Restart life

Chapter 25 0024 [We run private servers and don’t sell equipment]

Tao Chenggang stopped drinking and took a sip of tea to sober himself up a little: "What business do we want to discuss?"

"Legendary private server." Chen Guiliang said.

Tao Chenggang laughed dumbly. "It's been tough running a private server these days. There are just too many competitors. I'm too lazy to recruit people online anymore, so I just run some internet cafe private servers. Putting together the private servers of the eight internet cafes I manage, not including the top-up dividends I give to the network administrators, I only make a few hundred to a thousand yuan a month, which is just enough pocket money."

Chen Guiliang said: "We can create an alternative private service."

Thinking about Chen Guiliang's previous tricks, Tao Chenggang did not reject them immediately. Instead, he said, "Little brother, tell me in detail."

Chen Guiliang said:

"Why is it so difficult to make money on private servers these days? It's simply a technical issue."

"The technology is controlled by a handful of studios and experts. What they offer for free or cheaply is generally outdated technology. This has led to a large number of Legend of Mir private servers, all of which are highly homogenized and have no appeal to players at all."

"If you want to be attractive, you have to spend money to buy their modification tools, or directly buy their private server architecture. They sell their technology at high prices to make money, while developing more new features and slowly phasing out the previous private server versions."

"Some people even bring their skills and personally create the most popular and profitable private servers. And you can't compete at all, right?"

Tao Chenggang agreed: "That's the situation. Do you have the skills?"

Chen Guiliang shook his head: "I don't understand technology, but I understand the market."

"Is it the alternative private server you mentioned?" Tao Chenggang asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "Before level 40, you can level up by simply killing a few monsters. After level 40, the leveling speed is much faster than on the official servers. Items like Dragon Fang and Fury Slash have extremely high drop rates. Even players who don't pay to play the game can master the six major armor items. Equipment that other private servers require money to buy can be obtained for free on our servers."

Yang Yuhui couldn't help but interject, "If we make those top-tier equipment free, how are we going to make money selling them later?"

"Our private server doesn't sell equipment! This is our core selling point." Chen Guiliang smiled mysteriously.

Yang Yuhui said: "If we don't sell equipment, how can we make money from private servers? We are not doing charity."

Tao Chenggang was struck by this: "Using that free game method to make money?"

Yang Yuhui disagreed: "Those money-making methods require adding too many features. I'm 100% sure that no private server in China could come up with one or two years."

Chen Guiliang smiled but said nothing.

Tao Chenggang's curiosity was completely piqued, and he quickly poured wine for Chen Guiliang: "Little brother, don't keep me in suspense."

"Copy." Chen Guiliang said.

Yang Yuhui asked: "What is a copy?"

There are copies of EverQuest, but they don't have many followers.

Chen Guiliang said: "An independent game map doesn't need to be very large. Players need a specific method to enter the dungeon to fight monsters. Only after players form a team can they enter the same dungeon, so there is no need to worry about others stealing monsters."

Tao Chenggang smiled and said, "This way of playing is very interesting."

"Our players can obtain top-tier equipment that other private servers sell for money in normal maps," Chen Guiliang said. "And entering dungeon maps can yield exceptional equipment. We don't sell exceptional equipment; we only sell entry to dungeons."

"That's a good idea!"

Yang Yuhui clapped his hands in praise, "Why do private servers stop making money after just a few days? Because they're too boring. Before players top up, they can't beat players who pay for equipment, and over time, they get bored. And after spending money on equipment, they're too lazy to fight monsters and just PK with others all day long. Just PKing around aimlessly, and it gets boring after a while."

"In other words, after playing on a private server for a few days, players won't know what to do anymore."

"The idea of ​​selling dungeon tickets is great. Paying players don't just buy equipment directly, but need to slowly grind through the dungeons themselves. At the same time, paying can also widen the gap with free players, satisfying their vanity."

Tao Chenggang worried, "There's a secret map, but free players can't enter it, and they can't get their hands on the special equipment. This won't keep free players, and will eventually lead to a loss of paying players."

Chen Guiliang said, "Then even in top-tier normal maps, there's a very low chance of getting abnormal gear. But don't drop just any abnormal gear. Jewelry and other items can drop, giving free players a glimmer of hope. However, abnormal weapons and abnormal clothing will always remain in the realm of legend, potentially dropping. This gives ordinary players a glimmer of hope, but also makes them forever unable to achieve it."

"Haha, you are so bad!" Yang Yuhui laughed.

Tao Chenggang asked, "What's the optimal price for a dungeon ticket? If the price is too low, we'll have a hard time making a profit. If the price is too high, many players will be discouraged."

"Give me some paper and pen," said Chen Guiliang.

Tao Chenggang quickly handed it over.

Chen Guiliang wrote and drew on the paper and said:
"First, we use a low-price strategy to attract more players to pay. For example, a ticket costs 10 yuan, and 100 yuan can buy 12 tickets. We encourage players to repeatedly enter the dungeon to kill monsters. We encourage a wealthy player to give tickets to his followers, and then bring a group of his followers to the dungeon to kill monsters."

"Second, dungeon bosses shouldn't be easily defeated by single players. If they're too easy to kill, paying players will get bored after a few dungeons. This also forces more people to buy tickets and form teams to enter the dungeon. But the number of players shouldn't be too large, as there won't be enough gear to go around. Ideally, 3 to 5 people can defeat the dungeon boss." "Third, design dungeons of varying difficulty, each with a different drop rate and ticket price. For example, a dungeon with a 5 yuan ticket could be offered to newly paid players. Because their gear isn't very good yet, they wouldn't be able to defeat a boss that's too difficult."

"Fourth, each dungeon is guaranteed to drop one piece of exceptional equipment, and occasionally you can get two more. However, these guaranteed exceptional equipment drops are primarily jewelry. If you want weapons and clothing, you have to spend money to repeatedly run dungeons."

"As for those guaranteed, abnormal equipment, after paying players have repeatedly cleared the map, they will definitely have some left over, so they can give them to ordinary players. It's like making friends or recruiting followers. This will increase the enthusiasm of ordinary players and give paying players a sense of vanity."

Tao Chenggang suggested: "Those abnormal equipment can be transplanted from "Legend 3" and renamed."

"no!"

Yang Yuhui objected again: "The equipment in Legend 3 ported to private servers often has bugs and won't display properly. Players clearly spent money to buy equipment, but it looks like they're naked and have no weapons. When fighting, they punch naked, which does a lot of damage, but it looks ridiculous."

Chen Guiliang said, "Then use the original legendary weapons and change their attributes and names. For example, the Fury Slash, the perverted outfit is changed to 'Sky-Opening Fury Slash'. The Dragon Fang is changed to 'Sky-Suppressing Dragon Fang', the Free and Easy Fan is changed to 'Mysterious Sky Free and Easy Fan'. The Sky Demon Armor is changed to 'Abyssal Sky Demon Armor'. By the way, is it possible to beautify the equipment locally without causing any bugs?"

"Sure." Yang Yuhui also knows a little bit about technology.

Chen Guiliang asked again: "There are no technical problems in making the copy, right?"

"No problem," Yang Yuhui said, "Map duplicators and map converters—those tools—can be purchased from experts, and I can even modify them myself. But if I were to do it myself, there might be bugs, and I'd need to make repeated adjustments."

Chen Guiliang continued, "After the private server goes online, get a group of studio employees in."

Tao Chenggang laughed and said, "Game agent!"

Boss Tao is good.

Look, they have all learned to answer questions quickly.

Yang Yuhui asked: "What is a game agent?"

Tao Chenggang explained it in detail.

"Oh my god," Yang Yuhui exclaimed after hearing this. "With this kind of tricks, good whores can deceive those rich people. Leave this task to me. I will become a shemale myself and pretend to be a little sister to trick them into going around in circles."

Chen Guiliang asked, "How much would it cost to make a private server with this kind of architecture?"

Tao Chenggang estimated: "We'll only add the currently mature features, and there's no need to add any new features. Also, we can duplicate the map and create dungeons. Three to five thousand yuan should be enough. To prevent too many bugs, I'll find a reliable expert, and the maximum cost will be around ten thousand yuan. Promoting it on major forums and recruiting people will also cost money, and renting a good server will also cost money. The initial investment will be around twenty to thirty thousand yuan, and possibly thirty to forty thousand."

"How do players recharge now?" Chen Guiliang knew it, but was afraid of making mistakes.

Tao Chenggang said:

"If it's a legitimate game, they rely on agents to sell game cards. For example, Shanda commissioned Ubisoft to sell game cards from the beginning, and had to pay Ubisoft a 33% commission. Furthermore, Ubisoft often delayed payments."

"Shanda was furious and created its own sales channel, developing an 'Internet cafe e-sale system.' Internet cafes could earn 8% to 10% commission from selling Shanda cards."

"That's why Shanda is so powerful. As long as the game isn't too bad, they can use their sales channels to push it up. 70% of internet cafes across the country have formed a community of interests with Shanda. And it's also very convenient for players. They can just go to the internet cafe and ask the network administrator to top up their account."

Chen Guiliang asked again: "What about private clothes?"

"Bank transfer, post office remittance." Tao Chenggang said.

Chen Guiliang sighed secretly: What a fucking primitive and crude way of recharging!
But the current situation cannot be resolved for the time being.

Currently, even when buying things on Taobao, you have to pay money to Alipay first, and Alipay will notify the seller to ship the goods after receiving the money.

Strictly speaking, what Alipay is doing is illegal, and it will have to wait until next year to get through the banking system.

When Qidian.com sent royalties to authors, the site owner would ride a motorcycle to the post office to remit the money. One prominent author, after saving 50 yuan, started demanding payment. The site owner, annoyed by this, raised the minimum payment amount to 200 yuan.

The online banking services of the four major banks were launched two or three years ago, but very few people use online banking.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Where's the SMS top-up?"

Tao Chenggang said: "We need to reach a cooperation with China Mobile, which is a bit difficult. Moreover, China Mobile usually takes 50%, which is even more than the 33% that traditional agents take."

Yang Yuhui said, "It's actually quite easy to collect money. Players who want to buy dungeon tickets can contact us through QQ. If they want to buy ten at a time, they can send me their game ID. After I receive the bank transfer, I will grant them ten entries into the dungeon."

It’s so complicated. Many players who originally wanted to recharge on impulse will give up because of these operations.

There is no way, it’s due to the limitations of the times.

"Let's talk about the investment and dividends of private servers." Chen Guiliang finally showed his fangs.

(End of this chapter)