To ascend, I had no choice but to create games-Chapter 857 - 472: You’re Playing a Bit Hard

"Sorry, we don’t have a recharge option; our game is buy-to-play."

"But isn’t the game you’re making a card game?"

"Who said card games must involve spending more money?" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Fine in theory, but the real world is another story! Some websites claim they’ll never degrade in quality, but don’t they still turn to crap eventually?"

"Little girl, I really like your snark. Interested in being a game customer service rep for me and, on the side, becoming one of my acolytes? Gong Gong loves talented people, come to me, and you’ll get your just rewards."

"Thanks, but I’m not interested in easy street."

"...I’ll remember your ID. I swear you won’t get a single reward from my live streams."

"As if I wanted one."

After ending her conversation with Gong Gong, the customer service rep from "Megalopolis," Hakurei Silver Dream was extremely annoyed.

A card game with no in-game purchases? That felt like the ultimate insult.

It was an insult to her wallet and to her faith.

The standard price for a card game draw is twelve yuan; any higher is an insult to tradition, any lower is an insult to the industry!

So, why on earth wouldn’t you accept money?

Because it’s fun?

Thinking this, she furiously joined her QQ group, and wrote angrily: "The pricing of this lousy game is like crap, I can see clearly now, Fang Cheng Studio really doesn’t understand anything about the two-dimensional world at all, they are full of disdain and misunderstanding towards us niche players."

"What happened? Are the card prices too high, or is there something wrong with the monthly card perks? Or is there discrimination in the benefits activities?"

"None of the above. There’s no recharge option."

With these words, the group fell silent.

Different players have different pet peeves, some might rage all year long because of the lack of gender-specific plots in a game, or the mere presence of male characters.

There were those who gave bad reviews because a game lacked a recharge option, but seeing someone do so in person seemed a bit too bizarre.

"But when you bought the game, you already spent money, right?"

Hakurei Silver Dream: "Is that the same thing? Buy-to-play just gets you in the door; shouldn’t you pay for things once you’re inside?"

"Why can’t you take it as all-inclusive?"

Hakurei Silver Dream: "If it’s all-inclusive, don’t make it a card game! Think about it, if they can’t rake in a round of cash when new cards come out, will the devs still have the motivation to create new cards? Will they still care about updating the game according to players’ wishes? Will they continue the storyline? Buy-to-play is just hit and run, and card games that need ongoing operations aren’t suitable for that! So, I conclude that Fang Cheng Studio is planning a hit and run!"

"...You might be exaggerating a bit..."

Even so, on second thought, it seemed that there was a bit of truth in what Hakurei Silver Dream said.

Everything exists for a reason. Card games adopting the strategy of constantly introducing new pools are doing so for profit, but the players also get a strong sense of involvement in the process.

By choosing to spend or not on specific pools, they express their feelings about parts of the game, and they can make a fuss about story content they don’t like.

They could elevate a game to the heavens for a feature they cherish, or plunge another into the Abyss for the same thing.

Players’ behaviors sometimes seem puzzling, but if you see it as raising a game, it all makes sense.

Sometimes, players aren’t playing games; they’re nurturing a game company with the hope that their beloved company grows strong but stays grounded without becoming too big-headed.

If well nurtured, most of their emotions will be tied to that company, and they will naturally resist the rise of other companies, followed by endless squabbles among themselves defending their "children."

And those in the two-dimensional realm have a tendency to get overly protective, sometimes to the point of fanaticism.

After a while, someone in the group suggested, "Why don’t you just get a refund then? There’s still time, isn’t there?"

Hakurei Silver Dream: "Of course I’m going to get a refund! But there are still ten hours left, I’ll take some screenshots before I do that. Alright, I’m going back to ’testing’ the game."

After Hakurei Silver Dream went offline, one group member said, "I bet she’ll forget to refund."

"Maybe not forget, but she’ll think she did."

"Either way, let’s just say she forgot. By the way, I just got a skill card in ’Megalopolis’ that builds up energy after a combo, and it has an SSR mark on it. How strong do you guys think this skill card is?"

"It’s worthless, just dismantle it."

"Yeah, that card is just common trash, you should dismantle it."

"Alright, got it. I’m equipping this card right now, and I’m going to dominate!"

Meanwhile, Hakurei Silver Dream had already re-entered the game.

Following the beginner’s guide in her inventory, she went to the clothing store to get herself a free skin and molded a face as cute as possible.