booktalesy Chapter 185 Unlocking New Guardian Animals
Chapter 185 Unlocking New Guardian Animals
"Even a casual suggestion becomes a need." Lu Ran took out his phone and sent a message to Zhou Mingzhe: "[Add a feature to the farm: Dogs can guard the farm, and they can bite people who steal crops. Those bitten have to pay for treatment. What do you think?]"
Zhou Mingzhe replied instantly: 【...Are you serious?】
[Seriously. Buying dog food, treating dog injuries, and upgrading dog skills.]
Zhou Mingzhe: [...]
Zhou Mingzhe: [I'll add it right away.]
...
The first change after the dog ownership feature was launched was that users' daily routines finally began to return to normal.
The data curve from TUTU's backend best illustrates the problem: the number of online users at 3 a.m. dropped from a peak of over three million to around one and a half million.
Although it is still very high, at least it is no longer a situation where everyone is a night owl.
"Having a dog really works!" the maintenance guy exclaimed. "My mom finally got a full night's sleep last night, and she woke up this morning feeling great. She even made me breakfast."
Lu Ran nodded: "While we need to retain our clients, we can't disrupt everyone's normal routine."
"But..." the maintenance guy hesitated for a moment, "My mom started playing on her phone after making breakfast, and then she found out that someone had fed her dog poisonous bones. The dog went straight to the vet and won't be discharged for another day. She asked me to ask you if this feature could be changed?"
Lu Ran: "...Who fed it?"
She said it was "Old Wang next door".
Lu Ran was speechless for a moment.
"Neighbor Wang" was a default ID assigned by the system that Lu Ran asked Zhou Mingzhe to add, specifically for use in beginner tutorials and tests.
However, since this ID came into existence, it has become the enemy of the entire server.
Because it's the only bot that can steal crops indefinitely, never sleeps, and is always online.
This feature was originally intended for testing user data in order to discover better ways to play.
Now, this guy has started feeding it poisonous bones.
"Um..." Lu Ran carefully chose his words, "Tell Auntie that this 'Neighbor Wang' is computer-controlled, not a real person. If she wants revenge, she can raise an even more powerful animal."
"What kind of animal? Can it bite a computer?"
"For example..." Lu Ran thought for a moment, "...Japanese chicken?"
...
Three days later, Happy Farm received a major update.
The update announcement states: "New guard pet series added—in addition to the common Chinese rural dog, you can now unlock special pets: Japanese chicken, bald eagle, and teddy bear! Each pet has unique guarding skills!"
This update caused an uproar in the comments section:
"Holy crap! What the hell is 'Japanese chicken'?"
"I clicked in to take a look, and the Japanese character's skill is 'bowing in apology'—when being robbed, they keep bowing to make the thief feel guilty and give up the theft... This skill is really realistic!"
"The bald eagle's skill is 'freedom of navigation'—it will patrol everywhere and peck at any suspicious target it finds. However, if a thief feeds it black water, the bald eagle will abandon its patrol for a short time."
"The bear's skill is 'Vodka Defense'—it doubles its fighting power after drinking, but there's a chance it will fall asleep afterward, and once asleep, no one can wake it up..."
So, is the Russian bear strong or weak?
"It depends on its appearance. If you're lucky, it won't be drunk and will bite you cleanly. If you're unlucky, it'll be drunk and your vegetables will be stolen while it's still snoring."
At the same time, users also noticed that all three pets require payment to unlock.
Japanese-style chicken: 6 yuan
Bald Eagle: 12 yuan
Russian bear: 18 yuan
Limited-time offer set (three items together): 30 yuan
"Only this much money? Who do you think you are! Sell them, pack all three together."
"These gatekeeper animals are all very distinctive. This collaboration with 'That Rabbit' is great. I look forward to unlocking more animals."
The comments section was filled with praise, and almost no one complained because it was a paid character.
Compared to other games on the market that require hundreds or thousands of dollars to recharge, TUTU's offer is quite affordable.
Once these pets are unlocked, and importantly, they are permanent, greatly increasing their cost-effectiveness.
The most expensive item, the Russian bear, is even the best-selling.
The girl in the operations team looked at the backend data, her hands trembling: "President Lu... our paid guardian animal has surpassed 500,000 paid users in just one hour since it went live."
Lu Ran was drinking coffee when he heard this and almost choked: "How much?"
"Five hundred thousand!" The girl turned the screen around to show him. "And it's still rising! At this rate, we might surpass two million paying users today!"
Lu Ran had expected to become popular, but she never imagined she would become this popular.
Two million users, even if each person spends an average of ten yuan, that's twenty million yuan.
Twenty million in one hour.
This is much better than the initial indenture; it's much more lucrative.
He recalled the days when he worried about expanding the server capacity, the worried look on Zhou Mingzhe's face when he said the budget was not enough, and his own embarrassing attempt to buy a second-hand server to save money.
Making money... is it really that easy?
"Calm down," Lu Ran said, pretending to be nonchalant. "It's only the first day. There are many users trying it out, but the number will gradually decrease. Besides, what we want is not short-term gains, but long-term user stickiness."
"But..." the operations girl pointed at the screen, "Some people in the comments section have already started posting 'family photos'—they bought all three pets and even added a Chinese rural dog, forming a 'four-pet alliance'."
Lu Ran leaned over and took a look.
On that man's farm, a Japanese chicken was bowing, a bald eagle was patrolling, a bear was snoring while holding a wine bottle, and a Chinese rural dog was squatting at the door, looking at these three oddballs with a helpless expression.
The comments section is already bursting with laughter:
"Hahaha, this combination is amazing!"
"Why is the bear drunk again?"
"The Japanese have been bowing all morning, aren't they tired?"
Bald Eagle: Let me see if there's any more blackwater?
"How can I get a Russian bear to drink less alcohol?"
"Go back upstairs and buy it some vodka. If it's happy after drinking it, it won't make a fuss."
"??? Are you serious?"
"Seriously. I've tried it. Feed it a bottle of vodka, and it can sleep for a whole day and night, ignoring any thieves who might come in. But when it wakes up, its fighting power doubles, and it can bite up all the vegetables your friend stole from you."
"So is it strong or weak???"
Lu Ran chuckled at the sight and turned to Zhou Mingzhe, saying, "Look, the users themselves have come up with new ways to play."
Zhou Mingzhe peeked out from behind the screen and pushed up his glasses: "There's something even more outrageous. Someone posted in the community that they wanted to help Mao Xiong quit drinking and asked if there was a 'rehabilitation center' function."
"...You added it?"
"No, we haven't added it." Zhou Mingzhe pushed up his glasses. "But I'm considering adding a 'vodka factory,' where users can brew their own low-alcohol spirits, feed them to the bears, or sell them to other users."
Lu Ran was taken aback for a moment, then gave a thumbs up: "Brother Zhou, you have a high level of comprehension."
"I learned it from you." Zhou Mingzhe turned back to coding with a blank expression.
...