Losing Money to Be a Chapter 637 - Struggle’s False Marketing and Unorthodox Pric

Chapter 637: Struggle’s False Marketing and Unorthodox Pricing

September 3rd, Saturday…

Tengda’s new ga, Struggle, was officially released!

In Shanghai…

He An, who had just finished tending to work, arrived ho and prepared to rest.

He intended to go to Jingzhou and continue teaching Boss Ma last Friday, but his own ngguo Gas had run into so problems. He had thus ended up trying to deal with the problems until yesterday.

So his lesson with Boss Ma was postponed until Friday.

Although it had been unexpected, He An thought that the timing was good. That was because Tengda’s new ga, Struggle, was put up for sale today!

He An was filled with expectations for the new ga.

After all, Boss Pei had already done several standalone gas earlier, and all of them had beco benchmarks for dostic standalone gas. He had achieved new heights, especially in terms of conceptualizing and depth.

This ti, He An—like all other gars—expected Struggle to be a large-scale action ga. That was why he was hopeful.

It ca just in ti as He An was worrying about what to teach Boss Ma in his last lesson.

Everything that he had said before had been a summary and generalization of the lessons he had accumulated as a ga designer over tens of years. The lessons had been filled with valuable insights.

From ideation to creation and then to sales and marketing, He An had already addressed them over.

However, it was precisely because the content so far had been rich and valuable that he was having difficulty finding anything else to talk about for the last lesson. If the content for the last lesson fell short, it would be aningless.

It was just as well that Tengda was providing him with more material!

Since He An still had a week before his lesson with Boss Ma, he could use the ti to analyze Tengda’s new ga through and through.

Perhaps he would be able to obtain inspiration from the ga or the ga would trigger so of his sealed mories. Then, maybe he would be able to find sothing valuable to teach.

Now that he had finished work, He An preparing to play gas to relax.

He switched on his computer and accessed the official platform. Indeed, in the most eye-catching recomndation spot on the official platform’s front page, it said: ‘Tengda’s new ga, Struggle, is up for sale!’

However, there were only beautifully written words and no promotional poster.

It was a little strange.

Ordinary gas would put up promotional posters on their advertisent spots, so that the beautiful scenes and characters in the ga would be displayed for all to see. That would give gars a better first impression and attract more of them to play it.

“Boss Pei is really stubborn. He is living up to his na indeed.”

Thinking nothing much of this, He An clicked the words.

Other ga designers would have been expected to stick to the customs of advertising. However, there was no need for Boss Pei to. All things aside, the words ‘Tengda’s new ga’ on the front page would cause gars to press it at once.

When he arrived at the ga’s details page, He An suddenly realized that sothing was amiss. That was because the details page was finally displaying the ga’s synopsis and images!

The ga was introduced in this manner:

In reality, no matter how much one struggles, they would not be able to escape their destiny.

There were many promotional screenshots of the ga as well. They were beautiful, and the artistic style made a lasting impression, but the only problem was… the scenes and characters in the screenshots were worlds apart from everyone’s expectations!

The background was modern, and there were many foreigners wearing clothes that one would normally see in real life, including suits, T-shirts, and sweaters.

He An was confused.

What happened to the large-scale action ga?

Indeed, so action gas made use of modern material, but those were often set on mysterious islands or lost ancient ruins. None of them had been set in the city!

From the promotional screenshots, He An could tell that the ga was nothing like action gas!

What was even more confusing were the introduction and the ga’s Mandarin na.

‘In reality, no matter how hard one struggles, they would not be able to escape their destiny’?

That was so depressing!

Yes, that was true to a certain extent. Most people were helpless in real life, and real life didn’t change according to one’s will.

However, that did not an that this kind of fatalism should be promoted!

Life was filled with unhappy events, but people should try hard to live a good life no matter what. That was because there was no giving up or exiting. People struggled, not to live a better life than others, but so that they would live a better life than before.

What’s more, the English and Mandarin translations of the word ‘Struggle’ ant slightly different things!

In English, Struggle had many anings. Before this, everyone had thought that the ga would be an action one. Thus, they subconsciously assud that ‘struggle’ ant to combat and fight.

However, in Mandarin, it was translated as ‘to strive’, which rid the gars of their initial thoughts completely. At once, it exposed the ga’s true the!

With this opening, He An beca stunned by Boss Pei’s actions, and he had not even entered the ga. At this point, more intelligent gars would have realized that they had been bluffed by the advertisents.

“Did Boss Pei use realistic thes and then beco afraid that nobody would play it? Is that why he resorted to false marketing?

“It can’t be.

“He would not be able to lure gars in this way, and it wouldn’t help his sales. Instead, it would backfire and ruin his own reputation. He would lose out significantly.”

He An was confused.

At that mont, he suddenly realized sothing. He retrieved all of Tengda’s promotional material at the height of its publicity campaign.

After reading the promotional material, he looked back at the ga’s introduction.

He did this three more tis.

Then, he understood.

“Boss Pei… did not engage in false marketing. He was telling the truth. At most, he was just misleading everyone.

“What kind of new strategy is this?”

He An realized that the content written on the ga’s details page completely matched the ga’s actual content!

The misunderstanding had only developed because of the ntion of ‘motion capture’. Everyone had mistakenly thought that Tengda had spent a huge sum on motion-capturing because it had been creating an action ga!

Yet, it turned out to have realistic thes.

Crazy! Why would you need motion capture for realistic thes? Do you have too much money and nowhere to spend it?

If this had been so other ga designer, He An would have lashed out and cussed, thinking that this had been false advertising all along.

When He An had been teaching Boss Ma before, he had said that a ga’s publicity would either make or break a ga. If the ga’s advertising and the actual ga were mismatched, a destructive blow would have been dealt to the standalone ga.

The result?

The advertising for Boss Pei’s new ga and the actual ga were mismatched! What’s more, it was ridiculously mismatched!

He An was troubled and perplexed. Boss Pei had committed a mistake that he had always known to be low-class. Yet, all the more, he did not dare to believe it.

Who was Boss Pei?

He was a talent at sales! He could find the best way of marketing every single ga, and he understood how to create conversation among gars.

Yes, this must be another special advertising tactic!

However, He An would only find out exactly how special it was after playing the ga.

He An prepared to purchase it and then discovered another confusing thing. He had to purchase the dual protagonist modes separately?

When he clicked the purchase button, an introductory window popped up. One was the rich version, and the other was the poor.

The drawing on the rich version was of a business elite in a suit. He was swirling his glass of red wine while looking out of a full-length window, into the city, from the penthouse of a skyscraper. He looked like the prince of the world as if he held everything in the palm of his hand.

The words said: ‘Born in a wealthy ho, your struggle would be unbelievably smooth. However, fate is unexpected. In the face of death, everyone is equal. If you are a rich person, I don’t suggest you buy this ga, or it would feel very boring.’

Price: 19 yuan (Original Price: 29 yuan)

The drawing on the poor version was of a peasant in torn and tattered clothes, holding nothing in his hands. As the cars drove by on the busy street, he looked up at the skyscraper in front of him, with his back view emitting hints of envy.

The words said: ‘Born in a poor ho, your struggle would be filled with pain, suffering, and helplessness. Your determination could change your fate, but fate is unwilling to be changed by you. No matter whether you are a rich or poor man, I don’t suggest you buy this ga because you would be aninglessly overwheld with negative energy.”

Price: 79 yuan (Original Price: 99 yuan)

The buttons for each version were separate. Obviously, one could only purchase either one. Moreover, there was no option for He An to buy both gas.

He An did not understand the purpose of this. Wasn’t it just clicking one more button?

He would buy the rich version before he bought the poor version.

However, when he tried to click the button for the poor version, a pop-up window appeared.

“There are no second chances in life. If you want to experience both types of lives, you would not get to enjoy the discounts. Both versions would be sold to you at the original price, and you have to pay a total of 29 99=128 yuan for this purchase. Are you sure about this?”

He An studied the words closely. As his lips parted, his expression beca shocked; his mind filled with question marks.

What was the aning of this? Was Tengda ssing around?

This pricing model was completely novel to He An, despite all his years as a ga designer and his vast knowledge!

Other dual protagonist modes could be found in the ga, and players could usually choose which character they wanted to be once they entered.

Yet, this ga had separated both dual protagonist modes!

On top of those, both of them were priced differently. One was 79 yuan and the other was 19 yuan—almost four tis cheaper!

Would the poor version really have four tis the content of the rich version? Obviously not!

The most ridiculous thing was that buying both versions would prevent one from enjoying the discounts. They would have to pay 128 yuan, which was six tis more than if they only bought the rich version!

To He An, this pricing strategy was extrely ridiculous. That 19 yuan was obviously too cheap, but 128 yuan was too expensive. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to sell each ga for 98 yuan?

Was the pricing strategy out to push gars to only buy the rich version?

What’s more, the synopses seed cruel.

The rich version seed to hint at a bad ending, and wealthy people were advised not to buy it.

On the other hand, the poor version stated upfront that one could not change their fate. That would be a bad ending as well, and both poor and rich people were advised not to buy it.

Didn’t that amount to everyone?

Absurd!

He An decisively hit the purchase button.

So what if it’s expensive? Do I look like soone who doesn’t have 128 yuan? I’ll buy the gas at their original price—I’ll be happy to!

I insist on seeing what exactly you’re hiding in your poor version!

He An guessed that, since this ga had a dual protagonist mode with two versions, both versions must have been connected. For all he knew, there would be hidden scenes or endings that would only be available if one bought both versions.

The more He An thought about it, the more he felt like things would be as he imagined.

If both versions were entirely unconnected, there would be a huge problem.

Gars who would mindlessly buy gars were among the minority. Most gars would be influenced by the reviews and comnts online.

If the first batch of gars bought both versions but found zero hidden scenes or endings, they would surely curse and swear. Subsequently, nobody would repeat the sa silly mistake.

He An suspected that Boss Pei would not commit such a silly mistake. Thus, all the more, he was certain that there would unlock hidden scenes and outcos if he bought both versions.

Until now, he had not entered the ga yet. However, two out of four theories He An had thought Boss Ma had already been overturned.

Tailor the marketing strategy to the ga’s contents? No.

Choose a ga genre that has a significant share of the market? No.

If this had been another ga designer, He An would conclude that the ga was finished even before entering it. It had gone down the wrong path from the beginning; how could it reach the finish line?

Yet, since it was Boss Pei, He An felt the need to play the ga once through before making a conclusion.

Perhaps Boss Pei would give him an unimaginable surprise by overturning all the traditional concepts.

He An chose to play the rich version first.

…

There was a black screen, and a male voice narrated in English and in a dull tone. It wasn’t a voice-over. It sounded more like a man muttering to himself.

“My father loves seeking wisdom within faraway Eastern cultures.

“Shortly after I matured, he repeatedly taught

two sentences from the far East. The first was ‘the poor grow wits, and the prosperous grow a conscience’. The second was ‘food cos before manners, and clothing cos before honor’.

“My father said that, in their original language, both sentences were short and sweet… and full of wisdom and philosophy.

“However, once translated to English, they would not invoke the sa feelings.

“He told

that society is governed by the rules of the jungle. We are the high and mighty, but because of that, many people watched us and waited for us to fall and fail miserably.

“My father said never to trust those poor people—never ever.

“It’s almost like, to my father, we were a different species from those poor folks in the lower tiers of society.

“I don’t agree with that view.

“Of course, I can’t argue with my father either. That’s because I know that I nearly failed to enter the world and was nearly thrown off a skyscraper together with my mother because of a lunatic.

“My father said that it was a poor man.

“Still, I insist that he was just a lunatic.”

Once the black screen and words disappeared, the ga’s image appeared.

It took the sa over-the-shoulder perspective as most AAA gas. He An could see a Western police officer in uniform, who was of quite a high rank at that.

He was in a shopping mall now, but it was empty. It was almost as if everyone had been evacuated.

From afar, he saw several police officers waving at him anxiously.

A few lines appeared on the wall to guide He An along. “As a hostage expert, you must negotiate with the criminals who have taken hostages.”

He An couldn’t spot a single criminal. He turned around and found that he could only walk towards the open window, next to where the police officers were standing.

The police officers beckoned anxiously.

Thus, He An quickly took control of the police officer and walked over.

The police officers imdiately tied a safety rope onto him, put on vacuum climbing gloves and shoes, and then cleared access to the window.

“The pregnant woman is in danger, and the hijacker is very emotional. If our sniper shoots him, he might take the pregnant woman off the building with him. Chief Henry, please!”

He An made Henry crawl out of the window and used the suction climbing gloves and shoes to move upwards on the glass walls of the tall building. As he climbed upwards, he received new mission instructions on the glass walls at regular intervals.

‘The hostage expert has arrived at the scene.’

‘The hostage expert is ready.’

‘The hostage expert is getting ready to negotiate.’

The higher Henry climbed, the clearer the shouting on the roof above beca.

“Don’t co over, or I will jump down!”

“Help, help…”

“Don’t be nervous, please. I’m here to negotiate. We can offer a few conditions…”

The mad roars of the criminal, the wails and cries of the hostage, and the police officers’ voices amplified by loudspeakers as they tried to appease the criminal… they all mixed together, causing one to feel inexplicably antsy.

Shortly after He An was notified that the hostage expert was ‘getting ready to negotiate’, Henry arrived at the top floor. He quietly moved so that he was directly underneath the criminal.

The criminal was holding a long table knife in his hand, which was pressed up against the pregnant lady’s neck. They were both standing at the edge of the building.

The criminal seed to be aware of the sniper’s presence, but his right hand maintained a death-like grip on his knife as his left hand clutched the lady’s neck. If he got shot, they would both fall off the building.

When Henry arrived underneath the criminal, he left his right climbing glove on the wall and retrieved his gun without making a sound. Then, he aid it at the back of the criminal’s head.

Bang!

There was a gunshot, and the criminal’s head exploded. The hostage scread as both of them swayed in midair!

‘The hostage expert has ended negotiations.’

Henry reached out with his muscular right arm and held onto the pregnant lady while the criminal’s corpse fell to the bottom of the building.

Just as the corpse fell, Henry caught a glimpse of his face.

The despair, panic, and madness that he had felt just before he died were still visible on his face. The mixture of all those emotions made him look ferocious.

The scene progressed in slow-motion and paused, just like in the movies. Then, the corpse kept falling, falling, and falling…

A split-second before the corpse landed on the ground, everything stopped and the screen went black once more.

“My mother was so frightened that I ca into the world two weeks in advance.

“So of my friends say that I was born with a golden spoon in my mouth. Others say that I was born at their finish line.

“I never denied this… because the suffering and striving of people like us cannot be turned into conversational topics with others.

“Few can understand the fight that people who were born at the finish line have to go through.”