socalfunplaces Chapter 16 The Master of Eloquence
Chapter 16 The Master of Eloquence
Because he went to bed late last night, while Tang She was still enjoying his sleep, the forums, comment sections, and various console game groups had already exploded.
Just as Tang She had predicted, players were in an uproar because they couldn't play the various modified versions.
The game sold over 10,000 copies by 10:00 AM, but the refund rate exceeded 70%.
That's a record-breaking achievement.
"Isn't Tangren Games a bit off? Why do you have to complete the first playthrough to unlock other modes?"
"It's obvious without even guessing that those modes are half-finished products, specifically designed to market and fool players."
"I didn't believe it when they said Tangren Games had changed management, but now it's true. Their ability to create hype is much stronger than before."
"Indeed, in the past, Tangren Games would let their garbage games die out in some obscure corner, but now they bring out their rubbish every day to disgust people."
"I said before about that Three Kingdoms Kill game that Tangren Games is incorrigible. Back then, there was a bunch of online trolls trying to defend it, but why is no one defending it now?"
The positive review rate for Plants vs. Zombies plummeted, eventually dropping to seven percent.
The situation in the Three Kingdoms Kill game is also not optimistic. The quality of the second Tiger Talisman is far lower than that of the first one, and players from all walks of life are calling it a consumption trap. Even Guan Chen, who had previously praised the consumption mechanism of Three Kingdoms Kill, was hit by the AOE and was left speechless by the criticism in the comment section of that Three Kingdoms Kill video.
In the conference room of Tangren Games, the three major companies were in a state of utter chaos.
Everything seems to have returned to what it was four months ago.
No, the situation was worse, because at least there weren't as many people criticizing it back then.
"Have you contacted Tang She yet?"
"I asked, sitting in the main seat," Ren Wei asked.
She was actually a little helpless. Before the game was released, she had asked if it was inappropriate to do this, but Tang She firmly said that there was no problem.
This puts her in a difficult position, making it impossible for her to decide whether to unlock other versions.
After all, she had no confidence in herself at the moment and didn't know what Tang She's intentions were in doing this.
Therefore, she was unable to make a decision.
Just then, the office door was pushed open, and Tang She, dressed in disheveled clothes, walked in.
"Sorry, I was watching the game closely last night and stayed up too late. I also forgot to charge my phone."
Xiao Li opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately said nothing.
Ren Wei breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him arrive, and then quickly posted the comments section of "Plants vs. Zombies" on the projector.
"I don't know if you've seen this situation... Although we should be prepared, a 7% positive review rate still shocked me. And the refund rate has reached 70%. We were originally in the top three of this week's sales chart, but we dropped down in an instant. And as for the Three Kingdoms Kill game..."
Tang She waved his hand to stop her.
"I've already seen all of this on my way here. Although it's somewhat out of control, it was within my expectations. This stab was bound to happen sooner or later."
Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Tang She continued to explain.
"Let's talk about Three Kingdoms Kill first. According to our calculations, the average win rate of players should be around 42%. When a player selects Jie Xusheng, unless he is the traitor, his win rate will be close to 80%. Although Liu Yan's data is not as exaggerated as Jie Xusheng's, his win rate is still far higher than 42%, which is unacceptable."
The other three people in the meeting room showed no unusual expression; clearly, they already knew this data.
"The way to suppress these generals, besides releasing generals who counter them, is to release generals who are stronger than them, which is what these players want to see."
Tang She opened the file bag, pulled out a few documents, and held them up for everyone to see.
"For example, the divine Zhao Yun, the divine Gan Ning, Ju Yi, and Sha Moke."
Everyone stared in silence at the four general cards. These were originally designed for the second Tiger Tally, but Tang She had abruptly stopped them.
"It's foreseeable that these generals will be very strong, much better than Xu Sheng and Liu Yan, and players will be very happy. But what about the win rate? Will whoever gets Divine Zhao Yun win? It's foreseeable that the win rate of these four generals will not be lower than 60%, and the win rate of Divine Zhao Yun will be over 80%. At that time, you really just have to choose."
So how should we design the third phase? Introduce four characters stronger than them? Let the top performers among them continue to increase their win rates? What will our Three Kingdoms Kill become then? A pure game of luck? A game where whoever picks the strongest general of the current phase wins? And that general's win rate will exceed 90% or even 95%. Therefore, we will have to add these counter-generals to the game sooner or later, so why not now? While it's true that player churn will decrease when players invest more and their sunk costs are greater, have you considered how players will view us then?
The already silent crowd fell even more silent, recalling the project proposal they had seen four months earlier, which mentioned the need to be wary of game balance.
"Why did we release Liu Yan and Xu Sheng in the first phase? Because our company was going out of business and we were out of money. So we had no choice but to do it out of desperation. Now, we're just making less money. We're far from going out of business. As long as Three Kingdoms Kill is operated well, I believe those players who left will come back."
After speaking, Tang She glanced at the other three people and saw that they all seemed to be deep in thought, so he did not disturb them. He poured himself a glass of water and then drank it all in one gulp.
He knew something was wrong the moment he woke up and saw the bright sun outside the window. He rushed downstairs and used his meager savings to hail a taxi to the company. He charged his phone in the car and hadn't had a drop of water. He had just finished talking and was now extremely thirsty.
After finishing his water, he sat down and rested for a while. Seeing that the three of them had almost accepted his excuse, he continued:
"Next, let's talk about Plants vs. Zombies. This question is much simpler than 'Three Kingdoms Kill': Do you think Plants vs. Zombies is a good game?"
Xiao Li, a seasoned indie game enthusiast, was the one who answered the question and was arguably the most qualified to speak among the three.
"I can't say for sure about the future. But in the last three years, this is definitely the best indie game."
Tang She smiled after hearing this.
"What else is there to say? Our goal is to make a good game that we're satisfied with, isn't it?"
The four months they spent together made them more familiar with each other, and Wu Yu, who had always been taciturn, was able to speak up in front of the other three.
"But the price of 58 is really..."
The one who answered him was not Tang She, but Xiao Li. He turned around, and his pale face and dark circles that covered almost half of his face made Wu Yu choke back her words.
For the past month, Xiao Li and his employees have practically lived and worked at the company to meet Tang She's demands, working non-stop for a whole month.
Now, lowering the price would undoubtedly negate their efforts.
Ren Wei shook her head and rejected Wu Yu's suggestion.
"It's too late to lower the price now. People online say that our main purpose in setting the price is marketing. If we really lower the price, wouldn't that prove that we were indeed doing marketing? Even for the sake of the company's reputation, the price of Plants vs. Zombies can only be this way."