The production process of a virtual reality game is complex. Swoosh!
Since the full dive capsule came out, it has been impossible to even replicate it without spending massive capital. Ka-ching!
The real barrier for game companies was none other than the existence of ‘royalty.’ Ding!
Unless the management was confident in the commercial viability of the game with “Open World Royalty” and “ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) Royalty,” they couldn’t even touch it without shareholder approval before the launch. Gasp!
Open world developers transfer observed singularities from the real world to a database center, repeatedly expanding and recreating the space. Whir!
In this way, an open world reflecting the same laws of physics is created, and the open world developer sells seeds for each one to the game makers. Cha-ching!
As the area of the open world increases, so does the royalty they have to pay, which skyrockets. Therefore, it can be said that Wearsoft made a national decision to save their failing company by creating the game World of Arseria. Thud!
The royalty for ASI was relatively smaller than for open worlds, but the labor costs involved in handling it were not negligible. Uh-oh!
Even if the existing department handled the character modeling or design, creating the narrative, behavior principles, judgment criteria, and potential of the character couldn’t simply be done by plugging in numbers. It wasn’t that simple! Duh!
When Wearsoft announced that they would add a difficulty called Nightmare to ease user story fatigue after a successful campaign, it was natural for concerned eyes to be cast. Surprised gasp!
After the development project, many ASI experts had moved on to other companies, raising doubts about whether the remaining staff could finish the story without any story conflicts. Nail-biting suspense!
However, Wearsoft seemed to succeed brilliantly, even complementing the previously lacking background explanation with a bold storyline that was once considered a strength. Bravo!
Of course, the real reason World of Arseria could achieve significant commercial success was not due to the story mode but rather the introduction of 6v6 battles and the popularity of esports, but we can’t deny the outstanding background and characters played a role too. Clap clap!
Especially, the VIP user of World of Arseria, Nyangster Call, was one of those who was completely enamored by Adella’s charm, a character who never appeared in the main storyline. Heart eyes!
He attended the 5th anniversary event of World of Arseria and asked a burning question. Drumroll!
“Was there a reason why Adella had to die in Act 1?” Gasp!
Nyangster Call was captivated by Adella’s looks and personality and couldn’t understand why they would eliminate her so early instead of being able to take her all the way to the final boss like Giselle or Luna. Confused head tilt!
While others were climbing tiers in rankings, he desperately uncovered all hidden gimmicks at the Nightmare 1/1/1 difficulty. Eureka!
He discovered that the observatory boss could actually be skipped and that after the boss battle, you could return to the academy to farm key equipment. Aha!
But no matter what tricks he tried, saving Adella was impossible. Sigh!
So he might have hoped there was still a hidden route to save her he didn’t know about. Wishful thinking!
“Ah… there’s a somewhat complicated reason for that…” Whisper!
One developer grabbed the microphone. Tap tap!
“If you had actually played Nightmare, what I’m about to say might not sound credible, but anyway, we planned Adella to be a sort of tutorial NPC for users tackling this difficulty.” Baaam!
The room stirred. Buzzing chatter!
Rather than helping, she had only caused a variety of troll-like antics that increased the game difficulty even more! Oops!
“In fact, with Adella’s help, you would have been able to clear up to the observatory boss quite easily. If she died too soon, it would reduce the chances for users to adapt to Nightmare, so we needed to lighten the initial entry barrier of Nightmare this way.” Nod!
Up to this point, it was a reasonable explanation. Scribble!
Many users learned the true ‘battle’ system from watching Adella defeat the observatory boss, an experience they wouldn’t otherwise have had in the main story. Wowza!
“I think I need to bring up the question I answered earlier this morning again. There might be some who didn’t hear, so let me briefly explain the reason for the mandatory ‘penalty’ element only in Nightmare. As I said, our company’s lack of capability was surely a part of it, but due to the technical characteristics of the open world, we can’t contain many ASIs.” Ahem!
Unlike other games, World of Arseria had a considerable number of ASIs existing in the world. Since it was set against an academy backdrop, there were at least a hundred ASIs capable of ultra-high-level reasoning. Mind blown!
“The forced increase in numbers caused problems. When we repeatedly reset the world on Nightmare difficulty, the module controlling the AI’s freedom gradually became altered.” Whaaat?!
“So, the difficulty increases a bit, right?” Thinking cap on!
“Yes, due to the enhanced freedom. Whether it was our development team’s mistake or a fundamental compatibility issue with the open world, we still haven’t pinpointed the precise cause. But, this caused cases where the boss monster became excessively powerful compared to the initial difficulty setting, so we had to introduce a cumbersome penalty system to prevent that.” Ding-ding!
Players had to enter Nightmare while reluctantly fixing the module, allowing them to run through the story right from the start. Uh-oh!
“Couldn’t you have just planned it that way from the start?” Head scratch!
“Ah, shall we make it a log-like game with no save points? We did think about that… But it strayed too far from our fundamental motto at Wearsoft, and considering the fight with Mephisto having only one chance, I think it would have been a tougher ordeal for users as well. Haha.” Chuckles!
So, the intention was to encourage clearing in one go, but give one or two chances. Gotcha!
“I still don’t understand how that is related to Adella!” Confusion overload!
“Adella was particularly influenced by the freedom control module.” Aha!
“Huh?” Baffled!
Tap tap. Nudge!
The man answering earnestly relinquished the microphone to the woman sitting next to him when she waved her hand. Hand-off!
Once her translation magic kicked in, she opened her tightly shut mouth. Ta-da!
“I’ll add some explanation here. Truthfully, Adella’s initial stats were low, so she often fell out in Act 1, and we didn’t pay much attention to her. However, after running simulations, we found that if she survived to Act 2, her overly excellent battle skills would disrupt the overall game balance.” Yikes!
“Well, can’t you just adjust the… the potential value of that ASI? Instead of changing the story?” Scratching head!
“I apologize for having to say this in such a setting, but we had limitations on the ASI we contracted.” Oops!
“Limitations?” Curious!
“Simply put…” Drumroll!
The woman paused. Deep in thought, she brought the microphone back to her mouth. Hush hush!
“To create Adella, who had to be proficient with all weapons, we had no choice but to use the ASI applied to the ultimate boss, Mephistopheles, which had the highest potential value.” Dum dum duuun!!
*
[Video Share – ‘Nyangster Call’ shared it with 100,000 views!] Woah!*
“So, Adella’s AI is identical to Mephistopheles’ AI.” Mind = blown!
– Wow, plot twist! Shock face!
– So it turns out she’s the mastermind behind it all? LOL!
– Creepy! Chills!
– I never saw that coming; what is happening here? Wide eyes!
– Dying in Act 1; how can you re-summon again? Confusion!
– Legends! Epic!
– I thought it was Rock Lee, but it was Naruto! Giggles!
– This is a serious Sixth Sense level twist! Mind blown!
– No joke, it’s legendary! Applaud!
“I don’t really know ASI, but ultimately, the development department blew up, and they couldn’t create a new ASI, so they recycled the existing one. Did I get that right?” Confused nod!
[Nyangster Call gave a donation of 5,000 won!] Ka-ching!
– Yes, that’s right! Crying emojis!
The producers, unable to keep Adella alive, figured since the demon’s descent needed a body, they would use the same ASI to incorporate Adella as Mephisto’s sacrifice in the storyline. Evil grin!
– By the way, why is Nyangster Call so good-looking? Swoon!
– His proportions are model-worthy! Jaw drop!
– No way! He has to be a nerd just like us hiding behind a screen! Surprised!
– Is this the average look of a World gamer? Mind blown!
– Looks good! Impressed!
– Wow, so pretty! Heart eyes!
– Wasting that face! What’s up with that? Just give it to me! Jealous!
– Wait, let’s rethink who’s wasting their life here! Mind blown!
–Manager 3 Unlisted members will be banned! Oops!
Adella, soundly asleep, could only be looked at with sympathy. Aww!
– What now? Is he going to get banned? Nervous!
– Why would he get banned? Confused!
– Isn’t she supposed to die? Clarify!
– Save Adella! Heroic moment!
– Protect her! Cheer!
– We must protect her at all costs! Rally!
She seems to be dreaming, even smacking her lips as if she savoring something. Is she eating some yummy treats in her dream? Daydreaming!
It was too hard to simply dismiss her as a virtual character since the AI felt too realistic. Mind blown!
Even if the past she remembered was entirely fabricated, the memories they built together had all been genuine. Sigh!
There were still many unresolved questions. Brain racing!
Even after hearing Wearsoft’s development story from viewers, the sudden return of memories from all the cycles was unexplained. Confused!
Was it merely a bug, or was this also part of the developers’ intent? Speculative!
Torrents of information rushing in felt like the events were sinking into a deeper maze. Lost!
Grrr— Stomach growls!
After thinking so much, I felt hungry. Cue tummy rumbles!
I bit into a leftover carrot from the item shop, but of course, virtual reality remains just that – it didn’t quite satisfy my cravings. Crunch!
[Broadcasting Time – 7:39:18] Time flies!
[Number of Viewers – 21,907] Whoa!
“Have I been at this for so long?” Wooooow!
When I stepped out of the capsule, the sun had already started to set. Sigh!
I needed to take a short break and quickly grab a bite; it would help minimize any aftereffects when I chugged down potions. Smart thinking!
“Um… Nyaa… I don’t really like carrots…” Grumble!
– Hahaha! Laughter!
– So cute! Heart melt!
– Nyangster Call Hi, I think I finally understand your heart… Heartwarming!
– Bring me more carrots! No, just bring everything! Excited!
– I wouldn’t mind dying at this point! Crying emojis
– It’s almost a spiritual experience! Spiritual high!
– Why does she look prettier even without makeup…? Confused!
– That’s the power of love! Romantic music!
In the meantime, perhaps forgetting to deactivate the synchronized sensation, Adella scrunched her face up and whined. Whine!
“It’s crunchy, the carrot.” Crunch!
Snap!
