从多维角度解构War Robots的游戏设计和商业植入

原作者：Vadim Bulatov 译者：Vivian Xue

《战争机器人》（War Robots）是莫斯科开发商Pixonic三年前发行的一款免费6v6多人对战游戏。游戏中，玩家们将控制巨型机器人,通过夺取信号塔，或者摧毁其他机器人来扩张和控制自己的领土。

去年是《战争机器人》成绩辉煌的一年，年销售额增长了5倍，月销售额超过了350万美元，游戏安装量翻了三倍，达到了5000万，并且拥有约80万的日活跃用户量。

为什么《战争机器人》如此吸引玩家？ 从动态角度来看，战争机器人是唯一合格的慢节奏射击游戏，而之前此类游戏的主流一直是《坦克世界》（World of Tanks）。慢节奏射击游戏的交战时间要长于主流射击游戏。让有限生命力的装甲战车之间进行长时间的战斗，以此增强游戏的逼真性。

在慢节奏射击游戏中，玩家无需争分夺秒地瞄准目标，这使得游戏十分适合手机用户操作。当下手机平台上热门的拟真多人射击游戏也多是《坦克世界：闪击战》（World of Tanks Blitz）和《战争机器人》这样的慢节奏射击游戏。

在谈论《战争机器人》这个游戏之前，我想和你们分享一段我的游戏经历。大约是在一年前，也就是2016年，当时游戏使用的还是基于战车和武器等级的旧配对系统，如今游戏的大部分玩家都经历过这段期间。那年我打了超过200场比赛，并在最近的50场战斗中获得了98％的胜率，而且我还算不上是个技术玩家。但是当我玩《战争机器人》时，如果我在连赢40场后突然输了一把，我会感到很生气。

我的高胜率并不是花钱的结果。我只为这个游戏付过15美金，这对于移动端F2P游戏消费标准来说只是个小数字。我的成功秘诀是购买开发商提供的一个价值5美元的新手礼包，我购买了它并获得了机器人Gepard，这款机器人的固定速度是58千米/小时，成功帮助我打破了匹配系统。

通常来说，机器人的速度会慢慢提升。但是，如果你拥有Gepard，你不需要通过升级来利用它的优势，或者设法在低级场里配对。 搭配高级武器——玛格南枪，我的Gepard化身成了噩梦杀手。

Gepard玩家们是社交网络和论坛上每日的诅咒对象。我曾用Gepards打了50场，赢了48场。98%的胜率在当今MOBA游戏中是一个看似不可能的数字，但它却真实存在，这让我感到震惊。 这是一种快乐与负罪感交织的游戏体验，我曾希望这个游戏能够以某种方式阻止我，但它却并没有这么做，直到全新的配对方式出现。

《战争机器人》是一种“花钱获胜”（pay-to-win）的游戏吗？当我2016年开始玩这款游戏时，我会说是。 但现在却不一定了。 我们不能凭P2W就断定一个游戏很差劲。 P2W体现了玩家对游戏过程的感知。很明显，游戏发行商想要通过做出更强大的内容来加速游戏的销售。但是对于像《战争机器人》）这样的实时PvP竞技游戏，游戏更新会对玩家体验造成致命的打击。由于玩家们对游戏的诉求不一致，甚至相互排斥，从中找寻平衡点对开发者来说并非易事，那么让我们看看《战争机器人》中是否可以做到这一点。

游戏玩法

在《战争机器人》中，玩家们大部分时间都花在战斗中，战斗是游戏的核心部分，也是玩家们玩游戏的目的。玩家们按下主菜单中橙色的“战斗”按钮，开启一个游戏地图，选择自己的机器人，倒计时结束后，开始游戏。

具有远程武器（导弹或激光）的机器人是最常见的选择。游戏在一张巨大的地图上展开，战斗过程中没有迷雾，敌方机器人可以立即被导弹瞄准，战争一触即发。玩家们在炮火中在地图上迅速爬行，采取掩护，进行一对一的战斗，并夺取信号塔。

除了控制机器人进行小规模的战斗外，控制灯塔也是游戏战略的一部分。地图上有五个信号塔，如果一个队伍控制了其中的三个，那么其对手的操控杆将开始融化。仅靠摧毁机器人是很难获胜的。每个玩家的仓库中最多有5个机器人槽位，如果机器人损坏了，他们只能选择另一个机器人继续游戏。

游戏中主要有两种模式：Domination 和 Beacon Rush。在Domination模式中，被摧毁的机器人会在其基地出现，而在Beacon Rush模式中，则会出现在任一个已夺取的信号塔中。第二种模式的战斗节更激烈，节奏也更快，因此更多的熟练玩家偏爱这种模式。

地图设计

《战争机器人》中的地图多为工业景观或废墟。只有一张地图中出现了市区，但画面看起来很不自然。讽刺的是，唯有在这张地图上，我们才能看到机器人真正的高度——五层楼高。

控制信号塔是夺得比赛胜利的主要条件，因此游戏地图的设计必须合理。Pixonic在这一点上做的很不错，地图看起来很自然，同时还是很对称。 游戏对大部分中央信号塔都采取了“保守”设计。若想在战斗中获得主导地位，玩家需要控制住3个信号塔（共5个）。 每个团队在起始地附近可立即夺取两个信号塔，接着主要就是为夺取中央信号塔而战。地图上有一个经典的转折点——当所有的力量都集中在地图中心时，你会突然失去灯塔。

游戏中地图的分为开放式和封闭式两种。在地图Public 2 中，携带中远程武器的机器人出现的几率很大。而在拥有许多遮蔽物和迷宫的封闭地图上，携带近战武器的机器人更具优势。这样的地图设计对玩家要求很高，玩家们需要拥有不同种类的枪支来应对不同的战场。 这对玩家来说并不利，因此Pixonic现在又推出了极其对称的新地图。 在山谷地图中有三个灯塔，一个在废墟迷宫附近的中央灯塔，以及两个在地图边缘的灯塔。这种设计能够让携带近战武器的机器人和远距离武器的机器人公平地作战。

控制

对我来说，动作游戏最关键的一点就是操作的简便。《战争机器人》借鉴了《侠盗猎车手》的简单操作方式。 玩家左手指控制机器人的腿，右手拇指负责转身和瞄准，控制效果十分自然流畅。 战斗过程中，玩家无需思考如何一边朝某个方向一边向另一个方向射击，只需要将注意力放在射击上。

游戏很好地解决了十字光标的问题。在手机射击游戏中，目标牢牢地锁定敌人，或者你也可以靠自己瞄准。在《战争机器人》中，这二者得以完美地结合。玩家可以通过红色靶框持续地追踪敌人，并获取关于目标距离的重要信息，很快就锁定了射击目标。射击开始后，玩家可以很顺畅地将目标从对手身上移开。通常情况下，这足以调整火线。对于一些不喜欢追捕的休闲玩家来说，游戏中提供了很多弹道武器以及大范围杀伤武器。

机器人设定&配对

若要对游戏中的战车进行分类，可以先从武器的种类开始。游戏中的武器根据伤害的大小划分为重型、中型和轻型武器，与伤害范围或种类无关。 重型武器3点属性值，中型武器2点属性值，轻武器1点属性值。除此之外，还有一些还有特殊能力（跳跃、冲刺、隐形等），还有盾牌，大约1点属性值。

轻型机器人的平均速度为55公里/小时，拥有9万点血量，平均带3点属性值。普通机器人平均时速为40公里/小时，拥有15万点血量，平均带5点属性值。而一个巨形机器人的时速为 30公里/小时，17万血量，带8点属性值。

游戏中的软货币主要用于提高机器人血量，硬货币则可为机器人增加额外的特殊能力,以此来平衡各种机器人。

目前游戏中有29个机器人以及28种武器，机器人和武器分为1到12级。武器可以安装到机器人上，从而增加了游戏的深度。

除此之外，玩家还可以为近距离以及远距离战斗组装不同的武器，制作“水晶炮”（游戏邦注crystal cannons）或“行走堡垒”（walking fortresses）这势必会成为社交网络上一个乐此不疲的谈论主题。那么游戏是如何保证公平性的呢？

《战争机器人》自发行以来，采用与《坦克大战：闪击战》近乎一样的配对系统。《坦克大战：闪击战》中，在玩家轻型、中型和重型战车数量相同的情况下，游戏采取+/- 1级的匹配方式。不过《坦克大战：闪击战》对相同层级和类型的坦克做了平衡，力量上大致是相同的。

《坦克大战：闪击战》之所以要做出这些调整限制一方面是希望增加游戏的历史内容，另一个原因是提高级别匹配的便利性。无论玩家驾驶什么样的坦克，系统始终可以为其选择能力相当的对手。

在2017年3月之前，《战争机器人》采用的是相似的游戏匹配系统，根据战车和武器等级进行玩家配对。然而，由于玩家定制的复杂性，配对系统比较混乱，从而产生了很多游戏作弊的机会。

《战争机器人》也可以选择像《英雄联盟》（League of Legends）那样，用联赛来取代匹配，但这会导致了另一个问题：玩家必须拥有联盟中最高效的战车才能获胜。你别期待一个轻型、有趣的机器人在这种比赛中能有什么战斗力。

如今，联赛段位是影响玩家自尊心的首要因素。玩家赢得比赛，提升自身的攻击力，进入下一个段位，同时还能获得游戏金币奖励。每月赛季结束时，根据玩家达到的段位，对其进行奖励。另一方面，玩家段位越高，所遇到的对手也越强，也需要花费更高额的金钱来提升机器人的配置。

用户留存

《战争机器人》中的机库是根据美学而设计的，其主要目的却是立刻将用户送上战场（游戏的新用户只能按下界面上的“战斗”按钮进入游戏）。 PvP战斗模式是游戏的留住用户的主要驱动力。随着玩家经验和等级的提升，其他选项才会陆续开放。

软货币

游戏中，玩家们最先接触到的是软货币—银币，可通过战斗获得，主要目的是购买和升级机器人和武器，一部分也用于修复受损的机器人。

玩家通过操控轻型机器Destrie进行第一场战斗，所获得的银币可解锁第二个槽位并购买另一个机器人，这同时向玩家呈现了游戏的核心价值——解锁插槽的数量。 如果一个机器人在战斗中毁坏，玩家可以操纵下一个槽位的机器人继续进行战斗。 第三个槽位的费用是100金币（1美元）——游戏中可以花钱购买的硬货币。

升级

游戏中的升级分为两种，一种是水平升级——通过增加机库槽位，另一种是垂直升级——通过升级机器人。银币是游戏中升级机器人和武器的主要工具。升级时间根据级别而定，例如，从第五级升第六级的需要8个小时。完成1级到12级的升级需要20天，玩家还需要同时升级武器。

升级是大部分的手游玩家们熟悉并喜爱的游戏策略之一，在《战争机器人》中，大部分玩家都选择了通过消耗时间来升级机器人，玩家们经常都会进行连续升级。这可以鼓励了玩家们重返游戏并授权游戏推送通知。

即使输掉了比赛，新玩家们也可以晋级到下一个段位，直到银段为止。通过战斗，玩家们在与高段位的强势对手的比拼中节节败退，同时感到自己在武器力量、速度以及生存力上的欠缺。

在这种状态下，玩家可能会做出两种选择：
玩家花费金钱购买机器人和武器，像Lancelot，Galahad和Orcans这样的机器人可以立即让玩家成为战场上的领军人物。

玩家开始尝试各种免费机器人和独特的武器组合方式，这使他们积极地参与到Meta游戏竞技中。

游戏还为不想付费的玩家们提供了第三种类型的游戏币，它允许玩家通过花费时间来获得酷机器人，而无需花钱。当玩家达到20级时，每85小时游戏内会开放一次Workshop，玩家每4小时可以从Workshop中获取85个点数。

游戏中最好的重型机器人之一，犀牛（游戏邦注Rhino），价值15,000个点数。如果照这样，需要整整一个月才能积满。但是，玩家可以加速这个过程。玩家每天有一次机会从Workshop中免费获得40点，然后将少量黄金按1:12的比率转换为Workshop点数，比率会随着当天交易次数恶化，甚至会达到1:1.35。结果就是，游戏在不知不觉中又开始鼓励玩家氪金了。

非付费玩家的参与似乎对于《战争机器人》游戏各个阶段的生态系统至关重要。这些玩家促成了第四种游戏币的诞生——影响力点。玩家可以通过邀请参与游戏来获得点数。玩家可以花IP买到独一无二的机器人。例如，要购买中型机器人，DLC玩家必须完成12次推介。

第三种和第四种游戏币对于非付费玩家来说是一种永久性的独家促销。通过常规性的访问游戏或者参与推介计划来获得参与顶级比赛的机会。此外，向付费玩家提供所有热门内容的同时，Workshop的点数将放缓。

社交

在MOBA游戏中，一个协作良好的团队往往比一些随机组合成的玩家有优势。 《战争机器人》以硬货币作为小奖励来鼓励玩家加入排位赛。玩家可以在菜单中创建队伍，邀请Facebook上参与过游戏的好友或者游戏部落的成员。

创建战队时，最好邀请段位差不多的玩家，因为战斗的等级取决于最高段位玩家的等级。 游戏部落可以帮助解决这个问题。因为在部落的36名参与者中，你通常可以找到与你段位一致的玩家组排。游戏界面上有一个TOP100部落排行榜，按照参与者行动点数进行排名。

盈利方式

只有当玩家付费后，金币才会出现。账户初始有100金币，玩家每升一级，可获得50金币。完成两项每日任务各可获得30个金币。同时，游戏还提供了五枚黄金作为伤害贡献最高玩家的奖励，另外五枚金牌作为率先夺取信号塔的奖励。

通过让玩家获得小量硬货币的稳定收入，使玩家习惯于购买并消除了他们对黄金价格的心理障碍。 100黄金可以打开第三个槽位，累积1000金可以打开第四个槽位。开启第五个槽位需要花费5000金币（50美元），这是参与部落战斗的强制要求。

机库中的第四个和第五个槽位对玩家来意义重大，可以说它们对战斗的结果起着关键性作用。这是一个相当有效的盈利手段。付费用户可得到普通用户2.5倍的经验值和白银，但是这在《战争机器人》中并没有取得很好的效果，甚至比《坦克世界：闪击战》效果更差。

经验完全没用，白银除了用于修理机器人之外时常会用到，但玩家在升级机器人或武器时也花费白银也受到计时系统的限制。但在游戏中期，白银和付费用户的价值显著增加，因为此时升级需要耗费数百万白银，但玩家们可能已经把手头的白银换成了其他货币。

付费机器人

现实是，如果你想拥有最高效无敌的机器人和武器，那么你必须花钱买硬货币升级。软货币可以买到用户引导性机器人，又称为新手机器人。这意味着当你得有台高级货，才能达到高的段位。

但是这个规则也并非无例外。例如，你可以用白银购买机器人Griffin，可装配两个中型以及两个轻型武器，最重要的是，它有机会躲过敌人的导弹。顺便说一句，白银所能买到的最强大的装配之一是Griffin+ 2个Pins+2个Tulumbas），又被称作“俄罗斯死亡按钮Griffin”， 因为它是由不太愿意花钱的俄罗斯玩家发明的。

那么，付费机器人到底是什么样的？ 你可以通过完成每日任务来收集黄金。不需要参加战斗就可以获得Workshop点数。2017年8月底更新3.1版本后出现的Gacha黑市便是答案。

Gacha

2017年8月底，失衡机器人Dash以强大的火力，盾牌和机动性进入了游戏竞技场。玩家们只能在Gacha黑市用特殊的钥匙打开箱子才能获得它们。钥匙要用金钱购买，完成游戏任务可获得少量的钥匙。这款开箱抽奖活动于2017年9月推出，成为了该游戏历史上最大的一块收入。

2017年10月，一个新机器人Inquisitor和一款新武器Ember在黑市上市。结果，Gacha的设计发生了变化。之前，玩家有机会在比赛中赢得最好的机器人。然而，在新的Gacha中，玩家必须赢得不同数量的组件以及武器来合成机器人。合成机器人需要10000件组件和武器，玩家可以单独购买组件，但它们的平均价格为每3500件100美元。

通过对组件进行价格分析，开发者向玩家展示了Gacha的“优势”。玩家可以花300美元购买一个新机器人。但如果把这钱投在Gacha中，玩家将获得6到7千件四款新机器人的组件、新武器和大量黄金。

Gacha设计的改变解决了这类抽奖的主要问题：重复、缺少内容以及没有获得所需的玩家的挫败感。通过分发新机器人和武器的组件，开发者可以减少玩家不需要的奖品。因此，当获得一小块超级机器人组件时，玩家会感到很高兴，接着开始计划如何获得其他组件。

总结

战争机器人是一种“花钱获胜”的游戏吗？我在我的账户上进行了实验。2016年，我花了15美元购买两台机器人，并以98％的胜率成为竞技场的赢家，并有机会一次击败2-3台一般的机器人。然而，在2017年10月，我花了更多的钱，买了最昂贵的机器人Inquisitor, 获得了冲锋机器人，买了Lancelot并给它穿上了顶级无敌装甲。

经过50场比赛后，我的胜率变成了62%，我认为，如果继续打联赛，胜率会更低。我可以赢得一对一的战斗，但如果我遇到两个以上的敌人，我最好放弃。花真钱得到机器人不再是其他玩家的噩梦。他们只不过让游戏变得更有趣，该是什么样就是什么样。

我的帐户在2017年的胜率是62％。这款游戏与一年前相比更公平，但仍然对付费玩家稍稍有利。

Pixonic改变匹配系统的决定，不仅使其摆脱了“付费获胜”游戏的臭名，还为向玩家销售更昂贵的内容创造了条件。付费墙也没有了。随着2017年《战争机器人》知名度和收益的不断增加，玩家们也接受了新的游戏规则。

这个故事也告诉我们，学习其它游戏并不总能奏效。在《战争机器人》的开发过程中，很显然根据战车等级进行匹配的想法来自《坦克世界》，毕竟两款游戏中都有一定数量的战车。 《英雄联盟》中不设角色等级，而是根据玩家的技术进行配对，这种方式最终成为《战争机器人》的最佳选择。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

War Robots is a free-to-play mobile game by Moscow developer Pixonic that was launched three years ago. In the game, you are fighting with giant, walking robots in 6v6 PVP matches controlling territory by capturing beacons, and, of course, by destroying other robots.

Last year was an outstanding year for War Robots. Revenue increased five-fold and exceeded $3.5 million per month. The number of installations was tripled and reached 50 million. DAU is about 800,000 players.

Why does War Robots attract players so much? Judging by its dynamics, War Robots is the only adequate game in the genre niche of slow shooters, which is dominated by World of Tanks (WoT). In a slow shooters game, exchanging of fire lasts longer than in the mainstream shooter games. It looks more realistic when long fights occur between combat vehicles with armor and survivability.

Slow shooter games forgive small mistakes. It makes them perfectly fitted for mobile touch controls as the loss of a second while fixing the aim on the screen is not critical. If you look at the bestselling lists of mobile platforms, we find that the only representatives of realistic multiplayer shooters at the top are World of Tanks Blitz and War Robots.

Before we start talking about War Robots, I want to tell you a story about my experience with the game that happened one year ago. That was a time when old systems of matchmaking based on vehicle and weapons tiers existed. I think you need to know about it because most of the current audience of the game passed through it. After more than 200 battles in War Robots in 2016, I had a 98% of victories in the last 50 battles, and I’m not a skilled player. But in War Robots, I got very offended if I suddenly lost a game after winning 40 in a row.

A high winning percentage is not a result of spending money. I paid only $15, a small amount by the standards of mobile f2p games. The secret of prosperity and victories was presented to me by the developers in the newcomer pack for $5 with the robot Gepard. This robot has a fixed speed of 58 km/h, which broke the matchmaking system.

Usually, the speed of robots upgrades gradually. However, in the case of Gepard, you didn’t need to upgrade it to use its advantage and to stay on lesser tiers of matchmaking. In combination with the premium weapon – Magnum, I got an instant kill rapid nightmare.

Gepard players were cursed on social networks and forums every day. I played with Gepards and won 48 of 50 battles. I was shocked that a 98 win percentage is possible in modern MOBA. That was a great guilty pleasure experience. Every time I hoped that the game would somehow stop me, it did not occur until a total change of the matchmaking system had happened.

Is War Robots a pay-to-win game? In 2016, when I started to play the game, I would have said yes. But now it’s a question. Pay-to-win is not a shortcut to just mark a game as bad. Pay-to-win is how players perceive their journey in the game. It is clear that publishers want to make new content stronger than the old one to quickly sell it. But in games like War Robots with real-time PvP arena, this is the most traumatic player’s experience. Finding the balance between these mutually exclusive requirements is very difficult. Let’s see if it was possible to do it in War Robots.

GAMEPLAY

In War Robots, the player spends most of the time in battles. It’s the essential part of the game; that’s what the player comes back to the game for. So? We press the big orange button «To Battle» in the main menu, and begin on one of the game’s maps. The game offers you a robot to choose, and after the countdown, the battle starts.

The most frequent choices are the robots with the long-ranged weapons – missiles or lasers. Game maps are a square kilometer per kilometer. There’s no fog from the war in the game, and enemy robots can immediately be captured with missile sights. You can already see what I mean the shooting starts right away. Players quickly crawl around the map under missile fire; they take cover; they engage in one-on-one battles, and they capture beacons.

Apart from the tactical skirmishes with robots in battle, there is a strategic part – control of lighthouses. There are five beacons on the map, and if one team controls three of them, then the opponent’s point slider starts to melt. It’s hard to win by just killing robots. The player can have up to 5 slots with robots in the hangar, and after destroying one robot, they can only continue the game with another one.

There are two main game modes: Domination and Beacon Rush. In Domination, the robot appears at its base after being destroyed. In Beacon Rush, it might seem in any of the captured beacons. In the second mode, fights are faster and more violent. That’s why more skilled players prefer this mode.

Map Design

Maps in War Robots are mostly industrial landscapes or ruins. There’s only one map with downtown, but it looks pretty unnatural. Ironically, it is just on this map that we can see how big our robots are-the height of 5 floors.

The primary condition to win in this game is control of the beacons. That’s why it’s necessary to have the right design of the maps. I like the way Pixonic did their job! The maps look pretty natural, but at the same time, symmetrical. Most of the most active have “conservative” designs with the central beacon. To dominate in battle, you need control of 3 of 5 beacons. A team takes two beacons by laying near the place of disembarkation right away and having the main fight for the central beacon. On such a map, there is a classic turn of the plot – a sudden loss of “yours” beacon when all the power concentrates in the center of the map.

An essential characteristic of the maps is that they are divided into open and closed maps. On the public two, there’s a big chance to see robots with medium and long-range weapons. On the closed maps with lots of shelters and labyrinths, robots with melee weapons have the advantage. This way, the design of the maps encourages players to have guns of different types on their roster. This situation is not favorable for the players, so in response, Pixonic now makes new maps with unusual symmetry. On the Valley map, there are three beacons, including a central beacon placed close in the labyrinth of ruins, and two beacons placed by the edges of the map. This design allows robots with close and long ranged weapons to properly play together.

Controls

For me, an easy way to play in action games is the most critical priority. War Robots took the simple way to play from GTA as a base. The left finger is responsible for legs while the right thumb is for body turns and for aiming. War Robots is very lucky because they made the game about human-like robots. Robots are managed very naturally and smoothly. During the fight, there is no additional thought about how to run in one direction and shoot at another. The player focuses merely on shooting.

The game nicely solved the problem with crosshairs. In mobile shooters, the aim tightly sticks to the enemy, or you’re trying to aim yourself. In War Robots, an excellent combination of these elements is realized. The aim continually tracks enemies using a red target box, showing valuable information about the distance to the target, and quickly becomes the focus of the goal. After the start of the shooting, the aim behaves very smoothly when you take it away from the opponent. Usually, this is enough to adjust the line of fire. For casual players who don’t like a hunt for pixels, there are many weapons with homing or widespread damage to the area.

Robots Setups & Matchmaking

To classify the variety of combat vehicles in the game, you need to start with the types of weapons. Armament is divided into heavy, medium and light. Types of weapons differ only in the magnitude of damage, not in range or kind of damage. Let’s give 3 points to the heavy weapon, 2 points to the middle, and 1 point to the light weapon. There are also special abilities (jump, dash, invisibility, etc.), and shields that are also estimated at 1 point.

The light robot is a platform with an average speed of 55 km/h, and a strength of 90,000 HP, which on average, an arm on an average of 3 points. The ordinary robot is a platform with an average speed of 40 km/h, and strength of 150,000 HP which is armed with an average of 5 points. With a massive robot, these figures will be 30 km/h 170.000 HP and 8 points.

Pixonic balances robots for the soft game currency primarily by increasing HP. Robots for hard currency are balanced with the addition of exciting special abilities.

There are 29 robots and 28 types of weapons in the game at the moment. Robots and weapons can four from 1 to 12 tiers. The variety of weapons that can be installed on the robots gives depth to the game.

Additionally, we can assemble different weapons for close or long-range combat. We can also make “crystal cannons” or walking fortresses. This is an inexhaustible subject for users that guide and dispute in social networks. So, how can you determine which robots can fight in one arena so that everyone has equal chances?

Since the release of War Robots, about the same system of matchmaking as in the World of Tanks Blitz efficient. Tanks enter +/-1 tier fight with the same number of light, medium and heavy vehicles in one battle. But in WoT Blitz, tanks with the same tier and type are already balanced and are approximately the same in strength.

For WoT Blitz, these customization limitations are caused not only by the desire to have more historical content but also by the convenience of matchmaking by the level of vehicles. Players can pilot any tank. The system will always pick up an opponent with the same capabilities.

Before March of 2017, War Robots had similar types of matchmaking by the level of vehicles and weapons, but the expanded capabilities of customization turned it into a very confusing system with a lot of opportunities for a dishonest game.

Changing the principle of matchmaking to the leagues, as we can see in the League of Legends, has led to another problem: Players must have the most efficient vehicles in their league to win. You can’t just take a light, funny robot and expect to play competitively.

Progress in leagues is now the primary element for a player’s self-esteem. The transition from league to league occurs after a set of a certain number of action points for victories and successful actions in battles and is rewarded with a reliable game currency – gold. Awards are also made every month at the end of the playing season according to the league players reached. On the other hand, the higher the league, the more experienced your opponents are, and the more expensive the setups of robots are.

RETENTION

The new player enters the aesthetic interface of the hangar; the primary purpose of which is to send them immediately to the battle. PvP battle is the primary retention driver for War Robots. Additional options are opened as far as gaining experience in kinda, and increasing player level is concerned.

Soft Currency

The first value players meet in the game is Soft Currency – Silver, that they can earn in the battle. Some part of the silver gets spent on the repair of a damaged robot. The primary purpose of the silver is buying and upgrading robots and weapons.

The first fight on the light robot, Destrier, brings enough silver to unlock the second slot and to buy another bot. It makes it possible to present to players the central value at this stage — the number of unlocked slots. If one robot is killed in combat, the robot from the second and following slots continues the battle. The third slot costs 100 gold ($ 1) — a hard game currency that can be bought for money.

Progress

Adding slots is a “horizontal” growth while upgrading robots is the “vertical” growth. Silver four in War Robots as the primary tool for upgrading robots and weapons. The time for the upgrade rises from level to level, and, for example, the transition from the 5th to 6th level takes 8 hours. Completing the robot’s upgrade from 1st to 12th level takes 20 days. You also need to upgrade each weapon.

Most of the players in mobile games are familiar with at least one of the favorite strategies in which the continuity of the upgrade by timers is the primary driver of development. Therefore, the player of War Robots is immediately drawn into a continuous series of upgrades. This encourages them to return to the game and gives a legitimate opportunity to send out push notifications that are important to the player.

A new player can be promoted to the next league up to the silver league, even if they lost games. With each battle, the player evolves into a whirlwind of offensive defeats from strong opponents in higher leagues. More often, it is an experienced feeling of lagging behind regarding weapon power, speed, and survival.

From this state, there are two possible solutions:

1) The player buys robots and weapons for money. Robots such as Lancelot, Galahad, and Orcans immediately take the player to a new position in their league in which he is the leading player on the battlefield.

2) The player begins to experience free robots and unique combinations of weapons, which helps them become actively involved in beating current metagame.

Approximately, at the moment when a player who doesn’t want to pay understands that all this fuss won’t help him to win, the game offers a third type of game currency that allows the player to get cool robots by spending time instead of money. At the 20th level, the Workshop opens every 85 hours, and the player drips 85 points of the workshop every 4 hours.

One of the best heavy robots in the game — Rhino, costs 15,000 points. It takes an entire month to go into the game every 4 hours to gain 85 points. However, the process can be accelerated. Once a day in the workshop, you can collect 40 points for free, and then convert a small amount of gold into workshop points at an effective rate of 1 to 12. With each subsequent transaction, the rate worsens on that day and reaches 1 to 1.35. As a result, the player is again unobtrusively encouraged to spend gold.

It looks like the involvement of non-paying players is essential for the War Robots ecosystem at all stages of the game. They invented a fourth game currency — Influence Points. The player can obtain this point by inviting referrals to the game. Players can spend IP to buy unique competitive robots. For example, to buy a medium robot, a DLC player must successfully bring 12 referrals.

The third and fourth game currencies act as a permanent exclusive promotion for non-paying players, which gives them the opportunity to play in top-fights, in exchange for regular visits to the game or participating in the referral program. Also, the workshop points slow down while getting all the top content for paying players.

Social

In MOBA, a team that works well together has an advantage in front of some team of random players. War Robots actively encourages players to go into fights in platoons by giving out small awards in hard game currency. In the menu, in the section where you create platoons, you can invite your friends from Facebook who has played with the player in previous battles and participants of your clan.

When you create your platoon, you should invite participants from approximately even leagues. The battle will take place in the highest player’s league. Clans help to solve this problem because, among 36 participants of a clan, you can usually find players in your league for a platoon. There is a leaderboard in the interface of the top 100 clans collected by participants action points.

MONETIZATION

Gold in War Robots doesn’t appear for players until only after they pay money into the game. We start with 100 gold on the account. Every time a player reaches the next level, he gets 50 gold. There are two daily tasks that give 30 gold each. For a successful game in a victorious battle, they offer five gold for the lead in the damage dealt, and five gold for the leading in capturing the beacons.

The stability of small hard currency earnings accustoms the player to spend and removes the psychological block for the price of gold. For 100 gold, the third slot can be bought; then we can accumulate 1000 gold for a 4th slot. The fifth slot costs 5000 gold ($ 50), and it is mandatory for serious clan battles.

The fourth and fifth slots in the hangar are apparent values for the player because they significantly increase his ability to influence the outcome of the battle. This is a proper object for monetization. A premium account, which increases gained experience and silver by one and a half times, works worse in War Robots than, for example, in WoT Blitz.

Experience is entirely unnecessary, and silver can be used at times other than spending on repairing robots. The player is also limited in the ability to spend silver for an upgrade on robots or weapons due to the timer system. But the value of the silver and premium account is significantly increased by the middle of the game when upgrades cost millions of silver, but the player most likely already has a different currency.

Premium robots

The reality of the game is that if you want to upgrade to the most enjoyable and effective robots and weapons, then you have to pay hard currency. For soft currency, there are in-user guide robots which are called starter robots. This means that by the time you reach high leagues, you will already get advanced ones.

But there are likely exceptions to this rule. For example, you can buy robot Griffin for silver, with available 4 slots for two middle and 2 light weapons and, most importantly, the opportunity to jump and run from enemies or missiles. By the way, one of the strongest setups of those you can buy only for silver, Griffin + 2 Pins + 2 Tulumbas is called the Russian Death Button Griffin because it was opened by Russian players that are not so willing to spend money in games.

So, what robots are really premium in War Robots? You can collect gold by doing everyday missions. Workshop Points do not require you to come into battle at all. After having appeared with update 3.1 at the end of August 2017, a Gacha type Black Market became an answer to this question.

Gacha

In the end of August 2017, imbalanced Dash robots have come out to the arena with huge firepower, shields, and mobility. You can receive them only on the Black Market – gacha type lottery where you can open loot boxes for special keys. A small number of keys can be obtained by performing game missions, but they need to be bought for money. This lottery was brought in September 2017 -the most of the revenues for the game in its history.

In October 2017, a new robot, Inquisitor, and a new weapon, Ember, became available in the Black Market. As a result, the design of Gacha had changed. Previously, we had a chance to win the best robots in the game. However, in the new Gacha, we have to win different amounts of components of that robot and weapons to build the robot. To create the robot, you need 10000 pieces. You can buy components separately, but they cost, on average, $100 for 3500 parts.

By telling prices for components, developers showed to the players the «advantage» of the Gacha. You can buy a new robot for $300. You can spend them in Gacha and get 6-7 thousand components of all 4 new robots, new weapons, and lots of gold.

The change of design in Gacha solves the main problems of this type of lottery: duplicates, lack of content, and frustration of the player who didn’t get the content he needed. By giving new robots and weapons in pieces, developers give out less content that players didn’t need prizes. Therefore, the player is happy when he gets a small piece of superbot, and he then begins planning how to get others

Summary

Is War Robots a pay-to-win game? I performed the main experiment on my account. In 2016, I’ve spent $15 on two robots and became the winner of the arena with 98% of wins, and with the opportunity to beat 2-3 average robots at a time. However, in October of 2017, I’ve spent much more. I got the most expensive robot in the game – Inquisitor, got dash robots, bought Lancelot and dressed it in the «top» invincible armor.

After 50 fights, my percentage of wins became 62. I think, in further playing in leagues, it will be lower. I can win in a one-on-one fight, but if I meet at least two enemies, I’d better give up. Robots for real money are not the nightmare for other players anymore. They are just funnier to play. Everything is happening how it should be.

My account in 2017 with 62% of wins. The game became fairer than one year ago, but still slightly favors to wallet warriors.

By their decision to change matchmaking, Pixonic didn’t only get rid of the pay-to-win game, but they also got the opportunity to sell players more expensive content. The payer doesn’t have paywalls now. The players also accept the new rules of the game, judging by the rising popularity and earnings of War Robots in 2017.

This story also teaches us that taking notes from other games doesn’t always work. In the process of War Robot’s development, the idea to make matchmaking by the level of vehicles from World of Tanks was probably obvious. There are levels of vehicles in both games. There is no level of characters in League of Legends, and matchmaking is done by skill. But this way eventually became the best for War Robots. （source：gamasutra ）