This is not a BUG, this is a game feature

"Star Emperor 2" is more than just a sequel, and it's more than just a game.

Precisely……

Since its predecessor, this game has been deeply tied to many PC hardware manufacturers, forming an ambiguous pattern in which you are among us.

Therefore, this is not a game, it is a bond between Tianba Studio and many hardware manufacturers to maintain the relationship between the two parties.

Because of this, when Tianba Studio officially announced that it would produce a second-generation sequel to its fighting game "Star King" this year, the first people to come to support were not fans of the previous game, but...

AMD: Looking forward to it! "Love"

NVIDIA: Love you! "Comparison"

Beat Renshuo: Great, I can finally play the super cool "Star Emperor 2"!

That's right!

As if they had made an appointment, the official accounts of major hardware manufacturers arrived in the comment area almost at the same time, leaving their most sincere blessings.

Netizens were dumbfounded.

no……

Where did these guys come from? Tianba Studio officially announced the sequel, but we old players didn’t say anything. Why are you, unrelated official accounts, here to join in the fun?

"What do you mean it's irrelevant? I'm an investor in "Star Emperor 2". I spent money to make a game. Can you come and see it?"

Various manufacturers, who were questioned in turn by netizens, were very unconvinced and threw out "transfer" certificates, saying that this game also has their investment, and the money has been spent. What's wrong with coming to the comment area to enhance their presence?

"Good guy! Is there really any investment?"

"Let me see... why are there so many investors? There are at least a dozen or twenty companies on the list of thanks, right?"

"Quantity is not the point. The point is, isn't the list of investors for "Star Emperor 2" a bit too scary?"

"Quie! I also saw Microsoft and Sony...Why are these two console manufacturers also sneaking in?"

"After all, the main engine manufacturer has something to do with PC hardware. I didn't expect that Sansang Huazi would also squeeze in..."

horrible!

"Star Emperor 2" is a sequel game. Originally, people didn't pay much attention to it. After all, everyone knows about sequels.

But this time, seeing the long list of "Thanks to Enterprises" compiled by Tianba Studio, almost the entire gaming circle was shocked.

Brother, what do you do?

You said you are making a game and it is a sequel. Is it necessary to invite so many supporting guests? And these supporting guests are all heavyweights!

Outsiders, those who don't know the game "Star Emperor" and have never watched the GAL League, are already confused.

This list is widely circulated!

Almost as soon as Tianba Studio made the announcement, screenshots of the list were quickly spread all over the Internet.

Ever since, netizens have been curious, what kind of game is this, and why do investors have such a luxurious lineup?

If you look at this list, it can be said that it is a collection of well-known technology giants and Internet giants from all over the world. The combined market value is enough to shake A-shares, Hong Kong stocks and US stocks.

without any exaggeration……

All the companies thanked for "Star Emperor 2", if the market value is regarded as GDP, they can compete for the top few positions in the world.

Why is this so?

Netizens couldn't understand why all these companies got together to invest in a game? Although the money invested is not much, only a few thousand dollars per family, the advantage is the quantity!

The investment amount is calculated from the financial reports released by listed companies. After all, these companies are basically listed companies. If the capital flow exceeds tens of millions of dollars, investors and stockholders must be informed.

Almost at the same time, various technology and Internet listed companies all had instructions for the allocation of funds with "unclear destination".

Unknown is a joke.

These companies have said that this money is a special fund allocated to Tianba Studio for the production of "Star Emperor 2", and there is no problem of unknown whereabouts.

But for many investors and stockholders, this "unclear" investment is completely incomprehensible to them.

No, if you want to invest in a game, just invest in it. The money won’t go anywhere anyway, and tens of millions of dollars is not a lot of money.

But the question is, why don’t you seek returns for the games you invest in? Is it as selfless as charity?

Players are exclaiming, and shareholders and investors are angrily criticizing the management.

Tens of millions of dollars is not money, is it?

You said you would use the money to advertise, donate to charity and buy a reputation. If that doesn't work, it doesn't matter if the CEO is embezzled. Why should you give it to Tianba Studio in vain? Is Chen Ba your father?

Perhaps because of the misfortune, many company managers had to come forward and explain why the money seemed to be "for charity".

"Chen Ba is not my father, and we are not doing charity, but this money is really a gift without any intention of repaying it..."

"Please take a long-term view. The reason why we are willing to invest in "Star Emperor 2" is to expand the influence of the GAL League!"

The management was so aggrieved that they almost cried.

They really have no selfish motives, and they did not treat Chen Ba as their father. "Star Emperor 2" is not an investment of unknown meaning, but a strategic investment with long-term planning.

You can’t just look at the immediate gains and losses!

Just looking at the moment, it is true that they gave a sum of money to Tianba Studio for free, which is a complete act of injustice.

But wouldn’t it be the GAL League that would benefit the most from the game “Star Emperor 2”? As a participating team in the GAL League, can't they benefit from it?

"I see!"

Under the management's painstaking explanation, a group of shareholders and investors finally understood the significance of this investment.

But soon, they had new doubts.

Does the GAL League, which emerged due to "Star Emperor", really have such an exaggerated influence? Is it worth the investment from these giants?

The management of these listed companies did not answer this question.

nonsense!

What should I explain to these middle-aged people who don’t watch e-sports games, don’t surf the Internet much, and don’t understand the preferences of today’s young people? Will they understand even if it is explained?

To put it bluntly, the GAL League is also an e-sports event!

Since it is e-sports, it is destined that the audience and fan base will be mostly young people under the age of 35, rather than a bunch of middle-aged people who can only watch short videos.

Only by entering this circle, putting yourself in their shoes and having more contact with young people can you deeply feel how popular and influential the GAL League is.

If you are not in this circle, if you talk to him about influence or popularity, it is completely nonsense...

Chen Ba was deeply touched by this.

Xu Xiaofei, the top "super giant" player in the GAL League, is as popular on the Internet as he is in the League of Legends.

As long as you are a young person, regardless of whether you have played "Star Emperor" or not watched the GAL League, you have more or less seen relevant videos or reports, and you will definitely know Xu Xiaofei.

But for people of their parents’ generation, Xu Xiaofei? who is this? A well-known e-sports player who is a household name? What is eSports?

no way!

These are two completely unrelated groups, so it is completely meaningless to explain to them how powerful Xu Xiaofei is and how popular he is.

The same is true for the GAL League.

This competition is known as E-Sports F1 and is recognized as the top e-Sports event in the world. Whether it is the size of the prize money or the unique format of the tour, it has attracted great attention around the world.

But the influence of this event can only be seen in terms of scoring.

For gamers, the GAL League, known as E-Sports F1, is not to be missed. Every game will be watched on time. Even if you don’t have time, you will watch the replays. You will know the star players and top teams...

But for non-game players, what is eSports F1? I’ve only heard of the name F1, but I’ve never heard of eSports F1!

"This is why we are making "Star Emperor 2" to inject new impetus into the GAL League and attract more fresh blood."

At an internal meeting, Chen Ba spoke eloquently: ""Star Emperor" is still too old to meet the needs of the GAL League in the new era. At this time, a new game is needed!"

The picture quality must be better!

Not only the game picture quality, but also the fighting special effects must be raised to the top. After all, this is a special skill that cannot be left behind at any time.

at the same time……

Because the investors of "Star Emperor 2" are major teams in the GAL League, this game is also "born for e-sports," so in some aspects, necessary choices will definitely be made.

“What are the necessary trade-offs?”

"Simply put, we need to serve the GAL League, not ordinary players. This priority cannot be misplaced."

Chen Ba explained: "The playability and fun of the game can be put aside for now. The important thing is to satisfy the viewing and balance of the game."

Is Star Emperor a good fighting game?

no!

As a fighting game, "Star Emperor" is actually quite poor. The character balance is extremely poor. A large number of "supermodel" characters and "sewer" characters appear in every version.

This is also related to Chen Ba’s original concept of designing this game!

When he originally designed "Star Emperor", he never expected that the game's event system would be so developed and popular, so he designed the characters more casually.

It didn't matter if the character was slightly stronger or weaker. At that time, no one thought that game balance was a very important thing.

But then things changed.

Crazy Shark Supreme, Dark Dragon Supreme, Nine Yang Emperor...

One version after another, one god at a time, especially the Dark Dragon Supreme, really made people angry. As a result, players attach great importance to the balance between characters, and will complain if it is slightly weakened or strengthened.

Moreover, these version changes also had a great impact on the subsequent competition environment.

It is for these reasons that for this sequel to "Star Emperor 2", Chen Ba made up his mind to work out the balance mechanism from the beginning of the game design.

Focus on game viewing!

For the experience of ordinary players, some fine-tuning can be made appropriately while ensuring that the game is exciting and balanced enough. But if it affects the game, the gaming experience of ordinary players can be sacrificed.

Again, after all, this game is funded by the GAL League teams. Based on the principle of whoever pays for it, their opinions must be the main ones.

Ordinary players may indeed have opinions, and may even complain that the second generation is not as fun as the first generation...

But there is no way, there are always trade-offs. Many games are like this and cannot take into account the player experience and the competition environment at the same time.

Take League of Legends as an example.

ADs like Zelie Aphelios are almost at the bottom of the rankings in terms of win rate, and designers are still working hard to weaken them. Isn’t it because the competition is so popular?

From the perspective of ordinary players, this is entirely a deliberate act by the designers. These heroes have a low winning rate, so why are they still being cut?

But in order to make the game more balanced and the event more exciting and beautiful, this is indeed an impossible choice.

After being weakened, more heroes can be seen on the field, and the audience will not complain about only a few heroes performing one-man shows.

Without weakening, the experience of ordinary players can be guaranteed, but the game will become extremely boring. Almost every game has the same hero, which makes people sleepy...

It is not difficult to see that the choices made by Riot designers are mainly based on "on-field performance". As for the experience of ordinary players, let's do whatever you like!

What Chen Ba wants to do is mainly based on performance on the field, regardless of the player's feelings for the time being.

"OK!"

After writing this down in his notes, Liu Jinfu asked: "Brother Ba, is there anything else that needs attention?"

"Let me think about it..."

"Well, there really is one. I almost forgot about it!" Chen Ba patted his forehead and suddenly thought of something.

Budget!

Damn it, he almost forgot this most critical point. This is the most important detail of the "Star Emperor 2" project.

Said before.

"Star Emperor 2" is a game produced by Tianba Studio through crowdfunding by many companies, with more than US$400 million in funding.

It’s definitely more than enough to spend so much money to make a sequel, and it’s not even a AAA game!

But Chen Ba didn't think about having more than enough, but he wanted to be greedy as much as he could. Once the money was in his hands, he couldn't even think about getting it back.

"A little greed is not greed!"

Chen Ba's eyes were shining and he said: "One million dollars from four hundred million dollars should be enough for us to spend, right?"

Liu Jinfu: "..."

Xiao Lu couldn't stand listening anymore, rolled his eyes and said: "Brother Ba, don't go too far! You are not the one who is corrupt. What can you do with one million?"

Four hundred million for only one million?

Brother Ba's fantastic idea almost burned out the CPU of Xiao Lu's brain. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. Can this game be made with one million?

"How much do you think is appropriate?"

"It must be 10 million anyway, I'm talking about US dollars!" Xiao Lu said after calculation.

"That's too much..."

Chen Ba was still a little reluctant to give up.

Ten million US dollars is equivalent to tens of millions of soft girl coins. How can you be so spendthrift? He feels that one to twenty million soft girl coins is almost enough.

"...It's not impossible!"

Xiao Lu nodded first, then looked at Chen Ba and said meaningfully: "But, are you sure you want to be so greedy?"

Only about 1% of the US$400 million budget was used, and the rest was embezzled by Brother Ba.

If this matter spreads, those hardware manufacturers may not have any objections. After all, when they paid the money, they had already expected that Brother Ba would "cut corners".

But the shareholders and investors behind these companies are not so magnanimous. Can they let Brother Ba go easily?