Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 536 - 519 Mutual Aid Group and Mod

Chapter 536: Chapter 519 Mutual Aid Group and Mod

p.m.

By the time Li Wenhao started his live stream again, the video clip had already gone viral, spiraling out of control.

Actually, Li Wenhao was somewhat puzzled, was it really that big of a deal?

Logically speaking, this all-nighter was just a clash between two trolls, something not uncommon on the internet before.

So why was there such a big fuss this time?

After carefully observing the discussions of netizens, Li Wenhao finally had an epiphany.

It was because Mouth King’s out-of-game tactics had spread!

While the intensity and duration of previous troll battles on the internet had been higher, such as the legendary threads where two people would counter each other for thousands of posts over several years.

But those were just personal behaviors, which didn’t affect other netizens.

Most people just watched for fun.

But this time it was different, all thanks to the "Star Plan."

Since it was a new game by Nitiandang, and naturally had a large player base, there were also many trolls in the game.

And the "Star Plan" not only didn’t restrict such behavior but seemed to even indulge it.

This led to these trolls, who were enthusiastic about online PVP, almost all simultaneously adopting the same strategy as Mouth King.

That was to take a spot in a game to annoy others!

Mouth King wasn’t the first to do this, and certainly wouldn’t be the last.

At this point in time, many players were imitating Mouth King’s actions, seeking targeted revenge.

They’d find someone they’d clashed with in the game, join the game when they saw them playing, take a spot, and then not cooperate, leading to a shared death.

The idea was "if I can’t play well, neither can you."

This kind of behavior was obviously seriously impacting the gaming experience of regular players.

And the disruptive power of this group was incredibly shocking because one troll player could affect five or even ten regular players; and if these players were annoyed even once, they’d feel as if they had been force-fed disgust, a feeling which could linger for a long time.

It was precisely because so many players were disgusted that the Mouth King incident had resonated with so many people, reaching such a high level of attention.

After all, seeing a troll defeated and slinking away after battling all night was undeniably satisfying.

But this was just an insignificant, temporary victory over the trolls and didn’t change the overall situation.

Not every regular player had the determination and perseverance of Li Wenhao’s viewers to fight it out with these trolls all night long.

Most people could only choose to hide, like staying offline for a while before coming back on.

And this obviously fostered the trolls’ arrogance, making them even more lawless.

These regular players, who felt helpless against the trolls, were both relieved when they stumbled upon the video and at the same time felt helpless about the current state of the game.

Under these dual factors, they actively participated in discussions, which naturally stirred up the topic.

Li Wenhao immediately realized that something was not right.

Things had gotten out of hand!

"Damn, have I inadvertently started a huge online war?"

Although this war wasn’t directly related to him, Mouth King had indeed initiated his actions from Li Wenhao’s platform...

There was now an even more concerning thought: would more trolls mimic this behavior, triggering a chain reaction?

Take someone who was originally a normal gamer.

But after being constantly harassed by trolls, unable to vent their frustration, they naturally considered the idea of taking revenge on society.

It started with them self-destructing along with the trolls, but quickly, this behavior inevitably spread to other normal players.

It’s like in some MOBA games with an intense atmosphere.

In the beginning, everyone just wanted to play nicely, but soon they found out that playing well doesn’t guarantee a win, playing randomly doesn’t necessarily mean a loss, and sometimes throwing the game might even lead to a higher win rate; hence, people start to throw games.

Amidst this chain reaction, the game environment degrades rapidly.

It was evident that "Star Plan" was now in the midst of such a crisis.

What should be done?

Relying on Nitiandang was obviously wishful thinking; they would definitely not patch the game.

Players were left to save themselves.

Li Wenhao flipped through forum posts and found that many players had already organized themselves to fight against the troll communities.

For instance, there was a group called "Star Plan Mutual Aid Group" on the forum.

Li Wenhao initially thought it was just a simple player community, but upon closer examination, he realized it was more organized than he thought!

The Mutual Aid Group was divided into three different community sections: White List Group, Black List Group, and Arbitration Group.

The White List Group was where players left their IDs, as well as IDs of teammates who they had a good experience playing with.

In the White List Group, players could team up with those who were filtered as having a good reputation.

The Black List Group, on the other hand, listed IDs of trolls who deliberately ruined the gaming experience and annoyed others.

As for the Arbitration Group, that place was quite interesting, made up of a group of very principled and idle netizens who had come together voluntarily.

Members of the Arbitration Group would actively target the trolls in the Black List Group.

They would initiate attacks on these trolls, lock them down firmly so that they couldn’t go and attack others.

Moreover, when players were in disputes, they could send relevant video files to the Arbitration Group.

The video files came in two types: direct videos or in-game recordings.

The in-game video files are tiny, just a few hundred KB, and can be viewed directly in the game, revealing all the details.

The arbitration team would rule on whether the leader or the Governor was more at fault based on the recording.

From time to time, there would be cases of self-sabotage: some players would confidently come to seek arbitration, claiming they had been wronged, only to find upon reviewing the recording that they were in fact the troublemaker.

As a result, they’d be graced with a spot on the blacklist.

This mutual aid group was newly formed, but it had already gained significant popularity.

It originated from the player forums of "Star Plan," which had a vast accumulation of players, so once rules and guidelines were established, it could quickly organize and kick off activities.

Even rich men with a strong sense of justice appeared on the internet, clamping down on troublemakers with force.

They’d spend money to hire studios to launch saturation attacks on those on the blacklist.

Ensuring that as soon as these individuals logged on, they’d be dragged down by the studio and prevented from disturbing other players.

The game mechanics of "Star Plan," although facilitating troublemakers in harassing regular players, also enabled players and studios to retaliate against those troublemakers.

What’s this called?

This is called "if the enemy can get there, so can I!"

As for why the rich man spent money on this, don’t ask about his mindset—can’t he do it just for a clear conscience?

Moreover, this kind of action isn’t without benefits; several bloggers specialized in creating videos punishing troublemakers and generated quite a buzz.

Li Wenhao couldn’t help but marvel, "Can things really be done this way?"

Clearly, when a game is highly popular, the lack of game mechanics often leads to the bustling of the external gaming community.

Because players will always find ways to compensate for the shortcomings of the in-game mechanics externally.

The issues with "Star Plan’s" game mechanics actually promoted the development of the mutual aid group, encouraging players to connect outside of the game.

Of course, most players still prefer to team up with friends.

But no matter what, the emergence of the mutual aid group has initially curbed these negative tendencies.

As for how long it can be contained, that’s hard to say, but at least the situation hasn’t immediately fallen into disarray.

...

Meanwhile, in Gan Di’s live-streaming room.

Unlike Li Wenhao’s chatroom where everyone was voyeuristically consuming the drama, Gan Di’s audience was debating how to solve the current issues with "Star Plan."

Why?

Because they actually had the capability to solve them!

Or more accurately, Gan Di did, because he could develop mods.

While other live-streamers played games just for fun, Gan Di could genuinely create a mod that altered the gameplay.

And the current state of "Star Plan" had many players feeling that it was time for one or several mods.

But how exactly should a gameplay-improving mod be approached?

That was complicated, and after a long debate, no clear conclusion emerged.

"Just release a mod that disables Revenge Mode, right? Just make it so players can’t see the recent match-up list."

"That doesn’t seem too effective. Although everyone hated the mode at first, it’s obvious they’ve gotten used to it. Would they accept it being removed?"

"I don’t think it’s necessary to remove this feature. Just add an option to check information.

"When you’re matched with other players, you could see their average game time or ratings like approval and disapproval rates. With that, couldn’t you instantly tell if they’re troublemakers?"

"Are you suggesting that a shorter average time indicates more troublemaking potential? It makes some sense, but what if real newbie players get unintentionally hurt by this?"

"Or could we tweak the matching system? Group troublemaking players together and let expert players guide rookies?"

"Are you dreaming? How do you differentiate troublemakers, expert players, and rookies? If Gan Di could do that, he might as well work at an AI company."

"Actually, the mutual aid group’s approach is already pretty good. Why not develop a game plugin specifically for them, to make teaming up more convenient? Or import mutual aid data, so everyone can see other players’ ratings."

"Isn’t that a bit problematic? Does it violate players’ privacy rights?"

"What privacy rights? Troublemakers don’t deserve privacy—it’s like saying MOBA games shouldn’t let you check battle records—totally idiotic."

"But this assessment isn’t necessarily accurate, right? The black and white lists in the mutual aid group often have mistakes. If you put that directly into the game and wrongful cases arise, who’s responsible?"

"Who needs to be responsible? It’s just a game. Whoever likes the mod can use it—there’s no obligation if there’s an error."

"Wait a second, aren’t you all forgetting this is an online game? Even if you add an online module to the mod, only players who have installed the same mod can play together.

"So before making the mod, you must also consider if the majority of players would accept it.

"Otherwise, if there aren’t enough mod users, you can’t get enough players, then isn’t it all in vain?"

"If you ask me, we should prioritize developing a whitelist first, at least guaranteeing players who want to play seriously can use the mod to match with quality players."

The chat was full of diverse opinions, and they couldn’t even reach a consensus on "what kind of mod to make."

Everyone agreed that "Star Plan’s" match-making mode definitely had big issues.

But when it came down to how to change it, the answers were unclear.

The difficulty in game development lies here: after playing an existing game, it’s easy to pick apart faults, but truly starting from scratch to design a new feature is much harder.

Because solving one problem may lead to the emergence of three new ones, and addressing those three might spawn dozens more.

Without professional design expertise, you might fix one aspect at the expense of another, making things worse.

Gan Di also felt the pressure.

Everyone obviously hoped he would create a mod to improve the situation, but due to the online nature of "Star Plan," this mod had to be simple and precise to be widely adopted by players.

That was quite the challenge.