Chapter 382: Chapter 370: A place for players from all around the world to fight!
Translator: 549690339
In the eyes of Qin Songyun, Fan Rui, and others, the first clearance competition was not even a problem.
However, Lincoln was different. Due to the influence of his original world player identity, he subconsciously believed that the first clearance was very important.
Especially when it came to cross-national competition, the importance of the first clearance in players’ hearts would grow exponentially.
Deep down, Lincoln of course wanted the Daxia players to claim the first clearance.
But he also had no intention of cheating or helping in any way, and would even ensure fairness as much as possible in the future.
Lincoln believed that only a strong competitive environment could nurture top-level players.
If they were to lose – especially with the advantage of starting first – Lincoln would feel that they had lost face!
His first reaction when he heard the news was-
“If you dare to lose, you’re dead!”
Then he started thinking about another issue prompted by this event – the cross-national competition and historical conflicts among players.
According to Lincoln’s game design philosophy, Cloud Dream’s players would not be divided by region when it came to servers.
Instead, they would use advanced virtual world building technology to bring together all servers and idle player computing power into a whole.
As a result, there would be no system barriers for players when gaming.
Speed Chase has a special mechanism design, where both free teaming and random automatic matching system would be unlocked after the first clearance, so players did not have a clear intuition yet.
However, in both Light Encounter and Paradise, many Daxia players have already encountered overseas players.
Moreover, Chinese is the second language in the countries within the Daxia cultural circle, so there was almost no barrier to communication, and many people made friends with foreigners.
After the first clearance of Speed Chase by the majority of players, they would likely encounter each other by accident under the random matching system.
Apart from making friends, there is another relationship between players from different countries – competition and confrontation!
If it were just Daxia players and players from other countries, it would still be acceptable.
While there were some historical frictions and conflicts between a dominant country and its subordinate countries, those happened hundreds of years ago, and there was no direct grievances to talk about in recent times.
But among the subordinate countries around Daxia, things are different…
After the long course of history, there are many countries that can’t stand each other, and even Izumo and Baekje view each other as enemies!
If matched together, it would be easy for a fight to break out directly.
Moreover, if killed by accident due to this kind of situation, the gaming experience would definitely be awful!
This is without considering the situation after stepping out of the Daxia cultural circle, where there would be even more countries and the situation would become more complicated.
These issues are ones that Lincoln believes Cloud Dream needs to consider in advance and respond to accordingly.
Of course, the goal is not to figure out how to eliminate the hatred and disagreements between players from different countries.
For now, such a grand proposition is not something for a small game company like Cloud Dream to consider.
What Lincoln really considered was: Cloud Dream needs a place where players from these countries can engage in battles!
Yes, Lincoln didn’t plan to mediate disputes, but instead, he wanted to fuel the fire and make players from these countries fight each other!
After all, grievances won’t disappear out of thin air, and it is certainly better to fight it out in the virtual world rather than in the real world.
That’s right! Lincoln silently concluded in his heart: This is all for world peace! I’m such a good person!
As for where the players would fight specifically—
Neither in Metropolis nor Night City would be suitable.
These two cities were essentially designed for individual or small team-based combat.
The previous Free Day event in Metropolis was chaotic enough, with too many elements of luck and accidents.
In a highly confrontational game, fairness, control, and strategy cannot be overlooked.
Besides, the firepower of these two cities is not enough.
Metropolis has only one tank and an armed helicopter, and Night City doesn’t even have those – it’s too stingy! It’s not satisfying enough when fighting!
In fact, when Lincoln thought of this point, the answer was obvious-
Cloud Dream needs a brand-new, large-scale warfare confrontation game!
And the choice had actually appeared in his mind several months ago when he went with Henry to see those heavy-duty weapons – “Battlefield”!
And now that he thought of it, he had a new idea – “Human Hell.”
Or…have both?!
In Lincoln’s heart, he naturally wanted to have both.
However, after the previous unsuccessful attempt to merge “My World” with “Terraria” and “Witch,” he felt that he couldn’t make a hasty decision and needed to discuss it with others.
Moreover, it’s not possible to completely copy the original “Battlefield” game, as it did not have the characteristic of “allowing players from different countries to fight.”
When it comes to fanning the flames, it’s essential to be thorough!
Well, I need to think carefully about how to implement these ideas.
-Hopefully, they can be implemented.
After developing several games, Lincoln has also realized that many times, not all ideas in the initial stages of game development can be realized in the end.
Even with Cloud Dream’s technical expertise, compromises and trade-offs have to be made during game development.
Ultimately, game production is meant to serve the players, and the ultimate goal is always to be enjoyable.
It’s not about simply showing off technical prowess, let alone filling the maps with endless question marks.
Thinking about this, Lincoln feels that he should inform everyone as soon as possible. He turns to look at everyone in the conference room.
“I have thought of a new game plan.” Lincoln speaks up again, “This plan can be the culmination of our gunfight shooting series.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lincoln noticed Fred’s suddenly wide-open mouth and quickly explained, “Sequels don’t count! Don’t worry, we’ll still make ‘Speed Chase 2’.”
“Moreover, it’s not like we won’t make shooting-themed games in the future. After the first phase, our internal core focus will shift to other themes.”
Randall looks puzzled, “Gunfight shooting games have always been the most popular and widely accepted themes in the market. Our productions of ‘Assassins’ Alliance’ and ‘Speed Chase’ have proven this point in terms of both sales and player feedback. We can continue to make them, so why rush to change the theme?”
Lincoln glances at the puzzled Randall and the slightly uneasy supervisors present. He calmly says, “Everyone, the situation now is much different from a few months ago!”
He leans back slightly in his chair and confidently declares, “Whatever we do now, is the mainstream! Whatever we sell, is the most popular theme!”
“I don’t want to appear overly arrogant, but the fact is: We are, in a real sense, at the pinnacle of the industry!”
“We have sufficient capital and room for trial and error to explore new areas, create new possibilities, and even attempt challenges that may fail. This is not only our freedom but also our responsibility.”
“If we, as the company with the strongest technology, the most abundant capital, and the most favorable conditions in the game industry, do not have the courage to explore new themes and create more interesting possibilities for players, then what right do we have to stand in our current position?”
As Lincoln speaks, every employee present unconsciously straightens their backs and becomes somber.
Some of them suddenly realize for the first time that their boss has such a different side to him!
However, it feels like it’s only natural in the blink of an eye.
Yeah, if Lincoln were truly as lazy and ambitionless as he usually appears, how could he have pushed Cloud Dream to its current heights in such a short amount of time!
Everyone present is no longer hesitant, even wishing they could start developing a groundbreaking game that will shock the world right away!
Even Jerome, a simple worker, is inspired by Lincoln and feels a sense of pride in working for Cloud Dream.
-Of course, he quickly comes to his senses: “I’m not a game designer; what am I getting excited about!”
Then Jerome relaxes his body again, leaning firmly against the chair back, and quietly watches his boss continue.
Fortunately, even if Jerome is not cheering, the others are.
Not to mention the few game designers, even Quentina and Cheryl, two department supervisors who are not closely related to game design, are very supportive.
– And don’t say Cheryl isn’t a supervisor, the New Media Department supervisor is still a supervisor!
Even if she only has three human employees under her and the rest are cats and dogs, pet employees are still employees!
Cheryl even started learning Cloud Dream’s game development software in her spare time, intending to develop a game featuring “Kitty” as the protagonist once she’s skilled enough.
She originally worried that her boss might not agree with such a niche theme.
Now hearing her boss’s words, it’s as if he’s echoing her thoughts! She’s so excited, like a seal, clapping non-stop.
Lincoln can’t help but glance sideways.
“Boss, tell us, what kind of theme are we going to work on next?” Randall is ready to face the challenge!
“?” Lincoln looks puzzled at Randall, “Didn’t I say it? Gunfights!”
“Ah…” Randall suddenly feels like he got excited too early…
“So, what kind of gunfight game is it?” Fred is more composed.
“Much simpler than the previous two.” Lincoln’s introduction is simple and straightforward: “Just recreate famous battles from history and throw the players in to role-play the opposing sides in combat.”
“Ah?” Randall’s first thought isn’t about the game’s content but the underlying risks: “Real wars?”
Fred too is uncertain, “No changes and adaptations, completely true recreations?”
“I understand your concerns, and I know the war only ended recently.” Lincoln nods and reassures them.
“So when we choose battles, we will avoid any fights within the last 100 years to ensure we don’t cause any trouble for anyone still living.”
“We will then recreate the battles as realistically as possible – I mean, for the player’s single-player story mode, we must recreate the historical battles, just allowing players to re-experience and learn from history, posing virtually no risk.”
“As for online combat, the outcome will be entirely up to the players. And by then, there will be millions of battles happening every day, so the significance of any single victory or defeat will be watered down, and no one will care too much.”
“Oh, I mean, no one will care about it collectively. Players who struggle and constantly lose will still be upset, but that’s inevitable…”
With Lincoln’s explanation, everyone’s concerns gradually dissipate.
As long as they steer clear of controversial battles when making their selections, it will be fine.
“So, should we choose battles involving Daxia?” Randall is unsure.
If it were before working at NetDragon, he wouldn’t even have asked, avoiding the topic at all costs.
But their boss Lincoln is a bit special, and it can be challenging to tell what he’s thinking and what he wants.
If he doesn’t clarify in advance, he will be a bit uneasy.
