KR20130143165A

KR20130143165A - Apparatus and method of matching party member in online game

Info

Publication number: KR20130143165A
Application number: KR1020120066397A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 김봉찬
Original assignee: 주식회사 엔씨소프트
Priority date: 2012-06-20
Filing date: 2012-06-20
Publication date: 2013-12-31

Abstract

A system and method for matching party members in an online game is disclosed. According to the present invention, the system obtains and prestores relationship among player characters through log analysis by a predetermined algorithm and automatically matches the player characters such that player characters with high relationship belong to the same party when the player characters organizes a party in the online game. The system of the present invention leads gamers who have played the online game together to continue to play the online game together, thereby contributing to inducing the expansion of personal connections and improving community in the online game. [Reference numerals] (100) Party member matching system for online game;(110) Log recording unit;(120) Party information providing unit;(130) Relationship analysis unit;(140) Matching unit;(150) Personal connections management unit

Description

Party Member Matching System and Matching Method in Online Games {APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MATCHING PARTY MEMBER IN ONLINE GAME}

The present invention belongs to the field of online game technology.

Online games, particularly Massively Multiplayer Online-games (MMOs), engage in a variety of ways, including collaborative play or confrontation between gamers within the game. Nevertheless, the interaction between these gamers is for the purpose of game play itself, and since online games are not a means of communication, there is a certain limit to the smooth communication or networking among gamers.

When looking at a conventional online game, there is a chat or messaging function between party members in the game, but it is also provided only for game play.

On the other hand, with the spread of smart phones and the emergence of social network services, users can freely communicate with users connected with themselves through time and space constraints.

As with these social networking services, online games can be more enjoyable gameplay for gamers if they can more easily share their opinions, expand their network, and play games together. This could be a good idea to improve customer loyalty.

In this regard, research and development on the convergence of so-called online games and social networks, which connects gamers who have a certain relationship in online games to social network services, is being conducted.

However, this convergence ultimately aims to connect the relationships between gamers created in the online game to users from outside the online game, and whether or not these established gamers will have a virtuous cycle of positive utilization in the game. I am somewhat doubtful.

Fundamentally, this convergence research is conducted to induce connected users to play smoothly in the online game and to smoothly play the game by exchanging information about the game. It is difficult to achieve this effect by simply connecting with gamers in the outside space of the game by using the related relevance.

Therefore, it is necessary to find a new way to reflect the relationship between gamers created in the game more directly in the online game.

[Patent 1] Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0111584 "Auto party group creation method and online system for online game"

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, and calculates the relationship between each player character through the interaction between the player characters generated in the online game, and by using the predetermined relationship I would like to present a way to induce player characters to have gameplay together.

In particular, an object of the present invention is to automatically match so that the player characters having a predetermined relationship can be the same party member, so as not to spend unnecessary time for party formation, and to make the online expansion in the online game naturally The present invention provides a party member matching system and a matching method in a game.

In order to achieve the above object, the party member matching system in the online game according to the present invention is an online game server that provides an online game service which is performed by manipulating each player character to game clients simultaneously connected through a network.

Relationship analysis means for analyzing a relationship between player characters;

Matching means for automatically matching the highly related player characters among the player characters gathered at a predetermined position in the online game to belong to the same party;

And party information providing means for providing information of the player characters who participated in the party to each game client operating each player character.

On the other hand, the party member matching method in the online game according to the present invention in order to achieve this object in an online game server that provides an online game service that proceeds by manipulating their own player character to the game clients simultaneously connected through the network In the method executed,

Step 110, the online game server analyzing the relationship between the plurality of player characters;

Step 120, the online game server generating a party when a plurality of player characters gather at a predetermined position in the online game;

Step 130, by the online game server, automatically matching the player characters having high relation among the plurality of player characters gathered at a predetermined position in the online game by using the relations among the analyzed player characters, to belong to the generated party; And

In operation 140, the online game server provides information about the player characters belonging to the party to each game client operating the player characters belonging to the party as the matching is performed.

According to the present invention, by inducing gamers who played the game together to continue to play together, there is an effect that the network expansion in the game is made naturally. This contributes to the improvement of community in online games, especially in MMOs.

On the other hand, if you need to form a party, such as an instance dungeon play within the online game, simply create a party so that you do not spend unnecessary time preparing for game play, and furthermore, teammates who are familiar with each other Helps make it easier to adapt and enjoy the game.

1 is a connection relationship diagram illustrating a connection relationship between an online game server and a plurality of game clients.
2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a party member matching system in an online game according to the present invention.
3 is a screen example illustrating a state in which player characters at predetermined positions in an online game are automatically matched to party members.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a time series description of a party member matching method in an online game according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart detailing a process of calculating a relationship between player characters in the present invention illustrated in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. In order to clarify the present invention, contents which are not related to the configuration of the present invention will be omitted, and the same reference numerals are used for the same components.

On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "comprising" another element in the description of the invention or in the claims, it is not interpreted as being limited to only that element, Elements may be further included.

Also, in the description of the invention or the claims, the components named as "means", "parts", "modules", "blocks" refer to units that process at least one function or operation, Each of which may be implemented by software or hardware, or a combination thereof.

1 illustrates an infrastructure for executing a party member matching method in an online game according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of game clients 20 connect to an online game server 10 via a network.

This structure is not different from the known technology, and the online game server 10 provides an online game service so that a plurality of game clients 20 simultaneously connected can play cooperatively. That is, it provides game software for playing online games, and provides each game client with information about the in-game state of other gamers in real time.

The game client 20 connects to the online game server 10 by receiving, installing and executing game software, and the user manipulates the game client 20 to operate in the online game provided by the online game server 10. You play online games by manipulating player characters in.

The player character refers to a character in an online game that is directly manipulated by a gamer. Characters other than the player character are commonly referred to as non player characters (NPCs).

The party member matching system in the online game according to the present invention may be preferably implemented in such an online game server 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the party member matching system in the online game according to the present invention includes a log recording unit 110, a party information providing unit 120, a relationship analysis unit 130, and a matching unit 140. And network management means 150 is provided.

The party member matching system in the online game according to the present invention analyzes the relationship between the player characters and processes the player characters having mutual relations to be matched with the party members.

To this end, the log recording unit 110 first logs data generated when the online game is executed, such as the state and behavior of the player character, the change of the environment variables, and the state and behavior of the mob, at regular intervals as the online game is executed. Record it.

Logs are usually recorded in units of commands that control the operation of mobs, player characters, and the like, and are stored in the form of a text file in chronological order of information on all player characters and mobs in the online game or in the form of a database.

On the other hand, the relationship analysis means 130 analyzes the log file of the online game stored as described above.

Analysis of the log file may be performed at regular time intervals (eg, once daily).

Looking at the analysis process of the log file in detail, the relationship analysis means 130 first retrieves the log file and then parses it. That is, the log is divided into meaningful units by parsing the data structure in which the log is stored.

Then, the item corresponding to the interaction between two or more player characters is extracted.

Logs record most of the situations or events that occur within an online game, with only a few of them being interactions between two or more player characters.

The relationship analysis unit 130 extracts unit logs that are directly or indirectly recorded about interactions between two or more player characters among all logs, and calculates the numerical relationship between two or more player characters by a predetermined algorithm.

For example, player characters can interact in a variety of ways, such as confronting in-game, collaborative play with the same party member, communicating by messaging means such as in-game chats or messages, or trading game items. The relationship analysis unit 130 may calculate the relationship between player characters through log analysis.

In other words, relevance is an indicator of how much two or more player characters interacted in an online game.

In this case, the types of interactions may be varied as described above, and each of these interactions need not be considered the same.

In other words, if you play the game together for a relatively long time, such as collaborating play with the same party member or confronting in-game, the relevance of the corresponding player characters should be treated more importantly, but simply meaningless chat. If only a few words have been exchanged through, it should be treated less importantly.

In this way, the relation can be calculated by giving a weight according to the type of interaction. Of course, the frequency of interactions should also be considered in the relevance calculation.

In other words, the relevance of the player characters that made the high importance interaction more frequently will be high, and the relevance between the player characters that made the low importance interaction low frequency.

On the other hand, you might be able to give weights based on whether you have interacted recently or in the past, and the intensity of the interaction (e.g., the price if you exchanged the item, the size of the damaged HP if you were attacked, etc.) You might want to give it a weight.

It may also be weighted whether there has been a long time interaction or a short time interaction.

However, the algorithm for calculating the relationship is not limited to simply multiplying the kinds of interactions by weights and then summing all of them.

Meanwhile, the process of forming a party in an online game is as follows.

Gamers can manipulate their player character through their game client 20 to move to a predetermined position in the online game.

3 is a screen example showing a specific position in an online game where a party can be formed, and corresponds to a screenshot of a screen of an online game under development by the applicant.

When the player characters move to a specific position in the online game, the matching means 140 automatically matches the player characters having high relation among the player characters gathered at the predetermined position in the online game to belong to the same party.

In the online game shown in FIG. 3, there is a feature called "column" in the vicinity of the dungeon where team play by multiple gamers is required. The player characters gathered in the "column" may be randomly or by user manipulation. Organize as a party and have team play.

In the past, it was common to communicate in and out of a game between player characters connected as friends in a game, and to form a party to play teams. However, in the example shown in FIG. It's the process of grouping player characters into a party for team play.

However, in this case, if you randomly group the player characters gathered in a certain place in a party, there is a possibility that the community enjoys the game while maintaining the sympathy between gamers connected to friends in the game, matching means 140 is a log This problem is solved by grouping related player characters into the same party using the relationship between player characters obtained through the analysis.

In other words, the probability of playing together with the player characters who have played the game together by chance in the game increases, and the process can naturally expand the in-game network.

On the other hand, the party information providing means 120 when the matching of the party members by the matching means 140, provides the information of the player characters belonging to the party to each game client 20 for manipulating each player character. .

For example, each game client 20 user can easily identify the player characters of other gamers who play the same team as themselves by providing information such as the names, levels, races or occupations of other player characters matched to the same party. Do it.

In this case, the party information providing unit 120 may provide at least some of past interaction histories with other automatically matched player characters to respective game clients that manipulate each automatically matched player character.

For example, if a player character of another gamer that is automatically matched as a party member has ever faced the player's own player character, this content is provided to be displayed on the game client's 20 screen of the gamer.

This allows gamers to reflect on what gameplay they have played with which player characters, which can be an opportunity for in-game networking expansion.

That is, the gamer can determine whether to add as an in-game friend while viewing the in-game interaction history with the player characters of other gamers matched with the party.

If a gamer sees past interaction histories with other gamers' player characters matched as party members via his game client 20 and requests any of them to add in-game friends, the network management means ( 150 stores and stores the player character of the selected other gamer as a friend in the game in the gamer's account.

Hereinafter, a method of matching party members in an online game according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a time-series description of a party member matching method in an online game according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart detailing a process of calculating a relationship between player characters in the present invention shown in FIG. 4. to be.

The party member matching method in the online game according to the present invention may be executed in the online game server 10 connected to a plurality of game clients 20 through a network as shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, the online game server 10 first analyzes the relationship between a plurality of player characters.

FIG. 5 illustrates the process, and as shown in FIG. 5, first, the online game server 10 draws out a log file generated and stored at a predetermined time interval (S111).

Thereafter, the extracted log file is parsed to extract an item describing directly or indirectly an interaction between two or more player characters (S112).

In this case, the interaction between the player characters may include, for example, confrontation between the player characters, cooperative play performed by forming a party, communication using means such as in-game chat or note, exchange or sale of in-game goods, and the like. .

Then, the weighted item is assigned to the items corresponding to the interaction between the extracted player characters by using one or more of the type of interaction, the time of the interaction, the intensity of the interaction, and the total time of the interaction. The relationship is numerically calculated (S113).

In this way, the relationship between the player characters is numerically calculated and maintained in advance through log analysis, and when a plurality of player characters gather at a predetermined position in the online game, the online game server 10 starts party generation. (S120).

According to the prior art, a party is created at the request of a gamer, and formed by other gamers participating in the generated party. In the present invention, as shown in FIG. Processed for collaborative play with a party.

At this time, the online game server automatically matches the player characters having high relation among the plurality of player characters gathered at a predetermined position in the online game by using the relationships between the analyzed player characters (S130). .

In other words, the player characters who have interacted with a lot in the online game are encouraged to collaborate together again.

On the other hand, as a match is made, the online game server provides the information of the player characters belonging to the party to each game client 20 manipulating the player characters belonging to the party (S140).

In this case, the provided information of the player characters includes the state information such as the name or level, race or occupation of the player character.

Gamers can know at a glance information of player characters belonging to the same party through their game client 20.

In this case, at least some of past interaction histories with other automatically matched player characters may be further provided to each game client 20 that manipulates each automatically matched player character.

That is, it allows gamers to see how they have encountered in-game with other player characters from the same party in the past and how they played with the game.

Accordingly, when a gamer manipulates his game client 20, selects the other automatically matched player character as a party member, and adds a request to a friend in the game, the online game server sends an account to the gamer's account. The selected other player character is connected to a friend and stored (S150).

Meanwhile, the party member matching method in the online game according to the present invention may be implemented as computer readable codes and stored in a computer readable recording medium.

The computer-readable recording medium may include any type of medium in which data readable by a computer system is stored. Examples of the medium include a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM, a hard disk, a USB memory, a flash memory And the like.

On the other hand, the expression to be recorded on the recording medium encompasses not only a case where a large amount is recorded on a recording medium, a case where it is distributed in the form of a package, a case where it is provided on a recording medium through a network in the form of a data packet.

In the above description, the expression "server" is used. However, in a distributed computing environment, it is common to divide a function or a load into a plurality of servers for processing. Therefore, a "server" does not necessarily refer to a single hardware component, And < / RTI >

In the above description, the network is referred to as a local area network (WAN), a wide area network (WAN), or an intranet, a virtual private network (VPN) Therefore, it should be construed as a broad concept covering wired and wireless communication methods known as WiBro, WiFi, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. . Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be determined only by the technical idea of the appended claims, and is not limited to the above embodiments.

The present invention can be applied to the field of on-line game technology.

10: online game server
20: Game Client
100: Party Member Matching System in Online Games
110: log recording means
120: party information providing means
130: relationship analysis means
140: matching means
150: network management means

Claims

An online game server that provides an online game service that is performed by manipulating a player character to game clients simultaneously connected through a network,
Relationship analysis means for analyzing a relationship between player characters;
Matching means for automatically matching the highly related player characters among the player characters gathered at a predetermined position in the online game to belong to the same party;
And party information providing means for providing information of the player characters participating in the party to each game client operating each player character.

The method of claim 1,
Log recording means for generating a game log at a predetermined time interval and to save as a file;
The relationship analysis means parses the log file generated and stored by the log recording means to extract an item corresponding to the interaction between two or more player characters, and mutually compares an item corresponding to the interaction between the extracted player characters. In the online game, the relationship between each player's character is calculated by weighting using one or more of the type of action, the point of time of the interaction, the intensity of the interaction, and the total time of the interaction. Party Member Matching System.

3. The method of claim 2,
Interaction between player characters extracted by the relationship analysis means includes party member matching in an online game comprising one or more of confrontation between player characters, cooperative play, communication, and exchange or sale of in-game goods. system.

The method of claim 1,
As the matching means automatically matches so that highly related player characters belong to the same party,
The party information providing means provides at least a part of the history of past interactions with the other automatically matched player characters to each game client manipulating each of the automatically matched player characters. Member Matching System.

The method of claim 1,
Network management means for connecting and storing the requested other player character as a friend in the game client's account when there is a request for adding an in-game friend to the other automatically matched player character from one game client. Party member matching system in the online game, characterized in that provided with.

A method executed in an online game server that provides an online game service which is performed by manipulating each player character with game clients simultaneously connected through a network,
A step 120 in which the online game server creates a party when one or more player characters gather at a predetermined position in the online game or request to create a party;
Step 130, by the online game server, automatically matching the player characters having high relation among the plurality of player characters gathered at a predetermined position in the online game by using the relations among the analyzed player characters, to belong to the generated party; And
Step 140, the online game server providing information of the player characters belonging to the party to each game client operating the player characters belonging to the party as a match is made. Member matching method.

The method according to claim 6,
And a step (110) of analyzing, by the online game server, relationships between a plurality of player characters before step 120.

The method of claim 7, wherein
The step 110 may include: extracting a log file generated and stored at an online game server at a predetermined time interval;
Parsing the retrieved log file to extract an item corresponding to an interaction between two or more player characters; And
The relationship between each player character is assigned to the item corresponding to the interaction between the extracted player characters by using one or more weights of one or more kinds of interactions, time points of interactions, intensity of interactions, and total time of interactions. 113. A method for matching party members in an online game, comprising: calculating and calculating a gender.

The method of claim 8,
In the step 112, the interaction between the player characters is a party member matching method in the online game, characterized in that it comprises one or more of the competition between the player characters, cooperative play, communication, exchange of goods in the game or sale.

The method according to claim 6,
In the step 140, the online game server automatically matches the highly related player characters to belong to the same party, but matches the other player characters that are automatically matched to the respective game clients that manipulate each of the automatically matched player characters. Party member matching method in the online game, characterized in that providing at least some of the past interaction history.

11. The method of claim 10,
Step 150, when an online game server requests a friend addition request for the other automatically matched player character from one game client, the online game server stores the requested other player character as a friend as a friend; Party member matching method in the online game, characterized in that it further comprises.

A computer-readable recording medium containing a program for executing a party member matching method in an online game according to any one of claims 6 to 11.