开车上班 #39 - 随机性

好的。

Okay.

我现在正从车道上开出来。

I'm pulling out of my driveway.

大家都知道这意味着什么。

We know what that means.

又到了开车去上班的时间了。

It's time for another drive to work.

好的。

Okay.

所以今天，我想做点有点随意的事情。

So today, I thought I'd do something a little random.

嗯，

Well,

我想聊聊

thought I'd talk

关于随机性。

about randomness.

我当时觉得，发个开车上班的随机内容，然后整段路就随便说点随机的事情，应该挺有意思的。

Thought I thought it'd funny to post, you know, drive to work randomness and then just, you know, quote random things for the entire drive.

但今天我不是要这么做。

But that's not what I'm doing today.

我今天要做的是，我很多年前写了一篇文章，或者也不是，我也不确定。

What I'm doing today is I wrote an article many years ago or not I don't know.

几年前吧，叫《随机的善举》，里面我讲了随机性在游戏设计中的作用。

Some number of years ago called kind acts of randomness in which I talked about the role of randomness in game design.

然后我今天想，就来聊聊这个话题。

And I thought today, I would examine that topic.

我的意思是，我会谈到文章里提到的很多东西，但跟往常一样，我也会加一些新内容进去。

I mean, I'll be I'll be approaching a lot of things I talked about in the article, but as always, I'll be adding new things in.

总之，我跟我老婆说我要写一篇关于随机性的文章，她就说，哦，那你也许该换条路开车上班。

Anyway, and my wife, when I I told her I was gonna do an article on randomness, she goes, oh, well, maybe you should drive to work a different way.

然后我说，好的。

And I said, okay.

对。

Yeah.

听起来是个不错的主意。

That sounds like a cool idea.

所以我今天上班不走平常的路，换条路走。

So I am gonna drive to work not my normal way, a different way.

我也不知道这意味着什么。

I don't know what that means.

不知道这趟会开多久。

I don't know how long this will be.

反正就是随机的。

It will be random.

所以这跟我今天的主题还挺呼应的。

So a little a little meta to go with my topic of the day.

好的。

Okay.

那么，游戏设计中的随机性。

So randomness in game design.

为什么？

Why?

我们为什么要有随机性？

Why do we have randomness?

所以，我想我得先定义一下什么是随机性。

So let let me I guess I had to start by defining randomness.

随机性意味着某些事情不在掌控之中，玩家无法控制，由某种外部力量决定结果。

So what randomness means is something that is not not in control, the player is not in control of, that some outside force determines some outcome.

正如我在文章里说的，从游戏的角度来看，这很重要，但这并不意味着你不能对它产生影响。

Now as I stated in the article, this is important, from a game standpoint, it doesn't mean that you can't have influence into it.

你知道，我觉得，比如《万智牌》里最大的随机因素就是你抽的牌库。

You know, I do think it's just for example, Magic's big randomizer is the library you draw.

但这并不意味着我认为你不能有影响牌库的牌。

And that doesn't mean that I don't think you can't have cards that affect the library.

你知道，我觉得你应该能在一定程度上减轻随机性。

You know, I think you should be able to mitigate randomness to some extent.

而且我们接下来会讲到，我认为能够减轻随机性会让人们更满意。

And as we'll get to, I think the ability to mitigate it makes people much happier with it.

但我确实认为，随机性意味着你，玩家，并不总是知道会发生什么，因为有些因素是你无法控制的。

But I I do believe that randomness means that you, the player, don't always know what's going to happen because of forces outside your control.

那么，为什么这很重要呢？

So why why is this important?

我以后会讲到的一个播客节目，会讨论传播理论。

So one of the podcasts I will get to eventually is gonna talk about communication theory.

我上过传播学院，在那里学到了一些有趣的东西，我会应用它们，以后也会聊到。

I went to school communication school, and there's some interesting stuff I learned there that I apply that I'll I'll talk about.

但其中提到的一点，就是人类对惊喜的需求。

But one of the one of the things it talks about is the human need for surprise.

那为什么呢？

Well, why?

为什么人类需要惊喜？

Why do humans need surprise?

我也不知道。

And I don't know.

关于人类在生理上为什么需要惊喜，有很多有趣的讨论。

There's just a lot of interesting discussions about, you know, why physiologically humans need it.

但人类虽然喜欢稳定，稳定对他们来说很重要，非常重要，但他们也需要一些未知的东西。

But humans, while they like stability, and it's important to them, it's very important to them, they also need to have some context of the unknown.

这是为什么呢？

Why is that?

我不知道。

I don't know.

我猜，这跟生理有关，我的猜测是，如果人类从来不需要未知，那他们就不会去探索新事物了。

I I I guess it has to do with, I I here's my guess, physiologically speaking, is that if humans never have a need for the unknown, it keeps them from ever venturing out.

这就是为什么人类有好奇心，你知道，你想保护人们的安全，你想把它写进他们的基因里，但你也需要确保他们能学到新东西。

It's why humans have curiosity that, you know, you wanna keep people safe and you wanna build that into their genes, but you also need to make sure that they they learn new things.

如果没有对未知的渴望，就不会有新事物的机会。

And without a desire for the unknown, you don't have the opportunity for new things.

所以，反正，这是人类天生就有的。

So anyway, built into people.

这里重要的是，人类天生就需要惊喜，需要一些东西，你知道的。

The important part here is built into people is a need for surprise, a need for things, you know.

那我们稍微聊聊吧。

So let's talk a little bit.

我想说的是，我在文章里也写了，聊聊随机性对游戏的作用，聊聊随机性的负面影响，然后我会聊聊游戏设计师如何利用随机性，你知道，为了他们的最大利益。

What I wanna talk about, I did this in the article, talk about what randomness does for a game, talk about the negatives of randomness, and then I'll talk about how game designers can use randomness to you know, for their best.

让他们用随机性来最大程度地帮助他们的游戏。

That they use it to help their game the most.

那么首先，随机性对游戏有什么作用呢？

So first off, what does randomness do for a game?

首先，随机性会制造惊喜，就像我刚才说的。

Well, first and foremost, randomness makes creates surprise, as I was saying.

我的意思是，人类需要惊喜。

I mean, humans need surprise.

它制造惊喜。

It creates surprise.

为什么这很重要？

Why is that important?

因为未知本身就带有新鲜感。

Because there is novelty in not knowing things.

而且，电影就经常利用这一点。你知道，去看电影时，你大概知道会发生什么，但被惊喜到也是很有趣的。

And that, I mean, movies take this all the time and that, you know, it is it is fun to go into a movie and have a general sense what's gonna happen, but then you kinda it's fun to be surprised.

哦，我没想到会这样。

Oh, I didn't see that coming.

对吧？

You know?

游戏也想要类似的感觉，你知道，娱乐的一大乐趣就在于，作为观众，你并不完全知道接下来会发生什么。

And the games want a similar sense that, you know, one of one of the general joys of of entertainment is you, the audience member, not exactly knowing what's going to happen.

所以游戏中的随机性有助于确保游戏有一些惊喜。

And so randomness in games helps make sure that that the games have some surprise.

而且我认为，惊喜带来乐趣，被惊喜到本身就有很多乐趣。

And I I would argue that with surprise comes fun, that there is a decent amount of fun of being surprised.

这个我待会儿会详细说。

Now, like, I I'll talk about it in a bit.

有好的惊喜，也有坏的惊喜，但确实有那种有趣的时刻。

There there's good surprise and bad surprise, but there is there is a a fun moment.

比如，我们在制作《Evanston Restored》中的奇迹时，有很多担忧，比如，嘿。

Like, one of the things, for example, is when we made miracles in Evanston restored, there's a lot of of concern about, you know, hey.

这里有些东西完全超出人们的控制，但我们注意到，当我们观察玩家游玩时，这创造了一种那种，像是，人们抽牌时那种身体前倾的时刻。

Here's something that's completely out of people's control, but but what we notice is when we watch people play, that it's created this kind of, like, this lean in moment when people would draw their card.

挺酷的。

It's pretty cool.

你知道吗？

You know?

就像是在想，接下来会发生什么？

That's like, what's gonna happen?

对吧？

You know?

而创造那种时刻，在任何游戏里都是非常令人兴奋的。

And that creating that moment is definitely something that is very exciting in in in any game.

每当玩家们身体前倾，那就是他们期待接下来会发生什么的生理信号。

That you whenever you have players leaning in, that that's a physiological sign of what's gonna happen.

你懂吧？

You know?

或者当人们做某件事时，会有一点点紧张，因为他们不太确定接下来会发生什么。

Or people do something, it's like there there's a just a little bit of nervousness because they're not quite sure what's gonna happen.

你知道吗，这就会带来有趣的游戏体验。

You know, that leads to fun gameplay.

雷尼姆斯做的另一件事是，在游戏里有个很重要的东西，我们称之为“变数”。

The other thing that Renminus does is something so one of the important things in game playing is what we call variance.

原因是，如果总是做同样的事情，会变得无聊。

And the reason is that doing the same thing can get boring.

你知道，如果你总是做同样的事，每次做都是同样的结果。

You know, if you always do the same thing, if every time you do something, it's the same thing.

我不是说熟悉感和确定性没有让人安心的地方。

Now I'm not saying there's not some familiarity and there's some comfort in knowing things.

就像我在做关于传播理论的播客时，很多传播理论都建立在人类渴望重复做同样的事情这个基础上。

And as I when I do my podcast on on communication theory, I mean, a lot a lot of communication theory is built around the idea that humans crave doing the same thing again and again.

但话说回来，尤其是在游戏里，因为我觉得人们玩游戏就是想稍微跳出舒适区。

But that said, especially in gameplay because I think people people play games, they are trying to get a little bit out of the comfort zone.

他们想挑战自己，所以我觉得在游戏里，你得确保玩法有变数，因为如果游戏总是以同样的方式展开，玩家就会觉得“好吧”。

They are trying to sort of challenge themselves and, you know, and so I I think that you wanna make sure in games that you want some variance in the gameplay because I think what happens is if the game plays out the same way too many times, your your player just goes, okay.

就算他们喜欢，到某个点也会觉得“好吧，我已经玩过了”。

I mean, even if they enjoyed it, at some point, go, okay, I've done it.

你知道吗？

You know?

而让《万智牌》能持续二十多年的一个关键因素，就是极高的随机性。

And that one of the things that let Magic last for twenty plus years has been hugely high variance.

你知道吗？

You know?

一部分来自洗牌，一部分来自组牌，但万智牌的对局通常不会完全一样，这种情况其实不常见。而研发部门非常努力在做的一件事就是，当我们发现某些机制会导致重复时，我们会特别小心处理这些机制。

Part of it comes to shuffle of the deck, part of it comes from deck construction, but but magic isn't you know, magic games don't tend to play out exactly the same, you know, all that often, you know, and that one of the things that R and D works really hard at is when we find mechanics that lead to just repetition, we're careful with those, you know.

你可能会注意到，我们现在对导师牌这类会让每局游戏完全一样的机制，要谨慎得多。

If notice, we're we're we're a lot more careful these days with tutoring and and things that lead games to be exactly the same every single time.

所以，随机性带来的另一个问题，就是我觉得人们批评它降低了技巧性。

So the other thing that it does is one of the things that I I think that Randomist gets gets pinged for is the idea that it decreases scale.

但我认为情况并不总是这样。

And I believe that that is not always the case.

实际上，我甚至认为恰恰相反，应对随机性的能力本身就是一种非常考验技巧的事情。

I, in fact, believe, some level of the opposite, that the ability to react to randomness is very, very skill testing.

你知道吗？

You know?

比如说，如果不用洗牌，万智牌会不会更考验技术呢？

And that for example, you know, would Magic be a more skill testing game if you didn't shuffle your library?

牌库？

Library?

我的回答是，我觉得不会。

And my answer is the I I don't really think it would be.

我是说，组牌方面可能有点技术含量吧。

I mean, there would be some skill in deck construction, I guess.

但一旦有人明白了怎么操作，比如知道该按什么顺序放牌，或者上网看看别人怎么做的，那就没什么了。

But then once somebody understands sort of what, you know, what they're what they're doing I mean, once someone understands the order that they have to put their cards or or they could read the Internet and see if somebody else doing it, it's just, okay.

好吧。

Fine.

这就是你的牌序。

Here's the order of your cards.

你知道吗？

You know?

万智牌之所以非常考验技术，很大程度上是因为你必须随机应变、灵活应对，而且这确实是最好的例子。

A lot of what makes magic very skillful is that you have to adapt and you have to react, you know, and and that and and it is the best example.

我和很多职业选手聊过，就是顶尖的万智牌玩家，他们基本上——虽然总会有一些分歧——但大多数人同意，轮抽比构筑更考验技术。

I've talked to a lot of pro players and, you know, I mean, top top Magic players, and they pretty much I mean, there's there's always some disagreement, but the majority agree that that drafting is more skill testing than constructed.

但这是为什么呢？

But why is that?

嗯，首先，它涉及的要素更多。

Well, a, there's more components that go into it.

轮抽本身就有很多技术含量，而且它方差很大，你必须去适应。

Drafting itself has a lot of skill to it, but also it just has a high variance that you have to you have to adapt.

比如说，轮抽之所以有趣，是因为我不能直接告诉你，这张牌总是比那张牌好。

And the reason, for example, the drafting is interesting is I can't just tell you that card a is always better than card b.

因为有时候A牌比B牌好，但在某些情况下就不是这样了。

Because sometimes card a is better than card b except in certain circumstances.

而理解这些情况，正是很多技巧发挥的地方。

And trying to understand the circumstances is where a lot of skill comes into play.

或者即使在游戏本身中，如果你玩构筑模式，你大概能猜到会发生什么。

Or even just in the gameplay itself, one of the things that happens is if you play constructed, you kinda learn what's going to happen.

你大概会预感到需要担心什么。

You kinda have some anticipation of what you need to worry about.

但在无限模式里，各种疯狂的事情都可能发生，尤其是遇到那些稀有或神话卡牌，很可能你之前从没遇到过。

But unlimited, all sorts of crazy things happen that you'll you know, especially with, like, rares and mythics where odds are you've never played against that card before.

就算遇到过，可能也就一次。

If you did, it's been maybe once.

而且，你现在的牌组和你之前的牌组完全不同。

And, you know, the deck you had is a completely different deck than the deck you had now.

所以，随机性的一个作用就是让有经验的玩家——你知道，而且它不只是考验技巧，我觉得应对未知本身就很有趣。

And so one of the things that randomness does is it allows the experienced player you know, and and not only does it do skill testing, I I think that responding to the unknown is a lot of fun.

真的很有趣。

It's a lot of fun.

游戏设计中有个概念叫心流。

There's something in in game design known as flow.

简·麦康奈尔在她的书里提到过这个。

McConnell Jane McConnell talked about this in her book.

我记不清书名了，但那是

I don't Blinking the name

一本很好的书。

of the book, but it's

对，非常好的书。

a very good book.

她说的心流就是，当你玩游戏时，你感觉自己被逼到了极限，觉得自己在测试自己的边界。

And she talks about what flow is is when you're playing a game that you, the player, feel that you're you're being pushed at your limit and that you feel like, you know, like you're you're testing the the the just a bit of where you are.

我举个例子，很久以前，我玩过一个叫《小行星》的游戏。

The the example I give I'll I'll give my my example of this is way back in the day way back in the day, used to play a game called asteroids.

年轻的朋友可能不知道，《小行星》就是一个小飞船，你旋转着，小行星朝你飞来，你可以射击它们，把它们打碎。

For the young ones out there, asteroids was a game in which you had a little ship and you would rotate around and asteroids would come at you and you could shoot them and break them up.

你可以推进和飞行，但问题是待在中心要安全得多，在那里你可以大致掌握全局，转来转去射击那些陨石。

Now you had the ability to thrust and fly, but the problem was it was much safer to stay in the center where you could you could sort of gauge everything and spin around and shoot the the meteors.

但偶尔你会遇到麻烦，不得不推进。

But every once in a while, get in trouble and you have to thrust.

就在你推进的那一刻，你一边射击一边推进，事情开始失控，你隐约感觉到自己在挑战极限。

And there's this moment when you were thrusting, where you were shooting around and thrusting, where things were out of your control and you kinda knew that, like, you were pushing the limit.

因为，当你待在中心时，你清楚自己掌握着所有参数。

Because, like, when you're in the center, you you understood you you had the parameters.

但当你动起来的时候，哇，你理解局势的难度瞬间增加了十倍，你知道吗。

But when you're moving, wow, you've just increased the complication of understanding what's going on tenfold, you know.

因为你在动，它们也在动，难度就大大增加了。

Because you're moving and they're moving and it it is a lot lot harder.

但就在你拼命坚持的时候，有那么一瞬间你活了下来，你心里清楚自己是在借来的时间里，你会想，天哪。

But there's this moment when you would survive when you were when you were doing it where, like, you knew that, like, you were a borrowed time that you'd like like, oh my god.

我简直不敢相信我还活着。

I can't believe I'm still alive.

对我来说，那就是心流的状态。

And that to me is the the moment of flow.

就是在游戏里，你被逼到极限，不断挑战自己的极限。

It's just in a game where, like, you are pushed, you're testing your limits to the nth degree.

我觉得随机性有助于产生心流。

And I think that randomness helps create flow.

你知道，当我知道会发生什么，知道那里有什么的时候，好吧，我大概能理解。

You know, when I know what to expect and I know what's there, well, okay, I I kinda understand it.

但当我进入不熟悉的领域，边适应边随机应变的时候，我觉得那才是心流体验最棒的时刻。

But when I'm pushing the area that's unfamiliar to me that I'm adapting and, you know, and and working on the fly, that's where I think some of the best flow moments come.

我觉得这很重要。

And I think that's important.

我认为随机性有助于创造这种体验。

I think randomness helps create that.

好的。

Okay.

那么随机性的缺点是什么呢？

So what are the downsides of of randomness?

好的。

Okay.

其中一个缺点就是重复。

So one of the downsides is repetition.

我举个例子，就是大富翁里的“进监狱”这张卡。

And my example of that is go to jail, which is a card in monopoly.

说到进监狱，有时候还挺刺激的，但问题是，进监狱后你得掷出双数才能出来。

Now go to jail, there's exciting moments of go to jail and and is it like we so to go to jail, you have to roll double to get out.

监狱的规则就是这样。

That that's how jail works.

从好的方面看，有时候看自己能不能出狱也挺让人兴奋的，那确实很刺激。

Now on the plus side, sometimes there's there's exciting moments to seeing if you get out of jail, and that could be very exciting.

但也有时候，你会觉得，我真的做不到。

But also, there's the moments where, like, I can't do it.

我做不到。

I can't do it.

我做不到。

I can't do it.

你知道，就是它会造成重复，因为它不让你做任何事。

I can't you know, we're just it creates repetition because it doesn't allow you to do anything.

你明白吗？

You know?

而且这种重复，你得小心，因为有时候随机性会导致重复。

And that repetition like, you have to be careful because sometimes randomness can lead toward repetition.

我的意思是，有时候它能打破重复，但有时候它也会造成重复。

I mean, sometimes it breaks repetition, but sometimes it can cause repetition.

而且，这可能会让人非常沮丧，因为当事情超出你的控制，如果它们太不顺你的意，你知道，一点点的你能适应，但到某个点你就会觉得，天哪，整个世界都在跟我作对，然后开始灰心丧气，因为你心想，什么？

Also, it can get very frustrating because when things are outside of your control, if they go against you too much, you know, a little bit you adapt to, but at some point you just feel like, man, the universe is working against me and start getting demoralized because you're like, what?

我能做什么呢？

What can I do?

这甚至不是我做的。

This is not it's not even me doing it.

是外部因素在起作用。

It's outside factors doing it.

比如，我知道当人们跟我谈论手稿时，手稿就属于这种情况。

And for example, I know when people talk to me about manuscript, that manuscript falls into this.

手稿本身带有随机性，而随机性的坏处就是你只会感到无助。

That manuscript has randomness to it and that the downside of randomness is you just feel helpless.

你知道吗，我甚至都没参与。

You know, I didn't even get a play.

我什么都没做。

I didn't even do anything.

这跟我一点关系都没有。

I had nothing to do with me.

而随机性就会导致这种情况，那是一种非常糟糕的感觉。

And and randomness can lead to that, and that and that's a very bad feeling.

另外，虽然适应随机性很考验技巧，但随机性用错了地方的话，我是说，有个有趣的问题：你希望新手玩家多久能赢一次老手玩家？

Also, while adapting to randomness can be very skill testing, randomness in the wrong way can I mean, there's an interesting point about how often you want your lesser experienced player to beat your better experienced player?

作为游戏设计师，我要说，如果新手玩家永远赢不了老手玩家，那你真的把游戏限制得很死。

I will say this as a game designer, if your lesser experienced player can never beat your more experienced player, you are really, really limiting your game.

我不是说做不出好游戏。

I'm not saying you can't make a good game.

显然，国际象棋能流传这么久，但你把游戏的受众限制得很窄，因为只有那些愿意一直输、直到学会不输的人才愿意玩，这很难。

Obviously, chess is lasted a long time, but you are very much limiting your audience for your game because you will limit it to people that are willing to lose until they learn not to lose, and that is very hard.

没多少人会说：我知道我会输很久，但最终我会挺过去，然后开始赢。

There's not a lot of people that are saying, I know I'm gonna lose for a long time, but eventually, I'll I'll push through that and then start to win.

大多数人都是：我输太多次了，就这样吧。

Most people are like, I've lost so many times, that's it.

我不玩了。

I'm out of here.

他们需要一种持续的，他们需要一点保证，比如，嘿。

And that they need a constant they they they need to be, you know they they need a little bit of assurance to say, hey.

嘿。

Hey.

事情不会那么糟的。

Things aren't gonna be so bad.

而且，如果游戏偶尔让最差的玩家赢过更好的玩家，这能给他们带来希望。

And that if you the nice thing about having a game where occasionally the worst player beats the better player is it gives them hope.

我之前也说过这个。

And I've I've talked about this before.

希望是游戏设计中非常重要的一部分，你要让玩家始终抱有希望。

Hope is a very, very important part of game design that you want your players to always have hope.

当然，这种希望不一定要有很高的概率。

Now the hope doesn't need to be a high percentage chance.

你懂我的意思吧？

You know what saying?

我之前也说过，你得确保玩家觉得自己有机会赢。

I talked to this before about how you you need to make sure that the player feels they get a chance to win.

你懂吗？

You know?

希望并不一定意味着我有很大的机会让某件事发生，但至少得让我觉得有点机会。因为说到底，如果你想让别人玩你的游戏，你知道，当玩家开始玩一款游戏时，他们其实是在对游戏设计师抱有一种盲目的信任。

Hope doesn't need to mean that I have a great chance of something happening, but it needs to mean I have some chance of it happening because, essentially, if you want someone to play your game, you know, that there is some when when a game player starts playing a game, they enter in sort of a blind trust with the game designer.

基本上，他们就是在说，好吧。

And basically, what they're saying is, okay.

我信任你。

I'm putting my trust in you.

你说你能给我带来好的体验。

You claim you have a good experience for me.

这跟去看电影或者追剧是一样的道理。

And it's the same thing as going to see a movie or going to see you know, watching a TV show.

但有意思的是，拿看电影来说，大多数人都会先看影评或者听别人的建议。

But the the interesting thing about seeing a movie, as example, is most people tend to read reviews or or get advice from other people.

人们不会盲目地走进电影院。

People don't blindly go to movies.

其实游戏也差不多是这样。

Now, I that's also kinda true for games.

人们不会盲目地去玩游戏。

People don't blindly play games.

但不管怎样，总会有那么一个信任的瞬间。

But anyway, there's this moment of of trust.

你会想，好吧。

You're like, okay.

好吧，游戏设计师。

Okay, game designer.

好吧，电影导演。

Okay, movie director.

你知道，我把信任交给你了。

You know, I'm putting my trust in you.

别让我失望。

Don't disappoint me.

你知道，因为这不在我的控制范围内。

You know, because it's out of my control.

我，你知道，我把控制权交给你，但我相信你会做到。

I'm, you know, I'm I'm giving you control, but I'm I'm I'm trusting you that you'll deliver.

所以，其中一部分就是，玩家想要一种感觉，就是对他们来说还有希望，总有机会。

And so part of that is peep game players want a feeling that, you know, there's hope for them, that there's always a chance.

你明白吗？

You know?

随机性如果运用得当，能帮助营造这种感觉，但如果用错了，反而会夺走它。

And randomness when used used correctly can help make that, but when used wrongly, it can take that away.

我今天最大的教训之一就是，随机性是一把双刃剑。

And one one of my big lessons today is that randomness is a double edged sword.

你明白吗？

You know?

随机性并不是那种万能的、绝对棒的工具。

That randomness can randomness is not like this be all end all tool that's just awesome.

随机性是一把双刃剑，用对了能提升游戏体验，但用错了反而会降低游戏的乐趣。

Randomness is a is a double edged sword that when used correctly can enhance games, but when used wrong can can decrease the enjoyment of games.

我今天想说的核心就是，它是一个有价值的工具，但你必须小心使用，因为如果使用不当，它实际上会减少你游戏的乐趣。

And sort of my message of the day is it's a valuable tool, but a tool that you have to be careful with because if used in incorrectly, it actually lessens the enjoyment of your game.

好的。

Okay.

顺便说一句，这里插个小话题，我今天开车走的是去上班的备用路线，这条路我走过几次。

By the way, just as a little side note here, I'm driving the back way to work, which I've gone a few times.

但你知道，平时去上班的时候，大脑好像自动就知道怎么走，对吧？

But, like, you know how when you go to work normally, like, brain just kinda knows where it's going?

所以如果我看起来有点分心，那是因为我在想，这条路对吗？

So if I seem distracted a little bit, it comes from me going, is this the right way?

我觉得我知道自己在往哪儿走。

I I think I know where I'm going.

不过如果我迷路了，那你们就能多听一期超长的播客了。

Although if I get lost, then you guys get an extra long podcast.

所以也许算是双赢。

So maybe win win.

哦，不是双赢。

Oh, not win win.

是输赢参半。

Lose win.

总之，好吧。

Anyway okay.

那么，你能用随机性做什么？怎么才能最好地利用它？

So what can you do with randomness to how do you use it to its best?

好。

Okay.

我有几个建议。

And I have a couple suggestions.

首先，尽量用随机性来带来积极的结果。

So first off is try to use randomness to lead to upside.

那我举个例子，这个例子和我专栏里写的不太一样。

And so let let me give my my example is I use a different example from my my my column.

我的游戏是这样的：你抛一枚硬币。

My I so here's my my list is I'm gonna play a game, and my game is you flip a coin.

如果是正面，我就给你一些糖果。

And if you roll heads, I'm gonna give you some candy.

如果是反面，我就给你一些钱。

And if you roll tails, I'm gonna give you some money.

正面朝上的话，你就得到一些糖果。

So heads, you get some candy.

反面朝上的话，你就得到一些钱。

Tails, you get some money.

这是第一个游戏。

That's game one.

第二个游戏，你掷出正面，我给你糖果和钱；但如果掷出反面，我就打你的脸。

Game two, you roll heads, I give you candy and money, but if roll tails, I punch you in the face.

好的。

Okay.

那么哪个游戏更有趣呢？

So which which is a more fun game?

嗯，在第一个游戏里，我不能同时得到钱和糖果。

Well, in game in the first game, I can't get money and candy.

我只能得到钱或者糖果。

I can only get money or candy.

而在第二个游戏里，有一种结果是我能同时得到糖果和钱。

Or in the second game, there's an outcome where I get candy and money.

但是有风险。

But there's a downside.

对吧？

Right?

所以第一个游戏更有趣。

So the first game is fun.

挺有意思的。

It's fun.

我会得到什么呢？

What am I gonna get?

我会得到糖果吗？

Am I gonna get candy?

我会得到钱吗？

Am I gonna get money?

挺有意思的。

It's fun.

很刺激。

It's exciting.

因为你喜欢糖果，也喜欢钱。

Because you like candy, you like money.

怎么都不会错。

You can't go wrong.

对吧？

Right?

所以这种随机性是个有趣的游戏，因为这里面有点刺激感。

And so that randomness is a fun game because I there's some excitement.

随机性带来的乐趣在于，哦，我喜欢糖果。

The randomness is playing into the fun part of it is, oh, I like candy.

我喜欢钱。

I like money.

哦，我会得到哪一个呢？

Oh, which one am gonna get?

这种随机性让人兴奋。

That's an exciting randomness.

第二种情况，就像，好吧，我有机会得到糖果和钱，但我也讨厌被打脸。

The second one, it's like, okay, I have a chance for candy and money, but I also I don't like being punched in the face.

所以现在我很紧张。

And so now I'm nervous.

现在我很担心。

Now I'm apprehensive.

现在这种不确定性让我很不舒服。

Now the randomness is causing me discomfort.

第一种情况下，不确定性让我开心，第二种则让我难受。

In the first case, the randomness is causing me happiness, and the second is causing me discomfort.

两种情况都是未知的。

In both, they're unknown.

两种情况我都不知道会发生什么。

In both cases, I don't know what's going to happen.

但第一种情况下，我很期待，很兴奋。

But in the first case, I'm anticipating, I'm excited.

哦，会发生什么呢？

Oh, what's gonna happen?

第二种情况下，我就很犹豫。

In the second case, I'm I'm reticent.

我就想，好吧。

I'm like, okay.

好吧。

Okay.

你懂吗？

You know?

然后我觉得很多游戏设计师都倾向于第二种。

And then I think a lot of game designers do the second.

而且稍微来一点第二种是可以的。

And a little of the second is okay.

比如说，我们拿抛硬币的卡牌来说。

For example, we'll take coin flip cards.

有时候在《万智牌》里，我们想做抛硬币的卡牌。

Sometimes in Magic, we wanna do coin flip cards.

不。

No.

我更喜欢那种大优势对负收益的硬币翻牌，而不是大优势对小优势的。

I prefer coin flip cards in which big advantage small advantage versus big advantage negative.

对吧？

Right?

因为即使是个小优势，在大优势面前你也是输。

Because even a small advantage is in a big you're losing.

比如，假设我在万智牌里抛硬币，要么得到20点生命，要么得到2点生命。

Like, if I get let's say, say, I'm gonna flip a coin in Magic and I either get, you know, 20 life or two life.

那2点生命就等于输了。

Well, two life is is losing.

你知道，我本来可以拿20点的。

You know, I could've got 20 life.

结果只拿了2点。

I got two life.

你懂吧？

You know?

但那样比20点生命、失去10点生命要好。

But that's better than 20 life, lose 10 life.

对吧？

Right?

因为如果一边太负面，人们就会关注最极端的结果。

Because if the if if your one side is too negative, human beings will focus on the thing that is the most extreme outcome.

明白吗？

Okay?

比如说，我告诉你，你要么赢钱或糖果，要么被揍脸。

So for example, I tell you you're you're gonna win money or candy or you're be punched in the face.

我关注的是被揍脸。

I'm focusing on being punched in the face.

那是我在想的。

That's what I'm thinking about.

哦，我可不想被揍脸。

Oh, I don't wanna be punched in the face.

我根本不会去想糖果和钱。

I'm not thinking about the candy and the money.

当然，也有可能你把好处设计得特别好，让人虽然讨厌被打脸，但特别想要那个好处，你懂的。

Now, it is possible that you could create upside so good the person goes, oh, I hate being punched in the face, but oh my god, I oh, I really want that upside, you know.

但在游戏里，一般来说，生活中也许能行，但在游戏里，你希望好处和坏处都是玩家能接受的，坏处不能太吓人，以至于完全吸引他们的注意力。

But in gaming in general, I mean, in life maybe you can make that work, but in gaming, you kinda want the upside and the downside to be something that they can, you know, the downside is something that's not so apprehensive that it draws their focus.

好的。

Okay.

第二点，要给玩家反应的机会。

Number two, you wanna give players a chance to respond.

明白吗？

Okay?

这意味着，随机性有一个真理，就是越早把随机性引入游戏越好。

So what that means is that when something so one of the truisms of randomness is the earlier you get the randomness into the game, the better.

为什么这么说呢？

So why is that?

事实上，我经常说，你希望游戏里有随机性，但最好的方式之一就是从随机组件开始。

And in fact, one of the things I often say is, you want randomness in your game, but one of the best ways to get randomness in your game is to start with a random component.

你会发现那些游戏，比如从随机棋盘开始，或者你在棋盘上的起始位置是随机的，或者像《万智牌》那样，你要洗牌。

You'll notice those games that start with a random board or where you start on the board is random or like Magic Heads, you know, you shuffle your library.

这样做的原因是，我之前提到过技能测试。

The reason that is good is, I was talking before about the skill testing thing.

人们希望，如果你有机会应对随机性，那就是技能测试。

People want to be able to if you have a chance to respond to randomness, it's skill testing.

对。

Okay.

这局游戏发生了什么？

What happened this game?

对。

Okay.

对。

Okay.

你知道，现在我有时间去处理它。

You know, and now I have time to deal with it.

好的。

Okay.

嗯，那挺有意思的。

Well, that's fun.

那是个考验技巧的事情，就像，我想弄清楚怎么应对这个。

That that is a skill testing thing, that's like, I wanna figure out how to deal with this.

这是随机性中有趣的部分。

And that is a fun part of randomness.

我得去适应它。

I get to adapt to it.

但如果拉莫斯在游戏结束时，看，世界上最糟糕的事情就是，好吧，我要么赢要么输。

But if Ramos is at the end of the game, look, the worst thing in the world is, okay, I'm gonna win or lose.

如果我抛硬币正面就赢，反面就输。

If I if I flip heads, win and tails, I lose.

你知道，我们尽量避开那种靠运气的局面。

You know, we try to avoid that magic where we can.

整场比赛最后靠抛硬币决定，那就不好玩了。

That it's not fun where it's like, and the whole game came down to a coin flip.

你明白吧？

You know?

有趣的是，有时候人们觉得牌库顶就像抛硬币，但他们忽略了，每回合你多买一回合，就多抽一张牌。

Now the funny thing real quickly is sometimes people think of the top of library as a coin flip, but what they miss is that every turn you buy yourself another turn, you buy another draw.

比如，我喜欢那种情况，有人拖长比赛，然后抽到直接伤害法术获胜，对方就说，哦，你运气真好。

Like, I love the things where someone draws out the game and they draw the, you know, the the they draw the direct damage spell to win the game and the person's like, oh, you're so lucky.

我就说，不是的。

I'm like, no.

我拖了七个回合，就是为了能一直抽牌。

I drew the game for seven turns so I could keep drawing cards.

对。

Yeah.