Chapter 19
"The reason games are so appealing is that you can do things in them that are impossible in real life, can have things you can't have in reality. In a word, it's all about getting a rush—unless you have a masochistic streak, nobody wants to feel miserable in a game."
I stared. Wasn't he implying I had this kind of perverted tendency?
"So, when it comes to entertainment—whether it's films, games, or animation—as long as you follow this angle, even if you can't create a classic, you can still make it popular."
Huh? Was Shangguan telling me about his own preferences? But wouldn't that be cheating?
"Alright, do you understand now? If you get it, go practice. Honestly, don't tell anyone you're from the company outside, or you'll definitely hurt Xinghuo's reputation."
He finished his coffee, stood up, and still didn't forget to take a jab at me.
For the remaining time, while I was still grinding levels, I was mostly thinking about what Shangguan had said. The rush, what can't be achieved in reality, what brings people pleasure.
After thinking through the night, I finally sketched out a general direction. The next morning, I spent another half day fleshing out the idea, and the moment work started that afternoon, I pulled Yang Xin into the small meeting room.
"You want us to make a soccer game?" Yang Xin wore a troubled expression. "I know China's men's soccer is disappointing, but there are already plenty of soccer games out there, and the popularity of this type of game won't be any better than that of Fantasy Wars."
Even though she'd handed the major direction over to me, clearly she had done her homework, immediately raising objections. But you see, I wasn't just planning to make a soccer game.
"Soccer is just one aspect, the same way fantasy games have warriors, elves, mages, and priests—we'd have gamblers, doctors, players, and stargazers. In the beginning, these people can develop within their own industries, practicing basic skills. A player practices kicking power—he can kick balls, kick glass bottles, kick tables, basically kick anything that can be kicked. Of course, the kicks need to be skillful and powerful; if they don't meet the standard, they'll get injured or suffer counterattacks. Gamblers practice gambling skills, like calculation ability and dealing cards, also with certain standards—fail to meet them and they lose money or get beaten up; if their funds drop to a certain level, they'll bleed out or die. Doctors and stargazers work similarly."
"When they've trained to a certain level, they'll need to form teams to progress. If it's just players forming teams with players, then of course the development only goes in the soccer direction—this can yield quick results in soccer, but it gets monotonous and the growth path narrows. So the best gameplay is for all classes to form teams together. That way they can play soccer, bet on games, and have doctors provide treatment. As for stargazers, in the early stages they can do fortune-telling; when they develop to a certain level, they can be like sword immortals from xianxia stories, serving as the team's martial strength. Of course, if the focus is on them, they can develop into an immortal cultivation type of game, with the other team members serving as their support."
"If a team grows strong enough, they can even establish empires in the heavens and on earth simultaneously. The mortal realm and the heavenly realm influence each other, as they traverse the worlds of gods, humans, and ghosts—at that point, their opponents become other teams that have also developed to a certain level, but by that stage, the game will be close to its end. But based on my estimate, reaching that point will take at least two or three years."
"To limit the progression speed, we can set some restrictions—for example, only stargazers of a certain level can resurrect teammates, and they can only resurrect party members. But for balance, we can make stargazers' leveling extremely boring in the early game, and leveling up is also difficult. How about this? We could allow expensive resurrection grass to be purchased—at the start, we give everyone one resurrection grass as a bonus, that should work. But we can discuss these details later—what do you think about the general direction?"
I looked at her nervously. After all, this was the first proposal I'd independently overseen, and I'd worked so hard on it—I obviously wanted some affirmation.
"I think—" She glanced at me sideways. "It's very bad!"
"Ah? I-is that so? Then, then let me think some more..."
"You talked for ages—soccer, gamblers, stadiums, immortal cultivation! Where's the romance? Where did romance go? Shouldn't you leave some space for love? Did you only think about us stinky men when designing this game? Don't you know there are more and more female players these days? Don't you know that half the planet is female?"
"Um...?"
"So we absolutely have to consider the female factor. What if the stargazer in the party is female? What if the doctor is female, what if the gambler is the doctor? Beyond your so-called heaven-and-earth empire, we need to design some places and scenarios suitable for dating!"
Saying this, she pinched my cheek: "Only by considering the female factor can this game be fun!"
I stared at her blankly. This... we're just making a proposal, right? Why does it feel more and more like a game outline? Ah well, first time doing this—the more you consider, the more prepared you are, the smoother the proposal will go.