作者：Caroline Murphy

我并非遵循传统路线开始我的游戏设计生涯。早在11年前，我是从创造实况角色扮演游戏（LARP）开始进入这一领域。并且在过去11年间，我学习到了许多关于游戏设计的相关内容以及适用于各种游戏类型的主要原则。

人无完人，每个游戏设计师都有可能会犯错。以下我将列出设计师们在运行LARP游戏中最常犯的错误，以及相关解决方法。

helpful-design-tips(from intermediadesigns.com)

错误1：过度神化NPC

这可能是我在LARP中见过的最大问题。游戏开发者们总是很喜欢使用NPC，但是他们却常常夸大了这一元素的作用，就好象他们的NPC是上帝般的PC一样的存在。他们让这些NPC也能够执行所有的互动行为，从而剥夺了PC所具有的乐趣以及影响游戏世界的能力。这并不是一种好现象。

建议1：我从来不会在游戏中创造NPC，除非他们能够为玩家带来真正的乐趣。如果玩家离开了，NPC也没有必要存在（游戏邦注：因为那时候没有人会再去关心它们的存在）。

错误2：执拗于自己的想法

我们成功做到了这一切，我们编写出了非常巧妙的情节，我敢保证任何人在进入游戏时都会感叹这一切。但是问题就出在于，事实不一定总是如你所愿。

建议2：尊重玩家的想法。如果我创造了一个情节而玩家说出了自己的看法，我就必须重视这一看法并将其应用到游戏中去。很多时候玩家的观点总是优于我所创造出来的内容。

错误3：强迫玩家

在游戏的最终战斗中玩家为了使用一个大咒语就必须使用8个组件。但是问题就在于玩家可能不想要交出自己的这些组件，这时候你便会强迫他们这么做或者剥夺他们的选择权。孰不知这却是一种极其糟糕的情节设置。

建议3：不要逼迫玩家做任何事。始终确保玩家能够拥有自己的选择，特别是从基于情节变化的角度来看。强迫玩家做任何事都是一种糟糕的理念。给玩家提供选择权利意味着他们能够在此表达对于游戏中任何事物的想法，而大多数情况下这还意味着玩家能够随时面对各种突发情况并适应瞬息万变的环境。因为我们所面对的是实况角色扮演游戏，游戏中存在着无限可能——所以玩家并不会受到电脑界面的限制。所以你必须想办法利用这类型游戏的优势去创造出更棒的情节体验。

错误4：信息不足

游戏设计师只是提供给一名玩家信息，自信地认为玩家将与别人分享并广泛传播这一信息。这却是一种异想天开的想法。人们总是喜欢隐藏秘密，根本不愿意与好友群之外的人分享任何内容。

建议4：广泛传播信息。因为只面向一个人进行信息传递将大大影响信息的传播，所以我便决定广撒网，确保能将所有信息传达给不同玩家类型，不同群组等等。（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）

4 Tips for Live Action Game Design

Caroline Murphy

The way I got started doing game design was not the typical path. It started with building Live Action Roleplaying events, 11 years ago, now.  Over those 11 years, I’ve learned a TON about game design, many principles apply across all types of games.

Every game designer makes mistakes.  Below are four of the most commonly made mistakes I see (and have made) in running LARPs, and how to fix them!

Mistake #1: NPC Theater

This is probably the biggest problem I see in LARPs.  Game staff love to play NPC’s, but will often take it too far and act almost as if their NPC is a hyper statted, uber godlike PC.  They do all the interacting, and it takes away from the PC’s enjoyment and ability to influence their world.  Not good.

Protip #1:  I never ever create an NPC unless they are directly tied to a player’s enjoyment. If that player goes away, the NPC also goes away because otherwise no one cares.

Mistake #2: Getting Attached to Your Idea

We’ve all done it. We write a plot that is so clever, so brilliant, that we’re sure everyone wil lose their minds about how awesome it is when they put all the pieces together. Trouble is, this NEVER goes according to plan.

Protip #2: The players are right, I am wrong. If I put out a plot and it gets twisted, I go with whatever that twist was and make it true. A lot of times what the players came up with is better than what I wrote, anyway.

Mistake #3: Railroading

Its come down to the final battle and you need the 8 pieces of whatever in order to cast the big spell. Problem is, one player decides they don’t want to put in their piece of whatever.  So you force them somehow, or take away the choice.  Hooray! No. Not hooray.  That is bad plot writing.

Protip#3: Never railroad.  Players should always have the choice of how things go, especially from a meta-plot perspective.  Forcing them into anything is a bad, bad idea. Sometimes this means completely throwing out every idea I had about how something would go, and mostly it means being ready for any contingency and able to adapt on a dime. One of the beauties of a live action game is that there are infinite possibilities for how people can react to something- you are not limited by a computer interface.  Leverage that and make it work for you, not against you.

Mistake #4: Information Scarcity

A game designer gives information to one player, confident that soon, everyone will know and be able to share and figure it out.  Repeat after me: this is crazy.  People LOVE having secrets and rarely share outside their group of friends.

Protip #4: Triple-seed everything.  Most information fails to get past the first person you gave it to, so I try to three-prong-attack every important plot and make sure to hand it to different player types, groups, etc.(source：METAGAME）