原作者：Matt Suckley 译者：Willow Wu

欢迎回到In-App Purchase Inspector，在这里我们会以消费者的视角，定期测评一些F2P游戏。

每期文章，我们都会考虑游戏中IAP的诱因、压力、它们的感知价值、IAP带来的扩展内容还有整个游戏体验的评估。

最终目的就是看看这游戏究竟值不值得我们砸钱，不花钱的游戏体验是否也能让玩家感到满足。

这次我们测评的是Netmarble的MMO手游《天堂2：革命》，它先是在韩国本土市场收获了巨大的成功，近期又在欧洲以及美国地区发行。

Netmarblel位列我们发表的2017年度50大游戏开发团队的第六名。

Lineage 2: Revolution(from pocket gamer.biz)

百尺竿头更进一步

在西方人看来，现象级手游的最佳代表就是任天堂和Niantic合作的Pokemon GO。

由于Pokemon GO依靠的是现实世界探索，盈利速度会相对比较慢，达到全球市场收益1亿美元所花费的时间比《天堂2：革命》在韩国一个国家收益1亿美元的时间还要长，这就体现出了MMORPG游戏的成功规模之大。

据游戏总监Cho ShinHwa说，他们的目标就是创造出“一个谁都会玩的MMORPG游戏”。

从游戏特色来看（比如说自动战斗、自动装备功能），《天堂2：革命》是一款适配度非常高的手游，很容易就能上手。

但只要瞄一眼游戏界面，你就能看到大家在游戏内聊得热火朝天，游戏菜单一应俱全。虽然易上手，但是整体呈现出来的是一个十分成熟的MMO游戏，而且在视觉上也是一种享受。

熟悉的变革

一般的手游玩家应该都对《天堂2：革命》的盈利机制不陌生。

一种是通过货币：Adena在游戏中就相当于金币，也就是软货币，可以在游戏中赚取。Adena有很多用处，可以用来锻造武器、升级技能等等。

蓝钻是硬货币，可以通过购买礼包获得，从4.99美元买160个到99.99美元买4000个。到目前为止都是我们熟悉的套路。

开发者们大概是认为在MMO世界中花钱取胜是个挺让人不爽的做法，于是他们就在游戏中增加了另一种等值的货币，你不用花钱，只要玩游戏就能挣到。

这种名为红钻的货币也很难获得，用处跟蓝钻差不多。蓝钻和红钻都能用来买高级装备宝箱Summon Boxes，每个需要花费120钻，或者你也可以花1200钻买10个。

但是偶尔游戏会推出限时折扣价，而且只能用蓝钻购买，强调一下硬货币的“高贵”地位。

非休闲游戏

为了契合MMO模式，游戏其余的盈利手段、奖励系统也有所不同，比如开发者们很狡猾地在传统的每日奖励机制上做文章。

那些偏休闲类的游戏只需要玩家每日登陆一次就好了，但是《天堂2：革命》的要求还不止于此。每日奖励是根据玩家的游戏时间所决定的，10分钟、20分钟、40分钟和60分钟的奖励都不一样。

此外，游戏针对新玩家游戏还有长期登录奖励，分为每周奖励和每月奖励，目的就是鼓励玩家回到游戏中。

IAP礼包还有附加的东西，游戏甚至用了商店的整个页面给玩家呈现“每日福利”：你只要购买一次，系统就会在一段时间内每天发放奖励。

这就是我们所熟知的氪金福利，意在刺激那些比较在乎性价比的玩家掏钱。重点在于让他们突破心理屏障，迈出第一步，买了第一次就不怕没有第二次。

这种礼包都是游戏中最便宜的，花2.99美元就能立即得到50000 Adena，而且接下去的28天你每天都能得到系统赠送的10000 Adena，每8天你还能得到一份40红钻的礼物，实在是非常诱人。

礼包选择

这些福利还只是《天堂2：革命》众多IAP礼包中的一小部分。还有种礼包可能是包含了所有你想要的东西。

我正在写这篇文的时候，游戏中推出了很多黑五折特别折扣，包括蓝钻八折。

有一种豪华版的新手礼包，其中有600蓝钻、1000份HP药剂、1000份MP药剂、5000个灵魂弹（消耗品，短期内可增强攻击效果）和120个额外的道具空位，这些一共要29.99美元。

其它还有针对技能、装备升级的礼包。

但是Netmarble优先考虑的是游戏上手简单以及玩家的留存率，就跟其它MMO游戏所期盼的一样。玩家不走，盈利还会远吗？

结果就是《天堂2：革命》是个意外受玩家喜欢的MMORPG游戏。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Welcome back to the In-App Purchase Inspector – our regular look at free-to-play games from the consumer’s perspective.

In each instalment, we consider the incentives or pressure applied to make in-app purchases, their perceived value, the expansion offered by IAPs and the overall value of the experience.

The end goal is to see whether the game makes a good enough case for us to part with our cash, or whether players are content – or engaged enough – to ‘freeload’.

This time we’re taking a look at Netmarble’s MMO Lineage 2: Revolution, which has recently launched in Europe and the US after its phenomenal success in its native South Korea.

Netmarble was named sixth in PocketGamer.biz’s list of Top 50 Mobile Game Developers for 2017.

Raising the bar

Through a Western lens, the ultimate example of a breakout mobile game hit would be Nintendo and Niantic’s Pokemon GO.

That the location-based phenomenon took longer to hit $100 million in worldwide revenues than it took Lineage 2: Revolution to hit the same milestone in South Korea alone shows the scale of the MMORPG’s success.

The aim, according to Game Director Cho ShinHwa, was to create “an MMORPG that anyone can play.”

This shines through in the implementation of mobile-friendly features such as auto-play and auto-equip functions.

But at the same time, as one glance at one of its screens busy with in-game text chat and menu buttons will attest, the game remains every inch the fully-fledged MMO – and is very impressive visually to boot.

A familiar revolution

In terms of monetisation, there’s plenty here that should feel familiar to your average mobile gamer.

For one, there are the currencies. Adena is the game’s equivalent to Gold, the soft currency that’s earned through play and used for everything from forging weapons to levelling up skills.

Blue Diamonds are the hard currency, which can be bought in bundles ranging from $4.99 for 160 to $99.99 for 4,000. So far, so familiar.

But then, presumably in a concession to the fact that pay-to-win is traditionally a frowned-upon concept in the MMO world, there is another currency of equal value that can be earned just by playing.

Still quite hard to come by, this currency is called Red Diamonds and plays a very similar role to its paid-for counterpart; both can be used to buy high-grade equipment Summon Boxes for 120 apiece, or 1,200 for 10.

Though occasionally there will be limited-time offers priced exclusively in Blue Diamonds, to give the paid currency a little extra prestige.

Far from casual

Other aspects of the game’s monetisation and rewards systems that are tweaked for the MMO format include the shrewd substitution of the traditional daily rewards for a more granular alternative.

Indeed, while a more casual game may be content for players to log in just once a day, Lineage 2: Revolution demands more of its players. As such, rewards are offered at 10, 20, 40 and 60 minutes of daily play.

Furthermore, the game also takes a longer-term view with weekly and monthly login rewards for new players in an effort to encourage returning players.

There is an extension of this in the game’s retailing of IAP packs, with an entire tab of the store page dedicated to ‘Daily Benefits’: single purchases that distribute rewards every day over a set period of time.

These are known in the industry as annuities, and are designed to encourage value-conscious players to spend in-game – often for the first time, which is the biggest psychological barrier.

With the cheapest of these bundles costing a mere $2.99 and offering an immediate injection of 50,000 Adena, 10,000 Adena every day for 28 days and 40 Red Diamonds once every eight days, it’s a compelling offer.

Bundles of choice

The annuities represent but a sliver of Lineage 2′s numerous IAP bundles, however. There is a pack for everything you could possibly want.

At the time of writing there are a number of Black Friday specials live, including 20% discounts on Blue Diamonds.

Then there’s the Luxury Starter Bundle, which offers 600 Blue Diamonds, 1,000 HP potions, 1,000 MP potions, 5,000 Soulshots (consumable, temporary attack upgrades) and 120 extra inventory slots for $29.99.

Others include those specifically geared towards levelling up skills and gear.

But Netmarble’s first priority is simply for you to play, regularly and often, as any MMO requires. The hope, then, is that spending naturally follows.

The result is a surprisingly welcoming MMORPG.（source：pocket gamer）