Chapter 109 Coincidence

Pei Qian nodded, "Alright, Teacher He, let's begin."

He An's expression softened slightly. "Yes, this is the attitude a seeker of knowledge should have."

"Today's topic is actually a part of the foundational concepts of game design theory."

"This foundational concept is 'Coordination'!"

"What I mean by coordination is selecting different design approaches and types, and choosing different promotional methods for different gaming groups."

"In short, every aspect of the game must be compatible."

"If any link is misplaced, it could result in the game's immediate death. This cannot be taken lightly."

Pei Qian: "?"

Any misplaced link could result in immediate death?

Then how did all of mine become hits?

Does this mean I perfectly avoided all the correct answers?

The corner of Pei Qian's mouth twitched slightly, feeling as if Teacher He was flagellating his corpse.

He An didn't notice anything unusual in "Ma Yang's" expression and continued, "In this regard, Tengda's games can be said to be textbook examples!"

"'A Lonely Desert Road', as a low-budget game, was promoted using up-and-coming video creators to complain about it."

"'Game Producer' is a 'meta game' that breaks the fourth wall, promoted through large-scale performance art."

"'BeQuiet' is a game with complex rules and requires patience. It was promoted through a large-scale, multi-player ARG (Alternate Reality Game), which also effectively screened players and maintained the game environment..."

The teaching materials He An prepared were very rich in content.

While explaining these games, he also provided detailed analyses based on the content of the teaching materials, carefully analyzing the characteristics of the games themselves, and explaining how such promotional methods gradually formed communication nodes and ultimately triggered enthusiastic responses across the entire network.

Pei Qian was forced to relive his past failures once again.

Rubbing salt into the wound...

There was no way around it. This was a true one-on-one lesson. If it were a lecture, no one would care if you dozed off or played with your phone. But now, facing each other, President He would notice if you were even slightly distracted.

What if President He got angry and left?

Pei Qian could only listen carefully to these details, treating it as reviewing his wrong answer book.

After discussing several cases for nearly two hours, He An analyzed Pei Qian's previous "failure cases" in all aspects, from game type, target audience, gameplay features, to promotional methods. He also flagellated Pei Qian in every way possible.

Seeing President He stop to drink coffee, signaling the end of this section, Pei Qian quickly seized the opportunity to ask his question.

"Teacher He, based on what you just said, can I assume that as long as there is a 'misalignment' in the promotion, the project will definitely fail?"

He An put down his coffee and nodded. "You can't say anything is certain, but at the very least, the probability of failure will be very high!"

"It's the same reason why many falsely advertised products are despised."

"However, because our country's game market is still immature, for some shoddy, hatred-mongering, pay-to-win games, finding a way to trick players in is more important than anything else. So, their false advertising actually increases the game's revenue, because even if only a small number of people stay, as long as their willingness to spend money is high, it's worth it."

"However, for single-player games that win with quality, false advertising is a minefield. If you hit it, you'll either die or be crippled."

Pei Qian's eyes lit up.

Die or be crippled?

President He is a very precise person in his wording. The fact that he used these four words to describe it is enough to show the serious consequences of doing so!

Pei Qian couldn't help but feel a secret joy.

There are still gains to be made!

Now that "Struggle" is under development, if I can make good use of the knowledge I learned in this class, can I finally fulfill my long-cherished wish of causing the game department to lose money?

...

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

He An put away his teaching materials. "Alright, that's all for today's lesson. I've covered everything I wanted to cover."

"Keep this textbook for yourself, and review these successful cases often. Over time, your level will naturally improve."

"This is what we call 'reviewing the old to learn the new'."

Pei Qian: "..."

Do I have to review it from time to time and recall the memory of being backstabbed?

Isn't that a bit cruel!

Forget it, I'll just treat it as the teacher assigning the homework of "regularly reviewing the wrong answer book."

Seeing that He An was packing up and about to leave, Pei Qian quickly asked, "Teacher He, I have another question."

"You mentioned several Tengda game cases in this class, so the next class won't be..."

He An's face darkened. "President Ma, your attitude towards learning is very good, but this picky attitude is very undesirable! You must believe that I will choose the most suitable teaching method for you based on your characteristics and level. As for what to teach specifically, you will naturally know when the time comes. Don't ask too many questions."

Pei Qian: "...Okay."

After sending He An away, Pei Qian couldn't help but feel melancholy.

Could it be that all future courses will use Tengda cases to explain the basic principles and knowledge of game design?

That would be too much to bear!

Although I can learn from the textbook content in reverse and absorb some experience, this is still an extra step!

Why not just learn about failure experiences from the beginning?

Pei Qian wanted to hear He An talk about failure experiences, but He An believed that these experiences would be harmful rather than helpful to him, so he resolutely refused to talk about them.

What to do?

Pei Qian thought about it. It seemed that there were still a few hundred thousand left in the account.

Since I'm going to spend it anyway, why not... hire another teacher to specifically tell me about failure cases?

Draw experience from failure, and learn lessons from success.

Double-sided learning should be even more effective, right?

The system suggested that although this amount of money is a lot, it is recommended to only take one course, otherwise, you won't be able to digest it all. The result of taking many courses is that most of them will fail the system's test.

However, it didn't say that you can't hire two teachers for the same course, right?

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more reliable it seemed. He quickly called Assistant Xin and told her about his new needs.

In short, it was the same operation as before, except that this time, he was not looking for accomplished design bigwigs, but designers with a certain reputation and ability, but who also had many failed projects.

It would be even better if there were projects that lost a lot of money.

On the other end of the phone, Assistant Xin still didn't ask any questions, but said that this kind of designer should be more difficult to find than He An, who is an established designer, and it may take about two days.

After all, there are only a few designers in the game industry with qualifications, reputation, and successful projects like He An. You can just ask them one by one.

But it would be relatively more difficult to find a designer who has done failed projects, has a certain reputation, and can be found.

Pei Qian wasn't in a hurry. Two days was perfectly acceptable.

Just as he was packing up to go back, the phone rang.

It was Zhang Yuan.

Pei Qian thought about it. It was probably that the matter of the DGE esports club had made progress, and he was calling to report to himself.

Zhang Yuan's voice came from the phone: "President Pei, I'm calling to report to you. The location of the club has been set, and a batch of players has been recruited. The computers purchased from ROF Assembly have also all arrived. The configuration is very high, and President Ma is very satisfied..."

Pei Qian wasn't very interested in this. These were all things that had been decided before, and there was nothing to report.

You couldn't tell the specific situation over the phone. You still had to take the time to go there in person and scout the location before you could feel at ease.

Pei Qian casually asked, "So, where is the club located?"

"Oh, President Pei, speaking of this place, we are all very familiar with it. We used to go there often."

Because he was on the phone, Pei Qian couldn't see Zhang Yuan's expression, but judging from his tone, he seemed to be smiling: "It's in Mingyun Villas."

Pei Qian: "?"

Mingyun Villas?

Hearing a familiar place name, Pei Qian instinctively panicked.

There are so many villa areas in Jingzhou, why did they choose this one?

Zhang Yuan reported with a little pride: "President Pei, I did everything according to your requirements! You said that we shouldn't save on the venue, it must be grand, and it's best to directly rent a villa."

"So I investigated the villa areas in Jingzhou, and after looking around, I found that the land in Mingyun Villas was the most expensive!"

"Oh, when you took a fancy to Mingyun Villas back then, this place was still deserted. Now... it's not the same anymore."

"Moreover, Mingyun Villas will definitely become Jingzhou's new business district in the future, and it's becoming more and more prosperous now."

"I was considering that the location of the club shouldn't be too close to the city center, because it's too noisy and not suitable for concentrating on training; but it can't be too remote either, because the supporting facilities are not perfect and it's inconvenient in many ways."

"Moreover, I used to work at Mingyun Villas branch of Moyu Internet Cafe for a while, so I'm familiar with the situation in this area."

"Taking everything into account, Mingyun Villas is the most suitable!"

"What's more, Moyu Internet Cafe delivers food here."

Pei Qian: "..."

What you said makes so much sense that I can't refute it.

According to Zhang Yuan, Mingyun Villas does seem to be a good location.

Although this place has a little connection with Mingyun Private Kitchen, the esports club and the high-end private kitchen can't collude to backstab him, right? They are not related at all!

Moreover, after Mingyun Private Kitchen became popular, the entire Mingyun Villas became the so-called "place where celebrities in Jingzhou gather", and house prices have been rising. Renting a house here must be quite expensive.

Spending a little more money doesn't seem like a bad thing.

Pei Qian nodded: "Well, that's fine too. Although the villas here are a little more expensive than other places, I believe it's definitely worth the money!"

Zhang Yuan cleared his throat twice, his tone full of pride: "President Pei, the best part is that the price is not only not more expensive than other places, but it's actually cheaper!"

Pei Qian was stunned: "Huh? Why?"

Zhang Yuan continued to proudly say: "After I took a fancy to this place, I went there in person and met with Manager Lin Canrong, and also met with Manager Cui."

"Then I talked about how President Pei wanted to rent a villa here to open an esports club."

"Manager Cui was very happy, saying that since it's President Pei's business, they must strongly support it! Although the esports club doesn't have much value to Mingyun Villas, they always remember your kindness!"

"However, the houses in Mingyun Villas have basically all been sold, so Manager Cui had to help us contact those owners who bought multiple houses to see if there were any who were willing to rent them out."

"Guess what, President Pei?"

Pei Qian wanted to say, I don't want to guess!

But in the end, he still twitched the corners of his mouth slightly and said: "Could it be that someone I know just happens to want to rent it out at a low price?"

"You guessed it!" Zhang Yuan's tone was very excited, "President Li of Fuhui Capital, do you remember? The one who was fighting wits with you when you opened Moyu Internet Cafe, and was eventually conquered by your wisdom?"

Pei Qian: "..."

How could I not remember, this guy is still sticking to me like a leech!

Zhang Yuan continued: "President Li invested in the neighborhood a long time ago, even before Mingyun Private Kitchen became popular, opening bars, cafes and other industries. Later, he foresaw that Mingyun Private Kitchen had a tendency to become popular, so he directly bought three villas in one go!"

"One of the luxuriously decorated villas has been idle all the time. When he heard that President Pei wanted to use it, President Li contributed it without saying a word, saying that he didn't even need rent."

Pei Qian blurted out: "That won't do! Absolutely not!"

Zhang Yuan quickly said: "Yes, President Pei, that's what I said too. I know that you never take such small advantages. But President Li insisted very much. I argued with him, but he is an investor and his eloquence is too good. I couldn't beat him."

"In the end... we could only make a deal at a friendship price."

"Manager Cui said that since it's all President Pei's business, the club will be given the same treatment as Mingyun Private Kitchen. Property fees and cleaning fees are permanently waived, water and electricity fees are also permanently discounted by 50%, and there are also parking spaces and a special person to trim the backyard..."

"I felt that it was difficult to refuse, so I had to agree."

Pei Qian was silent.

After a long time, he opened his mouth and said, "Send me the address. I'll go there tomorrow."