原链接：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otAkP5VjIv8

You know? We haven’t talked about MMOs in a while,
你知道吗？我们有一段时间没有聊过MMO了
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and I don’t think we’ve talked about quest design as a whole,
而且我不认为我们完整地讲过游戏任务设计
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so today, we’re going to be tackling that subject.
所以今天，我们将会解决这个主题。
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We’ll probably be referencing “The Secret World” a lot in this episode.
在本期节目中，我们可能会参考《神秘世界》
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Because, even though it is woefully unpolished,
因为尽管它打磨地并不出色
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horribly buggy,
有很多糟糕的bug，
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and occasionally has UI design that hasn’t been acceptable since the 80’s,
并且其中的UI设计从80年代之后就不被认可了
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it is hands down the best example of quest design that I’ve seen in a MMO.
但是它涉及了许多MMO游戏中最好的任务设计。
0:30
And it does more to deliver powerful narrative moments in immersive experiences
比起其他高预算、高画质的MMO游戏，《神秘世界》在沉浸式体验中传递了
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than MMOs with far bigger budgets and far better graphics.
更强有力的叙事时刻。
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We’re going to try to keep this episode totally comprehensible
我们将会使得本视频完全通俗易懂
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without any prior knowledge of the game.
不需要任何先前的知识
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But if you’re interested in quest design, and you haven’t played “Secret World”
但是如果你对任务设计感兴趣，或者你还没有玩过《神秘世界》
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I’d recommend it as an incredible opportunity to learn.
我极力推荐它作为一个极佳的学习机会。
0:46
Alright then, let’s start with the basic.
好吧，那我们从最简单的开始。
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Very often, quest design is limited to a few standard types of activities.
任务设计局限于几个标准的活动。
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Kill Quest, which are: “kill X numbers of critters”.
第一种：击杀任务，例如：击杀X个生物。
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Fetch Quest, or: “go and bring me this thing”.
第二种：获取任务，例如：去并且给我带来这个。
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FedEx Quest, or: “go and deliver this thing to this place”.
第三种：快递任务，例如：去并且把这个东西带去那个地方。
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Collect Quest, which are: “go get X numbers of things”.
第四种：收集任务，例如：去集齐X个物品。
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Although usually this is just an arbitrary layer on top of the standard kill quest.
尽管通常情况下，收集任务和击杀任务是相辅相成的。（击杀物品掉落）
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And Escort Quest, which are really just the variant of the FedEx quest
第五种：护送任务，是另一种形式的快递任务
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with an irritatingly slow moving NPC that you have to keep alive.
（护送）一个走路极慢的NPC并确保他的存活。
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So, why?
所以，为什么呢？
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Why are there pretty much five types of quests
为什么这5种类型的任务
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that makes up 90% of MMO quest design?
会组成90%的MMO任务呢？
1:21
It’s because many designers conceptualize their games
那是因为很多游戏设计师会概念化他们的游戏
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as only being about combat and traversal.
使游戏仅涉及战斗和跑图。
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And with only those two levers, there’s a limited amount that you could really do.
并且仅通过这两种方式，你真正能做的事情很少。
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Moreover, there’s a limited amount you have to teach your players to do.
此外，你能教给玩家做的事也极其有限。
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You see, most MMO quests are used to direct the players through the experience
你会发现，很多MMO游戏习惯于通过经历指引玩家
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rather than to be engaging in it of themselves.
而非使玩家真正投入到任务中。
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Kill quests direct you toward more appropriate mobs for you to be fighting at your level.
击杀任务会指引你前往击杀一些以你等级最为合适的怪物。
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FedEx quests direct you to the next zone you should be in.
快递任务会指引你前往下一个区域。
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Fetch quests teach you the hub you need to know about in the zone you’re in, and so on.
获取任务会指导你一切关于这个地方你所需的知识。
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And therein lies the problem.
所以因此就存在问题了。
1:48
If you see the quest system simply as a way to propel the players through the treadmill of leveling,
如果你把任务系统视作一个简单的方法去促使玩家升级的（枯燥）方法
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if you see the quests primarily as a way to funnel players to the mobs they’ll have to grind,
如果你把游戏任务视为一种方法去指引玩家前往去击败（碾碎）一些敌人，
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then through the places they’ll have to pass to get to the max level,
通过这些地方，玩家们可以达到顶级，
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then you are doing it all wrong.
那么你就大错特错了。
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The quests themselves should be something that the player wants to do.
任务本身应该是玩家想要做的。
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Inherently, not just for the reward.
玩家不仅仅只想要任务的奖励。
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Historically, this type of thinking really only became the norm in the “World of Warcraft” era.
历史上来说，这种想法成为了《魔兽世界》时代的一种常态。
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Prior to “WoW”, MMOs were either largely un-directed, like “Ultima Online”,
在《魔兽世界》之前， MMO游戏要么就是无指引的，如《网络创世纪》；
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or their quests were about exploration, like in “EverQuest”.
要么就是游戏任务是关乎于探索，如同《无尽的任务》。
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In “EverQuest”, you didn’t have a quest log in a modern sense,
在《无尽的任务》中，玩家没有一个现代意义上来说的任务面板，
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and you didn’t simply click on an NPC with an exclamation point over their head in order to get a quest.
并且玩家不会通过简单点击带有“感叹号”标记的NPC来获取一个任务。
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Instead, you had to talk to the NPC.
取而代之的是，你需要和NPC对话。
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You would hail them and chat, and if you said specific words to them,
你需要和他们打招呼和对话，并且如果你对他们说特定的单词，
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they would let you know about a quest.
他们会告诉你一个任务。
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So, for example, you’d walk up to a barkeep,
因此，举例来说，你来到一个酒保面前，
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and you’d say: “Hail”, and he might say back:
然后你说“你好”，接着他会回复道
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“Ah, fancy a bite to eat? or are you here to deal with the rats?”
“唉，想吃点什么吗？还是你是来处理这里的老鼠的？”
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and the word “rats” would be in bracket, see?
然后老鼠会在方括号（强调），发现了吗？
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And if you replied: “I’m here to deal with the rats.”
如果你回复道“我是来处理老鼠的。”
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Then he’d tell you that he’d give you two silver for every rat tails you brought him
那么他会告诉你他可以给你2个银币如果你每带回一个老鼠尾巴。
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and hand you a key to the cellar.
并且他会给你地下室的钥匙。
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But where it really got interesting,
但是最有趣的是，
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was in finding out the things that the game didn’t draw attention to.
你可以找到一些游戏并非故意吸引你的事物。
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For example, later in your journey, you fight your way down to the bottom of a gnoll cave,
举个例子，在你之后的旅途中，你杀出一条路来到狼穴，
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and you just happen to dive into the lake at the deepest level.
然后你碰巧潜入到湖深处。
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At the bottom of the lake, there’s just a ring, sitting there, no explanation.
在湖底，有一个戒指静静地躺在那里，周围没有任何解释。
3:00
The ring has OK stats, I guess,
戒指的能力值尚可
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But the item description has some flavor texts to that tells you:
但是物品介绍中有耐人寻味的描述告诉你：
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On the inside, the ring reads: “A Promise For A Lifetime”
在戒指内侧写着“一生的承诺”
3:08
Hmm, interesting.
嗯，有点意思。
3:10
Maybe you decide to wear it for a while.
也许你会想要戴一会戒指。
3:12
Then, one day, you encounter someone in another town
接着，在某天，你在另外一个城镇遇到了某人
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who tells you a story of a girl who threw herself off the gnoll cliffs
他告诉你一个故事：一个女孩跳崖
3:17
after her husband was killed by the city guards.
当她的丈夫被守卫杀死后
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Without the game giving you any hints or prompting,
游戏本身并无给你暗示或提示，
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you asks him about a ring in chat,
你会在对话中问他戒指的事情，
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and he tells you that the deceased girl was the barkeep’s daughter,
然后他会告诉你已逝女孩是酒保的女儿，
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and she had a ring inscribed with “A Promise For A Lifetime” from her beloved.
她拥有一个来自她丈夫的戒指，上面铭刻着“一生的承诺”。
3:30
You then return to the barkeep, and in the trade window, you give him the ring.
你接着返回酒吧，在交易窗口，你归还了戒指。
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and he starts you on an adventure across continents
然后他指引你横跨整个大陆
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to finally bring rest to his daughter’s soul.
最终给他女儿的灵魂带来安息。
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It may be a little hyperbolic to say so, but the game was about understanding the world
这样说可能会很夸张，但是游戏就是去理解世界
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and using the lore to solve problems.
并且运用知识去解决问题。
3:44
It was about being inquisitive,
这都关乎于对游戏的好奇心，
3:45
and about rewarding the player for being curious about the people and the places in this world.
也关乎于奖励那些对游戏世界的地方和游戏人物好奇的玩家。
3:49
Objects weren’t just about stat gain, and quests weren’t just about gear and leveling.
游戏物品/目的不仅仅只是获得一些数值提升，游戏任务不是仅关乎于装备和升级。
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The goal here was to change how the player thought about the world,
目的在于去改变玩家是如何看待游戏世界的，
3:56
and to get them to engage with it as a living thing rather than a game object.
并且让他们活生生地体验游戏，而非处理一个游戏目标。
3:59
It was also to encourage curiosity.
因此，我们要去鼓励玩家的好奇心。
4:01
It was built to get the player not only searching out the world in terms of physical space,
我们要创造一个游戏世界，让玩家不仅仅探索整个世界的物理空间，
4:05
but also trying different interactions with NPCs
也会去尝试和NPC们进行不同的交互
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in order to discover the historical or mythological space of this world.
从而去探索世界的历史/神话 部分。
4:10
Alas, we have gotten James started writing about EverQuest,
唉，我们已经谈到了James开始创作的《无尽的任务》，
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and now we haven’t even start talking about The Secret World yet.
现在我们还没开始聊《神秘世界》。
4:15
Next week we will give a few more examples of quest design
下周我们将会谈论更多关于任务设计的例子
4:18
that stray from the usual kill or FedEx variety.
有别于常规的击杀/快递任务的变体。
4:20
Which means we will be talking about The Secret World quite a lot.
这意味着我们将谈论很多《神秘世界》。
4:23
Additionally, we’ll be talking about the problem that clumping-up quests causes,
此外，我们将会讨论任务堆积原因的问题，
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as well as why allowing the player to carry dozens of quests at once is actually detrimental.
也会讨论为何让玩家短时间接受大量任务是有害的。
4:31
I hope you didn’t mind the EverQuest ramble,
我希望你们不会介意《无尽的任务》的闲谈，
4:32
and I hope you stick with us for part 2 next week.
也希望下周能在第二部分再次见到你们。