Obviously, Eric was the best candidate to take the blame for this matter.
The figures in the other regions might have changed as well but the number of players in the two games were not that big after all.
During the event period, IOI’s data would increase before decreasing. This could be explained as a normal phenomenon in the event. It was just like how the flow of customers would increase when the supermarket was discounted. After the discount, the flow of customers would definitely decrease.
All in all, the person-in-charge of IOI’s other regions could find a lot of things to say, and everyone’s interests were basically the same.
The upper echelons of the corporation did not take any action against this event out of various considerations. Thus, everyone would bear the responsibility together. The upper echelons would not pursue the matter if the other regions were slightly muddled.
However, the situation in China was different.
The number of people in GOG and IOI games was huge, so the data change was especially obvious. It was too eye-catching compared to the data in other areas. It could not be muddled.
What’s more, Eric was the one who submitted the plan for this joint event.
Was there anyone more suitable than Eric to take the blame?
Eric had thought about it more idealistically previously and felt that he was just a mouthpiece. There were many things that did not need to be decided and naturally did not need to be responsible.
However, he was obviously still wrong: Many a time, the mouthpiece would naturally become the scapegoat. After all, a mouthpiece was dispensable. It was logical to take the blame.
Pei Qian was utterly speechless.
Awful, absolutely miserable!
Eric looked like he was willing to admit defeat and did not complain too much. However, Pei Qian thought about it carefully. Ever since he got to know Eric, this brother seemed to be on the decline…
At the beginning, he was a high-level executive in Dayak Corporation’s media business. He was parachuted into Finger Games and became the person-in-charge of IOI’s China region. He should have made a big splash.
However, he did not do well in the beginning. He did not improve after a long time.
Eric had been lying low for a period of time after being removed for the first time. He had finally made a comeback. In the end, he was going to be removed again not long after.
Eric might not have said it explicitly but Pei Qian could guess what would happen to him.
He would definitely not be able to be the person-in-charge of the China region. He would not be fired directly, but he would probably not be responsible for work related to Finger Games and IOI anymore.
The most likely outcome would be that he would be demoted symbolically and go back to work.
However, Pei Qian could not do much.
He could not possibly ask Dayak Corporation for Eric to continue being the person-in-charge of the China region, right?
Wouldn’t that confirm their inappropriate relationship?
Pei Qian pondered for a moment and said, “Do you want to come to Jingzhou again before you leave? Shall I treat you to a meal?”
Eric thought for a moment. “Alright, I’ll be on plane the day after tomorrow. I will be on time if I take the high-speed rail to Jingzhou today and go back tomorrow night.”
Pei Qian was elated. “Alright, let me know before you come. I’ll arrange for someone to receive you!”
He had to be better to his good brother.
If not for Eric, IOI would not have accompanied GOG to burn money for so long. Pei Qian had relied on this to survive through so many cycles.
If not for IOI’s help, Pei Qian would have gone crazy over GOG’s profits.
However, his good brother had also burned himself in his selfless contributions and became a scapegoat.
Pei Qian was a loyal person. How could he let his good brother shed blood and tears?
He did not know when they would meet again.
No matter how poor Pei Qian was, he could still afford a full meal. What’s more, the System would reimburse him.
…
At the same time, Bao Xu arrived at Tengda Games.
“Brother Bao is back?”
“Hello, Brother Bao!”
As one of the oldest employees in the gaming department, Bao Xu had a good relationship with these people. Many people were greeting him.
Unlike the people in charge who would tremble when they saw Bao Xu, these ordinary employees were not that afraid of him.
The people who suffered in Suffering Travels were the People-in-charge. What has that got to do with people like us?
Even if many people had voted for Bao Xu before, those were anonymous votes. Bao Xu could not find out who had voted and not voted for him.
Thus, no one was worried that Bao Xu would catch them and torture them.
Under such circumstances, everyone’s attitude towards Bao Xu was still relatively friendly.
After exchanging pleasantries with everyone, Bao Xu arrived at his desk.
Hmm… For some reason, he felt like a lifetime had passed.
Tengda Games had many empty work desks now, but some personal items were retained. The computers were not formatted or re-installed.
For example, Huang Sibo’s work desk, Lu Mingliang’s work desk, Lin Wan’s work desk, Li Yada’s work desk…
Amongst them, Lin Wan’s work desk was especially special. Even though she was currently at Slow Movement Studio, she had a used work desk in Tengda Games and a used work desk in Shang Yang Games.
Keeping the workstations meant that every employee who left Tengda could come back often to take a look. This was their eternal home.
However, Bao Xu felt that the empty seats were like tombstones…
Of course, this might just be an illusion.
He pulled a chair over and began discussing Ghost General 2 with Yu Fei.
During this period of time, Yu Fei had already sorted out some information. It was mainly the original arts and settings of the various generals. He had also downloaded some classic combat games on his computer, such as ‘Boxer’.
However, from the looks of the current situation, there was not much progress.
If one only played the game for a while, they would only have a superficial understanding of it. It would not be of any help to the game design.
The area where Yu Fei was progressing was that he had sorted out all the concept art for the heroes in Ghost General and studied their character summary and life details carefully.
Hmm… He had to say that the person who wrote this story background is really a talent.
Of course, more accurately put, Ghost General did not have a story plot or background. It only had the character of a general.
However, he could still imagine a lot of things through the character of a general and some historical events in the three kingdoms.
Yu Fei was very curious about the original author of Ghost General. He found an old employee of the gaming department and found out that this was the work of the two Boss Ma.
The first Boss Ma was called Ma Yang. He was Tengda’s first employee and Boss Pei’s right-hand man. He was once in charge of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Dream Realization Ventures, E-Sports Club, and many other important projects. It was said that he was an investment genius driven by interest. The most outstanding investment case was for Finger Games. He earned 500 million yuan with one investment.
Boss Ma had probably been in charge of Bunny Tail Live-Stream recently. He had also achieved results.
Even though Boss Ma’s work did not have much to do with words, his casual performance had given the game Ghost General a soul. One could say that his work was natural and was a stroke of luck.
The second Boss Ma was an old acquaintance of Yu Fei. After all, Ma Yiqun was the person-in-charge of Zhongdian Chinese Network. Yu Fei himself was an author of Zhongdian Chinese Network and an outstanding member of the inspiration class.
It was said that Ma Yiqun had previously worked in Tengda Games as well. He had revised the background introduction of all the generals in Ghost General and also rewrote the background introduction for the new generals that joined in.
On top of retaining this unique style, the content was filled up and expanded. After that, the background story of Ghost General was more or less confirmed.
Yu Fei suddenly felt proud for being in charge of this project.
He was standing on the shoulders of a giant!
Even though his surname was not Ma and could not be summarized as a ‘three horses’ legend, that was not important. The key was to contribute to a satisfactory game for players.
Yu Fei was very confident in the plot.
After all, Boss Pei had praised the plot of Eternal Reincarnation very much. What’s more, the game had been created. The response was not bad.
In terms of plot, Ghost General 2 should have a lot of potential.
The key was still how to design the game.
Bao Xu sat beside Yu Fei and seriously considered how to help.
In fact, he already had a rough idea, but he could not tell Yu Fei directly. This was what Boss Pei had specifically emphasized: to let Yu Fei think independently, Bao Xu was only playing a role of inspiration.
However, to what extent? This was a technical job. Going too far was as bad as falling short.
It would definitely affect if he said too much. It would not be effective if he said too little.
After some consideration, Bao Xu decided to start with the characteristics of combat games. He would briefly talk about some basic knowledge that was easy to ignore. Then, he would slowly expand on this foundation to help Yu Fei complete the entire design smoothly.
“Combat games are actually rather unique. You are an old gamer of Repent and be Saved. You might think that action games and combat games are similar, but in fact, they are very different in the eyes of combat games enthusiasts.”
“Boss Pei repeatedly emphasized that he would design a combat game this time, so he would definitely not agree to make it into an alternative version of Repent and be Saved. That would be equivalent to a mismatch and overlap with existing games.”
Yu Fei listened intently and nodded repeatedly.
He had indeed made a suggestion during the meeting. He had thought about making Ghost General a third-person perspective similar to Repent and be Saved. However, Boss Pei had immediately rejected it.
Now that Bao Xu had said that, his idea did not meet Boss Pei’s requirements.
Bao Xu continued, “Combat games are a game that looks simple but is actually very difficult to operate.”
“If you can’t train systematically and targetedly, no matter how long you played the game for, you will not improve. What’s more, you won’t be able to experience the fun at all.”
“You have to continuously practice repeatedly and boringly. You also have to fight people who are better than you. You have to repeatedly be tortured to improve and have fun.”
“It might look like Repent and be Saved on the surface, suffering but there is actually a huge difference. One is PVP, the other is PVE.”
“The main pleasure of Repent and be Saved is in PVE. The key to defeating the boss is the backboard. As long as you can remember all the moves and movements of the boss and know how to choose a targeted strategy to deal with it, you will always be able to win.”
“Even though such games can also be made into PVP content, the fun of fighting is completely different from PVE. You should know this very well.”
“On the other hand, combat games are mainly focused on PVP. It’s useless to have a backboard because every opponent’s habits are different. They rely on counter-attacks when they’re playing. That’s hardcore strength.”
