Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

357  Chapter 352: Connecting Metropolis and Night City

Even though he had handed the task over to Fred, Lincoln wasn't completely relieved.

If the task had been given to Randall, Lincoln would have cheerfully slacked off after embedding the dynamic grading system into Night City.

But the task was now in the hands of Fred...

As a result, Lincoln spent the next day and a half, aside from practicing his boxing, frequently casting glances over at Fred, checking what sort of content he was changing.

——There was no choice, he had to be cautious in case Fred, in his excitement, overstepped boundaries.

When it came to adult content in the game, Lincoln leaned towards being conservative.

He was always very careful with such content. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

——The current situation was the result of a chemical reaction both Fred and Vice City, hit together, two critical words.

However, even so, under Lincoln's intervention, all the custom stores could only skirt the edge. There wasn't a single place where content could cross the line in a real sense.

Even full nudity of NPCs was out of the question, let alone anything more explicit.

——Not only in the custom stores, but there were also no fully unclothed NPCs across the entire game.

The furthest they would go was a male and a female performing a striptease at a couple of clubs.

This wasfair, and players were not allowed to get too close to the stage.

The only time NPCs were stripped of their upper garments was after Fred had embedded the dynamic grading system in the 18+ version.

As for those in the 17+ version?

They had to enjoy the sight of pasties!

This setup was way more disciplined than most 17+ rated movies!

While some netizens specialized in clamoring for more liberal standards, they didn't consider——

If more is shown, while you may be pleased, wouldn't your future, or even current, girlfriends also get their fill?

Before starting a relationship in the future, would it become a norm to first sign a "Virtual World Non-Interference Agreement"?

Or should it just be the case that in the future, people should give up on dating, everyone minding their own business?

A myriad of ethical problems comes to mind just thinking about it.

As for Lincoln's solution: he decided it's better to avoid this and shelve the issue.

Once the virtual world becomes big enough in the future, there will naturally be enough sociologists and scholars to actively discuss and help him think about these problems.

Until then, they could just scrape the line, giving some benefits and entertainment to the players.

*

On Thursday, after the game was re-packaged and sent for review, Lincoln finally breathed a sigh of relief and started considering one of his previous thoughts——

After the release of "Speed Chase", should it be directly embedded next to the Metropolis Public Version, so that the two cities can be connected as one?

In fact, because of its similar all-age rating, the current game "Paradise" has already been embedded with Metropolis Public Version.

While strolling in Metropolis, players could reach the entrance of an amusement park and conveniently enter the world of "Paradise".

In the personal version of Metropolis, you still need to pay to enter the amusement park, and the park is still the same as it was, but in the public version of Metropolis, there is no need to buy tickets anymore.

After all, "Paradise" is a free game.

Now, taking advantage of the release of "Speed Chase", Night City could also be embedded, and along the Red Gate Bridge, a cyclic extension system that deals with the edge of the map could be added to filter the players.

Players who have purchased "Speed Chase" could directly drive into Night City.

Those who haven't, would be continuously driving on the infinite extension of the Red Gate Bridge.

This is completely achievable from a technical standpoint.

And with the dynamic grading system in place, there will no longer be obstacles in the audit system.

The only issue making Lincoln hesitate was: should he do this?

Though it seemed cool, a clear issue was obvious: the $500 price tag for "Speed Chase" would become a barrier for entry.

You pay and you're in. If you don't, you can't get in.

At present, this wouldn't be a problem.

At least for now, over 99% of the players with access to the public map of Metropolis would buy "Speed Chase".

——Before the dynamic grading system was installed, Lincoln couldn't have guaranteed this because some players were literally a year short of the required age...

However, next week, when the regular population of Metropolis doubles again to reach thirty thousand, players who have no intention of buying "Speed Chase" might emerge.

And as time goes on, the number of these players will only increase.

Eventually, the nature of this $500 could possibly transform from buying "a game", to "buying the ticket to enter Night City".

"Wait!" Lincoln suddenly smacked himself on the forehead, "I did something stupid again!"

With the technical capabilities he and Mavis possessed, a better solution is entirely possible:

First, the two cities should be connected. Players who bought the game can enter their own personal Night City world directly.

Players who didn't buy the game will temporarily not be able to enter, but can display a "Night City Open Countdown" for one month.

During the countdown, a special Night City map should be made specifically for sightseeing and traveling based on the public version of the metropolis.

When the countdown reaches zero, it will be fully open to players.

At that time, players can directly enter the public version of Night City, with no tasks, no car races, and no fights. They can take a look at the scenery and stroll around and visit the unique industries of Night City.

Wouldn't this be a case of having the best of both worlds?

The map of the virtual world would expand, and players would get a cool way to enter Night City.

Even players who didn't buy the game, after a month, would be able to freeload off a virtual city.

As for the one-month prohibition period, it wouldn't only be used for making the public version of the map——if it's just removing some content, they could finish in two to three days.

The real purpose was actually——to prevent players who purchased the game from feeling short-changed.

Paying money should always come with some special treatment.

——Of course, the special treatment isn't just about being ahead in terms of time, but also in terms of spending.

In Lincoln's design, the currencies of Night City and Metropolis are not interchangeable.

He hasn't yet come up with a good way to design a universal currency for the virtual world, and this matter is too important to be taken lightly, so he would rather put it off for now.

This means that in his design, players who haven't purchased "Speed Chase" will only be able to spend the "minimal aid" provided by Lincoln once they enter Night City. Splurging on purchases is unlikely.

With the idea in place, Lincoln stands up to get to work. Connecting the two virtual worlds is not a simple task.

For this, Lincoln plans to bring out his best technology——

"Mavis~ Come and help~"

"Mavis is coming~" Mavis's voice was as energetic and lively as ever.

*

While Lincoln is preparing for the launch of "Speed Chase", the players are also getting ready.

After all, it's Thursday afternoon now, and the game will officially go on sale at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.

The players, who have been counting down for four years with Super Tomato, are already eager to go!

Of course, for the majority of players, the preparations they can make now are mainly to browse the game forums more and look at the currently compiled tasks and random events. It's all about finding ways to level up, make money, and get weapons at in the early stages.

Besides that, it's just going to bed early in the evening, preparing instant noodles for when they wake up early the next day, or preparing lunch and dinner in advance.

If you happen have a spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend, you'll also need to appease them in advance.

——If, by chance, your partner shares your interests and likes to play games, that's a different story.

Besides ordinary players, there are also some not so ordinary players, and their preparations are a bit special.

Take, for example, Super Tomato who is still seriously studying card-playing strategies.

In the past few days, he has not done anything else and has shelved his video updates. He spends his days live-streaming card games in Metropolis.

21:05

Not only does he play by himself, but he also pulls other video uploaders in to play with him, causing a collective delay and shelving of video updates among several uploaders.

During Camille Victoria's last visit to the casino with Shuihua, they attempted to cheat by using the traditional technique of "peeking at cards". Despite being discovered by the croupier and having their chips confiscated before being kicked out, they had already won five rounds before being found out!

This is ample proof: the trick can totally work!

As a result, Camille Victoria formed Mavis and a few viewers into a team in her live broadcast room. In her Metropolis home, they use several decks of cards bought from a convenience store to study how to discreetly signal teammates at the gaming table.

Camille Victoria only regretted that Shuihua had to go to class and couldn't practice with them.

Shuihua also felt it was a pity because she felt a special kind of joy from winning by cheating right under the croupier's nose.

Of course, what she regretted more was: when everyone enters the game tomorrow, she'd have to sit in the classroom and review instead.

This means that when the game goes on sale tomorrow, the internet-surfing-enthusiast Shuihua will have to completely disconnect herself from the internet.

Otherwise, she was sure to get spoilers before school was over.

That would seriously ruin the experience!

In fact, this is also the choice of many players who don't like spoilers— to disconnect from social media.

Of course, those who plan to disconnect from social media are not the most determined players. The most determined players have already arranged for sick leave.

Apart from these people, there is also a group of people in a more agonizing situation——

The teams participating in the "Assassins' Alliance" group competition tomorrow.

Professional players are okay, as they are professional and can completely resist the temptation of new games.

Some professional players aren't even looking forward to the new game, they simply take competing as a job.

But non-professional players are suffering a lot!

Although the competition doesn't start until 6 o'clock in the evening, it's an offline competition and they have to get to the venue in the afternoon.

And frankly, with a competition in the evening, one that takes place under the watchful eyes of countless viewers, can you really calmly play a new game in the morning?

At least the pay-to-win lord Chasing Wind, for the first time, regretted qualifying for the group competition...

Especially now, after continuous defeats in the group competition.

They have become last in points in their group.

As the weakest player in his team, Chasing Wind is often targeted by opponents as a vulnerability in a match. Even if his teammates try to use this as a bait to trap the enemy, it's useless—the gap in combat power is too big.

Frankly speaking, Chasing Wind has the "lowest character strength" of all the players in the group competition.

In the competition, character strength*player ability = actual combat power.

Chasing Wind's character strength and personal ability might be okay compared to regular players, but compared to the players on the field, he's simply too weak.

His feeling is simple—the gaming experience is terrible!

He also had to accept a reality: on the field, the power of money has its limits.

——Of course, it could also be that he doesn't have enough money...

Chasing Wind is certain that advancing from the group competition is out of the question. They will be knocked out by the end of this week.

He would like to simply give up and play the new game, but after spending so much time with his teammates, competing together, they have developed feelings for each other.

Seeing Warehouse Bird and four other teammates studying the opponents, never considering giving up, he felt a bit reluctant to abandon the team project.

"Sigh, it's such a sin——" Chasing Wind sighed. "Why couldn't Cloud Dream release the game today or on Saturday?"

After sighing, he joined his teammates in studying their opponents and preparing for tomorrow's competition.

While some persevere, some naturally give up.

What a coincidence: the team opposing Chasing Wind's team— the team that is second to last in points and is already bound to be eliminated, has already started preparing for the new game in the game forum.

If they prepare adequately and aren't too unlucky, then in tomorrow's competition, the team Chasing Wind and Warehouse Bird belong to, might have their only victory in the group competition on the eve of their offline journey ending!

They are still oblivious to this for now, and are still meticulously preparing for this competition that they are almost certain to lose.