本文原作者：Matthew Handrahan（欧洲区域副主编） 译者ciel chen

今天在Digital Dragons游戏展会上的讲话中，Bioware游戏公司的James Holen强调了谦逊、共情感以及愿意做出妥协作为关键特质对于游戏设计者的重要性——它不仅适用于Bioware，对整个游戏行业来说都是如此。

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Ohlen是Bioware公司的游戏设计总监，他指出——现在年轻设计者所接受的教育和培训方式无法跟他们在进入游戏行业时所遇到的工作环境相匹配。他说：“他们所认为、所梦想中作为一个设计师——可能是成为一个拥有自我独特观点的人，就像个创意总监，是那个最后拍板下决定的人。”

很多游戏设计师的第一份工作都是在一些像EA、Ubisoft或者Activision这样的大型公司里，而这些公司的团队规模通常都是上百人；而在他们的学生时期的教学环境下，通常都是四五人的小组合作模式，团队更小，团员关系更紧密。这样教学环境下学生会被赋予一种团队“归属感”和“自主权”，而这是在大型游戏工作室中不无法提供的体验。

“在游戏行业里做设计师是一件很棒的事——它可能是所有工作中最能提供成就感的，”他补充并强调：“不过在某些方面，这份工作的实际体验跟你梦想中的样子可能不太一样。”

对于像Bioware这样旗下有《The Old Republic》、《Mass Effect》以及《Dragon Age》运作着的游戏工作室，他们要求新进的设计师要能“适应公司文化”（一种基于特定价值观的文化）。据Ohlen所说，这些价值观指“注重产品质量”以及“注重工作环境质量”，而这两个价值观的大前提必须是公司要有一个“谦逊的大环境”。

“我认为谦逊不仅是作为Bioware的设计者要具备的关键素质，而且是任何领域中的创意工作人员都应该具备的。我说的谦逊不是让你缺乏自信、也不是把自己置身事外，更不是让你丢掉动力；我是想让你意识到总有解决事情的更好方法；问题的答案不会只有一个你想出来的单一答案，总有其他更多的答案，况且你想出来的那个也不一定会是最好的答案。”

最好的答案通常都是其他人想出来的。设计者的工作不应该是保证自己的想法能被采用于游戏中，而是要随时把这个特权让给最好的创意（不论这些创意的谁想出来的），Ohlen这样说道。

在Bioware游戏工作室，设计者有两个角色要扮演：一个是“架构师的角色”（他要有游戏设计方面相关的创意与远见）；“另一个是翻译他人创意的专家角色——能做到这点是成功的关键，而且如果你想得到设计总监的工作，你就一定得掌握如何翻译他人创意想法。”

Ohlen承认做到这点挺难的——“尤其是你觉得他们的创意很烂的时候。（我肯定任何在游戏行业的人都有过这样的经历。）我给大家的建议就是（同时也是我自己在用的）对这些创意心怀共情感，要对任何追捧自己创意的人都有这样的共情感……总之要尊重每个想请你翻译他的创意的人。”

Ohlen随后还讨论了他所描述所谓的“理想化”游戏开发是什么（而这样的游戏开发与游戏产业最常见的方面相冲突了）——“游戏行业无处不在的是妥协。在有限的预算、产品时间计划下，你还要有能成为一个好的设计师应该具备的做出正确妥协的了不起的才能。

“但是同时你还不能忘记你对理想中的游戏形象。你要达成的目标是什么？为了达成这个目标，你得跟上游戏行业的发展脚步，并去了解游戏行业中哪些东西是被赋予期望的。你现在从事的工作属于哪个范畴？”

“你要时刻朝着你理想中的游戏前进，然后在无法做出理想型游戏时你需要去原谅自己。因为没有人能完全实现自己的梦想。有时你离梦想很近、有时你离它很远，无论怎样，你一定得要从中有所收获，然后继续迈出下一步。”

“能意识到自己的目标是什么总是好的，这样以后，即使你没能达成这个目标也没关系。因为你下次一定会做得更好。”

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

In a talk at Digital Dragons today, Bioware’s James Ohlen championed humility, empathy and a willingness to compromise as key attributes for game designers – both at Bioware, and in the games industry as a whole.

Ohlen, who is design director at Bioware, addressed what he believes is a mismatch between the way young designers are educated and trained, and the working environments they encounter when they enter the industry proper. “The way think about [being a designer], the way you dream about it, is probably you being the vision holder, the creative director,” he said. “The person calling the final shots.”

Very often, a designer’s first job will be at a huge company like EA, Ubisoft or Activision, where team sizes are frequently in the hundreds. Teaching environments, Ohlen said, are more intimate and much smaller, with students often collaborating in teams of just four or five people. This can give a sense of “ownership” and “autonomy” that “doesn’t really match” the experience of working at a big studio the games industry.

“Humility is a key attribute not just for a designer at Bioware, but as a creative in any industry”
“Working as a designer in this industry is an amazing thing. It’s probably one of the most fulfilling jobs you can have,” he added, but he stressed that “in some ways the reality of working in the games industry doesn’t match the dream.”

For a studio like Bioware, which works on huge games like The Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, that means ensuring that new designers “fit the culture” – a culture based on a specific set of values. According to Ohlen, those values are “Quality in the Product” and “Quality in the Workplace,” but both are observed “in the context of humility.”

“I think humility is a key attribute not just for a designer at Bioware, but as a creative in any industry. When I talk about humility, I don’t mean lacking confidence, or not putting yourself out there, or not having drive. I mean you recognise that there is always a better way to do something; that there are many answers to a problem, and that your answer is just a single answer, and it’s probably not even the best answer.”

And the best answer will often come from someone else. The designer’s job is not to ensure that their own ideas make it into the game, Ohlen said, but that only the best ideas do, regardless of their source.

“You need to be always aiming at the ideal, and then you need to forgive yourself when you don’t hit that ideal”
The designer has two roles at Bioware: the “architect role,” which relates to the creative and visionary aspects typically associated with game design. “But the other role is to be an expert at translating someone else’s vision. This is very important if you want to be successful, and if you ever want to get that creative director job you have to become a master at translating other people’s visions.”

That can be difficult, Ohlen admitted. “It can be hard when you think their vision sucks. I’m sure that anybody who has worked in the industry has been in this position. Advice that I give people, and that I use myself, is to have empathy for the vision, and empathy for whoever’s championing it… Just having respect for whoever’s giving you this vision to translate.”

Ohlen then discussed what he described as “the ideal” of game development, which clashes with one of the most common aspects of the games industry: compromise. “The games industry has compromise all the time. You have a limited budget, you have a production timeline, and you have to be amazing at making the right compromises if you’re going to be a good designer.

“But at the same time you can’t lose sight of what the ideal is. What are you aiming to achieve? In order to do that…you need to keep up to date with the industry, and know what the industry’s expectations are. Where is the bar for what you’re working on?

“You need to be always aiming at the ideal, and then you need to forgive yourself when you don’t hit that ideal. Because Nobody ever does. You sometimes get close to it, sometimes you’re far from it, but you definitely need to be able to learn lessons, and move on.

“It’s always good to recognise what you’re aiming for, even when you miss it. That’s okay. You’ll be better next time.”(source:games industry.biz)