Group Project Presentation (1)
Finally, the much-anticipated presentation time had arrived.
Just like any university group project, the Game Development Department's group project presentations were especially terrifying for the first presenter.
Unfortunately, the first presenter was Eight, who stood before the podium with a tense face.
He pulled out the tablet he'd brought along.
On it, his team's game was already in full demonstration.
"Well then, this game is a turn-based strategy game, and..."
From the tablet, holographic projections and small characters sprang to life, launching into an intense battle.
Groups of warriors clashed with a swarm of tiny goblins.
The rough, polygonal soldiers swept the goblins away in a whirlwind of cuts.
Clap clap clap!
The customary applause rang out across the lecture hall.
Eight glanced at Professor Georg.
But Professor Georg, ever the strict one, raised his glasses with a finger and asked,
"Eight, what was the concept behind this game?"
"Th-that's..."
Sweat pouring down his face, Eight began his explanation.
"To let users experience the fun of strategy games..."
"What about BM? What platforms is it releasing on, and which gamer demographic are you targeting?"
"Uh..."
After those razor-sharp questions, Eight couldn't open his lips, as if honey had been smeared on them.
I watched and rested my chin on my hand.
Just the usual beginner developer delusion.
Undergrads tended to believe that simply "making a fun game" would be enough.
But that was a naive misconception.
Simply making a good game wasn't enough.
Developers were people too, and people had to eat to live.
So unless you're running a charity, "how to fleece someone's wallet" was just as essential to a game's fun as anything else.
Professor Georg recited the two core marketing methods he'd taught in previous classes.
"Usually, when selling a game, there are two ways to do it."
It was easy to understand what he meant.
Online live service, and offline packaged games.
Even online services branched into mobile, PC, and packages that were also consoles and so on.
But the two types of users had completely different tastes—water and oil, as the saying goes.
Packages give a finished experience, while online live service demands constant patches and real-time operation.
For example, a game with fast feedback and appeal to many tastes.
And the ecosystem consisted of a small core of whales, an appropriate middle layer of paying users, and the majority of free-to-play users.
Of course, the majority of revenue comes from the whales, but...
In a game's ecosystem, the majority of free-to-play users couldn't be ignored.
Whales might not even play well, and free players weren't always bad either.
But in RPGs, you need the right amount of pay-to-win, lots of time, and top-tier skill for a truly excellent game.
Time is money, and money is time.
Of course, there are games that dominate everything with money, but in the end, the most excellent RPG is the one that strikes the perfect balance.
"In that case, Eight's approach seems suited to a packaged game."
"Y-yes, that's right."
Eight wiped his sweat and replied.
But Professor Georg gave him a look that said he didn't even know basic stuff.
"Anyway, the gameplay itself is solid. No real flaws."
"Thank you."
Eight bowed his head in relief at the sudden praise.
But Professor Georg followed up with a cutting remark.
"The basics are good, but there's nothing special about it."
"Huh?"
"There's no originality, as we call it."
"..."
A sharp observation.
I stroked my chin and listened to Professor Georg's words.
"For packaged games, in addition to the basics, there needs to be something distinctive that sets it apart from the many existing works, and that you can market on."
"B-but..."
"This is just a group project, right?"
Professor Georg scratched his head.
With a deep sigh, he poked at Eight's complacent mind.
"Since it's just a group project, you should pay more attention to originality. When games actually get sold as packages, they often sacrifice originality for commercial viability, and this one feels too safe and simple."
"..."
No one could argue with that.
Still, Professor Georg patted Eight's stiff shoulders and gave him a warm(?) pat on the back.
"Even so, for an undergrad, this is an excellent level. Developers always grow through trial and error."
"Thank you."
"Of course, Eight will graduate soon, so there won't be much time to grow."
"..."
Eight stared at the professor with a dazed expression, but Professor Georg remained calm, as if nothing was wrong.
"Anyway, well done on the presentation. Next group, come forward."
"Yes!"
Only then did the next group in line dash forward and take the podium to begin their presentation.
Professor Georg looked over the next presenters, giving sharp critiques where needed and praise where due.
"Haa, how can you keep making games that are exactly the same?"
"..."
He covered his face with both hands and grumbled.
"Recently I found one incredibly original and excellent game on a single user map, but for the life of us undergrads, why can't we come up with ideas like that.... tsk tsk."
In Professor Georg's muttering, I turned my head slightly and whispered to Melody.
"Hey, isn't that probably our Arcane Saga?"
"No way."
Melody let out a contemptuous snort.
"Even so, with that strict professor, you'd have stayed up all night on Arcane Saga and been late to class?"
"Well, in the gamer world, it's pretty common."
Finally, it was our turn—the moment we'd all been waiting for.
"Well then, last group, come forward."
I strode confidently to the center of the podium.
The students looked at us with a mix of relief—"Finally, this boring presentation time is over"—and curiosity—"What the heck did that infamous Melody group create?"
I lifted the tablet and projected the in-game screen of the game inside it into the air.
"T-this is..."
"Hm?"
As the screen began to demo, Professor Georg's eyes—previously narrowed in strict arms-crossed mode—popped wide open.
"N-no way?!"
**
The moment the game screen appeared, the students in their seats began whispering and pretending to know what it was.
"Hey, no way that's Arcane Saga?"
"No, Arcane Saga is just a user map. This is a whole independent client?"
In the buzz, one student poked his neighbor's side.
"Hey, you play Arcane Saga lately?"
"Obviously. Analyzing the latest hot game is basic prerequisite knowledge for aspiring developers."
The poked student looked at another with a disdainful expression.
"...You didn't seriously stay up all night analyzing that and then turn in a project as sloppy as this, did you?"
"Developers are always like that!"
"Did I say something wrong?!"
The students with the most to feel guilty about started arguing with each other, and Professor Georg slammed his desk.
"Silence! Aren't all of you supposed to be presenting right now?"
Still, Professor Georg stared at me with eyes full of burning passion—wondering if I was the real creator of Arcane Saga, or just some knockoff.
In that mix of doubt and desire, I calmly began speaking.
"This game is a 5v5 team fight cooperative competition game, and..."
I explained the positions, characters, and controls in a steady voice.
"It compresses the long training required in online games into a short time, and ensures that skill determines the winner fairly."
Everyone in the lecture hall held their breath, staring at me.
"Ultimately, it sheds the flaws of competitive games, team collaboration games, and RPGs while extracting only their strengths, and pursues new training and competitive fun with every single match."
The lecture hall fell silent.
A brief moment of quiet.
But someone couldn't hold it in and shot up a hand.
That was exactly the question everyone had been dying to ask.
"By any chance... is this the user map thing that's popular these days...?"
"Yes. That's the sample our group made to test market reaction."
"Whoa, insane. That's crazy good."
The student who asked the question stared at me in awe, as if he'd just seen a celebrity.
But the student next to him pointed accusingly at me with a resentful face.
"Why did you make such a demon of a game!"
"Is there a problem with our game?"
At my question, the resentful student muttered aggrievedly.
"Arcane Saga is just too fun... so I tried playing one match to see if I should benchmark it, and ended up staying up all night! Give me my project back!"
"..."
What a wonderful developer mindset.
Game developers just have to make games.
Being a developer came first from being a gamer at the very core.
Anyway, just as I thought the explanation was wrapping up, Professor Georg asked.
"So, what platforms is it releasing on.... Wait, no need for that. It's a live service game, right?"
"Of course."
"But..."
Professor Georg fired the most sensitive question, just like he had with the previous group.
"What about BM? How do you plan to make money, and since it's a competitive game, how do you plan to guide players to buy?"
"..."
It was a sharp question, the kind only a professor who'd actually worked in the field would ask.
But I had already made perfect preparations to perfectly transplant the ruthless BM of this rotten game into the other world.
"Skins, runes, and traits."
"Runes and traits?"
Professor Georg leaned forward to look at me.
Features that weren't in the current user map version.
"Selling skins or avatars in games is nothing new. So there's nothing special about it, but what are runes and traits, student?"
"Runes and traits are, quite literally, additional abilities attached to the basic hero."
"Ho... let me hear it."
I projected the rune trait icons I'd received from Lumine last time, along with the temporarily made rune/trait pages, onto the tablet screen.
"Runes are additional stat boosts that users can obtain using game currency or 'cash.' You can customize everything from basic stats to gold earnings and game experience boosts. Higher-tier runes cost more and give higher abilities, while lower-tier ones give lower abilities."
"Doesn't that violate the 'fairness' that's the lifeblood of competitive games?"
Professor Georg, true to form, probed the most sensitive balance issue.
But I had the perfect answer ready.
"Not at all. Users can equip no more than 30 runes, and there are upper limits set. In other words, even free-to-play users can reach that spec by putting in time."
"An excellent system."
"If runes were just stat inflation, traits provide unique utility that runes can't. Users choose up to 30 based on their account level. Divided into three categories: attack, defense, and utility."
"..."
After hearing my full answer, Professor Georg fell into deep thought, then slowly raised the corner of his mouth.
He had perfectly calculated in his head how every element I had briefed would be used to fleece users' wallets.
"Experience boosters, skins, rune page access."
Professor Georg clapped.
Clap clap clap!
"Perfect! It's a presentation so flawless that no current corporate professional could fault it!"