Chapter 9: The Arenson Effect Applied in Games!_2

"Whimper... has this game been priced openly?"

"Yeah."

"Then, is it particularly attractive to players?"

"You could say that. At least there are no other competing products in the same league on the market right now."

"Is it a big game?"

"Not big, you could even say it's quite small."

"That's not surprising then. First, it's about the player's curiosity, and second, sympathy."

"Sympathy?"

"Yeah, the unique sympathetic nature of humans, which can evoke feelings of pity and care when faced with something weak. The reason for this, Darwin explained in his book 'Origin of Species'. In essence, humans are a highly social species, and individual strength was very insignificant in the primitive environment back then. Developing this trait helped humans to help each other, making the whole species more united and better adapted to the environment. This characteristic has thus been carried forward as a positive aspect in our DNA."

"Are you saying that they find me pitiable, so they recharge for me?" Ke Jin stroked his chin, pondering for a moment.

That didn't lack reasoning.

It seemed the girl had a sound foundation.

OK, she passed the test phase.

Next, onto the main topic.

"Now, I have a game that takes pleasure in tormenting people..." Ke Jin hadn't finished speaking when he heard Wen Zhiyin softly ask.

"Tormenting people? Can I try it..."

Ke Jin: "..."

How badly does your heart yearn to torture others...

"This tormenting isn't about others; it's about tormenting oneself."

"Then you must really enjoy playing it," Wen Zhiyin blinked her eyes.

"I told you I'm not a masochist! Don't force your fantasy persona onto me!" Ke Jin cracked another whip, producing a sound like a firecracker hitting the ground: "Don't interrupt, back to the main topic."

"For such a game, if I don't want the players to recharge, what should I do? To add a detail, there's an industry standard that requires setting up a recharge interface or indicating a one-time purchase price."

"Did you design this game yourself?" Wen Zhiyin asked.

"Yeah."

"You made the game, but you don't want players to spend money in it?" Wen Zhiyin gave Ke Jin a puzzled look: "Isn't that still masochistic?"

"Don't worry about that, just tell me the conclusion. Everyone has their little quirks." Ke Jin wasn't worried that Wen Zhiyin would tell others about his strange behavior of deliberately not wanting players to spend money.

After all, they were both in the same boat now, privy to each other's secrets.

Worst comes to worst, we'll just blow it up.

You can reincarnate after death, but social death is worse than not living.

"If that's the case," Wen Zhiyin pushed up her glasses and after thinking for a moment, said, "I suggest you consider the Arenson Effect,"

"The Arenson Effect?"

"Yes, this psychological effect can be quite complex to understand, but I'll give you an example to make it clear."

"Behind a school dormitory building, there's an abandoned truck where a group of children gather every afternoon after school to jump around and make noise. Living in the building, little Ke was annoyed by the racket, so at first, he yelled out the window, telling the children to be quiet."

"Obviously, it didn't work; the kids got even louder. Therefore, the next day, little Ke tried a different approach. He bought a remote-control car and told the children that whoever jumped the highest and shouted the loudest would get the gift."

"The children participated with great enthusiasm and decided on a winner who took the remote-control car home triumphantly. Little Ke promised that there will be a prize at the same time, at the same place, the next day. The children were naturally very happy."

"So, the next day, the children showed up as promised. But this time, little Ke downgraded the prize, replacing the original car with a lollipop. The enthusiasm of the children was noticeably dampened, but they still managed to determine the most active winner. Little Ke told them there would be another prize the next day."

"By the fourth day, the prize was downgraded again, this time to a small handful of sunflower seeds. Little Ke cheerfully told the children that there would still be a prize on the fifth day... Now, what do you think happened?"

"On the fifth day, no children came?" Ke Jin was absorbed in the story, especially since the protagonist was named after him, so he answered.

"Exactly," Wen Zhiyin said with a smile: "On the fifth day, the abandoned truck regained the long-absent quiet. He wanted the children to come, but none of them did."

"This is the effect proposed by the foreign psychologist Arenson. People are more interested in constantly upgrading rewards/praise/affection, and show a lack of interest towards continuously decreasing rewards or praise."

Upon hearing this, Ke Jin's eyes brightened a bit.

Miss Wen, I think I've had an epiphany!

If we explain it using this effect.

The reason why "Origin of Species" has so many rebellious players is mainly because there is only one pricing tier for in-game purchases.

Without a reference system, there's naturally no talk of 'upgrade rewards' or 'downgrade rewards'.

If the rich man spends, he just spends; it's no big deal.

So, what if I apply the effect Wen Zhiyin mentioned into my game "iwanna"?

I could set up multiple tiers for in-game spending as well.

But unlike other games.

Other games offer more discounts the more you spend, the more you recharge, the better the deal.

I'd do the opposite.

The first tier would be quite affordable, but subsequent recharges would become increasingly unfavorable! And the rewards would plummet dramatically!

Wouldn't this cut off the players' thoughts of recharging for the second, third, or even more tiers?

At that time, I would just need to set the price of the first tier very cheap, like a one-yuan first charge or something.

Force the players' total in-game spending to stay under ten thousand yuan.

Basically, I would have them right where I want them.

Damn, I'm a genius!

Ke Jin, suddenly enlightened, put away the little whip in his hand and said with a smile, "Miss Wen truly deserves to be a provincial-level psychological expert. You've opened my eyes with just a few words."

"It's getting late, can I go now?" Class over, Wen Zhiyin nervously packed the little whip back into her bag and stood up.

"How about some fruit before you go? It's scorching hot outside, and you've worked hard, Miss Wen. There's some sliced watermelon in the fridge."

The mention of watermelon made Wen Zhiyin sense something was off.

First, you use me as a punching bag, and now you're offering me watermelon?

You think your place is a plantation, huh?

"No, no way." Wen Zhiyin just wanted to leave this devil's lair as quickly as possible.

It would be best if she never came back to this area again; best to seal away the past.

Ke stood up as well and escorted her all the way to the front door, waving goodbye with a smile.

"Miss Wen, do come again; I really like your psychology classes. Your demeanor when you're focused on teaching is truly graceful and captivating," he said.

"Haha…" Wen Zhiyin laughed ambiguously but did not agree.

Come again?

That's a joke!

I'm just a domineering personality; I don't have Stockholm syndrome; how could I possibly come back!

"Next time, let's not interact in these roles, let's be friends instead," Ke Jin said.

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhiyin stood there stunned, turning her head to look at the boy whose smile was as warming as the spring breeze.

The sunlight shone perfectly on his earnest face.

The breeze gently tousled the hair on his forehead.

She found herself nodding unwittingly and blurted out, "… Okay."

I didn't want this either.

But…

He said let's be friends.