作者：Jeff Vogel

与许多称自己多认真的玩家一样，我一直对休闲的免费手机游戏恼火不已。所以我最终决定克服它。我不知道问题出在哪。至少现在一切还顺利。

我们听过这样的讨论。即关于手机游戏太过沉闷。太过鲜艳。太过贪婪。总是呈现许多烦人的广告并向玩家要钱。它们从具有强迫性的“鲸鱼玩家”身上赚取了许多利益。手机游戏开发者过于沉迷赚钱方法而忽视了创造性。（就好像独立开发者在这点上是清白的一样。“但是我的全新塔防游戏真的具有开创性！”）

手机游戏并不是玩家和独立开发者希望游戏所发展的状态。这是一个互联网，所以如果任何人喜欢某些不同的事物，它们肯定会遭到摧毁。

是的，你有你的看法。你不喜欢手机游戏。我们真的知道。

所以让它休息下吧？

所以Jeff，你对其有意见的原因是什么？

有很多，但是一条tweet是最后的稻草。

在此我觉得批评Notch有点糟糕，因为他是一个很棒的人，批评tweet是在浪费时间，但他的tweet的确在两方面上对我产生了干扰。

首先，“保存手机游戏？”从哪里？被大量的资金所累？

其次，这是一个被存在着许多致力于创造游戏的开发者的游戏产业所抛弃的自命不凡的人。这也是最具有情感性的巧妙的讨论：难道人们就不会想到孩子们吗？！（“亲爱的，你是让小Billy在玩《Clash of Clans》吗？”“是的。”“你个混蛋！”）

顺便说下，在我的观察下，年轻的一代并未在玩手机免费游戏。孩子们将所有的时间都投入在《我的世界》中。不知怎么地我认为情况会好起来。

尽管我们因为独立游戏准备扑过来拯救我们感到宽慰，但是我们之中那些讨厌手机游戏的人却应该花些时间去考虑为什么我们要这么做。在此与玩家对话：当你发自内心讨厌某些并未伤害你（或真正影响你）的内容时，那么真正的问题可能是存在于你自己的脑子里。

所以让我们检查为什么自己会害怕并讨厌全新的手机免费游戏。

首先。“创造这些内容的人都是没有灵魂的商人。他们不像我们具有艺术涵养。”

是的，差不多就是这样。我曾经参加过一些休闲/手机游戏展会，那并不是一个无聊的地方。那里有很多正常人和MBA，穿着体面的服装并梳着整齐的头发，他们使用着ARPU和ARPDAU以及AMPU和DILDONG等古怪的商业术语在认真地交谈着。当然，他们都像是上演一出“权利的游戏”，但是他们却并未向我们这样热爱着游戏。

有时候我认为玩家讨厌手机并不是因为它并未获得成功或者因为它们提供给人们无数休闲的乐趣，而是因为它们提醒着我们小学的时候被一些恶霸嘲笑过并被抢了午餐钱的记忆。而这次他们出现在了我们的产业中。

编写免费游戏（从《Candy Punch Saga》到《炉石传说》）的人正在做着我们所做的事，但是比我们做得更好。（的确，《炉石传说》具有“休闲”的吸引力，不管这意味着什么。1000万的注册数量就足以说明一切。）

创造这些游戏的人可能不是按照我们的方式进行，但是他们却很乐于提供给许多人他们所喜欢的内容。他们比我们更在乎有多少人在玩自己的游戏。他们会牺牲一周的睡眠时间去提升0.01%的玩家基础，因为这将是保证他们不会丢掉工作的方法。

他们所提供的娱乐的规模让人难以置信，他们主要是以免费模式做到这点，并伴随着只有凡人才能真正理解的游戏系统。

为什么免费游戏会接管这个世界？你可以在5分钟内不费劲地学会《炉石传说》。然后再想想你是否理解《万智牌》的规则？没人真正理解。

也许易用性便是我们的问题。“嘿，我正在浪费我的一生去强调一下顽固的规则系统，直至它最终会变得更加完善。”

其次。“他们为最休闲的内容编写了简单的卡通游戏。”

你是否只是为自己未先想到这样的想法而生气？

似乎人们忽视了这些游戏提供了在如今的游戏中可行的最具挑战性的硬盒体验。你是否想体验艰难的时期？很简单：不要花钱便可。

（在分析手机游戏时常出现的逻辑错误是只有少数人会花钱并结束游戏意味着人们并不喜欢游戏。这是一个巨大的错误。我从未在免费游戏中花过一分钱，包括一些我非常喜欢的游戏。这只意味着我很了不起哈。）

免费游戏，甚至是最休闲的游戏解决了游戏设计中所存在的严重的问题。它们克服了休闲游戏和硬盒游戏之间所存在的困难。是否想要较为轻松的体验？那就花较少的钱。是否想要需要花更多时间并投入更多注意力的体验？那就免费游戏。

是的，如果你不花任何钱去游戏，它们将花更多时间去阻碍你前进，你将在任何关卡和等待中投入更多时间。但这就是认真的玩家想要的不是吗？这样的体验更加有趣，因为你是完全没花钱地在玩游戏。这会让你觉得自己侥幸得到了某些东西！

旁白：你以为你了解硬核玩家？但其实并不是这样！

那些要求并会尝试较为艰难的游戏的玩家真的心里只有自己。我们都知道这点。你战胜了《黑暗之魂》？这并不代表什么。我有一个朋友甚至未花一分钱便战胜了《Candy Crush Saga》。他共花费了2个月的时间。如果你想要的是策略和持之以恒的耐力，这便是你所寻找的。

基于任何想象的延伸，她并不是真正的游戏玩家。她是休闲的玩家，她是更加用心，且致力于推翻障碍的玩家—-即使她所面对的是使用紫色橡皮软糖去攻击痉挛的泰迪熊。

第三。“如果你不付钱，你就必须投入更多时间去获取能量。”

当然，这与非免费游戏是不同的，对吧？

现在人们在这方面是否存在问题呢？当我们把青春都投掷于《无尽的任务》或《魔兽世界》的铁炉里时，我并不觉得玩家拥有什么问题。过去在《无尽的任务》中，每隔5个关卡都会出现一个“地狱关卡”，即玩家必须使用双倍的体验才能通过它。这是一种专制且荒谬的设定。现在我仍对第45个关卡充满恐惧。

玩家只是在花时间刷任务。如果你能够投入更多的注意力，你便能够说服自己拥有乐趣。

现在出现的最糟糕的事是游戏强迫着你去花钱，否则你将停止游戏1个小时。你甚至不需要花时间去反复杀死小妖精。你可以去做一些其他事！

不管怎样荒谬的免费游戏都会让你能够预先跳过某些内容。也让硬核玩家不得不经历这些内容10多次。我们也可能会这么做。而我们一直在说服自己这能让我们变得更酷。

旁白：当然，这也有可能变得很糟糕。

创造一款糟糕的免费游戏并不困难。而最近出现的较有益的例子则是艺电的免费游戏《地下城守护者》。

现在我不再玩这款游戏。可以说大多数人都是这样。人们抱怨它让玩家等了太长时间而什么都不能做，并强迫他们只有花钱才能看到任何更酷的内容。

甚至是在早前的共享软件时期，我们也知道免费版本必须具有足够的吸引力才能入得了消费者的眼。但是《地下城守护者》并未做到这点，它陷入了最不可饶恕的市场领域。结果是什么？你别想在最畅销游戏排行榜上方看到它的身影了。

但这与奇怪的尖叫关卡毫无关系。在玩家看来，这就像是艺电玷污了现代社会的某些神圣的制度。

当《地下城守护者》发行时，我花钱购买了它。在前半部分它还是很棒的。但也就只是这样了。如果它真的是一个抢手货，为何授权会允许使用如此长时间？

（对于年轻的开发者的建议：寻找一个游戏理念？对于《地下城守护者》的新版本的愿望便是可以出现某些你能够有效使用的内容。）

第四。“这些游戏都是肤浅的，并未提供任何丰富的艺术体验。”

我数不清到底有多少独立开发者在诅咒这些游戏只是在浪费时间并且只是生成多巴胺的工具。为什么你不直接玩一款能够提供各种丰富的艺术体验的手机游戏。

《Candy Crush Saga》的粉丝并不是绵羊也不是麻瓜。他们在为休息的时候花费时间/金钱做出了非常理性的选择。《Papers, Please!》是一款非常优秀的游戏，但它同样也具有压力和让人挫败的时刻。如果你蔑视那些选择了《Pet Rescue Saga》的玩家，你便可能在整体的“游戏”内容上失去立场。

有些人可能忘了，大多数情况下所有人想要的是在等车的时候轻松地逃离充满压力的现实生活5分钟。

第五。“休闲游戏的盈利是不道德的。”

最佳证据是小部分的手机游戏玩家贡献了大部分的收益。这些超级玩家便是所谓的“鲸鱼玩家”。这真的很有趣。

我不喜欢从小部分的“鲸鱼玩家”手上赚取大部分收益的这种业务模式，但情况可能更加糟糕。在我回家的1个小时的车程里会看到一百家赌场，而这些冷酷的人将抢走你的房子并在之后装得若无其事一样地微笑。谁在对他们表示抗议？不过至少没有人会将自己孩子上大学的钱用于玩《Candy Crush》。

我不是想像Robert Heinlein （游戏邦注：美国硬科幻小说作家，被人称为科幻先生）那样，但是除非Zynga的代理在半夜的时候偷偷溜进你们家在你的手机上加载“Epic Bakery Candy Saga Pony Plus”，否则人们玩这些游戏的原因便只是因为喜欢它们。如果他们现在所玩的游戏惹怒了他们，他们便会从提供了无数游戏的市场中选择其它游戏。如果某些人选择了《Flappy Bird》或其它2048款游戏而不是你的游戏，并因此而惹怒了你，我只能说抱歉。

（当然了，一旦这些游戏具有真正的博彩元素，它将成为一种道德启示。这个话题我们改天再聊。）

乐趣仍然很重要。

我的妻子与这些游戏具有一种爱恨情仇的关系。当《Candy Blast Mania》要她付钱时，她的眼睛里射出了一道愤怒之光。然而她已经穿越了好几百个关卡，并以机械般的效率消灭了boss。不花钱地玩游戏让她感受到了更多的乐趣。

我不会揭露《炉石传说》如何彻底底占领我们的大脑而使自己陷入窘困之境。再一次地不花一分钱。

对于人们对某些内容充满强大的好奇，并想办法颠倒它，为了找到干掉的老鼠粪便或某些内容而穿越珍宝的能力真的让我感到畏惧。在此我们达成了一个很棒的交易。在接下来几年里这个市场中可能会出现巨大的业务衰退，但这与小型独立开发者即将面对的启示相比较真的没有什么大不了。

放手的和平。

所以你可能会平静地面对它。因为着眼于这一销售排行榜。这些收益数字都是以天为单位。

这并不是一种竞争。这是一种难以缓和的主导势力。这就像是匈奴人越过了边界，将幸存者关在山洞里一样。而在这个例子中，我们就是这些匈奴人。

对于独立开发者对玩家说“不，可怜的人，你丢失了你的羊羔，这并不是你真正想要的。让我们来拯救你”，这变得更让人困窘了。

独立游戏总是属于立基领域。去年每一款独立游戏的收益之和，包括《我的世界》，仍然少于Supercell每个月关于《Snapple》的预算。而我们可以做的便是继续寻找一个合适的方法去处理它。

（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）

Please Stop Complaining About Free Mobile Games Now. PLEASE.

by Jeff Vogel

Like many self-declared oh-so-serious gamers, I’ve long been irritated by casual mobile free to play games. I finally managed to get over that. I don’t know what was wrong with me. Things now are just fine.

Ok, yeah, we know, we’ve all heard the arguments. Mobile games are too dumb. Too brightly colored. Too greedy. It’s irritating to see ads, to be asked for money. They make too much of their money from compulsive “whales.” We’re nerds, and grannies are sneaking into our seekrit kewl gamer basement. Mobile game developers are too obsessed about money metrics and not enough about creativity. (As if the Indies are blameless on that score. “But my new tower defense game is really groundbreaking!” Please stop talking to me now.)

Mobile games are not what gamers and Indie developers want gaming to be. And this is the Internet, so, if anyone likes something different, THEY MUST BE DESTROYED.

Yes, you’ve had your say. You don’t like mobile games. We got it.

So please give it a rest already?

So Jeff, What Got Up Your Butt?

Lots of things, but this tweet was kind of the final straw. In my butt. #mixedmetaphorpromode

I feel a little bad picking on Notch here, because he’s a decent guy and critiquing tweets is already a waste of time, but his tweet bugged me for two reasons.

First, “save mobile gaming?” From what? Being crushed under a giant avalanche of cash?

Second, this is a smug dismissal of a huge chunk of the game industry that keeps a lot of developers employed making games that a lot of people really like. It’s also the most emotionally manipulative argument possible: OH, won’t someone think of the CHILDREN!?!? (“Honey, are you letting little Billy playing Clash of Clans?” “Yes.” “You MONSTER!”)

By the way, in my observation, the younger generation isn’t playing mobile F2P. The kids are spending all their time in Minecraft. Somehow, I think they’ll be fine.

(Actually, if you want a better example of the Indie Developer sense of superiority, this recent article in Polygon is the gold standard. His attempts to use mathlogic to prove that these immensely popular games are actually hated are genuinely amusing.)

While we’re all relieved that Indie gaming is ready to swoop in and save us from what we want, those of us who hate mobile games should take a moment to consider why we do. Speaking to gamers here: When you viscerally hate something that has never hurt you personally (or even affected you, really), it is possible that the true problem is really somewhere inside your own head.

So let’s examine some of the reasons why we fear and hate our new Mobile F2P masters.

One. “The People Who Make Them Are Soulless Business Drones. Not Cool Arteests Like Us.”

Yeah, pretty much. I’ve been to casual/mobile game trade shows, and, man, that is so not a nerdy place. It’s a bunch of NormalPeople and MBAs, with nice clothes and haircuts, tossing around weird business terms like ARPU and ARPDAU and AMPU and DILDONG. And sure, they all like Game of Thrones, but they don’t like it in the correct way we do.

Sometimes I think that the gamer hate for mobile is not because it’s unsuccessful (because it’s massively profitable) or because they provide people with mind-boggling amounts of leisure fun (because they do), but because they remind us of the grade school bullies who laughed at us and took our lunch money. But this time they’re doing it inside OUR industry.

People who write free games, from Candy Punch Saga to Hearthstone are doing what we do, but better. (And yes, Hearthstone has “Casual” appeal too, whatever that means. Ten million registered accounts says so.)

The people making those games may not being doing it our way, by our metrics, but they are passionate about giving lots of people something they like. Hell, they care about how many people play their games way more than I do. They’ll lose a week’s sleep over increasing their player base by 0.01%, because that might be the edge they need to stay employed.

The sheer scale of the entertainment they provide is mind-boggling, and they’re doing it mostly for free, with, by the way, game systems that mere mortals can actually understand.

Why did free games take over the world? Well, you can pick up the entirely of Hearthstone in five minutes. Think you understand the rules to Magic: The Gathering? Nobody does. Look what it takes to understand that game. It’s madness.

Maybe accessibility is our problem. “Hey, man, I was wasting my life stressing about impenetrable rules systems before it was cool.”

Two. “They Write Simple Cartoony Games For the Most Casual.”

And they’re rich. Aren’t you just angry you didn’t think of it first?

What people seem to ignore is that these games provide the most challenging hardcore experience available in games today. Want a rough time? It’s simple: Don’t spend money.

(A common logical error made when analyzing mobile games is seeing that only a small percentage of people spend cash and concluding this means people don’t like the games. This is a huge mistake. I’ve never paid a penny on free games, including several I love. This just means that I’m awesome.)

Free games, even the more casual ones, solve the great problem in game design. They thread the needle between Casual and Hardcore. Want a light, easy experience? Spend a little money. Want a punishing experience that takes lots of time and care? Play for free.

Yes, if you pay for free, they’ll put a lot of time blocks in your way, both arbitrary waits and levels you’ll lose a lot of time. But that’s what serious gamers want, right? To do something hard and finally succeed? And this time it’s even more fun, because you did it for FREE. It feels like you got away with something!

An Aside. You Think You Know Hardcore? You Don’t Know Hardcore!

People who ask for and play tough games are really full of themselves. We all know that. You won Dark Souls? That’s nothing. I have a friend who beat Candy Crush Saga without spending a penny. Took months. You want strategy and grueling persistence? There it is.

And she’s not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination. She’s as casual and casual gets, and she’s a more dedicated, obstacle-toppling gamer than you are. Even if her game involves hitting a spastic teddy bear with clumps of purple gumdrops, or whatever.

Three. “If You Don’t Pay, You Have To Spend a Lot of Time Getting Power.”

Sure. And this makes it different from non-free games how, exactly?

People have a problem with this now? Well, I don’t remember gamers having a problem when we all burned up our youths in the twin furnaces of Everquest or World of Warcraft. Used to be, in Everquest, every fifth level was a “hell level,” where they doubled the number of experience you needed to pass it for no reason. It was arbitrary, obnoxious, and ridiculous. I still have nightmares about level 45.

If you complained about it everyone jumped down your throat and called you dirty names. Players just spent the hours grinding. With great concentration, you could convince yourself that you were having fun.

Now, the worst thing that happens is the game, to advance, forces you to pay or get this to stop playing for an hour. You don’t even need to spend that hour killing the same goblin over and over again. You can go do something else!

Seriously. Whatever ridiculous hoops free games make you jump through to advance? Hardcore gamers have gone through ten times worse. And we did it to ourselves. And we convinced ourselves it made us cool.

An Aside. Of Course, It Can Be Done Badly. Of Course.

It’s not hard to make a F2P game that sucks. A recent instructive example of the Internet Anger/Entitlement Complex was EA’s free Dungeon Keeper game.

Now, I never played it. And neither did 19 out of 20 of the people who complained about it. From what I heard, it committed the cardinal sin of making people wait too long to do anything and forcing them to spend money to see any of the game’s cool stuff.

And they were punished for it. Even in the ancient shareware days, we knew that the free version had to be enough to addict your customers. Dungeon Keeper didn’t do this, and it messed up in the harshest, most unforgiving of markets. Result? Don’t bother to look for it in the top sales charts. It’s not there.

But that has nothing to do with the bizarre level of screeching that accompanied its release. To hear gamers talk, it’s like EA defiled some sacred institution of modern society.

Dudes, I was there when Dungeon Keeper came out. I bought it with real money. And … It was fine. Halfway decent. And that’s it. Look at it this way. If it was such a hot property, why was the license allowed to lie fallow for fifteen years?

(Bonus Young Developer Advice: Looking for a game idea? The apparent desire for a new version of Dungeon Keeper might be something you can profitably take advantage of.)

Four. “These Games Are Shallow and Don’t Provide a Rich Artistic Experience.”

Yes. Thank God.

I’ve lost count of the number of indie developers who cursed these games as being mere time-wasters and dopamine-generation buttons. Why wouldn’t you instead play an iphone game that provides a varied, rich artistic experience, like … like … Yeah, I don’t know either.

Look, don’t listen to indie developers. We all may be, oh, I don’t know, a tiny bit in love with ourselves? I missed it when the world elected us the High Princes And Arbiters Of Leisure Time.

Candy Crush Saga fans aren’t sheep or Muggles. They are making highly rational choices about spending limited time and/or money for maximal rest. Papers, Please! is a great game, but it’s also stressful and depressing. If you look down on someone who prefers Pet Rescue Saga, you may have lost the plot on this whole “game” thing.

Some may have forgotten that, most of the time, all people want is a painless way to escape stressful reality for five minutes while waiting for the bus.

Five. “Casual Games Monetization Isn’t Ethical.”

The best evidence is that a tiny fraction of mobile games players make up a huge chunk of the income. These super-players are called “whales.” It’s really interesting.

I used to be concerned about it. Not so much, now.

I was uncomfortable with a business model of coldly extracting most of your earnings from a tiny percentage of “whales” in your user base, but it could be WAY worse. There’s a hundred casinos within an hour’s drive of my house, and those icehearted bastards will take your house, smile, and sleep like a baby afterwards. Who is protesting them? At least nobody ever lost their kids’ college money playing Candy Crush.

I hate to get all Robert Heinlein on you, but unless Zygna agents are sneaking into your house in the middle of the night to load Epic Bakery Candy Saga Pony Plus on your phone, the reason people play these games is because they like them. They picked them out of a market that provides a million places to hop to if their current game irritates them. I’m sorry if it angers you if someone chooses to play Flappy Bird or 2048 instead of your soul-enriching art piece, but that’s the breaks.

(Of course, when these games have actual gambling, it’ll be a moral apocalypse. Argument for another day.)

Fun Still Matters. Games, Remember?

My wife has a serious love/hate relationship with these games. When Candy Blast Mania hits her up for cash, her eyes glow incandescent with rage. And yet, she’s burned through hundreds of levels, exterminating bosses with robotic efficiency. Not paying for it only makes it more fun.

I won’t embarrass us by revealing how thoroughly Hearthstone has occupied our brains. Again, not costing a penny.

I’m always in awe of people’s ability to take a cornucopia of wonder and upend it, pawing through the treasures within in the hope of finding a dried rat turd or something. We’re getting an awesome deal here, people. Perhaps too awesome. There’s probably a big business shakeout approaching this market in the next few years, but it’s nothing compared to the apocalypse small Indie developers are about to face.

(Don’t believe me? Go here and watch the first minute. This is the way the world ends.)

The Peace of Letting Go

So you might as well be cool with it. Because, well, look at this sales chart. Those revenue figures are per DAY.

This isn’t competition. This is implacable domination. This is the Huns stampeding over the border, driving the survivors into the caves, and salting the earth. Except that the Huns, in this case, were us.

The people have spoken, the bastards. For Indie developers to say to gamers, “No, you poor, lost little lambs, this isn’t really what you want. Let us saaaave you,” is getting more than a little embarrassing.

Indie was, is, and always will be, niche. Add up all the earnings of every Indie game last year, Minecraft included, and it’s probably still less than Supercell’s monthly Snapple budget. All we can do, going forward, is find a way to deal with it.

In our house, dealing with it will include a lot of Hearthstone. And, of course, gathering colored candy into easily extracted clumps.(source:gamasutra)