You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 367 Strict Discipline
Everyone in the conference room was stunned and stared at Qin Shaoyan with wide eyes.

Even a thick-skinned person like Qin Shaoyan felt that this request seemed a little inappropriate, so he explained: "Don't get me wrong, I proposed this function to provide better service to paying users."

"In daily life, we often meet people who are extremely unlucky. They never win a prize, and they never win a lottery. They are so unlucky."

"Just imagine what would happen if one of our users had this kind of person. He spent a lot of money to buy a bunch of strengthening stones, but they failed to strengthen every time due to probability issues. What would you think if you were this user?"

“Is there no paid experience at all?”

"So our GM customer service will intervene at this time and quietly debug the enhancement probability in the background to give users a better gaming experience."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Everyone responded with a meaningful yet perfunctory response.

Qin Shaoyan's explanation was totally unreliable. He was smart enough to think that since the probability of a single player strengthening a weapon could be adjusted, then if the probability could be increased, then the probability could also be lowered.

In this case, paying players will have to pay more props to successfully enhance, and paying players will only think that they are unlucky and will never imagine that someone is doing something in the background.

hiss~
This function is a bit unethical, but... it seems to be feasible.

They originally thought that Mr. Qin did not live up to his reputation and knew nothing about online game design, and they were waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

As a result, when President Qin opened his mouth, they were all shocked.

It seems that Mr. Qin is not just bragging, but he really has something.

"This is too unethical. What if users find something wrong and want to complain?" a planner muttered, "After all, it involves paid props."

"What do you mean by unethical? We didn't do anything." Qin Shaoyan refuted, "Our function is to improve the players' payment experience. Don't have any evil intentions."

"GM customer service is aimed at the top paying users in the server. Their consumption concept is different from other players."

"Money is just a number to them. What they want is not how to spend money cost-effectively, but how to spend money happily and effectively."

"So we need to pay special attention to this user group and set up exclusive customer service and individual services for them."

The planners looked at each other in confusion. Providing exclusive customer service to paying users, and individual service at that?
"Don't think it's a waste of manpower. These exclusive customer service staff provide a service to guide consumption. They tell paying users how to consume in order to achieve better results and get more discounts." Qin Shaoyan said seriously.

"..."

Faced with Qin Shaoyan's shocking speech, the planners present felt completely numb.

Mr. Qin’s actions are always incredible.

What Qin Shaoyan told them today challenged the planners' three perspectives again and again, and opened the door to a new world for them.

No one has yet made a successful online game that is free in terms of duration but charges for props. The current gaming industry is all moving forward by trial and error, and many people's mindsets have not changed.

What Qin Shaoyan explained was a completely mature free online game design method that had been tested by the market.

The purpose of cheating people out of money was stated openly and without any concealment.

Qin Shaoyan smiled slightly, "Just now we classified our users into three categories: those who have money and free time, those who have money but no free time, and those who have free time but no money."

"Then paying users should also be divided into several levels, which I call RMB players."

"There are four levels based on paying ability: small R, medium R, and large R."

"Small R refers to those who spend a few thousand yuan on the entire game, medium R refers to those who can spend tens of thousands of yuan, and large R refers to paying players ranging from hundreds of thousands to several million yuan."

"So what does Super R mean? It means the paying capacity is above one million."

Million-dollar payment?!
Everyone present was confused again. Does Mr. Qin know what he is talking about?

Who would spend hundreds of thousands or even millions to play a game?

How much does a house cost now? How much does a car cost?
Who would spend so much money on something like this?

Could it be that Mr. Qin is crazy about money?
Facing the shocked and suspicious eyes of the crowd, Qin Shaoyan smiled slightly, "Don't think it's impossible. Rich people will break the limits of your imagination. The happiness of rich people is beyond your imagination."

"They can spend tens of millions on things they like. It's just a game, so spending hundreds of thousands or even millions is not a big deal."

Originally, Qin Shaoyan was still an ignorant young man with little experience in the world. Although he had been in the game industry for three years, when he launched his first paid project online, these paying players opened his eyes on the first day.

Even though the planners tried their best to use their imagination, they could not imagine what paying players could do.

The player's level in the game is strictly calculated, and experience can only be gained by completing tasks and killing monsters in the wild.

According to the numerical planning, it takes a week for a player to reach level 60.

Less than two hours after the server was launched, the first level 60 player was born.

The producer and numerical planner were sweating profusely at the time, and quickly asked the programmer to check the database to see if there was any error in the calculation.

The final query results left everyone stunned.

This player did not encounter a bug, nor did the numerical input go wrong.

Rather, they underestimated the spending power of paying players.

How did this player level up?

It turns out that in order to stimulate consumption, the operator set up a lottery system in the game, which contained various paid props, and the guaranteed reward was just some game coins and experience.

In order to level up quickly, this player, unable to find any other way to gain experience, relied on spending money to draw guaranteed experience rewards to level himself up.

It cost tens of thousands of dollars in total.

Another player who spent five million in the game called customer service and angrily criticized the operation.

The reason why he criticized the operation was not that he felt the game was a rip-off, but that he felt the game was not rip-off enough.

The rich man claimed: It’s not fun at all to spend money on your game. This is the game that costs the least money I have ever played.

"You don't understand the world of the rich." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "Don't underestimate the spending power of paying players, so when you set up the growth system, you should let go of your imagination and dig deeper."

"The deeper you dig, the better. Don't think that you are cheating players out of their money. Making the growth line longer will help maintain the life of the game and provide benefits to players."

"The strengthening level is only at level 10, and it will be fully strengthened after a few benefits. How can that be acceptable?"

"In addition to strengthening a weapon, we can also embed gems. Each gem is divided into grades. Low-grade gems can be synthesized into high-grade gems, and the synthesis has a probability of success. This is the gem synthesis system."

"In addition to inlaying gems, can we create an enchantment system where the properties of the enchantments can be randomized?"

"What if you don't like the random attributes? Then do another refinement to remove the enchanted attributes."

"We can extend several gameplay modes with one equipment system. With the addition of mounts, pets and other systems, we can also extend more paid gameplay modes."

“When designing a growth system, we must consider scalability and systematic gameplay, as well as the corresponding output.”

“For example, strengthening stones only drop in specific areas, and gems only appear in certain activities. This way, the purpose is clear and the gameplay is clear, so that players will not have cognitive confusion and reduce the cost of playing the game.”

"We must have a clear understanding in game design and think clearly about the purpose of designing systems and activity gameplay, rather than designing for the sake of designing or designing to meet the number."

"Please look at the whiteboard. We start by dividing the target user groups into different levels of paying ability and launching different gameplay for them."

“Within a single server, the ecosystems of free players and small, medium and large players are different…”

Qin Shaoyan was drawing a mind map on the whiteboard as he spoke.

Soon, a huge and detailed online game framework appeared on the whiteboard. It was clear and easy to understand. The planners could no longer remain calm. They frantically copied and recorded in their notebooks.

It was the first time for them to have such a thorough understanding of free online games. Looking at the mind map, their inspiration came like a spring.

All my previous thoughts on design were rubbish. I even got the gameplay positioning wrong. No wonder I always felt something was wrong.

The ideas given by President Qin were suddenly enlightening. They had already come up with countless improvement plans in their minds, and at the same time they were regretting the various chaotic designs they had made before.

He is worthy of being the number one designer in China's gaming industry. He can even handle MMORPG with ease. Mr. Qin's ability is simply terrifying.

They are all planners, and they know how difficult it is to do something like this. They work on game projects every day and make a mess of it.

President Qin had never paid attention to online games before, but when they met for the first time, he taught these stupid planners a good lesson.

Let them know that there are always people better than you and what it means to be extremely gifted.

The title of being the number one person in the gaming industry is well-deserved.

The planners looked at Qin Shaoyan with admiration, feeling that the knowledge they had learned today was equivalent to ten years in the gaming industry.

This statement is not an exaggeration at all.

There is no place in China that specifically trains and teaches game design. Planners are all transferred from various industries. They are self-taught based on their love and understanding of games and the information collected from abroad.

However, foreign information is more focused on stand-alone game design, and there is a complete lack of knowledge related to online games.

Therefore, online game design depends entirely on one's own thinking and understanding, relying on one's talent to explore and try, and then after it is launched on the market, it is improved and iterated bit by bit based on user feedback.

Qin Shaoyan explained to them a very mature design method and ideas, from framework construction to design details, from target user classification and positioning to differentiated consumption induction, from basic system payment design to growth system expansion pit digging.

How free players should play and how paying players should play are all listed very clearly.

These things cannot be learned outside at all. The answers to these things may have to be obtained through trial and error in practice, and now they are presented to them.

Even though the current project has not yet been officially launched for market practice, planners can clearly see that what Mr. Qin said is correct.

Because what Mr. Qin said is logical, and all system designs are centered around the core design ideas of free online games.

Qin Shaoyan also patiently explained to them why it was designed this way, what mistakes should be avoided, and he was able to give convincing reasons.

The planners are not fools. No nitpicker will jump out to question that Qin Shaoyan's stuff is wrong because it has not been tested. If you insist that it is wrong, then please come up with a correct theory.

To take a step back, even if it is wrong, it is still a complete set of things.

But you can’t even learn complete design ideas outside.

Qin Shaoyan put down his pen and wiped his hands. "That's all for today."

The planners were anxious and said, "Boss Qin, please explain a little more. We haven't learned it yet!"

"Yes, tell us more."

"Boss Qin, you can't just ignore us!"

Qin Shaoyan smiled and said, "In the next three months, I will come here often to discuss and study with you. Learning never ends. Games are a profound subject and I can't finish it in a few months."

"Next time I'll tell you about game operations."

The planners felt very sorry but full of expectations at the same time.

With President Qin's theoretical guidance, they immediately had a direction. After reorganizing the entire game system design, they were not far from success.

Watching the planners excitedly discussing with each other, Qin Shaoyan's expression turned serious, "The class is over, there are a few things I want to talk about."

"Today, the programming and art departments reported several situations to me, all related to your planning."

The planners seemed like chickens with their necks strangled, and they became silent in an instant. As Qin Shaoyan's eyes swept over them, they suddenly became uneasy.

It’s over. Mr. Qin is going to start settling the accounts.

"Recently, there have been people chattering about work, saying that online games are the lifeblood of the company and that they should send a tiger to take charge."

Qin Shaoyan said calmly, "Brother Kun has a good temper and usually doesn't bother to care about you. Besides, he has a lot of things to do and can't take care of many things. Some people are just like sheep."

"Some people always feel that they are talented but not appreciated, that they are superior to others, and that they look down on this and that."

"Some even go so far as to say that the project is going to fail and the company is going to go bankrupt."

"Ridiculous!" Qin Shaoyan looked at the planner with a cold expression, "From today on, anyone who dares to spread such remarks will be fired."

"Brother Kun, anyone who disturbs the morale of the army will be killed without mercy! I've given you the Imperial Sword, so don't be lenient!"

Liu Kun agreed immediately and swept his eyes over everyone present, as if carrying a chill.

The planners immediately wilted, not even daring to breathe.

"In a large-scale military operation, military discipline must be strict." Qin Shaoyan said in an extremely serious tone, "This online game is related to whether the campus network can be successfully listed, and it is also related to your future bonuses, houses, and cars."

"If something goes wrong, the heads of departments will be the first to run away."

"Each department must strictly control itself from today on, and there must be no sloppiness in the project development process!"

"Especially the planning, there is no organization and no discipline, and even the planning documents are not written properly."

"Look at what you wrote?!"

“Planners should not think that art and programming are targeting you. They are never afraid of changes. What they are afraid of is that planners themselves have not thought clearly and make meaningless and purposeless changes.”

"This is purely due to the planner's lack of professionalism and sense of responsibility."

"As long as you communicate clearly with the programming artist and explain the reasons for the changes, they won't be resentful."

Faced with Qin Shaoyan's harsh questioning, all the planners lowered their heads and dared not look directly at the boss.

"Starting today, strictly standardize planning documents." Qin Shaoyan said, "Your planning documents are not written for you to read, but for the artists and the server-side and client-side programmers to read."

“The planning document must have a mind map, which is for the producer to see, and a UI design, which is for the UI artist and client programmer to see.”

"There should also be an accompanying Excel document, which is for server programmers and numerical planners to see."

“You should regard producers, operators, artists, programmers, and testers as your customers. The purpose of these documents is to help customers understand your design. Don’t think it doesn’t matter. If you don’t care, you are just creating trouble for others.”

"A good planning document saves time for everyone. We will establish a KPI mechanism in the future. Brother Kun will be responsible for evaluating the planning document and the final product. If the design and the actual product don't match, whoever has the problem will be responsible for it."

"If the planner fails to make the requirements clear and causes a product error, then deal with the planner. If the art and programming staff misunderstand the requirements, then deal with the art and programming staff."

"From today on, I don't want to hear the planner say this doesn't feel right or this is not what I want!"

"Problems that could have been avoided and situations of wrangling back and forth must be dealt with seriously, with bonuses and wages being deducted, or even dismissal."

"Did you hear everything clearly?"

The planners were startled and responded quickly.

"Listen clearly!"

(End of this chapter)