Almighty Game Designer

Chapter 79: Picking Out a Writer

Chen Mo added some more information on World of Azeroth.

Moonglade: One of the most unique places in Kalimdor. The forest is untouched by corruption and maintains its initial purity and serenity, much different from other locations in Kalimdor. Moonglade is a safezone as damaging to forest or creating confrontation will be met by the wrath of the druids. Moonglade is often the location where the Alliance and Horde hold their meetings for treaties. The tauren often visit Moonglade to learn the way of the druids from the elves.

It didnt take long after the update was posted for discussion among the fans to start.

Oh man, I didnt think Id live to see this. Chen Mo posted an update!

The previous post forgot to add: So far!

You think youd get away with posting dozens of words to keep us occupied? Why dont you learn from the web novel writers who post tens of thousands of words everyday!

This just isnt enough!!!!!!!

Hey, are you not updating this because youve made enough money?

When are you recreating Azeroth! Dont think you can satisfy us using a card game like I Am MT!

Im gonna send him another razor blade, anyone with me?

Previous poster +1!

+2!

Chen Mo let out a faint smile and closed the website, after commenting anonymously.

As per usual, Chen Mo opened National Geographic Azeroth to check for new posts.

Hmm? A new artist[1]? Quite popular too.

Chen Mo noticed that there were a few recent threads that reached eight pages. The threat was titled :Long Story creator[1]: Orgrimmars orphan.

Chen Mo clicked on the thread and was met with a fanfic from the perspective of Orgrimmars orphan, going through his growth and adventures as a Horde warrior.

Of course, the latter was what Chen Mo guessed, as the story wasnt even at twenty thousand words so the story wasnt too developed.

However, Chen Mo could tell that the author had a thing or two in writing. When the Chinese write western fantasy there would normally be two extremes, too locatised, or using english bastardization for everything. This novel had none of the problems.

Moreover, the story was logical and the progression of the plot was well written. There were points that were left to be discovered down the line, and the foundation of the story seemed well established.

No wonder it was so popular. The quality of this was much better than similar works that seemed to be done by highschoolers.

This guys pretty good, exclaimed Chen Mo.

In reality, Chen Mo also had the same thought when starting World of Azeroth. There was too much content in Azeroth, and if he was working alone, making a VR version of World of Warcraft might take a few years. It would wear him down super thin just writing quests and dialogue.

Which is why Chen Mo wanted to make National Geographic Azeroth this early on, to gather the people who are interested in this lore, as the more talented artists and writers would be useful in the future.

Otherwise it would be difficult and time consuming to hire someone that would meet his requirements.

Just like in the previous world, the existence of I Am MT depended heavily on NGA.

But Chen Mo didnt expect to pick one up so quickly.

Chen Mo looked up the details of the author using their Thunderbolt Gaming game pass information, and got ahold of their phone number as they have it tied to their account.

Chen Mo gave the author a call.

After a few moments, the person picked up, Hello?

Upon hearing it was a guy, Chen Mo was slightly disappointed.

Hello, Im Chen Mo, the designer of I Am MT.

The person on the other side of the phone was shocked, exclaiming, Huh? Chen Mo? Really? Are you that Chen Mo? Youre not a scammer right?

Chen Mo replied, Im probably not famous enough to have people pretending to be me right Im the real Chen Mo, whats your name?

Oh, Im Zheng Hongxi or you can call me by my pen name, Phantom Light.

Chen Mo replied, Theyre both quite difficult to remember.

Zheng Hongxi was speechless.

Chen Mo asked, Well, do you have a job right now?

Zheng Hongxi said, Nope, I just quit my job, and am currently looking for one. Since I dont have much to do, and the World of Azeroth seemed quite interesting. So I wrote a bunch of stuff out of boredom.

Chen Mo said, Hmm, are you interested in working in the Imperial Capital?

Zheng Hongxi asked, Huh? Can I work in Thunderbolt Entertainment?

Chen Mo said, Yep, Im quite interested in your work. How about this, where are you living right now?

Uhh, Magic City.

Alright, Ill pay for your tickets for the train as well as your accommodation. Would you like to come over to the Imperial Capital, and well talk more in person. And if you could, bring along your past works too, said Chen Mo

Zhen Hongxi replied, Sure! Well, Ill be packing then, be there in two days!

Chen Mo nodded, Sure, Ill send you an address, just head right this way when you get here.

After ending the call, Chen Mo sent the address of the experience store to Zheng Hongxi.

If this guy works out, all thats left is someone to deal with number balancing.

After releasing I Am MT, Chen Mo now had a stable source of income, and had the capital to make a larger scaled game.

However, Chen Mos current goal was still to grow his playerbase. When the player base is sufficiently big, his first large scale game could be released with less problems.

During this time, Chen Mo still needed to hire two employees, one in charge of story writing, the other for balancing.

Of course Chen Mo could do all of it, but it would be too time consuming. Moreover, there are many repetitive jobs in these areas, and it wasnt too fulfilling to do those things again and again.

There was no way Chen Mo would attempt larger scale games before hiring reliable writers and balancers. It could take ages without them, not to mention it would be a hassle juggling between all the aspects as well as the potential for poor quality.

In Chen Mos eyes, Zheng Hongxi had a good foundation, and would have good potential with some training.

At this moment, Chen Mos phone rang.

Chen Mo was speechless. What was going on, there have been so many phone calls recently. He couldnt help but feel uneasy.

Chen Mo proceeded to pick up the phone, Hello?

Hello, Is this Mr. Chen Mo? replied a voice of a woman

Yes, who is this? replied Chen Mo.

The woman replied, Im Han Lu, a journalist from s gaming channel. Id like to arrange an interview, would you be interested?

Chen Mo was shocked, Huh? Interview?

Han Lu replied, Yep, our editor in chief thinks that I Am MT was quite successful and is quite topical. Which is why we would like to have an interview. It wouldnt take up too much time, an hour or two at most. Id like to talk about the thought process during the designing phase of the game.

Chen Mo replied after a few moments of thinking. Sure, no problem.

Han Lu said, Alright, are you free tomorrow morning? I planned to meet you in your experience store.

Im free.

Han Lu replied, Sure, then well meet tomorrow morning then. Be there or be square!

After hanging up, Chen Mo was in shock.

An interview? Have I become someone with that much clout?

TL note:[1] The word used here was doujin, which means self-published works (but in english is commonly used to refer to H-manga)