In the hidden corner, the crazy egg ring culture .

When "Egg Boy Party" has become the "social currency" of children, "egg ring culture" has quietly emerged. Author |Liu Shanshan.

Edit|Yang Ming.

When a girl of primary school age is targeted by criminals in a game known as "cute Q Meng", is she responsible for the game involved in the nightmare "Air**"?

According to a January report by China Economic Weekly, on September 22, 2023, the Gaogang District People's Court of Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, sentenced Sun Moumou to 7 years in prison in the first instance for the crime of ** children.

Ms. Jiang decisively chose to call the police, and on April 20 of the same year, Sun Moumou, who was working as an apprentice chef in a restaurant in Shanghai, was arrested.

According to Sun Moumou's confession, there is a game square where underage players gather in "Egg Boy Party", and Sun Moumou took the initiative to talk to underage girls and add friends, saying that he could give away props, ** and put forward some requirements......These minors, who are not deeply involved in the world and lack a sense of self-protection, fell into the trap carefully arranged by Sun Moumou step by step.

Judging from the above case,The "krypton" props, **, etc., which are highly sought after by underage players in the game "Egg Boy Party", are the key bait for this kind of crime.

As an "8+" Fall Guy game created by NetEase, "Egg Boy Party" will sweep the young age group in 2023, and it is also an important support for NetEase's 2023 revenue to exceed 100 billion yuan for the first time announced on the evening of February 29.

Previously, "Micro Story" mentioned that in today's increasingly popular circles, this game has formed an "egg ring culture" that is difficult for underage groups to give up, but is gradually moving towards deformity.

Here, the author combines the observations of the past six months to try to clarify what the so-called "egg ring culture" is and what are the reasons behind the popularity? How did the platform "acquiesce" to this "egg ring culture"? What will be the hidden and far-reaching impact on the underage group?

The wind of comparison under "precision hunting".

According to 36Kr data, "Egg Boy Party" currently has 500 million young users. QuestMobile data shows that in December 2023, the post-00 users of "Egg Boy Party" accounted for 263%。From the observation around us, it can be seen that the main players of this game have a large number of elementary school students.

A large number of minors are the largest user group to build the "egg ring culture".

It is not difficult to find that as a casual game, "Egg Boy Party" has been "carefully set" in terms of revenue model, marketing model, UGC content and other aspects in order to stimulate users' comparison and vanity.

*: Provided by netizens.

The lowest rank of Egg Boy is Quail Egg, followed by Pigeon Egg, and the highest is Peak Phoenix Egg and Invincible Phoenix Egg, and only the top players in the game can get this title. "A player of "Egg Boy Party" said that for underage players, who doesn't want to be the pinnacle or even the invincible phoenix egg, showing off among children? "After all, it's about the player's position in the game. ”

How do I earn the Pinnacle title? If the time, game skills are not enough, there are other ways to achieve itFor example, through the mines, pinballs, salted fish and other props, quickly score points - obviously, most of these props need to be recharged to buy.

For another example, during the process of logging in and loading the game, the prompt that popped up in "Egg Boy Party" was "I'm tired of playing the level, let's go to Egg Boy Paradise". After that, it automatically loads into the activity center - that is, the various ** pages. After entering the game lobby, the first place you will be directed to is the egg waffle blind box shop.

The way of drawing blind boxes online is more likely to make minors addicted, and even the "culprit" that induces many minors to consume uncontrollably and compare psychology - American psychologist Skinner once did an experiment to simulate the psychological mechanism of human addiction to products such as blind boxes. The sales method of blind boxes is a copy of Skinner's experiment in the consumer market.

In "Egg Boy Party", the original price of 60 egg coins is drawn once, that is, the "blind box" of 6 yuan, which is the most important income model in the game setting - most of the accessories, clothing, colors, and expressions in the game, including co-branded IP props, are drawn in the form of "blind boxes".

"Every once in a while, the game will be launched beautifully**, which is obtained by drawing blind boxes. 9-year-old Qianqian said that her favorite is the "blind box**" setting, and the most envious is the sister who collects all kinds of ** in the game.

Many people may think that the way to draw blind boxes is not uncommon, but "Egg Boy Party" is the most popular game among primary and secondary school students at present, and there may never be a game or even an app before, which can allow such a large number of minors from all over the world and even all walks of life to gather here, so it brings a new catalyst - "peer pressure". After the spread of "comparison" among minors, it is very easy to go viral because of the existence of "peer pressure".

The so-called "peer pressure" refers to a kind of psychological pressure caused by the desire to be accepted and recognized by peers and avoid being excluded, and choosing to think or act according to the rules prescribed by peers. According to an experiment by Steinberg and Monahan (2007), after puberty, adolescents gain more self-belief and cognition, and their ability to "resist peer pressure" gradually increases, but before the age of 14, adolescents are more susceptible to peer pressure.

Results from Steinberg and Monahan (2007) show that minors are more susceptible to peer pressure before the age of 14.

The strong social mechanism established by "Egg Boy Party" has undoubtedly increased the "peer pressure" of minorsThrough the "CP team" method of "egg pairing", the social needs of minors are met at the same time, and the desire of minors to compare and speak is stimulated through virtual props.

In Zhihu, a respondent mentioned such a case: when I returned to my hometown during the Spring Festival, the children in the alleys of the village gathered not to set off firecrackers, but to play "Egg Boy Party" in a place where they could rub the net. Many children spent 1,288 yuan to recharge to buy vehicles for the Year of the Dragon, and the most surprising thing for him was to recharge in a team - this was also the first time he knew that the game recharge could also form a team.

For example, if a child charges more, he can enjoy benefits with a child who has little money, forming a consumption tendency of "recharging is superior". The most outrageous thing is that whoever has a Year of the Dragon vehicle and who has more can order other children to do anything else.

With this kind of status, it is useless to even answer the Lord to invite them to drink milk tea and eat bowl chicken. Therefore, many children do not hesitate to use pocket money, New Year's money, and even their parents' and elders' mobile phones to secretly "recharge krypton".

*: Some kind of grass platform.

In order to satisfy comparison and vanity, many examples of minors who do not hesitate to "crazy kryptonite" are common in the newspapers.

Beiqing.com reported that the 9-year-old girl stole her grandmother's ID card and recharged 170,000 yuan while playing "Egg Boy Party"; "New Yellow River" once mentioned that an 11-year-old boy drew a blind box in "Egg Boy Party" and spent more than 40,000 yuan of his family's savings. The case of "The Beijing News" is even more amazing, in a contact group with hundreds of parents, more than 590 children recharged more than 490 yuan, and the recharge amount ranged from 2,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan, and its topic once rushed to the hot search.

"Minors are at a critical time in the development of their social skills, and they crave friendships and relationships with their peers. This is an important need as they grow up。A person from Chongqing University who has long been concerned about the growth of teenagers said that children at this stage need to have an extreme sense of identity and participation, and if the classmates are playing a certain game, and they don't play, they will feel that they have no friends and no circle, resulting in a sense of loneliness and rejection.

In the end, because of comparison and vanity, I will indulge in it.

What's more, in order to attract more minors to recharge, "Egg Boy Party" is almost linked once every 10 days on average, including Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, Ultraman, Pig Man, Guobao Special Attack and other IPs that primary school students like to link, launch "blind boxes"** and marketing and promotion efforts on major short** platforms to carry out fission-style communication.

In this way, when elements such as virtual socialization, blind boxes**, fission communication, amusement park ecology, and young children's love for IP limited models** are integrated, the "precise anchoring" of "Egg Boy Party" alienates the social behavior of minors, and under the "peer pressure", the deformed "egg ring culture" gradually breeds.

The un** who begs in "Egg Boy".

What if the pocket money can't support its consumption props? The way that many minors think of is to use the group cp mechanism of "Egg Boy Party" to beg online in the game, and even beg for adoption.

On social platforms, a user posted with "Don't ask me for a gift for this child", and a baby egg added him, and asked for many gifts in the form of "dog skin plaster". Even if you delete your friends, you can still receive messages asking for gifts over and over again, which is annoying.

*: Some kind of grass platform.

China Youth Daily once reported that in the "Egg Boy Party Zone", many users have their own egg boy accounts, real people**, etc., and post friend posts "asking for adoption", among which many users who claim to be minors report self-reports such as "My daughter, 14 years old" and "Find someone who can adopt me".

Similar cases are even more common in the public channel of "Egg Boy Party" and the NetEase Dashen community, in order to "ask for gifts", there are minors and elementary school students who share their personal privacy without protection, and the "egg ring culture" has begun to slide further into edge rubbing and soft pornography.

On the "public channel", the phenomenon of large-scale pornography is widespread. According to the previous experience of "Pole Business", a large number of "side-rubbing" remarks appeared on its "public channel" in just a few minutes, such as "Sister, your object won't be jealous, right?" "You're going to gnaw me bald" "What are you eating from me" ......

Judging by the latest observations, this phenomenon still exists. On Weibo, Xiaohongshu and other platforms, a large number of users posted their real experiences of "opening pornography", "sexual harassment" and "air **", and posted complaints and worries.

*: Some kind of grass platform.

Egg Boy is a game for age 8+, there are so many children, sexual harassment is so rampant, is it appropriate? Ever wondered how long this child will be hurt? Many users questioned angrily:What does this mean on official platforms, and why is it not effectively regulated?

Behind the rampant phenomenon of pornography, an illegal incident similar to Sun Moumou's "air **" may not be a case in "Egg Boy Party".

For example, some users posted screenshots on social platforms, saying that as a minor user, they were "made pornographic rumors" by many players on the public channel of "Egg Boy Party". Because most of the friends in "Egg Boy Party" are classmates, and "Yellow Rumors" appear on public channels, it has had a serious impact on my life and study.

Minors often don't understand the dangers, which is very scary. An observer believes that what is revealed behind is that a small number of minors have lost their thinking and judgment for the sake of props and **, thinking that they only need to take photos of the side, and even cooperate with shouting "brother" to get the props and ** they want.

In such a gaming social environment, it is not surprising that pornography, online violence and bullying, and even attempts at emotional manipulation are phenomena.

An endless stream of "targeted" scams

* and props have a strong attraction for minors, which has also attracted the attention of criminals. Since the launch of Egg Boy Party, there have been many cases of related scams in the game, and they are becoming more and more rampant.

In November last year, the Nanjing Internet Police issued an article "Parents should pay attention! Beware of the Traps Behind "Egg Boy Party" points out that ** also seized the appeal of this game and "tailored" the series for the teenage group**.

Ningxia "Ping An Dongning"** government affairs account once mentioned a typical case: a resident of Yinchuan City reported to the police that his granddaughter used a mobile phone to swipe the short**, and saw someone claiming that she could swipe the game of "Egg Boy Party" for free**, and then operated according to the steps said by the other party, and successively transferred a total of more than 270,000 yuan to the bank card provided by the other party.

Dongguan, Guangdong Province, also had a case of egg waffle party fraud involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. In June last year, Mr. Chen's son in Dongguan, Guangdong Province met ** because of playing "Egg Boy Party", and the other party took the "Egg Boy Party Free ** Gift Package" as **, and even scared and deceived and transferred 360,000 yuan away.

In addition, dozens of ** organizations such as "Zibo Internet Police" and "Jinzhou Internet Police" specially issued a reminder that there are many cases involving "Egg Boy Party" in various places, and ** often lure teenagers to be deceived step by step in the name of "free games**, props", etc., and lose hundreds of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, or even hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Since 2024, there have been many cases of underage players being deceived in "Egg Boy Party". On March 1, according to Chengdu ** report, Ms. Zhang's daughter Xiaoxia (pseudonym) often plays "Egg Boy Party" through the tablet, and when she saw a page with free **, she added a stranger friend, changed the password under the lure of the other party, and was finally defrauded of more than 20,000 yuan.

From the root point, it is still the pathological pursuit of minors in the game that has become the 'target' of **. The above-mentioned observer said.

The fraud cases related to "Egg Boy Party" are not clumsy. It is precisely the game environment in which a large number of ignorant minors gather and compare kryptonite that makes it easy for even such a clumsy method to succeed. In other words, targeting the game will make the scam quite efficient.

"Egg Boy Party" has undoubtedly become a "feng shui treasure" for them.

The secret and dangerous "egg ring culture".

When "Egg Boy Party" has become the "social currency" of children, "egg ring culture" has quietly emerged.

At present, there is no precise definition of "egg ring culture" in the industry, and it is certain that it has nothing to do with cultural phenomena that are loved by elementary school students, such as IP creation - Ultraman and bear infested.

Combined with the above, as well as the long-term observation of "Egg Boy Party" by "Pole Business", "Egg Ring Culture" can be roughly defined as:In the game "Egg Boy Party", where a large number of peers gather, underage players breed a bad atmosphere in order to obtain rare ** props, including a series of deformities such as "crazy krypton gold", "begging", "erotic rubbing", and even illegal and criminal behaviors such as "air **" and "Internet fraud".

From the observation point of view, the "egg ring culture" and the "fan circle culture" have some similarities, such as high sociality, a sense of identity, and the combination of virtual and reality.

Egg pairing is all about making friends. Xiaoxi said that every time before going online, she would take out her **watch to "shake people", "and then classmates and friends would try their best to go online and meet in the game hall, which is an important way for us to find a sense of identity and make friends." ”

Like the "fan circle culture" in the past, the so-called "egg circle culture" has also become deformed in a series of absurd phenomena such as comparing krypton gold, begging for adoption on the Internet, rubbing soft pornography, and online violence and bullying. Even, it has become a breeding ground for illegal crimes such as "air **" and "Internet fraud".

If it is said that the precision hunting of minors is only a commercial means. So while winning more income, "Egg Boy Party" has an obvious lack of social responsibility, and is even misleading.

Judging from the latest official publicity, "Egg Boy" is building a kind of "post-00 trend culture".Or even a "game that parents play together". It can be simply understood as a game that minors and parents can trust.

The problem is that "Egg Boy Party" is not a young game only for minors, and there is no entry threshold restriction, while minors and parents "trust", it is easy to be used by some "unscrupulous" others, and even be frequently targeted.

From a business point of view, the rapid expansion of the ecology "Egg Boy Party" has indeed succeeded, and there is no suspense that it has become a new engine for NetEase Games' revenue growth.

According to NetEase's latest financial report, NetEase's total revenue in 2023 will be 103.5 billion yuan, of which the operating revenue of the game business will reach 81.6 billion yuan, an increase of 9% over 20224%, an increase that is ahead of the overall and other businesses. The net revenue of NetEase's ** games contributes about 92% of the revenue of the game business9%。Ding Lei clearly mentioned in the financial report that the growth was mainly driven by mobile games such as "Egg Boy Party".

This is obviously inseparable from the influx of a large number of underage and primary school students.

However, for NetEase, a 26-year-old Internet company, commercial success does not mean everything - behind it, it is the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee that named "Egg Boy Party" as a null and void for the protection of minors, the angry complaints of tens of thousands of parents who have no way to defend their rights on major platforms, and the continuous disclosure of the increasingly deformed "egg ring culture" by major enterprises. What it has lost is not only the trust of parents and society, but also the social responsibility that an enterprise should have.