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分析三种玩家心理统计特征

发布时间:2014-07-08 13:04:48 Tags:,,,,

作者:Freykin

我很早就想作一篇这样的文章了。今天我们将讨论玩家心理统计特征的定义及其理解如何促进我们的游戏设计。

玩家心理统计特征

Mark Rosewater是《Magic:The Gathering》的主设计师,他常在采访中被问到自己对游戏最大的贡献是什么。他的回答就是玩家心理统计特征,它令游戏设计师得以思考和讨论用户之间的不同玩家类型。

心理统计特征与鉴别玩家对游戏的需求有关——更准确的说,就是玩家体验游戏的原因。不同玩家会以不同方式接近游戏,其所期望的优先次序也会有所不同。有些玩家可能是为了获得出色的交互体验而接触游戏,即使失败了也仍然玩得开心,而其他玩家可能是为了不计一切代价地获得胜利,尽管这个过程可能会令其他玩家感到不快。

在设计一款游戏时,获得广泛用户群体的最佳方法就是牢记不同心理统计特征的类型。你游戏中的不同元素可能吸引不同类型的玩家,而理解这些心理统计特征则有助于你确保人人都可以从游戏中获得自己所追求的乐趣。

Timmy、Johnny和Spike的初始理念创建于一款心中构思的集换卡牌游戏,但Mark Rosewater所呈现的想法却可能令任何类型的游戏设计师受益。我将在本文介绍3种玩家心理统计特征,并讨论这些想法如何运用于单人模式游戏,尤其是RPG游戏。

Timmy玩家的定义

Timmy玩家希望获得体验。

timmy1(from finalbossblues.com)

timmy1(from finalbossblues.com)

他是为了兴奋和刺激而加入游戏。他并不是极具竞争性的类型——他只是希望乐在其中。Timmy喜欢做一些大事,他想看到富有标志性事件的发生。他喜欢捣蛋,他是为了获得令人难忘的体验而玩游戏。

不能说Timmy喜欢“找乐子”而玩游戏——每种心理统计特征的用户都是为了找乐子而玩游戏(这也正是游戏的目的所在)。这正是心理统计特征的作用:它有助于定义不同用户所找的乐趣是什么。但Timmy对趣味的定义可能更广泛——他从兴奋中获得大量乐趣和欢笑。如果Timmy与大量好友一起玩游戏,他就会是充满欢声笑语的屋子中最为乐在其中的人——他不介意自己的输赢结果。

为Timmy玩家设计游戏

在故事方面:Timmy喜欢大型史诗故事,他是动作序列的超级粉丝——他愿意耐心地看完更为冗长的过场动画,因为他容易被故事所吸引。在与最终boss过招时,他也喜欢这种壮观的对抗局面。Timmy想要情感起伏——他会跟随故事而欢笑或哭泣。

在玩法方面:Timmy喜欢强大的感觉。他是那种喜欢向敌人施展一个绝招,对其造成999999个攻击损伤的人。他并不只是喜欢赢——而是要赢得大一点。如果你的游戏给予Timmy释放一些超级必杀技的机会,他肯定会迫不及待地进行尝试。但如果他得花大量时间刷任务来解琐这些技能,他可能就会提前失去兴趣。Timmy觉得重复很无聊——并且刷任务来打一些弱小的敌人也会很快令他反感。

如果你的游戏让玩家丢掷炸弹,Timmy就是那种会从炸路标和雕像中获得乐趣的人,即使这并不会对游戏产生什么影响。只要游戏允许玩家去做一些很酷的事情,Timmy就会采取行动并且乐在其中。

Timmy并不是为了挑战而玩游戏——他并不在乎游戏是否太简单,如果游戏太困难了他也很快就会厌倦。他可以在竞速迷你游戏中自得其乐,但却可能迅速对你的钓鱼迷你游戏生厌(除非他有机会捕获一些传说中的神鱼)。

Johnny玩家的定义

Johnny希望实现自我表达。

jack-nicholson-the-shining-heres-johnny1(from finalbossblues.com)

jack-nicholson-the-shining-heres-johnny1(from finalbossblues.com)

Johnny通常被视为富有创造力的类型。这并不一定意味着其他心理统计特征的玩家就没有创造力,只是说Johnny的玩法风格具有创意。他喜欢控制自己的体验,他不喜欢被他人告知自己应该怎么做,他会按照自己的规则玩游戏。Johnny是那种为了自己的乐趣而破坏游戏的人——他这么做通常只是想证明自己能行。

他对趣味的看法就是在游戏中打下自己的烙印。在竞争型游戏中,他不在乎输赢——而是关心怎样输赢。而在不含竞争元素的游戏中,他喜欢任何试验和探索的机会。他喜欢沙盒游戏。

针对Johnny玩家设计游戏

在故事方面:Johnny喜欢以自己的行动来控制故事。他喜欢含有多种结局的游戏。如果游戏过于线性化,Johnny就很容易腻烦。他希望自己的选择和行动具有关联性——当NPC或其他角色根据他的玩法有所区别地回应其玩家角色时,他就会沉浸在故事中。他想在游戏世界中创立自己的威望,并希望游戏世界对此有所反应。

在玩法方面:Johnny喜欢选择。锻造系统、技能树、武器/盔甲升级——越多定制游戏体验的选项就会让他越开心。Timmy喜欢做很酷的事情,Johnny却喜欢创造很酷的事情。他喜欢为其派系提供了大量角色选项的游戏,并且可能成为以独特配置使用“坏”角色而自豪的人。

Johnny对于刷任务较有耐心 ,但也仅限于能够对其终极目标有所帮助的刷任务。那么他的终极目标是什么?多数时候,它绝不仅仅是“推动游戏进程”。Johnny会为自己设定个人目标——也许他想要一个特殊的道具或者允许他锻造一些事物的技能。他会使用那些具有奇怪特效的武器——也许就是角色中毒时会辅助魔法攻击的武器,然后他就会让自己中毒并使用这一招。对于其他玩家来说,这也许根本就不值得一试。但Johnny却认为自己在做一些十分有趣的事情,并且乐此不疲。

并且如果他能够找到或创造更多模糊的组合,他就更开心了。如果有人试图在你的游戏中搞破坏,那一定就是Johnny玩家。

Spike玩家的定义

Spike想证明自己的统治地位。

spike1(from finalbossblues.com)

spike1(from finalbossblues.com)

在竞争型/多人游戏中,Spike通常被认为是那种一心想获胜的玩家。他会研究状态值并上网找最佳攻略,阅读论坛贴子并记下相关的绝招,这样他就可以在竞争对手面前获得优势。他想与同样的竞争对手过招——他喜欢真正的挑战,并且想成为最棒的人。如果是在单人游戏体验中又会怎样呢?Spike就会想打败游戏本身,他想成为真正意义上的大师。

Spike对趣味的看法就是精通。他讨厌失败——他赢了就会获得乐趣,他也不是很在乎自己如何获胜(游戏邦注:这并不是说他就会作弊——如果竞争不公平的话,他的获胜就没有多少价值了,所以他通常很鄙视作弊行为)。他在觉得自己最棒——以及人人都知道这一点的时候能够获得最多乐趣。

针对Spike玩家设计游戏

在故事方面:他并不会为了故事而玩游戏。Spike可能会欣赏优秀的故事,但这并非其获得游戏乐趣的必要元素。他会很感激你的过场动画采用了可跳过的设置,并且如果要让他耐心坐着看完冗长的对话盒子,他就会很快产生厌倦情绪。

在玩法方面:Spike是那种想100%完成游戏的人。在RPG游戏中,他想完成每个支线任务,探索每个地下城的所有角落。他想痛扁可选择的boss。

在RPG中他的玩法也有一些矛盾之处:他属于那种宁愿自己跑遍城镇也不想劳烦NPC的人,但他又还是有可能与NPC交谈——只是为了确保自己没有错过任何东西。为了成为最出色的玩家,他愿意付出这种代价。因此,Spike是那种喜欢刷任务的玩家。

他喜欢效率。Johnny可能会喜欢那种在中毒时能够增益魔法的道具,而Spike也可能喜欢这种道具,但前提一定得是他觉得这么做可以让自己的角色变得更强大。他喜欢逐渐增长的优势——任何增加自己获胜机率的东西。他通常并不进行冒险,会坚持采用已被证实可行的策略。

总结

玩家可能具有多种心理统计特征——事实上,你永远无法找到一位仅局限于单种类型的玩家。每个人都会有一点Timmy、Johnny和Spike的影子——只是他们侧重的层面有所不同而已。

我想强调本文并不是为了划分用户类型——只是为了帮助游戏设计师判断用户的区别。我认为每款游戏都可以(并且应该)包括吸引每种心理统计特征的元素。

你可能会发现有些玩家的确不喜欢你游戏的某个环节,而其他玩家却对之青睐有加。这未必是件坏事:你游戏中的某个区域对Timmy玩家来说可能极具趣味性,但Johnny或Spike玩家却可能认为很无聊。理解了玩家的心理统计特征,你就更容易判断为何玩家喜欢游戏的某些元素,讨厌其他一些元素。如果有人真的讨厌你游戏的某个环节——也许只能说明这个环节不适合他。但对其他人来说,这个环节却可能是整款游戏的高潮。

我建议你的游戏核心玩法采用中间中线,同时要包含其他玩家可能会觉得有趣,但却并非游戏体验必要元素的玩法内容。

记住,为庞大的用户群体创造游戏时,你无法总是取悦所有人。这是游戏和艺术设计的一个普遍真理,我们必须接受它并与之共舞。使用你对玩家心理统计特征的理解可确保你的游戏含有一点适用于所有人的元素。(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

Player Psychographics

This article is one that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I expect this article to be a big one (lengthwise, and content-wise)—and there’s a lot of stuff from it that might take some time to sink in. But this subject is something that I would very much like to introduce to the RPG Maker and indie game development community.

Today we are going to be talking about player psychographics, what they are, and how an understanding of them will help with game design.

The Player Psychographics

Mark Rosewater is the head designer for Magic: The Gathering, and has been for a long time. In interviews, he is often asked what he thinks his greatest contribution to the game is. His answer is the player psychographics, which allow the game’s designers to think and talk about the different types of players in their audience. You can read Mark’s original articles about the psychographics here:

The psychographics have to do with identifying what a player wants out of a game—more accurately, the reason a player plays a game. Different people approach games differently, with different priorities for their expectations. One player might approach a game with the goal of having a great interactive experience and is happy even if he loses, while another player might go into the game with the goal of winning at any cost, even if the rest of the players aren’t having the best time.

When designing a game, the best way to reach a wide audience is to keep in mind each of the different psychographics. Different elements of your game can appeal to different types of players, and an understanding of these psychographics allows you to ensure that everybody can find something about your game that they enjoy.

The original concepts of Timmy, Johnny and Spike were created with a trading card game in mind, but the ideas that Mark Rosewater presents can be valuable to any kind of game designer. My goal for this article is to introduce the three player psychographics and discuss how these ideas can be applied when designing a single-player game, particularly an RPG.

Who is Timmy?

Timmy wants to experience something.

He is in the game for a thrill. He’s not very competitive—he just wants to have a good time. Timmy likes to do big things, and he wants to see monumental things happen. He likes to smash things, and smash them hard. Timmy plays a game for a memorable gaming experience.

An irrelevant image of a character named Timmy.

I don’t want to say that Timmy likes to “have fun”—every one of these psychographics plays games to have fun (that’s what games are for!). That’s what the psychographics are: they help define what different people find to be fun. But Timmy’s definition of fun might be the broadest—he gets a lot of enjoyment out of excitement and big laughs. If Timmy is playing a game with a bunch of friends, he is enjoying himself the most when the whole room is roaring with laughter—whether he is winning or not.

Designing for Timmy

In stories: Timmy likes the big epic story. Timmy is a fan of the big action sequences—more than any other player, he is willing to sit through those longer cutscenes, because Timmy allows himself to get caught up into the story. He appreciates the big payoff, and when it’s time to take on the final boss, he loves the feeling of epic final confrontation. Timmy wants emotional highs and lows—Timmy will laugh or cry with your story.

In gameplay: Timmy likes to feel powerful. He’s the one who likes to pull off a special move that deals 999999 damage to an enemy, and gets giddy when he sees a ridiculous amount of damage dealt. Timmy doesn’t just like to win—he likes to win big. If your game gives Timmy the opportunity to unleash some massive overkill, he’ll be more than happy to do so. But if he has to spend a lot of time grinding to unlock it, he might get bored before he gets to that point. Timmy finds repetition boring—and grinding against weak enemies is something that will turn him off instantly.

If your game lets the player drop bombs, Timmy is the player who will get a kick out of blowing up signposts and statues, even if there isn’t any effect on the game. Give the player the chance to do cool stuff, and Timmy will do that cool stuff with a smile on his face.

Timmy doesn’t play a game for the challenge—he doesn’t care if a game is too easy, and he might get easily bored if the game is too hard. He has fun with that goofy racing minigame, but will quickly get bored of your fishing minigame (unless he has the chance to catch some legendary fish in an epic struggle of might).

Who is Johnny?

Johnny wants to express himself.

Johnny is usually thought of as the creative type. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the other psychographics aren’t creative, but just that Johnny’s play style is creative. He likes to have control over his experience, to sculpt it to his liking. He doesn’t want to be told what to do, he plays by his own rules. Johnny is the player who will attempt to break a game for his own amusement—often just to see if he can.

Heeeeere’s Johnny!

Johnny’s idea of fun is all about putting his own mark on the game. In competitive games, he doesn’t care about winning or losing—he cares about how. In a game that doesn’t have a competitive element, he enjoys any opportunity to experiment and discover. He loves sandboxes.

Designing for Johnny

In stories: Johnny likes to be able to control the story with his actions. He’s a sucker for a game with multiple endings. If a story is too linear, Johnny can become bored with it. He wants his choices and actions to be relevant—when NPCs or other characters react to his player character differently based on how he plays the game, he feels invested in the story. He wants to craft a reputation for himself within the game world, and expects the world to react to it.

In gameplay: Johnny likes options. Crafting systems, skill trees, weapon/armor upgrading—the more ways for him to customize his game experience, the happier he is. While Timmy likes to do cool things, Johnny likes to build cool things. He likes games with lots of character options for his party, and will be the person to take pride in using “bad” characters in unique configurations.

Johnny has more patience for grinding than Timmy, but only if it contributes towards his end goal. And what is that end goal? Most of the time, it won’t be just “to progress in the game”. Johnny sets personal goals for himself—maybe he wants a specific item or skill that allows him to craft some zany combo. He’s the guy who will use equipment that has strange effects—maybe something that buffs attack while a character is poisoned—and then he’d poison himself to be able to use that boost. To other players, it might not be worth it. But Johnny thinks that he’s done something really sweet, and he’s happy about it.

And if he can find or create more obscure combinations, he’s even happier. If anybody is going to try to break your game, it’s Johnny.

Who is Spike?

Spike wants to prove his dominance.

In competitive/multiplayer games, Spike is usually thought of as the guy who wants only to win. He studies stats and goes online to find optimal builds, reads articles and memorizes hit boxes, so he can have an edge against his opponents. He wants to play against opponents who do the same—he likes a real challenge, and wants to be the best. How does that translate to a single-player experience? Spike wants to win against the game itself  He wants to become its complete master.
Bang.

Spike’s idea of fun is all about mastery. He hates to lose—he has fun when he wins, and he doesn’t particularly care how he wins (this isn’t to say he that cheats—he won’t be able to really value his wins if the playing field isn’t level, so he usually despises cheaters). He has the most fun when he is the best—and when everybody knows it.

Designing for Spike

In stories: He doesn’t play a game for the story. Spike can appreciate a good one, but it isn’t necessary for his enjoyment of the game. He’ll be thankful if your cutscenes are skippable, and he’ll get bored if he has to sit through too many message boxes of dialogue.

In gameplay: Spike is the guy who likes to 100% his games. In an RPG, he wants to complete every sidequest, max out his characters, explore every corner of every dungeon. He wants to squash that ultimate optional boss.

There’s something contradictory about his playstyle in RPGs: he’s the guy who would like to run through a town without bothering with the NPCs, but he’ll talk to them anyway—just to make sure that he doesn’t miss anything. He’ll pay that price to be the best. For this reason, Spike is the player who likes grinding.

He likes efficiency. While Johnny might enjoy that item that buffs his attack while poisoned, Spike will use the same item but only if it’s really worth it, in order to make his characters as powerful as possible. He enjoys incremental advantage—anything that increases his chance of winning. He doesn’t often take risks, and sticks to proven strategies.

Conclusion

Players can belong to more than one psychographic—in fact, you’ll never find a player who falls neatly into a single demographic. Everybody people will have elements of Timmy, Johnny and Spike—but their priorities are weighted differently.

I want to stress that this article isn’t meant to categorize people—instead, it’s meant to help the game designer identify the differences in his audience. I think that every game can (and should) include elements that appeal to each of the psychographics.

You might find that some players really dislike a section of your game, but others might really enjoy it. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: that area of your game might be really enjoyable for a Timmy, but a Johnny or Spike might find it boring. With an understanding of the player psychographics, you will have an easier time identifying why players might enjoy some elements of your game and dislike others. If somebody really hates a part of your game—that part just might not be for him. But to somebody else, that same part might be the highlight of the whole game.

I would suggest a “middle of the road” approach to your game’s core gameplay, while including other gameplay material that some players will find really enjoyable, but isn’t necessary for the game experience.

Remember that, when creating a game for a large audience, you can’t please everybody at all times. It’s a truth of game design, and art in general, that we need to accept and work with. Use your understanding of player psychographics to make sure that your game has a little something for everybody.(source:finalbossblues


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