Estimated reading time: ~7 minutes
Chapter 39
Evening.
Kimura is attending the regular meeting of the Dream Fantasy game admins team.
「…And that’s all from the sales department.」
「Thank you. Next, let’s hear from the marketing department.」
「Yes, well, regarding the trend in active users, we’ve seen a 2-point increase compared to two weeks ago. Considering the timing, this seems to be the impact of the inaugural event and the addition of the guild feature.」
「「「Oooh!」」」
Everyone, including Kimura, voices their amazement.
This is only natural, as the game they’ve created is being well-received. Of course they would be delighted.
However, only the marketing department head has a grim expression as he continues.
「…But at the same time, the refund request rate has also further increased. Two weeks ago, it was about one in ten people, but now it’s at a rate of one in seven.」
「「「Ahh…」」」
This time, everyone lets out a dispirited sigh.
The platform distributing Dream Fantasy allows unconditional refund requests within three days of purchase.
A high number of these requests is proof that there are many players who 「were initially interested but found it unsuitable for some reason.」
In other words, they are losing potential customers.
And significantly more so than two weeks ago.
「And almost all of those requesting refunds are light users, the younger demographic trying a VRMMO for the first time. Now that we’re losing them, our main target, we need to start taking measures for improvement soon.」
Until now, they had turned a blind eye, thinking it was ‘inevitable to some extent.’
But things have reached a point where they can no longer overlook it.
As the marketing department head says, they will likely need to come up with some countermeasures.
「Indeed… By the way, is the reason for the refund requests still because of that?」
「Yes. According to surveys and reviews, 90% are due to that.」
The marketing head replies.
That refers to the tutorial.
Before releasing the official version, the president of their joint development partner company suddenly requested directly to ‘change the tutorial.’
Looking at what was presented, it was an unbearably detailed tutorial filled with jargon, completely uninteresting, and tedious to listen to.
Therefore, the representatives from each department here unanimously said 「No way.」
They were going to tell the higher-ups in a meeting to refuse the change, but unexpectedly, the president took a liking to that tutorial.
Probably being from a generation that enjoyed reading game manuals and such, that needlessly detailed explanation suited his tastes.
As a result, it was suddenly swapped out by the president’s decision, resulting in the current terrible tutorial.
(The tutorial is the cause after all…)
Some got fed up with the length of the tutorial and felt 「I’ve had enough of this game」 at that point.
Others skipped it because it was too long to listen to, and then felt 「I don’t really get it so forget it」 as they didn’t know what to do.
The high number of refund requests from light users is due to one of these two reasons.
Everyone present here, including Kimura, has realized this.
If so, changing it to an easier to understand tutorial would solve the issue, but they can’t do that.
Since the company has already given the OK, suddenly changing it now would strain the relationship with their partner.
And in the first place, their own president likely wouldn’t allow it.
「…I see. Since we can’t change the tutorial, we’ll need to somehow manage with another method, but…」
「But we ain’t got no method…」
The game director chimes in.
After that, everyone brainstorms various improvement ideas, but none seem promising.
As the scheduled time arrives, the topic is shelved for now.
They decide that each person will think of improvement proposals by the next regular meeting, and the meeting concludes.
☆
Two hours later.
Despite having finished what he needed to do, Kimura is still at his desk even after work hours.
(I must come up with a good idea no matter what!)
At the inaugural event, Kimura made a fatal mistake as a PR rep by forgetting to announce the name of the guest performer, Teshigawara.
He is aiming to make up for that failure by presenting a brilliant idea at the next meeting.
(What if we create an NPC for the tutorial? No, but that would take money and time… Hmm.)
He ponders for a while after that, but no matter how much he thinks, no good ideas come to mind.
Only time passes, and as it nears 9 PM…
(Oh crap, it’s this late already! I better get going soon!)
Noticing the time, Kimura hastily leaves the office.
☆
Several tens of minutes later.
Kimura arrives at his usual izakaya in the middle of the bustling city.
Proceeding inside and heading to the table in the very back, there are two burly-looking guys.
「Ah, Kimura! Hey there!」
「Good work today!」
They are his juniors from university days who he had plans to drink with tonight.
「Sorry to keep you waiting! My bad for being late!」
「No worries at all! Ah, Kimura, beer good for you?」
「Ah, yeah!」
「Great! Hey miss, we’re ready to order!」
After that, they toast with the beer that’s brought over, wet their throats, and chat about recent happenings for a few minutes.
Then one of the juniors opens his mouth as if remembering something.
「Oh right, that’s it! The other day, me and this guy started playing your company’s game together!」
「Oh! How was it?」
「It was crazy fun! Right?」
「Yeah! I’m totally hooked already! But the explanation at the start was totally incomprehensible.」
「Ahaha, I knew it. But you didn’t quit partway through, huh.」
「Ah, there was this super kind old dude who taught us all sorts of stuff!」
「Yeah, yeah! If that old guy wasn’t there, we woulda quit right then and there.」
Hearing the two talk, a certain person comes to Kimura’s mind.
「…Could it be, you’re talking about the Tutorial Guy?」
「Ah, I think he did say something like that.」
(I knew it was Mr. Taida after all. Seems like they would’ve quit if they hadn’t met him, so I really need to thank Mr. Taida… Hm? Wait a sec…?)
Kimura puts his mug on the table and closes his eyes to ponder.
Eventually, a brilliant idea comes to him.
He doesn’t know if it can be realized, but if things go well, it might reduce the number of refund requests.
「…mura! Kimura!」
「Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about something.」
「About work?」
「Yeah, kind of. But thanks to you two, I just thought of an amazingly good idea!」
「Huh? Did we do something?」
「Yup, you helped a ton! I’ll treat you guys today as thanks.」
「For real? I dunno what we did, but thanks!」
「Thanks a bunch! Well then, don’t mind if I do! Hey miss!」
「Hey hey, just ’cause I said that doesn’t mean you can go overboard ordering!」
After that, Kimura enjoyed bantering with his juniors in high spirits.
☆
The next day.
Having finished the morning assembly, Kimura sits down at his desk.
He immediately operates his computer and opens a list of survey data collected during the beta test.
It contains the personal data of the beta testers such as their real names, ages, occupations, as well as their ratings of various aspects of the game on a 5-point scale.
(Taida, Taida… Oh, there he is!)
Finding the name of the Tutorial Guy, Isamu, Kimura checks his occupation.
There, it says ‘Freeter’ (part-time worker).
(Alriiight!)
At the inaugural event, when Kimura casually asked Isamu what kind of work he usually does, he gave a wry smile and dodged the question.
From his demeanor, Kimura had offhandedly guessed that he was probably unemployed or a freeter, and that was exactly right.
Ideally he would have preferred if Isamu was unemployed, but even as a freeter, there’s a good chance he’ll accept the invitation.
With this, he’s cleared the first hurdle for now.
(Now then, the next issue is whether it’ll pass at the meeting. Okay, I need to make a presentation document.)
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