How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 246 feels like the whole plot is wrong?
Pay homage to the patron.

It is an important interest coordination behavior in the commercial survival within the traditional Chinese social structure of interpersonal relationships.

The aim is to make newcomers express respect to authorities/seniors/powerful figures in a specific field, in order to integrate into the environment and gain living space or resources by incorporating the traditional Chinese values ​​of 'respecting teachers and valuing the Way' and the underlying acceptance and submission to established rules.

The core issue is rule adaptation.

However, if a newcomer does not perform the custom of paying respects to the leaders, the "bosses" may think that either the newcomer is too young and doesn't know how to be polite, or that they might be trying to challenge the rules.

The collective refusal of the invitation to the Magic Comic Exhibition by the gaming industry was Lei Jun's way of reminding and testing Wang Yao, who controls more than 35% of the gaming industry's market share and players.

It took less than four years to surpass its predecessor 17173. Although 17173 still leads in advertising revenue, it benefits from the vast resources of the Sohu Group.

However, in terms of player activity and growth, the 'tool-based transformation' of the DuoY platform has changed the original content-driven model in the gaming industry, turning it into a 'user ecosystem-driven' model.

In addition, given Lei Jun's love for networking, the newly initiated Game 100 Forum did not include Souyou and 17173, and DuoY has clearly replaced 17173 as the dominant force in the gaming community.

This marked the beginning of its decline in 17. Two years later, after missing out on mobile transformation and failing to transform into a content tool, it was completely squeezed out of the top tier by the DuoYi group and was fully acquired and taken over by Souyou.

As a new lion king who has just replaced the old one, it is natural for him to eliminate or conquer all potential competitors when patrolling his territory, which is in line with Lei Jun's personality.

While the Comic Con and Bilibili live streams claim to dominate the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) culture, Lei Jun observes that this type of event, organized by grassroots organizations and driven by user participation, has a far greater impact on the general public than professional events like CJoy.

Because "JX3" broke through the encirclement by relying on these player-organized activities, Lei Jun understands the importance of it very well.

Furthermore, Wang Yao's unannounced invitation to a large number of game companies to participate in the exhibition without informing him beforehand made him even more displeased.

Young people these days really have no manners at all.

Therefore, Lei Jun, as a senior figure in the business world, decided to give a lesson and a warning, and also to see how much influence his new rules for the gaming circle, built using the Hundred People Association, really had.

The results were good; at least the members who attended were very considerate and almost all of them declined the invitation to the Comic Con.

Lei Jun was just waiting for Wang Yao to realize the problem himself and then give in to him.

But after waiting and waiting all day, even after the CJoy exhibition had closed, Wang Yao's call still hadn't come. What was even more infuriating was that the number of viewers on Bilibili's live stream remained at 10+. Although I knew there was definitely some exaggeration involved, judging from the number of comments, it was still in the tens of thousands.

Furthermore, discussions about the anime and manga community surrounding the Magic Comic Con have spread to various platforms and forums under the DuoY Group. Although these discussions are not primarily focused on gaming topics, they indirectly demonstrate that the Magic Comic Con format has attracted the attention of gaming users, and even resulted in some overlap in their preferences.

Although Lei Jun looked down on Wang Yao, he was not a blindly arrogant person. After sending people to carefully investigate the compatibility between the two, he increased the level of importance he attached to the matter.

YY's most core asset is the massive gaming social network built by YY Voice. However, while Bilibili is a video website, it also has voice live streaming capabilities and advantages in video content and its appeal to the anime/manga/game (ACG) community.

If Bilibili were to also carve out a space for games, wouldn't that have a significant impact on YY?

Furthermore, it's rumored that Wang Yao and Zhang Chaoyang have a very close relationship. If they have the support of Souyou17, then they would indeed pose a significant threat.

The next morning, after receiving news that three companies—Soyou, NetEase, and Wanmei—had moved directly to the Magic Comic Exhibition after CJoy, Lei Jun frowned even more.

I was right! With these parties all together, there's no need to guess anymore; there must be some treacherous subject trying to harm me!
Lei Jun acted decisively, immediately instructing the public relations department to launch a poaching strategy against Xingyou and Bilibili. He also directly demanded that YY Voice accelerate the development of a video live streaming section and a mobile app, and began restricting news and discussions related to the Magic Comic Exhibition on its websites.

However, the results were minimal, because the online discussion surrounding the Magic Comic Con mainly revolved around a few key hot topics such as anime, traditional Chinese style, and cosplay, and had little to do with the gaming industry. Moreover, even without the promotion from the DuoYi group, there was still promotion from the Souyou 17 group.

Seeing that the number of viewers on Bilibili's live stream had maintained 10+ per day, and with the addition of 3 major game companies, the characters cosplayed at the exhibition had changed from mainly anime characters to mainly game characters. Some characters cosplayed by "Dream West" even made it to the trending searches. Just when Lei Jun felt that he couldn't let this go on and was preparing to release some juicy information.

An announcement shifted his focus: the official "Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games" introduced various new regulations for the gaming industry, especially regarding the issue of 'virtual currency'.

This is a major event for the entire gaming industry. Lei Jun can only adjust the strategy internally first, and by the way, buy a few trending topics to promote the three big spenders: "Dream West", "Tianlong", and "Zhu Xian".

Headlines such as "Middle school student's gaming spending leads to family bankruptcy," "High school student neglects studies due to gaming," and "Man's internet addiction leads to divorce and mounting debt" were published.

In a short time, the gaming social media section sparked a lot of negative discussions, indirectly affecting the reputation of the Comic Con.

The Bilibili Comic Con livestream room was suddenly flooded with comments like "return the money," "scam," and "virtual item scam."

Just two days ago, we were bombarded with rumors about cosplay, and now, because of several key news game booths, the argument that "the Comic Con is a poisonous convention that corrupts teenagers" has begun to spread, sparking widespread discussion on Weibo.

However, this did not actually affect the enthusiasm of the offline attendees at the Magic Comic Con, because the two groups are not the same. The voices that were opposed by the public actually indirectly promoted the cohesion of the niche community. Participants who had just found a sense of belonging at the Magic Comic Con spontaneously organized various debunking and popular science activities.

Despite the overwhelming negative publicity, the Magic Comic Con unexpectedly helped the world of anime and manga expand its reach.

"Mr. Wang, is this also part of your marketing strategy?" Ding Lei personally flew to Shanghai to hear Wang Yao's new plan.

Unexpectedly, they ran into this wave of negative news. As one of the most expensive games to spend money on in China, the news that was just released had a significant impact on them.

"Of course not, this is clearly a hunt targeting all pay-to-win games. I thought it was President Ding's doing," Wang Yao laughed.

The term "氪金" originated from the 07 version of World of Warcraft. It was later hyped up by NetEase. Initially, it was a synonym for "precious items" in the game. Although it no longer refers to paying money in the game, the meaning is similar.

The earliest online game market was dominated by time-based subscription models like "Legend of Mir" and "World of Warcraft". In 05, Shi Laoban's heavily modified "Zhengtu" pioneered the free-to-play + paid item model, directly changing the rules of the entire industry.

Because the paid item model can not only directly anchor 'value' online but also directly monetize and generate commercial activities, it carries a certain risk of money laundering. Therefore, the standards introduced this time are aimed at this.

Currently in China, the only games without this type of risk are time-based subscription games like "World of Warcraft," "JX3," and "Dream Westward Journey." This negative public opinion has a very wide impact, but it mainly affects free-to-play games like "Tianlong" and "Zhu Xian," so NetEase is not significantly implicated.

"Even NetEase has 'Tianxia 3,' I wouldn't be that crazy." Ding Lei rolled his eyes.

"That's easy to guess. Whoever focuses on point card games will be the biggest beneficiary," Wang Yao smiled.

"Now everyone online is saying your Comic Con is 'full of all vices,' aren't you going to do something about it?" Ding Lei laughed.

"Take a look at this." Wang Yao showed Ding Lei the backend data of Bilibili.

During the 3-day event, Bilibili gained over one million new users, with daily UV reaching an astonishing one million. Thanks to Bilibili's unique bullet comments and quirky parody/fan-made content style, its user conversion rate and stickiness have clearly surpassed all other video platforms.

With Baidu's backing and a massive IP database, iQiyi's daily UV (unique visitors) has consistently exceeded 300 million for three months, which is already considered a monster in the industry. Bilibili is obviously even more terrifying.

"Your website is up and running?" Ding Lei asked, somewhat surprised.

"The video side has 100,000 UVs, but the main ones are from live streaming. Once the Magic Comic Con event ends, the platform's UVs will drop back to 100,000. However, it depends on the potential of the live streaming model and the Magic Comic Con. Besides, I've already spent nearly 4 million on these three days of live streaming," Wang Yao explained.

"The average customer acquisition cost is only 4 yuan, which is far lower than the market price of 32 yuan. You've already made a fortune," Ding Lei said with a smile.

"If we retain even one-tenth of them, that's already pretty good, and the customer acquisition cost is still 40 yuan. Video live streaming is indeed not feasible right now, but as you can see from the increased negative news, today's UV data has skyrocketed, and the amount of public discussion has also gone beyond its original scope," Wang Yao said.

"So what? It's all negative discussion, and most of the discussions are from parents. You have no idea how sensitive Chinese parents are to internet addiction. Do you think you can convert them?" Ding Lei joked.

"Why not?" Wang Yao grinned.

"?" Ding Lei was taken aback.

"Traffic is generated by people. As long as people are there, they have needs. If we meet those needs, we can convert them into revenue," Wang Yao said frankly.

"Mr. Ding, what industry are we in?" Wang Yao asked in return.

“The gaming industry,” Ding Lei said instinctively.

"The essence of industry is the division of labor in society. The gaming industry includes games, and quitting games is also part of the industry," Wang Yao said in a deep voice.

"???" Ding Lei looked at Wang Yao with increasing confusion.

Why is it that I can't understand some of the things young people say these days?

"How many professional studios are there for games like 'Dream West' and 'Warcraft' now?" Wang Yao asked with a smile.

As leading games in China, "Dream West" and "World of Warcraft" are point-card games, but where there is a market, there is demand, and the peripheral power leveling and gold farming industry chain is naturally the most developed.

"That's hard to say, but there are at least tens of thousands of them," Ding Lei said, frowning.

These studios are ostensibly rule-breakers, but in reality, they are a major part of the game's ecosystem. Without these basic studio users, who would highlight the importance of paying players?
"So, in the gaming industry, Mr. Ding has created at least tens of thousands of jobs, right? Now, think about it the other way around. Since studios can generate profit as jobs, what do parents' needs for their children to quit internet addiction have in common?" Wang Yao asked with a smile.

“All I see is hostility,” Ding Lei said, frowning.

"You're wrong. Internet addicts are potential employees and practitioners for the studio," Wang Yao chuckled.

“? Employing child labor is illegal.” Ding Lei was shocked. This kid was too wild.

“But internet addiction treatment is reasonable.” Wang Yao’s smile was subtle.

"???" Ding Lei was startled again.

Internet addiction treatment is an industry that emerged around the turn of the millennium, and even more than a decade later, there were no clear standards or restrictions on its nature. However, as someone who grew up alongside the gaming industry, Ding Lei was naturally very clear about this.

But he still couldn't figure out what they had in common.

"As people working in the gaming industry, we naturally understand the mechanisms of internet addiction. I have a special treatment method that turns internet-addicted teenagers into professional game boosters. When a hobby becomes a job, with KPI restrictions and punishment mechanisms, the hobby will turn into pressure and physiological resistance."
Traditional treatment methods are unreasonable, but we can develop a complete professional system to break the addiction of internet addicts. In this way, we can collect treatment fees and also build a long-term and stable profit from game boosting consumables.

Furthermore, it can also screen out talents with game boosting skills or gaming talent and recruit them directly to the company as employees. Parents' core concern about internet addiction is that it will affect their future development. But if they can be given a future development and a job, wouldn't that solve the anxiety of some people?
I plan to collaborate with the Magic Comic Con to gradually establish a 'professional e-sports training institution', providing systematic and targeted scientific training, and guiding internet addicts to demystify their addiction through training pressure and career planning.

I think the treatment effect can reach at least 90% or more, and it can also promote the development of the e-sports gaming industry. If NetEase is willing to be one of the initiators, then in the future, in the public's perception,

The concept of "prevention is worse than cure" is very effective in treating internet addiction. In the end, it is not violent treatment centers that cure internet addiction and parents, but various vocational training institutions, because 99% of internet addicts become addicted due to misunderstandings about games.

They don't actually love playing games; it's just that the dopamine released during gameplay makes them addicted and relieves stress. However, prolonged and repeated dopamine stimulation leads to an increased threshold and physiological aversion. Although esports games like League of Legends are not yet commercialized, the relationship between "boosting" and "professional esports" is very blurred. This method can give the Comic Con a veneer of "legitimate" status, and then continuously create various news stories that contrast between games and anime to promote the development of Bilibili/Comic Con.

"Will this work?" Ding Lei asked hesitantly.

The issue of game legitimacy is the most troublesome problem for all practitioners, and Wang Yao's approach is indeed a way to 'de-stigmatize' it.

He also believes that turning internet addicts into a profession is indeed the most effective way to cure them, because he has experienced this firsthand.

After being the richest man in China for a period of time, he developed a kind of "physiological aversion" to making money, especially in the internet business. That's why he started thinking about developing in other industries, such as pig farming.

When making money becomes a profession, people tend to dislike it, let alone playing video games.

"I don't know, but let's give it a try. Anyway, I think commercial development should be solved with commercial means. The essence of internet addiction is the issue of return on investment. Parents' perception that games are not an industry but a form of entertainment creates the core conflict."
Once games promote the industry's concepts, the core problem will be solved. Frankly, even without games, other things would be addictive. The problem for addicts lies in stress relief, not the form itself, but this is a concept that's difficult to explain.

"So all you need to do is use the simplest and most direct business method. When the first 'professional gamer' earning tens of millions a year appears, you'll find that the talk of internet addiction will subside," Wang Yao chuckled.

"Tsk, I actually know a few studios that make tens of millions a year," Ding Lei laughed. Wang Yao's suggestion was definitely a positive move for the entire game industry.

He didn't know the success rate, but he was certain that this would be a turning point that would change the gaming industry.

It was precisely this kind of unpredictable and highly challenging behavior that made him even more interested.

"What does Mr. Wang want to do?" Ding Lei asked, intrigued.

"We can take advantage of the popularity of the Thunder King from last year and make a short film. Using the original story as the core, and adding soft elements related to the game industry, we can first appeal to game enthusiasts."

Secondly, we can promote the concepts of 'professional players' and 'e-sports market,' but to generate buzz, we might need to leverage the popularity of 'Dream West.'" Wang Yao laughed.

"How can we use it?" Ding Lei became wary.

"Although there are some negative aspects, it is absolutely beneficial to the overall virtual commercial value of 'Dream West'," Wang Yao explained.

"Isn't this a bit too much?" Ding Lei hesitated.

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. If you're not willing, I'll give this opportunity to 'Tianlong'," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Given your relationship with President Zhang, why didn't you think of him when this good thing happened?" Ding Lei asked, frowning.

"Relationships are relationships, and business is business. 'Dream West' has a greater influence than 'Tianlong' and is more likely to break out of its niche," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"So how do we cooperate with this 'professional e-sports training institution'?" Ding Lei asked again.

"I plan to collaborate with my alma mater to open a campus and study the subject. The investment will be around 3000 million yuan, and it can accommodate 2 to 300 students," Wang Yao said.

"It's a bit expensive," Ding Lei said, frowning.

"But isn't it worth buying the name of a legitimate game company?" Wang Yao laughed.

"I'll think about it," Ding Lei said hesitantly.

That evening, as the internet was once again abuzz with discussions about online games, a viral post appeared on the DuoY platform and quickly garnered massive attention.

'A college student sold a kidney to obtain a level-less item in the game "Dream West"'

The person who posted the whistleblower is a college student who said that his roommate is a veteran "Dream West" enthusiast who recently sold his kidney for 300,000 yuan to buy equipment for a weapon without level restrictions.

This news from an unknown source directly propelled the topics of "Dream West" and internet addiction to the forefront, because for the general public, this news was simply too explosive and refreshed everyone's understanding.

What kind of game equipment is worth 300,000? And a kidney can actually be sold for 300,000?
The entire internet is buzzing about the "Dream West" drama, and NetEase's Weibo account is experiencing its biggest surge in traffic ever. Coincidentally, the official "Dream West" account shared a link to a live interview on Bilibili.

This wave of traffic was then directly transferred to Bilibili. The live stream, which already had over 10 viewers a day, almost crashed its backend, with a flood of comments asking about the official account "Kidney Selling Boy".

Previously, the expansion of the Magic Comic Convention and Bilibili was only at the level of entertainment topics, but now it has become a higher level of expansion.

Even after the live stream of the Comic Con ended two hours later, the number of viewers watching the live stream on Bilibili remained stable at around 15.

Inside the office, Wang Yao was having a meeting with Zhang Chaoyang, Ding Lei, and Lan Qi.

"No, Mr. Wang, is this also included in the promotional data for 'Dream West'?" Ding Lei was a little confused after seeing the traffic data for the 'kidney-selling boy'.

He didn't expect Wang Yao's marketing campaign using the internet addiction topic to be so explosive. In less than five hours, the number of reposts on NetEase's Weibo account reached 30 million, and it was still increasing by millions every hour.

According to estimates, if this trend continues to this night, the traffic could reach around 200 million. Based on the promotion contract just signed by both parties, the pig farm will have to pay more than 2 million yuan in advertising fees.

The data usage is real, but it still hurts to spend the money.

"Mr. Ding, you should be secretly happy. You've managed to profit from both Weibo and gaming," Zhang Chaoyang said, clicking his tongue in amazement.

Wang Yao had wanted to discuss the marketing plan of "selling oneself to the young man" with him, but Zhang Chaoyang felt that "Tianlong" was not a good match for Tianlong users, so it fell to "Mengxi". If he had known that the effect would be so explosive, he should have taken it even if it was not a good match, at least it would have been a big hit.

"Mr. Ding, the value of your 'no-level' concept has increased overnight. I estimate that a large number of new and old players will be coming in a short time." Lan Qi was also a little envious.

This kind of value marketing is the most effective way to stimulate competitive gaming, because it is profitable and attracts a large influx of new players and studios who want to see if they can become "rich overnight".

For veteran players, this will stimulate their activity level.

Spending millions to buy at least a 20% increase in player activity is incredibly lucrative. After all, the online gaming market is currently saturated, and players have been largely divided up. Your high online activity level means my low online activity level.

"Mr. Ding, you're lucky. You've got the perfect timing, location, and people. Congratulations!" Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Congratulations, congratulations! We're all contributing to the gaming industry." Ding Lei cupped his hands in greeting. Wang Yao's actions had completely depleted the promotion budget for "Dream West" this month, which was making him a little scared.

“Let’s continue discussing the online-offline integration plan.” Wang Yao tapped the table.

Lei Jun was also meeting with Zeng Liqing and other core members of the Hundred People's Association. The news about the boy who sold his kidney in "Dream West" was too sudden and explosive, and it even affected their "crackdown strategy" on the entire online game market.

He intended to use the rules just released today to launch another crackdown on free-to-play online games, thereby bankrupting small and medium-sized companies in the gaming industry to shift towards mobile games to cater to his mobile operating system.

But I never expected the pig farm to escalate things to this extent.

As a marketing expert, Lei Jun could tell at a glance that the kidney-selling incident was orchestrated.

Already embroiled in negative publicity, this self-destructive marketing campaign has left him somewhat bewildered.

He was clearly pushing his own plans in a roundabout way, but something still felt off.

Because he simply couldn't figure out who would benefit most from this matter, except himself.

Because "JX3" is probably the game with the lowest pay-to-win aspect and the cleanest commercial revenue among all online games. It even has only a small number of cosmetic items that are paid for, and its revenue comes entirely from prepaid cards.

Therefore, in this instance of using someone else's strength against them, the ultimate beneficiary can only be him.

And at this time, those who take advantage of someone's misfortune...

Could it be me too?
Lei Jun couldn't help but fall into self-doubt, and the others looked at him with even more complicated expressions. Most of the people present were companies that had bet on the mobile game market, but their core business and cash flow were still mainly from online games.

If Lei Jun really orchestrated this kidney-selling incident, it's like implicating everyone present – ​​a betrayal indeed.

They can tolerate sacrificing a small portion of the profits from online games in exchange for greater gains in the future mobile game market, but they cannot tolerate directly undermining the very foundation of online games.

After all, if the kidney-selling incident is caught, it could very well lead to a crackdown on the entire online gaming industry, and the losses would be unimaginable.

"Gentlemen, this matter has nothing to do with me," Lei Jun said solemnly.

He has just become the leader of the Five Mountains Alliance, but he doesn't want to become Yue Buqun.

"Mr. Lei, how should we handle this? After all, it involves more than we imagined," Wang Feng from Lan Gang asked.

His PC games are all benchmarked against "Dream West", so they could suffer serious losses if they get involved.

Although he also felt that it might not have been Lei Jun who did it, all the current analyses ultimately pointed to him, and even the source of that post was on DuoY portal, making it hard not to be suspicious.

"I've already had the tech department trace the source of the post, but it's very likely from outside the mirror. However, as long as we can confirm it's fake news, the problem will be solved. At that time, Y will come forward to refute the rumor," Lei Jun said expressionlessly.

"That's good, but what if it's true?" Zeng Liqing frowned.

"Then we can only try to suppress the hype." Lei Jun frowned.

The following day, an announcement from 17173, riding the wave of the 'kidney selling incident,' topped the trending lists on various platforms.

Four game companies—Soyou, Piggames, Wanmei, and Xingyou—have co-invested in and produced a public service announcement series of short films titled "Internet Addiction," and are soliciting submissions from the public.

Why make a film called "Internet Addiction" based on the tragic case of selling kidneys due to internet addiction?
Not only were netizens stunned, but their peers in the gaming industry were also bewildered.

It's understandable that NetEase would expose itself, but why are Sohu and Wanmei also going crazy?

Are they all planning to switch to the film and television industry and abandon the gaming industry?
Lei Jun reviewed the clarification article about the "kidney-selling teenager" sent by the public relations department and felt complicated.

How did it turn out that I was the one trying to suppress the hype, while you guys were adding fuel to the fire?

Although the result was correct, it feels like the whole plot was wrong?
(End of this chapter)