Losing Money to Be a Tycoon - Chapter 213

Chapter 213: Just as Boss Pei had Expected!

Pei Qian waited for a few minutes. Lin Wan had not sent any questions. This meant that the problem had been resolved. In fact, Pei Qian knew that the advertising plan he had sent them was the most effective advertising method for traditional web-based games.

He could not say that the quality-price ratio was the highest, but it was quite effective.

For web-based games, advertising methods with the best quality-price ratio required directly copying other games’ materials or creating strange, humorous videos. All in all, their aim was to get as many clicks as possible.

Take ‘I keep showering, where is the world of oil’ for example[1].

However, doing so was illegal. One could not use others’ art resources at will, or they would surely be sued.

Pei Qian would not do anything illegal. Thus, he had no choice but to hire movie stars.

Traditional web-based games mainly targeted middle-aged players who were rich and successful like owners of private companies or coal bosses. These people loved watching Hong Kong celebrities. At the same time, they did not have high expectations for game graphics and had plenty of cash. They also liked the feeling of having followers in games.

Thus, filming advertisements targeted at people like that would be good.

He chose Hong Kong celebrities to appear more attractive and warm to the target audience. At the same time, he made the language simple so that the merits of this game would be obvious to the target audience.

These included the ability to earn money from selling equipment, deal freely, fight in wars, and the like. All of these were characteristics that were popular to web-based game players.

If one could list all of these merits in the advertisement, it would be simple and effective. The advertisement would also brainwash viewers effectively. It would make the money spent worth it.

Since that was the case, why would Pei Qian want to film the advertisement in this manner?

The reason was simple. The target audience was wrong, and the effect would be useless!

This advertising method was meant to attract players of traditional web-based games. Ordinary players would despise these methods.

It was the same logic with the name ‘Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version’.

This way, while Pei Qian spent money on advertising that would effectively draw people in, the people who would be drawn in would be players of traditional web-based games.

These people did not care about game graphics. Instead, they only wanted to use cash to slaughter as many people as they could, buy as many loyal followers as they could, and enjoy feeling like the moon among stars.

Yet, what was ‘Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version’ about?

There were almost no paywalls, people could only purchase strength potions, and only lucky ones selected by the ‘Chosen One’ system would be allowed to slaughter everyone else.

They even changed the game’s form—from a traditional browser game to a mini-client—just to improve the game’s graphics.

In other words, these people would have to download the mini-client to play the game. They could no longer access it from the browser and play whenever they wanted to. The computers that they used in the office might not have this game installed either. Yet, they might not even notice the improvements in graphics.

When they find out that this was not the game they were looking for, they would curse under their breaths and run as fast as they could.

Could this game succeed?

He would spend huge amounts of money hiring celebrities to film the advertisements. He would also buy advertising space on various websites. Ultimately, the advertisements would still prove ineffective, and the game would lose players.

He would incur losses for sure!

What kind of people was Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version really made for?

The game was probably targeted at students and working adults who were not rich, ordinary players who like playing traditional browser games but could not afford to top up too much money on them, or ordinary client-side games and mobile games players.

However, the problem was that most of these people would probably be turned off by the game’s name and advertisements.

They would be just like Pei Qian; even if he could recite the advertisement script backward, he would never think about trying the game out.

Thus, there was no problem with the game or the advertising method per se.

However, the game and advertisements would appeal to different groups of people. That was where the problem was!

In addition, they invested a lot in the game to begin with. They spent a total of seven to eight million yuan on research and development coupled with advertisements. With a limited number of players and purchase options—even if some people did try out the game, they probably would not be able to recover the capital.

Pei Qian let out a long sigh. It looked like he could leave Shang Yang Games alone for now.

The next thing to focus on was the research and development of Repent and be Saved.

Two days ago, Pei Qian discovered that official novels about Repent and be Saved were being uploaded onto Zhongdian Chinese Network. This gave him a good scare indeed. After being through so much, Boss Pei was now extremely cautious and wary. Any slight movement or breeze would catch his attention.

Thus, nobody could hide the official novels about Repent and be Saved on Zhongdian Chinese Network from him.

However, after reading the feedback from readers, Pei Qian relaxed considerably.

Until now, Zhongdian Chinese Network had been developing slowly. Although they had already attracted a good number of authors using their excellent full-time rates, the contents of the library were still horrible. Thus, the rate at which people were creating new accounts was devastating.

Until now, Zhongdian Chinese Network only had over two thousand visits daily. What’s more, this included people who only visited the site out of curiosity and decided to say goodbye forever afterward.

Yet, even so, hundreds of people had read the official novel for Repent and be Saved.

This was because the novel was placed on the homepage of the website, in a particularly eye-catching position. Most people who visited the website would notice it immediately.

However, all the comments under the novel were negative.

“What are you writing? I don’t understand.”

“I read three chapters, and I still don’t understand who the protagonist is!”

“They’re all descriptions of the world? My head is hurting just reading this.”

“A novel of this standard made it to the homepage? What kind of rubbish website is this?”

“Repent and be Saved? What a nonsensical name! I don’t know what it’s driving at!”

“I strongly suspect that this is an insider’s publication. So many other books are much better than this, but they’re placed in much worse spots.”

“If it was written by an insider, this proves that the website would not have a future!”

Repent and be Saved was still in the research and development stage. There was no news about it as well. That was why they did not advertise on Zhongdian Chinese Network that this book was written for the game, Repent and be Saved. The novel could not ride on any of Tengda Games’ glory.

Ma Yiqun and Zhu Xingan’s intention was to upload the official novel for their own entertainment. At the same time, they wanted to get feedback from potential players.

Mindless fans of Tengda might praise the designs without thinking much about it. Then, Ma Yiqun and Zhu Xingan might let the praise go to their heads and fail to maintain an objective view. This might affect subsequent plot planning endeavors.

In the end, the readers’ feedback could not be more realistic.

Pei Qian read the first two chapters of the novel and found that the readers were right to criticize it. Zhu Xingan and Ma Yiqun had not been wronged at all.

Zhu Xingan had written this novel. The others only had to raise ideas and suggestions.

Since Ma Yiqun had to run the website, he did not have time to write novels. What’s more, he felt that he had been more deeply influenced by online literature and was more likely to digress from the topic. Thus, he handed the task to Zhu Xingan.

On the other hand, Zhu Xingan had no foundation in writing online literature. As he wrote the official novel about the game’s world, he naturally gravitated towards the plots of foreign games, including foreign AAA games’ original novels, official serial publications, and the like.

Everything was very confusing and impossible to unravel.

There was no problem using his writings as the plot plan for the game. However, they were far from deserving of being uploaded to a website for online literature.

The fact that this official novel had been placed on Zhongdian Chinese Network’s homepage also turned many readers away.

Many new readers would first click on the books displayed on the homepage upon arriving at the website. This was because they normally represented the highest standard of the books in it.

When they read the book, they discovered this was the standard.

Of course, they would leave at once and never return.

Pei Qian quietly observed all of these behind the scenes. He could not help but celebrate in his heart.

Excellent! Zhongdian Chinese Network has not let me down indeed!

Ma Yiqun—who only got thirty subscriptions for his first book—was placed together with a group of laymen who had zero understanding of the world of online literature. Now, everything was going as Boss Pei had expected!

Pei Qian decided not to do anything about Repent and be Saved’s official novel being placed on Zhongdian Chinese Network’s homepage. In any case, this novel would not attract anyone’s attention for now. Instead, it worked to dissuade readers from staying on the website.

It was infinitely valuable!

[1] This was a famous, funny advertisement for a game in China. In Mandarin, the tagline sounds like ‘I keep searching for a future with you’.