KR20100083369A - Balance keeping system for on-line game - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A balance keeping system of an online game is provided to reduce the management load of a game company by providing a backup proxy service for an online game system through a network. CONSTITUTION: An online game server(100) requests the backup or the restoration of an online game system to a balance keeping service server(300). A user terminal(200) executes a vote for the restoration of the online game system through the connection of the on-line game server. The balance keeping service server logically exists between the on-line game server and the user terminal. The balance keeping service server executes the backup and the restoration of the online game system.

Description

BALANCE KEEPING SYSTEM FOR ON-LINE GAME}

The present invention belongs to the information and communication related technology, and provides a rational window for system rollback between online game companies and users to strengthen the trust relationship between each other and to contribute to the development of the domestic game industry. It suggests a way to do it.

The online game company updates the system to adjust the overall balance of the game. Here, the balance may be defined as a balance, average, equilibrium, harmony, etc., the balance in the game means that all of the game users are given a balanced and harmonious condition. In games where three different races play against each other, such as StarCraft, you can adjust the stats of game characters that have their own unique organs in race relationships or RPG (Role Playing Game) (e.g. using a sword but not able to shoot a bow Characters that are good at this and swords are not good at use, but shooting a bow is good for long-range attacks).

Game balance is at the heart of game design and an absolute factor in improving game completion. In the case of online games where several users access simultaneously, the failure to adjust the game balance is more important because it affects different users. Normal users lose their motivation for the game if they exploit Vulnerabilities in Balance before the system is properly updated, so that higher levels of the game can be made faster than others, or even higher-level characters can't. .

Depending on the game scenario, design and adjustment of the overall game balance as well as character and item balances are made during the design and development process. However, problems related to the balance are often found after a certain period of time. An update is underway to adjust this. However, since the change of the existing balance causes another unexpected destruction of the balance, it is the fate of game companies to adjust the proper game balance through continuous update even after the game is released.

Game companies test on the test server when updating the system, save the previous version and then update. However, most of the updates have a problem, and there are few solutions, especially when the game balance is revealed after a certain time. In case of big and small problems, many game companies inform users of the problem and then roll back the game system.

At this time, the users who have continuously raised the experience value of the character in the online game and carried out activities such as item acquisition lose the motivation or the motivation for the game itself by losing the experience value or items that have been accumulated so far due to the one-sided system rollback of the game company. You have a distrust of the game company. In addition, additional tasks such as system backup and backup system management put a lot of burden on online game companies that must stick to their original tasks such as game development.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and provides a backup agent service for the online game system through the network to reduce the management burden of the game company, as well as a reliable system to roll back the game system It aims to provide a system that can protect the rights and virtual goods of online game users by making decisions through democratic procedures in which users directly participate under the control of third parties.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be described below, which are not limited to the matters set forth in the claims and the disclosure of the embodiments thereof, but also to the broader ranges by means and combinations within the range readily recited therefrom. Add that it will be included.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an online game environment for the user terminal 200, and requests the balance keeping service server 300 to back up the online game system, and if necessary, An online game server 100 for performing a preliminary notice regarding the restoration of the online game system to the user terminal 200 at the same time as requesting the restoration; A user terminal 200 for allowing a user to access an online game server 100 to execute an online game and to vote on whether to restore the online game system; And a balance keeping service server 300 logically existing between the online game server 100 and the user terminal 200 and performing backup and restoration of the online game system at the request of the online game server 100. We present a balance keeping system for online games.

According to the present invention, game users can participate in the decision on whether to roll back the system, trust the validity of the rollback of the system, and be provided with compensation for the loss of virtual goods due to inadvertent update-rollback of the game company. . In addition, online game developers and suppliers can reduce the workload associated with backing up their game systems and have a trusted third party with channels to seek game users' consent to rollback. That is, the present invention can provide a reasonable dialogue window for system rollback between a game company and a user to establish a mutual trust relationship, and further contribute to the development of the domestic game industry by creating a sound online game environment.

Other effects of the present invention, as well as those described in the above-described embodiments and claims of the present invention, as well as potential effects that may occur within the range that can be easily estimated therefrom and potential advantages that contribute to industrial development It will be added that it will be covered by a wider scope.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related well-known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the following will describe a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto and may be variously modified and modified by those skilled in the art.

As in the past, when an online game company rolls back the system to adjust the overall balance of the game, users lose their experience and items, and thus lose their motivation for the game itself. There is distrust.

The present invention has been proposed to solve this problem, where a third-party trusted server acts as a backup for the online game system over the network, and under the supervision of the server, users can democratically decide whether to roll back the game system. By providing a system to protect the rights and virtual goods of online game users.

The present invention for achieving this object comprises an online game server 100, the user terminal 200 and the balance keeping service server 300, Figure 1 is a general view of the balance keeping system of the online game according to the present invention The configuration is shown. Here, the balance keeping service server 300 is a third reliable server for backing up and restoring the online game system as mentioned above, and its function and operation form the core of the present invention.

On the other hand, the server constituting the present invention is implemented on the Internet through one or more applications to achieve the desired results desired by the client through the cooperative work of the client (Client) requesting the service and the server (Server) processing the client's request It is a concept of general web server that provides user's request through wired network and wireless network in distributed processing type client / server method that manages program in cooperative environment. These web servers vary according to operating systems such as DOS, Windows, Linux, UNIX, Mac OS, OS / 2, and Solaris. It can be implemented using a web server program that is provided in a variety of ways. Typical examples include PWS (Personal Web Server), Internet Information Server (IIS), Website, TTPS, and Unix. CERN, NCSA and APPACHE. However, such a server should be understood as a broad concept including a series of application programs for providing various services according to the present invention, in addition to a web server program in a general sense.

The service according to the present invention is generally performed in a wired internet network, but may be performed in a wireless internet network under conditions that overcome limitations of data transmission speed and memory. Accordingly, the Internet as a communication means for connecting the servers to each other means a computer network capable of transmitting and receiving various data used in the present invention, and is a wired Internet network such as an open Internet or a closed intranet, or a wireless Internet connected to a mobile communication network. A communication network or the like can be used. However, any communication means can be used as long as data transmission and reception are possible. Internet network that can be used in the wired and wireless Internet network of the present invention is a communication protocol TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) and various services existing in the upper layer, that is, HTTP, Telnet, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), The global open computer network architecture that provides Domain Name System (DNS), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Network File Service (NFS), and Network Information Service (NIS). Since the wired / wireless Internet network may be implemented using a conventional method as it is or without difficulty, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The online game server 100 provides an online game environment for the user terminal 200 (S500). The online game server 100 requests a backup of the online game system to the balance keeping service server 300 to perform an update related to the game balance (S200). In this case, the existing online game system has a balance keeping service server ( 300 is backed up (S400).

On the other hand, the online game server 100 may request the restoration of the online game system to the balance keeping service server 300 (S200) if necessary, in this case, the balance keeping service server 300 restores the backed up online game system. (S300). At this time, when the online game development and supplier restores the online game system for the purpose of internal testing, the system restoration is performed only by the mutual authentication procedure between the online game development and the supplier and the balance keeping service server 300. System restoration to the online game server 100 that is actually operated is not made unconditionally because of the request of the online game server 100. This is because, in this case, users may lose their motivation or distrust of the game company by losing their experiences or items that have been accumulated since the restoration of the online game system.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the present invention has introduced a rational method for the restoration of the online game system. The core of the scheme is that users vote to determine whether to restore the online game system and balance keeping according to the result of the vote. The service server 300 is to restore or not to restore the online game system. That is, the balance keeping service server 300 restores the online game system only when the result of the vote is in favor of the restoration of the online game system. As a first step to realize this, the online game server 100 requests the balance keeping service server 300 to restore the online game system (S200) and restores the online game system to the user terminal 200 when necessary. Advance notice (S500) will be performed. The fact is that users can participate in the voting to decide whether to restore the online game system.

At this time, the online game server 100 provides additional information on the background and necessity of restoring the online game system received from the online game company, a problem foreseen in the future, increased experience value of individual users, and compensation scheme of virtual goods (S500). Is preferred. By sharing such additional information, users can fully understand the general situation related to the restoration of the online game system and can clearly determine in which direction to vote.

The user terminal 200 allows the user to access the online game server 100 to execute an online game (S100 → S500), and to vote on whether to restore the online game system. More specifically, the user accesses the online game server 100 with his or her user terminal 200 and then restores the online game system with respect to the balance keeping service server 300 interoperating with the online game server 100. Will vote for (S100 → S200). At this time, in order for the user to vote for the balance keeping service server 300, the user needs to go through a second authentication process separate from the authentication required for accessing the online game server 100. Accordingly, a direct interaction between the balance keeping service server 300 and the user terminal 200 may be made (S600).

In the case of the present invention, the user terminal 200 may be formed of a wired or wireless terminal or an internet terminal. That is, the user terminal 200 may be a computer in a desktop form, but is not limited thereto, and a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, a personal communication system (PCS), a handheld PC Held PC) and the like. The user terminal 200 moves in conjunction with a general modem, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) network, a cable modem and a cable broadcasting network, a LAN card and a LAN network, a LAN card and an intranet in a company, a communication module (chip) and a wireless internet gateway. It can be connected to an external internet network through a communication network.

The balance keeping service server 300 logically exists between the online game server 100 and the user terminal 200 and serves to backup and restore the online game system at the request of the online game server 100.

When the user votes according to the advance notice of the online game system restoration of the online game server 100, the balance keeping service server 300 aggregates vote contents of individual users on whether the online game system is restored (S200). The final voting result is calculated (S400) and the restoration of the online game system is performed only when it is for the restoration of the online game system (S300).

At this time, since the balance keeping service server 300 does not place any particular limitation on the method of calculating the final voting result, the balance keeping service server 300 may try various methods for calculating the voting result. Can be. For example, it may be possible to introduce a method of determining whether or not to restore the online game system according to the principle of majority decision on the pros and cons of all users' votes. This is a generalized way you can usually think of. However, in the case of the present invention, it would be more desirable to introduce a weighting method for a user who has an increased experience value or accumulated virtual goods. By doing so, users can obtain a more reasonable understanding and consent for the restoration of the online game system, and protect the sense of loss and rights of the online game users who will lose the accumulated experience and items. Because it can.

The balance keeping service server 300 transmits information such as a final voting result on whether to restore the online game system as well as a policy on the storage period of the backed up online game system to the online game server 100 (S300). Share with the company while storing and managing it separately (S400). In this case, the game company may check the information stored and managed by the balance keeping service server 300 from time to time (S200 → S300).

On the other hand, in order to minimize the security threats from the outside, it is preferable to apply the following security elements to the balance keeping service server 300. First, the communication between the online game server 100 and the balance keeping service server 300 uses a security protocol that supports mutual authentication. Second, in order for a user to vote on whether to restore the online game system, a second authentication process with enhanced safety is required between the user terminal 200 and the balance keeping service server 300. Third, the facts and contents of each user's voting for restoring the system stored in the balance keeping service server 300 are proved by an electronic signature using a public or private certificate and have legal effect. Fourth, the backup fact of the online game system and the integrity of the backed-up online game system performed by the balance keeping service server 300 are proved by electronic signature through a public or private certificate, thereby eliminating the possibility of dispute about whether the integrity of the system changes. . Fifth, in order to protect the online game system backed up by the balance keeping service server 300, a dedicated security product such as database security or server security is installed and operated.

In addition, in the present invention, it is desirable to provide an appropriate compensation rule for the loss of the virtual goods of the user that may occur due to the backup and restoration of the careless online game system. In this case, the contents or determination method of such compensation rules are not particularly limited in the present invention, but the compensation responsibility is mainly assumed by the balance keeping service provider (operator of the balance skipping service server 300). It may be desirable to make decisions based on the agreement between online game developers and suppliers, online game users, and balance keeping service providers. By doing so, online game developers and suppliers can reduce their risks by delegating responsibility for damages caused by users' loss of virtual goods to trusted third parties, and become more faithful to their original tasks such as game development. .

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various modifications, changes, and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention and the accompanying drawings are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention but to describe the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by the embodiments and the accompanying drawings. . The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a balance keeping system for an online game according to the present invention.

Claims (9)

While providing an online game environment for the user terminal 200, requesting the backup of the online game system to the balance keeping service server 300, and requesting the restoration of the online game system if necessary, the user terminal 200. An online game server 100 for performing advance notice of restoration of the online game system; A user terminal 200 for allowing a user to access an online game server 100 to execute an online game and to vote on whether to restore the online game system; And A balance keeping service server 300 logically exists between the online game server 100 and the user terminal 200 and performs backup and restoration of the online game system at the request of the online game server 100. Balanced keeping system of online games, including. The method of claim 1, Online game server 100, When providing advance notice of the restoration of the online game system to the user terminal 200, it provides additional information on the background and necessity of the system restoration, future problems, increased experience of individual users, and compensation for virtual goods. Balanced keeping system of the online game, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The balance keeping service server 300, The balance keeping system of the online game, characterized in that the final voting result is calculated by counting the voting contents of individual users on whether the online game system is restored, and the online game system is restored only when it agrees with the restoration of the online game system. . The method of claim 3, wherein The balance keeping service server 300, A balance keeping system for online games, characterized in that the final voting result of the restoration of the online game system is transmitted to the online game server 100 and stored and managed separately. The method of claim 1, The balance keeping service server 300, Balanced game system of the online game, characterized in that for using the security protocol to support mutual authentication for communication with the online game server (100). The method of claim 1, In order to vote whether the online game system is restored or not, the user must go through a second authentication process with enhanced safety between the user terminal 200 and the balance keeping service server 300. system. The method of claim 3, wherein The fact that the voting facts and contents of individual users for restoring the system stored in the balance keeping service server 300 are proved by electronic signature using a public or private certificate. The method of claim 1, The balance keeping system of the online game, characterized in that the backup of the online game system and the integrity of the backed online game system performed by the balance keeping service server 300 is proved through an electronic signature through a public or private certificate. The method of claim 1, The balance keeping system of online games, which installs and operates a dedicated security product such as database security or server security to protect the online game system backed up by the balance keeping service server 300.

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