@inproceedings {Simula.simula.1162,
	title = {Network Traffic From Anarchy Online: Analysis, Statistics and Applications},
	journal = {Proceedings of the 2012 Multimedia Systems Conference},
	year = {2012},
	month = {February},
	publisher = {The Association for Computing Machinery},
	type = {Conference},
	abstract = {We present a dataset - a real-world, server-side packet trace - from Anarchy Online. Anarchy Online is a science fiction-themed massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG), published and developed by Funcom. We present statistics from the network traffic and show that it is a representative dataset for similar games. From the dataset, one can extract several key characteristics from such scenarios like payload sizes, packet rates, data delivery latencies, retransmission statistics, loss rates and stream correlation. The dataset can be used several ways: by replaying the game traffic, components like congestion control mechanisms, middlewares, packet schedulers, router queue behaviour, etc. can be analysed. Based on the observed statistics from the trace, such interactive game traffic shows completely different behaviour compared to the greedy, high-rate streams most network mechanisms are designed for, e.g., file download, video streaming and web-surfing. We hope that the dataset can be used to push research forward in the field of system support for games.},
	isbn = {978-1-4503-1131-1},
	author = {Petlund, Andreas and Halvorsen, P{\r a}l and P{\r a}l Frogner {Hansen} and Lindgren, Torbj{\"o}rn and Casais, Rui},
	editor = {Claypool, Mark}
}
@book {Simula.simula.1642,
	title = {Proceedings of the 3rd Multimedia Systems Conference},
	year = {2012},
	month = {February},
	publisher = {ACM},
	organization = {ACM},
	abstract = {We welcome you to the third ACM Multimedia Systems conference (MMSys). This conference focuses on multimedia computing and networking, lying at the intersection of digital media and the systems (applications, architectures, networking, operating systems) that handle them. The goal is to cut across a diverse set of computer science subfields in order to achieve a longitudinal perspective on the challenges that multimedia data types present. This provides a unique opportunity to view the intersections and interplay of the various approaches and solutions developed across these domains to deal with multimedia data types. Furthermore, MMSys provides an avenue for communicating research that addresses multimedia systems holistically.},
	keywords = {Conference},
	isbn = {978-1-4503-1131-1},
	author = {Claypool, Mark and Griwodz, Carsten}
}
@inproceedings {Simula.ND.187,
	title = {Dragon Kill Points: Loot Distribution in Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games},
	journal = {Proceedings of the 7th ACM SIGCOMM workshop on Network and system support for games (NetGames 2008)},
	year = {2008},
	month = {October},
	pages = {100-101},
	publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)},
	type = {Workshop},
	abstract = {One of the major reasons for playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) is the possibility to show off your abilities to other players. The more rare your equipment is, the higher is the show off value of your character. And because rare items are hard to find cooperation between several players is often required. This introduces a conflict between the players, and a way to distribute loot is necessary. We introduce the problem of loot distribution in MMORPG, and we suggest and give a preliminary evaluation of a new and improved Dragon Kill Points system.},
	isbn = {978-1-60558-132-3},
	author = {Ernst Gunnar {Gran} and Reinemo, Sven-Arne},
	editor = {Claypool, Mark}
}
@inproceedings {Simula.ND.185,
	title = {Improving Application Layer Latency for Reliable Thin-Stream Game Traffic},
	journal = {Netgames, Worcester, Ma. US, 2008},
	year = {2008},
	publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)},
	type = {Workshop},
	abstract = {A wide range of networked games send data with very high interarrival-time between packets and with small payloads in each packet. We call these transmission patterns {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}thin streams{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright}. Reliability, when needed for game traffic, is usually achieved through TCP or by using retransmission schemes modelled on TCP. These retransmission schemes can result in very large delays if the stream is thin. Viewed in the light of the time-dependent nature of game traffic, large delays can be severely impeding to the game experience. In order to reduce application-layer latency when packets are lost, we have implemented modifications to TCP in the Linux kernel. The changes are only active when thin-stream properties are detected, thus not affecting TCP behaviour when the stream is not thin. In this paper, we show the latency improvements from these thin-stream modifications. As a case study, we have used the game BZFlag to test the mechanisms, and present statistics from these tests. The experimental results show that our modifications allow TCP to recover earlier from packet loss. This latency reduction was then shown to improve the difference between perceived and actual player positions in the BzFlag game.},
	isbn = {978-1-60558-132-3},
	author = {Petlund, Andreas and Halvorsen, P{\r a}l and Griwodz, Carsten},
	editor = {Claypool, Mark}
}
@inproceedings {Simula.ND.225,
	title = {Latency Reduction by Dynamic Core Selection and Partial Migration of Game State},
	journal = {Proceedings of Workshop on Network and Systems Support for Games (NetGames)},
	year = {2008},
	month = {October},
	pages = {79-84},
	publisher = {ACM},
	type = {Workshop},
	abstract = {Massively multi-player online games (MMOGs) require low latency while supporting a large number of concurrent players, often sharing one worldwide instance of the game. As these are conflicting requirements, a common way of distributing load is by dividing the virtual environment into virtual regions. As MMOGs are world-spanning games, it is plausible to disperse these regions on geographically distributed servers. As such, we propose the use of core selection for finding an optimal server for placing a region, and support for migrating the game state to that server. The first goal relies on a set of servers and measurement of the interacting players latencies. In locating an optimal server, we anticipate a decrease in the overall latency for the majority of players. This reduction occurs by migrating the region to a server closer in proximity to the majority of players in that virtual region, thereby lowering the response time of any interaction.},
	isbn = {978-1-60558-132-3},
	author = {Beskow, Paul and Vik, Knut-Helge and Halvorsen, P{\r a}l and Griwodz, Carsten},
	editor = {Claypool, Mark}
}
@inproceedings {Palant.2006.1,
	title = {Evaluating Dead Reckoning Variations With a Multi-Player Game Simulator},
	journal = {Network and Operating System Support for Digital Audio and Video (NOSSDAV 2006)},
	year = {2006},
	pages = {20-25},
	publisher = {ACM Press},
	type = {Annual},
	abstract = {One of the most difficult tasks when creating an online multi-player game is to provide the players with a consistent view of the virtual world despite the network delays. Most current games use prediction algorithms to achieve this, but usually it does not go beyond applying the DIS dead reckoning algorithm proposed in the mid-90s. In this paper we introduce a simulator called GLS that allows us to evaluate different aspects of DIS and its variations. We examine the impact of prediction and clock synchronization on game consistency. We also evaluate the convergence algorithm we introduce here. Furthermore we look into ways for compensating increasing delays to keep the player{\textquoteright}s view of the game state sufficiently consistent with other players.},
	isbn = {1-59593-285-2},
	author = {Palant, Wladimir and Griwodz, Carsten and Halvorsen, P{\r a}l},
	editor = {Brian Neil {Levine} and Claypool, Mark}
}
@inproceedings {Griwodz.2006.1,
	title = {The Fun of Using TCP for an MMORPG},
	journal = {Network and Operating System Support for Digital Audio and Video (NOSSDAV 2006)},
	year = {2006},
	note = {received the best paper award},
	month = {May},
	pages = {1-7},
	publisher = {ACM Press},
	type = {Annual},
	abstract = {Massive multi-player online games have become a popular, fast growing, multi-million industry with a very high user mass supporting hundreds or thousands of concurrent players. In many cases, these games are centralized and every player communicates with the central server through a time-critical unicast event stream. Funcom{\textquoteright}s Anarchy Online is one of these; it is based on TCP. We find that its kind of traffic has some interesting properties that inspire changes to protocol or architecture. In these game streams, using TCP is not TCP-friendly, using TCP does not have to be slower than using UDP, and only repeated timeouts ruin game experience. Improving the latter in the sender implementation does not impose any remarkable penalty on the network. Alternatively, a proxy architecture for multiplexing could save about 40\% resources at the server, allow congestion control to work and also reduce the lag of the game.},
	isbn = {1-59593-285-2},
	author = {Griwodz, Carsten and Halvorsen, P{\r a}l},
	editor = {Brian Neil {Levine} and Claypool, Mark}
}
