Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 519 Celebrities are laughing, netizens are making a fuss, and rivals are wearing each other down (Bonus chapter for R-laoshi)
The farm gameplay in the game has only been in development for about a month, from conception to today's announcement.

Mr. Lu also felt that after the Valentine's Day season, domestic cinemas were somewhat lackluster. Apart from relying on the second half of "Under the Hawthorn Tree" to promote and bring back some users, there was no clear direction for the next prime time for moviegoers.

The Axis of Evil analyzed for most of the day and concluded from all angles that the current world was impenetrable, and they were not afraid of waging a subsidy war later on.

Clearly, for time travelers, in addition to the fact that they will intermittently receive the hidden benefits of CDS brought back from abroad, there is a consensus on the general situation.

In the first half of this online ticketing competition, he barely maintained his market share by using methods such as "exclusive distribution" and "LeTV's anti-piracy measures," preventing Damai.cn, which launched a surprise attack six months earlier, from dominating the market. In fact, he put the turning point in the second half of the competition.

For example, Avatar in early 2010, a movie that was officially recommended to be viewed in 4K and IMAX for better value, will become a key battle to narrow the gap and even achieve a comeback.

Because by then, Jiahe's cinema chain will occupy more than 90% of the high-end cinema market share in China. This is the result of the group's tight cash flow over the past two years.

Apart from the phenomenal success of "Avatar," based on past experience, from April to the Lunar New Year season, domestic cinemas will not be able to provide enough audience for the two companies to compete for until at least June.

June's releases include "Night at the Museum," "Transformers 2," and "G.I. Joe."
July's releases include "Ice Age 3", "Overheard", and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".
Up in August, and Wolverine, the second Marvel film produced by North American studios;
以及初步定档9月16的《建国大业》、9月29吾悦文化的《风声》，再往后就是11月贺岁档开始的《2012》。

The bullets for the world are ready, and more and more will be fired.

But before that, if we want to narrow the development gap with Damai.cn, besides seizing every opportunity to launch blockbuster and high-quality films, we can only learn from others.

"Ask the World Farm" is a lesson from others. It may seem like a small pebble in the Axis of Evil, but it is actually a mountain that can crush you.

In this era, live streaming games is not very realistic. With the current technology, if so many celebrities and fans flock to the live stream on a Saturday morning, the live stream will definitely be overwhelmed.

Therefore, today's promotional activities can only be a compromise:
Xiao Liu and Jie Lun's circle of friends first tried out the game in a special mode. They would record gameplay videos locally along with their own commentary, and then hand them over to the staff for editing and splicing.

By the time the game officially launched at 10 AM, players could already see the pinned gameplay videos on Weibo, Zhijie Video, Sina Weibo, and other online platforms. It is believed that other websites will also pay special attention to it and spare no effort in showing their curiosity to this seemingly small game, "Wenjie Farm".

A simple Flash game, and you actually hired seven or eight A-list and B-list celebrities to promote it?
Is someone burning money?

Oh wait, maybe it won't even cost money.

His wife, Liu Yifei, is a free employee; his girlfriends and friends are either celebrities or people he brought along to interact with.

Objectively speaking, Xiao Liu's circle of friends has benefited a lot from her celebrity status, converting many people into fans who love her because of her. It's just that this small circle isn't as utilitarian as the Teddy Sisters group, so they never mention it.

The only one who seemed somewhat out of place, Da Mimi, has fallen behind.

However, from a business perspective, Jay provided gameplay support for the game with special seeds, which is a collaboration on game content rather than an endorsement. As is customary, Wenjie paid a friendly price as compensation.

Because there are no plans to get deeply involved in the game industry for the time being, Wenjie Games is currently a secondary organization affiliated with Butian Pictures. Even many of their operations and development personnel are part-time or guest-workers.

With celebrities personally demonstrating the game, it's bound to become a hit in a short time. The rest depends on the planning and operation capabilities of Wenjie's newly established game department.

At the outset of the planning, Lu Kuan also considered this question:
Without a social network of acquaintances as a foundation for creating a user-friendly interface, will this phenomenal casual game face too many limitations?

Are farm and parking games impossible to succeed without a social networking app like Tencent QQ?
Not necessarily.

In its previous form, Happy Farm relied on websites like Kaixin.com, and its viral marketing strategy consisted of the simplest email invitations and cross-platform traffic redirection, which precisely targeted the white-collar demographic.

At its peak in 2009, it had 7000 million registered users and 2300 million daily active users, until it was overtaken by Tencent six months later. This was not due to any fault of its own.

This version of the farm game features various innovative settings, continuing the strategy of being primarily free with points-based rewards. Leveraging the resources and channels of the game world, it is far superior to Kaixin001.

Coupled with the enormous influence brought by celebrities, it is enough to make up for the so-called lack of familiar social connections in the context of "marking the boat to find the sword".

Furthermore, the Wenjie system has spared no effort in promotion and publicity.

In its previous life, Kaixin.com accurately targeted urban white-collar workers, who were the main consumers of movie tickets, video memberships, and e-commerce shopping.

In addition, with Focus Media's intensive blitz in office buildings in first- and second-tier cities across the country, is there anything that can reach this main user group more easily than the Wenjie system?

Around 8 a.m., Xiao Liu was already calling out to his friends in the QQ group.

[Vitamin Qian]: Beep beep! Gather together!
Tang Yan, Su Chang, Jing Tian, ​​Bao Qiang, Jie Lun and others were all present, replying in twos and threes.

Yang Siwei from Starlink was also there; her job involves promoting and hyping content related to collaboration between celebrities and industries.

[Yang Tianzhen]: I'm going to coordinate with the technical and post-production teams. You guys chat first and familiarize yourselves with the game controls!

[Jaylen]: I'm in position. Don't steal my vegetables before we start! Oh, and I'm arriving in Beiping tomorrow.

[Vitamin Qian]: Aren't you filming "The Treasure Hunter"? Why did you suddenly fly to Beiping? Remember to come over for dinner, and maybe get some autographed CDs!

[Jay Lun]: I have been invited to participate in the "Charm of Dongda" concert, where there will be a choral performance.

Of course, "The Treasure Hunter" isn't exactly a great film either. China Film Group also invested in it, and it will be released during the Lunar New Year holiday.

[Su Chang]: I want to come and freeload too. Your wild pine nuts from Northeast China are really delicious. I'm going to take some with me this time.

[Vitamin Qian]: ? How dare you steal a pregnant woman's snack?

[Su Chang]: Last month I went to the US to reshoot a few scenes of "Inception" and bought a few custom-made dolls for my goddaughter. You can decide what to do with them.

[Vitamin Qian]: I'm not looking at it. It's not like it's a gift to me. Besides, do you favor girls over boys? Where's my son?
[Su Chang]: Your son? Jing Tian and Fan Bingbing have already bought a whole carload of toys and clothes, and they want more?
……

After chatting for a while, Tang Yan and Da Tiantian joined in.

[Jing Tian] who just finished climbing the stairs: Is Jay Chou coming to Beijing? Let's go out for a meal and karaoke sometime! I'm really good at singing "The Promised Happiness" lately!
[Jaylen]: No problem. I miss the heated, semi-open swimming pool at the richest man's house. I've been drinking a lot of bubble tea lately...

[Tangyan]: Same here, same here. I'll also go check on the poor pregnant woman. Has she been grounded by Aunt Liu?
[Vitamin Qian]: ==. My husband goes out partying, and my mother treats me like a prisoner. I can't live like this anymore.

Everyone simultaneously sent her a pile of poop.

Listen to this, is this even human language?

Your husband is the richest man in the world, earning money to support the family. Your elderly mother, who is over fifty, takes care of you. You are also pregnant with twins. Is there any female celebrity in the world who is happier than you?
Sweetie: You should just dump such a terrible husband! You're always getting the better deal and then acting all innocent!

Mr. Lu has already started filming "Ball Lightning" and has been scouting locations and sets at the China Film Group's Huairou base recently. Therefore, Huang Xiaoming, Zhou Xun, and others did not participate in the farm's interactive promotion this time.

The sci-fi film is set in multiple locations, but the scenes at the Huairou base are not numerous. This is mainly because it is already early April, and Liu Yifei's delivery is expected within the next two months, so it is impossible for him to leave Beiping at this time.

Xiao Liu naturally wanted to go to the film set to play, but Liu Xiaoli could no longer indulge her and was under intense surveillance and discipline every day.

Actually, Liu Xiaolv's physical condition was fine. In the late stages of pregnancy, apart from her twin belly being a bit bigger, all her indicators and her physical condition were very good, but her mother couldn't rest easy.

The last person to join the chat group was Bao Qiang. He became a huge star after "Lost in Thailand," and his classic scenes, such as drinking milk, have been widely parodied on Zhijie Video. His personality also fits the farm theme very well.

[Vitamin Qian] A little gossip: Baoqiang, you're not dating lately! I saw the photos Zhuo Wei took, remember not to go to Lido next time!
[Jing Tian]: Share your happiness, Bao Qiang, I'll sneak some more food from you later!
[Baoqiang]: ...

Aside from Jay Chou, who isn't that bored, all the other female celebrities are interested.

The main reason is that we are all quite familiar with each other. Since 04, we have often gone to Haidilao for meals and hot pot. Today, Huang Bo, Hu Ge, and others are missing because they are all focused on their careers, so we couldn't bring them over to make up the numbers.

The focus is still on Xiao Liu and Jie Lun.

[Baoqiang]: He's an ordinary person, not in the entertainment industry. He'll treat everyone to a meal when the time is right.

After the promotion of "Under the Hawthorn Tree" ended, Xiao Liu was confined to his home, and even the celebration banquet was ordered to be held at home by Liu Xiaoli. He was really feeling very stifled.

Yang Siwei was having so much fun chatting and joking with his friends that he almost forgot about the important matter at hand until he returned from work, and was shocked.

[Yang Tianzhen]: Ladies and gentlemen, don't let Liu Yifei lead you astray! Today we're working for the capitalists! My year-end bonus is in your hands!
Everyone, please post a Weibo first. We'll activate your account permissions in the backend later. Feel free to do whatever you want—planting, stealing crops, watering others' crops to death...

In short, the funnier and more farcical the better!
After chatting and laughing for a while, everyone got to work. They were all veteran actors, so these things were no problem for them.

Moreover, after trying it out for a while, I found it to be quite addictive, especially since celebrities' Weibo friends are mostly their social circle and work colleagues, which is difficult for ordinary people to add.

Fans waiting for the game to open at 10 o'clock immediately spotted promotions on Weibo by several celebrities, with Liu Yifei and Jay Chou attracting the most attention.

There's no need to elaborate on Xiao Liu; Jay Chou's "Capricorn" from last year continued to dominate the charts and will win him his 20th Golden Melody Award for Best Male Singer this year.

In 2009, Baidu search volume for his album "Capricorn" reached 23.8 billion times, ranking first among Chinese artists. In 2008, "Capricorn" also topped both the album and single charts on Tencent Music.

The songs that Da Tiantian just mentioned, "Rice Fragrance" and "The Promised Happiness," are both from this genre.

Liu Yifei casually took two photos at home and then posted them on Weibo with the caption:

Today is the 32nd day that my husband and mother have kept me at home while I prepare for childbirth. Please help my baby!
I just called Lu Kuan, but that ruthless man is currently on set fighting for Chinese science fiction. I don't know when I'll be able to call him back.

Then I went to the window and looked at the great mother, Ms. Liu, who was tending to her vegetable garden and greenhouse.

So I quietly went back to my computer, and I planted vegetables too!

Welcome everyone to play "Farm of Wonders"! I'm going to water Jay Chou's farm like crazy and show him what "the troubles of dandelions" are all about!
……

From yesterday's official announcement to today's teaser, this Flash game has whetted the appetites of netizens.

Like the axis of evil, they were all speculating about what kind of "epoch-making masterpiece" this was, that it would involve Liu Yifei, Jay Chou, and so many popular stars to create hype.
Even if it's not a proper endorsement, this kind of hype would be incredible in any other online game, right?

Early Saturday morning, a group of idle internet users darted from one celebrity's Weibo account to another, and before nine o'clock they found promotional posts from seven or eight celebrities. Xiao Liu's post had already attracted a crowd of onlookers.

"With a wife like this, what time do you come home every day? Washing machine: I don't come home."

"Say it again? If you say it again, you'll be deprived of your chance to play on the computer!"

"Ugh, washing machines are such a waste of talent! They should be killed!"

"The person upstairs is fawning over the 'celestial being' again, what a scoundrel!"

Xiao Liu's Weibo post attracted many male fans, but they lost interest as soon as they saw it was a farm game. What good thing could something be without even a client?
However, female fans became the largest group of onlookers, and soon the gameplay videos appeared on the homepages of major websites.

The background noise is Xiao Liu's own rambling about what kind of game it is, how it's casual and suitable for all ages, and so on.

Most importantly, it emphasizes that you can play simply by registering a Wenjie account, and the free gameplay is interactive and entertaining enough;

However, some special items that do not affect the game balance cannot be purchased and can only be redeemed using points earned through Weibo, Zhijie Video, Wenjie Mall, and Wenjie Tickets.

In order to increase the potential of Wenjie Ticketing to attract customers during the off-season, the weight of points for ticketing stored value has been specially increased.

The first thing you see is a minimalist pixel-style interface, with only 6 plots of land to be cultivated in the main scene.

The right-hand toolbar displays basic icons such as the watering can, weed killer, and virtual crop-stealing gloves, while the friends list shows real-time updates from popular players.
Jay Chou (LV.1 Novice Farmer)

Jing Tian (LV.1 Novice Farmer)

……

Xiao Liu's ID on Weibo is still 【Vitamin Qian】, and friends can change their nicknames, which is very convenient.

What followed was a simple process of receiving a beginner's gift pack of seeds and farming tools, and then starting to plant, so simple that the audience found it a bit boring.

However, the animation team established by Butian Pictures last year produced pretty good visuals and UI, which would be considered top-tier even by today's standards for web games.

Dumpling is currently working on the technology within this team, while also preparing for the concept and many other matters related to the "Chinese Mythology Universe".

"Look everyone, I have three ripe cabbages here. I planted them last night, and they'll be ready in about ten minutes. Now I have to remember to harvest them and also keep my friends from stealing them, haha!"

Xiao Liu, who was doing game commentary for the first time, was still a little unaccustomed to it. Before he could finish a sentence, he saw Jing Tian's avatar light up!
"They're ripe! Let's go pick vegetables at Sweetie's house!"

"Can a pregnant woman picking vegetables be considered stealing? Right? I need to supplement my vitamins, and Sweetie will definitely understand."

Liu Yifei precisely clicked on Jing Tian's lush green cabbage patch with the mouse. The vegetable-stealing glove icon flashed silver, and a system notification popped up:
[Successfully stole 2 cabbages from @Jingtian! Earned the title 'Rookie Thief'!]

She chuckled into the microphone: "This title system can be upgraded, and you can even get titles and achievements if you get caught. Everyone can explore it further."

After saying that, he sneaked into Jay Chou's potato field, dug up three potato plants, and maliciously sowed weed seeds before leaving (to delay the growth of the crops). The tender seedlings were instantly submerged by gray-green weeds.

Playing games completely unleashed Xiao Liu's true nature, leading him to commit numerous atrocities, including burning, killing, and looting.

"I'm here at Tangtang's strawberry farm!" She excitedly clicked on Tangyan Farm, only to find that every strawberry plant was covered with a crop protection cover to prevent theft and pests. Her vegetable-stealing gloves bounced back with a bang when they hit the transparent cover.

Without hesitation, Liu Yifei switched to her friends list and explained to the screen recorder: "I secretly played the beta version on Lu Kuan's computer. The others have just started playing it. I need to steal more now, otherwise it won't be so easy for them to get the hang of it."

The prediction came true. Just as I clicked on Su Chang's tomato rack, the system suddenly warned: [You have been marked by @SuChang's electronic fence! Stealing vegetables next time will trigger an alarm!]

Then look at the sign on the other side: Pregnant woman gains 10 pounds from stealing vegetables!
Xiao Liu angrily cursed: "That scoundrel! He's not very harmful, but extremely insulting!"

A barrage of laughing and crying emojis filled the screen. The game was childish and seemed to have no technical content, but the charm of this kind of social interaction among acquaintances was very strong.

Ten minutes later, Xiao Liu returned home with a full load of goods, only to find his hometown devastated.

"Oh my God!"

[@JingTian stole 3 of your cabbages!]

[@Tangyan stole 2 of your strawberries!]

[@SuChang, please use 3 caterpillar jars on your vegetable garden!]

[@J杰伦 has used a Locust Plague Card on your vegetable patch!]

The elaborate scarecrow was turned around to face the field, and the wooden sign was altered to read: "Pregnant women should eat more insects to supplement protein!"

Several celebrities uploaded videos one after another, each with their own style. Some, like Liu Yifei, were wicked and malicious; others, like Su Chang, were extremely vigilant and defensive; and still others, like Jielun, were so ruthless that nothing was left standing before they could even react…

Liu Yifei's final words, "The country is broken, but the mountains and rivers remain," and her furious outburst caused a surge in comments, with "Call your husband now!" becoming a highly praised reply.

At 10:00 AM sharp, countless Weibo, e-commerce, and video users flocked in. One account connected all users of Wenjie with one-click login, the friend list refreshed rapidly, and avatars lit up one after another.

How large is the current membership system of Wenjie?

The mall has 1.6 million registered users, Weibo has 1.7 million users, and the largest number of users are Zhijie Video, which is mainly free, with 1.8 million users.

Among these, apart from the fact that the number of users in the mall is slightly lower than that of Ali, and the number of users in Zhijie Video is also lower than that of the original major piracy sites, the number of registered Internet users in the Wenjie system ranks second in the country overall.

The first place is self-evident...

To enhance the fun, the system has halved the ripening time for the first planting, allowing players to quickly experience the charm of stealing crops.

After a period of frenzied activity, netizens began to spread rapidly like wildfire in order to obtain the new user gift pack and invitation gift pack. In just one morning, the number of Weibo users who registered through the most popular channel increased by 120 million.

A lightweight casual game, through a psychological addiction pattern of triggers, actions, rewards, and engagement, has surprisingly helped Wenjie's software achieve reverse user acquisition, while also incorporating some aspects of social interaction among acquaintances.

At least on Weibo, those who follow each other are usually acquaintances and friends, who can be used as partners for activities like stealing virtual crops or playing games.

The next step is to wait until the game truly becomes popular and see if the strategy of attracting registrations and spending money through this points-based consumption model can successfully retain users.

The points system in the mall is not directly linked to the amount of money a user spends on goods. The system sets a point ratio; otherwise, users who buy big items could roam freely, and the game would quickly lose its balance and playability.

If successful, not only will Wenjie Tickets have a large number of movie ticket buyers, but purchasing them will also mean exclusive use during the summer and Lunar New Year seasons.

With the addition of Zhijie Video and the online store, it's easy to imagine a large influx of new users.
-
The celebrities are laughing, the netizens are making a fuss, and the rivals are wearing each other down.

In the Damai.cn headquarters office, the same group of people who had been drinking and chatting happily the day before were still sitting there on Saturday morning.

But one older one is gone, and one younger one has been added.

Old Liu has gone back to the United States on business, while Old Wang's son, Si Cong, returned to China last night to prepare to go back to his hometown with his mother to sweep the tombs and pay respects to their ancestors during the Qingming Festival.

With such a lively event happening today, and being a game enthusiast, he naturally flocked to it.

This second-generation player, who spent the whole night playing Shadow Fiend solo on HaoFang, was busy running his farm game. Zong Fuli and several other second-generation players in the industry had their avatars lit up in his friend list.

The built-in dialog box in the Ask World Farm is designed to enhance the fun of social interaction among acquaintances.

They chatted while secretly stealing.

Wang Sicong: "Why are they all online? You guys aren't competitors with Wenjie, are you? Why are you paying so much attention?"

"I'm trying to convince my dad to change the spokesperson. I was thinking of getting Liu Yifei. You can't go wrong with purified water if you choose her," Zong Fuli replied. "I just saw her post on Weibo. Let's see what new ideas the richest man has up his sleeve this time."

"I recommend something really pure to you. Have you seen 'Meteor Shower'? What do you think of Jing Tian?"

Wang Sicong is trying to emulate Bill Gates when he first started his business, peddling his products at both the upstream and downstream ends. In the present day, he's simply moving between Wahaha and Jingtian, persuading each other.

The main reason was also to have an excuse to ask Jing Tian out, since he hadn't had the chance to see her since the premiere of "Under the Hawthorn Tree".

The second-generation heir couldn't help but doubt his own looks. Was he really as unattractive as his father said?

Zong Fuli was a little uncomfortable with this woman's overly familiar manner; they had only dined together twice: "She's nice, but her voice sounds like she's from Jing Tian Bai Sui Shan, which could easily lead to misunderstandings, as if we were advertising for Bai Sui Shan."

"Si Cong?"

His father's slightly stern voice was like a heavy hammer blow to Wang Sicong's head. He looked up in surprise and said confidently, "President Wang, leaders, I have almost finished studying the game."

His working tone left Wang Jianlin with no reason to continue getting angry. However, older fathers often had the habit of disciplining their children in front of others; this was both a form of encouragement and a way of demonstrating their authority.

"Don't you like playing games? I called you here today to give you some advice, what's the trick to these games?"

What effects will this method have on attracting traffic?

Wang Sicong closed the computer; he had mastered this mini-game, comparable to those on 4399, in less than ten minutes.

"Lu Kuan seems pretty amazing; he's really good at both tabletop and under-table games."

Wang Jianlin retorted with displeasure, “Speak properly! What do you mean by ‘under the table’ and ‘on the table’? If you can’t speak politely, then get out!”

The second-generation's lips twitched. His original intention was to appear mature in front of these people, as Ma Yun and Li Yanhong were both big names in the internet industry.

"I did some research, and this game has been around since 2008, but without the support of major internet companies to cultivate users, it has remained largely ignored."

"Wenjie's current strategy is still the same old celebrity effect, but with the addition of social fission."

Wang Sicong analyzed: "Think about it, the people who can go to the movies together are all family and friends, right? These people are naturally partners who can sit down and play this game together, or at least follow each other on Weibo."

"Originally, this kind of game was only for people who knew each other. Stealing vegetables from each other's crops was like teasing each other in life, full of bad humor but harmless. However, social interaction with acquaintances is not Wenjie's strength, but its weakness."

"But through the viral growth of Weibo and moviegoers, a weakness can become a strength. If I have two or three friends who usually go to the movies together, and now that I'm playing this game, whether it's to claim the friend invitation gift pack or to have more friends to interact with in the game, I will definitely invite them to participate. This kind of viral growth happens naturally."

Seeing the business tycoons nodding as they listened, Xiao Wang felt quite pleased with himself, and thus became even more talkative:
"Secondly, the division within the celebrity's fan base is even more terrifying. Just looking at Weibo, Liu Yifei has 1700 million followers, and Jay Chou has 1900 million. If we remove the duplicates, we'd say they have a combined total of 2400 million followers. Even if only 20% of these users are attracted to spend money on these points-for-star items, that's still nearly 500 million moviegoers."

Neither Lao Ma nor Li Yanhong had ever made games, but that didn't stop them from having unique insights.

Li Yanhong's expression was serious: "Their points-for-props system is very powerful. You can't recharge, and you have to use points to interact with celebrities, so the only option is to spend money."

"It both prevents RMB players from disrupting the balance and allows ordinary users to unknowingly spend money in the Wenjie ecosystem, just like exchanging chips in a casino."

Ma Yun's alien-like face was no longer as bold as yesterday; her brows were furrowed: "The key thing we need to do now is to judge how long this game will remain popular."

"If we're just cheering them on during the off-season and they'll disappear quickly, then we'll just have to play the price war normally during the peak movie season and we don't need to worry about them."

"But if this game can continue to provide them with financial support and user stickiness, then we will definitely have to follow suit. I estimate that the people at Ali and Baidu could make such a thing in a few days, right? It's just a matter of how to counter their celebrity-driven user acquisition problem."

Everyone remained silent, their minds simultaneously echoing the old chairman's words about the celebratory wine from yesterday.

Lu Kuan, this scoundrel, is always up to his tricks, risky tricks, and bad tricks. Who would have thought that Wen Jie would pull such a "strange trick" during the off-season for movies from April to June?
It's so strange that these individuals' careers are unprecedented and unheard of, and it's even impossible to judge them now.

To enjoy this wine in a pleasant mood, even with such a huge advantage, it seems impossible without going through some hardships.

The current situation is that Damai.cn offers users discounts for top-ups, first-order promotions, and the usual "one-yuan flash sales." While the discounts are substantial, there are no other unique offers.

The unique membership-binding strategy of LeTV was disrupted by the time traveler's anti-piracy measures.

Although LeEco has long since moved beyond the 404 error, Youku and Tudou, which he led, have been sued by the "Anti-Piracy Alliance," and relevant departments are cracking down on them.

Without piracy, these pirate sites that used to grow unchecked would lose their advantage. As a user, why wouldn't I go to Zhijie Video, which has the most complete copyright coverage on the entire internet, to subscribe and watch ads?

But does this farm game from the game platform really play a significant role in attracting new users and increasing user engagement?
Given all the benefits offered by Damai.cn, Wenjie is leveraging its strong financial position to further enhance its services, while also allowing users to convert every dollar they spend into points.

The value of these points is clearly the weight that shakes the scales in the hearts of users. Now, the doubts and concerns of the evil axis are about how heavy this weight called "Ask the World Farm" really is.
Three or four ounces is fine, at most we will continue to increase the subsidy, but what if it weighs more than a thousand pounds?

Judging from the current online buzz and the analysis by Wang Jianlin's son, it seems a very bad premonition is coming true.

This premonition had occurred twice before. This kind of problem isn't too bad for Ma Yun and Li Yanhong, since they are both CEOs of internet companies. Whether or not they rode the wave of a trend, their success is the result of their hard work and dedication in the business world.

But it was a bit of a challenge for Lao Wang. After all, he was more focused on the overall strategy and didn't have much experience with these specific industries, especially the intersection of the internet, entertainment, and film industries.

Fortunately, this son of a bitch behaved quite well today. He should be able to graduate in two months and come back to become the vice president of Wanda Pictures without any problem.

"Let's inform Chairman Liu," Wang Jianlin said in a deep voice. "From now until June, two months, if we let him continue like this, it will be like rowing against the current."

It's fair to say that Chairman Liu is the undisputed "business leader" of this era. Although Ma Yun, Wang Jianlin, and others have disagreements on how to handle certain matters within this small business group, no one would disagree that the former chairman, who served as the vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, is the pillar of stability.

Even after Lianxiang was privatized, Old Ma might actually appreciate and admire his methods even more.

The call was quickly connected, and Liu Chuanzhi was actually quite bewildered as well. It was no easy feat for someone his age to understand such multi-industry collaborative operations.

It wasn't until his daughter, Liu Qin, offered a few words of explanation that the old chairman sneered, "It's just a game, what's the rush?"

"Furthermore, isn't there absolutely no problem with this method of attracting users to pre-charge through points?"

Liu Chuanzhi, being shrewd and calculating, seized upon the other party's "suspected weakness" within just three to five minutes: "This method of offering benefits to points users through a 'rebate deposit-attracting' scheme to attract them to pre-charge, but there are not enough movies available for consumption during the off-season."

Does this involve illegal fundraising?

"Furthermore, if users' prepaid funds are not used specifically for consumption, but are instead misappropriated for investment or other purposes, does this constitute the operation of a fund pool?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yun and the others' expressions changed. Wang Jianlin swallowed hard, wanting to retort, but after glancing at Li and Ma with a solemn gaze, he remained silent.

"This..." The naive Wang Sicong was about to say something when he was stopped by Wang Jianlin's fierce gaze!
The second generation stood there dumbfounded, not knowing why the meeting room had suddenly become so tense.

President Liu casually raised these two questions, so why did none of his "beloved ministers" say a word?

"Rebate deposit attraction" is a term used by commercial banks and financial institutions. It refers to the practice of indirectly increasing deposit interest rates by offering depositors cash rebates, securities, or gifts. For example, cash, shopping cards, or food and oil products may be given as gifts when depositing money.

This is a violation for financial institutions, and illegal for other unlicensed institutions.

Those interested can look up cases such as the Baixin Bank Xiami Points case and the Shaanxi Yiwanjia case.

As for the old chairman's subsequent talk about "fund pool operation," he spoke cryptically, but what he really meant was to accuse Wenjie of "illegally absorbing public deposits" and "illegally raising funds"!

Would the case leave such a superficial and abrupt handle? Obviously not. It's just a minor flaw on the surface, and it's completely different from the cases mentioned above.

In the simplest terms, if you ignore the financial attributes of payment tools and simply let users buy movie tickets from Wenjie Tickets, can you call that illegal or irregular?
Is it illegal for you to top up your Wanda membership card? Is it illegal for men to top up their membership cards at foot massage parlors?
That's just sophistry.

Chairman Liu knowingly and deliberately applied these charges, and if a real confrontation were to take place, it would be a fight to the death.

This time, he was really annoyed by Boss Lu.

However, he has the confidence and government resources, but others may not want to get on this boat.
Therefore, Wang Jianlin glared at his son, fearing that he might say something reckless and disrupt his long-standing principle of "non-alignment" in business.

Business competition is fine, but I won't get involved in a life-or-death struggle.

Because he had observed this person quietly over the past few years, he could see his true worth and ruthlessness; there was no need to provoke such a person.

Ma Yun broke the silence first: "President Liu, perhaps we should look for other solutions. The game just launched today, and its quality remains to be seen."

Liu Chuanzhi whispered something to his daughter, who then spoke a word in English and left.

He chuckled and said, "They call this 'the blade is yet to be tested,' they're just waiting to 'kill one person in ten steps.' Are we supposed to wash our necks clean?"

"Isn't Lu Kuan fond of using both commercial and legal means? Let's follow suit! We'll ask people to file a formal complaint and accuse him!"

Old Liu said in a deep voice, "We're not slandering him, but this kind of thing can be taken to the law, and the relevant departments can make a fair judgment. If he doesn't break the law, he can continue to develop freely!"

These words sounded "fair," but even Wang Sicong, who looked embarrassed, understood them perfectly—

True fairness is impossible; at best, relative fairness can be achieved through the power struggle between the forces behind the two sides.

This insistence on resorting to legal means is nothing more than a delaying tactic, mimicking Boss Lu's own crackdown on Hunan TV's "excessive entertainment"—first interrupting your legal efforts, and by the time the law restores justice, you've already wasted these past few months. (Chapter 267)
When the next peak movie-going season arrives, the competitive landscape will remain unchanged.

Then what about all the lively promotions and publicity that you're doing right now? Isn't that utterly ridiculous?
Otherwise, I cannot avenge the old chairman's grievances. How could I have been repeatedly humiliated by a young man like you? This time, I'll show you just how many eyes Master Ma really has!

This matter is of great importance, and seeing that he was being relentlessly pressured, Wang Jianlin, for the first time ever, felt somewhat like he was caught in a dilemma.

Damn it, this "Chu" is actually a competitor?
Unfortunately, Chairman Liu is cunning and ruthless, and Lu Kuan has never been gentle in his methods, making it really difficult for them to be caught in the middle.

They didn't want to give up the current favorable situation of Damai.cn, but they dared not cross the line or break the scope of normal business competition to fight against Boss Lu.

But conventional methods seem to be ineffective against him...

It's so hard.

Wang Jianlin was uneasy, and Lao Ma was certainly not at ease with such a proposal.

The memory of being subjected to various forms of "mental humiliation" by the city's criminal investigation department before the Lunar New Year is still vivid in his mind. Isn't he afraid? (Chapter 499)
The reason why outstanding people are outstanding is that they are good at knowing when to advance and retreat, rather than simply being aggressive and ruthless.

"Advance" is a means, not an end; "retreat" is a strategy, not cowardice.

Even if he harbored deep resentment towards the "bad seed," he dared not recklessly provoke such a "border conflict" again.

Even Li Yanhong, after being reminded of Google by Boss Lu during the Spring Festival Gala, didn't he ponder and worry for a long time afterward?

Liu Chuanzhi chuckled on the other end of the phone: "You three, I think you're scared of being beaten."

He sighed: "In that case, you should come up with a plan first, and we can discuss it again when I return to China in half a month!"

beep...

The former chairman, unusually, did not display his magnanimous seniority to his collaborators, but instead hung up the phone after leaving behind a few sarcastic remarks.

Wang Jianlin and the other two secretly breathed a sigh of relief, while Wang Sicong, who was watching coldly from the sidelines, sneered inwardly:
Including my own father, who usually acts like a shrewd and powerful businessman, he's now become a nervous wreck because of a simple Flash game.

Today is only the first day of the game's release, but it has already caused quite a stir online.

Hey! I wish I could achieve that someday. In fact, from Wang Sicong's perspective, the key to winning this game was actually the resources of celebrities like Liu Yifei and Jay Chou.

This is the advantage that others cannot easily replicate, and therefore—

I wish I could get my hands on Jing Tian.

……

Finally, Wang Jianlin broke the silence: "I don't like to gossip behind people's backs, but I want to remind everyone of one thing."

"Whether it's Baidu, Ali, or Wanda, our current commercial and intellectual resources are far behind those two."

Old Wang gave a rare wry smile and said, "To be honest, although we're not exactly nobody, it's a battle between gods, so we'd better not get caught in the crossfire. What do you think?"

"I agree."

"Yes."

Ma Yun said calmly, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, and the show of force is not something that can be done in a short time. But the plan proposed by Chairman Liu has already deviated from the commercial competition of policy and is heading directly toward administrative intervention."

"Even if we win, it will be a Pyrrhic victory, and we cannot afford the consequences."

Li Yanhong nodded: "In fact, if he wanted to pick on the weak to vent his anger, our three families would be the first to suffer the consequences."

He still can't forget Google.

The topic is getting more and more depressing, and these old folks are now in a really bad mood.

"Um... gentlemen, may I offer my opinion?"

The three of them looked at Wang Sicong in unison. Ma Yun joked, "Like father, like son! Little Wang is quite quick-witted. His analysis just now was indeed reasonable."

Li Yanhong didn't hold back on a compliment: "Si Cong has studied abroad and has broad knowledge. Could you please enlighten us again?"

"Mr. Li, you flatter him." Wang Jianlin remained expressionless, but felt a little pleased as he turned to his son, "Speak some genuine insights, and don't just spout nonsense."

He then picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, only to find it had gone cold before he realized it.

Wang Sicong pondered for a moment and said, "For internet products, the most important thing is still the user base."

"Wenjie's subsidiary, Zhijie, covers almost all the needs of internet users, from blogs and e-commerce to microblogs and videos. That's why they can launch a social game and it becomes a hit."

"We are indeed somewhat at a loss. I guess Alispace, in which Mr. Ma has a stake, is also out of reach. After all, without celebrity resources to drive traffic, it pales in comparison to Wenjie."

Ma Yun was unfazed: "Indeed, since his debut, Lu Kuan has not only firmly controlled Liu Yifei, a major influencer, but also attracted too many celebrity resources with his director status. We really can't compare in this respect."

Apart from film content companies like Wenjie, other types of companies can only offer money to celebrities, but what they want are resources.

Having money doesn't necessarily mean having resources, but having resources can elevate your status, making money readily available.

Wang Sicong laughed and said, "If we don't rely on celebrities, how about we rely on our mass base? Although Wenjie is involved in a wide range of fields, they are missing one crucial branch of the Internet."

"What?" Wang Jianlin frowned.

Ma Yun exclaimed in surprise, "You mean?"

Li Yanhong was beaten to it, but the first thing that came to mind was this large factory in Shenzhen.

He and Lao Ma had long considered bringing Penguin on board, but the foundation for cooperation was not solid enough, and there was simply not enough incentive to attract Ma Huateng to join.

but now……

"I think Wenjie did its best to make this game, otherwise they wouldn't have needed such a big-name celebrity to attract traffic. But what if they had handed it over to Tencent?"

Wang Sicong was slightly moved by the sight of the three people in front of him, including his father. He said smugly, "Tencent has 5 to 6 million registered users right now. If they really import this game, the monthly active users will still be tens of millions, no matter how bad it is."

"They could directly embed the farm into Penguin Space, just like in Ask World, where users can steal from each other's friends without registering. Isn't this game tailor-made for that Mr. Ma?"

Stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade!
That kid's got a sharp mind!
Why did Wang Sicong have to "talk too much"?
Where there are popular games and internet products, vines will sprout, just like mold will sprout where there is oil.

Tencent's previous attempts to follow trends have indeed had some failures. For example, its microblogging product Taotao was almost ignored, Paipai.com was barely alive, and even Ali and Wenjie were nowhere to be seen.

But farms are different. Farms are a godsend for penguins. With such an opportunity presented to them, just like in their previous life, the penguin farm would not let it pass by.

Li Yanhong recalled a crucial question: "Wenjie must have registered the copyright, and the game must have been bought out."

Wang Sicong answered fluently: "If a farm can be built, why can't a ranch? Even a simple fishpond can be built. This can't be considered an infringement, can it?"

"It's hard to say, but he and the old chairman are actually the same kind of people." Ma Yun shook her head awkwardly.

You can only say you have a good eye for people. Anyone who imitates someone, regardless of whether it infringes on copyright, will definitely be involved in a lawsuit or a war of words.

“That’s not something we need to consider,” Wang Sicong tried to persuade the three. “We’re just providing Penguin with a solution; whether they do it or not is their business.”

"If we do it, Damai.cn can provide some value-added services similar to Wenjie, but even if Tencent does it independently without us, what will we lose?"

Ma Yun clapped her hands and laughed, "If that's really the case, let them fight it out! The conflict and focus aren't on Damai.cn."

He stood up and gestured to Wang Jianlin, who had been silent all along: "Old Wang, your son is something else, he's got a sharp mind!"

"I think Si Cong's proposal is a good one. Let's talk to Chairman Liu and put it into action as soon as possible, shall we?"

Li Yanhong glanced at Ma Yun, and he was also a little impatient.

The pressure that the time traveler brought to everyone was too great.

"Dad, what do you think?"

Old Wang silently stood up, his expression unchanged: "Then let's do it. There's nothing else to say."

After the group left Damai.cn headquarters one by one, and the father and son got into the car and drove away together, looking at Wang Sicong's smug expression, the old father said in a deep voice:

"Let me teach you something, Si Cong."

"Huh?" The second generation was still immersed in his own cleverness and did not notice his father's strange behavior from the conference room to the car.

Wang Jianlin's face was ashen: "Didn't you notice that after you finished explaining your thinking, Ma Yun and Li Yanhong had already guessed your plan?"

"Why don't they say it? Because they want you to say it."

Wang Sicong wasn't stupid. Recalling Ma Yun's "You mean?" and Li Yanhong's "the proposal put forward by Sicong," it was clearly all a lead-in!

The still-naive second-generation heir was immediately drenched in cold sweat!
He swallowed hard. "Dad, I just suggested a plan. I hope it won't cause any big trouble?"

"Ha! What are you afraid of? It's not a big deal right now. I just want you to know that these two people you thought were 'cowardly as mice' when facing Lu Kuan are actually cunning as foxes."

"With a struggle-oriented approach like Liu Chuanzhi's, it's clear to anyone with eyes that a major or minor clash is inevitable in the future."

"If a liquidation situation like Huayi's has occurred, how will the remaining three of us cope? In the course of our infighting, who was behind all the scheming?"

Wang Jianlin pointed at his son: "At least this time, it's just you and me, father and son."

"If Lu Kuan really wants to take reciprocal revenge, it's true that the whip will be lashed at Damai.cn, but it's also inevitable that Wanda will be resented."

Old Wang looked out the window at the blazing afternoon sun obscured by thick clouds: "Si Cong, people should have a sense of awe. You can use your unrestrained behavior as a protective shield, just like him, but you must know who you can afford to offend and who you can't."

"I'm saying this not because I'm afraid of having a wide road ahead, but because I want to avoid getting involved in karma with people I don't need to offend or with whom I don't need to make enemies. Always leave yourself a way out."

Wang Sicong, whether he listened or not, looked at the suddenly darkening sky like his father, knowing that he had already stepped into this ever-changing world of martial arts.

The slightest misstep could lead to a complete collapse.

This is a cutthroat arena where "the winner takes all and the loser disappears." Its cruelty lies not in open conflict, but in the seemingly unintentional causes and effects that will eventually turn into lightning strikes against the reckless on a dark and stormy day.
-
Xiao Liu played the farm game for a while, but his elderly mother, who came upstairs to check, ordered him to stop. Just as netizens had predicted, don't computers emit radiation?
Correspondingly, her electronic vegetable garden was taken over by Liu Xiaoli, who reluctantly put on her glasses. She had only tried to help her daughter by clicking the mouse to harvest vegetables, but unexpectedly...

unstoppable.

Like countless netizens across the country at this moment, she initially just clicked on the virtual vegetable garden on the screen perfunctorily.

However, as the system kept popping up notifications of upcoming rewards such as "Successfully harvested 6 cabbages! Obtained the title of 'Diligent Gardener'!", the dancer felt a sense of accomplishment similar to when her workplace awarded her an "Advanced Worker" certificate twenty years ago.

The reason why video games, novels, and adult films are so addictive is that they accurately grasp the reward mechanism of human psychology, and the Farmville game takes many of these mechanisms to a whole new level.

For example, real-time feedback, such as the exquisite audio-visual effects of every click, harvest, and upgrade in the game;

For example, the accumulation of honors and the acquisition of titles greatly enhance users' self-identity. From "newbie farmer" to various title systems like "master thief," it is essentially a construction of virtual social status.

Players gain recognition by unlocking achievements, and this psychological satisfaction is similar to the promotion and awards in real life. However, games amplify the sense of accomplishment by lowering the threshold and making the presentation more intuitive.

Thus, Liu Yifei's last bit of happiness was also taken away by her elderly mother. Since she didn't have enough friends on her own Wenjie account, she took advantage of her daughter's actions.

Not satisfied with just two accounts, the female dancer then took over her son-in-law's account as well.

On the fourth day after the game's launch, Liu Yifei, heavily pregnant, woke up to find no sumptuous breakfast as usual. Upon going to the kitchen, she saw that Chef Qiao had neatly arranged the semi-finished products he had prepared.

Liu Yifei doesn't like having outsiders in her main living space, so usually the head chef comes early to prepare the food, and Liu Xiaoli just needs to heat it up. She doesn't call a nanny.

Until the pregnant woman, starving, pushed open the door to her elderly mother's room in the villa next door...

Ring ring ring!
"The alarm clock rang! The food is ready!" Liu Xiaoli sat up with a start, rushed to the computer and put on her glasses, only then glancing at Liu Yifei at the door, who looked utterly speechless.

"Hey! You scared me! Have you had breakfast yet before running over here..." Her words stopped abruptly, and Liu Xiaoli slapped her forehead, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"Hmph." Little Liu chuckled. "The food's ready, but your daughter's starving!"

"Hehe, you deserve criticism, you deserve criticism. How could your mother forget the important matter!"

The elderly mother forgot about stealing vegetables, got up and helped her daughter, who looked resentful, walk to the next house. Before leaving, she looked longingly at her vegetable garden.

With celebrity endorsements, online advertising, and Focus Media's bombardment of first- and second-tier cities, such scenes are gradually unfolding in countless families and workplaces.

Just like how movie promotions often involve a celebration ceremony when box office numbers break a certain mark, to boost morale and attract more viewers to the cinema—

One week after the game's launch on April 14th, the official Weibo account of Wenjie released its popularity and data, essentially "self-promoting" the game.

The announcement shows:

Within seven days of its launch, Yuanwenjie saw over 24 million user activations and new user registrations, with a peak of 13 million daily active users. Related topics on Weibo garnered over 800 million views and remained in the top three of the trending searches for five consecutive days.

The redemption volume of special seeds was particularly impressive. The "Iris" seed co-branded with Liu Yifei was redeemed 87 times, and the "Dandelion" seed co-branded with Jay Chou was redeemed 63 times. This led to more than 90 new pre-paid users on Wenjie Ticketing, with the estimated stored value exceeding 1.4 million yuan.

More importantly, among the moviegoers anchored by the farm points, 78% are concentrated in the main consumer group aged 18-35, which has reserved a high-quality customer base for the summer season.

Users who earn points by purchasing movie tickets through Wenjie Tickets spend an average of around 150 yuan per person.

This number isn't particularly exaggerated for white-collar workers in first- and second-tier cities, or for people with regular movie-watching habits.

In 2009, before the subsidy war, a ticket for the Lunar New Year film "A Simple Noodle Story" (2D) cost 35-60 yuan, and as much as 80 yuan during prime time in first-tier cities.

等到《阿凡达》上映，普通的3D厅一线城市票价80-120元左右，北平、魔都的IMAX厅在150-200元左右。

Needless to say, some of the tickets for preview screenings and premieres, which have been inflated by scalpers to over 1500-2000 yuan, are even more expensive.

This mere 150 yuan movie card, without subsidies, isn't even enough for three movies during the Lunar New Year season, and in the "Avatar" era, it would only be enough for one blockbuster.

But now?

This 150 yuan is an admission ticket for celebrity fans to interact with their idols in the farm game. This interaction is just an added bonus; you can still have fun without spending money, which provides players with more options.

The popularity of the farm not only provided an opportunity for the off-season ticketing business to make a breakthrough, but also seems to have brought considerable benefits to the entire ticketing system.

In the "good news," it was reported that within a week of the farm game's launch, Weibo gained 430 million new users, the redemption rate of consumer points in the mall reached 72%, and the number of video members also increased by 30% month-on-month.

The popularity of the first few stars led users with different interests to choose different channels for redeeming points.

Fans who like Xiao Liu might shop online, or top up their accounts at ticketing sites; or watch videos on Zhijie (a Chinese e-commerce platform), or browse Weibo by subscribing to memberships. The list goes on and on.

According to the technical department's monitoring, the peak number of online users on Sunday, April 12, reached 15 million. The server was briefly overloaded, but after emergency expansion, the number of friend interactions in a single day still reached 430 million. Netizens jokingly said it was "more crazy than the Spring Festival travel rush for train tickets."

In April 2009, apart from the start of filming for "The Founding of a Republic," "Ball Lightning," and "My Love from the Star," there was almost no entertainment news in China. The topic of farms quickly became a trending topic.

"Wenjie has ventured into the gaming industry for the first time, using Flash mini-games to connect e-commerce, social networking, gaming, film, and video!"

"Actress Liu Yifei, who is about to give birth, is under house arrest. Her profile picture is lit up 24 hours a day, and she stays up all night playing online games, reaching the maximum level. Fans are joking that she is cheating."

"Some companies in Beiping CBD plan to block 'Wenjie Farm' to avoid distracting employees. Farm has become a new social currency in the office."

"The game 'Ask the World Farm' has been sold overseas, and Ask the World Farm has authorized companies such as Twitter and Facebook to adapt the game."

"This isn't a game; it's a 'sticky trap' for the ecosystem. Once users are in, they can't leave—a private comment from a manager at a China Film Group cinema chain."

"Tianya Forum has launched a satirical betting platform: How far are we from a Penguin-style Farmville?"

Countless reporters staked out in front of the Wenjie Building, only to receive news that Zhuang Xu, the president of Zhijie who was in charge of the matter, had already gone south on a business trip.

Besides the promotion of the "Quest for the Boundaries" system and the initial launch by several celebrities, many second- and third-tier celebrities have also joined the ranks of those "stealing vegetables" as the game gains popularity.

Na Ying surfs the internet intensely. In this era where everyone on Weibo is still a real person, various WeChat Moments-style Weibo posts like "Where the hell is my vegetable?" and "Wang Fei, why don't you water my plant?" keep appearing.

Popular actress Yang Mi registered and logged in on the first day of the game's release. Although Xiao Liu gave her the cold shoulder, they didn't delete each other as friends.

Yang Mi was also able to secretly steal vegetables and interact with her former best friends, posting screenshots on Weibo to show that she had not "fallen out of favor." She was quite good at burying her head in the sand, but she was indeed a top-notch professional player in the Chinese entertainment industry.

The booming success of Wenjie is seen by Damai.cn as a scene of utter despair. Even though Baidu has secretly reduced the display weight of keywords such as "farm" and "Wenjie" in the background, Wenjie has simply too many channels to enter...

Weibo, video platforms, online stores, online ticketing platforms, Sina Weibo, and even ally Shanda all have external links and promotions.

Under intense competitive pressure, and after discussions with Chairman Liu, Damai.cn has taken the step of attempting to join forces with Tencent.

So the question was eventually placed on the desk of Tencent's headquarters, which had been quietly making a fortune and had neither cooperated nor competed fiercely with Wenjie for many years.
-
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(End of this chapter)