KR20130143166A - Apparatus and method of providing simple auction scheme amongst online game party members - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and system for providing a simple auction among party members in an online game is disclosed. According to the present invention, it is possible to redistribute items given as a reward for collaborative play when gamers form a party in a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) and collaboratively play the MMO. Especially, the system displays a simple auction window in a form of popup during the game when the gamers gain items satisfying predetermined conditions and allows party members to simply progress an auction procedure through the simple auction window, thereby easily achieving the proper redistribution of the items without communication or a separate procedure for item trading among the gamers, not disturbing collaborative play with more urgency. [Reference numerals] (AA) Start;(BB) End;(S110) Allow an online game server to generate a party including two or more player characters in an online game under the control of any one game client;(S120) Set the acquisition rights of a specific item or the simple auction of a specific item for player characters belonging to the party under the control of the game client who generates the party;(S130) Allow the online game server to dipslay a simple auction window on a screen of a game client who controls each of the player characters belonging to the party as a player character having the acquisition rights among the player characters belonging to the party obtains a specific item during a collaborative play of the player characters belonging to the party and to start a simple auction of the item for each of the game clients during the collaborative play;(S140) Collect bid information for the item from each game client;(S150) As the simple auction for the item is finished, pay the bid of the simple auction to the player character who obtained the item instead of cancelling the possession of a relevant item of the player character who obtained the item and provide the item for a player character who bought the item in the simple auction instead of collecting the bid thereof

Description

Method and system for providing simple auction between party members in online game {APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PROVIDING SIMPLE AUCTION SCHEME AMONGST ONLINE GAME PARTY MEMBERS}

The present invention relates to an online game, and more particularly, to a method in which a plurality of gamers collaborate and play in an online game, and divide items obtained during game play by an auction method.

Online games range from casual arcade games that can be played with simple controls to role-playing games featuring long playtimes and collaborative play between multiple gamers.

Among them, online role-playing games were initially implemented mainly through simple animated graphic processing and textual dialogue for character movement or combat, but recently, due to the development of computer hardware technology and the spread of network infrastructure, Actions and battles, which were introduced in conventional arcade action games, have been considered as the main content elements.

At this time, it is typical that the gamers take advantage of the characteristics of the online game and hunt boss monsters by cooperating with each other's player characters, and in the process, gamers are successful in hunting boss monsters. Various items can be obtained as rewards.

The item falls on the online game map and it is common for the player character who picks it up to have the item.

However, some problems arise when following the typical manner of such a conventional online role-playing game.

Unlike arcade games that feature non-consecutive one-time gameplay, which is characterized by the role-playing game, which grows the player character and makes continuity with the previous gameplay the main issue, who gets the item is a very important issue for gamers. do.

Most online role-playing games let you grow by choosing a profession or race for your character. In particular, in order to grow in different ways according to the build order of the gamers' preferences, sometimes a particular item is necessary, and on the contrary, another item may be unnecessary at all.

In online role-playing games, collaborative play is the main route to get rare items that are not available in the in-game store. There is also a lot of going back to gamers who don't.

Of course, if there is a personal relationship between gamers who have party, it is possible to exchange items with each other through in-game communication. However, in most cases, it is common for gamers to change items that are not necessary to them from in-game shops to game money. to be.

Although it is a very important item for other gamers, the inconvenience and opportunity cost that other gamers suffer from by returning rare items in the game to those who do not need it is often a factor that can halve the interest in the game. Can be.

Accordingly, it is necessary to prepare a scheme for more appropriately distributing items obtained during cooperative play in an online role-playing game.

In particular, if the cooperative play in the online role-playing game is urgently progressed as in the conventional arcade game, it is urgent to seek ways to redistribute the items obtained during such cooperative play while preventing such cooperative play.

[Patent 1] Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0047582 "Game Item Trading System and Method in Online Game Service"

The present invention provides an opportunity for the gamers who need this through auction for the items obtained by any one of the party members during the cooperative play in the online game in order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above. and,

By paying a sufficient price for this, the player character who acquired the item is rewarded a small amount,

In order to prevent such a series of processes from being an obstacle in the process of collaborative play, which is a main content element of an online game, I would like to suggest a method that can be easily performed without a separate procedure.

In order to achieve this object, the system for providing simple auctions between party members in an online game according to the present invention is an online game service provided by manipulating each player character through a plurality of game clients simultaneously connected through a network. In the game server,

Party management means for generating a party including two or more player characters in the online game at the request of any one of the game clients, and performing cooperative play between player characters belonging to the party;

During the cooperative play of the player characters belonging to the party, a simple auction window is displayed on the game client screen for manipulating each player character belonging to the party as a player character having an acquisition right among the player characters belonging to the party acquires a specific item. But, a simple auction progress means for starting a simple auction for the item during the progress of the cooperative play for each of the game clients;

The simple auction proceeding means collects the bid amount information for the item from each game client belonging to the party as the simple auction starts, but the game client that has won the item in the simple auction as the simple auction ends. The item is paid to the player character, and the winning bid price of the simple auction is recovered, and the collected winning bid price is paid to at least some of the player characters belonging to the party.

Meanwhile, in order to achieve the above object, the method for providing a simple auction between party members in an online game according to the present invention allows a plurality of game clients simultaneously connected through a network to operate their own player characters, but not more than two. In the method of running on an online game server that provides an online game service that can form a party consisting of a player character for collaborative play,

Step 110, the online game server generating a party including two or more player characters in the online game according to an operation of any one game client;

Setting an acquisition right for a specific item of a player character belonging to a party or a simple auction object for a specific item according to an operation of the game client that created the party;

During the cooperative play of the player characters belonging to the party, as the player character having the acquisition authority among the player characters belonging to the party acquires a specific item, the online game server displays a game client screen for manipulating each player character belonging to the party. Displaying a simple auction window, and starting a simple auction for the item during the cooperative play for each of the game clients;

Step 140, collecting bid amount information for the item from each game client; And

As the simple auction for the item ends, the player pays the item to the player character of the game client who has won the successful auction and collects the winning price, and then, at least a part of the player characters belonging to the party, wins the successful bid of the simple auction. It is characterized in that it comprises a; step 150 to pay.

According to the present invention, during the cooperative play in the online game, the item that satisfies a specific condition among the items in the game given as a reward for the cooperative play, the player character who has acquired this instead of having the corresponding item through the auction Can be given to the player character who really needs it, thereby eliminating the irrationality caused by returning the important item to the player character who does not need it.

On the other hand, without a separate procedure for redistribution of items obtained through cooperative play, auctions through a simple pop-up window between the party members during the cooperative play is hindered by the game play The procedure can be processed without.

In particular, when the process of redistributing items through communication between gamers is not easy at a party connected with weak personal relations, a series of processes can be processed by simply writing a bid price during cooperative play.

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 the configuration of a system for providing a simple auction between party members in an online game according to the present invention;
3 is a screen example illustrating how a simple auction window is shown on a game client screen;
4 is an enlarged view of the simplified auction window shown in FIG. 3,
5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a simple auction between party members in an online game according to the present invention in time series.

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.

The method and system for providing a simple auction between party members in the online game according to the present invention may be implemented under a connection relationship between the online game server 10 and the game client 20 as shown in FIG. 1.

In particular, the system for providing a simple auction between party members in an online game may be implemented in the online game server 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1, and the method for providing a simple auction between party members in an online game is illustrated in FIG. 1. It may be implemented in the form of a method executed in the online game server 10 as shown.

The online game server 10 shown in FIG. 1 provides an online game service to a plurality of game clients 20 simultaneously connected through a network.

That is, a plurality of game clients 20 provide client software for playing the online game by a download method, and as the game client 20 installs and accesses the client software, various games related to the progress of the online game are related. Provide data.

On the other hand, users of the game client 20 connect to the online game server 10 through their game client 20, and manipulate the player character in the online game provided by the online game server 10 to play the game. Proceed.

At this time, preferably, the online game provided by the online game server 10 proceeds with the game by performing a quest while manipulating each player character and freely moving on the map in the online game, obtaining items or obtaining experience points. It can be an online role playing game that grows player characters.

As shown in FIG. 2, the simple auction providing system 100 between party members in an online game according to the present invention may be implemented in such an online game server 10, and the party managing means 110 and It further comprises a simple auction proceeding means (120).

Party management means 110 performs the creation and management of the party in the online game.

The game client 20 user may request to create a party for cooperative play by manipulating his / her player character in the online game.

For example, in a space that cannot be played alone, such as instance dungeon play in the online game, the cooperative play is performed by collecting party members who enjoy the game together.

To this end, when the game client 20 user requests a party creation by moving his player character to a predetermined position in the online game, the party managing means 110 generates another party and the other game client 20 user who wants to participate. Join their player character to the party.

As such, when the party is formed, the party managing means 110 processes cooperative play between player characters who are the party members in the online game.

Generally, collaborative play in an online game, especially an MMO, is to hunt monsters that are difficult to hunt alone or to clear quests that are difficult to perform alone. As a result of this cooperative play, a predetermined reward is given during game play.

The reward is usually given in the form of an item, which is attributed to the player character who first picks up the item dropped on the map in the game.

However, since each player character is different in occupation or race, it may be a very useful item for other player characters, but it is often an unnecessary item for itself.

In this case, each game client 20 user manipulates his or her player character in the online game to sell the item to the in-game store, or to exchange it with another item.

Gamers who have obtained unnecessary items process the item inadvertently, which may result in exhausting the rewards for other gamers who are waiting for the item.

Therefore, in the case of an item given in exchange for hunting for a boss monster through a cooperative play or performing a quest, it is necessary to be able to return to a gamer who needs it.

Simple auction proceeding means 120 provides a window for just this, as will be described later.

When creating a party, the user of the game client 20 who created the party (referred to as " party leader " for convenience) can limit the player character that can obtain it in the game for a particular item that is the result of cooperative play. .

For example, depending on the race, class, or level, certain items may not be picked up even if they fall on the in-game map during collaborative play, or, conversely, only player characters with a specific class or occupation may pick up certain items. This is it.

On the other hand, the party leader is a game client that writes the highest bid among the party members through a simple auction process provided by the simple auction progress means 120 automatically when any character of the party members picks up for a particular item. You can also let your player character have it.

For example, in the case of a rare item that cannot be purchased in the in-game store, instead of having the player character picking it up, the player character who needs the item among the party members automatically has a simple auction.

The party managing unit 110 may provide a user interface for allowing the party leader to make these settings when the party is created.

The party leader may request the creation of a party by selecting some of these options at the time of party creation, and the party created by the party leader may have limited or no automatic rights to obtain items according to the party leader's options. The item to be passed to the auction is determined.

On the other hand, party members of the party created through such a setting are bound to the setting of the party leader.

That is, when a player character, which is another party member, acquires an item dropped on the game map as a result of the cooperative play in the online game, the simple auction proceeding means 120 determines whether the item is a simple auction object.

If the item corresponds to a simple auction object, the simple auction progress means 120 automatically displays a user interface for simple auction on each game client 20 screen which manipulates a player character belonging to the party. Is referred to as "simple auction window".

Of course, if the acquired item is not a simple auction object, the simple auction procedure is omitted.

3 exemplarily shows a simple auction window displayed on the screen of the game client 20 during game play.

On the other hand, Figure 4 (a) is an enlarged view of the simplified auction window shown in Figure 3, Figure 4 (b) shows a list of items in the simple auction.

On the other hand, it is common to maintain an urgent situation that is hard to keep an eye on in game play, such as hunting boss monsters in cooperative play in online games.

Accordingly, the simple auction progression unit 120 displays a simple auction window on each game client 20 screen for manipulating the player characters who are party members as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, but continues the cooperative play. .

In other words, if you were hunting for the boss monster is to continue hunting.

In particular, if the online role-playing game with an action element added, the operation mode may be temporarily changed to enable simple operation similar to the arcade action game during monster hunting or other battle in the online game.

By the way, if the simple auction window is displayed while the operation mode is temporarily switched to a form in which a simple operation similar to that of the temporary arcade game is possible, the operation mode may be returned to the original state to participate in the simple auction. 120) does not return the operation mode to the original state to facilitate the cooperative play. That is, even if the simple auction window is displayed on the screen of the game client 20, the operation mode provided to enable simple combat operation is maintained so as not to interfere with the battle in the game.

When the user of the game client 20 displays the simple auction window as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 during the cooperative play, any user of the party may acquire an item that is the target of the simple auction.

And, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, while looking at the simple auction window displayed in the form of a list, if there is anything you need, you can bid by using the amount.

That is, it is a simple bidding auction during cooperative play-for example, a battle for hunting a boss monster.

Thereafter, the user of the game client 20 may turn off the simple auction window and remove the screen from the screen.

That is, the auction processing for the item obtained by any one of the party members is performed in real time immediately after the item is obtained. Bidding can also be made simply through a simple auction window popped up during cooperative play.

As such, even if the simple auction window is turned off and removed from the screen, the bidding effect on the simple auction is naturally maintained.

On the other hand, the simple auction proceeding means 120 determines the successful bidder when the simple auction procedure for the item is completed.

The party leader may set a termination condition upon simple auction for an item at the time of party creation. For example, a simple auction may be ended at the end of the quest or a time such as 10 minutes to 20 minutes may be set for a simple auction and the simple auction may be ended when the time passes.

When the end condition of the simple auction is satisfied as described above, the simple auction proceeding means 120 determines the game client 20 user who has written the highest amount in the simple auction for the item. In other words, the successful bidder is determined.

Then, the item is paid to the player character of the successful game client 20.

At this time, the auction target item may be processed in the form of transferring possession to the player character who has won the auction after the auction is in progress and is held in the inventory of the player character who acquired the corresponding item. If the item is not stored in the inventory, it may be immediately auctioned and implemented to be the player character that the winning player owns.

On the other hand, the amount of money written by the successful game client 20 user-that is, the amount of successful bids can be processed by the following method.

First, the successful bid price is paid to the player character who acquired the item.

That is, the online game account of the winning game client 20 user is deducted from the online game money corresponding to the winning price, and paid to the player character who obtained the item or the account.

That is, the game money is transferred from the online game account of the successful bidder to the account of the player character user who acquired the item.

Another way is to distribute evenly or differentially to all party members except the winning player character.

This is because they cooperatively contributed to the acquisition of the item through cooperative play.

In this case, the simple auction progression unit 120 may determine the degree of contribution to the cooperative play and distribute the differential according to the contribution degree, and may pay more for the player character who acquired the item.

Meanwhile, the winning bid price recovered from the winning player character may be paid in full to the player characters who are party members, or the rest of the winning price may be paid by a certain ratio.

Hereinafter, a method of providing a simple auction between party members in an online game according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

The invention shown in FIG. 5 may be implemented in an online game server 10 as shown in FIG.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, when a user of any one game client 20 who is connected to the online game server 10 and is playing an online game provided by the online game server 10 requests a creation of a party. The online game server 10 generates a party according to the request (S110).

At this time, the user of the game client 20 requesting the creation of the party-that is, the party leader sets the restriction on the acquisition authority for a specific item for the player characters belonging to the party or the type of the item to be a simple auction. You can also do that. At this time, it may be set to the end condition of the simple auction (S120).

When the party is generated as described above, the online game server 10 allows other player characters to join the generated party to perform cooperative play.

For example, if the party was created just before entering the instance dungeon, the created party enters the instance dungeon and processes the collaborative play.

Accordingly, if a predetermined item falls on the online game map as a result of game play during cooperative play, whether each player character can acquire it or whether a simple auction processing for the acquired item is performed in step S120. It is made according to the setting of the party leader.

Meanwhile, during a cooperative play, if a player character having an acquisition authority among the player characters belonging to the party acquires an item, the online game server 10 determines whether the item corresponds to a simple auction target.

If the item corresponds to the simple auction object, the online game server 10 displays the simple auction window on the screen of the player character belonging to each party-that is, the game client 20 that manipulates each party member. As illustrated at (S130).

This starts the simple auction procedure for the item.

If it does not correspond to the simple auction object, the simple auction procedure is omitted, and the simple auction window is not displayed on each game client 20 screen.

Meanwhile, despite the simple auction window being displayed on the screen of the game client 20 during the cooperative play, the online game server 10 pauses the cooperative play of the party or executes a simplified operation mode provided for combat. It does not return to the original.

The game client 20 user-that is, gamers simply check the contents displayed in the simple auction window while continuing the cooperative play when the simple auction window is displayed in the form of a popup on the game screen.

If there is an item that one wants, gamers can manipulate the game client 20 to write the bid price and close the simple auction window.

Accordingly, the online game server 10 collects bid amount information for the item from each game client 20 of the party member (S140).

Bids remain in effect even if gamers close the short auction window.

On the other hand, if the end condition of the simple auction is satisfied, the online game server 10 determines the successful bidder of the simple auction.

The end condition of the simple auction may be set by the party leader or may be predetermined by default. For example, the predetermined simple auction time ends or the quest may be cleared to end when the cooperative play ends.

Occasionally, if an immediate purchase price is specified for the simplified auction, it may be terminated immediately by any game client 20 user requesting an immediate purchase.

On the other hand, as the simple auction ends, the online game server 10 determines a successful bidder, and the user of the game client 20 who has written the highest bid may be the successful bidder.

When the successful bidder is determined as described above, the online game server 10 pays the item that is the target of the simple auction to the player character of the successful game client 20 user.

On the other hand, the online game server 10 recovers the online game money corresponding to the successful bid amount from the online game account of the successful bidder, and pays the collected game money to at least some of the party members (S150).

In other words, rather than money or item trading in the real world, the transaction between the item and its game money is made in the online game.

In this case, the winning price may be paid to the player character who obtained the item, but may be equally or differentially paid to the other party members except the player character of the winning game client 20 user.

Meanwhile, the method for providing a simple auction between party members in an online game according to the present invention may be implemented as a computer readable code 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 >

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: Simple auction providing system between party members in online game
110: party management
120: simple auction progress means

Claims (15)

An online game server that provides an online game service which is performed by manipulating a player character with a plurality of game clients simultaneously connected through a network,
Party management means for generating a party including two or more player characters in the online game at the request of any one of the game clients, and performing cooperative play between player characters belonging to the party;
During the cooperative play of the player characters belonging to the party, a simple auction window is displayed on the game client screen for manipulating each player character belonging to the party as a player character having an acquisition right among the player characters belonging to the party acquires a specific item. But, a simple auction progress means for starting a simple auction for the item during the progress of the cooperative play for each of the game clients;
The simple auction proceeding means collects the bid amount information for the item from each game client belonging to the party as the simple auction starts, but the game client that has won the item in the simple auction as the simple auction ends. Providing the item as a player character and recovering the winning bid of the simple auction, and then providing the collected auction to at least some of the player characters belonging to the party. system. The method of claim 1,
The party management means, upon creation of the party, sets whether to acquire a specific item or a simple auction for a specific item of player characters belonging to the party according to the manipulation of the game client that created the party. Simple auction system between party members in the game. The method of claim 1,
The party managing means may continue the cooperative play without pausing the online game service or changing the operation mode of the game, even though the simple auction window is displayed on the screens of the game clients belonging to the party. Simple auction system between party members in online games. The method of claim 1,
The simple auction proceeding means collects the bid value from each game client, and although the game client removes the simple auction window from the screen after inputting the bid value, the game client processes the participation in the simple auction. A simple auction system between party members in an online game. The method of claim 1,
And the simple auction progression means ends the simple auction for the item as a predetermined time elapses for the corresponding item. The method of claim 1,
The simple auction proceeding means collects the game money corresponding to the winning bid price from the player character who has been won in the simple auction, and pays it to the player character who obtained the item. Providing system. The method of claim 1,
The simple auction proceeding means recovers the game money corresponding to the winning price from the player character who has been won in the simple auction, and equally or differentially pays the player characters belonging to the party except for the successful player character. Simple auction system between party members in the online game, characterized in that. A number of game clients simultaneously connected via a network can be operated on an online game server that provides an online game service for cooperative play by forming a party consisting of two or more player characters while manipulating their own player characters. In the way,
During the cooperative play of the player characters belonging to the party, as the player character having the acquisition authority among the player characters belonging to the party acquires a specific item, the online game server displays a game client screen for manipulating each player character belonging to the party. Displaying a simple auction window, and starting a simple auction for the item during the cooperative play for each of the game clients;
Step 140, collecting bid amount information for the item from each game client;
As the simple auction for the item ends, the player pays the item to the player character of the game client who has won the successful auction and collects the winning price, and then, at least a part of the player characters belonging to the party, wins the successful bid of the simple auction. Method 150 of providing a simple auction between party members in an online game comprising a. The method of claim 8,
Before the step 130, the online game server generating a party including two or more player characters in the online game according to an operation of any one game client; And
In step 120 of the game client that created the party to set the acquisition rights of the specific items of the player characters belonging to the party, or whether a simple auction target for a specific item; How to provide a simple auction between party members. The method of claim 8,
In step 130, the online game server continues the cooperative play without pausing the online game service or changing the operation mode of the game, even though a simple auction window is displayed on the screens of the game clients belonging to the party. Method for providing a simple auction between party members in the online game, characterized in that. The method of claim 8,
In step 140, the online game server collects the bid price from each game client, but the game client participates in the simple auction even if the game client removes the simple auction window from the screen after inputting the bid value. Method for providing a simple auction between party members in the online game, characterized in that. The method of claim 8,
In step 150, the online game server provides a simple auction between party members in the online game, characterized in that the auction for the item ends as a predetermined time elapses for the item. The method of claim 1,
In the step 150, the online game server recovers the game money corresponding to the winning price from the player character who has been won in the simple auction, and pays the game money to the player character who obtained the item. How to provide a simple auction between members. The method of claim 1,
In the step 150, the online game server recovers the game money corresponding to the winning price from the player character who has won in the simple auction, and equally or differentials the player characters belonging to the party except for the successful player character. How to provide a simple auction between party members in an online game, characterized in that the payment. A computer-readable recording medium containing a program for executing on a computer a method for providing a simple auction between party members in an online game according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

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