Chapter 184: No Solution!
Pei Qian was stunned.
The performance of Ocean Fortress was way off from what he had anticipated—something had clearly gone wrong.
Even with an influx of new players, there was no reason for people to go this crazy buying the Fire Qilin. There had to be some key factor driving this!
Pei Qian combed through all the game data carefully and noticed it wasn't just the top-up numbers that had surged—there was also a massive increase in active player count, and the average daily playtime per user had gone up significantly!
In other words, Ocean Fortress had become a lot more grindy.
That was extremely odd.
Logically speaking, this DLC didn't introduce any particularly grind-heavy content. The story mode could be cleared in a few leisurely days, and the PvP mode hadn't changed—it was still the same. There weren't even any time-based login rewards or other tricks to keep players online longer.
Yet somehow, player game time had still increased!
Could it be that players were just in a good mood lately and willing to spend more time gaming?
Impossible.
The numbers behind the game never lie, and Pei Qian had a strong hunch that this spike in revenue was directly tied to these metrics.
So once again, Pei Qian turned to Qiandu (the search engine), hoping to find out the root cause behind this sudden surge in Ocean Fortress activity.
Eventually, Pei Qian stumbled upon a forum post that revealed the truth.
"I've heard of stock trading, selling real estate… but selling game accounts? That's a first for me. Unbelievable!"
"When Ocean Fortress first updated, I was one of the people complaining. I mean, only 500 units of that gorgeous Barrett · Destruction sold? Is the dev team insane? They don't want to make money or what?"
"But looking back now… Tengda's tactics are deep."
"Just yesterday, a friend who never plays FPS games asked me if I was playing Ocean Fortress, said he wanted to add me as a friend to team up in Bio Mode."
"I was confused—this guy's never touched an FPS in his life. What changed?"
"Turns out, he's in it for the money!"
"Barrett · Destructions on the trading platform have been sold at 2,000–3,000 yuan each, and they're still out of stock! Since only 500 are sold per month, most people who get them either keep them or hoard them hoping the price will rise. Rich buyers have to pay a huge markup to get one."
"Scalpers are loving this. They pour money into buying up the supply, knowing that next month there'll still only be 500 available. It's practically a safe investment."
"Then the devs dropped a bombshell: a patch introduced a new reservation system based on account credit rating."
"The higher your credit rating, the higher your chances of reserving a Barrett · Destruction."
"Even normal players have a shot, as long as you're a real player and not some freshly registered scalper account created solely to snag the gun—you'll at least get into the raffle pool."
"What's more, every time your credit rating increases, your chances go up just a tiny bit more."
"Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's the magic of RNG-based gambling systems!"
"Now everyone's breaking their backs trying to boost their credit rating—grinding playtime, clearing story mode, climbing ranked ladders. Some even found out that topping up your account significantly increases your credit rating. That's why so many rich new players are biting the bullet and buying the Fire Qilin!"
"The gun looks great, it's flashy, and it boosts your chances of getting a Barrett · Destruction—what's not to love?"
"Someone in our player group actually landed a Barrett · Destruction and sold it for over 3,000 yuan just a few days ago; another guy with a Tier 3 credit rating account had to quit due to work and sold the account to a rich buyer for 15,000!"
"At this point, Tier 2 and 3 accounts are worth more than the gun itself. With more epic-tier weapons likely coming, these accounts are basically cash cows!"
"I've already convinced three of my dormmates to start playing. As long as they keep playing a few matches each day and we get lucky with one pull next month—we're golden!"
...
After reading through the whole thread, Pei Qian was left in a daze.
Now he finally understood what had gone wrong.
"…I was too naive."
"I thought as long as I set a purchase limit, the game's revenue wouldn't grow any further…"
Pei Qian finally realized—the problem was the limited release of 500 units of the Barrett · Destruction!
Because the gun was so popular, those 500 units per month were instantly driven up to astronomical prices. Players who managed to get one could sell it and earn a quick 1,000–2,000 yuan profit!
And if it was a Tier 3 account with both the Fire Qilin and Barrett · Destruction? That account's value was beyond estimation…
This kind of temptation was irresistible for many players.
What's more, Ocean Fortress was a free-to-play game with rich content. A lot of people had already been on the fence about whether to try it, and this news became the final straw that pushed them in.
Originally, player enthusiasm wouldn't have been this intense, since the limited releases were mostly dominated by scalpers and studio farms. But Pei Qian, unwilling to let scalpers win, introduced a credit rating system—suddenly, ordinary players had a real shot at scoring a Barrett · Destruction!
So player enthusiasm surged to unprecedented heights.
Add in the official platform's heavy promotion, plus shoutouts from influencers like Li Zhengwei and Qiao Liang—
This week's revenue exploded.
And not just this week—the earnings from Ocean Fortress in the next month or two were almost guaranteed to stay sky-high.
On top of that, Chen Lei was still scheduled to sing at the Moyu Internet Café for a few more days…
Pei Qian was forced to confront a very painful truth:
There was no way he could end this cycle with a loss.
He slumped into his chair, completely numb.
Looking back… who was to blame?
Honestly… no one but himself.
It was Pei Qian who sent Chen Lei to Shanghai.
It was Pei Qian who set the Barrett · Destruction's monthly limit to 500.
It was Pei Qian who decided on using credit rating for the purchase lottery.
The only hiccup was that he hadn't clearly explained to Lin Wan what exactly this credit rating system should be based on—what counted, and how it could be increased.
So Lin Wan simply passed the matter on to Lu Mingliang and let him figure it out.
Naturally, Lu Mingliang decided that account spending history should contribute to the rating.
After all, it made sense—if a rich player dropped 888 yuan on a Fire Qilin and that didn't count toward credit, that felt unfair.
And so… here they were.
A huge number of players who originally had no intention of buying the Fire Qilin ended up spending money just to improve their odds of getting a Barrett · Destruction.
Now that they'd paid, their credit rating went up. And with the next Barrett · Destruction release coming soon, their odds had improved.
So, during the final week of the cycle, countless players went on a spending spree for the Fire Qilin, causing Ocean Fortress's revenue to spike.
This was truly a case of "one misstep brings a thousand regrets."
And the worst part? There was no fixing it.
What if he removed the 500-unit limit now? Too late. Players would just go even crazier and buy everything out in seconds.
And besides, breaking that promise now would destroy player trust. They'd roast him and Tengda alive—their reputation would be in shambles.
So now, Ocean Fortress could only march headlong down this dark path.
No solution.
President Pei was in pain.
President Pei wanted to drink away his sorrows.
"…Forget it. I'll go have a few drinks at the Moyu Internet Café."
"After all… there's no way I can lose money now."
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 206: The Intel Released by President Pei[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/137696874?collection=1399284[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/137696874?collection=1399284
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/137696874?collection=1399284
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded