作者：Jon Jordan

Gamesbrief的Nicholas Lovell在F2P Summit上阐述了免费游戏模式的15大基本原则。

F2P(from snehikhanor)

1.创造乐趣

我们正在创造游戏。关于乐趣的定义多种多样，但不管怎样游戏都必须具有乐趣，特别是免费游戏。

2.星巴克测试

游戏必须具有快餐性质。你是否能够为游戏创造出类似于排队买咖啡的过程？

典型的例子包括《CSR Racing》，《无尽之剑》，《宝石迷阵闪电战》以及《Tiny Towers》。

3.是否具有深度？

玩家可能只愿意花几分钟去玩游戏，但也有可能投入数小时于游戏中。

4.层面的复杂性

与皮克斯电影（游戏邦注：包括《玩具总动员》，《虫虫危机》，《海底总动员》等著名影片）一样，游戏也能够吸引不同类型的玩家。《火箭飞人》便是一典型例子。游戏中虽然会明确一些特定的成就，但同时也将提供给玩家不同的游戏玩法，就像在这款游戏中玩家将在收集货币的同时想办法活得更长久。

其它选择还包含打败好友所获得的最高分数。《神庙逃亡》便是另外一个典例。

5.永无止尽

确保你的游戏永远都不会结束。免费游戏主要是将玩家带进一个漏斗中，而当玩家进入这一漏斗（也就是开始玩你的游戏），你就需要确保他们能够更长久地待在游戏中，也就是创造出重玩价值或无止尽的游戏玩法。

6.足够大方

遵循“0，1，100的规则”，也就是你需要尽可能地呈现你的游戏（即“0”），并提供给那些愿意玩你的游戏（“1”）以及积极玩你的游戏（“100”）的玩家相关奖励。

7.始终坚持免费模式

一旦扯上付费就糟糕了。计时赛或样本模式都不是大方的表现。创造免费游戏最困难的不是如何制作游戏，而是如何获得玩家，所以你千万不要做出让玩家感到厌烦的举动。

8.应用内部购买

为了让玩家去购买IAP（你的首要目标），你就需要谨慎地对待他们的首次购买行为。

《火箭飞人》在这一点上也做得非常出色，即让玩家可以使用虚拟货币去加速游戏进程。

9.激发购买欲

当玩家投入了1美元后，你便需要激励他们投入更多资金。这便是Lovell所说的“100”规则，即玩家可能投入20美元，100美元甚至是1000美元。

有调查指出，2011年美国平均每笔IAP交易额为14美元。

10.注重奖励而不只是虚有其表

尽管这仍是一个让人疑惑的术语，但是Lovell认为免费游戏应该更注重提供给玩家奖励并推动着他们前进，而不只是呈现出各种华丽的图像（就像主机游戏那样）。

11.新手教程

游戏的前几分钟非常重要，所以游戏必须尽其所能地让玩家投入到游戏体验中。

12.不要杀死玩家

玩家永远不会在免费游戏中遭遇“失败”。游戏体验从来不会呈献给玩家“你死定了”这样的字眼。游戏可以让玩家陷入困境中，但却不能惹恼他们。这一点其实就等于在游戏最后用“干得好”去取代“游戏结束”这样的表达。

13.出售情感而非内容

我们并不是在出售内容，我们出售的是体验，是玩家在面对游戏乐趣，高分排行以及赠礼等机制中的自我表达。可以说这是一种情感生意。

14.还没有人知道确切的答案

免费游戏业务正以极快的速度发展着，所以还没有人知道确切的答案。

你需要不断进行实验，但同时你也需要明确你所寻找的答案是什么——利用各种参数去寻找答案。同时投身于较低风险的实验中，而不是将所有筹码都投掷在某一实验中。当你获得成功后一定要继续进行迭代测试。

15.一切仍未结束

你是在提供一种服务。你的游戏开发过程永远都不会结束。

（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）

F2P Summit: Nicholas Lovell’s 15 basic rules of successful F2P games

by Jon Jordan

Taking a bulletpoint approach to the F2P Summit, Gamesbrief’s Nicholas Lovell burst through his 15 Basic Rules of F2P.

It’s part of an ongoing series running at www.gamesbrief.com/rules

1. Make it fun

We’re making games. There maybe different definitions of fun, but games need to be fun, even F2P games.

2. The Starbucks test

Games need to be snackable. Can you have game session while you’re in a queue for coffee?

Good examples are CSR Racing, Infinity Blade, Bejeweled Blitz and Tiny Towers.

3. Is there also depth?

While players should be able to play for a minute, they should also be able to play for an hour.

4. Complexity in layers

Like a Pixar movie, appeal to different audiences. A good example is Jetpack Joyride. There are specific achievements, but there are other ways to play, which in this case involve the tension between collecting coins and trying to stay alive for as long as possible.

Other options can include beating your friends’ high scores. Another example is Temple Run.

5. Evergreen

Your game must never end. F2P games are all about getting people into the funnel and once you get people into the funnel (i.e. playing your game) you must keep them there for as long as possible and that means replayability or endless gameplay.

6. Be generous

Playing off the ’0, 1, 100 rule’, you need to give away a lot of game (‘the 0′), as well as rewarding those people who pay you a little (‘the 1′) and a lot (‘the 100′).

7. Be free forever

Paywalls are bad. A timed trial or a demo mode isn’t being generous. The most expensive thing in F2P gaming is about getting players, not making the game, so don’t annoy your players.

8. The $1 no-brainer

To get players to buy some IAP – your #1 objective – you need to make their first purchase absolutely brilliant.

Again Jetpack Joyride does this well with its counterfeit coin maker, which doubles your progress through the game.

9. And the big spender…

But once someone has spent $1, you need to get them to spend more. This is Lovell’s ’100′, but it can be anything from $20, to $100 to $1,000.

This is reflected in research that says that the average single IAP transactions in the US during 2011 was $14.

10. Pizzazz, not polish

Despite the slightly confusing terminology, Lovell argues that F2P games should be focused on exciting players in terms of rewards and progression, not beautiful graphics (‘console-style’) for their own sake.

(The confusion occurs as many F2P developers talk a lot about ‘polish’, when they’re talking about rewards.)

11. Kill the tutorial

The first few minutes of a games are important so you need to get the player invested in the experience.

12. Don’t kill the player

You should never ‘lose’ in a F2P game. The game experience should never tell you that ‘You Suck’. Getting players is hard so don’t annoy them. This can be as subtle as replacing a ‘Game Over’ message, with a ‘Well Done’ status message at the end of the game session.

13. Sell emotions, not content

We’re not selling content. We’re selling the experience, the self-expression of wearing a funny hat, high score leaderboard placement, gifting etc. We’re in the business of emotions.

14. No one knows the answers now

The F2P business is changing so quickly that no one knows the answers all the time.

You need to experiment, but you need to know what answers you’re looking for – with metrics. Also, experiment at a low risk, not a single-shot, all-in experiment. And when you have success, iterate and do it all over again.

15. It’s never done

You’re providing a service. Your game is never done. (source:pocketgamer)