Chapter 266: The Tide Turns
Seeing that the water army’s combat effectiveness had basically dropped to zero, Chen Mo also decided to go to sleep.
Finally, Chen Mo posted a long Weibo post.
“The water army’s combat strength is far too weak. Let’s call it a day here. I hope all you water soldiers will seriously study the techniques and skills of trolling, and hone your professional abilities well. Next time you run into a professional troll like me, you won’t be at such a disadvantage.”
“Alright, I’m in a great mood after cursing out the water army, so I’ll give a straightforward response to the online doubts from the past few days.”
“After announcing that the Thunder Game Platform would reduce its commission rate, many people started making malicious speculations, even bringing up the previous price wars between free software and apps. Basically, they’re saying that I’m now playing the role of a dragon-slaying hero, but eventually, I’ll grow scales and a tail and become a new dragon.”
“Here, I can tell you very clearly: this time, I have no intention of becoming a dragon. I have absolutely no interest in the treasures you’ve hoarded over the years. This time, I just want to slay the dragon, and that’s all.”
“As for whether the hero will be hated, forgotten, or spat upon by the villagers after slaying the dragon—that doesn’t matter.”
“You fat-cat big channel distributors don’t matter to me. But getting rid of you matters a lot to me.”
“Here, everyone can bear witness for me. I promise: the Thunder Game Platform will never interfere with designers’ creative intent or marketing strategies, and the commission will never exceed thirty percent.”
“The situation you fear—where the Thunder Game Platform wins through a price war and then extorts everyone—will never happen.”
“The Thunder Game Platform will always take it upon itself to ‘recommend more fun games to players.’ I’m running this platform, not to make money.”
“You channel distributors who are secretly terrified in the shadows, stop doubting. I’m not trying to start a price war, nor am I trying to monopolize the entire game channel. What I want to do is very simple: make you guys, who are used to exploiting others, learn to earn your own keep.”
“I declare here and now: the days of ‘the channel is king’ are gone forever!”
…
The 24-hour Weibo war had already heated this topic to an unimaginable degree, even reaching the number one spot on Weibo’s trending list that day. And after Chen Mo’s long Weibo post came out, it completely exploded the topic.
When those big channel distributors saw Chen Mo’s long Weibo post, only one thought crossed their minds.
Chen Mo has gone crazy!
He’s not here to fight—he’s here to go all out!
Soon, the content of the 24-hour war and this long Weibo post spread across the internet. Whether they were industry insiders or ordinary bystanders, everyone knew about it and was buzzing with discussion.
“Did you see yesterday’s Weibo? Chen Mo finally made his move! He went back and forth with the water army for twenty-four hours and directly cursed them all into retreat!”
“Really? Can you even curse a water army into retreat?”
“Damn, you haven’t seen it? Chen Mo’s mouth is too vicious. One sentence would choke those troublemaking water soldiers to death. There were so many classic quotes born! You can still see them on Weibo now. Go check it out.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll go see how Chen Mo actually curses people. If he can curse a water army into retreat, Chen Mo is amazing!”
“Hahaha, Chen Mo even expressed regret over the water army’s lack of professionalism at the end, hoping they’d study trolling techniques more. I’m dying laughing!”
“Chen Mo is really something. He was silent for days, but it turns out he was just waiting for his cooldown, then lured out this water army and pulled off a big AOE!”
“A verbal battle against a bunch of trolls?”
“Awesome! And that last long Weibo post was amazing. It shut up all those malicious speculators. Talking about price wars, lowering prices then raising them again? Chen Mo directly told them: that doesn’t exist!”
…
This long Weibo post directly shattered all those malicious speculations.
By announcing in such a high-profile way that the Thunder Game Platform would forever adhere to its current principles and only take a thirty percent commission, Chen Mo both silenced all the trolls and cut off his own financial path.
Once those words were spoken, no matter how the Thunder Game Platform developed in the future, Chen Mo could never think about raising the platform’s commission. If it ever exceeded thirty percent, he would face universal condemnation and public scorn.
That’s why those channel distributors were so troubled. They finally understood: this time, Chen Mo wasn’t in it for the money.
When you have no desires, you become unassailable. It seemed Chen Mo was dead set on turning the Thunder Game Platform into a conscientious channel, even willing to give up huge profits. Against someone like that, no amount of attacks would work.
Although there were still many voices of criticism online, the tide had completely turned in Chen Mo’s favor.
…
…
The internet was in turmoil, but Chen Mo’s experience store was calm.
Chen Mo came out of his rest room, washed up, and stretched.
He had been cursing at the water army on Weibo for a full 24 hours, and he was pretty tired. After sleeping, he finally recovered a bit.
He checked the time—it was 11 a.m., time for lunch.
Just as he was debating which takeout to order, his phone rang.
It was Lin Mao.
Chen Mo had kept in touch with Lin Mao, but with the move to the new experience store and all the work on the new game and the Thunder Game Platform, it had been two or three months since they’d last met for a meal.
On the phone, Lin Mao said, “Chen Mo, Zhao Zihao came back from abroad a few days ago. Let’s take this chance to have a meal together. I also wanted to ask you about your game platform.”
Chen Mo felt the same way. “Sure, just come over. I’ll send you the restaurant address. After we eat, we can drop by the experience store too.”
Chen Mo didn’t want to go far, so he set the meeting place at a nearby restaurant with an average cost of over 500 per person.
About half an hour later, Zhao Zihao and Lin Mao arrived.
“Chen Mo!”
Zhao Zihao was very happy to see Chen Mo. After all, it had been two or three years since they last met.
Chen Mo smiled and walked over. “You’re something else, running off abroad for two or three years without coming back to visit? What were you busy with?”
Zhao Zihao waved his hand. “Ah, don’t even mention it. Family stuff. I actually came back to China a few times, but the schedule was too tight, so I didn’t have time to see you guys.”
Lin Mao urged them, “Alright, don’t just stand at the door. Let’s go inside and talk while we eat.”
The three of them entered the restaurant, found a small private room, and casually ordered a few dishes.
Chen Mo asked Zhao Zihao, “So, are you going abroad again?”
Zhao Zihao shook his head. “It’s all done over there. No need to go back. But you’ve been making quite a splash these past two or three years. I heard about it even abroad. *Warcraft* and *Diablo* have sold overseas. Impressive.”
Chen Mo chuckled. “You play them abroad too?”
“Play?” Zhao Zihao said. “Not just me. Several of my friends love playing *Warcraft*. We even play RPG maps together in it.”