University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

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Towards Reinterpretation of Interaction Complexity

for Load Prediction in Cloud-based MMORPGs

Mirko Sužnjević, Maja Matijašević

University of Zagreb

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing

Department of Telecommunications

http://www.fer.unizg.hr/ztel/en/research/research_groups/netmedia

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Motivation

April 21, 2023

Number of players on a server = 4000

Number of players on a server = 4000

Not the same in terms of load!

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Outline

Introduction

Related work

Mapping

Load prediction

Resuts

Conclusion and open issues

April 21, 2023

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Introduction

Current practices in server organization for MMORPGs: Sharded worlds (World of Warcraft)

Single worlds (EvE Online)

Problems Player distribution uniform (in specific shard and between shards)

Player behavior patterns

Unexpected behavior

Highly variable load

Cloud based systems – designed to provide optimal

amount of resources for services with variable load

April 21, 2023

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Related work

Based on work by Nae and Prodan* Presented formulas for load estimation (both CPU and memory) in distributed MMOs

Created load prediction based on neural networks

Used Runescape as a case study

Defined complexities for different interactions between entities in MMOs

We map the MMORPG behavior categories to specific

complexities* R. Prodan and V. Naea, “Prediction-based real-time resource provisioning for massively multiplayer online games,”

Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 25, pp. 785–793, 2009.

V. Nae, A. Iosup, and R. Prodan, “Dynamic resource provisioning in massively multiplayer online games,” IEEE

Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, vol. 22, pp. 380–395, 2011.

April 21, 2023

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Mapping

Goal - to prove that behavioral information has a

significant influence on the system load Redefined calculation of number of interactions based on

properties of the action category

April 21, 2023

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Load prediction

Simple history based algorithm

History source – previously developed user behavior

simulator Behaviour simulator implements the model which captures behavior

patterns

Easy modification of parameters of the behavior (number of players,

duration of each separate action category, arrival and departure

rates)

Enables simulation of “extreme” events such as flash mobs and

content release

Output in form of a text file listing each performed behaviour: Second:124 Type:Change ID:210 Category:5 CategoryOld:6

Duration:433

April 21, 2023

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Load prediction II

Developed a tool for load prediction Run by simple algorithm based on pattern periods (e.g., day, week)

The history is divided to intervals (e.g., minutes, hours)

It takes into account the whole history and last period in order to capture both

patterns and unusual behavior

April 21, 2023

Second:124164 Type:Change ID:2610 Category:5 CategoryOld:6 Duration:433

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Results

Tool displays 4 curves: Whole history

Last period

Predicted resources

Reserved resources

Two calculation algorithms Taking into account only number

of players Taking into account both number

of players and behavior category

April 21, 2023

Second:124164 Type:Change ID:2610 Category:5 CategoryOld:6 Duration:433

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University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

Conclusions and open issues

Conclusions Adapted the interaction complexities to specific action categories

Developed a load prediction tool

Confirmed significant discrepancies when calculating load just based

on the number of players and based on behavioral information

Open issues Issues which cloud based MMORPGs face?

More “interaction” between shards

Is just adding another server when load hits certain treshold enough? Load prediction based on spatial locality of the players + behavioral information

April 21, 2023

University of Zagreb

MMVE 2012 workshop

11April 21, 2023