Reborn in 08, a heretical cultivator starting a business

Chapter 195 Tencent's Choice, "WeChat Farm" 2.0! (Third Update)
For Cui Zhen, "WeChat Farm" was like a cherished dream, something he had longed for for a long time.

However, every time I proposed it before, it was rejected by everyone for various reasons.

But this time, no one objected.

Even Yao Mingchen nodded in agreement: "Manager Cui is absolutely right. The existence of 'WeChat Farm' has driven the rapid development of WeChat and led to a surge in users."

"Only by introducing the Farm game can we rapidly increase the number of QQ Zone users. Furthermore, QQ's monthly active users are expected to reach 3.5 million!"

"Of course, the main goal is to suppress the development of WeChat!"

Vipshop has grown so large that its valuation has reached an unbelievable level.

Three hundred billion is definitely out of the question, and even four hundred billion would be difficult.

Wang Junshan wouldn't even consider it if it didn't reach 50 billion.

With such a high valuation, Tencent is unlikely to invest given the global financial crisis.

Many investors wouldn't even consider it, unless Wang Junshan sells his shares at a bargain price, but that's simply impossible!
As a result, Yao Mingchen changed his attitude, from maintaining the relationship and preparing to invest to introducing farms and completely suppressing WeChat.

Liu Cheng, president of the QQ business unit, also spoke up: "That's right, we must introduce 'WeChat Farm' to completely suppress WeChat."

Chairman Ma nodded: "Yes, we should definitely get on board with 'WeChat Farm.' Do you have a plan on how to implement it?"

Cui Zhen was prepared: "Chairman, we have two options. One is to develop QQ Farm ourselves. The other is to officially import it."

"First of all, developing it ourselves takes a long time."

"Competitors like Renren.com are all reverse engineering it, but so far, they've all failed!"

"This shows that there is a lot of obfuscated code in the WeChat Farm code, the communication protocols are also encrypted, and even the core logic is on the server side, and the local machine is just for display."

"High-efficiency reverse engineering simply won't work. We have no choice but to start from scratch and develop independently."

"If we were to allocate manpower now to develop a game like 'WeChat Farm' ourselves, with enough manpower, we could finish it in as little as three months."

"But we can't just copy it. We are a large company, so we must innovate again and create our own unique features. This will take four months."

"We also need to fully integrate and test with hundreds of millions of QQ users and QQ Zone to ensure that hundreds of millions, or even two hundred million, users are online at the same time, which is very difficult."

"It's not just the technical difficulty, but also the server pressure. Although Tencent has a lot of servers, there are also many projects that require servers."

"It will take more time, more servers, another month or two."

"Basically, the PC version of QQ membership will be in closed beta for more than five months, and the full launch will take six and a half months, or even more than seven months, which means it will be in August or even September this year."

Chairman Ma nodded: "That's true. If QQ only had a million users, a copy plus a derivative work could be launched in four months. But with hundreds of millions of users, it would take more than half a year."

"A farm with millions of users and a farm with hundreds of millions of users are definitely not the same in terms of technical difficulty."

"The advantage of WeChat Farm is that it only had a few hundred thousand users when it was first launched, so it was easy to manage."

"In the following months, as the number of users gradually increased and the number of servers continued to increase, WeChat was able to handle the situation with ease."

"But we're different. We had 800 million QQ users right from the start, so it was hell mode from the very beginning!"

"Just these 800 million users alone will take another two or three months."

"It will take six or seven months to fully launch, which is too slow."

"Give WeChat another six or seven months, and they could probably reach 1.5 million monthly active users. The number of users of 'WeChat Farm' could also reach 1.2 million."

"Even if we launch QQ Farm, it will be too late, and the prospects are very bleak."

Liu Cheng nodded: "So I don't recommend taking this path. Instead, I suggest directly negotiating with ShouChuang Technology to formally introduce 'WeChat Farm'."

"In this way, we only need two months to connect the data and integrate WeChat Farm with QQ, and then it will be done."

"The model is simple: just change the diamond and membership system of 'WeChat Farm' to QQ coins."

"The downside is that we earn a lot less money. At least half of the revenue from items and farm memberships will have to go to First Creation Technology."

"But the advantage is that we can save four or five months and suppress WeChat's development to the greatest extent. I think it's worth it."

Liu Cheng frowned: "There's a problem. If we officially import 'WeChat Farm,' does that mean it still has to be called 'WeChat Farm'?"

"That's probably the case. Wang Junshan probably won't accept the name change."

"That won't do!" Liu Cheng's face turned green. "If we bring in QQ and still call it 'WeChat Farm,' wouldn't that be positive publicity for WeChat? Wouldn't that let 800 million QQ users know about WeChat? Wouldn't that be driving traffic to WeChat?"

“Yes, that’s definitely not appropriate,” Yao Mingchen retorted.

Cui Zhen shrugged: "Then what can we do? Are we supposed to develop it ourselves, spend another four or five months, and then launch it six months later? Just sit back and wait for WeChat's monthly active users to surpass 1.5 million? And then get criticized by users?"

"This……"

Liu Cheng was speechless for a moment.

Yes, the losses are even greater.

Huo Siying, who had been silent all along, spoke up: "Then we'll give up some of the profits, for example, we'll change the 50/50 split to a 40/60 split, giving ShouChuang Technology 60%, and asking ShouChuang Technology to accept the renaming of 'WeChat Farm' to 'QQ Farm' on the QQ channel."

Cui Zhen's eyes lit up: "Hmm... this is a good idea. If Wang Junshan accepts it, a 10% share is fine."

"But I'm afraid they won't accept it, or even demand an exorbitant 30/70 split."

"Well, that's a problem too."

Liu Cheng sighed: "Then let's talk to ShouChuang Technology first. If we can reach an agreement, it's fine. Whether it's 46% or even 37%..."

"But we must also prepare for the worst and be ready for both scenarios. We need to immediately select our best personnel and form an in-house research and development team."

"If the negotiations go smoothly and we successfully bring in the official license for 'WeChat Farm' and rename it 'QQ Farm,' that would be the best outcome."

"If the negotiations fail, we have a Plan B, which will only take four or five more months."

"But we absolutely cannot let Wang Junshan hold us back any longer. If we wait until the negotiations fail before starting our own research and development, it will be too late and we will be too passive."

Cui Zhen gave a thumbs up: "President Liu is right, that's how it should be done."

"The worst-case scenario is that the negotiations fail, we have to implement the self-developed version, and the PC version will be launched in August or September."

"Next, if we develop the mobile version as well, it will take at least another three or four months. The Nokia version will be launched around the end of next year. If we develop it for iOS and Android as well, it will take even longer."

Chairman Ma nodded: "Alright, you guys handle it. Let's start with courtesy and then take action. Let's talk about bringing in the official version first."

"Yes!" everyone responded.

"By the way, if the negotiations go smoothly, that's great. But if they fail, QQ must block the WeChat promotion links immediately!" Liu Cheng added.

"Ok!"

Tencent acted swiftly, assembling a top-tier R&D team. Simultaneously, a negotiation team was formed, working overnight to develop a negotiation strategy and prepare to travel to First Creative Technology.

U-Tuan Technology.

After playing WeChat Farm 2.0 for most of the day, Wang Junshan discovered many problems and promptly held another meeting with the development team:
"The weather system gameplay is decent, but the settings and balance are a complete mess!"

"The weather changes every two hours, 12 times a day, that's insane. Do you guys think gamers don't go to work or school?"

"Change it to once every 3 hours, eight times a day is enough."

"Extreme weather is too destructive; typhoons and droughts can completely destroy crops. High-end players can continuously buy weather forecast cards, but ordinary players don't have that capability, and many will quit the game!"

Xiao Hui, the farm's R&D director, frowned: "Chairman, current games are driven by competition, not by leisure."

"Although our setup is a bit pay-to-win and heavy on spending, it will maximize the incentive for players to spend money and increase game revenue!"

"As for casual players, they don't spend money on the game anyway, so even if they quit, it won't have much of an impact."

"Not much impact?" Wang Junshan laughed. "Do you think ordinary players aren't important?"

"To be honest, yes, after all, we can't make money if ordinary players don't spend money."

"Moreover, Vipshop and YouTuan.com both offer a large amount of diamonds as rebates, resulting in players having too much diamonds and no desire to spend money."

"This will lead these players to feel that WeChat Farm is too simple and not challenging enough."

"There was also the previous annual membership, which cost 96 yuan a year and included everything. But my desire to spend money on in-game purchases has decreased since then."

"Basically, one year's membership plus cashback on spending is enough to take off. There's no motivation or need to keep spending money, and it's not challenging."

"So I directly increased the difficulty by setting up a lot of severe weather in the weather system, forcing players to spend diamonds or real money."

"This will increase our game revenue, as well as the game's fun and challenge."

Wang Junshan fell into deep thought.

He suddenly realized that he had been prejudiced!
Times have changed!

Since 2015, the number of casual game users has increased significantly.

Therefore, Wang Junshan felt that such a setting was too extreme and would cause many users to quit the game.

But before 2015, competitive games were the mainstream!

It's all about the challenge and the competition!
If it's too easy, winning the championship is no longer interesting.

This could actually cause many users to give up, thinking it's low-end.

Moreover, WeChat Farm is different from QQ Farm.

QQ Farm requires real money; everything requires spending real money to buy Q coins.

WeChat Farm offers annual memberships and cashback on purchases, which results in a large number of users having similar levels of diamonds, making it difficult to differentiate between them.

This is not a good thing either.

A great game is one that is divided into three, six, and nine parts.

High-end users, those who are the ultimate VIPs, spend a lot of money, and have a strong sense of superiority, will continue to spend money like crazy.

Users who spend a moderate or low amount of money also have a good experience, which is why they are willing to spend money.

Even ordinary users can enjoy it without spending money.

This is the best game mode.

That's exactly what Xiao Hui thought. As the R&D director of "WeChat Farm," there was no problem.

But they lack a big-picture perspective!
Wang Junshan sighed: "Xiao Hui, you set it up like this for the sake of WeChat Farm's revenue."

"But you've overlooked the purpose of 'WeChat Farm'—it's not about making a lot of money, but about driving traffic to WeChat, retaining users, increasing WeChat usage time, and guiding users to shop on platforms like YouTuan.com and Vipshop! It's about competing with QQ!"

"In comparison, the money earned by the WeChat Farm game is actually the lowest!"

Xiao Hui suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. I was too narrow-minded. I only cared about the development of 'WeChat Farm' and neglected the revenue from WeChat and e-commerce!"

"Therefore, increasing competition is acceptable, but appropriate adjustments are also necessary."

"First of all, from midnight to 6 a.m., we will force clear skies so as not to disturb everyone's sleep."

"Secondly, typhoons, sandstorms, droughts, and other extreme weather events that can directly destroy crops, halving or even completely ruining players' harvests, should all be removed to reduce user abandonment of the game."

"Third, snow can be preserved, but after snow, the ground freezes and crops stop growing for twelve hours. It takes too long to remove the snow, so we'll change it to six hours."

"This way, players who spend money or get diamonds back can directly buy snow removal agent for 100 diamonds. Players who don't spend money or don't have diamonds can also endure waiting for 6 hours."

"A 10% decrease in growth rate due to cloudy weather can be retained, and fertilization can restore growth."

"Rainy weather growth rate +15%, pests +30%, change to pests +20%".

"There's a 20% chance that strong winds will randomly knock down 1-3 plots of crops, causing immature crops to be blown away and completely destroyed. That's too severe. Let's change it to: if immature crops are blown down, their growth rate will be slowed by 70%, but they can be propped up and their growth rate will recover, resulting in a 20% yield reduction!"

"Rescue harvesting of mature crops, even with a 50% yield reduction, is going too far. If mature crops are blown down, 20% of the fruit will fall off."

"Buying a windproof shed will protect you from strong winds."

"The props also need to be adjusted."

"A single weather forecast card is essential. It costs 50 diamonds per use and can predict weather changes for the next three hours."

"VIP monthly card members can receive a free weather forecast card every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Annual VIP members can receive a weather forecast card every day."

Xiao Hui nodded: "The weather is clear for six hours at night, and annual VIP members get an additional three hours of weather card for free. There are three possible changes in the remaining nine hours, with a probability of occurrence. Plus, there are diamonds returned on purchases, so most users won't feel any pressure."

“That’s right, and users also share information and news with each other, which increases the frequency of WeChat usage and the amount of time users spend on it,” Wang Junshan said with a smile.

"However, this has severely impacted our income."

Wang Junshan laughed: "We can adjust the probability of strong winds and add windproof shelter items. The diamonds returned from spending are quite a bit, so we'll definitely have to spend more."

"I understand, boss. You want to increase the challenge for paying players, encouraging them to spend more diamonds and spend more money. But reduce the heavy penalties to lighten the burden on ordinary players and prevent them from quitting the game at the drop of a hat."

"That's right, that's exactly it. Game balance can't be achieved with a one-size-fits-all approach."

"Pay-to-win players and cashback players are more capable and don't mind spending some money. They are happier as long as the game is fun and challenging. On the contrary, they will stop playing if the game is not challenging."

"Casual players tend to be more relaxed, so we can't just dismiss them and make them quit the game. We need to take better care of them."

"I understand, I'll fix it right away."

(End of this chapter)