game trailblazer

Chapter 332 Trends in the Online Gaming Circle
"...Boss, as of today (September 9th), the open test of "Legend" has been going on for 15 days... During the test period, 20 small bugs were found in the game**, but they did not affect the game system. Currently 15 bugs have been fixed through patches... As of 15:123 pm today, the number of activated game accounts has reached 2.2 million, and the number of online users has exceeded 19 at the same time, which has surpassed the "King of Kings" that started charging... "King of Kings" The charging method of "King of Kings": 19 yuan per month. In addition, if you need to create additional new characters, you need to purchase another 12 yuan character card... The charging of "Legend" will officially start from December 1st as planned. Before that, the corresponding payment channel will be established first, and the charging method will adopt the combination of point card and monthly subscription as you suggested. The development of the billing system is nearing completion, and we are conducting a joint test with Le Yiyang Company , it is expected to be put into use in mid-November... The "Legend" server has already enabled two groups in BJ and Shanghai, and the server groups in Guangzhou and Wuhan are being debugged and will be opened in three days...

……

PS: This afternoon, "Network Three Kingdoms" developed by Zhiguan Electronics officially landed in the domestic online game market. Its operating company is the domestic Youlong Online. It plans to start charging in November, and the amount of charging is not yet clear.

Sincerely, Ye Tianyu

Late night, September 2000, 9"

Zhang Lexing saw this email on the morning of September 9th. Ye Tianyu probably sent it late yesterday, so he didn't see it when he logged into the enterprise management system last night.Speaking of the current results of "Legend", it should be considered quite good. With the previous accumulation of Lianzhong and ICQ, plus the re-registered Yiyoutong account, the number of users who activated "Legend" increased like a rocket. , babbling straight up, and the number of people online at the same time also rapidly expanded.Compared with the data of "King of Kings" obtained from the survey, the results of "Legend" are much better. Zhang Lexing was very confident about this before the game was released. The spoiler provided, there is no reason to compare it to "King of Kings", which has not completely escaped the traces of Mud, but he also knows that the current results can't explain anything. The important thing is how many users are willing to pay after the fees start in December Staying, that is the key to the success of "Legend".

Thinking of this, Zhang Lexing clicked the reply button, wrote his opinion into it, and reminded Ye Tianyu, who is in charge of game operation, to pay attention to the movements of other companies, set an appropriate charging amount, and do a good job in the management of game operation. It has not been successful yet, and comrades need to work hard." "Legend" still has a long way to go.

……

Qingmuchuan's white-robed Taoist "Linchuan Muyu" is now level 22. He is no longer a rookie who just entered "Legend" and only knows how to use golden swordsmanship. He has also found his own organization.The friends who originally played together in "King of Kings" rebuilt the "Iron Brotherhood" in "Legend", and now there are more than 100 members.Because the map of "Legend" is relatively large, and the sects that everyone joins are different, the "Iron Brotherhood" is actually composed of multiple branches. The white-robed Taoist "Linchuan Muyu" who has learned Qi therapy (replenishing blood) and heart-cleaning spell (removing abnormal states) has become the most popular person when fighting monsters and PK.

PK is not the first time Qing Muchuan has heard of it. She has encountered it many times when she was playing text-based mud. Just kill anyone (or you are unlucky enough to meet a master and be killed), even some low-handed people will not go far to lure some powerful NPCs to areas such as inns, so that some players who are caught off guard will lose their lives. .

But when it came to "King of Kings", maybe the time was too short, Qing Muchuan transferred to "Legend" before he could catch up with a PK battle, and he didn't expect to be caught up in this missing lesson right away . How the PK in "Legend" happened, Qing Muchuan has not figured it out until now, not to mention her, several friends who rushed to the scene earlier than her did not figure it out either.

Qing Muchuan remembered that it was last Saturday afternoon, maybe because of the weekend, the number of players in "Legend" was much more than usual, but the map of "Legend" is very large, and there are many tasks to be done. There are actually many ways to upgrade if you want to do it, so the PK caused by occupying the territory has not appeared in "Legend".But what happened that day, when Qing Muchuan was still leveling up with "Tang Maomao" and another "Sword Shaking Kyushu", a call came from the guild channel, asking the "Iron Blood Brotherhood" North District All online members immediately rushed to the eastern suburbs outside Jicheng.

Qing Muchuan, "Tang Maomao" and "One Sword Shocking Kyushu" who were there without knowing it killed the horse thief who was fighting, and then hurried over according to the coordinates provided in the channel. When they arrived at the scene, there was already It became a pot of porridge, and words such as "Iron-blooded brothers are on shoulders", "Fenghun brothers are following me" and so on were frequently heard in the chat channel.

Although Qing Muchuan really wanted to find out the situation at this time, such as why Tie Xue and Feng Hun were fighting, but the situation at the scene did not allow her to talk too much, because Feng Hun saw reinforcements from the other side, and several people had already been assigned to come over, so she had no choice but to Accepted.The swordsman "One Sword Shocks Kyushu" stands in front, "Tang Maomao" stands on the left, and the white-robed Taoist priest from Qingmuchuan stands on the right. Choose a place that is not easy to besieged and stay there. There are more people who see Fenghun. Get ready for a protracted war.

The battle lasted for two full hours. At the beginning, only members of the "Iron Brotherhood" Jicheng Branch and "Wind Soul" were fighting. As the number of "Iron Brotherhood" rushed to the scene increased, Gradually, they couldn't stand it anymore, and they called their friends and friends of friends. The "Iron Brotherhood" followed suit, and they also called their friends and friends of friends.As a result, the scene of the battle became bigger and bigger, and even spread to other areas. A PK battle that swept the entire map of "Legend" happened inexplicably.

In this dark melee, the two sides could no longer maintain a complete formation, and the people on both sides mingled together. The strong swordsman and swordsman found a bargain, anyway, just greet the surroundings, And the Taoist priests were in bad luck, and became the focus of everyone's greetings.

Qing Muchuan couldn't remember how many times he had hanged up. Anyway, the experience gained during the day was in vain, and even the equipment on his body was blown up. He could only hold a green wooden stick, and carefully help his own people gain blood and eliminate them. An abnormal state added by the opponent.In fact, at the beginning, Qing Muchuan thought about running away, but the number of people at the scene increased sharply, and she had nowhere to hide if she wanted to run, unless she was willing to leave the "Iron Brotherhood" friends and hide in the city go.

After a bewildering fight, everyone was exhausted in the end, so they had no choice but to withdraw their troops and go home in the same bewilderment.At this time, Qing Muchuan finally seized the opportunity to ask the question she had always wanted to ask, "What is the purpose of today's battle?"

Unexpectedly, no one at the scene was able to answer. Many people said that they rushed over when they saw someone calling in the chat channel, and then started calling as soon as they arrived, and the chat channel on the scene was refreshed too quickly. Never had a chance to figure out what was going on.Later, I asked "Fenghun" through a middleman, but I didn't expect to be confused and couldn't tell the reason. I couldn't even figure out which side made the first move. In the end, this PK turned into a no-brainer case.

For Qing Muchuan, today's blending is too uneconomical. Not to mention a muddle-headed battle, even his money was lost, not to mention the damage to the equipment, and the level he worked so hard to raise was lost by a half. Level, it's really not worth it.The "Tang Maomao" and "One Sword Shaking Kyushu" who went with her were not much better, at most it was the difference between having more sticks and less sticks, which can be called sympathy for each other.

……

China BJ, 49th Floor, Block B, Sigma Apartment, No. 12 Zhichun Road, Haidian District...

Li Riyuan, the general manager of Tianxia Huacai, sat on the leather chair in the meeting room with a serious face. He is in a very bad mood now, very bad.

"Manager Zhang, how is the situation now?" Li Riyuan turned to Zhang Zhihong, who was sitting on the right and was in charge of game operations, and asked with a stern expression.

"The situation is not so good..." Zhang Zhihong shook his head, sighed and said, "The public beta of "Legend" happened just a few days before the charge of "King of Kings". Pay attention, I didn’t expect that when “King of Kings” officially started charging in September, the number of online servers dropped sharply. According to our investigation, this part of the lost players basically went to “Legend”. According to private knowledge, this There are even a lot of players who originally planned to spend some money to continue playing "King of Kings."

Li Riyuan was silent for a while. Now the situation is not bad, but very bad. The loss of players is not counted, but they are still lost to their competitors. This is simply a double blow.He tapped lightly on the conference table with his fingers inadvertently, then turned to Zhao Yue, the head of the technical department sitting on the left, and asked, "Manager Zhao, what is the current game data?"

Zhao Yue's complexion changed for a while, and he said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Now the number of new registrations has dropped to less than 300 per day. Compared with the peak period, it is not even one-tenth of the original number. After reaching the peak of 11233 people, it has been falling back. Even at nights and weekends with the most people every day, it can barely reach the level of 7000 people. According to the current trend, it will not take long. Even the level of 7000 people is not enough. It can't last anymore."

"Manager Zhang, does your department have any countermeasures for the current situation?" Li Riyuan turned his gaze back to Zhang Zhihong, hoping to get a satisfactory answer from Zhang Zhihong.To be honest, his confidence in Zhang Zhihong is not as strong as it was a few months ago. At first, he saw Zhang Zhihong's operation of "King of Kings" disc distribution with great fanfare. It just started going downhill.If Zhang Zhihong hadn't been dug here by himself, maybe he would have fired this guy a long time ago. Now, in order to maintain the necessary dignity of the leader, he can only give this guy one more chance. This must be the last time in front of him. .

"Mr. Li, our department thinks this way." Zhang Zhihong seemed to have done some homework beforehand, so when Li Riyuan asked, he didn't panic: "Now we have to do something to change the status quo, or else it will drag on like this. "King of Kings" will only be dragged to death."

What Zhang Zhihong said is very reasonable. People always make choices that are more beneficial to themselves. Now "King of Kings" has to be charged, but "Legend" is still free. According to the news published on their official website, It can be played for free for more than two months. Except for a few very specific ones, it is estimated that most people will make choices that are beneficial to "Legend".According to Zhang Zhihong's understanding, the public beta of "Legend" has been carefully selected since August 8, which is tantamount to giving many people a chance to try something early, and for users of "King of Kings", they can just re-start before paying. Make a choice, plus it's the weekend again, and the final result speaks for itself.

"We believe that there are two ways to change the current passive situation. One is to lower prices and use lower prices to attract users back. The other is to add new content. Find a way to discuss with Leijue and see Can you release a new version in the near future, which may stimulate players to play." After talking about his thoughts, Zhang Zhihong turned his attention to Li Riyuan, expecting his reaction.

Li Riyuan shook his head in dissatisfaction: "These two methods are not feasible. Now the price of 19 yuan per month is already very low, and it will not be able to maintain a reasonable profit if it is lowered any further. The sales of monthly cards have channel losses, and servers, lines It all needs money, and the price can’t be lowered. It’s not easy to release a new version. After all, we are an agency company. Can Lei Jue agree, and will a new version come out so soon? It's unknown. Manager Zhang, do you have any other solutions?"

"Hmm..." Zhang Zhihong gritted his teeth and said, "If you want to attract players' popularity, there is another way, which is to spend some money to go out."

"Spend money?" Li Riyuan couldn't help hesitating a little. If Zhang Zhihong mentioned this matter a month ago, he would have agreed with it with a flick of a pen. Isn't it just spending some money, even buying the server, and would care about spending more Is it a little bit?But the situation is different now. It is not known when the expected profit will come, and it will be a bit painful to spend money.After thinking about it, he couldn't help but ask, "What is the solution?"

"We can hold a large-scale online gathering. In addition to allowing players in the game to participate, we can also allow them to bring friends. For example, if you bring a person, you can get an extra gift. Gifts can be used in "King of Kings" The CD-ROM of the client, as well as the monthly card, will not only enhance the loyalty of old users, but may also attract new players to join. We may even consider expanding the scale of this activity, such as jointly organizing activities with magazines, buying magazines Get a monthly card, or get a one-month free period for newly registered users." As he spoke, Zhang Zhihong felt as if he had grasped the point of this incident, and he said excitedly: "Mr. Li, I think the current The key is to find a way to retain users and try to attract more people to try "King of Kings". I think the quality of "King of Kings" itself is not bad, and now users are mainly interested in "Legend". During the free period, we will find a way to dispel users' concerns, sacrifice some short-term benefits, and believe that we will be able to exchange for longer-term benefits."

Li Riyuan couldn't help but nodded. He thought what Zhang Zhihong said was very reasonable. The free period of "Legend" is only more than two months left. As long as he finds a way to survive this period, "King of Kings" is still available. fight.However, when he remembered that he was going to take out the white money again, he felt a little pain, but he couldn't do it if he didn't take it out. Gritting his teeth, he patted the table and said to Zhang Zhihong: "Manager Zhang, then I will leave this matter to you." Come to do it, how much money you need to make a budget."

"Okay, Mr. Li." Zhang Zhihong felt a lot more relaxed when his opinion was accepted, and he began to think about how to operate this event.

Courtyard No. 29, Shangdi East Road, Haidian District, in the office of Zhiguan Electronics BJ Company......

The general manager Feng Huazhu, who was sitting on the armchair, heaved a sigh of relief. The long-awaited "Three Kingdoms on the Internet" is finally about to start public testing, and now his server can finally be used.Two days ago, relying on his three-inch tongue and a few bottles of Laobaigan, the server supplier agreed to give him a grace period of one month. Saved a fortune.

Now the online game market is a bit different from a few months ago. At that time, there was only the "King of Kings" family ("Swordsman", a fake graphical online game that was automatically ignored), all came from Taiwan. It can be regarded as knowing the basics. Feng Huazhu is well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of "Three Kingdoms on the Internet" and "King of Kings".In his opinion, "Three Kingdoms on the Internet" is still very capable.But now there is another "Legend" coming out. Judging from the game screen, "Legend" has already completely defeated "Three Kingdoms on the Internet" and "King of Kings". He also heard that "Legend" not only has servers set up in BJ and Shanghai In addition, it also plans to set up servers in Guangzhou, Wuhan and other places. The advantage of "Legend" can be said to be very obvious. I heard from a former friend that "King of Kings" has been affected by "Legend", and all the data have dropped sharply.

Whether "Three Kingdoms on the Internet" can achieve good results, Feng Huazhu is not at all sure now, he can only take one step at a time, and hope that the situation will not be too bad when "Three Kingdoms on the Internet" starts charging.

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PS: Netgathering usually refers to gatherings of online game players or netizens. It has nothing to do with NetEase's famous advertisement "NetEase, the power of Netgathering people".

(End of this chapter)