Robust resource allocation in a massive multiplayer online gaming environment

The environment considered in this research is a massive multiplayer online gaming (MMOG) environment. Each user controls an avatar (an image that represents and is manipulated by a user) in a virtual world and interacts with other users. An important aspect of MMOG is maintaining a fair environment among users (i.e., not give an unfair advantage to users with faster connections or more powerful computers). The experience (either positive or negative) the user has with the MMOG environment is dependent on how quickly the game world responds to the user’s actions. This study focuses on scaling the system based on demand, while maintaining an environment that guarantees fairness. Consider an environment where there is a main server (MS) that controls the state of the virtual world. If the performance falls below acceptable standards, the MS can off-load calculations to secondary servers (SSs). An SS is a user’s computer that is converted into a server. Four heuristics are proposed f...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: FDG
• Authors: Luis Diego Briceno, Howard Jay Siegel, Anthony A. Maciejewski, Ye Hong, Brad Lock, Mohammad Nayeem Teli, Fadi Wedyan, Charles Panaccione, Chris Klumph, Kody Willman, Chen Zhang
• Keywords: Computer Graphics, FDG 2009, Massive Multiplayer Online, MMOG Environment, Virtual World