Spring is the season for going out, and White Valentine's Day is also suitable for appointments, of course, to the appointment of paper people.
During last year's White Valentine's Day (hereinafter referred to as "White Love"), the male protagonists living in "Painted Travelers in Time and Space" (hereinafter referred to as "Painted Travelers") finally confessed to the young painters (referring to the "Painted Travelers" player group) that they wanted to become the existence that accompanied their lives.
After a year, the same is spring, but also the season of tulip blooming, in the white love of this time point that has a special meaning for small painters, through the linkage with the tide play planet IP Star, NetEase will briefly bring these paper people into the real life of the player, which is an invitation.
As a player, I have seen too many cooperation activities between mobile games and offline physical stores, but this time it is not the same, because the linkage coffee shop will be open from March to June, nearly 100 days, enough time for characters and players to enter the summer from spring.
Because of laziness, I have been hovering on the edge of hesitation, but words such as white love limited activities, not far away and other words shake my determination, so I and my co-workers agreed to go to the linkage café on a Saturday with good weather.
It was also this rare offline experience that gave me a new understanding of the significance of game linkage, especially in the category of Otome.
01
When the character in the game, walk into the real life coffee shop
At about eleven o'clock in the afternoon, my co-workers and I successfully connected in the linkage store, and took advantage of the gap in the waiting position, and we turned around.
The visible scarlet background and antique lanterns are to fit the theme of "Staying Together Tonight", and the game illustrations that cover the entire wall have attracted a lot of attention because of the strong two-dimensional atmosphere. In the curious eyes of passers-by, the young painters calmly and calmly completed a group photo with the characters.
The peach blossom tree decorated at the entrance of the shop is also covered with handwritten messages from the little painter, from "Kao Kao Ashore" to "To become a useful person to society like Si Lan (one of the male protagonists in the game)." As a carrier, the thin letterhead bears the role of the player's life that wants to cross the dimension and share with the characters.
(some weird words)
Back in line, I chatted with the other little painters around me. From the demining guide of what kind of food is the most difficult to eat for so-and-so characters, to why "Painted Traveler" was chosen.
The answer to this question is a small painter wearing a baseball cap, let's call her a "baseball cap".
"I started playing three times, and you really can't remember how I got into the pit." At that time, my uncle (referring to station B) advertised on the home page every day, giving him a face game and playing it until now. ”
When talking about why she likes the paper people in the game, after a short period of shame, she brings up the argument that "the old husband and wife have nothing to say". After showing me her pain bag full of liking character badges, the baseball cap emphasized, "He's really nice." ”
I nodded in agreement, "I know. ”
"You don't push him how do you know!" In circles, push is often used to refer to the favorite character in the game, and occasionally used as a verb, meaning similar to raiders and likes.
02
Regardless of their status, they are all small painters in the shop
After two hours of queuing, we were finally able to sit in the store.
The PV looping on TV is something that the young painters have long been familiar with, but at some special point in time, everyone will still put down the meal in sync, and then wait for a character to appear, waiting for him to finish his lines.
At this moment, whether it is an ordinary social animal from nine to five, or a middle school student who has just finished class or even carried a bag of test papers and is still wearing a school uniform, he has found a sense of belonging in this coffee shop.
The meals served in the restaurant echo the character's color and even personality. Even the use of tableware corresponds to the game plot. For example, the red food box in the picture is from the dating plot of one of the male protagonists, Ain, and the little painter.
In order to leave this offline companionship with a deeper memory for the young painters, almost every order can get the corresponding role peripherals. When I returned to my seat with a full load, the girl in the distance walked toward me in a very nervous state visible to the naked eye, pointed to the surrounding placemat in my hand, and tentatively asked me if I could exchange.
(The placemat I got)
After confirming that she had a role I liked, I agreed. "With this placemat it's like he's eating with me every day." After happily removing the placemat, she sighed.
After some time, the little painter who had chatted with us while waiting at the door was finally able to sit in the shop and temporarily use A to refer to the little girl in the school uniform. Coincidentally, her location was next to us. So as soon as I put down a large bag in my hand, A tortured me.
"Whose placemat did you get?" Remembering that not long ago, the missing ungrouped role she was talking about had just been changed by me, and I didn't tell the truth, showing A the placemat role I had exchanged.
"Sure enough, it was really hard for him to change, and he was so hot."
In the surrounding circles, there is a set of corresponding words, not only to refer to all the peripherals as millet, but also to buy the surrounding areas as "eating grain", and when the popularity of the character is high to a certain extent, it will evolve from popular to "hot door".
After a brief outpouring, the little girl in the school uniform began the next round of self-sufficiency gossip. "Have you eaten the Valley of White Love?" It's really beautiful, in two days it will be white love, and on the first anniversary, I pushed to my side. ”
Of course, after two hours of struggling to queue up for my co-workers, I also ate the limited white love periphery.
In fact, for the players of the otome game, not only the placemat, but also all the surroundings are the same. These things, which seem to outsiders as nothing more than prints, are testimonies to players' participation in activities at special points in time. They are not only a supplement to the sense of companionship, but also a carrier for extending the player's emotions to the real world.
03
They, who were accompanied by "The Painted Traveler", said so
After chatting with A for a while, she took the initiative to interrupt the topic, saying that the time was almost up, and then began to write the exam paper with her friends.
In addition to A, I also talked to another young painter, "Xiao Fan", because she came to the store alone, which is actually a bit rare. When asked why, she seemed very calm, "Oh, it is more socially fearful, and it is difficult to tell the people around her classmates that they like paper people, anyway, they are close to come by themselves." ”
After seeing the coaster pattern in my hand, Xiao Fan took the initiative to propose an exchange, "I have all the staff together, just what you have in your hand is repetitive, you can change a different one." ”
(Some character coasters)
In this slightly crowded coffee shop, the little painters who are not familiar with each other quickly have a dialogue because of their favorite characters, from the speed of the main restaurant to the difficulty of the school's examination.
Of course, there is also some discussion about why you are in the pit. Among the various reasons, we heard a very interesting statement from Xiao Tan, a college student who is very similar to the heroine setting of "Painted Traveler". In her description of her profession, I learned that she not only needed to learn to cut videos, but even use a game engine in the later stages.
"At the beginning, I didn't actually have great expectations for the theme of the game, just play it simply." But after playing, I will find a lot of content in the game, which makes me feel very touched by drawing at the same time. How to say it, it seems to be a kind of resonance, because many things are really only felt and expressed by being a painter. ”
As Xiao Tan said, "Painted Traveler" is not only a game of love with paper people for her, but also a motivation for her to continue to draw. As a student of art, she interrupted her study of painting for a while. While busy with professional classes, she also thinks about what she wants to do and whether there is any need to continue painting.
During this time, Xiao Tan showed us the fan paintings on her iPad that were created around the game characters.
"It's not a power generation for love, I just want more people to know about this game." Because in some points that I think are more important in real life and need to make choices, "Painted Traveler" will make my choice more firm, and it is because of this game that I want to continue to draw. ”
Probably in order to let the slightly heavy emotions continue to be cheerful, Xiao Zuo, who was traveling with Xiao Tan, took over the stubble, "She is tricked into spending money on paper men!" I got into the pit because I saw her paintings. Because we have a group, the netizens who were originally just discussing the two creations of the same people just took advantage of the offline activities to exchange materials in the store. (Unexpectedly refers to the homemade peripheral distributed by the player for free)
Perhaps because of the trigger of the "unsurprising" keyword, the small painter at the next table frequently casts his eyes on us. I finally realized with hindsight that there was a sign on her table with the word "Collar No Material". What we ended up with was a set of Q cards drawn by herself and then printed.
As laymen, my co-workers and I can only say thank you, but Xiao Tan and Xiao Zuo, as painters, seem to have more topics to discuss with the little painter who is unbeatable. Although we don't understand the meaning of professional terms, watching them praise each other's works, we can also empathize with this happiness.
04
It is offline linkage, but also the continuation of the sense of companionship
The coffee shop wasn't really big, but we spent almost a whole day here.
The game illustrations that cover the walls, the ornaments and lanterns that the player is familiar with, relying on these items, the characters that only exist on the screen seem to break through the dimensional wall and truly come to the player's side. In such an atmosphere, the player is able to more clearly perceive the presence of the character.
As players of Otome Games, they certainly know that there is a rift between the bizarre world and real life in the game, but it is still necessary to provide such a platform that stands between reality and imagination, so that they can feel the response from the game.
The business of the coffee shop and the in-game white love activities are promoted simultaneously, combined with the birthday celebration content of the game characters, this online and offline parallel operation method makes up for the lack of companionship in real life of Otome Games. And around the shelves at a special point in time, or acrylic pendants, or light and fluttering pieces of paper, are a special physical memory.
Of course, while extending the sense of companionship from the game to real life, we also hope that these emotions about love and recognition can continue, and hope that the little painters can spend more white Valentine's Day with the paper man characters they love.