Chapter 561- Strengthened Escort
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Apart from that, Gaia also had other reasons for removing the Super Auction Platform.
Although the territories in the wilderness were basically self-sufficient, as they were in different regions, they had different distribution of resources. Hence, each territory, including Shanhai City, needed to trade with other people.
Either to sell products, buy raw materials, or conduct other transactions.
After the Super Auction Platform went down, the Lords could only use channels to fulfill their trading needs.
The first method was to pass through the wilderness to trade with the imperial cities. However, this matter was impossible in a short period of time, since the territories were too far away from the imperial cities.
As such, the second method remained, which was to trade with other territories.
The most convenient method would be to trade with their neighbors.
However, the main point of the wilderness was the survival of the fittest.
In normal scenarios, there were basically no good neighbors. Hence, it was tough to start trades.
Gaia knew this, and it wanted to use this to tell the Lords in the wilderness that their race did not only include war, there was also trading.
After all, when they reached planet Hope, there was a chance they would need to trade with the natives there. As future leaders, they naturally needed to be prepared for such events.
Since the four city-states surrounded Shanhai City, apart from dealing with Consonance City, they had no other easy option. Luckily, Ouyang Shuo had already planned for this matter, and he had opened up the sea trade route with the Quanzhou Imperial City.
Hence, although they were not close to the imperial city, they could use the convenience of sea trade to continue trading with the Quanzhou Imperial City. They only lacked the ability to trade with the other imperial cities.
Of course, challenges still existed for Shanhai City.
Firstly, the salt trade of Shanhai City would be affected.
Quanzhou was a city located near the ocean, so it did not need to import food salt. Hence, Shanhai City would have to sell the food salt they did not consume internally to other territories.
Food salt was a huge pillar item for the territory.
Be it Beihai City at the beginning, Qiongzhou and Leizhou Prefecture, or even Zhenhai City, the profits brought from food salt marked one of the primary financial inputs of the territory.
Secondly, the channels to purchase iron ore, coal, and similar resources were limited.
Although Ouyang Shuo had already made preparations for this particular problem, it was not a long-term plan. Their ability to find a stable supply would impact the future industrialization strategy of the territory.
As for other impacts, they would need the Industry Division to perform some analysis.
All in all, the removal of the Super Auction Platform was a massive test toward all territories.
When Chun Shenjun received the news, his face instantly turned ashen white.
One must know that his family was based around business. Members of his family were running the chambers of commerce in the imperial cities. The removal of the Super Auction Platform would mean that these chambers of commerce would become independent from the main family.
This matter was huge for Pill Sun City, which relied on their support.
2: removal of the global channel, the guild channel, and the alliance channel. Communication between players will either be through the relay or through the forum.
This was another update that made the players feel uncomfortable or even pained.
This move was to make the wilderness more realistic.
Removing the global channel would make players more independent, as they could not communicate through the same channel. Regional powers would be strengthened or even solidified.
Removing the guild channel made it extremely difficult for one to run a guild. In turn, it also restricted the scale of guilds.
Obviously, Gaia wanted a simplified guild structure.
Removing the alliance channel forced members of alliances to increase face-to-face communication and interaction.
This point did not really affect Ouyang Shuo.
In his last life, he had already grown used to not having these channels.
In truth, when players slowly got used to not having such channels, it would liberate the game and make one feel much closer to the wilderness.
At the same time, the lines between players and NPCs would also grow blurrier and less defined.
3: removing player levels, replacing it with combat strength evaluation.
The evaluation levels were split into copper, black iron, silver, gold, dark gold, and god rank. Each rank was divided into three tiers.
The combat strength value was a moving value that fluctuated. It was an all round evaluation of a player's level, stats, equipment, cultivation methods, and other related elements.
Ouyang Shuo took a look, and his evaluation standard was high-silver rank.
With that, one could see how difficult it was to achieve a high combat strength value.
In his last life, the top expert in China had only reached the low dark gold rank. The further the game progressed, the harder it was for players to raise their rank and the longer it would take.
For players to break through to god rank, there were also specific quests.
Removing the player level was naturally Gaia's attempt to make the game more realistic. Ouyang Shuo also knew that in the future, even personal stats and equipment stats would be removed.
4: all round upgrade to the relay, officially opening up the carriage system.
The relay from before was only in charge of sending letters, which did not fit its name. After the update, all the relays in the city would have carriages.
Be it players or NPCs, they could sit on these carriages to head to various cities.
Naturally, it would cost gold, so the profits would be split half-half between the system and the territory. This also meant that the more prosperous the territory, the higher their income from this area.
Apart from these carriages, the relay also rented carriages and helped to transport goods.
The goods transport service was similar to an improved olden escort service.
Of course, it cost gold too.
The unique part of the relay system was the speed of the carriages. It was twenty times faster than ordinary carriages.
With that, not only did it reduce the ten times map expansion element, it even made traveling two times faster.
One could foresee how popular the various relays in each city would become. Even officials and the yamen would have to use the relay system.
Of course, to use the relay to move a large number of troops was impossible. Gaia had placed strict restrictions on such actions.
The upgrade of the relay showed that Gaia was keeping a good balance between making the game realistic and keeping it somewhat convenient for the players.
At the very least, Gaia did not go all out in chasing for realism.