【译】Making competitive play interesting 如何增强竞技游戏的趣味性

Making competitive play interesting

如何增强竞技游戏的趣味性

I’ve worked on a number of competitive Player vs. Player (PvP) games. Meridian 59 is notorious as a hard-core PvP game that had passionate fans. To be honest, I found the PvE aspects of the game to be very lackluster, but the PvP fights? Intense and unforgettable. What makes a competitive game so much more interesting?
我曾经从事过一些玩家对战游戏（下文统一称PvP游戏）的相关工作，《子午线59》是一款有着众多拥趸的知名硬核PvP游戏，但老实说，我认为这款游戏的PvE(玩家 VS 环境)制作十分平淡无奇，相较之下，它的玩家对战则令人血脉贲张，十分难忘。到底是什么因素使这款竞技游戏如此有趣呢？

Competition as dynamic gameplay

竞技－－充满变数的游戏体验

Some people will say that competition makes for more interesting gameplay automatically. Fighting against other players gives you a thrill that fighting against even the most challenging AI-controlled monster can’t match. People will say that the unpredictability of how a player will react is more interesting. (On the other hand, I think it’s also important to realize that for some people, the predictability of monster AI in combat is exactly what they want.)

一部分人认为竞技性的游戏体验天生就更加有趣，即使是与难度最大的怪物对抗，所带来的兴奋也远不如与其他玩家互相争斗。在他们眼中，玩家反应无法预测，使得游戏更加有趣。（但另一方面，有一些人更喜欢电脑怪物在战斗中的可预测性。）

I can certainly understand this. In PvE content, I prefer content where strategy and reacting to changing events is important. For example, in Final Fantasy XIV I often play a summoner, which gets an in-combat resurrection spell. I like having the option to react to a bad situation (such as the healer or tank dying) and be able to save the day. But it’s not something you really plan on, in fact for a really good group you might plan on NOT using that ability because people won’t die.

对于这一点我有很深的理解。在PvE场景下，我更偏好那些强调策略和即时反应的内容。例如在《最终幻想14》中，我喜欢使用召唤师这个职业，因为它拥有战场复活这个技能。在战局不利的情况下（例如治疗或者坦克濒死），我可以选择复活他们并且拯救世界。但情况并不是一定的，如果是特别好的队伍，你都用不着这个技能，因为队友都不会死。

In a PvP game, you want the game to be dynamic. Let players interact in meaningful ways. Let one side set up an ambush, the other side avoid an ambush, and generally let play happen in ways that may not be anticipated. The more opportunity for non-standard encounters, the better.

对于一个PvP游戏来说，变数非常的重要，可以让玩家有效的互动。你可以让一方打埋伏，另一方反埋伏——总之，游戏要处于一个无法预测的状态下，玩家之间不期而遇的机会越多越好。

The other important thing is to give the player information. A battle where the player feels that they have no meaningful influence on the outcome is frustrating. A good PvPer wants to feel clever about reading the signs, anticipating their opponent, and outplaying that opponent. Giving good information and ways to gather that information is important.

还有一点特别重要，那就是给玩家提供信息。如果玩家觉得自己对战局的影响并不大，就会产生一种挫折感。一个优秀的PvP游戏者想要的无非是通过阅读各种提示，预测对手的行动，进而击败对手。因此在游戏中，设置有效的信息内容和掌握这些信息的方法显得非常重要。

Competition as control

竞技－－ 掌控感

Bartle’s definition of a Killer archetype, usually identified as the primary PvP motivation, is someone who wants to act upon other players. The goal was to dominate others, or at least exert a measure of control. Defeating another player is the ultimate in being in control of the situation. In traditional sports, we often look at people who are in control of the direction of the game as people most likely to win. A competitor who has an advantage and who can control the flow of the game is often the one who will conquer the opponent.

Bartle模型中定义的杀手类玩家总是希望击败其他游戏者，这也是最主要的PvP动机。游戏的最终目的就是战胜他人，或者是控制局势的走向，而打败对手归根结底也就是掌控整个局势。传统体育项目中，那些能够掌控局势的人通常最有可能获得比赛的胜利。而在游戏中，能取得优势并控制战局走向的玩家通常也能击败对手。

Taken to extreme this Killer’s desire to control can come across as griefing behavior, where one person harasses another in ways that go beyond the scope of the game. This is another form of control, sometimes used when the gameplay doesn’t allow direct control via combat or other forms of gameplay. If you don’t provide a gameplay system for people to compete and gain control over others, players will take control for themselves.

如果杀手类玩家的控制欲过于强烈，就会导致违规行为，即在游戏框架外用各种方式攻击对手，此种情况的发生一般是因为游戏中不允许直接通过战斗取得控制权，或者采用了其他的游戏方式。设计者如果在游戏系统中不允许玩家互相对抗并以此控制对方，他们就会用自己的方式达到这个目的。

In a PvP game, you want to give players a feeling of control, but not so much control that the game loses the dynamic feel. The trick is that you want to give it to both sides equally. Letting one player dominate another makes one person happy, but will discourage the other. But, this control doesn’t have to be symmetric. For example, a good cat-and-mouse chase can be interesting for both involved, particularly if there’s a reason for the mouse to delay the cat to let others accomplish some goal. In most competitions, you want the loser to feel that their loss was something they had a hand in, where they could improve their play and come back better next time.

在PvP游戏中，设计者希望让玩家有掌控局势的感觉，但也不能一边倒而失去了变化性。有一个小妙招可以做到，就是让游戏双方获得同等的掌控感。一方完爆另一方总会让一人欢喜一人忧，但是两方掌控局势的模式不一定要完全一致。比如，在一对一的追逐战中，我们可以让被追的一方尽力拖延以达到某种目的，这样两方都会乐在其中。我们希望在对抗中失利的一方觉得自己对失败负有责任，下一次他们就能提高技术玩得更好。

It’s interesting to contrast the Killer motivation with Achievers, who want to act upon the game world. Since the game world is ultimately controlled by the developers, the Achiever can’t control the world, rather most demonstrate mastery of the world for others to appreciate. The Achiever wants other players as audience rather than as targets.

与杀手型玩家相比，成就者型的玩家的动机也很有趣，他们想对整个游戏世界有所作为。因为游戏归根结底是由开发者控制的，所以他们不能直接掌控整个世界。因此，他们会通过取得成就和能力的方式让其他玩家羡慕以获得成就感。成就者型的玩家将其他游戏者视为观众而不是对手。

Competition as action and reaction

竞技—作用与反作用

The most interesting competitive games are the ones where there is a lot of interaction. Take poker as an example; just flipping up cards to see what hands people randomly get is not as interesting as when the cards are hidden and people make bets. The popularity of of the Texas Hold ‘Em variation of poker most likely comes from the fact that there’s a lot of interaction; the community cards are shared by everyone, and gives people information in which to judge the value of other people’s hands.

竞技游戏最有意思的部分就是玩家之间可以有许多互动。以扑克牌为例：单纯翻牌比大小绝对没有盖着牌让玩家下注有趣。德州扑克的大量流行很大程度上就是因为游戏当中有许多互动---所有人都可以利用公共牌，也可以从中推测其他人的手牌的大小。

The old chestnut about gameplay being a series of interesting decisions is important here. How you act, how your opponent reacts, and how you react to that reaction is important. Playing many steps ahead should be a vital element for obtaining victory.

很久以前，人们就认为游戏是做出一系列有趣的决定，了解这一点非常重要。你做出了什么决策，你的对手如何反应，你又如何应对…获得胜利的重要因素就是能够预判推理局势的走向。

Just like the feeling of control, you want actions and reactions to be shared on all sides. The most frustrating thing is when something happens that you can’t prevent and can’t react to. A classic example is the “stunlock”, particularly by rogue characters that lock down an opponent right out of stealth. It can be a fun thrill for the rogue even if there is a lot of skill involved, but it’s frustrating to the target because they have no chance to react.

跟掌控感一样，设计者同样希望游戏双方都能进行作用与反作用。最让玩家沮丧的就是那种猝不及防且无法应对的事件。最典型的例子就是“眩晕锁定”，一般是由游戏中的盗贼角色在潜行状态下突然发动。对于盗贼玩家来说，尽管中间需要大量操作，但还是很有趣；但被袭击的玩家会非常沮丧，因为他们对此无计可施。

When a reaction is a hard choice, this is what makes for interesting gameplay. In Meridian 59, there was a spell called Killing Fields that increased damage of everyone in the area. If an enemy group cast this, you could let it stand and hope that your group benefits from it at least as much. Or, you could spend resources to remove it; this might be important if you have more spellcasters than melee fighters. The goal is to provoke your enemy to react in a way that they think makes them stronger, but in a way that actually makes them weaker.

令对手很难做出反应也是造就趣味游戏体验的一部分。在《子午线59》中，有一个叫“杀戮区域”的咒语技能，可以让固定区域的所有人的伤害提高。如果敌方释放，你可以选择让该区域一直保持并使己方队伍获利最大化。或者你也可以选择消耗资源移除这个技能，这在己方队伍的法师比战士人数多的情况下不失为一个好选择。敌方可能认为有了优势，因而做出冒失的反应，但事实上他们处于劣势。

Another example of provoking a reaction is a feint. For example, maybe you cast a particular spell that has a well-known counter. Your goal might be to only cast the spell once and provoke your opponents into using the counter instead of focusing on offense, giving you an advantage. The goal is to make your opponent waste limited resources (time, spell reagents, etc.) preparing for an attack that isn’t coming.

声东击西也是诱发反应的另外一个方式。例如，你可以释放某个特定的咒语，而且大家都知道如何对付这个咒语。这样就能引诱敌方做出应对而疏于防守，形成有利局面。这么做能诱使敌方消耗资源（时间，施法物品等等）应对一次佯攻。

Note that this is not quite the same as ‘rock, paper, scissors’ type balance. When you’re the paper class, there’s not much you can do against a scissors class except to bring along some rock class. It’s more interesting when the individual players have the tools to react to opponents.

这种方式不同于“剪刀石头布”类的平衡：出布的人肯定输给出剪刀的人，但是肯定呢个赢出石头的人。对于玩家来说，拥有应对敌人招数的方法会使游戏更加有趣。

Getting the balance right

均衡度

The biggest player fear in PvP MMOs is the “I win” button. The one ability or action that makes the ending a foregone conclusion. Of course, making the player feel powerful is a significant goal in many PvE games, but in PvP you want to have that power counterbalanced by another. Making an ability that makes players cackle with glee when used is all well and good, but if the target of that ability feels helpless, then the victim’s rage might be greater than the attacker’s glee. In the end, the frustrated player is likely to leave, and the other player loses an opponent who makes the game interesting.

在PvP 大型多人在线游戏中，最让人害怕的当然是“一键必胜”，即某种能确定局势的能力或者方法。当然，许多PvE游戏都会着力于让玩家觉得自己很强大，但对于PvP游戏，设计者一定要考虑双方能力的相互制衡。做出能让玩家用起来很爽的技能当然很好，但是如果被打中的人根本没法反抗，他的愤怒程度肯定大于施放者的高兴程度。最终的结果肯定是受挫的一方离开游戏，另一方也失去了对抗的乐趣。

The “I win” button makes things too predictable. Again, many PvP fans are looking for a bit of chaos in their games, rather than the synchronized dance of a raid execution. But, that doesn’t mean they want to feel helpless in a sea of chaos.

“一键必胜”让游戏毫无变数可言。再次提醒：大部分PvP游戏爱好者都希望游戏有一种时时变化的感觉，而不是一步步玩到既定结局。不过，他们也不希望变数太大，根本掌握不了节奏。

The “I win” button will take control away from a player. The infinite stun combo makes the player who couldn’t possibly anticipate it frustrated by the game removing control, and removing any ability to react meaningfully. They can’t make a right or wrong decision, only watch as they get obliterated.

“必胜”方式使玩家失去了掌控感，就像无限眩晕的连招让游戏者根本没法预料。这种没有控制感，没有应对能力的游戏会让玩家很快失去兴趣，他们无法做出决策，只能眼睁睁看着自己被杀。

These are the issues I keep in mind as I design competitive games.

以上就是我在设计竞技游戏时注意的一些事项。