"Joseph was arrested!?"
In an elegantly decorated restaurant, Alto was somewhat shocked hearing this unexpected news!
"Yes, Mr. Alto."
"But it's not a major issue, just a minor conflict with the tribunal magistrate."
"I have some connections at the tribunal. I'm confident he'll be released soon."
The speaker was a woman with a very gentle voice!
She wore a wine-red silk gown, its hem embroidered with dark gold vine patterns, accentuating her graceful, elegant curves.
Voluminous wavy curls cascaded lazily over her shoulders, a string of lustrous pearls adorning her neck.
Warmth and a smile resided in her eyes, luxurious yet understated.
She didn't seem old, exuding a mature, elegant aura.
Understanding the full course of events, Alto was speechless.
Good grief, he hadn't expected this guy to be so impulsive.
Fortunately, this wasn't a serious issue, but a few days in detention were unavoidable.
"Then may I ask who you are?"
"Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Ophelia Saint Oros, President of Saint Oros Trading Company!"
She extended her hand.
Alto was somewhat surprised, reaching out to shake it lightly.
So this was the elusive company president.
Since he'd always coordinated with Joseph, he'd never met the president, only heard Joseph mention she was a woman.
"So you're the president! I've heard so much about you, though I didn't expect you to be so young!"
Alto truly hadn't expected this major merchant company's president to be such a young woman.
"Mr. Alto is the truly young and accomplished one!"
"I personally love your work, Plants vs Zombies!"
"However, I've been busy with internal family affairs, so I haven't had a chance to meet with you until now."
Ophelia spoke smoothly.
"I see."
Alto couldn't pry into others' family matters. The two chatted for quite a while.
Regarding this plagiarism issue, they discussed it thoroughly.
However, Alto wasn't worried about this point, he just told her to continue normal sales and wait patiently.
Regarding Heroes vs Dragons, he'd already examined it in detail.
Early levels were passable, barely acceptable at best.
But as levels progressed, many minor discrepancies became magnified.
Simply put, the balance wasn't properly done. It was probably rushed, its designer Henry likely barely studied Plants vs Zombies before hastily cranking out a knockoff.
Even the later mini-game content was just thrown together carelessly.
You could say it had the form but lost the soul.
"Those who learn from me thrive, those who merely imitate me fail", he had confidence in Plants vs Zombies.
Because of recent events...
More people had noticed these two works.
Discussions about these two works grew increasingly loud.
Arguments started with gameplay, moved to visuals.
From visuals to details.
From details to greeting each other's family members, gradually exhibiting person-to-person transmission.
In short, these two games had completely broken out of their niche.
As they say, controversy brings traffic, traffic brings sales.
Regardless of whether it's fun, seeing so many people discussing it, someone will always want to try it.
So an even more absurd phenomenon appeared afterward.
The market saw another Plants vs Zombies-like work appear.
Then a second, a third.
Within days, various merchants stocked several weird knockoffs.
Things like Heroes vs Beasts, Kingdom vs Orcs.
All about muddying the waters and riding the hype train.
Most were works from small designers, after all, Plants vs Zombies' production requirements weren't high. Some designers with no talent and no prospects of advancement figured they'd take the gamble.
Reggie Trading Company Headquarters
Herman was currently laughing heartily!
"President, Heroes vs Dragons sales have broken through 600,000 copies!"
"We believe it won't be long before we break a million!"
"Excellent! As long as we maintain this momentum, our sales will eventually catch up with theirs."
He savored a sip of red wine, feeling satisfied.
I'm practically a genius.
"Many of our branch locations' Moonstone reserves are nearly depleted. Should we urgently engrave more, President?"
"Rush-produce 1 million copies immediately, and increase promotional efforts!"
"This time we'll seize most of the market share!"
But while he was all smiles, someone else was frowning.
At this moment, one player who'd purchased Heroes vs Dragons was about to completely explode mentally.
"What garbage! Died again!"
"These damn short imp dogs are impossible to hit!"
On screen, an extremely small demon hound, due to its low model height, couldn't be hit by heroes with straight-line attacks.
Only fire scrolls could kill it.
Moreover, some monsters were extremely tanky.
Since spawn lanes were randomized, if two stat monsters appeared on the same lane simultaneously, no method could kill them all, ultimately resulting in a loss
Purely infuriating.
As more and more people reached late-game...
Heroes vs Dragons' problems began appearing more frequently.
Overpowered enemies, data imbalance, model clipping, even unwinnable levels.
Some got stuck on levels for an entire day with no solution, completely breaking down.
Wanting to blow up the dream world entirely.
Meanwhile, the Plants vs Zombies player community experienced the complete opposite.
As completion numbers grew...
More and more strategies were discovered.
Especially after clearing Survival Mode, there was an Endless Mode.
Building the strongest formations became something many researched.
Things like Eight-Cob setups, Triple-Garlic builds, Ice builds, Mushroom builds, Flaming Gatling builds, all self-taught.
All sorts of flashy maneuvers kept people playing joyfully.
At this moment, the bespectacled chubby Rowan was rapidly operating the control panel.
His Endless Mode had remarkably reached wave 157.
More interestingly, three people stood behind him, watching his operations intently.
"Holy shit, incredible!"
"Cob Cannon is too powerful, one shot wipes out masses, and no sun cost either!"
"Too bad I'm still 10,000 coins short. I want it so badly!"
The version Alto created had modified prices for many items.
The original Cob Cannon only cost 20,000, but this version required 50,000 coins.
Rowan felt rather smug.
Among several people, his progress was the highest, and his understanding of the game the deepest.
"Look, the first few waves don't have many zombies, so we need to exploit this advantage to rapidly accumulate sun early on."
"Don't rush planting other offensive plants, just plant four Scaredy-shrooms in the middle pool lanes, put Garlic top and bottom, add some explosive plants, and that's enough."
"Plant Sunflowers everywhere else, then use Imitater to duplicate them."
"After accumulating sun, directly deploy Cob Cannons."
"Once eight Cob Cannons are set up, no matter how many zombies come, they're just fodder."