Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

“Second, a fascinating plot.

“I have to say that the plot is a huge plus point for Ghost General 2. Not only does it showcase the difficult parts of the plot in Ghost General 1, but it also makes the entire IP more complete and valuable. It also makes the PVE part of the game very fun and can attract players to play it more.”

“Many generals in the game make people laugh. At the same time, they feel that it is quite reasonable in the background of this story.”

“Take the Battle of the Red Cliffs for example. First, the Phoenix bloodline and Pang Tong strategy were used to modify Cao Cao’s demonic warship. Then, Zhuge Liang used the east wind at the Seven Stars Platform to wash the ground with guided rockets. Finally, the Lonely Shadow Swordsman Zhou Yu chased after him and was stopped by the demonized Xu Chu. The Dragon clan’s Martial Saint, Guan Yu, intercepted Cao Cao on the Huarong Road…”

“The story is based on history and acting novels, but it makes people feel that the logic is very consistent. There is even a feeling of dark humor.”

“It turned out that Zhuge Liang did not borrow the east wind, but the east wind missile. It turned out that Cao Cao adopted Pang Tong’s plan because the phoenix bloodline could indeed greatly strengthen the defense and power of the demonic warship. However, Pang Tong deliberately hid the fact that the phoenix bloodline would be stimulated by the power of fire… In that case, Cao Cao lost the Battle of the Red Cliffs without being wronged. He was not brainwashed. It was not that the Cao army did not work hard, but Sun Liu had Guangda!”

“I can’t help but sigh at the plot. The creator of the IP for Ghost General is really creative!”

“Of course, we also have to see the important role that the chief designer, Yu Fei, played in this. Ghost General 1 was only a card game. The initial version did not have much description of the generals at all. There was only one card image. The current person-in-charge of Zhongdian Chinese Network, Ma Dubiao, had increased the background story. However, even so, this story is still relatively simple.”

“As an outstanding web novelist, Yu Fei expanded the simple background story and perfectly combined the historical story, the magical modification background, and the skills of generals. That was how the plot flow was so fascinating!”

“On this point, the chief designer Yu Fei has a lot of credit. It also means that Boss Pei has a keen eye and did not choose the wrong person!”

“Looking back now, what is Ghost General 2 lacking? Is it a professional design concept? Obviously not. That’s because Tengda Games is the most elite game design team. Every old designer can be the chief designer of other ordinary games companies and hold their own. In such a situation, even if Yu Fei doesn’t care about anything, these old designers can do their own jobs and complete the basic content of the game.”

“However, Yu Fei is unique and irreplaceable in terms of plot design!”

“He has already shown good potential during the development of the downloadable content ‘Eternal Reincarnation’. Writing novels and designing game plots are two completely different things, but he happens to be good at both! Boss Pei obviously insisted that he be the chief designer to develop Ghost General 2 because the plot is the finishing touch of this game and the key to breaking out of the circle!”

“Lastly, the appropriate simple operating mode and clearing mechanism.”

“A simple operating mode would simplify the players’ techniques and retain the basic pleasure of rubbing moves.”

“If you just kept pressing the AB button, the computer would automatically connect. Then, players would become ruthless connectors. They would not improve their skills at all, and they would not experience the fun of fighting games.”

“The simple rubbing mode might still retain a certain threshold of proficiency, but it also allowed players who persevered to feel the pleasure of this combat game. When Seven Star Platform borrows the east wind, the feeling of personally rubbing out a super kill, isn’t it very good? This is a joy that can never be experienced by a brainless mode that only buttons AB.”

“What is compatible with this simple operating mode is the Boss Battle Pass mechanism in the game. It doesn’t matter if you have terrible skills. You can still win the Boss as long as you interact with the map mechanism honestly. This official cheat mechanism is the legendary ‘Boss Pei’s pity’. It maximizes the game fun of players with terrible skills. At the same time, it ensures the possibility of the game breaking out of the circle.”

“Lastly, the impact on the environment.

“We can’t just look at Ghost General 2. We have to look at Tengda Corporation’s other games as well.”

“Everyone should have noticed by now that Tengda Games has appeared like a geyser in the past few months. In half a year, Tengda Games released Eternal Reincarnation and Ghost General 2. Shang Yang Games made Safe and Civilized Driving, and Slow Movement Studio made the real estate intermediary simulator. Apart from that, I heard that Tengda has also sent designers to jointly develop the new project with Sun Strike Studios. It has also been developed and is about to be released.”

“Why is that?

“Some people might say that Tengda is very efficient. However, the point is that Slow Movement Studio is not a subsidiary of Tengda. Needless to say, Sun Strike Studios is purely a business partner with Tengda.”

“In fact, Boss Pei is very generous in distributing his ideas to these studios to guide them in the development of the game!”

“This is enough to show that Boss Pei is no longer satisfied with Tengda developing its own game. That’s because no matter how much Tengda develops, there is a limit to the team. The development speed is not that fast.”

“However, if we can cooperate with other outstanding game design teams in the country to ensure that the quality of the game is high and the direction of the game will not deviate, we can quickly turn these ideas into reality and bring more outstanding game works to players.”

“Not only that, Tengda’s design concept would also affect these companies, gradually affecting the atmosphere of the entire domestic games industry.”

“Slow Movement Studio is a very good example: It is a company that specializes in VR games. The person-in-charge might have worked in Tengda Games before, but Tengda does not have absolute control over it. It only has the right to advise. The designers of Slow Movement Studio’s core team are basically newly recruited.”

“However, Slow Movement Studio’s game is still in the same style as Tengda Games. It can be said to be the same. There’s no deviation at all!”

“This is enough to show that Boss Pei carefully selected his partners. Boss Pei’s game design concept is very infectious.”

“Boss Pei is consciously distributing less difficult and profitable projects to cooperating studios. On one hand, he is developing more works at the same time to save time. On the other hand, he is also influencing and guiding these studios to correct their previous wrong game design concepts.”

“For example, ‘Animal Island VR’, ‘Real Estate Agent Simulator’, and the new project of Sun Strike Studios are all similar.”

“For extremely difficult and risky projects, such as Mission and Choice and Ghost General 2, Boss Pei handed them directly to his trump card, which is Tengda Games!”

“Therefore, don’t mock Ghost General 2’s sales and influence. It’s not as good as real estate intermediary simulators and Safe and Civilized Driving because they were not on the same racing track from the beginning!”

“Alright, that’s all for today’s analysis. After watching this video, do you still think Ghost General 2 is a failed game? Will you only talk about heroes based on sales?”

“I hope that as a rational and tasteful player, you will not be so narrow-minded. You will focus on sales and profits. If you only focus on making money, then compared to GOG, all games are rubbish and have no meaning to exist.”

“We should learn to observe and analyze games in more dimensions, as well as the meaning of the game’s existence.

“Lastly, I want to say that Ghost General 2 is really fun! Many players would not touch it once they saw that it was a combat game. This is obviously a loss.”

“Many people would think, sigh, I’ve never come into contact with combat games at all. How can I play them without any foundation in them? It’s exactly the opposite. It’s precisely because you haven’t come into contact with combat games that you should play Ghost General 2. That’s because it’s the best entry-level option for combat games that you can play!”

“Ghost General 2 has only been released not long ago. It’s still a long way from being finalized. Please patiently let the sales fly for a while. I believe that smart and tolerant gamers will definitely be able to give it an objective, fair, and comprehensive evaluation!”

“In addition, I have a bold prediction: Everyone, don’t have too much prejudice against Sun Strike Studios and Long Yu Corporation. Since Boss Pei is willing to cooperate and has sent a designer, this new game will probably be a Tengda-like game. It will also be a game worth looking forward to. Let us wait and see!”

“I am Teacher Qiao, who has just returned from suffering. I wish all of you a happy Chinese New Year in advance. See you next time!”

…

After watching the video, Yu Fei opened his mouth slightly and could not close it for a long time.

His face was filled with shock.

So… that was what happened?

Ghost General 2 looked ordinary, but there were so many tricks behind it?

Teacher Qiao was right. He was too small-minded indeed.

As the chief designer of this game, Yu Fei had indeed only paid attention to its sales and popularity. He had not seen anything deeper. He had also not figured out why Boss Pei insisted on creating a combat game.

Even though he was not sure if Teacher Qiao’s analysis was all Boss Pei’s motive, it was at least the most reasonable explanation that Yu Fei had seen so far.

The reason why Boss Pei kept asking him to stay was very obvious: Tengda was not lacking in talents in game design. However, Tengda was still lacking someone like him who could achieve the plot of the game to the extreme and make it into a selling point.

Yu Fei could not help but feel surprised. “Could it be that not only did I not do anything wrong with Ghost General 2, but I also contributed greatly?”

He opened the Weibo post that he had previously and realized that there were already a lot of comments below, all of them were trying to persuade him!

It was obvious that many of them had come from Teacher Qiao’s video.

“Huh? You can’t leave! The poor sales of Ghost General 2 is a problem with the quality of the game. It has not started to break out of the circle. Wait patiently! You’ve done very well in the plot. Don’t belittle yourself!”

“That’s right. Boss Pei has high hopes for you. Our players also hope that you can stay!”

“Look, the chief designer’s hard work has not paid off. He’s already planning to leave. Why aren’t you buying Ghost General 2 to boost his sales? Don’t let him shed blood and tears!”

“Written petition by ten thousand people to let Yu Fei continue to be the chief planner of Tengda Games!”

This made Yu Fei feel a little awkward.

He had originally wanted to put some pressure on public opinion and tell the public that he was leaving so that Boss Pei would agree to his resignation.

However, he had not expected things to turn out this way!

It would be inappropriate for him to continue insisting on leaving!