Chapter 387 - 245: Sect Master Is the Number One on the Ranking! (2)

"What does this have to do with me?"

Chen Ba was speechless. When he originally set up this safe zone, he never claimed it was absolutely safe.

It’s just that compared to the wild maps, the sect’s residence appears safer, mainly because Law Enforcement Disciples patrol and supervise constantly, and players can’t beat these Law Enforcement Disciples, thus it’s considered safe.

It’s just that his understanding of "safe zone" is completely different from the players’ understanding.

What players want in a safe zone is absolute safety, a place where you can’t attack any player, with game rules forbidding player vs. player combat.

However, Chen Ba didn’t add a rule that "no PK in this area"; his safe zone merely had NPCs for protection.

"It’s just a transition phase."

"Once the players’ cultivation realm improves, reaching the level of the sect elders, these safe zones will become obsolete."

Chen Ba said helplessly, "So many players, and none have read any related Cultivation Immortal novels? Don’t they know to find a safe place for closed-door cultivation?"

Are they stupid?

As a realistic cultivation MMORPG, "Cultivation Fantasy" definitely considered these aspects.

Once players’ cultivation realm improves and they no longer need the sect’s protection, they can leave the sect to find their own cave abode.

The only thing Chen Ba didn’t expect was that someone would attack the sect’s residence early on, making the safe zone no longer safe.

"One hundred Law Enforcement Disciples are still too few, and their cultivation realm is lacking, why are they only at the Golden Core Stage?"

To pacify the restless players, Chen Ba suggested increasing the number of Law Enforcement Disciples to one thousand, with cultivation levels ranging from Golden Core Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, to Divinity Transformation Stage.

"Right!"

Chen Ba seemed to think of something and added, "Players can also apply to become Law Enforcement Disciples and kill players who come to disrupt the sect."

"Uh..."

Yang Dong was quite surprised by this arrangement.

In the "Cultivation Fantasy" game, although players act as disciples of various sects, the upgrade path is fixed.

Servant Disciple, Ordinary Disciple, Core Disciple, True Disciple...

Under this system, even if a player’s cultivation realm breaks through to the Mahayana Stage, they can only remain honestly as a True Disciple, unable to change their identity.

But now, Ba suggests that players can apply to become "Law Enforcement Disciples."

Don’t underestimate this change of identity!

Doesn’t this imply that, if possible, players could even become the sect elders or even the Sect Master?

"Sure!"

Chen Ba nodded and said, "Compared to NPCs whose cultivation remains unchanged for millennia, players’ realm improvement speed will be much faster."

"Therefore, the later it gets, the more NPCs will lose their value, and the sect’s high-level positions will be replaced by players..."

A Mahayana Stage True Disciple?

That’s awkward!

Honestly, once players have cultivated to the Mahayana Stage, it’s really absurd and laughable for them to still be "disciples."

Chen Ba also found it unreasonable, so upholding the "might makes right" philosophy of the Cultivation Realm, he plans to let players access internal sect positions.

The stronger you are, the higher your position!

This strength doesn’t just refer to cultivation realms; it also has a hidden implication that you should surpass your "fellow disciples."

"An alternative leaderboard?"

Yang Dong realized that Ba’s idea was to use these sect positions to create a more abstract leaderboard.

This leaderboard is sect-specific, with the Sect Master at the top, followed by the Vice Sect Master, Core Elders, Ordinary Elders, and so on.

To become a Sect Master means you are the top dog in your profession and sect! After all, if you’re not the top, you can’t be the Sect Master!

Early on, players’ cultivation realms are too low, so these positions are occupied by NPCs, but mid to late game, once players catch up with their cultivation realms, they will naturally replace them.

"Alright, I’ll go make some changes."

Making this kind of content change doesn’t take much time, and as the game lacks a leaderboard function, implementing it this way is quite reasonable.

As for the safe zone...

Following Ba’s advice, just increase the Law Enforcement Disciples’ numbers and elevate their cultivation realms, that should suffice.

Primarily, players should be told that the safe zone isn’t 100% safe, and that sect residences can also be sneak-attacked and breached. If you want safety, go find a reliable cave abode for closed-door cultivation.

Aren’t there arrays?

The existence of arrays is precisely to guard against such scenarios. Otherwise, why learn arrays, just for PK in dungeons?

After resolving the issue of "Cultivation Fantasy" safe zone being breached, causing countless players to AFK and getting killed, Chen Ba inquired about the "Celestial Peace Pavilion" situation.

"The framework is already set up!"

Yang Dong explained, "The feature will be online tomorrow, but there’s a tricky issue right now, that the Celestial Peace Pavilion is very empty, with no items or characters listed for sale."

Even with an official platform, a newly established game trading platform can’t have much trading volume right away.

Only with the passage of time, as players realize and recognize the significance of the "Celestial Peace Pavilion," will trading volume potentially increase.

Of course!

There’s another way, which Yang Dong just thought of, which is to list a rather rare and precious game item or character on the Celestial Peace Pavilion to draw players’ attention.

This way, players will naturally come to watch, and through word of mouth, soon all players will know about the Celestial Peace Pavilion, and its reputation will grow.

"Very cool idea!"

Chen Ba nodded in agreement but then asked, "But where will you get precious and rare game items or characters?"

"Isn’t that simple?"

Yang Dong didn’t think much of it. As game officials, conjuring up such things is a piece of cake, right? Just operate the GM backend and create whatever precious items or rare accounts you want.

"But have you thought about it? Players aren’t stupid. If you fabricate a precious game item or rare account character out of thin air, won’t the studio lose face?"

"How is this different from selling pay-to-win items in the game store? It’s even more egregious!"

Chen Ba was speechless.

Conjuring up tools and account characters using admin privileges just because the platform lacks signature items?

That’s too foolish!

If you do that, the Celestial Peace Pavilion’s reputation won’t have time to build before it’s ruined. Everyone would know the items and accounts traded there were all "fabricated" by officials.

"Then what should we do?"

Reminded by Chen Ba, Yang Dong realized that indeed this method is not good, and they can’t assume players are fools.

But if not this way, what about the lack of draw when the Celestial Peace Pavilion officially launches?

"No worries, sell my account!"

Chen Ba sighed and said, "When the Celestial Peace Pavilion launches, list my ’Star Emperor’ and ’Speeding Frenzy’ game characters starting at a 1 yuan auction."

That way, there’s no shortage of a highlight.

Under the studio, Chen Ba played various games, and he generally had two accounts: a super admin account and a regular account.

Admin accounts are hardly logged into, as those are too boring, akin to playing a cracked version of a game. Initially, it might feel exhilarating, but after the thrill passes, it just ruins the game experience.

Being a game developer, with a thorough understanding of all game aspects, playing games with an admin account is truly pointless.

So he had a secondary account, which he used to experience the real game like an ordinary player...

This secondary account is useless now.

If players are intrigued by the accounts Ba played, well, they can have them, as there’s nothing much in there anyway.

Wait!

It seems that Chen Ba’s "Speeding Frenzy" garage does have a few quite good cars, which were given to him by others.

These cars hold a certain collectible value; perhaps meaningless to Chen Ba, but to ordinary players, acquiring one could be a treasured heirloom.