Chapter 256 - Boss Pei’s Balanced Theory of Relativity (1/2)

September 5th, Sunday…

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Handong University branch…

Qiao Liang looked at Boss Pei with his light smile and was a little hesitant in whether to say something or not. Pei Qian smiled and said, “Speak frankly; it’s alright. I am a designer that loves hearing others’ opinions.”

Qiao Liang’s mouth twitched as he thought quietly internally. En, I do not doubt this at all. After Qiao Liang had spoken frankly the previous time, the game had been speedily updated; around 90% of the changes had been related to what he had said.

However, the only problem was that all the changes were exactly the opposite of what he had suggested!

Qiao Liang wanted Pei Qian to make some less popular weapons stronger; Pei Qian had ended up nerfing the popular ones;

Qiao Liang had wanted Pei Qian to reduce the difficulty level of the game in the early-stage; Pei Qian had elevated the difficulty level of the mid- and late stages of the game.

Boss Pei was right: he indeed was a designer that loved to hear others’ opinions. However, after taking in feedback, that didn’t exactly mean that he would follow and change accordingly…

These three days, Qiao Liang had had a horrible time.

The rebalancing of Repent and be Saved resulted in him having to suffer continuously in the game. As the weapons that he had gotten used to weren’t that effective anymore, he could only try and use other weapons.

Furthermore, as the difficulty level of the later parts of the game had been raised, Qiao Liang had been stuck at certain points of the game for some time. Even some settings where he could easily defeat monsters had become extremely difficult; if he wasn’t careful, he might have died many more times.

All in all, his improved game experience had worsened a lot!

However, after thinking about this deeply, Qiao Liang felt that he couldn’t entirely blame Boss Pei. Qiao Liang might have been too reserved the previous time. He had only said that the chopper and crescent blade were useful; he had not explicitly said that he wished other weapons could be strengthened.

Boss Pei might have misunderstood.

Hence, Qiao Liang decided that he had to speak plainly in front of Boss Pei this time!

“Boss Pei, as a games tester, I should be able to give some feedback, right?” Qiao Liang tested the waters.

Pei Qian smiled, nodded, and said, “Of course.”

“That’s good!” Qiao Liang considered his words carefully, “I felt that the rebalancing of the game had not been down well…” “En? Why do you say so?” Pei Qian asked, “After the previous adjustments, the balance of the game is still off?”

Huh?

Qiao Liang didn’t know what to say at that moment.

From a weapons perspective, the balance had been improved no doubt. Previously, the chopper and crescent blade had been too powerful; the other weapons couldn’t compare. Now, the chopper and crescent blade were equally as trashy as the other weapons; equilibrium had been achieved.

“Err, the balance is indeed better. However… those rather handy weapons have become useless. This…” Qiao Liang was a little tormented. Pei Qian smiled and said, “By nerfing popular weapons, that essentially means that in comparison, the other weapons have been strengthened. You should understand the theory of relativity, right? This is what I am gunning for.” Qiao Liang, “…”

Bloody hell! What theory of relativity!

Pei Qian continued, “At present, Repent and be Saved has tens of weapons; many unpopular weapons have been well-balanced. If I increase the strength of these weapons, I have to do so for tens of weapons at one go. After doing so, some of these weapons might be overkill; that would create a vicious cycle.

“There are actually only two or three popular weapons. As long as I nerf all of these, wouldn’t that mean that in comparison, the tens of weapons have been strengthened?

“Furthermore, this would ensure that the balance of the majority of the weapons is not affected as much as possible; this is the perfect solution.”

Qiao Liang, “??”

This sounded logical… not!

Qiao Liang ached as he replied, “Boss Pei, you can’t achieve a balance like this! You can’t nerf whatever that is good to use. As the saying went, if everything was nerfed and nothing was strengthened, even an incredible game would be abandoned by players. Nerfing cannot be done without a thought!” “Who said I only nerfed the game? Hadn’t I increased the difficulty of the game and the damage done by little monsters?” Pei Qian immediately pointed out where Teacher Qiao had misspoken.

Qiao Liang, “…However, this is increasing the difficulty of the game!”

Pei Qian smiled slightly, ‘Indeed, all these have increased the difficulty of the game.

“Is that a bad thing?”

Qiao Liang was stunned.

Of course, it is!

I have been playing this game daily; I haven’t managed to break through and have been tortured by puny little monsters daily. I have finally found an easier way to play the game, but it turned out that everything had been nerfed in two days. Now, I have to find an alternative way again.

How is this not a bad thing?

Without waiting for Qiao Liang’s further protestations, Pei Qian cut in and said, “Teacher Qiao, think about this. That the game’s difficulty is high; for a professional player like you, is this really a bad thing? “The difficulty of any game is like the ceiling. If you and other players all can smash through the ceiling, no one would be able to tell who did a better job.

“However, if the ceiling was raised, this could be easily distinguished.

“Raising the difficulty of the game has essentially given professional gamers like you a larger platform to display your skills and talent, to do some things that ordinary players couldn’t.

“Is this really something bad?”

Qiao Liang was stumped by this earnest question from Boss Pei.

Eh, even Boss Pei thinks that I am a professional player? How embarrassing is this!

Qiao Liang couldn’t contain his smile. “Aiya, actually, this isn’t anything. I am just a little more hardworking than other players, a little more serious…”

Pei Qian smiled, “Teacher Qiao, you are too humble. A true pro like you naturally deserves a greater challenge. “Reducing the difficulty? That is a form of humiliation for someone like you! Increasing the difficulty of the game allows it to remain challenging; that would be the greatest show of sincerity to hardcore players!”