The subsequently launched Bug Finding activity was also like this.

The Morning Dew Gaming Platform launched this activity with the original intention of proving to all players that there were very few bugs on the platform, so everyone could play with peace of mind.

Finding bugs would earn rewards, ranging from as little as one thousand to as much as one hundred thousand yuan. This could be compared to the idiom “a thousand gold for a single word”—a beautiful story in the gaming circle.

But what did the players do?

After struggling to find bugs without success, the players on the platform didn’t appreciate how conscientious the platform was, nor did they realize how much effort the platform and developers had put into eliminating these bugs. Instead, they just thought, “If I can’t get the reward, it must be the platform’s problem!”

As a result, many players spread rumors online, using fake methods to claim that the official side wasn’t honoring its promises, stirring up emotions and creating chaos.

When the officials exposed the problems in their videos and invited them to livestream and reproduce the bugs, these people all played dead one by one.

The most vivid manifestation of this was the removal mechanism on the gaming platform.

According to the platform’s regulations, as long as a game’s not-recommended rate exceeded 55% during the trial period, it would be forcibly removed. Half of the proceeds would be refunded to players, and half would go to the game developers.

Even after the trial period, if a game did something outrageous and angered the masses, with a not-recommended rate exceeding 65%, it would still be forcibly removed.

This was obviously a good rule, as it gave players the final decision-making power over developers. Players could decide the fate of games on the platform themselves.

On other gaming platforms, this phenomenon is often seen: a game with terrible gameplay, many bugs, and malicious pay-to-win mechanics would still stand firm and continue making money no matter how many low scores or not-recommended ratings players gave it.

After all, no matter how low the rating of a game, as long as it could get a recommended position, as long as it had exposure on the rankings, there would always be new players attracted by promotional images and videos.

And for the platform, these games would still share money with the platform, so why remove them?

Some small platforms would even actively take money to help these games change their ratings and reviews, making profits quite happily.

But on the Morning Dew Gaming Platform, such games would mostly be eliminated by angry players during the trial period, with no chance to continue tricking new players.

Even some old games that had been on the shelf for a long time would occasionally do some shady operations, such as suddenly raising the price of the game, or shamelessly trying to extract more time and money from players in subsequent version updates.

On other platforms, players were helpless and could only complain ineffectively. Even if they frantically gave one-star ratings, these games wouldn’t suffer much loss.

But on the Morning Dew Gaming Platform, if old games wanted to rely on their established position, if they wanted to squeeze players one last time in their final stages, they’d have to carefully weigh the consequences. They’d have to consider whether they might be hit with so many not-recommended ratings from angry players that they’d die on the spot before even raising their sickles.

Clearly, the Morning Dew Gaming Platform had given up the platform’s rights and also given up the huge profits it could have obtained, handing over this right to players without reservation.

If players could treat this right well, they could, through their own efforts, create a platform truly run by players—a platform where players weren’t treated like leeks to be harvested at will by game companies.

But what did the players do?

After discovering they had this right, they maliciously clicked not-recommended to remove games, just to get partial refunds, obtaining that 50% disguised discount.

For this small immediate benefit, they gave up long-term interests.

This behavior not only caused some good games to be removed, preventing subsequent players from accessing these games, but it also led to more serious consequences.

The entire platform environment was damaged as a result, unable to develop better; the rights were abused, so these precious rights actually couldn’t function anymore, becoming just a piece of waste paper.

What was particularly disappointing was that this behavior was initially only from individual players, but most players were gradually incited. This trend became popular, eventually pushing many games to the edge of removal.

…

After analyzing this content, the video shifted topics, entering the conclusion phase.

“The Morning Dew Gaming Platform had many easy ways to make money, but it chose precisely the most difficult one: win-win cooperation among the platform, game developers, and players.”

“It restricted game developers, strictly limiting the number of bugs in games.”

“It ceded rights to players, allowing them to directly judge and strike against unscrupulous developers’ behavior, making them suffer losses as a warning to others.”

“Even when games were removed and refunds issued, the Morning Dew Gaming Platform didn’t take a single penny—half went to the developers, half to the players.”

“If this goal could be achieved, then developers on the platform would no longer dare to fool players. Under the rational judgment of most players, excellent games would survive, trash games would be eliminated, the entire platform environment would improve, more players would join, and more games would be added.”

“The Morning Dew Gaming Platform would achieve a win-win situation for all three parties by ceding its own rights and giving up some benefits.”

“But this was ultimately just a beautiful wish.”

“So, this is actually a soul-searching question for players: You know what the right thing is, but in the face of temptation by benefits, can you insist on doing the right thing?”

“Unfortunately, from the current results, the answer from most players on the platform is ‘no’.”

“And the name ‘Morning Dew Gaming Platform’ means that the founder of the platform had already foreseen the platform’s fate from the beginning.”

“Like morning dew, gone too soon with the sun.”

“Morning dew, clear and pure, nourishes flowers, yet quickly dries under the sun, is blown away by the wind, dissipates into the air, buried in dust, its life so short.”

“Obviously, in the founder’s eyes, this platform is the same.”

“It is clear and pure, untainted by dust, not corrupted by any game companies or channel providers, always maintaining its purity.”

“It moistens all games, just as morning dew moistens flowers, allowing every passerby to appreciate the beauty of flowers and smell their fragrance.”

“But it cannot exist for long, just like morning dew, it will quickly disappear without a trace due to external factors.”

“As mentioned at the beginning: expecting even a portion of humans to maintain rationality for a long enough time is still a luxury.”

“Perhaps after this Bug Finding activity, games on the Morning Dew Gaming Platform will soon be removed by players clicking not-recommended, and the platform will eventually cease operations due to financial losses, quietly disappearing.”

“But please remember, all players, there was once such a gaming platform that truly made huge sacrifices and made such an attempt.”

“It’s just that you didn’t seize the opportunity.”

…

The video ended here, without asking for likes, shares, collections, or the usual one-click triple combinations. There was also no regular ending saying goodbye to the audience or see you next time.

The abrupt end of the video left a feeling of emptiness in one’s heart.

This added a bit of mysteriousness to the video’s creator, “Tian Gongzi.”

From this video, it was clear that Tian Gongzi was not a professional content creator, as he seemed to have no interest in building rapport with the audience or seeking attention. Throughout the entire video, he never even mentioned his own name or used his own voice.

It seemed as if he was just eager to tell all this, with no other demands.

But Tian Gongzi’s script and video editing skills were excellent, even better than most video creators on AiLiDao. In terms of video editing, even Qiao Laoshi had to admit inferiority.

After watching the video, Yan Qi was speechless for a moment.

This video was absolutely eye-opening!

His previous confusion, puzzlement, complaints, and other complex emotions all vanished.

Previously, he had always felt that the Morning Dew Gaming Platform was making one bad move after another, ruining a good hand of cards, which was truly heart-wrenching.

But after watching this video, he realized that all these so-called “bad moves” by the Morning Dew Gaming Platform were intentional!

Even the seemingly ordinary name had a deep meaning, prophesying the platform’s fate from the very beginning.

Previously, Yan Qi had always thought that the boss behind this platform must be an outsider who didn’t understand games, to make so many outrageous decisions.

But now it seemed that this boss clearly understood everything.

He knew what the result of his actions would be, yet he still went ahead without hesitation. This was clearly a determination to see it through regardless of the consequences, a life without regrets even in the face of death!

Yan Qi even subconsciously reflected on his own thoughts.

Previously, he had always felt that the Morning Dew Gaming Platform’s approaches were amateurish, ultimately because he believed that players simply couldn’t be trusted.

Too many examples proved that there is an evil side to human nature.

Although humans are rational, intelligent beings, they can also be very blind and short-sighted.

In reality, with many constraints, these aspects might not be so obvious, but in the online world, especially in the gaming world, because everything is virtual, both the good and evil of human nature are magnified.

Therefore, in the process of outsmarting players, game designers naturally tend to consider the worst scenarios.

When designing a rule, the first thing to consider is how players might exploit loopholes, and to seal those loopholes in advance.

When designing a storyline, the first thing to consider is how players might interpret it in the worst possible way, and to think about how to avoid such situations in advance.

Over time, as game designers, it becomes difficult to trust players again. Instead, they tend to take everything into their own hands, deciding everything for players like a patriarch.

But is this really the right approach?

If players can only play puppets within the frameworks drawn by designers, where’s the fun in that?

The approach of the Morning Dew Gaming Platform was actually to choose to trust players.

Trust that players could distinguish between immediate and long-term interests, trust in the rationality and wisdom of players, trust that most players on the platform would give fair and just evaluations.

Although from the current situation, the Morning Dew Gaming Platform has paid an extremely heavy price for this “trust,” as the video said, morning dew nourishes flowers. Even if it quickly dries up in the sun and is blown away by the wind, this action still has meaning.

The founder of the Morning Dew Gaming Platform had already foreseen this point. For him, this might be getting exactly what he sought.

It’s the players who should regret, because the opportunity was in their own hands, but they just didn’t seize it.