Design issues for peer-to-peer massively multiplayer online games

Fan, L., Trinder, P. and Taylor, H. (2010) Design issues for peer-to-peer massively multiplayer online games. International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication, 4(2), pp. 108-125. (doi: 10.1504/IJAMC.2010.032138)

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Abstract

Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are increasing in both popularity and scale, and while classical Client/Server (C/S) architectures convey some benefits, they suffer from significant technical and commercial drawbacks. This realisation has sparked intensive research interest in adapting MMOGs to Peer-to-Peer (P2P) architectures. This paper articulates a comprehensive set of six design issues to be addressed by P2P MMOGs, namely Interest Management (IM), game event dissemination, Non-Player Character (NPC) host allocation, game state persistency, cheating mitigation and incentive mechanisms. Design alternatives for each issue are systematically compared, and their interrelationships discussed. We further evaluate how well representative P2P MMOG architectures fulfil the design criteria.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Trinder, Professor Phil
Authors: Fan, L., Trinder, P., and Taylor, H.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
Journal Name:International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication
ISSN:1462-4613
ISSN (Online):1741-8003

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