169: Chapter 169 Core Gameplay - AFK (Away From Keyboard)

Chen Fan smiled slightly: "It's not 'like' it; what I want you to do is to adopt the art style and core gameplay of mu online. The class system, equipment system, wings, Devil Square, and Blood Castle—all these classic elements must be retained. However, the quality must be higher than the original version, the special effects must be more gorgeous, and the visuals must be more refined. When players first enter, they should know immediately that this is mu online, but at second glance, they should feel it's better than mu online."

"Mr. Chen, won't this involve copyright infringement?" Gu Ning frowned slightly.

She had previously worked at a PC game company and had seen too many projects fail due to copyright issues, so she was particularly sensitive about this matter.

"Don't worry, the company has already obtained the license for mu online."

"Then there's no problem." Gu Ning's brow relaxed, and her tone softened as well.

"Mr. Chen, may I ask how much the license cost?" Wang Yun asked with some curiosity.

He had been in the gaming industry for many years and had seen many licensing cases, but most were transactions between major PC game companies, often involving tens of millions.

For a company that had just started up not long ago to secure an IP license of mu online's caliber, he really wanted to know the figure.

"Why, are you interested in this?"

Wang Yun spoke up: "My previous company also wanted to make a spin-off of the mu online IP. My boss was particularly obsessed with this IP, believing that making it into a web game would definitely be profitable. We talked to Webzen for several rounds, and they quoted 15 million plus a 10% revenue share. When our boss heard this number, his face turned green on the spot."

Chen Fan's hand holding the water cup paused. 15 million plus 10% revenue share. Webzen's initial quote to his own company was 12 million plus 10% revenue share, which was 3 million less in licensing fees than the quote given to Gu Ning's previous company.

Could it be that they received preferential treatment because his company created defend the carrot?

However, Chen Fan thought about it and shook his head; he understood the nature of people from South Korea—it would be good enough if they didn't rip you off, so how could they give preferential treatment?

"So, what was your previous company's budget?" Chen Fan set down the water cup.

Wang Yun smiled, feeling a bit embarrassed: "3 million, no revenue share. The boss said that was the maximum he could offer, not a penny more. After Webzen heard the offer, they hung up the phone and never called back."

"Good grief, he slashed more than half of it." Li Qizhao chimed in.

"That's why I'm curious about how much our company actually spent to secure the license?"

"10 million, no revenue share."

The conference room went silent for quite a while. Several people couldn't help but gasp—10 million; many games don't even reach that amount in monthly revenue.

A company that had only been established for a few months, having only made one hit mobile game, dared to spend 10 million on an IP license.

For Chen Fan's boldness, the others were also somewhat impressed.

No wonder he could create a hit game like defend the carrot at less than 20 years old.

"Alright, let's continue with the project. First, let's talk about the game's art style." Chen Fan looked at Gu Ning, "Sister Gu, have you played mu online before?"

"No." Gu Ning shook her head.

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers gently on the table. "You can play it a bit. You don't have to reach a very high level, just experiencing it is enough. The main thing is to feel the original art style—what the equipment looks like, what the wings look like, what the monsters look like. Having a baseline in your mind will ensure we don't go off track when developing it."

"Understood, Mr. Chen." Gu Ning created a new folder on her graphics tablet, renamed it "mu online Reference," and then looked up, waiting for Chen Fan to continue.

"Next is the gameplay aspect."

Chen Fan clicked the mouse, and a dense structure diagram popped up on the large screen.

The core is "Idle Combat," radiating outwards into six major modules: Equipment, Skills, Wings, Dungeons, BOSS, and Events. Each module is further divided into three or four sub-items, and each sub-item is broken down another two or three layers. The whole screen was filled with boxes and lines, looking dense at a glance.

These modules were similar to the gameplay of the original mu online, so Chen Fan didn't go into detail, merely mentioning them briefly before moving on.

What he wanted to focus on today wasn't these, but the core gameplay of later web games—Idle.

He looked at the group and spoke slowly: "The core gameplay we want to make is just two words—Idle."

Currently on the market, almost no games treat Idle as the core gameplay.

It's not that there isn't an Idle feature, but that no one has thought in this direction.

Manufacturers think that games should be played manually; what kind of gaming is Idle? Players are also used to it—fighting monsters must be manual, drinking potions must be manual, picking up equipment must be manual; if you don't play for a day, you can't keep up with the progress.

But Chen Fan knew that in over a decade, Idle would become the basic gameplay of games.

It's not that players have become lazy; it's that players don't have time.

People are working, raising children; who can still sit in front of the computer all night long like back in the day?

What they want is to open the game, collect a wave of Idle rewards, see their combat power increase by a chunk, and then close the game.

The whole process takes no more than ten minutes. Ten minutes is enough to finish the daily tasks on the way to work, during lunch breaks, or before going to bed. The game is no longer a burden; it has become a habit.

Why was archangels sword able to achieve over 100 million in monthly revenue after its launch in 2014?

One reason is the support of the Mu IP, which attracted some old players.

Another is its core gameplay, Idle, which kept many players who didn't have time to play PC games in the game.

Therefore, this core gameplay of Idle must be included.

"Idle?" Wang Yun looked puzzled.

Chen Fan explained: "It means that after players enter the game, with a click of the mouse, the character can automatically fight monsters, automatically drink potions, and automatically pick up equipment. The simpler the operation, the better; it's best to make players feel that this game can be played without using their brain."

Wang Yun couldn't help but ask: "In that case, won't players feel bored?"

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers gently on the table, and gathered his thoughts before speaking.

"If it were a normal PC game, players would definitely feel bored. For a PC game like mu online, manual monster fighting, manual potion drinking, and manual equipment picking—the sense of operation is part of the gaming experience. If you change it to fully automatic, players definitely wouldn't agree, because what they are playing for is that operational process."

He paused and took a sip of his water.

"But we are making a web game. Who are the people playing web games these days? They aren't students, nor are they professional gamers.

They are the old players who used to pull all-nighters at internet cafes grinding mu online, now twenty-seven or twenty-eight, or in their early thirties, working or raising children.

If you ask them to manually fight monsters like they did ten years ago, for four or five hours at a time, they don't have the time or the energy. But they have money, and they are willing to spend it to buy time, buy memories, and buy that pair of big wings they never managed to grind out back then."

Wang Yun nodded thoughtfully.

"Furthermore, we don't just have Idle." Chen Fan set down his cup and clicked the mouse, switching the screen to the next page, "Idle is for the daily routine, allowing players to keep up with the progress even when they don't have time.

But we also retain manual operation; high-difficulty dungeons, World BOSS, and PVP arenas—these places require manual operation.

Players who want to use Idle can use Idle; players who want to play manually can play manually; they don't conflict with each other.

When doing PK, you can't just let the system cast skills for you, right? The sense of operation in the arena must be there; otherwise, big-spending players wouldn't have a place to show off after spending money."