Chapter 397 - 274: The Darkest Day in Gaming History (3)

Chapter 397: Chapter 274: The Darkest Day in Gaming History (3)

After setting up the new game releases, Zog started scouting for winners among the newly launched titles.

If he found any with potential, he’d invest a little.

However, after browsing for a long time, he couldn’t find a single one that was any fun. All the shoddily made games were giving him a headache.

So, he gave up on looking at new games and started scrolling through YouTube videos.

As soon as he opened YouTube, a notification informed him that Leon, a creator he followed, had released a new video.

Zog actually quite liked watching Leon’s videos.

Although every episode had more or less the same content—joining a room with an arrogant-sounding name and thrashing the host—it was strangely stress-relieving to watch.

He’d heard that more and more people in Red Alert were using those kinds of room names lately, to the point that the format was now jokingly called a "Leon trap."

Zog cracked open a Coke, clicked on the latest video, and watched more than half of it before he knew it.

"Look, his Holy Knights have been surrounded by my army of Pervert Demons. Even though Holy Knights are powerful, they’re helpless against a swarm of Pervert Demons. So, is there a game where...?"

Zog was suddenly struck by a familiar feeling, and an absurd thought popped into his head.

’No way... has that kid Leon mastered the slick ad transition?’

"Of course there is! Today, I’m here to recommend just such a game: *Path of Conquest*! Want to become an unstoppably powerful Legendary Warrior? Want to become a hero on a vast, open battlefield? It’s all in *Path of Conquest*! The game promises to be completely free-to-play, and I’m playing it too! Enter the invitation code at the bottom of the screen to get an exclusive reward for Leon’s fans. What are you waiting for? If you’re a real one, come and..."

Zog did a spit-take with his Coke.

’That name, that ad... Who is this mastermind? Don’t tell me they actually managed to create a pay-to-win stats-based game.’

Zog immediately searched for *Path of Conquest*. It was ranked quite low on the new games chart, and he could see the current player count was only just over three thousand.

In comparison, auto chess currently had nearly three hundred thousand players online.

Zog decided to give the game a try.

Upon entering the character selection screen, he was surprised to find it even had a face-sculpting feature. Thanks to the inherent diversity of races and professions on the Feilin Continent, the class system was actually quite decent.

Zog chose the Warrior.

’A true boss player should always pick a class that can both tank and deal damage.’

After a crude, PowerPoint-style story cutscene, he entered the even cruder game world.

The more Zog looked, the more familiar it felt.

’What *Path of Conquest*? This is just *Zhengtu*!’

Even though the setting, theme, and gameplay details were completely different.

Zog just couldn’t shake the feeling that *Zhengtu* had been reincarnated on the Feilin Continent.

However, after playing for a few more minutes, Zog quickly understood why its player count was so low.

Although it had fumbled its way to the threshold of a stats-based P2W model, the execution of many details was lacking.

Zog didn’t personally like this type of game, but he knew that making it an enjoyable experience for the whales was no easy task.

Another serious problem was its lack of marketing muscle. Simply hiring online influencers for ads wasn’t nearly enough.

A key characteristic of these games is that marketing is more important than the game itself. It’s not uncommon for the marketing and distribution budget to be more than ten times the development budget.

For reasons of his own draconic preference, Zog had always refrained from making this type of game.

Besides, while these games seem profitable, a short operational lifespan is an unavoidable issue. The most profitable games in history weren’t this type, either.

Zog had no need to make a game that would severely tarnish his reputation. But since someone else had gone and made one first, he decided to invest a little and give them a boost.

Soon, Mr. Scrooge was meeting with Zog.

He was exceedingly respectful, as he was now in the internet cafe business, which was tantamount to depending on Zog for his livelihood.

However, Mr. Scrooge hadn’t been having a good time lately. The situation with *Path of Conquest* was far from optimistic, but he had still gritted his teeth and paid his employees their launch bonuses out of his own pocket.

He couldn’t be called a good boss—the working conditions were poor, he encouraged a culture of overtime, and he promoted the idea of employee "dedication."

But he was by no means one of the worst, either. When he made money, he actually shared it with his staff. And even when he didn’t, he did his utmost to deliver on the promises he’d made. He had the air of an old-school gangster boss who puts honor first.

That’s why he had a crew of employees who were loyal to him.

Facing Zog, Scrooge took off his hat and bowed, his mind racing, wondering just what Zog wanted with him.

"Your game has a lot of potential," Zog said, getting straight to the point.

"What?" Scrooge thought he had misheard for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "Thank you for your high praise."

Then, pressing his advantage, he continued, "If you would be willing to offer a small investment, I’m confident this game could bring you an even greater return."

"Ha. Of course I called you here to invest. But before we get to that, your game has a lot of problems that need fixing."

Hearing this, Scrooge knew his chance to turn things around had arrived. Suppressing his excitement, he said, "Please, go on. I’m taking notes."

"First, the leveling process is incredibly boring."

"That’s... not something I can easily fix on short notice."

Quest flow design is a discipline in its own right, one that requires a great deal of experience—something Scrooge’s team clearly lacked.

"So don’t fix it. Just add auto-pathing and auto-combat. Let the boring parts run on their own."

"Huh?" Scrooge was baffled by the suggestion.

Auto-pathing plus auto-combat. It sounded absurd—letting the game play itself. But for the target audience of this kind of game, the fun isn’t in the act of playing.

"Is the core of this game completing quests?"