Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 600 Repeatedly Pulled
The launch of World of Warcraft caused a sensation throughout Asia.

Within 24 hours, the number of 170 million concurrent online users not only set a new record in global gaming history, but also acted like a tidal wave, bringing massive traffic and attention, and impacting the existing gaming landscape.

However, beneath this jubilant atmosphere, an undercurrent is rapidly brewing among Microsoft system users.

"It's frozen! How am I supposed to play like this?!" In a residential area in Jingzhou City, a young man angrily pounded on his keyboard. On the screen, his dwarf warrior's movements were frozen, like a slideshow.

"Damn it, another error! What the hell is this?" In a shop, the shop owner finally managed to get into the server, only to see an error message pop up suddenly, almost causing him to collapse.

"My computer can run AAA games without any problems, so why is it so laggy when playing online games? Did Microsoft tamper with the system?"

Soon, various posts questioning the issue began to appear on some forums.

Initially, there were only a few scattered complaints, but as the number of online users increased, server pressure rose, and subtle compatibility issues that may exist in the Microsoft system itself quickly turned into a torrent of complaints.

Microsoft is petty! Seeing the immense popularity of World of Warcraft, they deliberately sabotaged it!

[Technological hegemony! Microsoft's use of low-level system privileges to punish World of Warcraft shows a lack of strategic vision.]

Why is Moc-OS so smooth while Windows is so laggy? Microsoft needs to give an explanation!

Posts with highly emotional titles dominated the front pages of major gaming forums.

Players needed an outlet for their anger, and the speculation that Microsoft was up to no good—which had been foreshadowed by rumors of Waters threatening Blizzard—quickly became the most plausible explanation.

While a large user base, network fluctuations, instantaneous server load, and even the myriad software conflicts on a player's own computer can all cause this problem.

But in the heat of the moment, no one was willing to analyze the situation calmly.

Microsoft Asia Group, which had just moved to Zhongguancun, was instantly thrust into the eye of the storm.

"Mr. Waters, forums and media outlets across China and Asia are accusing us of using our system advantages to maliciously sabotage the World of Warcraft gaming experience." The assistant hurriedly pushed open the door to Waters' office, his face filled with worry.

Waters, who was reviewing a plan for the next steps, looked up abruptly upon hearing this, frowning, and asked, "How could this happen? Has the technical department confirmed it?"

"Confirmed! We haven't released any special updates for World of Warcraft. These issues are likely due to normal server congestion, local network problems, or common conflicts between the client and the system environment!" the assistant reported rapidly. "But... but nobody believes us now."

Waters's face turned extremely ugly.

He is good at taking the initiative, but this passive situation of being wronged and held hostage by public opinion made him feel frustrated.

"Immediately issue an official statement!" Waters said in a deep voice. "The tone must be sincere, the data must be clear, and assure players that Microsoft is always committed to providing the best gaming experience. The current problem is unrelated to the Microsoft system, and our technical team is actively assisting Blizzard and Thresh Technology in investigating the cause."

The statement was released quickly, but in the face of overwhelming public opinion, this attempt to distance itself from the issue seemed weak and ineffective, and was even ridiculed by many players as a case of "protesting too much."

"Look! They're panicking! They're starting to make excuses!"

"Assist in the investigation? That's just crocodile tears!"

"If you're so capable, then stop with the underhanded tactics!"

At this moment, Waters felt an injustice that he could not defend himself against.

Before he could even swing his improved knife, the crowd forcibly shoved it back into his hand, and he was then hit on the foot by the handle of his own knife.

Amidst this wave of criticism against Microsoft, a clear voice began to be amplified, whether intentionally or unintentionally:
"Brothers, go install the Moc-OS system! Why is Momo Internet Cafe so smooth? It's because they use their own system."

"The official website offers a free download of the home version. The installation tutorial is very simple, and the gaming experience will be greatly enhanced after installation!"

"Really! I changed the system, and there hasn't been a single error."

"Microsoft is too narrow-minded, we won't support them anymore! Let's support domestic operating systems instead!"

Cao Zhengze's online army mingled among real players, constantly using the concepts of "Microsoft's sabotage" and "Moc-OS is really good" to hype up the game.

In a short time, the download volume of the Moc-OS Home Edition system experienced exponential growth.

Many players even tried installing a non-Windows system for the first time just to play World of Warcraft.

Late at night, the lights were still on in the top-floor office of Momo Group.

Outside the window, the city lights shimmered; inside, Cheng Yi was speaking via encrypted phone with Mike, the president of Enze Capital, who was in the UK.

"Mr. Cheng, Microsoft suspects that Blizzard has reverse-engineered the game. Their technical director just visited Blizzard to help them optimize the game." Mike's tone was somewhat anxious.

“Waters isn’t stupid. He’ll definitely react quickly to the abnormality in internet public opinion.” Cheng Yi smiled and said, “However, Mike, we can’t stop the negative optimization, but we can refine it a bit more.”

Mike on the other end of the phone said with some concern, "Last time I asked Mike Morhaime to reduce the optimization effect on Microsoft systems, they were already very resistant. They don't want to get involved in your fight with Microsoft."

“Blizzard and we are both important assets under Enze,” Cheng Yi said slowly. “Mike Mohan wants to remain neutral? How is that possible? He must obey the will of capital, otherwise you can consider replacing him. If you disagree, I will send a letter to Mr. Lei Jun explaining this matter.”

Upon hearing Cheng Yi's words, Mike's heart skipped a beat.

He knew that Cheng Yi knew the mysterious big boss of their Enze Capital.

Many European organizations have investigated the identity of the mysterious tycoon, Mr. Lei Jun.

Ultimately, the trail of Lei Jun's investigation ended when it converged on the Mexican Slim family. In fact, many of the business spies who went to investigate Lei Jun's identity met with bizarre accidents.

Gradually, no one dared to continue investigating Lei Jun's identity.

However, many European conglomerates classify Rebus as part of the Slim family.

Based on their investigation, Rebus and the Slim family have too many similarities.

Many traces of Lei Jun's activities are closely linked to Lebanon, and he has a number of funds frequently flowing in and out of Mexican banks.

The head of the Slim family in Mexico is also of Lebanese descent.

The Slim family, one of the world's top ten wealthiest families, controls 9% of Mexico's GDP, making them incredibly wealthy. Most importantly, the Slim family maintains good relations with many warlords and has even secretly funded several Middle Eastern warlords. No one wants to provoke this formidable force, not even Microsoft.

Mike said in a deep voice, "Mr. Cheng, what specific result do you want?"

"Of course I want us to stick together. Since we are brothers in the same trench, we should stand together against Microsoft's challenge. If we can't even unite internally, how can we talk about fighting against Microsoft?" Cheng Yi said, "I hope you will give Blizzard an optimization suggestion that cannot be changed."

"Continue to reduce compatibility?" Mike asked, his tone questioning.

“No need for that,” Cheng Yi said with a smile. “Let them fine-tune the optimization priority of the latest version of Windows, especially certain specific patch versions, while ensuring that the Moc-OS system version is extremely smooth. Previously, the optimization was mainly negative, which was too obvious. Moreover, the public opinion has been heated up, and Microsoft has also become suspicious of us. Therefore, the next optimization will be a subtle one.”

"For example, we can be less aggressive in memory scheduling and graphics interface calls. Let the Windows version of the game run 5% to 8% slower than it should theoretically be. Note that this time we are not looking for obvious stuttering and bugs, but rather those subtle stuttering and unresponsive feeling that are difficult to quantify and capture."

Mike immediately understood the deeper meaning and said, "I get it. This way, players can feel the difference but can still tolerate it. It won't affect World of Warcraft's online play, and it can also appease Blizzard's technical team. If players get used to and accept this lag, they will instantly understand what smoothness is when they experience the speed of Moc-OS."

"That's how it is." Cheng Yi smiled.

“However, I think Microsoft will realize this soon enough, and when they do, their reaction will definitely be strong,” Mike worriedly added. “They might even remove World of Warcraft from the Windows system.”

“If they really dare to do that, I’d be thrilled,” Cheng Yi said with a smile. “That’s exactly the result I want. If Microsoft really does that, then our spring will truly have arrived.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.” Mike also made up his mind and said, “Mike Mohan may be resistant, but he cannot disobey the will of Enze Capital. I will handle this personally to ensure that the instructions are conveyed and executed in the most discreet way, leaving no written trace or incriminating evidence.”

“Okay,” Cheng Yi said. “Remember, what we want is not to destroy World of Warcraft’s operation on Windows, but to cleverly make it relatively imperfect.”

"clear."

call ended.

Cheng Yi put down the phone and turned his gaze back to the dark night sky outside the window.

Business warfare is like a game of chess; sometimes you need to be open and aggressive, and sometimes you need to make moves silently.

A few days later, a small technical meeting was held at Blizzard headquarters in a delicate atmosphere.

The suggestion from Enze Capital has been conveyed to Chief Technology Officer Alan Wilson through clandestine channels.

Wilson was indeed torn. He loved the purity of technology, but the pressure from capital and the business logic of optimizing resource allocation made it impossible for him to refuse.

Ultimately, after much deliberation, his core engineers issued the order: "Based on the headquarters' strategic adjustments, our next optimization focus will be on performance optimization for the Windows version."

The engineers looked at each other, some puzzled, some seemingly sensing something, but no one raised any objections.

Some code tweaks to improve the smoothness of the Windows version have been quietly implemented.

A seemingly insignificant patch was deployed, which, while resolving the lag issue on Windows, somehow made the Windows version of World of Warcraft less smooth under extreme conditions...

This slight imperfection wasn't so noticeable given the millions of players and the massive amount of gameplay. Seeing that Blizzard had actually cooperated with them to optimize the game, Waters realized he had misunderstood Blizzard.

Perhaps it's because there are too many backdoor programs in their Microsoft system that caused some deviations in World of Warcraft, which has extremely high system requirements.

The Momo Group command center was brightly lit.

Looking at the real-time scrolling public opinion data and the curve of Moc-os system installations on the screen, Cheng Yi slowly said, "Our system developer alliance plan can be officially launched now."

"Understood!" Huang Wenrong responded immediately, and the press release and cooperation plan that had been prepared in advance were instantly released through various channels.

Soon, this highly enticing plan spread throughout the country:

In terms of resources, games from alliance members will have priority access to the Momo Internet Cafe Management System and a vast number of offline virtual trading outlets, enabling them to gain precise ground promotion and user resources.

In terms of technology, Momo Group will open up some underlying interfaces and provide a professional technical team to provide in-depth optimization for the Moc-os system for the games of alliance members, ensuring smooth operation.

In addition, they also shouted slogans to counter hegemony.

It explicitly stated the slogan of "Breaking down technological barriers and building an open ecosystem," directly targeting Microsoft's exclusivity agreement.

As soon as this plan was launched, game companies that had long been threatened or co-opted by Zhang Lingyu announced their participation in the developer alliance led by Momo.

Momo Group's reputation is so great now, and coupled with the fear of Tencent's copying technology, 70% of domestic game companies have joined the Momo System Developer Alliance program.

The other 30% are pessimistic because they believe that Momo Group's days are numbered.

The moment Microsoft moved its Asian headquarters to Yanjing, it sealed Momo Group's fate.

A week later.

World of Warcraft's peak concurrent users quickly climbed to 321 million, breaking the record previously held by Audition Online.

The market share of Moc-OS, especially in the home user market, has also seen a significant leap thanks to this wave of gaming.

Waters was sitting in his office, looking at the latest report, his expression not looking too good.

Although the lag issue in World of Warcraft was resolved, he still underestimated his opponent's ability to manipulate public opinion.

This war was far more complex and dirty than he had imagined.

The only way to bring down Momo Group using conventional business methods is to eliminate its internet cafe business.

After much deliberation, he picked up the encrypted phone and dialed a number.

The person on the other end of the number is Lee Jae-young of Samsung.

“President Li, this is Waters,” Waters said. “I have a plan that can deliver a fatal blow to Momo Group, and I need your assistance.”

After a moment of silence, Lee Jae-yong on the other end of the phone said in broken and awkward Chinese, "GNMLGB".

(End of this chapter)