Text/Nine Lotus Treasure Lamp

This year marks the seventh anniversary of Azur Route. I thought that at this age, it would be time for a game to retire quietly. But the frequency of their work this year has become more and more frequent:

It's not been long since the game reached the top 8 of the best-selling list in the anniversary event, and in the last three weekends, they have launched an offline event called "Cool Festival" in Shenzhen, Changsha and Shanghai.

"Blue Route", cool, offline ...... Together, these words are enough to attract the attention of Grape King. You should have said such a big thing! How can this be without me?

So I first participated in the Shenzhen event, and then I couldn't get enough of it, so I rushed to Shanghai with my camera and participated in another cool festival. And after participating in both of them, I have to say: what kind of cool festival is this, it's a little too hot.

01

What's in the Cool Festival?

The venues of the three cool festivals of "Blue Route" have their own characteristics.

For example, in Shenzhen, they held a beach party. The weather was just right, and the players were lying on the beach together, playing games and chatting, and there were all kinds of mini-games, which was full of resort-like atmosphere, and it was almost time to put on a barbecue.

The picture comes from the official dynamics

At Changsha Station, "Blue Route" was held in the Chaozong Street Historical and Cultural District. It's really new to hold events in the neighborhood: there are not many that allow players to play activities while shopping.

The picture comes from the official dynamics

When it came to Shanghai, the game was officially held at an indoor venue (West Bund Dome Art Center). But even then, it's not like your average comic show: it's a small, but brightly lit circular venue. From anywhere you stand in the venue, you can get an unobstructed view of the event. Players walk from booth to booth within a few steps of the process. So in my opinion, it gives me the feeling of being a "party".

Having said that, you can also see the consistency of the activity style of "Blue Route": beach vacations, shopping, and circular venues, which are more party than commercial activities with products.

What's more, in the Cool Festival, players really want what they want: in Shanghai, for example, in terms of entertainment, you can throw darts, practice skateboarding, play a reaction test lamp game, and a sledgehammer machine that can test your strength...... All kinds of mini-games, almost like a professional indoor park.

Every time a player plays a mini-game, they can also get a stamp certification from the staff, and if they collect enough stamps, they can exchange them for various small gifts, and they may get a camping car up to a minimum.

On the main stage, players can watch professional DJs DJs, listen to guests sing game songs, play games against other players, and even use the official account with 400,000 red spikes to experience a refreshing gacha - this is also the most high-profile event for the audience, and everyone in the rotunda can see the situation on the main stage, so whenever someone draws a rare character, there will be envious exclamations from all corners of the audience.

As for the photography area in the center of the venue, of course, it has long been surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside. Many of the characters played by the cosers are recreating the summer-themed skins of the characters of "Blue Route", which are quite compatible with this ocean-flavored set, which really makes people very eager to shoot stamp collects - even if I have the mentality of "play all the mini-games", I only take some cosers in between activities, and after visiting the exhibition, I have accumulated more than 900 portraits in my camera.

And in this event, you don't have to participate only in the form of "special forces". Azur also offers free ice cream to players who have participated in enough events, so it's not uncommon to see a lot of players getting together and chatting over a meal in the middle of the event.

Frankly speaking, in the later stages of the event, I was even a little sad: the offline activities of many games today may be much larger than the cool festival activities of "Blue Route" in terms of scale and content investment. That kind of thing is also very attractive to me, but this kind of "club meeting" atmosphere where there are not too many performances and exaggerated scenes, just everyone gets together and chats, but I have a feeling that I have not been able to do for a long time.

02

The unchanged "Welcome Back to Hong Kong",

There's something new every time

However, what surprised me the most about this event was that "Blue Route" dared to hold the first Cool Festival in the seventh year, and it held three shows as soon as it came up, and each one was still very lively.

Why is there still such a passion for a seven-year-old game? I think it may have something to do with the brutal temperament: as an old two-dimensional game company, they may be one of the few teams that still retain that primitive feeling.

From the perspective of the recognized correct development path, it seems that moving towards industrialization and methodology is the direction that a company should pursue. I've always been in agreement with that.

But at the venue in Shenzhen, when I saw some players sitting on the shady stone platform or lazy sofa by the beach after they were tired of playing, looking down at the level for a while, looking up at the crowd on the beach for a while, and communicating with friends from time to time, I also felt a little shaken in my heart: how long have we not discussed how to care about the product?

It is easy to misinterpret methodology and industrialization by reducing it to process theory. It is believed that methodological accumulation is to follow the successful plan every year and do similar activities and benefits. That's a bit of a compromise - we all know that only creating the expectation that the game will "keep moving forward" will keep players coming to expect the game.

At the gate of the Shanghai Station of the Cool Festival, when I saw the phrase "Commander, welcome back to Hong Kong" that almost every offline event of "Blue Route" has, I suddenly realized that their seemingly methodological and unconventional work gave players an expectation: every time the work is not necessarily perfect, but the game official has never been bad, but has been trying to move forward.

This anticipation retains users, which in turn achieves results.

03

"Blue Route", why is it always there?

But then again, "Blue Route" is not a messy job. I think they can create an expectation that players will "keep moving forward" in at least two ways:

First of all, in the game, the project team is constantly updating the functions and gameplay. Blue Route celebrates its anniversary every year, not only announcing new content, but also making adjustments to many aspects of the game's gameplay. Now that Azur Route has been continuously optimized, it's hard to believe that it's still the original game.

Secondly, outside of the game, the game has also been trying to integrate into the player's life and create a sense of companionship. I am afraid that for many products, once the income declines, all kinds of peripherals and activities are often the first to be cut budget. But in reality, it's also an important part of providing players with expectations.

In many studies of Korea players in the industry, a word is mentioned called "sense of general trend". According to some researchers, for a game to become popular in Korea, it must first create an atmosphere where it is being discussed by the whole society.

I think that although domestic players may not be attracted by this general trend, if your product is "gone", then players can easily perceive it: for example, there are fewer and fewer offline activities and peripherals, there is no advertising for the game, and there is no shadow of the product at major exhibitions...... Even the most enthusiastic players will probably feel "sad" when they see such a situation.

In the past year, I have been running a lot of exhibitions, and "Blue Route" is always there. Guangzhou fireflies are also there, and Shanghai BW is also there. You may have heard of the humorous advertisements they put up at the Xujiahui subway station, and you may have heard that the heavy rain in BW this year almost flooded the "Commander, welcome back to Hong Kong" sign...... "Blue Route" has always been there. It's telling players that we're still buzzing here, and there's a steady stream of new and unexpected content to come.

I think that many times we may overlook one thing: as a spiritual entertainment product, games should be all-round to satisfy the user's emotions. In addition to telling a good story in the game, perhaps even the development of the game itself should also be a good story that makes people feel spiritually satisfied.

At the end of many reunion stories, it is said that "I have lived a happy life since then". It is not only an explanation of the characters in the story, but also the hope of the person who tells and listens to the story. For players, living a happy life may not only be the characters in the game, but also the game and the people who play it. For gamers, this is perhaps also the most romantic thing.

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