The persistence of a customer service employee

NetEase.

"Boss Ding, enduring the pain is no better than ending it quickly. Westward Journey has all sorts of bugs, and the classes are unbalanced. There's no point in continuing to operate it."

"The tech department's suggestion is that patching won't make much sense. It's either shutting it down or starting from scratch."

"Boss Ding..."

The head of the tech department, Li Wei, continuously reported the overall situation of Westward Journey to Ding Lei.

"How many people are currently online in Westward Journey?"

"About a little over 1,000."

"So few?"

"It's increased a bit in the past couple of days. At its lowest, there were only a few hundred people."

"Is Westward Journey really that bad?"

"Well..."

Li Wei didn't know how to respond.

In truth, when they were developing WJO, they weren't particularly meticulous. They saw that the game could make money, so they referenced the popular game Stone Age and developed WJO. Unfortunately, after operating for a while, the peak number of concurrent players in WJO was just over 10,000, but that quickly dropped, never to rise again.

"Well, let's go to the Westward Journey project team, then hold a meeting to inform the members of the department."

"Boss Ding, there's no need to inform them."

"Hmm?"

"Well, Boss Ding, most of the Westward Journey employees have been transferred to the 'Tianxia' project team. Currently, there's only one customer service staff handling Westward Journey."

"Alright, inform that customer service staff to come to the meeting."

Ding Lei sighed.

This situation was, in fact, spearheaded by him.

Ding Lei was well aware that NetEase didn't have much experience in game development, which was evident on the WJO side. At this time, there was a game company in China called Tianxia Technology, and they were in the process of developing a game called "Tianxia". To compensate for their lack of game development experience, NetEase spent a hefty sum to acquire Tianxia Technology.

Naturally, after the acquisition of Tianxia Technology, the underperforming WJO was left to the side.

Anyway, the higher-ups already believed that WJO was essentially dead, so whether there were people here or not no longer mattered.

And so, in the end, only one customer support staff was dispatched, symbolically maintaining WJO.

"Alright, let's have the meeting."

"Boss Ding, this is Xu Bo, another customer support staff for Westward Journey. Currently, he's the sole one responsible for maintaining the game."

In the office of the WJO project department, there was an air of awkwardness.

A project department that once bustled with activity now had only one person remaining. Moreover, this person held the lowest position, that of a customer support agent.

"Boss Ding, Boss Li."

"Xu Bo, please tell us about the current situation of Westward Journey."

Although that's what they said, it was just a formality.

After all, once this was discussed, Li Wei would announce the decision to shut down WJO.

"Boss Ding, Boss Li, currently, Westward Journey is operating well, and there has been a significant increase in the number of concurrent players. However, due to a lack of technical expertise and a shortage of project department personnel, many bugs remain unresolved..."

Despite being just a game customer support agent, Xu Bo truly loved this game. Even with just him left, he continued to diligently maintain Journey to the West day by day. Moreover, while he maintained it, Xu Bo had also drafted more than 30 pages of suggestions for improving WJO.

But Li Wei wasn't interested in hearing these reports. What use were they? How many more players would it bring in? With all the unresolved bugs and a shortage of project department staff, was the company going to send more technicians over? That was impossible.

Although Ding Lei had not made his stance clear, he had already prepared to shut down Journey to the West.

"Well, we've heard your report. By the way, how much funding is left in the department?"

"Not much, there's about 50,000 yuan left."

"So little? Didn't I hear a few days ago that there was still 100,000 yuan?"

"Well, in these past few days, we ran a promotional campaign and spent some money. Then, we also ran some advertisements with 5173, and did a round of promotions, which cost us tens of thousands."

"My goodness, you're still promoting the game at a time like this."

Li Wei didn't know what to say. He wanted to scold them, but in the end, he decided against it.

Forget it. What's the use of saying anything now when the game is about to end? Besides, it's not that much money, and it doesn't mean much to the company.

"Alright, the higher-ups are already aware of the specific situation."

Li Wei nodded. "The reason we called you here for the meeting today is that there's an important announcement to be made."

He glanced at Ding Lei.

Ding Lei hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded. It was then that Li Wei spoke, "The company has decided to cease the operation of Westward Journey."

"Cease the operation of Westward Journey?"

Xu Bo suddenly stood up, his astonishment evident as he stared at Li Wei.

"Xu Bo, I know this is hard for you to accept. In truth, making this decision was even more challenging for the company than for you. But you've seen the state of Westward Journey now. It's better to stop the service than to continue its half-hearted operation."

"But, but..."

"Xu Bo, this decision comes from the higher-ups. As for your future assignment, the company has always acknowledged your outstanding performance during this period. Even though Westward Journey is down to just you, you've remained dedicated. So, the higher-ups have decided to transfer you to the Tianxia project team. Soon, we will be launching our more mature game, 'Tianxia'."

"Boss Li..."

Xu Bo's expression was incredibly grim. Although he had known that the decision to cease operation was looming, he still felt deeply upset when it became a reality.

You see, since the launch of WJO, it had been like his child. It had been there from its birth, accompanying it as it grew...

And now, before it could mature, it was about to meet an untimely end.

"B-Boss Ding... I believe that our Westward Journey can hold on for a while longer."

Xu Bo understood that the ultimate decision did not rest with Li Wei but with Ding Lei.

Looking at Ding Lei, who had been silent from the moment they entered the office until now, Xu Bo continued.

"Xu Bo..."

Finally, Ding Lei spoke, "It's not necessary."

"But, Boss Ding, we've partnered with a highly experienced advertising agency, and with their recent promotions, our online player numbers have been steadily increasing."

"Xu Bo, how much can an increase in online players really achieve? Going from 100 to 1,000 is indeed a significant boost, even explosive growth. But with such a small base, what good does it do?"

Seeing Xu Bo bypass him and directly question Ding Lei, Li Wei became somewhat irritated.

Was what he said not taken seriously? He had just mentioned shutting down the service; did Ding Lei need to hear this as well?

"I'm asking you, how many concurrent players do we have in Westward Journey right now?"

"Over 10,000."

"See, what use is slightly over 10,000? What did you say? Slightly over 10,000?"

Li Wei was taken aback.

"More precisely, it's a bit over 17,000."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Xu Bo nodded. "This is the highest concurrent player record set yesterday. Let me check... No, this record has already been surpassed. Currently, the highest concurrent player count has reached over 19,000."