B2 Interlude 7 - Power Creep
I hate those two, Hyunwoo thought as he sat with his chin on his fists in the meetings room, staring blankly at the footage from the latest guild war. A battle, of which no part had gone as the developers planned.
All because these two goddamned players had to kill Shaltar early…
Of course, nobody could truly hate the two in question. Hyunwoo couldn’t have been more proud to know his game was statistically better at getting people to socialize than most dating apps. Veyra and Assassin were adorable, and the community agreed. These types of players were what truly elevated a game from a fun experience to a full community worth following.
But goddammit, A and V were single-handedly the most destructive players to the work his team had put in. More destructive than everyone else combined.
“The playerbase is still mostly satisfied,” Ji-soo was saying, “but I admit, on behalf of my team, we have blundered with quest progression and surveillance. Shaltar’s death ruined the climax of the fourth level. This type of mistake can’t be allowed to happen again.”
“The loss of a single boss fight shouldn’t be the end of the world, right?” Song Joon asked, subtly glancing at Hyunwoo, as if hoping to cheer him up. “Even if we did place a lot of hours into this specific fight.”
“It’s not the end of the world at all,” Ji-soo said. “But it’s clear that the event so far has been missing something. Let me show you a post from the forums. The players themselves bring up the issue perfectly.”
She turned to her tablet, and switched the projector to show a forum thread called, “Two months into Caverns Of Creations - Discussion Thread.”
By ToughAsAHilux, 459,752 upvotes: “As a hobbyist player, the expansion has been a blast. Me and the boys are chilling in some spider village right now, and we’ve been trying to follow their quest to the boss for five days now. Usually, if we take more than a day to find a boss, a bigger guild appears and we get wiped out. Caverns Of Creation is actually large enough to actually feel like an MMO and not just a PvP brawl for space. We also found a few low level spirits. Nothing fantastic, but it’s cool that the game mechanic is also available for lower level players.”
“The wider playerbase is generally praising the expansion,” Ji-soo said. “The mid-game areas have received the most praise out of all expansions. The idea of expanding the world underground in all areas was fantastic for lower leveled players.”
Hyunwoo nodded, at least partly satisfied. Mid-game content always had to be good. If the game experience was subpar for 99% of the playerbase, it wouldn’t matter how amazing of an experience the top 1% were having. Expansions always had to prioritize the general playerbase just as much as the top level players. To be praised for mid-game content was something to be proud of indeed.
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The comment wasn’t done, though. The same person continued writing on another paragraph.
“We haven’t been watching the pro scene as much, though. Maybe that’s just because we’re having fun and lacking time, but the top livestreams have been a bit repetitive. I’m not really looking forward to anything except USA Masters and a few tournaments. The castle management element is cool, but the castle itself feels a bit empty. There wasn’t even a boss. Zenith Protocol just walked in and started collecting minerals. They didn’t even loot any spirits from there, which is supposedly the big new mechanic of the expansion.
“It feels like Wind Virtual forgot to add anything in and had to rush the expansion out lol. The guild war had some cool highlights, but it’s looking like Zenith Protocol is way too far ahead of everyone else. They have no competition at all. Literally the three best guilds after them gathered together, and they couldn’t put a dent. I like FireBrand as much as the next guy, but they’re dominating way too hard to the point it’s getting boring to watch, and I don’t see how anyone can match them right now. Nobody will betray the guild from the inside, since the players in the guild are already in the luckiest place in the world. They’re fighting to stay inside.
“So idk, maybe if Dragrath and Solo Mage combine and recruit all of the five other gods, the scene could get interesting, but for now, I’m going to log in rather than opening a livestream.”
Reply By FricktheFword, 442,110 upvotes: “Is it possible that someone already cleared the castle boss before Zenith Protocol got in? Like Dragrath? He’s done that before.”
Reply By ToughAsAHilux, 395,842 upvotes: “Unlikely, but possible I guess. He’s the only player that can match FireBrand, but he’s solo. If he just joined Syntrix or something, that alone would probably make the top level much more competitive.”
Reply By Kindermuna, 458,991 upvotes: “Solo Mage carrying the pro scene right now. The 3v3 will be so stacked this year.”
Reply By ToughAsAHilux, 14,128 upvotes: “Imo, they’re also harming the pro scene. Zenith Protocol could have been contested if those two didn’t ambush Syntrix.”
Reply By BleachDrinker, 359,190 upvotes: “Lmao you’re just a Syntrix fanboy or what?”
“Feedback from the forums is never reliable, I am aware,” Ji-soo said. “But this opinion is very popular. Zenith Protocol is getting too dominant. The fourth level hasn’t been much of a challenge to them, while other guilds struggle.”
Hyunwoo bit his lip. “Power creep has gotten out of hand. I’m not sure if there’s anything to be done. There’s a reason why this will be the final expansion.”
Everyone seemed to agree with nothing to add. Even if they could do something, his team was far too busy working on the continuation of Wind Virtual Games—the next project after the final year of Wonderwind.
Wonderwind was proudly the first, and perhaps still the best deep-dive VRMMO game to make it big. The playerbase was still growing as game pods all around the world became more accessible. Caverns Of Creation had been the best selling expansion to date, and Worlds 2027 was happening in the biggest venue the game had ever seen. Despite every problem, Wonderwind was at its absolute peak right now.
The final year had to go well. The success of Caverns Of Creation, and the success of Worlds 2027, would directly correlate to how many players moved onto the game’s sequel, Wonderwind II.
“Well, the fourth level was a failure,” Hyunwoo said. “Players are entering the fifth ahead of time. Let’s make sure Wonderwind’s final boss doesn’t disappoint like Shaltar did.”