Chapter 1: The national server of Warcraft is dead.
Some people are alive, but it is dead in everyone’s hearts.
Wen Xin participated in the online memorial service of the president of a gaming company and sent him his most sincere greetings, wishing him health and longevity, a happy life, and a happy family.
On January 23, 2023, the national server of World of Warcraft, which had been in operation for 18 years, was suspended due to agency issues.
The national server is dead, and I have something to pay homage to with an electronic urn.
Wen Xin, who invested all his wealth in the World of Warcraft game studio in the middle of last year and was ready to show off his talents, went bankrupt as the national server of World of Warcraft was closed.
The house leaked and it rained all night. Just the day before yesterday, my mother called and told me that someone in the village was engaged and would get married soon.
"The bride price is 230,000 yuan, and the three gold medals are 60,000 yuan. The bride's family is a big family, which requires at least 230,000 to 30,000 yuan. The total amount is more than 300,000 yuan." It rained all night, and
my mother called again yesterday. .
"That so-and-so who played with you when you were a child bought a house in the city. I heard that he will soon buy a car worth about 300,000 yuan. Now when people in the village mention him, they all give a thumbs up and say that he has a future."
Wen Xin, who is still unmarried at the age of 33 and has accomplished nothing, is under great pressure. As she gets older, she is most afraid of hearing such bad news.
He is obviously a pure post-90s generation in 1990. After so many years since graduating from college, he can only earn seven to eight thousand a month by working 996 every day. Not to mention buying a car or a house, I don't even dare to go on a blind date because I can't afford the gift and I'm afraid that talking about money will hurt my feelings if I fall in love with her.
In order to change the current situation, Wen Xin chose to resign and start his own business.
He doesn't have much skill, but his greatest skill is playing games, World of Warcraft.
Wen Xin has participated in many global first kill competitions for large-scale World of Warcraft expansion packs and large raids. Although he did not win the first kill, he achieved a good ranking and is somewhat famous in the circle.
Moreover, playing games brings him a lot of income. Sometimes he is lucky and makes more money from games every month than his 996 salary from work.
He specializes in the art industry. On the eve of the launch of World of Warcraft 10.0 Age of Dragons and the launch of the classic server Wrath of the Lich King, Wen Xin decisively seized the opportunity and chose to open a World of Warcraft game studio. In order to quickly develop the studio before the official Age of Dragons and the nostalgic server The Wrath of the Lich King, he invested all his savings over the years in the studio, waiting for the opening of Age of Dragons and The Wrath of the Lich King to start from many Get a piece of the studio pie.
However, the opposite happened.
Just when Wen Xin's studio was developing in an orderly manner and just beginning to take shape, a bolt from the blue came.
NetEase and Blizzard’s agent contract renewal talks have collapsed, and the game will be closed on January 23, 2023.
Wen Xin, like most people, had imagined that the two companies would not really break up over money, and that the national server might still have a chance to turn around.
The facts slapped each other in the face, and the two companies really came to blows, completely losing their little room for maneuver.
As soon as the news of the server closure came out, Wen Xin, a small studio that had just started its business, suffered a heavy blow. The orders that were originally endless to fill every day were quickly reduced, and the daily ordering from staying up all night became leisurely.
"Go to the Asian server."
Someone once suggested to Wen Xin to abandon the Chinese server and switch to the Asian server.
But Wen Xin couldn't do it because he didn't have enough funds, so he had to invest more if he wanted to move to the Asian server.
Moreover, the future of the Asian server is unclear, and it is easy to fall into the abyss if you invest rashly.
In just one month, Wen Xin's studio went from prosperity to decline. Employees saw the future of the studio and chose to leave their jobs and move to large studios.
Wen Xin did not blame them. After all, we are all adults and life is not easy. In order to make everyone have a good year, he will give everyone their half-year bonus.
In this way, his studio only operated for half a year. As the national server closed down, he himself also went bankrupt.
Snap.
Warmly shut down the computer and ignite a melancholy.
After the Chinese New Year, he immediately returned to the city from his hometown to deal with the "future affairs" of the studio.
In order to save money, Wen Xin lives in the studio and still has half a year's rent.
"Sell it."
The studio was empty except for the cold computer.
Wen Xin plans to transfer all the computers in the studio to another large studio in two days. At least he can get his capital back, so that half a year of hard work will not be in vain.
This blow was very heavy for him. As soon as he closed his eyes, his mother's nagging echoed in his mind, asking him to go back for a blind date, get married, and get ahead.
"It's better to go back to my hometown and start a small business." At
33 years old, Wen Xin, who had worked for 9 years, was tired of the 996 lifestyle and decided to go back to his hometown and start a real small business after selling his computer and getting the capital back. , let’s settle down for two years first.
I can't believe that living in my hometown, I can meet the right girl and get married without expensive betrothal gifts.
After all, getting married and having children is, in a sense, far more important than making money.
Ding dong!
The doorbell awakened Wen Xin from his deep thoughts.
Wen Xin came to his senses. Could it be that the employee left something behind in the studio and came back to pick it up?
Wen Xin suppressed his melancholy and went to open the door. When the door opened, the employee he imagined did not appear, but a delivery boy.
The courier boy held a large cardboard box and asked Wen Xin: "Excuse me, is this Mr. Wen Xin? Your courier is here."
My courier?
Wen Xin was sure that he was not shopping online, and asked in confusion: "Are you sure it's my express delivery?"
The courier boy looked at the express delivery information on the carton and confirmed: "This is No. xx, Building xx, xx Street, right? "
Wen Xin nodded: "Yes."
The courier boy said again: "Then your mobile phone number is 182xxxx4001?"
Wen Xin nodded again: "That's right."
The courier boy said: "That's right, this is 豼The express delivery, please sign for it."
Life is not easy for everyone, and Wen Xin will not embarrass a courier and take the carton from the courier boy.
The carton was not small, so Wen Xin was prepared for it to be heavy.
However, when Wen Xin received the carton, he found that the carton was very light, very, very light, so light that it seemed like an empty carton.
mischief?
Wen Xin was full of questions. It was not a prank, why would he mail an empty carton? It was strange.
The courier boy left, Wen Xin closed the door and decided to open the cardboard box to find out.
Just take out the key and use a sharp tip to slit the carton seal.
open.
"Good guy."
Wen Xin was speechless. There was actually a smaller cardboard box inside.
Okay, keep dismantling it.
"It hurts."
Wen Xin was speechless again. There was actually an even smaller cardboard box inside.
Okay, let’s continue to dismantle it.
The cardboard boxes were stacked one on top of another, and Wen Xin was now sure that it was someone's prank, but being stubborn, he decided to fight to the end to see what kind of air could be removed from the inside.
After tearing down ten layers in a row, Wen Xin finally took out something from a cardboard box that was only the size of a palm.
A card.
The pattern on the "World of Warcraft Game Card"
card is a game picture of World of Warcraft, which seems to be a promotional picture for the public beta of World of Warcraft.
What is going on?
Wen Xin took the card and looked at it carefully, wanting to find out: "The oldest version of the game's point card in 2005? It's not like that. How could the workmanship of the point card in 2005 be so good? The point cards and mobile phone recharge cards at that time It's the same, made of paper, and can be broken by folding it casually."
Could it be...
Wen Xin thought of a possibility: "Could it be a commemorative gift for the 18-year-old players of World of Warcraft?"
After all, they are the oldest group of players, I have been playing since the public beta and have not missed any expansion packs. Now that the Chinese server is closed, the game company has finally become a second person. It is normal to give out small gifts to old players as souvenirs.
That's the packaging. Does a small commemorative card need to be packed in 10 layers of cardboard?
Well, it can be seen that the closure of the national server and the unemployment of staff in the domestic operation department are all disguised with emotions.
Wen Xin smiled and put the commemorative card into his pocket.
"Didi..."
"User information is being read..."
"Username: Wen Xin"
"World of Warcraft game card bound successfully"
"Sleep login game auxiliary function turned on"
Wen Xin did not notice, put the "souvenir" in his pocket Card” mysteriously disappeared.
(End of chapter)