Chapter 180: The Awards Are About to Begin
The audience was completely dumbfounded. They had been expecting the presentation to follow Qiu Bin's slides as promised.
But you went and added four words at the beginning, completely reversing the meaning!
Chen Mo explained, "Actually, a lot of people have fallen into a misconception here. The gameplay of *I'm MT* is indeed very fragmented, a game designed to make full use of fragmented time. But what about *Onmyoji*? Without a doubt, it's a hardcore game."
"However, even as a hardcore game, even though it goes against the habits of mobile game users, it still succeeded. Why? It's determined by the game's own characteristics. Simply put, as long as your game can reach the standard of *Onmyoji*, you can also turn it into a hardcore game, and your revenue will even increase..."
"...And the third point, low cost does make it easy to pivot, but once you encounter a high-quality product, your game will immediately appear fragile and vulnerable. This is also why all the card games on the market were swept away by *Onmyoji*..."
"...And the fourth point, IP is very important, but you don't necessarily have to buy it. The highest realm of card mobile games is 'I am the IP,' meaning creating your own IP. Buying an IP is a shortcut, but a bought IP is just a skin. Whether you can use that skin well still depends on your own hard strength..."
Point by point, he explained calmly.
Chen Mo wasn't in a hurry. After all, card mobile games only had so much content to cover. He could casually pull out a little bit of what he had in his head, and it would be enough to fill an entire lecture.
The audience below listened and felt more and more impressed, but at the same time, they grew more and more confused.
"His last three points completely changed Qiu Bin's slides! He overturned all the key points Qiu Bin summarized?"
"Yeah, and he said the complete opposite in every case."
"Which one is right?"
"I feel like both of them make sense?"
"Yeah, I know. I need to sort this out."
"Honestly, based on the experience of *Onmyoji*, what Chen Mo said is correct. That's exactly how it is."
"*Onmyoji* did overturn the concept of card mobile games, that's true. But I still don't quite get it. How exactly did it overturn it?"
"Does that mean if the quality is high enough, you can do whatever you want?"
"That can't be right, can it? You still have to follow objective laws!"
"So, when I make a card mobile game in the future, should I make it hardcore or for fragmented time? Should I buy an IP or not? I'm completely lost!"
...
Two hours passed quickly.
Chen Mo flipped to the last page of the slides: "Actually, card mobile games have a limited lifespan. This year is their period of vigorous development, and many card mobile games have indeed achieved huge profits. But in the long run, this model will quickly become boring. Its lifespan is far shorter than other mainstream game models."
"As for how long this decline will last, it's hard to say. But I still have a suggestion for everyone: think carefully about your game design and polish your game quality. The trend of card games is only temporary; it can't sustain us for a lifetime."
"Finally, I hope everyone can gain some inspiration from this, and I also hope everyone can develop fun games. My speech ends here. Thank you all."
Chen Mo gave a slight bow and walked off the stage. The venue immediately erupted in enthusiastic applause.
"That was an amazing talk! I think Qiu Bin could never reach this level!"
"Yeah, after all, it's Chen Mo. His understanding of card mobile games is too profound. His perspective on the problem is completely different from ours."
"But, I'm still a bit confused. It was a bit too complicated."
"I'll have to ponder it carefully when I get back. It's already very generous of him to share so much."
"I used to think Chen Mo was pretty arrogant, but after seeing him today, he's not bad. He's quite humble and shared so much with us. What a good guy!"
Several designers gathered around Chen Mo, greeting him and exchanging contact information. Chen Mo didn't push them away. Many of these people were sincerely trying to make friends, so there was no need to be overly guarded.
In fact, Chen Mo knew exactly what he was talking about. The tricks of card mobile games were limited. But knowing the tricks was one thing; being able to execute them was another.
Just like *Onmyoji*. Even if everyone now knew that this game was a grind and could still make money, how many designers would dare to make their own game such a grind?
The various settings of a game are closely interconnected. One change affects the whole system. Even if Chen Mo explained some of the settings, the vast majority of people couldn't make a good card mobile game.
Someone even sent a recording of Chen Mo's speech to Qiu Bin.
Qiu Bin was practically spitting blood. I didn't even go to the awards ceremony, so why am I still involved in this!
Why did Qiu Jiang have to stir things up for no reason? Why did he have to push Chen Mo up there to speak?
And Chen Mo, seriously, couldn't you have just refused? You actually went up and gave a talk!
Fine, you gave a talk. But you used my slides!
Fine, you used my slides. But you changed them! Doesn't that mean you completely overturned my conclusions?
Qiu Bin was helpless. This was like being at home and having a pot fall from the sky onto your head!
Chen Mo, you son of a bitch!
...
The next day, the event continued.
The daytime activities were still mainly lectures. Chen Mo just listened casually. Basically, they were the same as what was said the day before, just on different topics.
In the evening, the main event began.
In fact, the daytime lectures were just filler activities. What really mattered was the awards ceremony in the evening. Many designers worked hard all year, and this ceremony was equivalent to official recognition. If they could win some key awards, their future development would be much smoother.
After entering, Chen Mo also saw a few familiar faces and greeted them.
"Chen Mo? You're here."
"You have a good chance of competing for Best Mobile Game this time. Let me congratulate you in advance."
"Your lecture yesterday was really good. When are you going to talk about RTS games?"
"Chen Mo, just tell me in private. Is there really no secret to pulling an SSR in *Onmyoji*?"
Chen Mo answered them one by one.
"No way. I'm mainly here to learn, just to learn."
"RTS games are really hard to talk about. Maybe another time."
"There really is no secret. The players don't believe it, but how can you, a designer, not believe it either? It's all system probability, alright."
Soon, the awards ceremony was about to begin.
A staff member came to Chen Mo's side, leaned down, and whispered, "Mr. Chen Mo, if you win an award later, please think about your acceptance speech."
Chen Mo asked, "Is there one for me?"
The staff member said, "No, I mean *if* you win one. The awards are still sealed. I don't know who won."
Chen Mo smiled. "Alright, no need to remind me."
Chen Mo said he was mainly there to learn, but in reality, he still wanted to win an award. Because this world was different from his previous life, and Chen Mo's goals were different. In his previous life, making games was just to make a living. Having enough to eat and wear was satisfying. But in this world, Chen Mo wanted to make more good games.
If it was just measured by making money, Chen Mo had already made quite a bit. Having enough to eat and wear was no problem. But Chen Mo wanted more good games. So, for the sake of the future, winning an award should be a form of official recognition for him, which would be very beneficial for his future development.