As we all know, talking about copyright in China is something that many people find ridiculous and many people find sad. Although the law is improving day by day, and copyright is getting more attention every day, piracy and copycats are always two topics that cannot be escaped.

When it comes to piracy, some people are happy and some are worried. The joy is that it is cheap and the quality is not necessarily repeated, but the sorrow is the infinite consequences it brings. I must admit that less than two years ago, I was also a piracy admirer and expressed disdain for people who used genuine software or bought genuine products. The reason is simple, no money. As a student, my monthly living expenses are not enough to allow me to swim in the ocean of genuine games, let alone how many pirated versions of a genuine board game I can play. Even now, I will download pirated videos to watch, but pirated videos are no longer used for game products. It’s not that I became rich, but that I witnessed the evils of piracy.

Let me make a digression here. As a computer game enthusiast, I have also paid great attention to the development of domestic games. I remember when I was a kid, there were so many high-quality domestic games and the competition was fierce. New games would appear almost every two months, and they were not limited to RPGs. The excitement at that time is indescribable. Gradually, there are fewer and fewer domestic stand-alone games, and high-quality ones are even rarer. The plots are clichéd and the genres are single, and they gradually become attachments to feelings. I also wanted to figure out what went wrong. Later I discovered that in addition to the political "persecution" in the early 21st century, piracy was undoubtedly another major reason for the collapse of this industry.

Talking back to board games, when the Three Kingdoms craze began, pirated copies appeared in various newsstands. Unlike electronics, board games are simpler to create and copy. As long as there is a box of original products, it is not a dream to reproduce an identical product, and the cost will be greatly reduced. The products produced can be completely fake and real, and it is almost difficult to detect the difference without using them for a period of time. In this way, pirated board games slowly devour the fruits of victory that belong to designers and publishing companies, and step by step push domestic board games into the abyss. But in fact, if there were only the impact of piracy, domestic board games would not be so seriously harmed. After all, the price of domestic board games is not high. Compared with foreign board games, they can be regarded as basically unprofitable, so pirates are actually less likely to favor domestic board games. So what's the bigger problem? Copycat. At the beginning of the Three Kingdoms game, a large Internet company launched an online game with the same game mechanism and a very similar game name, and used its huge user base to snatch the resources of the Three Kingdoms game.

As for the reason why the contemporaries were not treated in the same way, it was because their ol version was cooperating with this company (everyone knows who it is). Of course, the facts ultimately prove that this boring copycat operation will only gradually be abandoned by netizens. However, this is only part of a very common phenomenon. Water Margin Killing, Pirate Killing, AV Killing…all kinds of killing games flood the market. These products, which should be regarded as garbage, are extremely consistent with the law of bad money driving out good money, and inexplicably occupy various newsstands. So much so that in order to achieve a certain level of popularity in the country, werewolves had to be promoted as "Werewolf". Of course, it also has another name called Werewolf Game, which is to cater to killing game lovers. What is even more inexplicable is that a company called Qiyue Board Games shamelessly and blatantly publishes some excellent foreign party board games as its own products. From Please Close Your Eyes after Dark, Just a Word to Deno, it was almost published with just another illustration. This kind of unscrupulous enterprise is still sought after by a large number of people who do not know the truth.

I believe that some people will say at this time, didn't Three Kingdoms Kill also start from a copycat? Indeed. There is no doubt that Three Kingdoms can learn from BANG. From the game mechanism itself to the fighting style, it all feels familiar. However, the designers of Three Kingdoms also made drastic changes to BANG. From streamlining the game mechanics to localizing it, every step would add a layer of shell to the original game. At least what makes people understand is that from the beginning of the design of Three Kingdoms, they wanted to make their own new things based on the lessons learned. It is also because of this that there is a considerable distance between Three Kingdoms and BANG itself. However, many domestic board game companies now do not expect to design better works, but how to make better money, so they have produced a large number of low-quality works that change the basics.

This is not to say that making money is wrong. Idealism cannot feed people, that is a fact. But in today's impetuous environment, whether it is the tabletop game world or the video game world, it is not a bad thing to have more idealists.

As for the final fate of copycats, we have seen many times. Here is just one example. Square Box 365, as an excellent agency company at that time, represented many excellent foreign board games. Especially after acting as the agent for Assassination God, it once became popular among players and attracted a lot of attention. Under this trend, Fanghezi published the domestic masterpiece Dragon Killer out of the desire to reduce player pressure or some other mentality. This work does not make any modifications to the game mechanics of God of Assassination, not even the numerical values. It just puts on the three-piece coat and sells it at less than half the price of God of Assassination. As mentioned above, Square Box failed to recover and disappeared from the sight of board game players. It no longer provided Chinese players with other expansion capabilities of Assassination God. During the boom at that time, there was also a company that launched a similar copycat game, which also failed, but relied on the financial resources of the group to survive. That’s right, this company is called Bianfeng. It owns the corporate game cards of Three Kingdoms, Haofang and Zhanqi. It is said that it has acquired Fanghezi and Qianzhi, and it has also been raising Qiyue Board Games to produce the Happy Square series of “original board games”.

5. The impact of wingers on player groups

I have always believed that there are some leaders in every industry in China, such as BAT in the Internet industry, China Mobile and China Unicom in the communications industry, NetEase and Perfect Xishanju in the online game industry, etc. In China's board game world, Winger is the undoubted leader.

At this point, many people will definitely question, why not a travel card company? Three Kingdoms was designed by Yuka. One thing must be made clear. Youka is indeed the father of Three Kingdoms, but it is also a subsidiary of Winger. Youka does provide a very good localized work, but Winger has provided great support in terms of marketing, branding and funding. It can be said that if it were not for the shaping of Winger, Three Kingdoms would be popular, but it would not have such a large and loyal fan base as it does now. Not only that, the winger's influence on the game is still very huge. As a subsidiary, Youka dares not speak out even if it has opinions on many marketing and operational issues.

I remember two years ago, when I learned that the general cards included in the board game had nothing to do with the chief designer of Three Kingdoms, I was extremely shocked. After all, before that, board game journals were just a promotional tool for Three Kingdoms to the public. Whether it is the bonus cards, the so-called ranking of domestic board games, or the large amount of space left for Three Kingdoms, people are convinced of this point of view. However, board game history is the product of Mr. Winger.

Not only that, canned goddesses, three battle cards, card journals, etc. have little to do with game cards. Of course, in the current situation, it is questionable whether the wingers and the game cards can be so separated, but the game cards are gradually shaped by the wingers into a Three Kingdoms killing machine, and they use this to carry out rounds of brand building and product marketing. , is an undoubted fact.

It must be said that board game ambition was very reliable in the early days. A large number of introductions to domestic board games, recommendations for excellent foreign board games, and analysis of Three Kingdoms killing tactics all make people feel that this is a relatively professional board game magazine. It has to be said that this kind of naked support for domestic board games has made many players who only played Three Kingdoms begin to get involved with other fun board games.

However, gradually, the board game magazine's bias towards the Three Kingdoms game gradually increased, and they tried to regain the lost players. Finally, in a certain issue of the magazine, Board Game Magazine published an article written by a fanatical fan of Three Kingdoms, openly shouting from a distance from the board game forum, putting board game players who were originally prejudiced against fans of Three Kingdoms into a serious position. opposite. Not only that, Winger suppresses creativity in disguise, reduces the target group and reduces game agents. You know, in the earliest days of the game, there were still some original works, such as God of Fortune and Egg Breaking. Although the level was uneven and the originality was questionable, at least they were stabilizing and creating new ones. But now, the only games left in the game are Three Kingdoms and Three Kingdoms peripherals. Cao Cao's tomb, vertical and horizontal, confrontation… In the end, even the word original was ignored. This has to be said to be a complete degeneration. The golden brand of Three Kingdoms has also gradually reached its lowest point due to the gradual collapse of the balance of Myth Resurrection and the official event of "X will become famous", which saves trouble and has poor quality. Of course, from the national war, 3V3, 1V1 to the bloody battle to the end, Yuka has tried many mechanical innovations in an attempt to bring the Three Kingdoms brand back to life. After the innovation of last year's Battle of Kings, this year's Battle of Kings has removed all other events except 3V3. This can basically be regarded as an abandonment of the Three Kingdoms offline competition by the winger. The reduction in publicity of the new version of Three Kingdoms and the double decline in price and quality can be seen that Winger is gradually shifting the focus of its operations from offline to online, completely transforming it from tabletop games to online cards, trying to get on with the game. The path of stone legend.

Not only original content, but also board game agents are gradually declining. Initially, Winger also represented a game called Ubungo, which did not seem to have much impact. Later, after Square Box 365 disappeared, Winger once took over the banner of Assassination God and lowered the price to half of the original price, but nothing happened after the basic version was released. Of course, Winger is not a professional board game agency, which is not a big problem. It can only be said to have given up a "side job." As a commercial company, every move Winger makes is for profit, which is understandable. But as a leader in the board game industry, it has not done enough. Just imagine, if Winger had established a production line for Chinese board game designers during the Three Kingdoms era and used a large number of design competitions to encourage originality, perhaps outstanding mainland designers would not have left Hong Kong and Taiwan. If Winger does not support a junk company like Qiyue Board Games that makes a living from piracy and copycat games, but uses the money to introduce genuine board games, perhaps the domestic board game culture will further accumulate. If Winger puts as much energy into physical board games as online games, perhaps Three Kingdoms or other games will spark a second spring in the board game industry. Unfortunately, these are all ifs.

Regarding the current situation of the board game industry, some people say that it is a cooling off after the outbreak of irrationality, while others say that board games have never been popular in China at all. Indeed, domestic board games are now embarking on a completely new path. In terms of original board games, Dream World is still working hard, Longyi is still persisting, Three Kingdoms is still lingering, and some new independent games (Flea Market, Age of Discovery) are also enriching the board game market. In terms of board game agents, in addition to the well-established Tourist Terminal, emerging agents such as Shijiguan and Table Yipai have gradually brought us more high-quality board games.