Chapter 24: Attitudes a Test Team Leader Should Have

Gu Fan came to Su Tong's computer and began discussing the overtime work for the evening while watching her play.

"Tonight, an investor from our company is coming over, so we need to work a bit longer, probably until 7 p.m.

"For dinner, we can just deal with it here at the company," he said.

Su Tong nodded, "No problem, President Gu. Is it an angel investor from our company?"

For a moment, Gu Fan didn't know how to respond, "Angel investor? Uh... more or less. To be precise, it would probably be more fitting to call them 'Devil Investor'...

"Huh? When did you get so proficient at this game?!"

Gu Fan suddenly realized he could hardly understand Su Tong's gameplay!

He saw her controlling Sisyphus, skillfully jumping across floating platforms, nimbly avoiding all obstacles ahead and passing the stage without a single mistake in one fluid motion!

Was this level of play really coming from her?

Just ten days ago, when Gu Fan watched, Su Tong was still frequently wiping out.

How could she have improved so quickly?

Gu Fan asked in surprise, "When did you become so skilled??"

Su Tong didn't look back; she was still intently watching the game screen and said while playing, "Huh? President Gu, I've played for almost 150 hours, is it that strange to be this proficient...?"

Gu Fan frowned slightly, "That's not right, how could you have played 150 hours?"

Since the game was finished and had undergone two weeks of testing, plus three days of release, and there had been three weekends in the interim.

Based on a normal work schedule of eight hours a day, Su Tong had at most played around 80 hours.

Where did the 150 hours come from?

Su Tong spoke nonchalantly, "I practiced every day after getting off work! I also played at night and on the weekends."

Gu Fan was shocked, "You didn't have to work that hard..."

Su Tong said seriously, "I have to, as the test team leader for the company, isn't it my responsibility? If outsiders knew our company's test team leader couldn't even play the game well, it would be quite embarrassing, right?

"It's just that I'm too dumb; after playing for so long, I still make mistakes occasionally."

For a while, Gu Fan didn't know what to say.

If he weren't well-aware of Su Tong's character, he might have even mistakenly thought she was bragging.

Having played 150 hours to reach this level was already outrageous enough!

After all, the game's difficulty was well-known!

"Could it be that... Su Tong isn't actually a gaming noob? Maybe the reason she seemed unskilled was partly because she hadn't spent much time on games before, and her foundation was indeed weak, and on the other hand, because... her gaming talent points were a bit off?"

Gu Fan had this outrageous speculation.

In the first week of testing, Gu Fan had specifically observed Su Tong playing and found that her gaming talent really wasn't high, not only was she unskilled with her hands, but she was also extremely insensitive to the game mechanics.

This was indeed a natural disadvantage for Su Tong in terms of gaming talent, and the direct reason why Gu Fan had recruited her as the test team leader.

A person who was insensitive to game mechanics would not discover the critical bugs that Gu Fan had hidden, and naturally would not disrupt his plans.

But as the saying goes, when God closes a door, he opens a window.

Su Tong had a natural advantage in another area.

That was endurance and patience!

In 17 days, she had played a total of 150 hours, even continuing the game after work hours. It would be understandable with other games, but Sisyphus was purely a grueling game!

Moreover, Su Tong didn't even know about bugs like Rolling Stone Acceleration and "Dragon Flap Wings" that could significantly improve the gaming experience; she kept playing the most torturous way for such a long time.

This indicated that her mentality and patience were at a maddeningly good level.

And this, in fact, could also be considered a kind of gaming talent.

With the same game, some people catch on quickly and stand out immediately but have little patience. They give up at the slightest setback or switch to other games, while others may be slow to learn but persist.

Given enough time, it is always the latter who will stand at the pinnacle of the game.

And this is also a kind of gaming talent.

Obviously, Su Tong's trait is a great help to learning as well, no wonder she is a top student.

What would happen if this basic skill was combined with "Rolling Stone Acceleration" and "Dragon Flap Wings"?

It has to be said that Su Tong is really obedient. Previously, when Gu Fan told her to play "Infernal Trajectory" without looking at a guide, she indeed didn't look at a guide. Even in playing Sisyphus, she still played on her own without looking at a guide.

Otherwise, she would have seen the "Dragon Raises Its Head" video last night.

Thinking of this, Gu Fan said, "Stop practising for now and open the video site, search for Instructor Ding's live stream clips."

Gu Fan had thought that Su Tong would get excited after seeing Instructor Ding's operation, but unexpectedly she looked disheartened and rather downcast.

Gu Fan was somewhat surprised, "What's wrong?"

Su Tong, pointing at the "Dragon Flap Wings" tutorial on the screen, said, "President Gu, did I make a mistake... I actually didn't catch such a severe bug..."

Her expression was one of utter defeat.

Although there was still serious debate online about whether "Rolling Stone Acceleration" and "Dragon Flap Wings" were actually bugs, Su Tong had certainly seen the design plans and knew very well that these two functionalities were not at all mentioned in the plans.

Naturally, she felt that she, the Test Team Leader, was somewhat incompetent.

Gu Fan found it somewhat amusing yet touching that she felt guilty because of her sense of responsibility.

But that was really unnecessary!

In fact, the very reason Gu Fan had chosen Su Tong as the team leader was because she couldn't find bugs!

However, Gu Fan also knew that such situations would occur frequently in the future, so he had to handle this properly now.

Su Tong was his first employee and held the crucial position of Test Team Leader. For the issue of bugs, the two must reach an understanding to build "Nitiandang" into the world's strongest gaming company together and thoroughly thwart Lilith's plan.

With this in mind, Gu Fan reassured her, "You don't have to blame yourself for this."

Upon hearing this, a flicker of surprise crossed Su Tong's face, "Eh? Does this mean it's not a bug, but a game mechanism you've already designed, President Gu?"

Gu Fan quickly shook his head, "That's certainly not the case."

Even though Lilith couldn't come to the Human World during the day, Gu Fan couldn't be sure whether she had "informants" in the Human World or not.

Just to be safe, Gu Fan could give more explicit hints to some trustworthy individuals, but he absolutely could not admit to anyone or anywhere that "Bullet Bending" and "Dragon Flap Wings" were game mechanics he intended to create. He had to insist that they were indeed bugs.

Otherwise, he could very likely be penalized by Lilith through a contract.

Su Tong slumped again, "So that means these are indeed bugs, and I failed to catch them..."

Gu Fan cleared his throat softly, "The main reason you feel downhearted is that you don't quite grasp the essence of game testing."

Su Tong looked surprised, "How so? The work of game testing is very simple, isn't it just about thoroughly testing to ensure the game is free of any bugs?"

Gu Fan shook his head slightly, speaking with a deep meaning, "That's just what mediocre companies in the market demand from game testing, but our company is different!"

Su Tong asked curiously, "Then what are our company's testing requirements?"

Gu Fan organized his thoughts briefly and said, "It's quite simple, you just need to do the following three things.

"First, you have to understand that we are just ordinary people, not gods. I can't write code that's completely free of bugs, and you can't possibly test out every single bug in the game.

"We can only do what's within our power and have a clear conscience about it; there's no point in fretting over what we can't achieve.

"Second, you need to realize that games themselves are full of mysticism. Often, a game becomes popular for no apparent reason, and can also fail inexplicably. The occurrence of gameplay that even designers didn't anticipate in a game is not unusual.

"Do you know which kind of designer players hate the most?

"They hate designers who 'teach players how to play the game.' And such designers have a characteristic, which is, once they find that players have discovered a way of playing beyond their design scope, they try by all means to stop and revise it.

"In a sense, players finding gameplay beyond the rules of the game is a divine gift, offering more possibilities to the game.

"'To reject a boon from heaven is to invite disaster.' If designers insist on changing that gameplay outside the framework and want to teach players how to play, they won't end up with good fortune.

"Third, you are a tester and also a future designer. Whether as a tester or a designer, the important thing is not 'to foresee' but 'to go with the flow.'

"That is to say, instead of regretting why you didn't discover a bug, it is better to regard it as some kind of fate or boon, to study and utilize this bug thoroughly, to understand why players like it, and even to master it better than the players.

"This is the attitude you should have."