Session-Based Relationship Mechanism for Game Social Interaction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional games lack a mechanism to establish and maintain relationships between users who play together, limiting social interaction and collaboration beyond the game session.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows users to establish a predetermined relationship when their characters' positions in a virtual game space get closer than a specified criterion, enabling the sharing of game status information and collaborative gameplay, with the relationship being moderate and temporary, lasting only during the session.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If users establish persistent relationships in conventional games, then social connections are strengthened, but user privacy and control over social interactions are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the relationship state changeable rather than fixed. Users can dynamically switch between being strangers and acquaintances based on in-game interactions, allowing the relationship to evolve organically without forcing persistent connections. This resolves the contradiction by providing relationship stability when desired while maintaining user control to reduce or reset relationships when social pressure becomes excessive.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the relationship parameter from binary (stranger/acquaintance) to a spectrum that includes intermediate states and temporary relationships. By introducing relationship duration parameters and interaction-based progression, the system allows users to experience stable relationships during gameplay while automatically reducing relationship strength over time or through user action, balancing social connection with privacy control.
2Adaptability or versatility
If users are invited to multiplay when their game apparatus is not online, then social interaction opportunities increase, but the complexity of the invitation system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary that manages invitation data storage and delivery. When a user is offline, the server stores invitation information and automatically delivers it when the user comes online, eliminating the need for complex peer-to-peer communication protocols while maintaining invitation flexibility across different online states.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses temporary, session-based invitation tokens that are automatically invalidated after use or expiration. These disposable invitation objects simplify the system by not requiring persistent storage or complex validation mechanisms, allowing flexible cross-device invitations while keeping the overall system architecture simple and manageable.
3Reliability
If users share extensive game status information, then collaborative gameplay is enhanced, but information privacy and user control are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different levels of information sharing for different types of game data. Users can selectively share positional information, character status, inventory, or strategic information based on their comfort level and the specific collaborative context. This enables reliable collaboration for shared activities while maintaining privacy control over sensitive personal information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by having users pre-configure their information sharing preferences and privacy settings before engaging in collaborative gameplay. The system remembers these preferences and automatically applies them during gameplay, allowing users to maintain privacy control without having to make continuous decisions about what information to share, thus enabling reliable collaboration with minimal user intervention.
Data Source
AI summary
Information processing instructions to be executed by a computer of a first terminal of a first user cause the computer to participate in a session and run a game via a network, and to perform operations of: updating game status based on an operation input from the first user; when positions of a first character controlled in a virtual space of the game by the first user and a second character controlled in the virtual space by a second user of a second terminal participating in the same session as the first terminal get closer than a predetermined criterion, establishing a predetermined relationship in the session between the first user and the second user; and during progress of the game, successively outputting information indicating game status of the second user updated based on an operation input from the second user whose predetermined relationship with the first user has been established.