(Prologue)
Webzine, an article
The mobile game launched By Mobius Co., Ltd. two years ago with the subtitle of Hyper Roguelike Summon RPG, Pick Me Up celebrates its 2nd anniversary today. Additionally, today it is also celebrating the milestone of 100 million downloads. To commemorate the occasion and thank all of you who have helped Pick Me Up become the hit game it has, we are posting a commemorative article. Although Pick Me Up is already a game with 100 million users from all around the world, I would like to start by introducing the game once again for those of you who may not be familiar with it.
When the game first appeared on the market, many people viewed it as one of the many mass-production games on the market, designed to make a quick buck. However, Pick Me Up gradually began to grow in popularity thanks to its many dedicated players. Now it is a mobile game enjoyed not only in Korea but in countries around the world. What specifically was the reason that put Pick Me Up above its competitors and positioned to compete for the number one spot? Let’s answer this question by first examining some of the game’s main selling points.
First up is the Moebius Summon system, a key point system that was completed after five whole years in development. This system’s defining feature is its ability to randomly mix thousands of patterns to create functionally infinite heroes to be summoned. Thanks to this revolutionary system, receiving a duplicate hero from Pick Me Up is almost zero, even if you gather hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of heroes. Pick Me Up has decided to break through the boundaries of common sense with the development of the Moebius system with a revolutionary idea that defies logic. Yet, somehow, this is not the most impressive quality on this list that the game boasts.
The second is Quantum AI. Years ago, the confrontation between world-class Go players and artificial intelligence was the hot topic of the century, ending with artificial intelligence’s victory. Many people have imagined the emergence of high-tech artificial intelligence was only the dreams of science fiction. This view was often shared by many of those in the media industry. However, the artificial intelligence revolution was the perfect place for the developer Mobius to start working on their mobile games. They worked away, developing an ultra-quality artificial intelligence that is decades ahead of its time. That is the secret behind Mobius’s hit game Pick Me Up, and the driving force behind their endless number of heroes that are available to summon.
Each of the heroes in Pick Me Up is capable of feeling and thinking about their emotions, hundreds of reactions possible each time they are put up on the stage. Pick Me Up’s heroes will hold conversations with the player and are even capable of refusing commands that may go against their own beliefs. During the battle stage, the core of the gameplay, this revolutionary AI technology has a place to truly shine. Even if the player doesn’t instruct them, the heroes are capable of generating their own effective tactics and formations for use. Differences will also show up in how the heroes learn and level up, growing at different rates depending on their individual personality differences.
Unlike the standard practice of other mobile games on the market, there are no standard hero rating tables or specific leveling up methods in Pick Me Up. This is because Pick Me Up has hundreds of millions of heroes available, each with their own personalities and abilities. Why it’s almost as if they’re human! In fact, for a while, Pick Me Up was often called the ‘devil’s game’ due to its overly realistic heroes. However, while they may be incredibly life-like due to cutting edge AI technology, the heroes are ultimately just products of data. It is only thanks to the developer’s trade-secret algorithms that they seem so life-like. There have been plenty of attempts by titans of the industry to buy the developer’s code and less than savory attempts to steal it. But fortunately for Mobius, they have held on to the algorithms that have launched them above and beyond.
And for the third, roguelike. That is right, Pick Me Up is a roguelike game. Oh, I have nothing to do, or there is not enough content. These two statements are the familiar cries of many a gamer, proof that the development of most games is unable to keep up with the speed of content consumption of its player base. But Pick Me Up?
A Mobius official has once said in an interview, “A billionaire willing to spend millions of won? A hardcore player who will play all day? Please try to complete all of our content.” When this interview first came out, many players scoffed at it. After all, how hard could it be? Yet, two full years after its release, not a single user has been able to reach the end of the main dungeon in Pick Me Up. Hundreds of millions, if not billions, of won have been spent, and plenty of players have invested more than a few eighteen-hour days into Pick Me Up. Yet, not a one has beaten it.
The philosophy that Pick Me Up has stuck true to is hardcore. When it was first released, the initial response admittedly thought it was a bit ridiculous. Hardcore meant that when a hero died, it was gone forever. A hero that millions of won and hundreds of hours had been invested in, disappearing in just one battle? In the early days of the game, this was often cited as the game’s biggest drawback. Many even considered it to be fraudulent. However, Mobius did not revise this rule at all. Over time, more people instead began to regard it as one of the game’s most enticing features. Pick Me Up’s heroes are programs incredible enough to be mistaken for humans, so isn’t it only natural that there is a death to accompany the birth that is summoning?
The stages of Pick Me Up change randomly across missions, making it impossible to predict, and once the battle starts, it is entirely controlled by AI, leaving little room for the player to intervene. Given the hundreds of variables that will change from dungeon to dungeon, it is possible for a party sent out of desperation to clear the more difficult dungeons. However, this means the opposite is also possible, with the elite 5-star team sometimes being wiped out by a lower difficulty dungeon.
Nothing about Pick Me Up is fixed, it always changes and flows. Some criticize the game for this. After all, if these things are correct, what is the significance of the player’s existence? Is the player merely a spectator? Is all to the game luck, or is there a strategy in picking lucky heroes? In thinking about this, I would like to introduce a Korean master of the game. His account name is Loki, Korea’s only world-ranked player, and a leading user called the Master of Masters. He is not, however, first place. Loki is only 5th in the world ranking. Being mentioned more than the No. 1 ranked player, and the only one of the top-ranked players to earn the nickname Master of Masters, one may wonder how Loki reached this level of notoriety. The reason is quite simple; he was terribly unlucky.
Pick Me Up’s summoning system is rated by stars, going from 1 to 5-stars. The free Gachas will output heroes that range from 1-3 stars, whereas the paid ones will give out 3-5-star heroes. The need for 5-star heroes is often a point of discussion in the community forums, and many players agree that to become a top ranker, a 5-star team is a must. Heroes with more stars generally fight much better than heroes with less, after all. Weaker heroes can be gathered and evolved into stronger heroes, but people often say they are not good enough compared to those summoned that way.
Yet, there is a player named Loki. He has completed about 4,500 paid draws without receiving a single 5-star hero. Despite having only one high-ranking hero in the 4-stars, he has managed to secure his place as Korea’s number 1 player and the world’s number 5. This serves as proof that Pick-Me-Up is not merely a luck-based game, but that there is plenty of room to compete with skill. Although players cannot intervene in the battle directly, they are capable of cultivating their heroes in other ways. By having a discriminating eye to the talent and value of a hero, that cannot be fully grasped simply through the status window, a more efficient training method can be born, and parties can be formed that considers each individual’s performance.
Loki has proved that heroes born as 1-star are only generally weaker than the higher-ranked heroes, not unconditionally so. It is not an exaggeration to say that Pick Me Up’s meta can be divided into the time before and after Loki climbed to the top with this revolutionary strategy. In addition to this, there are the revolutionary changes that the player Loki brought to Pick Me Up…(Abbreviated).
▼ [Comment – 3135]
[Lv.51] Dawwww!!
Upvote 8742, Upvote 6644
-Why is this reporter making a mountain out of a molehill? Does it make sense to praise a single player in a game article?
└[Lv.17] Long live Loki
Upvote 513, Upvote 672
-All hail Loki!
└[Lv.3] Hessing
Upvote 13, Upvote 5
-I heard there is a member of Ragnarok reporting for this site. Why doesn’t the boss fire them?
[Lv.21] Diorama
Upvote 11, Upvote 13
-I honestly don’t know if Loki deserves such praise. Isn’t it just a common strategy?
[Lv.76] Dragon becomes meme
Upvote 3, Upvote 5
-What is Ragnarok?
[Lv.31] Kkkkkkkkkkk
Upvote 0, Upvote 0
-This is just a Loki fan site, you have to have an autograph to be ranked as a trusted member.
└[Lv.76] Dragon becomes mine
Upvote 4, Upvote 3
-This is ridiculous.
[Lv.7] Series Jean
Upvote 1132, Upvote 2564
[This comment has been censored.]
[Lv.22] Wallet King Kim Bill
Upvote 811, Upvote 532
-The article is fair, the influence Loki had on the game cannot be ignored. Before him, the game was just a common pay-to-win. It’s no exaggeration to say that he changed the meta.
└[Lv.15] Seonbi
Upvote 4, Upvote 9
-Here’s the stuff about Loki again!
[Lv.22] Wallet King Kim Bill
Upvote 321, Upvote 157
-Didn’t the site go over all the foreign rankers except for Loki last time? The only remaining ranked player is Loki. Korean Pick Me Up is Loki, and he’s Korean Pick Me Up.
[Lv.7] Series Jean
Upvote 325, Upvote 1132
[This comment has been censored.]
└[Lv.15] Electronic Anklet
Upvote 913, Upvote 132
-This crazy dude is in every article about Pick Me, why hasn’t anyone banned him??
[Lv.1] Isel0479
Upvote 13, Upvote 11
-All hail Loki!
All paths lead to Loki!