In this era, people seem to be more and more addicted to the virtual world, where batches of “heroes” bound by numbers are shaped. Xia Kong, as a five-star resonator who will appear in a popular game “Mingchao”, her growth path is full of complicated and lengthy material requirements. At first glance, this is just a list of materials in the game. However, if you taste it carefully, it implies the spiritual dilemma and reflection of modern people’s life.
Low-frequency, medium-frequency, high-frequency, full-frequency tide erosion sail cores, as well as dozens of burning phosphorus bones, crystallized phlogiston and “golden fleece”, these names sound mysterious, but they are just cold data symbols. But behind these symbols are players’ mechanical monster swiping again and again, countless days and nights of repetition and exhaustion of body and mind. The game world seems gorgeous, but it is actually a boring and long ordeal.
Today’s game designers seem to be no longer satisfied with pure entertainment. They have designed a series of fine growth lines, trying to establish an invisible shackle by constantly demanding players’ time and money. Players are required to invest a huge amount of time to brush materials, consume mental and physical strength, and struggle in virtual currency. Material demands have become the only standard for measuring virtual “growth”.
The Burning Phosphorus Bone can only be obtained by defeating the Sighing Ancient Dragon, and the number is astonishing; although the “Golden Fleece” can be purchased, there is a weekly limit. The seemingly fair restrictions are actually the careful calculations of the game manufacturers on the players. Players exchange time for these materials, trying to complete a growth process that does not belong to them, as if they are enslaved by this game system invisibly.
And those so-called “resonance circuits”, the demand for a large amount of crystallized phlogiston, accompanied by the day-to-day “copy brushing monsters”, are more like an extreme challenge to the player’s will. What people spend here is not only time, but also an escape from real life. The pressure and confusion in the real world have not been released under the heavy pressure of this virtual world, but have followed them like a shadow.
What’s worse, there are all kinds of tempting recharge discounts and discount codes, which make players increase their investment unconsciously. It seems that only by paying more money can they get the slim game advantage. The discount code “Treabarblog3ge” on Treabar.com is not only a transaction behind the numbers, but also a naked reflection of modern consumerism.
Just like the cry in Lu Xun’s writing, this seemingly fancy game growth material list exposes the alienation and anxiety of contemporary society. Players collect and accumulate day after day in the virtual world. Isn’t it a projection of their struggle in real life? We are swept up by the system, economy and information torrents, and spiritual anxiety and loneliness are everywhere.
This list of materials is like a prison bill, recording the reality that players are involved in virtual labor again and again. You must clear dozens of copies to be eligible to have Xia Kong’s powerful skills; you must invest a lot of time and money to get a little closer to the ideal game experience. And those souls who yearn for achievement and freedom in real life will eventually be worn out on this endless material collection chain and become indifferent machines.
If we look further, the growth materials of Xiakong are just part of the cultural entertainment under the logic of modern capital. Capital uses a highly designed mechanism to hollow out the free will of players, allowing them to consume and consume themselves under the illusion of entertainment. And the hearts of players are also refined and decomposed like the crystallized phlogiston, losing their original purity and passion.
Perhaps some people will say that games are just entertainment and part of the choice. However, Lu Xun taught us to face the pain that has been ignored. It is this invisible kidnapping that reminds us that in the era of technology and capital, spiritual freedom is more fragile than ever before.
Facing this list of Xiakong’s materials, I saw the modern people who were addicted to the loss between virtuality and reality, the players who wasted their time and energy for short-term vanity, and the souls of an era that were gradually lost in fast consumption and entertainment.
I hope that future games will have less material demands and more human warmth; I hope that every player can find their own freedom in the virtual world, rather than being enslaved by endless materials and recharges.