First day of the open beta, 6 p.m., 11 hours (real time) after the game was "officially in operation."
Yang Qiu, squatting in Exile Town's Town Hall, was silently monitoring the currency flow between players and "NPCs."
The concept of gold farming was non-existent by design in this game. The reason was simple: money in this game was actual physical currency, not just data.
The copper coins that players obtained through quests were real coins. Yang Qiu had purchased a ton of copper over the Internet at market price, then got a small manufacturer to custom-make the game currency, ensuring that the copper alloy coins contained no less than 50% copper.
At present, it seemed that copper coins would serve as the primary game currency for a long time. After all, Yang Qiu couldn't afford to make silver coins. A ton of the cheapest silver would cost several million yuan, and Yang Qiu had no way of coming up with that sort of money.
Of course, copper coins weren't bad either. At least, the indigenous NPCs like Hal and Rex were willing to accept these copper coins that hailed from Earth's industries… While they couldn't understand why the undead, who didn't need to eat, drink, or rest, were willing to work so hard for copper coins (nor could they comprehend the so-called reputation value), they could still accept these copper coins as a wage.
In any case, the currency in this world was already a great mess. Privately minted coins of noble origin varied greatly in specifications, quality, and grade. These finely crafted 50% copper alloy coins were more than sufficient to replace the worn-out copper coins circulating in the kingdoms of this world.
In short, to increase players' motivation to do quests and allow the limited currency to circulate infinitely, means of currency sink had to be established to counteract the NPCs' distribution of copper coins via quests.
At present, there were two main currency sinks. The first being an "essential item" that players needed, which was a waist bag sold by the tailor Yarisha.
Well… it was basically a thick canvas belt with four denim zipper pouches hanging from it, which could be used to hold various small items. Yang Qiu had contacted a certain prison online and had them custom-made by the prison, resulting in a high-quality and affordable product.
The price of this waist bag was 8 copper coins each.
Next was the "beginner gear" sold by a zombie NPC.
Each player could only receive a set of "beginner gear" once for completing the welfare quest of "cleaning for 10 minutes." If accidentally lost or damaged, it would cost 12 copper coins to get a replacement from the zombie NPC.
It was hard to say if these two currency sinks were sufficient, but in any case, Yang Qiu had to personally buy and distribute the waist pouches and beginner gears he got from Earth, which was pretty much a loss for him…
And it was precisely this that Yang Qiu kept the quest rewards relatively low. His instructions were for advanced NPCs with farmable reputations to only give out two copper coins per hour of work and one coin for zombie NPCs.
It wasn't that he was being stingy or greedy, but basically the players playing the game were living off… well, wearing his clothes and playing by his rules, so he had no choice but to carefully manage the resources!
There had been several rounds of players heading offline and logging in, and currently, 226 players were online. Judging from the enthusiastic discussions on the forum, in another two hours of Earth time, the player count would reach its daily peak, estimated to be around 300 players being online simultaneously.
Among the 281 players that had already logged in, even the player with the shortest time spent online had maintained an online duration of at least five hours (in-game time), doing quests for at least two hours and earning a minimum of four copper coins.
More hardcore players, who were enthusiastic about doing quests, would have around four to eight copper coins after taking into account the expenses of buying the waist bag.
With Yang Qiu's current reserve of 200,000 copper coins, releasing several thousand coins into circulation was not a problem for him. He wasn't concerned about the availability of currency but was instead considering more complex issues.
While immersed in the imprint matrix, Yang Qiu observed a group of players that were active in the designated construction area of the Wanderer Guild.
This group consisted of six young men, led by a young lad with the ID "Eight At Once," who seemed to be on rather good terms with Vanilla Pudding; the two referred to each other as "Brother Qin" and "Xiao Zhou."
Due to Vanilla Pudding's connection, Yang Qiu took notice of this group right from the start and easily deduced that they were a studio. After completing the quest for beginner gear, these six individuals immediately sought out the Ranger Instructor Tuttle and had stayed there since.
Having played a share of online games before, Yang Qiu knew that physical ranged classes were the preferred choice for gold farming in any MMORPG.
These young fellows from a studio didn't disappoint their title of gold farmers. They didn't mess around or slack off, instead devoting themselves to quests with great dedication. When it turned dark in-game and Tuttle got off work, these six would shift to doing zombie NPC quests. And at daybreak, they would return back to the original tasks.
Even when it came to the "essential" waist bag, these six fellows only bought one. All copper coins they earned were pooled together and held by Eight At Once.
If this were a normal online game, the game developers would certainly loathe for studios to settle in like that on opening day. While it was said that studios made online games convenient for players, every action done by such groups was aimed at shortening the lifespans of games.
For games with fragile economic systems, it would be considered quite an accomplishment if they could hold off gold-farming studios from disrupting the game for at least a year.
Of course, while "OtherWorld" was disguised as a game, it wasn't one. That was why Yang Qiu didn't have any aversion toward studios that were actively gold farming. He even wished for more of these cheap and hardworking laborers.
So, here lies the problem. Studios came for money, seeking to convert the in-game currency into real currency. If the currency that these lads worked so hard to earn held no value and could not be sold, their motivation would be undermined, and they wouldn't actively engage in questing anymore.
Yang Qiu stroked his chin and gazed beyond the industrious studio fellows, at a more profound future.
It wasn't just for studios; being able to earn some extra money from playing would also greatly stimulate the enthusiasm of players that were dedicated to grinding. In fact, if the game's economic system was well-designed and had smooth channels for converting in-game currency into real-world money, it would perhaps please grinders more so than studios.
This conclusion was based on solid evidence. While working on transforming the Taranthan Wasteland into a game field, Yang Qiu had extensively studied online games back on Earth. There was a certain nostalgic WOW server created two months ago where the ones actively gold farming weren't studios but a high number of mage masters.
It's not just the issue of normal circulation of currency. The value of the currency itself has to be considered… Simply put, there's a need to make it more valuable. Yang Qiu narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
After all… not all players were willing to just come online and grind quests and log off when they got tired. That's why advanced NPCs that provided reputation points were more popular than zombie NPCs that didn't.
Ordinary players are willing to do quests assigned by advanced NPCs in order to access the class advancement paths and obtain better weapons and gear. In other words, they do it to become stronger and not for numeric rewards.
Mindlessly doing quests at the beginning stage when players are new to the full-immersive "game" is fine, but as time goes by, players would get sick of it and eventually quit…
Then… No need to wait till players transition to their classes. The value of the game currency has to be raised as soon as possible to increase players' enthusiasm for quests.
The designated construction site of the Wanderer Guild, where three job instructors were stationed, was the liveliest part of Exile Town.
After 22 hours of game time, players had already cleared a considerable amount of rubbish from the 500-square-meter construction site. The previously separated three quest areas were now connected, and players who were undertaking quests from Hal, Tuttle, and the other advanced NPCs could chat with each other from a distance.
"Seems like quite a lot of people are interested in becoming wanderers," said Blossoming Strokes in admiration as she surveyed the busy players moving bricks. "From the look of things, it seems like the Wanderer Guild would be the first to be established."
Give Me Medicine completed his quest, and while putting the coin rewards into his waist bag, he asked Blossoming Strokes who had come over to fetch him, "Has the Mage Apprentice Instructor started working yet?"
Give Me Medicine had no interest in playing a traditional assassin nor a ranged class typically found in most MMORPGs. Instead, he was focusing on building his reputation with the Treasure Expert NPC.
"Who knows? I haven't received any quests from the Mage Apprentice Instructor," Blossoming Strokes was exasperated. "Currently, only that 'Ou Huang' fellow can receive quests from that NPC. But from what I've gathered, that guy seems to be a lone wolf that doesn't like playing with others. No one knows where he's gone off to."
"Don't worry, it's only the first day of the beta, and you're just slightly short of the 50 points of Potential required to reach level 1. Perhaps you might be able to receive quests from the Mage Apprentice Instructor tomorrow," Give Me Medicine reassured her.
"I'm in no hurry. Vanilla's not even anxious, so why should I be? At most, I'll do a few more days of zombie NPC quests to earn some money," chuckled Blossoming Strokes. "Let's go find Vanilla and see if we can do some exploration tonight."
Doing mundane tasks all the time definitely wasn't a style of gameplay that most average players could accept. Even though the game had just started, with everyone on new characters and trapped in Exile Town because the rat in the south couldn't be defeated, players were still very much interested in discovering the secrets of the town and flipping it on its head.
As the two were about to leave the construction site supervised by the Treasure Expert, Give Me Medicine caught sight of something from the corner of his eyes. The human NPC, who acted as though he was greatly offended by players and had a deadpan expression on all the time other than when interacting during quests, had placed a wooden signboard in front of his tent and posted a notice on it.
"Wait!" Give Me Medicine hurriedly gestured at Blossoming Strokes and rushed over to the signboard.
Treasure Expert Finley had the appearance of a middle-aged man. The location he camped out was relatively better hidden, and he wasn't bothered much by players at the start.
But when players interacted with him to activate reputation progress and discovered the unique characteristics of his "Treasure Expert" class advancement path, he couldn't hide anymore... Now, there were more players camped here than at Hal's, second only to Tuttle's.
At least Rex, who was in charge of the warrior class advancement path, had the luxury of sleeping for a bit before being disturbed by players. Finley, on the other hand, had no chance to sleep at all until Yang Qiu came over to implement the "patch"...
Finley didn't have a favorable impression of these filthy undead players. Upon receiving instructions from Yang Qiu via the imprint matrix, he posted the notice and sat at the side, stony-faced, with no intention of explaining anything to the players.
Fortunately, the reward mechanisms for each advanced NPC had been prepared in advance, so Finley didn't need any unnecessary chatter. His job was done as long as he put up the notice.
When Give Me Medicine reached the board, a few other players from nearby were already gathered and discussing the notice.
Give Me Medicine also read the notice and exclaimed, "Whoa, damn! Other than accepting the wanderer class change and receiving apprentice weapons upon reaching level 1, the first five players to obtain the 'friendly' reputation with Finley can also participate in bidding for the 'Orb of Deception'?"
"Limited accessory, 'Orb of Deception,' personally crafted by the Treasure Expert Finley. Only three will be released this time, and the next bidding will only be a month later! It can create visual disguises and project humanoid illusions for undead race players. The starting bid for the auction is 300 copper coins?!"
"Hmm? Isn't this an item from a certain other game?" mused Blossoming Strokes, who was also knowledgeable about other games.
"That's right, it's the Orb of Deception! Damn! They only released three orbs for the first five qualified bidders. The unscrupulous devs are forcing players to spend money!" Give Me Medicine exclaimed agitatedly.
"Well, it's just a cosmetic change of appearance, not necessarily a must-have," Blossoming Strokes casually remarked.
Another player at the side immediately refuted, "It might not matter for other classes, but this accessory is indispensable for those that choose the Treasure Expert class path."
"Yeah, that's right," another player chimed in. "Treasure Experts specialize in finding treasures in human territories. If they can't disguise themselves as humans, won't they be flagged as monsters wherever they go?"
Blossoming Strokes thought about the attitudes toward the undead of Exile Town that those human NPCs serving as job instructors had, then nodded in agreement. "That seems so. This item is really useful if we have to leave the undead spawn area. A godly artifact that isn't just limited in use to Treasure Experts or Wanderers."
The bunch of players exchanged glances, and without saying more, gathered their respective quest items and hurried toward the construction site.
There were only five bidding rights available, so even if they managed to achieve a bidding right but couldn't afford the orb, they could still sell the bidding right to others. Snatching a spot among the first five was definitely beneficial!
Give Me Medicine also realized this and immediately turned to his companion and said solemnly, "I won't be joining you guys for tonight's activity. I have to hurry and grind more reputation."
"Alright," Blossoming Strokes' reply was instant. "You don't have enough coins, so I'll lend you all of mine. Should I speak with Boss Vanilla and get his studio friends to reserve their coins for you too?"
"Yes, yes!" Give Me Medicine nodded vigorously while interacting with Finley to accept a quest. "Tell them I'll take all their copper coins at market rate!"
"Alright, I'll do that right away," replied Blossoming Strokes without any hesitation and immediately turned around and headed toward Rex, the warrior instructor.
As Blossoming Strokes jogged past another advanced NPC, the Knight Instructor, who wasn't particularly popular, she noticed another wooden signboard with a notice next to this human NPC's tent.
When she saw several players grinding away especially diligently in front of the Knight Instructor's work area, Blossoming Strokes immediately headed for the signboard and took a look at the notice.
This time, Blossoming Strokes, who wasn't particularly interested in the Orb of Deception from before, let out a loud "Holy crap!"
There was a "bidding" event here as well with the Knight Instructor. And the item up for bids was an Undead Horse mount!
Once more, only the top five players with the "friendly" reputation with the NPC would obtain bidding rights, but there was only one Undead Horse available!
And the starting bid was an astronomical 1000 copper coins!
Realizing that obtaining enough copper coins in the short term would be difficult, Blossoming Strokes didn't dawdle and quickly ran off to find Qin Guan.
Qin Guan, who was busy grinding reputation with the Warrior Instructor, immediately abandoned his current tasks upon receiving the news and promptly made a round to check on all the advanced NPCs in the town. It was confirmed that at present, only the Treasure Expert and Knight Instructor were having the "bidding" event.
"Just these two are troublesome enough... Orb of Deception aside, that Undead Horse will definitely cause massive chaos!" Qin Guan felt the onset of a headache. "Damn those scheming developers! I thought this game was different and it wouldn't follow the usual pattern of equipment repair, revives, and consumables costing money. But it turns out they have it here!"
Had it been any ordinary players, most would gladly convert the in-game currency they earned into real money.
Qin Guan, too, wasn't against the idea of in-game currency having value. Not only his friend, Studio Boss Xiao Zhou, a sworn brother and good friend who entered the game together, but Qin Guan was also an avid gold farmer himself. However, if the value of in-game currency rose too excessively, it would be difficult for his other comrade, Give Me Medicine, to accumulate enough copper coins to buy the Orb of Deception that he desired.