作者：Mark Robinson

你玩过多少设计糟糕或者贪得无厌的免费游戏？我猜一款都没有——你无疑是属于大多数人中的一员。没错，我们的调查也显示低劣的游戏设计会导致 60%-80%的玩家首次接触后就离开游戏。

不久前拥有庞大营销预算的发行商和开发者还是没有足够关注低首天留存率的问题，因为这些玩家的终身价值（LTV）已经高到足够回收成本及产生利润。但是，由于用户获得成本的一路飙升，最终超过了玩家终身价值，这种时代也终结了。

game over(from gamesradar)

那么发行商该如何让游戏重返盈利状态呢？

这是一个相当简单的算术。如果你所留存的玩家比例并不足以挽回用户获取成本，那么你就只有两个选择。你可以选择专注于通过增加付费玩家的数量来提升玩家粘性，或者专注于那些粘性已经很高的玩家，鼓励他们更频繁地消费，从而增加终身价值。无论是哪条路，你都需要首先保证玩家粘性，否则他们就没有理由一开始就待在一款免费游戏中。

随着终身价值的增加，游戏发行商和开发商也更易承受用户获取成本时，游戏不再是向下追逐更为难懂的高质量用户，游戏本身的生存能力也发生了根本变化。

玩家为何离开你的游戏？

理解为何你的玩家离开游戏是与玩家建立良好关系的关键。玩家离开游戏的情况因人而异，这就是为何你无法创造单个版本的F2P游戏，并指望它适用于所有人群。

deltaDNA分析了超过80款游戏的设计，并总结了一系列提升玩家粘性的最佳法则。我们所分析的游戏范围包括复杂的MMO，也包括休闲Facebook游戏和社交博彩游戏，以及一些表现出色的手机F2P游戏。它们的设计成效已经击败了一半标准。由此我们可以看出出玩家为何在还没有成为忠实用户之前就离开游戏。

主要的5大原因以及其相关比例甚为惊人：

表格

初期玩法

头60秒的玩法极其重要，必须让玩家乐在其中，并立即获得回报，但是我们所分析的31%游戏在这一点上表现逊色。

F2P游戏还必须有一个简单而富有吸引力的教程，以及设计精良的进程，以便玩家持续体验关卡。游戏的起点应该尽量呈现趣味性。

要让他们知道游戏中最棒的武器、怪物或交通工具。如果游戏中的最佳武器是BFG，你真的想待到90%的玩家放弃时才令其现身吗？

另一个在初次访问就肯定会流失玩法的做法就是，让盈利机制过早出现或者过于苛刻，但我们所分析的70%游戏就出现了这个问题。如果玩家没有融入游戏，他们就不会在其中消费，所以要耐心等到他们到达粘性阀值之后，才能引进任何盈利机制。

个性化体验

我们发现游戏中的一个普遍问题就是缺乏玩家资源。实际上，我们所看到的34%游戏存在让玩家过早消耗资源，从而令玩家受挫。也许高手级的玩家能够克服这种资源匮乏的局面，但如果认为所有玩家都这样那你就想错了。

要充分考虑玩家体验，以及玩家所存在的不同能力、耐心、势头和竞争力，这样才有可能提升粘性。当粘性最大化时，收益就会随着玩家在游戏中留存以及深化玩法体验而增加。

我们还发现28%的游戏缺乏令玩家保持粘性的奖励和激励。有一款游戏在宝石上还提供了强有力的折扣——但如果你只是安装了游戏，就不可能知道这种折扣是否具有价值。

开发者在游戏玩法早期应该耐心和慷慨，并为过早消耗资源的玩家赠送一些资源。其挑战在于有效使用游戏数据以便玩家响应不同的玩法风格，并个性化游戏的内部信息。这样可以极大提升游戏粘性，令游戏对所有人来说更具可行性。

销售盒装产品至实时管理游戏服务的转变不可避免地具有一个学习过程。优秀的F2P游戏设计是留存率与盈利性之间的恒久而困难的平衡。用数据导向型的方法支撑粘性，并帮助建立长期的玩家关系。随着用户获取成本的持续增长，开发者若是忽略玩家的终身价值就是不可取的做法。（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）

Why do players leave your game? Top 5 reasons revealed

by Mark Robinson

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.

The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

How many poorly designed or frustratingly greedy free-to-play games are you playing at the moment? None I’m guessing – which puts you firmly in the majority.  Indeed, our research shows that weak game design causes between 60-80% of players to leave a game for good after a disappointing first session.

Until recently publishers and developers with substantial acquisition budgets were not overly concerned with low first day retention rates, as the Lifetime Value (LTV) of those players was high enough to cover costs and deliver a profit.  However, that particular party is now over thanks to soaring acquisition costs which in many cases can now outstrip Player Lifetime Value.

So how can publishers tip their games back into profitability?

It’s pretty simple math. If the percentage of players that you retain aren’t spending enough to cover the cost of acquisition then you’ve got two options.  You can either focus on improving player engagement by aiming to increase the number of players who monetize or focus on players that are already engaged and encourage them to spend more, increasing lifetime value in that way.

Either way – you need engaged players first otherwise they have no commitment to stay in the game given it was free in the first place..

As lifetime values increase then acquisition becomes more affordable and, instead of a downward spiral chasing more and more elusive quality recruits, the viability of the game is fundamentally changed.

Why do players leave your game?

Understanding why your players leave your game is vital to build better relationships with your players.  The reasons for leaving differ considerable from player to player, which is why you can’t create a single version of a F2P game and expect it to work for everyone.

deltaDNA has assessed the game design of over 80 games and drawn up a series of best practice rules that dramatically improve player engagement.  The games we have assessed range from the complex MMO worlds, through to casual Facebook games and Social Casino as well as some of the best performing mobile F2P titles. Their design effectiveness has been scored against over 50 criteria.  From this we can identify why players leave games before they have the potential to become engaged and loyal players.

There top five reasons and levels of the percentages are startling:

Symptom

% Games with Poor Design in this Area

Monetization Too Harsh Or Early

70%

Difficulty/Outcomes Not Balanced

45%

Resources Run Out Too Soon

34%

Poor On-boarding

31%

Lack of Rewards and Incentives

28%

Every second counts

The first 60 seconds of gameplay is incredibly important, players need to get in, enjoy themselves and immediately be rewarded, however poor on-boarding was evident in 31% of games we analysed.

It’s important that F2P games have a simple but engaging tutorial and well-structured progression to keep the players moving through the levels.  The start of the game should give as much of a taste of what it has to offer at the outset as possible.

Give them an idea of what the best weapon, creature or vehicle in-game can do. If the best weapon in the game is the BFG, do you really want to wait until 90% of players have abandoned before making it available?

Another sure-fire way to lose players in the first session is to make the monetization mechanics either too harsh or too early, yet more than two thirds (70%) of the games we analysed suffer from this problem.   If players don’t become engaged then they won’t spend, so waiting until they reach the threshold of engagement is vital before introducing any monetization mechanics.

Make it personal

One of the common problems we found is games often lack player resources. In fact, 34% of the games we looked at failed to offer enough so players run out too soon in the game which causes  frustration.  While the experts might well be able to get by on the limited resources available, it’s a mistake to think all players are the same.

By thinking about the player experience very clearly and taking into account different levels of competency, patience, momentum and competitiveness, it is possible to improve engagement. And once engagement is maximized, revenues will increase as the players value the opportunity to maintain and deepen their gameplay.

We also found that 28% of games lacked the rewards and incentives required to keep players engaged beyond the first session.  One game in particular offered a strong discount on gems – however having just installed the game you have no idea whether the offer was relevant or good value.

Developers have to be patient and generous in early gameplay and gift resources to players if they run out too early.  The challenge is to use game data effectively to enable you to be responsive to different playing styles and personalize in-game messaging.  By doing this engagement can be dramatically improved, making the game much more viable all round.

The transition from selling boxed products to managing live gaming services has an inevitable learning curve.  Good F2P game design is a constant and difficult balancing act between retention and monetization. A data-driven approach supports engagement and helps build long term player relationships.  With the cost of acquisition continuing to rise, ignoring lifetime value is not an option. （source：gamasutra）