Chapter 37: Dropping By
Chen Mo was browsing through the comments and hot forum posts for *Plants vs. Zombies*.
When planning a version update, the main thing was to see what players liked and wanted. If a new version was released without addressing the players' core demands, it would be as good as doing nothing.
Just then, Chen Mo noticed a girl arriving at the entrance of the experience store. She wore jeans and a high ponytail, dressed neatly and sharply.
"Zhuo Yao?" Chen Mo recalled her name.
This girl was the owner of the Zhi Yuan Internet Cafe. She had come before, right when Chen Mo's experience store first opened.
Zhuo Yao looked around the first floor of the experience store with some surprise. "Wow, it's only been a month since I last came, and your place is this lively! Last time I was here, wasn't it completely empty?"
Chen Mo replied, "Of course. Your internet cafe couldn't have gone a whole month without a single customer, right?"
Zhuo Yao was speechless. "You can't put it that way. How is your experience store the same as an internet cafe? Hey, looks like the game you made is pretty good, with so many people playing."
Zhuo Yao leaned back on the sofa, and Chen Mo poured her a glass of water.
"You said you'd come by another time last time, and that 'another time' turned into over a month," Chen Mo teased.
"Ah, don't even mention it. Too many things to handle at the internet cafe, couldn't get away," Zhuo Yao said. "Plus, I've been hooked on a little game lately."
Chen Mo asked, "Hooked on a little game?"
Zhuo Yao nodded. "Yeah, it's that super popular *Plants vs. Zombies* that's been trending lately. Haven't you played it? As a game designer, you can't possibly not be keeping an eye on the new game charts, right?"
Chen Mo said, "Uh... I've played it."
Zhuo Yao chuckled. "I knew it. Come on, tell me, what level have you reached in Endless Mode? I've already made it to level 97, almost to level 100!"
Chen Mo: "..."
Zhuo Yao noticed Chen Mo's expression was a bit odd and assumed he was embarrassed about having too few levels. "It's okay, I can teach you. My strategy is amazing, I guarantee it'll get you through the first fifty levels easily!"
Chen Mo pointed to a computer in the distance, where a girl was playing. "She's already reached level 174."
"Huh?!" Zhuo Yao was stunned. What did that mean?
She stood up and looked at the girl, who seemed like a well-behaved young woman, probably a student from a nearby university. How could she be better than Zhuo Yao, who stayed up all night playing?
Wait a minute!
When Zhuo Yao first walked in, she hadn't paid attention to what games these people were playing. But now, glancing at a few machines, she suddenly noticed something.
It seemed like everyone on the first floor was playing *Plants vs. Zombies*?
This was an experience store, where you could usually only play the designer's own games.
Could it be...
Zhuo Yao looked at Chen Mo. "Wait, the creator of *Plants vs. Zombies*..."
Chen Mo nodded. "Yes, that would be me."
Zhuo Yao was frozen for three seconds, then it clicked. "Oh my god! You made this game! I was wondering why the logo at the start of the game looked so familiar—turns out I saw it at your store's entrance!"
Chen Mo was speechless. "I mean, how forgetful can you be? Your internet cafe is right across the street, and you can't even remember my logo?"
Zhuo Yao felt a bit awkward and cleared her throat. "Ahem, well, you know how it is for us internet cafe owners—we're always holed up in there, so, you know..."
Chen Mo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah, sure."
Zhuo Yao burst out laughing. "Sure what? Forget it, I'm not going to argue with you. Just teach me the secrets of *Plants vs. Zombies*!"
Chen Mo was exasperated. "Why does everyone do this? As soon as they see me, they want tips. Aren't there plenty of high-quality posts in the player community? Go look there."
Zhuo Yao rolled her eyes. "Stingy."
Chen Mo: "..."
How does everything come back to being stingy! That has nothing to do with me being stingy, it's clearly just you being lazy!
Zhuo Yao said, "Hey, but seriously, I never expected a newbie designer like you to make such an awesome blockbuster game. That's really impressive. Too bad a mobile game isn't really suitable for promotion at my internet cafe."
Chen Mo said, "No worries, I'll make PC games in the future too. By the way, I've never asked—what games do you mainly feature at your internet cafe?"
Zhuo Yao replied, "Mostly MOBAs and some shooters. But speaking of MOBAs, have you heard of that game that tried to make a full 3D first-person MOBA? It actually got made, and the production was pretty polished—they even marketed it with the gimmick of five lanes (with two extra paths above and below the map)—but the final result was hard to be satisfied with. Its playability was far below that of a regular MOBA.
That game didn't even make much of a splash; hardly any players had heard of it.
The reason was simple. In a 3D perspective, the targeting range and usage methods for many skills changed significantly, and the control scheme shifted too. Players' ability to grasp the overall situation took a serious hit. All these issues combined made the game lose some of the core fun of a MOBA, turning it into a 'mediocre' game.
That was the key factor behind the failure of the 'full 3D MOBA.'"
Genius remembers this site's address in one second: