Suddenly, I thought that establishing criteria for ‘fun’ is quite ambiguous when I realized that. Defining the chanism by which humans experience pleasure is too subjective, and even if it’s possible to explain, I lack the evidence to support the claim.
After all, I am a ga developer not a neuroscientist.
I found myself contemplating unexpected responses from an unusual perspective.
‘A harvesting and cultivation system…’
To explain, in the ga’s identity, there are nurous crafting contents beyond harvesting and cultivation. From mining or animal husbandry to processing materials through skills like sewing or tanning, it aid to realize the proposition that users could create their characters in a fairly broad sense.
Of course, I didn’t delve too deeply.
I considered Identity as a linearly progressing ga through narrative devices, and in actual developnt, the most emphasized aspects were the protagonist’s abilities and narrative execution.
The surprising part was the reason for this.
‘The experience of growing plants must be minimal. At this stage, the cultivation system is implented as just stretching a polygon.’
In other words, the QA departnt employees find joy in watching a single polygon elongate on a white background.
It might sound strange, but on the flip side, it becos a statent that even such simple content can be enjoyable.
It was a response that couldn’t be ignored.
I have experience and knowledge.
When a developer’s intention differs from user experience, nine out of ten tis, the user’s instinct-based judgnt tends to yield a more positive outco.
So, there was one thing to think about.
‘Why?’
Why is there such a reaction?
Do QA departnt mbers like farming?
‘No.’
Judging by the key, it wasn’t because they liked farming.
Saying that they enjoyed simply growing polygon-shaped data implies more that they found interest in the system itself, ‘collecting and cultivating.’
In fact, there are gas of this kind.
Gas that caused a stir in the industry with inexplicable impact.
Thinking about it now, there are at least two examples.
Gas like ‘Becoming a farr and getting married under a kind grandfather’ or ‘Starting as a debtor and becoming a farr.’
The potential of life content is undeniable.
Then, how far can this be expanded?
No, how much stake does this take in determining the direction of the ga?
I shuffled through docunts several tis.
And I felt the need for more data.
“Mr. Jiseok.”
“Yes?”
“Bring so QA departnt play footage. Oh, and call Myungkyu as well. There are a few simple tests to be done.”
“Oh, okay!”
So, I called Myungkyu and observed the QA departnt’s play footage with him.
“How is it?”
I asked Myungkyu.
“It’s interesting. Especially stopping the ga progress and farming on the street is fun.”
Just as Myungkyu said.
One of the QA departnt employees, the mont the cultivation content was unlocked, stopped everything they were doing and started farming on the street, creating a field. And for 7 hours, throughout the work hours, he only fard on that land.
Without taking a break for even a mont.
I said to him, “Life content seems to have a better response than expected. So, I need so data to verify it.”
“If you’re going to validate sothing, how would it be?”
“Whether it’s just a response limited to farming or not.”
If it’s the latter, there was a direction that ca to mind.
“From today, stop all other tasks and implent the life content first. The planning team will cancel the level design schedule. Let’s collaborate on this.”
“Um, got it!”
Due to the overflowing ideas, my head beca heated.
A kind of anticipation. Also, impatience rose.
***
The QA departnt at Rewind was quite secluded from other departnts within the company.
It was inevitable due to the nature of their work.
Fundantally, the testing work ant that, apart from result notifications and feedback, they rarely interacted with other departnts. Moreover, if they didn’t leave their departnt office, which was located in a soundproof booth, they wouldn’t even co face to face with anyone.
As a result, the QA departnt occasionally beca the subject of various rumours within the company.
For example:
“Did you hear that? The QA departnt jumps into every wall in the ga until they find a bug.”
“There’s Team Leader Park Sungchul in QA. They say he even jumps into walls in real life.”
“Maybe… it could be because the workload is too much and they’ve gone crazy.”
“Yeah, our CEO…”
“Since he give them so much work…”
Of course, these were just fabrications.
The reason QA departnt characters jump into walls is because bugs related to object collisions are common in the ga. And Team Leader jumping into walls in real life is due to a hangover from heavy drinking the night before.
Anyway, the conclusion was that the QA departnt was sowhat isolated from other departnts, and one characteristic of such a departnt was its internal cohesion.
It was quite peculiar.
Considering the frequent job changes in the industry, there was generally less ti for employees to beco close. However, given Rewind’s low turnover rate, this was particularly true for QA.
The high salary generally increased employee loyalty.
Anyway,
“Hey, guys! The new version has arrived.”
“Wow! What’s been added?”
“Mining and animal husbandry! Also, tailoring and blacksmithing… even a butchering skill.”
The employees cheered at the words of QA Team Leader Park Sungchul.
Unlike other teams that slowly die out during the developnt period, the atmosphere here was quite lively.
Basically, the work was playing the ga, and the employees were hardcore gars passionate about playing. It was only natural.
More than anything, the QA departnt had a significant advantage internally.
“I hope it’s not boring.”
“ too. I love it when I can write ‘boring’ in the feedback.”
QA is the only departnt in the company where it’s okay to curse at the CEO!
Moreover, since Yeonho actively accepts such feedback, the stress in the QA departnt is even less.
Park Sungchul, with extensive practical experience even within the QA departnt, was chosen as the team leader. Despite being in the field of programming, he chose QA for a reason.
When he judged himself, he realized that he was exceptionally good at improving sothing rather than creating it from scratch.
So, he had pride.
The reason he wanted to do more work was also due to the sense of achievent that ca from that pride.
He was truly a workaholic in the company.
“Alright, everyone! Let’s get to work!”
Clap, clap!
As they applauded, the employees started downloading the new version and began playing.
Imdiately delving into the newly added life content, the employees pounded their tablets with lost souls.
It was their way of expressing so enjoynt.
Lately, it had been like this.
For so reason, Yeonho stopped all other content developnt and imrsed himself in life content developnt like crazy. And QA continued until the polygonal form of the content was thoroughly tested.
“Jiseok, turn on the recording equipnt, we need to do this.”
“Oh, yes.”
Recording gaplay had beco a more emphasized aspect recently.
This recording was sent directly to Yeonho, as it docunted the monts when the gaplay changed—when sothing was unlocked or achieved.
It was a ti when such things were in full swing.
“Wow, it’s already been six hours.”
In response to a comnt from one of the employees, the others replied.
“What? I’ve been mining fiber all day.”
“I’ve been collecting 2,000 iron ores.”
The QA employees, discussing their achievents with faces full of excitent, seed quite proud.
Even though it was a repetitive task, and even the items they obtained were not properly implented in the ga, they found joy in their work.
They didn’t think about the reasons themselves.
Determining why it was fun was the job of the planners, not the QA team.
However, one thing they could clearly say was that the sense of accomplishnt from repetitive labor was sohow related to the satisfaction of looking at a warehouse filled to the brim.
“I can’t write ‘no fun.’”
“Yeah, but we still need more content. It would be great if they added a little more.”
“But I found two bugs. If you mine while soaking in light and swinging the pickaxe, the motion gets ssed up, and if you mine an ore in the shape of a donut, it bounces.”
“But why is it in the shape of a donut?”
“I don’t know. Oh, did you know that if you plant wheat and push it into the ground, a calf corpse is launched like a rocket?”
As they chatted away, Park Sungchul stood up.
“This is a trash ga, seriously, nothing to do.”
He said, and then left for the bathroom. On his monitor, there was a screen with a pile of 2,000 iron ores, fiber, and 500 leather.
“Wow!”
“As expected of the team leader! The grind level is on another level!”
At that mont, they beca like elentary school students looking at the status window of a high-level character left on by a hardcore gar in the PC room.
***
The QA reports and videos arrived.
After checking all the videos over the course of about a day, there was a conclusion.
“As expected…”
It was just as expected.
“It’s not because it’s farming that the QA departnt finds it enjoyable.”
The reason QA employees found charm in the life content was not because it was farming.
It was the sensation of ‘ownership’ itself that captured their interest.
The overall play pattern was like that.
After throwing a few contents at them, the employees superficially licked them and then started playing one of them.
Initially, there was a slow pace with breaks in between, but as the supply of materials through gathering ended and the concentration increased with the ability to make items from those materials, their focus heightened even more.
In the short term, it was purpose.
The proposition that the supply of materials for making the top-tier gathering tools was inherently established, and after that was completed, the focus shifted to filling the warehouse with items, and then they continued gathering tirelessly.
Even though it was a aningless repetitive task, the reason for doing it was the obsession with ‘ownership’ itself.
How could one ignore the fundantal desire rooted in human psychology?
It was a very aningful result.
However, besides discovering the motivation they felt, I was able to complete a concept that would shake the core of the ga through this result.
‘Gathering is enjoyable. But exploration for gathering is boring.’
Even though finding an ore vein was enjoyable, there was still the tedium of searching for it.
Also, after digging up one vein, there was a burden for the next exploration.
‘Making items through gathered materials is genuinely fun. But the shortage of items is continually being highlighted as an issue.’
If you find enjoynt in the ga, it is undoubtedly the catharsis that cos from achieving sothing.
Appropriate rewards must be presented for each action, whether it’s combat, life, or adventure.
How to resolve that.
Above all, there was a challenge that had to be solved for the inevitable gap that would arise when expanding the life content in the existing ga.
‘If you engage in life content, you can’t progress through the ga’s story.’
E-40 is a wanderer by setting.
Traveling to many places, eting nurous people, and helping them regain the smiles they lost—this is the content of the ga.
However, if life content is pursued, that becos impossible.
Just looking at the QA results, when employees focus on life, doesn’t the main progression co to a halt?
If that’s the case, there’s only one solution.
‘Build a village.’
In other words, establish a base.
A teleportation point that allows movent anyti, anywhere.
“That way, you can progress both the main storyline and life content simultaneously. Plus, you can incorporate narrative devices.”
Before my rebirth, the ga did not shed light on what happened to the people who regained their smiles later on.
Even though smiles were stigmatized as a heinous cri within the narrative.
They accepted it for gaplay reasons, but doubts would surely arise.
This ti, it’s about resolving that.
For example, starting with a farr.
“Thanks! Thanks to you, I can do what I love freely! As a token of gratitude, I’ll help you out! If you ever need assistance with agriculture, feel free to co by!”
The re fact that I can continuously witness the happy future of the person I rescued provides a sense of accomplishnt and satisfaction.
Furthermore, if we can complete that as sothing not just an object but as sothing that helps , we can enhance the focus on the narrative by eting a new NPC in the chapter, helping him, and perceiving the process as ‘finding workers for my village.’
It strengthens the organic connectivity.
But that’s not all.
“What if we make new crafting thods, unlock crafting routes through the story, and make it possible to obtain gathering seeds?”
It allows control over the gaplay pattern that gets absorbed in gathering and crafting.
To create sothing beyond a certain level, you have to progress the main story to acquire recipes, thus reinforcing the sense of purpose in the ga’s progression itself.
In conclusion, yes.
“If the point is to enjoy ownership…”
Everything leads to possession.
The progression of the story is ownership, NPCs are ownership, collected items are ownership, crafted items are ownership, and the village created by all of these is also ownership.
The “” playing the ga aims to make everything I desire possible within the village.
Now, let’s give a na to this.
“A village of those who regained lost smiles but have nowhere to go. A village where everyone laughs and does their own work.”
And the result of the achievents accomplished by the “” in the ga.
In other words, a trophy exhibition.
So, there can only be one na for it.
“Miso Village.”
The happiest place in the world I created.
“If there’s sothing you want, just have it.”
If it’s fun, the director’s role is to make it happen in the ga.
Ending this conception leads to a result entirely different from my past life.
One, it not only makes uneasy but also brings refreshing clarity penetrating through my mind.
“It changes.”
It’s a bit more of an evolution.
Accept the fact that I’ve changed with joy.
If the past life ga contained my personal conceit, this ti it’s about containing sothing even bigger.
Identity.
As the na suggests, whether you’re a farr, miner, blacksmith, adventurer, or maintaining the stance of a wanderer.
It’s about creating a ga where everyone playing desires to beco the person they want to be.
We were all born for that reason.
I imdiately told the planning team.
“Mr. Jiseok, Ms. Hosu.”
“Yes.”
“Did you call us?”
“We’re going into a planning eting. Please co to the conference room.”
It was ti for the concretization of ideas.
In other words, the power of collective intelligence was needed.
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