That seemed to be in line with Boss Pei’s words.
However, the problem was that it would not be profitable so it wasn’t reasonable.
Why discourage the timid from coming? Wouldn’t it be better for them to spend their money with us? Why should we scare them away?
It was definitely not as simple as that. Therefore, this thinking had to be completely overturned. They had to re-excavate the deep meaning behind Boss Pei’s words!
The two of them thought hard for a long time.
Chen Kangtuo suddenly had a ‘eureka’ moment. He slapped his thigh suddenly and said, “Yes! I understand it now! I’ll briefly tell you my thoughts. Listen to them and see if they make sense.”
Hao Qiong nodded with his ears pricked.
Chen Kangtuo said with slight agitation, “To put it bluntly, what we said just now was super scary effect plus low ticket prices. That would inevitably cause huge losses for the haunted house. It would definitely be a dead end.
“We must have definitely misinterpreted Boss Pei’s meaning.
“I’m thinking… are we missing some key information? Boss Pei deliberately hid a key message which is probably a test to us. Boss Pei did not say that there should only be one project for the haunted house.”
Hao Qiong’s eyes grew big with realization.
Yes, these two sentences did not necessarily refer to the same project!
The initial investment of the haunted house was huge, and there would be additional investment in the future. Moreover, it was rather inconvenient to go anywhere in this old industrial zone. The only advantage was that there was a lot of land, and they could use the factory buildings as they liked. So, why did Boss Pei choose this site?
Obviously, he did not plan only to do one project from the start!
Chen Kangtuo continued. “Suppose we open two, or even three large projects to meet the requirements of consumers? Make it a destination for the courageous without spending much means we have to find ways to earn money from the timid. “Let the timid watch on in fear without entering, means to satisfy the courageous with thrills and excitement.
“However, we mustn’t really scare the faint-hearted away. We have to make the courageous send our haunted house viral, have the timid watch on in fear, hesitate… until they finally transform into the courageous.
“That is Boss Pei’s final objective!”
Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong continued to analyze until Boss Pei’s goal gradually became clear.
These two sentences were simple but could be broken down into the following points:
To the bold players, this place should be terrifying yet cheap for them. This way they would send this place viral, recommend it to their friends, and bring them here repeatedly.
To those who were timid, they would have psychological fear of this place. However, they must not be completely frightened as well.
They had to think of even more ways to make money from those who were timid!
How then could they charge less for the bold players and yet earn more from the timid players? Very simple, through discounts and refunds!
For example, the longer you stay in the haunted house, the cheaper the ticket. They could consider refunding 70% to 80% of the ticket cost if they could finish the haunted house or even make it free of charge depending on the situation.
Boss Pei’s requirements could be met this way!
However, that situation seemed a little too idealistic. There had to be some loopholes. For the timid players to watch from outside meant that they had to come to the haunted house first. It would be impossible to achieve this effect if they did not even consider coming here to play.
Therefore, there must be something in the haunted house that was suitable for the timider to play.
This way, these timid people could play those less scary projects while seeing the bold people with very thrilling projects. Moreover, this thrilling project would also be exempted from paying according to the clearance time. This way, the timid people would enter to try it out, but their expenses such as tickets would become higher.
For example, they could sell something like a Buddha statue from ‘Repent and be Saved’ at the entrance. Not only could it illuminate the path, but they could also reduce the fright level caused by the roleplaying staff.
That was equivalent to a value-added service in a game.
This way, both consumer experiences could be taken into consideration! One project would be something that was not so scary but fun to attract the timid ones…
And a very scary project to attract the bold ones.
Once they attract the timid ones to visit, they would definitely become curious about the scarier project. That would generate extra consumption. That way, the income of the haunted house would naturally be higher than simply selling tickets. Profitability would be guaranteed.
The two originally lost people suddenly felt like a light dawned upon them as they thought of this.
“So that was it! Our mission is very clear now.
“This haunted house must have at least two or three major projects. One of them has to offer a lower degree of shock. However, it must have strong social attributes that are suitable for multiple people to play repeatedly. That would attract the timid consumers.
“There has to be a project where the degree of fear is very high to attract all horror lovers around the country. We’ll make exemptions and ticket price reductions according to the length of time they stayed inside.
“As for the third project… it can be a transitional project. The jump in horror coefficient from the first to the third project was too large. Some timid consumers might not dare to participate.
“Let them go through the first two projects to train their courage before taking on the challenge on the third project.”
The more they discussed, the more excited they became. They then started writing out the business plan immediately!
Hao Qiong typed and said with emotion, “You don’t say, Director Lin’s analysis method is really good. We managed to analyze so many things at once!”
Chen Kangtuo nodded. “Yes, however, Boss Pei’s guidance is the key here. It looks like Boss Pei had an idea for this project.
“Not only did he predict the ultimate form of this project, but he also distilled the key points of the project’s success and hinted it to use in such a concise manner!
“Boss Pei is really amazing.
“What else do we have to be worried about if that’s the case? It will definitely be fine if we follow Boss Pei’s guidance!”
The two of them were initially feeling hopeless, worried that they had messed up big time.
However, they were now filled to the brim with confidence and filled with anticipation for the haunted house that would be built in the future!
At night…
Tengda’s first recruitment drive had come to an end.
There was still the Tengda Spirit compatibility test afterward, but that would not involve the interviewers and staff.
Those who had participated in the interview had been screened strictly. The duration of their interview was strictly controlled. The period was slightly extended, but it was not too different from the estimates.
However, they continued working until later than 5pm that afternoon. That was because the interviewers and staff would have to calculate and weigh the scores of all the interviewees, sort out the final list of candidates, and notify them.
Every department recruited a large number of new employees this time. There were key position holders with rich experiences as well as college students who have just graduated or would graduate next year.
The person in charge of the department could not interview their candidates directly in the cross-interviews, but the results were basically satisfactory to everyone.
The head of departments went happily for a meal together as an expression of gratitude to each other after all the work was done. They only started to head home afte
r eating for an hour.
Li Yada took advantage of the dinner gathering to ask Lu Mingliang and Huang Sibo for some guidance. They might have a different understanding of Boss Pei’s intentions, but their endpoint seemed to be similar.
It was not until the party ended when Li Yada found the chance to take out her cell phone. She saw He Desheng’s friend request and the proposed modification plan for the game he sent.
“This plan… seems risky.”
Li Yada’s understanding of similar games was not as profound as Bao Xu, but she had been leading the development of GOG for so long after all. She could gauge the pros and cons of the design rather easily. In the eyes of most, 5v5 competitive games represented by Gods Rising were undoubtedly fair.
Since it was a competition—the higher the difficulty, the clearer the distinction between the professionals and the rookies. However, too high a difficulty would also lead to too high a threshold, discouraging some rookies.
Reducing the difficulty would no doubt make the game experience better for the rookies. However, ‘ease of learning’ would probably make the professionals lose their sense of superiority…
In short, these suggestions seemed to be reasonable, but they carried certain risks.
Li Yada found it difficult to make a decision. The result was the same even after she brooded over it for quite some time. She originally wanted to consult Bao Xu or Boss Pei, but she remembered what Lu Mingliang said during dinner.
Li Yada asked Lu Mingliang what he thought was the most important quality as a game designer.
Lu Mingliang thought about it and answered that the most important quality was not to be too confident about himself.
Li Yada didn’t understand so Lu Mingliang explained.
According to Lu Mingliang, most of the designers were very full of themselves. That was because most of them were gaming enthusiasts and experienced gamers before they became designers and entered the game industry. They move up step by step. Most designers would not have entered this industry if they were not confident.
Therefore, most of the designers were filled with confidence. Confidence was good, but it could sometimes also blind someone.
Every player was an individual with different tastes and preferences. Not one game could satisfy everyone. A good game only needed to meet the tastes and needs of a target group of players.
In that case, what if a designer likes something completely contrary to the target group of the game he was designing? Many designers would fall into blind self-confidence. The games they made would definitely fall through the cracks.
On the contrary, it was those designers who were not so confident about themselves that would listen to opinions humbly and make games that were more in line with the tastes of most players and achieve success.
Therefore, not being too confident did not mean doubting oneself, but it was to not blindly believe in oneself or to blindly follow others.
Observe the players as objectively as possible and strike a balance between personal preference and player demands.
Li Yada could not help but reflect when she thought about this.She did not follow blindly, but…
Was it not right to trust Bao Xu blindly as well?
Bao Xu was indeed experienced in similar games, but he was just as likely to make the ‘overconfidence’ mistake that Lu Mingliang mentioned…
Li Yada made a decision after much consideration.
There was no need to ask Bao Xu or Boss Pei about this modification plan. Just make a new version directly! Some proposed modifications such as last-hit bounty rewards were not difficult to do. Reducing the map size was a little more time-consuming, but it could always be done in a few days. The more troublesome one would be to design new heroes suitable for novices and professionals. That would require long term planning, but it was not urgent either.
The basic settings could be modified at an early stage and made into another version to be updated at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
They only need to compare the player data of both versions after some time to know which version was better.
Chapter 356 - You are not Worthy of Raising His Child!
December 14th, Tuesday…
Pei Qian came to the shooting location of Tomorrow is Beautiful early in the morning. He had not come in a while and was worried about it.
His last visit was two weeks ago. Pei Qian made a passing remark to Lu Zhiyao about being a bum. He didn’t think that it would ignite an acting explosion by Lu Zhiyao, which won the unanimous praise from the crew.
Therefore, Pei Qian suppressed his worries during this period and did not go to the studio again. He was afraid that his unintentional words would allow Lu Zhiyao to experience new revelations, and then the situation might get out of control.
However, it was impossible for him to not go at all.
Pei Qian felt that he should not only hold an ostrich mentality. Otherwise, it would be too late if something were to happen.
Early detection and treatment were still required. Even if the situation was irreversible, he could better prepare himself in advance to spend money to reduce some losses for himself.
So he came to the shooting location again today since he was free.
The set was rather busy with staff shuttling back and forth. Pei Qian did not want to disturb everyone’s work either. He just stood at the side to watch casually.
The surrounding scenery was no longer the narrow capsule but that of a futuristic urban outdoor scene. Even though it was supposed to be an outdoor scene, it was still shot in the studio with a lot of green screens hanging around.
Those cool, futuristic scenes would be synthesized with special effects.
The close-up scenes would still be using real objects. For example, the male lead and the heroine would be eating together in a small shop by the roadside in this scene. The shop was built. There were tables, chairs, tableware, decorations, etc. Everything inside was real objects.
In addition, the signs of the shop, trash cans by the roadside, the costumes of the male lead, and the heroine were all custom-made. These were all carefully crafted props. These imitations could somehow pass off as genuine.
One could discern that this neighborhood was filled with poor steampunk fashion from these settings.
According to Director Zhu Xiaoce’s plan, the buildings in this movie would be roughly divided into four different key styles:
One, the male lead was staying in a capsule that looked very advanced but was cramped, narrow, and homogenized. It was a standard uniformly constructed welfare facility.
Second was the slums in the world outside where the male lead and the heroine dated. Many small shops here seemed to be in steampunk style. It was lively but filled with chaos and disorder.
Third, the bright and beautiful outside world which included the scenes from the talent show. It looked very technological, spacious and atmospheric. It had a sci-fi setting style in a general sense.
Fourth, the houses of the upper class were mainly in the style of classical mansions with pretty fireplaces, large oil paintings, and expensive-looking wooden furniture. They would only be decorated with some high-tech elements to distinguish them from real mansions from reality.
That was because only the upper class in the script could afford to play with the ‘classical art’ of oil paintings and musical instruments. In their circles, ‘retro’ architectural style was a trend used to make a distinction in taste between the rich and those who were not.
The present scene was shot with some meaning of ‘cyberpunk’ in ‘future urban slums’.
It was the first time Pei Qian met the heroine of this movie.
The actress was Lin Ruyi. She had a round face, big eyes, and two pretty dimples when she smiled-a standard image of first love.
Pei Qian tried to search for her information previously but didn’t find any famous works. He only realized that she was a newcomer that had yet to graduate from the film school.
/> In terms of looks, Lin Ruyi was not particularly good-looking since she had a round face. She was therefore not photogenic.
However, that matched the setting for this script.
The female lead was not a stunning or alluring character in the script. Otherwise, she would have been favored by the upper class, and the stories that happened later on would not have happened.
Pei Qian only had one requirement for the female lead: she should not look too good.
It was an era that depended on appearance.
If the female lead was too good-looking, it might become a hot topic as well. The consequences would be even more disastrous if her acting skills were good.
Wouldn’t it be bad if the audience did not hate the heroine but loved her to bits even though she acted as a Green Tea Bitch[1] because she was too good-looking? Of course, Pei Qian knew that it was not realistic to find someone who was ugly to be the heroine.
In the end, Pei Qian felt that the pick of this rookie actress, who did not seem particularly outstanding in her looks, was a rather good choice.
Pei Qian recognized the plot of this scene in no time. It was where the female lead had entered the talent show but was not selected.
The male lead, played by Lu Zhiyao, and the heroine were resting and having a drink in a small shop by the roadside now. Lu Zhiyao would try to make Lin Ruyi happy, and Lin Ruyi would go along with him unconcernedly.
Lin Ruyi would suddenly explode and burst out with emotion before leaving when Lu Zhiyao told her that he had saved enough money to buy a two-person capsule. This scene would be regarded as a turning point in this plot. It could be summarized into one sentence: the lead actor was cheated on.
Sigh, that was an eternal and classic toxic point.
Pei Qian could not help but feel emotional.
At this point…
Lu Zhiyao was thinking about the future, brown-nosing humbly. However, even though he was brown-nosing, it did not make others feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, they find him a little pitiful because he was handsome.
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