GW2商城的設計與運作方式

文章是由ArenaNet 總裁的官方部落格轉載出來, Safe小弟我拙劣的翻譯
原文網址http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-obrien-on-microtransactions-in-guild-wars-2

先介紹一下Mike O'Brien是誰好了, 他是現任ArenaNet的總裁, 過去在Blizzard待超過4年, 原始的Battle.net是這位老兄設計的, 曾擔任 Diablo, Starcraft  和 Warcraft3 的首席程式設計師, 在1999年的時候獲得在遊戲產業裡面最具影響力的25個人的Boss, 在國外知名雜誌PC Gamer: 稱之為"Game Gods" 遊戲之神 (不是桂木桂馬嗎!?)

翻譯內文:

In this month’s closed beta event, we’ll do some early testing of the Guild Wars 2 microtransactions system. Our microtransaction content isn’t nailed down yet, but we have a good framework in place to support it. So, I’d like to take a moment to explain our goals and the system we have developed to meet them.

在這個月的CB測試中, 我們將會進行GW2的商城(道具收費,以下以"商城"表示)系統. 我們的商城內容物還沒有拍板定案, 但我們有很好的點子. 所以, 我想花一些時間來介紹我們在這個系統上面來介紹我們對此系統的目標

We believe in microtransactions because they fund ongoing development of the game in a very straightforward and open way. You, the customer, get to decide how much money you spend on the game after launch, based on how compelling it is to you. You get a complete and playable game no matter what, but we think we can provide additional content and services that you’d be happy to pay for. And when you pay for them, you help fund our support of Guild Wars 2 in a way that benefits all players of the game.

我們相信在商城系統的運作之下, 這是一個最簡單最直接的方式來資助遊戲的發展. 而你, 消費者, 基於東西有多麼吸引你的目光來決定想要在遊戲發售之後花多少錢. 當你購買了遊戲之後你獲得了所有進行遊戲的權力(買斷), 但我想我們可以提供額外的服務, 來讓你消費. 當你付了這些錢, 你也同等於幫助了GW2以及幫助所有的玩家(太了不起了)

Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.

以下是我們對商城系統的理念: 我們希望玩家能夠藉由在商城中消費得到一些外觀上的視覺改變和展現他們的特色. 他們也許可以消費在帳號服務和省時的便利到具(我想是坐騎或是傳送裝置). 但對於那些買了遊戲卻沒有辦法享受到遊戲的全部內容, 或是花錢就是老大, 會比花時間的來的不公平, 對玩家來說永遠也不會比較好

I know none of this is new; the original Guild Wars also had microtransactions. But microtransactions were an afterthought in Guild Wars, whereas with Guild Wars 2, we had an opportunity to integrate the microtransaction system from the ground up, giving players more options and more convenience without sacrificing our design principles. So, here’s what we’re doing differently this time.

我知道這不是什麼新鮮事; 在GW1當中也有商城系統, 不過這個商城是在GW1發售之後才弄上去的, 而在GW2當中, 我們有一個機會在遊戲一開始的時候就整合商城系統, 給玩家更多選擇, 和更方便, 以及不會犧牲我們遊戲設計的原則. 這是我們這次做的不一樣的地方

In Guild Wars 2 we have three currencies: gold, karma, and gems. Gold is the common in-game currency. Karma, which players earn in-game but cannot trade, is used for unique rewards. And gems are the currency that’s bought and used to purchase microtransactions.

在GW2中我們有三種貨幣: 金幣, 聲望, 和寶石. 金幣是遊戲內的虛擬貨幣, 到處可見. 聲望是玩家在遊戲當中獲得無法轉移的貨幣, 是拿來換取獨一無二的獎勵用. 而寶石則是用來購買商城內的到具所使用的.

We have a new player-driven market that allows players to trade gold for gems and gems for gold. If you want something, whether it’s an in-game item or a microtransaction, you ultimately have two ways to get it: you can play to earn gold or you can use money to buy gems. We think that’s important, because it lets more players participate on a level playing field, whether they use their free time or their disposable income to do it.

我們有一個由玩家推動的交易市場, 可以讓玩家金幣轉寶石, 和寶石轉金幣的機制. 如果有你在遊戲內想要的道具或是商城到具, 你馬上就有兩個方是得到他: 你可以用金幣來購買, 或是你可以花些現金來買寶石. 我們認為這是非常重要的, 因為這更可以讓玩家參予公平競爭的環境, 無論他們用時間或是他們的收入來支出這點.

MMO veterans will note the similarities of our system to EVE Online’s PLEX system. As in that case, our system takes gold trading out of the hands of real-money trading (RMT) companies and puts it directly in the hands of players.

We think that’s a great thing.

一個有經驗的MMO玩家會發現這種系統很像是EVE Online的PLEX系統 (備註*) 在這種情況下, 我們的系統不需要一個金幣交易和真實現金交易公司(EX:數字網)手中提出來直接交給玩家手中.

而我們認為這是一個很棒的事情.

From a player’s perspective, RMT companies have all the wrong motivations: the more money they make from selling gold, the more they spam ads in the game, run bot networks to farm gold, and hack accounts to loot them for gold. Conversely, under our system, players have all the right motivations. If a player buys gold from another player, he gets the gold he wants, the selling player gets gems she can use for microtransactions, and ArenaNet generates revenue from the sale of gems that we can use to keep supporting and updating the game. Everyone wins.

從一個玩家的角度來看, 所有現金交易的公司全部都有錯誤的動機: 他們賣的金幣越多, 在遊戲裡面就有越多的廣告, 然後利用機器人洗金幣, 和盜帳號來獲得不法獲利. 反過來說, 在我們的系統之下, 玩家將會有正確的動機. 如果一位玩家向另外一位玩家購買金幣, 他得到了他想要的金幣數量, 而賣方也獲得了寶石讓他可以購買商城到具, 而ArenaNet 出售寶石, 我們可以用他來維持和更新遊戲. 結果是大家都贏.

We also like the tradability of gems and gold because it makes the rest of the game’s economy more compelling. We’ll have a player-to-player Trading Post in the game—it’s like an auction house but better—which we’ll discuss in an upcoming blog post. Because gems can be traded for gold and vice versa, we don’t need two different trading systems, one for gold and one for gems. In Guild Wars 2, everything on the Trading Post is traded for gold, but of course, somebody who wants to earn gems can just sell items for gold, and then convert the gold to gems.

我們也很喜歡金幣與寶石之間的交易, 因為這使得整個遊戲的經濟系統更具有吸引力. 我們將會有玩家對玩家的交易所 - 有點類似拍賣所, 但是比拍賣所更好 - 這我們將會在未來的部落格消息發布. 由於寶石可以與金幣交易, 反之亦然, 所以我們不需要兩個交易系統, 一個金幣一個寶石. 在GW2中, 在交易所內的所有東西都是金幣交易, 當然, 有些玩家想要賺取寶石, 可以將賣出的東西換成金幣, 然後再由金幣轉換成寶石.

We have always taken our responsibility to players seriously with the original Guild Wars, and we will continue to do so with Guild Wars 2. We believe the foundation I’ve described here is the right foundation for us to build upon, and we look forward to sharing more details with you in the future as we nail down our microtransaction content.

我們一向對GW1的玩家們認真且負責, 我們會在GW2中持續做到這點. 我們相信我在這裡所解釋的基礎, 會是建立我們正確的基礎, 我期待我們在商城系統拍板定案後分享更多細節.

-Mike O’Brien

麥可 歐布萊恩 (這也翻XD)


備註* : EVE Online 是目前營運非常成功的沙盒(Sand-Box)遊戲, 是以星際作為背景主軸, 而遊戲內提供PLEX (俗稱點卡), 可以在所有星際的交易所中看到. 玩家購買PLEX放上交易所販賣換取金幣, 或是你可以用金幣去購買PLEX, 是一個公平公開公正的方式交易, 而點卡在遊戲內的價格也會因應市場需求而有所不同.


有翻譯錯誤或是不太正確的地方要跟我說喔~~

Safe - Fong Shen