In many SLG games with the theme of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo is often set as a "novice village boss", and is beaten into an experience pack by the princes and legions formed by the player. Many games also hastily portray Dong Zhuo as a martial artist with more than one brutality and lower IQ, and it seems that if there is no Lu Bu in his way, the Kwantung coalition can easily take Dong Zhuo down.
However, Dong Zhuo in history is not so simple. He has the side of the young Ren Xia who has repeatedly made military achievements, and he also has the highlight moment of killing and decisively seizing the historical opportunity. The process of his seizure of power was not an upstart violent suppression of all opposition forces, but a clever attempt to seize the opportunity of the merger of various forces. Dong Zhuo's comprehensive strength is obviously not an experience package given to the Kwantung princes in vain.
In the latest issue of Dong Zhuo's animated short film released on June 8 in "The Shore of the Land", the multi-faceted nature of this powerful minister in the late Han Dynasty was fully demonstrated. The nearly 3-minute short film reviews Dong Zhuo's life and depicts how a high-spirited teenager climbed to the top of power step by step, and how he failed to escape the bewitchment of power, "The dragon slayer boy eventually became an evil dragon".
Players had a heated discussion in the comment area: "Did Dong Zhuo start the troubled times, or did the troubled times swallow Dong Zhuo?" And "The Shore of the Land" will be launched on June 19 in the new S1 theme season "Rebellion and Contribution", which will also focus on the comprehensive interpretation of Dong Zhuo, redesign the rules, and "epicly strengthen" the power of Dong Zhuo's legion, so that this novice village boss can be a real boss.
Exquisite restoration under history - the road of the evil dragon of the dragon slayer boy
The excavation of the multifaceted characters of the Three Kingdoms has always been done by "The Shore of the Land", but this time the character aims at Dong Zhuo, which many players did not expect. Because many film and television works and games use Dong Zhuo as a tool, Dong Zhuo gradually became the "most familiar stranger" in the history of the Three Kingdoms. Everyone thought that Dong Zhuo was a tyrant with a fat brain and a wine pond and a meat forest, and he had to bring a "lustful" attribute.
Dong Zhuo's image has become like this, it's really no wonder that film and television games are played. Hundreds of years ago, literati and writers had already described this "Taishi" in this way. After all, in terms of success or defeat, Dong Zhuo, as a loser, naturally does not have a glorious image, and the warlord class in which Dong Zhuo is located is even more likely to be looked down upon by literati and doctors.
But in fact, Dong Zhuo also had a time when he was in high spirits. In the animated short film of the land, we can see that Dong Zhuo when he was young was also determined to make meritorious contributions to the country.
Whether it is Dong Zhuo's strong body and "galloping left and right" in the official history, or the Xiang Yu treasure knife that Dong Zhuo occasionally obtained in the field in the wild history, they are all restored in the short film, vividly showing Dong Zhuo's brave side.
However, the road to power climbing, which has repeatedly made military achievements, has not been smooth. He attacked the Qiang people in a good way, but in the face of the Yellow Turban Uprising, he was unfavorable, and the army was defeated and convicted. Hit by this, after his comeback, he tightened his grip on the military power in his hands, seized the opportunity of his cousin He Jin and the eunuch group to enter Beijing, and successfully won over the Bingzhou group represented by Lu Bu and the scribe group who were victimized by the party, and finally seized the supreme power by abolishing the Han Emperor.
Dong Zhuo's ascension surprised many people. For example, Yuan Shao, who once recommended Dong Zhuo to enter the court, thought that he could easily control this martial artist with his background, but it was he who was out of the game, so he could only go to Kanto to pull up the team against Dong Lianjun.
At this time, Dong Zhuo had already made himself a representative of the imperial power through some layout. Before the war started, the Kwantung princes had already lost for a while. This is also the end of the animated short film, Dong Zhuo can say, "You wait for the teacher to be Xiangque, and dare to call yourself loyal?" Confidence.
In terms of combat ability, Dong Zhuo's merger and Liang border guards are not afraid of the so-called family families who are pampered and pampered. The final battle also proved this. The ones who could fight back and forth with Dong Zhuo's army were all border guards from various places such as Sun Jian and Gongsun Zhan, and the Yuan brothers became the king of fish.
Dong Zhuo's animated short film is less than 3 minutes long, but the players' enthusiasm for discussion is ignited. Some people think that Dong Zhuo is willing to fall in the process of seizing power, and the arrows he shot when he was young eventually flew towards his fallen self; Some people also feel that the emergence of Dong Zhuo is an inevitability of the decline of imperial power, and when all the institutional designs that prevent Dong Zhuo from ascending to the throne fail, the emergence of "Dong Zhuo" becomes an inevitability.
Showing the multifaceted nature of historical figures makes players think: this is exactly what Shore of the Land aims to achieve. Before Dong Zhuo, there were many character chronicles out of the circle, such as the Lingdi chapter, which allowed players to see the complex faces under the appearance of "Faint King", while Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang showed three-dimensional characters from different perspectives of Wei and Shu, which left a deep impression on players.
Some players will watch the local characters as a drama, and some people in the comment area also ridicule NetEase as "an animation company delayed by games" from time to time. The animated short film of the characters of "The Shore of the Land" is undoubtedly recording the history of the Three Kingdoms, filling the gaps in the history of the Three Kingdoms, and feeding back the culture of the Three Kingdoms. It is not difficult for us to find that more and more short videos explaining history are quoting the biographical materials of the land, and it can be said that "The Shore of the Land" has contributed its own strength to the understanding of the history of the Three Kingdoms.
To be the most newcomer-friendly SLG
With the release of Dong Zhuo's animated short film, the new theme of "The Shore of the Land" around Dong Zhuo's first season, "Rebellion and Contribution", will also be launched on June 19. The new season is based on Dong Zhuo's reign in power at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and Megatron as the background of the times, combined with historical facts, new gameplay systems such as meritorious official titles have been added, and the ability of Dong Zhuo's army as an NPC has been greatly strengthened.
As shown in the animation of the local characters, Dong Zhuo's ascension to the throne was not a reckless man's temporary ambition, but an interest group formed by attracting forces from all sides. In order to win the support of the military group, Dong Zhuo's subordinates held important positions in the army and guarded various cities, such as the Bingzhou Army represented by Lu Bu became Dong Zhuo's main military force against the Kwantung coalition army. In order to win over local celebrities, Dong Zhuo appointed Han Fu, Kong Ling, Liu Dai and many other scholars as local officials at the state assassin level after entering Beijing, in exchange for the recognition of him by the local state and county.
In the season of rebellion, Dong Zhuo's ascension process was restored. At the beginning of the season, Dong Zhuo's forces not only occupied the cities and checkpoints of Sili, Yongzhou, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou, but also dominated some cities in other states.
In addition to their own defenders, these cities also have additional guarded generals and guard camps, and different generals have different defense characteristics, which further increases the challenge of the player's siege.
It can be said that in the season of rebellion and meritorious service, there is no ready-made alliance leader like "Yuan Shao", forcing the wall grass of the princes of the Eighteenth Road to stand in line as soon as possible. Instead, players in each server need to play this role in person, using their military strength to "befriend" the allies of the surrounding counties one by one, so that they can join the army of Dong Dong. If the player is unable to capture the local cities loyal to Dong Zhuo as soon as possible, they will become a stronghold for Dong Zhuo's power to expand outward, leaving the player in a bitter battle.
Of course, the game did not strengthen Dong Zhuo's power one-sidedly, and also arranged corresponding buffs for players. In this season, players can defeat Dong Zhuo's forces (either attacking or killing enemies) to obtain merits, and the accumulation of merits can be exchanged for different titles and even the title of king. Correspondingly, the PK between players in this season will not increase merit, and there will be no martial arts. The final season settlement is also judged by whether or not Dong Zhuo's forces are eliminated, and the ranking rewards between alliances will also be determined by the amount of the city occupied by Dong Zhuo.
This new season seems to be an "epic strengthening of Dong Zhuo", but in fact, it is hiding the intention of spoiling new players. One of the major pain points of today's SLG novice players is that they can't find a sense of purpose when they first enter the game, and they have not yet figured out the rules, so they are persuaded to quit by high-intensity PK or can't keep up with the rhythm of alliance battles and have to be scattered.
By canceling PK rewards in the new season, the PK intensity between players in the early stage has been greatly reduced, creating a more friendly starting environment for novice players. At the same time, the official rank system refers to the Qin and Han knighthood system, which can bring a clear sense of purpose to newcomer players, and play SLG with the feeling of RPG by fighting monsters and upgrading. Finally, newcomer players can also familiarize themselves with the rules of battle through the battle with the NPC legion defending the city, practice how to match generals and combat skills, and combine welfare activities such as self-selected five-star generals and five-star cards in summer to find their own playing style and get the fun of the game.
For veteran players, the strengthening of Dong Zhuo's legion has increased the difficulty of the alliance to attack cities and seize land, and it is necessary to unite more alliances and cooperate in order to win. Under the new rules, all novice players will also become the object of alliance competition, and it will be easier for them to find a sense of purpose and accomplishment in the division of labor and cooperation. Veteran players, on the other hand, can gain a sense of accomplishment by commanding larger corps and take on the responsibility of being the first to attack the team in the team.
It can be said that the painstaking efforts to make animations and new seasons for Dong Zhuo are to solve the pain points of novice SLG players with Dong Zhuo's hands without losing the historical truth, so that SLG can also bring players the same experience as RPG. Immediately following the optional five-star general event, the mercenary system will also be released to the S1 season at the end of the month for players to experience. From this, we can feel that it has always been serious to make a "most friendly SLG for newcomers".
epilogue
The SLG track rolls out of the sky every day, and how to retain novice players has become the biggest headache for manufacturers. Compared with blindly smashing advertisements to give benefits, "The Shore of the Land" has found a different way to make SLG with the concept of making a content-based game, making full use of the historical background of the Three Kingdoms, by excavating historical figures, creating a fuller character image to create a real Three Kingdoms, attracting players with the weight of history, and then retaining players with the art style, character modeling and seasonal gameplay that are popular with young people.
Just like this Dong Zhuo's new season, it is not a random change, but an adjustment of the rules according to Dong Zhuo's development process, which can allow players to identify with the game, like the game, and find a sense of substitution. To do this, in-game product innovation and out-of-game cultural cultivation are indispensable.