The expeditionary fleet went back on track as far as Ves was concerned.
Nothing exciting happened in the weeks after leaving the Trieden System and departing the Grand Loxic Republic.
A part of him thought it was a pity to leave the state like this. There was a lot of wealth, connections, knowledge and so on to be found in this large and well-connected state.
Ves particularly generated interest in establishing connections with the large trading companies, research institutions, nonprofits and other large human organizations.
"Who am I kidding? I probably won't even be able to get my foot in the door."
These massive organizations didn't have eyes for small, private individuals like Ves. Their headquarters were either established in the galactic heartland or the galactic center where they could cooperate with individuals who could offer a lot more than a single Journeyman.
Besides, shackling himself to these large organizations was not that much different to attaching himself to states… He would basically put himself and his clan at the rcy of the whims of a large, powerful organization that did not have his best interests at heart.
After handling the aftermath of the Battle of Trieden II, Ves quickly handled the remainder of his administrative duties. He either dealt with every important item on his agenda or assigned other people to take care of the various issues.
For example, one issue that hung on the back of his mind was the recent release of the Sanctuary Treatnt Editions.
Ever since he ca up with the Four Aspects of Lufa, Ves always imagined what it would be like to mass produce and market their glows.
The comrcial release of two variants that weren't primarily designed for battle represented a major shift in the Living ch Corporation's product strategy.
As with any change, people had a lot of difficulty adjusting to sothing that did not fit an established pattern.
While the custors of the LMC were accustod to receiving innovative products, the Sanctuary Treatnt Editions were sothing else!
"The market isn't reacting well to the new variants." Gavin reported during a routine briefing session. "In fact, even our people don't quite know what to make of it. The new models can't be marketed like normal combat chs. Even if the Tranquility variant is great at neutralizing glows employed by enemy chs, the ridiculously high asking price of 50 million hex credits for what is pretty much a third-class ch is prohibitively expensive. The reaction of the market falls exactly in line with the scenario that I previously told you about. Third-class custors can't justify the expenditure while second-class custors think we have engaged in a scam."
Ves frowned a bit. He already expected that the new models would experience a bit of turbulence, but this went on a bit too long.
"Haven't we satisfied a lot of custors already, Benny? As long as people obtain a copy and experience the new glows, I bet their tune will change quickly. Did we loan a few copies to reviewers and dical institutions?"
"We did. The reaction has been positive, but not as much as we hoped."
"What's the matter?"
Gavin sighed. "The price-per-performance disparity is too big for most people to accept. It would be one thing if our Sanctuary was priced at 4 million hex credits, but that is not the case here. A more important issue is that the market can't accept the notion that a ch can be used to heal and treat people. This is a foreign concept to every human and it takes a lot of effort to convince them that the two models are actually useful."
Ves thought that word of mouth would have been able to overco this instinctual resistance, but the truth turned out to be very different. As Gavin brought out graph after graph, the data clearly showed that the various downsides of his new Sanctuary variants heavily weighed it down to the point where it never gained montum!
"Have we developed any following for the new models?"
"We do, but only a small one so far." Gavin answered. "A small but highly enthusiastic group of second-class custors have steadily purchased more and more copies from us. Unfortunately for us, the chs do not really appeal to those outside this group. One of the problems that we have bumped into is that its price is mainly aid at second-class custors, but they are not very familiar with our ch company."
"Oh."
Though Ves designed a bunch of second-class chs, he had yet to release any of them to the second-class ch market. While he had good reasons for doing so, one of the negative consequences was that the brand awareness of the LMC in second-class states such as the Garlen Empire and the Grand Loxic Republic was too low!
After all, Ves never put a single exciting product on the second-class ch market before. Even if he gained a bit of fa for his second-class ch designs due to the widespread use of his Hexer chs in the Komodo War, not everyone paid close attention to this regional conflict.
It didn't help that the Sanctuary Treatnt Editions did not have much in common with the useful, war-oriented Hexer ch designs!
For these reasons and more, the introduction of the Sanctuary Treatnt Editions had been botched!
Ves glowered and pressed his fingers against his temple. Lucky lazily swishes his tallic tail as he lounged on the desk.
"ow."
"Yeah yeah, gloat all you want. I don't see you doing any better. How about you try to release a new ch model to picky second-class custors?"
"ow ow."
Gavin ignored the interaction between the two and provided an estimate of the future sales potential of the two models.
"We know the new Sanctuary variants are useful, and more and more custors will realize this as well. We think that sales will slowly ramp up over ti as people will begin to realize that they are worth their prices. However… it might take months or even years for the chs to beco successful. For now, selling a couple of thousand Sanctuary Treatnt Editions doesn't even cover the cost of contracting third-party companies to fabricate and distribute them. At the scale we are operating these days, selling a couple of thousands copies a month is terrible."
The three best-selling models right now were the Desolate Soldier, the Doom Guard and the Ferocious Piranha IC. It had been a long ti since he designed them and their capabilities no longer reflected his current design ability.
The Crystal Lord Mark II was also gaining montum, particularly after Ves upgraded its old design spirit to create the Illustrious One. Even then, the rifleman ch's relatively marginal performance advantages compared to other market offerings allowed it to beco a sleeper hit as best, selling only a few hundred-thousand copies a month.
While Ves was proud of this sales volu, the sad truth was that the LMC's business model relinquished a lot of profit to its third-party business partners.
If the LMC followed a more traditional business model and based itself in a state, then it could have invested in its own distribution and sales networks. While not every company was able to succeed in those endeavors, the effect of cutting out the middlen was often good!
What was peculiar about the Sanctuary Treatnt Editions was that its margins were ridiculously high even if there were a bunch of middlen taking their own cuts of the profits.
However, this was mostly irrelevant if the sales volu remained way below expectations!
As Ves and Gavin continued to discuss this issue, it beca clear that the reception of the Sanctuary Treatnt Editions was unlikely to improve in the short term unless they made a couple of painful decisions.
"The single biggest factor behind the poor initial reception of the variants are their prices." Gavin directly addressed. "The obvious way to redy this is to lower the price of a ch. If we can cut it in half, we project that sales will likely quadruple right away. Further cuts will result in dramatically more sales."
Ves adopted a stubborn expression. "I don't want to back down like this. We'll just be proving to every critic that we have indeed been ripping off our custors."
"You can address this problem easily by applying temporary discounts to the new models."
"That helps, but if the discounts are too frequent, they will not only disrespect the custors who have been paying full price, but they will also develop a pattern that custors will expect from our next products. Just forget about it. I only released the Sanctuary Treatnt Editions to earn so extra money and do my part in contributing to society. It is not a big deal if I don't imdiately get the payday I sought."
The LMC still earned plenty of profit, so it was not as if Ves felt devastated. Every ch designer released a flop now and then. While Ves still believed that the Sanctuary Treatnt Editions were good products, it was sad that everyone else didn't possess the sa understanding.
Ves eventually shrugged. "Let's wait a year or two before we contemplate any changes in price. Perhaps people will begin to recognize my brilliance during this period."
"What if the market still doesn't pay so much money for overpriced third-class chs?"
"Then just shove it into the corner and forget about it. I can always design other chs."
The success or failure of a single ch model no longer concerned him that much. This was especially after he transitioned to designing a batch of different chs by rounds. As long as one of them achieved critical success, it didn't matter if the rest failed to live up their promise.
Of course, he could not use this sa ntality towards the current round of ch designs.
Thinking about the expert ch designs that awaited his care and attention made him eager to be done with all of his other business. After discussing a few more issues, Ves quickly shooed Gavin away.
Before he left for the design lab, he wanted to deal with one more issue.
He picked his cat from his desk and brought his pet close.
"Hello? Is there any activity taking place down there? When was the last ti you produced a gem, Lucky?"
"ow ow ow!"
The gem cat did not appreciate being picked up this way! His tail quickly moved to cover his backside.
"Hey, your diet hasn't decreased at all. Why haven't you gone to the toilet yet? Your efficiency has worsened! Maybe I should drop you off at the Skull Architect in order to give your systems a tune-up."
"OW!"
"Ouch! That hurt!"
Mrow!
As Lucky freed himself from Ves' grasp, Blinky materialized into view. The companion spirit took offense at what had happened.
"ow ow."
Mrow mrow!
"ow!"
Predictably, the two cats entered into another scuffle in mid-air. It didn't take long for the older and more experienced cat to gain the upper hand. Blinky could only crawl back into Ves' mind after suffering another wound to his pride.
Ves looked exasperated at Lucky. "I hope you'll produce sothing soon. Our expert chs could really use all of the help they can get. My current collection of gems is not enough."
His cat didn't make any promises. "ow."
The reason why he was so eager to obtain more gems was because too many of them were weird and abnormal. Ves did not want to gain another 'special' gem like the Supre Comprehension one that had unleashed sheer chaos in the Life Research Association.
Part of that was his fault for making his last gem alive. Ves wasn't sure if he wanted to repeat this trick. Perhaps a gem might gain a lot more potential after undergoing this unique transformation, but if the ch it was applied to did not gain any additional benefits, then it wasn't worth the trouble for him to intervene.
"Should I do it again or should I leave it?" Ves idly wondered.
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