Soon, others spoke up as well.
"F * ck, I didn't notice it before. Now that you mention it, I realized that our game's recommendation rate has reached 47%. This … it's about to be removed!"
"Is our game that bad? We have more than 80% good reviews on other platforms! "
This was the chief planner of another local game company in Jingzhou. Unlike the previous game, this was a standalone casual mobile game with a buyout system.
Logically speaking, the reputation of standalone games should be better, but the problem was even more serious!
Yan Qi clicked on the page of Morning Dew Gaming Platform. Indeed, the recommendation rate of both games was very worrying. One was 44%, and the other was 47%!
Morning Dew Gaming Platform did not have ratings. It only had very straightforward 'recommend' or 'not recommend'. If the recommendation rate reached 55%, the game would not pass the trial period and would be removed.
If the game had passed the trial period but the recommendation rate reached 65% for some reason, the game would still be removed.
It had only been a few days, and the recommendation rate had already exceeded 40%. It could be said to be very dangerous!
Yan Qi was a little puzzled.
That shouldn't be the case, right?
He knew these two games. Although they were old games, they were pretty stable on other platforms and had a decent reputation.
The first game was a mobile game with paywalls. It could not compare to those outstanding masterpieces, but it should not have a recommendation rate of 44% in the domestic mobile game industry, right?
The second game was a standalone game with a buyout system. The overall reputation in the gaming industry was not bad, but the recommendation rate was 47%. That was even more ridiculous!
Previously, Yan Qi had noticed that Morning Dew Gaming Platform had such a rule when he signed the contract. If the recommendation rate exceeded 55%, it would be removed. However, he did not pay much attention to it.
On one hand, it was because he could refund half of the money so that there would not be too much loss. On the other hand, there was a special weighting algorithm in the recommendation rate. Yan Qi felt that it was unlikely that it would fall to that point.
According to the rules of Morning Dew Gaming Platform, the specific recommendation rate and non-recommendation rate were not calculated according to the number of players. Instead, they were calculated after giving each player a weight.
Simply put, the players who had played on the game platform for a long time, spent more money, and bought more games of a certain genre would have a higher weight when it came to recommendation or non-recommendation.
One of the most important indicators was the experience of playing a certain type of game. For example, between Player A and Player B, Player A spent more, but Player B played a lot of action games. Then, when judging the action games, Player B's recommendation or disapproval would take up more weight.
Overall, this was a relatively objective and comprehensive evaluation mechanism. Even if there was a certain deviation, it would not be too big.
But … from the looks of it, this mechanism doesn't seem to be working normally.
The others in the group were also alarmed, and all of them expressed their concern.
This was because the game platform's mechanism would also affect them!
These game developers had all signed an agreement with Morning Dew Gaming Platform. After the game was released, there would be a one-week 'trial period'. If the recommendation rate did not exceed 55%, the game would be taken down!
At first, everyone thought that it would not be too difficult. After all, if the game's recommendation rate was lower than 45%, it was almost equivalent to a rating lower than 2 out of 5 on other platforms.
There weren't many games on other platforms that scored 2 points, right?
Coupled with this weighting algorithm, as long as the quality of the game was acceptable and there were no bugs, wouldn't it be normal to get a passing score when it was first released?
However, looking at the situation of these two games, things were obviously not that simple.
"What's going on? Why is the non-recommendation rate so high? "
"Is it because the weighting algorithm is not working? After all, Morning Dew Gaming Platform has only been released not long ago. Therefore, there is very little information on this platform. This weighting algorithm can't clearly differentiate the players. "
"That's possible! Moreover, it could also be because there are fewer players and fewer samples. That's why there is a huge deviation in the probability, causing the rating to be inaccurate. "
"That can't be right. Players have to buy the game to be able to evaluate it. Players who don't like this type of game won't buy it at all. Why would they not recommend it?"
"No matter what, we have to improve this rule as soon as possible. Our game's bugs are about to be fixed, and it can be released in the next two days. What if it is taken down?"
Everyone was very concerned. They helped analyze while tagging the group owner to think of a solution.
However, before the group owner could express his opinion, the person in charge of the first game spoke again.
"Due to the small number of players on the new platform, the weighting algorithm is indeed inaccurate. That is indeed a problem, but it is not the main problem!
"At first, I was also puzzled as to why the non-recommendation rate was so high. Later, one of our employees lurked in the player group and found out what was going on!
"It turns out that some game guilds are taking advantage of loopholes. After topping up in the game, they want to use this method to get half of the refund!
"As the game is taken down, other players can also benefit from it. Therefore, there are still many players supporting it. Now, the non-recommendation rate is getting higher and higher!"
The person in charge of that standalone game also came to a realization. "I see! That would explain why our game has such a high recommendation rate even though it's a standalone game of decent quality! "
Some people still did not understand and asked, "Ah? But what benefits does taking down the game bring to the players? Won't they not be able to play it? "
Immediately, someone reminded, "No, even if it is taken down, the players can still play it. It's just that there will not be a new server, and there will not be follow-up maintenance. But the problem is that the current few games will not have follow-up updates and maintenance anyway! "
The group was full of people in charge of various game companies. They did not know much about such insider information, so they quickly analyzed the truth of the matter.
Obviously, this refund system was being exploited by the players!
According to the rules of Morning Dew Gaming Platform, if the game's non-recommendation rate was too high, it meant that there was a serious problem with the game. Taking down the game and refunding part of it was considered a responsible behavior for the players.
But now, the players clearly did not not recommend the game because of its poor quality, but because they wanted a refund!
Of these two games, one was a pay-to-win online game that had entered the end of its life. On the first day of the server's opening, some game guilds had entered.
After these people studied the platform's mechanism, they suddenly realized that taking the game off seemed to be more beneficial to them!
According to the platform's rules, after the game was taken down, they could continue playing it, but there would not be new players joining. This game would also not have any version updates in the future.
But for this old game, there would not be any version updates in the first place!
Even if there were updates, most of them would be content that did not affect the fun of the game much.
Moreover, mobile games were operated on a small server model. On average, a new server would be opened every two to three days. Therefore, to these old players, whether new players came or not would not affect their gaming experience. That was because even if new players came, they would go to the new server and not the old server.
Taking down the game meant that the players who topped up could get half of the refund.
This half refund should not be underestimated. How many pay-to-win games would do such an unlimited, indiscriminate 50% promotion?
Now that they had spent enough money in one go, they could get half of the refund after the game was taken down. In the future, the game could not be topped up anymore, but they could use the money they had spent previously to maintain a lead over other players and continue to act like a tyrant.
Obviously, the players of that standalone game had the same goal.
To them, there were even fewer restrictions. That was because the standalone game had also entered the end of its life. It would be difficult for the developers to recover their costs even if they invested resources to develop a new version. They might as well develop a new project.
Therefore, taking down the game could directly save these players half of the money without any negative effects.
Since they could do it by clicking on the 'Don't recommend' button, why not just click on it?
Moreover, as many people analyzed, the new platform could not determine the true weight of the players. Moreover, the players who had just been guided were players who were more greedy for immediate benefits. These two points further contributed to this phenomenon.
That was why things had developed to this state.
Soon, the group moderator spoke.
"Everyone, calm down. We've already noticed this problem.
"The platform had an emergency discussion and decided to make some changes to the agreement. After the game is taken down, you can apply to be put back up again after making changes. However, there's a time limit.
"After the first time being taken down, you have to apply again after a month. After the second time being taken down, you can only apply again after two months, and so on.
"For the game that is put back up again after being taken down, the old players who have already reviewed it will not participate in the review. The original review will only be recorded and will not affect the data during the trial period when it is put back up again.
"If the game still does not pass the trial period, then we will continue to take it down according to the previous rules. The next application will be extended to two months later.
"If the game passes the trial period, then the old players can re-obtain the latest version of the game by making up for the difference in price."
Yan Qi carefully analyzed the new rules and realized that some of the loopholes had been fixed.
At least the game would not be directly sentenced to death and could be appealed again.
It was equivalent to being able to resurrect infinitely instead of having an instant death.
Some games that were taken down due to too many bugs or incomplete game content could be put back up again after making changes. For games that were taken down by malicious players, the previous players would not be able to review it the next time it was put back up again. Instead, a new group of players would be appointed to make it fairer.
However, the problem was … this method seemed to be treating the symptoms and not the root cause!
As expected, someone in the group quickly raised an objection.
"This method won't work. A mobile game's most profitable time is the first one or two months. If it is taken down maliciously, it will take a month before it can be put back up again. Isn't that delaying everything? That's too long! "
"That's right. Besides, changing a group of players might not solve the problem. What if most of the players on the platform want to use this method to get games for free at half price? Wouldn't most of the games be taken down? Then the platform would not be able to continue! "
"Don't blame me for being blunt. In my opinion, this method is too amateurish. It's obvious that someone who doesn't understand games came up with it."
"That's right. This method won't work at all. Just cancel it! It's fine if we don't recommend games with low ratings. There's no need to take them down! It would be a loss for the platform! "
However, the group owner was unmoved. "Sorry, rules are rules. This cannot be changed."
"We already have a solution to the problem of players purposely not recommending games and taking them down with malicious intent. It's just that we can't announce it yet. Don't worry, everyone. We will definitely give everyone a satisfactory answer soon! "
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