March 16th, Wednesday.
After a routine update of GOG mobile, a new event appeared.
Battle at the Peak of Gods!
The event clearly stated that GOG’s ranked matches would adopt a seasonal model. This year was the first season, and this year’s spring competition would end on March 29th and be settled on March 31st.
At settlement time, rewards totaling up to 9.5 million would be distributed according to player rankings!
Real cash, not game currency!
Among them, the number one Supreme King players on both PC and mobile would each receive a prize of up to 100,000 yuan!
Moreover, all the way down to 500th place, which was the Transcendent Grand Master rank, would receive rewards, with the minimum being 5,000 yuan!
Most terrifying of all, GOG’s PC version hadn’t even officially launched yet, scheduled for next Monday.
From next Monday, the 21st, until midnight on the 29th, players would have just eight days to grind for a chance to win a 100,000 yuan prize!
When this announcement came out, players were shocked, with some even suspecting it was fake news.
“They’ve gone crazy, absolutely crazy! Less than half a month, and they’re throwing away 10 million?”
“Not just now, but every three months they’ll throw away 10 million, that’s 40 million a year!”
“This game already has a very generous payment model. I seriously doubt they can sustain this kind of spending.”
“Tenda has always kept their word and has good credit. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried about Tenda’s credit, I’m worried about their money…”
“It looks like Tenda has gone all-in this time. Their higher-ups must be very optimistic about the GOG project, willing to invest heavily to take down IOI and ‘Divine Awakening’.”
“Honestly, Tenda’s leadership is the most ambitious I’ve seen. My first reaction to each of their decisions is always, ‘Has Tenda gone mad?’ But after each similar decision, their business starts to soar!”
“That’s Tenda’s superpower. They might not make a lot of money, but they dare to spend it! Companies richer than Tenda don’t have their level of ambition!”
“Nothing more to say. I’m downloading GOG right now. Even getting 5,000 yuan after grinding for a week would be worth it!”
“I just pre-ordered the OTTO E1 phone. Don’t know when it will arrive—they’re out of stock again at this crucial time. I knew this was hunger marketing!”
“Can’t you play on any phone?”
“You can play on any phone, but OTTO phones have an exclusive high frame rate mode. How could someone aiming for the peak of the gods be constrained by hardware? You’d need a good dedicated phone and all the skins!”
“There are too many mobile players, probably can’t count on that. I’m getting a new computer now and waiting for the PC version. Since both mobile and PC have 500 spots, I’ll try to squeeze into the Master tier on PC!”
“I have several buddies with extensive experience in ‘Divine Awakening’ and IOI games. I’m getting them to switch to GOG now!”
“After playing GOG for a day, I feel this game’s success isn’t a coincidence. Rich game mechanics, fast pace, charming hero images, good network environment, stable and bug-free, plus you can use Tenda game accounts to log in and directly invite friends… Compared to those two foreign games, it’s so much more convenient!”
Such discussions were everywhere online. In just one day, the game seemed to have become universally known!
Of course, GOG’s popularity was still limited to a small circle.
In the current game market, MMORPGs remain the undisputed king. Although “Divine Awakening,” IOI, and GOG had certain player bases, the player groups of these three games largely overlapped.
In other words, these three games were mostly competing for the same MOBA game players. More accurately, IOI was poaching “Divine Awakening’s” veteran players, while GOG was poaching veterans from both “Divine Awakening” and IOI.
As for fresh blood, it was still flowing in slowly.
However, GOG’s “spend big” approach had indeed been effective, not only attracting many veteran players from IOI and “Divine Awakening” to switch to GOG but also encouraging many new players who had never tried similar games before to choose GOG as their first attempt!
…
In his office, Pei Qian looked at the online discussions with mixed feelings.
He was pleased that money had been spent.
He was worried because what was meant to be money skipping stones had created such a big splash!
Everyone’s reaction seemed too excited…
But thinking again, it made sense. For a game that had only been online for a few days to spend money so crazily—this phenomenon wasn’t unprecedented, but it certainly was rare.
The key was that the game had just launched, and most people had a sense of wishful thinking.
If this were an old game that had been online for three or four years, most players would already know their skill level, clearly understanding they were just Bronze or Silver, without unrealistic fantasies of “I can reach Grand Master.” They wouldn’t bother participating.
But now it was different. Everyone was starting from zero, everyone thought they could be one of those 1,000 lucky ones, and they only needed to grind for a little over a week to see results. This wishful thinking drove players to flood into GOG to struggle…
Pei Qian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He didn’t know what state things would be in by the next settlement period—the situation might be quite unmanageable.
But whatever happened, delaying until the next cycle was good.
Currently, the only good news seemed to be that “BE QUIET” wasn’t selling well, and recouping its costs remained a distant dream.
“I should be able to have a couple of peaceful days now, right?”
Pei Qian let out a long breath and opened AiLiDao, intending to watch a couple of silly videos to relax.
But as soon as he refreshed, he saw Qiao Laoshi’s new video on the homepage.
Divine Work Part Three: “BE QUIET,” the Painstaking Effort and Pride of a Top Game Developer!
With a “slap,” Pei Qian threw his phone far away.
He held his head in his hands, eyes tightly closed.
It was over. The nightmare had returned!
Pei Qian still remembered the terror of being controlled by Qiao Laoshi’s “Divine Work” series videos when making “Game Developer” and “Turn Back Is the Shore.”
He had thought GOG would be the target this time. After all, GOG was already so popular, it didn’t need Qiao Laoshi’s videos to add fuel to the fire.
But to his surprise, Qiao Laoshi wasn’t focusing on Tenda games but had switched to Shangyang Games!
Pei Qian was speechless. How could you be so selective?
“BE QUIET” was my only remaining hope, and you still won’t let it go?
And what about your so-called “Divine Work” series? You’ve done three parts now, how come they’re all about me?
Have you ever heard of the same person being deified three times?
Does that make any sense?!
Even if you have a special fondness for my games, please switch to other companies occasionally. Even when shearing sheep, you can’t just keep shearing the same one!
Pei Qian ranted inwardly, but after calming down, he quietly picked up his phone.
Though reluctant, he had to watch the video. An ostrich mentality wouldn’t work; he needed to know exactly what Qiao Laoshi was praising him for, so he could correct it next time and avoid making the same mistakes.
“Although I know better than anyone that you’re talking nonsense, I’ll force myself to watch anyway…”
Pei Qian pressed play with great resentment.
…
“Hello, fathers and viewers, I am still your Qiao Laoshi.”
“As you can see from the title, today’s game is ‘BE QUIET,’ or ‘Shh!’ as it’s also known.”
“Recently, this game has sparked considerable controversy online due to its unique pre-purchase conditions. Many fans have been messaging me, hoping I could share my thoughts.”
“As you all know, since the ARG puzzle for this game came out, I’ve been excitedly participating. To be frank, the first player to solve the puzzle and enter this game was none other than yours truly. Oh, I’m so embarrassed.”
“After experiencing this game intensively, I feel the ‘Divine Work’ series can finally welcome a new episode!”
“So, please join Qiao Laoshi in unveiling the mysterious face of this game. Are you ready?”
…
After watching this introduction, Pei Qian had only one feeling: exhaustion.
This Qiao Laoshi must have again misinterpreted my intentions based on some setting I came up with on a whim!
Having been tricked twice before, Pei Qian was crystal clear about Qiao Laoshi’s routine.
But knowing the routine was useless because the content within the same routine was different each time…
Fans just loved watching Qiao Laoshi interpret games in various ways. What could he do?
Pei Qian felt helpless. He seemed to foresee what was about to happen, but could only steel himself and continue watching.
…
“Before analyzing this very unique online horror game, I want to evoke some memories.”
“Please recall the anger you felt when you first played ‘Turn Back Is the Shore.'”
“Yes, that’s right. Please recall that anger and compare it with your current feelings. Aren’t they similar in some way?”
“Some might argue that they’re not the same, but I must honestly tell—no, they are the same.”
“This anger can be summarized in one sentence: The world didn’t develop as I expected, so I’m angry.”
“In ‘Turn Back Is the Shore,’ we expected to play a hack-and-slash game. We hoped, like in other games, to choose an easy difficulty, wield an impressive weapon, and steamroll through, but the first small monster on the grave mound taught us a life lesson, so we felt angry.”
“It’s the same with ‘BE QUIET.’ We want to buy the game directly and start charging in without any preparation steps, but the developer requires us to complete prerequisite puzzles and an eye-tracking mini-game to get purchase eligibility, so we feel angry.”
“To this, I say that the same thing can be viewed differently depending on how we look at it.”
“You can see it as an obstacle, or you can see it as guidance and instruction.”
“Let me give two simple examples.”
“In many competitive games, we’re forced to go through a tutorial when we enter the game. We can’t skip it, and novice players aren’t allowed to play with experts.”
“In real life, if we want to drive, we must pass a very complex driving test.”
“Many people will say, ‘That’s different. Driving can endanger others’ lives and health, while games don’t harm others.”
“I ask, are you sure? Are you sure playing games can’t harm others?”
“We often say, ‘We’re not afraid of godlike opponents; we’re afraid of pig-like teammates.’ Think about those experiences of being sabotaged by bad teammates. Isn’t mental harm still harm?”
“If you spent money on a game, invested a lot of energy in it, but had your gaming experience ruined by many players who don’t know how to play and aren’t willing to learn, wouldn’t you be angry? Wouldn’t you feel your money and time were wasted?”
“‘BE QUIET’s approach is to guide and train players before they enter the game. Unlike those tutorials that come after entering the game, this game doesn’t ask for a penny from you.”
“Why do ranked matches have these restrictions? Because they’re complex, they require all players in the match to master the rules to deliver a perfect game and ensure everyone’s gaming experience. Once there’s a weak link, the balance of the match instantly collapses, destroying the fun for the other nine players.”
“‘BE QUIET’ happens to be such a game with extremely complex gameplay. It’s not friendly to beginners, but when everyone masters the rules, they can get a perfect gaming experience!”