Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 620: Chapter 588: Players “Living” in the Virtual World

Keli Buli Game Company’s founder, Renee Buri, quickly met Lincoln.

This blonde-haired old guy had no trace of arrogance typical of entrepreneurs, appearing very humble, especially when making demands during negotiations, choosing his words carefully.

However, this did not change his demands: sharing data of German players and jointly managing the server center.

And Lincoln had no intention of agreeing.

Not only did he not agree, but he also looked at Jerome curiously: Doesn’t Cloud Dream always hold its ground on data? Is there anyone who doesn’t know about that?

Seeing Lincoln’s reaction, Renee Buri immediately grasped his meaning and tried to use “being able to negotiate with the government to allow the server to land smoothly” as a bargaining chip.

But after hearing this, Lincoln couldn’t help but look at Jerome again: Is this guy treating us like fools?

He initially thought that this person was a founder of a game company, and the scale of the company seemed to be acceptable, so he made a special visit to meet this overseas counterpart.

But Buri turned out to be a disappointment.

No wonder the strongest game companies in Germany’s vast game market are all foreign – the local game companies are just too lame!

Okay, maybe it’s unfair to judge everyone based on Renee Buri alone.

But as the first company to respond to the government’s hint, Buri shouldn’t just represent the majority, but be a typical example!

With this in mind, Lincoln’s desire to communicate waned.

The refusal was on the tip of his tongue, but before he could open his mouth, he hesitated and changed his answer: “We mustn’t create a bad precedent, but we do value the German market. So, let us think about it for now.”

After saying this, Lincoln looked at Jerome, “You guys can discuss it further, I’ve got urgent business.”

He then got up and wanted to leave.

Buri tried to persuade him, but Lincoln was already uninterested: “Sorry, you didn’t make an appointment in advance, and I actually have urgent business. Let’s talk again another time.”

After saying goodbye politely, Lincoln turned into sand and scattered, disappearing from the spot.

This baffled Renee Buri.

The Cloud Dream employees, however, were already used to their boss’s occasional flare in the virtual world, and they all expressed: It’s not a big deal.

Even though Lincoln left, he didn’t forget to send a message to Jerome: “Regarding their request, don’t say yes and don’t say no, just delay it for a few days.”

Anyway, it’s not like German players can’t play now; it’s just a little delay.

Compared to quickly establishing a server and eliminating these delays, letting players from all over the world gather and discuss the same topic, thus promoting international exchange among virtual world players, is obviously of greater value.

Lincoln certainly wasn’t just interested in stirring things up.

Moreover, even though his “urgent business” was just an excuse, he did indeed have work to do.

Not only did he have to deal with the player feedback after launching the Mod-sharing platform, but he was also conducting a survey on the current situation of “completely disabled” players.

Earlier, he had asked Mavis to compile a list of users with the full daily online duration of 16 hours and to, as much as possible, exclude players who were overly addicted to the game. He wanted to focus instead on those who were unable to move because of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, paralysis, severe disabilities, or other special reasons, and could only survive in bed with human care, making it necessary for them to stay in the virtual world every day.

The proportion of these players among all players is naturally very small.

However, amidst the more than 300 million global users of Cloud Dream, the absolute number of such players is not small. In just a few days, Mavis had already found more than 30,000 people, and this was obviously not the total number.

Interestingly though, among these players, the proportion of experts is not low, with 17 of them carrying the [Honorary Player] title.

Their long online durations, coupled with a strong sense of belonging to the virtual world, made them more inclined to delve deeper into their favorite games, making their skills better than ordinary players and making it easier for them to come up with interesting gameplay.

Think about it, with 24 hours in a day, subtracting 6-8 hours needed for sleep, we are left with only 16-18 hours of free time.

Compared to the real world, players who spend 16 hours a day in the virtual world are more like virtual world residents.

But even for them, their hearts mostly remain in reality, and the virtual world is mainly a place for novel and entertaining gameplay.

However, for those who have completely lost their mobility in reality, both their online duration and inner allegiance have shifted to the virtual world.

This difference in inner allegiance is not only reflected in their exploration of game skills and gameplay, but also in their mentality.

Many of these players approach the virtual world not simply as a place to “play games,” but as a place to truly “live.”

Due to having to lie in bed for years, they not only suffer physically but also mentally, and their families are often exhausted as well.

Setting aside physical and psychological pain, the costs of living and treatment are an unavoidable problem.

However, as the virtual world continues to expand and its ecology becomes increasingly rich, these players are not only liberated physically and mentally but also materially – they can now earn money in the virtual world!

This is not the kind of lucky money that comes sporadically.

Instead, they have stable ways of earning money which can provide a continuous subsidy for household expenses.

The most common and simple way is the same as ordinary game players: “Gold Rush.”

Metropolis, as the earliest place for gold mining, has had a steady inflow of new players from various countries. However, the ease of robbing banks to make money has led to a low market value for gold, so players can only earn a hard laborer’s wage.

Especially as more and more nouveau riche players obtain the golden keys, the market further contracts.

By now, the number of players who continue to stay here for the Gold Rush is getting smaller and smaller.

However, because it has no entry barrier, is easy to get started with, and can at least guarantee basic returns, there are still people who prefer stability and continue to stay here.

On the other hand, Night City, which has always been highly focused on its economy system from the very beginning, has been much more stable.

In fact, as more and more players pour in and the places to spend gold coins keep being updated, the price of gold keeps getting higher and higher!

And there’s no trouble selling it at all!

There have been stable middlemen for quite some time now, always ready to buy from players who want to sell, making it very popular.

It’s just that Yunmeng’s economy system is too tightly controlled, so much so that players say it’s “stingy and dying” – it’s not easy to make a large amount of virtual currency.

Basically, the better your skills, the easier it is to make money.

And those who have “lost” reality and were forced to “settle down” in the virtual world mostly do have skills beyond those of ordinary players.

When it comes to “Gold Rush” money-making, their efficiency is naturally higher.

Apart from the Gold Rush, the proportion of those who make money through “leveling up” is higher among these players than among ordinary ones.

With stronger skills and a wider range of knowledge, guiding players through missions, achievements, and getting higher scores can all make money.

Of course, since they can’t play on behalf of other people, this method is not so much called “leveling up” as it is “high-end game partners.”

…

In any case, within Yunmeng, the virtual world has unknowingly created a huge ecosystem, supporting an entire group of people who rely on it for their existence.

Lincoln and Mavis keep traveling through the virtual world, observing one virtual world resident after another.

Some of them are robbing banks in the Metropolis, doing missions in Night City, racing with their bosses on the [Candy Track], fighting with their boss team in Battlefield, or guiding newbie bosses to hunt for prey…

Of course, there are also people who stroll around and do nothing in public, tasting gourmet food and coffee.

At any rate, they are no different from ordinary players.

If it weren’t for the carefully selected information from Mavis, Lincoln wouldn’t be able to see any differences in these people.

But thinking about how the birth of the virtual world has given these people something to do again, allowing them to run around every day, interact with different people, make friends, and find meaningful work, Lincoln feels genuinely happy.

After some thought, he decides to send an announcement to all players, changing the “Anti-Addiction Restriction Removal” to an application-based system.

－ With limited information, Mavis’s screening cannot be foolproof.

Of course, before issuing the announcement, he first wants to improve the AI customer service, so as not to put too much pressure on employees all at once.

…

…

Lincoln’s announcement briefly attracts the attention of players.

Everyone kindly flatters him in the comment section for 10 minutes, praising Lincoln for his care for the special population.

But they quickly change their tune and start urging Lincoln to loosen the restrictions, allowing ordinary players to apply for the removal of anti-addiction restrictions as well.

After clamoring for another 10 minutes and noticing Lincoln remains unmoved, they quickly disperse and continue to search for mods to play.

All afternoon, players continue to explore a variety of free mods and free trial premium mods, looking for fun content.

Compared to these mainstream players, the actual beneficiaries – the tiny number of completely disabled players, are too few.

Even though they came to leave messages of gratitude intermittently, they are still just a small wave compared to the netizens who came for the fun.

But it’s okay, Lincoln and Mavis, watching the applications being submitted one by one, already feel content.

Of course, Lincoln also didn’t ignore the requests of those ordinary players.

He has been thinking recently about how to retrofit the “game cabin.”

In comparison to the Mirage Console, the “game cabin” is much larger in size, not only allowing for a huge increase in console performance – particularly in terms of “capacity” Lincoln thought of before – but also offering a lot of room for modifications.

Theoretically, simple [Life Support Devices] could also be added.

In more explicit terms: enteral nutrition infusion devices and excretion devices.

On top of the existing bioelectric muscle stimulation technology, it’s entirely possible for ordinary players to lie down from morning till night without anyone to take care of them.

The only question is: is there really a need to do so?

The mysterious grand prize for Terraria’s Survival Challenge, which Lincoln arranged, is a game cabin.

But even until now, he hasn’t figured out what exactly to modify the game cabin into.