The Video That Set Public Opinion Ablaze

Late at night, when all was quiet, was precisely when internet traffic was at its most active.

On the country's largest video platform, an UP master with the account ID [Dr. Ruan] uploaded a brand-new video. The instant his subscribers received the notification, the video's views, bullet comments, and comment count began soaring wildly at a visible rate, its popularity curve as steep as a rocket launching into the sky.

The video opened on Ruan Wenbo's familiar face.

"Hello, everyone. I'm your Dr. Ruan." Ruan Wenbo greeted his viewers as he usually did at the start of his videos. There was a trace of barely perceptible exhaustion in his voice, but far more excitement.

The screen was immediately flooded by a dense barrage of bullet comments.

[Got him! Got him! Bro Ruan, you finally showed up!]

[The missing person has returned!]

[Good grief, I thought aliens had abducted you.]

Ruan Wenbo continued, "I know you're all definitely curious about where I've been all day. I didn't upload a video, and I didn't say anything in the group chat. The reason is simple—I was completely immersed in a game. That game that's recently caused a bloodbath online, with a trailer made like a movie. That's right, it's Warhammer 40K."

Then he changed the subject and got to the point, his tone turning serious.

"First, I have to say that this game's developers possess an almost pathological obsession with 'realism.'"

"The moment I entered the game, before I even understood what was going on, the filthy air of the Underhive had me choking until tears and snot ran down my face. After finally getting onto a troop carrier, I was jolted around so badly the entire way that I felt like I was about to puke up bile. Once we reached the battlefield, I had to scavenge weapons and ammo from piles of corpses myself. In the meat soup cooked by logistics, I even drank up a scrap of someone's uniform. The most ridiculous thing was that you had to find somewhere safe just to log off. Otherwise, while you were asleep, something might really sneak up and attack you!"

His complaints filled the bullet comments with cheerful laughter.

[Hahahaha, daring to enter the Underhive without a gas mask? I respect you as a real man!]

[As a warrior of the Imperium, if you get thrown off the vehicle, you can climb back on by yourself.]

[I'm dying. You wake up after sleeping and find that Underhive mutant rats have gnawed you clean.]

At the same time, however, different opinions appeared.

[Wait, this game is that hardcore? That sounds way too discouraging.]

[That doesn't sound like playing a game. It sounds like suffering...]

As though he had anticipated the viewers' reactions, Dr. Ruan's expression became solemn. Facing the camera, he said, "But I also noticed that the developers aren't trying to deliberately torment players with so-called 'realism,' nor are they simply piling up environmental assets to create superficial realism. Their realism is realism with internal logic. And that realism brings an unparalleled sense of immersion. I can say with absolute certainty that there isn't a single game currently on the market that can compare to it in this regard."

He began giving examples.

"For instance, after one battle, several other closed beta players and I voluntarily dragged the bodies of fallen Astra Militarum soldiers to a relatively intact place and laid them to rest. Because of that small act, we could clearly feel that the other NPC soldiers in the camp had become friendlier and more respectful toward us. When the Commissar returned later, he didn't punish us for leaving our posts without permission. He merely told us to return to our positions immediately, and even softened his tone, telling us to make sure we survived first before worrying about the dead. You have to understand, before that, whenever we violated any tactical regulations, the Commissar communicated with us through shouting and kicks to the ass."

"Another example: this game's death penalty is extremely severe. It wipes out all your Faction Merit and resets your network of relationships with NPCs. And the one who carries out the procedure of clearing your Faction Merit is your superior officer. That means... if a player becomes the superior officer themselves, then as long as that player officer is willing to reinstate you, theoretically, you won't need to worry at all about death resetting your position and wiping out your merits!"

This revelation instantly blew up the bullet comments.

[Holy crap, that's insane?!]

[You learned how to exploit Bugs after just one day of playing? 666, that's our Bro Ruan!]

[The guy above, how can you call it a Bug? Anything that benefits players is called a feature!]

Dr. Ruan looked into the camera with a smile that said, "You all know what I mean," and continued, "At the same time, I also have to praise this game's developers. Their attitude is genuinely excellent. After this closed beta ended, we weren't immediately kicked off the server. Instead, we were invited into a special space and had a face-to-face meeting directly with the official planners! The planners seriously asked us whether there was anything in this closed beta that we felt needed changing. They answered almost every question we raised, and for things they couldn't do for the time being, they didn't beat around the bush either."

"For example, you don't need to worry that the method I mentioned earlier for avoiding the death penalty will get patched out by the officials. I got that method precisely by asking a planner about it during our face-to-face meeting. The planner personally acknowledged that this behavior was reasonable. Clearly, while pursuing realism, the developers haven't restricted players. Instead, they've given players an extremely high degree of freedom. They have absolute confidence in the internal consistency of the world logic they created, believing that no matter how we bypass content or hunt for Bugs, we won't cause the game's progression to collapse."

The bullet comments erupted again.

[Holy crap, these developers are kind of amazing. They really opened things up!]

[I've honestly never seen officials encourage players to exploit Bugs... I mean, exploit game features.]

[Now that you've put it that way, I absolutely have to wait for the open beta and go looking for Bugs in their game!]

As the video gradually neared its end, Dr. Ruan put away his smile and gave his final summary.

"Although this experience only lasted one short day outside the game, and only three days in-game, I believe this closed beta was complete and successful."

"The developers clearly have no intention of making this into a mainstream game. At least at this stage, I haven't seen even the slightest sign of that. Their target player base is very clear and simple: hardcore players with plenty of free time who are willing to invest a great deal of energy into studying and immersing themselves in the game. As for whether this approach is good or bad, different people will have different opinions. But at least in my view, it may not be such a bad approach."

The final image froze on Dr. Ruan's sincere gaze, while the bullet comments carried on with their final discussion.

[A hardcore game... then how are they planning to make their money back?]

[Hardcore is good! This is how it should be! It wouldn't be fun at all if a bunch of low-quality trash got into the game.]

[What a pity. I'm an office worker with too little time. Looks like I won't get the chance to join...]

The video ended, and the screen went black. But the storm of public opinion it had stirred was only just beginning. Like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake, the shockwave rapidly broke beyond the confines of a single video platform and began spreading into every corner of the internet.