作者：Beau Hindman

当我在玩像《Merlin the Game》这类型新的社交行动RPG时，我便好奇为何这些RPG不能成为Facebook上最成功的游戏。在单机PC市场中，行动游戏是最受欢迎的类型，但是似乎它们并不受到Facebook用户的待见。当然了，这是在与《FarmVille》相比较下的结果。除此之外是否还存在其它导致《Merlin the Game》，《Dungeon Blitz》或《Cloudstone》未能挤进排行榜前列的原因？这些游戏是对还是错，这对于它们的执行有何影响（相比其它游戏）？

让我们搞清楚Facebook上的硬核游戏的定义：Facebook硬核游戏是介于《FarmVille》的轻松以及PC上的RPG或RTS游戏所具有的紧张策略之间，但更倾向于表现游戏深度和挑战。像《暗黑破坏神》或《帝国时代》等等单机游戏所提供的便远远超过Facebook硬核玩家所能负荷的。所以硬核游戏开发者便决定将游戏玩法分解为一些小内容，并提供现金购买道具而赋予某些玩家优势。Facebook上的硬核游戏主要是面对我们这些伴随着紧张策略游戏长大，但却没有足够时间去玩这些需要持久考验的游戏。

dungeonblitz（from blog.games）

《Merlin the Game》和《Cloudstone》便是典型的Facebook硬核游戏。虽然它们也提供了一定的挑战，但是游戏的主要吸引力还是来自于生动的图像，逼真的音效和精致的游戏体验。但同时也有许多早前的策略型硬核游戏玩家看不起这类型游戏，并表示它们永远不可能与《暗黑破坏神》相比较。当然了，这并没有错，但是我并不认为社交硬核游戏想要与斥资上百万制作成本的单人玩家游戏（如《暗黑破坏神》等）相抗衡。而如何做才能让《暗黑破坏神》的玩家们接受像《Merlin the Game》的游戏世界？

首先便需要提升游戏难度。但并不是指创造无尽的跳跃，事实上，只有玩家所面临的部分遭遇能够带来更强大的敌人或呈现出更复杂的挑战。虽然Facebook上的硬核游戏的成功是取决于比标准策略游戏来得“简单”的机制，但是这种易用性也会影响游戏的延伸范围。像《地城历险记》等硬核游戏的任务和目标都是偶尔才会体现出短暂的挑战性。如果这类型游戏能够删除时间限制，将挑战分割成更长的任务链条，并将玩家带进更加激烈且更长时间的战斗中，那么Facebook以外的玩家便也能够注意到它们。

Facebook上的许多游戏单从图像看来便只具有易用性。虽然有些游戏能够有效地运行于PC上，但是大多数硬核游戏的图像却让外部玩家误以为它们是面向年轻的玩家。虽然这种方法是有效的，但是如果这些硬核游戏能够更好地完善游戏图像，如赋予《Merlin the Game》更加现实的外观，也许便能吸引更多《暗黑破坏神》的玩家的注意了。

硬核社交游戏与单机游戏之间最明显的一大差别便是现金商店。尽管在单人硬核游戏中也存在现金商店道具销售机制，但是社交硬核游戏却最大限度地利用了这一机制。如在大多数社交硬核游戏中，玩家可以花钱购买任何内容，包含能够让自己在玩家对抗玩家模式中占据优势的道具和武器。而《暗黑破坏神3》便曾因为提供现金购买商品机制而出现问题，所以人们不免好奇社交硬核游戏能否有效解决这些问题。

毕竟，社交硬核游戏的部分挑战和刺激是来自于玩家对于更棒的武器或道具的探索，而将其陈列在商店里出售便减弱了这种乐趣。尽管现金商店的设计是我们最不希望社交硬核游戏做出改变的内容。毕竟销售虚拟道具能够帮助开发者赚到更多利益，而Facebook用户也习惯于这种交易方式。

当然了，社交硬核游戏玩家和单机策略游戏玩家间将始终存在着分界线。这两种游戏类型将继续朝着不同的方向而发展着，并且不会轻易越过边界。虽然我们也发现一些单人玩家游戏（游戏邦注：如《龙腾世纪》和《无冬之夜》）开始进入社交硬核游戏领域，但是终究未能取得理想的成绩。所以我们真心希望这两种类型游戏能够基于共同的界限而相互发展，造福所有玩家。

（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）

Core Corner: How Facebook RPGs compare and compete with Diablo

by Beau Hindman

As I play through a newer social action RPG like Merlin the Game, I wonder why more of these RPGs aren’t some of the most successful games on Facebook. After all, action games are some of the most widespread in the standalone PC market, but on Facebook they just seem to do… OK. Of course, this is in comparison to monsters like FarmVille, in which case almost every game does just OK. Still is there a reason that Merlin the Game, Dungeon Blitz or Cloudstone aren’t consistently on the charts? What do these games do right and wrong, and how does that affect how they perform when compared to other games?

Let’s be clear about the definition of core gaming on Facebook: Core gaming is squeezed somewhere between the ease of, say, FarmVille and the intense strategy of PC RPGs or RTS games/ Core gaming is for everybody, but skews towards depth and challenge. A standalone title like Diablo or Age of Empires might prove more than a core Facebook gamer wants. To that end, core games offer gameplay that’s best broken up into smaller sessions and also offer cash-shop items that can give an immediate advantage. Core gaming on Facebook is perfect for those of us who grew up on more intense strategy titles but don’t have time for those marathon sessions anymore.

Games like Merlin the Game or Cloudstone are perfect illustrations of core gaming. They provide some challenge but the primary attraction comes from their lively graphics, excellent sound and polished experience. At the same time, there are many former hardcore strategy players who would sneer at such a game and say that neither title holds a candle to something like Diablo. This is true in many ways, but I would argue that core social games are not trying to compete with games like Diablo, immense single-player experience that cost millions more to manufacture. Could Diablo players loose themselves a world like Merlin’s? What would it take?

The first step would is to ramp the challenge up. There’s no need for an immense jump, and only certain encounters that a player faces would bring much harder enemies or present with more intense challenges. Remember, the success of core gaming on Facebook is due to that it is “easier” than standard strategy gaming, but this accessibility has possibly hurt its reach. Many of the quests or goals that are found in core titles like Dungeon Rampage are occasionally challenging, but more designed bite-sized sessions. Take out that time constraint, divide the challenges into longer quest chains and even drop players into more intense and longer battles, and gamers outside of Facebook might take notice.

Graphically, many of the titles on Facebook are just as accessible. There are a few titles that will push a PC to run smoothly, but most core titles offer graphics that, to an outsider, seem as if they were designed for younger players. Obviously, the formula is pretty successful, but imagine if core games took more of a chance in the graphics department. What if Merlin the Game came with more realistic artwork? Would that help attract and maintain a playerbase of Diablo fans? It might.

One of the most obvious differences between core social dungeon-crawlers and standalone games is the cash-shop. Although we see cash-shop items offered in even hardcore single-player titles, core social games have them all beat. A player can buy almost anything in most core games now, including items and weapons that give an advantage in PvP. Diablo 3 ran into some issues by offering goods for real-life cash, and the blowback was enough to make one wonder whether core games should cool it.

After all, part of the challenge and thrill of core gaming is the search for a better weapon, stats or goods–selling them in the cash-shop tends to take the edge off of the fun. Cash shop design is probably the last thing we would see change about core gaming, though. After all, these virtual items make a ton of money and Facebook denizens are used to those transactions.

It’s possible that there will always be a divide between social-core gamers and standalone strategy lovers. Each genre will continue on to different levels of success, and the two will rarely cross paths. Then again, we have seen major single-player titles like Dragon Age and Neverwinter Nights branch off into core social gaming, but to what end? Both are no longer around. Here’s hoping that both genres can eventually see eye-to-eye, to the benefit of us all.(source:blog.games)