Pei Qian nodded: “Alright, Teacher He, let’s begin.”
He An’s expression softened: “Good, that’s the attitude a student should have.”
“What I’m going to teach today is part of the basic concepts of game design theory.”
“This basic concept is ‘alignment’!”
“So-called alignment means choosing different design approaches and types for different gaming groups, and using different promotional methods.”
“In short, every aspect of a game must be aligned.”
“If any link is misaligned, it may cause the game to fail catastrophically, so it cannot be treated carelessly.”
Pei Qian: “?”
Any misalignment could lead to failure?
Then why did all mine become wildly successful?
Does that mean I perfectly avoided all the correct answers?
Pei Qian’s mouth twitched slightly, feeling like Teacher He was flogging his dead body.
He An completely failed to notice any abnormality in “Ma Yang’s” expression and continued: “In this regard, Tenda’s several games can be described as textbook examples!”
“‘Lonely Desert Highway,’ as a low-budget game, was promoted through content creators’ critiques.”
“‘Game Producer,’ a ‘meta-game’ that breaks the fourth wall, was promoted through large-scale performance art;”
“‘BE QUIET,’ a game with complex rules requiring patience, was promoted through a large-scale, multi-participant ARG game, which also effectively screened players and maintained the game environment…”
He An’s prepared teaching materials were very rich in content.
While explaining these games, he also elaborated according to the content in the teaching materials, meticulously analyzing the characteristics of the games themselves, while explaining how such promotional methods formed transmission nodes step by step, ultimately triggering enthusiastic responses across the internet.
Pei Qian was forced to recall his past failures once again.
Rubbing salt in the wound…
There was no way around it. This was a real one-on-one lesson. In a lecture, you could doze off or play with your phone without anyone caring, but now, facing each other, Mr. He would notice even the slightest distraction.
What if Mr. He got angry and left? What then?
Pei Qian could only listen carefully to these details, treating them as if he were looking at the wrong answer sheet.
After discussing several cases for nearly two hours, He An analyzed Pei Qian’s past “failure cases” from various aspects, including game type, target audience, gameplay features, and promotional methods, while also giving Pei Qian a thorough flogging.
Seeing Mr. He pause to drink coffee, this section of content seemed to be concluding, so Pei Qian quickly seized the opportunity to raise his question.
“Teacher He, based on what you just explained, can I assume that if there’s a ‘misalignment’ in promotion, the project will fail?”
He An put down his coffee and nodded: “Nothing is absolute, but at least, the probability of failure would be very high!”
“It’s like how many falsely advertised products are despised by people, following the same principle.”
“However, because our country’s game market is still immature, for some poorly made pay-to-win games that sell hatred, getting players in by any means is more important than anything else. So their false advertising increases the game’s income, because even if only a small portion of the tricked players stay, as long as they have strong spending power, it’s profitable.”
“But for single-player games that rely on quality to succeed, false advertising is a minefield—touch it, and you’re either dead or crippled.”
Pei Qian’s eyes lit up.
Either dead or crippled?
Mr. He was someone who chose his words very carefully. Using these four characters to describe the consequences was enough to illustrate the serious consequences of doing this!
Pei Qian couldn’t help but secretly rejoice.
There was something to gain after all!
Now, “Struggle” was in development. If he could apply what he learned in this lesson, could he fulfill his long-standing wish for the game department to lose money?
…
Five o’clock in the afternoon.
He An packed up his teaching materials: “Alright, that’s all for today’s lesson. I’ve covered everything I wanted to teach.”
“Keep your copy of these materials and review these successful cases frequently. Over time, your level will naturally improve.”
“This is what they call ‘reviewing old knowledge to gain new insights.'”
Pei Qian: “…”
Still having to constantly review and recall the memory of being backstabbed?
Isn’t that a bit cruel?
Oh well, just treat it as a homework assignment from the teacher to “regularly review the wrong answer sheet.”
Seeing that He An pack up his things to leave, Pei Qian hurriedly asked: “Teacher He, one more question.”
“You’ve covered several Tenda game cases in this lesson, so next lesson shouldn’t…”
He An’s expression darkened: “Mr. Ma, your learning attitude is good, but this cherry-picking mentality is very inappropriate! You should trust that I will select the most suitable teaching method based on your characteristics and level. As for what exactly will be taught, you’ll naturally know when the time comes. Don’t ask too many questions.”
Pei Qian: “…Alright.”
After seeing He An off, Pei Qian felt melancholy.
Could it be that all future lessons would be about explaining basic game design principles and knowledge through Tenda cases?
That would be too much to bear!
Although he could absorb some experience by doing the opposite of what the materials suggested, this was still an extra step!
Why not learn about failure experiences from the beginning?
Pei Qian wanted to hear He An talk about failure experiences, but He An believed these experiences would be harmful rather than beneficial, so he firmly refused to teach them.
What could be done?
Pei Qian thought for a moment. Money—there seemed to be a few hundred thousand left.
Since it all had to be spent anyway, why not… hire another teacher, specifically to teach about failure cases?
Draw experience from failure, and learn lessons from success.
Two-way learning, wouldn’t the effect be better?
The system had suggested that although the money was substantial, it was advisable to study only one course; otherwise, trying to learn too many would likely result in failing the system’s verification for all courses.
But it didn’t say that he couldn’t have two teachers for the same course, right?
The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more reliable it seemed. He hurriedly called Assistant Xin to explain his new requirements.
Basically, it was the same operation as before, but this time he wasn’t looking for a successful and renowned designer, but rather a designer with some reputation and ability, yet with many failed projects.
If there were projects that lost everything, that would be even better.
On the other end of the phone, Assistant Xin didn’t ask many questions, just said that such designers might be harder to find than successful ones like He An, and it might take about two days.
After all, there were only a handful of designers like He An with qualifications, reputation, and successful projects in the gaming industry, so it was just a matter of asking them one by one.
But finding designers who had failed projects, while still having some reputation and being traceable, would be relatively more difficult.
Pei Qian wasn’t in a hurry; two days was completely acceptable.
Just as he was about to pack up and head back, his phone rang.
It was Zhang Yuan calling.
Pei Qian thought for a moment, figuring it was probably news about the DGE Esports Club, coming to report to him.
Zhang Yuan’s voice came through the phone: “Mr. Pei, I’d like to report that the club’s location has been decided, a batch of players has been recruited, and the computers purchased from ROF Computer Assembly have all arrived. The specs are high, and Mr. Ma is very satisfied…”
Pei Qian wasn’t very interested in this, as these were all things that had been decided previously, nothing worth reporting.
It was difficult to understand the specific situation over the phone, so he would need to make time to go there personally, to check out the site, to feel reassured.
Pei Qian asked casually: “So, where is the club located?”
“Oh, Mr. Pei, speaking of this place, we’re all very familiar with it; we used to go there often.”
Since they were on the phone, Pei Qian couldn’t see Zhang Yuan’s expression, but judging from his tone, he seemed to be smiling: “It’s at Mingyun Villa.”
Pei Qian: “?”
Mingyun Villa?
Hearing the familiar name, Pei Qian instinctively felt a bit panicky.
There were so many villa districts in Jingzhou. Why did they specifically choose this one?
Zhang Yuan reported with a bit of pride: “Mr. Pei, I did exactly as you requested! You said not to scrimp on the venue, it must be grand, preferably renting a villa directly.”
“So I surveyed the villa districts in Jingzhou, and after searching, I found that Mingyun Villa has the most expensive land!”
“Hah, when you set your sights on Mingyun Villa back then, this area was still deserted, but now… It’s completely different.”
“Moreover, Mingyun Villa will become Jingzhou City’s new commercial district; it’s already becoming increasingly prosperous.”
“I considered that the club’s location shouldn’t be too close to the city center—it’s noisy and not conducive to focused training; but it also shouldn’t be too remote with inadequate supporting facilities, causing various inconveniences.”
“Plus, I previously worked at Slackin’ Internet Café’s Mingyun Villa branch for a while, so I’m familiar with the area.”
“All things considered, Mingyun Villa is the most suitable!”
“Moreover, there’s Slackin’ Internet Café delivering food there.”
Pei Qian: “…”
Your reasoning sounds so good, I can’t refute it.
According to Zhang Yuan’s explanation, Mingyun Villa did seem like a good location.
Although this place had some connection with Mingyun Private Kitchen, an esports club, and a high-end private restaurant surely couldn’t conspire to backstab him, right? They were unrelated!
Besides, after Mingyun Private Kitchen became popular, the entire Mingyun Villa had become the so-called “gathering place for Jingzhou celebrities,” with housing prices constantly rising. Renting a house here would be quite expensive.
Being able to spend more money didn’t seem like a bad thing.
Pei Qian nodded: “Hmm, that’s fine. Although the villas here are slightly more expensive than other places, I believe they are worth it!”
Zhang Yuan coughed lightly, his tone full of pride: “Mr. Pei, the best part is that the price isn’t just not more expensive than other places, it’s cheaper!”
Pei Qian was stunned: “Huh? Why?”
Zhang Yuan continued proudly: “After I set my sights on Mingyun Villa, I went there personally and met with Manager Lin Canrong, and then Manager Cui.”
“Then I mentioned that you, Mr. Pei, wanted to rent a villa there to open an esports club.”
“Manager Cui was especially pleased, saying that since it was your business, they’d strongly support it! Although an esports club doesn’t add much value to Mingyun Villa, they still remember your kindness!”
“However, almost all the houses in Mingyun Villa have been sold, so Manager Cui had to help us contact those owners who had bought multiple houses to see if any were willing to rent appropriately.”
“And guess what happened, Mr. Pei?”
Pei Qian wanted to say, I don’t want to guess!
But in the end, with his mouth twitching slightly, he said: “Don’t tell me it’s someone who knows me, willing to rent at a low price?”
“You got it!” Zhang Yuan’s tone was very excited. “Fuhui Capital’s Mr. Li, do you remember him? The one who had a battle of wits with you when opening Slackin’ Internet Café, and was ultimately convinced by your wisdom?”
Pei Qian: “…”
How could I forget? Even now, this guy is still sticking to me like a leech!
Zhang Yuan continued: “Mr. Li had invested in the area long ago, even before Mingyun Private Kitchen became popular, opening businesses like bars and cafés. Later, he foresaw that Mingyun Private Kitchen would explode in popularity and directly bought three villas in one go!”
“One of the fully furnished villas has been sitting idle, and as soon as he heard you needed it, Mr. Li offered it without hesitation, saying no rent was necessary.”
Pei Qian blurted out: “That’s unacceptable! Absolutely not!”
Zhang Yuan hurriedly said: “Yes, Mr. Pei, that’s what I said too, knowing you never take such small advantages. But Mr. Li was very insistent. I argued with reason, but he’s an investor with excellent eloquence, and I couldn’t out-talk him.”
“In the end… we could only settle at a friendship price.”
“Manager Cui said that since they’re all your businesses, they would give the club the same preferential treatment as Mingyun Private Kitchen: property management fees and cleaning fees waived permanently, utilities at a perpetual 50% discount, plus parking spaces and dedicated garden maintenance…”
“I felt it was too generous to decline, so I had to accept.”
Pei Qian fell silent.
After a long while, he said, “Send me the address. I’ll go there tomorrow.”