Chapter 42: Fighting Back
A group of executives was sitting in a conference room. They were discussing the progress of their company's first product. Capos had already performed beyond their expectations. Soon a man in casual clothes joined the conference. The meeting had officially begun.
Michael looked around the conference table and observed his executives. Of course, his company was still too small to have a full team of executives. This was just all the team leaders of the different departments.
" So let's go around the table and talk about the updates from each department." Michael instructed. Honestly, he did not really know how to lead these conferences; in the future, he was going to just have Jennifer host them so he can just spectate.
The different team leads gave updates from their departments. The server team wanted to rent more servers. The sales team wanted to run a discount promotion for diamonds. They also wanted to offer bulk packages for the wealthy gamers. Michael listened to them and approved all of their requests
" How much sales do we have for Diamonds?" Michael asked. This figure was the most important one.
" So far we had eight million dollars since diamonds were released four days ago. However, there is an issue; The sales figures are slowing down because of diamond farmers who resell the diamonds on grey markets." The analyst replied.
Michael was happy with the sales performance but was irritated by the farmers. He designed the game to make it bot proof in order to prevent this. However, he overestimated the economy of certain 3rd world countries. The wages were so low in these countries that it was better to farm currency in video games and sell them.
There was no way Michael could prevent human botters in the game. He thought about limiting the playing time for each account; however, that would take away the flexibility from casual players. During vacation days the casual players might want to play for long periods of time, therefore, the time limitation was unfair.
" Do you guys have any ideas on how to solve this?" Michael asked the team leads.
They all looked around and scratched their heads. In reality, this issue plagued nearly all MMO developers. If there was an easy fix then it would already have been implemented in the industry. The best solution so far was to increase surveillance of players accounts to spot large RMT (real money trading) transactions. The larger gaming companies had an entire department dedicated to tracking and banning farmers.
The sales analyst suggested the time limit but Michael shot it down while explaining his reasons.
" Alright then, I am thinking about adding a transaction limit to the Diamonds. The diamonds can only be exchanged once after it has been purchased. This way the people who want to sell it for in-game currency can and the farmers who buy it cannot resell it on the black markets." Michael explained. This was the only other idea he could come up with. This way the play time of the players will not be limited.
The team contemplated for a while. " What about the players who already purchased diamonds?" Rachel asked. She was the head of the customer service department.
" Well, the same thing will apply to the diamonds they already have. They can either redeem it to make their accounts premium or they can sell it. The buyer will only be able to use it and will not be able to exchange it or sell it." Michael explained. After all, the rule has to apply for everyone to make it fair.
" There will be a big backlash. A lot of players had hoarded the diamonds hoping its value will go higher. Now its value will tank since it can no longer be used as a commodity." Rachel explained.
" Thats okay. It was not meant to be a commodity in the first place. This is what we have to do to ensure that our business can be successful." Michael explained. If there was a big reaction on social media then he will hire some botting companies to cover it up. Ironically, it looks like he will have to make deals with botters.
The meeting was concluded and everybody went back to work. Michael decided to drive home to immediately make the changes to the Diamonds. He could only work on the game at home because the game engine was on the workstation at home. He could install it on his office computer but he did not want to take that risk.
The security at this office and home were both on completely different levels. Although the office is as secure as a military base, his house has a security system from his ridiculous system.
Michael also had to implement some other suggestion from the players. He planned on having a monthly update to implement expansions and updates. It looks like he will be busy this weekend.
Redwood City, California: ER Games Headquarters
Wilfred Connor was playing a game on his phone; the more he played it the more irritated he would get. There was nothing wrong with the game. It's just that as the CEO of the largest gaming conglomerate in the world, he wished the game was developed by his company.
ER Games was mostly focused on console games. However, the mobile gaming market was too big for them to ignore. They had been buying up mobile games and had several top rankers. However, they don't really have a mobile game that served as a cornerstone for the company. He could already imagine Capos as his masterpiece.
" Sir, may I come in?" Someone was at the door.
"Come in." Wilfred noticed that his Vice-president was at the door. He had instructed Lewis to do a thorough check on the game and the company.
" I have the report about Capos ready Sir."
Wilfred nodded giving Lewis the permission to present the report.
" Capos was developed by a start-up called Eminence gaming. Eminence gaming has just been established a couple of months ago. The employees were hired and trained recently. The company is a subsidiary of Empyreal Holdings. The parent company only has one owner. A young man named Michael Rodriguez." Lewis explained. He had been studying the dark horse for the past week. He used all his contacts to dig up everything about the game and its developers.
Wilfred absorbed the information. After looking at the reports he was quite intrigued. The parent company seemed to be some sort of an investment corporation. It was surprising to see one person behind everything. Was this kid trying to form his own conglomerate? Did he think it was easy to form one?
Unfortunately, the naive kid possessed the means to make a game that was beyond the capabilities of every other company in the world.
" What about the developer team? Did you find out about them?" Wilfred asked.
" Unfortunately, that is a big mystery. The only information available was that it was developed by a foreign team. We still have not been able to identify the real developers." Lewis explained. It was not just him, every gaming company in the world was trying to see who developed such a revolutionary game. Sadly, there was not even a trace of the developers.
" Has our agents been able to crack the game and understand the technology yet?"Wilfred asked because ER games had a secret division that acted during these kinds of situations.
" We are still working on it. The encryption technology is more sophisticated than anything we have ever seen. I am not optimistic about the results." Lewis explained. He did not want to give false hope to Wilfred.
" Well, that leaves us with only one choice. Make them an offer for the gaming company. If they don't accept at least try to buy the game." Wilfred ordered. He had to get his hands on this game no matter what.
" What if they refuse?" Lewis asked. After all, anybody could tell that Eminence gaming had a bright future. Why would the owner sell it?
Wilfred opened his cabinet and pulled out his cigar box. He picked a Regius Double Corona and lit it with his vintage lighter. He took a puff and breathed out. As the smoke filled up the room Wilfred turned back to Lewis.
All of a sudden Lewis felt terrified. The look that Wilfred gave sent shivers down his spine.
" Make him an offer he CANNOT refuse!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Red_Tempest
Red_Tempest Thanks for reading.
Stay tuned because we are going to get some pretty intense action soon.
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