Text/Nine Lotus Treasure Lamp

Last weekend (October 19-20), a carnival press conference was held for the "New Dragon Babu" terminal game (hereinafter referred to as the "Tianlong" terminal game). This launch event is not simple - if nothing else, it is rare for a game that has been in operation for 17 years to hold a carnival enough.

In fact, the carnival activities held every year by the "Tianlong" terminal game are quite interesting: for example, I once went to Wuhan to stage a light show under the Yellow Crane Tower; Last year, it was co-organized with singer Xu Song's Changsha Music Festival, and the famous "Smoke and Sand in the Half City", as well as "The Rival of Tianlong Babu", "Rain Curtain", "Presumptuous", "Mantuo Villa" and other songs, are actually the theme songs created for the "Tianlong" end game.

This year, they moved the event to Xi'an, inviting Feng Xiaohong, a folk storyteller from northern Shaanxi, to tell the story of the new school of the game "Valley of the Wicked" in the form of storytelling, and also invited the new national trend pioneer musician Wang Chao 1982 to sing the theme song of the sect "Laughing World".

Like this MMO that has been in operation for many years, many people will have a stereotype in their minds, thinking that they are like old people who are about to die, and they only have one breath left to hang. But the "Dragon" PC game doesn't seem to be that kind of product, at the end of last year, the number of their users exceeded 300 million, and there are still many players who are attracted to this game.

And judging by the vibe of the carnival itself, their loyal fans are indeed still enthusiastic about this 17-year-old game. There are many players who have participated in the carnival for several years in a row and are still looking forward to each carnival.

It's weird. Why does the Dragon PC game still have such a big attraction to these players?

In order to find out, we recently contacted Song Lei, the producer of the terminal game "Tianlong". He not only gave us a detailed description of the future operation plan of the product, but also explained the thinking behind their product all along.

And after listening to their thoughts, I also feel that for many long-term old products, if they want to continue to be lively, their choice seems to be an inevitable path.

01

Valuing the value of each player

The first thing we talked about with Song Lei was the "small and medium-sized escort operation" they proposed at the carnival press conference.

Many old-school MMOs, small and medium-sized players face a lot of "problems that can only be solved by charging money" in the game, such as too heavy time burden, worthless game output, inability to raise characters, facing the crushing of upper values, lack of a fair game environment, etc.

Song Lei said that in the past, the terminal game of "Tianlong" also had a series of problems with old-school MMOs. He once saw a "class schedule" made by a player for a nostalgic costume, which was almost full from Monday to Sunday, which gave the team a big touch.

This year, they re-in-depth research and found that the feeling of "tiredness" not only comes from the time burden, but also involves many other problems, such as the long consumption of a single activity, the low output, and the lack of obvious character growth, which are actually strongly related to numerical values and resources.

"So there will be a long-term focus in the next 2-3 years, which we call the "Small and Medium Escort Operation", to focus on alleviating the pain points of these users and improving the game experience."

"Tianlong" end game producer Song Lei

Specifically, this escort operation is divided into four points.

The first is burden reduction. Song Lei said frankly that the team had actually done burden reduction work before, but it was only some shallow optimization and adjustment before.

The next thing they need to do is to "use a bigger knife", including revamping the entire active system, reintegrating and planning game activity time, and merging and streamlining some old copies and systems.

"This makes it easier for people to devote their limited time to high-reward gameplay, and a conservative goal is to reduce the necessary online time for each person by 1-1.5 hours."

Paired with it, the threshold for character development is lowered. In order to speed up the development of small and medium-sized players, the game has adjusted the release of resources.

This not only includes the renovation and upgrading of daily active rewards, but also provides more ways to obtain advanced cultivation resources and dredge the stuck points on the cultivation route; Small and medium-sized trumpets can also achieve multiple benefits and faster numerical catch-up through exclusive gift packs, and there will also be holiday and anniversary benefit upgrades, etc.

There is also the adjustment of the output and transactions of life players. In this direction, in addition to recycling part of the products of the economic system, they also plan to renovate and increase the value of the output of the entire living system.

And the last point is directly changed in terms of gameplay.

"The game's current environment of over-emphasizing combat power evaluation is obviously not friendly enough to small and medium-sized players, and the PVP content in the game is mainly participated by high R, but according to research, small and medium-sized players also have PVP demands, but this demand has not been met at present."

Therefore, they decided to optimize their daily gameplay, such as PVP to add more fun rather than competing for combat power, and PVE will also make layered transformation of some dungeons and boss combat power to adapt to the strength of the character.

Tianlong Carnival offline activities

Song Lei believes that for an MMO to operate for a long time, ecology is always the cornerstone, and ecology is composed of each player. In an ecologically healthy MMO, large, medium, and small R will have their own ecological niches, and interact with game behaviors such as teamwork, daily socialization, PVP, and trading, so as to promote the positive cycle of this ecology.

"In this sense, the active, social and communication value of each player is very important."

In my opinion, communicating games on some social software nowadays is actually part of the social gaming experience.

As the largest group of players, small and medium-sized R players can not only provide popularity in the game, but also influence product public opinion outside the game. If you don't treat this group of players well, the damage to the product may be even more serious than you think.

Since the detailed experience of the game has been mentioned, how does the "Dragon Dragon" terminal game do in these aspects?

02

Enhance the experience in every way

Multiplayer online games, especially MMOs, make up a fairly complex player experience. Not only does this require the game to be fun and interesting, and the development route is smooth and clear, but the details and quality of some operations will also determine whether the player will stay or not. Song Lei also introduced to me their optimization process in this regard.

For example, the purification of the game ecology. After the official confirmed that this is the focus of users, it has continuously upgraded measures in the past few years, and will also try to further strengthen the rectification efforts through face verification, monthly cards, shouting governance, etc.

There is also the issue of popularity. Song Lei pointed out that the new MMO products in the past two years have taken lightweight and exploration experience as the core concepts, but players of traditional MMOs have a very clear appeal - popularity.

The "Dragon" terminal game has launched an operation called "Living Water Project". Focusing on the keyword popularity, they continue to expand the upper limit of the server within the existing architecture, and also provide more matching of the cross-server architecture, that is, to provide users with immigration opportunities for multiple servers. Theoretically, the next "Dragon" terminal game can achieve the free flow of players across the server.

At the same time, in terms of cross-server gameplay, they will expand the number of matches, from the original tens of thousands to support more than 100,000 matches at the same time, so that players can feel a broader battlefield and more intense battles.

It's not easy. Song Lei said that the "Living Water Project" is not very difficult in terms of technical implementation, but it will have an impact on the game ecology, and this degree is very delicate. Considering the different conditions and prices of each service, they are still trying it in the form of regular activities.

On October 25th, the classic side opened the first super popular server "Valley of the Wicked". It is said that the service is full, and the user feedback is also very enthusiastic. On this server, they have achieved a series of technical breakthroughs, allowing the server to carry double the upper limit of the normal new server, which can accommodate more players. Not only will players have less time queuing, but they will also feel more popular and conflicted, and it will be easier for players who focus on lifestyle play to make money.

E-sports events are also a common concern for multiplayer games these days. Since 2011, the Dragon PC game has also been holding a global competition. Next year, they hope to continue to optimize the existing format, add B/P and double-elimination mechanics, open up more battlefield items, and add more strategy and possibilities to the game. In addition, they will also cooperate with non-profit organizations to add offline celebrations and so on.

They are also preparing to add the team phoenix gameplay of about 30 people, the cross-server master tournament serving the method party, the two-player PK that tests tacit understanding, and more cross-server competitive modes to join the event module, so that more players can participate in the e-sports atmosphere.

Finally, there is the self-propagation ecology of players.

Song Lei told me that the "Dragon" terminal game has encouraged UGC for a long time, and they have been carrying out an action called "Shimmer Project". Today, they have a total of about 1,200 signed creators, covering 600W fans and an average monthly exposure of more than 200 million. In addition to the creators who have a certain scale on Douyin Kuaishou Station B, they will also operate positions such as Tieba Microgroup.

This year, they will further upgrade, in addition to adding tens of millions of capital investment, they will also open more tracks, open more platform authorization, and provide professional incubation and training services. The game also plans to invite real players to join the filming in the upcoming 18th anniversary documentary and the first official short series, covering at least 24 cities across the country.

However, unlike many companies that only do shallow content distribution, they will pay more attention to cultivating KOLs from real players to achieve long-term value embodiment and deep binding.

"These KOLs represent the voices of real users at different levels and channels, and can help us find product problems and give feedback and suggestions in a timely manner, which is an important supplement to the user research module, and plays a very important role in the adjustment of R&D strategy and content.

After all, Denon is not just a game for many people, but a part of his youth, a participant and witness of his life, and we are also happy to provide funds, platforms and corresponding promotional resources to give each player the opportunity to realize the value of their own life."

03

17 years of persistence and change

At the end of the interview, Song Lei said that in the current market environment, compared with some young MMOs, traditional MMOs will definitely suffer.

"The early MMO format originated around 2000, and the game was slow-paced, with more emphasis on numerical development and forced socialization. At present, this group of young MMOs pays more attention to personalized experience, and in addition to the traditional numerical development, they have higher requirements for visual performance and operation experience, and the overall pace is faster, and they are more social."

The relatively fixed product form and user habits make the old products face great risks at the intersection of innovation. The old problem of superimposed numerical cultivation and intertwining is very tricky to change.

The research of the terminal game "Tianlong" also shows that although the user base of the game has been relatively fixed, they will inevitably be affected by the Internet environment, among which social platforms, especially short videos, have the greatest impact. Users want to use a higher frequency to obtain emotional value, so they no longer have the patience to spend a long time to clear a game and pass a dungeon, and this cultivation process has become a burden and a loss point for users.

The age change of the player also has a big impact. According to the market data mastered by the terminal game "Tianlong", the main users of the MMO market are already around 30 years old, and the time burden is obvious whether it is work or family.

However, Song Lei also pointed out that if you look at it from another perspective, the old products also have advantages, that is, a stable social ecology and a strong social bond with players.

He believes that the "Tianlong" terminal game has been able to operate for so many years, first of all, based on the martial arts dream of the current player group. Dare to love and hate, be happy and hateful, and draw a sword to help each other when the road is uneven, these keywords flow in the blood of every Chinese person, and its expression in the game is constantly evolving.

They have done some interesting research and found that their users have a higher proportion of likes on topics such as public welfare, positive energy, and great power spirit. This shows that the common spiritual pursuit of users of the terminal game "Dragon" is actually "the dream of a great country and brotherhood", which is also the biggest difference between them and other MMO products in terms of content tonality.

Song Lei said that in the past 17 years, the core of the "Tianlong" terminal game has not changed, and the feelings of users have not changed. They have a 14-year relationship with Xu Song, and there may be no other online game that does this; They will also shoot documentaries for the players in the game, write the stories of the players, and launch the commemorative book "Book of Time" series, so that "you are there or not, there are your legends in the rivers and lakes".

The brand symbol has formed a stable bond with the player, and this atmosphere has a strong appeal to users. According to him, when the nostalgic clothing was launched, about forty percent of the users returned naturally through the social chain.

In addition to cultivating and attaching importance to the bonds that have always been feuding, the "Dragon" terminal game also does its best in the development and operation of ideas, so that the old products can keep up with the changes of the times and users.

In recent years, their user and revenue scale have increased steadily, and the opening of several special servers and the cooperation with the WeGame platform have become important opportunities for users to return; Due to the fact that the volume of terminal games has shrunk significantly, they have also tried new channels such as e-commerce to bring goods, and they have also practiced the in-depth linkage with the "Journey to the West" series of movies this year, and tried to return to the expansion. These have resulted in satisfactory results for the team.

Song Lei admitted that over the years, the "Tianlong" terminal game has also experienced detours and downhill. But soon it will be back on track based on data and user research. At present, the overall goal of the project team is very clear, which is to put the existing users first.

"Although it is difficult to get rid of labels such as "kryptonite", we are always striving for a relative balance between various player groups, which is the key to differentiating all long-term products from today's fast-paced mobile games."

Therefore, it is not an easy job to keep up with the times. The fact that the "New Dragon Babu" terminal game has been able to go all the way to today is the result of their continuous attention to user demands.

"As a game that has been in operation for 17 years, the reason why we have been able to maintain relatively stable product data and good user loyalty in recent years is mainly due to our continuous attention to user demands, and according to these demands, we have adjusted various strategies from R&D to operation."

The constant attention they are talking about is not false at all, and we have reported on it before.

For example, in 2021, they set up a player planning group, so that some players can experience the version content in advance, and communicate directly with the planner through WeChat groups, online meetings, etc.; In 2022, they organized an RV tour called "Next Stop", allowing planners to travel to all parts of the country to communicate face-to-face with players about the problems that need to be improved in the game, and the whole process was broadcast live online. In 2023, the planning of "New Dragon Babu" also invited some players to go to Changyou Mansion to eat and chat......

Not only do they maintain this level of communication for a long time, but they are also willing to make drastic changes. For example. Players have a lot of suggestions for the design of the sect in the game, and after understanding it, "New Dragon Babu" has really made a lot of modifications to the "cornerstone" of the game, the sect skills, and has been continuously optimized.

"At present, there are two obvious directions for MMOs in the future: one is to get rid of the historical burden, return to the classics, and launch a variety of nostalgic clothes, reduced load versions, and season versions; The second is to do category integration, such as weakening the "open world + X" of social networking to compete for white paper users. At present, the competition in the entire stock market is actually to grab the changing users, so in general, it is necessary to follow the changes and adjustments of our target users."

From this point of view, the terminal game "New Dragon Babu", which has been in operation for 17 years, still has a keen sense of smell. Whether it's escorting small and medium-sized players, optimizing the gaming environment, or encouraging players to spread content outside of the game, it's all adapted to the current trend.

But it's not necessarily right to just follow trends. Song Lei pointed out that judging from the current situation of the domestic MMO market, the composition of the user group is relatively fixed, and the most loyal core group is still the post-80s and 90s. Young users in the market are not very interested in MMOs, most of them are native players in the mobile game era, and they have grown up with MOBA, chicken, cards and other product types, and they do not need to go to MMOs to seek a deep social experience, which also brings the view that "MMOs are no longer popular".

For the "Tianlong" terminal game, since it is more difficult for new users to please, it is more important to have their old users and basic disks. Therefore, although they need to keep up with the times, they cannot abandon their roots.

In this way, there are indeed many problems for an MMO to always keep up with the times. However, the evergreen end game of "Tianlong" seems to show that this category has not completely lost its living space.

At present, there are more and more long-term products in China, and in addition to MMO, other categories are also likely to encounter such a dilemma. The final winner may lie in who can more accurately capture the changes and demands of users, and have the stamina and courage to keep the product changing with the times.

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