System and method for determining quality of service for actions to be performed in a virtual space

Abstract

A virtual space may be provided to users. In providing the virtual space to users, actions performed in the virtual space responsive to user input may be dynamically assigned a quality of service that is dependent on one or more of user value, past user action requests, past action requests cumulatively for all users, server health, and/or other criteria. This may facilitate an operator of the virtual space increasing overall user engagement and/or value, and/or provide other enhancements.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system configured to provide a virtual space to users, the system comprising:
 one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules, the computer program modules comprising:
 a space module configured to host a virtual space by executing an instance of the virtual space, and implementing the instance of the virtual space to determine views of the virtual space for communication to client computing platforms associated with users, wherein the space module is configured to:
 receive input commands from the users via the client computing platforms, the input commands indicating actions that should be taken in the instance of the virtual space; 
 responsive to reception of the input commands, initiate actions in the instance of the virtual space that correspond to the input commands such that the actions are reflected in the views of the virtual space determined by the space module; 
 
 a user value module configured to determine values for a user value metric for the individual users; and 
 a quality of service module configured such that responsive to reception of an input command from a first user the quality of service module determines a quality of service for the action indicated by the input command based on the user value metric for the first user and a requested action indicated by the input command, and 
 wherein the space module is configured such that responsive to the determination of the quality of service for the requested action, the requested action is initiated in the instance of the virtual space with the determined quality of service. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user value module is configured such that the determined values of the user value metric reflect the financial value of the individual users to an operator of the virtual space. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the user value module is configured such that the determinations of the values of the user value metric for the individual users are based on monetary expenditures made by the users in the virtual space. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user value module is configured such that determined values of the user value metric reflect levels of engagement of the individual users with the virtual space. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the user value module is configured such that the determinations of the values of the user value metric for the individual users are based on one or more of length of usage sessions of the users, frequency of usage sessions of the users, periods of time between usage sessions of the users, or amounts of time the users have been using the virtual space. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a user activity module configured to monitor actions performed in the instance of the virtual space responsive to input commands received from the individual users on a per-action-type basis, and wherein the quality of service module is further configured such that determination of the quality of service for the requested action is further based on the actions of a common action-type with the requested action previously initiated in the instance of the virtual space responsive to input commands from the first user. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the quality of service module is configured such that the quality of service for the requested action is determined to be relatively low responsive to an action frequency for the common action-type initiated by the first user being relatively high, and to be relatively high responsive to the action frequency for the common action-type initiated by the first user being relatively high. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an instance activity module configured to monitor actions performed in the instance of the virtual space responsive to input commands received from the users cumulatively on a per-action-type basis, and wherein the quality of service module is further configured such that determination of the quality of service for the requested action is further based on the actions of a common action-type with the requested action previously initiated in the instance of the virtual space responsive to input commands from the users cumulatively. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the quality of service module is configured such that the quality of service for the requested action is determined to be relatively low responsive to an action frequency for the common action-type initiated by the users cumulatively being relatively high, and to be relatively high responsive to the action frequency for the common action-type initiated by the users cumulatively being relatively high. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the modules further comprise a system health module configured to monitor a health level of a server that includes at least one of the one or more processors, and wherein the quality of service module is further configured such that determination of the quality of service for the requested action is further based on the health level of the server. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method of providing a virtual space to users, the method being implemented in a computer system comprising one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules, the method comprising:
 hosting a virtual space by:
 executing an instance of the virtual space; 
 implementing the instance of the virtual space to determine views of the virtual space for communication to client computing platforms associated with users; 
 receiving input commands from the users via the client computing platforms, the input commands indicating actions that should be taken in the instance of the virtual space; 
 responsive to reception of the input commands, initiating actions in the instance of the virtual space that correspond to the input commands such that the actions are reflected in the determined views of the virtual space; 
   determining values for a user value metric for the individual users; and   responsive to reception of an input command from a first user, determining a quality of service for the action indicated by the input command based on the user value metric for the first user and a requested action indicated by the input command,   wherein responsive to the determination of the quality of service for the requested action, the requested action is initiated in the instance of the virtual space with the determined quality of service.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determined values of the user value metric reflect the financial value of the individual users to an operator of the virtual space. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the determinations of the values of the user value metric for the individual users are based on monetary expenditures made by the users in the virtual space. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determined values of the user value metric reflect levels of engagement of the individual users with the virtual space. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the determined values of the user value metric for the individual users are based on one or more of length of usage sessions of the users, frequency of usage sessions of the users, periods of time between usage sessions of the users, or amounts of time the users have been using the virtual space. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising monitoring actions performed in the instance of the virtual space responsive to input commands received from the individual users on a per-action-type basis, and wherein the determination of the quality of service for the requested action is further based on the actions of a common action-type with the requested action previously initiated in the instance of the virtual space responsive to input commands from the first user. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the quality of service for the requested action is determined to be relatively low responsive to an action frequency for the common action-type initiated by the first user being relatively high, and to be relatively high responsive to the action frequency for the common action-type initiated by the first user being relatively high. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising monitoring actions performed in the instance of the virtual space responsive to input commands received from the users cumulatively on a per-action-type basis, and wherein the quality of service for the requested action is further based on the actions of a common action-type with the requested action previously initiated in the instance of the virtual space responsive to input commands from the users cumulatively. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the quality of service for the requested action is determined to be relatively low responsive to an action frequency for the common action-type initiated by the users cumulatively being relatively high, and to be relatively high responsive to the action frequency for the common action-type initiated by the users cumulatively being relatively high. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising monitoring a health level of a server that includes at least one of the one or more processors, and wherein the quality of service for the requested action is further based on the health level of the server.