Chapter 76

Official Website:

【……】

【The B2 level of Shelter 5.404 will be unlocked after the "Blood Hand Clan" instance is cleared.】

【6. Wasteland Tip: The weather is getting cooler, everyone remember to add more clothes. Also, if you see the weapon shop owner dozing off, please wake her up to prevent her from catching a cold.】

That day, as usual, the official website updated the announcement at 6 PM. The comment section below the announcement was quickly taken over by the little players who had bought houses on the official website.

Tail: "Throne! (>ω?*)?"

Quit Smoking: "First!"

Quit Smoking: "Damn! My first floor!"

Garbage Collector Level 99: "Damn, I thought it was an update!"

Spare a Life: "False alarm!"

Irena: "By the way, there are new little players joining. Which batch is coming online tomorrow? (Funny)"

Less Bullshit: "The fifth batch! A total of 40 people! So excited, I couldn't sleep last night, and I'll have a great time tonight!"

Makabazi: "Bro, don't get too excited too soon, this game is not easy on the liver, I tell you!"

Midnight Chicken Slaughter: "Strength class, anyone want to form a team to chop trees? Come on, axes are the eternal gods!"

Spare a Life: "No one fights with me! Hahaha, the newbies are all mine!"

Night Ten: "Bro, calm down, your mature and steady image is breaking!"

Older Abin: "This guy is scary. (?Д?*)"

Xiao Xiaoxiao Bookworm: "Is this game serious? It is, right? I'm nervous."

The official website, as always, was filled with a lively and cheerful atmosphere.

The next day would be the fourth day of the Alpha 0.4 version, and 40 new players would arrive in the game world.

The population of the surface area of Shelter 404 would increase to 90 people!

Chu Guang glanced at the reservation numbers, which had just broken the 800 mark. This time, thanks to a certain mole rat's illustration on the forum, many casual onlookers were drawn in.

Chu Guang opened the post and saw that the illustration was of himself.

Hey, it wasn't bad, actually quite handsome.

No, it was quite accurate.

Mole Rat in the Canyon: "What else do you guys want to see? There are only a few NPCs."

The Darkest: "Manga! I want to see manga!"

Rainy Night Without an Umbrella: "I want to see manga about Teng and Ya! (Nosebleed)"

Teng: "No, you don't! (#`Д′)??╰ひ╯"

Match Girl: "Ya and Leech!"

Mole Rat in the Canyon: "Damn, you're a pervert."

Chu Guang chuckled to himself.

It was great, his game was getting more and more lively.

Today's announcement on the official website of "Wasteland OL" did not contain any new information about development progress, but it did gradually reveal some settings as the game's plot advanced. Many clever little players still managed to read a lot of important information from it.

The Bull and Horse Club group.

The Bull and Horse group players, led by Old Bai and others, generally went offline and got up at 6 AM, with a very regular schedule.

After going offline, the first thing these people did was not to wash their faces or brush their teeth, but to open their phones and chat in the group.

And at this moment, the focus of the conversation was on today's announcement on the official website—

Old Bai: "Damn, the information in this update is quite substantial!"

Quit Smoking: "Bro, tell us! T.T"

Old Bai: "In a nutshell, a new NPC has been added! A new 'Faction Relations' setting! And new 'Background Story' and 'Personality' settings for the NPC! In other games, this would be enough for the developers to brag for three versions!"

④ Who Doesn't Understand Me: "Too bad Brother Yaoyao left the group, otherwise, there would be a lot of fun. (Grin)"

Night Ten: "Who knew his mental strength was so weak. I just said the dog was barking, and he left. (Funny)"

Wild Wind: "Isn't the key point the mute?"

WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "(Funny)"

Tomato and Egg: "(Spectator)"

Without Brother Yaoyao, the Bull and Horse group had a lot less fun.

But this guy was now flying high, having upgraded from the group's pet to the forum's mascot for "Wasteland OL."

Fang Chang: "Forget about that guy. Let me share my analysis. Although the official website did not release new content as 'Alpha 0.5 version,' this soft update is actually substantial enough for a version update! My guess is that maybe this content doesn't require new beta testers, so the version number wasn't updated."

Old Bai: "That makes sense. Every time the version number is updated, beta test qualifications are usually issued. No version number update means the content is still within the 0.4 version framework."

Fang Chang: "Exactly! You should have noticed that starting from the last version, our interactions with NPCs have almost doubled. First, the caravan came, then the nearby natives came to cooperate, and today, a player-organized caravan went to Brown Farm. Can anyone guess what this means?"

Seeing no one responding,

Fang Chang, guessing everyone was listening intently, continued typing without waiting.

"This means... a broader world! Think about it from the developer's perspective, why update the 'Faction Goodwill' setting now?"

Night Ten: "Uh, I can't think of it. Can you explain in detail?"

Fang Chang: "I still remember what Brother Guang said at the beginning, 'Wasteland OL' aims to create a completely realistic world! If it's a realistic world, NPCs will definitely evaluate and react to player actions, right?"

Night Ten: "It seems to make sense, but what does this have to do with a broader world? NPCs already have goodwill settings."

Fang Chang: "It has a lot to do with it! Players, as members of Shelter 404, not only have relationships with NPCs but also have overall evaluations from NPCs! For example, if one of our players kills a native, the native's relatives, friends, and neighbors won't greet us with smiles tomorrow, right? Even if they remain neutral, they will become cautious!"

Night Ten: "Damn? You mean collective responsibility?"

Wild Wind: "This is a bit difficult. It's manageable now with a small circle, but it will be hard to ensure everyone is normal in a larger circle."

Fang Chang: "Not necessarily. Troublemakers are mostly newbies. Generally, these newbies have no guns, no money, no attributes, and no skills. If a conflict happens, they will be hammered by NPCs, and problems can be identified and handled early. After a while, when they develop and their saves become valuable, they will have sunk costs, you understand what I mean?"

Wild Wind: "That makes sense."

Night Ten: "??? What are you talking about? What do you understand?"

Fang Chang: "Troublemaking newbies are a concern for server maintenance after the beta. Let's not discuss that here. In short, the addition of the faction goodwill system indicates that the developers are guiding players to consider the overall interests of the shelter. Why do they suddenly do this? Clearly, it's to lay the groundwork for a broader 'NPC faction' in the new map!"

Old Bai: "I agree with Fang Chang. Did you notice that the fifth point in today's update announcement mentioned that the B2 level of the shelter will be unlocked after the 'Blood Hand Clan' instance is cleared? This means the new map is preloaded but not yet open."

Night Ten: "Damn, are they testing the AI or us?"

Fang Chang: "I think both! After all, the game is for players. If they want to create a realistic world, an open virtual community, they need to test player behavior in this community and adjust server rules and gameplay. The development team's approach is simply brilliant!"

Old Bai: "Alright, alright, stop bragging. What do you think? What should we do next? More hunting?"

Fang Chang: "Hunting yields are low after winter. Since the war with the Blood Hand Clan has started, I predict the administrators will soon increase the bounty on raiders. The next phase of gameplay can revolve around this."

Wild Wind: "That makes sense."

Night Ten: "By the way, we bought the land but haven't started construction yet. When are we building the house?"

WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Yeah, yeah, I'm waiting to open a studio. (Funny)"

Wild Wind: "No rush. Building it ourselves is inefficient. We should hire a few people to do it."

Fang Chang: "I agree. Construction should be left to the life skill players. We should focus on making money, leveling up, and upgrading equipment."

Chu Guang, who hadn't logged into his QQ for a long time, looked at the computer screen with a sense of admiration.

No wonder Brother Fang Chang!

His understanding of the version is even better than mine, the developer.

"Starting tomorrow, increase the bounty on raider targets."

"Capturing a confirmed raider will reward an additional 20 silver and 200 contribution points on top of the original 5 silver. Bringing back a raider's body will reward an additional 10 silver and 200 contribution points on top of the original 5 copper."

"If the target is a squad leader, the reward is doubled!"

"Also, to prevent newbies from rushing in and getting killed, we need to restrict the level for bounty quests. Let's set it at LV2 for now, and adjust as needed."

The first batch of players, their gene sequences are mostly at LV2, and early players like Old Bai are even at LV4.

Reaching LV2 indicates a good understanding of the game, and the attribute bonuses will help them face raiders without being at a disadvantage.

Of course, the key is that players at this level have savings, and with a bit more effort, they can afford the cheapest iron pipe rifles in the weapon shop.

Chu Guang checks the storage cabinet every day.

Plus, every silver coin he sends out is recorded by Xiao Qi, so Chu Guang knows better than the players themselves how much money they have.

In fact, the land itself is not expensive, only 10 silver per square meter.

Most players have already saved enough to buy land, but they are struggling to reach 2000 contribution points to upgrade to citizen status.

Perfect, no need to save anymore. Those with money should quickly buy guns. Buying guns to fight raiders will earn them money and contribution points.

Once the instance is cleared, this opportunity will be gone!

"Let's see. If not many people buy guns tomorrow, I'll have Xia Yan give a 10% discount on the basic guns in the weapon shop."

Of course, the discount only applies to iron pipe rifles and revolver rifles, not bullets.

A steel-core copper bullet produced in Giant Rock City costs 1 silver in the weapon shop. A rolled copper shell produced in Red River Town costs 5 copper.

If the weapon shop owner makes "inferior" bullets with black powder, they are slightly cheaper, 2 copper each.

Too expensive?

Complain to the owner, not me.

I don't run the shop.

Chu Guang's face was full of smiles.

Finally, he doesn't have to worry about the players' ammunition.

Once they buy the guns, they can waste ammunition as they please, as long as they pay for it themselves.

Xia Yan, sitting in the corner studying, suddenly shivered.

Despite the warm air from the vent, her back felt cold. She felt that the man sitting in front of the computer was plotting something "evil" again.

His smile was almost reaching his ears...