JP7709083B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device.

So-called social games are provided to users' mobile devices such as smartphones, and allow them to interact with other users via the Internet. In such social games, a lottery function is known that randomly provides game elements such as characters and items in response to an acquisition request from a user, which involves a fee.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a game providing server that can accurately predict the costs required for a user to obtain the game medium they desire by allocating a game medium storage deck that contains the selected game medium (corresponding to the game element in this application) to each user and deleting the selected game medium from the game medium storage deck.

JP 2013-247977 A

On the other hand, in order to increase the interest of the game, there is a need to allow each user to acquire different game elements according to the progress of the game or a specific campaign. In such a case, in the game providing server of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the probability of drawing game elements in the game medium storage deck is uniform, so there is room for improvement in that the interest in acquiring game elements is low.

The present invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that increases the interest in acquiring game elements that can be acquired from a finite number of game elements.

According to the present invention, there is provided an information processing device for controlling a game, the information processing device comprising a supply request receiving unit, a game element storage unit, a game element providing unit, and a provision result storage unit, wherein the supply request receiving unit receives a request to provide a game element from a user, the game element storage unit stores a plurality of game elements, the game element providing unit provides the user with one or more game elements from the plurality of game elements based on the supply request, the provision result storage unit stores information for each user for identifying the provided game elements, the game element storage unit further stores a set of game elements including at least a portion of the plurality of game elements as an element set, and also stores a unique set including one or more of the element sets, and the game element providing unit provides the one or more game elements from among game elements included in one or more element sets selected from the unique set, and which have not provided a predetermined number of game elements for the selected element set.

This configuration increases the interest in acquiring game elements.

Various embodiments of the present invention are illustrated below. The embodiments shown below can be combined with each other. Each feature constitutes an invention independently.

Preferably, the system further comprises a eigenset setting unit capable of setting addition or deletion of the element set to the eigenset.
Preferably, the game element memory unit further stores a selection probability for each element set included in the unique set, and the game element providing unit selects the element set from among the element sets included in the unique set by a selection based on the selection probability.
Preferably, the lottery probability is set according to a ratio of the numbers of the game elements included in each of the element sets included in the unique set.
Preferably, the lottery probability is determined when the set of elements to be included in the unique set is set, and does not change as the user acquires the game elements.
Preferably, the lottery probability is configured to be changeable by the unique set setting unit.

1 is a diagram showing an overview of an information processing device 1 according to a first embodiment. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an information processing device 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing device 1. FIG. Fig. 4A shows a character table T1, a user table T2, and an element set table T3 stored in the game element storage unit 23. Fig. 4B shows an element set setting table T4 stored in the game element storage unit 23. Fig. 4C shows a unique set correspondence table T5 and a unique set setting table T6 stored in the game element storage unit 23. FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between a unique set and an element set set for each user. 13 is a diagram showing a provision result table T7 stored in a provision result storage unit 24. FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining the flow of providing game elements in the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the lottery probability of an element set in a unique set. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing device 1 according to a second embodiment. 13 is a diagram showing an update of the unique set setting table T6 by the unique set setting unit 25. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the lottery probability of an element set when a unique set is added. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a provision result table T7 stored in a provision result storage unit 24 according to the third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram for explaining the flow of providing game elements in the third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a game element storage unit 23 and a provided result storage unit 24 according to the fourth embodiment. A sequence diagram for explaining the flow of providing game elements in the fourth embodiment.

1. First embodiment
(1.1. Overview of information processing device 1)
An overview of an information processing device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the information processing device 1 is realized by one or a plurality of servers, and is configured to be capable of communicating with a user terminal 3 by being connected to a WAN (Wide Area Network) 2 such as the Internet.

The user terminal 3 is realized by a mobile terminal such as a smartphone owned by a game user (hereinafter also simply referred to as a user). The information processing device 1 accepts a request for the provision of game elements from the user via the user terminal 3 (hereinafter also simply referred to as a provision request). Here, game elements are a general term for electronic data used by the user to progress through the game, and specifically include characters, items, cards, avatars, etc. In the following embodiment, an example in which a character is provided as a game element will be described.

When the information processing device 1 receives a request from a user to provide a game element, it selects one or more game elements from among the game elements that can be provided and provides them to the user. The information processing device 1 is configured so as not to provide more than a predetermined number of duplicate game elements that can be provided to the user. This allows the user to predict the cost required to obtain the desired game element. Each component will be described in detail below.

(1.2. Hardware configuration of information processing device 1)
The hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 according to this embodiment. The information processing device 1 includes a control unit 11 that controls the overall operation of the information processing device 1, and a storage unit 12 that functions as a work area when the control unit 11 executes various programs and in which various programs and data are stored in advance.

The information processing device 1 further includes a communication unit 13 that is connected to the user terminal 3 via a communication line and transmits and receives various data. It may also include an operation input unit 14 that is configured with a keyboard, mouse, etc. and receives input for various operations, and a monitor 15, such as a liquid crystal display device, that displays various images.

The control unit 11, memory unit 12, communication unit 13, operation input unit 14, and monitor 15 are electrically connected to each other via a system bus 16. Therefore, the control unit 11 can access the memory unit 12, grasp the operation state of the operation input unit 14, display images on the monitor 15, and transmit and receive various data to and from other information processing devices such as the user terminal 3 via the communication unit 13.

(1.3. Functional configuration of information processing device 1)
The functional configuration of the information processing device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the information processing device 1 includes a provision request receiving unit 21, a game element providing unit 22, a game element storage unit 23, and a provision result storage unit 24. The provision request receiving unit 21 and the game element providing unit 22 are realized as functions of the control unit 11. The game element storage unit 23 and the provision result storage unit 24 are realized as functions of the storage unit 12.

The provision request receiving unit 21 receives a request for the provision of game elements from a user and communicates the provision request to the game element providing unit 22.

Based on the contact from the supply request receiving unit 21, the game element providing unit 22 refers to the game element storage unit 23 and provides one or a plurality of game elements to the user. Furthermore, the game element providing unit 22 registers information specifying the game elements provided to the user in the provision result storage unit 24. The flow of game element provision by the game element providing unit 22 will be described in detail later.

The game element storage unit 23 stores information that identifies game elements that can be provided to users. The specific table configuration of the game element storage unit 23 will be described in detail later.

The provision result storage unit 24 stores information that identifies the game elements provided to the user. The specific table configuration of the provision result storage unit 24 will be described in detail later.

The above-mentioned functional configuration may be realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) implemented as the control unit 11 executing a program to realize various functions, or may be realized by hardware.

When the function is realized by executing a program, the program may be stored in the memory unit 12, or may be stored in a non-transitory recording medium that is readable by a computer. The function may also be realized by reading out a program stored in an external storage device, using so-called cloud computing. When the function is realized by hardware, the function may be realized by various circuits such as an ASIC, an SOC, an FPGA, or a DRP.

(1.4. Table configuration of game element storage unit 23)
4 and 5, an example of the table configuration of game element storage unit 23 will be described. Game element storage unit 23 includes a character table T1, a user table T2, an element set table T3, an element set setting table T4, a unique set correspondence table T5, and a unique set setting table T6.

The character table T1 is a table that stores information about characters provided as game elements, and includes a character ID column and a name column. The character ID column holds a character ID for uniquely identifying a character. The name column holds the name of each character.

The user table T2 is a table that stores information about users who use the game, and includes a user ID column and a name column. The user ID column holds a user ID for uniquely identifying a user. The name column holds the name of each user.

The element set table T3 is a table that stores element sets, and includes an element set ID column and a name column. An element set is a collection of game elements such as characters, and one element set includes one or more game elements. The element set ID column holds an element set ID for uniquely identifying an element set. The name column holds the name of each element set.

The element set setting table T4 is a table that sets the game elements included in each element set. The element set setting table T4 has a No column and a character ID column. The No column holds a sequential number for uniquely identifying records in the table. The character ID column holds the character IDs of the characters included in the element set corresponding to the table.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, element set setting tables T4-1, T4-2, ..., T4-9 are set for element sets B01, B02, ..., B09, and the characters included in each element set are specified in each table. Note that, as shown in record D1, this embodiment allows the same character to be included multiple times in one element set.

The unique set correspondence table T5 is a table that defines the correspondence between users and unique sets, and includes a user ID column and a unique set ID column. Here, a unique set is a set of element sets, and one unique set includes one or more element sets. The unique set ID column holds a unique set ID for uniquely identifying a unique set. In this embodiment, one unique set is set for each user, and therefore the unique set correspondence table T5 is defined to provide a one-to-one correspondence between each user and a unique set.

The unique set setting table T6 is a table that specifies the element sets included in each unique set. The unique set setting table T6 includes a No. column, a unique set ID, and an element set ID. By configuring the table in this way, the element sets included in each unique set and the game elements included in each element set are specified.

Figure 5 is an image diagram showing the relationships between game elements (characters), element sets, unique sets, and users defined by each of tables T1 to T6 shown in Figures 4A to 4C. As shown in Figure 5, one unique set is set for each user. Each unique set includes one or more element sets. Each element set includes one or more game elements (in this embodiment, characters). The game element providing unit 22 refers to the game element memory unit 23 set in this way and provides the game elements.

(1.5. Table configuration of provision result storage unit 24)
6, an example of a table configuration of the provision result storage unit 24 will be described. The provision result storage unit 24 includes a provision result table T7.

The provision result table T7 is a table that stores, for each user, information for identifying the game elements provided to the user. The provision result table T7 includes a No. column for uniquely identifying records in the table, a user ID column, an element set ID column, and a character ID column.

The user ID column holds the user ID of the user who requested the provision of a game element. The element set ID column holds the element set ID of the element set that includes the character provided to the user in response to that provision request. The character ID column holds the character ID of the character provided to the user in response to that provision request. Each time a game element is provided to a user, information on the provided character and the element set that includes that character is registered in the provision result table T7.

(1.6. Flow of providing game elements)
The flow of providing game elements will be described with reference to Fig. 7. In step S110, the provision request receiving unit 21 receives a request to provide game elements from the user.

In step S120, the game element providing unit 22 receives a communication from the provision request receiving unit 21 and confirms the request to provide game elements. In step S130, the game element providing unit 22 refers to the game element storage unit 23 and obtains the game elements to be provided to the user.

When acquiring game elements, the game element providing unit 22 first selects an element set included in the unique set set set for the user who made the provision request. In this embodiment, the selection probability of the element set is set according to the number of characters included in the element set. The game element providing unit 22 selects an element set from among the element sets included in the unique set by a selection based on the selection probability.

A specific description will be given below with reference to an example shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, the unique set K01 corresponding to the user ∪01 includes two element sets, element sets B01 and B02. The element set B01 includes 50 characters, and the element set B02 includes 100 characters. In this embodiment, the selection probability of the element set is set according to the ratio of the number of game elements included in each element set included in the unique set. Therefore, the selection probability of the element sets B01 and B02 is set at a ratio of 50:100. With this configuration, the more game elements an element set includes, the higher the possibility of it being selected, which increases the interest in acquiring game elements.

The selection probability here is preferably determined by the number of game elements in the element set when the element set to be included in the unique set is set, and does not change as the user acquires game elements. In this way, when many game elements are provided from a particular element set, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the selection probability of that element set decreases and it becomes difficult to select.

After the element set is determined, a lottery is held for the characters in the determined element set. In this embodiment, the characters in the element set are selected at a ratio distributed by the total number of characters in the element set (i.e., 1/(total number of characters in the element set)).

Once the game elements are acquired in step S130 in this manner, the game element providing unit 22 inquires about the acquisition results in step S140. Specifically, the game element providing unit 22 refers to the provision result storage unit 24 and determines whether the game elements acquired in step S130 have already been provided.

If the game element providing unit 22 determines in step S150 that the acquired game element has already been provided, the process returns to step S130 and repeats the process. On the other hand, if the game element providing unit 22 determines that the acquired game element has not already been provided, the game element providing unit 22 performs the process of step S160.

As mentioned above, in this embodiment, it is permitted for the same character to be included more than once in one element set (see record D1 in element set setting table T4-1 in FIG. 4B). For such game elements, it is determined whether or not the number of duplicates within the element set (the "predetermined number" in the claims) has been provided.

In step S160, the game element providing unit 22 provides the acquired game elements to the user. In step S170, the game element providing unit 22 registers information identifying the game elements provided to the user in the provision result storage unit 24.

As described above, the information processing device 1 according to this embodiment includes a provision request receiving unit 21, a game element providing unit 22, a game element storage unit 23, and a provision result storage unit 24. The provision request receiving unit 21 receives a provision request for a game element from a user. The game element providing unit 22 provides the user with the game elements stored in the game element storage unit 23 based on the provision request. The provision result storage unit 24 stores information for identifying the provided game elements for each user.

The game element storage unit 23 stores a set of game elements as an element set, and also stores a set of element sets as a unique set for each user. When providing a game element, the game element providing unit 22 selects an element set from the unique set set for the user who has made the provision request, and provides one or more game elements from among the game elements included in the selected element set.

This configuration makes it possible for an element set, which is a set of characters, to be set according to the user. When providing game elements, the element set is selected first, and then the game elements are selected, which increases the interest in acquiring game elements.

<2. Second embodiment>
An information processing device 1 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. Note that the following description will focus on differences from the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, the information processing device 1 according to the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it includes a unique set setting unit 25 that can change the settings of the unique sets in the game element storage unit 23.

The unique set setting unit 25 is configured to be able to add or delete element sets to the unique set set for each user by adding or deleting records to the unique set setting table T6 (see FIG. 4C) stored in the game element storage unit 23. The unique set setting unit 25 is also configured to be able to change the lottery probability of an element set within the unique set.

The following is a specific explanation using the examples shown in Figures 10 and 11. Figures 10 and 11 show an example of adding an element set B03 to a unique set K01 set for a user U01. Note that in Figure 11, characters that have already been provided to the user are crossed out.

As shown in FIG. 10, the unique set setting unit 25 adds a record indicated by D2 to the unique set setting table T6 stored in the game element storage unit 23. As a result, element set B03 is added to unique set K01, as shown in FIG. 11.

Here, the probability of drawing an element set included in unique set K01 after element set B03 is added is determined by the ratio of the numbers of game elements in element sets B01, B02, and B03. In other words, the number of characters already provided by the user is not taken into consideration when determining the probability of drawing. This configuration can prevent a problem in which the probability of drawing an element set for which a large number of characters have been provided to the user decreases, making it difficult to obtain characters in that element set that have not been provided.

This configuration makes it easy to add or remove element sets for each user depending on the user's game progress or in response to a particular campaign, etc., further increasing the interest in acquiring game elements.

<3. Third embodiment>
An information processing device 1 according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 12 and 13. The information processing device 1 according to the third embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the game element providing unit 22 calculates in advance the order in which the game elements are provided.

The game element providing unit 22 in the third embodiment refers to the game element storage unit 23 and calculates in advance the order in which game elements are provided for each user. The game element providing unit 22 registers the previously calculated order in which game elements are provided in the provision result storage unit 24. When the provision request receiving unit 21 receives a provision request from a user, the game element providing unit 22 refers to the provision result storage unit 24 and provides the game elements in the order registered in the provision result storage unit 24.

12, the provision result table T7 in the third embodiment further includes a "provided" column. The "provided" column holds a flag for identifying whether or not the game element identified in the record has already been provided.

The flow of providing game elements will be described with reference to FIG. 13. In step S301, the game element providing unit 22 refers to the game element storage unit 23 and calculates the order in which game elements will be provided for each user. Specifically, a lottery is held for element sets in a unique set set for each user, based on the lottery probability for each element set, to select one or more element sets. Then, a lottery is held for game elements included in the selected element set, thereby determining the order in which game elements that can be provided to the user will be provided. In step S302, the game element providing unit 22 registers the calculated order of provision in the provision result storage unit 24.

In step S310, the provision request receiving unit 21 receives a request to provide game elements from the user. In step S320, the game element providing unit 22 receives a communication from the provision request receiving unit 21 and confirms the request to provide game elements.

In step S330, the game element providing unit 22 refers to the provision result table T7 in the provision result storage unit 24, and acquires the game elements to be provided to the user. Specifically, for the user who made the provision request, the game elements identified in the records in the provision result table T7 where the provided column is "0 (not yet completed)" are acquired in the order of the smallest value in the No column. In step S340, the game element providing unit 22 provides the acquired game elements to the user.

In step S350, the game element providing unit 22 updates the provided column in the provision result table T7 to "1 (done)" for the record that identifies the provided game element.

In this way, in the information processing device 1 of this embodiment, the order in which game elements are provided to a user is calculated in advance. With this configuration, it is not necessary to perform the process of acquiring game elements and the process of determining whether they have already been provided for each acquisition request from a user, and it is possible to perform the provision process quickly. In addition, it is possible to manage which game elements have already been provided for each user and which game elements will be provided in the future.

<4. Fourth embodiment>
An information processing device 1 according to a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 14 and 15. The information processing device 1 according to the fourth embodiment differs from the above-described embodiments in that the order in which game elements are provided is calculated in advance for each element set.

When the provision request receiving unit 21 receives a provision request from a user, the game element providing unit 22 refers to the game element storage unit 23 and selects (by lottery) an element set for the unique set corresponding to the user. The game element providing unit 22 refers to the provision result storage unit 24 for the element set determined by lottery, and provides the game elements in the order registered in the provision result storage unit 24.

As shown in FIG. 14, the provision result table T7 in the fourth embodiment is prepared for each element set included in the unique set. The game element provision unit 22 refers to the provision result table T7 corresponding to the element set determined by lottery, and determines the game elements to be provided to the user.

The flow of providing game elements will be described with reference to Fig. 15. In step S410, the supply request receiving unit 21 receives a request to provide game elements from the user. In step S420, the game element providing unit 22 receives a communication from the supply request receiving unit 21 and confirms the request to provide game elements.

In step S430, the game element providing unit 22 selects an element set included in the unique set set for the user who made the provision request. That is, the game element providing unit 22 selects an element set from among the element sets included in the unique set by lottery based on the lottery probability set for each unique set.

In step S440, the game element providing unit 22 refers to the providing result storage unit 24 and acquires game elements to be provided to the user from the providing result table T7 corresponding to the selected element set. Specifically, for the providing result table T7 corresponding to the selected element set, it acquires game elements identified in the order of records with the smallest value in the No column among records in which the provided column is "0 (not yet completed)". In step S450, the game element providing unit 22 provides the acquired game elements to the user.

In step S460, the game element providing unit 22 updates the provided column in the provision result table T7 to "1 (done)" for the record that identifies the provided game element.

In this way, in the information processing device 1 of this embodiment, the order in which game elements are provided for each element set is calculated in advance. With this configuration, when adding an element set to a unique set, it is not necessary to change the order in which game elements are provided that has already been determined in the provision result table T7, and the unique set can be added through simple processing.

5. Other embodiments
Although the embodiment and its modified examples of the present invention have been described above, the application of the present disclosure is not limited to the above. For example, in the above embodiment, the user terminal 3 is realized as a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, but the present disclosure is not limited to this example. For example, the user terminal 3 may be realized by installing software on a home PC or the like.

It should also be noted that the table configuration in the above embodiment is merely one example of an implementation method. For example, the provision result table T7 stores the game elements that have been provided, but this is not limited to this example, and the table may be configured to store game elements that have not been provided to the user.

In addition, in the above embodiment, one unique set is set for each user, but this is not limited to this example. In other words, the unique set correspondence table T5 may have a table configuration in which multiple unique sets correspond to one user.

In addition, in the fourth embodiment described above, the provision result table T7 stores the provision order for each element set, but is not limited to this example. For example, the provision order of the game elements in the element set may be calculated when providing the game elements by generating pseudo-random numbers with the user ID as an initial value for the game elements in the element set. In this case, since the user ID is unique and immutable for each user, the calculated provision order is unique for each user, and the same provision order is calculated for the same user each time. Therefore, the provision result table T7 only needs to store up to which game element in the calculated provision order the elements have been provided to each user.

Furthermore, the present invention can also be realized as a program that causes a server to function in order to realize the above-mentioned information processing device.

Furthermore, the present invention can be realized as a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium that stores the above-mentioned program.

Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described, these are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. The embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the claims.

1: Information processing device 2: WAN
3: User terminal 11: Control unit 12: Storage unit 13: Communication unit 14: Operation input unit 15: Monitor 16: System bus 21: Supply request acceptance unit 22: Game element supply unit 23: Game element storage unit 24: Supply result storage unit 25: Unique set setting unit

Claims (4)

A processor is provided.
The processor,
When a provision request is received from a user, providing the user with game contents selected from a first set, a second set, and a third set, each of which includes different game contents and is included in a unique set associated with the user;
when a next request for provision is received from the user after the association between the third set and the unique set of each of the users is released, providing the user with a game medium by lottery from among the first set and the second set;
an information processing device in which the probability that the first set or the second set will be selected by the lottery is determined by the number of game media in the first set and the second set when the first set, the second set, and the third set are set, and does not change as the user acquires game media. When the processor receives a request for provision from a user, the processor provides the user with game media selected from a first set, a second set, and a third set , each of which includes different game media and is included in a unique set associated with the user;
when the processor receives a next request for provision from the user after the processor has received the request for provision and after the association between the third set and the unique set of each of the users has been released, the processor provides the user with a game medium by lottery from among the first set and the second set;
an information processing method in which the probability that the first set or the second set will be selected by the lottery is determined by the number of game media in the first set and the second set when the first set, the second set, and the third set are set, and does not change as the user acquires game media. causing the processor, when receiving a provision request from a user, to provide the user with game media from a first set, a second set, and a third set , each of which includes different game media and is included in a unique set associated with the user;
causing a processor to provide a game medium to the user by lottery from among the first set and the second set when a next request for provision is received from the user after the association between the third set and the unique set of each of the users is released after receiving the request for provision;
A program for executing a process in which the probability that the first set or the second set will be selected by the lottery is determined by the number of game media in the first set and the second set when the first set, the second set, and the third set are set, and the probability does not change as the user acquires game media. A terminal and a server are provided,
The server,
When a provision request is received from the terminal of the user, providing the user with game contents selected from a first set, a second set, and a third set, each of which includes different game contents and is included in a unique set associated with the user;
when a next request for provision is received from the terminal of each of the users after the association between the third set and the unique set of each of the users is released, providing the user with a game medium by lottery from among the first set and the second set;
A system in which the probability that the first set or the second set will be selected by the lottery is determined by the number of game media in the first set and the second set when the first set, the second set, and the third set are set, and does not change as the user acquires game media.