Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

But it's not beautiful.

"with the help of VR or AR, you only need a simple electronic device to enter a whole new world, where everyone can do what they want to do, upgrade their ranks, accumulate wealth, and have a second life."

Even though the "meta-universe" has always been the future of the technology giants, so far, a stable and universal meta-universe ecology is still far away from us.

But a different meta-universe is happening to some extent. It exists in some people's mobile phones, when they launch this software, although there is no panoramic virtual world, there is no magical ability to go up to heaven and earth, the world does not seem to have changed, but the view of the world is no longer the same. They will incarnate into the protagonists of "death stranded", the city has only the target location, the road has only the nearest route, and they are driven by the reward in the "taskbar".

Don't get me wrong, this software is just a common takeout software, but this time the protagonists of the story are those running riders.

If people are looking for a simple working world, it may be the easiest way to become a rider. This job has not only become a part of social life, but also has its own complete supporting system. In China, it is not difficult to become a takeout rider. Take Meituan as an example. As long as you have a healthy body and a suitable vehicle, you can become a crowdsourcing rider by clicking on your mobile phone screen for a few minutes. There is basically no threshold for entry.

And when you come to the main interface, a game like "Navigation in another World" is the stage for riders, where there should be everything in a game.

If you want to do good work, you must first sharpen its tools. If you want to upgrade your wardrobe, you can go to the mall. All kinds of clothes and equipment will help you survive better.

The distinction between "player" Rank does not depend on Krypton gold, purely out of your own efforts. The names of these Rank are also extraordinary, such as "shining new star" and "glorious elite". And when you cross the "strongest hero", you can become the "supreme god of war" standing at the top, and this title is not a false name, high-level can bring you a variety of ascending experience privileges.

Of course, the most important thing for the rider is the "running single". In addition to the orders pushed by the system for riders, the "running ticket" is more like a reward task posted by the adventurer association, with the requirements and reward clearly marked in the hall, waiting for the capable "adventurer" to take over.

Even if you are a novice, don't be afraid, the platform has prepared a wealth of novice benefits and gift packages for you, as long as you have the patience to watch the long novice teaching.

Those who do not enter this world are like NPC in the game. What these NPC will do in the other world has nothing to do with the riders. The connection between the "profitable virtual world" and reality is only orders. NPC publishes a steady stream of order tasks, waiting for riders to complete and then submit, and as long as human society continues to develop, there is little need to worry about closure.

When the world of RPG games is large enough, the attributes of "forums" and "communities" are also indispensable, and the riders who float between cities share their various "game experiences".

Since this is a game, we should not forget the competitive attribute. Food delivery is not only a job, but also a competition in the rankings to stimulate riders' morale and desire to win or lose.

The reward for ranking elites is some rare equipment, such as long-eared headgear and fried chicken hats you see on the street.

Like the Rank reward every season, these things may be too childish for a child, but for a worker who is immersed in it, it looks so different, no matter how bizarre it is. Its special "scarcity" can encourage people to put it on their own equipment column.

It can be said that as long as you are willing to explore, the various colorful and vibrant functions in the menu bar have a game-like logical design to keep the riders fresh.

Such meta-cosmic games are also very popular in other places. Accustomed to seeing yellow and blue, if you look at Southeast Asian countries, you will find that there are countless "little green people" who connect people's lives here.

For Southeast Asia, where most people may be more mysterious, a meta-universe made up of takeout software also exists, and one of the protagonists here is a software called Gojek, which originated in Indonesia.

Indonesia has a large population, because it is a "country of thousands of islands", and the community produced by the geographical environment is divided, which makes it have a variety of beliefs, coupled with a series of problems such as backward infrastructure and the government's protective policies. It has become a country that is difficult for eastern and western enterprises to settle down, and it has always been a market ignored by many enterprises, but it also gives local enterprises a good opportunity to develop vigorously.

The word "Ojek" in Indonesian refers to the vehicle of "motorcycle". When the ride-hailing business in Indonesia was still in the offline street bargaining link in the past, the founders of Gojek saw the opportunity and began to gradually build an online ride-hailing platform that could improve the efficiency of users and drivers.

Until now, Gojek has become an almost omnipotent software. as a part of Indonesian people's life, the services provided by this platform have covered almost everything in people's lives.

The super integration, which involves transportation, is served by countless riders. Because of serious traffic jams in Indonesia's major cities, locomotives have become the best choice for people to walk through the streets, and thanks to cultural preferences, "green" has become a symbol of these riders.

In addition to the most basic order of takeout and shopping, a cool motorcycle can take you to your destination faster than a congested vehicle with a helmet.

3 Liu Cixin once said that if human beings have been addicted to the virtual meta-universe before entering the space civilization, human beings may face extinction, because indulging in the "toxicity" of the beauty of the virtual world will hinder the progress and development of human beings in reality.

It is certainly unrealistic that takeout software will lead to destruction, because no matter how exquisite visual elements or functional services are used to beautify this "working game", regardless of the takeout software and the capital behind them, this "game" does not serve these riders.

In fact, riders of any color in any country will soon realize that their income is getting less and less after going through the initial "high welfare phase" of the platform. As more and more riders join in, each "player" can get less and less profit.

The idea of a surplus of cheap labour sounds cruel, but it is the most straightforward answer. When the popular activity of "being a rider" has passed the welfare period, more and more people join it, and the devaluation of rider service is inevitable.

The price war between companies is also due to lower and lower unit prices, disappearing bonuses, and many riders cannot get an order even if they wait for half a day. The sudden epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to the offline economy, and perhaps more and more riders realize that the "game" is far less sweet than imagined and not enough to immerse themselves in it.

For example, after the "city closure" management in Indonesia, riders carrying passengers and goods lost orders for a living and had to join the ranks of food delivery riders, so the competition greatly reduced the income of each rider.

There may have been a world here, like a brand-new service game, in which people who stepped in had to start from scratch and keep climbing with their own efforts, but the difference is that what this world wants to serve has always been rich "NPC", not "players". More brutally speaking, there is no shortage of cheap "players" on the platform.

four

The injustice faced by these riders, on the other hand, comes from the exploitation of the platform.

The platform that provides services for riders has its own tricks set by the algorithm. For example, one of the problems often encountered by new riders is that they put too much faith in the navigation of the platform. Residential trails, blocked roads, unexpected factors and other real road conditions, when the navigation of the platform omits their unimportant data, but presents what they think is the shortest path to the rider. A rider takes far more time and mileage to deliver food than the software provides, but there will be no change in the remuneration they receive.

On the other hand, the slogan promoted by rider recruitment is "freedom", but this "freedom" is also a trap. Gojek has stressed more than once that nearly 2 million of its riders are not their "employees" but their "partners". This ingenious statement allows the company to pay for all kinds of benefits such as health insurance and even parking fees for businesses, while the reward for hard work is so humble when the reward is cut by the platform.

The rider's protest has no labor contract, no work contract, the rider's connection with the platform seems to be deep, but it is a small individual, the unequal relationship between the rider and the abundant capital, their rights and interests are not guaranteed. It is clearly shaped by the terms they ignore.

Compared with the milder response of domestic riders, Gojek riders have protested in a variety of ways. For example, account transactions are divided into three, six or nine classes according to the level of the account and the activity of obtaining orders, and then directly rented or sold.

Gojek's higher-end protest against the Rank division of the rider will try to use "magic to defeat magic". For example, deliberately reject orders recommended by the system to deceive the platform algorithm, so as to make the system recommend orders that are easy and profitable, or even at a higher level, they will make some special GPS forged positioning software, so that they can make money even if they don't work.

Of course, accounts will be closed, seriously or even arrested, but countless experiences in depicting cyberpunk in the world have taught us that individuals simply have no power to defeat huge groups, no matter how much the riders protest, the platform can always find a way to deal with it, and many workers shuttling through the streets have no choice but to compromise in order to make a living.

If people's worry about a virtual world is that it is addictive, then these riders can also be said to be "addicted", but they do so for the sake of three meals a day for themselves or their families. but maybe at some point, the terrible face of this "game of capital" makes the riders stunned and bewildered, but the riders can only choose to rub their eyes. Pretend that everything you have just seen is an illusion, and then have no choice but to accept the hope of life offered to them by the platform.

This article is from the official account of Wechat: game Research Society (ID:yysaag), author: Leon45

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.