作者：Lloyd Melnick

最近，我读了一篇出自英国学者Linda Kaye和Jo Bryce之手的论文（Putting the Fun Factor Into Gaming: The Influence of Social Contexts on Experiences of Playing Videogames）。虽然，我们通常将游戏中的趣味元素视为主观感受，然而这篇文章客观地阐述了游戏趣味的形成原理。

fun(from chasing20.com)

Kay和Bryce指出，制造有趣体验的关键是“心流”。在心流理论中，心流是指个人在享受有趣的活动中所产生的积极的主观状态，他们的能力同高水平的挑战相匹配。这种技能挑战的平衡与玩家对游戏乐趣的认知息息相关，且和一系列积极指标有关，其中包括高度的觉醒、内在动机、积极影响和享受。在心流体验时，人们关注过程，而非潜在结果，所以我们足以利用心流体验吸引人们继续活动进程。内在动机是心流体验的关键部分，此理论假设玩家纯粹是为自己而参与活动。

通过心流的释义，我们清楚地明了在设计一款社交游戏时，优化玩家挑战，使玩家处在恰当的平衡点尤为重要。我清晰地了解到，当前许多社交游戏（发行在移动和Facebook平台上）并未创造一种合适的挑战，所以游戏无法继续吸引玩家。同时，我还发现，即使许多游戏在最初充满挑战，而后便进入一种固定模式，即通常的机械性点击式的“老套玩法”。如果你能采用这篇文章的某个小建议（也可以是相关文章），那么你的社交游戏对玩家来说，肯定会时时充满挑战。

制作游戏趣味的关键部分就是借助游戏的社交成分，这表明社交游戏在游戏领域的重要性。研究表明，团队提供的社会归属感和友情能够提升活动的乐趣和内在报酬（除了成形的心流成分）。文章指出，一些玩家是因获得社区认可而喜欢玩游戏。Bryce和Kaye的研究显示，同他人交流的感觉以及认同在线朋友的重要性都是激发玩家体验游戏的主要因素。请求社会联系或同他人竞技都能激发玩家。

文章中其它涉及社交游戏社区的重要见解包括：

*玩家在与真实朋友（游戏邦注：指非虚拟世界的朋友）玩游戏时能享受到更多乐趣。

*需要他人参与合作的游戏任务会产生愉快的体验。比如，玩家喜欢一起制定战略。当玩家实施联合计划时，他们能感受到极大的乐趣。社交游戏公司应允许玩家同朋友自由决定行动方案，而不是提供玩家和朋友必须遵循的具体路线。

*玩家喜欢朋友现身一同玩游戏。虽然这一发现来自主机玩家方面的研究，但社交游戏，尤其是手机社交游戏，更能提供促使身处同个地方的玩家共同玩游戏的机会。

*可让团队合作产生趣味的最主要推动力包括：集体能力、相关任务的知识或技能、互相依存、合作、协调、任务共享和互补参与。社交游戏公司应将这些元素体现在他们的设计中。

*来自其他玩家的表现及游戏本身的反馈有利于促进心流体验。所以，在社交游戏中，如果玩家了解朋友的玩法，那么他会更享受游戏过程。

*玩家的游戏表现可以清楚呈现在其他玩家面前，这种感觉也有助于强化玩家在游戏中的投入程度。

*玩家也喜欢在游戏过程中参与社交网络的活动，甚至不在意这种交流是否与游戏玩法有关。社交公司应该想办法促进玩家之间的交流。

*低劣的社交动态会摧毁游戏体验。如果玩家弹出辱骂、欺凌的言语（如果有对话）、做出不雅的社区行为、发泛滥的帖子等，游戏趣味就会遭到破坏。

看到推进趣味性的相关元素体现在众多社交游戏中，我们感到极其振奋。通过这些推动力，我们可以创造出更加引人注目的娱乐方式。（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）

Putting the Fun into Games

by Lloyd Melnick

I recently read an interesting paper, “Putting the Fun Factor Into Gaming: The Influence of Social Contexts on Experiences of Playing Videogames”, by British scholars Linda Kaye and Jo Bryce. Although we often look at the fun factor in a game as a subjective measurement, this paper does a great job of showing objectively what makes a game fun.

According to Kay and Bryce, the key to creating a fun experience is “flow.” In flow theory, flow is characterized as a positive subjective state an individual experiences when they are undertaking an enjoyable activity, in which their capabilities match the high level of challenge required. This skill-challenge balance is integral to the player’s perceptions of the enjoyment derived from a game, and has been found to be associated with a range of positive indicators, including high levels of arousal, intrinsic motivation, positive effect and enjoyment. When experiencing flow, the individual is focused on the processes involved in the activity, rather than its potential consequences, and this is sufficiently rewarding to promote continued engagement. This intrinsic motivation is a key component of the flow experience, and the theory assumes that an individual undertakes an activity purely for its own sake.

From this explanation of flow, it is clear that when designing a social game it is crucial to optimize the challenge for the player so it is always at the appropriate balance. It is clear to me that many current social games (both mobile and on Facebook) do not create an appropriate challenge and thus do not encourage continued engagement. I have also found that even if the game is challenging initially, many social games fall into a routine in which “elder gameplay1” often devolves into robotic clicking. If you take away one tidbit from this post (and the underlying article), your social game must be —and remain—challenging for players.

A key part of creating fun for game players is through a game’s social components, which shows why social games are dominating the gaming space. Research shows that the sense of social belonging and companionship provided by group contexts can enhance the enjoyment and intrinsic rewards of an activity, in addition to the established flow components. In the paper, some players enjoyed playing as a result of involvement in a social community. Bryce and Kaye’s research suggests that feeling connected to others and recognizing the importance of online friends, are key motivational factors for playing. The appeal of social contact and competition against others motivates players.

Other great insights from the paper that are relevant to the social gaming community are:

Players have more fun playing with real—not virtual—friends.

Cooperative gaming tasks that required complementary participation resulted in enjoyable experiences. For example, players enjoy creating strategy together. The fun is particularly strong when the joint plan works. The lesson for social game companies is to provide people flexibility to determine a course of action with their friends, rather than giving the players a detailed roadmap of what they and their friends must do.

Game players enjoy playing when their friends are physically present and also playing. Although this finding came from research with console gamers, it provides an interesting opportunity for social games, particularly mobile social, to encourage people to play jointly when they are physically in the same location.

Some of the most powerful drivers of group flow, and thus fun, are collective competence, task-relevant knowledge/skills, interdependence, collaboration, coordination, shared task and complementary participation. These are all elements that social game companies should look at incorporating into their game design.

Enjoyable experiences are associated with gaming tasks that require coordination, cooperation and interdependence. Social games should be built that necessitate players working together.

Feedback from other players’ performance and the game itself were important for facilitating the experiences of flow. Thus, in a social game, a player will enjoy it more if they know how their friends are doing.

The sense of being seen was apparent in social gaming context as the visibility of players’ gameplay performance to other players enhance the emotional investment in the activity.

Gamers also enjoyed opportunities to engage in social networking during gaming sessions, regardless of whether or not the conversations were relevant to gameplay. Social game companies should look at ways to facilitate communication between friends beyond wall posts.

Poor social dynamics ruin an experience. If people experience bullying, abusive speech (if there is chat), bad community behavior, abusive posts, etc., it ruins the fun.

It is very refreshing to see the underlying drivers of fun (a.k.a. flow) are already present to varying degrees in many social games. By focusing on these drivers, we can create an even more compelling form of entertainment.(source:lloydmelnick)