Interstellar Travel: Becoming a Dress-Up Game Designer

Chapter 115

For example, antiques and rare, out-of-print items with a refined and elegant style.

Now, the original Qingfengyi Bluebird Messenger Box, Carp Jade Pendant, and Bracelet are nowhere to be found. Their prices have been inflated to hundreds of millions, completely exceeding the value these items could possibly command, yet no one is selling them.

In the chat channels and on the acquisition task leaderboard, the acquisition of rare items is consistently at the top, with dozens of pages to scroll through. Each entry has a note indicating that the terms are negotiable.

After the release of "Qingfengyi," the number of rare, discontinued items will increase, and their value will definitely decrease. The earlier you enter the market, the sooner you can make a profit. They're not stupid; they can do the math.

Fixed assets that can appreciate in value and interstellar currency that allows for instant gratification are not cost-effective.

The bigwigs behind StarNet are no longer angry. Barbie Fashion is no match for Qingfengyi in terms of limited editions, luxury, variety of features, and fun.

Especially in terms of luxury and player loyalty, there's no need to compare.

Barbie Fashion is a multi-server game where you can obtain exclusive items every time you visit a new planet. Simply register an account on the game platform of that planet, and you'll be showered with rare items.

However, since the servers cannot interact, obtaining rare items is not very valuable.

This limits the number of users, preventing a service like Qingfengyi from reaching a scale of billions of users.

The value of rare items is largely dependent on the number of players in the server who need them; if no one is buying them, their value doesn't increase much.

Upon careful consideration, the reasoning becomes clear. No player would want their hard-earned items to depreciate; naturally, the more popular the game and the more valuable the items, the better.

There's another aspect of Qingfengyi that even Barbie Fashion can't compete with: its powerful social interaction system.

Player Pavilion, Team Up, Matchmaking Temple, Friends, Chat Channel, Player Gathering, Invitation System, Red Thread Binding, Romance Gameplay...

Teaming up in the martial arts world of China can lead to great success.

Group fights are always where the joy of fighting lies.

In the world of martial arts, team-based gameplay and player guilds function much like sects, where players compete based on combat power, resources, and overall guild strength. If a disagreement arises, players can easily rally their loyal brothers for a group brawl.

How awesome!

In particular, the updated leaderboards for this event include the Pavilion Ranking, Individual Combat Power Ranking, Pavilion Strength Ranking, Financial Power Ranking, and Activity Ranking.

Last night, Lin Shuying made a last-minute update to Huaxia Jianghu, adding more gameplay features. Players can now freely compete for territory in Huaxia Jianghu, and the player who occupies the territory will receive 20% of the profits from its management.

This 20% can be used to buy materials, equipment, and resources for decorating the player's pavilion.

The Player Pavilion is no longer just a gathering place for close friends; it now includes more interactivity, benefits, and quests. A well-resourced Player Pavilion can attract more skilled players, who in turn can help the Player Pavilion conquer better territories.

Lin Shuying did not grant the territory permanent ownership, but instead gave the Pavilion Master a territory token. The token required resources from the Chinese martial arts world to upgrade, such as stones, gold, black iron, and wood.

The higher the level, the larger the territory you can occupy, but you will lose two levels every time you are defeated by another faction.

This setting makes territorial disputes a long-term activity, plunging the martial arts world of China into a bloodbath.

This will not affect the gameplay of players with white names.

This is the solution Lin Shuying came up with last night, making players even more obsessed and addicted to it, attracted by various gameplay options and hooked by various ways to show off. You know, the abundance of comparison platforms in a game is a major source of enjoyment!

Lin Shuying has always been very thoughtful about this. Players can showcase their achievements in the game in various ways, and the leaderboard updated in this event even offers rewards to the top-ranked players.

The purpose of rewards is not to generate revenue or provide benefits to players, but to gain recognition.

It's really appealing that players' efforts, gameplay, and creations in the game are recognized.

With all preparations complete, the Qingfengyi Awards Ceremony officially begins.

The opening scene is a rather exciting bamboo forest fight performance.

In the special effects, a gust of wind blows up the bamboo waves, which roll from the front of your eyes into the distance. The wind grows stronger and stronger, occasionally mixed with the sounds of swords clashing.

The camera zooms in rapidly, revealing Bamboo Fairy Xiaoqing and Ink Bamboo Fairy locked in a fierce battle on the ground, each move ruthless. In a flash, Ink Bamboo Fairy thrusts her sword, but Xiaoqing flings off her shawl, tying it to a bamboo pole before leaping into the air. Reaching the bamboo, she quickly retracts the shawl, grabbing the bamboo with one hand and bracing herself against the ground below with the other.

It forms a bow-like shape with the bamboo, and the bamboo swings back and forth with great force.

Mo Zhu leaped up and kicked a nearby bamboo stalk, using the momentum to accelerate towards Xiao Qing, slicing through the bamboo she was climbing with a single sword stroke. The moment the bamboo broke, Xiao Qing performed a backflip and landed, continuing the fight.

Then, using their light-footed skills, they took to the air and began fighting, using the surrounding bamboo as leverage to bounce around them. Bamboo leaves flew, and bamboo stalks cracked and snapped, creating a spectacular and exhilarating scene.

The audience was utterly bewildered and captivated.

"Is this the art style and special effects cutscenes of Qingfengyi? It's so beautiful!"

"This is so exhilarating! My fighting spirit is pumping!"

"My Mech Grand Marshal, this game is completely developed for belligerent people."

The combat is incredibly exciting; I wish I could actually play it myself. If it were always like this, they could be engrossed in it all day.

This kind of fighting is completely different from mecha fighting. Mecha fighting is also very exciting, but there always feels like there's a layer of separation. Even with bio-mecha, which can connect to the five senses, the feeling is still different.

"Is the content of Qingfengyi's game the same as this scene? If it is, I definitely want to play it and go on a trip to Planet Aimore right away!"

Many players proudly replied below: "It's much more exciting than this! You can find videos of players fighting on StarNet; their fighting is just as good, and it's even recorded live!"

"The official cutscenes are all about looking flashy, but they're not practical in actual combat. A lot of the moves are just added for aesthetics. New players shouldn't try to copy them, or they'll never be able to play as a Ranger."

"Forget about fighting the ranged warriors, even the players can't beat them. Have you all seen the latest update to Huaxia Jianghu? I can't wait to go and grab some territory!"

Group battles are the norm for players; do you still want to roam the world alone?

Unless it's a mecha grand marshal.

"Star Pavilion, get ready! Those with resources, bring them in. We'll max out our territory tokens and take over the town center!"

"Pah! Who's Star Pavilion? I don't know them. Our Tyrant Tiger Pavilion is the strongest in terms of overall strength. We've taken over the town center."

..........

"Lords, please display the territory tokens. We've never seen what they look like."

"Fighting games? I don't like fighting games. Barbie Fashion and Colorful Dress-Up are definitely more suitable for me."

"Haha, you're overthinking it. Qingfengyi is a dress-up game."

"Qingfengyi only supports combat in one instance; it doesn't work in other places. Players who use white names in Huaxia Jianghu will not be added to the combat, so players who don't like combat can rest assured."

Many players provided explanations below, fearing that viewers might mistakenly believe that Qingfengyi is a combat game. It is not actually a combat game, but it has the foundation of a combat game.

The terrible designers are spoiling non-combat players rotten; they can accumulate 20% luck, which is outrageous.

Just as the explanation was finished, the cutscene changed. This time, it featured players opening treasure chests in the Chinese martial arts world to obtain various outfits, displaying their clothes on a dress-up arena, voting for their favorite outfits, and throwing rotten eggs at outfits they didn't like.

On the arena, players stepped up, twirling and striking poses, showcasing their outfits from every angle. Below, a dense crowd of players watched intently, analyzing the players' costumes and styles, and sharing their opinions.

Some social media influencers were able to talk at length about their fashion inspirations, style points, and ideas, while most players mustered up the courage to go on stage, though they were a little nervous.

The people sitting below are the audience members and judges who can actually be seen.

It's as if the barrier that once protected interstellar people from direct, limited, and poor social interaction has been broken. The surroundings have become lively, and like-minded people can be found nearby...

"My mech commander-in-chief, is this Qingfengyi? It's so lively, I definitely won't fit in!"

"Me too, I'm most afraid of talking to people face to face."

Upon seeing these comments, the streamers began to explain to the group: "You don't necessarily have to talk to other people. You can play alone if you want. No one is forcing you. You can't imagine the freedom in Qingfengyi. There are no tasks or requirements here, only freedom. You can play whatever you want."

A lazy streamer was lounging on the large platform where he spawned in the Bamboo Forest instance, with a rocking chair made according to the blueprints for this event beneath him.

"Look everyone, I could sit here all day long, it's so comfortable. I'm not interested in the awards ceremony, I just want to lie here."

When the camera panned around, there were hundreds of people lying in rocking chairs just like him. The entire platform was filled with rocking chairs, some of which were empty.

"The rocking chairs here were placed here by our group of close friends, and anyone can sit on them."

On the other side, a section of open space is left as a spawn area for new players arriving in the instance and for players who do not buy residential areas or build houses.

Not all players build houses here; they just come in to browse and aren't interested in building houses.

The audience was surprised that there were players who simply sat there, and they didn't understand this behavior.

Shouldn't we try our best when playing games?

Some people even went to lie down?

"Isn't this boring?"

"Too much freedom makes me feel aimless, lost, and bored."

The streamer replied: "It won't be boring. The simplest thing is to come in and stroll around. There are decorated streets, official shops, and the Huaxia Jianghu Town. The official shops have the most items; new players can't possibly explore them all in a day. The shops in the decorated streets are all run by players, which is quite interesting. The Huaxia Jianghu map is very large, with many NPCs and a lot of random side quests, which are a bit difficult. I don't recommend new players rush into Huaxia Jianghu right away. Even if you do enter, choose a white name, otherwise you'll die miserably."

A fan of Qingfengyi who didn't get a spot added: "Qingfengyi updated its apprenticeship system this time. If you really don't know how, just find someone to guide you, or go to the service center for help. The service center has everything, very detailed. There's also a beginner's guide; the beginner's guide on the system is so user-friendly!"

He's from the planet Quelion, and he's always wanted a spot, but he can't get one no matter what he tries. He wants to go to Planet Aimor, but he can't get there because his family and job don't support it. So he can only scour the StarNet for videos and watch live streams as a virtual gamer.

Over there, the special effects continued, and after the costume rankings ended, there were more than twenty rankings, including the Battle Ranking, Craftsmanship Ranking, Innovation Ranking, Fun Ranking, Honor Ranking, Rich Ranking, Recharge Ranking, and Hoarding Ranking.

Many players in the live stream actively explained: "If you don't know which direction to take, you can look at these leaderboards, choose a direction and work hard in it, and you will definitely not be confused. The top 100,000 on the leaderboard will all receive prizes."

"Just buying things must cost a lot of money, right? I'm just an ordinary person at the third-rank star level, I don't have any money."

"No money? No money at Qingfengyi? Brother, if you're broke, come to Qingfengyi, you'll be rich in no time, okay?"

Many players who didn't have money when they first heard about playing Qingfengyi quit their jobs to become full-time players of Qingfengyi.

"Popularizing ways to make money with Qingfengyi, the kind that earns Star Coins~ Pictures and videos. The videos provide detailed explanations."

StarCraft players have never played a game that can guarantee a livelihood and make money for a large number of players. In MechWarriors, only top players and some streamers can make a living.

They do jobs like boosting, assisting in matches, and demonstrating livestreaming skills. They often put in a lot of time to earn enough to make a living, and you can't do it without some talent.

But Qingfengyi is completely different!

The image lists hundreds of ways to make money: find resources and sell them to rich players (there are a lot of rich players in Qingfengyi). Farming, raising livestock, building houses, crafting tools, exploring maps, selling treasure chests, becoming a fashion icon, liking posts, voting, becoming a powerful figure's henchman, joining the elite ranks, grinding for rare items and then selling them—the list goes on and on.

A large portion of the players receive a basic salary, which they can earn as long as they are available whenever needed.

Creative and technical skills are too difficult and beyond my capabilities, but farming and animal husbandry are something anyone can do.

You can't say you don't know how to farm in the game, can you?

Many wealthy people keep hundreds of birds, tigers, pandas, red pandas, goldfish, and other pets at home, all of them with big mouths!

Unless you leave them completely hungry, you must feed them.

They can't even buy enough grain and fodder from seven or eight professional farmers a day; they're in high demand.

Farming isn't just about selling grain; you can also sell flowers and potted plants. You can use withdrawal tokens to cash out flowers and collect mutated flowers. However, this isn't as convenient as selling grain, which can be done by listing it on the quest leaderboard. Selling flowers requires setting up a stall in guilds or decorated dungeons, which is more troublesome.

Each list was displayed for about thirty seconds, then the sky turned black, and dazzling fireworks exploded in the sky.

A burst of vibrant colors, like fireworks, exploded for a minute. There were ball-shaped flowers, fan-shaped flowers, snake-shaped flowers, and fountain-shaped flowers, all in a dazzling display of colors.

Players had seen spectacular fireworks before, and while they were excited, their attention was highly focused.

Viewers unfamiliar with Qingfengyi were stunned; what kind of special effects scene was this?

It's so beautiful!

How spectacular!

A brilliant galaxy fills the sky, and fireworks bloom, illuminating the deep night sky in various ways.