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从产品测试角度聊《孤胆车神:新奥尔良》是如何盈利的

发布时间:2017-09-08 15:57:46 Tags:,

原作者:Matt Suckley 译者:Willow Wu

欢迎回到In-App Purchase Inspector,在这里我们会以消费者的视角,定期测评一些F2P游戏。

每期文章,我们都会考虑游戏中IAP的诱因、压力、它们的感知价值、IAP带来的扩展内容还有整个游戏体验的评估。

最终目的就是看看这游戏究竟值不值得我们砸钱,不花钱的游戏体验是否也能让玩家感到满足。

这次,我们来测评《孤胆车神:新奥尔良》,这是一款拥有开放世界的GTA式游戏,这也是Gameloft首次将该系列的游戏设定为F2P模式。

小屏幕,大世界

这一部游戏的开放世界规模比同系列之前的作品大了9倍, Gameloft花了两年多的时间来开发《孤胆车神:新奥尔良》。

这可算是工作室的重磅作品,也算是一个大赌注,毕竟这一类型还没人试验过,至少在免费手游中还是前无古人。

在玩法上,还是我们非常熟悉的那种配方。

Gangstar New Orleans(from pocketgamer.biz)

Gangstar New Orleans(from pocketgamer.biz)

你去偷一辆车,在繁忙的城市中穿梭,到达指定的目的地。如果你想的话,可以在路途中攻击普通民众。接任务,看看你是要正常地开车,还是一路杀过去完成这个任务。

然而提到盈利方面,在之前,Gameloft不得不设计出自己的一套方案。

犯罪需要成本吗?

在游戏发行之前,PocketGamer.biz曾对Gameloft Montreal的孤胆车神团队进行了采访,他们非常痛苦地解释说他们不想让玩家因为游戏中的盈利机制而放弃这款游戏。

从某种程度上说,这是真的。你可以随意在新奥尔良的大街上游荡,多久都行,没有任何限制。但是游戏中还有一个能量系统防止玩家过于快速地完成任务。

你的能量值上限可以通过每日任务获得的奖励得到提升,但是如果你的能量都耗完了,你得用30个钻石才能回满。

钻石需要玩家用现实货币购买,游戏内提供了各种钻石礼包,从4.99美元买135个,到99.99美元买3100个。

按这个价格算的话,你恢复全部能量需要1.10美元,但是完成任务的话你就能省下钻石,遇到比较长的任务流程也是有可能的。

另外还有一种资源用钻石可以买的就是金钱,这个金钱是指游戏中的货币,游戏内同样也提供了各种金钱礼包,从20钻石买2000,到2000钻石20万。

给你自己一个惊喜

有趣的是,《孤胆车神:新奥尔良》的盈利机制是类似于那种抽卡-收集-合成(gacha-collection-fusion)玩法的团队RPG游戏。

在这个游戏的重点就是武器、车还有恶棍。前两者是你用来完成任务的工具,这意味着武器厉不厉害,车好不好,都跟你的成功几率有很大关系。

玩家可以派遣恶棍守卫自己的地盘,对抗前来抢地盘的其他玩家,这就是PvP模式的Turf Wars元素。

这三样东西都能从灵魂罐中得到,各用100钻石(大约是3.7美元)就能买到,抽到一个二星级的武器或者是车或者是恶棍,甚至可能是更高级别的。

免费的每日罐子每24小时会提供一个一星奖励,还有另外一种免费罐子提供的是更小的奖励,比如说金钱和合成强化道具,每4个小时更新一次。

除此之外,游戏世界中到处散落着灵魂罐碎片,玩家可以去收集。

碎片够了,就可以合成一个完整的灵魂罐了。普通的碎片得到的是比较常规的奖励,比较稀有的罐子能得到3星或者是4星的奖励。

升级

就像大多数射击手游和赛车游戏,例如CSR Racing,随着游戏难度的提升,玩家手中的装备已经难以应付一切,这就能够促使玩家不断地追求更好的车辆和武器。

如果你的装备不能够帮助你顺利通过接下来的任务,那么系统就会警告你能力不足。在这种情况下继续是有可能会勉强完成任务,但几率特别小。

除了前面说到的灵魂罐抽道具,剩下的解决办法通常就是升级你现有的装备了。

玩家可以利用合成强化道具提高装备的各项数据,它们通常包含在任务奖励和每4小时更新一次的免费罐子中。如果你使用了足够多的强化道具,装备就会升级。

达到该星级的最高级别后,就可以用另一种资源:护符进化。护符偶尔会当作奖励赠与玩家,但是也可以在某种礼包中买到。

从初期就开始盈利

除了上文详述的传统内购模式,《孤胆车神:新奥尔良》还有少数直接用现实货币就可以买的礼包。

基于玩家的消费行为,这些礼包的性价比肯定是会上升的。最开始的三个礼包都很便宜:1.49美元、5.49美元和7.49美元。

前面两个是新手礼包,而后面那个称为每日订单,一天只能买一次。

Gangstar New Orleans(from pocketgamer.biz)

Gangstar New Orleans(from pocketgamer.biz)

新手包最划算,售价1.49美元,是平常的价格1折价,包含一个豪华(2星-4星)灵魂罐,两个一级通用护符,3000金钱,四个一级通用强化道具和一个药包。

鉴于豪华灵魂罐和药包的价格(分别要100和30钻石)都低于平常的钻石价格,大约要4.8美元,算是省了很多了。

老主意,新做法

《孤胆车神:新奥尔良》的盈利机制设计并没有什么变革式创新。机制或者方法都没有类似《部落冲突:皇室战争》中的延迟宝箱奖励,这种我们之前没见过的手段。

取而代之的是,它结合了不同元素——从RPG游戏中借鉴的抽卡系统,从射击游戏中借鉴的能量系统,从赛车游戏中借鉴的升级循环机制,然后综合成一个功能系统。

大体上还是效果挺好的,你可以自由自在地在这个开放世界中到处游荡,也不会让你的能量消耗得太快,还有给新手玩家提供的诱人折扣。

但也许是因为从其他地方借鉴的盈利设计,也许由于其他游戏的设计决策,貌似F2P手游开发者们不会考虑把《孤胆车神:新奥尔良》中开放世界这一元素纳入未来游戏设计的考虑之中。

但是,作为第一个吃螃蟹的人,还是值得赞扬。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Welcome back to the In-App Purchase Inspector – our regular look at free-to-play games from the consumer’s perspective.

In each instalment, we consider the incentives or pressure applied to make in-app purchases, their perceived value, the expansion offered by IAPs and the overall value of the experience.

The end goal is to see whether the game makes a good enough case for us to part with our cash, or whether players are content – or engaged enough – to ‘freeload’.

This time, we’re taking a look at Gangstar New Orleans, the first entry in Gameloft’s Grand Theft Auto-inspired open-world series to be designed for free-to-play.

Small screen, big world

With a freely explorable world that’s more than nine times the size of any previous series entry, Gangstar New Orleans took Gameloft over two years to develop.

It’s a massive statement from the studio, and a gamble on what is, in the mobile free-to-play space at least, an untested genre.

Gameplay-wise, Gangstar New Orleans works to a formula we’re all very much familiar with.

You steal a car, drive to a waypoint on a bustling city map – attacking some civilians along the way, if you so desire – accept a mission, and then either drive or shoot your way to completing its objectives.

But when it comes to monetisation, Gameloft has been forced to establish the formula itself.

Does crime pay?

In an interview with PocketGamer.biz before the game launched, the Gangstar team at Gameloft Montreal were at great pains to explain that it didn’t want to “force players out” with its monetisation.

And to a point, this is true. You can roam the streets of New Orleans for as long as you like, with no restriction. There is, however, an energy system that prevents the player from ploughing through missions too quickly.

Your maximum energy can be increased along the way thanks to daily quest rewards, but if you run dry it will cost you 30 Diamonds to refill.

Diamonds are the game’s hard currency, available in bundles ranging from 135 for $4.99 to 3,100 for $99.99.

At this pricing, that works out at around $1.10 to refill your energy – although saving up Diamonds by completing quests, while a lengthy process, is also possible.

Another resource Diamonds can be used to buy is Cash, the game’s soft currency, which can be bought in bundles ranging from 2,000 for 20 Diamonds to 200,000 for 2,000 Diamonds.

Surprise yourself

Interestingly, however, the thrust of Gangstar New Orleans’ monetisation is based around systems akin to the gacha-collection-fusion of team-based RPGs.

Here, the focus is on weapons, vehicles and thugs. The first two are your tools with which to complete missions, meaning their quality has a significant bearing on your chances of success.

Thugs, meanwhile, can be assigned to protect territory against other players in the ongoing tussle for control that is the PvP Turf Wars element.

All three are summoned through Spirit Jars. These can be bought for 100 Diamonds apiece (approximately $3.70), summoning a weapon, vehicle or thug ranked two stars or higher.

A free daily jar also offers a one-star reward every 24 hours, while another free jar containing smaller prizes like Cash and Fusion Boosters is unlocked every four hours.

Further to this, there are also Spirit Jar pieces dotted around the world to collect.

Pick up enough, and you can construct a full Spirit Jar – more common pieces building towards regular rewards, while completing rarer jars can get you three and four-star rewards.

Power up

Like with a number of mobile shooters, and indeed racing titles such as CSR Racing, the loop that keeps you going back in for better vehicles and weapons is established by a difficulty curve that always threatens to make your existing gear obsolete.

If your equipment isn’t good enough to make it through the upcoming mission, the game will issue a warning that you’re underpowered. It may be possible to scrape through regardless, but unlikely.

Aside from the aforementioned Spirit Jars, the answer to this is usually to upgrade your existing items.

This is done through Fusion Boosters, which are awarded as mission rewards and in free Spirit Jars every four hours, which can be used to increase an item’s stats. If you use enough boosters, the item will be levelled up.

When it reaches the level cap for its star level, it can be evolved using another resource called Jujus. These are occasionally given as rewards, but they can also be bought as part of certain bundles.

Monetising early

In addition to the more traditional hard currency-based purchases as detailed above, Gangstar New Orleans also includes a handful of bundles priced in real money.

And while the value of these surely increases based on player spending behaviour, the three bundles available at the outset are very low-priced at $1.49, $5.49 and $7.49.

The first two are starter bundles, while the latter – called The Daily Order – is a pack that can only be purchased once a day.

The Trainee Pack is the best deal at $1.49, 90% off its usual price, offering one premium (two to four star) Spirit Jar, two Tier-1 Universal Jujus, 3,000 Cash, four Tier-1 Universal Boosters and a Health Kit.

Given that the combined cost of a premium Spirit Jar and a Health Pack (100 and 30 Diamonds respectively) under normal Diamond pricing is approximately $4.80, this is a hefty saving.

Old ideas, new execution

Gangstar New Orleans’ monetisation design doesn’t shake things up too much, then. There’s no single mechanic or idea, a la Clash Royale’s delayed chest rewards, that we’ve not seen before.

Instead, it takes different elements – the gacha mechanics from an RPG, the energy system of a shooter and the upgrade cycle of a racing game – and creates a functional system.

It works well for the most part, with unlimited free-roam in the open-world preventing the energy system from grating too heavily and some enticing discounts for new players.

But perhaps thanks to the array of monetisation design cues taken from elsewhere, maybe due to other game design decisions, Gangstar New Orleans doesn’t feel like the game that’s set to establish the open-world genre as a going concern for F2P mobile game developers.

It deserves credit, however, for being the first.(source:pocketgamer.biz


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