Chapter 307: Reviews
On the official forum of *League of Legends*, a new post sparked heated discussion among players.
The post title was: "Caught on Camera: Chen Mo Playing *League of Legends*, Alistar the Healer Trolls His Teammates!"
Seeing this post, everyone's first reaction was disbelief. After all, Chen Mo was considered the top player in China for *Warcraft*, having dominated domestic pros back in the day with the nickname "Cramp Hands." How could someone like that possibly troll his teammates in *League of Legends*?
But after watching the video, it really was trolling!
"Hahaha, that's amazing! What's up with S-God? Sneaking off to an internet cafe to play games again, and getting caught on camera!"
"Looking at that silhouette, it really is Chen Mo."
"I'm dying of laughter! At first, I thought that Alistar was playing pretty well, but that moment when he knocked the Master Yi right next to our own Twisted Fate had me in stitches!"
"A true healer Alistar! I thought only I made mistakes like that!"
"No, this should be called an assist Alistar! The best sixth man!"
"I can't believe it. Even Chen Mo can't play *League of Legends* well. S-God is actually a noob, hahahaha!"
"I feel like if I were playing that Alistar, that teamfight would have been a 0-for-5 wipe!"
"This makes me want to try *League of Legends* too. I think I could crush S-God!"
"I'm going to play it too! I can finally get back at him for all those losses in *Warcraft*!"
This video didn't just stir up discussion among *League of Legends* players; players of other games also caught wind of it.
And Chen Mo gained another nickname: Healer Silence.
...
At the experience store.
Chen Mo stared at the video, speechless.
Damn it, I was ensuring the fairness of the match. How is that being a healer?
But there was no way to explain it at this point. He figured he'd just let it go. After all, this video was highly topical, essentially serving as indirect promotion for *League of Legends*.
So far, the promotion of *League of Legends* had been very successful.
With a multi-pronged strategy involving game platform promotion, online ads, and internet cafe collaborations, the game's popularity had skyrocketed to a high level, sweeping through the target player base Chen Mo had aimed for like a tidal wave.
Who was the target player base for *League of Legends*?
It mainly targeted in-school and out-of-school youth aged 12 to 30.
These people were characterized by their passion for online games, but they faced the pressures of school and work. Most didn't have a lot of free time, and they had a preference for games that tested their skills.
A major problem with traditional MMORPGs was the high time investment required, and some even demanded significant financial costs. Players aged 12 to 30 were either still in school or already working, so they didn't have that much time to game.
These players also generally had weaker financial means, with many being free-to-play gamers. Games like *League of Legends*, which ensured fairness without spending money and allowed players to show off through skill, were perfect for them.
Of course, there were also some well-off and idle college students, but they were a minority. And even for college students, *League of Legends* was equally appealing.
So, Chen Mo's promotion strategy was specifically extended to internet cafes and college campuses. PC internet cafes, in particular, were ideal for promoting *League of Legends*.
...
On February 10th, three days after *League of Legends* launched, Chen Mo released the game's first-day retention data.
The number of players who logged in on the first day reached 390,000, and the day-two retention rate hit a staggering 73%.
Of course, compared to the total active user base of the Thunder Game Platform, 390,000 didn't seem like a terrifying number. However, most players on the Thunder Game Platform were mobile gamers (as was the case across the entire gaming market). They preferred games like *Onmyoji* and *Happy Match*, while core PC gamers weren't the majority.
Still, this number was incredibly impressive.
For context, *Diablo* had only sold 280,000 copies in its first week. *League of Legends* didn't have a grand opening cinematic or a deeply engaging story yet. It relied solely on aggressive promotion and being free-to-play, making it no small feat to attract so many players.
Moreover, *League of Legends* was a completely new genre. Many players were confused after reading the game description and had little motivation to specifically download it on PC. So, achieving this data was already a huge success.
This player count was also enough to support the in-game matchmaking system, ensuring players of similar skill levels were matched together and keeping everyone's win rate hovering around 50%.
While forcing a 50% win rate could sometimes seem foolish, it maximized the gaming experience for the vast majority of players.
After Chen Mo released this data, both Dicha Interactive and Shenhuan Game Platform started to get nervous.
As professional game distributors, they fully understood what this data meant. It indicated that *League of Legends* had the potential to become a super hit, matching or even slightly surpassing the data of some classic, dominant games.
The only good news for Dicha and Shenhuan was that player reviews for *League of Legends* weren't exceptionally high.
Currently, player ratings for *League of Legends* hovered around 8.4 out of 10. While that wasn't low, *Warcraft* and *Diablo* had never dropped below 9 points at launch.
Judging by specific player feedback, this game hadn't reached the level of a "masterpiece" in players' minds.
Most reviews were along the lines of "not bad," "playable," and "fresh gameplay." There weren't many blind praises. Clearly, the gimmick of "a completely free, fair competitive game" played a key role in attracting players and boosting the rating.
Some players were disappointed with the game, including a few of Chen Mo's core fans.
"The art style feels too cartoonish. There's no immersion at all."
"Has Chen Mo regressed? No story mode, not even an opening cinematic?"
"Given the development time, I feel like Chen Mo is up to some trick again. Old *Warcraft* players might not adapt well to this game. Maybe casual players will like it more."
"I thought Chen Mo would make an official COG, but this is way too different from COG! It changes his usual style and lowers the quality too much!"
These reviews gave Dicha Interactive a glimmer of hope for a comeback.
If *League of Legends* could achieve such terrifying results, what would happen with COG?