作者：Jon Shafer

没有人会认同这样的说法：尊重游戏玩家不是个值得推崇的举措，但采取这一策略还存在若干有形益处——长远来看，这会带来更高的销量和更稳固的品牌。

若你只是将购买游戏的用户当作消费者，他们很快就会发现。待到出现这一情况，他们就不会再替你寻找善意的借口，会开始找理由抱怨你的不足。若玩家继续觉得自己受到轻视，他们就会感到厌烦，然后选择离开，除非你的游戏真的非常杰出。虽然确保推出总能在Metacritic获得96以上评分的游戏作品是个不错的策略，但这只能看运气。

你希望获得的是真正的粉丝。了解作品的玩家会抢先购买你的游戏，介绍自己的好友进行体验。若你有付出努力，那么获得这类忠实粉丝也就没那么困难。下面是几点建议。

发行前的演示样本

我在之前的文章曾谈到演示样本是吸引玩家体验游戏的最佳方式。它们还扮演着一个不为人知的角色：“质量保证”角色。毕竟，若开发者愿意让玩家免费试验他们的游戏，他们必定对游戏充满信心。

若你没有提供演示样本，有些玩家会开始产生这样的疑问：是因为游戏不够优秀，开发者害怕玩家会发现其中存在的瑕疵？他们耗尽所有时间，没有提供演示样本是否说明游戏是个粗糙的半成品？你定不希望玩家产生这样的疑惑——你希望他们尝试你的杰出作品，向他人介绍游戏。

有些更极端的玩家会觉得，没有提供演示样本的游戏不过就是要趁玩家还没发现游戏非常糟糕时先圈一次钱。虽然这听起来有点像阴谋论，但想想，有多少糟糕的游戏在发行时进行大肆宣传，但不到一个月就消失在大众视野中。无论真假，这通常会引发用户的怀疑。

所以不妨向玩家提供免费样本。他们多半会选择回过头来购买你的作品。

game fans(from dailymail)

和玩家互动

我知道很多开发者都选择回避在线社区，这有他们的道理。有些人上网的目的就是造谣生事。虽然多数开发者都是出于热爱而开发游戏，也有人是出于谋生目的，但他们都无义务应对愤怒的暴民（游戏邦注：除社区经理和技术支持外）。

作为处理软件开发中必要琐碎任务的开发者，我们经常忽视这样的事实：有很多玩家也非常热爱我们的工作。对他们来说，能够同自己挚爱游戏作品的开发者进行沟通是件激动人心的事情。

我发现类似的社区在开发商发布负面消息或所发行游戏不符预期时会采取截然不同的态度——有些变得心怀敌意，而有些则依然对开发者保持忠诚和关注。为什么会存在这种差异？无非就是开发者是否经常在论坛上发布文章。

和粉丝分享你的游戏

玩家喜欢掌握所有权。这也是他们选择体验游戏，而不是在其他媒介完成独立任务的原因所在。移交游戏“钥匙”的最佳方式是将其变得具有可调节性。很多备受玩家喜爱、具有持久生命力的游戏作品都具有高度的可调节性，他们的玩家社区在工作室推出最后一次正式更新内容后的很长一段时间里依然继续存在。为什么？因为玩家拥有所有权，在游戏的持久寿命和全面成功中享有既得利益。玩家和游戏之间的这种关系只有在玩家能够随意重塑游戏时才具有可行性。

虽然允许玩家修改掌机及其他封闭平台的游戏颇具挑战性，但我们开发者依然可以通过其他方式赋予玩家所有权。角色定制、给地图上的地点命名，或者甚至是简单挑选UI颜色，所有这些都会让玩家觉得他们有在游戏设计中贡献自己的力量。积极搜寻能让玩家留下自己印记的游戏区域。只要这种自定义制设置不会太突兀，就不会有玩家说：“我真希望他们没有让我改变X！”

当玩家以出乎你预料的方式玩游戏时，你完全不必担心。有些开发者称他们会因此感到沮丧，因为很多玩家在单人游戏中采取欺骗手段，或是没有“遵循规则”。我的答案是：那又怎么样？若这是玩家觉得有趣的体验方式，那就没关系。

不要过于忌惮盗版

这是大家心知肚明的事实。不妨这样来说：若CIA可以被黑客侵袭，那么你就无法阻止游戏被破解的现象。非常抱歉，你无法阻止抄袭行为。不妨着眼于通过信誉，而不是将自己的意志强加给互联网，提高粉丝数量和作品销量。若你竭尽全力，企图在盗版大战中“胜出”，那么你将白白浪费原本可以用于制作出更优质游戏作品的资源。暴雪和Valve等工作室如此成功，如此受欢迎的原因是，他们始终致力于呈现尽可能优质的作品，全然不在乎时间和金钱。不要企图促使付费用户变得百依百，这会将你们置于紧张境地。正如历史所示，多数战争都没有赢家—–只有输家。（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）

How to gain loyal fans: Show your players some respect

by Jon Shafer

While no one would argue that respecting the people who play your game isn’t a nice, commendable thing to do, there are also tangible benefits to taking this approach – which over the long haul result in better sales and stronger brands.

If you treat the people who buy your games as nothing more than consumers they’ll catch on quickly. Once that happens they’ll stop giving you the benefit of the doubt and start looking for reasons to complain about you. If players continue to feel slighted they’ll just get fed up and leave unless you make really good games. And while putting out games that always get a 96 or above on Metacritic is a nice strategy… well… good luck with that one.

What you really want are true fans. People who know your work, are the first in line to buy the games you make and tell all their friends they have to play your latest release. If you make an effort, it’s really not all that hard to build up a loyal following of this sort. Here are a few tips.

Pre-Release Demos

In my previous article I talked about how demos are a great way to introduce players to your game. They also serve a lesser-known role: acting as a “seal of quality.” After all, if a developer is willing to let players try out their game for free they must be confident that it’s actually good.

When you don’t put out a demo, some people will start asking questions… is it because the game isn’t any good and the developer is afraid people will find out? Did they run out of time and the lack of a demo is a sign that the game is sloppy and unfinished? You don’t want players asking those questions — you want them trying out your awesome game and telling everyone they know about it.

Some of the more jaded gamers feel that a game released without a demo is simply hoping to cash in before people realize how bad the game is. While this might sound like conspiracy theory territory, think about how many bad games come out with a ton of hype which then vanish from sight within a month of release. Reality or not, this is a practice that’s become so common that it rightfully draws suspicion.

So extend your hand and offer the player a free taste. Much of the time they’ll reach back to meet you halfway.

Interact With Your Players

I know many developers who avoid online communities like the plague, and not without good reason. No surprise to anyone reading this article, there are quite a few people who prowl the internet for no reason other than to stir up trouble. While most developers work on games because it’s what they love, and others do it for a paycheck, neither group signed up for dealing with angry, entitled mobs (except for community managers and tech support — my thoughts are with you!).

As developers working on the oft-mundane, daily tasks required in making a piece of software, we often lose sight of the fact that there are also many players who love our work. For them the opportunity to talk with someone that worked on their favorite game is incredibly exciting (something we are occasionally reminded of when we get to meet the creators of our favorite games!).

I’ve seen very similar communities go in completely opposite directions following the announcement of bad news, or the release of a game that didn’t meet their expectations — some became very hostile, while others remained loyal and dedicated to the developer. What was the difference? Nothing more than whether or not the developers regularly posted in the forums.

Share Your Game With Fans

Players like having ownership. It’s one of the reasons why they’re playing games (an active form of entertainment) rather than experiencing a self-contained work in another medium. The absolute best way to hand over the keys to your game is to make it moddable. Many of the most beloved and long-lasting games of all time are also highly moddable, and their communities live on long after the last official update. Why? Because the players took ownership and had a vested interest in the longevity and overall success of the game. This sort of relationship between player and game is only possible when the players have the power to reshape the game to their liking.

While allowing for modding in games on consoles and other closed platforms is obviously a slight challenge, there are still other ways to give players ownership. Avatar customization, naming locations on the map, even something as simple as being able to pick the UI color — all of these help the player feel like they are helping to craft the game. Search high and low for places where the player can leave their mark. As long as the customization opportunities aren’t obtrusive no one will ever say “man, I really wish they hadn’t given me the ability to change X!”

Don’t be afraid when people play (and enjoy) your game in a way that you didn’t anticipate. I’ve heard from a few developers who were upset because a large portion of their players cheat while in single player, or otherwise don’t “follow the rules.” My answer is: so what? If that’s how someone wants to have fun with a game they’ve bought, then there’s no problem (just, uh, please don’t carry that over into multiplayer, guys!).

The Specter Of Piracy

Ah, the elephant in the room. I’ll just put it this way: if the CIA can get hacked, you’re not going to be able to prevent your game from being cracked. Sorry. You can’t stop piracy. Focus on building up a fanbase and higher sales through goodwill instead of trying to bend the internet to your will. If you’re spending a ton of effort trying to “win the war” on piracy, then you’re wasting resources you could have been used to make better games. The reason why studios like Blizzard and Valve are so successful and beloved is because they focus on delivering the best games possible, time and money be damned. Don’t make enemies of paying customers by making them jump through hoops. As history shows us, in most wars there are no winners — only losers.（Source：gamasutra）