My game is depressing worldwide.

Chapter 105 The boss just has a weird sense of humor!

Research and Development Building.

In the studio, Chen Xuan was also taken aback after hearing Shen Qingtu's story.

Even though the world is a huge makeshift operation, it's absurd that something like this could go wrong.

The payment system malfunctioned and mistakenly deducted money from someone else's account.

This is unheard of.

No, isn't the power of this curse of misfortune a bit too great?

All I can say is that it's a product of the system.

Perhaps Shen Qingtu misunderstood Chen Xuan's expression of admiration for the system, so she quickly said, "Junior, don't worry. I personally oversaw the setup of the payment system, so there will definitely be no problems."

"Yes, I believe you." After a pause, Chen Xuan repeated what he had mentioned to Gong Jing before.

"Recruit Zheng Yanbin?"

Shen Qingtu's expression was strange, and she was a little unsure of what Chen Xuan was up to.

It sounds impressive but I don't understand it.

However, after thinking about it, she also shared her opinion: "It's worth a try, but it won't be easy. Zheng Yanbin is quite capable, and he's also very arrogant and has a strong desire for control. He's where he is today entirely because... cough cough. In short, persuading him won't be a simple matter."

"If you can't do it, then forget it."

Chen Xuan smacked his lips.

pity.

All talk and no action, so many players were just watching the show, but unexpectedly, "Starry Night" slit its own throat right from the start, the outcome was decided way too quickly.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing..." Shen Qingtu hesitated for a few seconds, "Isn't the difficulty of Dark Souls going to be adjusted? If it's released at this difficulty, I'm afraid the players will all go crazy."

Deep fryer?

What I need is a deep fryer!

Chen Xuan was also helpless.

The original plan was to use the "Dumpling Family" anime to attract new players to the game and gain some new players' interest.

However, who would have thought that after players learned about the perfect ending, the speed at which they gained defense penetration points instantly slowed down.

As for the reason...

Chen Xuan had also thought about it.

Perhaps the audience knows that although the process is bumpy, the ending is happy, so their mindset changes when they see the repeated cuts and stabs.

In the end, it was a perfect ending!

If Dark Souls can't generate a significant amount of defense reduction soon, Chen Baipiao will be bankrupt.

So now he's not afraid of players criticizing him, not afraid of players breaking down, and not afraid of players requesting refunds.

I'm afraid the players will become masochists!

If you get addicted to being tortured, you're doomed. The more you torture yourself, the happier you are, and then everything will be over.

"Hmm...you're right. With the current game difficulty, players could indeed get so frustrated that they lose their composure."

Shen Qingtu was overjoyed.

Sure enough, the junior wasn't the type to ignore advice.

With the difficulty level lowered slightly, coupled with the previous cosplay previews, many players outside the buy-to-play single-player game community are also very interested in Dark Souls.

This game still has a high probability of being well-received.

"That..

""

"Then let's encourage the players!" Chen Xuan interrupted her. "The death screen is probably the scene players see most often. Let's add a line of encouraging words quoted from poetry and literature below YOUDIED to encourage players to get out of their frustration."

Drumming, encouraging?!

Shen Qingtu was completely dizzy.

Is showing suggestive videos to ICU patients supposed to demonstrate humanitarian concern?

Besides, players are already suffering terribly from the abuse, so adding those things would just be pushing their nerves.

If it were me, I would have exploded on the spot!

They offer a one-stop service: delete the game, refund, and leave a bad review.

"Junior! How about we do something special with the campfire?" Shen Qingtu quickly suggested.

Originally, she wanted to say...

Design some items so that players will not lose their souls upon death after using them.

Alternatively, it can teleport you back to the campfire, and enemies will not spawn along the way.

But he still hadn't finished speaking.

Chen Xuan nodded in agreement: "Yes, I overlooked that. We could definitely add some clever touches to the campfire."

"So..." Shen Qingtu was overjoyed.

"So, we designed a few campfire monsters." Chen Xuan stroked his chin. "When players are at their wits' end, they see a campfire that represents hope, but as soon as they click on it, they find it's a campfire monster that immediately attacks with two quick blows. Only by defeating this campfire monster can the campfire regain its original function. I didn't realize you had such a talent for designing, senior."

Shen Qingtu was numb.

This time, she was tasked with acting as a mouthpiece for her colleagues, hoping to save the game Dark Souls.

But I never expected it to turn out like this...

How did we end up going in the opposite direction?

No, we can't do that.

"Junior, could you design more rewards?" Shen Qingtu quickly asked.

"Hmm... okay, a treasure chest?" Chen Xuan nodded. "I think I forgot to tell you guys, the treasure chest monster is the soul of this game. As soon as a player interacts with a treasure chest, they will be attacked, and only after defeating it can they get the reward."

It's over, it's over.

Shen Qingtu felt a wave of despair.

Seeing that Chen Xuan was still talking about something with great interest, she quickly said, "That's enough! Junior, that's enough. If there's any more content, the game's release will be delayed."

"Really? Well, okay, let's add this much content for now."

""

Shen Qingtu walked out of the office with a face full of grief and indignation, and returned to her workstation.

The others immediately gathered around and started asking questions all at once.

After she recounted what had just happened, the people around her looked at each other, speechless.

The game hasn't become easier; in fact, it's become more difficult and mentally challenging.

Zhou Qian wore a bitter expression: "It's over, it's all over. The studio's first AAA game is probably going to be a flop because it's too difficult..."

""

"It's unlikely to be a complete flop, but sales will definitely be affected to some extent."

"We can only hope that a group of players who enjoy a high level of challenge will like it."

"Why does it seem like Brother Xuan is deliberately messing with the players?"

Amidst the cacophony of voices, a dissenting opinion emerged.

"No, that's not how it works."

The scene fell silent for a moment, and everyone turned around in unison.

At the back of the line, Sun Zhirui frowned slightly, appearing deep in thought.

Then she let out a long breath, a hint of confidence in her expression, and, under the gazes of everyone, said, "This game is bound to be a hit. Want to make a bet?"

"But didn't you also think before that the game was too difficult and would discourage players?"

"Indeed, but at that time I had just joined the company and my understanding of the boss's design philosophy was too superficial. Now I have some new insights." Sun Zhirui's eyes were very firm. "The boss is someone who has a very accurate grasp of the game's selling points and never minds piling on materials without limit."

Shen Qingtu still didn't quite understand and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Take Honkai Impact 3rd as an example. Many people are questioning whether such generous benefits will affect players' spending and revenue. The answer is yes. Why would the boss do this? Because he knows that the core of this game is its storyline, and players will love it."

"As long as a large number of players are attracted into the game by the benefits, when the introductory period ends and the exciting storyline begins, players will be unable to be rational and will impulsively spend all their resources for the characters they like in the story."

"If you pull your favorite character, you'll need a teammate, right? In the end, you'll spend a lot of money to complete the pairings."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Xuewen nodded repeatedly, as if pounding garlic, and even couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

Zhou Qian was stunned. He scratched his head and said, "Based on my experience of being Xuan'er's roommate for several years in college, someone with this kind of morbid sense of humor...maybe he just wants to make Zheng Yanbin and the others suffer?"

"You're underestimating a successful businessman!" Sun Zhirui retorted crisply to Zhou Qian's words. "Similarly, Dark Souls follows the same approach. The boss told me that a sense of accomplishment and the desire to conquer are the core of Dark Souls' design."

"Therefore, whether it's the seemingly unreasonable numerical values, the loss of souls upon death, the respawning of all monsters, the malicious traps and monster locations, or even the campfire monsters and treasure chest monsters, all of these are designed to give players an ultimate sense of satisfaction after defeating them."

"And all of this design is perfectly integrated with the game's background story, achieving a high degree of unity in terms of setting and gameplay."

Furthermore, have you considered that if you were truly afraid the difficulty would discourage players, why not introduce a boss like Gundyr the Ashen One within the first ten minutes of the game?

"This is a screening process for players! Passing Gundyr's test means that players like challenges and enjoy this type of game. Only they can find enjoyment in the subsequent gameplay. These malicious issues, numerical problems, and overly difficult AI are not a problem."

"On the contrary, refunding players as soon as possible is actually protecting them. It tells them that Dark Souls is not the right game for them."

This lengthy explanation left everyone skeptical.

That seems to make sense?

As members of the development team, many of us have actually become desensitized to games.

Even so, dying ten or more times during testing and still getting a sense of accomplishment after defeating the BOSS shows that there is a reason for this design.

But is it really necessary to go this far?

Zhou Qian was even more stunned, and finally could only say with doubt, "Why do I feel that Brother Xuan'er just has a bad taste and likes to see players suffer? I've always thought he should see a psychologist."

Sun Zhirui glanced at him: "A nobody is a nobody. You will never be able to enter the inner world of a genius."

Zhou Qian: ? ? ? ? ?

No, is that right?

Zhou Qian felt that he understood Chen Xuan the most.

But the people around him didn't think so; instead, they all looked at him as if he were mentally challenged.

It's like saying...

If you truly understand it, you're more than just an ordinary game designer.

Instead, he is a rising star producer.

However, these kinds of things can't be resolved through debate; the answer will only be found after the game is released.

The release date for Dark Souls is also fast approaching.