Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 545 - 528: Top-tier Pay-to-Win Mobile Game

Chapter 545: Chapter 528: Top-tier Pay-to-Win Mobile Game

Lilith really began to seriously consider the viability of this matter.

"Entertaining, decapitating, enlisting to serve," this was the company’s standard procedure for dealing with external parties.

When an external party directly threatened the company, the best solution was to follow these three steps. And this three-step approach was applicable to any company.

Whether it was a tech company, an internet company, or a game company, this method could be used against any Black Pieces found online.

The first step, entertaining.

That meant meeting with the other party to understand their demands, trying to establish some common ground in a cost-effective manner.

If they could reach a preliminary agreement at the dinner table, under both carrot and stick approach, either slightly benefiting them or slightly threatening them, to stop them from engaging in activities harmful to the company, then the "entertaining" part would be considered successful.

What if entertaining didn’t work?

Then it was time to try the second step, decapitation.

For example, seizing on the other party’s verbal slips, any dirt, or illegal behaviors, either suing them successfully or ruining their reputation to silence them forever.

But what if the other party was very self-protective, and there was nothing vulnerable to attack, making decapitation impossible?

Then the only step left was enlisting to serve.

Offer them as much money as possible, enough benefits to make them turn around and praise one’s own company.

If the other party was less intelligent, and they suddenly switched from bashing to praising, causing their fans to unfollow them, those attacks they had aired against the company would simply unravel.

Even if the party didn’t fall into the trap, at least they wouldn’t spread any more dirt.

In any case, generally very few influencers could withstand this strategy when fully implemented.

But the problem was, if Nitiandang wanted to deal with Gan Di in this way, it really wouldn’t work.

Because Gan Di wasn’t just some Black Piece, but rather a hardcore fan of Nitiandang.

If they chose the first step, entertaining.

Then Gan Di would simply be overjoyed, thinking he had received recognition from Nitiandang, and afterwards, he’d promote Nitiandang even more enthusiastically.

If they chose the second step, decapitation.

That wouldn’t work either because Gan Di hadn’t engaged in any illegal activities nor had any scandals, so there simply wasn’t a vulnerable point to target.

So, the only step left was enlisting to serve.

To bring Gan Di into the development system of Nitiandang – i.e., retaining or providing him with a peaceful appointment.

After becoming an official employee of Nitiandang, limited by his contract, he could no longer act recklessly.

He couldn’t produce mods, nor could he spread news about the games online, and even after he was appointed, since he naturally stood on the official side, anything he said might provoke gamer backlash.

Wouldn’t this completely silence him?

If the new game turned out badly, garnering lots of criticism, and all these criticisms could be redirected to Gan Di, that would be even better.

Thinking this, Lilith suddenly felt that this really was a good idea.

"Really? Can it really ruin him?

"What kind of game should we create then?"

Gu Fan exclaimed, "President Li really thinks far ahead. Hasn’t the ’Star Plan’ still failed yet? Is President Li already thinking about a new game?"

Lilith coughed lightly, "Don’t I know whether it’s failed or not?

"Never mind, what I mean is, ’better safe than sorry,’ so starting to think about a new game now isn’t too early.

"Especially since we’re going to deceive, oh no, coax, oh no, confer a peaceful appointment on Gan Di, we’d have to tell him exactly what the project is to lure him in."

Gu Fan’s expression was somewhat resistant, "President Li, is it appropriate for me to answer this question?

"After all, I’m just a regular head of physical industries now, having been far removed from game design for quite some time.

"The spherical display I worked on this time has been criticized by many people online, causing the company to lose a lot of money; I am almost done for..."

Lilith tiptoed and patted his shoulder, "Oh, stop bringing up all that nonsense, at a time like this, why shift the blame around!

"Let’s brainstorm together, just suggest any good ideas!

"After all, I will also verify them thoroughly to find the optimal solution."

Clearly, after so many trials, Lilith gradually began entering a state of wanting to give up.

Because she realized, no matter who came up with the initial idea, whether it was herself, or Gu Fan and Qin Fengliang, or even letting Wei Chengjie and others brainstorm, the final result seemed to be about the same.

If so, the first step was still to collect more opinions.

"Gu Fan, my only requirement is that it has to be harsh, we need to reveal hardcore evidence!"

"The best would be a bombshell that could completely shatter Nitiandang, a battle to decide the fate, understand?"

Lilith’s expression was very serious.

Gu Fan tentatively asked, "Even if the game gets blasted by the entire internet as soon as it’s released, you’d still go through with it?"

Lilith decisively said, "What do you mean ’go through with it’? If you can really achieve this, that would be a great accomplishment!"

Gu Fan then hesitantly said, "President Li, if you have really made such a resolute decision, then I have one last trump card suggestion here.

"Why don’t we make a pay-to-win mobile AAA title? What do you think about that?"

Lilith was startled for a moment. "Hmm? Wait.

"Isn’t that two different games?

"A pay-to-win mobile game is a pay-to-win mobile game, and a AAA title is a AAA title. Are you sure they are the same thing?"

Gu Fan nodded. "It’s precisely because they seem different that we must make them into one!

"Think about it, if we can combine the shortcomings of both, oh no, the strengths, wouldn’t that be invincible?"

Lilith looked puzzled and began to think seriously.

She certainly understood what a pay-to-win mobile game was.

It simply involves creating games that can run smoothly on a mobile phone, dancing with shackles under hardware limitations, and using a free + pay-to-win gacha model for profit, interspersed with frustrating draw rates that have players cursing while eagerly spending money.

After all, as long as there are enough players, it’s certain that they will face criticism and also definitely make money.

She also understood what a AAA title was.

Generally speaking, it is about using the most advanced technology and game engines possible, striving for the ultimate in graphical presentation and cutting-edge design concepts, and using a massive amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources to create a premium priced game between $298 and $498.

Such games, if done well, also provide both fame and fortune.

But the problem is, a close examination reveals that these two models are entirely conflicting.

One requires lowering specs, the other demands higher specs; one needs the free + pay-to-win gacha, the other requires a straightforward purchase.

Besides, there are various other differences, simply put, comparisons find almost no commonalities.

Currently, Heavenly Games is staunchly pursuing the path of AAA titles, and most of their previous successful games have undoubtedly been categorized in this area.

As for the pay-to-win mobile games, they haven’t really delved into those.

This isn’t to say that Heavenly Games’ technical level isn’t up to par, but real pay-to-win mobile games don’t necessarily generate much negative sentiment.

The reason is simple:

Pay-to-win mobile games are first and foremost free games that allow players to play without spending, and if no money is spent, even if players are not very comfortable, they won’t generate many negative sentiments.

And if players do spend money?

Then that’s another scenario: due to the gacha mechanics, some people are unlucky while others are Whales, and the Whales experience much positive emotion during the gacha process.

Statistically, with the "Conservation of Luck," the positive emotions generated when being lucky provide a significant counterweight to negative emotions.

Additionally, there’s extra happiness from obtaining rare characters or XP characters.

On the whole, pay-to-win mobile games actually produce not an insignificant amount of positive sentiment among players, so much so that this free + pay-to-win pattern has become mainstream within the mobile gaming circle and is even showing a tendency to spread to traditional manufacturers.

In comparison, the straightforward premium purchase model, with fewer intricate factors, tends to more reliably produce negative sentiments for Lilith.

But now, after so many failures in premium priced games, Lilith had finally come around.

Perhaps it’s time to shed old prejudices and try the pay-to-win model?

Of course, it can’t merely be copied directly, because according to the current free + pay-to-win model, due to the many positive emotions countering negative ones, it’s unlikely to harvest much negative emotion.

So it should be as Gu Fan suggested, to create a "pay-to-win mobile AAA title" by combining the shortcomings of both.

The final outcome would be this:

To create an extremely high-spec game using an excessive budget, followed by a torrent of criticism.

Given Lilith’s current game design level, she found it hard to precisely imagine what kind of game Gu Fan’s suggestion would actually produce.

"Have there been any similar games thus far?" Lilith clearly grew interested.

Gu Fan shook his head slightly. "Games made from the outset with this concept, none.

"But there have been some that due to unexpected circumstances during development, accidentally achieved this effect."

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Tell me more! Which game was it?"

Gu Fan cleared his throat twice. "Then, we must bring up our old friend Shengjing Group. They had an iconic failure called ’Nine Swords.’"