Friendship-Based Game Instance Matching System
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing online gaming systems fail to effectively prioritize game instance matching based on player friendships, leading to reduced player engagement as friends are not typically matched into the same game instance, despite the known benefit of social interaction in extending gameplay duration.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a network-connected server to receive player requests, access and weigh friendship data, including attributes like shared activities and preferences, to direct players to game instances where their friends are actively playing, using a weighting algorithm to select the most suitable game instance for insertion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If players are matched to game instances based on network proximity, then connection speed and latency are improved, but player engagement and social interaction are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple matching criteria (network proximity and friendship status) into a unified game instance selection process. The system merges technical performance considerations with social interaction factors to determine optimal game instance assignment, thereby achieving both fast connection and extended gameplay duration through friend-based matching
2Measurement precision
If the system tracks and processes friendship data for all players, then player matching accuracy is improved, but system complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-processes and stores friendship data in advance before game matching occurs. By maintaining pre-computed friendship graphs and player relationship information in the database, the system avoids complex real-time calculations during game instance selection, thereby achieving high matching accuracy without excessive system complexity during operation
3Duration of action of moving object
If players are inserted into games with friends, then social interaction and player retention are improved, but network distribution efficiency may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different matching strategies to different players based on their local characteristics. The system evaluates individual player friendship graphs and determines matching priorities locally for each player-request scenario, allowing high-value friend matches to be made while maintaining overall network distribution efficiency through case-by-case optimization rather than uniform rules
Data Source
AI summary
A video game method has steps for receiving, at a network-connected server providing video games, a request from a first player to enter a particular game, determining by software executing on a processor on the network-connected server, from a non-transitory medium, instances of the particular game already in progress, accessing stored information regarding friends of the first player, determining if one or more friends of the first player are engaged in one or more of the games already in progress, and directing the first player to a particular one of the games already in progress wherein one or more friends of the first player are engaged.