Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Then he asked seriously, “Is Yelang named after the legend of Yelang Country, as a reminder not to be arrogant like Yelang?”

“Ah…well, uh…about that, yes, almost…almost…” Yelang opened his mouth and answered awkwardly.

He couldn’t reply, ‘No, it’s from the Yelang in ‘Seven Times A Night’, could he?

There would be no face left…

Seeing Yelang’s embarrassment, Fred looked serious on the surface, but was actually laughing secretly in his heart.

He knew about Yelang. Although he hadn’t watched his streams much, he had a general impression of the well-known domestic anchors.

“Just call me Nick, that’s my real name.” Yelang took the initiative to introduce his real name, hoping the other party would change his title.

“Oh, okay. You already know my name, Fred is my real name, no nickname.”

“Oh, alright.”

Nick agreed, but then didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

His main issue was that he still hadn’t figured out what was going on.

When he just met Lincoln, he was about to complain, to talk about how he had been repeatedly harassed by NPCs in “My World” which led to his social death. He wanted to find out what had happened so he could die knowing the truth.

— He still didn’t understand why a dead NPC would come back to life and crawl onto his bed again.

But Lincoln didn’t give him a chance. Before he could speak, he dragged him over to sit down, saying he wanted to introduce someone to him.

Then he pulled Fred to sit down and disappeared himself, leaving Nick a bit confused.

So the two looked at each other, not understanding Lincoln’s intentions.

Common topic…

Hmm, Fred thought about Lincoln’s words and guessed it should be about the games.

“You’ve played several games from Cloud Dream, right?” Fred sorted out his thoughts and started the conversation with a game developer’s attitude toward a player.

“I’ve played all of them.”

“Which one is your favorite?”

“I like them all.” Nick answered, but as soon as he finished, he immediately changed his answer: “No, not ‘My World’!”

“Oh! Can you tell me why?” Fred felt he’d found the key point.

“Ah?” Nick felt like he’d accidentally dug a hole for himself again, “Can I not say it?”

“Go ahead! Knowing the reason will help us improve. And don’t worry, I wasn’t involved in the production of ‘My World’, so you can feel free to badmouth it.”

Nick wanted to cry but had no tears. In order to avoid social death, he didn’t even live stream his trip on the airship today!

How could he be caught up in this?

He didn’t want to be socially dead offline, but he was also curious about what happened last night. After struggling for a long time, he said: “First of all, you can’t laugh when I tell you.”

“Don’t worry, I’m a professional game developer. No matter how funny you think it is, I won’t laugh.” Fred gave a very certain answer.

“Alright then, it’s like this… ”

…

Lincoln wore a headband and listened with diminished interest to the conversation between Fred and Nick.

He pulled the two together out of personal wicked pleasure, thinking that they might be able to create some sparks.

But who would have thought that Fred would turn it into an offline player survey?

Very disappointing.

So, he listened casually while chatting and playing with the dog with Camille Victoria.

The place where they were sitting was small and at the edge, so no players had come to bother them yet.

Players were either gathered by the window, looking at the scenery outside, or studying the memorial cards in their hands.

The card could also be obtained by players in the virtual world. After the opening of [Virtual Xiajing], the card could be used to ride the airship again – it was unlikely to fly again in reality due to the high cost and complicated process.

But in the virtual world, it could easily become a regular project.

Meanwhile, Lincoln was also considering that [Virtual Xiajing] was no longer suitable for the low-security money distribution model like [Public Version of Night City].

After all, [Virtual Xiajing] wasn’t meant to be sold, but directly opened to all players.

Later, virtual versions of other famous cities around the world would be made and launched for free, expanding the city map of the virtual world.

This required Cloud Dream to maintain a mature team that could not be too small in scale.

Therefore, the [Virtual City] project must be able to generate its own revenue. This would not only make the company’s financial status healthier but also be a great incentive for team employees.

Money might not be the only source of accomplishment in work, but it is the foundation. Once money is satisfied, other factors can be discussed.

Lincoln’s current preliminary idea was: All maps and locations would be freely open without any restrictions, and basic transportation would also be free.

However, similar to reality, all-inclusive services provided by NPCs inside, such as eating, haircuts, shopping, tea drinking, massages, foot washing, hair washing, and other consumption and service behaviors, would be subject to fees.

Of course, the fees won’t be the same as in reality. The real money exchanged for virtual currency will have a very high proportion.

Lincoln’s initial plan was: For players’ regular consumption needs, the fees would be similar to a monthly card.

Moreover, this part of the recharge wouldn’t expire. If they wanted to save, they could spend 30 dollars for a whole year.

They could even play for free if they want.

—After all, the virtual world doesn’t have hunger issues, and there’s no need to eat every day.

The specific exchange ratio and details about which services must be free and which can be charged must be discussed and analyzed in detail.