“There’s not much time left. I’ll leave you with a couple of simple points.”
When they heard ‘simple points’, they immediately sat upright and prepared themselves to listen carefully to what was to follow. After all, leaders’ ‘simple points’ could always drag on for several hours.
Pei Qian took one look around the room and asked, “Who is Ye Zhizhou?”
Ye Zhizhou was startled.
What is the meaning of this?! Why did Boss Pei call me out right at the beginning of the meeting?!
Ye Zhizhou quickly stood up. “Boss Pei, I am!”
Pei Qian was not used to this behavior. He quickly waved his hand, gesturing for Ye Zhizhou to sit back down. “Sit down and respond.”
He turned to look at the chief planner and level designer, Wang Xiaobin. “Wang Xiaobin, level designing is an important job. It would be very difficult for you to juggle the jobs of both the chief planner and level designer.”
“From now on, Ye Zhizhou would be the chief planner of Shang Yang Games. Wang Xiaobin, work with him on this.” As Pei Qian talked, he observed Wang Xiaobin and Ye Zhizhou’s expressions.
Ye Zhizhou was absolutely confused.
Wang Xiaobin was stunned, and then… he seemed to be smiling subtly? Although his smile contained a bit of worry, it looked genuine for sure.
Huh?
There was something wrong with the plot, wasn’t there?
Pei Qian thought that pulling Wang Xiaobin down from the position of chief planner would cause him to feel stunned, shocked, confused, and then miserable. Now, there was none of that. Why was Wang Xiaobin so happy? He was not behaving as though there was infighting in this company
How terrible.
Pei Qian observed the reactions of others. A few older-looking employees looked awful.
This was normal. Ye Zhizhou had only joined the company several months ago. People like Huang Sibo were supposed to be in charge of chief planning. He neither had the skills nor experience. Who would submit to him happily?
After being stripped of his position, Wang Xiaobin probably felt happy because he had not thought he would not be up to the task all along. He had been afraid that he would mess the job up.
In actual fact, he did not think that Ye Zhizhou would be up to the task either. That was why there was worry in his smile, too.
Wang Xiaobin was a man without much ambition. That was why he could remain so nonchalant about this change.
However, older employees were different.
What right does this little brat have to become the chief planner? Why didn’t he choose me?
The expressions on their faces were quite interesting to watch. Pei Qian nodded subtly. Indeed, this was the right reaction.
Infighting! Infighting! Infighting!
Pei Qian’s heart began to dance. However, on second thought, it did not seem enough to do just this. These people were colleagues after all. They saw each other day in and day out. Jealousy alone was not enough to blow the conflicts up.
Pei Qian had to agitate them even more. He pondered for a few seconds and added, “Ye Zhizhou, each month, you will have the right to fire one person without reason. Just let me know via message who you want to fire.”
Ye Zhizhou was even more confused. This was an imperial sword[1]!
This was not just about snitching; it was being able to fire people without reason. As long as he gave Boss Pei a name, the person would be asked to leave the company at once.
Pei Qian glanced at the older employees who already looked awful earlier; they were looking even worse now.
Not bad; this was exactly the effect he was looking for.
A chief planner they could not submit to had just been promoted. He was even given arbitrary powers to fire them without reason. He would surely use this power to take revenge on the older employees who had been bullying him. He would ask them to tie his shoelaces, he would flaunt his powers, and he would even threaten them with it.
As time went by, these people would be divided. Ye Zhizhou would be left alone as the leader, and he would leave behind an irreparable mess.
En, this plot was not bad!
Pei Qian looked at his watch. Time was running out. Although it was interesting to watch everyone’s expressions, it was time for him to go. He had to hurry home and allow nature to take its course; he needed to take a nap after all.
“After this, Shang Yang Games will have a two-step strategy.
“The first step: we will make changes to our current games. We will get rid of all purchase options but one. As to which ones we will get rid of and which one we will keep, Ye Zhizhou will decide on his own.
“The second step: every one of you is to think of a plan for a new game. Create a design manuscript. I will choose the best one to be Shang Yang Games’ new project.
“En… until the end of June, I want you to focus on the first step. In July, all of you will hand in your proposals. We will officially start on our new project.”
Pei Qian scanned the conference room. “Do you have any questions?”
Ye Zhizhou was the first to raise his hand.
Pei Qian acted as if he could not see him. He nodded and said, “Alright. Be dismissed.”
Boss Pei stood up and left the room chicly. Ye Zhizhou was left in his position with his hand still raised.
Everyone looked confused. Boss Pei said he had a few ‘simple points’. He really did have those few simple points. He spoke a total of fewer than ten sentences.
Ye Zhizhou wanted to immediately turn down the position of chief planner, but Boss Pei seemed to have been able to tell what he was thinking. He did not even give Ye Zhizhou a chance to speak before he left the room.
At that moment, Ye Zhizhou felt the glares of several older employees. They felt like knives in his back. The atmosphere in Shang Yang Games was once like still water. Now, it was like burning flames, slowly intensifying.
After leaving Shang Yang Games, Pei Qian was in a good mood.
En, there is no problem this time!
Although Old Liu was gone, promoting a man who had just joined the industry a while ago to the position of chief planner should be able to achieve the same results.
What’s more, this two-step battle strategy would ensure that the company would continue to incur losses for a while.
Firstly, in order to prevent Romantic Taoist and Bloody Battle Song from making a comeback, he had to take away all the purchase options and leave one. This would ensure that neither game would make profits. Then, he needed them to brainstorm to create a new game. Each person was to come up with one plan.
Pei Qian was considering whether he should pick the worst plan out of the lot or draw lots and leave it to chance. After careful consideration, Pei Qian decided to draw lots and leave it to chance.
He could not trust his own taste anymore.
Each time he set the trash can as his goal, he would end up creating something wildly popular. It was all becoming too much to bear.
The Lonely Desert Road and Game Designer had given him enough lessons.
Thus, Pei Qian decided that when the time came, he would draw lots and stick to whatever he chose. Of course, if the chosen plan was particularly good, he would re-draw the lots.
Apart from these matters, Pei Qian would not return to Shang Yang Games. Not only would he be able to minimize his influence on the company, but he would also turn that place into a disorderly, dark forest. He wanted the rules in that place to revert to the laws of the jungle.
The place would be in a state of total disunity. Ye Zhizhou would not be able to lead anyone. That would be perfect.
This way, Shang Yang Games would surely lose everything… right?
[1] This is a Chinese metaphor that represents arbitrary powers.
Chapter 147 - You Cannot Doubt Boss Pei’s Foresight!
Shang Yang Games’ office…
The atmosphere was slightly tense.
Everyone thought that they were g
iven a new, beautiful beginning now that they had a new boss. They were looking forward to working alongside Boss Pei, developing good ideas, and working hard to create never-before-seen-type games to sweep the market.
It looked like none of these was happening.
Boss Pei showed his face but left after saying less than ten sentences.
He took the most experienced man of them all —Wang Xiaobin-down from the position of chief planner and promoted the man who was last to join the office to take his place. He even gave him the right to fire one person without any reason each month.
The plan for the future of the company was even more ridiculous. The first step was to take away all but one existing purchase option in their two current games. The second step was for each person to come up with a plan for a new game.
Apart from these, Boss Pei had no other opinions or advice. Would Boss Pei personally do any work? It seemed impossible.
Based on the ‘imperial sword’ that Boss Pei had given Ye Zhizhou, it looked like he would not return for a long time. Ye Zhizhou was probably going to become his spokesperson.
At first, everyone thought that Shang Yang Games was going to be revived from the dead and given a new lease of life. Yet, almost immediately, they were pushed back into the coffin. Boss Pei even seemed to hammer several more nails into the coffin cover.
The atmosphere would naturally be tense!
Of course, everyone knew that with Tengda as its backing, Shang Yang Games would not close down in the short-term. Their rice bowls were pretty much secure.
However, they could not be certain that this rice bowl would be sustained in the long-term.
Wang Xiaobin looked at Ye Zhizhou worriedly. He was seated with his head lowered, typing on his phone, not knowing who to talk to.
He could not be using up his first opportunity to fire without reason just like that, right? Wang Xiaobin was quite worried.
Now that Ye Zhizhou was the chief planner he had to be in charge of giving orders and assigning jobs to everyone. That was the responsibility of a chief planner.
If Ye Zhizhou did not say a word, everyone would be seated at their desks, idling their time away.
Wang Xiaobin was very uncertain about whether Ye Zhizhou would be up to the task, but what happened already happened. He could only wait and see how things would develop
Ye Zhizhou was sending Ma Yiqun a message: “Brother Ma, there is something I need to tell you, but I don’t know how…”
Ma Yiqun’s reply came almost immediately: “Go ahead. I am around; whatever trouble there is, we can face it together.”
Ma Yiqun had not been given any job in Tengda. He was not even allowed to contribute to the plot of the new game. He was so bored that his head was hurting. That was why he could reply so quickly.
Ye Zhizhou hesitated for a moment and then began typing again. “Boss Pei just held a meeting and made me the chief planner of Shang Yang Games…”
Ma Yiqun, “??????????”
There were ten question marks in one line. Even through the screen, Ye Zhizhou could feel Ma Yiqun’s confusion.
What was the meaning of this?
Ma Yiqun no longer understood this world.
Back then, he used to work with Huang Sibo at Shang Yang Games. They were friends through difficult times. In the blink of an eye, Huang Sibo had jumped over to Tengda Games and risen up the corporate ladder. From an administrative planner, he had become a chief planner.
Subsequently, Ma Yiqun continued to work at Shang Yang Games with Ye Zhizhou. They were friends through difficult times as well. In the blink of an eye, Boss Pei acquired Shang Yang Games. Ye Zhizhou rose up the corporate ladder and became the chief planner as well!
Only Ma Yiqun remained, still learning design concepts from Boss Pei each day. Until now, he had not done anything much worth bragging about.
Ma Yiqun was in a deep pit of self-doubt.
Why is it that, two times in a row, administrative planners turned into chief planners? Could it be that… I’m a Koi[1]? People who were friends with me through difficult times all became chief planners.
Then, why is it that I-a good luck charm to everyone around me-cannot get just as lucky?
Since Ma Yiqun did not say anything else for a long time, Ye Zhizhou began typing again. “Brother Ma, I’m under immense pressure now. I have never been a chief planner before. Can you tell Boss Pei to choose someone else on my behalf?”
Ma Yiqun was extremely furious.
You brat, you don’t want to admit that you’ve been so blessed. That’s too much!
Boss Pei allowed you to be the chief planner and you’re not interested? Are you freaking trying to piss me off?
“Goodbye.” Ma Yiqun immediately closed the chat window.
Ye Zhizhou quickly replied, “No, Brother Ma! I really think I’m not capable enough. How long has it been since I joined the industry? I don’t know anything; how can I be the chief planner?
“Boss Pei gave me such a huge burden to bear. If I mess it up, what should I do?”
Ma Yiqun looked at the messages Ye Zhizhou sent and thought that this brat was worried about letting Boss Pei down.
En, he was teachable.
Ma Yiqun pondered for a moment and realized that he had been in similar circumstances before. A person who had been trained and crafted by Boss Pei for several months should be able to impart some wisdom and experience to an inexperienced, younger brother.
“Don’t worry. Just relax and do your job. Do you know Huang Sibo? He was the man who quit before you joined the company. Both of us are good friends.
“At the time, he was an administrative planner, too. He did the exact same job as you did. Later on, he joined Tengda Games. Boss Pei made him the chief planner, exactly as he did with you!
“Guess what happened next? Ocean Stronghold was created by my brother, Huang Sibo.
“So don’t worry at all. You can doubt yourself, but you cannot doubt Boss Pei’s foresight!
“Until now, Boss Pei has promoted many people. In the beginning, everyone did not understand Boss Pei’s intentions. However, they quickly realized that Boss Pei has unique wisdom and a sharp eye. He could see qualities in these people that nobody else could!
“You don’t have to worry at all. Since Boss Pei said that you could do it, it means you can for sure!”
After reading Ma Yiqun’s reply, Ye Zhizhou fell into deep thought.
So that was the case. This is not the first time such an unconventional move was being made. There was a precedent? What’s more, it was a successful precedent?
Then, Boss Pei must have seen a quality in me. How come I don’t know about it…?
However, just as Ma Yiqun said, Boss Pei could not have promoted me for no rhyme or reason. He even gave me so much power.
The more Ye Zhizhou thought about it, the more confident he became.
Since Boss Pei gave me so much power, he must have been hinting to me to be confident and do what I want to. If I become paralyzed by fear, wouldn’t it be unbecoming of someone who works in Tengda? Wouldn’t I be letting Boss Pei down?
I am now an employee of the honorable Tengda!
Just thinking about this made Ye Zhizhou feel overjoyed at once.
“Thank you for your guidance, Brother Ma!”
Ye Zhizhou opened his folder and confidently typed away at his keyboard. In the few months since he joined the company, Ye Zhizhou spent most of his personal time dissing these two games.
This was to be expected. If these publishing these two games could be likened to feeding gamers with sh*t, Ye Zhizhou was practically holding sh*t in his hands every single day. How could he not be disgusted?!
In Ye Zhizhou’s eyes-or the eyes of most people in Shang Yang Games, there were many bad points about both of these games. After playing for just five minutes, he could point out a lot of problems.
However, no one improved on them. That was because everyone was just hanging around. old Liu did not
give anyone anything to do, and no one was interested in asking for more work.
As for why Old Liu did not change these problems himself, it was simple: there was a huge amount of pressure in terms of revenue management.
At the time, the income the company earned from the games could barely cover the costs of maintaining the company. Where were they to get the funds to purchase art resources and change the gameplay?
There were many good ideas on the table. However, in order to translate these ideas into the game, one needed not just time but money!
Now, without Old Liu supervising Ye Zhizhou’s every move, he could do things that he thought were most meaningful.
[1] This is a Chinese metaphor that means ‘good luck charm’.
Chapter 148 - A Problem No One Had Managed to Solve!
These two games were already rather dated; they had many problems, and it was a little hard to even think of where to begin. Fortunately, Boss Pei had provided a very good starting point: purchase options!
To remove all purchase options and only keeping one, this was a rather onerous task. Conservatively speaking, the two games had at least tens of purchase options in total. There were some charging and spending activities as well as normal items purchase; there were some system purchase options as well.
It could be said that wherever purchase options could be added, they had all been done so. To get rid of all these purchase options was not as simple as just closing off the entrance to a mall. These purchase options were connected to the entire system design.
To ensure that someone who topped up five hundred yuan could beat someone who only paid a hundred and for the latter to beat someone who had only paid thirty yuan, that required proper planning of the game’s system design to ensure that every different purchase tier could have a corresponding enhancement to their experience.
Furthermore, these battle power systems were linked; the power scaling system was connected to the game environment. It was just like the carnivores and herbivores in the wild.
Hence, this was all in all a system design problem.
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