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追踪用户消费情况,Facebook推getBalance API

发布时间:2011-03-08 09:00:15 Tags:,,

Facebook最近推出了getBalance API,支持采用了Facebook Credits作为游戏唯一虚拟货币的开发商判断用户对Credits的使用情况,辨别哪些用户属于Credits收支情况最为平衡的高消费玩家,并灵活调整虚拟商品售价,提高用户的消费水平或产品利润率,让游戏实现更大收益。

Credits-Incentives

Credits-Incentives

不过,如果开发商在调整价格时没有向用户公布相关情况,就很可能面临用户大量流失,游戏落下坏口碑的困境。因为用户会觉得自己受到欺骗,就会退出游戏,不再访问该开发商的其他游戏,甚至向他人告知并传播这种情况。一些关注游戏虚拟商品售价的粉丝网站和社区,也会进一步推波助澜,让游戏彻底陷入信誉危机。另外值得一提的是,开发商使用自己的付费虚拟货币也同样能判断用户的消费情况,所以getBalance功能只是为采用了Credits,以及未采用Credits的开发商创造了一种平等比较的机会。

getBalance API的作用

游戏邦获悉,从今年7月1日开始,所有的Facebook游戏都必须采用Facebook Credits作为唯一的虚拟货币系统。用户可以使用Credits购买游戏虚拟货币,也可以直接用Credits作为虚拟货币,购买游戏虚拟商品。Facebook希望开发商直接以Credits作为游戏虚拟货币,因为这样可以精减付费流程。

为了让开发商广泛采用Facebook Credits虚拟货币系统,Facebook还提供了“好友团购优惠”(Buy with Friends)和“无障碍支付功能”(Frictionless Payment)等特殊的API。其中,“好友团购优惠”是用折扣价支持用户与好友团购虚拟商品,而“无障碍支付功能”则可在不打断用户游戏进程的情况下,直接确认其3美元以下的商品交易行为。

Credits-as-Currency

Credits-as-Currency

“无障碍支付功能”要求开发商在用户每笔交易完成后,向他们显示其帐户支出情况。开发商可以通过getBalance API以下的代码获知任何一名用户的消费情况:

$ret = $facebook->api_client->users_getStandardInfo($user_id, array(‘credit_balance’));

这个在今年1月底推出的API还有其他许多益处,支持开发商判断用户是否拥有大量Credits消费纪录,显示该用户的消费活跃情况以及潜在价值等。开发商也可以由此发现用户的消费行为是否非常有限,他们的付费意愿是否偏低。

Frictionless-Payments-Show-Balance

Frictionless-Payments-Show-Balance

Facebook Credits项目经理Reshma Khilnani表示,开发商可以通过这些数据优化营收解决方案。比如,向频繁消费的用户提供特殊奖励,赢得他们的信赖和忠实度,然后将他们转化为鲸鱼用户(游戏邦注:鲸鱼指高消费用户),或者将消费25至成百上千美元的用户转化成频频回访的老主顾。

当然,开发商也可以选择降低虚拟商品价格,让频繁消费的用户先迷上游戏,然后再随着时间发展逐步提高价格。游戏生命周期较短的开发商,也可以在用户离开游戏前,一次性向用户征收较多费用,不过目前来看,还是循序渐进式的营收方案成果更为显著。

对于那些消费纪录较少的用户,开发商可以通过灵活调整虚拟商品价格,增加用户购买Credits的欲望。游戏邦认为开发商可对促进用户升级的虚拟商品调整售价,促使他们购买更多Credits以加速游戏进程,然后再降低该商品售价,让其他相对缺乏消费纪录的用户也来试一试。

但正如前文所言,开发商要慎用这种方法,因为它极有可能影响游戏的信誉。

getBalance API为虚拟商品定价提供了一个创新策略,掌握了大量用户数据的大型开发商可以由此找到提高用户消费水平的途径;除此之外,这种API还为Credits消费行为分析服务公司打开了市场,它们可以向小型开发商提供相关的用户数据。

在现实世界中,很少有零售商可以如此洞悉用户的消费水平,并根据具体情况调整产品售价。getBalance API是选择Credits作为虚拟货币的开发商扩大游戏营收的一个理想选择。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

The Facebook Credits GetBalance API Helps Developers Dynamically Price Virtual Goods

Facebook has released the getBalance API call as an incentive to game developers who use Facebook Credits as their exclusive premium in-game currency. The call lets developers determine the Credits balance of any of their users. This allows them to identify high rollers with a large balance of Credits and dynamically price virtual goods to increase purchase probability or profit margin, improving monetization.

However, if developers change prices on users without disclosing the changes, they are risking significant backlash. Users might feel cheated, and stop playing the game, or other games by the developer — and they might also spread the word to others. A variety of fan sites and communities cover details like prices, and they’d be sure to notice price discrepancies and help spread the word. Also, it’s worth noting that developers who use their own proprietary premium virtual currency can see balances of their users, so getBalance really just creates parity between developers who do and do not use Credits as their in-game currency.

What the getBalance API does

Starting July 1st, all Facebook games must process payments exclusively through Facebook Credits, Facebook’s virtual currency. Developers can either use Credits as their payment method, allowing users to purchase a game’s proprietary premium in-game currency with Credits, or use Credits as their premium currency. Facebook wants developers to use Credits as their in-game currency (PDF) because it removes an extra step from the spending flow, as Credits as a payment method requires users to buy to credits to buy premium currency to buy virtual goods.

Facebook is incentivizing developers to use of Credits as their premium currency by making several special API calls available to those that do, including Buy with Friends and Frictionless Payments. Buy with Friends lets users share a discount on a virtual good with friends, while Frictionless Payments lets developers instantly sell users up to $3 worth of virtual goods without interrupting game play with a purchase confirmation step.

Frictionless Payments requires developers to display a user’s balance to them after purchase. To do this, developers can call the getBalance API for any of their users:

$ret = $facebook->api_client->users_getStandardInfo($user_id, array(‘credit_balance’));

But there are significant additional benefits to this API call,  which quietly became available at the end of January. It allows developers it to determine if a user is a high roller who maintains a large balance of Credits, indicating that they actively purchase Credits and will likely have a high lifetime value. Developers can also tell if a user maintain no balance and may not be a paying customer, or that they maintain a small balance, indicating that they may only buy as many Credits as they need at a time and might not spend as freely.

Facebook Credits project manager Reshma Khilnani confirmed with us that developers could use this data to optimize their monetization strategy. They might seek to reward high rollers with special rewards in hopes of winning their loyalty and turning them into a whales, or high-return social gamers who spends from $25 up to tens of thousands of dollars.

Developers might reduce the price of virtual goods when a high roller first starts playing in an effort to get them hooked, gradually increasing prices with time. Alternatively, developers of games with a low user lifespan could jack up prices to squeeze money out of them before they leave, though a slow-and-steady monetization strategy is usually more fruitful.

For those with a small balance, developers could dynamically price their virtual goods so users could make purchases without having to stop and buy more Credits from Facebook. They could also price a virtual good that is crucial to advancement just above the user’s current balance, compelling them to buy more Credits, and then lower prices to get the now Credits-flush user to fritter away their balance.

But as we said earlier, developers should remember that they may risk their reputations over their use of this feature.

The getBalance API opens a whole new level of strategy to virtual goods pricing. Large developers with huge volumes of data will be able to deduce patterns and discover tricks to help them maximize user spend. The API could even create a market for Credits balance analytics services that bring these insights to smaller developers.

Rarely in the physical world do retailers get the chance to look inside a potential customer’s wallet and price their wares accordingly. The getBalance API is a persuasive reason for developers to switch to Credits as their premium in-game currency, and an opportunity for them and Facebook to significantly improve monetization of games.(source:insidefacebook)


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