Saturday 18 July 2020

夢.十夜 (5) The Guild Battle


鬼魅般出現在我旁邊的卡羅,身穿紅色皮外套與黑色恤衫;本來cos成雷伊的黑色頭髮也變回銀色,耀眼的項鍊和指環讓他看起來更像樂團主唱。也許是服裝變化太大,身邊其他熟客似乎都沒有認出他的帥氣樣子--咦,從甚麼時候我認定他長得帥的?

他把食指放到唇上阻止了驚訝的我,然後把旁邊的桌椅拉過來坐下。他的位置剛好背著其他顧客,這樣就不會被認出來了。對面的熊熊倒是十分淡定,顯然不是第一次與卡羅見面。

「呦~」他一臉輕鬆地向我打招呼。

「哈囉……我該吐糟你為甚麼出現在這裡嗎?」

「你要不要吐糟是你的自由對吧?如果你在意我的話我會很開心的。」他輕輕在餐單上戳了兩下,示意讓熊熊幫忙點餐。他點的是厚熱香餅和香橙熱巧古力:用75%可可製成的巧克力一點都不甜,但柑橘香氣讓人產生一種似甜非甜的感覺,不用加糖也能讓人禁不住一口接一口喝下去。「我只是剛好在附近,熊熊又問我要不要來而已。順便我也想找你聊一下攻城戰的事情呢。」

「該不會跟熊熊的提議有關吧?還是……嗯……被盯上這件事?」

熊熊:「小紅被盯上這件事說起來我也感覺到,你的遊戲留言版熱度異常的高呢。」

遊戲裡每個玩家的頁面都有一塊討論板,但嚴格來說玩家並沒有管理該板的權限,他們只是比較容易看到自己的討論板而已。正常來說玩家會待在自己或自己朋友的討論板上聊天;又或者向交易對象留言、提價或者競標等等。雖然沒有明文規范,大家也不會到處霸佔別人的留言版。

不過我的討論版最近也太多人了。很多都是來問戴娜戴娜(六星排名獎勵)賣不賣的,也有問我五星獎勵的,也有想問聯絡方式的。留言都洗得很快,我從一開始逐個回覆到用罐頭回覆,到最後大部分詢問也懶得回應了。

卡羅:「你也注意到了嗎?新入榜的玩家得到大量查詢並不罕見,因為前排很多人都不怎樣賣卡,而新入榜的玩家比較好說話。不過這張是限量100張的獎勵,按道理說來問的人不會這麼多。而且一上來問聯絡方式的,嗯……該不會是有人用你ID搜出你的社交帳號了吧?」

--才不會。我用的帳號名字都是當時即興用身邊的字串組出來,基本上跟社交帳號毫無關係。

「如果不是被肉搜的話,只能用有人對你感興趣來解釋了吧?」熊熊還是那個愛交易的熊熊:「我也希望來找我交易的人跟你板上一樣多呢。」

我苦笑回應道:「嘛……你想的話也可以天天在我的板上找交易對象啊。」

「很遺憾這樣是行不通的,在你板上出現的玩家大部分我都見過。找新入榜玩家宰的人,多半是不會跟我交易的啦。不過找你的玩家實在是太多了,所以卡羅才會說你被盯上了吧?」

卡羅在手機上展示了幾張截圖。那是在競技場活動結束幾天後熊熊對著我的留言板截的圖。在遊戲所能展示的最近十五條留言裡,第一條與最後一條留言僅相差四小時,幾乎每一條都來自不同玩家。也就是說,大概每二十分鐘就有一位玩家來找你呢。而且廿四小時都有玩家來轟炸你,這也是挺奇怪的。」

一陣香味打斷了我的思緒。店長親自端著食物過來,卡羅也低調地打了個招呼。大概店長早就留意到他了吧?

「嗯……所以我被盯上會有後果嗎?這種排名活動裡很難狙擊一個特定玩家吧?我也跟其他勢力無仇無怨啊。」

「在排名活動裡的確沒差,不過接下來就是攻城戰了。我猜熊熊把你找出來也是跟攻城戰有關吧。在競技場上打出好成績的玩家,往往也是攻城戰的可靠戰力,如果可以拉攏你的話對隊伍成績可是有很大幫助呢。」

「沒錯,我跟小紅達成了協議:她來當我的看板娘,我就借卡讓她打攻城戰。這樣她就能用超強力的隊伍了呢。」

「咦?要我當看板娘嗎?不對……你又不是經營實體店是要怎樣當看板娘啦!」

卡羅輕啜了一口熱巧克力繼續道:「這就是問題了,攻城戰要觀察玩家的活躍程度更為容易,天知道他們之後會不會一直騷擾你。所以我在想有沒有方法讓你先躲一下--如果你有興趣來攻城戰的話,要不要改用小號參戰?」

公會戰的組成是九個玩家組成一隊,但其中兩個名額有規定等級上限。原意是讓新手加入強隊享受攻城戰,不過結果當然是由強隊自組小號進去。

「如果用小號的話直接用卡羅你上次的主力隊伍就好了?我記得你已經組出新一隊了吧,這樣看上去也比較好偽裝。」熊熊在手機上滑出上次攻城戰的截圖。

卡羅上次的隊伍以比較親民的防守型角色為主,看來這段時間他已累積了不少強力角色。用這種隊伍是很方便,但被說得好像已經確定要打攻城戰一樣我就不樂意了:「我還沒決定要不要肝下去,讓我再考慮一下好嗎!」

熊熊一臉抱歉地道:「也好……你慢慢考慮一下吧。用卡羅的舊隊或者從我這邊要一隊新的都可以,或者要其他補償也可以哦。」

卡羅倒是一臉輕鬆地切下一塊剛端上來的厚熱香餅放入口中,吞下之後對我說道:「用新人名額的話你喜歡上來打,沒空不來打也可以哦?這樣就更像新人了不是嗎?」

聽上去很誘人,但我很清楚自己一旦投入進去就不可能『沒空就跳過』:「這樣會成為你們隊的負累吧……」

「攻城戰沒拿到第一檔的獎勵的話算上人力物力注定要虧的,所以要打進第二檔或是在第五檔放羊都沒所謂。但是對你來說,沒有甚麼比第一次參戰就能坐在後座觀戰更刺激了不是嗎?」他再切下一塊熱香餅,叉住沾上果醬伸了過來:「今天的水準也一如以往地好呢。來,啊--」

「唔」我沒有回答他,但是一口把熱香餅吃掉了。微熱的熱香餅裡面的水氣與果醬的甜味在口裡迴旋,形成絕佳的口感……

*

還是那漆黑的房間,肥宅繼續向銀髮少女報告。

「……我們發現與上次Rainmi0031(小雨)aoisora2(Sora)一起刷進前百的還有Lampbear(熊熊)RedMeipuru(小紅)兩人。Lampbear是有名的商人,跟aoisora2也走得很近。」

「那另一個號呢?」

「……似乎是新的帳號,等級還在新手範圍。看起來不太像小號而是主力帳號才對。我們一直在她的留言版上留言觀察她的作息時間,再加上與她比較接近的Rainmi0031和aoisora2,基本能確定他們是同一夥的。」

「嗯~真有趣。你覺得這戰法誰想出來的?」

「那三個玩家開服不久就在玩了,沒聽過他們有特別的打法。不過是不是RedMeipuru想出來的就不知道了。」

「真有趣,不知道她會不會在攻城戰出現呢?」

「他們三個這次也有參加攻城戰,隊裡除了兩個小號所有人都是老面孔。據說其中一個小號的隊伍是Karlow(卡羅)上次用的隊伍。我感覺這兩個小號其中一個應該是那個RedMeipuru,但是攻城活動期間沒法確定。」

少女抬起大腿搭到另一條腿上的情景被鏡頭完整捕捉到。肥宅呆了一秒後繼續問到:「所以……請下達這次攻城戰的指示。」

「今次就隨便打,以攻城戰的PVP數據為主吧。我感覺下一波戰力通漲快要來了。把把勝場調節到他們隊伍的附近,我希望跟他們打一場。我最近有點忙,剩下的你來負責吧。等你對上他們再叫我上線吧。」

「是……」

少女湊近鏡頭,愉悅地看著不知道看哪的他說道:「這次也做得不錯嘛。那麼……這次活動之後,說好的獎勵就先支付一半給你吧♡」

「真、真的嗎?就是那個……約、約會……」

「我可沒有說約會呢。」少女的俏臉瞬間冷了下來:「不過陪你走走還是可以的--我很期待你這次表現哦。」

*

我就知道我當時就該拒絕他的。

現在是七天連戰裡的第二天第十場前夕。此前每打一場我就後悔一次:在街上我在打攻城戰、上廁所時我也在打攻城戰、甚至半夜那場我也迷迷糊糊地按了幾遍。

我現在的身份是happysky1(distortion),看起來就像卡羅的小號,用的也是卡羅上次攻城戰的卡片。順帶一提,這次的參戰成員還有卡羅、熊熊、小雨、阿飛(和他的小號)、亞歷克斯加上還沒見過的Sora跟阿秋。

攻城戰的卡片組合與競技場的稍有不同。瞬息萬變的實時戰鬥中不可能針對對方的隊型而特化,所以大家組隊的目標都以輸出和挑對技能為主。同樣星級的卡片間數值並沒有差太遠,因此使用帶有特定技能的卡片就更重要了。當然,最強力的技能都留給了新卡包和活動最高檔次獎勵的卡片,一般玩家只能用帶有常見技能的卡片。所謂平民卡,就是帶有這些技能且相對便宜的卡片。

兩張「赤銀騎士」雷音(Rain)。強大的防禦加上四連擊的技能使她成為扛前鋒的不二之選。
兩張「無畏劍士」西薇爾(Silvia)。兼有麻痹和擊退能力的她可以在中堅位置阻截對方的攻勢。
一張「靜默無聲」德蕾婭娜(Deanna),這張卡一點都不平民:她帶有新推出的狙擊技能,擁有極高遠程攻擊的她自然適合放在後排攻擊對面後方。這張卡本來是卡羅的王牌,但是他以「暫時用不到」和「這張看起來更卡羅」的原因塞到我(的小號)手上。

攻城戰可分為戰鬥與戰鬥外兩部分。在戰鬥以外的時間隊伍可以打主線任務去收集物品以提升戰鬥力,這方面有人肝下去就行了。

在每場一小時的戰鬥裡隊伍會站在3x3的方格裡保護後方的城堡。玩家可以不斷攻擊對方的陣列得分,當玩家手上所有角色HP歸零時則進入破防狀態。在前排全體破防後對方才可以攻擊下一排的玩家,如果所有玩家被破防的話對方則可以直接攻擊城堡得到大量的分數。破防的玩家可以使用AP(Action Point)回復,而攻擊本身也會消耗AP。AP會隨時間回復,但在高強度戰鬥裡大家都會一直喝藥水把AP補回去。

除了白刃戰得分以外,玩家可以進入探險模式在戰場上搜集火藥以發射砲彈。砲彈可能直接命中城堡化為大量分數,也可能命中對方一整排玩家、甚至落空。如何運用砲彈是破局的關鍵,但玩家進入探險模式時沒法參與主戰鬥,這時如何分配人力就變得重要。

戰鬥的勝負會以雙方得分決定,隊伍按勝場會有排名獎勵,玩家個人得分也會有分數和排名獎勵。

我一直站在隊伍的後排上。前幾場我們匹配到的都是雜魚隊,前四場我甚至沒有留下任何戰鬥紀錄。

第五場我主動要求換到前排。不過對面大概在睡覺,整隊只有四個人在線,對面打了兩下就放棄了。

第六場我在睡覺。不過人在歐洲的Alex帶上阿飛的小號,輕鬆把對面滅掉。我半夢半醒之間成功上線,但站在後排似乎根本沒被碰過。

第七場終於有比較強的對手,所謂比雜魚強就是會一直打過來而已。沒滿員甚至沒有湊齊六星卡片的對手根本沒法構成威脅。

第八場的對手實力更貼近我們了。我們有七個帳號在線在線而對面也八個,但卡羅的新王牌「天選之人」比布里亞(Biblia)所率領的隊伍每回復一次可以扛三次對方的攻擊,大幅削減對方的得分效率之餘也讓我們可以放開攻擊。因為有餘力防守我跑去發砲了。一次命中城門拿到角色攻城兩倍的分數,一次命中對方陣地讓對面全員HP減半,剩下三次都落空了。到現在我還是沒法確定發砲的價值,特別是戰況膠著的時候。

第九場我們匹配到排名第二的隊伍,輸得十分乾脆。對面每個玩家都帶有卡羅等級以上的強力隊伍,而且帶上活動加成卡片每一擊都能額外獲得五成分數。打了五分鐘卡羅便示意我們停手,但對面為了衝分數並沒有停下來,把我們揍了整整一小時。

第十場,也就是現在,我們的對手是目標進入前十(第二檔)的強敵「奧林匹克神眾」(Gods of Olympia)。裡面全是個人活動的前排常客,但聽說隊伍比較鬆散所以沒有上一場對手那麼強。他們沒有指揮,打法以強攻為主,是一個測試戰術的好對手。

現在是晚上十點四十五分,我躺在床上滾來滾去,公會戰使我精神異常興奮。距離開戰還有十五分鐘,大家已在聊天室紛紛報到。

卡羅:「小紅也上線惹!」
天天下小雨:「哇小紅!」
亞歷克斯:「剛見完客,回酒店途中,20分鐘後見!」
飛:「我也準備好了!」說罷貼了一張用電腦模擬器與手機雙開的照片。
Lampbear:「( º﹃º )好像是這次活動首次滿員?」
Sora:「因為是強敵當然要全員應戰啦。這次的獎勵也很好看喔--」然後他貼了兩張卡片:

粉髮少女「魔戰使」伊卡麗絲(Eclipse)
她的手下對她的命令從不懷疑,
只要她們彼此合作,奇跡就會發生
「我們個體可能不強,但我們從不孤單!--」

金髮軍裝麗人「大佐」克里斯汀娜(Christina)
一陣大砲聲響起,
城牆與這個國家的未來同時崩塌
她愉快地笑著:「也太快了吧♪--」

飛:「好看是好看,不過我們拿不到一檔的獎勵啊……」
Sora:「這是二檔獎勵啊,雖然不知道有沒有機會拿到( > <)」
Lampbear:「_(┐「﹃゚。)_這就要靠小紅了」
我:「我連真正的激戰都沒體驗過呢……」
卡羅:「檔次的問題以後再想吧。難得滿員就是要漂亮地打一場!」
「「哦哦!!」」
卡羅:「我、Alex和飛大號站前排,後面就隨意吧。中排的注意一下回復,大家一起用力打就好。」

他下達了指示後又私訊我道:「以對手的隊伍強度來說你可能沒法扛住太多攻擊,不過你按自己的感覺行動吧。下去攻防或者發砲也可以~」

我盯著手機上的倒計時。在歸零那一剎那我迅速按下「進入戰場!」的按鈕。隨著聊天室裡一連串「開始啦」的留言,這場攻城戰正式開始。

「開火!--」

(待續)

**

◯戰幻想的攻城戰是我記憶中最投入最剌激的公會戰之一,遠超武俠MMORPG的公會戰,現在的碧藍幻想古戰場與公主連結的公會更是沒法與之相比。

一個「有趣」的非動作類即時公會,卡片入手門檻不可能太低。公主連結打的旗號就是組隊低成本(相對其他遊戲),幾乎大部分隊伍都有辦法用同一隊「meta(主流)」、同一種戰法去推王--這樣土豪的投入感便差上了許多。公連的成功是抓對最大的中低消費客群,然後設計出來的角色也很能迎合他們的胃口。但論到頂端的消費公連是遠遠不及其他大手遊的。而◯戰幻想的消費門檻應該穩站西方市場的頂端,成功聚集高消費客群的他們才有辦法以偏小的遊戲規模打進app store課金榜前三。

比起碧藍式的單純拼輸出,公會戰更應該強調兩隊之間的互動。使用者生產(User-generated)的內容永遠比千遍一律打王的變化來得多。這也是為甚麼攻城戰辦了七年一共幾十屆大家還是樂此不疲地投入--以遊戲的卡片代謝速度來看(奇妙的是卡片本身的戰力通漲並不高,但組合一直變)每兩個月一次的攻城戰裡對手的隊伍可以變得完全不一樣,理解對方的卡片並制定戰略才是遊戲的樂趣。

順便一說,七天35場的肝度真的很可怕。後來遊戲也改成七天28場再到五天24場,畢竟廿幾場足以穩定分出前三檔隊伍了。不過對於一天五場需要全取的頂級隊伍來說還是很辛苦。這就是國際服的壞處:碧藍一天打十八小時還有六小時休息,這邊一天五場你頂多能睡三小時。

這就是所謂的燃燒青春,對吧?

對了,所有卡都可以在這裡找到。一切資料名字以英文國際服為主。另外我很討厭他們的中譯名字(況且我沒玩中文服),所以我會自己譯成中文。

我很希望能再一次看到類似的手遊再次出現。不過其大前提--可交易卡片這個模式在現今很難存活下去。甚至◯戰幻想本身後期也不得不引入綁定制度。另外可以量產高質量卡片兼能撐起世界觀(並沒有)的遊戲,古今中外就真的只有它了。

咦?你說封面圖片劇透了嗎?

咳咳。如有雷同,實屬巧合。

Wednesday 8 July 2020

8/7/2020: TWEWY animation and Mr. Driller

First of all, the animization of The World Ends With You is something I have never dreamed of. The switch game certainly failed to reach the same height as the DS version did, both operation-wise and story-wise (on top of the original 3 weeks), but the main story, character/art design and the music design is absolutely top notch. They are basically all you need for a great animation.

Their decision to modernize Shibuya as well as the phones is a bit sad to me, because these characters really live in Shibuya in the late 2000s. The only uncertainly is how much should be shown in 12 episodes -- given that Neku grew in the span of three weeks, it would be weird if they only do the first week or two. Some extra daily interactions will be welcomed, but only if they have enough time to display the whole main story. It would be nice if the animation gives extra answer to what was not fully explained both in the DS and the switch sequel.

Here is the trailer, in case you haven't watched:



*

I have been playing ring fit during the lockdown everyday, but I do not plan to give a review on the game. I also bought touhou mahjong but there is not much to say either.

Instead I want to talk about Mr. Driller Drillland. Unlike the DS version this is a complete remake of the 2002 version. I haven't played the 2002 version but I definitely enjoyed the DS version so I bought the switch one once I saw that on the store.

I cleared all Lv2 and finished the Lv3 Drindy adventure. I realized the technique to clear other Lv3's but lacked the time and temper for it, so I will stop here for now.



Before commenting on the game, I have a concern when others comment on games -- why are remakes valued less?

One shall not value remakes lower just because it is a "low effort" production. The pricing of a game depends on the development cost (of course), but the rest depending on marketing consideration on how the team think the game is worth.

You can say that a remake "probably" worth less because the game cannot keep up with the recent standard, or that the change in console alters the feeling of gameplay. The World Ends with You is a good example: the heavily stylus based control of the DS game feels off when it comes to switch. The extra content is nice but also left a gap between the main story and the extra story. This is why fans are not feeling as happy as in 2008.

> My review on The World Ends With You Final Remix < 

Nintendo and Sega made their old games ported onto switch at a really low price. This is not necessarily solely about effort (actually, getting the game mechanics right for these really old games are not super easy, although Nintendo already did it once for Wii). This is also a way for them to promote their IPs, which is worth more than selling the games itself. That never justify why remakes should be sold cheap.

After some research on the original one, I would say this switch version is basically the 2002 one moved to another console, just like how it did for the PC version. It completely copied the merits and weaknesses of the original game. The weaknesses meanwhile is relatively easy to fix and these are less tolerable in 2020, so the game got a mixed review (still beating TLOU2 by a huge margin, OF COURSE!)

On the good side they preserved all the game modes in the original version, which is well rounded comparing with the DS version which is pretty much just an extension of the world drill tour. The gameplay is pretty much the same because all you need is really a D-pad and the AB buttons. I always prefer D-pad over stick when you only need four directions -- the same happens for Tetris99.

On the bad side...the game lacks any tutorial or instructions. Lv 1 is quite hard for beginners to start with even with the beginner friendly mode. It would be nice if there is a really short and easy stage like 200m or 300m (which the DS version has).

Having 3 levels are the classic setup, but the gap is pretty huge between the three. There is no in-game instruction on how you can unlock the next one either.

I also wish to see more interaction among the characters, instead of just one or two vocal lines when the level is unlocked for the first time. I also wish to use Ataru on every single level on every mode. I know they assign characters to their suitable mode...but I just like Ataru more.

So...it is really a classic 2002 game, which some parts of it can be improved to fit the 2020 taste. I still like it, but how much should it be priced? I don't know because I don't buy games every day. At least for me I would happily take the $29.99 offer.

Tuesday 7 July 2020

Outbreak stages classification when it is out of control: July updates

This is an update on my model based on test count vs positive rate. For the introduction please refer to these articles:

1) Classification of outbreak stages by variation of test count and positive rate
2) Typical stage shifts: May updates

*

We have seen the potential of this model predicting the case trend in the next few days, but it does not give strong indication on whether we are shifting to the next stage. Even if we are to make predictions based on the model, there is one important assumption that we made.

We assume that the government would thoroughly eliminate the local infection chain to the point that only isolated cases would occur after a certain time.

This is certainly false when from what we have seen in the last two months. These countries are divided into two categories: either they lack the ability to eliminate the virus (passive herd immunity), or they try to strike a balance between public health and economy, which miserably failed. This will be the main theme of my July update.

Just like the May update, we present the trend since late March or whenever data is available, but data after May 10 will be shown in bold.

*

Countries that cannot control the virus at all

When the virus was spreading in South-East Asia and Africa, we feared that the pandemic could be out of control because of a less hygienic environment and less efficient/reliable government etc. This turned out not the case -- Africa is too hot for the virus, and SE Asia actually did a good job controlling the damage. Thailand and Vietnam did particularly good, for example.

But when it arrived South America such worry finally came true, as the virus easily spreads among the passionate (in other words, unhygienic) Latinos. The whole South America is quickly approaching towards herd immunity, not because they wanted to, but they have no other choices at all. The hospital was of course overloaded, and the government lacked the ability to response. The living habit of South Americans would only accelerate the infection. Rumors were in Brazil where gangs asked residents to stay at home and isolate themselves -- although unlawful this could really the be the right thing to do against the virus.



Confirmed cases for Columbia and Costa Rica exploded around late May when the shock wave finally arrived South America. Despite the slow increase in testing scale, we see no signs of things under control, at all. Columbia has been testing left and right, but they still need more -- at least 5 times of the current scale -- if you compare with other big European countries like France.

South Africa is the singularity in Africa because its climate is quite different from the rest of Africa, which is bad because they are in winter now. But the bigger problem was that the government wanted to restart the economy so they lifted lockdown too soon. Daily confirmed cases doubles every 1 or 2 days since then, and the tragedy follows from slow reaction of the government. That is a pity -- we thought they did enough to shoo off the virus, but one mistake and it was all over.

*

Countries that cannot eliminate the virus

When everything is under control, the next step is to eliminate the virus locally so that the economy can reboot without creating more infection. However part of the population is always kind of disobedient. They get themselves infected and eventually get others infected as well. It has been a dilemma in western countries: rebooting the economy earlier implies that you will never get the virus eliminated, and it builds a constant pressure on the health care system as well as everything else. Most countries chose economy anyway, and we are observing more of these "long tail" infections.



The fact that Japan successfully suppressed the virus on the edge of a widespread infection shows their high standard of public health maintained. This is however, not necessarily true in every single corner of the country. Most recently reported cases in Japan are actually happening in the food and service sectors -- in particular pubs, (erotic) salons, maid cafe and so on.

It would really be a hard decision to shut these shops again. The industry is extremely fragile and already took a heavy blow in the past 3 months. On the other hand, infections are likely to happen in these places again as long as the virus is not exterminated completely, that they could be forced to shut indefinitely.

Russia as well as Singapore and some other middle-east countries are of another story. The infection is confined to the circle of foreign labours, whose are socially isolated from the general public and have a below-average living standard. Given their status in the host countries, it was deemed not worthy to eliminate the virus within those communities, so an alternative is to isolate all these workers as a whole, and hope that herd immunity would develop eventually there.

The United States case is so complicated... each states has its own problems. First of all the protests. Regardless of their motives, this is bad for disease control. Secondly lockdown was lifted a bit too early in some states like Florida and Arizona. The southern states also received an influx of patients from Central and South America, where things are apparently uncontrollable. Imposing the lockdown again is the right choice, but protests and the effects from neighboring countries would drag back the effectiveness of the lockdown.

*

For the rest of the world, UK is apparently reopening its border for most travelers knowing that their own immunity is good the point where taking ill travelers is of no big deal anymore. We are also observing relaxation of border control among countries that eliminated the virus like Taiwan and New Zealand. It would be fun to observe half of the world recovering, and the other half still fighting hard against the virus.

Ref.

[1] Total confirmed cases vs total tests conducted, retrieved 5 July 2020.