Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Zhao Haiping couldn't help but marvel at how well the game company played the marketing game. This kind of marketing trick, as compared to conventional methods, indeed managed to generate quite a buzz!

First, they spent a large sum to secure the top trending spot on global top-tier websites by publishing an article that appeared absurd and bizarre. While everyone was discussing what exactly it was all about and the buzz reached its peak, they timely released the official game website.

The level of attention it garnered was off the charts!

If they had simply stated from the beginning that this was just a game, it probably wouldn't have achieved such a successful promotional effect.

Of course, the announcement for recruiting beta testers for the game was also full of gimmicks.

Daring to proclaim itself "a virtual reality game surpassing one hundred percent realism"?

Zhao Haiping's first reaction was disbelief.

Although the virtual reality technology in this world had also developed quite well, it was still very far from being one hundred percent realistic — currently, it could only achieve about 50% realism.

But Zhao Haiping felt that since this mysterious game company could get all the top global news websites and social media platforms to advertise this game, it must be quite prestigious.

Perhaps it was some top-tier studio that had been low-key for decades and had finally made a significant breakthrough in consciousness connection technology, and thus developed this game?

This possibility was quite likely.

Otherwise, what else could it be, something made by aliens?

So Zhao Haiping thought that it was absolutely necessary to play this game; even if it didn't achieve one hundred percent realism, reaching seventy or eighty percent would still crush all current virtual reality games on the market!

He directly clicked the "Preorder" button.

After clicking, a signup form popped up on the webpage. It didn't require much information; logging in with his account on the gaming platform would automatically fetch the relevant game information.

After the preorder was successful, a notification popped up saying that the beta testers would be drawn before 10 p.m. tonight. There were limited slots available, and arriving first didn't guarantee a spot, as the draw probability depended significantly on one's past virtual reality gaming experience.

"So, are they selecting technologically proficient players through their experience in other virtual reality games?

"Well, that makes sense, especially considering the game seems to be a very hardcore, high-difficulty one from the recruitment announcement. They definitely want to pick some experienced players.

"With my thousand hours of experience in action virtual reality games, I should have a chance of being selected, right?"

Zhao Haiping felt apprehensive but had no choice but to wait patiently.

...

It was past nine in the evening.

Zhao Haiping was still grinding in other virtual reality games.

The so-called grinding involved using a game character to challenge a specific level boss, finding the most perfect execution within a set of rules, and then publishing the recorded gameplay, which was referred to as "posting."

Thanks to the relatively mature virtual reality technology, players could easily record their gameplay and freely choose angles for editing, without having to worry about the first-person perspective causing viewers to feel dizzy.

In several virtual reality action games, Zhao Haiping was considered a top player.

But tonight, he kept performing worse each time he fought the same boss.

The boss was uncooperative, often using difficult moves, and his own performance was subpar, making silly mistakes.

"No more grinding; I just can't calm down!"

Zhao Haiping lost all interest in those classic action games that once kept him up all night, the moment he thought of the upcoming beta test of the game that boasted of a true 100% realistic virtual reality experience.

He checked the online discussions.

As expected, after the official website of "Dark Sand" was launched, the discussion around "Return Order's Notes" did not end. Instead, it heightened even more.

And on major gaming forums, the discussion was explosive!

Most people didn't believe that "Dark Sand" could be a virtual reality game that was truly one hundred percent realistic, but players were still eagerly clicking the preorder button, feeling both conflicted and anticipatory about the launch.

Up to now, everyone was guessing that "Dark Sand" might be developed by some mysterious domestic company, since "Return Order's Notes" originally appeared in Chinese, and the game also adopted an Eastern historical theme.

Even many overseas people came up with various conspiracy theories.

Meanwhile, domestic players believed that the companies behind "Dark Sand" could not be the traditional giants of the Chinese gaming industry. Firstly, the giants didn't have such development capabilities but only knew how to create games that monetized heavily; secondly, they couldn't keep calm about even the slightest hint of a technological breakthrough, almost desperate to hype it up to the whole world.

It could only be that some top-tier, low-profile domestic studios had made significant advancements in consciousness connection technology, elevating realism from around 50% to almost 100%, and thus developed this game to test the waters, achieving this dimension-defying effect.

Of course, all this was predicated on the reality of the game's existence.

Nervously, Zhao Haiping opened the official website of "Dark Sand" to check the results of the beta tester draw.

"Congratulations on becoming one of the first batch of beta testers for 'Dark Sand'! Please log in to the game at 10 p.m. sharp. If you do not log in for a long time, your beta testing qualification might be revoked."

Zhao Haiping couldn't help but punch the air, his excitement evident.

"I got it!"

Then, looking at the forums, there was an overwhelming stream of complaints.

It seemed that the chances of being selected for this beta test were very low; the majority saw a different notification.