Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Bao Xu had already finished with the updates for Ghost General and Ocean Stronghold; he finally managed to take a breather recently.

Lu Mingliang immediately handed over the Game Designer game for Bao Xu to try it out.

After all, this was the number-one experienced game tester in the company; he also knew Boss Pei’s intentions the best! As Lu Mingliang was not feeling very confident, he needed to get a confidence boost from this experienced person.

Bao Xu seriously went through the game once. He did not run through all the possible endings; that would be a waste of time. He had just followed his instincts and completed two to three runs of the game.

“How is it, Brother Bao? How does the game feel? Are there things that need to be changed? Lu Mingliang asked.

Bao Xu did not answer immediately.

After a while, Bao Xu responded, “What do you guys think?”

The ‘you guys’ here naturally referred to everyone involved in developing Game Designer, including Lu Mingliang. Lu Mingliang hesitated as he decided to tell the truth. “Many people feel that… this game is a little boring. Besides me, no one else has much confidence in this game.

“Although this game had been personally designed by Boss Pei, it somehow seems… to lack the motivation for one to persevere and continue playing…”

Lu Mingliang was very conflicted. On one hand, he was at a loss at what to do and embarrassed. Thinking about the previous game, Huang Sibo and Bao Xu had created Ocean Stronghold; and it had been an instant success!

Now, when it came to his turn after he took over from Huang Sibo, he still had to have Boss Pei personally helping him to make changes to the game. He felt as if he was being a hindrance, and he didn’t have much face.

On the other hand, he was really worried. Since the gameplay had been designed by Boss Pei while the game arts had been taken care of by Big Boss Ruan; from every aspect, this game ought to be very popular and lucrative.

However, after trying it out, it didn’t give off the sense that ‘this would be in high demand’; many people in the design team all thought that it was rather boring!

These contradicting feelings made Lu Mingliang very apprehensive. He couldn’t possibly go and ask Boss Pei directly and hence wanted to hear Bao Xu’s opinion.

Bao Xu thought for a moment. “I think that your thinking is from an insider’s point of view. You guys have long seen the game script and know every single choice and option within the game. It is as if someone had given you guys a spoiler; of course, you guys won’t feel anything special while playing.

“As a bystander, I feel that this game is interesting and very special.”

Lu Mingliang was stunned; he did not expect Bao Xu to have such a high appraisal of this game.

It was interesting? Very special?

Although it seemed like an ordinary description, the crux was whose mouth those words came from!

Who was Bao Xu? He was a god when it came to game development; he had done so many games before, and his insights were definitely broader than ordinary players. Just like that little girl that had been added into Ocean Stronghold. For many domestic players, it was their first time encountering this kind of gameplay. However, Bao Xu had done this design up precisely because he had seen this and played this in many foreign games before.

This was a difference in perspectives and horizons.

Even Bao Xu—who had played so many games—felt that Game Designer was ‘interesting’; suffice to say, Game Designer was indeed very special!

However, Bao Xu had not finished speaking just yet.

His face grew stern as he caveated, “However, that does not mean that this game would definitely make money. I think that this is Boss Pei’s experiment with a non-mainstream game. He would either be called a god or would fail miserably. Everything depends on how the market reacts to it.”

“Please enlighten me, Brother Bao.” Lu Mingliang listened earnestly.

Bao Xu formulated his thoughts. “I can only guess at Boss Pei’s intentions based on my limited gaming experience. I feel that Boss Pei has always been a very lonely person.”

Lu Mingliang was confused, “Boss Pei is a very lonely person? Why would you say that? I think that… Boss Pei is rather optimistic and chirpy.”

“Really?” Bao Xu asked back, “Do you remember that company gathering we had?? How Boss Pei acted?”

Lu Mingliang was a little stumped. He recalled what happened that day. That gathering for a meal had been to celebrate Ocean Stronghold’s successful development. Boss Pei had brought everyone to eat a four-hundred-yuan apiece buffet.

As they had had so much fun and the food was so good, Lu Mingliang’s memory of that day was still fresh.

How Boss Pei acted? He actually didn’t really have an impression.

He tried again to jog his memory.

“It seemed… Boss Pei had been sitting down quietly the whole time. He did not eat or drink much; he seemed to have a lot on his mind, and he kept thinking of things…” Lu Mingliang looked at Bao Xu.

Bao Xu nodded, “That’s right. In such a place and environment, can one’s real mental state be noticed? In the office normally, Boss Pei is rather amicable in front of us. As a leader, this is what Boss Pei has to do: to constantly infect us with his best energy, to encourage us.”

“However, at gatherings over a meal, one who is actually really a lonely person would more or less reveal his true emotions!

“Think about it. At that time, Ocean Stronghold’s development had been completed, and we were almost on the cusp of a huge success. Delicacies had been laid out in front of everyone. No matter how one looked at it, there was no reason to be worried or troubled, right?

“What is it that could make Boss Pei so dejected? It is probably his feeling of loneliness internally!”

Lu Mingliang blinked as he felt that this seemed to make sense. Boss Pei was indeed not at his best form by then, from an emotional and mental point of view.

Bao Xu continued, “Furthermore, when I’ve been updating and making new changes to Ghost General and Ocean Stronghold, I could feel similar feelings and emotions in the games. These had probably been hidden deep inside the games during the preliminary stages of designing the games!

“Take Ghost General, for example. Why was the purchase price set at ten yuan and the permanent card at thirty yuan? I think that this represented a mockery of the heartlessness of the game industry.

“Boss Pei must think that this game wasn’t worth much! That if he sold a card for a few hundred or a thousand; that would be a scam! Ghost General’s creation was to expose this scam, for players to realize that it was laughable to spend so much money to get a card!

“From The Lonely Desert Road to Ghost General and Ocean Stronghold… and now Game Designer, Boss Pei had been using unique ways to mock the impetuous, profit-minded, and black-hearted game industry.

“However… Game Designer seemed to be even more direct, fierier, and deeper than the previous games! It… is even less appealing.”

Lu Mingliang’s eyes steadily lit up. So, that was why!

Everything now made sense!

However, Lu Mingliang soon had something he didn’t understand again. “Wait, since this game is so deep, why do you—Brother Bao—think that this game could either be a grand success or a huge failure?”‘

Bao Xu looked out of the window and gazed at the scenery far away. “Products that surpasses its time… haven’t they all been like this? A real artist often would not be appreciated or understood by the masses. To experience failure in business or in the commercial sector was very normal.”

“If Game Designer failed, that wouldn’t be Boss Pei’s failure. It would just be that… gamers now do not deserve such a good game. Perhaps in the future, they would slowly understand the profoundness behind this game.”

“For now… whether this impetuous games market can understand and delve into the meaning of this game or not… I really do not know.”