作者：Raph Koster（Playdom创意设计副总裁）

我们为何要制作游戏呢？

为许多人提供娱乐方式，构建新的社交维系，为了某个我熟悉的用户（游戏邦注：包括自己、妻子、孩子等）而构建游戏。从AAA游戏领域转向社交游戏市场又需要注意哪些事项？

1.为游戏发展找到门路

·通过多种渠道找到用户（例如Applifer等交叉推广工具），建立可观的用户终身价值以平衡广告支出。

·在热门游戏风格的基础上进行创新（例如《My Vineyard》就属于新领域的农场游戏）

·找到传播游戏消息的途径

2、将社交游戏视为一桩生意

·迭代循环周期缩短

·构建学习文化（游戏邦注：可以利用ab测试法来测试一切成果）

·不明白盈利之道，就不是优秀的设计师

·善用反馈参数指导游戏设计（游戏邦注：先想出杰出的创意，然后利用反馈参数推动游戏开发）

3、社交游戏不等于垃圾信息

许多游戏开发者的好友认为社交游戏是垃圾信息的代名词，但玩家却并不这么认为。社交游戏信息对他们来说好比是Hallmark明信片，涂鸦墙上的消息也蕴含着真正的情感，将这些内容称为垃圾信息是一种侮辱。开发者需将病毒性内容整合到游戏玩法中（游戏邦注：比如《My Vineyard》中的品酒）。

4、人人都有获胜机会

大公司（比如zynga等）或许会有DAU下跌的时候，但小型开发商却正在不断成长。

如果把前五大社交游戏开发商的游戏移除，你就会看到那些小公司获得的巨大发展。

5、人人都要知道反馈参数的重要性

·多数游戏公司会隐藏自己的反馈数据

·根据会对项目运营产生最大影响的反馈参数，不断迭代开发游戏

·你公布的每个东西都有可能被他人模仿

·掌握反馈参数有利于优化游戏

·反馈参数很强大，但并非开发游戏的核心，所以创意仍然是必需品

6、证明各个功能的价值

《无尽的任务》问世8年以来已含有大量的功能和特征，但是没有人知道究竟是那些功能让游戏变得更好或者更差。

并非每个功能都会让游戏变得更好。当我们发布游戏时，我们通常都会认为有90%的功能让游戏更加完善了，但事实证明只有10%的功能确实如此。

你甚至可以通过移除功能来证明其存在价值。你可以从每个用户身上学到很多东西。

你可以通过专门的测试检验功能设置是否合理。

7、避免团队职能过于单一

团队成员应该扮演多种角色，掌握多种技能。

8、ARPU价值胜过病毒性

社交游戏中的关键反馈参数包括病毒性、留存率、ARPU（游戏邦注：即每用户平均盈利），但是获得病毒式发展已经不再简单，也不再那么重要。

在旧规则时代，病毒性是最重要的东西。但是现在侧重点是用户获取成本和ARPU，而不再是病毒性。

改变游戏的病毒性的做法很简单。你可以通过重新设计你的核心游戏循环来增加病毒性，但要实现这个目标很难。

胜利=获取成本<用户终生价值

9、获得独立反馈结果

只要花3000美元，你就可以对3000万人进行问卷调查

设立可以在每个阶段获得反馈的方法，包括在游戏发布之前

获取可靠的反馈结果

重复这种行为

让它成为开发过程的一部分

利用usertesting.com，在数个小时内获得四种用户群体的反馈结果

快速循环，准备好所有内容之后就将其展示给人们，这样可以节省你的金钱。

10、关注用户特点

50%的玩家每次玩游戏的时间超过30分钟，10%的人每次玩的时间超过3个小时，用户平均每天玩的次数超过1次，用户平均活跃于一款以上的游戏之中，43%的人登录Facebook只为了玩游戏。

11、几乎所有主机游戏都只适合于特定玩家群体

有20款PS3游戏销量在100万份以上

有219款Facebook游戏在2010年8月份的用户数量都达到了100万

这两种情况的盈利性差别不大。

游戏邦注：原文是作者在2010年GDC online大会上的发言稿，所涉时间、事件和数据均以当时为准。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

AAA to Social Games: Making the Leap

Raph Koster

Why do we make games?

Provide entertainment to the largest numbers, build new social ties, build games for a customer I know very well (myself, my wife, children)..as frequently a

possible.

Top 10 Lessons From Switching to Social Games

10. Console Games are Niche, almost all of them.

20 PS3 games have sold 1m+ units

219 Facebook games have reached 1 million users in August

There’s a slight monetization gap,

9. Your audience

More than 50% play longer than 30 min per session, 10% are playing more than 3 hours a session, on avg playing more than one session per day, on avg they are active

in more than 1 game, 43% log into FB just to play games

Grandma is a hardcore gamer

8. Get independent feedback

For $3000 you can ask 30 million people whatever you want

- establish a process that gets you feedback at every stage, including before you start

Applies the moment you have anything to show anyone

- get feedback you can trust

- iterate against it

- and make it part of your process

- usertesting,com, get a dozen pieces of feedback from hour demographic in a few hours

Have to be on rapid cycles, get everything up there and show people, can be pretty crude and will save you money.

7. Nevermind virality, more ARPU

Key metrics are, virality, retention, ARPU, but viral growth is no longer as easy or as important.

Under the old rules, nothing matters more than virality….today what matters is acquisition cost and ARPU, not as much virality.

Much easier to tweak. Increasing virality drastically involves redesigning your core game loop, which is difficult. Hammering on monetization causes the biggest

effects that impact your business.

Victory = acquisition cost < lifetime value

6. Specialization is bad

Staff need to wear multiple hats

5. I don’t care what you think, prove it.

Everquest over 8 years had a ton of features, but no one knows what features made the game better or worse.

Every feature does not make your game better. When we started I thought we would be right 90% of the time, it was more like 10%. We are better now, 30%.

You can even test features by removing them to prove they still have value. Every user is a place to learn, and there are always more of them.

5b.usertesting.com

You can do user testing.com on anything. At Metaplace we paid to test Playdom games.

4. Everyone has to know the metrics

- most game companies hide the metrics

- web companies project them on the wall (focuses the team very powerful)-steer the business toward iterating against the metrics that will have the greatest impact

- whatever you have on the wall is what people will iterate against

- metrics are a spectacular way to optimize

Metrics are great but they will not create a game for you, still need to be creative

3. There are new winners today

Big people might be losing DAU (zynga) but small developers are growing

Look at a chart with the top 5 social game developers removed and you will see massive growth

2. Its not spam

Many game-developer friends hate this spam, but to the players this is not spam. It’s like buying Hallmark cards, there are real emotions behind these wall posts.

Its insulting to call it spam.

Integrate viral into the gameplay, (wine tasting in My Vineyard)

1. It’s as much of a business as it is a game

-iterative loops are shortening

-build a culture of learning (ab test everything)

-you cannot be a desiger who doesn’t understand money

-be metric-driven (come up with great game ideas that push the metrics further) (Source: tamibaribeau.com)