everyone speechless.

Some had thought about asking privately whether any changes to the game were going to be made, but seeing the current situation, they all kept silent.

Forget it, whatever will be, will be. It’s not my company, after all...

And so, in a more disillusioned, each-with-their-own-agenda state, they spent the first day following the new game’s release.