Chapter 396: Chapter 381: Not a Genius
Translator: 549690339
âShould we cancel the publicity system?â
Through Lincolnâs explanation, Samuel and Clark also understood: their games had an atmosphere that was too harmonious, causing them to misjudge the relationships between players in the game.
âItâs not necessary to completely cancel it.â
Lincoln thought for a moment and continued, âAnnouncements can still be made, but only after weâve issued the awards. If a player is exposed for seriously bad behavior, we can cancel the award or even further punish them.â
âWhat do you mean by âbad behaviorâ?â Samuel asked.
âDeceiving others for money or sex and making direct contact with them in reality.â Lincoln didnât give more examples, but these two key points were enough to make everyone understand.
After thinking about it, Lincoln added, âAlso, any intent and behavior to harass other players in the game will also count.â
This time, both Randall and Fred thought deeply on this.
Especially Fred, since players are allowed to walk around in their underwear in Night City.
If there were any shameless individuals who dressed up in a bizarre combination of a coat and underwear, they could roam the streets looking for players of the opposite sex, and when they find one, suddenly open their coat-
âLet me show you something nice â blue and white striped underwear!â
Imagining that scene, Fred couldnât help but cover his face, drawing looks from everyone in the meeting room.
âWhatâs up?â Lincoln couldnât help but let his curiosity take over. âWhat are you thinking about?â
âNothing, really.â Fred rubbed his face hard, trying to erase those strange thoughts from his mind.
âBoss, you can continue.â
However, Lincoln was still curious, âNo, I donât have anything else to say. Why donât you tell us?â
âOh, no need, really. I just think your suggestions make a lot of sense.â Fred quickly changed the subject.
âSo, weâre adopting the plan we discussed for selecting honorary players?â
âYes, the plan is fine. We just need to adjust the ratios. âAssassinsâ Allianceâ and âSpeed Chaseâ should give less consideration to combat-related players and pay more attention to non-combat players, especially those who explore different ways of playing. For example, climbing, parkour, and bicycle racing. We shouldnât neglect these players.â
âThe focus of honorary players is not so much about high or low gaming skills, but rather on the loyalty, love, and time and effort they put into the game.â
âUnderstood.â Randall and Fred both took notes.
Lincoln was about to say more, but suddenly Mavisâs voice came through his ear, âMaster, a playerâs topic has reached the warning line for popularity that we set!â
Lincolnâs previously relaxed mood immediately became tense.
âThatâs it for now. Select the players for November and see how they react. We can make adjustments if necessary. In any case, adjusting long-term projects during implementation is unavoidable.â After dismissing the others to draft the list â Friday was November 1st, and they only had two days left to select players â Lincoln quickly returned to the Spaceship to find Mavis. âMavis, whatâs going on?â
Itâs no wonder Lincoln was anxious.
He and Mavis set a high warning line separate from the Spiritual Rhinoceros Hot Topic List.
The Spiritual Rhinoceros Hot Topic List focused more on the concentrated heat of fixed topics within a certain period of time, largely depending on the keywords of the topic. To surpass other topics and squeeze onto the list, there had to be a sudden explosion of popularity in a short time.
It primarily focused on âtiming.â
â If there is a problem of this kind, Samuelâs team will notice immediately and communicate with relevant game teams to respond.
However, the warning line Lincoln and Mavis set, although it also relied on keywords, wasnât limited to single ones. ÆreeÏebnovel.Æom
Mavis would count all related keywords under the same topic and merge them for statistical purposes.
This kind of calculation was not limited to the Spiritual Rhinoceros platform, and included platforms like pilipilli, Vortex Forum, live streaming platforms, and even search engine hot words â much broader than the Spiritual Rhinoceros Hot Topic List.
Consequently, the warning line they set was very high.
However, Lincoln and Mavis didnât care about âtimeliness;â all the topics Mavis collected could be accumulated.
Under these circumstances, if the popularity of a topic still meets the standard, it means the topic has a high degree of âuniversality.â
The warning line only reported concerns, not good news.
Positive topics like players cheering, anticipating, praising, and playing did not trigger the warning line. Instead, Mavis would pick out some interesting ones when Lincoln was bored, to pass the time.
Only topics about players expressing dissatisfaction, petitioning, or making demands would actually touch the warning line.
So, once a playerâs discussion topic reaches the warning line, Lincoln takes it very seriously.
âLet me see what the topic is.â
âItâs about the online feature.â Mavis answered Lincoln while showing him some screenshots of popular or representative topics.
âWhy can âAssassinsâ Allianceâ have unconditional online play, âLight Encounterâ have unconditional online play, âParadiseâ have unconditional online play, and even freaking âTraveler of the Windâ have casual online play, but the latest âSpeed Chaseâ doesnât allow direct online play? Is this reasonable?â
âThe difficulty is so high, they wonât let you team up with others, you have to clear the levels yourself. Are they trying to torture the players?â
âHonestly, I donât like gunfights at all, I just want to race with others. But they wonât let me play online unless I clear the levels first? Seriously?â
âAnalysis from an industry insiderâs perspective: why Cloud Dream doesnât allow players to team up for missions and why Iâm against this design.â
âLincoln, youâre so heartless! My girlfriend and I bought the game as soon as it was released, planning to check out the male escort club in Izumo together, but sheâs almost cleared the game and Iâm still stuck! Please save the children!â
â Lincoln leaned back in confusion: âVisiting a male escort club with a girlfriend? Whatâs the logic here? Are people playing games this way now?â
âOh, this one.â Mavis glanced at it and told Lincoln: âThe person who posted this is also a girl!â
â???â The question marks in Lincolnâs mind increased: two female players? According to their preferences, shouldnât they have agreed to look for Little Sisters together instead?
He shook his head vigorously, feeling that the world was just too strange.
Of course, Lincoln understood that without the outrageous content of this post, it wouldnât have received so much attention and discussion, and it wouldnât have been shown to him by Mavis.
Itâs not that there are too many strange people, but the strangest people and things are often the ones that appear in front of everyone.
Aside from this controversial topic, the other ones were quite representative too.
The first one, posted early, expressed dissatisfaction and received a lot of support.
The second one complained about the high difficulty and the discouraging feeling after multiple deaths while waiting for the dynamic difficulty adjustment. The player wanted help from others.
The third one didnât like gunfights and wanted to play other content.
Under this topic, not everyone wanted to race; some people wanted to form groups for destruction, others wanted to explore the streets with friends â all sorts of people.
The fourth post was a video with higher value; the author, based on their combat skills in âSpeed Chaseâ and their personal experience after a few battles, deduced the difficulty of the combat levels and explained the extent to which teaming up would damage the combat experience.
Nevertheless, at the end, they still insisted that not all players are hardcore players, and they should not force all players to go through this kind of combat experience.
Referring to the third post, many players donât care about the quality of the combat experience because they simply want to play other content besides gunfightsâŠ
That left Lincoln feeling conflicted.
The combat system in âSpeed Chaseâ wasnât just empty talk; he truly participated in its development and put in considerable effort and hard work.
Many levels required continuous testing and adjustments. Lincoln patiently worked on it for several weeks with everyone to get it right.
Not to mention Fred and the ordinary employees of the âSpeed Chaseâ development team, Lincoln couldnât bear to see the carefully designed combat levels being crushed by players teaming up and mowing down the enemies!
Of course, since the playersâ feedback exceeded the safety line, it meant that the problem had to be changed.
Lincoln pondered, how aboutâŠ
First, enable the online invitation feature, allowing players to form teams and meet up in Night City; but once online play starts, the main missions are frozen.
Even if they kill enemies in a team, as soon as a teammate leaves, the mission scene would reset to the state before entering the online mode?
As for those players who long for random large-scale online play, Lincoln wasnât very keen on directly enabling it.
Because in that case, many players would simply stop doing main missions, and wouldnât that be a waste of everyoneâs efforts?
âWhat ifâŠâ Lincoln had an idea, âWe implement limited large-scale online play?â
For example, only enable online play in specific areas?
âThat functionality already exists, whether in casinos or concert venues, they need this feature.
Another example, limit the availability to weekends, or specific hours in the evening, and unlock the multiplayer system?
This way, it could satisfy the online play needs of players while maintaining motivation to complete the main storyline as much as possible.
âMavis thinks both options are fine!â Mavis was as supportive as always.
Lincoln smiled in relief, petting Mavisâs pink head: âMavis, I need to leave for a bit and discuss this with Fred and the team.â
âAlright, Mavis understands.â
Lincoln decisively stood up and went to look for Fred.
Opening up online play wasnât a decision to make on the spur of the moment; it involved not only the main storyline but also other aspects of the game content.
He needed to gather with the development team and discuss every aspect before making the final decision.
At the same time, Lincoln couldnât help but think: he wasnât the so-called genius game designer praised by the media, and his experience wasnât even that rich.
Simply replicating games from his original world in this world seemed smooth, but once it involved adapting self-made games, there would often be cases where things appeared great in imagination but turned out to be âincompatibleâ once implemented.
Virtual reality games are a new phenomenon in both the original and current world.
Whether itâs himself or the Cloud Dream game designers, they need to constantly learn, accumulate experience, and explore the way forward.
And to look forward to someday delivering a game thatâs as close to perfection as possible for the players.freÄnovelkiss.com