Author |When Night Wind mentions the Three Kingdoms, my memory will instantly go back to my college days. At that time, every weekend, in the dormitory of the third watch in the middle of the night, my roommate and I would set up a small table and fight in the world of the Three Kingdoms. When I think about it now, I still can't help but laugh out loud.
Recently, coinciding with the year-end welfare season of "Three Kingdoms Mobile Version", Youka Network specially held a 100 Terriers Night Walking COS Competition. At the crowded offline event site, the military general with the instant noodle bowl on his head, the blind date Diao Chan dressed as the **, the walking large mahjong and the card ......All kinds of abstract cos can be seen everywhere, and it seems that I am briefly returning to the old days when I was crazy with my classmates. More than a decade later, the game and its players are still showing a fresh vitality.
This year-end benefit season series of activities also sent the game to No. 7 on the iOS best-selling list. Thanks to bold marketing campaign after campaign, the game, which was launched in 2011, is still consistently back in the top 20 of the best-selling charts, which is not easy. I found that the reason why it continues to gain the love of young people, and even become an evergreen in mobile games, seems to be hidden in these abstract cos.
The offline event was held on Saturday, and on this day, Shenzhen suddenly cooled down, and the scene was cold. But the excited players who shuttled through the field didn't seem to be affected much.
This event encouraged everyone to cosplay the characters or stalks in "Three Kingdoms Mobile Version" in various abstract ways, and finally received more than 3,000 registrations, and more than 100 people were screened to participate in offline activities.
On one side of the main stage, there are two simple and interesting mini-games, namely the ring and the pitcher. According to different game results, players can get various small gifts such as Spring Festival couplets and mouse pads. The two small booths do a good job of livening up the atmosphere, which is often surrounded by players.
And on the main stage, after the catwalk of professional cosers, it is the appearance of strange players. They gather in front of the main stage, and the host will invite the most conspicuous bags in the crowd to the stage one by one, and ask them to tell their thoughts on cos, interesting things that happened between them and the Three Kingdoms, and some small questions related to the culture of the Three Kingdoms to test them.
So how did the winner of this game come about?Next, the host will ask the audience to express their support for the players on the stage with shouts, and use instruments to measure the decibel value of the shouts, and the player with the highest decibel value is the champion. The rule may seem rather arbitrary, but it's the lighthearted atmosphere that keeps players on and off the stage immersed in it without hesitation — let's just say that one player shouting "Thank you fathers" to the audience was applauded with a loud bang.
I just want to join in the fun, and the bonus doesn't matter. One player told me. He used to be an avid Three Kingdoms Kill player, and he played it for six years, but after the change in the pace of life, he got busy, and he hasn't played it for a few years now. After seeing this event, I really wanted to come. It's still feelings or memories. 」
This time, he pretended to be a vegetable seller, and the basket was filled with a peach model with the same name as the basic card in the Three Kingdoms Killing, and he also brought his friend who also played the Three Kingdoms Kill cos into the vegetables he sold, to simulate the expression of throwing vegetables at the opponent in the game. He said that he made a lot of friends at the event this time, and everyone also formed a group, planning to have the opportunity to kill together in the future.
I asked him, is anyone starting to organize now?He said not yet, but he firmly believed that someone would be the first to start doing this kind of thing, and it would be easier to do it after it started. 」
I think it won't be long before this first person comes along. This time, I can see a lot of players chatting in groups at the event, and I always ask if you are friendsThe most common answer is no, we've just met. The fact that they were able to get acquainted so quickly may be the effect of the common language of the Three Kingdoms.
There are old players who are moved by feelings and social atmosphere and return to the pit on the spot, and there are constantly new players who are pulled into the pit by friends. Three female players who came in groups told me that they were roommates, and that one of them had been playing Three Kingdoms for a year, and the other two had only recently been taken by her to start playing. This time, in addition to wanting to join in the fun, I also came to see the eye-catching professional cosers. They neatly prepared a large number of props such as dragon robes and crowns, but it was a pity that the wheels of the bathtub props broke and they couldn't play, and the three of them were a little disappointed.
Shen Xun Yu |Coser: @爱拍照的玉老师.
Among the three, the player who has been in contact with the Three Kingdoms for a long time was once addicted to the ring game on the spot, and even borrowed a head from me to get more participation. Later, she came back with a small gift as she wished, and found that it was a pair of Spring Festival couplets, so she and her two roommates planned to stick it on the dormitory door.
This player's heart-to-heart toss mini-game.
I also met five good brothers, all of whom are veteran players of the game, and they came together to join in the fun. One of them turned out to be a female military general, Diao Chan, which was a bit spicy. After inquiry, I learned that when they first learned about this event, they agreed that the person who lost the guess box would go out of the cos, and the result was that he won the prize, and now he is also true to his word. After that, in the venue, they can always be seen playing and getting together, and it is very lively.
In the venue, there was also a pair of Conan and Maori Kogoro. They are a father and son, and the two have just gone to watch the premiere of Conan's new movie, and then hurry here according to the plan they have already set. To my surprise, both of them are loyal players of Three Kingdoms. History is a kind of cycle.
They found a table in the venue that had just been used in a previous event, so they sat down and killed it, attracting many onlookers. In fact, they had just attended a video game festival in November and had a lot of fun in a massive noodle kill. They also made a point of asking the on-site staff when there would be another similar activity, which was obviously unfinished.
In this small venue, players with different gaming experiences come together to create a fun but not tense carnival. I felt the inseparable feelings of old players here, came into contact with the novel enthusiasm of new players, met young people who came to mess around in groups, and also saw the deeper cultural significance passed on from father to son. With relaxed smiles, everyone here is enjoying this opportunity to vent their energy and express themselves in the way they like, enjoying the spiritual connection that this classic game brings to them.
Thinking about it this way, this is not the first time that "Three Kingdoms Mobile Version" has held such a successful marketing campaign. It can be seen from the ranking of the iOS best-selling list that the game can steadily return to the TOP30 every time there is an important update and marketing node, which means that various marketing activities have a strong appeal.
The central idea of these activities is to arouse the closeness and resonance of young people through memes and festivals.
Still taking this year-end welfare season as an example, this offline event was also broadcast live on various live broadcast platforms such as Station B and Huya, and a large number of benefits were also given out in the live broadcast room. And that's just the beginning. The entire year-end benefits season is packaged in the form of a carnival ceremony, while giving away benefits inside and outside the game, while frequently swiping the screen with content that young people are more interested in.
For example, in addition to the 100 Terriers Night Walking COS Competition, the game also cooperated with young singer Jing Hao to launch a linkage song "Falling Sons and Mountains". It just so happens that the military general Shen Xunyu has launched a new dynamic in the game**, and this "Falling Country" is the theme song of the general.
The producers of the song said that they incorporated trendy instruments such as the bass into the song with traditional instruments such as guzheng and xiao, trying to collide with traditional Chinese folk music with the dreamy sound of the future. Popular**This kind of content is more popular with young people, and it can also show the long-lasting cultural connotation behind the game.
In the past year-end welfare season, we have also focused on exploring content forms that are more popular with young people. For example, in 2020, they invited talk show actor Li Xueqin to stage a year-end carnival night with dense slots.
As for this year's new season of old friends, the card of feelings is played. The game cooperated with the well-known film and television team Wanhe Tianyi to launch three light-hearted and witty short dramas in one go:
"The Teammates Who Can't Get Rid of It" tells the story of two good friends who survive in the apocalyptic zombie tide, and it actually shows the teammate love of helping each other;
"Unforgettable Memory" revolves around the famous stalk of Xu Sheng in the military general world in the game, who violated the territory of Great Wu, Sheng will break it, and the skills of the scoundrel and the lines of ** are the common memory of the Three Kingdoms to kill players;
"The Strongest Lord" shows the infighting between the two identities of the lord and the loyal minister in the game, and it is also a typical fun for players to be strong when they win, and to blame their teammates for losing.
The three short dramas are easy to understand, and they go deep into the daily psychological experience of gamers, vividly expressing those memories and conveying the unique fun of the game. This is a resonance that only Three Kingdoms Kill players can understand.
Memories that can't be forgotten
At the same time, the game also cooperated with the classic singer group Nanquan Mama to launch the theme song of the Season of Old Friends "Plan Reunion". In the music video of the song, the four college roommates get together from their youth to different parts of the world, and they are always accompanied by the Three Kingdoms, so friendship and memory can cross the barriers of time and space. Sentiment is one of the game's unique strengths, and this series of marketing campaigns knows how to take advantage of that.
The annual anniversary celebration is biased towards the theme of celebration and brings out high-quality content to achieve brand marketing. This year's anniversary coincides with the launch of the military general Mou Diao Chan, and the game invited Meng Qingyang, a national first-class dancer, to launch the theme dance drama "Closed Moon", showing the beauty and resourcefulness of Diao Chan, a historical figure. While building momentum for the in-game activities, the elegant classical dance also integrates traditional cultural elements, allowing young people to appreciate this cultural charm more intuitively.
Last year's anniversary celebration caught up with the launch of the new military general Mou Huang Zhong. The game cooperated with opera singer Dai Quan and Peking Opera actor Lan Tian to launch the anniversary theme song "Xindingjun Mountain", which presented the opera culture in a more popular way, and it is also a good example of the combination of ancient and modern, suitable for all ages, **The number of ** on station B alone exceeded 2 million.
Between festivals, games will also be interspersed with some linkage activities, deeply combining games with traditional culture, and showing cultural charm in an innovative form that young people are more willing to accept.
For example, in January last year, the game cooperated with the Wuhou Temple Museum in many aspects: the linkage documentary "My Trip: Three Kingdoms", the series of linkage** Mingliang Eternal, the theme song "Mingliang Array" with singers Zu Yana Naxi and Bian Jingting, and the ice dance "Moon and Dragon" with national athlete Wang Chao and Ren Junfei.
Three Kingdoms
The content is full of ideas, and the legendary historical figure Zhuge Liang and the Three Kingdoms culture of Jin Ge Iron Horse behind him are carried forward and brought to young people. Through these novel and well-accepted content forms, players can also feel the connotation of the spirit of Wuhou, and then fall in love with this game and the culture of the Three Kingdoms.
For more than ten years, "Three Kingdoms Mobile Version" has continued to innovate in game content and gameplay, and has made a game evergreen. It is also important that "Three Kingdoms Mobile Version" does not slack off on expression because it is an old game, but goes deep into the spiritual world of young people, thinks about what they think, votes for what they like, and uses young content forms to convey the fun of the game and show the charm of traditional culture. It is precisely because of this that it can truly enter the context and life of young people.
Coming back from the event of the 100 Terriers Night Walk COS Contest, I felt as if I could go crazy with this game for another few decades.