WO2005098728A1

WO2005098728A1 - A method for providing an on-line game which can manage goods in the game and a system thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2005098728A1
Application number: PCT/KR2005/001048
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ju Hyun Kim
Original assignee: Nhn Corporation
Priority date: 2004-04-12
Filing date: 2005-04-12
Publication date: 2005-10-20
Also published as: KR100458457B1

Abstract

There is provided an online game providing method comprising the steps of: maintaining a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped or price information on a predetermined item; maintaining a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total cyber money information corresponding thereto; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per the unit time; searching the first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; comparing the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database.

Description

A METHOD FOR PROVIDING AN ON-LINE GAME WHICH CAIN MANAGE GOODS IN THE GAME AND A SYSTEM THEREOF

Technical Field The present invention relates to a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, and more particularly, to a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, which can measure total cyber money or the number of total items existing in the online game in real time and can adjust the quantity of goods produced in the game when there is a predetermined difference in comparison with a predetermined criterion.

Background of Art A conventional online game providing system providing a roll playing game provides various items to a character in the online game according to the progress of the game. The items are weapon items such as swords, axes, and bows, defendable items such as shield and armor, items applied to the character to cure or lengthen a span of life of the character, and item applied to other items to change the ability of thie other items. In addition, the conventional online game providing system provides the game character with predetermined cyber money as a means to purchase the items accordimg to progress of the game. According to the conventional online game providing system, the character can obtain an item or cyber money to be dropped by performing a determined procedure such as monster hunting in the online game. In addition, when the character hunts down the monster, it is determined based on a predetermined drop probability whether the item or cyber money will be dropped. According to the conventional online game providing method and system as aforementioned, the drop probability of cyber money or item, the number of items to be dropped, an amount of cyber money to be dropped, and the like have been set up. Thus, in the prior art, when the number of users who simultaneously use the online game increases, items or cyber money gets excessive. On the contrary, when the number of game users decreases, items or cyber money gets short. The main purpose of game users who use the online roll playing game is to upgrade a level of his/her character by obtaining a high level item and to show off an upgraded status. However, like above, when the number of high level items suddenly increases due to excess of items or cyber money, game users may lose their interests in the game. On the contrary, even when the number of high level tems suddenly decreases due to lack of items or cyber money, game users may also lose their interests in the game. In order to solve the above problems, in the prior art, a game operator receives complaints of game users through a user bulletin board for the game users and adjusts the quantity of items to be dropped as he/she pleases. That is, the game operator intends to solve complaints of the game users by using a temporary method. However, according to the temporary method like above, since the quality of items to be dropped and the like is arbitrarily adjusted without a certain criterion, it might spoil uniformity of the game. In this case, there is a problem that the game user who uses the game loses his/her interests in the game or has a complaint against the game operator. Furthermore, according to the temporary method like above, since the game operator cannot receive complaints of game users in real time, he/she cannot timely adjust the quantity of items to be dropped and the like. In addition, the game operator cannot adjust the same until complaints of the game users are received. Thus, there is a problem that it is impossible to maintain game satisfaction of game users. Meanwhile, since the number of items or cyber money existing in the game is not managed automatically, the game operator has to perform the aforementioned adjustment whenever it is required. Thus, there is another problem that temporal and economic burdens increase when the game operator the game. Accordingly, there is required the advent of a new method for providing an online game and a system thereof, which can automatically monitor cyber money or the number items existing in a game, maintain the number of high level items to be at an appropriate level by adjusting elements associated with the cyber money or the number of the items, and enhance interests of game users.

Disclosure of the Invention Technical Goals The present invention is conceived to solve the above problems in the prior art. The present invention provides a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, which can maintain the number of high level items to be at an appropriate level in a game by preventing excess or lack of cyber money or items in the game. The present invention also provides a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, which can maintain uniformity of a game and enhance interests of game users by adjusting elements associated with cyber money or the number of items in the game in accordance with a predetermined criterion. The present invention also provides a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, which can continuously maintain game satisfaction of game users by timely and automatically adjusting elements associated with cyber money or the number of items in the game. The present invention also provides a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, which can reduce temporal and economic burdens of a game operator in operating a game by automatically managing cyber money or the number of items in the game.

Technical Solutions In order to achieve the above goals and solve the aforementioned problems in the prior art, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing an online game, comprising the steps of: maintaining a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped or price information on a predetermined item; maintaining a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total cyber money information corresponding thereto; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per the unit time; searching for first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; comparing the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database. Also, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing an online game, the method further comprising the step of: maintaining a third database including predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information, in which the goods updating information is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between the first total cyber money information and the second total cyber money information; wherein the step of comparing the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information comprises the step of computing a difference value between the searched first total cyber money information and the collected second total cyber money information; and the step of updating the goods information recorded in the first database comprises the steps of searching for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value by referring to the third database; and updating the goods information based on the searched goods updating information. In the meantime, according to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing an online game, comprising the steps of: maintaining a database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped or price information on a predetermined item; maintaining a record means recording a predetermined function with respect to first total cyber money information, in which the function takes information on the number of first access accounts as a variable; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per unit time; computing first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by using the function recorded in the record means; comparing the computed first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the database. Meanwhile, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing an online game, the system comprising: a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped or price information on a predetermined item; a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total cyber money information corresponding thereto; a collecting means collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per unit time; a search means searching for first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; a comparison means comparing the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information; and an updating means, in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database. 'Goods information' used in this specification is data which is used to adjust the quantity of various goods produced in a game. At this time, 'goods' may be cyber money or items, or cyber money and items, both existing in the game. Thus, 'the goods information' may be defined as data which is used to adjust the quantity of cyber money or items, or that of both cyber money and items. For example, the goods information may include information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped, the number of items to be dropped, drop probability of items, market price of items being sold at a store, the number of generated items for collection, reinforce success probability of items, item manufacturing success probability, and the like. In the meantime, 'goods updating information' is data which is used to update the goods information when the quantity of goods gets excessive or short in comparison with a predetermined criterion. An online game providing system, which is described in the present specification as an example, provides online-based games, particularly, online roll playing games where game items are actively exchanged. Also, it will be apparent to those skilled in the related art that the present invention may be applied to PC-based games, video-consol based games, or the like, as well as online-based games.

Brief Description of Drawings FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing an online game according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a view illustrating one example of goods information according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a view illustrating one example of a second database according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating procedures of updating goods information in one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a view illustrating one example of a third database according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing an online game according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a view illustrating one example of a second database according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a view illustrating one example of a third database according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a view illustrating one example of a first database according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a view illustrating one example of a second database according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating one example of a function with respect to first total cyber money information or information on the number of first total items in one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a system for providing an online game according to another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 13 is an inner block diagram of a general-purpose computer which can be employed in implementing a method for providing an online game according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Hereinaf er, a method for providing an online game according to the present invention and a system thereof will be fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, it will be described an online game providing method which can adjust the quantity of goods in a game by updating goods information when total cyber money existing in the game gets excessive or short. FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing an online game according to one embodiment of the present invention. The online game providing method according to the present embodiment is provided in a predetermined online game providing system. In step 101, the online game providing system according to the present invention maintains a first database. The first database includes goods information associated with progress of the online game. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating one example of the goods information. The goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped and price information on a predetermined item. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the goods information may further include at least one piece of information selected from the group consisting of drop probability information of a predetermined item, information on the number of generated items for collection (hereinafter, "collection item"), reinforce success probability information of a predetermined item and item manufacturing success probability information. Like above, in case that goods information further includes the reinforce success probability information or the item manufacturing success probability information, there is an effect that kinds of goods information get diversified and the quantity of goods in the game can be adjusted minutely. Also, there is another effect that it is possible to restrain a game user's complaint about adjustment of the quantity of goods, which may be caused by the fact that the game user has difficulty in recognizing that the quantity of goods is adjusted. In case of adjusting the information on drop probability of the item, information on the number of items to be dropped, price information of the item, etc, there is an effect in controlling "increase" of goods. Meanwhile, in case of adjusting the reinforce success probability information or the item manufacturing success probability information, there is an effect in "decreasing" the quantity of existing goods. Because of these effects, a game operator can efficiently cope -with sudden increase of items within a short time, such as item duping, etc. In step 102, the online game providing system maintains a second database. The second database includes information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total cyber money information corresponding thereto. FIG. 3 is a view illustrating one example of the second database according to one embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 3, information on the number of first access accounts 301 may include at least one piece of information on the number of access accounts. Also, although the information on the number of first access accounts 301 is composed of the particular number of access accounts such as "50,000", "100,000", etc, as an example, in FIG. 3, it can be also configured into a particular section using one number of accounts and the other number of accounts such as "between 1 ,000 and 30,000", "between 30,000 and 50,000", etc. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the information on the number of first access accounts 301 may be the predetermined number of access accounts which is predetermined by the game operator. In this case, the game operator can determine information on the number of first access accounts 301 arbitrarily for convenience of game operation or based on predetermined statistics. In addition, according to other embodiment of the present invention, information on the number of first access accounts 301 may be information on the number of access accounts accessing the online game providing system per unit time. According to the present embodiment, there is an effect that it is easy to make information on. the number of substantially measured access accounts correspond to information on the number of first access accounts 301. In this case, the online game providing system may enable the information on the number of first access accounts 301 to be automatically updated per predetermined time or in real time. In the above embodiment, the information on the number of first access accounts 301 is information on the number of average access accounts accessing the online game system per predetermined unit time. That is, since the number of average access accounts may be different continuously, it is necessary to update the information on the number of first access accounts 301 per predetermined time or in real time. According to the present embodiment, the game operator can obtain the information on the number of first access accounts 301, which is continuously updated on the basis of a certain criterion, without updating the same 301whenever it is necessary. Thus, there is an effect that it is easier to make information on the number of actually measured access accounts correspond to the information on the number of first access accounts 301. The second database includes first total cyber money information 302 corresponding to the information on the number of first access accounts 301. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the first total cyber money information 302 corresponding to the information on the number of first access accounts 301, "50,000", "100,000" and "150,000" may be "3 million", "9 million" and "12 million", respectively. In addition, although the first total cyber money information 302 is composed of amounts of particular total cyber money such as "3 million", "9 million", etc, as illustrated in FIG. 3, it can be configured into a particular section using an amount of one total cyber money and that of the other total cyber money such as "between 1 million and 3 million", "between 3 million and 5 million", etc. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first total cyber money information 302 may be an amount of total cyber money which is predetermined by the game operator. In this case, the game operator may determine the first total cyber money information 302 to correspond to the information on the number of first access accounts 301 arbitrarily for convenience of game operation or based on predetermined statistics. In case that the information on the number of first access accounts 301 is information on the number of average access accounts accessing the online game providing system per unit time, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the first total cyber money information 302 may be information on the average of total cyber money existing in the online game according to the number of average access accounts. In this case, the online game providing system enables the first total cyber money information 302 to be automatically updated per predetermined time or in real time. According to the present embodiment, there is an effect that it is easy to compare actually measured total cyber money information with the first total cyber money information 302. In the meantime, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a predetermined functional relation may be generated between the information on the number of first access accounts 301 and the first total cyber money information 302. It will be described later. In step 103, the online game providing system collects information on the number of second access accounts accessing the online game providing system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game. The information on the number of second access accounts and the second total cyber money information is information which is substantially collected per unit time by the online game providing system. Thus, the above information is different information from the information on the number of first access accounts and the first total cyber money information which is determined by the game operator or based on a certain criterion. In step 104, the online game providing system searches for first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database. The online game providing system makes the collected information on the number of second access accounts correspond to particular information on the number of first access accounts included in the second database. The step 104 can be performed by a method searching for first total cyber money information corresponding to the particular information on the number of first access accounts. In step 105, the online game providing system compares the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information. In step 106, the online game providing system determines whether there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison. In case that there is a difference between standard total cyber money information and substantial total cyber money information and the difference is very small, it is less necessary to adjust the quantity of goods by updating goods information. Accordingly, when the difference between standard total cyber money information and substantial total cyber money information does not reach a certain difference, the online game providing system can manage the current quantity of goods by not updating goods information. On the contrary, when the difference therebetween reaches the certain difference, the online game providing system updates the goods information recorded in the first database, in step 107. Thus, the quantity of goods existing in the game can be adjusted. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the online game providing system maintains predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information. Also, there is provided an online game providing method updating the goods information on the basis of the goods updating information. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating procedures of updating goods information according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the online game providing method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In step 401, the online game providing system maintains a third database. The third database includes predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating one example of the third database. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the third database includes goods information such as information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped, price information of a predetermined item, drop probability information thereof, reinforce success probability information thereof, item manufacturing success probability information, and the like. Also, the third database includes predetermined goods updating information in association with each of the goods information. The goods updating information included in the third database is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between the first total cyber money information and the second total cyber money information. Referring to FIG. 5, when information on the number of first access accounts is "50,000", first total cyber money information corresponding thereto is "3 million". Whenever there is a difference value of "1 million" in comparison with the "3 million", the goods updating information is changed for each step. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the difference value may be determined to be a plus (+) value or a minus (-) "value. In this example, in case that the second total cyber money information is "2 million", a first difference value is determined to be "- 1 million" in which the first total cyber money information "3 million" is subtracted from "2 million". In case that the second total cyber money information is "4 million", a second difference value is determined to be "+ 1 million" in which the first total cyber money information "3 million" is subtracted from "4 million". Referring to FIG. 5, since the first difference value corresponds to "- step 1" and the second difference value corresponds to "+ step 1", corresponding steps are different to each other. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, in a field of information on the number of items to be dropped, goods updating information of "-+ 5 %" may be recorded for the "-step 1" and goods updating information of "- 20 %" recorded for the "+step 1". In step 402, the online game providing system computes a difference value between the first total cyber money information searched in step 104 and the second total cyber information collected in step 103. In step 403, the online game providing system determines whether the computed difference value corresponds to a predetermined difference. When the computed difference value does not reach a predetermined difference, the online game providing system can manage the current quantity of goods by not updating goods information. On the contrary, when the computed difference value reaches the difference, the online game providing system searches for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value in step 404, by referring to the third database. In step 405, the online game providing system can update the goods information on the basis of the searched goods updating information. Thus, the quantity of goods in the game can be adjusted. According to the present embodiment, goods updating information is itemized in accordance with a difference value between standard total cyber money information and substantially collected total cyber money information. There is an effect that it is possible to adjust the quantity of goods differently in the game by maintaining the itemized goods updating information and updating goods information based thereon. Hereinafter, it will be described an online game providing method which can adjust the quantity of goods in the game by updating goods information when the number of total items in the game gets excessive or short. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an online game providing metho d according to another embodiment of the present invention. The online game providing method according to the present embodiment is provided in a predetermined online game providing system. In step 601, the online game providing system according to the present invention maintains a first database. The first database includes goods information associated with progress of the online game. The goods information includes drop probability information of a predetermined item or information on the nuα ber of items to be dropped. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the goods information may further include at least one piece of information selected from the group consisting of information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped, price information of a predetermined item, information on the number of generated collection items, reinforce success probability information of a predetermined item and item manufacturing success probability information. Like above, when goods information further includes the reinforce success probability information or the item manufacturing success probability infoxmation, there is an effect that kinds of goods information get diversified and the quantity of goods in the game can be adjusted minutely. Also, there is another effect that it is possible to restrain a game user's complaint about adjustment of the quantity of goods, which may be caused by the fact that the game user has difficulty in recognizing that tlie quantity of goods is adjusted. In case of adjusting information on the number of generated collection items, information on the number of items to be dropped, price information of the item, etc, there is an effect in controlling "increase" of goods. Meanwhile, in case of adjusting the reinforce success probability information or the item manufacturing success probability information, there is an effect in "decreasing" the quantity of existing goods. Because of these effects, a game operator can efficiently cope with sudden increase of items within a short time, such as item duping, etc. In step 602, the online game providing system maintains a second database. The second database includes information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and information on the number of first total items corresponding tliereto. FIG. 7 is a view illustrating one example of the second database according to the present invention. The second database includes information on thie number of first total items 701 corresponding to information on the number of first access accounts. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the information on the number of first total items 701 corresponding to information on the number of first access accounts, "50,000", "100,000", and "150,000", may be "2000", "6,000", and "12,000", respectively. Also, although the information on the number of first total items 701 is composed of the particular number of total items such as "2,000", "6,000", etc, as an example, in FIG. 7, it can be also configured into a particular section using one number of total items and the other number of total items such as "between 1,000 and 2,000", "between 2,000 and 3,000", etc. According to one embodiment of the present invention, information on the number of first access accounts may be information on the number of average access accounts accessing the online game providing system per predetermined unit time. Also, the information on the number of first total items 701 may be information on the average number of total items existing in the online game by the number of avera_ge access accounts. According to the present embodiment, it is easy to make information on the number of substantially measured access accounts correspond to information on the number of first access accounts. Thus, there is an effect that it is convenient to compare information on the number of substantially measured total items with the infoimation on the number of first total items 701. In the meantime, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a predetermined functional relation may be generated between the information on the number of first access accounts and the information on the number of first total items 701. It will be described later. In step 603, the online game providing system collects information on the number of second access accounts accessing the online game providing system per unit time or information on the number of second total items existing in the online game p er the unit time. The information on the number of second total items is information which is substantially collected per the unit time by the online game providing system. Thus, the information on the number of second total items is different information from information on the number of first total items which is determined by the game operator or based on a certain criterion. In step 604, the online game providing system searches for information on the number of first total items corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database. The online game providing system makes the collected information on the number of second access accounts correspond to particular information on the number of first access accounts included in the second database. The step 604 may be performed by a method of searching for information on the number of first total items corresponding to the particular information on the number of first access accounts. In step 605, the online game providing system compares the searched information on the number of first total items with the collected information on the number of second total items. In step 606, the online game providing system determines whether there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison. In case that there is a difference between standard information on the number of total items and substantial information on the number of total items and the difference is very small, it is less necessary to adjust the quantity of goods by updating goods information. Accordingly, when the difference value between standard information on the number of total items and substantial information on the number of total items does not reach a certain difference, the online game providing system can manage the current quantity of goods by not updating goods information. On the contrary, when the difference value therebetween reaches the certain difference, the online game providing system updates the goods information recorded in the first database, in step 607. Thus, the quantity of goods existing in the game can be adjusted. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the online game providing system maintains predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information. Also, there is provided an online game providing method updating the goods information on the basis of the goods updating information. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating procedures of updating goods information according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the online game providing method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In step 401, the online game providing system maintains a third database. The third database includes predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information. FIG. 8 is a view illustrating one example of the third database. The goods updating information included in the third database is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between the information on the number of first total items and the information on the number of second total items. Referring to FIG. 8, when information on the number of first access accounts is "50,000", information on the number of first total items corresponding thereto is "2000". Whenever there is a difference value of "500" in comparison with the "2000", the goods updating information is changed for each step. In step 402, the online game providing system computes a difference value between the information on the number of first total items searched in the step 604 and the information on the number of second total items collected in the step 603. In step 403, the online game providing system determines whether the computed difference value corresponds to a predetermined difference. When the computed difference value does not reach a predetermined difference, the online game providing system can manage the current quantity of goods by not updating goods information. On the contrary, when the computed difference value reaches the difference, the online game providing system searches for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value in step 404, by referring to the third database. In step 405, the online game providing system can update the goods information on the basis of the searched goods updating information. Thus, the quantity of goods in the game can be adjusted. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the online game providing system maintains the goods information for each item. Also, there is provided an online game providing method searching for an item only whose number gets excessive or short and updating goods information associated with the searched item. In step 601, the online game providing system according to the present invention can include the goods information in the first database by each item identifier associated with each item. FIG. 9 is a view illustrating one example of the first database according to the present invention. In FIG. 9, item identifiers 901 are used to present a connection between each of items and goods information. Also, the first database may further include information on property of items associated with the item identifiers 901, such as for example, information on categories of water, fire, land, wind, magic and the like. In step 602, the online game providing system according to the present embodiment can include information on the number of first total items in the second database by each of the item identifiers 901. FIG. 10 is a view illustrating one example of the second database according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 10, item identifiers are used to present a connection between each of items and goods information. Each of item identifiers is associated with at lest one piece of information on the number of first total items. As illustrated in FIG. 10, in case that item identifiers are respectively different, different information on the number of first total items may correspond to the same information on the number of first access accounts. In step 603, the online game providing system according to the present embodiment can collect information on the number of second total items by each of the items. In step 605, the online game providing system can compare the collected information on the number of second total items with the information on the number of first total items searched in step 604. In step 606, the online game providing system can determine whether there is a predetermined difference. When there is the difference, in step 607, the online game providing system can search for an item identifier of an item having the difference and update goods information associated with the searched item identifier. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to make information on the number of first total items different in accordance with property of each item. Thus, there is an effect that it is possible to adjust the number of high level items having high values and the number of intermediate and low level items having low values differentially. That is, in case of high level items, when the number of total items thereof substantially measured exceeds a standard since the standard number of total items is set low, the same is adjusted downward to be an appropriate number. Thus, it is possible to prevent game users from losing interests in the game due to excess of high level items. On the contrary, in case of intermediate and low level items, when the number of total items thereof substantially measured does not reach a standard since the standard number of total items is set high, the same is adjusted upward to be an appropriated number. Thus, it is also possible to prevent game users from losing interests in the game due to short of intermediate and low level items. Like above, it has been described in relation to when total cyber money or the number of total items gets excessive or short. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the online game providing system collects 'traffic information' existing in the game. Also, there is provided an online game providing method which can adjust the quantity of goods in the game by updating goods information when the traffic gets excessive or short. At this time, 'traffic' is the quantity of 'calls'. In this specification, 'calls' is predetermined goods including both total cyber money and the number of total items. The online game providing system according to the present embodiment collects both total cyber money information and information on the number of total items instead of separately collecting the same, and changes the collected information into traffic information in accordance with a predetermined criterion. When there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison between the traffic information and standard traffic information, the online game providing system can adjust the quantity of goods in the game by updating goods information. A method for providing an online game according to the present embodiment comprises the steps of: maintaining a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game; maintaining a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total traffic information corresponding thereto; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time or second total traffic information existing in the online game per unit time; searching for the first total traffic information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; comparing the searched first total traffic information with the collected second total traffic information; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to exactly check excess or short of goods by using predetermined traffic information which can include both the total cyber money and the information on the number of total items in the game. Thus, the quantity of goods can be adjusted appropriately. In the meantime, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a predetermined functional relation can be generated between information on the number of first access accounts and first total cyber money information, or between information on the number of first access accounts and information on the number of first total items. Hereinafter, the online game providing method according to the present embodiment will be described. The online game providing system according to the present embodiment can perform the step of maintaining a record means. The record means records a predetermined function with respect to first total cyber money information or information on the number of first total items. FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating one example of a function with respect to first total cyber money information or information on the number of first total items in one embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the function takes information on the number of first access accounts as a variable and the first total cyber money information or the information on the number of first total items as a function value. Although FIG. 11 illustrates an example of function taking the information on the number of first access accounts as a variable, it will be apparent to those skilled in the related art that the function can be variously set up by an online game developer or a game operator operating an online game. The online game providing system according to the present embodiment can perform the step of computing information on the number of first total items or first total cyber money information corresponding to collected information on the number of second access accounts 1101 by using the function recorded in the record means. Also, the online game providing system can perform the step of comparing the computed first total cyber money information or information on the number of first total items 1102 with collected second total cyber money information or information on the number of second total items. According to the present embodiment, the game operator pre-sets standard information on the number of access accounts and total cyber money information or information on the number of total items. Thus, standard total cyber money information or information on the number of total items corresponding to collected information on the number of access accounts is automatically computed without the step of comparison with the collected information. Accordingly, there is an effect that it is possible to lighten a burden of the game operator in operating the game. Hereinafter, the online game providing system according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, it will be described the online game providing system which can adjust the quantity of goods in the game by updating goods information when total cyber money existing in the game gets excessive or short. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating the online game providing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. An online game providing system 1200 according to the present embodiment includes a first database 1201, a second database 1202, a collecting means 1203, a search means 1204, a comparison means 1205 and a goods information updating means 1206. The first database 1201 includes goods information associated with progress of the online game. The goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money or price information of a predetermined item. Also, the goods information may further include at least one piece of information selected from the group consisting of drop probability information of a predetermined item, information on the number of generated items for collection (hereinafter, "collection item"), reinforce success probability information of a predetermined item and item manufacturing success probability information. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating one example of the goods information. Since it has been described in relation to FIG. 2, further description will be omitted. The second database 1202 includes information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total cyber money information corresponding thereto. FIG. 3 is a view illustrating one example of the second database according to one embodiment of the present invention. Since it has been described in relation to FIG. 3, further description will be omitted. The collecting means 1203 collects information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per the unit time. The search means 1204 searches for first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database 1202. The comparison means 1205 compares the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information. The goods information updating means 1206 updates the goods information recorded in the first database in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison. According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided the online game providing system which maintains predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information and updates the goods information on the basis of the goods updating information. The online game providing system 1200 according to the present embodiment may further include the third database 1207. The third database 1207 includes predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information. The goods updating information is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between .the first total cyber money information and the second total cyber money information. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating one example of the third database 1207. Since it has been described in relation to FIG. 5, further description will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the comparison means 1205 computes a difference value between the searched first total cyber money information and the collected second total cyber money information. The goods information updating information 1206 searches for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value by referring to the third database 1207 and updates the goods information on the basis of the searched goods updating information. Hereinafter, it will be described an online game providing system which can adjust the quantity of goods in the game by updating goods information when the number of total items existing in the game gets excessive or short. In the present embodiment, the first database 1201 includes goods information associated with progress of the online game. The goods information includes drop probability information of a predetermined item or information on the number of items to be dropped. Also, the goods information may further include at least one piece of information selected from the group consisting of information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped, price information of a predetermined item, information on the number of generated collection items, reinforce success probability information of a predetermined item and item manufacturing success probability information. Since it has been described in relation to FIG. 2, further description will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the second database 1202 includes information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and information on the number of first total items corresponding thereto. FIG. 7 is a view illustrating one example of the second database according to the present embodiment. Since it has been described in relation to FIG. 7, further description will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the collection means 1203 collects information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time or information on the number of second total items existing in the online game per the unit time. Also, the search means 1204 searches for information on the number of first total items corresponding to the collected infor ation on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database 1202. The comparison means 1205 compares the searched information on the number of first total items with the collected information on the number of second total items. At this time, the comparison means 1205 updates the goods information recorded in the first database 1201 when there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison. According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided the online game providing system which maintains predetermined goods updating information associated with the good information and updates the goods information on the basis of the goods updating information. The online game providing system 1200 according to the present embodiment may further include the third database 1207. In the present embodiment, the third database 1207 includes predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information. The goods updating information is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between the information on the number of first total items and the information on the number of second total items. FIG. 8 is a view illustrating one example of the third database. Since it has been described in relation to FIG. 8, further description will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the comparison means 1205 computes a difference value between the searched information on the number of first total items and the collected information on the number of second total items. The goods updating means 1206 searches for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value by referring to the third database 1207 and updates the goods information on the basis of the searched goods updating information. Like above, it has been described in relation to when total cyber money or the number of total items gets excessive or short. According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an online game providing method which can collect 'traffic information' existing in the game and adjust the quantity of goods in the game by updating goods information when the traffic gets excessive or short. Also, the online game providing system according to the present embodiment collects both total cyber money information and information on the number of total items instead of separately collecting the same, and changes the collected information into traffic information in accordance with a predetermined criterion. When there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison between the traffic information and standard traffic information, the online game providing system can adjust the quantity of goods in the game by updating goods information. According to the online game providing system of the present embodiment, the second database 1202 includes information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total traffic information corresponding thereto. The collecting mean 1203 collects information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time or second total traffic information existing in the online game per the unit time. Also, the search means 1204 searches for first total traffic information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access account by referring to the second database 1202. The comparison means 1205 compares the searched first total traffic information with the collected second total traffic information. In the meantime, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a predetermined functional relation may be generated between information on the number of first access accounts and first total cyber money information or information on the number of items. Hereinafter, the online game providing system according to the present embodiment will be described. The online game providing system according to the present embodiment may maintain a record means (not illustrated). The record means records a predetermined function with respect to first total cyber money information or information on the number of total items. At this time, the function takes information on the number of first access accounts as a variable. FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating one example of the function with respect to first total cyber money information or information on the number of first total items, in the present embodiment. Since it has been described in relation to FIG. 11, further description will be omitted. The online game providing system according to the present embodiment may include a computing means (not illustrated). The computing means computes information on the number of first total items or first total cyber money information corresponding to collected information on the number of second access accounts by using the function recorded in the record means. Also, in the online game providing system according to the present embodiment, the comparison means 1205 serves to compare the computed first total cyber money information or information on the number of first total items with collected second total cyber money information or information on the number of second total items. The embodiments of the present invention include computer readable media including program instructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, tables, and the like. The media and program instructions may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. FIG. 13 is an inner block diagram of a general purpose computer which can be employed in implementing the online game providing method according to the present invention. The computer system 1300 includes any number of processors 1310 (also referred to as central processing units, or CPUs) that are coupled to storage devices including primary storage (typically a random access memory, or "RAM 1320 "), primary storage (typically a read only memory, or "ROM 1330"). As is well known in the art, ROM 1330 acts to transfer data and instructions uni-directionally to the CPU and RAJM 1320 is used typically to transfer data and instructions in a bi-directional manner. Both of these primary storage devices may include any suitable type of the computer-readable media described above. A mass storage device 1340 is also coupled bi-directionally to CPU and provides additional data storage capacity and may include any of the computer-readable media described above. The mass storage 1340 may be used to store programs, data and the like and is typically a secondary storage medium such as a hard disk that is slower than primary storage. A specific mass storage device such as a CD-ROM 1360 may also pass data uni-directionally to the CPU. Processor 1310 is also coupled to an interface 1350 that includes one or more input/output devices such as such as video monitors, track balls, mice, keyboards, microphones, touch- sensitive displays, transducer card readers, magnetic or paper tape readers, tablets, styluses, voice or handwriting recognizers, or other well-known input devices such as, of course, other computers. Finally, processor 1310 optionally may be coupled to a computer or telecommunications network using a network connection as shown generally at a network interface 1370. With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the CPU might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described method steps. The above-described devices and materials will be familiar to those of skill in the computer hardware and software arts. The hardware elements above may be configured to act as one or more software modules for implementing the operations of this invention. The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the indention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended thereto and their equivalents.

Industrial Applicability According to a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, there is an effect that it is possible to maintain the number of high level items to be at an appropriate level in a game by presenting excess or lack of cyber money or items in the game. Also, according to a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, there is an effect that it is possible to maintain uniformity of a game and enhance interests of game users by adjusting elements associated with cyber money or the number of items in the game in accordance with a predetermined criterion. Also, according to a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, there is an effect that it is possible to continuously maintain game satisfaction of game users by timely and automatically adjusting elements associated with cyber money or the number of items in the game. Also, according to a method for providing an online game and a system thereof, there is an effect that it is possible to reduce temporal and economic burdens of a game operator in operating a game by automatically managing cyber money or the number of items in the game.

Claims

1. A method for providing an online game, comprising the steps of: maintaining a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped or price information on a predetermined item; maintaining a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total cyber money information corresponding thereto; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per the unit time; searching for first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; comparing the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: maintaining a third database including predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information, in which the goods updating information is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between the first total cyber money information and the second total cyber money information; wherein the step of comparing the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information comprises the step of computing a difference value between the searched first total cyber money information and the collected second total cyber money information; and the step of updating the goods information recorded in the first database comprises the steps of searching for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value by referring to the third database; and updating the goods information based on the searched goods updating information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein: the information on the number of first access accounts is information on the number of average access accounts accessing the online game providing system per unit time; and the first total cyber money information is information on the average of total cyber money existing in the online game in accordance with the number of average access accounts.

4. A method for providing an online game, comprising the steps of: maintaining a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes drop probability information with respect to a predetermined item or information on the number of items to be dropped; maintaining a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and information on the number of first total items corresponding thereto; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time or information on the number of second total items existing in the online game per unit time; searching for information on the number of first total items corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; comparing the searched information on the number of first total items with the collected information on the number of second total items; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of: maintaining a third database including predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information, in which the goods updating information is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between the information on the number of first total items and the information on the number of second total items; wherein the step of comparing the searched information on the number of first total items with the collected information on the second total items includes the step of computing a difference value between the searched information on the number of first total items and the collected information on the number of second total items; and the step of updating the goods information recorded in the first database includes the steps of searching for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value by referring to the third database; and mpdating the goods information based on the searched goods updating information.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein: the first database includes the goods information by each item identifier associated with each item; the second database includes the information on the number of first total items by each item identifier; the step of collecting the information on the number of second total items collects the information on the number of second total items by each item identifier; the step of comparing the searched information on the number of first total items with the collected information on the number of second total items compares the collected information on the number of second total items with the searched information on the number of first total items by each item; the step of updating the goods information recorded in the first database in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison includes the steps of searching for an item identifier associated with an item having the difference; and updating goods information associated with the searched item identifier.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein: the information on the number of first access accounts is information on the number of average access accounts accessing the online game providing system per unit time; and the information on the number of first total items is information on the number of average of total items existing in the online game in accordance with the number of average access accounts.

8. A method for providing an online game, comprising the steps of: maintaining a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game; maintaining a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total traffic information corresponding thereto; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time or second total traffic information existing in the online game per unit time; searching for the first total traffic information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; comparing the searched first total traffic information with the collected second total traffic information; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database.

9. A method for providing an online game, comprising the steps of: maintaining a database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped or price information on a predetermined item; maintaining a record means recording a predetermined function with respect to first total cyber money information, in which the function takes information on the number of first access accounts as a variable; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per unit time; computing first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by using the function recorded in the record means; comparing the computed first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the database.

10. A method for providing an online game, comprising the steps of: maintaining a database including goods information associated with progress of^" the online game, in which the goods information includes drop probability information with respect to a predetermined item or information on the number of items to be dropped; maintaining a record means recording a predetermined function with respect to mformation on the number of first total items, in which the function takes information on the number of first access accounts as a variable; collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing a predetermined online game providing system per unit time and information on the number of second total items existing in the online game per unit time; computing information on the number of first total items corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by using the function recorded in the record means; comparing the computed information on the number of first total items with the collected information on the number of second total items; and in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the database.

11. A computer readable record medium recording a program for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A system for providing an online game, comprising: a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped or price information on a predetermined item; a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total cyber money information corresponding thereto; a collecting means collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per unit time; a search means searching for first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; a comparison means comparing the searched first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information; and an updating means, in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database.

13. The system of claim 12, further including a third database^ including predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information, in which the goods information is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between the first total cyber money information and the second total cyber money information; the comparison means computes a difference value between the searched first total cyber money information and the collected second total cyber money information; and the updating means searches for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value by referring to the third database and updates the goods information based on the searched goods updating information.

14. A system for providing an online game, comprising: a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes drop probability information with respect to a predetermined item or information on the number of items to be dropped; a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and information on the number of first total items corresponding thereto; a collecting means collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time or information on the number of second total items existing in the online game per unit time; a search means searching for information on the number of first total items corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; a comparison means comparing the searched information on the number of first total items with the collected information on the number of second total items; and an updating means, in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a third database including predetermined goods updating information associated with the goods information, in which the goods updating information is recorded in correspondence to a difference value between the information on the number of first total items and the information on the number of second total items; wherein the comparison means computes a difference value between the searched information on the number of first total items and the collected information on the number of second total items; and the updating means searches for goods updating information corresponding to the computed difference value by referring to the third database; and updates the goods information based on the searched goods updating information.

16. A system for providing an online game, comprising: a first database including goods information associated with progress of the online game; a second database including information on the number of predetermined first access accounts and first total traffic information corresponding thereto; a collecting means collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time or second total traffic mformation exiisting in the online game per unit time; a search means searching for the first total traffic information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by referring to the second database; a comparison means comparing the searched first total traffic inforrαation with the collected second total traffic information; and an updating means, in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the first database.

17. A system for providing an online game, comprising: a database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes information on an amount of cyber money to be dropped or price information on a predetermined item; a record means recording a predetermined function with respect to first total cyber money information, in which the function takes information on the number of first access accounts as a variable; a collecting means collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time or second total cyber money information existing in the online game per unit time; a computing means computing first total cyber money information corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by using the function recorded in the record means; a comparison means comparing the computed first total cyber money information with the collected second total cyber money information; and an updating means, in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the database.

18. A system for providing an online game, comprising: a database including goods information associated with progress of the online game, in which the goods information includes drop probability information with respect to a predetermined item or information on the number of items to be dropped; a record means recording a predetermined function with respect to information on the number of first total items, in which the function takes information on the number of first access accounts as a variable; a collecting means collecting information on the number of second access accounts accessing the system per unit time and information on the number of second total items existing in the online game per unit time; a computing means computing information on the number of first total items corresponding to the collected information on the number of second access accounts by using the function recorded in the record means; a comparison means comparing the computed information on the number of first total items with the collected information on the number of second total items; and an updating means, in case that there is a predetermined difference as a result of comparison, updating the goods information recorded in the database.