Chapter 135 - IRO Management (1): World Quest Concludes
Somewhere in Tokyo. Deep beneath the Rokujo Memorial Museum.
That’s where Six Elements Software, solely responsible for the development and operation of Iris Revolution Online, is located.
“Whew…”
Yamasaki Misa—Misha P, the IRO General Producer—sighed and leaned back deeply into her gaming chair.
The first World Quest in IRO seemed to have concluded without issue.
She was currently watching players’ live streams on a multi-monitor setup.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
“Good work.”
Entering was Saika Chiyoko—GM Choco, the Game Master Supervisor.
Showing no deference to her superior, she simply sat down on the sofa.
“End-of-quest processing and reward distribution went smoothly. No escalations from the inquiry AI either.”
“Okay. How’s the reception?”
“According to the AI analysis of audio from the last three hours, 82% rated it ‘very good’ or ‘good.’ 7% rated it ‘bad’ or ‘very bad.’ The remaining 11% are players who weren’t logged in.”
“It’s actually surprising how good it is.”
Misha P pushed herself up from the gaming chair and headed towards the coffee server on the shelf.
“Ah, my cup too.”
“Sure, sure.”
The two looked nothing like a boss and subordinate. Just a casual conversation between close friends.
That was ‘only within this room,’ their unspoken agreement.
“By the way, what were the reasons for those who were dissatisfied?”
“Ah, the ‘very bad’ ratings were from the Units’ fans. The World Quest ended with them getting no good spots at all.”
“That’s their own fault…”
Saying that, Misha P handed GM Choco her coffee.
Misha P had also been curious about that and had observed the in-game situation with the Goddess’s Eye.
“There’s no other way to put it than that Anshia was cunning. If the Units had fought, there was a risk of their fans incurring a death penalty.”
“It’s tough for men, isn’t it?”
Anshia had brought her own fans, plus soldiers borrowed from influential figures in the Republic.
The numbers were almost the same, but the NPC soldiers were set to be incredibly tough, so the chances of winning were almost zero.
“What about the ‘bad’ ratings, then?”
“Some players from the Republic. They felt being categorized as a forfeit was unfair.”
Players from the Republic who were deemed to have forfeited received 1 SP as a reward. They were dissatisfied with this low amount compared to the 5 SP given to players from successful nations.
“That’s also their own fault. It’s their mistake for neglecting the Harune Holy Nation, which they foolishly pioneered and founded.”
“It was quite extreme, wasn’t it? It’s amazing to just establish a nation like that in such a situation, and for everyone except those involved to simply watch.”
Misha P had not expected a nation to be founded so early, even if the feature was already implemented.
When she heard that Shou, who started with Uninhabited Island Start, quietly closed the nation-founding declaration, she thought, “That makes sense.”
Conversely, when she received the report that Harune had declared nationhood, she had given a foolish “Huh?” in response…
“Did we set the AI for the Republic’s high-ranking NPCs a bit too timidly?”
“Hmm, the Republic’s great merchants and church executives don’t have combat experience, so I think it’s fine for them to be as cautious as they are now.”
“You’re right. If the NPCs’ assertions are too strong, it narrows players’ choices…”
Misha P placed her coffee on the desk and plumped back into her gaming chair.
Not just the Republic, but the Kingdom and Empire also had their AI settings toned down to be less proactive, to avoid deep involvement in matters outside the main storyline.
IRO was fundamentally a game where players made history. That’s why NPCs were designed not to do anything unnecessary, but…
“I thought there would be more aggressive players.”
“The VTubers doing live streams are aggressive about coming up with content. But most regular players prioritize enjoying the game with their friends.”
“Well, that’s true…”
Saying that, she looked at the screens, showing Thunder Empress Leona, Majo Bell, and their companions celebrating.
The Kingdom had very little damage from the World Quest, and in terms of player population, it was almost a clear winner.
“Hmm, maybe the Kingdom became too advantageous.”
“It’s fine, isn’t it? New players are still increasing, and until the next World Quest starts, starting in the Kingdom is a good recommendation.”
Saying that, GM Choco chugged her coffee.
Knowing the contents of the next World Quest, she apparently considered the Kingdom’s current advantage to be negligible.
“Still expecting new players to increase?”
“Oh, absolutely. And we’ve identified the changes for tomorrow’s update, so I’d like you to do a final check.”
“Alright, alright.”
Misha P checked the data transferred to her device and nodded thoughtfully.
“Initial free-to-learn skills, the common ones are indeed [Appraisal] and [Dismantling]. By race, Humans get [Gathering], Elves get [Woodcraft], Dwarves get [Crafting], and Halflings get [Presence Concealment]. Yes, I think that’s a reasonable line, so let’s go with this starting tomorrow at noon.”
When creating new characters after a World Quest, it’s unavoidable that early players have an advantage. However, an excessive gap isn’t good either.
The system called ‘initial free-to-learn skills’ slightly bridges that gap.
It’s a specification where commonly acquired and consistently used skills, based on an aggregation of existing users’ learned skills, are pre-learned for free.
“Alright, I’ll set it then. Click.”
“By the way, before this setting, did characters already have 3 extra SP?”
“Yes, that’s been confirmed.”
If a character was created between the end of the World Quest and noon tomorrow (which GM Choco set), they would receive an additional 3 initial SP.
“And the rarity downgrade… it’s [Taming] after all, isn’t it?”
“The Taming skill’s required SP drops from 9 to 4. Won’t users be angry about this?”
“Many people acquired that skill. In other words, the technique became generalized, so a rarity downgrade is natural.”
This was also one of the measures to prevent early users from being overly advantaged.
However, GM Choco had some concerns.
“I’m worried it might lead to a movement of ‘don’t spread rare skill information if you can help it.’”
“That’s fine as it is. Even if they monopolize rare skills among their group, they’ll eventually hit a wall somewhere and have no choice but to ask others.”
This endeavor had already largely succeeded.
That’s because most players, when stuck on acquiring or leveling up a skill, would gather information on the Official Forum.
“Worst case, we can release a promo movie on the official channel and reveal it there, right?”
“You’re going to do something so wicked again…”
This had also been done once before, and its effectiveness confirmed.
“More importantly, are all the actors ready?”
“Yes. Or rather, that person already started on their own.”
“We set it so their language isn’t understood, so it should be fine.”
Misha P said, waving her hand dismissively, but…
“Somehow, they went to the Uninhabited Island, bringing Fairies with them…”
“Huh?”
This concludes Chapter Three: “The Empire Divides.”
Thank you for following along.
If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a rating or review. m(_ _)m
Volumes 1 and 2 are on sale now. Volume 3 will be released on 12/15!
BOOK☆WALKER: https://bookwalker.jp/series/375270/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0BYK5SFV6