Chapter 71: VIP Card for Big Spenders
The friend support feature achieved three goals at once.
First, alt accounts could use the powerful cards from main accounts to clear levels they couldn't beat on their own, effectively allowing high-level accounts to carry low-level ones. This made alt accounts feel like they weren't playing a single-player game, enhanced the game's social attributes, and improved alt account retention.
Second, the powerful cards on main accounts served as a form of advertising. Friends could see just how strong those cards were, tempting other players to spend money as well.
Third, ordinary players, eager to latch onto the big spenders, would frantically send friend requests. This gave the whales a huge sense of satisfaction, further fueling their desire to spend.
These three points were crucial for both the retention and profitability of *I Am MT*. A simple "Friend Support System," without any actual real-time cooperative combat, perfectly achieved all three. It was a case of using the fewest resources to get the best results.
With the anime airing, free downloads, and friend-to-friend sharing, *I Am MT*'s user base continued to spread rapidly, reaching a large portion of the younger demographic.
The number of paying players remained steady at around 10%.
...
Inside the experience store, Chen Mo yawned a bit, feeling bored.
*I Am MT*'s servers were rented from an official provider, and a specialized company handled customer service. Chen Mo just needed to periodically collect player feedback and pass it on to the designers.
In this parallel world, bugs or server maintenance issues were basically non-existent. Although many players complained about payment problems or gameplay issues, those were handled by the dedicated customer service team. Chen Mo only needed to gather player opinions and decide whether to adjust the game later.
Everyone else was playing *I Am MT*, gathered around Wen Lingwei, asking her questions about team composition.
Wen Lingwei had spent about 300 yuan, while the others had chipped in varying amounts—some 10 yuan, some 30 yuan.
"You have Silly and Sister Pao. You should focus on leveling up Sister Pao. Also, grind for a leader skill that boosts Shaman damage. That way, your two Chain Lightnings will be really strong."
"Yeah, you've got a lot of single-target mages. You could go for an instant-kill build. Pair a Female Rogue or Dumb Rogue with the Five Fireball Cult Leader in the same column, and you can one-shot an enemy at the start of the fight."
"Jia Peng... oh, your cards are too weak. Just delete your account and start over."
Wen Lingwei gave everyone advice one by one.
Su Jinyu came over to Chen Mo and asked, "Store Manager, why aren't you playing?"
Chen Mo said, "Oh, I don't have any money."
Su Jinyu was speechless. "This game is free!"
Chen Mo replied, "You don't get it. Free things are the most expensive."
Wen Lingwei walked over. "Stop pretending to be poor, you cheapskate store manager! You said yourself that *I Am MT*'s monthly revenue could exceed 20 million. That means you're making over 10 million a month! And you're telling me you have no money?"
Chen Mo spread his hands. "But the app store pays out monthly. It hasn't been a month yet. I spent almost all my previous money on the anime. Where would I get the cash to spend?"
Wen Lingwei said, "Oh, then when the money comes in, you should at least top up to VIP 12 yourself. That way, we can leech off you."
Chen Mo replied, "My money is for developing more fun games. How could I waste it on something like this?"
Everyone: "..."
"Come on, do you even believe that yourself? You clearly just want to develop more cash-grabbing games!" Wen Lingwei teased.
Chang Xiuya asked, "Store Manager, I'm curious—does this game even have VIP 12 yet?"
Su Jinyu was startled. "No way? VIP 12 costs 50,000 yuan. Has someone already spent that much?"
Wen Lingwei also thought it was unlikely. "Probably not. No one's money just falls from the sky. I think it might take another month or two for a VIP 12 to appear, since the cap is so high."
Chen Mo said, "Uh, actually, there already are some."
Su Jinyu was shocked. "Really?! Who?"
Chen Mo replied, "There are 27 VIP 12s right now. Which one are you asking about?"
Everyone: "..."
Jia Peng quietly stepped back. "I don't understand the world of the rich."
Su Jinyu said, "Me neither."
Wen Lingwei exclaimed, "Quick! Give me their account IDs! I need to add them as friends! I've been stuck on this level forever. Give me a maxed-out Big Sister, and I can clear it!"
Just as she said that, someone walked in the door.
Chen Mo looked up. Wasn't that Zhao Zihao?
"What are you doing here?" Chen Mo asked, a bit surprised.
Zhao Zihao was also taken aback. "Whoa, there are so many people here. And a lot of girls too."
Chen Mo stood up. "Oh, let me introduce you. This is my new assistant, Su Jinyu. And these are all players."
He then pointed at Zhao Zihao. "This is my buddy, Zhao Zihao. Yeah, he's a goofball."
Zhao Zihao nodded to everyone and found a random seat.
"Hey, Chen Mo, take a look at my cards. Which ones should I use?" Zhao Zihao handed over his phone.
Chen Mo took it and looked. "Huh? You're playing *I Am MT* too?"
Zhao Zihao nodded. "Yeah, how could I not play a game you made? I've been busy lately, so I didn't start on launch day. I just set up an account."
Everyone crowded around to look. Whoa, VIP 12.
Damn, this guy was a whale!
Then they looked at the cards on the account, and everyone was stunned.
Big Sister, Wild Druid Xin Zhizhu, Female Druid, Sister Pao, Winter... He had almost all the rare cards, and he even had duplicates of each.
Wen Lingwei was speechless. "You're wasting all these amazing cards! What a shame!"
Zhao Zihao scratched his head. "Ah, I just pulled a bunch and haven't had time to study them. That's why I came straight to you."
Jia Peng said, "Senior, can you set up his team for him?"
Wen Lingwei rolled her eyes. "The store manager is right here. Why would I show off my amateur skills in front of a master?"
Chen Mo looked at Zhao Zihao's cards and asked, "What kind of build do you want to go for?"
Zhao Zihao looked clueless. "Build? Just give me the strongest setup!"
Chen Mo said, "There's no single strongest setup. Everything counters something else. Forget it, since you have so many good cards, just go with the 'Peerless Master' set."
Chen Mo started arranging the cards while explaining.
"'Peerless Master' is a bond set: Big Sister, Sister Pao, Xin Zhizhu, and Winter. Putting these four on the field together gives a huge attack boost and a huge crit boost. Since you have Big Sister, it'd be a waste not to use this lineup."
"As for the fifth member, your leadership isn't high enough yet to include them. When you can, consider Bloody Little Bitch, Silly, or Closed Moon. It depends on whether you prefer a more defensive or aggressive playstyle."
Jia Peng facepalmed. "All cards from top-ups. A true whale team!"
Zhao Zihao nodded. "Alright, I'll go with this set for now. I'll level up all these cards first."
Wen Lingwei frowned. "Wait, Store Manager, you're saying this set isn't even the strongest? These four overpowered cards aren't the best?"
Chen Mo said, "There's no 'best.' Card attributes counter each other."
Chang Xiuya asked, "Then, Store Manager, can you recommend a budget-friendly lineup?"
Wen Lingwei nodded. "Yeah, preferably one that can crush the 'Peerless Master' set."
Chen Mo was speechless. "How could I let you beat the whales with budget cards? Then how would I make any money?"