Nexus.
This is the largest ISP in the United States, and currently the only ISP that supports World Wide Web.
If you're planning to explore the vast world of the internet, then I'm sorry to say, but Nexus is an obstacle you can't avoid no matter what.
However, in terms of its actual operation, it is basically still completely affiliated with Micronova.
Today, this is arguably the largest subsidiary besides its arcade business.
"Laugh--"
The car was parked in the parking lot of the Nexus office.
Lin Lixin pushed open the door and stepped down, casually pulling Carmack out like a little chick.
"Wake up, we're here."
John Carmack has recently been dragged around by Lin Lixin to do algorithm optimizations.
After all, he didn't have Lin Lixin's "grind master" skill to boost his stamina bar, and no matter how energetic he was, he inevitably couldn't keep up with the pace.
But that's alright. Because this kid will definitely be interested in today's work.
"Get up! Aren't you going to play the game or not?"
"Hmm... um?"
Carmack then opened his eyes, drooling.
He rubbed his sleepy eyes, put on his glasses, and then suddenly sprang out of the car with a burst of energy.
"Do it! Of course we'll do it!"
What a joke! I've been waiting for a leading project for who knows how long.
What could it be?
A new 3D shooter? Or some incredible next-generation game with groundbreaking new technology?
Or perhaps a blockbuster title on par with other flagship releases?
Just thinking about it is enough to make me excited.
Lin Lixin didn't reveal much to him, only saying that he would need to go on a business trip to Nexus for the next few days. "Hehe..."
Although Lin Lixin didn't say it, Carmack had a vague idea of what was going on.
They've all come to the network operators' side, so what else could they be doing?
Could it be a real-time online multiplayer FPS game?!
Thinking of this, Carmack cheered, quickened his pace, and ran ahead of Lin Lixin.
"First of all..."
In the conference room, once all the core members of Nexus had arrived, Lin Lixin walked over to the head of the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
He had barely opened his mouth when he dropped an outrageous bombshell, blasting everyone's midday drowsiness to the heavens.
We are discontinuing our email service.
Lin Lixin put his feet up to one side, a smile on his face, as if he was completely unaware of the shocking thing he was saying.
"What??" Email service, that's Nexus... No, not just Nexus, email service is arguably the foundation of all ISPs today.
Without this business, the ISP's core revenue source will be halved, leaving only the monthly fee for network services to sustain it.
However, how large is Nexus as it has developed to its current state?
Its number of sales representatives scattered across various locations is no less than that of Nova Arcade.
But its revenue is nowhere near that of the arcade machine, which is a money-printing machine.
You should know that ever since Gary came over and complained to Lin Lixin about being poor, Sage Lin has launched two major attacks in succession.
As for the result...
Anyone with eyes can see it.
With titles like Hotline Miami and Diablo at the helm, Nova Arcade probably won't have to worry about covering costs for a long time to come.
But the Nexus is not Nova Arcade.
Its only two sources of income are monthly fees and emails.
Cutting off one of them now would be tantamount to cutting off both of our own arms. Even if Lin Lixin has his own ideas, even if Nexus relies on Micronova for support, it can still continue to survive safely.
But if this continues... Nexus will completely lose its autonomy and become a completely empty shell.
"Don't worry, although profitability is still a big problem for us in the short term, this problem will be solved soon."
Lin Lixin noticed the confusion of the people present and casually waved his hand.
Making a profit for ISPs is a rather tricky issue.
Given the current underdeveloped state of internet infrastructure, maintaining profitability for such a large company is no easy task.
But once the Internet has taken shape even a little, this problem will no longer be a cause for concern.
Traffic is one of the most valuable things in the world.
"It's too early to talk about that now. In short, the first thing you need to do is completely shut down the paid email service."
Lin Lixin glanced at everyone, grinned,
Instead, we will offer free email service to all users, permanently free.
What is this "???"?
Doing charity?
Even burning money to buy traffic doesn't work this way.
You should know that a lot of money flows through the internet!
Every single second, huge amounts of money are burned away out of thin air.
Email services require even more storage space and bandwidth.
Lin Lixin's words, in simple terms, can be translated as:
"Brothers, I've been making way too much money lately, it's burning me up! Please, just spend it all!"
"Boss... are you sure?"
The finance department quickly estimated the potential expenses and couldn't help but shudder.
Terminating email service and offering free email service are two completely different concepts.
While the former would result in a significant loss of added-value revenue, it would also greatly reduce network maintenance pressure. The latter, however, is a different story...
Not only did they run out of supplies, but they also had to allocate a large sum of money from the budget every day to maintain the email servers for their users.
"Of course, I've discussed this with Wynn before."
Lin Lixin nodded.
"In the future internet age, what will truly be valuable is not these service fees; the users themselves will be the most precious resource."
Digital Capitalism.
Whether it's monthly fees, email, or phone charges, these things seem quite appealing in the context of the true internet economy.
"You wouldn't understand if I explained it to you now, so just remember this: the gold standard on the internet is 'attention,' not anything else."
The time is not yet ripe.
Although the rudiments of an attention economy have gradually begun to take shape on the World Wide Web.
But before it can truly mature, it is still missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.
Gamenova absolutely needs to do that. But now is not the time.
"Free email is a must, and we must do it on a large scale. Don't be afraid of resource strain caused by a large influx of users. If there is any need, allocate funds directly from Gamenova."
"If there aren't enough servers, expand them; if there aren't enough people, hire more. No matter what method you use, you must promote it by any means necessary."
"We want to do more than just provide a free email service; we want to make it a symbol of 'email' itself."
"The goal is for everyone in the future to think of their 'nmail' email address whenever they think of email."
Lin Lixin's promises were grandiose and exaggerated.
This means that in the near future, it is foreseeable that hundreds of millions of dollars will be burned away out of thin air.
But if it actually succeeds...
Gamenova's dominance in the internet age will be more secure than ever before.
By then, Gamenova will be the undisputed leader on the internet.
After Lin Lixin finished speaking, he fell silent, waiting for everyone to process what he had said.
Only after the surrounding discussion gradually subsided did he continue, "I will personally handle this technical aspect. Of course, to promote our email service, I will also create a new game specifically for it."
Having said that, he turned to look at Carmack, who was sitting in the seat of his deputy.
" Carmack, this is your mission this time: an email-based turn-based 4x strategy game."
"Long live!... Huh?"
Carmack had barely started cheering when he realized something was amiss.
It's definitely not what I imagined.
How could it be a turn-based 4x strategy game?
Why not ask Sid to handle this need?
"Based on email?"
Carmack blinked, trying to decipher Lin Lixin's intentions.
"That's right, asynchronous online play based on email, which is similar to PBEM-based games."
pbem, an oddity in the gaming world. Its full name is Playbye-mail.
As the name suggests, this is a type of game that is played via email.
However, if we really trace the origins of this genre, it's not video games, but board games.
In the past, travel was slow, and letters took a long time to arrive.
It's almost impossible to join friends in faraway places for the same game.
But hardware limitations cannot stifle the power of free imagination.
There was a group of incredibly persistent individuals who weren't afraid of any challenges, and they devised a truly top-notch "online gaming solution."
Mail for archiving.
Take chess as an example. One player needs to write down their moves, seal them in an envelope, and mail them out.
Once the recipient receives the letter, they will respond and mail it back in the same manner.
And so it goes, back and forth, a single game can sometimes last for years.
This gameplay evolved into various text-based RPGs, strategy games, and management games in the 1970s and 80s, becoming increasingly sophisticated. There were even professional commercial companies operating this gameplay, where staff would collect all player actions, input them into a large computer to simulate the results, and then print out and send the data back.
It was definitely a lot of work and effort, but the joy was undeniable.
PBM then evolved into PBEM, transforming from paper media into email.
The benefits are obvious: you no longer have to wait ten days or half a month for the postman to deliver your mail.
If sent on the same day, the recipient will receive it on the same day.
In fact, even today, unofficial versions of the pbem gameplay have already emerged in the Civilization player community.
This native, one-player, one-turn strategic gameplay is a perfect fit for this system.
It even works much better than the somewhat cramped online system that Gamenova officially implemented.
In an era where real-time connectivity is extremely difficult, asynchronous connectivity has become a counterintuitive and excellent solution.
"I've already decided on the theme. Let's make it a space-themed story, which will also be a good opportunity to collaborate with Lucas."
Lin Lixin casually picked up a piece of scrap paper and wrote his name on it with his platinum pen.
Like Pirates!!, Stars! has a name that sounds quite imposing.
A 4x strategy PCEM game released in 1995.
In a sense, its emergence indirectly created two great descendants.
One of its offspring inherited its player-centric social structure and real-person diplomacy system, becoming a prodigy in the MMO genre and gaining a loyal following.
The other offspring adopted its concepts of galactic Civilization simulation and space 4x strategy, and promoted the generation of user-generated content (UGC).
Their names are "Eve" and " Stellaris ".