Chapter 284: Big Shots Love to Act Like Newbies
silent: "Greetings, everyone."
Star Spirit Wings - Li Feng: "Damn, I don't dare, I don't dare. I'm just a nobody; you're the real big shot."
silent: "Big shot, no need to be modest. Everyone in this group is a big shot."
[Admin] Hengyou Network - Qiu Hengyang: "Enough with the mutual flattery. Hurry up and change your group nickname first."
silent: "How do I change it? Which game should I write?"
Everyone: "..."
It was true. Everyone else had only one particularly famous work, like Li Feng's "Star Spirit Wings" or Zhou Haibin's "Dream Journey," but Chen Mo's several games were all quite famous.
"Onmyoji," which swept the mobile game market?
"Warcraft," which dominated RTS games?
Or "Minecraft," which just became a hit on the VR side?
[Admin] Hengyou Network - Qiu Hengyang: "Alright, let me change it for you."
[silent has been renamed to Thunder Game - Chen Mo.]
There was no other way. Chen Mo's games were all well-known, so they simply used the company name as the prefix.
Actually, Qiu Hengyang was the same. His games were all fairly similar, none of them being huge hits, so his name prefix was Hengyou Network.
Dream Maze - Lin Hailing: "We were just discussing it this morning, and by the afternoon, you've already pulled Big Shot Chen Mo in. The admins sure move fast with their backroom deals!"
[Group Owner] Divine Demon Three Kingdoms - Zhang Xiaokong: "Ahem, Sister Hailing, be serious. Mind your image."
Dream Maze - Lin Hailing: "/doge"
[Group Owner] Divine Demon Three Kingdoms - Zhang Xiaokong: "First, welcome to the new big shot. Let me explain to everyone: this group's principle is to only add independent game designers. Designers from big companies and platforms like Dizhao, Chanyi, and Shenhuan are generally not invited. But Chen Mo might be an exception. We admins discussed it for half the morning and decided to pull him in anyway. I'm letting everyone know."
Star Spirit Wings - Li Feng: "Welcome, Big Shot Chen Mo, to the group!"
Dream Maze - Lin Hailing: "Welcome, Big Shot Chen Mo! Big shot, please notice me and give me a recommendation!"
Dream Journey - Zhou Haibin: "Welcome."
Gun Fighter - Qian Qi: "Welcome, new big shot!"
...
Thunder Game - Chen Mo: "Look at you all. Clearly, every single one of you is a big shot, so why are you all acting like nobodies here?"
[Group Owner] Divine Demon Three Kingdoms - Zhang Xiaokong: "No, no, no. Actually, including myself, most people in this group are nobodies, struggling to get by making indie games."
Chen Mo chuckled. In reality, many of these people were A-level designers, and there were even two or three S-level designers (who were usually lurking). Although there were also quite a few newcomers, this group had gathered almost all the slightly famous designers in the country. It was clearly not a group for nobody designers.
These days, big shots all loved to act like newbies.
Take Zhang Xiaokong, for example. He was an A-level designer and had received the Honorary Committee membership in the same year as Chen Mo. He was a designer with some influence in the country.
Others, like Li Feng, Zhou Haibin, and Zhu Fanglin, were all familiar faces. Although they weren't as monstrous as Chen Mo, they were all well-known figures in the domestic gaming circle.
And Chen Mo had also roughly figured out what this group was for. It was probably a place for these independent designers to huddle together for warmth.
After all, designers and channel providers only had a business relationship, and they often schemed against each other. These independent game designers were also in competition with the big companies. So, only among independent designers could such a harmonious relationship be maintained.
[Group Owner] Divine Demon Three Kingdoms - Zhang Xiaokong: "Speaking of which, it was really troublesome to pull Big Shot Chen Mo in. At first, I thought, since Thunder Game has grown so big, surely they couldn't have trouble finding Chen Mo's contact info, right? But we really couldn't find it. After searching everywhere, all we could find was the contact info for the person in charge of the Thunder Game platform. In the end, Old Qiu came through, saying he had Chen Mo's contact info, and that's how we finally pulled him in."
[Admin] Hengyou Network - Qiu Hengyang: "I'm puzzled too. Am I the only one in this group who has Chen Mo's contact info? I have to say, Chen Mo, your social connections are really something!"
Dream Maze - Lin Hailing: "Haha, looks like Big Shot Chen Mo is so busy making money he has no friends!"
Thunder Game - Chen Mo: "Ahem, I'm focused on R&D. Usually, I don't pay attention to things outside my window."
[Group Owner] Divine Demon Three Kingdoms - Zhang Xiaokong: "Understandable, understandable. After all, the big shot is busy making games and money, unlike us nobodies who spend all day chatting in the group and delaying project progress."
[Admin] Hengyou Network - Qiu Hengyang: "Alright, Old Zhang, that's enough. Let's get down to business."
[Group Owner] Divine Demon Three Kingdoms - Zhang Xiaokong: "Fine, fine, let's get down to business. Old Qiu, you go ahead."
Chen Mo knew in his heart that these people had invited him in for a reason.
This group was for independent game designers, and it was a relatively private group. It had almost no work-related nature; it was a place for everyone to chat and relieve stress. There wasn't a single person from Dizhao Interactive Entertainment, Chanyi Interactive Entertainment, or Shenhuan Game Platform. It could be said that no designer attached to a big company was added.
And what about Chen Mo?
If you only looked at designer rank, Chen Mo was still an A-level designer. After making "Minecraft," he might be a bit closer to reaching S-level, but he hadn't leveled up yet.
From this perspective alone, there was no problem with Chen Mo joining this group.
However, Chen Mo's Thunder Game platform was already the third-largest game platform in the country. He also had the identity of being the boss of a game channel. The relationship between channel providers and these independent game designers was quite delicate.
Considering this identity of his, it was a sensitive matter. Pulling him into this group was somewhat inappropriate.
It was like pulling a teacher into a good old classmates' group. That would be really awkward.
But Zhang Xiaokong and the other admins had discussed it and still pulled him in, which meant there was definitely some special consideration behind it.
[Admin] Hengyou Network - Qiu Hengyang: "It's like this, Chen Mo. Although most people in the group are quite resistant to channel providers, I think you're different from those profit-driven channel providers. Your main identity is still a designer, so I think there's no problem pulling you in."
"Of course, we didn't pull you in because we want something from you. Mainly, we hope you can join as a designer and chat with everyone more. Also, we want to latch onto your coattails. After all, since Dizhao and Shenhuan platforms joined forces, we all feel like the domestic game market might be in for a big shake-up, and we're very uncertain."
[Group Owner] Divine Demon Three Kingdoms - Zhang Xiaokong: "Right. Actually, for A-level designers like us, it's fine. No matter how the channel providers fight, we can still make a living. Our main concern is for the newbie designers in this group. If the channel wars make the market even worse, they might end up eating dirt."