SWDnovel Chapter 393 Be Yourself
Chapter 393 Be Yourself
Lu Ran and Shen Yuege spent two more days in Chengdu, visiting the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, Wuhou Temple, and Du Fu Thatched Cottage, seeing all the must-see attractions.
Shen Yuege took hundreds of photos at the giant panda base, almost filling up her memory card, and had to delete some of the previous photos to make room.
The Wuhou Temple was packed with people, even more than the Giant Panda Base.
It's not because Wuhou Temple is more beautiful than giant pandas, but because Wuhou Temple is located in the city center, making it easily accessible, and tour groups all take people there.
Shen Yuege stood in front of Zhuge Liang's statue for a long time, then asked Lu Ran, "Why do you think Zhuge Liang insisted on the Northern Expeditions? Wouldn't it have been better to stay in Chengdu?"
"Because if he doesn't launch a northern expedition, Cao Wei will move south. Rather than waiting for others to attack, it's better to attack them ourselves."
"Did he win the fight?"
"No. They fought to the death and still didn't win."
"Then he fought for nothing?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment and said, "Some things, doing them doesn't guarantee victory, but not doing them guarantees defeat. Zhuge Liang chose to do them; whether he won or not is up to fate."
After listening, Shen Yuege remained silent for a while, then said, "What you said makes a lot of sense."
"I've always been right, you just don't like listening to me."
"You usually spout nonsense, but today you actually said something that makes sense."
Lu Ran smiled but didn't reply.
Du Fu Thatched Cottage was the last place the two of them visited.
Thatched Cottage is located west of Chengdu. It is not large and contains a thatched cottage, which is said to be where Du Fu once lived.
Whether it's true or not, nobody knows, but tourists all believe it, take photos, and then leave.
Shen Yuege stood in front of the thatched hut and said, "Du Fu lived in a place like this back then, no wonder he was able to write 'How can I get thousands of mansions?'"
"The way you're saying that living in a mansion means you can't write good poetry."
"People living in mansions are only thinking about how to move into even bigger mansions; who has time to care whether everyone else in the world has a place to live?"
Lu Ran felt that what she said made some sense, but something felt off. He thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it.
After leaving Du Fu Thatched Cottage, the two returned to their RV.
Lu Ran opened his phone and glanced at the news, discovering that the gaming industry had been making quite a stir these past few days.
EA's Wildlands has launched a New Year event, offering a limited-edition mount for logging in for seven consecutive days, a recharge rebate of up to 50%, and a limited-edition New Year skin priced at 199 yuan.
Sakura Games was not to be outdone; although the data for "Samurai Warriors" dropped, the operations team still worked very hard.
They held a New Year festival event in the game where players could collect New Year lucky bags to exchange for various items. They also released a limited-edition New Year character skin, featuring a character wearing a kimono and making mochi, with a very exquisite art style.
On Weibo, they also collaborated with EA and Sakura Games to launch a promotional campaign.
Wang Huabing devoted all of Weibo's opening screen, trending topics, and top headlines in the gaming section to EA and Sakura Games' New Year's activities, which was quite a significant investment.
After reading these messages, Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and thought for a while.
Zhou Mingzhe was right before; the other party's cooperation was coming on strong, but we couldn't panic.
The decrease in game time during the Chinese New Year is a normal phenomenon; it's not just Tutu Technology experiencing a drop, the entire industry is seeing a decline.
The key is who can retain users during the Chinese New Year period.
EA and Sakura Games have launched so many events, giving away mounts, skins, and offering rebates, which seem very generous, but what is the essence of these events? They are designed to get players to spend money.
Recharge rebates cost money, buying limited-edition skins costs money, and opening lucky bags also costs money.
It's true that players have spare cash during the Lunar New Year, but you can't wear the words "Lunar New Year" on your face and then ask for money.
Players need to feel that the money is well spent, that they enjoy spending it, and that they want to spend it again.
Lu Ran opened his phone and sent Lao Wang a message: "How's the Infinite Power test going?"
Old Wang replied quickly: "It's basically stable now. The core parameters—no skill cooldown, unlimited mana, and doubled attack speed—have all been adjusted. Halving the respawn time is also done. As for the map, the damage to the turrets in Summoner's Rift has been reduced by 30%, allowing players to be more aggressive. We've conducted over fifty internal tests and haven't found any fatal bugs."
"What about balance?"
"There's no balance to speak of. Some heroes are ridiculously strong in this mode, while others are unplayable. But as you requested, we haven't made any balance adjustments. Whoever gets lucky and draws a strong hero wins, and whoever grabs a strong hero first wins."
Lu Ran laughed: "That's right. Infinite Firepower doesn't need balance, it needs to be fun."
Old Wang sent a "Boss is brilliant" emoji, then asked, "When will you be online?"
"The day after tomorrow. You should release an announcement first, telling players that the Infinite Firepower mode will be launched in two days, open for a limited time of one month, and then closed after the New Year. Create a sense of urgency, so that they feel they'll be missing out if they don't play."
When will the announcement be released?
"Now."
Old Wang sent a "Received" emoji, then said, "There's one more thing. Xiao Yang in the operations department has prepared a New Year's check-in event and a game-playing lottery event. The plan is already written. Do you want to take a look?"
"No need to look at it. Just let her carry it out directly. I trust Xiao Yang to do things."
"Okay. I'll have the tech team prepare for launch."
Lu Ran put down his phone, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling of the RV.
A little while later, an official announcement from League of Legends appeared on TUTU's gaming section.
The title is straightforward: "Unlimited Power Mode, launching in two days."
The main text is even more straightforward: "No skill cooldowns, unlimited mana, doubled attack speed, and halved resurrection time. Ten minutes per game, just pure fun. Limited-time offer of one month, closing after the New Year. Hurry if you want to play."
The announcement included a picture of the Summoner's Rift map, but with an added line of text: "Don't be a coward, just do it."
The comment section exploded within ten minutes of the announcement being posted.
"No skill cooldown??? What kind of god-like mode is this?!"
"Let me tell you, if you get Katarina in this mode, you can just scroll through the keyboard and win the team fight."
"What about when the calamity strikes? Infinite clones?"
"What if I get a Sword Saint? Endless Qs? The enemy can't even see me?"
"Please, please don't pick Master Yi. I don't want to be tortured by Master Yi in URF mode."
"Has anyone else felt a pang of anxiety when they saw the words 'closes down after the New Year'?"
"Limited-time modes are more fun; if there are no time limits, you'll get bored after a few days. You'll only truly enjoy the game when it's limited to a limited time."
"Launch in two days? I can't wait two days! I want to play now!"
Lu Ran scrolled through the comments, a smile playing on his lips.
He glanced at EA and Sakura Games next door; there were also comments under their event announcements, but the style was completely different from this place.
Underneath EA's announcement, someone asked, "The maximum recharge rebate is 50%, so how much rebate can I get if I recharge 10,000 yuan?"
Under the announcement from Sakura Games, someone asked, "What's in the New Year's lucky bag? Is there a pity system?"
Under Lu Ran's announcement, no one asked how much it cost or if there was a guaranteed minimum reward. Everyone was asking "Which hero is the strongest when I get a random hero?" and "When can I play?"
This is the difference.
EA and Sakura Games were thinking about how to get players to spend money during the Lunar New Year holiday, while TuTu Technology was thinking about how to make players happy.
Players aren't stupid; they know perfectly well who genuinely wants to make them happy and who's eyeing their wallets.
Lu Ran was reading the comments when his phone vibrated.
It was a message from Chen Mo: "President Lu, I saw your Infinite Firepower mode. This mode is quite interesting."
Lu Ran replied, "Is President Chen also interested?"
"Whether I'm interested or not is irrelevant; what matters is that the players are interested. I just had the tech department check your League of Legends data, and after the announcement was released, the concurrent player count increased by eight percent. If an announcement can boost data, your numbers will skyrocket once the mode is actually released!"
"Whether it will take off or not is unknown, but at least it won't crash too badly."
Chen Mo sent a "You're too modest" emoji, then said, "Some people from EA posted on their WeChat Moments today, saying, 'Some companies using this kind of mindless mode is disrespectful to the game industry.' Guess who they're talking about?"
Lu Ran laughed: "He's talking about me. He thinks Infinite Firepower is too mindless, lacks skill, and lowers the overall level of the gaming industry."
"So what do you think?"
"What do I think? I think he's right. Infinite Firepower is mindless and requires no skill. But players like it. What players like is good, whether they respect it or not is unimportant."
Chen Mo sent a series of "hahaha" messages, then said, "With this kind of mentality, you can achieve great things."
"I have accomplished my great task. Now it is time to maintain it."
"Then you keep watch. I'm going to a meeting."
Goodbye, Mr. Chen.
Lu Ran put down his phone and turned to look at Shen Yuege.
Shen Yuege was leaning back in the booth, engrossed in reading a magazine, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"What are you looking at? Why are you laughing so happily?"
"Nothing much. I just saw a sentence that was really well written."
"What did you say?"
"Be yourself."
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