[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-this-is-not-a-bug-but-a-game-feature":3,"chapter-this-is-not-a-bug-but-a-game-feature-this-is-not-a-bug-but-a-game-feature-chapter-353":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","This Is Not a Bug but a Game Feature",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1472431,1919,"Chapter 353 - 225: Cultivation Fantasy","this-is-not-a-bug-but-a-game-feature-chapter-353",353,"\u003Cp>After ending the visit to Demon Dragon Studio, Chen Ba and his team attended this year’s Zhonghai Game Exhibition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the exhibition, he announced the official name and some selling points of the new game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The new game is tentatively named \"Cultivation Fantasy,\" a large-scale multiplayer online role-playing game with a fantasy theme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is also just pie in the sky...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the name and theme of the new game were revealed, it’s clear that apart from a few AI-generated promotional images, \"Cultivation Fantasy\" doesn’t have anything else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They haven’t even made a trailer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So in the eyes of many people, Ba’s move is nothing more than drawing a pie. The game is definitely not ready, it might not even have started development, yet the promotional activities have already begun?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Complaints aside, this isn’t the first time Ba has drawn a pie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, this time, the pie he drew is clearly more eye-catching and appealing to players compared to previous ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fantasy MMO?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wow, this is shocking news for everyone all year round. Tianba Studio is going to make an MMO? And the theme is fantasy, which everyone loves?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sounds super cool!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only suspense is whether Tianba Studio, which has never made an MMO before, can create a great game? And what payment model will this MMO adopt?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ba, will the game be monetized?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the question Chen Ba hears most frequently and is also a common concern among players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>MMOs are notorious for being money pits, a fact acknowledged in the gaming world. Players who’ve played MMO games know that if these games use a subscription model, it’s acceptable, but if they are free-to-play...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No doubt, in pursuit of top rankings, pouring in tens or hundreds of thousands might not even make a splash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don’t think it’s exaggerated!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>MMOs have a very low entry threshold, especially free-to-play ones, flooded with many zero-cost freeloaders who not only don’t spend money but try to earn from the game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But excluding these zero-cost and small-spending players, the upper limits of MMO games can be astonishing, making people exclaim it’s exaggerated!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Chen Ba’s experience, the upper limits of MMO games primarily depend on two aspects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One is the competitive intensity of various leaderboards!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the leaderboard competition in your server is intense, with many heavy-spenders, and high prices in the market, then the upper limit can be significantly raised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second is the game’s inherent upper limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In some games, a major version update might require spending several thousand dollars to reach the limit. Spending more becomes meaningless because the content of the update is limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Take the Mi Family’s classic card pool as an example.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A new version features a character pool and a weapon pool, and the cost to draw characters and weapons to their full extent is the upper limit of that version.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two models each have their merits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overall, games that control monetization limits through version updates generally have friendlier spending levels that won’t deter average players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the version upper limit is there, even hardcore spenders can’t create an insurmountable gap from regular players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Games with no upper limit that test the thickness of players’ wallets are quite terrifying. Players at the top of the leaderboards might be able to annihilate a group of zero-cost freeloaders with a single strike, a pure power-fantasy grass-cutting experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We want to be the former.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Addressing players’ concerns and worries, Chen Ba said to Lu beside him, \"Control the game’s spending with version updates, it shouldn’t become a pure spenders’ playground.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So it’s still a free game?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No choice, the market conditions dictate it, players just prefer these no-barrier free games.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Ba said helplessly, \"Moreover, in terms of revenue stream alone, free games are indeed impressive! With an attractive monetization event, we can earn monthly revenue equivalent to a year’s worth of a subscription game.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’re saying subscription games have strong longevity, it’s common for a game to operate for ten years? Free games are just fast food, earning big money in the first few years and then declining?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’re absolutely right, that’s indeed the case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But is there a possibility that the money made by free games in their first few years already exceeds the income of a subscription game operating for ten or even twenty years?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fast food is indeed fast food, free games don’t last long, and they become increasingly weak in the later stages, which is also a fact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But every coin has two sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Free games in the first two years of operation can be incredibly lucrative! They can earn in two years what a subscription game earns in ten years, who still wants to play \"slow and steady\"?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cultivation Fantasy\" has to be a free game, and can only be a free game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Ba has considered subscription fees, and also considered long-term operation like World of Warcraft, but eventually he gave up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they say, wild pigs can’t eat fine chaff, players choose free games, so don’t blame the game developers for voting with their feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The main revenue source of free games is the in-game store.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And for \"Cultivation Fantasy,\" Chen Ba has already thought up a basic monetization scheme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The game has a tribulation crossing mechanism!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each time you break through a major realm, you will face the cleansing of lightning tribulations. Successfully crossing will raise your realm, failing the tribulation will drop you back a stage, making all previous efforts futile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you want to cross a tribulation smoothly and painlessly, you’ll need to spend money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merit can also reduce the power of the lightning tribulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the difficulty of obtaining merit is very high. Comparatively, spending money to buy Tribulation Crossing Pills and Realm-Breaking Pills is a higher value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Can’t you cross a tribulation without spending money?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course you can!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Ba looked at Lu with a look of disbelief, saying, \"If you couldn’t cross a tribulation without spending money, wouldn’t our game turn into an exclusive realm for wealthy spenders?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1008,"2026-06-06T03:03:37.618Z",1,"novelbin.me","3da298415ce4ab5198cbba5e954b4b5bdd47263905fa36615e9c5c20465097ea","this-is-not-a-bug-but-a-game-feature-chapter-354","this-is-not-a-bug-but-a-game-feature-chapter-352",479,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthis-is-not-a-bug-but-a-game-feature-cover.jpg"]