有人认为乍一看《混乱与秩序》（游戏邦注：Order and Chaos Online，Gameloft所发行的最新iOS网游）的预告片，就能预感这款游戏一上市就能获得大卖。这款魔兽世界的翻版游戏能否在免费发行三个月后继续生存？玩家是否真会想订阅这款针对现有大型多人在线游戏进行改版的游戏呢？

Order and Chaos Online

答案是肯定的，而原因也很简单，因为这是一款手机游戏。如今发展兴旺的手机游戏市场就是最好的证明。手机游戏市场的用户和游戏阶段与电脑单机游戏市场是截然不同的。同时它不仅不会成为电脑游戏市场的劲敌，还可能会被当成是电脑游戏市场的一种延伸。事实上，对于玩家来说这还会是一种转变。玩家们可以随时付费下载《混乱与秩序》。那么在三个月的免费试用期后，用户还会继续体验这款游戏吗？这一点对于该游戏及其开发商来说都是至关重要的。

有趣的是在很多年前，手机平台的MMO游戏就与电脑上的MMO游戏早已出现了许多相同点。总是会有很多人好奇为什么会有那么多人每个月支付一定费用，花费好几个小时去体验一款游戏，甚至像《EverQuest》这种光打开就需要耗费很长时间（甚至你去趟厨房做份三明治后回来它还停留在启动状态）的游戏是否真的有价值。

在过去11年的电脑MMO游戏的发展过程中，我们可以看到不管是受欢迎的游戏还是最新的游戏都有个相同点，即要求玩家必须闯过层层关卡。这些MMO玩家们的心理都很好揣摩，所以大多游戏开发者们只需做出一款新型游戏，随后对其进行各种宣传并使用严格的后台管理，就能将他们的游戏深深嵌入玩家们的心中了。手机游戏市场还是一个新兴市场，还未出现真正重量级的MMO游戏。像《口袋传奇》（Pocket Legends）这类型的手机MMO游戏可以被视为《魔兽世界》（World of Warcraf）的手机版本，虽然这些也是设计精良且实实在在的MMO游戏，比起接下来的一些更出色的游戏作品，它也许就会褪却原来的影响力吧。

Order and Chaos Online

虽然目前不宜过早将《混乱与秩序》定义为足以影响世界的MMO大作，但是如果该游戏开发商甚至是这款游戏在不久的将来没落了，它们的影响力必然也仍会被这个社会所感知。

首先，Gameloft的案例表明一家公司如果能够专心工作，那么它将能生产出一款相当好的手机游戏（不论是像《光晕》风格的射击游戏，充满“速度与激情”的赛车游戏还是《魔兽世界》般的大型多人在线游戏）。通过Gameloft的游戏，我们能够见识手机游戏的魅力，同时还能够发掘我们所使用的设备（即手机）的快速操作功能。就此来看，Gameloft和Spacetime Studios已经成功使玩家们看到了手机玩游戏的便利性了。

其次，Gameloft这款游戏支持玩家与亲友们共同分享乐趣。就像《模拟人生》（The Sims）能够使玩家周围那些对游戏不感兴趣的重要人物关心起他们的“兴趣”一样，《混乱与秩序》或许可以作为阐释MMO内容的一款新型游戏。当你家里的其他成员正在漫无目的地虚度假期时，你可以和兄弟姐妹们一起在游戏中“捕猎十头野猪”。不久前更有一则关于一名游戏玩家的87岁曾祖母在游戏中过关斩将的报道。

最后，Gameloft同时也推动着科技的发展。就像电脑单机游戏通过售卖显示卡，内存卡和其他游戏必备组件赚钱时，Gameloft及其翻版游戏正向大众表明手机游戏市场利润丰厚。因为手机的普及，在过去几年里手机游戏市场蓬勃发展，在购物中心随处可见拿着智能手机的青少年。因为现在只需花费100美元以内就能够买到一款不错的手机。这些不断更新的设备也影响了它们所运行游戏的发展，有什么能够比玩游戏更能消磨时间呢？像Gameloft这类型发行商所提供的游戏使我们看到在未来那些更加有创意，更加独立且更为优秀的游戏将会获得更多的利益和更大的市场。

那么，我们是否就应该为Gameloft这家历来就有借鉴他人创意传统的公司颁奖呢？对那些纯粹乐衷于游戏的玩家来说，游戏创意的来源并不重要，他们只是单纯地在游戏世界里消磨着时间而已。同样的，虽然有些玩家会说“我们不应该颁奖给那些没有创意的游戏”，但是也正是这些玩家在《星际传奇》（The Chronicles of Riddick）的DVD刚上市时就开始疯狂抢购。

Gameloft只是为玩家提供了一种服务。如果发行商推出了一款好游戏，却不发行它的手机版本，那么Gameloft就会采取行动。只要获得渠道是合法的，那么游戏的创意或者灵感将具有很大的作用。就像玩家如果不喜欢某款游戏的原创版本，那么他就不会对该款游戏的后续手机版本感兴趣，反之亦然。

从《混乱与秩序》的发行我们看到了手机游戏的发展道路还很漫长。Gameloft能够帮助玩家们从那些文章，概念以及不切实际的讨论中脱离出来，更好地了解他们手机上的游戏。毕竟在这个新兴市场中，发行一款已获得成功的翻版游戏，总比推出前途未明的原创型游戏更为保险。如果哪天Gameloft的手机MMO游戏成功淘金，那么这个市场定会大量更棒的原创型游戏接踵而至。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

MMObility: Order and Chaos online bring potential to the market

As soon as I saw the trailer for Order and Chaos Online, I knew it would at least sell very well initially. Would the World of Warcraft-clone (note the first-time use of the phrase I normally despise) also sell beyond its three months of free time given out with the client purchase? Would players really want to subscribe to a game that is a simple clone of one of the most accessible MMOs in existence?

I think they would, simply because it is a mobile version. The mobile market should have taught us these lessons already. It is a market of different players — and play sessions — than we might be familiar with when sitting down in front of our PCs. It doesn’t need to be a seperate beast, however, and it can be enjoyed as an extension of the standard PC market. In fact, call me a convert.

I paid for and downloaded Order and Chaos Online as soon as I could. Will I sub past the initial three free months? I don’t know, but let me tell you why I think the game and the company matter.

The interesting thing about the mobile MMO market is that it resembles the PC MMO market from several years ago. I remember when people wondered why someone would want to pay a set rate per month to access a game that took powerful computers to run and several hours a day to play. Heck, I remember wondering whether it was worth it when that damned EverQuest loading screen would take so long that you could go make a sandwich and come back before it was done.

Perhaps this is why I have such an optimistic attitude about the mobile market — I’ve been through it before, and it came out just fine. If there is one thing that the past 11 years of PC MMO gaming have taught me, it’s that players will go through a lot of hoops to play not only their favorite games but the latest and shiniest games as well, no matter what other games they resemble.

MMO gamers are pretty easy to predict. Simply make a new game, give it a lot of press, and BAM! — built in audience. You might not make it past the first quarter, but then again, you just might.

The mobile market is still brand-new. The heaviest hitters have not yet been born. True, a game like Pocket Legends could be seen as the “World of Warcraft of mobile gaming,” but we can’t be sure yet. It’s well-designed and is an actual MMO, but it might be nothing compared to the next big thing.

Could Order and Chaos Online be the next big thing? Possibly. I think it is important to note for a few other reasons, though. Even if the company and the game were to fold up tomorrow, their impact has already been felt.

First, Gameloft shows that if a company just shuts up and works, it can have a decent, even reall good, mobile version of a game. It can be a Halo-style shooter, a Fast and Furious driving game, or even a World of Warcraft-style MMO, but it can still be done. Through Gameloft’s games, we are able to see what mobile gaming is capable of and how far our devices can be pushed. Those hours-long sessions that Gameloft, and Spacetime Studios for that matter, has convinced players to partake in have shown that a mobile device can be used that long, and comfortably.

Second, Gameloft has given us a game that we can show to that curious aunt or cousin. Just as The Sims was the game to get some of our uninterested significant others interested in our hobby, Order and Chaos Online can serve as the game to explain what MMO gaming is all about. Heck, you can kill two birds with one stone and use it to illustrate what mobile MMO gaming is all about. Within minutes you can be joining your siblings in a game of “hunt 10 boars” while the rest of the family drones on about past holidays! It won’t be long before we hear about the 87-year-old great-grandmother who just hit the level cap!

Third, Gameloft is helping to drive the technology forward. Just as PC gaming has done for the prices of graphics cards, RAM, and other essential gaming components, Gameloft and its cache of cloned titles are showing that the mobile interest is definitely there. Mobile gaming has gone through the roof over the last few years mainly because of the availability of the devices. No trip to the mall would be complete without seeing at least a dozen tweens with their very own smartphones. You can now purchase some of the finest phones on the market for 100 dollars or less. All of these new devices translate to more things being done on them — and what better thing to kill time but a game? A publisher like Gameloft gives us those games — original-looking IPs or not — and that means more money and a broader market for more original, independent, and better games.

Yes, yes, I know — why should we reward a company like Gameloft, a company that has shown it is not above practically stealing more popular titles and publishing them as its own? First of all, the originality of the title doesn’t matter to the player who is enjoying herself — she is having a good time, so it doesn’t matter who came up with the idea. Also, gamers are great at saying stuff like “We shouldn’t reward unoriginality.” Remember, many of those some gamers bought The Chronicles of Riddick DVDs as soon as they came out.

Gameloft is simply providing a service. You published a great game but don’t want to make a mobile version of it? That’s fine — Gameloft will do it for you. As long as what it does is legal, I couldn’t care less about its originality or inspiration. If I didn’t like the original game, I won’t play the mobile version. If I did, I will just stick with — you guessed it — the original.

So if you were to ask me whether I will be playing Order and Chaos Online after my three free months are over, I would tell you that I probably will not. I bought it out of curiosity and to see how well it worked across my different devices. (It works wonderfully. Gameloft is good at that.) But I don’t subscribe to World of Warcraft — so why should I to this?

Still, Order and Chaos Online is showing that mobile gaming can be taken much further. Gameloft is helping spread the idea of gaming on your mobile device beyond what any article, concept or highbrow discussion can. The company simply shuts up and publishes games. That is often better for a new market than any string of unknown, original games. Anyway, don’t worry. Once Gameloft brings in the money and the attention to the mobile market, the more original titles will come.（source:joystiq）