Chapter 150: Just Ignore Them
Chapter 150: Just Ignore Them
In the rental apartment.
Pei Qian had just woken up from his afternoon nap. He rolled over on the bed, grabbed his phone, and glanced at it, seeing an unread message.
“President Pei, sorry to bother you. We've encountered a problem with one of the design choices. Based on the current discussions, removing the monetization options in the game will definitely upset the big spenders. How should we handle this?”
Pei Qian rubbed his sleepy eyes and muttered, “Who is this?”
Looking closely, it was Ye Zhizhou—the newly promoted lead executive designer of Shangyang Games.
Since Pei Qian had given him the "imperial sword of authority," allowing him to report directly and fire employees if necessary, they naturally had to add each other as contacts to stay in touch.
But instead of reporting any firings, Ye Zhizhou was asking a game design question.
Pei Qian read the message again.
Question: Removing monetization options in the game will upset players who have already spent money. How should this be addressed?
Well, that was easy to understand. Blood War Anthem was a pay-to-win game. These whales had dumped thousands into it just to dominate others with overwhelming power.
And now, with a sudden snap, all monetization was being removed. No more crushing other players effortlessly. Of course they’d start complaining, demanding refunds, and threatening to quit.
Of course, refunds were absolutely out of the question.
“You paid your money to Du Ruijie. Go ask him for it back,” Pei Qian thought.
And if they quit the game…
Even better. Deal!
President Pei didn’t care for people who tried to throw money at him.
As always, if you want to give money to Tengda? No chance!
You either convert into a free player like everyone else, or get out.
Perfect!
Pei Qian grabbed his phone and groggily typed out a reply: “Just ignore them.”
Then tossed the phone back on the pillow and went back to sleep.
…
Over at Shangyang Games, in the meeting room, everyone was anxiously waiting for a response from President Pei.
Ye Zhizhou sat at the head of the table, eyes fixed on his phone screen, a little nervous inside.
President Pei hadn’t replied right away—probably busy with more important work.
After all, Shangyang Games was just one of his many businesses, and not even a close one. The priority must be lower.
As for the others, their reactions varied.
Some found Ye Zhizhou’s proposed changes interesting and were eager to get to work.
Some still didn’t respect him, but kept quiet.
After all, the most senior designer in the team, Wang Xiaobin, had agreed to cooperate with Ye Zhizhou. So even if others wanted to stir up trouble, they lacked the influence. More importantly, Ye Zhizhou had a direct line to President Pei—that alone was a huge deterrent.
Some even suspected Ye Zhizhou had asked that question in the meeting on purpose—to assert dominance!
As if to say, I can contact President Pei directly, so you all better behave.
So the atmosphere in the meeting room remained serious. The newly promoted Ye Zhizhou still had control of the situation.
Ding
A notification sounded. Ye Zhizhou quickly looked at President Pei’s reply.
Just three simple words: “Just ignore them.”
That’s… it?
Ye Zhizhou was stunned.
Wang Xiaobin, sitting beside him, leaned over and asked, “Did President Pei reply?”
Ye Zhizhou turned the phone screen toward him. “Just these three words.”
“Brother Wang, what do you think…”
Ye Zhizhou was a bit lost.
Logically speaking, any directive from President Pei had to be carried out to the letter.
But completely ignoring the concerns of the whale players? Wouldn’t that be suicidal?
In a game like Blood War Anthem, a nation-war-style web game, big spenders often accounted for more than 80% of the total revenue. Abandoning them was essentially forfeiting 80% of the game’s income.
This wasn’t just cutting off one’s arm to survive—this was throwing yourself off a cliff!
That’s precisely why the team had spent so long discussing it in the meeting, unable to come up with a win-win solution.
Cutting off the monetization points would inevitably hurt the interests of the whales, and when the whales got upset, the revenue would tank.
In other words, no matter how you analyzed it, President Pei’s plan would only accelerate the demise of these already struggling games.
With no other options left, Ye Zhizhou had finally decided to seek guidance from President Pei.
And President Pei’s response was just those four words.
So the final solution was… not to solve it at all?
Just let the whales fend for themselves?
What kind of…
Boldness was that!?
Wang Xiaobin, who had been frowning, slowly began to relax.
“President Pei truly has an extraordinary vision. I’m impressed!”
“There’s deep wisdom hidden in those three words!”
He spoke with sincere admiration.
Ye Zhizhou didn’t fully understand, but he felt it must be profound.
Sure enough, an old veteran is a true treasure.
When it came to deep insights like this, you had to rely on someone like Wang Xiaobin—an experienced and senior designer—to interpret them!
Wang Xiaobin cleared his throat and addressed the team:
“No need to debate this issue any longer. President Pei has given us a clear directive: ‘Just ignore them!’”
“That means we don’t need to concern ourselves with how this change affects the whales.”
“When the new version is launched, the whales on the old servers will remain untouched. Their data stays the same, and they’ll keep their current combat power. But going forward, all payment channels will be sealed off—they won’t be able to boost their power any further with money.”
“As for players on the new servers, they’ll all start from the same line and follow the new version’s rules.”
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
That’s it?
But that doesn’t really solve anything, does it?
What if the whales quit? What if they stop spending money? Then what?
Wang Xiaobin smiled in relief. “President Pei already gave us the answer.”
“Yes, removing monetization will hurt the whales—it’s unavoidable. We’ve been racking our brains trying to find a solution, but in reality, there is no solution!”
“This is a complete revolution! When you redistribute land from the landlords, do you ask how they feel? There’s no need!”
“President Pei’s meaning is crystal clear: let them fend for themselves!”
“The issue we’ve agonized over for so long—President Pei sliced through it like a hot knife through butter. That’s the difference in level!”
Everyone suddenly understood.
It was like a complex knot being cut clean through—this seemingly unsolvable problem had been resolved so easily by President Pei!
Of course, saying it was easy. Doing it was another matter entirely.
Who else would dare cut off 80% of their income just like that?
Only President Pei could!
With that thought, everyone felt an even deeper respect for him.
To sacrifice in order to gain, with no hesitation.
Now that’s the realm of a true master!
Ye Zhizhou was moved as well. He knocked on the table. “Alright. That was the last issue.”
“Let’s begin!”
“We must carry out President Pei’s vision to the fullest, and bring these two games back from the dead!”
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 167: Can We Get Qiao Liang Banned?!
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/134738498?collection=1399284
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.