LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Anti-Harassment protocol
While 8 a.m. wasn't ideal for a server launch during the long holiday where most people tended to sleep in, "OtherWorld" had garnered high levels of interest from both helmet-owning gamers and helmet-less internet trolls due to the prevalence of live streams, mocking videos, and sarcastic essays regarding the game.
That was why, despite the announcement for the server opening being made at 7 a.m. on the same day, "OtherWord" was able to achieve over 90% of registered players coming online when the server opened an hour later.
And then… before even half an hour passed, more than 50 of these over 280 players were disconnected.
So, what would these unfortunate players do during the half-hour "resurrection cooldown" in real time?
Naturally, they went to the official website's message board to engage in fierce wars of words with online trolls.
While it was frustrating for players to learn that they would have to wait a day to download the in-game screenshots they had taken, it didn't dampen their spirits much. They had finally played the game, experiencing being slain by highly intelligent NPCs generated by the game's artificial intelligence.
Thus, even without screenshots, these players confronted both the "willing to pay gamers" as well as the internet trolls that were smearing the game.
With a full 30-minute "resurrection cooldown" on their hands, they had some free time.
After venting their frustrations during the cooldown, they went back online to continue playing as the new batch of "deceased and forcibly kicked offline" players took their places.
However, despite the game's players battling in turns, the official site's message board, which allowed commenting without a login, was still overwhelmed.
The reasons for this were simple. Vanilla Pudding's viral video had attracted excessive attention, and the long National Day holiday meant that there were too many idle people that found it enjoyable to group up and launch attacks without any consequences or risks.
Yang Qiu was about to upload some entertaining clips of players dying on the official site when he noticed the message board was in a more chaotic state than ever before. After mulling for a moment, he posted a notice saying that the message board would be closed in 24 hours.
Then, he spent a small fee to get a college student he found online to create a player forum. The forum had no moderator nor administration, a single section, and required a registration in order to post anything.
Afterward, Yang Qiu couldn't be bothered to manage it. He checked to make sure the seal on the Earth server room was intact before leaving for the magic plane to deal with players wanting to boost their reputation with the Mage Apprentice Instructor despite not even reaching level 1.
Ignoring the reactions caused by Yang Qiu's decision to shut the message board on the official site, the real commotion was stirred by a video titled "50 Dumb Ways for Beta Players to Die," released by the game's development team…
This video had the same background and art style as Vanilla Pudding's previously released game footage. It showcased the deserted Exile Town, where ID-bearing skeletons ran rampant, and human NPCs indistinguishable from actual people in movies. Most importantly, it showed the methods used by these NPCs when killing skeleton players.
The video posted on the official website surpassed 100,000 views within half an hour and continued to gain traction due to its ease of sharing.
Players who had previously obtained login helmets but sold them away before binding a game account to it couldn't help but curse when they saw the video.
At noon on the day of the open beta, the first batch of players logging off normally for lunch visited the official site to find that both the message board, which allowed non-verified comments, and the new official forum, which required a registration, were filled with messages and posts begging to buy helmets…
"Hahahaha, if only you guys saw this coming!"
"Give up already! Once the helmet is bound to a character via the official site, it can't be transferred anymore! Moreover, anyone that's willing to sell now is definitely a scammer!"
"Moderator, please do your job. Why is the entire forum flooded with posts begging to buy helmets?"
"I would like to thank the studio buddy who scammed me three days ago, selling me a helmet at 300 yuan and claiming it would increase in value. Thanks a lot! I've already bound my character and played the game. It's really awesome, no regrets!"
"Hahaha, I also bought a helmet from a studio. They sold it to me for 300 yuan and now are asking if I'm willing to sell it back to them for 500 yuan! Too late, I've already started playing!"
Having been intimidated by the external public opinion and spending the past few days anxious because of the doubt, this group of players now found themselves standing in an unbeatable position. Therefore, it would be strange if they didn't indulge in wild taunting.
Of course, besides deriding "outsiders," the atmosphere among the players themselves wasn't exactly harmonious. Scrolling past the huge influx of buying posts, there were some discussions by players regarding the issue of unfairness within the game.
"SMH, this game is fun, but are the game devs brain-dead? A randomized Potential system that doesn't allow players to reset their characters or reroll initial stats. What were they thinking? Aren't they afraid of the players' backlash?"
"Get lost if you don't want to play. With the realism of this black technology, I reckon that I can even become a special forces soldier in a year."
"I just don't get it. Having fixed Potential values would benefit everyone, but why insist that some people have to eat sh*t? Do they not eat enough sh*t on their own and want others to suffer too?"
"Maybe the game devs have their reasons. After all, the beta just started, and it's too early to draw conclusions. Besides that, I've been gaming for so many years and have never heard of this game developer before. Let's be a little more tolerant of small studios."
While these players that logged off were having their lunch and participating in a debate over whether Potential values were fixed or not, a player with the ID "Ou Huang" suddenly jumped in and drew animosity by saying, "Am I the only one who finds random Potential values interesting? How would we be able to exhibit our uniqueness in OtherWorld if everyone is the same? Of course, my Potential values are maxed out, JK."
As a result, comments such as "Ou Huang must die," "Get lost," and other derogatory remarks appeared beneath his post.
At this point, another player, "Unceasing Entropy,'' posted her thesis: "Compared to discussing whether it's fair to have fixed Potential values, I think we should first consider the principles behind our operations in the game.
"My friend mentioned to me that our actions in the game should be accomplished by brain waves since we are wearing helmets. This idea seemed slightly presumptuous, but after careful consideration, I realized that it made sense.
"Proof being that high-intensity activity in the game seems to make us hungry quicker.
"If we say that we consume 'brain power' during the process of playing the game, then that said process should be concentrating and carrying out a certain sort of labor. And this feedback to our bodies in reality means that sugar and calories are consumed faster.
"Thus, could it be possible that people with stronger brains, mental strength, and ability have higher Potential values?
"Of course, I don't have any more reliable evidence to support this conjecture at the moment, so everything is just speculation. However, I still insist that there is a correlation. After all, among the three closed beta players whose Potential we know, Blossoming Strokes, who has the highest Potential value, is quite a bigshot web novel author with a completed six million-word novel of relatively high quality.
"Her Potential Value is as high as 48, and she should be 49 now. Compared to the player above who claims to have maxed out Potential value after logging in, Blossoming Strokes should be the player we know closest to leveling up.
"By the way, I'm just an average straight-A student from a second-tier college. My initial Potential was 45, and after playing in the morning, it's now at 46."
As soon as this minor thesis was posted, the number of comments exploded.
There were copypastas like "Boss Vanilla with 37 Potential is big-chested and brainless," while someone lamented, "Is there any hope for those starting with 2x Potential?"
Others opposed Unceasing Entropy's idea of focusing on intelligence and called her pretentious for claiming to be an average straight-A student. One user also demanded that the aforementioned "Ou Huang" who boasted about having maxed Potential prove his identity or be considered a liar.
When Qin Guan, the prominent "OtherWorld" player, managed to anger Warrior Instructor Charlie Rex, getting slain and forced offline, he realized that he had been the target of many bullets on the forum…
After reading Unceasing Entropy's mini thesis, Qin Guan was fuming and quickly uploaded a scan of his diploma certificate to prove that he wasn't a bad student.
Then, the player "Ou Huang," who had probably returned from lunch and was about to log back in, replied with a new comment: "I'm not a genius, but I think there's some truth to Unceasing Entropy's speculation. Potential value might really be correlated to mind and spirit."
Attached to the comment was an image of an honorary certificate from a provincial mountaineering association, verifying that the holder had reached the summit of Mount Everest at the age of 18.
For a moment, all the players that were engaging in a war of words on the forums, including Qin Guan, fell silent…
Mountaineering, a field that most people had little knowledge about, was like a blow below the belt for the gaming community, making them feel severely out of their depth.
Yang Qiu, who followed Earth's schedule, also returned to Earth at noon for lunch and naturally came across this discussion thread.
"Haa, quite a few strong people among the players," Yang Qiu couldn't help but smile when he scanned through Unceasing Entropy's thesis.
Among the first 281 players to log into the game, a tenth had Potential values (mental strength) below 30, over 80% had values between 30 and 40, and the remainder had values above 40.
Indeed, the player with the highest potential value was ID "Ou Huang," who had a Potential of 54 upon logging in. He had modestly claimed it to be maxed so as to avoid overly crushing the confidence of other players.
Besides him, the next highest was the exceptionally talented Blossoming Strokes, with a current Potential of 49. There's no denying that someone who could persistently churn out 6,000 words daily for five years straight was truly extraordinary.
Next up was his sister, Yang Ying… with an initial Potential of 47, which had reached 48 by the time she logged off.
This wasn't some underhanded trick. Yang Ying had always been outstanding. Back when she was still a high school student, she had the guts to kick their good-for-nothing father out of the house with only a slipper.
At the age of 18, she had entered the workforce, and as far as Yang Qiu could recall, he had never seen his sister suffer any setback. She was a force to be reckoned with. Her fighting spirit was top-tier, and there was no denying how great her mental fortitude was.
Of course, the fact that these players managed to uncover such "insider information" on their first day of playing was very impressive. However, it doesn't mean that Yang Qiu, as the "game official," would acknowledge their discovery.
He had no intention of responding to any doubts or speculations regarding the value of Potential. After all, the game was just a game.
While enjoying a meal of braised chicken takeaway, Yang Qiu simultaneously posted "Patch 1.03" on the official website:
Added advanced NPC anti-harassment protocol during nighttime. Players attempting to disturb advanced NPCs during non-working hours may be afflicted by defense mechanisms. Added information regarding the working hours of advanced NPCs: Normal interaction with advanced NPCs is available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in-game time. If an advanced NPC leaves his post temporarily during working hours, it is not advisable for players with reputation levels below 'Respected' to forcefully engage with said NPC. Do so at your own risk. During the rest periods of advanced NPCs, it is recommended that players interact with zombie NPCs as they are available at all times and are more friendly toward undead compatriots.
This announcement, which declared working hours that exceeded normal Earth labor regulations, didn't evoke sympathy toward advanced NPCs from players. Instead, it instantly united all who were previously engaged in disputes and debates over fair Potential values.
"That's something I've never seen before! NPCs getting off work to rest! The devs have gone mad pursuing realism to such extremes!"
"No need for that! I want to be able to do quests anytime I'm online!"
"Seriously?! Zombie NPCs available at all times? Zombie NPCs don't even grant reputation points!"
Indeed, players were just that pragmatic…
In any case, Yang Qiu didn't care about all these. After having eaten his fill, the first thing he did upon returning to the magic plane was to add anti-harassment insurance to the tents where the advanced NPCs lived.
Even Charlie Rex, who had a good temperament and a warrior's spirit, had been forced to kill players, let alone those former bandits. Just that alone was a testament to how frustrated the advanced NPCs were from being harassed.
Under the light of the moon, Yang Qiu arrived at the predetermined construction site for the Warrior Guild and saw Rex standing aggressively outside his tent with a large sword in hand, his bloodshot eyes darting all over.
"You alright, Rex?" Yang Qiu waved his hand sympathetically.
"Yang," Rex was exasperated the moment he saw Yang Qiu. "This wasn't the agreement. You never said that these undead would disturb us incessantly, even at night!"
"Uh… That is a mistake on my part. Rest assured, our agreement won't change. I'll restrict the movements of those undead." Yang Qiu took out a net of mangoes and stuffed them into Rex's hands. "Have some fresh fruits, then return to your tent and have a good night's sleep. This time, no one will disturb you."
Due to the fact that road infrastructure was nearly non-existent in this world, most people had never tried fresh exotic fruits. Rex could smell the fragrance of the mangoes and stopped complaining as he took out a small knife and started to peel the yellow fruits.
While Rex was being pacified by the fruits, Yang Qiu took out his dragon bone staff and cast a soundproof enchantment, quagmire curse, bone needle piercing spell, and other anti-harassment means outside of Rex's tent.
Rex nearly dropped his knife. "What are you doing, Yang?"
"It's impossible for those lawless undead to understand respect with just words alone. The most effective means is always to make them know to retreat." Yang Qiu admired the results of his work and added, "From now on, no other creature besides you will be able to approach your tent. You can spend the nights in peace."
Rex eyed the circle of blue runes with a dangerous cold hue around his tent and couldn't help swallowing nervously.
It… just didn't seem necessary to be that ruthless…
"I have to go see Hal, Tuttle, and the others. Sweet dreams, Rex." Yang Qiu didn't delay and waved goodbye.
Rex watched Yang Qiu leave, then held the net of mangoes in his hands as he carefully passed through the ring of traps… Indeed, these protective traps, even more dangerous than the ones used to guard noble cemeteries, didn't spring on him.
And then… Rex wasn't disturbed throughout the night and slept well.
When he woke up at dawn, Rex stretched and crawled out of the tent—
"Ahhh!"
The Weapons Master, who was only wearing a pullover and pajama pants, got a huge fright and scrambled back into the tent.
"Don't go!"
"Let us off, Boss!"
"Charlie Rex, it's us, your undead friends! Please let us out and issue quests to us!"
The outside of the tent turned into a mire, leaving only the heads of trapped players above the soft mud, while a few other skeletons dangled in midair from bone spikes that had emerged from the ground and skewered them. Each of these poor players was pitifully calling out in the direction of the tent.
Tang Jia, Yang Ying, and Zheng Qingyue in beginner gear, along with new waist bags, only just arrived after daybreak in-game and burst out laughing upon seeing the sight of players hanging outside Rex's tent.
"Seriously, there are so many people who go online and mess around without reading the announcements. The official site already posted the patch update, yet there are still so many that come courting death," Tang Jia said smugly.
"It's normal to not read the patch notes when doing quests, just like how many use household appliances without reading the manual," said Zheng Qingyue.