Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 356 - 351: Night City's Emergency Ranking Adjustment!

Lincoln patiently explained to Mavis:

"If we develop two amusement parks, giving players the freedom to choose, and also allowing them to switch anytime, it seems that we have resolved the problem easily. In a short time, players will find it very good and convenient."

"However, if we think long-term, soon the players will no longer feel amazed by the two environments as they become accustomed to them."

"In this case, not only will the players lose their sense of fun, but the mechanisms we designed specifically to surprise them will also be wasted."

In the end, Lincoln ruffled Mavis's hair, concluding, "I'm not willing to accept a lose-lose situation for Cloud Dream and its players."

Lincoln may be lazy in life, preferring to idle.

But when it comes to game development, he never shied away from hard work and challenges.

After all, thanks to the existence of Mirage, he had already escaped material worries, so his focus naturally shifted to his spiritual pursuits.

This is also the reason he thought about idling every day, but could still overcome his laziness and persist in training.

It's not that he doesn't want to be lazy, but he knows in his heart: Only by persevering in training can the game's combat experience become better.

And the sense of accomplishment from making the game better is much stronger than lazy satisfaction!

— Of course, it would be even better if he could be lazy while making the game better...

This is also one of the reasons he continued to expand the team and cultivate outstanding designers.

However, he would never say this out loud. Only Mavis, who spent day and night with him, knew about this...

Mavis, of course, fully supported him!

However, having said that, looking at all the shuttle buses below, the players pouring out like a tide, Lincoln still felt a headache.

No more beast tides, so now you want to play "human tides" with me, huh?

What should he do?

Lincoln and Mavis stood at the highest point of the Ferris wheel, looking at the ant-like dispersing traffic below and thinking about countermeasures.

He had given up on waiting for the players to lose their novelty, which would naturally reduce the frequency of animal groups entering the amusement park.

Now he thought it was due to the short development cycle with only him and Mavis. Mavis unconditionally followed his instructions, no matter what he said. Mavis always responded with "Okay!" "Yes!" and "Great!"

With such a casual development process, it would be strange if there were no problems with the game after its release!

Lincoln shook his head, pondering strategies —

"Limit shuttle bus speed and quantity?"

"Completely hide the little lion?"

"Set a cooldown for animal movement?"

...

He thought and thought, then suddenly realized he seemed to have unintentionally made a mistake.

True, he considered that a small number of players have strong aversion or even fear towards specific animals, and just want to play in a normal amusement park.

But catering too much toward a small portion of players' needs could be seen as indirectly harming the needs of the majority, right?

What players collectively need may be just another choice, rather than anything else.

At this thought, Lincoln suddenly felt enlightened!

"Mavis! Let's work on it!"

"Okay!" As always, Mavis was ready at any time!

The changes needed were very simple, partially following Mavis's idea — add a "Pure" option to the "Paradise" login page for players.

After selecting this option, the "Paradise" the players log in to will be a "pure" version of the amusement park without animals.

This amusement park will be completely isolated from the "Paradise" main world's amusement park, unaffected by the main world's environmental changes, animals in the wilderness won't approach the fence, and later updates in the wilderness area won't be synchronized into the pure version.

Players who choose the pure version of the amusement park are obviously a minority among players.

The largest player group will continue to stay in the main world's "Paradise" and enjoy the occasional fun of the animals appearing!

If they miss the animals and the animals don't show up, then the players have to find ways to lure the little lion on their own.

— Just like they are doing now!

Making these changes wasn't complex at all, especially with Mavis's help, taking less than ten minutes to complete successfully.

Lincoln edited a system notification, pushing it to all players in "Paradise".

The players didn't sense any change until they saw the notification, realizing the game had been updated.

Without a doubt, the departing shuttle buses stopped quickly and a huge number of players rushed into the "pure version" of the amusement park, wanting to see what was different.

Of course, the answer was — there was no difference.

Disappointed players left quickly, and only a tiny minority of players made the "pure version" amusement park their permanent option.

Lincoln observed for a while and confirmed there were no problems.

He also asked Mavis to keep an eye on it for an extra day before leaving "Paradise" with peace of mind.

*

Having let go of the knots in his heart, Lincoln felt refreshed.

Right after he left "Paradise", he received another good news —

"The dynamic grading system" successfully passed the review and verification process of the relevant departments!

It only took a week since the last on-site assessment, and the efficiency was astonishing.

In addition, the relevant department specifically stated in the reply letter: "We recommend adding the Dynamic Grading Mechanism to Cloud Dream's 'Speed Chase' game and re-conducting a grading review."

Obviously, they intend to make Cloud Dream, the company that proposed this new grading system, the first one to try it out.

This is not only a favor but also a responsibility.

"You proposed this system, and we also think it's feasible after assessment and verification, so we approved it. But the first game to use this mechanism, and to be tested by the market, must be from you guys."

"Of course, it's great if it succeeds, but if there are problems that need to be taken responsibility for, you guys have to take the initiative and not evade."

"It's not possible for you to propose a system and let other companies explore it first. That doesn't make sense."

Lincoln could easily imagine these unsaid words.

As for this, Lincoln, of course, felt: couldn't be better!

Fred's excitement was even higher than Lincoln's!

He also has a Spiritual Rhinoceros account, and since the closed beta of "Speed Chase," his private messages have been flooded by enthusiastic players!

There are countless players advising, begging, persuading, making wishes, and threatening him to loosen the content restrictions.

Of course, the threats go like this:

"Hurry up and increase the scale of the customs stores, or I'll commit suicide!"

"... If you don't improve, I won't buy the second-generation console!"

"... If you don't improve, I won't buy the game!"

"... If not improved, no one in my class will buy the game!"

... n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Of course, amidst the overwhelming cries for "loosening content restrictions," there are also players calling for "strengthening content restrictions," and even suggesting "cancelling all adult establishments":

"Why make such a good game into a game for customers visiting adult establishments? If you don't remove all adult establishments, I will firmly boycott this game!"

"Protest on playing it close in the game. After the official release, if not cancelled, I will report!"

"Protect public order and good customs, create a healthy game environment!"

...

Then Fred decisively turned off private messages.

What a joke!

Do you know how much effort we put into building these shops, creating these beautiful girls, JKs, exotic beauties, handsome boys, and muscular men...?

Do you think you can just tell me to delete them?

Who do you think you are!

Now, with the "Dynamic Grading Mechanism" technology, Lincoln informed Fred that it would be officially loaded into Night City, and the content of the game could be more open.

Hearing this, in Fred's eyes, what Lincoln gave was not just a technology, but a King's Sword!

With this technology and the boss's approval, wouldn't that mean they can boldly and openly pull off a big move?

"Boss, why don't we postpone the release?"

This was Fred's first remark.

He wanted to make a big splash, but...

"It's already Wednesday, and the game is scheduled for release on Friday. What can we do in just two days?"

Lincoln laughed and cried: "Aren't you afraid the players will tear you apart?"

"Of course not!" Fred was fearless.

After all, the players would only rush to you, Boss.

And when the game is released and they see what you've done, they'll definitely go all out against you. Now, they'll just have to warm up beforehand.

It's a warm-up for both you and the players...

Unfortunately, Lincoln shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'm scared if you're not."

Fred didn't believe this remark at all.

"Time is limited, so I'll load this system first, and you guys can modify some content. Be sure to finish and submit for review by noon tomorrow."

Lincoln explained: "Our current goal is not to make significant changes to the game content but to fully verify the reliability of the dynamic grading system."

"Only by verifying the system's reliability will our future room for growth be even greater. As for the content of the game, we can update it after it is released. We are not here for a one-time deal."

First, Fred nodded to show that he understood Lincoln's meaning, and then asked, "Boss, what do you think is the appropriate range for dynamic grading?"

Lincoln thought about it, "Try to lower it to at least 12+."

It goes without saying that the highest scale should be raised to adult level.

However, the lowest, even with the dynamic grading mechanism, does not mean it can be directly lowered to all ages.

Even if you prevent players from buying or even touching guns and weapons, simply witnessing gunfights may trigger rating issues.

For example, in Daxia, children aged 6 to 10, whether playing games or watching movies, cannot directly see gunfights and gambling scenes.

And the chaos level of Night City is not suitable for children under 12 even walking on the streets.

After all, the streets of Night City can have "overly violent" scenes, which can directly trigger rating problems...

For Lincoln, it's better not to have this small amount of sales than to crazily block game content to accommodate younger players!

After all, this bustling, chaotic, and enchanting Vice City was never meant for little kids...