《魔兽世界》游戏的内容才是王道 只有不断的资料片的推出才能抓住玩家的心

这不是秘密，任何有关暴雪《魔兽世界》的文章都会吸引很多注意，通常论坛一长串的争论名单。很显然，《魔兽世界》在其存在的十年已经变成一个两极化游戏。数百万的玩家在这十年内通过它的虚拟门流进流出。有些持续地留了下来。其他离开并在每个资料片回归。仍有一些对《魔兽世界》挥别并再也不回归了。然而无论如何，有机会玩过游戏的人，见证了这个新世纪的MMO，永远不会相同并且毫无疑问一直是《魔兽世界》玩家。

随着德拉诺之王资料片的即将来临以及之后的十周年庆典，暴雪似乎很平静地再次看到大量玩家的涌入并因此自身准备。玩家和以前的玩家要注意了。8月初德拉诺之王的预定数量约150万，这个数字在资料片11月开放前会更高。

是什么让人们玩《魔兽世界》,每天带来新玩家,每天看到前玩家一次又一次返回甚至很多年持续让不回归的玩家参与对话(喜爱或讨厌的任意一面)?让我们看一下或许能解释这种最不寻常的现象几个原因。

《魔兽世界》通过已经存在的知识推出要感谢90年代的《魔兽争霸》战略标题。经历过《魔兽争霸》的玩家急于进入游戏,会看到给他们最喜欢的角色所带来的更多的生活以及体验远远超出策略游戏所告知的扩展故事。

暴雪讲述一个庞大而包罗万象的故事,涉及到的主题给玩家一种明确的目标并有一些不同于常人的感觉。肩负着拯救世界(或者至少协助到底),玩家同无数的威胁和异常的敌人战斗。部落与联盟的竞争。暴君上位和陨落要多亏了玩家的努力。英雄npc们生存……和死亡,有些人甚至以一种新的方式回归，希尔瓦纳斯风行者作为的女妖王后回归和阿尔萨斯米奈希尔以巫妖王重生。

内容指数增长,暴雪甚至在总部维持了一个特殊历史部门和档案馆。历史员工的任务是浏览一遍所有新增加的内容,以确保它符合现有的知识和正确地看到《魔兽世界》载入历史档案的新事件,人员和内容。

喜欢它还是讨厌它,它是一个不容争辩的事实,暴雪继续更改核心功能和系统。只需要看一眼就即将到来的德拉诺之王的资料片,就会发现没什么是不可侵犯的并且暴雪愿意大刀阔斧地改革游戏来保持内容新鲜和活力。玩家数据被“挤压”。需要两套盔甲,一个用于每个特别化,将会消失。多余的货币被消除。技能缩减以摆脱膨胀。不胜枚举,但它说明了暴雪让《魔兽世界》有活力的承诺。

另外承诺玩家更及时的发布内容,而不是过去的典型的两年周期。理应如此,暴雪已经被批评缺自潘达利亚之谜几乎两年前推出以来乏有意义的更新。根据团队,这将改变,进一步说明了暴雪对去许多年已经宣布死亡的游戏的承诺。

是什么是继续让玩家处于在游戏中?为什么其他人每次资料片都回归?为什么那些选择不喜欢游戏却让自己参与到讨论?是什么让《魔兽世界》在过去十年与每一个登陆的MMO产生比较？

内容之外,《魔兽世界》为了保持它在处于我们想象力的前沿和每个开发人员的思维之后做了许多事情。没有人能说没有事情要做。无论是raiding或坐骑收集或PvP竞技场或勘探或制作,玩家很难说,“没有什么事儿要做。”,但更重要的是,魔兽世界给了每个人一些东西:Raids,PvP,宠物对战和收集,制作,巨大的史诗任务故事,世界上最长的成就列表(哈哈!),装备幻化等等。然而,与此同时,没有人需要做他们不愿做的事情。玩家可以花费无数个小时只追求他们最感兴趣的事情。

德拉诺之王将建立在这个附加要塞,让玩家微管理追随者团队,特殊定制等。更多的任务,更多的宠物,更多的成就,更多的raid,更多的地下城,更多,更多,更多!(当然有些是移除,但有一个净收益）！

正是这种持续的进化和游戏的特色资料片,使玩家日复一日的,年复一年的回归,多次讨论,扩大在扩大。从某种意义上说,甚至那些不得重新审视游戏的人,游戏永远结束了。这就不算完整。总是有新的岩石去反转或新的游戏世界的角落去发现或尝试一个新的活动。从本质上讲,“游戏结束”不是魔兽世界的一部分。它更像是“未完待续……”

原文

It is no secret that any article about Blizzard's World of Warcraft will garner a lot of attention and, often, a long list of forum pages of debate. It is obvious then, that World of Warcraft has become a polarizing game over its decade of existence. Millions of players have streamed through its virtual doors during those ten years. Some have stayed for the duration. Others have left and returned with each expansion. Still others have waved goodbye to WoW and never returned. No matter what, however, anyone who has had the chance to play the game, arguably the MMO of this young century, are never the same and in a very real sense, will always be a WoW player.

With the Warlords of Draenor expansion on the horizon, and its tenth anniversary celebration following right after, Blizzard seems poised to once again see a huge influx of players and is preparing itself accordingly. Players and former players are taking notice. Preorders of Warlords number around 1.5 million as of early August with the number expected to go higher prior to the expansion's November release.

What is it about WoW that keeps people playing, that brings new players into the fold on a daily basis, that sees former players return time after time and even keeps non-returning players engaged in the conversation (on either side of the love it or hate it fence) for years on end? Let's look at a few reasons that might account for this most unusual phenomenon.

World of Warcraft launched with an already-established lore thanks to the Warcraft strategy titles of the 90s. Players who had experienced Warcraft were eager to jump into a game that would see even more life brought to some of their favorite characters as well as experiencing an expanded story that would go far beyond that told in the strategy games.

Blizzard told a vast and all-encompassing story that involved themes that gave players a sense of purpose and the feeling of being something more than an ordinary person. Tasked with saving the world (or at least assisting to that end), players battled through the countless threats and unnatural enemies. Horde struggled with Alliance. Despots rose and fell thanks to the efforts of players. Hero NPCs lived...and died, some even coming back in a new way as with Sylvanas Windrunner returning as the Banshee Queen and Arthas Menethil reborn as the Lich King.

The content has grown so exponentially that Blizzard even maintains a special Historical Department and Archive at its headquarters. Historians are tasked with giving all new content additions a once-over to ensure that it fits existing lore and to correctly see new events, persons and content enshrined into the historical archive for WoW.

Love it or hate it, it is an inarguable fact that Blizzard has continued to make changes to core features and systems as well. One only has to look as far as the upcoming Warlords of Draenor expansion to see that nothing is a sacred cow and Blizzard is willing to make sweeping changes to the game to keep things fresh and viable. Player stats are being "squished". The need for two sets of armor, one for each specialization, will disappear. Redundant currencies are being eliminated. Skills are being pared down to get rid of bloat. The list goes on but it is illustrative of Blizzard's commitment to keep World of Warcraft viable.

Players have additionally been promised a more timely release of content rather than the typical two year cycle of days past. Rightfully so, Blizzard has been criticized for the lack of meaningful updates since the launch of Mists of Pandaria almost exactly two years ago. This, according to the team, will change and further illustrates Blizzard's commitment to a game that many have declared dead over and over throughout the years. What is is that continues to keep players in the game? Why do others come back with every expansion? Why do those who have chosen to dislike the game keep themselves involved in discussions about it? What is it about WoW that engenders comparison with every MMO's launch of the past ten years?

Outside of content, WoW does so many things that keep it in the forefront of our imagination and in the back of every developer's mind. No one can say that there is a lack of things to do. Whether it's raiding or mount collecting or arena PvP or exploration or crafting, players are hard pressed to say, "There's nothing to do." But even more importantly, WoW gives something to everyone: Raids, PvP, pet battles and collections, crafting, vast and epic story quests, the longest list of achievements in the world (LOL!), transmogrification of gear and much more. Yet, at the same time, no one is required to do anything they do not wish to do. Players can spend countless hours pursuing only and exactly the things that interest them most.

Warlords of Draenor will build on this with the addition of garrisons, a way for players to micromanage teams of followers, crafting specializations, etc.. More quests, more pets, more achievements, more raids, more dungeons, more, more, more! (Of course some are removed, but there is a net gain!)

It is exactly this continued evolution and expansion of the game's features that keeps players coming back day after day, year after year, discussion after discussion, expansion after expansion. In a sense, even those who may not revisit the game, the game is never over. It is never complete. There is always a new rock to turn over or a new corner of the game world to discover or a new activity to try out. In essence, "Game Over" is not part of World of Warcraft. It is more like "To Be Continued..."