Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

At the same time as the interview going on in Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd….

Dream Realization Ventures…

Boss Ma did not turn up again today.

Boss Ma's whereabouts had always been erratic, and the company did have no money for new investments. Nonetheless, the fact that Boss Ma did not turn up made He Desheng and the others worry.

Many of them would lose their jobs on the spot if Boss Ma lost interest in the rigged games! Even if they only fell out of favor, that would mean their career prospects were dim.

Therefore, these professional gamers—who accompany Boss Ma in gaming and invest on the sidelines—were feeling a little anxious.

The first thing He Desheng did when he went to work was to open his mailbox to check his email.

The modification suggestions they sent to Finger Games of the game last Friday should have received a reply by now since it was already Monday, right?

There was indeed an unread email from Finger Games.

He Desheng briefly browsed through it. He could only say, as expected of being a shareholder…

Finger Games had already replied to the email on Saturday. Dream Realization Ventures was on holiday during the weekend so no one was working overtime. He Desheng did not check his email during the weekend, which was why it was left unread until today.

In any case, to reply in just a day showed how much importance Finger Games attached to their shareholder and local agent.

There was a lot of content in the email. The tone was very polite and was filled with respectful terms.

However, while the tone was rather euphemistic, the meaning between the lines was clear. There were three key points after being translated.

They were very grateful for the support and love Dream Realization Ventures gave to IOI.

They were also thankful to Dream Realization Ventures for their valuable comments on the game, which sparked the inspiration for their game design.

However, due to some reasons that were difficult to be clearly expressed in the email, they would not be able to promise to make changes based on this as the game design was done as a whole. Of course, if conditions were to permit, these modifications were not completely impossible to consider.

He Desheng sighed silently and closed the email after reading this rather standard reply. He had no other way. Their attitude was clear; it was impossible to change.

Dream Realization Ventures might have bought into the shares of Finger Games and obtained the exclusive agency rights in China, but it was impossible for them to dictate what Finger Games should do.

Moreover, Finger Games' attitude towards their investors was the same. Their determination to maintain independence was rather firm.

It was already pretty good to receive such a polite reply in a short time. Finger Games probably would not even give a d*mn about such opinions if it was put forth by other companies.

It was rather normal if someone thought about it. Dream Realization Ventures was an investment firm. How could Finger Games change the contents of its game just because of some advice from an investment firm?

Dream Realization Ventures' backer might be Tengda, but Tengda did not possess much influence overseas. Finger Games' answer would probably still be the same.

In short, this route was dead. They would have given up if it was any other matter. However, this concerned everyone's job security. He Desheng felt he had to use games to win back Boss Ma's trust.

Was there any similar game to IOI then?

He Desheng gave it some thoughts when a light bulb lit up suddenly. "Isn't Tengda Games developing a similar game? It should be easier to talk to our sister company than to talk to Finger Games, right?"

He Desheng did not have any way of contacting Li Yada, but he could reach out to Assistant Xin.

He Desheng sent the modification plan to Li Yada after he obtained Li Yada's contact information from Assistant Xin.

Would Li Yada, the head from Tengda, accept this plan?

He Desheng could not say for sure.

Tengda Games was indeed a sister company, but they made games for profit as well.

It is impossible for the head to completely violate her design philosophy and make major changes to the game just because of favor, especially if this modification plan was contrary to Tengda's previous design direction.

Anyway, he could ask first.

Who knows? Perhaps the head would be interested in this modification plan.

…

…

Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd….

"Boss Pei, sorry to interrupt.

"Boss Pei, can you give us a brief outline of what you want for the haunted house?

"Hao Qiong and I might have some thoughts, but we are afraid that we may not be able to fulfill your expectations."

Pei Qian fell into deep thoughts seeing the messages from Chen Kangtuo. He didn't manage to fool them. They took the initiative to ask him. What should he do now?

Pei Qian did not want to 'point the way' because he felt like he had a lucky mouth that would turn anything he said into facts. Every bad idea he gave became a golden goose.

That made Boss Pei feel very confused and troubled.

That was why he did not say much to Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong this time. He wanted them to try it out and see if he could deceive them.

In the end, both of them felt something was wrong and still took the initiative to ask after one weekend.

Pei Qian did not want to 'point the way out for them', but it did not seem appropriate to say nothing.

Hm, just one sentence then.

Pei Qian thought for a while before he typed his reply: "Make it a destination for the courageous without spending much and where the timid could only watch on in fear without entering."

Chen Kangtuo replied in less than two minutes: "Boss Pei, can you please explain a little more…?"

Obviously, he thought hard for two minutes after reading this sentence carefully. However, he did not fully understand what it meant so he had no choice but to ask again.

Boss Pei might think of him as useless if he asked, but it was a huge project of 10 million yuan. Chen Kangtuo did not dare to execute it with no clear route.

Pei Qian laughed.

Explain?

It was very simple. He meant courageous ones could come and play casually so the ticket fee should be low to the point of not making a profit. Timid ones would not dare to come at all, so there would be no way for them to contribute income to the haunted house.

The timid dare not come, the courageous would not need to spend much money. Wouldn't this haunted house make a great loss?

However, that certainly could not be said clearly.

Pei Qian did not dare explain anymore for the fear that any wrong word would cause them to think too much in the wrong direction.

At such times, silence would triumph.

Therefore, Pei Qian only replied three simple words: "Comprehend it yourself."

Chen Kangtuo, "…Alright, Boss Pei, I understand now."

He passed the cell phone to Hao Qiong. Both of them looked at the screen with Boss Pei's reply 'comprehend it yourself' and were speechless.

Comprehend it yourself, ha…

The hint was just one sentence. Wasn't it too difficult to comprehend?

Hao Qiong heard that Boss Pei's general direction usually had three to four points, and they were generally relatively clear.

However, it had now concentrated to just one point. It was really too baffling!

Teacher, that was super out of the line!

Chen Kangtuo felt his head spin. "H-how are we to comprehend this?"

Hao Qiong sucked a deep breath. "Calm down, calm down. Director Lin once told us how to analyze Boss Pei's intentions. Wait a bit, let me recall what she said.

"The first step is to clarify a belief. No matter how absurd Boss Pei's words are, they must be right…"

Hao Qiong began to analyze the deep meaning behind the words of Boss Pei with Lin Wan's method.

The bold and the timid. These should be the potential customers of the haunted house. The attitude of these customers towards the haunted house would directly determine the success or failure of the haunted house.

They should be able to create fun for both the courageous and timid customers according to common sense. They should pay for it.

However, the demands of these two types of customers were different. The more courageous customers would need a more thrilling experience. For example, the staff roleplaying ghosts and frightening them up close. The time customers were easily dissuaded from such thrilling projects. They might not even dare to enter, which meant that they would naturally not spend their money there.

How to then bridge the demands of these customers?

Chen Kangtuo felt that the answer must be hidden in Boss Pei's words!

Make it a destination for the courageous without spending much and where the timid could only watch on in fear without entering.

In other words, make the haunted house extremely scary and set a low price? That way, the timid would not dare to enter so they would naturally watch on in fear while those with courage could come and enjoy as they pleased…

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 after 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.