Restart life

Chapter 41 0040 [Still breaking into the mainstream, just wait for the lawyer's letter]

Feng Tao stared at the feedback information and said, "The total downloads have exceeded 3100. Server 1 is completely unplayable, and Server 2 is also under great pressure. Many players from Server 1 are directly transferring to Server 5, probably because they guessed that Server 5 would be the smoothest..."

Yang Yuhui said, "I'm chatting with some internet cafe managers. One of them said that there are four or five players in his internet cafe who have agreed to play our private server together. As they play, they've attracted the people playing the official version next door as well. Now there are seventeen or eighteen people playing 'Abyss Legend' in his internet cafe!"

"How many more people can the third, fourth, and fifth zones accommodate?" Tao Chenggang asked.

Feng Tao said, "In just a few minutes, Zone 5 is almost full. It must be because Zone 1 was too laggy and people switched over. Zones 3 and 4 are relatively smooth, but together they can only accommodate four or five hundred people. Downloads are still increasing!"

Tao Chenggang commanded, "Contact the major private server forums and immediately cut off the download links!"

17173 did not provide an official download link, after all, it is a legitimate portal website and it is impossible for it to openly provide download services for private servers.

Furthermore, by the end of 2003, hyperlinks and attachments were no longer allowed in posting and replying.

The download links for "Legend of the Abyss" were posted on private server forums such as 17577, 7GG, and Ledu. Tao Chenggang paid these forums for advertising.

Just as Yang Yuhui's connection to the forum was disrupted and the download was interrupted, Chen Guiliang was typing furiously to post:

"555555, I'm going to cry! How can there be so many players? My rented Little Tyrant server isn't enough!"

"Wow, you guys are awesome! Brothers and sisters, I'm so sorry, I have to turn off the download today, otherwise the game wouldn't be playable!"

Immediately afterwards, Chen Guiliang switched to a random account and replied in the game update log: "Who was it that just now said that a server with 5000 players is more than enough? And said they were really awesome. Awesome my ass!"

He copied the content and sent it to the head of the online trolls, adding a few more words: "Listen up, everyone downstairs, just copy this reply!"

Soon, the post was flooded with replies, instantly climbing twenty or thirty floors: "With such a large server capacity, it must be more than enough. I'm awesome! Keep your formation downstairs."

Feng Tao shouted, "It's stuck! Zones 2 and 5 are completely stuck, and Zones 3 and 4 are almost full too."

"Didn't the download link get cut off?" Tao Chenggang asked.

Feng Tao said, "When Yangyu contacted various forums to cut off the links, the number of downloads surged by more than 400. They must have been downloading it a while ago, and it just finished downloading. And those internet cafes, one download can install it on dozens of computers, so the number of real players is definitely much higher than the number of downloads!"

Chen Guiliang comforted them, "It's alright. Many netizens are just here for the fun, and some are deliberately playing private servers to get back at Shanda. They'll be leaving in a little while."

In the blink of an eye, all five districts were full.

Xie Yang kept staring at the forum and shouted anxiously, "Many netizens have started cursing!"

Feng Tao said, "They're cursing in the game too."

Chen Guiliang glanced at the forum replies and found that those complaining about the game's lag weren't particularly harsh, and some were even gloating.

The ones really unleashing their furious criticism are those netizens who can't download the game or haven't even entered it yet.

Imagine this: You get home from get off work on Friday, excitedly downloading a game. Your internet speed is terribly slow, and after finally getting it to 99%, the download link suddenly drops…

Will you start cursing?
Chen Guiliang quickly instructed: "In those two trending posts, continue to use different accounts to copy and paste the previous replies. Don't argue with netizens, just flood them with uniform replies! Also, issue a game announcement apologizing, explaining the reasons in detail, and asking them to chat on the forum."

Xie Yang and his online trolls immediately took action.

Before long, Xie Yang was surprised to find that public opinion had changed.

The netizens gradually shifted from initial complaints and insults to mainly teasing and joking, and even copied and pasted the line: "Haha, with such a large server capacity, it must be more than enough. I'm awesome! Keep your formation downstairs."

A few mischievous kids deliberately caused trouble: "Hey, I'm going to break the formation. Come at me, come and hit me through the internet cable!"

Xie Yang was utterly shocked and asked, "Master Chen, did you anticipate this situation, so you posted your boasting in advance? And then you wanted us to quote your boasting content to steer the players' opinions towards sarcasm and ridicule?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else also looked at Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang explained, “Criticizing a game is different from criticizing a person. I posted in advance as the private server operator and deliberately boasted to leave room for criticism. This was to give netizens a target to vent their anger, to shift their focus, and to give them a way to back down. Especially those netizens who downloaded more than 50% but suddenly could not continue downloading, they are extremely angry now.”

Tao Chenggang immediately understood: "The strategy is to guide netizens from criticizing the game itself to criticizing the person operating it. This person had been calling netizens brothers and deliberately boasting like a clown. It's like a good friend messing things up, and messing them up in a particularly ridiculous way. At this point, you can shift from criticizing to teasing and mocking. After teasing and mocking, everyone is still friends!"

“Yes,” Chen Guiliang said, “These netizens, because of the posts from a few days ago, were already biased towards us. Most of them didn’t actually start cursing directly. Their anger was only temporary. As long as we don’t continue to provoke them, we can divert their attention with a little trickery.”

Chen Guiliang added, "In addition, it can also bring them vanity. It makes them feel that: if the game is too laggy and the download is interrupted, it's not that we did anything wrong, but that their power is too great. They will feel that they are really awesome, that they were able to crash a private server."

"Great!"

Xie Yang was full of admiration; he felt he had learned something new.

Yang Yuhui exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap, how did you even get into this brain?"

Feng Tao laughed and said, "My nephew is just as smart as me."

The others in the room also exclaimed how awesome it was.

Tao Xue didn't know anything about private servers and wasn't interested in games.

She had been wandering around the room out of boredom, and now that she heard everyone praising Chen Guiliang, Tao Xue inexplicably felt that Chen Guiliang was particularly amazing.

Chen Guiliang continued replying: "55555, go ahead and scold me. I was so naive and stupid. I thought a server with 5000 people would be enough, but I didn't expect you guys to be so awesome. I've already rented a new server, and we can open a new server tomorrow! How many people are playing tonight? You guys have made the Little Tyrant server lag terribly. Do you guys have to be this amazing?"

Chen Guiliang switched accounts and replied: "I'm awesome, the server is more than enough. Watch the formation."

He then sent a message to the online trolls on QQ: "Hurry up, copy this sentence and keep replying! The previous one was too long. Once netizens are familiar with it, we'll replace it with this shorter one."

Tao Chenggang pondered the varying lengths of the replies, then looked at the composed Chen Guiliang and exclaimed inwardly: This kid is a born leader!

Chen Guiliang continued reading the posts and found that many people were replying, "The Little Tyrant server is hilarious."

He immediately realized that the meme wasn't there yet, and then directed his online trolls to say, "Quickly spam: Little Tyrant server, it's hilarious! Keep up the formation!"

Immediately afterwards, Chen Guiliang went back to his post and had the online trolls use the phrase "so silly and naive" that he had just mentioned as a meme.

At that time, the "pay attention to formation" strategy was not yet popular on the forum.

Guided by online trolls, netizens found it quite amusing.

Suddenly, several major gaming forums became bustling with activity and laughter, as netizens enthusiastically engaged in meme-based banter. Chen Guiliang, posing as a netizen whose download link had been cut off, then guided similar players to completely change their minds and emotions. In other words, the power of the netizens was immense; they were so intimidating that private servers dared not even open links anymore!
Those who couldn't stand the server lag or the inability to download the game started playing a tower-building game.

Looking around, all the replies were "Pay attention to the formation".

It seems that building and posting like this is more fun than playing the game directly.

……

Tianya Forum.

A post appeared: "Private server caused a huge blunder, the Little Tyrant server is making me laugh to death."

"I just got home from get off work and turned on my computer to download 'Legend of the Abyss.' The download speed was atrocious, and after finally getting it to 42%, it suddenly said it couldn't continue. I went to the forum and saw a lot of people complaining that the download link had been cut off."

"When I went to look at the posts again, I was going to curse, but I ended up laughing so hard I almost died. The guy who set up this private server claimed that the server could hold 5000 people, saying it was more than enough, and that he was really awesome. The server is lagging so badly that he's afraid to say anything now, and the posts are all just 'Pay attention to the formation'."

"Oh, and he also said he was so silly and naive, that he rented a Subor server. Subor is such a fitting description..."

"The netizens on the game forum are all incredibly talented; the more I look at them, the more I want to laugh... Here's a link, everyone can go and join the fun."

In this era where people can spend all night in chat rooms without feeling tired, and where they can chat with strangers on QQ for a whole day, even slightly interesting events can easily attract a large number of netizens.

Soon after, comments appeared on the game forum.

"A Tianya user was here. I'm awesome, keep up the formation."

“A netizen from Xici Hutong visited here. I’m awesome, keep up the formation.”

“A Tsinghua University BBS user was here. I’m awesome, mind the formation.”

"A Mop.com user..."

These guys are definitely not recruited by online trolls!
Many of them had never even played online games before; they were just there to check in and join in the fun.

This server lag crisis, under Chen Guiliang's deliberate manipulation, has been turned into a so-called false alarm.

Moreover, it directly created four popular memes: "I'm so awesome", "Pay attention to formation", "So silly and naive", and "Little Tyrant server".

The staff on duty at 17173 noticed a surge in website traffic and immediately called their supervisor to take advantage of the opportunity to amplify the impact.

They didn't care what Shanda thought or whether "Abyss Legend" was going to survive. That very night, they rushed out an article and posted it on the homepage: "Private server causes a blunder, attracting enthusiastic attention from netizens across the country."

After this news article was featured on the homepage, many netizens who don't play on private servers also came to read the post out of curiosity.

The more I looked at it, the more interesting it seemed, so I decided to stay and post it on the forum, making jokes and sharing my thoughts. Many people even waited for the download to be restored so they could go check out what this private server of "Abyss Legends" looked like.

Meanwhile, on various forums and university BBSs, even in posts unrelated to games, phrases like "I'm awesome" and "Pay attention to the formation" began to appear.

Netizens who knew nothing about this were very confused and quickly asked what was going on.

It's still going viral!

It has even spread into reality.

……

Popular Software is conducting relevant research and statistics, and will publish the "2003 China Computer Game Industry Report" on New Year's Day next year.

Data from game developers and sales outlets will not be available until the end of December.

But now they have started interviewing industry professionals and players, including active users of game forums. They have also partnered with 17173 to conduct a survey.

Editor Lao Wei is in charge of interviewing online game users, and the three evenings on weekends are the most convenient time to conduct these interviews.

He hadn't been browsing the website long when he saw those trending posts. He immediately inquired about the background and then quickly browsed the posts and replied.

Old Wei's eyes lit up as he looked at it. He thought he could write an article about it, and he had even come up with the content.

Two legendary gamers, nostalgic for their gaming days and old friends, decided to create their own private server after getting drunk. They posted their idea on a forum, which resonated with many netizens, ultimately leading to a series of hilarious and absurd events, and also creating a bunch of popular terms such as "game refugees," "internet orphans," "Little Tyrant server," "I'm so awesome," "Pay attention to formation," and "So silly and naive."

Of course, the legality of private servers also needs to be discussed, and relevant departments should be urged to improve the law in order to increase the depth of the reporting.

Many readers enjoy these kinds of magazine articles.

Because there are countless people across the country who cannot go online every day.

Some magazines even directly copy forum posts and still manage to keep readers entertained.

……

Chen Guiliang looked at the news on the 17173 homepage, remained silent for a long time, and said, "Brother Gang, let's wait for Shanda's lawyer's letter or phone call."

Tao Chenggang, puffing on a cigarette, was unsure whether to be happy or annoyed: "What do you think the grand event should do?"

"Who knows?" Chen Guiliang said.

Feng Tao suddenly shouted from the side, "The lag isn't so bad in any of the servers anymore. I guess the netizens who were just watching the fun have already left the game. Some people even went to the forum to post after they disconnected."

Yang Yuhui said, "Brother Gang, an editor from Popular Software added me on QQ, saying he wanted to interview us."

Tao Chenggang: "..."

Chen Guiliang: “…”

They were unaware that the private server community had already exploded.

At this very moment, all those in the private server business are paying attention to "Legend of the Abyss".

You can't ignore it, it's such a hot topic, and everyone's not blind.

(End of this chapter)