On March 28, NetEase’s highly anticipated new game “The Condor” officially launched open beta.
Previously during the closed beta and pre-heating publicity stages, this game had shown a high degree of buzz. As of the time of writing, the game has reached the top 1 on the App Store’s free list and the top 21 on the best-selling list, and its popularity continues to rise.
Since the development of the PC gaming era, it can actually be seen that martial arts online games are becoming increasingly difficult to adapt to the gaming habits of current users. Overly long and in-depth development, a social-oriented framework, and relatively homogeneous long-term gameplay all make it difficult for this type of product to be accepted by young users. The instability of traditional MMOs in terms of player ecology and payment also intensifies players’ distrust in this category.
But after participating in two closed beta tests, I found that “The Condor” is determined to have some “subversive” design.
Whether it is the “9.9 Fashion” that has been making a lot of noise recently, the so-called completely seamless big world or the “one world server” structure, they all seem to be deliberately targeting the inherent shortcomings of past products, vowing to give martial arts online games a “bone-forging cleanse” “Marrow”, as the official slogan says——Let martial arts be truly free.
But to be a disruptor, you definitely have to take a lot of risks. Will “The Condor”‘s desperate measures usher in a new era of martial arts games? With the influx of massive players in the open beta, we might as well take another comprehensive look at this game.
Subverting the regional server structure: establishing a single world server for multiplayer immersion
Due to technical and cost considerations, large-scale MMOs in the past would be divided into regional servers to facilitate official operations and adjustments. Players have generally accepted this setting, and they will repeatedly emphasize it when asking friends to join the trap, for fear that they will get the wrong zone and not be able to play together.
However, this will obviously hinder the multiplayer experience of players, not only setting limits for the possibility of unfamiliar social interaction, but also more likely to cause fluctuations in the player ecology. If there are too many people, the server will be under great pressure. The official will take the initiative to “sterilize” it and prevent new players from entering; if there are too few people, it will “ghost the server”, and you can’t find anyone when you form a team to play dungeons. In the end, you will fall into the vicious cycle of constantly rolling servers and constantly ghosting servers. cycle.
For this reason, “The Condor Shooting” must first completely liberate players on a large scale.
In the previous closed beta, the game emphasized the concept of “one server for the world”: no longer dividing by regional servers but allowing all players to live in a complete world. However, the number of players in the previous test was limited, and the effect of the world’s first server was still too obvious, and many users expressed doubts about whether the game’s server could support this idea.
After the public beta started on the 28th, the author immediately rushed to the server to catch up on the process, hoping to catch up with the progress of the previous closed beta as soon as possible. As we all know, the first few days after the server is launched are the most stressful, but based on personal experience, the gameplay process is completely smooth and stable. It can be seen that “The Condor” can indeed support a large number of players at the public beta level in terms of data carrying capacity and other technical aspects.
At the same time, the upgrade of the world’s first server experience is also obvious.
Players do not need to post in the forum to ask which server is more fun. They only need to log in directly. Whether they are close friends or Internet strangers, they will interact and write their own stories in the same arena. In this way, not only the players’ social space has been unprecedentedly expanded, but the social atmosphere in the game can also remain lively for a long time.
The interactions in the game are quite rich
Not to mention, under the framework of the world’s first server, “The Condor” also has a seamless open large map that is far superior to products of the same theme, giving players a vivid stage and enough interactive content to allow players to immerse themselves in the game. Satisfied.
Just like I originally wanted to push the main storyline, improve my realm, and unlock all the gameplay features first, but as soon as I entered this big world full of historical charm, I couldn’t help but be “led astray.” The Menghualu system and the red dust drama branch line, which show the customs and customs in the Song and Jin Dynasties, made me stop and savor it. The big map exploration made me collect treasures along the way. I was addicted to the five-yun heart lamp, Wulu bell and other puzzle-solving games for fear of missing something. award. I won’t focus entirely on clearing tasks like I did when playing MMOs in the past, but rather follow the story to experience the world.
The rivers and lakes described under such a framework make the interaction between players no longer stop at the so-called mechanical concepts such as dungeons and PVP, but the various loves and hates that collide under the main axis of the experience of wandering in the rivers and lakes. At this point, martial arts online games have finally returned to their original intention.
The structural expansion of “The Condor” can be said to have directly laid a new evaluation standard for martial arts online games. After players experience the charm of the new era martial arts framework, it will definitely be difficult to return to the traditional MMO. This is undoubtedly a profound impact on the industry that cannot be ignored.
Subverting commercialization: The path of second-tier games may not be impossible
In addition to upgrading the overall structure, “The Condor” also intends to solve the commercial constraints of traditional MMOs.
From time payment in the past to numerical krypton gold, and now gradually moving closer to skin payment, MMO seems to have been unable to form a unified and effective model in terms of commercial transformation.
Manufacturers generally have to mix and match and fine-tune business strategies based on different project content and player ecology. This not only tests the design capabilities of manufacturers, but also makes players always fearful – for fear that the game will start to “cut” at a certain point. Leek”.
In this regard, “The Condor” can be described as a heavy blow. It recently announced that the direct sales of fashion and accessories in the in-game mall will always be 9.9 yuan, and all fashions will not be subject to paid draws. It claims to bring down the price and make the MMO experience truly free. , which also triggered “passionate interactions” among many peers. The response from players who went crazy on the first day and said they wanted to empty out the mall seems to have verified the success of this strategy.
So, the competitiveness of “The Condor” at the payment level comes from the small profits but quick turnover in the price war?
Far from it.
In addition to optimizing the skin business method, “The Condor” is obviously also using the in-game knight system to explore the possibility of character payment.
The so-called Heroic Attendant system means that the game uses high-standard art to depict many of the original characters in detail, and gives them different combat positions to become players’ teammates. This not only shows the unknown side of classic characters, but also allows lone wolf players to focus on developing their own teams. It is a unique system that is well received by users.
So we can see,A martial arts MMO actually added a character card pool similar to a two-dimensional product, and based on this, launched promotion around the characters.
For example, during the paid test of three-terminal roaming in January this year, the official first exposed a beautiful theme PV, deeply exploring the inner world of Mu Nianci, a persistent, infatuated woman, which aroused widespread resonance among players. At the same time, the mode of displaying the character’s background story, combat positioning, and skill characteristics to attract players’ attention seems to be a common play style in second games nowadays.
Han Xiaoying in the public beta version further reflects the commercialization potential of the Knight Warrior gameplay. Han Xiaoying opened the sales method of character-limited card pool, but players not only did not question this new payment point, but also conducted heated exchanges about the appearance design and combat performance of the characters.
I have to say that “The Condor”‘s attempt to introduce the commercial idea of ”paying for the love of the character” into martial arts online games is indeed very inspiring.It not only allows us to see that there are still untapped commercial aspects of martial arts online games, but also demonstrates what kind of wealth the character library in classic martial arts works is.
The character treasure trove of “The Condor Shooting”
Of course, implementing this idea cannot be supported by the content itself.
“The Condor” can take this “second path”, on the one hand, the production team is willing to work hard to explore the potential charm of the characters in the original work, and can design under-described supporting characters such as Han Xiaoying into a popular knight; on the other hand, On the other hand, the game has built a highly complete knight system and team combat for this purpose. It can only be said that a breakthrough in commercialization will definitely require the concerted efforts of adapting the original IP, constructing gameplay content, and overall operational planning.
At the same time, in my opinion, “The Condor” also provesThese days, martial arts online games can completely rely on “selling content” to gain user support.
Subverting the martial arts experience: martial arts cannot be just a layer of skin
If the world’s first server builds an ecosystem and diversified commercialization ensures user experience, then evaluating a game will ultimately return to one essential question: “Is it fun?” From a gameplay perspective, the subversion of “The Condor” is even more obvious.
Players who have invested in martial arts online games should have the same feeling. Although there were many martial arts-themed games in the past, many of them were just blunt reskinning of the MMO framework-the essence is still a one-stop process of daily tasks. After completing the daily routine, The routine of forcing the liver and forcing the krypton.
In contrast, “The Condor” places great emphasis on “presenting the settings in martial arts novels through gameplay”, and derived a gameplay system from Jin Yong’s original work that is completely different from competing products.
To put it simply, “The Condor” no longer emphasizes the daily tasks of punching in at work, but allows players to gradually collect martial arts secrets, get to know famous knights, and form their own style of behavior and style through the main branch plot and the exploration of the big world. Martial Arts School. In this process, players can clearly feel the renovation of the overall driver of the game.
For example, “The Condor Shooting” boldly overturned the past MMO career stereotypes.
The most surprising thing from personal experience is that “The Condor” largely restores the “internal force + moves” martial arts structure in Jin Yong’s novels, allowing players to freely combine their own routines after collecting various martial arts. Each weapon has nearly 100 light and heavy attack moves, active skills and unique skills, which fully guarantees the fun of collection and growth and the depth of combat experience.
In addition, “The Condor” has also made a very delicate packaging of the martial arts structure common in martial arts MMOs. For example, Quanzhen Sect, Peach Blossom Island, Beggar Clan, and White Camel Mountain have different requirements for entry-level disciples. If the player can accurately grasp the inclination of the recruiter towards the disciple’s style of life, he will get higher bonus points in the entry process.
Each sect not only has its own unique martial arts, but also has its own unique martial arts methods, such as sword dance and whisk in Quanzhen, and flute and dance in Taohua Island. What’s even more interesting is that as the status of a disciple within a sect is upgraded, players can also go to other sects to steal their masters, and eventually become a unique wizard who combines the world’s martial arts knowledge.
As a result, we can get rid of the anxious development feeling of traditional MMO and no longer purely pursue large values. Leveling up is not the only criterion. We need to constantly cultivate ourselves until our realm improves through daily friendships with others and interactions with the big world on the journey of being a great hero and strategizing.
The improvement in realm is so martial arts-like
I believe that for martial arts enthusiasts, such a new product that deeply restores the orthodox martial arts settings will definitely have indescribable appeal. At the same time, the gameplay is more focused on plot immersion and big world exploration, which is also more in line with the mainstream habits of today’s young users. The bold subversion of the gameplay of “The Condor Shooting” has finally injected a vitality into martial arts online games for the first time in a long time.
Conclusion:
As an evergreen theme that has accompanied the growth of the Chinese game market to this day, martial arts has had too many brilliant achievements. But it is undeniable that martial arts games are gradually falling into confusion and shackles, and there is an urgent need to find new forms that can show the charm of the subject matter.
