作者：Josh Bycer

游戏领域有各种各样的行业术语，但有不少术语尚未形成标准。本文阐述的就是我们对“游戏玩家”一词的不同定义。

有些资深玩家可能对“休闲”一词很不屑，不同人对“硬核”一词也褒贬不一。现在社交及手机游戏玩家也加入这一群体，导致“玩家”定义更是错综复杂。我将在本文根据自己的看法提出四种玩家分类：

gamers(from pcworld.idg.com.au)

休闲玩家：休闲玩家是最新的游戏群体，其主要代表是那些只玩家一些游戏的用户。这些用户并不为追求成就或者实现100％的完成度而玩游戏。他们只是为了娱乐或者打发时间玩游戏。社交及手机游戏由于需要投入时间较少而在这一群体中大受欢迎，另外这一群体也基本上可以算是由“非游戏玩家”所形成的阵营。但他们并不仅局限于这两种游戏，他们可能还玩过掌机或PC游戏，但不会去接触那些高难度游戏。他们如果发现自己喜欢玩的游戏，也会长时间逗留其中，并且只玩这种游戏。

我们很难判断这些玩家的技能水平，他们虽然可能在某款游戏中投入大量时间，但却很难看出他们是否已经精通游戏。因为他们的首要目标是娱乐其中，而非成为出类拔萃者。

此外，他们对游戏行业的发展趋势知之甚少。他们可能了听到一些主流游戏或开发商的名字，但并不乐衷于关注行业动态。他们可能甚至不知道Origin或Steam等数字渠道，也并非独立游戏粉丝（游戏邦注：除非他们大量接触此类游戏的信息）。

主流玩家：这些玩家分布甚广，他们至少玩家两个不同平台的游戏，了解多种游戏题材。他们喜欢完成游戏，也会因成就而受到激发并继续体验游戏。

他们拥有一些行业知识，知道行业大事，也常关注一些游戏网站。这些玩家已经涉足数字游戏领域，并使用一些数字零售渠道购买内容。他们通常偏爱某个游戏题材或开发商，对与之相关的内容较为了解，也会关注其中动向。他们可能会根据自己的喜好而关注一些独立游戏或小型工作室，但他们最为了解的还是AAA游戏工作室。

从技能水平来看，他们很擅长玩自己所爱的游戏，希望完成游戏或者到达游戏尾声。

高端玩家：我并非首次提出这一概念的人。Gamasutra网站数年前已有人发表文章建议使用这一词汇描述玩家。

对我来说，高端玩家对游戏和行业都甚为了解。他们玩过多个平台的游戏和多种游戏题材，也关注许多游戏公司的消息。他们通常是业内人士或者准备入行之人，这也正是他们掌握诸多游戏知识的原因。他们可能会偏爱一两种游戏题材，但也会扩展到其他游戏。

与主流玩家一样，他们也喜欢完成游戏，也会受到成就的激励。但不同之处在于，他们对小型开发商及独立游戏项目更为了解，主流玩家可能在接触游戏评论后才会发现一款很棒的独立游戏，而高端玩家可能早就体验过这款游戏。

因为他们对多数题材都很熟悉，所以他们在每款游戏中的技能水平应该都差不多。但他们可能因为有所偏爱，所以在特定游戏中的技能更高超，而在另一款游戏中表现糟糕。

硬核玩家：对我来说，硬核一词就是与“休闲”相反的极端。与休闲玩家一样，他们也只会玩特定某款游戏或者某种题材的游戏。不同之处在于，休闲玩家只会玩几分钟或者只是为了娱乐体验而玩游戏，但硬核玩家是为了获胜而玩游戏。

硬核玩家会细细体会并完成自己所钟爱游戏中的各个玩法细节。另一个典型例子就是，有人会在数小时或数天就打通一款MMO游戏中的所有新内容，因为他们投入程度极高，所以很容易在游戏中掌握最高超的技能或最佳装备。从行业知识的角度来看，他们并不会关注行业整体情况，但会吃透自己所爱游戏类型及公司的情况。他们追求成就以及100％的完成度。

由于技能水平较高，他们一般也是职业玩家的主力军（即他们会在比赛或团队中玩游戏）。他们通常也是找到游戏漏洞及捷径的群体，从规模上看，他们是最少数者的阵营，毕竟拥有大量闲暇时间修炼到这一境界的玩家真的不多。

我自己应该算是介于高端及硬核群体之间的玩家，我玩过的视频游戏数量多到几天几夜也说不完，但我从来不会没日没夜地坐着玩特定某款游戏，这也正是为何我成不了竞争型玩家的原因。（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）

Redefining Gamer

by Josh Bycer

The game industry has a variety of terminology.But there are many terms that aren’t standardized. Today’s post looks at the various ways we categorize gamers.

This is another one of those posts that I’ve had in the back of my mind for a long time. One of the slightly annoying parts of the game industry is how we don’t have a standardized terminology. This can make it difficult to talk about high level concepts as you need to make sure that everyone understands your definitions. Such as the focus of this post: the different definitions of a gamer.

Some people sneer at the term “casual” while depending on your circle, “hardcore” could be an insult or a badge of honor. And now with social and mobile gamers thrown into the mix, it can be confusing. For this post I would like to redefine some terms to classify gamers as to how my opinion defines the various groups.

Casual: A casual gamer is the newest group and is represented by people who play only a few games. These are people who don’t play games for achievements or for completing the game 100%. They play just to enjoy or to kill a few minutes. Social and mobile games are popular among this group due to their lack of time commitments and why this group is also made up of the “non gamer” audience. However, they are not limited to the two and they may play console or PC games but stay away from games with high learning curves. Usually once they find a game or series they like, they’ll stick with it for as long as possible such as Call of Duty or World of Warcraft and will play that and only that.

Skill level is hard to judge, while they may play one game for a long time, it’s hard to say if they’ll reach a point of mastery or not. As their main reason to play as mention is to enjoy the game, not become the best.

Another factor is that they are the least knowledgeable on trends in the industry. They may know about major games or developers, but they don’t follow any news in the industry. They may not even know about the move to digital retailers like Origin or Steam and don’t follow Indie games unless they get a lot of buzz.

Mainstream: Mainstream gamers are the vast majority. These gamers play at least two different platforms of games and have an understanding of multiple genres. They do like to finish games and can be motivated by achievements to continue playing.

In terms of the industry, they are somewhat knowledgeable as to what is happening and usually follow a few game sites. These gamers have already taken the step to digital and use a digital retailer for their purchases. They usually have a preferred genre or developer and have an understanding of them and will follow them. Depending on their preferences they may or may not know about some indie games or smaller studios out there, however they do know about AAA studios.

As for skill level, they can become skilled at their preferred genres, due to them wanting to finish the game or reach the end of the content.

Literate: I’m actually not the one who came up with this term, I read a post on Gamasutra a few years ago where someone suggested using this term to describe gamers. If anyone can find that post or the author, let me know and I’ll give them credit here.

To me, a literate gamer is someone knowledgeable on both games and the industry. They play multiple platforms and genres and follow multiple companies. Usually these people are those either in the industry or trying to get in and that has helped their understanding. While they may really like one or two genres, they like to branch out and try out other games.

Like mainstream, they prefer to finish the games they play and can be motivated by achievements. However the difference is that they are more familiar with smaller developers and Indie projects. While a mainstream gamer may find out about a cool Indie game after seeing it reviewed, a literate gamer would have already found it and played it.

Skill level can be all over the place, since they are familiar with the most genres. Depending on their actual preferences, they could be excellent at one genre, and poor to average in another.

Hardcore: Hardcore to me is the idea of a casual gamer, taken to its extreme. Like a casual gamer, they will only play either one game or one specific genre. The difference is that while the casual gamer does this only for a few minutes or just for the experience, hardcore gamers play to win. When people make fun of “fan-boys” or talk about those that religiously defend certain games, they are talking about hardcores.

Hardcore gamers will play to get every little drop of gameplay accomplished out of their preferred game. Another example is when you hear about people who will beat all the new content in a MMO within a few hours or days. Because of their commitment, they have the highest skill or best gear in any game they play. In terms of industry knowledge, they don’t follow the industry as a whole, but know the ins and outs of their favorite genre or company. Achievements can be a big deal for them, and will strive to achieve 100%.

Because of their level of skill at the game, hardcore gamers largely make up the group of professional gamers – gamers who play games in tournaments or groups as a sport. Due to that dedication, they are the group that finds the exploits or optimal paths through their games. Lastly in terms of size, hardcore gamers represent the smallest group, as many people just don’t have the free time to commit to one game like this.

Interestingly enough if I were to define myself, I would say that I fit somewhere between literate and hardcore. I play A LOT of video games, to the point that I could spend a few days listing them all. However, I could never sit and play just one video game day in and day out; this is why I could never be a competitive gamer.

I’m not looking to start a new movement, but it would be nice for everyone to agree to certain terminology as I think it would make all our lives easier.（source:gamasutra）