"What did I say right at the beginning just now? I talked about selling the gaming devices, didn't I?"
"We can't keep the gaming devices priced at that level forever, but if we lower the price later, that would be very unfair to the players who bought them at full price in the beginning."
"The best way to solve this problem is to design one second-tier model and one cheapest model."
"We'll price the second-tier one at 1,500. Compared with the 3,000-huayuan gaming device, what will it lack? The built-in bonus limited-edition cosmetic DLC. Every account tied to the high-end gaming device will come with three of these DLC cosmetics, with random styles and random types. These DLCs can't be purchased and can only be obtained as system gifts."
"Of course, just because they're limited doesn't mean every single one has to be unique. That would put far too much pressure on Luoying and the others. These limited editions can simply exist in very small quantities and belong to rarer types. Since they're given out randomly, running into someone with the exact same DLC style will be much more difficult. That will also enhance the rarity of the highest-tier helmet and make it feel worthy of its price."
"And compared with those virtual items, we'll also include personally signed photos of this game's spokesperson..."
"All right, stop looking around. The spokesperson is me..."
"These photos might show me in a cheongsam, a sailor uniform, hanfu, Lolita fashion, a Gothic Lolita dress, or all sorts of other outfits. A mysterious code will be printed on the back of every different photo. With that code, players can go to a Mystery Merchant and redeem the exact same outfit shown in the photo."
"These outfits can't be purchased, designed, or sold. They can only be obtained through trading or through those codes. As for how many different kinds of photos there will be? I'm not really sure either, because I might cosplay as some character from the game at any time, then print the photos and send them out."
"Anyway, they won't be anything explicit, so even if people get their hands on them, there's nothing to worry about. More importantly, this won't just increase my fame. It'll also help me gather a group of loyal fans."
"Whether they like me, hate me, or feel nothing toward me, as long as they buy the device, one will be included at random."
"What they do with it afterward is their own business. Still, I'd be very happy to see the expressions of certain players who deliberately or accidentally lose my photo, only to later find out that the code could have been used at a Mystery Merchant to redeem a free outfit. Even if the outfit is for women, it would still count as a valuable collectible. For some completionists, not collecting everything would drive them crazy."
"That's one of the real-world benefits of the highest-end device. Another is how luxurious the gaming device itself looks. It absolutely has to feel highly futuristic, the kind of thing people fall in love with at first glance."
"This kind of device will be easy to carry and difficult to damage. More importantly, every one will have a unique serial number. If the device is ever destroyed or lost, that serial number will disappear and no longer exist in the records."
"That will also increase its rarity. Maybe not by much, but every little bit helps."
"Then there's the DLC cosmetics. These cosmetics will be single-use. Whether they're used in single-player mode or online mode, they can't be repeatedly reused afterward. Some DLC will even have better effects when used online, which will encourage more people to go online."
"As for DLC cosmetics, we can absolutely design some that exist in extremely tiny quantities. We can even make it like winning the jackpot and include DLC for houses and similar things as random bonuses. As for the odds... one in every three thousand devices. That's already very generous."
"All of our designs are mainly aimed at online players. Once they feel this subtle preferential treatment, I'm sure they'll be very willing to stay online."
"Next is the sensory experience and comfort level of the devices. I won't interfere with that part. I trust all of you can handle it."
"So what can the second-tier device do? Its exterior will still look futuristic, of course, but it absolutely won't have that mysterious, incomprehensibly advanced aura of the highest-tier model that makes people instantly think, Wow, that looks expensive. That looks rare."
"They won't get a photo of the spokesperson, so naturally there won't be any mysterious code either. There also won't be any free DLC cosmetics included. They'll have to earn everything themselves, just like a fresh blank account in an ordinary online game."
"Even so, they can't accuse us of being unfair. After all, DLC cosmetics only affect appearance. They won't increase equipment attributes or strength at all. Everything else remains exactly the same."
"Speaking of that, we also have to mention durability. Since these DLCs are attached to equipment and weapons, naturally they'll have durability too. If a player carelessly lets the durability drop too low all at once, the equipment will become damaged. If it falls to zero, the equipment will break. If they want to repair it, they'll have to buy a special item from a Mystery Merchant. Of course, we'll also give them another option. They can seek out relevant master craftsmen, but only those who have reached something like the Legendary Realm or the realm of gods will be capable of repairing it. As for the price... that depends on whether they can afford it."
"If they don't repair the DLC, it can't be transferred onto another piece of equipment either. They can either watch the DLC cosmetic effect stop working, or obediently go get it repaired. Repair costs will always be much cheaper than buying a new one, right?"
"Now that we've finished talking about this long-term money-making plan, let's move on to the third tier, which is also the lowest-tier gaming device."
"This level of gaming device will sell for 800. It can run the single-player mode normally, but it can't access online mode. It also can't purchase DLC, and all DLC cosmetics will be disabled on accounts tied to this type of device."
"But if we do that, there will definitely be people saying, 'It only looks a little better, can buy DLC cosmetics, and can access online mode, yet it costs seven hundred more? Have you people gone insane over money?'"
"We don't need to pay attention to them. Before long, they'll obediently take those words back anyway. After all, online mode is vastly richer and much more fun than single-player mode. Even if players spend several months clearing the single-player game, once they go online, they'll discover that although it uses the same map and the same basic mode, the gameplay and replayability are on an entirely different level from the monotonous single-player experience."
"We'll proudly tell them that online mode is basically an entirely new game, and that it's absolutely worth the extra seven hundred. Besides, different tiers of gaming devices will provide different levels of comfort, won't they?"
"At the beginning, we'll only release the highest-tier device, the gaming helmet. Once it's been on sale for a month and we've gradually released fifty thousand units, creating a wave of popularity, we can then release the second-tier and third-tier devices."
"At that point, we can directly tell prospective buyers exactly what they'll receive depending on which tier of equipment they purchase, along with what kind of gaming experience they'll get."
"The second-tier gaming device can be something like oversized VR goggles, though naturally far more comfortable than ordinary ones."
"The third-tier version can be something like sunglasses connected to a large external machine, and it'll only be able to run single-player mode. That setup will be cumbersome and bulky, completely unlike the second-tier and highest-tier devices, which are not only light and portable, but also sleek and attractive."
"Although I think dividing them this way will inevitably cause disputes, it'll also clearly separate different groups of players, won't it?"
"In the end, aside from a small minority, more and more players will inevitably purchase at least the second-tier device, if only because they want to play online."
"At that point... let's say six months after launch, we'll release the Ultimate Edition and Deluxe Edition gaming pods."
"The Ultimate Edition will come with five DLC cosmetics and one humanoid companion that doesn't occupy a pet slot. The companion will be designed and provided by the system."
"The Deluxe Edition will also come with five random DLC cosmetics and a humanoid companion, but this companion can either be custom-designed by the user or be a unique one provided by the system."
"Of course, to prevent certain players from designing characters that infringe on other people's privacy, every created character will have to be submitted to the central system, meaning us. Only after being compared against celebrities and other well-known people around the world and confirmed to be sufficiently different will it be approved. The similarity must remain below fifty percent. As for the unique companions, they'll be based on people who voluntarily grant us image rights, or characters from films, television, anime, and so on whose copyrights we've purchased and converted into realistic three-dimensional forms."
"The companions can be like maids, servants, family members, friends, or anything else. It'll depend entirely on how the player designs them."
"These humanoid beings will have hidden favorability values, along with their own preferences and emotions. They won't simply become conquerable just because a player wants to pursue them."
"Even if a player raises the favorability of one of these humanoid beings all the way to maximum, if that character doesn't personally agree, the player will never be allowed to touch them."
When Chu Lian reached this point, she noticed that Liusu, Luoying, and Mo Li all looked as though they wanted to say something. After thinking for a moment, she understood what they were worried about.
"You're worried that my appearance, or the appearances of the people around me, might be profaned? You don't need to worry about that at all."
"Leaving aside what a character would even look like once its similarity is capped at fifty percent, the fact that every design has to pass our approval already gives us plenty of room to interfere."
"As long as any character resembles one of us by more than thirty percent, we'll simply add a hidden line of information to that being's data that only we know about."
"For example, even after being fully conquered, they still won't allow anyone to touch them."
"Or they can never reach maximum favorability."
"Or perhaps only beautiful, adorable, and pure women will be able to win them over."
"As long as we don't tell anyone, who would ever know? Right?"
Chu Lian's words finally removed one layer of concern from their minds. If that was the case, then nothing involving their master that they disliked would ever be allowed to happen.
"All of this is money earned from the devices themselves, and it's also income we fundamentally have to make. Anyway, only the people here know our actual production costs. No one will leak them, so outsiders will never know..."
"And the final thing I want to talk about is the real core of continuous spending. This is the part that will determine whether we can rapidly rake in enormous amounts of money..."