探讨电子游戏应如何设置简单的成就机制
作者:Rami Ismail
上周我刚刚结束了对于成就机制的使用与滥用的讨论,将成就视为游戏进程的支持而不是提供能够改变玩家游戏玩法的挑战或呈现出更加复杂的目标。我的伙伴,也就是来自Vlambeer(游戏邦注:来自荷兰的独立游戏工作室)Jan Willem Nijman指出,《刺客信条II》在游戏真正开始前便呈现出了3种不同的成就或奖励,玩家只需要左右移动模拟操纵杆,根据灯光指示按压按钮便能够攀上一栋建筑而获得奖励。
许多人对于游戏为一些琐碎的任务或再平常不过的进程提供成就或奖励表示无语。而这只是关于太过简单的游戏是否能够迎合非游戏玩家的讨论中一个非常小的组成部分。慢节奏的教程将通过命令提示和过场动画去教会玩家如何移动模拟操纵杆以及如何跳跃。并且玩家总是能在每一步的最后(尽管过程非常琐碎)打开一个成就。
许多“硬核玩家”都会有这种感受,在很多情况下我也能理解他们的这种感受——许多现代的电子游戏都不敢提供给玩家太过复杂的游戏玩法,只是怕这么做会疏远了玩家。相反地,《恶魔之魂》或《超级包装箱》等游戏却在玩家投入了大量资金后呈现出了实实在在的风险。也就是在这些游戏中,玩家一开始并不能看到真正具有复杂性的挑战。
几个月前,我们女朋友决定深入了解这个我倾入全部热情的媒体。所以我便让她先玩玩《刺客信条II》这款游戏,因为我认为这款游戏拥有节奏有序且不断扩展的教程。而在此之前她一般都是玩《愤怒的小鸟》,《模拟人生》或者《神偷卡门》这类型游戏。一开始我的建议是《Sword & Sworcery》,希望游戏中轻松的氛围能够让她感觉舒坦些,但是因为游戏繁琐的修饰以及单调的内容都让她不愿深入其中。
每个玩家都不会轻易将角色置于一旁。我的女朋友在《刺客信条II》的前10分钟也是如此,尽管挫折感也随之慢慢提升,并有可能导致她最终放弃游戏并且不愿再次尝试。在控制着角色往前走的短短几分钟内,对她来说好似经历了好几个小时,但是最终她取得了胜利。
过去我总是认为,完成目标这一奖励便足以推动着新玩家继续游戏,但是我却并未考虑到其实新玩家完全清楚行走只是一种琐碎的任务,他们知道这并不算游戏前进过程中的复杂挑战,尽管对于那些从未使用过游戏控制器的玩家来说这种游戏玩法也会具有一定的难度。他们并不觉得这是一种成就(基于任何标准),所以这种讨论便失去了意义。当主机中传来了“成就打开”的提示时,我的女朋友已经开始产生厌烦感,并希望能够快点退出游戏。
但是当注意到游戏奖励后她又决定多玩5分多钟的游戏——而如果游戏只是继续前进而不提供给玩家任何成就,她便会在此放弃游戏。Jan Willem Nijman所说的3种成就便是吸引女友的注意力,并推动着她愿意待在游戏20多分钟的主要因素。
实际上,“非游戏玩家”的理念也发生了改变。早前,“非游戏玩家”是指没有任何游戏经验的玩家,而随着休闲玩家的出现,我们可以发现“非游戏玩家”理念已经不复存在了。早前的非游戏玩家只是一张白纸,将通过实践掌握如何进入电子游戏中,但是今天的非游戏玩家却不再是如此。他们可能已经拥有好几年的游戏经验,但是前提是他们所面对的是像《愤怒的小鸟》或者《FarmVille》等类型的游戏。
休闲游戏与其它游戏的一大区别在于它们的短期回馈/奖励循环,即通过反馈在玩家的每次行动中都给予他们相关的奖励。基于容易上手的游戏设计,这类型游戏算是主流游戏产业中最易接近的游戏。玩家在游戏过程中将不断看到弹出的提示,并从中了解前进的每个步骤。同时玩家将在此面对各种具有明确上限和价值的分数系统。当然了,这类型游戏中所存在的目标便是让玩家获得良好的自我感觉。
而在主流游戏中,成就和奖励替代了这些反馈。尽管对于许多资深玩家来说,获得这些目标已经不再那么重要了,但是对于游戏新手而言,他们真心希望可以通过一种可衡量的方法去获得这些奖励。玩家总是很难去控制这些游戏,它们并不属于容易上手的游戏——就像《刺客信条II》在让玩家真正进入游戏世界前便花费了好几个小时去介绍游戏以及呈现一部分成就机制。
当我深入思考这一问题时,我越发认为成就机制是将新玩家带进游戏中的一种有效方法。它们既不唐突,又是可衡量的,而且不会破坏游戏设计,甚至还可以在游戏开始阶段频繁地出现在玩家面前。它们不需要任何关注或互动,只是作为一种实在(而非抽象)的游戏进程指示。这正是休闲玩家所需要的,并且也不会对资深玩家所热衷的硬核体验带来负面影响。
于是我便开始阅读一些有关成就的网站,并希望从中了解那些持反对意见的人的看法。在此我发现许多人对成就的抱怨都是“太过简单”。当我深入研究时发现:这些人抱怨的并不是自己可以很轻松地打开一个成就,而是其他人可以轻松地做到这一点。也就是他们认为如果连非游戏玩家都能够做到,那么成就便不再是成就。最好的情况是,他们不断地呼吁更多更具有挑战性的游戏出现,而最糟糕的情况则是,他们强硬地捍卫着硬核游戏领域而阻止其他新玩家的靠近。总之他们的想法就是:成就应该属于“真正的”玩家。
将易用性等同于牺牲挑战或复杂性的想法真是大错特错——这是一种让那些经受不住游戏挑战和难度的玩家进入游戏的好方法。对于独立游戏开发者来说这一点非常重要。主流游戏开发者需要在游戏开发时考虑到非游戏玩家的感受,而独立游戏开发者却不需要这么做——他们甚至不需要去考虑非游戏玩家是否会玩他们游戏。
现在我和我的女朋友都在玩《光晕2》。上周她在遭受到游戏中的两个Elite进攻时突然向后退,这便表示她已经将自己的行动映射在模拟操纵杆上,并以此影响着自己在虚拟世界中的表现。她迅速萌生了一种战斗感,并在听到我的防护物耗尽声时大喊让我帮助她,或加入她的战斗中。如果她因为《刺客信条II》未给予实在且可衡量的奖励而放弃游戏,她便会因此错过更多有趣的内容。
对于游戏设计师,我会建议你花30分钟的时间去寻找一些全新的视角:坐下来并观察你的父母,伙伴或好友将如何在你认为非常棒的游戏(琐碎的)任务中进行探索。如果他们认为这些内容非常有趣,这便是帮你创造出游戏易用性的好方法。基于这种新视角,你需要明确游戏将如何吸引新玩家的注意。没有人会强迫你去执行自己不喜欢的发现,也没有人会强迫你找回游戏挑战或牺牲复杂性。也许你的游戏注定不具有易用性,也许你会发现这是一个值得重新思考的好想法。不管怎么说这都只是一种讨论,关于游戏是否会因为某些玩家做出一些看似琐碎的任务(对于他自己或其他玩家而言)而给予实在且可测量的奖励的讨论。
(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)
An argument for easy achievements
by Rami Ismail
Last week I ended up in a discussion about the use and abuse of achievements as a progression support instead of offering challenges that either changed the players approach to the gameplay or that allow for extra –more difficult- goals. My fellow Vlambeer Jan Willem Nijman tweeted to point out that Assasssins Creed II hands out three different achievements or throphies before the game actually starts – you’ll have moved the left and right analog stick, pressed a few buttons as instructed by a giant, flashing prompt and you’ll have climbed a building to get that far in the game.
It’s a discussion that has been raging on and off – ridiculing the achievements and trophies that games hand out so easily for the most trivial of tasks and normal progression. It’s also a minor subject within a broader discussion on whether games have dumbed down too much to cater to non-gamers. Slowly paced tutorials walk players through everything with command prompts and sequences and cutscenes queue up to teach players how to move their analog sticks and how to jump. At the end of every step – how trivial it might be – an achievement is unlocked.
It’s a sentiment commonly heard amongst ‘core gamers’ and it’s a sentiment that I agree with on many levels – a lot of contemporary videogames simply do not dare to offer challenging gameplay anymore in fear of alienating a rather significant portion of their audience. The relentless difficulty Demon Souls or Super Crate Box offer is a concrete risk when you’re gambling with tens of millions of dollars. Thus, the lowest common denominator reigns, actual challenge locked away behind difficulties that are hopefully available from the start of the game.
A few months ago my girlfriend decided to check out what this medium I rave about all the time entails. Together, we decided she should start with Assassins Creed II because I felt it had a well-paced and expansive tutorial. She’s someone that has played every Angry Birds game, The Sims and Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego. I had suggested Sword & Sworcery before hoping its relaxed nature would ease her in, but instead its reliance on gaming tropes and perceived monotony shunned her away.
As every gamer knows, it’s tough to sit back and watch someone walk into walls endlessly. She did exactly this in her first ten minutes of Assassins Creed II, frustration levels rising slowly to the point where she would just give up and never try again. After minutes that seemed like hours of desperately trying to steer a character straight ahead, she finally succeeded.
I used to argue that just achieving that goal in itself should be an adequate reward to motivate new gamers to continue playing, but I did not take into account that new gamers are fully aware walking should be a trivial tasks; they know that it isn’t a tough challenge to walk straight in a game, even if it is fully reasonable for them to find it difficult having never used gamepads before. They realize it is not an accomplishment by any standard and thus the argument fails. She was already tired of playing and about to quit when the console played that unmistakable notification sound: achievement unlocked.
She noticed the pat on the back and gave the game five more minutes of her attention – whereas if the game had just continued without the achievement, she would’ve been likely to just give up. The three achievements my colleague was quipping about were exactly the ones that kept my girlfriend’s attention and motivation up for the twenty minutes she played that day.
The reality is that ‘non-gamer’ as a concept has changed from what it was. Where previously, ‘non-gamers’ were people without any gaming experience, the recent rise of casual games has ensured ‘non-gamers’ practically don’t exist anymore. Where it used to be that non-gamers were a blank slate that would learn to deal with the oddities of the high barrier of entry in videogames through practice, nowadays they are anything but a blank slate. They have years of gaming experience – only the games they play are Angry Birds and Farmville.
One of the things that sets casual games apart is their short feedback/reward cycles, rewarding players for pretty much every action through exaggerated feedback. These are games that are accessible beyond anything the mainstream industry can ever hope to achieve through their simple pickup-and-play designs. While playing, the games will carefully detail every step of progress through little popups. When done, players are bombarded with over-the-top scoring systems with clear ceilings and values. The goal, of course, is that players might feel good about themselves.
Achievements and trophies can take the place of such feedback in mainstream games. While the ease of achieving such goals seem trivial to more proficient gamers, for many new to the medium they are actual achievements that they’ve been conditioned to expect reward for in a measurable way. These games are not simple to control and they are far from pickup and play – Assassins Creed II takes several hours of slow introduction and half a dozen achievements before feeling confident enough to let players into its wonderful world.
The longer I mulled over the problem, the more I realized that an achievement is actually an extremely elegant solution to easing new players in. They’re unobtrusive, they’re measurable, they do not affect or corrupt the design of the game and they can be handed out in abundance at the start of a game. They do not require attention or interaction – they can simply be an indication of progression that is concrete instead of abstract. They’re exactly what a casual gamer needs without negatively influencing the core experience more seasoned gamers are interested in.
I started reading websites dedicated to achievements to see what the objections were to simple achievements. This being the internet, I found an unquantifiable amount of complaints about achievements being ‘too easy’. As I started digging deeper, a realization set in: the problem these people were having wasn’t so much with the achievement being too easy to unlock for them – the problem was that others could unlock it just as easily. It’s the idea that if a ‘non-gamer’ can do it, things can’t be an achievement. At best, it’s a cry for more challenging games – at its worst, it’s an attempt to safeguard the exclusivity of hardcore gaming from newcomers. The underlying thought is simple: achievements are supposed to be for ‘real’ gamers.
It is often wrongfully assumed that accessibility means sacrificing challenge or complexity, but it is neither – it is a way to allow people that otherwise couldn’t to experience the challenge and complexity that a game can offer. Such considerations are even – or more so – relevant to indie game developers. Whereas mainstream game developers have to deal with the consideration of non-gamers playing their game, indie game developers do not have the luxury of necessity – they might simply not consider the possibility of non-gamers playing their games.
My girlfriend and I are now playing through Halo 2. Last week, she suddenly backed off when overwhelmed by two Elites and strafed sideways into cover, proving she has succesfully mapped the actions on the analog stick to movement in the virtual world. She has rapidly evolved a sense of battle flow in Halo and will shout at me to help her or jump into the fray when she hears my shield depleted sound. If she had quit Assassins Creed II for not rewarding her with a concrete, measurable reward – she might’ve given up on gaming beyond Angry Birds altogether and miss a wide spectrum of amazing things.
So if I may recommend something that’ll take thirty minutes of your time, just to get some new perspective as a game designer: sit down and watch your parents, partner or friends struggle through all the trivial tasks in any game that you consider absolutely great. If anything it’s amusing, at best it’s a great way to challenge your assumptions of accessibility. With that new perspective, take a look at what your games do to usher in new players. No-one says you have to implement your findings if you don’t want to, no-one says you have to dial back on the challenge in a game or sacrifice complexity. Maybe your game isn’t meant to be more accessible, maybe you’ll find that it is a good idea to reconsider. There might just be an argument for your game to hand out a concrete and measurable pat on the back if someone does something that might – to you and me – seem trivial.(source:gamasutra)