章節 19: Chapter 19 What is Balance?_1
Looking at this message, Kongkong almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
He immediately called Huang Ping, who had already left, back, and slamming the table, Kongkong shouted, "Go fix that thing, that thing, right now!"
"Which thing?" asked Huang Ping, puzzled.
Kongkong widened his eyes, clenched his fists tight, and said with frustration, "That thing, you know!"
Noticing that Huang Ping still had no clue, Kongkong turned his own screen around, pointed at it, and said, "Take a look for yourself!"
Once Huang Ping had a clear view of the message, which showed that "Princess Dungeon" had introduced PVP gameplay, he felt a huge tremor in his heart and exclaimed in disbelief, "How is this possible!"
"Now it's not about what's possible or not, but they've actually done it! Download the game right now and figure out what's going on!"
Tianyi allots a certain budget for game purchases every month, giving each planner a share of 1,000 yuan.
This money can be used to buy single-player games or to make in-game purchases in MMOs or mobile games, and is considered an extra perk for game planners.
So, Huang Ping immediately used his allocation to download "Princess Dungeon" for 68 yuan.
It is shameful to say, but as a game planner, he had never even played his industry competitors' games.
Since joining Kongkong Studio, a place he had once longed for, he found himself unavoidably suffering from electronic ED.
The normalized 996 overtime culture left him with no time to play games; he would download a game and exit hastily after just ten minutes. Many AAA titles were essentially just gathering dust in his library.
Playing his own company's games too much also gave him a feeling of nausea; the original passion had vanished amidst the frequent changes made by the producer.
When was the last time he enjoyed playing a game?
He had thought "Princess Dungeon" was just a superior and conscientious indie project, but when he actually loaded into it, he realized he was wrong.
I am so foolish, truly.
I've always heard my comrades online say how fun this game is, yet I never played it.
Only after playing today did I understand just how interesting this game is.
From the moment he started playing the game on Kongkong's orders to conquering the third dungeon, Huang Ping stretched his sore fingers with satisfaction, feeling that this game was truly incredible.
At that moment, he finally understood what that "romance" tag meant.
Playing this game felt as smooth and delightful as being in love, as if he had returned to that time of high school first love, where every minute and every second was so pleasant, so seamless.
As Huang Ping was savoring the moment, he saw a colleague come over and sit down next to him, then teasingly said, "Ah Huang, why did you come in so early today? Not cutting it close, are you?"
"What do you mean, came in early?" asked Huang Ping, confused.
"It's only eight o'clock. Usually, you clock in at the last second, but today you came an hour early, that's not like you."
Huang Ping then realized his stomach was empty.
Reflecting on his experience from the day before, he slapped his thigh and blurted out, "Damn!"
His colleague jumped in fright, "What happened?"
"I forgot to clock in."
"Then go punch the clock."
"I forgot to do it last night."
"Then you're in trouble. Kongkong's been in a bad mood recently, and now you're going to get chewed out again."
Slapping his forehead, Huang Ping realized that since last night, he hadn't left his workstation.
He hadn't even drunk a sip of water or gone to the bathroom once. In this moment, his mighty bladder stood supreme, showing him which organ was truly the boss!
After a quick restroom break, he returned to his seat and mulled over various aspects of "Princess Dungeon" for quite some time, thinking deeply about each of them.
Finally, he let out a helpless sigh.
No way around it.
This was the work of a King.
Their game outclassed his in every aspect, and it wasn't just a small margin—it was better in every way.
It was like going out to eat; his place offered a 648 yuan A5 wagyu beef steak that you could keep ordering more of, but each additional order would cost you money.
The other was like a 68 yuan buffet with everything you could want—flying in the sky, running on the ground, swimming in the sea—everything in one place, and all-you-can-eat to boot.
If you even wanted alien sashimi, they'd whip up a plate for you.
So, how could you possibly compete with that?
After sighing, Huang Ping thought hard and realized that there still might be a glimmer of hope.
And that would be the PvP system.
Fang Cheng Studio was just a small studio, at most seven or eight people—it was impossible for such a small team, no matter how talented, to solve the biggest issue in any PvP-mode: balancing.
After all, the randomness inherent in their game was too strong, naturally clashing with any competitive aspect—it just couldn't be reconciled.
Their so-called PvP was probably nothing more than a simple system where everyone competed over a single numeric value.
Then, after scouring the game for a while, he made a surprising discovery.
He couldn't find the PvP entrance.
Having no choice, he logged into Bilibili and searched for "Princess Dungeon" videos, then gasped in shock.
Had the number of videos about "Princess Dungeon" soared to the thousands in just a few days?
Soon after, Huang Ping understood why.
Every player with a bit of dedication could find their own highlight moments within the game.
Even accidentally pulling a horde of a thousand monsters and slowly wearing them down while dragging them along could be turned into a video that would wildly attract other players' likes.
What's more horrifying was that tens of thousands of players were continuously exploring the game's mechanics, but these seemed to be endless, as if they could never fully be unearthed.
Are all newcomers monsters now?
When I first entered the field, I spent half a year just on matching tables!
And in the latest released videos, Huang Ping finally found what he was looking for—the method to enter PvP.
The entrance method looked like an Easter egg: by using certain special methods to continuously fly upwards from the ground outside the dungeon, you could see a huge platform in the air.
On this platform, players could meet each other and engage in a delightful (and treacherous) duel.
Returning to the game, Huang Ping followed the method from the video and smoothly found the platform, then he noted that the platform was quite crudely made, simply a large stone platform floating in the sky, indestructible.
Standing on the platform, he saw that it had already gathered thousands of players; they were either fighting in pairs or as groups, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
It wasn't just about numeric values?
Huang Ping didn't join the fray but watched from the sidelines, ready to understand how "Princess Dungeon" handled balance.
But after watching one duel, he had an epiphany.
There was a problem with his thinking.
The game hadn't considered balance at all!
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