“Our game… still has so many players?”
Ye Zhizhou was stunned. He only opened this new server to test waters after seeing a good number of people request for it in the previous channel. He did not expect that so many people would hop over to the new server to play the game!
What were they after? Did they want to abandon their old accounts?
Ye Zhizhou felt like everything was strange. He had not seen such passion for their game in a long time. Bloody Battle Song always opened new servers before this. After all, constantly opening new servers was a common marketing method for games with paywalls.
Yet, they had never seen a reaction as lively as what they were seeing today!
As Ye Zhizhou trained, he considered looking for a guild to hide in and spy. He wanted to ask the players for their opinions on the new game.
In the end, after playing for a while, his game got jammed. On the screen, the words ‘reading resources’ appeared. The image became a mosaic as well. However, this soon passed. The game quickly became smooth again.
Ye Zhizhou was just about to ask what just happened when he heard Wang Xiaobin shout, “Holy sh*t, there were too many gamers just then. Our server was overloaded. The new server is full?”
Ye Zhizhou quickly opened the platform to check.
The old servers that they had been maintaining were emptying out. There was practically nobody left. The new server, on the other hand, was so popular that it was exploding at that moment. It was overflowing!
New players could no longer enter the server. They had no choice but to wait outside.
Ye Zhizhou was shocked. Ever since he started at Shang Yang Games, he had not seen people queuing outside the server! Now, he finally understood that the players crowding in the new server were those from old servers!
The players had been distributed over tens of different servers before this. That was why each server looked empty and quiet.
However, now, the active players were all rushing into the new server at the same time. They were crowding together and making the entire game seem much livelier.
Ye Zhizhou quickly said, “Brother Wang, quick, open another server!”
Wang Xiaobin’s mouse was moving at top speed. “I’ll get it done at once. Once the newest servers are full, the system would automatically open a new one.”
Lowering his voice, he mumbled to himself, “How strange. Gamers are becoming so excited about the new servers? Have the changes we made really taken effect? The results were instant.”
Everyone in the design team was getting excited. Many people had not played Bloody Battle Song in a long time. At that moment, they created an alternate account for the first time.
“Go to different servers and observe the situation in each one of them. It’ll be best if you could join a big guild and join their conversations. See how the whales and ordinary gamers are reacting to the changes we made to the game!”
Ye Zhizhou was extremely excited. He quickly gave each person in the design team tasks to hide in the new servers and observe how gamers were reacting to the new version of the game!
When Old Liu was still the chief planner, he never did things like this. That was because he had never seen the meaning behind it.
It was enough to keep an eye on the statistics of the games. What was the point in hiding among gamers and gathering feedback?
However, Ye Zhizhou thought differently.
He always thought that as a chief planner, one had to try out his own game, be among the players, and understand the reaction on the ground. If the designer himself did not like his own game, why would gamers like it?
After playing for a few minutes, people began to invite Ye Zhizhou into their guild. Then, they invited him into their conversations. Once he joined the group, he was bombarded by various messages.
“Hurry, go to the world channel and recruit people!”
“I have to get to level twenty today. Our guild will have to prepare for war sooner or later!”
“Do you all have friends who have stopped playing the game? Ask them to come back quickly!”
“I’m going to my old group to ask around now. I’ll try to get ten more people here. They’re all old gamers and old chauffeurs!”
Ye Zhizhou only turned away for a while before he had 99 unread messages. There was no time for him to read them all.
What shocked Ye Zhizhou even more was that this group of people was taking the initiative to pull back their friends who stopped playing the game a long time ago.
Ye Zhizhou had never seen passion like this in any other gamer. Even when he just joined Shang Yang Games and Bloody Battle Song was at its peak, he did not witness this!
Ye Zhizhou looked at the posts on the forum.
Back when Old Liu introduced the 888-weapon, the forums nearly exploded with criticism. People were spamming the official notices with curses until there were hundreds of pages of comments. For the two to three weeks that followed, people did not stop.
Later on, as they lost players, the forum slowly settled down as well. Still, most of the new posts there were people criticizing the officials.
However, after updating the game this time, the entire forum looked very different!
Before, people posted curses at the chief planner every day. Now, there was none to be seen. Players were discussing how to form guilds, prepare for wars, and trying to solve other problems in the game.
Ye Zhizhou read these posts and the conversations in his guild in disbelief. He started to think hard about how all of these happened.
“Could it be… a resurrection?” Ye Zhizhou finally understood.
The original Bloody Battle Song was a pool of still water. In order to maintain the business, Old Liu and Du Ruijie had tried all ways and means to salvage the situation, but the game was beyond cure.
Conflicts between gamers and the design team, as well as whales and ordinary players, had already reached their extremes. There was no way these conflicts could be dealt with.
Later on, due to the high paywalls, they lost huge groups of ordinary gamers. There was no way the remaining players could continue their group activities within the game. No matter how much whales paid if there was nobody to play the game with them, the money would not seem worth it.
Thus, ordinary players left, and whales followed. Only a small group of old players hung on. The game continued to slip down the slippery slope.
However, now, all the purchase options had been taken away. Only the basic strength potion remained.
This unassuming change was life-changing for the environment of the game!
To ordinary gamers—without many paywalls in the game, they could now afford to play it. The items that they could only get if they paid actual money before were now being given out for free. In the new server, they now had the opportunity to experience what it used to be like for whales that could fight multiple enemies at once.
This was a great deal. Naturally, they came to the new server without any hesitation! Indeed, a significant number of whales left the game as well. However, as Pei Qian would put it, it was up to them!
What’s more, not all the whales had left. There was still a group of them left.
Although their sales dropped by twenty to thirty percent, the remaining players had completely forgotten about their conflicts from before. Now, they were feeling the passion and excitement for the game all over again!
Ye Zhizhou finally understood.
“Indeed, Boss Pei could tell what the problem was with Bloody Battle Song. He knew that introducing new gameplay or improving the art resources would be useless. That was why he made us take away all but one purchase option!”
“This is… cutting off an infected limb to save the entire body! We cut off revenue to save our reputation. That’s the only way to save Bloody Battle Song!”
It looked like an unsolvable problem at first, but just a single move by Boss Pei turned the entire situation around!
Ye
Zhizhou could not help but feel deep respect and admiration for Boss Pei. Of course, he also knew that this was only the first of many steps. This action might have saved the game’s reputation, but it came at a high cost: this game was no longer making much money!
Without the whales recharging their game currencies, their income had fallen to just eighty percent.
Bloody Battle Song’s monthly income had been about three to four hundred thousand yuan before the changes were made. Now, after the changes, Ye Zhizhou was not sure if they would even earn eighty thousand yuan monthly.
What’s more, they were not going to introduce any new purchase options in the future. Otherwise, the players would immediately start cursing the game once again. Then, they would all quit the game, and even Boss Pei would find it difficult to salvage the situation!
Ye Zhizhou felt like he was holding a clearance sale. Although life was injected back into the game, they could not go on burning money and not reaping profits in the long-term!
“Forget it. I’ll cast these worries aside for now. Would Boss Pei not have thought about the problems I thought about? These must all be in Boss Pei’s plan. As long as I obediently follow his instructions, we will be alright.”
Ye Zhizhou suddenly became filled with confidence in himself and in the future of Shang Yang Games!
Chapter 153 - Give the Singer a Commission
In the evening, at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe…
Suddenly, a significant number of people entered the ordinarily quiet and deserted internet cafe. Many young people came in groups of threes and fives to the internet cafe. Other people remained outside, observing and confirming that this was the right place, before pushing the door open.
“Are you sure this is the place? How come there isn’t even a sign?”
“That’s right, this is it.” “What are the rows of computers here for?’
“This isn’t just a bar; you can surf the net here, too.”
“Surf the net…? Why wouldn’t I go to an internet cafe for that? I’m here to drink alcohol.”
“You can also drink alcohol. The cocktails here are much better than ordinary bars. We came here mainly to listen to music! Listen to music!”
“Is it really that good?”
“The resident singer is just different from those in other bars. Just have a listen, and you’ll understand.”
A few young people pushed the door open and entered. The waiters immediately put on smiles and led them to their seats. After handing them the wet hand towels, they courteously asked them for their orders.
Among this group of people, the liveliest was a trendy-looking, young lady. After everyone ordered their drinks, she excitedly explained to the group how she found a treasure like this.
“Do you know how I discovered this place?
“Actually, I passed by this place before. However, when I scanned the menu, I realized that the items sold in here are very expensive. There were very few people in here as well so I decided not to enter.
“When I passed by this place by chance last week, I heard someone singing! I had just gotten off work at the time. I stood outside, listening for a while, before entering. I ordered a drink and listened all the way until the singer ended for the night!
“It was very good. What’s more, he doesn’t try to hype the crowd up. He’s just plain and leisurely. There’s also a bit of melancholy to him. Coupled with the drinks, the atmosphere makes me feel very emotional.
“After coming here several times, I discovered that although this place is expensive, the service is particularly good. All the waiters take very good care of the customers. You don’t even need to shout; all it takes is one glance in their direction, and they will make their way over at once. It’s very comfortable!”
Someone interrupted, “Is that true? Do the waiters know how to read minds?”
The young lady cast a sideways glance at him and said, “Of course, it’s not mind-reading. This just shows that they’re very responsible in doing their job. They keep an eye on the customers the entire time. They notice even the slightest movements and expressions of their customers; once they realize that the customer needs assistance, they would make their way over.
“What’s more, the waiters here do not waste time spouting nonsense. They would not recommend drinks to you or ask you to become a member. They’re very polite. Subsequently, I came here even in the day. I ordered coffee and read books and still felt very satisfied.
“Don’t be anxious; the singer will appear very soon.
“His name is Chen Lei. I heard that he lives nearby. After graduating from high school, he did not study anymore. Instead, he stayed at home and focused on music. I don’t know how this shop managed to dig such a talent out. Quick, look on stage! He’s here, he’s here!”
Chen Lei was holding onto his guitar as he walked up the stage. Applause and cheers could immediately be heard coming from the audience. A girl even shouted, “Chen Lei, I love you!”
Chen Lei blushed. He adjusted his microphone and strummed his guitar a couple of times, acting like he had not heard the confession. There was a low giggle coming from off-stage. There were no pleasantries or greetings. He did not even bother getting familiar with the audience. Chen Lei was not good with words.
He cleared his throat and then began strumming as he sang into the microphone
“The light is out. The moon is the eye of loneliness, looking quietly for people who are having difficulty sleeping[1]…”
A pleasant melody echoed throughout the internet cafe. The audience off-stage sipped their cocktails and quietly basked in this atmosphere.
“It’s beautiful.”
“It’s so different from the original version, but its flavor is so similar.”
“Chen Lei is like this. No matter what he sings, he injects his own style. It is particularly relaxing, and yet on closer inspection, you would realize that you feel a bit sad.”
“It’s great.”
A slightly-aged man took a sip of his alcohol and looked out of the glass panel, into the dimly-lit outdoors. One could only imagine the kind of memories such lighting dug up in his mind. All of a sudden, he looked at the glass of alcohol in his hands in confusion.
“What’s the matter?” His female partner asked.
The man took another sip.
“This alcohol… is real?”
The lady scoffed and said, “Are you spouting nonsense? This place has a real business license. Could they possibly sell fake alcohol to cheat you?”
The man shook his head. “You don’t understand. Many bars these days put fake alcohol in the branded bottles. Alcohol that costs hundreds of yuan is poured out into empty bottles while alcohol that costs about a hundred to two hundred yuan takes its place. Once they are made into cocktails, how many people would be able to tell?
“This is not considered fake alcohol; they are just cheaper alternatives. Fake alcohol will go to your head, and you might even get sent to the hospital after drinking them. However, cheap alternatives would only leave a slightly different taste in your mouth. They will end up in your stomach all the same.”
His lady partner did not seem to believe him. “Are you able to tell?”
The man laughed. “Of course. Alcohol that costs a few hundred yuan and alcohol that costs a hundred to two hundred yuan… they might all be alcohol, but they taste different. Otherwise, why would people spend all that extra money?
“People who know a bit about alcohol would be able to tell the difference.”
He gently swayed the glass in his hands and then looked at Chen Lei, who was singing on stage. “This place is quite interesting. We can ask a couple of old friends to come here one day.”
At the bar counter…
Ma Yang held onto his own glass of alcohol and sipped from it. As he watched Chen Lei perform on stage, he felt moved. “It feels like… he really does sing better than you.”
Zhang Yuan, humble and pleased, said, “That’s
right. Brother Ma, are you finally able to tell now?”
Ma Yang shook his head honestly. “I can’t tell, but I can see the results. When you sang, not many people listened to you, and not many people ordered drinks. Now, everyone is listening intently—”.
Zhang Yuan, “…Brother Ma, on account of this glass of alcohol, can you not hurt my heart anymore?”
Ma Yang was a real son of a b*tch. Chen Lei was here as a gift from the heavens; why did he have to keep comparing Zhang Yuan to him?!
“So how are we going to pay him?”
Ma Yang asked a very serious question. Last week, after hearing Zhang Yuan sing, Chen Lei felt strangely confident. He took the initiative to step up onto stage and sing. After he finished singing, the results were obvious. Ma Yang immediately invited him to stay and sing for the week.
If he were satisfied by the end of the week, they would sign a contract. Otherwise, he would give the man a thousand yuan and ask him to leave. Now, the week was almost over. Ma Yang was very pleased with Chen Lei’s performance.
However, there was another problem. That was the problem of remuneration.
“How much are resident singers in bars normally paid?” Ma Yang wanted to see if he could consider the market price for such jobs.
Zhang Yuan was very clear about this. After all, he used to work in this line. “Brother Ma, small bars normally pay their resident singers about three thousand yuan a month. Of course, that’s the remuneration for singers who are not very famous.
“Exactly how much they are paid depends on what tier the bar belongs to, the fame of the singer, and how generous the boss is.
“Some bars have high traffic. In order to rise to fame, many singers agree to sing there for free. On the flip side—if smaller bars want to hire famous singers, they have to be prepared to fork out more money.
“According to Chen Lei’s standard, I think giving him four to five thousand yuan would not be too much. We might even be underpaying him.”
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