Chapter 82: User Count
About half an hour later, Zheng Hongxi finished writing.
Chen Mo looked it over and found the answers decent enough, generally satisfactory.
For the first question, the world setting was limited to an immortal hero theme. Zheng Hongxi established two opposing factions, immortals and demons, along with various major sects. The two classes he chose were Vajra and Plume Warrior—one a tank-type class and the other a magic damage-dealing class.
For the second question, Zheng Hongxi wrote about several weapons, like the Ring-Pommel Saber, Wild Goose Feather Blade, and Azure Dragon Crescent Moon Blade, and then briefly distinguished their qualities.
The last three questions were all related to the "Azeroth Universe." Zheng Hongxi was clearly familiar with the relevant settings of Azeroth and wrote quite a bit.
For the fifth question, Chen Mo had deliberately omitted a lot of information. Tirion Fordring was a key figure in Warcraft history, and his son Taelan was a member of the Scarlet Crusade. This quest line was an important part of "Love and Family" in the Plaguelands.
It was because of Taelan's death that Tirion Fordring resolved to rebuild the Silver Hand Order, eventually becoming a crucial leader in the fight against the Scourge.
Of course, Chen Mo hadn't written the "Azeroth Universe" in such detail, only roughly outlining the identities of Tirion Fordring and his son Taelan. Building on that, Zheng Hongxi filled in some of the story content. Though it still differed from the original, it was passable.
Chen Mo read through the whole thing and was fairly satisfied.
"Mm, not bad. So, let's talk about salary. At your previous company, how much were you earning?" Chen Mo asked.
Zheng Hongxi replied, "Six thousand."
Chen Mo thought for a moment and said, "Alright, here I'll offer you eight thousand per month, with a one-month probation period. Outside of development periods, it's 10 AM to 7 PM, with normal weekends off. During development, we work Saturdays. Is that okay?"
Zheng Hongxi was very pleased. "Sure, sure. So what will my main work be?"
Chen Mo said, "Mainly on the story side—narrative text, quest lines, item descriptions, and so on. Later on, there might be world-building planning, and maybe even letting you take charge of some story-driven games."
Zheng Hongxi said, "Alright, no problem."
Chen Mo said, "Good, then let's sign the contract in a bit. Go back to Magic City and pack up. Can you start within a week?"
Zheng Hongxi said, "Sure, I don't have much stuff there anyway. I'll just handle it quickly."
...
After seeing Zheng Hongxi off, Chen Mo returned to the experience store.
Wen Lingwei said, "So, the store owner is about to welcome a second colleague, huh? Feels like the stingy store owner is finally not going it alone anymore."
Su Jinyu said, "Store owner, the weekend is almost here. You said you'd rest for a week and then make a new game."
Chen Mo was speechless. "What's the rush? Isn't resting good? Always thinking about work."
Su Jinyu said, "Store owner, how can you be such a slacker!"
Chen Mo said, "Alright, alright. Wait, I'll give you the design outline when I come to work tomorrow. This time, you'll be handling all the content yourself."
Su Jinyu: "Huh? All by myself? Can I do it?"
Chen Mo said, "Don't worry, you can. The game I'm giving you is very simple. If you can't finish it, then I might need to consider finding a new assistant."
Su Jinyu: "..."
Wen Lingwei asked, "And what about you, store owner? Last time, you mentioned you'd be working on a new game yourself, right?"
Chen Mo nodded. "Yeah, I'm making one myself too. Anyway, you'll find out when the time comes."
Jia Peng said, "Store owner, please don't let this game be another luck-based one. I really can't handle those!"
Chen Mo said, "Oh, sorry, but this game is probably the most luck-based game in the world."
Jia Peng: "...You guys chat. I'm leaving first."
Wen Lingwei said, "Tsk tsk, so the store owner is going to develop another money-grabbing game?"
Chen Mo shook his head. "Not a money-grab. I told you, I need to recover some goodwill and avoid shortening my lifespan. This game is very fair."
Jia Peng: "A very fair game?!"
Wen Lingwei: "I don't believe it."
Chen Mo said, "Besides, you've probably all played it before. Even if you haven't, you should know about it."
Jia Peng said, "What is it, exactly?"
Chen Mo said, "Alright, you'll find out when the time comes. I'm going to go write the design document outline now."
With that, Chen Mo went back to the studio on the second floor.
...
Ignoring some players' complaints, "I Am MT" was currently running smoothly. The rules and logic of domestic card games were very complete, including strict verification rules on the server side for various player actions and behaviors. Cheating and data tampering were rare.
Moreover, this type of game had a relatively long lifespan. The acquisition of cards, difficulty of levels, and other numerical values were all carefully planned. How long a player would need to play to reach the upper limits could be calculated.
At least for the next two months, Chen Mo didn't need to make any updates to "I Am MT." Later on, adding a few new cards or new gameplay features wouldn't take much effort—he could do it in his spare time.
As for further down the line... that was enough. It was a card game; Chen Mo didn't expect to live off it forever. Why keep grinding away at it? Once he'd made enough money, he'd move on to developing new games.
"I Am MT" had a first-month revenue of 23 million, of which Chen Mo actually received about 12.8 million.
Actually, that was pretty good, because Chen Mo hadn't used any other distribution channels.
The official channel only took a 20% cut, whereas platforms like Imperial Dynasty Game Platform and Divine Fantasy Game Platform had variable splits, sometimes taking 80-90% of the revenue, leaving the designer with only 10-20%.
Moreover, this was just the first month's income. Over the next two to three months, as the player base expanded, this amount might grow a bit more. After all, "I Am MT" was an online game, with much stronger long-term earning potential than single-player games.
It was precisely because of "I Am MT"'s profitability that Chen Mo had no intention of making money from the "I Am MT" anime. Finding sponsors for an anime was troublesome enough, with all the thank-yous involved, and the money earned couldn't compare to the game.
So, Chen Mo was making the anime at a loss just to generate buzz, purely as a promotional tool, with no consideration for profit.
Now that he had money, after a few more prize draws, Chen Mo's various attributes should all reach the first-stage cap.
In Chen Mo's plan, "Plants vs. Zombies" was the starting point, "I Am MT" was for more capital, and the next step was to solve the user count issue. Once everything was in place, he could consider developing his flagship product.
But how to solve the user count problem still required careful planning.
Did Chen Mo have users now? Yes and no.
"Plants vs. Zombies" and "I Am MT" both had large player bases, but these players, even if they had Thunder Game passes, weren't really Chen Mo's own users.