Chapter 565: Li Jingsi's Interview
After finishing the design concept draft, everyone quickly dove into the development of the two new games.
According to Chen Mo's estimates, the development speed for both the *Dark Souls* prequel and *Honor of Kings* would be very fast. Especially for *Honor of Kings*, much of it utilized the existing mechanics of *League of Legends*, and some resources could be reused. The main workload was in character concept art and models, but with the design drafts ready, outsourcing to external companies would be perfectly fine.
After all, while the model quality of *Honor of Kings* was decent for a mobile game, compared to the VR games Chen Mo was now making, it was child's play.
For Chen Mo, mobile games were a cash cow when he was strapped for cash, but now, they were just something to play around with.
However, given the monetization power of *Honor of Kings*... Chen Mo still had to pay it some attention.
Of course, in Chen Mo's previous life, *Honor of Kings* was a game that received mixed reviews.
On one hand, its achievements were staggering, leaving all game companies in awe. Its online player count, popularity, and revenue were all terrifying. On the other hand, from its inception, *Honor of Kings* was accompanied by a flood of negative news.
This included excessive imitation of other games, a relatively low-budget presentation, and cultural background issues that misled younger players.
Of course, Chen Mo could choose a different IP to repackage a MOBA mobile game, but obviously, that wasn't a good choice.
There were two reasons for this. First, the so-called "IP" depends on the player base. IPs like *Warcraft* and *Diablo* are huge for hardcore players, but for elementary school students and female players, they probably don't even know who the Lich King is.
The same goes for the *Onmyoji* IP. *Onmyoji* became popular mainly because it was well-received by anime fans, and then spread to the general player base. But anime fans are just a small part of the elementary school and female player demographics.
Although NetEase used the *Onmyoji* IP to create *Onmyoji Arena*, it's clear that this game still has a huge gap compared to *Honor of Kings* in every aspect.
On the other hand, characters from Chinese history have much higher recognition among this demographic. A girl who has never played a game would still know names like Jing Ke, Han Xin, Zhen Ji, Cao Cao, Guan Yu, and Zhuge Liang.
Another point is that, for Chen Mo, *Honor of Kings* was a relatively "scummy" game. Making such a game would inevitably attract criticism, just like when he made *I Am MT* and *Onmyoji*.
Since it's a pay-to-win game, don't bother trying to build a good reputation... That would be hypocritical, wouldn't it?
Imagine using the *Warcraft* universe to create a MOBA game, then adding a pay-to-win system where you can spend diamonds to draw for the Lich King?
That would probably piss off a lot of loyal *Warcraft* fans...
Chen Mo's goal was simple: pay-to-win games should honestly be pay-to-win. Players just need to spend money, and they can curse all they want after spending...
As for high-quality games, they should be made with great care in every aspect, even if it means losing money to gain goodwill.
Obviously, *Honor of Kings* is a pay-to-win game, so there's no need to ruin other IPs with it. Moreover, using traditional Chinese characters could help elementary school students learn some traditional culture. How about adding a quiz system to buy heroes? Wouldn't that be great?
Besides, if they used other IPs, how could they release beautiful Chinese-style skins like "Phoenix Seeking a Mate"? Wouldn't that hinder players from spending money?
Since it's a game made for elementary school students, it should wholeheartedly serve them, think what they think, and worry about what they worry about. That's what a responsible designer does!
As for gameplay, although many of *Honor of Kings*' mechanics were criticized as plagiarism, it has to be admitted that many of its designs were the best mature designs available at the time.
This included the control mode, auto-last hitting, dual-stick skill casting, and the pay-to-win system. In many ways, it represented the highest level of mobile MOBA games.
And when it comes to monetization, *Honor of Kings* truly reached the pinnacle. Chen Mo hadn't made players "spend money to create happiness" in a long time. It was time to let them relive the fear of being dominated by a pay-to-win game!
...
At the experience store, Li Jingsi was idly flipping through a book.
After reading just a couple of pages, a tall girl walked in through the store's entrance.
This girl looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a center-parted long hairstyle. Her walking posture exuded a strong, assertive vibe, a classic mature woman. She was dressed very formally, and her aura screamed "strong female lead."
Li Jingsi looked up at her. "Sis, you're here?"
The girl who came in was Li Jingshu, Li Jingsi's cousin.
Li Jingshu sat down across from Li Jingsi and said in a very firm tone, "I've arranged an interview for you. A senior designer from Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment happened to be on a business trip to the capital these days. Go interview for a designer position. Since you like playing games, being a designer would be pretty good."
Li Jingsi was dumbfounded. "You're really my sister... How can you just arrange things for me without asking? So you came to see me today just for this? You didn't even tell me beforehand?"
Li Jingshu raised an eyebrow. "If I told you, would you have gone? We grew up together, don't I know you? To make you do something, I have to act first and report later!"
Li Jingsi was speechless. "I like playing games, but making games is completely different from playing games! Who wants to be a designer?"
Li Jingshu said, "Then find a job yourself! You've already graduated. Your classmates had their jobs lined up before graduation. But you? After graduating, you just play games all day without doing anything serious. Uncle and Aunt don't say much to your face, but they're really worried. They've complained to me a lot."
Li Jingsi rubbed her forehead. "Alright... Sis, you must have put in a lot of effort to get in touch with Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment."
Li Jingshu said, "Yeah, it took a lot of effort. I had to go through several connections. Just give it a try. You're so good at games; maybe some game company will take a liking to you."
Li Jingsi sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll go check it out. Send me the info on my phone. But... I don't have a resume."
Li Jingshu said, "No problem. As long as you're willing to go, that's enough. You don't need a resume. Just go, have a casual chat, and mention your game rank. Isn't that a sure thing?"
Li Jingsi squinted. "So you've already thought everything through for me?"
Li Jingshu smiled. "Of course. I was thinking of finding other jobs for you, but I figured you wouldn't be interested in anything else. You just like playing games, so I found a way to get you an interview at a game company."
Li Jingsi said, "Thanks for not setting me up with a game streamer interview..."
Li Jingshu laughed. "A game streamer? That doesn't require an interview. Besides, being a game designer is at least a proper job. If you became a game streamer, Uncle and Aunt wouldn't agree, right?"
"Anyway, Jingsi, just let me worry a little less. Can you please just find a job?"
Li Jingsi waved her hand impatiently. "Alright, alright, sis, I get it. I'll go check it out."
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