Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yu Fei was completely conflicted.
Boss Pei and the passionate gamers were indeed hard to turn down, but he still wanted to leave in his heart.
Qiao Liang’s video had specifically praised him and highly confirmed his important value in the game plot design. He also thought that Yu Fei’s plot had the finishing effect on Ghost General 2. However, Yu Fei did not think that he had a reason to stay.
Previously, 80% and 20% of the factors in his heart were “want to leave” and “don’t want to leave”. Now, this ratio was 50% and 50%, half and half.
It would be even more difficult!
Yu Fei felt that even though the plot he wrote for Ghost General 2 was indeed not bad, game design was a very professional thing after all, right?
He had only written a plot after all. The core idea of the game was completed by Boss Pei. The details were completed by the other designers in the games department.
If it was just the plot, Yu Fei could actually accept the “outsourcing” model. In other words, he could continue to accept the plot requirements of Tengda Games after leaving Tengda Games. With Boss Pei’s generosity, he would definitely give a lot of money.
If that was the case, there would be no reason for him to remain in Tengda.
What’s more, he had just posted on Weibo that he was leaving. His attitude was quite firm.
Yet, less than half an hour had passed, and he was already saying that he was not leaving?
That was not appropriate. Wasn’t that playing with players?
Yu Fei was in a dilemma and was at a loss.
He scrolled through Weibo, feeling conflicted. He saw more and more people replying to him and @ him.
He clicked on it habitually while thinking about what he should do.
Should he continue to insist on leaving despite everyone’s attempts to persuade him to stay? Or should he pretend that he had not posted the previous Weibo post and directly felt that it ‘smelled good’?
How difficult!
After some thought, Yu Fei decided to write another Weibo post.
“Thank you for your love and concern, everyone. As a half-baked designer, I am very touched to receive the support of so many players!”
“Ghost General 2’s plot has indeed gathered some of my hard work. I’m very happy to see that everyone likes it. However, my help for Tengda Games is limited to the plot. I don’t have much achievements in other aspects.”
“In my current state, I should be saying that I’m in the position of the chief designer, but I’m working as a plot designer. That’s obviously not appropriate. The truly qualified chief designer should be omnipotent and not just write plots.”
“Therefore, I appreciate everyone for asking me to stay, but I’m more inclined to leave. However, please rest assured that I can work with Tengda Games in a freer way in the future, such as’ outsourcing the plot ‘. I believe that Tengda Games’ new chief designer will definitely bring more outstanding works to everyone!”
This Weibo post was edited. Yu Fei placed his mouse on the send button but did not send it immediately.
“Think about it more carefully. If you change your mind after sending this message, the effect of the show would be maximised…”
Yu Fei became cautious this time. After all, his first Weibo post had already attracted a lot of attention.
Now, he could leave or stay. However, it would be inappropriate to change his mind after he posted the second Weibo post.
Just as he was struggling internally, someone else tagged him.
Yu Fei opened the notice and was suddenly stunned.
That was because among these new @, there was a name that he was more familiar with: He An!
Yu Fei was not unfamiliar with this name. In fact, anyone who knew a little about the domestic gaming circle would know He Lao. He was a big boss-level character in the domestic gaming circle back then.
Yu Fei was very shocked. Why, was his Weibo so influential? It had even exposed He Lao, who had retired for a long time and did not care about worldly affairs?
He quickly opened it and realized that He An not only simply @ him, but also posted a long Weibo post!
The title was: Look at Boss Pei’s human art from Ghost General 2!
Yu Fei was very surprised.
Human art?
Are… they referring to me?
Yu Fei quickly read on.
…
“I have gained something from playing Ghost General 2 recently. I’ll share it with everyone.”
“Many people have already spoken very well about the content of the game itself. I’m not very professional in combat games, so I won’t repeat it.”
“However, I would like to use this game to discuss Boss Pei’s art of hiring people!”
“I saw some people saying that as an online author, Yu Fei is indeed very accomplished in the game plot, but he is very weak in other aspects. He even needs Boss Pei and the old planner of Tengda Games to complete this game. In other words, they think that he is only a qualified plot designer, not a qualified chief designer.”
“I have a different opinion on this.”
“May I ask how to define the difference between the plot designer and the chief designer?”
“If the plot designers’ plot design now conflicts with the game’s basic gameplay, stage process, and other content, how should the Development Team choose?”
“Is it to better show the plot and modify the basic content of the game? Or is it to modify the plot for the game itself?”
“That’s what I want to emphasize: the right to speak!
“Generally speaking, the ‘plot designer’ that we mentioned would definitely have a lower status in the development team than the ‘chief designer’. The plot designer’s task is to put a reasonable plot coat on the game mechanism according to the requirements of the chief designer. Once there is a conflict, they would definitely listen to the chief designer’s requirements and change the plot.”
“Conversely, what if the plot designer has a higher status in the Development Team than the chief designer? Then, when there is a conflict, the chief designer will listen to the plot designer. The plot will not change and modify the game function.”
“Many people might say that it’s the same no matter how they change it. In any case, it’ll be fine as long as the game can be made in the end. The slight changes would not affect anything if there are conflicts.”
“However, I want to say that this is obviously something that only laymen would say. How can you say that ‘a little change might not affect anything’? A finished game can be seen as a precision machine that is closely interconnected with various gears. It would move the entire body. Sometimes, if you change a small detail, it might cause a chain reaction and cause the entire game to collapse.”
“If an outsider were to guide an insider, a tragedy like ‘a game that focuses on the plot but feeds gamers sh * t in the plot’ would appear. On a smaller scale, it would leave flaws in a game that originally had the chance to pursue perfection. On a larger scale, the flaws in the plot would be enough to destroy all the hard work on the game mechanism and the quality of the game. It might even cause a god-like IP to fall into a bottomless pit!”
“Someone might want to ask, do you support the plot designer or the chief designer?”
“I can only say that the specific analysis of the problem depends on how much the plot plays in a game. If a game is an interactive movie game with a plot orientation, then the plot is of course very important. If the game itself is not the main plot, then the plot has to give way to the game mechanism.”
“However, I want to emphasize something here: Some games might have the entire PVE content and many game mechanisms built on plot settings. Then, the plot might not seem that important on the surface. It seems like it’s not a big deal to modify the game mechanism. However, in fact, the importance of the plot is on par with the plot-oriented game in such games!”
“For example, Eternal Reincarnation and Ghost General 2.”
“They are not interactive movie games that focus on plots. The former is an action game, and the latter is a combat game. On the surface, their highlight is the combat system, as well as rich PVE and PVP content. However, they are games that are built on plot settings.”
“For example, all the game mechanisms in Eternal Reincarnation originated from the original settings. The various generals skills, stages, and combat systems in Ghost General 2 also came from the game’s plot and worldview setting.”
“That’s because the plot of these two games is natural. People would naturally ignore the role of the plot.”
“However, everyone, think about it carefully. Have you ever played games where hero skills are incompatible with hero settings? For example, some card games with relatively low quality. You can clearly feel: Some skills seem to be applicable to other heroes; some skills are obviously a basic mechanism that is related to this hero. You can put it on other heroes with a change of skin.”
“When everyone sees a hero’s skill in the game, they feel that it is especially appropriate and natural. It seems to be a part of the hero’s setting. Does this feeling appear often?”
“Obviously, the former is a common phenomenon, and the latter is rare. Eternal Reincarnation and Ghost General 2 are the latter.”
“Why did this happen? It’s still the same as before. The right to speak is problematic. That’s because the plot designer has enough right to speak. That’s why the game background and game mechanism can be perfectly combined. It’s not to turn the game plot into a simple skin.”
“The difference in such details is the key to determining whether a game is an outstanding game or a top game.”
“Someone might ask after seeing this: So? What does this have to do with Boss Pei’s method of using people?”
“Of course, it has something to do with it. That’s because Boss Pei boldly used Yu Fei as the chief designer for Eternal Reincarnation and Ghost General 2. It officially reflects Boss Pei’s kindness and understanding!”
“In order to achieve the current perfect state of these two games, Yu Fei must sit as the chief designer. He cannot sit as the plot designer because he would only have enough say if he sat as the chief designer!”