Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 640: Begins to demonstrate control over public opinion (4K)

Chen Ran’s decision made Xiao Ma Ge very excited.

That is currently the most profitable game in the world. Even if Chen Ran has to share profits in the future, Xiao Ma Ge is willing to take over its agency rights.

What is NetEase?
In the Chinese Internet circle, would I, Tony Ma, be afraid of anyone?

What's more, when it comes to appearance, I still beat that Ding Sanshi!

Mr. Ma thought very confidently.

On the other hand, Chen Ran also felt that he had to make up a plausible excuse, and at the same time, secretly make trouble for NetEase.

In fact, from his point of view, if no one else comes to poach his talents, he can still renew his contract with Blizzard, but the price he pays will be greater.

But someone came to poach his talents, and Chen Ran was helpless.

After all, he was just an agent and didn't have much say, and he definitely couldn't match the conditions offered by NetEase.

But he still has to keep up the pace.

Damn it, I hate poaching the most!

Chen Ran made up his mind silently and began to plan.

However, he did not reveal any information to the company's management, including his cousin.

Chen Ran had only one request, which was to continue talking to Blizzard and express his utmost sincerity, but he must not be humble, give up his principles, and allow the other party to make exorbitant demands.

In addition, because he chose journalism as his major in college, in recent years, he has also had his agency secretly sponsor some media.

In short, many of the marketing models of basketball's executive vice president GOAT James are still very worthy of Chen Ran's learning.

Question James, understand James, become James!
Chen Ran first wrote a line of words in his Sina blog:

Let me tell you something. We at Golden Slam have been trying to reach a contract extension with Blizzard regarding World of Warcraft, but it seems that this will be very difficult, and there are also spoilers.

Of course, we will still work hard to reach a contract extension with Blizzard.

Similarly, if things do not go as planned, we will do our best to ensure a smooth handover and reduce the pressure on future successors.

Chen Ran was unwilling to hide the matter like Jiucheng did in his previous life, but wanted to expose it directly.

After all, he had a God's perspective and knew that the sooner such things were exposed, the more proactive they would be.

Perhaps The9 needs to consider the company's stock price, but Chen Ran does not need to consider this because Golden Slam is not listed.

Once this blog was published, it immediately caused a sensation on the Internet.

Chen Ran is a top figure in the literary and sports world, and "World of Warcraft" is a top figure in the gaming world.

The explosive effect caused by the interweaving of the two top streams is completely 1+1 greater than 2.

At the suggestion of the agency, the media sponsored by Chen Ran immediately launched a public opinion offensive.

What a conscientious company Jin Man Guan is!

Not only does the server quality go high, the game will not experience freezes, delays, or rollbacks, and apart from point cards, the game does not offer any value-added services. It is a conscientious game!

At present, in China, there are many games that claim to be "free forever" but are actually making a lot of money.

Some veteran players have reached the point where they instinctively resist when they hear that a game is "free forever."

“Permanently free” has been ruined by domestic game manufacturers and agents.

"Warcraft" produced by Jinmanguan Company is definitely a conscientious work.

Different from the terrible reputation of Jiucheng in the past, this time, under the guidance of many media, the words between the lines implied that Jin Manguan Company had the right to define the charging model, but they gave up the now popular "free time, paid props" model and adopted a point card charging method.

Americans don’t watch domestic news much anyway, and Blizzard has no impact on domestic news media at all.

Therefore, as word of mouth spreads, many players will gradually believe in this rumor over time.

After all, the initiative of public opinion is in Chen Ran's hands.

Then, the news media continued their offensive, implying between the lines that a domestic Internet giant was trying to poach employees and that the other party had offered Blizzard an excellent condition that was difficult for it to refuse, which was almost equivalent to an "unequal treaty."

There is only one purpose, which is to expand themselves while suppressing competitors in the same industry, and the ones who benefit are the Americans.

How many giant Internet companies are there in China?

In fact, this is not difficult to guess. Under the analysis of enthusiastic netizens, all signs point to NetEase, nicknamed "Pig Farming Network"

After all, Penguin is impossible. The two companies are so good that they are almost in the same boat. Moreover, Penguin can get dividends every year and can also recharge directly with Q coins at a 9% discount.

As for NetEase, they also sensed that something was unusual.

They were caught off guard by this overwhelming wave of public opinion.

They also didn't expect that Chen Ran, who had a God's perspective, had already planned for this day when sponsoring some news media.

What's more, because of Chen Ran, many sports media will also join in the fun.

There is no rule that sports media cannot discuss issues related to game agency rights.

In a short period of time, NetEase's reputation and word of mouth became very bad under Chen Ran's deliberate guidance.

Soon, NetEase’s public relations department immediately clarified that they had never contacted Blizzard and had no interest in the agency rights of "World of Warcraft".

Since Chen Ran did not directly point out the name, they could not do anything to Chen Ran.

But they immediately sent a lawyer's letter, stating that they would sue the journalists and media that spread the rumors.

Does this scene look familiar to you? It’s just like those celebrities in later generations who could only issue lawyers’ letters to scare the media.

In short, this is still mainly a bluff.

……

"Netizens of this era are still too naive. Fortunately, I am well-informed!" Chen Ran also observed the reactions of netizens and then smiled slightly.

After NetEase issued a sincere and heartfelt statement, these game players who have never seen any tricks actually believed NetEase's words.

Do you think those profit-seeking businessmen have any shame? Their shamelessness is far beyond your imagination.

This is the routine used by many Chinese companies. When faced with a rumor related to themselves, they will always deny it first. Only when the rumors are almost certain and have been basically confirmed, will they issue an announcement to acknowledge it.

Chen Ran was already accustomed to this kind of situation in his previous life.

The more something is denied at the first time, the greater the possibility that it is true.

Netizens of this era are still not knowledgeable enough.

Chen Ran is very sure that NetEase will not let go easily.

Even though he doesn't know who the potential poacher is yet, he will definitely put all the blame on Yangzhu.com and Ding Sanshi.

...Within a few days after Chen Ran posted the blog, the management of Jin Man Guan Company, including his cousin, came to him one after another.

"No wonder the contract renewal negotiations were so difficult. It turns out someone was trying to poach employees."

"These Americans are really tight-lipped. They don't reveal any information at all."

"Boss, your connections are amazing. You actually know this."

"That's why I'm the boss and you can only work for me." Chen Ran replied unhappily, then changed the subject, "You guys continue to negotiate, and show patience and respect. I have my own network of contacts, so you don't have to worry about my side."

He and Xiao Ma Ge had agreed that neither of them could disclose the transfer of agency rights to anyone for the time being.

Because the transfer of game agency rights can easily arouse the resentment of players, they are prone to have hatred towards the takeover party. After all, this will bring them a lot of trouble.

Especially during the period of changing agents, the game will be shut down for a long time, which is very unpleasant for many World of Warcraft players who are addicted to the game.

Therefore, even if Chen Ran wanted to transfer the agency rights to Penguin, he wanted to make it look like Penguin had no choice but to do so, and had to take over for the sake of the majority of game players.

Most of the negative emotions and hatred should be borne by the real poacher. The blame should be borne by the other party!

"You can even announce the negotiation progress to the players at any time." Chen Ran continued to issue orders.

"Boss, how can that be possible?" a manager asked in confusion, "The agency contract originally stipulated that we cannot do this."

Chen Ran's face turned dark and he directly kicked the man out of the office.

How could there be such a simple little white rabbit? How did this guy get to this position?

Business is like a battlefield. If you really strictly abide by the terms of the contract, you won’t know how you will die.

Chen Ran left his cousin Zhu Xiaoli behind and told her his idea directly.

“1. Jinmanguan Company is not listed in the United States.”

"2. Even if I don't follow the terms of the contract, what can Blizzard do to me?"

"3. Even if the other party wants to sue me, they can only sue me in China. Would I be afraid of it?"

It would be better to let the Americans come to Shenzhen to sue, so that they can experience what "Nanshan Pizza Hut" means.

Many simple young Chinese people of this era still believe very much in the Western spirit of contract.

But only Chen Ran knew that the so-called "spirit of contract" is something they will only emphasize when it is beneficial to them. If it is not beneficial to them, they will have thrown this "spirit of contract" out of their minds, revealing a shameless and hypocritical face.

Not to mention business, double standards can be seen everywhere in sports, entertainment, and politics.

Therefore, Chen Ran didn't even think about discussing the spirit of contract with those Americans. He had no intention of abiding by some of the terms of the contract.

I will pay you the agency fees on time every quarter, and there will be no delay, so you can just be happy!

Chen Ran asked his cousin to implement his plan.

The negotiation process can be disclosed to the outside world at any time.

At the same time, their unfair terms must be made known to the people of the whole country.

In its previous life, the reputation of Jiucheng was completely destroyed by Blizzard.

The players only cursed 9City and licked Blizzard.

The situation is much better now, especially now that Chen Ran can manipulate news and public opinion.

Americans, even if your game makes me a lot of money, if I have the chance to ruin your reputation, I will not show any mercy.

At this moment, Chen Ran's cousin Zhu Xiaoli was also speechless.

My cousin is so cunning, and he will not be merciful just because the other party is an international friend and needs to pay attention to his international image.

This theory simply does not apply to Chen Ran.

"Why are you playing tennis? If you focus on business, you will definitely succeed. You are really good at robbing other thieves, and you can also control public opinion and turn right into wrong!"

"Playing tennis is easy, but doing business is too tiring!" Chen Ran retorted righteously.

……

So, a few days later, Blizzard's various unfair terms regarding contract renewal appeared on various portals, forums, QQ groups, and even QQ spaces.

Especially in QQ space, those posts portrayed Blizzard as a capitalist bully that only knew how to suck the hard-earned money of Chinese companies.

Even if they were not charged with any crime, Chen Ran would still arrange a set for them.

How powerful are the posts in QQ Space?
When they were smearing Jay Chou, they spread rumors that he said with his own mouth that he was living a simple life, and that not only was he unwilling to donate to the disaster, but he also flew a helicopter to the earthquake-stricken area to steal instant noodles. In short, the description was very vivid.

The problem is that many young men and women who use QQ Space actually believe these rumors and think they are true.

After all, the Internet of this era is really exciting and interesting.

Not long after, when Chen Ran just arrived in Shenzhen to prepare for the 2007 year-end finals, Blizzard's negotiation team had already expressed serious protest to Golden Slam.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Not only did they leak the contents of the negotiations, but they also exaggerated them and even slandered us."

"The good reputation that Blizzard has built in China over the past decade is almost going to go to waste."

The negotiation team of the Golden Slam Company immediately refuted: "Americans, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. We have never done that."

"Those posts circulating on the Internet, especially those that smear you, have nothing to do with us."

"There are so many messy things on the Internet. Who knows? You can't control them all."

"Look at our Chinese pop star Jay Chou, who was attacked even more severely on QQ Zone. Your case is nothing. Don't be so sensitive!"

Anyway, the other party won’t admit it because they don’t have evidence.

"Then why do you say the negotiation terms were leaked!" Blizzard asked angrily.

"We are also surprised by this. Maybe there is a traitor. Don't worry, we will investigate!" The people from the Golden Slam Company also emphasized, "Don't worry, we will definitely find the traitor. You have to be patient."

"I suspect that you may say nice things, but you are definitely doing small things secretly." Someone from Blizzard sneered.

When the other party heard it, he was also happy.

"Slander, this is slander! We can sue you in Shenzhen Nanshan Court!"

Isn't this your favorite tactic to use in the United States?
Anyway, when the two countries communicated in the past, the United States always said that the two countries were friendly, for example, saying that there was only one China in the world, but turned around and made all kinds of small moves.

This has become commonplace.

Now the roles are reversed, and you are not happy?
……

(End of this chapter)