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Join the Server“Change… the mode?”
Zhou Ruoyu tilted her head. The Ling Bo before her nodded and continued, “That’s right. Let’s switch to a more interactive mode. I’ll ask, you’ll answer, and then I’ll fill in the gaps! Through this back-and-forth, we can clarify a lot of the work, and the problems will solve themselves, right? Ahem… This way, it’s more intuitive than you going back to stare at that project plan. Honestly, even if you read the whole thing, it wouldn’t help. At most, you’d memorize the writing format. What really matters in planning are the ideas!”
Faced with Ling Bo’s earnest instruction, Zhou Ruoyu nodded thoughtfully. After a moment, she took a deep breath and then solemnly made a request to Sister Xiaobo:
“I’m ready! Start asking!”
“Ahem, don’t be so serious. It’s not like you’re going to win five million for answering the next question…”
Ling Bo waved her hand, then began seriously, “Little Ruoyu, have you played many games growing up?”
“A fair amount. Not too few!”
Zhou Ruoyu replied. Ling Bo was a bit surprised—same as Gu Jiachen. The girl grumbled inwardly: It’s not like just because I look cute now, I can’t play games… Strange stereotypes.
However, the girl’s answer was clearly a good starting point for Ling Bo, since it saved her from having to explain too much. So, after a moment, Ling Bo nodded and continued:
“Good. Then… Ruoyu-chan, have you played any Dragon Wing games recently?”
“Hmm… Conqueror?”
Actually, the girl hadn’t played much recently, just a few rounds of that in Gu’s office. Ling Bo nodded again, then raised a finger and posed a rather difficult question.
“Now, I’m going to ask you this, Ruoyu: Suppose you are put in charge of the operations planning for Conqueror. You discover that players’ enthusiasm for the ranked mode has plummeted because the different runes equipped by various players severely unbalance the game, creating a large gap between veterans and newcomers, causing frustration. However, different runes also enrich the heroes’ playstyles. Directly removing them would reduce the game’s fun. What would you do?”
“Uh… this, that… uh…”
Zhou Ruoyu pinched her chin. Initially, she tried to think of a solution, but her mind wasn’t sharp enough; no flash of inspiration came.
After a long pause, the hesitant girl ventured, “Maybe… remove the runes, but replace them with a new, free talent tree that both newbies and veterans can freely choose, to take over the runes’ original function?”
“Hmm~ You’re catching on.” Ling Bo smiled approvingly. “Is that idea original?”
“Uh… no, no…”
“Where did you get it from?”
“League of Legends… um…”
Zhou Ruoyu lowered her head in embarrassment, lamenting that she couldn’t even come up with a good idea. But to her surprise, Sister Xiaobo happily slapped her own thigh and affirmed, “Yes, exactly! That’s the mindset I want to teach you!”
“Huh? B-but… that idea was stolen, Sister Xiaobo.” Zhou Ruoyu was flustered. Ling Bo shook her head with a smile and said firmly:
“No problem! Ruoyu, this is the truth I want to tell you, and a shortcut that most new planners take! In fact, most of us started this way. Think about it: when people first enter the industry, they have no experience. They need to slowly figure out the direction of game design. Even if someone is creative, the ideas they come up with might not guarantee steady profits for the company, right? And most people can’t even come up with ideas in the first place.”
“Hmm… I guess?”
Zhou Ruoyu tilted her head, feeling a bit relieved. So I’m not the only useless one.
Ling Bo squinted and continued:
“So… for newcomers, the best way to start is to fully understand and study competing products on the market. Keep an eye on their new features and actions, and think about how to incorporate them into your own old games, to achieve the most stable and reliable planning results. In short, it’s a classic two-word phrase—”
She paused for a few seconds, raised an eyebrow at Zhou Ruoyu, as if wanting her to summarize. Zhou Ruoyu, still trembling, took a sharp breath and blurted out:
“Copy… copying?”
“It’s referencing, hey—!”
The black-haired little loli received a flick on the forehead from Sister Xiaobo. The girl pouted. Not… isn’t this what Sister Xiaobo just described? Isn’t it just copying? Not a direct remake of core gameplay, but stealing features from other games. What’s the difference from Tencent? And the excuses are even similar…
Seeing the girl’s unconvinced look, Ling Bo sighed and said:
“It can’t be helped. In game design, mutual referencing is extremely common. Every successful game is a rich and valuable textbook for us. Our department even has staff dedicated to researching competing products. You have to look at it with a learning mindset, understand?”
“Hmm… I suppose. Most games copy each other.”
Zhou Ruoyu nodded, reaching a consensus. Ling Bo then pinched her chin and proposed:
“Tell you what, to get you familiar with the work, I’ll give you an assignment. It’s almost the holiday season, and one of our MMORPGs plans to release a new cosmetic set to boost revenue. The specific style hasn’t been decided, and we’re holding an internal online game fashion design contest.”
Zhou Ruoyu listened blankly as Sister Xiaobo continued, patting her shoulder:
“Little Ruoyu, I want you to research the cosmetic styles of other MMOs on the market. Then, use them as reference to come up with your own proposal. Preferably include some sketches for the artists to look at, if you can. Once you’re done, come to me, and I’ll teach you how to write a project plan. Then submit it for the contest. If you win, there’s a nice bonus.”
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