作者：Brice Morrison

当玩家在享用你的游戏时，他们的目标和长期激励是什么？是什么让他们持续玩游戏以期实现目标？是完成关卡，还是获得所有护甲碎片，抑或是找到最后一个红色硬币？

还是说他们根本没有目标？他们是否只是在游戏世界中到处漫游，然后逐渐感到无聊乏味？

就玩家目标的定义这个问题，有上百万种答案。人类都会努力去完成某件事情。当有些东西未完成同时你有将其完成的工具，你就会有将其完成的念头。当事情最终被打上“完成”的标签时，玩家便会感到满足，并且为他们自己的成就感到自豪。

上文所说的漫游并不一定是真正在游戏中到处漫游。有许多游戏（游戏邦注：如《塞尔达》和《旺达与巨像》）都出现这种情况。漫游是指玩家失去目标的时刻。即便目标只是“我想要在这片地域中寻找到某些有趣的东西”也可以。但是如果玩家毫无目标，就有可能感到乏味并离开游戏。

但是，给予玩家目标，即便只是个很微小的目标，就可以激发他们前行。这便是优秀长期激励的本质。创造玩家会关注的不完整情形，然后给予他们完成所需的工具。

从第一个关卡开始

想象下，如果你打开《超级马里奥兄弟》后，开始看到的并不是“World 1-1”页面，而是以下画面：

World1 2 from thegameprodigy.com

这两种情形之间有和差别呢？不同之处在于，首个画面设定了游戏的关卡和行进的架构。展示“World 1-1”页面暗示着后面将会有World 1-2、1-3和2-1。也就是说，游戏接下来会有更多的关卡。不仅如此，游戏通过这些黑色背景的介绍页面让你了解自己到达了哪个关卡。

这种设计的作用就在于为玩家营造出长期激励。或许甚至连他们自己都没有意识到，他们已经树立了目标：“完成World 1-1，进入下个游戏世界。”因而，当玩家跳过水管、发射火球和粉碎砖块时，他们知道自己正朝某个目标前进。

World 1 1 from thegameprodigy.com

想象下另一个情形。如果从未玩过《超级马里奥兄弟》的玩家在打开游戏是看到的不是“World 1-1”页面，那么他们可能不会感受到激励。他们会控制角色跑段时间，然后被敌人杀死。如果发生这种情况，他们再次尝试和继续玩游戏的可能性就会很小。为什么他们应当继续玩游戏呢？对于他们前方的路途、游戏的架构方式以及如何实现目标，他们一无所知。他们会认为这样的情形会无穷无尽地持续下去。如果对目标毫无所知的话，那么为何要花精力去不停地向右侧跑呢？

长期激励可以让玩家坚持不懈。让他们有再次尝试的理由而且不断玩游戏，因为他们会对这种完成某些事情的行动感到很兴奋。看到“World 1-2”的目标让付出的一切努力都变得有价值。

自选愿望

《模拟人生3》被多数人认为是款沙盘式游戏，玩家可以制定自己的规则，决定要去做什么事情，在游戏中构建自己的人生路途。但是，《模拟人生3》也是个目标构建精巧的游戏，长期激励玩家不断玩游戏。

比如，游戏角色有自己想要去实现的愿望和梦想。这些会随机跳出来供玩家选择，而产生此类梦想的驱动因素便是玩家所创建角色的偏好和生活方式。他们想要同邻居成为好友？还是在公园中亲下碰到的某个可爱小男孩？抑或是应聘一份新的工作？还是吃下整桶的冰激凌？

一旦玩家选择了愿望，那么就需要他们来完成。这个愿望会存在于玩家的HUD中和屏幕上，时刻提醒玩家完成这个愿望能够让角色获得额外的分数。

这便是自选长期激励的范例。通过让玩家“承诺”达成角色的愿望，玩家就会投入到游戏体验中，并且享受战胜挑战带来的乐趣。

看看我获得的奖杯！

成就是另一种长期激励的形式，也可能是最为流行的方式，因为它可以被用在几乎所有的游戏中。玩家完成某个特定的任务后，获得分数奖励。

成就这种方法确实很棒，因为它可以将更多的游戏可玩性融入几乎任何情形中，或者使之成为整个游戏的基础。在几乎所有的Xbox 360和PS3游戏中，都融入了成就系统，玩家可以完成成就来获得点数。

成就是展现长期激励效能的绝妙范例，因为通常情况下它们并没有提供奖励，只是在屏幕上呈现“我已经完成这个成就”的文本。然而，它们通常都需要极大的努力才能够达成，比如《洛克人9》中的“在不受伤害的情况下完成游戏”的成就。虽然成就的设计并非针对所有玩家，但是成就让玩家有了努力的目标，有了些他们可以在完成之后自豪炫耀的东西。

玩家玩游戏的原因

长期激励的乐趣来源于人类天生的从完成事情中感受到的乐趣。为自己设定目标然后亲眼看到这个目标实现，每个人都很享受这个过程。

当玩家拥有目标时，他们就有更大的可能性继续玩游戏。即便他们自己并没有察觉到这点，但是内心已经有了做出行动并享受整个过程的理由。给予玩家强大的长期激励会让他们花大量时间来玩游戏，同时在这个过程中获得乐趣。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Don’t Let Your Players Be Wanderers

Brice Morrison

When players are enjoying your game, what is their goal, their Long Term Incentive? What is the thing that is making them continue to play in order to achieve? Is it to complete the level? Get all the pieces of their armor? Find the last red coin?

Or do they not have a goal? Do they just kind of…wander around and get bored?

There are a million answers to the question of defining a player goal. Humans are programmed to strive for completion. When something is incomplete and you have the tools to complete it, you are compelled to move forward. And when it is finally marked as “complete”, then the player is satisfied, content, and proud of their accomplishment.

Wandering in this sense doesn’t necessarily mean literally wandering around within a game. There are plenty of titles (Zelda, Shadow of the Colossus) that do that. Wandering is when a player has no goal. Even if the goal is “I want to find something interesting in this field,” then it is good enough. But no goal at all? That gives players a chance to get bored and quit.

But giving them a goal, even a subtle one, will propel them forward. This is the essence of a good Long Term Incentive. Create an incomplete situation that the player cares about, and then hand them the tools they need to complete it.

It all starts with Level 1

Imagine if you picked up Super Mario Bros. and it didn’t start with the World 1-1 screen, but instead started off right away with this screen:

What is the difference between these two scenarios? The difference is that the first one sets the stage and the structure of the game going forward. By saying “World 1-1”, that implies that there is a World 1-2, a 1-3, and a 2-1. That there are more levels coming up, and not only that, the game will let you know when you get there by showing you another one of these nice black intro screens.

What this does is create the Long Term Incentive for the player. While they may not even realize it, they are primed with the goal: “Complete World 1-1 in order to get to the next World.” And so while the player is jumping over pipes, shooting fireballs, and bashing blocks, they know that they are working towards something.

Imagine the opposite scenario. If a player picked up the game, had never played Super Mario before, and didn’t see “World 1-1”, then they would not be as motivated. They may run for a little while, and then run into an enemy. At this point, they would be less likely to try again and continue. Why should they? They don’t know how far they need to go, how this game is structured, or how it works. For all they know it could go on forever. What’s the point of continuing to run to the right if you don’t know why?

A Long Term Incentive gives players perseverance. It gives them a reason to try again and keep going, because they are excited about accomplishing something. Getting to see “World 1-2” makes it all worthwhile.

Self-Selected Wishes

The Sims 3 is widely considered a sandbox game, a title where players can make their own rules, decide what they want to do, and forge their own path for the life of their Sim. However, Sims 3 is a game that is well decorated with goals, giving the player Long Term Incentives to work towards over a period of time.

For example, Sims have their own wishes and dreams that they want to accomplish. These pop up at random for the player to choose from, driven by the preferences and lifestyle of the Sim that they’ve created. Do they want to try and become friends with their neighbor? How about kiss that cute boy that they met at the park? Or maybe apply for a new job? Or perhaps eat an entire tub of ice cream?

Once the player selects the wish, then it is up to them to complete it. It sits their in the player’s HUD, on the screen, reminding them that once they fulfill the wish, they’ll receive extra points for their Sim.

This is an example of a self selected Long Term Incentive. By making the player “promise” to fulfill their Sim’s wish, the player is invested in the experience and enjoys going through with the challenge.

Look at My Trophy Collection!

Achievements are another example of Long Term Incentive, and possibly the most popular because they fit so well into almost every game. You perform a specifically outlined task and receive points as a reward.

Achievements are nice because they can infuse a little more gameplay into almost any situation, or be the foundation of an entire game. In Megaman 9 and 10, players can start picking away at achievements alongside the normal game. On almost every Xbox 360 and PS3 game, achievements are woven into the titles that give players points.

Achievements are a great example of the power of Long Term Incentives, because oftentimes they offer no reward other than displaying the text of “I have completed this” on the screen. And yet, they often require enormous effort, such as Megaman 9’s “Finish the game without getting damaged” achievement. While they aren’t for everyone, achievements give players something to strive for, something that they will be proud to say they’ve finished at the end.

Why are your players playing?

The joy of Long Term Incentives comes out of the innate human joy of accomplishment. Everyone enjoys setting a goal for themselves and then seeing it accomplished.

When players have purpose, then they are more likely to continue playing. Even if they don’t know if consciously, inside they have a reason for what they’re doing and enjoying themselves along the way. Giving players a strong Long Term Incentive can keep them playing for extraordinary amounts of time, and having fun while doing it. (Source: The Game Prodigy)