Horrible! Actually playing this kind of game!

Why choose George Martin?

Qing Zhiyuan’s reason is simple:

In his previous life, Mr. Martin also participated in the production of "Elden's Ring". The background story of the old ring was created by George Martin.

Moreover, "A Song of Ice and Fire" written by Martin can be said to be a household name. After this series of novels was adapted into a TV series, it became the most successful and highest-rated work in the history of HBO. If it were not for Martin not finishing the subsequent volumes, And if the TV series was unfortunately adapted by two screenwriters and ended up being unfinished, this TV series should be very successful.

The novel "A Song of Ice and Fire" has not yet been published.

Qing Zhiyuan would like to talk about the copyright issue of "A Song of Ice and Fire".

If it works well, A Song of Ice and Fire can be developed into a game, and it can even be adapted into a TV series in the future.

…

George Martin has actually won several Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards so far, and is somewhat famous in the science fiction/fantasy field.

But most of them are short and medium-length works.

George Martin, now 48 years old, quit all his jobs and concentrated on writing a book called "A Song of Ice and Fire" at home.

Before this, this person's luck was either good or bad.

The good thing is that he can always win some awards for his excellent creations that many people will never envy, such as the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award.

The bad thing is that many of the film and television works that George Martin worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood were not successful. They either died midway or were canceled before they were even released.

Although Martin's work in Hollywood was well paid, he was disappointed that most of the shows he participated in were not approved.

Because what a writer desires most is for his work to be seen by the public, but the decision-makers of the broadcasting company do not think the same way as the screenwriters.

The year before last, Martin had left his television work behind to continue working on the fantasy story he had created three years earlier, and gave his publishing agent, Kirby McCauley, the first 200 pages of the book and a two-page blueprint for a trilogy series.

Martin liked vague titles because he felt they would make his works more profound, so he chose "A Song of Ice and Fire" as the title for the entire series: Cold White Walkers and Fiery Dragons might be " The meaning of "Ice and Fire", and "Song" has appeared in Martin's books "Lyanna's Song" and "Song of the Dead", which is Martin's hobby for "song".

Fire is love, passion, passion. Ice represents betrayal, revenge, and the cold and cruel dark side.

Yes, George Martin is currently resigning at home and concentrating on writing a book called "A Song of Ice and Fire".

On this day, he received a strange call.

There was a gentle and young man's voice on the other end of the phone. Although he spoke English fluently, Martin quickly recognized the slightest hint of an Eastern accent.

The other party was the president of a company called pokeni. He wanted to invite Martin to dinner and inquire about work matters.

We couldn't talk about that much on the phone, but Martin probably got a general idea:

They wanted to develop an epic fantasy game and wanted Martin to be the story writer.

Although he was not sure why he was looking for him, Martin agreed to this invitation and wanted to chat after meeting.

…

Qing Zhiyuan first flew to the United States and found the brothers David Breivik and Scarfo, who are now the CEOs of the branch.

I explained to them what I wanted to do and the importance of finding a script writer.

Several people agreed quite a bit after listening to it.

After that, Qing Zhiyuan took Breivik with him to meet George Martin at the Palm Springs Hotel in California.

…

In a private suite at the Palm Springs Hotel in California, Qing Zhiyuan and Breivik awaited the arrival of George Martin.

Qing Zhiyuan was wearing a dark suit and a neat tie.

Breivik chose a simple white shirt paired with a pair of dark blue jeans.

Although the two people have different skin colors and look very different, they can both be described as handsome guys.

Especially Qing Zhiyuan, without a beard, he really looks a bit too beautiful among Westerners.

Breivik glanced at him and felt that this man was really handsome. In a place like California, if you were not careful, you would be beaten up by street gangsters if you walked on the street.

Qing Zhiyuan was also looking back at him silently.

It means I've been robbed once before.

He silently touched his chin, wondering if he should grow a beard before coming to the United States?

But there was one thing he was relatively sure of -

After this time, he must train his body when he returns to Neon.

The pieces are too small.

Soon after, George Martin entered the suite on time.

He is short (168, shorter than Qing Zhiyuan expected), fat, with gray hair, and his face is wrinkled but his eyes are still bright.

He has a trademark beard on his face, which almost covers his entire mouth.

George Martin is only 48 years old this year, much younger than the fat old man with white hair and white beard in Qing Zhiyuan's memory.

Overall it's actually quite cute.

And because of his big shoulders and round waist, this man looks very strong, which is more oppressive than his height.

If you didn't already know his identity and profession, it would be difficult for you to connect such a person with the identity of a writer while walking on the road.

He shook hands with Qing Zhiyuan and Breivik warmly, smiled and said: "Nice to meet you. I have been looking forward to this meeting."

"It's up to us to say this." Qing Zhiyuan squeezed his hand and invited George Martin to sit down, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Martin."

…

After a brief exchange of greetings, Qing Zhiyuan got straight to the point and said, "Mr. Martin, it's like this. We invite you to come this time because we hope you can serve as the story writer for the new game project."

And he also pushed the prepared information in front of Martin.

"OK."

Martin took the information and silently flipped through it.

When he saw the name of the game, Martin's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Ashes of Eternal Marks? Are you the company that makes Ashes of Eternal Marks?"

"Well," Qing Zhiyuan nodded and smiled happily, "Have you ever played our game?"

"Well, I quite like your production of "Ashes of Eternity"."

Martin is more up-to-date than Qing Zhiyuan imagined. He not only plays games but is also a team player.

What’s even more rare is that he not only plays Pokeni’s “Ashes of Everlasting” but is also a player of the “Diablo” series.

"I like this kind of fantasy type of work very much." George Martin said, "When I play the game, I feel like I am playing a running team, and I think you designed the Akasha Zerg, Frye, and Kaka. All very interesting.

I was really fascinated by them when I was playing games, and I wondered what kind of company could produce such interesting works.

I didn’t expect to meet the producer today. "

"That's great, thank you for liking it." Qing Zhiyuan said quite unexpectedly.

The three of them had something in common and started chatting around the running group.

"When we made "Ashes of Eternity", we actually drew on the gameplay of the group running game." Breivik said, "In the group running, there are always many unknown and imaginative things happening. We also hope that the game will give players They bring the same experience.”

Qing Zhiyuan said with a smile, "In a group running game, isn't every player a participant? So in terms of the setting of the game itself, there is no way to favor any party. It can only be set so that every participating player Is the protagonist.

The same is true when we play group running. Whether you are a human, an elf, a mage, or a thief, you are actually acting according to your own wishes and treating yourself as a player in this game world. The protagonist comes to play the game.

So we can see that many "evenly matched" complicated events and scenarios will be born in the group running game.

Players are very creative.

Therefore, we envision that each race in the game should have its own [protagonist] and hero. "

"Well, this feels really great, doesn't it?" George Martin's eyes lit up.

"Yes." Qing Zhiyuan nodded and smiled.

He gestured with his hands and said, "Heroes each create their own history, but when they come together, they create an entire era. The big world is driven by countless heroes.

What we want to present is this feeling.

A magnificent and epic feeling. "

Qing Zhiyuan's words directly spoke to Martin's heart.

That's what he thought.

“I strongly agree that history should not have only one protagonist, it can even be said that everyone is the protagonist.

I am also a reader myself, and while reading, I discovered——

In a book, if the protagonist is very clear from the beginning and readers can easily guess the plot later, such a book is actually quite boring.

Do you know Tolkien? Mr. Qing. "

"Yes." Qing Zhiyuan nodded, "The author of The Lord of the Rings."

"When I saw Gandalf die, you know?" Martin laughed, looking at Qing Zhiyuan with excited eyes and said, "At that moment, goosebumps all over my body, unprecedented fear and excitement The feeling suddenly spread throughout my body.

For the first time I realized -

It turns out that the protagonist is also mortal.

And this death directly broke my understanding of the entire world.

Since Gandalf will die, what else is impossible in this world? "

Speaking of this, Martin sighed, "Sometimes, I think, maybe it is death that makes heroes great."

Um?

Qing Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, and his whole body was filled with excitement.

Why did the conversation end here?

Aren’t we talking about epicness and heroes?

I always feel that this person's direction of understanding seems to be a little off track.

Good guy, is this the reason why you killed the protagonists?

Qing Zhiyuan touched his chin and couldn't help but fell into a sad contemplation.

Although he chose George Martin for strategic reasons.

But he regrets it now.

If you think about it carefully, Mr. Martin is also a hair fanatic.

horrible! ! !

What a sin have I done to gather so many world-class hair knife players together! ?

"A Song of Ice and Fire" that Martin is currently writing is actually a similar model:

Multiple protagonists.

From different perspectives, you will find that every character in this book can be the protagonist.

Whether it's members of the Stark family or Queen Mother...

Everyone is playing their own running game.

What's even more frightening is that these protagonists are indeed capable of death.

You never know who the next main character will die.

Martin's knife is really fast, sharp, and even more elusive.

Qing Zhiyuan felt horrified just thinking about it.

…

Martin flipped through it for a while, and was quickly attracted by the big world depicted in it. The many races and their corresponding world structures, beliefs, magic... These can fully mobilize Martin's imagination and enthusiasm.

It seemed like there was just a framework, but he could probably imagine the story behind it.

"If we can carefully sort out the characters, roles, and complex social relationships, and build a chronicle of this world, I think it will definitely be another fantasy masterpiece." Martin sighed.

Since everyone has the same hobbies, it is equivalent to having a basis for cooperation.

The whole conversation went extremely smoothly.

"I really want to take on this job. The world view and setting of "Ashes of Eternity" are very interesting in all aspects, and they can also mobilize people's imagination."

"But..." Martin seemed hesitant.

"Huh? Do you have any concerns?" Qing Zhiyuan asked.

"It's like this," Martin said, "I actually quit all my jobs now and am writing a book at home. To tell you the truth, I have a fantasy work in hand. Due to time and energy, I may not be able to It’s time to take on another task with such a huge amount of work.”

Qing Zhiyuan nodded, of course he knew what the work Martin was writing was.

"A Song of Ice and Fire"

An epic fantasy masterpiece.

Martin started writing this book in 1994 and has not finished it until 2023.

Martin was already 74 years old at the time.

Qing Zhiyuan even doubts whether he will be able to successfully complete the book until the day he dies.

If Martin had waited until he finished the book to take over, the day lilies would have been cold.

What's more, it's not like this guy didn't accept other invitations along the way. For example, he was asked to do the world view and story setting for "Elden Ring".

"That's it." Qing Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Mr. Martin, you will be responsible for setting the story of our game, help build the world view of the entire game, and write out the character settings and outline.

The remaining filling work is really huge, and we will find other workers to take over the filling. "

"Um?"

George Martin was slightly startled.

After thinking for a few seconds, "This seems okay."

If it was just about designing the story outline, setting, and characters, then he might be able to find time.

"In addition," Qing Zhiyuan said, "I have also heard about the book you are writing. It should be a good work. If possible, can you sell its game and film rights? For us?”

…

…

——————————————————————————

There is another chapter in the afternoon (end of this chapter)