Chapter 299: Heated Discussion
While the “League of Legends” experience store was collecting player feedback, the development team was not idle either. Zhao Yunting was busy purchasing servers and finding a customer service company, while everyone else was handling various game detail tasks, preparing promotional materials, and getting ready for the first official release version of “League of Legends.”
“League of Legends” was different from all the previous games. Its future player count would be terrifying, so the server requirements would also be extremely high. Previously, Chen Mo had developed many online games, such as “I Am MT” and “Onmyoji,” where servers were directly purchased as cloud servers, and customer service teams were outsourced to specialized companies.
Server technology in this world was already very mature. Since many VR games had terrifying data transmission volumes, servers capable of handling VR games could naturally handle “League of Legends” as well. However, Chen Mo still dared not be careless. He specifically instructed Zhao Yunting not to skimp on costs for related supporting issues like servers and customer service personnel, and to strive for perfection.
He wanted to ensure that the normal latency in “League of Legends” was below 10 milliseconds, and that every player question received timely and professional answers.
The development progress of “League of Legends” could be described as very fast, or rather, very rushed. On one hand, this world had game editors—bug-like tools that naturally sped up game development. On the other hand, the initial version of “League of Legends” that Chen Mo planned was not too complex, with only 25 heroes.
So, while Cog’s game hadn’t even released a prototype, and the games from Di Chao and Zen Yi had just been initiated, Chen Mo had already created the initial version of “League of Legends” and placed it in the experience store.
It had to be admitted that “speed is the unbeatable principle” was a golden rule in the gaming circle, especially during critical periods. Being a month earlier or later could lead to completely different outcomes for the same game. Although “League of Legends” itself had solid quality, Chen Mo did not want to give his opponents any chance to turn the tables.
…
Information about “League of Legends” quickly spread online through the experience store players. Many people recorded gameplay videos and introduced the game’s content to other players.
As soon as this news came out, it caused a huge uproar among the player community. For the vast majority of players, hearing this news left them in multiple states of shock. Previously, Chen Mo’s secrecy measures had been excellent, with virtually no leaks at all. Most people had no idea that Chen Mo was developing such a competitive game.
Players were all discussing the video materials circulating online.
“Chen Mo’s new game is already out? That’s way too fast! Is this another small-scale production like ‘Ashe’?”
“Hard to tell, but according to the experience store players, Chen Mo seems to take this game very seriously. It doesn’t seem like a casual project; it should be the core game for the next phase.”
“This feels a bit like Cog, doesn’t it?”
“Like hell it does! The lanes, map layout, heroes, and even the art style are completely different from Cog. Where’s the similarity?”
“Uh, I mean they’re both this kind of 5v5 competitive game.”
“If you put it that way, the earliest 5v5 competitive game was Chen Mo’s own ‘Cheng Hai 3C.’ Chen Mo explained himself that ‘Cheng Hai’ was to commemorate a friend, and ‘3C’ stands for ‘3 Corridors,’ meaning three lanes.”
“Uh, okay, my bad. So, Chen Mo took the 3C gameplay, optimized it, and made a standalone game?”
“…Doesn’t this feel exactly like what the Cog author is doing?”
“Wasn’t there a lot of people on the forums urging Chen Mo to collaborate with the Cog author? And now Chen Mo just made a similar game himself??”
“I calculated it. ‘League of Legends’ should have started development before Cog became popular. That means… Chen Mo had already planned this, so he never bothered to respond?”
“I support Chen Mo making this type of game in an official capacity, since the Cog author is a foreigner. But… what the hell is this game? Where’s my Arthas? Where’s my Dark Ranger?”
“Yeah, I thought this game would be similar to ‘Warcraft,’ but this art style… Is this a cartoon game?”
“I don’t care! I want Arthas!!”
“And from the gameplay videos, this game seems pretty simple, especially the controls. No unit grouping, skills are fixed to QWERDF, and all operations only need a dozen or so keys.”
“The art style is too fresh and clean. Doesn’t feel right.”
“Feels like there’s no skill involved.”
“Just one map? Even if it’s the initial version, Chen Mo is being too sloppy, isn’t he? He could have just modified a ‘Warcraft’ map.”
“Did the person above even play Cog? Cog only has one map too, and ‘League of Legends’ map is actually much more complex than Cog’s.”
“The hero count is okay, 25, but so many heroes are just ridiculous. Like that Teemo—is it a rabbit or a raccoon? Such a childish hero, is it for kindergarten kids?”
“…Do you all have such strong opinions? I watched the videos and thought the game looked pretty good. At least it’s easy to pick up, the rules are clear, and the thrill of killing is decent. It’s at least above average.”
“You don’t get it. Our standards are high because it’s Chen Mo. He’s already made games like ‘Warcraft’ and ‘Diablo.’ This new game is clearly a step down! It looks like it was rushed out!”
“What do you think? Is Chen Mo unhappy with Cog and made a new game out of spite?”
“No idea. If he was unhappy with Cog, shouldn’t he use heroes from ‘Warcraft’? Why create so many new heroes?”
“Feels like Chen Mo is messing around!”
…
Soon, the forum players were arguing fiercely.
Because a large portion of Chen Mo’s PC hardcore fans came from “Warcraft” and “Diablo,” they were already very accustomed to the realistic, darker art style and had relatively high skill levels. Naturally, they were very uncomfortable with the art style and control scheme of “League of Legends.”
In their view, this wasn’t a change in style but a regression in quality.
Of course, there were also many players who supported “League of Legends” or were taking a wait-and-see approach. In their opinion, the style change in “League of Legends” was a shift and experiment by Chen Mo. Whether “League of Legends” succeeded or not, they supported Chen Mo in making such changes and attempts.
Some players who enjoyed Cog also had a rather unpleasant guess.
Chen Mo had not announced any collaboration with the Cog creator, and the new game “League of Legends” was clearly in direct competition with Cog. So…
Didn’t that mean the Cog creator would never get the rights to the relevant heroes from “Warcraft”?
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