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分析导致玩家出现倦怠的3大设计问题

作者:Anne

什么是忧郁和麻木?忧郁意味着悲伤,或用今天的话来说,沮丧,而麻木意味着漠不关心。综合来说,这两种罪行导致出现道德低落,面对他人承受痛苦,你毫不关心,毫无反应。此罪行的典型表现就是绝望。在教会看来,若你感到绝望,你就会厌恶上帝,厌恶“福音”。

那么在游戏领域,究竟是什么行为导致游戏出现玩家倦怠现象?

boredom(from sikhchic.com)

boredom(from sikhchic.com)

1. 不清晰的目标

几年前,在招聘游戏文案的过程中,有位写手的作品非常吸引我。在玩家达到某新地点,于原地徘徊片刻前,她的故事和动作内容都非常精彩。我问她为什么没有在此故事阶段设定明确目标。她的回答?在她看来,在游戏中毫无目的地游荡再平常不过。

若游戏目标过于晦涩,不论是由于故事架构不好,内容不充分,还是只因为游戏设计糟糕,那么你就处在倦怠的边缘。显然,上述作家不熟悉游戏,但若玩家对于弄清下步操作失去信心,他们也许就会屈服于自己的绝望和倦怠,并转而选择看电视。

2. 糟糕的文字和表达方式

优秀游戏文字陈述不会使玩家从游戏趣味中分心。优质游戏文字陈述能够激发玩家的积极性,增添游戏趣味。遗憾的是,糟糕的游戏文字陈述则会使玩家变得消极。

你是否曾在体验游戏的过程中觉得自己被赋予毫无意义的任务?然后你因此感到倦怠。MMO游戏常犯此罪行。但若你读过某些关于关卡任务的评论(游戏邦注:如《魔兽世界》中的评论),就会发现,玩家通常夸奖那些能让他们担心角色并参与至游戏中的关卡任务。显然,很多玩家想要有所牵挂,但如果开发者对此漠不关心,他们就无法这样做。

优质文字陈述若无法很好向玩家传达,就无法阻止倦怠现象的出现。《City of Heroes/Villains》就设有若干杰出关卡任务,但我个人被某些关卡任务的文本内容困住。讽刺的是,我的“生产力”倦怠导致我出现“冷漠”倦怠,因为我直接放弃玩游戏。想要通过文字陈述和故事让玩家持续投以关注,不妨通过叙述性设计,在游戏各层面中融入文字陈述。

3.剥夺玩家控制权

这是游戏设计中出现的最糟糕倦怠情况。若玩家想要受人控制,他们会选择观看《十二罗汉》。玩家体验游戏是想要从中感受到自己的重要性。若玩家对影响游戏进程丧失信心,那么他/她就会停止投以关注,停止体验。

丧失控制权会以多种方式呈现在游戏中,例如束缚玩家的操作,出现牵强的结局,或者提供一些琐碎无意义的选择。

绝望是否是件好事?

在多数优质故事中,主角会遭遇这样的情况,所有希望都丧失,他能够名正言顺地对寻找出路失去信心。然后“角色”遭遇考验,他需要深入探索,朝最终目标迈进。绝望是故事的必要组成要素,让角色得以拒绝冷漠和倦怠行为,并由此重获希望和力量。

不论是《Ocarina》,还是《旺达与巨像》,失败都是故事的组成要素,因此也是游戏的组成要素。这会导致游戏陷入绝望,还是会带来希望?你觉得呢?(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

The three signs of sloth in game design

by Anne

Good news! If you were slothful, you wouldn’t be reading this, at least according to last week’s definition of sloth. According to the History Channel’s documentary on sloth, however, lack of productivity is not what this sin is all about. Instead, it’s a merging of two sins: Tristessa and Acedia, and their role in game writing and design is a bit trickier.

What are tristessa and acedia? Tristessa means sadness or, in today’s terms, depression, while acedia means apathy. Taken together, these two sins lead to a spiritual apathy, where if others suffer, you don’t care enough to do anything about it. The apotheosis of this sin is despair. According to the church, if you’re despairing, you are inherently turning away from God and the “Good News.”

Now enough religion, which sins actually lead to sloth in game design?

1.  Unclear goals

Years ago when I was hiring game writers, one writer’s sample particularly jumped out at me. Her story and action were good, until she had the player arrive in a new locale and wander around for awhile. I asked her why she didn’t have a clear goal at this point in her story. Her reply? To her, wandering around aimlessly in games happened frequently.

If player goals are too esoteric, whether that be because of a poorly constructed story, insufficient content, or just bad game design, you’re coming dangerously close to sloth. Obviously, the writer above was new to games, but if your player is despairing of ever figuring out what to do next, they may just give in to despair and sloth — and watch TV instead.

2.  Poor writing and delivery

Good game writing doesn’t distract the player from focusing on the fun of the game. Great game writing can motivate the player and adds to the fun of the game. Unfortunately, that means bad game writing can actually demotivate the player.

Have you ever been playing a game and felt like you were being sent on meaningless tasks? Then you’ve felt the caress of sloth. MMOs, unfortunately, often suffer from this sin. If you read reviews of certain quests, like those in WoW, however, players will actually praise quests that offer you the chance to care about the characters and a reason to be involved. Clearly, many players want to care, but because of developer apathy, can’t.

Great writing won’t stop the sin of sloth if it isn’t delivered to the player well. City of Heroes/Villains has some great quests, but I have personally been bogged down by the blocks of text in some of the quests. Ironically, my own “productivity” sloth led to “apathy” sloth in that I just gave up and stopped caring. To keep players caring using the writing and the story, incorporate the writing in every aspect of the game through narrative design.

3.  Powerless players

Powerlessness is the worst aspect of sloth in game design.  If players wanted to feel led by the nose, they’d be watching Ocean’s Twelve.  People play games to feel important.  If the player despairs of ever being able to influence the course of the game, then s/he will stop caring and stop playing.

Powerlessness can creep into your game in many ways, such as through tying the players’ hands, allowing deus ex machina endings, and allowing only trivial choice. Clearly, combating this harbinger of apathy would require another post.

Is despair ever good?

In most good stories, the main character reaches a point where all hope is lost, and where s/he could legitimately despair of ever finding a way out.  It is then that the character’s… “character” is tested and s/he digs deep and pushes onward to the final goal.  Despair is a necessary part of the story, allowing the character to reject the sin of apathy and sloth and rise again.

Sophisticated players will never truly feel this despair, because of the story structure.  Or will they?  From games like Ocarina to Shadows of the Colossus, failure is part of the story and therefore part of the game.  Does this lead to despair, or hope for games in general?  What do you think?(Source:writerscabal


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