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社交游戏开发者需更重视故事情节的作用

发布时间:2011-05-25 10:55:03 Tags:,,

作者:Justin Nearing

社交游戏中的故事往往不同于其他游戏中的剧情。硬核游戏中的故事更像是在叙述过去:玩家是推动整个故事情节发展的主角。游戏中的角色发展是通过一些非交互性的过场动画顺序现出来的,并且在玩家的游戏体验中还会插入一些互动式的游戏玩法。

然而,社交游戏中的故事稍微有点不同。在社交游戏中,故事情节比较简单,且大多是由很多小故事组成,并主要针对于通过奖励行为调动玩家的积极性。那么社交游戏中的故事到底是怎样吸引玩家的呢?

故事助游戏获取玩家

在游戏初期,故事能够作为玩家的一个参照标准,使他们知道自己在游戏中是什么角色,应该执行什么样的任务等等。这种游戏初期幕后故事往往都是简单易懂的。在大多数社交游戏中,故事情节往往只需通过一两行描述就能使玩家明白。例如“你是《太空帝国》(Space Empire)的首领,必须寻求方法扩大属于你的星系。”

Space Empire(from sillysoft)

Space Empire(from sillysoft)

在这个阶段,游戏中的故事演变成了新手教程。有些游戏会通过不同的语言或音调为玩家描述故事,而通过这种描述,玩家能够更容易学会游戏并掌握游戏。(游戏邦注:有些游戏通过在游戏内部设置了“顾问”–非游戏角色在游戏中为玩家提供游戏方向,通过这种方法,这些游戏显得更加人性化了。而且这些“顾问”提供建议给玩家也可以说是游戏开发者与玩家的一种直接交流。)

在玩家完成第一个游戏任务时,他将能够得到奖励,随之也会看到自己的下一个任务。每一个游戏任务都是按照这样的方法公布给玩家的。通过使用游戏故事,玩家能够以一种较为有趣且低调的方式接收到每一个游戏玩法。

故事影响用户留存率

通过在游戏中使用新手教程,玩家能在游戏的一开始就知道应该完成任务才能在游戏中升级。游戏中的每一个任务都是围绕着故事情节展开的(并通过“顾问”传达给玩家),规定玩家必须完成一定标准的任务才能继续游戏并取得胜利。游戏中的每一个任务都必须清楚地展现给玩家(通过使用游戏中的语言),以便玩家清楚地知道如何做才能取得胜利并获得游戏奖励。

新手教程:

–>“在《Battle》中你必须打败邪恶的Gathbof,所以你必须先获得Silver Spear”

–>按此按钮进入商店

–>“欢迎来到商店,对抗邪恶势力的年轻勇士,顾问告知我你的到来”

–>按此按钮购买武器

–>“你学得很快,年轻的勇士。现在你已经可以直接面对战争中的Gathbof了!”

–>按此按钮开始游戏

–>“你打败了Gathbof,赢得了GOLD!”

–>收到Gold

–>“一个人拿了太多的奖励,是否可以与朋友们一起分享呢!”

–>推动游戏的病毒式传播

当玩家掌握了游戏的基本技巧后,他们便会开始学习更复杂的游戏技巧,特别是当这种教程也是按照相同的方法进行时,玩家会更乐于进一步学习。游戏任务对于玩家来说是一种新型的学习方法,它能使原本看起来很复杂的游戏技巧变得简单,因为在整个过程中玩家的行动都受到了游戏故事的引导。

当游戏技巧越发复杂时,游戏任务亦然,但是玩家却不会因此被打倒。因为他们都能很清楚地看到每一个任务步骤,而且游戏故事的引导也能够帮助他们更好地进行游戏。简单的说,游戏故事能够使玩家更加轻松地学习游戏技巧。

当游戏中添加了一些新功能时,任务技巧就会变得特别有用了,因为玩家已经被“训练”成为能够直接应付各种任务的游戏人了。不论游戏中添加了哪种新功能,玩家都能在游戏故事的引导下快速掌握这些功能。当玩家来到游戏的最后几个阶段时,游戏故事已不再只是用于教授玩家技巧的功能了,它将变成推动玩家继续前进,并促进玩家学习行为或奖励行为的主要动力。

故事促进游戏盈利

社交游戏中的故事如何才能带来盈利呢?CLASH旗下的《Rise of Heroes》可以称得上是这方面的典型。

在接受初期新手教程后,玩家能够直接“免费”进行游戏的初期任务。就像传统的AAA游戏剧情那样,游戏中的每一项活动都是在玩家的驱动下展开的:游戏玩法中会加入一些过场动画,帮助游戏角色的发展和游戏情节的设置。这种游戏玩法同样也能够使玩家在游戏中相互交流。

在初期任务完成后,玩家必须通过使用付费虚拟货币购买下一阶段的游戏故事。只有一款游戏的故事真正吸引了玩家,他们才会继续购买。CLASH在这方面表现突出,因为他们把早前的超级英雄连环漫画改编成游戏进行销售,使目标用户(游戏邦注:那些在童年曾经读过这些漫画的玩家)能够产生强烈的怀旧感,并使他们能够在游戏中实现小时候想当超级英雄的梦想。

总结

如今的社交游戏中的故事大都比较短,且多数采用低调的方式帮助玩家学习如何进行游戏,或加强他们的奖励行为。很少社交游戏能够真正使用一些引人注目且充满叙述性的故事。如果这种类型的游戏变得更加成熟,越来越多的游戏将会更加重视游戏中的故事吧。而到了那时候,游戏故事可能将不再只是社交游戏中的一个边缘环节。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Story in Social Games

by Justin Nearing

Story in social games is different from that in other game mediums. In hardcore games, the story is closer to the classic narratives of yesteryear: The player takes the role of a protagonist who drives the plot of the story. Character development is presented by sequence of non-interactive cutscenes, broken up by interactive gameplay sessions- gameplay sessions where the player drives major plot events of the Story.

Story in social games, however, is slightly different. In social games, the story is light, presented in small chunks, and specifically designed to drive the user to rewarded behaviours. How can Story in a social game drive growth?

Story and Acquisition

Initially, the Story gives the player a frame of reference, telling them who they are, what they’re doing, etc. This initial backstory is usually very light and simple. In most social games, the story is presented in one/two-line sentences.

“You are the leader of a Space Empire, seeking to expand across the stars.”

At this point the Story becomes the tutorial. The user is given their first mechanic to learn, framed using the tone/language of the story. (Some games personify the tutorial via an in-game “Advisor”; a non-playable character that gives you the directions in the game. This Advisor is the developers voice to directly communicate to the user)
Spaceguy McAdvisorman:

“Your first task as Supreme Commander of the Omniverse is to collect 30 space sheep”
–> [Collect Sheep Button] <–

After the task is complete, the user is given a reward, and the next task  is presented. Each core game mechanic is introduced in this fashion. By using Story, the user is taught the core gameplay mechanics in a fun and unobtrusive way.

Story and Retention

Using the tutorial, the user is natively taught that the game is driven forward using this task feature. Each task is framed through the Story, (and delivered through the Advisor) giving a set of criteria the user must complete. The user complies by doing each step in the task and is rewarded. Each step of the task should be laid out, using the language of the Story, so that the user constantly knows how to go forward and be rewarded.

Trigger Tutorial

–> “You must defeat the evil Gathbof in Battle, but to do so you need a Silver Spear”

–> Button leading to Store

–> “Welcome to the Store, young warrior of the twilight, the Advisor notified me of your arrival”

–> Button to Buy Weapon

–> “You are learning quick, young warrior, now face Gathbof in Battle!

–> Button to Battle

–> “You defeated Gathbof and received GOLD!”

–> Receive Gold

–> “There is too much loot for one person, SHARE the bounty!”

–> Push Viral

As the user learns the core game mechanics, naturally they can start to learn more complex and unintuitive game mechanics- especially if they are taught the same way the core mechanics were. Tasks makes learning new, complex mechanics easily, because the user is guided at every step.

As the mechanics become more complicated, the tasks become more complicated, however the user is never overwhelmed because each step is always laid out, and the flavour of the Story continues to drive them forward. To put it simply- Story allows the user to have fun learning game mechanics!

The Task/Quest mechanic becomes especially useful when new features are added to the game, as users are already trained to do as the tasks direct. As new features are introduced into the game, they are done so via the Story. As the player progresses to the later stages of the game, the Story becomes less about teaching users mechanics, and predominantly becomes a way to continue pushing the user forward and reinforcing learned/rewarded behaviour.

Story and Monetization

How can the Story directly monetize a social game? CLASH: Rise of Heroes does this well in their Campaigns.

After the initial tutorial, the user is directed to play through the first “free” campaign. Each campaign is a narrative driven by the user, presented much like traditional AAA stories: Cutscenes are broken up by gameplay sessions- the cutscenes develops the characters and sets up major plot points; the Gameplay Sessions allow the user to interactively act out said plot points.

After the campaign is finished, they must purchase additional Campaigns (Stories) via premium currency. Users are only willing to pay for the additional Campaigns if they are sold on the story.

CLASH does this very well because of the old super-hero comic book style it adopts.  Target users (anyone that read comics as a kid) are filled with a sense of nostalgia, and are given the opportunity to do exactly what they did as a kid- pretend they are a super-hero like in the comics.

Wrapping Up

Currently, story in social games are short, non-obtrusive ways to drive your players to learn or reinforce rewarded behaviours. Few, if any games really have stood out and implemented a compelling narrative in a social game. I feel that as this genre matures, games will come out where there is more emphasis on Story. Until then, Story will be little more of a side-note in social games.(source:gamasutra


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