"...At the request of the grand audience, in the last video, I listed several party games suitable for multiplayer online play. So this time, I'm going to recommend a few simulation games that have received rave reviews."
"First up, Cold Window Study Simulator! This game has been quite popular recently, and I believe many of you have seen other UP hosts making videos on it..."
"The game is only available in the standard edition, without any DLC, priced at just 18 RMB. Interested folks can get it, anyway, Gubao has already bought it and even ditched it for three days..."
"Ditching... oh no, Cold Window Study Simulator, out of a score of ten, what would you rate it?"
The sound from the video was quite loud, and with Chen Ba sitting so close, he didn't need to look to know what kind of video Wang Kun was watching.
"Alright, stop watching it!"
After picking up the bottle opener given by the boss, he skillfully opened a bottle and passed it to Wang Kun, then Chen Ba said speechlessly, "Where do you even find these videos?"
"It's big data recommendations!"
"Perhaps it's because I've been searching for videos about Cold Window Study Simulator for the past few days, so my homepage is full of them."
Wang Kun chuckled, "Don't tell me you haven't searched for those videos out of curiosity, and your homepage doesn't have such videos?"
"Well, it doesn't..."
Chen Ba was quite focused, and the videos smartly recommended to him by big data were all sorts of long-legged girls in short skirts. From this, you could tell that big data really understands him.
What does it mean to precisely grasp user preferences?
It's not that, as a game developer, he doesn't pay attention to his game's status; it's just that what he cares about is clearly different from Wang Kun's focus.
He pays more attention to the real players' comments and messages in the game's review section and will also log into the developer account to answer some questions about the game in the community.
Especially the negative reviews...
"Huh? There are negative reviews?!"
Wang Kun, who had just stuffed an ear of roasted corn into his mouth, blinked and asked, "Why are there negative reviews? Isn't an 18 RMB game worth it?"
"It's not about the pricing."
Chen Ba shook his head.
There weren't many negative reviews in the Cold Window Study Simulator's comments section, but there were a few dozen. And among these reviews, no player thought 18 RMB was not worth it.
Most of the negative reviews stemmed from Chen Ba's "update announcement instructions."
"[The game's got bugs and you don't admit it? I love your stubbornness, but take this negative review for not fixing the bugs!]"
"[I slogged all night to clear it and earn achievements, and I can't keep up with someone idling and ditching all night? Sucky game!]"
"[I'll change my review when you admit the ditching incident is a bug and fix it...]"
"So many negative reviews? Then why don't you listen to these people's suggestions and fix that bug?" asked Wang Kun.
"Many? I don't think so."
As soon as Chen Ba heard this, he couldn't help but smile and waved his hand, saying, "Out of thousands of comments, most are positive reviews, and even advising me not to fix that bug. What do you think I should do?"
This question was too easy to choose.
Compared to the number of negative reviewers, the number of positive players was obviously much higher by dozens of folds.
The most important thing was that most players had watched Qian Duoduo's video and found the bug very funny, advising the game developer to retain it.
Exactly as he stubbornly claimed in his update announcement, this wasn't a bug but a hidden game mechanic: Talent is far more important than hard work!
So, Chen Ba's choice was simple.
Under almost every negative review, he replied with this: "I'm sorry to bring you a bad gaming experience, but the issue you reported is not a bug but a game mechanic..."
"Hahaha!"
Wang Kun laughed until his stomach hurt.
As a close buddy of Chen Ba, and the first player to play this game, that being able to improve from ditching cattle in three years was undoubtedly a bug; there was no doubt about it.
Because he knew about this, he found his buddy's stubbornness quite amusing.
Those players leaving negative reviews, receiving Ba's replies, were probably about to explode with anger?
"It really is..."
Chen Ba looked a bit embarrassed and said, "Someone directly insulted me, saying my whole body is stubborn, and even vowed to black me for life."
But that wasn't the craziest part.
The most ridiculous was a certain "hardcore" player who did an analysis video, arguing from every angle whether "ditching for three years and becoming a middle school exam topper" was a bug, to contradict the stubborn remarks of game developer Chen Ba.
Hmm, his argument was rather successful!
Most people understood after watching the video that Chen Ba was definitely being stubborn, and it was indeed a game bug.
Nevertheless...
After his video was released, it brought another wave of new players to the Cold Window Study Simulator.
After all, netizens found the bug so entertaining that they wanted to experience it for themselves after watching the video; there was no stopping them.
"We should really thank him!"
Grinning widely, Chen Ba said, "I wish for more of such haters to do free advertising for me, saving me a huge promotion cost."
"Pfft! Cough cough..."
Wang Kun, who was drinking, burst out laughing and almost choked to death on his beer: "You're so devious!"
Could it be what they say, one hater is worth ten fans?
After joking about the game's negative reviews, and ordering the boss to grill ten more lamb skewers, Wang Kun wiped his mouth with a napkin and asked, "By the way, your game has gotten popular, haven't you considered releasing some DLC?"
"Nope!"
Picking up a skewer of roasted kidneys, Chen Ba shook his head in denial, "This kind of game is pretty much a one-off deal; consider DLC for the next game."
Not every game is suitable for releasing DLC, at least Cold Window Study Simulator isn't, unless a "high school stage" content is added. Otherwise, what could the DLC offer?
Give Old Huang, the protagonist's home cow, a new outfit and transform him into a terrifying Demon King, making cattle herding more fun for players?
No, let it go!
Releasing this kind of content-less, purely money-grabbing DLC, Chen Ba felt it was too lowbrow, and not many people would buy it anyway.
The players who enjoy single-player games are far less eager to spend money than those playing mobile games, so expecting them to pay for such lousy content, forget it.
"The next game?"
Wang Kun seized on the keyword in Chen Ba's words and said excitedly, "You have a new game in the works? What type? Can I have a sneak sneak peek?"
"I know you're eager, but hold your horses. The new game hasn't even started yet. I'll definitely notify you as soon as it's ready."
After gulping down his beer from the paper cup, Chen Ba patiently explained.
Regarding the next game, he already had an idea.
The success of Cold Window Study Simulator had him considering the idea of striking while the iron is hot. Riding on the popularity of the previous game, he wanted to release a second simulator mini-game quickly to solidify the current fan base.
As for the theme, he only had a rough idea.
The most acclaimed aspects of Cold Window Study Simulator were the realistic portrayal of the characters and the touching, motivational storyline.
So, he planned to create another simulator game with a similar style and storyline.
This time, he would put more effort into the storyline, aiming to make it even more touching and motivational to squeeze more pearls out of the players.
At the same time, he would also learn from the lesson of Cold Window Study Simulator and pay more attention to the game's testing phase, to prevent ridiculous bugs like "ditching for three years becoming a topp student" from happening again.
After all, being stubborn and refusing to admit a bug, doing that once is enough; you can't just be stubborn every time, right?