The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 425: A Divided World, and Xu Meng's "Thanks"

The mood of overseas players is full of ups and downs:
When we received the logistics information and found out that the Dream Package had not just been shipped but had already been delivered to the customs, we were all ecstatic.

When a day and a night passed and the logistics information remained unchanged, they began to feel something was wrong.

In the logistics information displayed by the system, the status of the Dream Machine has been stuck at [Arrived at Customs].

I was never able to jump to the next step - [Clearing customs].

At the customs, there was no statement that the package was detained due to violation, nor was there any statement that it could be cleared if it was compliant.

They just stood there in silence, not allowing us to proceed to the next step.

This made them a little confused.

Try calling the logistics company to inquire about the situation.

The logistics company is also confused.

——Customs neither said there was a problem with the Dream Machine nor asked them to provide additional documents or materials.

It looked like everything was normal, except that customs was too busy to process it in time.

But netizens in these countries immediately discovered after checking the news on social networks:
It's not just one or two people stuck there, nor is it just one or two hundred people stuck there.

But everyone!

Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden...

A large number of European countries have found that none of the players in their own country have entered the customs clearance process.

This is obviously not right!

It was obvious that the dream machine was stuck at customs!
And it's just stuck there without any reason given. I can't even submit supporting documents or pay the tax. I'm not given the chance at all.

The feeling of joy quickly turned into annoyance.

While they were calling the customs service hotline to inquire about the situation, they were also reporting the problems to Zhumeng.

But on the customs side, whether I made inquiries by phone or went to the customs office in person to inquire, I could only get meaningless excuses.

Dream building is better, but also limited——

The customer service staff assured the user: "We are aware of the situation and are working hard to coordinate. We will do our best to get the device to you as soon as possible."

But there is no certainty as to how fast “as soon as possible” means.

……

It’s not that we don’t work hard to realize our dreams, it’s just that the dream-making machine is too advanced.

When DreamMaker declared customs, it classified the DreamMaker as [personal electronic entertainment device].

It's sold entirely as a game console.

But unfortunately: many governments of countries do not see it that way.

This is why DreamBuild has received emails from many overseas governments, hoping to provide more reliable technical security certifications.

Xu Meng also gave it.

But the problem is——

What standards should be used to measure the safety of something unprecedented like a dream machine?
The vast majority of countries in the world do not have relevant standards.

Not to mention the standards that can be uniformly recognized by countries around the world.

There is only one systematic standard in the world now, and that is the trial standard that Xiaguo has just formulated by taking an expedited process and handling special matters in a special way.

Xu Meng even participated in the review of this standard.

It is not difficult to imagine what attitude overseas countries will have towards this security certification.

After obtaining this standard, governments of many countries are still using it to analyze how the dream machine was made, what technologies were used, and whether they can be copied and borrowed.

As for safety standards and so on, they still need to be discussed and formulated according to the process.

I don’t know how long it will take before it is officially launched.

As for the customs dream machine...

If I wasn't worried that Xu Meng could track the location of every device, a rash interception might lead to large-scale network retaliation...

I have confiscated it with some random excuse!
——A vindictive [Digital Emperor] is indeed not someone you want to mess with.

However, the dream machines bought by others are not easy to move, but the one I bought is fine!

Ordinary players’ devices are stuck in customs, but those purchased by the government are not!

At this moment, the machine has been disassembled and reverse engineered in the laboratory.

They read the instruction manual carefully: Dream Maker simply said that disassembling the Dream Maker without permission would result in the voidment of warranty.

There were no more severe warnings.

……

……

When they did this, the players felt very uncomfortable.

What’s even more frustrating is that this risk has already been warned in the [Purchase Instructions] on the Dream Machine product page.

However, the [Purchase Instructions] has more than 30 items, and you have to scroll the mouse wheel several times to read them all. Many people simply don’t have the patience.

Even the users who have read it didn’t take it seriously. It’s only now that they are stuck that they start to feel uncomfortable.

Fortunately, not all overseas players are like this.

There were basically no delays in the countries surrounding Xia Country, and all of them completed customs clearance smoothly and were delivered to the players within the next two or three days.

Even India only completed customs clearance after cheating its own players of an extra sum of money.

The most surprising thing is actually the United States——

The United States actually has no defenses against the Dream Machine at all.

Millions of Dream Machines cleared customs at an astonishing speed and were quickly delivered to users in various states of the United States.

Not only are users in the United States buying it at will, the federal government and state governments are also buying it in large quantities!
The President summarized his previous experience of failing to obtain holographic equipment and the lessons learned from the [High Seas Container Theft Case], and finally figured it out -

No matter what, get the stuff first!
Can we crack the technology later? Should we target Dream Building? If so, what method should we use to target it...

We can discuss this later.

Anyway, get the equipment first!

This is a device that can make use of your sleeping time, with the temptation of "double life".

The higher the position and the more powerful one is, the more unstoppable one’s desire for “more life” is!

……

The world is thus divided -

One is a world where the dream machine can run unimpeded, and the other is a world where the dream machine is strictly guarded.

This strong contrast soon caused a fierce conflict in public opinion!
There is a considerable degree of cultural consistency between Europe and the United States.

But now, the United States does not restrict dream machines, and several countries in Europe also do not restrict dream machines.

——EU countries also have different ideas on how to deal with the dream machine.

Italy, in particular, not only did not restrict the entry of dream machines, but also ignored the EU's unified external tariff system and quickly passed a bill to provide special tariff preferential policies for dream machines.

This allows Italian users - not just Italians but also tourists in Italy - to purchase the Dream Machine at a cheaper price than in other European countries.

This completely different treatment has made players from countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, etc. feel strongly unfair and indignant!

It also made many people see the way to make money and start studying smuggling channels.

On the Internet, voices of protest are heard one after another.

……

……

5 month 23 day.

Four days after the dream machine was officially launched, Xu Meng finally took action.

After the number of Dream Machine activations exceeded 3000 million, Dream Machine not only released a celebratory poster, but also released an additional "Dream Machine Global Big Data Map"!
This big data map discloses the sales and activation status of the Dream Machine in countries around the world.

Publicizing “sales big data” is not an uncommon marketing tactic.

When netizens in Xiaguo and neighboring countries saw this big data, they also felt that Dream Building was truly amazing.

Not only did they sell so much in just a few days, but they also attracted millions of new customers in one go!
——In this big data report, Dream Building clearly wrote: There are six million activated users, all of whom have never played the Dream Building game before.

Some are even newly registered accounts.

But for countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, etc. that restrict the entry of dream machines, the meaning of this "sales big data" is completely different!

Netizens in these countries soon discovered a problem -

The UK clearly announced that not a single Dreamliner could enter the country due to security issues.

However, in the past three days, a total of 6 dream machines have been activated!
Even while activating so many dream machines, more than 1800 were dismantled!

Also due to policy compliance issues, a Dream Machine was unable to enter France.

In the past three days, a total of 14 devices have been activated!

And dismantled more than 900 units.

Germany activated 12 units and dismantled more than 3000 units!

3 units activated in Switzerland and more than 200 units dismantled!

More than 5 units were activated in Spain and more than 800 units were dismantled!

……

On this big data map, countries that said the Dream Machine posed a security risk and refused to allow the equipment into the country have all activated tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Dream Machines!
Even more ridiculous is:
Xu Meng also used enlarged and bold fonts in this long thank-you list for "Sales Big Data" to emphasize the gratitude of government employees in these countries:

"We were surprised to find that among the users of Dream Machines in some European countries, government employees accounted for the absolute majority."

“This ratio is even infinitely close to 100%!”

"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the government employees of these countries."

“Thank you very much for your support!”
-
The player didn't use any of them.

Government employees said nothing and began using it on a large scale.

This blatant differential treatment instantly ignited the anger of the people!

The wave of protest spread from online to offline that day!
(End of this chapter)