Chapter 161: Tips for New Players 11/17
In the experience store.
Today, the computer seats weren’t fully occupied, but the massage chairs were packed. Many people were sitting on the sofas, in the conference room, or even playing *Onmyoji* on the computer chairs.
Wen Lingwei said, “Quick, I created a guild, join it now!”
Chang Xiuya exclaimed in surprise, “Senior, what the heck is this name, ‘Thunder Ghost-Catching Squad’?”
Qian Kun’s face darkened. “I refuse to join!!”
Wen Lingwei said, “It’s not that bad, isn’t this name way better than ‘Chrysanthemum Explosion Squad’?”
Qian Kun shook his head frantically. “I’d rather join the Chrysanthemum Explosion Squad!”
Chen Mo was also a bit speechless. “I mean, you graduated and don’t look for a job, just come here every day to play games. I’m at a loss for words.”
Wen Lingwei glanced at him. “Find a job? I really can’t be bothered with those lousy jobs. Besides, I earn five thousand yuan for a single original artwork. What difference does having a job make?”
Chen Mo said, “That makes so much sense, I can’t even argue…”
Obviously, the experience store was the first place where the *Onmyoji* craze took off. Before the game was even officially released, Wen Lingwei and Chang Xiuya were already eagerly playing, and even Zou Zhuo, who had been buried in *Warcraft*, was pulled in.
After the game officially launched, these people, relying on their prior experience, cleared the story quickly.
Chang Xiuya handed her phone to Wen Lingwei. “Senior, I, I can’t get past this story stage again…”
Wen Lingwei was speechless. She took the phone and started adjusting Chang Xiuya’s lineup.
“Equip the soul orbs, and you need to train your shikigami. If you don’t train them, how can you beat the story monsters?”
“Your lineup also has some issues. Why are you still carrying N cards… First, train the Snow Maiden.”
Wen Lingwei said this while helping Chang Xiuya adjust the lineup and clear the story.
For a typical female player like Chang Xiuya, she didn’t really care about the battle system, but was especially interested in the art, music, and story aspects. Of course, the result was that she couldn’t get past the story stages…
Zheng Hongxi suddenly said, “Oh? I got an SSR.”
As soon as he said this, everyone on the first floor of the experience store immediately looked over.
“What? An SSR?”
“Wait, this game has SSRs? I’ve never seen one!”
“Holy crap, you’re the first SSR in our guild! Let’s see what it is!”
Instantly, a crowd gathered around.
Zheng Hongxi showed his phone to everyone. Sure enough, on the screen was a white-haired, long-legged girl, the SSR shikigami Aobozu.
Everyone immediately lost their composure.
“Ahhh, isn’t that Lady Aobozu? I want her too!”
“Oh my god, you actually pulled an SSR! How did you do it?”
“Come here, I need to absorb some of your luck!”
Jia Peng said, “Yeah, how did you pull it? Teach me the trick for drawing the talisman!”
Zheng Hongxi scratched his head. “I don’t know, I just drew a circle casually.”
Jia Peng said, “Alright, I’ll draw a circle too!”
Su Jinyu said helplessly, “It doesn’t matter what you draw, okay? It’s just a visual effect. What you pull is entirely determined by the system randomly.”
Jia Peng said, “I don’t care, I don’t care! Give us unlucky ones a way to survive!”
Wen Lingwei said to Zheng Hongxi, “Sell me your account! I’ll pay 300 yuan!”
Zheng Hongxi said, “Can’t sell it. This account is tied to too many things, and it’s also bound to my ID and phone number.”
Jia Peng thought for a moment. “Then, how about I buy an SSR account online? There should be some for sale, right?”
Chen Mo laughed. “Don’t think about such a good deal. You can’t buy one.”
Jia Peng was confused. “Why?”
Chen Mo said, “To download *Onmyoji*, you must use a Thunder Game account, and it must be bound to an ID and verified by phone. The ID, phone number, and account must all match.”
Jia Peng held his forehead. “Wow! Boss, you’ve made this too strict. It’s like you’re giving us no way out!”
Chen Mo patted his shoulder. “Unlucky ones, please complete the assignment on your own.”
Wen Lingwei silently opened the recharge interface and topped up 300 yuan.
“Playing until now and only having two SRs is really embarrassing for the lucky ones. I’m going to spend money!”
Su Jinyu quickly advised, “Don’t rush! Just play slowly. You’ll get a lot of jade later. And besides, it’s not like SSRs are the strongest. Some R and SR cards are also very powerful.”
Wen Lingwei shook her head. “I don’t care! I want an SSR!”
Chen Mo watched everyone’s reactions and couldn’t help but smile.
In fact, a card-based mobile game didn’t need to be this strict. Requiring the account, ID, and phone number to all match was something usually done for high-end VR games.
For typical card-based mobile games, there was no restriction on so-called “first-pull accounts.”
A “first-pull account” referred to an account that happened to pull a rare card during the initial draw phase.
Most card-based mobile games gave players some currency to experience the draw at the start, and luck varied. Some accounts that drew good cards became “first-pull accounts.”
Some players would deliberately farm first-pull accounts, and some shady merchants would mass-produce them to sell at high prices.
For ordinary card-based mobile games, there wasn’t much need to restrict first-pull accounts because the player base was small, card values were low, and the probabilities were tightly controlled, so it didn’t cause much damage to the game.
But *Onmyoji* was different. Its player base was huge, and due to the superstitious draw probabilities, the cost of an SSR was extremely high. In the previous life, the first-pull account problem for *Onmyoji* was very serious, causing a double headache for both players and the game company.
So, Chen Mo used the highest standards to restrict account registration and resale for *Onmyoji*, significantly increasing the cost for those shady merchants farming first-pull accounts. This greatly reduced their chances of pulling an SSR from such accounts.
This also solved a major problem that plagued *Onmyoji* in its early days in the previous life.
Soon, everyone was immersed in playing *Onmyoji*.
Chen Mo wasn’t playing. He was keeping an eye on online reviews. So far, *Onmyoji* had a high rating online, hovering around 8.8 points. The vast majority were five-star reviews, but there were also many one-star reviews.
Among the negative reviews, some were clearly from paid trolls, while others were more subtle, praising the game on the surface but criticizing it underneath, deliberately exaggerating *Onmyoji*’s flaws.
Of course, there were also rebuttals and arguments. Players who liked *Onmyoji* were still the overwhelming majority.
However, many players generally reported that the game was hard to understand because its gameplay was too different from previous card-based mobile games, with a steep learning curve.
Many people were also tagging Chen Mo on Weibo, asking him to share some tips and tricks.
After thinking it over, Chen Mo posted a long Weibo post.
**Tips for New Players of Onmyoji:**
- **Hundred Ghosts Night Parade:** A mysterious system where, no matter what you hit, you’ll choose to send your friend 3 N-card fragments.
- **Shikigami Scroll:** A scroll that humiliates you once every Monday as a routine.
- **Barrier Card:** A magical card that seems to have a six-star version, but you’ve never successfully synthesized one.
- **Barrier Breakthrough:** A confidence-building system that makes you think you can dominate everything.
- **Duels:** A system that shatters the confidence you gained from Barrier Breakthrough and makes you face reality.
- **Shop Soul Orbs:** The synonym for going broke.
- **Bounty Seals:** Although you can’t have a Great Tengu, you can occasionally get a single feather of one through this.
- **Max Level Shikigami Spirit:** All because you’re too poor to upgrade soul orbs.
- **Level 35 Story Stage:** A stage that no one has ever passed at level 35.
- **Chapter 18 Hard Exploration:** Harder than the story.
- **Heart’s Eye:** Something you thought you didn’t lack, but after playing this game, you suddenly find yourself desperately needing.
- **Voice Summoning:** Choose your incantation carefully. The more chuunibyou it is, the higher the chance of pulling an SSR. But be warned, if you succeed, the whole world will hear it.
- Example incantation: Balala energy, shara shara, little magic fairy full body transformation!
- **Face:** The most important thing in this game.
- **Rare Shikigami:** This game has no SSRs.