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《军团要塞2》背后的2个心理学设计原理

作者:jmadigan

最近我又重新迷上《军团要塞2》,发现游戏自我上次体验以来发生系列变化。在闲逛Mann Co Shop的过程中,我发现Valve真是人才辈出。值得一提的是,我发现商店有两个元素是利用我此前曾谈过的理念。

《军团要塞2》是基于不同角色的免费射击游戏,游戏靠Mann Co Store的虚拟交易支撑。你可以在此购买各种各样的武器和装饰道具。

我首先发现的一点是,商店如今巧妙利用所谓的“禀赋效应”。我之前曾谈到过这点,简单来说就是,若我们认为自己拥有某物,我们就赋予其更高价值。典型试验范例是,研究员Richard Thaler给予受试者一人一个咖啡杯,随后询问他们愿意以什么价位出售。相比那些未被给予杯子,但被问及愿意支付多少钱的对象,那些拥有杯子的受试者会赋予杯子更高的价值。

backburner from psychologyofgames.com

backburner from psychologyofgames.com

《军团要塞2》让你能够获得商店中的特定道具,主要是允许你在游戏中免费试验道具。7天之后,道具会消失,但你能够通过购买获得这一道具。根据“禀赋效应”,用户会比以往更看重新出现的Backburner(关卡10的喷火器),愿意在此掏更多的资金。但Valve非常聪明,知道自己可以通过在新试验道具中给予你25%的折扣达成这笔交易。你多半会更加重视这一道具,而且你不想错过获得折扣的机会。

遗憾的是,Valve似乎只在原本就已非常便宜的道具(游戏邦注:主要针对50美分的道具)中落实这一试验推动机制。我想如果他们能够让你试验更昂贵的道具,这一机制将发挥更大作用。也许可以设定个1周的期限,防止运用过火,或是减少新道具的试验推动期限。他们甚至还可以利用玩家看到你运用新道具的羡慕反应。

“更昂贵道具”话题引出我们的下一个《军团要塞2》心理学经验。具体如下:

tf2 ring from psychologyofgames.com

tf2 ring from psychologyofgames.com

是的,你没有看错。如今你可以在《军团要塞2》中买到虚拟钻戒,你可以将其重新命名,然后赠送给其他玩家。钻戒售价100美元的真实货币。初次看到这一情况,我有些想不明白,但随后我发现,他们不仅巧妙利用少数挥霍者谋利,他们还运用一个古老的销售技巧:对比效应。同样,这也是我之前谈过的话题,简单来说就是,如果一开始就看到相当高的价格,我们的价格认知将发生改变。零售人员一直利用这一技巧,他们通常先向你介绍更高价位的套装,这促使旁边的平价商品变得更能够被接受,更不要说是袜子或皮带之类的配件。是否曾在逛高档服装店时看到有些不合理的标价,前排陈列的手提包售价2000美元?谁会买?这不是重点。重点这令旁边的200美元手袋变得更能够被接受(游戏邦注:相比没有昂贵手提包的情况)。

ring message from psychologyofgames.com

ring message from psychologyofgames.com

我想这就是Valve设置钻戒道具的原因所在。让你给道具重命名,送给某人,然后向整个《军团要塞2》社区发布这一交易消息——是整个在线社区,而非仅是服务器上的玩家,这会促使花钱如流水的玩家进行如上截图所示的操作。但我觉得最重要的是,通过在旁边放置100美元的戒指,价值12美元的帽子就会变得更易被接受所接受。(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

The Psychology of Video Games

Two Lessons From Team Fortress 2

by jmadigan

I’ve gotten sucked back in to Team Fortress 2 (TF2) lately and taking notes of the changes that have happened since I last played. In the course of poking around the Mann Co Shop I’ve been reminded that they have some pretty smart cookies over there at Valve and I for one welcome our new cookie overlords. Specifically, I’ve noticed two things in the store that capitalize on concepts I’ve written about here before.

For those of you who don’t remember, Team Fortress 2 is a class-based shooter that has gone free-to-play and supports itself through purchases in the Mann Co Store. You can buy different weapons and cosmetic items there, for prices ranging from just a few cents to …well, I’ll get to that in a second.

The first thing I noticed is that the store is now making an interesting use out of something called “the endowment effect.” I’ve written about it before, and the quick version is that once we feel we own something, we value it more. The classic experimental example was when researcher Richard Thaler gave subjects a coffee cup, then shortly afterwords asked how much they would be willing to sell it for. Relative to those who were not given a cup but instead asked how much they would pay for it to own it, those who already owned it placed a higher dollar value on the thing.

TF2 gets you to endow certain items from its store by letting you try them out, in game, for free. After seven days, the item goes away, but you’re given a chance to buy it. According to the endowment effect, people might value their new Backburner (level 10 flame thrower) more than they did before, and be willing to pay more for it. But Valve is nice enough and/or smart enough to know that they could probably really drive the bargain home by giving you a 25% discount on the newly tested item. So double whammy. You’re likely to value the item more, plus you don’t want to lose your chance at a discount.

Unfortunately Valve seems to only be doing this test drive system for items that are already pretty cheap –in the 50-cent range. I think they could get more use out of it if they let you try it with a few more expensive items. Maybe even put some kind of one-per-week limit on it to prevent doing too crazy, or reduce the test drive period for newer items.They could even capitalize on envious reactions from other players who see you using the new item.

And on the topic of “more expensive items,” we have our next psychology lesson from TF2. Here, look at this:

Yeah, you’re reading that right. You can now buy a virtual diamond ring in Team Fortress 2 that you can rename and then gift to another player. For $100. ONE. HUNDRED. REAL. DOLLARS. This boggled my mind when I first saw it, but then I realized that they besides cashing in on a few big spenders, the developers may be aiming to capitalize on an age-old sales trick: the contrast effect. Again, this was one of the first topics I wrote about for this blog, but the quickie version is that our perceptions of price (or more to the point, value) can be changed if we see a super high price off the bat. Retail sales people use this trick all the time by showing you a more expensive suit first, which makes the cheaper items two racks over seem a lot more affordable, let alone accessories like socks or belts. Ever poked your nose into an upscale clothing store and seen some absurd, $2,000 handbag on display up front? Who would pay that? Well, that’s not the point. The point is that it’s there to make the $200 handbags on the table next to it seem a heck of a lot more affordable –more so than if the super expensive item weren’t there.

This is what I think Valve is doing with the diamond ring item. Sure, letting you rename the item, give it to someone, and then broadcast that transaction to the entire Team Fortress 2 community –the whole community that’s online at the time, not just people on your server– will lead some people with more money than sense to have some fun like in the screenshot above. But I think the real benefit is that next to a $100 ring, that $13 hat for your Demoman looks a lot more affordable.(Source:psychologyofgames


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