Chapter 853: The Rewards Have Been Upgraded
For a horror game, maintaining such a high churn rate should probably be considered something to be proud of, right?
After all, scaring players out of their wits is the whole point of a horror game, isn't it?
But Chen Mo wasn't particularly satisfied with this data.
If too many players churned, how could he collect resentment points?
It wasn't that Chen Mo had designed the game to be too difficult. In terms of puzzle difficulty, combat difficulty, and other aspects, *Silent Hill* wasn't hard. The puzzles were actually quite simple, and the combat didn't require much technical skill.
But the main issue was... *Silent Hill* was a heavily modified version.
The *Silent Hill 2* from Chen Mo's previous life was a relatively old game. Looking at it with modern eyes, the graphics were nothing special—basically mosaic quality. Character movements, game sound effects, and so on weren't particularly outstanding either. Only the story, background music, and game pacing were considered masterful, which is why many players regarded it as the most artistically accomplished entry in the *Silent Hill* series and a representative work of the horror genre.
When Chen Mo wanted to remake *Silent Hill 2* as a VR version, he naturally intended to use the Pangu Engine and top-tier art resources to achieve an ultra-high level of realism.
In every aspect, it would even surpass Hideo Kojima's *P.T.*, after all, *P.T.* was just a "playable teaser," a small fragment of the *New Silent Hill* project, and not complete. Meanwhile, Chen Mo's *Silent Hill* was a complete version built around the script of *Silent Hill 2* as its main storyline, with no shortcomings in graphics, music, atmosphere, models, story, or any other area.
As a result, the effect after the remake exceeded expectations. It seemed to be a bit too terrifying for the players...
Basically, very few players could last more than half an hour in *Silent Hill*. Even those who had pushed the story to the apartment section could only play for a while every few hours. No one could play continuously for more than an hour.
And this level of difficulty scared off many players.
If all the players churned at the first scene, even if they contributed resentment points, it wouldn't be much.
As the saying goes, money makes the world go round.
If players weren't continuing to play, it meant the rewards weren't tempting enough.
Chen Mo called out to Qian Kun: "Come here, increase the rewards for *Silent Hill* again. On top of the original rewards, the first thousand players to clear *Silent Hill* can choose any ten games across the entire platform; the first ten thousand players to clear it can choose any six games; the first fifty thousand players to clear it can choose any three games. These rewards stack with the completion reward."
Qian Kun hesitated for a moment, then said to Chen Mo, "Boss, murder is against the law..."
Chen Mo glanced at him: "What are you talking about? I'm clearly giving out benefits here."
Qian Kun was speechless: "Boss, do you have any idea... how *Silent Hill* is? Even all the designers on the *Silent Hill* project team don't dare to play it, which is enough to prove how terrifying it is..."
Chen Mo chuckled: "It's fine. Players are resilient. No rainbow without a little rain, right? I believe that for ten free games across the entire platform, they'll definitely push through."
"Alright," Qian Kun sighed. "Boss, let's be clear first—this is all your instruction. I'm not taking the blame..."
Chen Mo chuckled again: "You're the numbers guy. If not you, who else would take the blame?"
Qian Kun: "..."
...
On the forums, *Silent Hill* was still one of the hottest topics.
Players had already discussed a lot about how terrifying this game was, and those who had actually made it further all agreed that the scariest part was the beginning.
The unknown was the most terrifying.
Because everything in *Silent Hill* appeared in ways that defied common sense and were completely illogical—like the thick fog, various humanoid yet utterly incomprehensible monsters. These factors severely distorted players' perceptions. Faced with this "fear of the unknown," players' sanity points unknowingly plummeted.
In other horror games, there might be viral outbreaks, biochemical experiments, or biological mutations... but no matter what, those monsters and scenes were still within the realm of human understanding.
But *Silent Hill* was different. No explanations, no reasons. You never knew what might crawl out of the thick fog ahead.
If you could fully accept this setting, things would be much better. But the problem was... going from recognizing this setting to accepting it was an extremely long and arduous process.
Many players said: "I'm done! Never playing again! Clearing it just to get one free game? What a loss! This is practically gambling with my life!"
But just as players were swearing off the game, a new announcement came out.
The rewards had been upgraded!
"Whoa? The first thousand players to clear it can choose any ten games across the entire platform?! And it stacks with the previous rewards? So that means they can get a total of eleven games?! If each VR game costs around 1,600, that's... nearly 18,000!"
"The range is so wide! The lowest tier is the first fifty thousand players, and they still get to choose any four games across the entire platform! That's still seven or eight thousand bucks!"
Many players who had said they'd never play again quietly took back their words when they saw the rewards.
Forget about the first thousand players' reward—that was an incredible deal. Over ten thousand worth of games was something even players with comfortable finances couldn't ignore.
But the reward for the first fifty thousand players was equally tempting because of its high cost-effectiveness.
The first thousand was too hard, but the first fifty thousand? Many players felt they still had a chance to try.
Besides, Chen Mo's ultra-classic VR games weren't that numerous, and many people had already bought them on discount during the Double Eleven sale. Choosing any four games across the entire platform was enough for them to grab all the remaining classics. For example, *Dark Souls* base game, *The Last of Us*, *Uncharted* base game, and *Assassin's Creed: Origins*—getting all four of these would be a huge win!
Chen Mo didn't set a grand prize for the first player to clear the game, as it wouldn't motivate the majority of players.
Instead, by setting rewards in tiers like the first thousand, first ten thousand, and first fifty thousand, he made most players feel they had a shot, drawing them into *Silent Hill* and providing him with a massive amount of resentment points.
Many players said: "I'm going for it!"
Even if they couldn't compete for the top thousand, they had to fight for the top fifty thousand!