Chapter 18 Come on, liver!
The first day of the open beta test was at 6pm, eleven hours (real time) after the game was "officially put into operation".
Yang Qiu, squatting in the government hall of Exile Town, was silently monitoring the currency circulation between players and "NPCs".
This game is destined to not have the concept of making money by brushing money. The reason is very simple. The money in this game is real physical objects, not data. The copper coins that players get through tasks are all copper alloy coins with a copper content of no less than 50% that Yang Qiu bought a ton of brass at the market price through the Internet. He then found a small manufacturer to cast game coins...
From the current perspective, copper coins will probably serve as the main currency of the game for a long time. Yang Qiu can't afford silver coins anyway. Even if silver is cheaper, it costs several million per ton, and he can't make so much money.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with copper coins. At least locals like Hal and Rex are willing to accept these copper coins produced by the Earth's industry. Although they cannot understand why the undead who do not need food and drink are willing to work hard for copper coins (compared to money, they cannot understand the so-called reputation value), they are willing to accept these copper coins as salary.
Anyway, the currency of this world is a mess. Privately minted coins of nobles with extremely different specifications and grades are circulated indiscriminately. The copper coins with 50% copper alloy printed fairly beautifully are enough to beat the tattered green copper coins circulating in many kingdoms.
In short, in order to increase players' enthusiasm for participating in tasks while allowing limited currency to circulate infinitely, Yang Qiu asked NPCs to distribute copper coins to players through tasks, and also arranged means to recover currency.
Currently, there are two channels for currency recovery. The first one is a "must-have" for players, which is the waist bags sold by tailor Arisa.
Well... it's just a thick canvas belt with four small denim bags with zippers hanging on it. It can hold a lot of small items. Yang Qiu contacted a prison online (...) and had it custom-made by the prison. It's very good value for money.
The price of this waist bag is eight copper coins.
Next... is the "Newbie Outfit" sold by the Zombie NPC.
Each player can only receive the welfare task of "clean for ten minutes to exchange for a set of novice clothes" once. If it is accidentally lost or destroyed, it will cost twelve copper coins to buy it from the zombie NPC.
Regardless of whether the two currency recycling channels are sufficient, Yang Qiu has to buy the waist bag and novice outfit from Earth himself, which is a big loss...
That's why Yang Qiu suppressed the task rewards so much, only giving two copper coins an hour to high-level NPCs with reputation, and giving one more copper coin to zombie NPCs with no reputation. It's not because he is poor, but because players play games to eat... uh, wear their clothes, and use their toys, so how can they not be thrifty!
There have been two or three rounds of players going online and there are currently 226 people online. Judging from the heated discussions on the forum, it will reach the peak of the day in two hours Earth time, and it is estimated that all 300 people will be able to go online in an orderly manner.
Among the 281 players who have been online, the player with the shortest online time has maintained an online time of more than five hours (game time), participated in at least two hours of game tasks, and obtained at least four copper coins.
For players who are more dedicated and keen on completing quests, the average amount of copper coins in their pockets, including the cost of purchasing waist bags, is around four or eight.
With Yang Qiu's current reserve of 200,000 copper coins, releasing a few thousand copper coins into circulation is not a big deal. He is not worried about whether there is enough currency for circulation, but is considering a deeper issue -
Yang Qiu immersed his mind into the branding matrix, watching a group of people active at the planned construction site of the Traveler's Guild.
There are six players in this group, all young men. The leader has the ID "Eight in One Mouth" and seems to have a good relationship with Vanilla Pudding, the number one player. They call each other "Brother Qin" and "Xiao Zhou".
Because of Vanilla Pudding, Yang Qiu noticed this group of people at the beginning, and it took him almost no effort to figure out that this group of people must be from a studio - after completing the task of getting novice equipment, the six of them found the Ranger Mentor Tattle without hesitation, squatted there and refused to leave.
After all, Yang Qiu had played online games before, and he knew that as long as it was an MMORPG game, physical and ranged professions were the first choice for making money.
These young people who set up the studio did not "live up" to the name of gold farming. They did not mess around at all and focused on completing the tasks very hard. When it was dark in the game and Tuttle stopped issuing tasks, they all switched to doing tasks for zombie NPCs, and when it was daybreak in the game, they went back again.
Even for the "urgently needed" wallet, these six people only bought one, and all the copper coins earned by the whole staff were put into "Eight at a Mouth".
If it is a normal online game, the official will definitely hate the studios that move in as soon as the server is launched. Don't say that games with studios are popular and that studios can also make things convenient for players. Everything this group does in the game is aimed at shortening the life of the game cycle.
If a game with a fragile economic system can survive a year without being ruined by the studio, it can be considered that the operating team is strong.
Of course, no matter how much "Another World" pretends to be a game, it is not a game after all... So Yang Qiu is not at all averse to studios that actively make money, and even hopes that there will be as many cheap and hard-working laborers as possible...
So therein lies the problem. The studio is after money, and what they seek is to convert the coins earned in the game into RMB. If the gold that these guys have worked so hard to earn has no value and cannot be sold, then their enthusiasm will be dampened and they will no longer actively complete the mission.
Yang Qiu touched his chin, looking through the young men working hard in the studio and into the deeper distance.
It's not just the studios. For the group of hardcore players, making a little money while playing the game can also be very motivating. Even if the economic system in the game is well done and the channels for monetizing game coins are smooth, then the hardcore players, whose number far exceeds that of the studio, may even give him more surprises.
This conclusion has a basis. While Yang Qiu was thinking about transforming the Tarantan Wasteland into a gaming field, he learned a lot about Earth Online Games. In the Beast Classic Server that was just launched two months ago, the people who were active in gold farming were not studios, but a large number of wizard players...
"We can't just consider the normal circulation of currency, we also have to consider the value of the currency itself... In simple terms, it's about making money more valuable." Yang Qiu narrowed his eyes, thoughtfully, "After all... not all players are willing to go online and do quests, and then log off when they're tired. This is why high-level NPCs that give reputation are more popular than zombie NPCs that don't."
"Ordinary players are willing to do the tasks given by high-level NPCs in order to obtain the job transfer channel and the weapons and equipment after the job transfer. In short, it is for the numerical rewards and to become stronger."
"Just blindly completing tasks. When players first come into contact with holographic games, they are curious and it's okay. But after a long time, players will get bored and quit the game..."
"Then... we don't have to wait until a large number of players change their jobs. We should increase the value of game coins and the enthusiasm of players for tasks as soon as possible."
The planned construction site of the Traveler's Guild, where three job transfer instructors are stationed, is the busiest large construction site in Exile Town.
After twenty-two hours of gaming, a lot of garbage had been cleared away by the players on the 500-square-meter construction site. The three mission sites that were originally separated and invisible from each other were now connected, and players who had accepted missions from Hal, Tattle, and another high-level NPC could even talk to each other across the air.
"There are many people who want to switch to being a trader." Miaobishenghua looked around at the players who were busy moving bricks, and sighed from the bottom of his heart, "Looking at this situation, the trader guild is probably the fastest to be established."
Give me medicine. I just handed in the task. While putting coins into my waist bag, I curiously rushed to pick him up and said, "Has the magic instructor not started working yet?"
One of the three veterans of the closed beta test, GFed Medicine, is also a member of the Walker Guild's construction site working party. He is not interested in assassins who are quite similar to the assassins in traditional MMORPGs, nor does he want to play ranged games. He is working hard to gain the reputation of the treasure expert.
"I don't know. I still can't get any magic instructor missions." Miaobishenghua said angrily, "The only one who has reached level one and can get magic instructor missions is the one called 'Ouyou', but I asked around and it seems that the guy is a lone ranger and doesn't like to play with others. No one knows where he has gone."
"Don't worry, it's only the first day of the internal beta test, and you're only a little bit away from reaching the 50 potential points required to reach level one. You may be able to take on the magic instructor mission tomorrow." He comforted me while giving me medicine.
"I'm not in a hurry. Even Vanilla isn't in a hurry, so why should I? At worst, I can just do the zombie NPC tasks for a few more days to earn some money." Miaobishenghua said with a smile, "Let's go find Vanilla and see if we can organize an exploration activity tonight."
Always doing brick-moving tasks is definitely not a way of playing that normal players can accept. Even if the game is just launched and everyone has a new account, and they can't even beat the rat in the south of the town, let alone go out of the town to wander around, but they are still interested in exploring the secrets of the town, turning the Exile Town upside down, etc.
The two were about to leave the construction site managed by the treasure expert, and they turned around inadvertently and found that... the human NPC, who seemed to be offended by the players and had a dead face except for reciting lines during interactive tasks, had inserted a wooden sign in front of the tent and posted a notice.
"Wait!" The man who gave me the medicine waved to Miaobishenghua and ran over first.
Pansy, the treasure expert, is a middle-aged man who looks quite old. His original location was relatively secret, and he was not harassed by players at the beginning. But after his reputation bar was activated by players, his professional feature of "treasure expert" in the job transfer path was discovered by players, and he could no longer hide... There were more players squatting at his place than at Hal's place, second only to Tattle.
Rex, who was in charge of the warrior job change, at least slept for a while before being woken up by the players. But Pansy didn't get any sleep at all before Yang Qiu came over to apply the "patch"...
Pansy, who had absolutely no good feelings towards this group of dirty undead, received the instructions and notices sent by Yang Qiu through the branding matrix, but just sat there with a cold face, with no intention of explaining to the players.
Fortunately, the reward mechanism for each "senior NPC" was prepared in advance, so Pansy didn't need to waste any time talking nonsense, just post the notice...
I ran to the notice board. Several players who were close by had already read the notice and were shouting "Fuck you" one after another...
Give Me Medicine came over to read the notice and also let out a loud "F*ck!" "The first five players who reach friendly reputation can not only upgrade to level 1 and receive the job transfer of walker apprentices and distribute apprentice weapons, but also participate in the bidding for the 'Deception Orb'?"
"Limited edition accessory 'Deception Orb', made by treasure expert Pansy, only three are available this time, and the next auction will be open in a month? It can create visual camouflage and create human-like phantoms for undead players. The starting price is 300 copper coins?!"
"Hmm? Isn't this a prop from a certain beast?" The game expert said as soon as he heard it.
"That's right, it's the fraudulent orbs! Damn, the top five bidders were given the right to bid but only three orbs were released. The crappy planner is forcing the players to spend money!" Give Me Medicine said excitedly.
"Anyway, it just changes your appearance, it's similar to fashion, you don't necessarily have to buy it." Miaobishenghua said nonchalantly.
A nearby player objected immediately: "It doesn't matter if you play other professions, but if you choose the treasure expert path, this thing is indispensable."
"Yes, yes." Another player said, "Treasure experts specialize in finding treasures in the later stages. If you want to explore human territory and cannot disguise yourself as a human, won't you be surrounded by red-named monsters everywhere you go?"
Miaobi Shenghua thought about the attitude of the human NPCs in Exile Town who worked as resurrection mentors for the undead race towards the undead players... and nodded in agreement: "It seems so. If you want to create an undead birthplace, this thing is really a good thing. It is not limited to treasure experts or travelers. It is indeed a magical tool."
A group of players looked at each other, and at the same time... picked up their respective task props , turned around and ran towards the construction site.
There are only five bidding rights. Even if you cannot afford to buy the right after grabbing it, you can always resell it. There must be no harm in grabbing the first five!
The man who gave me the medicine also thought of this, and immediately turned to his friends and said seriously: "I won't go to the activities with you guys tonight, I have to work hard to gain reputation."
"Okay." Miaobishenghua said hurriedly, "You don't have enough copper coins, so I'll keep all the copper coins here for you. Do you want me to tell Mr. Vanilla to help contact his friends in the studio and leave their copper coins for you as well?"
"Yes, yes!" He gave me the medicine while nodding vigorously while handing over the task to Pansy. "Just say I want all their copper coins, at the market price!"
"Okay, I'll go right away." Miaobishenghua didn't waste any words, turned around and ran in the direction of the warrior mentor Rex.
Miao Bishenghua was jogging all the way, and when he passed by another high-level NPC, but not very popular knight mentor, he found that there was a wooden sign next to the tent of the human NPC, with a notice on it.
Looking at the construction site in front of the knight instructor, several players were working very diligently... Miaobishenghua hurried over and took a look at the notice.
I hadn’t been too impressed by the brilliant writing of the Deception Orb before, but this time I let out a loud “Oh shit”.
The "auction" activity opened by the Knight Instructor actually released an Undead Horse as a mount!
As always, the first five friendly players will get the bidding rights, but there is only one undead horse!
The starting price is still 1,000 copper coins, which is considered a sky-high price at the moment!
Realizing that it would be difficult to collect the copper coins in the short term, Miaobishenghua dared not delay any longer and ran to find Qin Guan.
Qin Guan, who was busy improving his warrior mentor reputation, got the news and immediately dropped his mission and went to visit all the high-level NPCs in the town. He confirmed that only the treasure expert and the knight mentor were currently open to "bidding rights competition".
"Just these two are enough - the deception orb is fine, but the undead horse will definitely cause a bloodbath!" Qin Guan felt a headache, "Damn it, damn planner, I thought this game didn't have any currency recycling routines like repairing equipment and resurrecting and consumables, which was very conscientious, but it turns out the trap is buried here!"
If ordinary players were in the same situation, they would definitely be happy if they could exchange the game coins they earned into RMB while playing the game.
It’s not that Qin Guan is not happy about the value of game coins. Not only is Xiao Zhou, the owner of the studio who followed him into the game, his little brother, he himself also loves to make money... But if the price rises too much, it will be difficult for his other friend to get enough copper coins to buy the Fraud Orb he wants.
