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nDreams分享免费模式的10条使用准则

发布时间:2012-12-19 11:09:51 Tags:,,,

作者:Ben Maxwell

免费模式一直被认为是卑劣的,与好游戏设计不相容的,现在它得给自己正名了,至少在某些方面是如此。nDreams首席执行官Patrick O’Luanaigh 在Evolve 2012大会上发言表示,采用这种有争议的商业模式并不意味着出卖创意的灵魂。

nDreams(from edge-online)

nDreams(from edge-online)

“美工、程序员和制作人在许多方面都正在变成商人。”他强调介于出售道具的机遇和游戏环境及界面之间的密切关系,“从事游戏的人都应该知道这条底线,这一点极其重要。”

他解释,那条底线落在他称之为“邪恶范围”的轴线上。而这条轴线的两端则分别向两种极端延伸:完全的剥削到完全免费再到优秀游戏。他认为《侠盗猎车手3》是接近后者的游戏,尽管该游戏充斥着“妓女和枪支”,但它是值得花钱买的好游戏并且本身就售价合理。而雅达利的《E.T. The Extra Terrestrial》则走向另一个极端,是一款“只为满足电影需求的糟糕游戏”。

但他的评估标准能告诉我们如何在免费模式下实现良好的平衡吗?虽然O’Luanaigh很快强调他无意于教导其他开发者什么是对什么是错,只是提出他自己的标准供其他人参考。落在轴线中点以右的游戏往往能建立深厚的玩家基础,而落在轴线中点以左的游戏只能指望掠取“不义之财”——他把Zynga放在这一端,认为该公司太注重赢利,而不是游戏设计。

最后,他从为玩家考虑、不要总是向钱看的角度出发,提出了为更好地利用免费模式应该遵守的10条准则。

1、允许玩家体验游戏

限制进程没有问题,但你必须让玩家有其他事情可以做。如果他们想花两小时花你的游戏,那就让他们玩。相反地,你还应该允许快速游戏——灵活是关键。

2、定期更新游戏

定期更新游戏可以保持游戏的新意,当然,也可以将游戏拉回排行榜,使游戏更容易推广。

3、给玩家回来的理由

以nDreams的《Aurora》为例,游戏中有一种机制Trapomatic,其作用是将掉落物品扣下,玩家在24小时后才能取得掉落物品,但更重要的是,如果你更迟一些时候才回来取,掉落物品也不会消失。

Aurora(from edge-online)

Aurora(from edge-online)

4、不要盲目跟风

值得拿你的游戏受众作实验,“不要害怕逆流而行”。

5、分析数据、倾听玩家的意见

这是一件显而易见的事。分析数据和任命社区经理是nDreams的明智决定。

6、让玩家知道能买什么以及为什么要买

限制游戏商店的内容也就减少了玩家购买道具的可能——为什么不在玩家无法完成任务时提供辅助道具呢?

7、使用带奖励的升级系统和任务系统

这一条没什么新鲜的。游戏不一定都有这些系统,但这些系统可以让玩家产生继续游戏的动力。

8、总是将大半开发预算投入发行后的维护

如果你发行前不留一点推翻重来的本钱,那你就太冒险了,还不如在开发早期就发行不完整的游戏,然后利用反馈结果改进游戏。

9、核心玩法必须有趣

这一条不解释,你懂的。

10、不要削弱游戏

从更积极的角度设计游戏,“想办法让游戏有趣,不要把游戏搞砸了,不要强迫玩家为优化游戏埋单。”

最后,O’Luanaigh认为免费模式最终会成为所有游戏的主导模式——甚至《使命召唤》和《天际》也将采用这种模式,但这并不一定意味着免费模式就是万灵药。比如,Telltale的《行尸走肉》就没法变成免费游戏。但那些采用免费模式的开发商必须专注于这一做法。

“这就好像在众人面前跳舞,你不能自我陶醉或太笨拙。你必须专心致志。几个开发商越过底线了并不意味着所有免费游戏都是洪水猛兽。免费游戏也可以创意十足、积极向上。”(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

Evolve 2012: making money from free-to-play without selling your soul

by Ben Maxwell

Free-to-play may have earned itself a repution, in some quarters at least, for being underhand and incompatible with good game design, but nDreams CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh used his talk at Evolve 2012 yesterday to argue that employing the divisive business model needn’t mean selling your creative soul.

“Artists, coders and producers are becoming salesmen in many ways,” he began, drawing attention to the close relationship between opportunities to sell items and the game environment and interface. “It is extremely useful for everyone working on the game to have an understanding of the line in the sand.”

That line, he explained, falls somewhere along the axis of what he terms the “evil scale”, which runs between two extremes: complete exploitation, and a completely free, amazing game. Closer to that latter end, he proposes, is something like Grand Theft Auto III which, despite being filled with “hookers and guns”, was a great game for a good price and was rated approriately. Atari’s infamous E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, however, sailed far too close to the other end of the scale and was an “awful game pushed out to exploit the demand for the film”.

But what can that assessment teach us about striking an effective balance in free-to-play? While O’Luanaigh is quick to stress that he’s not attempting to tell other developers what is right or wrong, merely set out his own parameters for others to take from what they will, games that sit to the right of the scale’s mid-point tend to build long-term communities, while games pitched left of centre are better for making “a quick buck” – a sector he placed Zynga in, suggesting the company placed too much focus on profit over game design.

nDreams’ Aurora

To that end, he set out ten rules for making better use of free-to-play, being considerate of the player without being “pansies” about the whole thing.

Allow players to play

Limiting progression is fine, he says, but you must give players other things to do. If they want to spend two hours playing your game, let them. And conversely, you should also allow for quick sessions – being flexible is key.

Update your game regularly

It keeps the game feeling fresh, of course, but can also get you back into the charts and promotional spots.

Give players a reason to come back.

O’Luanaigh gave the example of Trapomatic, a device in nDreams’ game Aurora which will trap bonus content for the player. Spoils can be collected after 24 hours, but, crucially, that content doesn’t wither if you take longer to return.

Don’t follow other people’s rules

Three rules too late, perhaps, but O’Luanaigh stresses it’s worth experimenting with your unique demographics and “not be afraid to swim upstream”.

Analyse data and listen to your players

A no-brainer, but investment in analytics and community managers were some of the best decisions nDreams ever made, O’Luanaigh said.

Make it clear to players what they can buy and why it’s so cool

Restricting content to the game’s store limits the chances your players have to purchase items – why not offer it when they can’t carry out a task that’s been attempted?

Use a levelling system or challenge system with rewards

Another unsurprising pointer, and O’Luanaigh stressed that it’s not necessarily relevant to all games, but such systems can provide players with real impetus to continue playing.

Always assign a large chunk of your development budget to post-launch

If you launch with no money to iterate, you’re gambling a great deal more than if you launch an unfinished version earlier on in the development process and then take advantage of the resultant feedback to improve things.

Your core gameplay must be seriously fun

Difficult to argue against, we’d say.

Don’t cripple your game

Approach the design from the a more positive direction, O’Luanaigh pleads: “Find ways to make your game cooler, don’t make a good game worse and force players to pay to make it better.”

O’Luanaigh’s takeaway was that he believes free-to-play will eventually be the dominant model for all games – even Call Of Duty and Skyrim – but that that doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for everything. Telltale’s The Walking Dead, he believes, simply wouldn’t work as a F2P game. But those developers that do embrace free-to-play must commit to the model.

“It’s like dancing in public – it’s not going to work if you’re self-conscious and awkward,” he said. “You have to get your head down and really go for it. And just because a few developers have crossed the line doesn’t mean that all [free-to-play games] are evil. They can be amazingly creative and positive.”(source:edge-online


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