Chapter 1191: Malicious Taking Off Shelves Appeared!
Soon, someone else spoke.
“F*ck, I didn’t notice it before. Now that you mention it, I realize that our game’s recommendation rate has reached 47%. Erm… we’re about to be taken off the shelves!”
“Is our game that bad? There are obviously more than 80% good reviews on other platforms!”
This was the chief planner of another local games company in Jingzhou. It was different from the previous game. This was a standalone leisure mobile game that charged a fixed-rate system.
Logically speaking, the reputation of standalone games should be better, but the problem was even more serious!
Yan Qi opened the webpage of Dawn games platform. Indeed, the recommendation rate of these two games was very worrying. One was 44%, the other was 47%!
There was no such thing as ratings on Dawn Games. There would only be very straightforward ‘recommendation’ or ‘no recommendation’. If the recommendation rate did not reach 55%, the game would not be able to pa.s.s the probation period and would be taken off the shelves directly.
On the other hand, if the game had already pa.s.sed the probation period, but for some reason, the recommendation rate would not reach 65%, the game would still be taken off the shelves.
It had only been a few days, but the non-recommending rate had already pa.s.sed 40%. It could be said to be very dangerous!
Yan Qi was a little puzzled.
That shouldn’t be the case.
He knew that these two games might be old games but their operations were basically stable on other platforms and their reputation was not bad.
The first game was a mobile game with paywalls. It might not be comparable to outstanding games but in the domestic mobile game circle, it should not have fallen to a 44% recommendation rate, right?
The second game was a buy-to-play standalone game. It had a good reputation in the gaming circle as a whole. Its recommendation rate had reached 47%. That was even more ridiculous!
Previously, when Yan Qi was signing the contract, he had noticed that Dawn Games had such a rule. If the recommendation rate exceeded 55%, it would be taken off the shelves directly. However, he did not pay much attention to it.
On one hand, it was because he could refund half of the money and not suffer too much loss. On the other hand, there was a special weighted algorithm in the recommendation rate. Yan Qi felt that it was unlikely that he would end up like this.
The specific recommendation rate and non-recommended rate were not calculated according to the number of players’ heads according to the rules of the morning exposure games platform. They were calculated after giving each player weight.
Simply put, the longer a game was on a gaming platform, the more it would cost, and the more players would purchase a certain type of game. They would have higher weightage when recommending or not.
There was a very important indicator in this. It was the experience of a certain type of game. For example, A and B players spent more money on A players, but B players played a large number of action games. B players’ recommendation or not would have a higher weightage when judging action games.
All in all, this was a relatively objective and comprehensive evaluation mechanism. Even if there was a certain deviation, it would not be too big.
However… it seemed like this mechanism was not operating normally at the moment.
The others in the group were also shocked. They all showed great concern.
That was because the game platform’s mechanism would also affect them!
All of the game developers had signed an agreement with Dawn Games After the game was released, there would be a week of ‘trial period’. If the recommendation rate did not exceed 55%, they would all be taken off the shelves!
At first, everyone thought that it would not be difficult. After all, the game’s recommendation rate was lower than 45%. That was equivalent to two points out of five points on other platforms.
There weren’t many games on other platforms that had 2 points as well, right?
Coupled with this weighted algorithm, as long as it was a good quality game with no bugs, wouldn’t it be normal to pa.s.s when it was just released?
However, looking at the situation of these two games, things were obviously not that simple.
“What’s going on? Why is the recommendation rate so high?”
“Is it because this weighted algorithm is not working? After all, Dawn Games platform has just been released not long ago. Therefore, gamers are lacking in information on this platform. This weighted algorithm cannot distinguish gamers very clearly.”
“That’s possible! What’s more, it might be because there are few players and few samples. Thus, there would be a huge deviation in the probability, causing the ratings to be wrong.”
“That’s not right. Players have to buy the game before they can comment. Players who don’t like this game type would not buy it at all. Why would they not recommend it?”
“No matter what, I have to quickly perfect this rule. The bugs in our game are about to be modified. They will be released in two days. What if they are taken off the shelves?”
Everyone was very concerned. They helped to a.n.a.lyze and @ group leaders to think of ways.
Before the group leaders could say anything, the person-in-charge of the first game spoke again.
“The new platform has very few players. It’s true that the weightage algorithm is not accurate, but that’s not the main problem!”
“At first, I was also puzzled as to why the recommendation rate was so high. However, when an employee of ours infiltrated the gamer group, I realized what was going on!”
“So it’s because some gaming guilds are exploiting loopholes. After charging in the game, they want to use this method to obtain half of the refund!”
“That’s because other gamers would benefit from the game if it was taken down. Therefore, there are still many gamers supporting it. The recommendation rate is getting higher and higher!”
The person-in-charge of the standalone game suddenly realized something. “I see! That can explain why our game is a quality standalone game, but the recommendation rate is so high!”
Some people did not understand and asked, “Huh? But what benefits would it be for players to take the game down? Wouldn’t they not be able to play it anymore?”
Someone immediately reminded him. “No, even if the game is taken off the shelves, gamers can still play it. However, there will not be new servers and follow-up maintenance. The problem is that the current games will not have follow-up updates and maintenance!”
The people in the group were all the people in charge of various games companies. They did not know much about such inside information. Thus, they quickly a.n.a.lyzed the truth of the matter.
Obviously, gamers had taken advantage of the refund system!
According to the rules of the Dawn Games platform, if the game’s recommendation rate was too high, it meant that there was a very serious problem with this game. Taking the game down and refunding part of it was a responsible act for players.
However, it was obvious that gamers were not rejecting the recommendation because of the game’s quality. Instead, they were refunding it!
One of the two games was a Krypton Gold Online Game that was nearing the end of its life. On the first day of its launch, some gaming guilds were stationed there.
After researching the mechanism of the platform, these people suddenly realized that it seemed to be more advantageous for them to take the game off the shelves!
According to the platform’s regulations, they could continue playing after the game was taken off the shelves. However, no new players would be added. This game would not be updated in the future.
However, this old game would not have been updated in the first place!
Even if it was updated, it would probably not affect the game itself.
What’s more, mobile games were all operating on small servers. On average, they would open a new server every two or three days. Thus, to these old players, whether new players came or not did not affect their gaming experience. That was because even if new players came, they would go to the new server and not the old server.
Removing the game meant that players who charged the game would get half of the refund.
Don’t belittle this half of the refund. How many games with paywalls would organize such an unlimited and 50% promotional event?
Now, he had enough money to spend in one go. After the game was taken off the shelves, he would get half of the profits. He would not be able to top up the game in the future. However, he could use the money that he had previously spent to maintain the lead on other players and continue to do whatever he wanted.
The gamers of that standalone game obviously had the same goal.
To them, the restrictions were even less. That was because this standalone game was also at the end of its life. It would be very difficult for the developer to recoup their costs by investing in new versions of the game. They might as well develop new projects.
Therefore, removing this game could save half of the money for these players without any negative impact.
Since he could do it by clicking the ‘not recommended’ b.u.t.ton, why not click it?
What’s more, as many people had a.n.a.lyzed, the new platform could not very well determine the true weight of players, and the newly directed players were players who were greedy for immediate benefits. These two points further fueled this phenomenon.
That was why things had developed to this stage.
Soon, the group leader spoke.
“Everyone, calm down. We’ve already noticed this problem.”
“The platform had an emergency discussion and decided to make some modifications to the agreement. After the game is taken off the shelves, they can modify it and apply to be put up again. However, there is a time limit.”
“After being taken off the shelves the first time, they would have to apply a month later; after the second time was taken off the shelves, they would only apply two months later, and so on.”
“The old gamers who had been evaluated previously would not partic.i.p.ate in the game that was released after it was taken off the shelves. The original evaluation would only be used as a record and would not affect the data for the trial period when it was released again.”
“If the game still does not pa.s.s the probation period, then continue to take it off the shelves according to the previous rules. The next application will be extended to two months later.”
“If the game pa.s.ses the probation period, old gamers can use the difference in price to obtain the latest version of the game.”
Yan Qi carefully a.n.a.lyzed this new rule and found that there was a part of a loophole.
At the very least, the game would not be sentenced to death. Instead, it could be made to appeal.
It was equivalent to going from instant death to unlimited revival.
Some games that had too many bugs and incomplete game content could be released after being modified. Those games that had been maliciously removed by players could not be evaluated by previous players the next time they were released. Instead, they would be changed to a new batch of players. That would be fairer.
However, the problem was… this method seemed to treat the symptoms but not the main problem!
Indeed, someone in the group quickly raised objections.
“That won’t do. The most profitable time for a mobile game is one or two months ago. In the end, it would take a month for it to be released after it was maliciously taken off the shelves. Wouldn’t that be a delay? That’s too long!”
“That’s right. What’s more, changing a group of gamers might not be able to solve the problem. What if most of the gamers on the entire platform want to use this method to freeload the game? Wouldn’t most of the games be taken off the shelves? Then, the platform would not be able to open!”
“Don’t blame me for being straightforward. In my opinion, this measure is too foreign. Obviously, someone who doesn’t understand games thought of it.”
“That’s right. This measure won’t work at all. We might as well get rid of it! It’ll be fine as long as we don’t provide recommendation resources for games with low ratings. There’s no need to take them off the shelves! It’s a loss to the platform as well!”
However, the group leader was unmoved. “I’m sorry, rules are rules. This cannot be changed.”
“We already have a countermeasure for the gamers deliberately not recommending and maliciously taking the game down. However, we cannot announce it yet. Don’t worry, everyone. We will definitely give everyone a satisfactory answer soon!”