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简述游戏玩家与游戏体验者的区别

发布时间:2012-01-16 14:31:42 Tags:,,,,

作者: Dr. Lewis Pulsipher

我们都知道,将人们划分为不同类型有助于区分游戏锁定的目标群体。我发现电子游戏领域存在两种不同的体验游戏方式,有媒体提出了“游戏玩家生活方式”的概念,我玩了50多年的游戏,却也并没有将玩游戏看成一种生活方式,而是生活中的一部分。

我觉得不少玩家体验电子游戏的方式与我截然不同,简而言之,他们是玩家,而我是游戏体验者。我将在此解释这两个定义的不同之处。

video-gamers(from topnews.ae)

video-gamers(from topnews.ae)

玩家爱玩游戏甚于其他任何活动,旦凡他们有片刻的“消遣时间”,玩游戏就是他们的首选。而游戏体验者却将玩游戏视为一种令人享受的活动(他们可能根本不认为玩游戏只是为了“打发时间”)。玩家判断一款游戏的优劣,基本上取决于“它是不是打发时间的好方法?”而游戏体验者的同一标准却是“它能否让我度过一段美好时光?”当然,这只是一种概括方法,也有许多人是介于这两者之间的状态。

一般来说,玩家几乎可以接受任何类型的游戏,对游戏也有广泛的爱好和品味。例如,有些玩家几乎愿意尝试“任何不会超过1小时”的游戏,有些玩家基本上不排斥任何一种动作类电子游戏,或者任何角色扮演游戏。

但游戏体验者虽然也爱玩游戏,但并非来者不拒,他们只喜欢特定几款,或者特定类型的游戏。

如果你问游戏玩家最爱的游戏是什么,他们可能一时答不上来,或者只能说出最近正在玩的游戏。但如果问游戏体验者最爱的游戏是什么,他们可能就会脱口而出,甚至将自己小时候最爱的游戏报上名来,而且即便他们已经是高龄老人,他们最爱的游戏可能也不会达到两位数。

桌面游戏玩家喜欢参与群体游戏,只要大家都乐在其中即可;而游戏体验者却很少有此表现,他们一般只跟志同道合者玩自己心仪的特定游戏。

这里可以用体育领域的现象来打个比方。体育粉丝相当于游戏玩家,他们喜欢看各种比赛,只要有机会就会购买各赛季的入场券。而游戏体验者在这里就相当于那些只会看特定体育项目比赛,会看多场比赛,但却不会为错过某场比赛(即便是自己爱的队伍参与的比赛)而感到遗憾的群体。

一般来说,游戏玩家都会自诩为玩游戏的高手,但游戏体验者则仅擅长几款特定的游戏。

游戏玩家喜欢将游戏视为生活方式或工作(游戏邦注:从许多人在MMO游戏中投入大把时间中的现象可以看出这一点),但游戏体验者只是将游戏当成一种爱好。

所以休闲游戏玩家更像是游戏体验者而非“游戏玩家”,硬核游戏群体更像是“游戏玩家”而非“游戏体验者”。但我并不是将这硬核群体与游戏玩家、休闲游戏群体与游戏体验者划上等号,因为有些经常玩《万智牌旅法师对决》,并在纸牌上投入大把钱的硬核玩家,很可能既是游戏玩家又是游戏体验者。

那么从挑选游戏上看,游戏玩家是否比游戏体验者更为被动?我认为游戏体验者有自己最爱的游戏,他们知道自己想要什么,他们不只是为了打发时间,而游戏玩家与此相反。但游戏玩家对游戏却有独到见解,他们可以滔滔不绝地讨论游戏质量问题,而游戏体验者却鲜有如此表现。

游戏体验者重视自己的时间,所以只玩特定类型的游戏(游戏邦注:例如有些人只玩某款游戏,只玩象棋、《龙与地下城》、《万智牌》、《FarmVille》或者连线消除游戏等),而游戏玩家却较少在乎时间问题。

游戏玩家几乎可以立即投入游戏活动,他们可以在桌面游戏中边玩边学,而在电子游戏中更是不在话下。桌面游戏体验者却喜欢先掌握游戏规则,然后再参与游戏。

许多游戏设计师主要针对游戏玩家制作游戏,这可能会导致他们较少考虑对游戏长期可玩性,因为游戏玩家随时有可能转向其他游戏。而针对游戏体验者而设计游戏则更有难度,因为此类群体会反复玩自己最爱的游戏。目前市面上的许多游戏都无法经受这种长期考验。

游戏邦注:原文发表于2011年6月19日,所涉事件及数据以当时为准。(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

Gamers and Game Players

As we all know, dividing groups of people into two more or less opposites can be illuminating, certainly in the context of games. It can also be divisive of course, but I hope that will not prove to be the case here. Video gamers have made me realize that there are different ways to approach game playing as a part of your life. “Escapist Magazine” likes to talk about “the gamer lifestyle”. I’ve played games for more than 50 years but I have not seen it is a lifestyle, rather as a part of life. Perhaps because video games have been subject to so much criticism in the past, some videogame players think of the gamer lifestyle as a unique (and in some way superior) approach to the world and to life.

I’m not going to try to explicate that whole business, but I have seen that video gamers often approach game playing quite differently than I have. Simply put, they are Gamers while I am a Game Player, and I’ll explain what I mean by those terms.

Gamers prefer game playing to almost any other activity. When they have “time to kill”, they’ll play games. On the other hand, Game Players treat game playing as one enjoyable activity amongst many. (And they may not think of games as “killing time” at all.) The Gamer frequently asks of a game, though often subconsciously, “is this a good way to kill time”. The Game Player approaches a game with the question “is this a good way to spend my (valuable) time”. These are generalizations of course, and there are going to be lots of people in the middle as there usually is with any division of the group into two parts.

A Gamer will play virtually any game within broad categories, and could be said to have very wide-ranging tastes. For example, I’ve known Gamers who were willing to try almost any game “as long as it doesn’t take more than an hour”. Another example would be a person who will play almost any action videogame, or almost any role-playing game.

Game Players like to play games, but not just any game or not even “anything of a particular genre”. They like specific games, or occasionally groups of games. A Game Player may just play one game or a specific category or specific favorite games.

If you ask a Gamer what his favorite game is, he will often be unable to say, or it will be the game he is currently playing. If you ask a Game Player what his favorite game is, he can probably say, and can probably tell you what all of his favorite games have been back to when he was very young, and this number may not have reached double figures even for someone who is a “senior citizen”.

Tabletop Gamers are happy to participate in a group where people in turn choose which game to play and they all play it. Game Players rarely do that, unless they’re with a group of similar-minded people with definite limits on the kinds of games they’ll choose.

A sports analogy might help. The sports fan equivalent Gamer loves to watch sports, lots of different sports. He may be a season ticket holder if there is such an opportunity. The equivalent of a Game Player likes to watch certain sports, and may watch a lot of games, but doesn’t feel a need to watch every game even of his favorite team. Life intervenes…

Gamers derive self-worth from being good at playing (video) games in general. If Game Players do, it’s because they are extremely good at one game, or a few.

Gamers tend to treat games as a lifestyle or a job (think of all the people who talk about how much work it is to play MMOs). Game Players tend to treat games as a hobby.

So casual game players are much more likely to be Game Players than Gamers. And hard-core game players are much more likely to be Gamers than Game Players. Yet I do not equate hard-core with Gamers, or casual with Game Players. Someone who plays Magic: the Gathering incessantly, plays the game and tournaments, spends a a lot of money on cards, is a hard-core player but he’s as likely to be a Game Player as a Gamer.

Are Gamers more passive in preferences and Game Players more active? I can make an argument either way. Game Players have favorite games. Game Players know what they want. Game Players are not just killing time, Gamers often are. Yet Gamers often have very strong opinions about games, and often are willing to have interminable discussions about the qualities of games, which traits are less common amongst Game Players.

Game Players focus their time, hence play certain games only (some play only one game, chess, D&D, Magic, Farmville, match-3 games, e.g.). Gamers tend to be less focused.

Gamers tend to dive into a game immediately. If it’s a tabletop game, they may try to learn to play it while they’re playing it, and many sets of contemporary tabletop game rules are written in “sequence of play” to make this more practical. Video games, of course, are ideal for diving in immediately. Tabletop Game Players like to study a game, like to read and even study the rules before playing.

Many game designers are primarily interested in making games for Gamers. This tends to mean that the designer need not be concerned about long-term replayability, because the Gamer is likely to soon go on to another game in any case. Those designing for Game Players may have a harder task, because game players tend to play their favorite games over and over again. A lot of published games don’t hold up under the pressure of that criterion. (source:pulsiphergamedesign


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