Chapter 250 Rectifying the Crescent Blade’s Vertical Hacking Speed Bug

In order to set up the TPDb ratings, a website was required.

As there was still space upstairs, Pei Qian decided to hire a group of people to manage the website's operations. They would be situated next to Zhongdian Chinese Network.

TPDb's website would list out all of Tengda's projects, including all the games it had developed before, all the short videos that Fei Huang Workspace had shot, each and every Fish-Catching Internet Cafe branch, Zhongdian Chinese Network, Upwind Courier stations, etc.

The site would be categorized simply into games, films, lifestyle, experiences, etc. for easy filtering and searching.

If Tengda were to venture into new industries in the future, the number of categories on this site would be refreshed as well.

There wouldn't be too much of an introduction to each of these projects. Every one of them would only have a simple profile page with some basic information.

The focus of the website would be on ratings as well as relevant details regarding it. The ratings were divided into internal, media, consumer, and netizens ratings. The final ratings would be based on these four big groups with different weights apportioned to each.

The website was on the open register. However, Tengda employees' accounts had special access rights that allowed them to enter the 'internal ratings' intranet page and to see the ratings that had been given by other employees.

Ordinary users would only be able to see the overall stats of the ratings Tengda employees have given; they could not enter the intranet.

The media ratings would take into account some established media companies' ratings as well as some of their posted reviews.

Consumers and netizens would have their separate rating pages. Only those who could give their registered account record with Tengda would be able to access the consumer rating page; ordinary netizens couldn't. As for the specific ratings, TPDb would also adopt a more complicated rating system. Every account would have a different weight attached to it; the specific weight would only be viewable to Tengda employees with higher levels of clearance.

Some inappropriate behavior would have a negative impact on accounts' weights. For example, if some Big V had been given money to give a 1/5 rating on a project that had an average of 4/5 rating, or if someone gave 5/5 for a project that had an average 2/5 rating, this would definitely impact this account's future rating weight.

Of course, this wasn't trying to get rid of any form of dissent; after all, ratings should be an individual and very subjective thing. It could also be possible that some people didn't like others giving 5/5 and praising a so-called masterpiece; hence, they really wanted to give a 1/5 rating instead. However, such revenge-like behavior was already contravening the objective and fair principle behind ratings; this would have a negative impact on this account's future ratings.

At the same time, if someone continuously used bogey accounts-accessing accounts all from the same IP address; these accounts' weights would be reduced as well.

All in all, Pei Qian wanted to eliminate as much of the subjective ratings as possible, allowing each project's ratings to be as close to its intrinsic value as possible.

Pei Qian gave Ma Yiqun and company the task of setting up the preliminary website for the moment. As Zhongdian Chinese Network had already been set up, Ma Yiqun and company were no longer as busy as before.

After the preparations for TPDb had been completed, he would then find someone suitable to manage it.

September 1st…

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe…

Qiao Liang sipped his coffee that a waiter had brought from the bar counter; he felt that his life was so relaxed and at ease.

His fans were continuously bombarding him with messages; he couldn't read all of them in time.

For the past weeks, Qiao Liang hadn't been paying much attention to his fan groups. He had been having a life-and-death battle with Repent and be Saved. Qiao Liang had to play eight hours of the game daily, and the pressure was on.

Furthermore, Repent and be Saved's gameplay couldn't be divulged; he had signed a contract and he had to keep mum.

However, Qiao Liang had recently gotten a knack of the game; and he was progressing speedily. He wasn't as pressured as before.

After briefly looking through his fans' comments and taking a break, Qiao Liang once again logged into Repent and be Saved. He was prepared to kill the Mengpo boss that he had been stuck at for a long time.

After entering the game, a new notification popped up. "Oh, another update."

Qiao Liang was already used to this. As he was playing the developer edition of the game, Repent and be Saved's project team was continuously making changes to the game; and there would be new updates daily.

There were both major and minor updates. Minor updates were just a few hundred kilobytes and might be regarding the addition of a new configuration table; major updates could actually be up to a few hundred megabytes and would be updating an entire new setting

The update this round wasn't that huge. As the internet cafe's internet speed was very fast, it was completed in a few minutes.

"I wonder how much alteration has been made based on my conversation with Boss Pei the last time."

Qiao Liang actually had a little hope for this.

A week earlier, Boss Pei had come over to ask him about the game. Qiao Liang had given his opinion in detail;

The difficulty level of the starting village and town was too high. As players were entering the game for the first time and hadn't gotten used to this gameplay, they could potentially be easily dissuaded from the game. However, as one progressed in the game, it actually got easier.

What Qiao Liang hinted at was reducing the difficulty level of the game at the start while maintaining the status quo subsequently.

With regard to weapons, Qiao Liang had felt that the chopper was a very useful and agile weapon in the early to mid-stages of the game. The chopper's attack speed was fast, and its damage was high as well. Also, the crescent blade's vertical hacking was very useful.

Qiao Liang wanted to say that other less popular weapons were a little cumbersome and perhaps they could be improved on.

When the game had undergone updates the previous few times, Qiao Liang had kept his hopes up that the design team would make some changes based on these comments; however, he had been disappointed time and again.

Perhaps these changes in the balance of the game required more time and couldn't be done swiftly. Finally, the moment Qiao Liang had been waiting for had come.

After the update was completed, Qiao Liang took a look at the update log and realized that many changes had been made to the balance of the game!

"Boss Pei is indeed a designer who is good at listening to gamers' opinions!"

Qiao Liang sighed emotively.

He opened the balance changes details page and took a good look at it. He wanted to see which unpopular weapons had been strengthened so that he could use these modified weapons to face the Mengpo boss.

"The monsters in Three-Life Stone, River of Forgetfulness, etc. have had their attack powers elevated; the type of monsters and attacking styles as well…

"Reducing the overtly high damage that the chopper has when it leveled up; to compensate for this, a slight increase in its charged-attack damage…

"Rectifying the Crescent Blade's Vertical Hacking Speed Bug…"

Such balancing changes abounded; however, most of them were weakening balances!

The weapons that Teacher Qiao had felt rather good to use have essentially all been nerfed.

The chopper's basic attack damage increase when it leveled up was nerfed[1]. This way, players would no longer be able to mindlessly use the chopper all the way from early to mid-stage.

Of course, this weapon was still good to use as the charged attack damage had been increased. However, this attack required a longer charging lag time; and the chopper's nimbleness would be blunted. Using it would now require more technique.

The same thing happened with the crescent blade. After removing the bug that made its vertical hacking strike so quickly, Qiao Liang couldn't mindlessly use this attack continuously on monsters. He needed more skill for this now.

Naturally, as for whether this had been a bug or not, only Pei Qian himself knew.

Qiao Liang was in a daze. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"All the weapons that I felt were good to use… have been nerfed? How am I supposed to kill Mengpo today? I might not even be able to defeat some puny monsters!"

Qiao Liang looked at his leveled-up chopper and crescent blade as he sat in his chair.

It felt like he was all back at square one!

His coffee no longer smelled fragrant.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

Qiao Liang felt a deep sense of confusion and despondence.

(1) 'Nerf' is a game slang for 'becoming too weak'.

Chapter 251 Boss Pei Finally Got it Right Once

These few days, Pei Qian was rather busy.

He had spent the entire summer holiday busying with company matters. As it was nearing the start of school, he finally managed to find time to make a trip back home to rest for two days.

Pei Qian encountered a barrage of questions, such as his mom asking why he didn't appear in Fei Huang Workspace's new 'A Day in a Great Inventor's Life'. Pei Qian's reply was that he was now working backstage. This time, Pei Qian did not buy any new appliances for the apartment. He had basically bought all the new appliances and furniture that he could; his next objective was to change to a bigger home.

However, Pei Qian's Personal Wealth was still not sufficient; he could only wait for the upcoming round of losses first. Hence, after resting at home for two days, Pei Qian speedily returned to his working station and continued to bury himself in work passionately.

After returning to the company, he realized that Li Yada was actually very efficient. Repent and be Saved already had a new update that removed previous bugs that overpowered certain weapons.

Pei Qian was not affected at all; 'Pudu had not been nerfed at all.

Furthermore, Pei Qian's route took him straight from Road to the Underworld to the six realms of rebirth and existence. The increased difficulty level of the River of Forgetfulness, Three-Life Stone, etc. did not impact Pei Qian at all.

After struggling for a time in the game, Pei Qian decided to watch some shows on a video website and relax for a while.

After he entered a site, he saw a familiar face. Pei Qian was stunned. Oh? Wasn't this Zhang Zuting? He saw the date, and Pei Qian finally recalled. Oh, yes. Today is the publishing date for Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version. As the advertisements were in tandem with the game, they were definitely being shown on all major websites.

Pei Qian was a little pained from his gaming experience. However, he immediately perked up. He didn't even watch his show as he hurriedly monitored how Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version was doing.

He already had problems with Ming Yun Private Kitchen; he could only depend on this game to give him the assurance that he needed!

Pei Qian first opened a few popular websites like video websites, gaming websites, etc. Every website he went to, he could see Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's advertisement.

On the video websites, many gaming-related videos were all playing Zhang Zuting's famous few words used for publicity: "I am Zha Zhuti; if you're my brother, come nibble at me!"

It was hard for any netizen not to find out about this game under such widespread publicity.

Pei Qian hurriedly went to Aili Island and immediately searched the keywords 'Zhang Zuting'. He found a collection of the advertisements related to Zhang Zuting and took a look at the bullet screen comments and discussions.

This series of videos was named: Can't maintain your integrity? Zhang Zuting's web-based game: I am Zha Zhuti.

The bullet screen comments and debate here reflected a portion of viewers' attitudes.

"As Teacher Zhang's fan, I am sorely disappointed. How much money is Teacher Zhang lacking that he would film such a commercial…?"

"Yet another lewd and dirty web-based game – bleh!"

"Actually, this is not that bad. At least this advertisement isn't pushing the envelope and isn't baiting people by offering money or something. This is considered one of the cleaner web-based game adverts I have seen. However, I still want to ask why Teacher Zhang has ruined his entire life's reputation…"

"Tsk, this is how Zhang Zuting sounds like actually? I have always listened to the dubbing previously when I watched his films; I didn't expect his voice to be so sinister?"

"Could this be using Teacher Zhang's person and voice illegally?".

"Zhang Zuting had said on Weibo himself that he was collaborating with a game company; this advertisement should be trustworthy."

"You guys should think about this positively. Many web-based games' commercials are all lies; they are nothing like what the games are actually about. However, this advertisement is rather well-done. They have actually invited a star as a spokesperson and decked him out in the clothing and setting of the game itself. Even his lines in the commercial are in-line with the game. This should be the best web-based game commercial this year, right?"

"Hello everyone, I am Zha Zhuti; if you're my brother, come nibble at me! You can't miss

out!"

The responses from the masses were not overtly agitated.

Everyone was seasoned and had experienced much.

At present, web-based games were at a key inflection point. This was considered the last glorious phase for web-based games where companies that did such games were raking in the most amount of money.

Web-based games commercials were also changing with the times.

During the days when web-based games were in the wilderness, promoters would rip off content from others; they wouldn't be bothered if they violated any copyright rules or the likes. The way they publicized their games were also rather uncouth. It was done forcibly and with Psoriasis-style advertisements.

However, as the web-based game industry continued to consolidate and reorder and industry standards were set, major players all started to engage stars as their spokespersons.

Hence, from the perspective of ordinary netizens, Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's commercial was actually of better quality than ordinary ones that had a tendency to race to the bottom.

The group of people that were most displeased was Zhang Zuting's fans. They felt that this web-based game commercial had lowered Zhang Zuting's status; they felt as if their star had been humiliated.

Pei Qian opened Zhang Zuting's Weibo.

Zhang Zuting's latest Weibo message was one regarding the environment a few days ago. The content had been very simple: #protecttheenvironment #weneedtosavetheenvironment. This starts with us as individuals; let's work together!"

The comments beneath this Weibo message had been rather ordinary. Some of Zhang Zuting's fans had praised their idol, saying 'my idol is the best', etc.

However, present discussions had taken a completely different tune.

"Brother Zuting, why did you go and shoot a web-based game commercial. My world is crashing down!"

"Go and take a look! Many people are teasing you and calling you 'Zha Zhuti'!".

"This is breaking my heart. Brother Zuting who has always cherished his image had actually colluded with web-based game companies that are making dirty money!"

"So this is what you meant by collaborating with a game company… you meant a web-based game company…"

Zhang Zuting's Weibo was taking a hit.

Many of his fans seemed to have a prejudice against web-based games and its related commercials. They all felt that a spokesperson for a web-based game was receiving dirty money and was self-degrading. Hence, they wouldn't even bother playing the web-based game and had immediately come to protest on Zhang Zuting's Weibo.

Zhang Zuting had not yet made any response so far and hadn't dared to release any new messages. Pei Qian knew that Zhang Zuting was someone who liked to interact with his fans and would also monitor his Weibo account. It was impossible that he hadn't seen any of these comments yet.

Zhang Zuting must have seen them; he just didn't know how to reply to them yet.

On one hand was his fans while on the other was his paying master; he couldn't offend either side.

Furthermore, Boss Pei had even treated him to a meal before.

As the saying went, gifts blinded one's eyes. As Zhang Zuting had only lost some fans now, he couldn't possibly begrudge Boss Pei just because of this.

Since Zhang Zuting could not express his bitterness, he could only be a coward and hide for the moment.

Pei Qian took a look at the feedback regarding the commercial; it was more or less as expected. Pei Qian was a little disappointed. It seemed as if he didn't manage to trigger as strong a negative reaction as he imagined it would.

However, perhaps the commercial had only been released for a short while; and people's hatred for it hadn't festered.

Currently, meme creators have not yet surfaced, and this commercial had not created a brainwashing effect yet. It was also logical that it hadn't yet triggered everyone's baseline.

Pei Qian had to focus his attention on the game's statistics.

Pei Qian opened the systems platform of Shang Yang Games and took a look at Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's data. This included registered players, retention rate, and average fees collected, etc.

He couldn't deny that the commercial had been rather effective. It had attracted quite a few web-based game players.

Although the commercial looked very stupid to ordinary people who didn't have any desire to play the game-for web-based game gamers specifically, the advertisement was extremely attractive.

It was a very organized process from a web-based game advertisement until someone officially started playing the game. Every step of the way would be tracked and data retained.

As the advertisement surfaced on people's screens, it showed how many people clicked on it; after clicking on it, how many had downloaded the game; after downloading, how many people had created accounts and entered the game; after entering the game, how many players persisted for an hour and more; how many players returned the next day after downloading the game; and how much players charged on average and what the highest charged value was.

All these data were very precise, and much analysis could be drawn from them.

As the saying went, 'data never lies'. When there was a division between a person's perception and what data showed—if the data was accurate, then the person's perception must be wrong

As Pei Qian glanced at the data in front of him, the corners of his mouth curled upward.

It was basically just like what he had predicted!

Chapter 252 This Game Looks Hopeless

The figures were all normal, but there was a huge problem with two of them.

Too many players were lost between clicking the advertisement and registering for the game. It added up to about six or seven times more than ordinary web-based games.

Apart from that, many players in the game purchased things. However, the overall income was still low.

The reason for these was simple.

The former was because mini-clients were too big. Most web-based gamers would not be used to downloading a 370 MB mini-client. That was why they did not even bother downloading the game and trying it out. They gave up almost instantly.

Many gamers were purchasing things in the game because the paywalls in the game were designed good-heartedly. Only strength potions were on sale.

Yet, it did not matter even if many people were purchasing the potions. This was because the game's paywall was just too low. Even rich ballers did not have anywhere to spend their money. That explained the low overall income.

Pei Qian's estimates were all accurate. Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's advertisement was well-filmed, but the target audience was wrong.

Most people whom the advertisement attracted were traditional web-based gamers. Having to download a 370-MB mini-client turned most of them away. The low paywall also turned away many ballers. Most gamers who sought fair gameplay were already playing client-side games. They would not mind downloading a 370-MB game, but they had deep prejudices against web-based games. The advertisement had already turned them away, and they ran as fast as they could. Of course, they would not have registered for the game. This was how they got into the predicament they were in.

Once he saw the figures, Pei Qian leaned back in his chair, feeling more comfortable than he had ever been.

This is it! This is a logical development! Something is finally developing as I expected!

Pei Qian had never felt this satisfied.

Recently, Ming Yun Private Kitchen had become popular out of nowhere. Pei Qian felt critically injured, and he became extremely anxious. However, seeing Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's situation now, he felt much more relieved. According to the traditional model of web-based games, the trashy opening that they had would never allow for the situation to turn around.

Most web-based games were profitable. Game manufacturers would put out as many advertisements as they could, hire celebrities as spokespeople, and then make the game popular. In just a couple of days, the game would be well-known all over the internet, and hoards of gamers would be registering.

However, gamers would go as quickly as they came. Their income would peak, but then it would also fall quickly. Then, the game manufacturers would start to continuously open new servers to earn as much money as they could.

Thus, as popular as a web-based game was in the beginning, it always had a probability of failing halfway through.

It went without saying that web-based games, which were not popular upon release, would remain that way the entire time.

On the first day of its release, Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's figures were already so horrible. The chances of it recovering later on were negligible. Most web-based gamers were turned away mainly because the mini-client was 370 MB big. How could they resolve this problem?

They could not possibly get rid of the 370 MB mini-client and then create a new game that players could play whenever they wanted. Wouldn't that waste all of their hard work?

Thus, no matter how he looked at this situation, Pei Qian felt satisfied with the state of Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version.

Of course, he knew he could not let his guard down just yet. Many times before this, his plans worked well in the beginning but fell through halfway. Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version had only been published for a day. He could not be too positive. He had to observe the situation closely for a while before he relaxed completely.

At the same time, at Shang Yang Games…

Everyone was feeling low. One could say that the place had become a land of mourning.

Since Pei Qian could see the figures, Ye Zhizhou, Wang Xiaobin, and Lin Wan could as well. Of course, three of them could also infer the same problems that Pei Qian had inferred.

However, there was no way they could resolve them!

Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin sat at their desks, frowning and not saying a single word.

A 370 MB mini-client-this was the design plan everyone agreed upon. Even Boss Pei agreed to it.

Yet, now, reality had punched them in the face. Such a huge mini-client would never succeed in the circle of web-based gamers. The gamers would just not accept it!

Old players of Bloody Battle Song were more accepting. After all, they had developed a sense of attachment to Bloody Battle Song. What's more, the 370 MB mini-client provided far better graphics and smoother gameplay. Of course, their gaming experience would be greatly improved.

However, Bloody Battle Song had already been pretty much abandoned by most people. How many old players remained?

Recovering the costs of research and development aside, the bit of income that they generated probably could not even cover the cost of the company's daily operations.

Thus, they found themselves in a deadlock.

Wang Xiaobin knew full well how bad the current situation was. If the problem was with unimportant details, they probably could have salvaged it.

For instance, if the game's daily retention rate was low and gamers stopped playing the game after the first day, they could reward players with items for logging in the next day. This would increase the daily retention rate.

Yet, there was no solution to the problems they were facing!

Most people did not even enter the game after clicking on the advertisement, purely because the mini-client was 370 MB big. How could they resolve that?

Wang Xiaobin and Ye Zhizhou exchanged a meaningful look. Both of them could reach the other's mind.

We cannot just sit here and wait. We must think of a solution.

Boss Pei treated them so well. At a time like that, they would profit from widespread suggestions. They had to share Boss Pei's burden.

Ye Zhizhou pondered for a moment and suggested, "Brother Wang, how about this? We can break the mini-client down even more. We'll create a 5 MB mini-client which only includes the first part of the game. This would allow players to try the game out after clicking on the advertisement.

"After playing for about ten minutes, we can ask them to download the resources for the rest of the game. Otherwise, we could allow the rest of the game to download in the background while they are playing the first segment.

"Would that be better?"

This was the only solution Ye Zhizhou could think of.

Wang Xiaobin shook his head. "It's a good idea, but it doesn't seem possible.

"Initially, we designed the game so that players would have to go into a city shortly after entering the game. That would allow them to enjoy the beautiful scenery and backgrounds there and improve their first impression of the game. Many important resources have been placed at the beginning of the game.

"In order to play a mini-client for the first segment of the game, one would have to download many resources. What's more, the characters, monsters, and the city itself were all done in 3D. This amounts to a lot of resources. The game's procedure would also have to be included in that starting mini-client, right?

"All in all, the starting mini-client would add up to 70 to 80 MB at best. It's impossible to reduce it to 5 MB.

"Figure-wise, 70 MB is a good distance from 370 MB. However, web-based gamers would still be unable to play the game upon launching it. They would still have to spend some time downloading resources. It would not make a difference to them.

"If we don't have a better solution, we can try it out. However… I don't think it would be that effective."

Ye Zhizhou had nothing else to say.

The root of this problem was that nobody expected the mini-client's repelling effect on traditional web-based gamers to be so strong!

At the time, everyone had been focused on turning 2D to 3D and making the mosaic look high-definition. Perhaps they had been too optimistic about the early stages of Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's release.

Thus, from when they designed the game's initial gameplay to when they designed the backgrounds, nobody thought about the possibility of segmenting the game's mini-client.

Now, to cut the mini-client into two meant that huge changes had to be made to the game itself. The amount of effort required aside, they could not even predict the results.

Ye Zhizhou felt disheartened. This looks like an impossible situation!

However, Boss Pei had agreed to this plan in the first place.

Could Boss Pei have made a mistake in his predictions as well?

Did Boss Pei expect the mini-client to fail like that?

Yet, Ye Zhizhou had always held Boss Pei's design concepts in high regard. He found it hard to accept that Boss Pei would have made a mistake.

Wang Xiaobin sighed and comforted himself. "Let's think positively. Even if the game fails, our bonus would not be greatly affected.

"From this month, our bonus will be issued based on the game's reputation. Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version might not make a profit, but its reputation still looks good. "We can calculate our bonus based on the amount of money Shang Yang Games invested in the game. I guess that we will each get quite a significant sum."

Ye Zhizhou shook his head. "You may be right, but no matter how good the game's reputation is-if it does not generate profit, we will not feel proud.

"What's more, there aren't just internal reviews and gamers' reviews on TPDb. There are also netizens' reviews. Many people who have not played the game might rate us with low scores based on our advertisement alone. In fact, that's very likely.

"If netizens don't rate us well, our overall TPDb rating would still be low.

"For all we know, not only would the game not generate profit, but it might also have a bad reputation."

Wang Xiaobin remained silent for a long time. Finally, he said in a low voice, "Sh*t… that sounds about right…"

Chapter 253 Stubborn Director Lin and Overjoyed Boss Pei

Finished!

After hearing Ye Zhizhou's words, Wang Xiaobin could forget about receiving his bonus.

If they only allowed players of Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version to write reviews, their reputation might be good. That was because the game was made good-heartedly.

However, games media and ordinary netizens were also allowed to write reviews on TPDb. These netizens did not have to play the game for too long before writing the reviews. They could just rate the game based on the 'I am Zha Zhuti' advertisement. It would be strange if they rated the game highly.

The first game produced by Shang Yang Games after being bought over by Boss Pei failed immediately. Of course, everyone felt ashamed of themselves.

Are we really late-stage cancer patients? Every game produced by Boss Pei succeeded; they had high sales volumes and were extremely well-reputed. Would even such a talented creator like him fail to bring Shang Yang Games to glory?

That was hard to accept.

"Everyone, come to the conference room. I want to say a few words."

Lin Wan looked disappointed as well. It was obvious she had seen the game's figures. She knew full well that the situation did not look good.

However, she was different from everyone else. Lin Wan was not disappointed to the point of helplessness. Instead, she retained her composure. It was almost like she had already been prepared for this.

In the conference room, everyone took their seats.

Lin Wan scanned the room and said sincerely, "Everyone must have seen the figures for day one of our game's release. They don't look

good."

Everyone remained silent.

In fact, everyone was used to situations like these. When the ex-boss-Du Ruijie—was still around, he would often call for meetings like that after seeing bad figures for games. He would primarily shift the blame and encourage everyone.

If there was a problem with the game, it would show signs of being a flop after being released. That meant that something must have gone very wrong somewhere. Of course, the boss would have to share the blame.

Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's problem was that they had chosen the wrong path when they made it a mini-client.

Wang Xiaobin was the first to think of making the game a mini-client, but everyone had agreed to it. What's more, Director Lin and Boss Pei had agreed to it as well.

How would Director Lin split the responsibility?

Thus, everyone guessed that she would not spend too much time trying to shift the blame. Instead, she would probably skip to the encouraging part as soon as she could.

From the way things were going with the game, everyone guessed that they would have to work overtime in order to turn the situation around.

If the ex-boss, Du Ruijie, and the ex-chief planner, Old Liu, were still around; they would have told everyone to slog tirelessly under the 996 system and make as many changes to the game as possible. Of course, they would do so at no additional pay. After all, the company had already been on the brink of death. It was one thing not to tide through difficult periods with the company but quite another to demand overtime pay.

A few old employees sighed quietly.

After all, ever since Boss Pei bought over the company, he did not make any changes to the structure. The moment something went wrong with company operations, they would be right back where they started.

Everyone's hearts sank as they prepared themselves to work overtime for the coming weeks.

However, Lin Wan's tone changed. "This is not your fault. Don't blame yourselves."

Everyone immediately felt strange.

Director Lin was not trying to shift the blame?

This was a good thing, but the game had failed after all. Someone had to step out and take the blame for it, right? Someone had to decide how they should move forward.

They all looked up and listened closely.

Lin Wan continued, "Think about it, everyone. Boss Pei has never done a web-based game. He has always specialized in high-quality standalone games. Yet, why did he buy Shang Yang Games even though it was incurring losses? After that, why did he insist on working on Bloody Battle Song, a game with paywalls?

"He has been using Bloody Battle Song to do something very risky. He's conducting a test that no one has ever thought about conducting!

"Boss Pei wanted gamers to stop being slaves to money. He wanted to alter their tastes, so that even if they do not top up money into games, they would be able to enjoy a gaming experience that used to be exclusive to ballers.

"From production to advertising, Boss Pei has been consistently moving towards this goal.

"We should have been well-prepared for this heaven-defying move to fail. I believe that Boss Pei was prepared for this as well."

When Lin Wan first arrived at Shang Yang Games, she was confused about this very same problem. However, she understood it later on.

Boss Pei hired Zhang Zuting to film the advertisement so that he would be able to attract more web-based gamers. He opted for a mini-client, created the 'Chosen One' system, and took away purchase options, all to nurture healthy spending habits in web-based gamers.

This motivation was noble, but it did go against web-based gamers' nature. It was natural for the game to fail.

To die a hero was not shameful!

Lin Wan looked determined. "Thus, do not feel defeated by this failure. We were not producing a money-making web-based game to begin with. We were working on a noble project. Whether we succeed or fail in the end, we are all heroes!"

After hearing Lin Wan's speech, everyone felt much better.

They were not failures! They were heaven-defying heroes!

Director Lin had indeed worked with Boss Pei for a long time. Even the angle from which she viewed this problem was different.

Compared to their ex-boss Du Ruijie, she was so much better.

Ye Zhizhou cheered up as well. The desperation and helplessness he felt were half gone by now.

However, even though his spirits had more or less recovered, he had to do what needed to be done. Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version was not generating profit. He had to solve this problem.

There were only two possible solutions: First, he could get rid of the restrictions and allow ballers to spend as much as they could. Second, he could multiply the number of players in the game several times. If there were enough players and everyone bought strength potions every day, Shang Yang Games would start making money for sure.

The first solution was impossible. They had already spent so much effort getting to where they were. He could not give up their progress in the face of failure.

That meant he had no choice but to try and get more players into the game.

The atmosphere in the conference room had become much livelier. Everyone was beginning to speak freely. Some of them talked about changing the mini-client format, and others talked about changing the structure of the game. All of them were extremely excited.

Lin Wan listened to all their suggestions, but she said nothing.

Finally, she shook her head. "None of them would work. Our current plan is the best one. I think we should persist."

Everyone instinctively looked at each other, confused.

Was she being a bit too stubborn?

According to Director Lin's initial analysis, she was not wrong to think this way.

Boss Pei was the one who decided to make the game a mini-client. They had improved the game's quality, and cutting the mini-client into segments would cause the game to feel choppy. What's more, they would be treating the symptoms and not the root problem. It might not deal with all their problems completely.

That was all true, but were they really not allowed to change anything?

According to the game's current situation-if they left it as it was, it would be hopeless. Lin Wan remained resolute. "We won't change anything. Don't worry for now, everyone. Rest well. Let's keep observing the situation over the week. If the game's figures remain the same after a week, we'll think about something else."

Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin exchanged a look. They could tell that Director Lin had made up her mind.

Since that was the case, there was nothing else to be said. After the meeting ended, everyone went back to their desks and got back to work. They would wait patiently for a week. If things did not improve after a week, then they could discuss more.

If things didn't improve… they would probably have to make major changes.

When she got back to her own office, Lin Wan's head began to hurt.

Although she managed to cheer everyone up during the meeting and put up a strong front, she still felt very uncertain about the future.

"I will make some time one of these days to meet Boss Pei and ask for his advice."

September 3rd, Friday…

Pei Qian was in the office, reading TPDb's website. He bought the website template. That was why they managed to release the first version so quickly. Although it was still in the testing stage, the current TPDb website had already done quite well in its fledgling stage. Pei Qian guessed that it was more or less ready to use.

He had professional staff discussing with other websites about partnerships. At the moment, some of them had already agreed.

To get reviews from the media, they had to discuss partnerships with game media. To get reviews from players, they had to get figures from ESRO's official platform. At the same time, he would include TPDb's website URL in the game's details page. This way, players would be able to give ratings once they access the details page of each game.

These improvements in the overall experience had to be done over a long time. He could not possibly accomplish them all in a single day.

At the moment, TPDb still had very few visitors. Most of them were employees of Tengda Games. Apart from that, only some players of several games had visited them.

This was because few people knew about the site, and not many people were discussing it.

Pei Qian was looking at the ratings for Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version at that moment.

This game had an overall rating of 7.2. The two extremes were the paying gamers' reviews and netizens' reviews. The former rated the game 9.1, but the latter rated it a pathetic 4.3.

This showed that the players who were really spending money on the game were quite satisfied with it.

Netizens were mostly unsatisfied with Zhang Zuting's advertisement.

These people had not really tried the game. They might have clicked the game's official website and seen TPDb's URL by chance. That was probably why they gave the game bad reviews and a one-star rating.

Although these people did not have the right to review the game, the total number of reviewers was still quite low. Thus, the ratings were still susceptible to change during this period.

According to the stipulations, a game with a rating from 6.0 to 7.0 would get a C. The bonus for this project would amount to 1% of the total investment. If the game had ratings of lower than 6.0, there would be no bonus.

Since the game's overall rating was 7.2, it got a B. The bonus for this project would thus amount to 5% of the total investment.

If the rating increased to more than 8.0, it would get an A, and the bonus would amount to 10%. With a rating of more than 9.0, it would get an S, and the bonus would amount to 15%.

Tengda had invested about eight million yuan into Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version. A 5% bonus would amount to about four hundred thousand yuan. On average, each person would get less than ten thousand yuan.

Pei Qian could not help but feel regret at this amount.

Everyone worked so hard to get rid of eight million yuan for me, and yet I can only give them four hundred thousand yuan worth of bonus. It doesn't seem right. However, TPDb's rules had already been set. Even Boss Pei could not manipulate the figures behind the scenes. "If only the game's rating could go above 8.0. Then, I would be able to get rid of four hundred thousand yuan more."

Pei Qian knew very well that he could not blame the people at Shang Yang Games for the game's low rating. The game was good-heartedly made, and it deserved a high rating. However, netizens were disgusted by the advertisement. Even without playing the game, they vengefully gave it bad reviews. That was why the overall rating was lowered.

Yet, there was no need for Pei Qian to get anxious now. There was still plenty of time.

TPDb did not have many users yet. That was why the overall rating was fluctuating so much. For all he knew, more netizens would review Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version during this period.

Lin Wan knocked on Boss Pei's office door apprehensively.

Although Boss Pei had given the nod to the core concept and design of the game, Lin Wan still felt uncertain about the current situation. She may have appeared extremely confident in front of people in Shang Yang Games, but standing outside Boss Pei's office, she felt completely lost. "Enter."

Lin Wan calmed herself down, pushed open the door, and entered the office.

She came to report her decision to Boss Pei, in hopes of obtaining his support. Of course, the game had earned very little revenue since it was released. As the director, Lin Wan was prepared to take the blame and be questioned.

However, once he saw Lin Wan, Boss Pei's face seemed to light up. A grin spread across his face, and he looked genuinely happy. It was almost as if he was welcoming a trusted minister with great accomplishments!

Chapter 254 When It's Time, the Situation will Change

On seeing Boss Pei's passion, Lin Wan almost forgot what she had come here for. Why did she feel like the game had succeeded, and they were going to have a large-scale celebration?

Both of them entered the guest room, and Pei Qian gestured for Lin Wan to sit down on the couch. Then, he served her tea personally.

That's how good generals were treated!

Pei Qian was quite satisfied with Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's current situation. They managed to spend eight million yuan and incur losses. Lin Wan was most likely dealt a hard blow this time, too. Perhaps she would not be able to take the pressure and would soon go home to take over her family business.

These were two pieces of good news!

Indeed, buying Shang Yang Games back then had been the right decision!

However, it was a pity that the game's rating was low on TPDb. If he could get it above 8.0, he would be able to pay another four hundred thousand yuan worth of bonus.

He could not belittle this sum. What if he ended up being just four hundred thousand yuan from incurring loss?

Of course, Lin Wan and Shang Yang Games were performing extremely well now. Boss Pei was easily content.

Watching Boss Pei personally serve her tea, Lin Wan felt pampered. She took the cup with two hands and sipped her tea, forgetting what she had come here for.

Oh, right. I'm here to report to Boss Pei. Lin Wan briefly explained Shang Yang Games' current problems.

"Boss Pei, I have come to talk about two main problems.

"First, everyone has been cursing Zhang Zuting's advertisement. Not only has that advertisement worsened our game's reputation in the eyes of netizens, but it has also greatly disturbed Zhang Zuting.

"Yesterday, he took the initiative to contact Shang Yang Games' staff, asking if he could fly down to Jingzhou and re-film the advertisement. What's more, he was willing to re-film the advertisement without being paid a single cent. "I know that this advertisement was done to attract traditional web-based gamers, but it has affected Zhang Zuting's reputation. Why not let him re-film a classier advertisement to make it up to him?"

Re-film the advertisement? No way!

Without even thinking about it, Pei Qian shook his head. "There's no need. I understand Old Zhang's emotions, but re-filming the advertisement would not resolve the problem.

"The advertisement has already been published. Everyone's impressions have already been set. We cannot possibly brainwash everyone and erase their memories.

"What's more, the advertisement's popularity has earned Old Zhang more new fans. It should not matter that he's being cursed at by some."

Lin Wan still felt uncomfortable. "But many people are calling him 'Zha Zhuti[1]' on his Weibo profile. He's finding it extremely difficult to accept being referred to like that." Pei Qian smiled. "Why does Old Zhang seem so different from before? It's because he was too well-packaged as an idol. He can't even tell what young people like nowadays.

"Is he still trying to stick to his old ways and think about how to make a comeback and make a name for himself? Everyone's referring to him affectionately as Zha Zhuti. They like him. Doesn't he understand this simple logic?" Lin Wan looked confused. "Huh?"

Boss Pei was making sense. Yet, the person involved did not like it at all!

Pei Qian continued. "Go back and work on Old Zhang's mindset. Help him to change his worldview. I think 'Zha Zhuti' is quite a nice nickname. It sounds affectionate.

"It even sounds appetizing. Young people would like it for sure. If you don't believe me, look through Zhang Zuting's Weibo. See if there have been more fans recently. Is he obviously more popular?".

Lin Wan looked at her phone, confused. "It looks like… he has gotten many more fans. Alright, I'll go back and talk to him…"

Lin Wan was confused after listening to Pei Qian's lies. This problem was settled. "The second problem is Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's figures. You've seen them, right…?

Seen

"Although the figures are not ideal, I think it's still too early to say we've failed. I'm prepared to keep an eye on the figures for a week. If they still do not improve after that, we'll try making some changes."

Hmm? Try making some changes after a week? What the hell are you making changes for? Isn't the situation now ideal?

Don't you dare make any changes!

Pei Qian's expression became very stern as he said, "Failed? Where have we failed? The rating left behind by paying customers on TPDb was 9.2. That's an excellent rating! I've also browsed a couple of forums. Old players are very satisfied with the current game.

"Tengda Games is using reputation as the main measurement of success now. This game has not failed in any sense. Instead, it's considered quite a success. It has achieved its aim perfectly.

"It's not a big deal that it's not generating any profit now. Cast your eyes further. As long as we have a good reputation, we will make profits one day."

Lin Wan was conflicted. "Er… that's true, but… netizens have given the game very low ratings —we only got 4.3."

Pei Qian sipped his tea and grinned. "They're just a bunch of Cloud Players who are here to join in the fun. These people have never even played the game. They're rating the game based on the advertisement alone. Why should we be concerned about them?

"Netizens' rating of the game is 4.3, but that is mainly because there are very few users on

TPDb at the moment. Many people have misconceptions about Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version. The ratings are not exactly accurate.

"We need to have faith that the game will not be buried. Since paying customers are affirming it, we have to persevere. The sun will shine eventually!"

Lin Wan nodded without saying anything.

Hmm, Boss Pei is much more optimistic than I expected.

The netizens' ratings were bothering Lin Wan, but it did not seem to be a big deal at all to Boss Pei.

Boss Pei smiled subtly. "Haven't I said it time and time again? Cast your eyes further.

"Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version is the culmination of everyone's hard work. Since we all think that we've created a good game, why must we be so concerned about it incurring losses for now?

"Don't panic and confuse yourself. Don't make any changes. Keep things as they are." Lin Wan nodded. Boss Pei was the most thorough!

Since even Boss Pei did not see the need to make any changes to the game, there was probably no need for any changes to be made.

However… Would it be appropriate for them to sit back and wait? Couldn't they do something more practical?

Lin Wan pondered for a moment and said, "I'll ask them to make some minor improvements for now then. We will keep the game's contents as they are, but we'll just repair bugs."

Pei Qian nodded, satisfied. "Mm, alright."

As long as you don't make any major changes and keep things as they are, I'm fine with anything

"But… Boss Pei, when do you expect to see a change in Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version's situation?" Lin Wan asked.

When will there be a change in the situation? You've stumped me. I don't know either. If you let me decide, I would make it so that the situation never changed…

However, looking at Lin Wan's hopeful eyes, Pei Qian could not help but say something to appease her.

"It depends on fate. When it's time, the situation will change."

…

After sending Lin Wan off, Pei Qian heaved a huge sigh of relief. Everything's almost done!

Just a while ago, Ming Yun Private Kitchen's failure made him extremely anxious. Now, he was getting good news from Shang Yang Games. Pei Qian could finally relax.

Lin Wan would appease Zhang Zuting. After all, they had already paid him and given him a good treat. They even made him more popular. One could not complain that Pei Qian had treated him badly.

Old Zhang was just getting cursed at here and there. How big of a deal was that? If Old Zhang really felt disturbed, he could always look for a couple more Hong Kong celebrities to join him in filming advertisements next time. He could ask them to do so on account of their friendship.

At the very most, Pei Qian would invite Old Zhang back to Jingzhou and treat him to another good meal.

However, the thought that he would have to make a reservation whenever he wanted to go to Ming Yun Private Kitchen and that he would not be able to eat there whenever he pleased again made Pei Qian feel extremely down. "Oh, that's right. I have to call Lin Canrong!"

Pei Qian recalled a critical problem.

Ming Yun Private Kitchen's situation had been too optimistic before. There were too few reservations not enough to fill up all the slots.

Although Ming Yun Private Kitchen was already fully booked until next week, Pei Qian still had time to make reservations for after that.

Pei Qian called Lin Canrong to make several more reservations.

Before this, he only booked the restaurant on the 20th of every even month. He also booked the biggest private room for the first and third Sunday of each month.

Now, he was going to book the entire restaurant on the 20th of every month, and the biggest private room on the first and third Sunday and second and fourth Saturday of each month.

Simply put, he doubled the number of reservations he made the last time.

Pei Qian wanted to make more reservations, but he needed to have a legitimate reason each time he organized a gathering.

Booking a private room once a week and the entire restaurant once a month was about all he could do.

Once he finished making the reservations, he heaved a long sigh of relief.

He would treat Teacher Qiao to a meal this Saturday in order to comfort his broken soul.

On the 20th of this month, he could treat Shang Yang Games' employees to a meal to reward them for their hard work.

He would not have to worry about Shang Yang Games for now. He felt much more relaxed. Once again, he picked up his controller and prepared to suffer in Repent and Be Saved. At that moment, his cell phone's screen lit up. It was a message from Lin Chang. "Boss Pei, are you Hardcore Reviews?"

Pei Qian was confused.

Oh? How did you find out so quickly?

He had thought Lin Chang would not notice a minor account like Hardcore Reviews since he was such a busy person.

Pei Qian was going to inform Lin Chang about the videos after filming all twenty episodes. He had not expected Lin Chang to find out about him so early on. Ever since he started updating Hardcore Reviews' videos last month, he had uploaded a total of eleven episodes. He was about halfway through his initial goal of twenty. Pei Qian had planned to play around with and upload twenty episodes for fun. Then, he would be able to relax and spend the two hundred thousand yuan.

However, the results were much better than he expected. Hardcore Reviews gained many fans, and there were now more than six hundred thousand viewers.

The first three cell phone reviews were especially popular. Fans of all three cell phones kept fighting in the comments. Until now, the videos were still gaining popularity.

Of course, even an account with six hundred thousand fans was considered average on Aili Island. One could say that it only had a little fame in the system.

Naturally, Pei Qian did not expect Lin Chang to notice his videos. Could it be that Boss Lin normally browsed Aili Island when he had nothing to do as well? If other people had seen Hardcore Reviews, perhaps they would not have recognized Boss?Pei.

On one hand, Pei Qian did not show his face. He also slightly altered his voice. On the other hand, other people would not have expected the rich Boss Pei to shoot videos for fun.

Yet, Lin Chang was different.

He had funded this program. He also knew that Boss Pei was running a test on performance art. Looking at the video, he would probably be able to guess that the host was Boss Pei just from his figure and voice.

There was no need for Pei Qian to hide the facts either. From the beginning, he had produced the videos for Lin Chang to see. Thus, he readily admitted it.

"It's me."

[1] This means Deep-Fried Pig Trotters in Mandarin.