作者：Branimir

我将在这里分享Sulake、Zynga和Facebook等大型公司高管在某次虚拟商品峰会上总结的一些提升社交游戏的盈利性的建议：

1、创建分化型和青少年关注的道具。

青少年是最大的社交游戏目标用户群体之一，这是人尽皆知的事实。理由如下：

（1）根据Roiworld近期研究所示，社交网络占用了青少年80%的“网络时间”。

（2）社交网络游戏的大部分盈利来源于青少年。43%的青少年用户曾经花钱购买过虚拟商品。

游戏中吸引青少年注意力的是什么呢？是游戏的分化性和提供的道具选择！他们认为游戏化身的穿着或拥有的东西代表的就是自己的想法。所以，你可以创建并出售分化型和青少年关注的道具。

virtual-goods-god-rush(from blog.sponsorpay.com)

2、专注于社区盈利和虚拟商品销售。

人们需要在游戏中让自己显得独特的方法。这是他们的虚拟身份，因此必须良好地呈现出用户自身的状况。这也是众多用户愿意花钱为自己的化身购买巫师帽、带有红色心型标志的粉红衬衫甚至邪恶笑容的原因。所以，你可以考虑向他们提供这些商品。

3、减少用户的消费障碍。

不要妨碍玩家前往商店购买东西。努力实现游戏界面和付费界面的无缝连接。可以通过Ajax、Flash或HTML 5来实现上述目标。这会让游戏的ARPPU获得显著的提升。

4、了解用户所属地区的情况。

你应当了解游戏发布国家的运营环境。有些地方的玩家愿意花5美元来购买某件电子商品，但是在有些地方，你可以向玩家提供更多内容，同时定下更高的价格。如果用户可以接受的话，为何不将同类商品数量多加1倍然后以10美元出售呢？

5、精明地定价。

了解目标地区的最佳定价方式。如果游戏中每包“农场种子”在美国的售价为2美元，那么在欧洲的售价大约为1.43欧元左右。这样的数字看起来并不贴切，用户可能不会购买。为什么不把价格定在2欧元整呢？用户更容易接受。

6、提供不同的付费方法，包括用户当地的付费方法。

我想说的是，在许多欧洲国家中，如果你设定用户需要通过信用卡付费，那么销量很可能并不乐观。信用卡在美国很普及，但是在欧洲的使用率很低，尤其是那些中欧和东欧国家。所以，最为明智的做法是向用户提供他们熟

悉的选择，比如当地的银行账户解决方案、本土付费方法、预付卡和手机短信支付（游戏邦注：目前多数用户都拥有手机）。

7、本土化游戏和付费过程描述。

让用户简单清楚地了解到他们为何物付款以及应当如何操作，这是很重要的。从本土化服务供应商处获得支持是种较好的选择。

8、分析用户消费习惯。

理解用户需求的最佳方法是，跟踪了解他们的玩游戏、交流甚至付费的习惯。了解游戏在哪个国家的表现最好，游戏行为每天达到顶峰的时间，最佳的付费目的和用户类型。这类信息将为游戏的长期运营带来帮助。

9、了解玩家需求，选择恰当的道具名称。

我是硬核游戏玩家，所以我永远不会购买名为“Tinkerbell绒毛之翼”的道具，但是我相信在许多休闲游戏中，没有玩家愿意购买名为“Alura凶猛之翼”的道具，而这正是我所喜欢的。你需要了解多数玩家的品味。可以采纳不断验证玩家需求的做法，向玩家询问他们对武器名称和颜色的意见。

10、促进好友间的交流。

社交游戏之所以显得有趣，是因为玩家可以同好友分享内容。让你的用户通过各种可行方法交流和互动。

上文阐述了有关地理定位、本地化和合理定价等方面的内容，希望能够对你的游戏项目有所帮助。

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2011年10月25日，所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。（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）

10 Pieces of Advice That Will Take Your Social Game to the Top

Branimir

Last few weeks we were at San Francisco in order to explore some new opportunities and visit a few great events. Among them was the Virtual Goods Summit and I can’t wait to share with you some of the tips that the gaming gurus of companies as Sulake, Zynga and Facebook have summarized.

Read after the break in order to find 10 advices that will take your social game to the top:

1) Create differentiated and teen focused items.

A well known fact is that one of the largest social gaming target groups (if not the largest) is teenagers. The reasons are pretty easy to understand:

According to a recent study by Roiworld, teens spend 80% of their “internet time” on social networks.

Games garner most of the social network spending among teens. 43% of all teenagers on the net have spent money on virtual goods.

And what attracts teen’s attention? Its differentiation and the choice of items offered! “I am what I wear/own, etc.” So, create differentiated and teen focused items.

2) Focus on community monetization and virtual goods distribution.

As I mentioned above – people look for a way to be unique and well-recognized in the games. This is their virtual identity and it has to represent them in a good way. That is why a large share of all users are ready to spare a few bucks in order to have that cool witchery hat, or the pink skirt with red hearts on it or even that grim smile for their avatar. Why not – you can offer these?

3) Keep your users in the game – ALL THE TIME!

Do not ever intercept the user while he is going to the store. Try to achieve a seamless transaction between the gaming interface and the payment panel. A good way to achieve this is through Ajax, Flash or who knows, maybe HTML 5. In this way you will increase greatly the ARPPU of your game.

4) Keep up with your users’ neighborhood.

Well, not literally, but you should really understand the general business climate in the countries that you plan to launch your game in. In some places paying $5 for a pack of e-goodies is totally acceptable, while at others you can offer a bit more but for much higher price. Why not selling the same goods with a bit extra for $10 instead, where the mass of people can afford it?

5) Price smartly.

Learn what are the best pricing levels that are offered in a specific destination. If your “farm seeds” cost $2 per pack in US, then in Europe this is about 1.43 EUR. This looks like an ugly price point and every user will avoid it. But what about a nice, well-rounded price tag as 2 EUR? That’s it.

6) Provide different payment methods and include local ones!

I would say one thing – try to bill users through credit card in many European Countries and you will reach starvation levels easily. IF in the US it is pretty normal, in Europe the cc-usage rates are really low, especially in the countries in Central and Eastern Europe. So wisest thing to do is to present the users with options that they know and recognize – local banking wallets solutions, country specific billing methods, pre-paid cards and definitely mobile payments through SMS (most people do have mobile phones nowadays).

7) Localize your games and payment process descriptions.

It is important that your users understand easily what they are paying for and how they should do this. And what is better than the integrated support offered by your provider?

8) Analyze each and every step.

The best way to understand your user’s needs is to follow their habits when playing, communication or even paying. It’s good to know which your top-performing countries are, the peak hours of the gaming activity, the best paying destinations and user types. Every bit of info can help you in the long run.

9) Feel the gamer’s needs – select the proper item’s names.

As a hardcore gamer myself I would never buy the “Fluffy wings of Tinkerbell”, yet I am sure that in many casual games nobody will buy the “Fierce wings of Alura”, that I would normally prefer.

It’s always up to the taste of the majority of your players. It’s a good idea that you check their needs from time to time, by asking about names of weapons, their properties or even their color.

10) Promote friends activities.

You would not like to live alone in New York, right (except if you are Will Smith, and feel legendary…). Same goes for the social games- what makes them funny is the ability to share with friends.

Allow your users to communicate, play together and interact in the most possible ways. Oops, I got to go, my friend found a golden chicken in his farm. WOW!

If after reading this you feel somehow overwhelmed by the idea of geo-targeting, localization, suitable price-point selection and getting these work together – do not worry. We are here for you!

Just have a look at our FortumoPay widget.

And in the end of the post, we have a present for all of you. At VGSummit we met Greenopolis – a group of great people that created the Facebook game Oceanopolis. It is not only a game, but it promotes eco-thinking by rewarding people for recycling online and in the community.  (Source: Fortumo)