作者：Sande Chen

上周，我认真思考了另一个游戏作家所提出的有关游戏中线性叙述的平庸性问题，特别是主机游戏中的8至12个小时的故事模式。很长一段时间我都认为这种类型的故事形式是在模仿好莱坞大片的电影创作模式，但其实该系统并不能满足游戏的需求。我同时也注意到该作家只提及这种特殊游戏类型的体验，而不是关于60至100个小时的游戏，章节游戏或MMO游戏。当然我们并不是注定会永远平庸，特别是在想到游戏创建情感联系的时候。不过我也同意在互动游戏中创造如同观看优秀电影时能够获得的线性体验且维持长久的情感影响存在特定的挑战。

Hollywood(from amazon)

有很多出色的游戏玩法伴随着平庸的故事。也有很多华丽的视觉效果伴随着平庸的故事。而故事是否是将玩家从A点带到B点，从一个关卡带到下个关卡或连接一连串活动的虚弱借口？这是否是受角色驱动或受情节影响的故事类型？当然了，在剧本中，角色发展始终是所有故事决策点的基础，但在游戏开发中，角色的发展却可以是检查列表中的最后一项条目。即即使未能融入故事中，玩家也可以享受一款有趣的游戏。

这只是因为在孤注一掷的游戏玩法条件中，紧迫感的即时性比故事的紧迫感能够带给玩家更大的影响。玩家是否想要避免重置或玩家是否迫切想要拯救宇宙？或者如果你认为玩家在一款快速的行动游戏中必须去做所有事，那么游戏故事的重要性又该如何衡量？虽然我们都希望成功执行各种任务，但是我们的大脑总是要对此进行先后顺序的划分。而当玩家面对的是具有吸引力的意外故事时，他们可能会因为情感的分离而不会觉得游戏故事有多特别。

还有一个要点便是关于杀死无数虚拟敌人的暴力敏感性。在剧本中，暴力行为通常都具有意义并且都会涉及突发事件或高潮事件等等。而线性电子游戏中的过场动画是否能够以同样的暴力行为传达同样的情感冲击力呢？

我们都知道游戏能够激发人们的情感，但这却与我们在观看电影时所拥有的情感不同。我敢保证肯定有人在经历反复的失败后会继续尝试去打败boss。当我们在等待再次尝试时，肯定没有人想要去观看任何过场动画或听到来自boss的冷嘲热讽吧（游戏邦注：不管那时的过场动画多有趣）。这一boss战斗并不是关于游戏故事或玩家角色，而是有关玩家如何更好地操控控制器或其它游戏元素。同时玩家在打败boss并获得最终胜利所衍生的情感也是关于玩家自己，而不是角色。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

How Games Can Undermine Emotional Stakes

by Sande Chen

For the last week, I’ve been pondering a provocative question posed by another game writer about the mediocrity of linear storytelling in games, specifically the 8 to 12 hours of story mode in a console game. For a long time, I’ve been of the opinion that these types of stories are usually mimicking the Hollywood blockbuster and the Hollywood model of screenwriting, a system that doesn’t always work with the needs of a game. I also realize that this other game writer is only talking about experiences within these types of specific games and not about 60-100 hour games, episodic games, or MMOs. We’re not doomed to mediocrity for all eternity especially when we think about the ways games do build emotional connections. However, I agree that there are certain challenges in creating linear experiences within interactive games and trying to hold on to the emotional beats that would normally be generated by watching a great movie.

There can be incredible gameplay with a mediocre story. There can be gorgeous art in video games with a mediocre story. Is story the weak excuse to transport the player from point A to point B, to get from one level to the next, or to string together a bunch of activities? Is this kind of story character-driven or plot-oriented? Sure, in screenplays, character development is the basis of all the decision points in the story, but in game development, character development can be one of the last items on the checklist. The player can enjoy a great game but be completely detached from the story.

That’s simply because in the do-or-die situations of gameplay, the immediacy of that kind of urgency affects the player more than the urgency of the created story. Does the player want to avoid a reset or does the player feel the urgency to save the universe? Moreover, if you think about all the things that a player has to do or keep track of in a twitchy action game, how important ranks the game story? Much as we would like to multi-task to success, our brains have to prioritize. Players may simply be too emotionally distracted to think about the game’s authorial story especially when their own emergent stories are much more exciting.

Another concern is the desensitization to violence that comes from killing millions and millions of virtual foes. In a screenplay, acts of violence generally have great significance and may punctuate an inciting incident, a midpoint, or climax. Can a cut scene in a linear video game deliver the same kind of emotional punch in an act of violence when the last 4 hours have been pretty much the same fare?

We know that games can elicit emotions, but these are not necessarily the same emotions that are elicited by watching movies. I’m sure there are people who have tried over and over to beat a boss after repeatedly failing. Nobody wants to see a required cut scene or hear the villainous taunts of the boss as we anxiously wait to try again, no matter how wonderfully cinematic that cut scene is. The focus and resolve in this boss fight will not be about the game story or the player-character, but about manipulating the controller better or another gameplay aspect. The emotion generated by the ultimate triumph in beating the boss is about the player, not the character.（source：gamasutra）