The original text I wrote was about another game that is very popular in China but niche abroad — CrossFire (CF). Unfortunately, many people haven’t played it, so they don’t understand and downvoted it.
However, my limitation is that I've only experienced the online gaming environment from 2012 onward. It's a real pity, otherwise I'd love to share more. The reason I don't plan to go into detail is that I don't want to make uninformed comments on areas I don't fully understand—that would be irresponsible to my readers and a disservice to fellow gaming enthusiasts. That said, if you're interested in China's console gaming scene, we can definitely talk about that. I've written about it in detail in some of my previous posts, and the response was pretty good.
Thank you for your recognition and support. If anyone is genuinely interested in CF, they’ll reach out to me, and I’d be happy to share my thoughts privately. As for your interest in the history of Chinese online gaming, I’d recommend a Chinese YouTuber and Bilibili creator, 芒果冰OL. He’s an experienced online game planner who tells stories with objectivity, rationality, and warmth. If you ever need a subtitle translation plugin, I can recommend a tool called Trancy. It offers basic translation features for free, and its AI-powered learning features are quite affordable. I’m not trying to advertise — I just think it might be helpful for you. I’m a paying user myself, and it’s been of great help to me.
“In old Chinese internet cafes, some veteran players are so scary that we call them ‘Principals’ – because playing against them feels like having a teacher grade your homework.”
Thank you. I'll change my approach for that article and mainly write about a touching Chinese player in CS, with the "CF's headmaster" joke serving as a spice
I have revised the post to make it more meaningful, interesting, and objectively neutral, while only briefly touching on the 'CF Principal culture'."**
"I sincerely want to ask a question. I posted something today — hey, genuine question, not trying to argue.
I shared this piece because I truly thought the Chinese net cafe CF culture and stories like Aunt Juan were interesting enough to be seen by people outside China. Even if it's niche, I put real effort into writing it.
So when the reply is just 'I read the first 2 sentences and now I have cancer' — what do you actually hope to achieve? Does that kind of response make the internet a better place, or does it just make people less willing to share their own cultures and experiences?
“Just to clarify — I know buying a used PS2 copy doesn’t support the devs financially. It’s more like a personal ritual, a way to say ‘thank you’ to the version of me who played this on a cracked disc. Totally understand if that doesn’t make sense to others.”
"This is just me sharing my thoughts. Soon, I'll be getting a unique Beitong controller, so look forward to my review."