Promotion plan

"NetEase has agreed."

"Good."

Chen Yu nodded and said, "From now on, we'll initiate a promotion campaign for Westward Journey."

NetEase originally started with email and portal services. As one of the three major portals, NetEase had been doing well in recent years and even went public in the United States. However, during the dot-com bubble, various internet companies suffered substantial losses, especially in the field of internet advertising.

At this point, NetEase needed to explore a new battleground. For this reason, NetEase set its sights on online gaming and launched its first game, Westward Journey Online. Unfortunately, WJO didn't become as popular as The Legend of Mir 2. Since its release, it had never seen more than 10,000 simultaneous players, and now, only a few thousand players remained. There were even rumors that NetEase's top management was considering a major overhaul of the game.

However, for Chen Yu, this was an opportunity. While WJO wasn't as good as WJO II of the future, it wasn't as bad as people thought. Its lack of popularity was due to several bugs and, most importantly, inadequate promotion.

Moreover, was The Legend of Mir 2 really as fantastic as people thought? In this world, no game is universally the best. However, when more people play a game, even a mediocre one can become enjoyable. Thus, Chen Yu aimed to increase the number of simultaneous players in WJO through this promotion.

"Are we going to write soft articles again?"

"Yes."

"We're good at that. I'll collect more strategies for Westward Journey."

"No, we're doing it differently."

Chen Yu shook his head. "We want to attract new players, and these strategies are of no use to them."

"What should we do, then?"

"We're going with a 'Beauty Plan'."

"A 'Beauty Plan'?"

Zhang Jianming shook his head, not understanding.

"Simple. Contact NetEase and tell them we're planning to create a 'Westward Journey Beauty Ranking'."

"Oh, that sounds interesting."

Zhang Jianming's eyes lit up. Although he didn't know what the "Beauty Plan" meant just a moment ago, as soon as he heard the words "Beauty Ranking," he realized it would be immensely appealing to gamers.

"Alright, I'll get to work on it."

There's a saying: What's the most attractive element in a game?

Apart from the game itself, another appealing factor was beautiful women.

In the past, countless games became popular due to the presence of beautiful women. It could be said that wherever there were beautiful women, that place would thrive. WJO was naturally suited for female players, being a turn-based game. Therefore, Chen Yu's first plan was the "Beauty Plan".

NetEase responded promptly. After Zhang Jianming proposed the "Beauty Plan" to the WJO project team, they issued an announcement in the game:

"Starting today, all female players can participate in the 'Westward Journey Beauty Ranking'. The top ten players will receive a reward of 1,000 RMB and the title of 'Westward Journey's Top Ten Beauties'."

While 1,000 yuan wasn't a significant amount, the title of being one of the top ten beauties was truly enticing. Which woman didn't love to look beautiful? Which woman wasn't vain? Boasting the title of one of the top ten beauties was undoubtedly more glamorous than owning a Ferrari.

"The Beauty Ranking? Wow, I have to participate."

"As a belle, I'm joining too."

"Oh, a ranking? It's a bit embarrassing, but I'll participate."

One by one, game photos along with identity card verification were submitted to the 5173 forum. Additionally, 5173 introduced a voting system for the Beauty Ranking competition.

The top 100 players with the highest number of votes would qualify for the top ten beauties' contest. With voting came campaigning.

"Hey, dear, I've entered the 'Westward Journey Beauty Ranking'. Please vote for me."

"Vote, vote, it's a must."

"Why do you have only one vote? Ask your friends to vote for me too, please."

"No problem, I'll get my entire dorm to vote for you. No, I'll get our entire class to vote for you."

The allure of beautiful women was truly terrifying. While the number of female players participating in the contest wasn't large, even with just a few hundred contestants, they garnered tens of thousands of votes. Players who voted inevitably paid attention to WJO. As a result, some friends downloaded the client and started playing the game.

Of course, 5173's "Beauty Plan" wasn't just about beautiful women attracting votes. It wasn't solely about the voting players engaging with the game.

After all, there were relatively few people currently playing WJO. Even if they successfully attracted votes, how many players could they realistically bring in? Even if they brought in everyone, it would still be just a few tens of thousands.

However, if they were to promote the "Westward Journey's Top Ten Beauties" contest, its impact would be formidable.

"Wow, I never knew Westward Journey had so many beautiful women."

"This beauty is excellent, with her oval face. I like it."

"You're clearly a siren. I prefer this, the schoolgirl look—so innocent."

"I'm not into these young and innocent types. I like this one; look at her, she's obviously a young woman."

"Wow, the girl in Hanfu attire is so pretty. I really want to be friends with her."

The online spectators frequently commented on the photos.

"Ah, single guys can't take it anymore. I'm going to play Westward Journey."

"Aren't you playing Legend anymore?"

"Play what? Legend is full of guys. I won't play it. I'm going to Westward Journey to meet some girls."

"Good idea, I'm in."

Most gamers were homebodies. Regardless of whether the pictures posted were of beautiful women or just regular female players, they were all exceptionally eager. Although other games had female players too, they were still in the minority. Even in a game as popular as The Legend of Mir 2, while there were many female players, it wasn't well-advertised. Now, WJO was the first game to launch a massive publicity campaign centered around women. With such a strategy, how could the single guys resist?

"Guys, let's go, let's go, let's all play Westward Journey together."

"Yeah, I heard Westward Journey is a turn-based game. You don't need to keep making constant actions, and you can chat and flirt with girls while fighting."

"Wow, that's great!"

"That's right. I'm already in the game, and the girl in my team is beautiful."

"Good Lord, you beast, let go of that girl and let me have a turn."

WJO was different from games like The Legend of Mir 2. The latter leaned towards solo play, but WJO was essentially about teamwork, often requiring it. Most teams consisted of five people. With such a large team, the probability of encountering a beautiful woman was incredibly high, close to 100%. This gaming experience truly made those players who wanted to meet girls feel like they'd found their life's purpose.