Strategic Timeout Mechanism for Team Collaboration in Online Games

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Solution Overview

Problem

In online games, users participating in collaborative content across divided teams face challenges in responding to rapidly changing situations, as existing systems lack effective mechanisms for strategic timeouts that allow teams to review and adjust strategies without exposing them to each other.

Innovation Solution

A content providing method where a server determines if a strategic timeout condition is met, suspends the content, provides specific functions like chat or review tools to team leaders, and resumes the content from a stored state, allowing teams to strategize independently.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the content is continuously provided without interruption, then the game progresses smoothly and maintains player engagement, but teams cannot review and adjust strategies in response to rapidly changing situations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestrategic flexibilityVSAvoidgame time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements periodic interruptions in the form of strategic timeouts at specific moments during game progression. These timeouts allow teams to pause the continuous game flow, review strategies, and make adjustments without permanently stopping the content, thus balancing adaptability with time efficiency

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

2Ease of operation

If strategic timeout functions are provided to all users, then all team members can participate in strategy discussion, but information leakage between teams may occur

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveteam collaborationVSAvoidstrategic secrecy

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the timeout functionality by user roles, providing different capabilities to team leaders versus regular members. Team leaders receive comprehensive functions including chat and strategy review, while regular members have limited access, thus enabling collaboration within teams while preventing information leakage to opponents

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Loss of information

If the content is suspended for strategic timeout, then teams can review strategies, but the game progress is interrupted and responsiveness to changing situations is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestrategic review capabilityVSAvoidresponse speed

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides strategic review capabilities in advance through timeout periods, allowing teams to prepare strategies before critical situations arise. This preliminary strategic preparation enables faster and more effective responses when the timeout ends and gameplay resumes

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

4Productivity

If team leaders have full access to timeout functions, then strategic decisions can be made efficiently, but less experienced team members cannot contribute to strategy formulation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedecision-making efficiencyVSAvoidteam participation

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides partial functionality to regular team members during timeouts, allowing them to contribute to strategy discussions with limited tools. Team leaders retain full access to all timeout functions, ensuring efficient decision-making while still enabling broader team participation in the strategic process

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS11103793B2Method and apparatus for providing user collaborative content

Publication Date: 2021.08.31 NETMARBLE

AI summary

A content providing method includes providing a same content to a plurality of users each being included in one of a first team and a second team, determining whether a condition for a strategic timeout is satisfied during a progress of the content, providing the strategic timeout to the users by suspending the content when the condition is satisfied, providing at least one function for the strategic timeout to each of users in the first team and users in the second team, and resuming the content when the strategic timeout ends.