多年以来，游戏开发者大会（GDC）一直在不停地围绕一个话题进行争论：社交游戏真的是一种游戏设计吗，或者它们根本就不是游戏？

但今年的情况就不同了，大家已经普遍将社交游戏视为游戏家族中的一员，所以此次大会讨论话题更明确——社交游戏究竟是应该跟着游戏设计师的感觉走，还是该由重视市场方向的产品经理来决定它的设计。据游戏邦了解，Loot Drop的联合创始人布伦达·布瑞斯韦特（Brenda Brathwaite）为前一观点的代表， 她在日前的GDC大会上与代表后者观点的索尼在线娱乐（Sony Online Entertainment）设计师拉瑞恩·麦克威廉姆斯（Laralyn McWilliams）就此问题发表了不同看法。

Brenda-Brathwaite

因为目前已有不少拥有数十年经验的传统游戏开发者，正纷纷涌入社交和在线游戏领域，所以辩清这个问题对这一行业来说特别重要。布瑞斯韦特表示，“我认为部分问题是，游戏设计师把开发游戏视为一种极富创造性的艺术。”而产品经理则举了一些数据和图表来说明社交游戏设计更像是一种工艺。

Laralyn McWilliams

布瑞斯韦特举了将何种虚拟商品植入到游戏中的例子来说明，设计师们有时会将游戏设计视为一种直觉判断。而据游戏邦了解，产品经理的观点则是，如果发现美洲文化的商品很受玩家的欢迎，那么就应该试着把这些元素添加到游戏中。而喜欢坚持自己独特创意的设计师，可能会认为这种做法有违自己的意愿。

此外，产品经理的市场标准可能会与传统设计师的一些设计理念相冲突。一般而言，传统设计师并不希望让仍不完美的初级版本游戏见光。布瑞斯韦特表示，“这就好像在甜甜圈店饱食一顿后又一丝不挂地走出来。”但麦克威廉姆斯认为，推出一个不完整的游戏可能才是最好的选择。她表示，开发游戏的过程越久，其中的不确定因素就越多。

如果游戏设计师在开发过程中遵从产品经理的意见，就可以避免一些冲突。例如，如果首次推出曲棍球类型的游戏，产品经理可能会认为用户很喜欢这样的格斗场面，因此会更侧重这些画面。而设计师的主要任务就是从大量用户身上了解他们对游戏的看法，跟进玩家对整个游戏体验的反馈。但麦克威廉姆斯却认为，“游戏的亮点（比如格斗）就是整个游戏的趣味所在。”

最后，产品经理还应该协助指明设计师们的开发领域，尤其是找到用户在Facebook、PSP或者其他平台的动向。麦克威廉姆斯认为，“我们并不需要在主题和核心玩家互动等方面做出更有创造性的决定，但它确实可以帮助我们集中目标。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

GDC: Is Intuition or Metrics Better for Social Game Design?

For several years a discussion (or argument) has vollied between two sides at the Game Developer’s Conference: do social games use real game design, or are they not games at all?

These days the social branch is generally accepted as a real part of the gaming family, so an afternoon panel dealt with a more refined argument – whether social games should be driven by intuitive, feeling game designers, or by the metrics-driven product managers who created the industry, with Loot Drop cofounder Brenda Brathwaite taking one side and Sony Online Entertainment designer Laralyn McWilliams on the other.

The question is particularly relevant right now because traditional game developers, some with decades of experience, are streaming into the social and online space. “I think part of the problem is that game designers view this as an incredibly creative art,” said Brathwaite. Product managers, on the other hand, are more likely to view game design as a craft, backed up by numbers and graphs.

Designers sometimes see the problem as one of judgment. The example Brathwaite gave was choosing which virtual goods to include in the game. A product manager who can see that Americana-themed goods are popular with a majority of players might try to force them in. The designer, having a specific medieval theme in mind, might well see that idea as shooting themselves in the foot.

On the other hand, metrics can, and should, destroy some typical behaviors of traditional designers. A typical designer hates to see an early version of their game released. “It’s like walking out naked after a Krispy Kreme binge,” said Brathwaite. But launching an incomplete game may be the best idea, according to McWilliams. “The longer you hold onto it, the more you’re guessing,” she said.

Some of the conflict can be solved by the game designer applying management to the product manager’s process. For instance, if hockey were being designed for the first time, a product manager might rightly conclude that viewers like fights and thus make them more central. The designer’s job is to ask for more numbers to get a complete view, tracking the entire experience of the player.

“It’s about the whole experience,” said McWilliams. “The highlights [like fights] are the dessert of the game.”

At the end of the day, product managers should be helping to define the space that game designers work within, especially as that relates to what users like doing on the platform in question, whether that’s Facebook or a PSP. “It doesn’t have to drive the more creative decisions like theme and core player interactions, but it helps narrow things down,” said McWilliams.（source:insidesocialgames）