• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.117-137
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• 2008

Using the service innovation system model, the development of Korean online game industry is analyzed. The model proposed by Gallouj (2002) is modified in order to reflect IT service characteristics such as network externalities. Success factors and innovations patterns of Korean online game industry are examined. First, at the early stage of her growth, Korean online game industry was not supported or coordinated by any Government policies unlike DRAM, CDMA or TFT-LCD. Many parts of technical and service innovations were unintentionally initiated by online game developing ventures without predeterminde strategies. Second, the online game industry is basically a service industry so that users' needs and technical and service characteristics are intertwined to produce innovation. The innovation system of the online game industry is quite different from conventional product technological innovation systems in a sense that there are no blueprints for innovation as well as major players in the system. Third, Government's policies for promotion of IT industry such as the broadband infrastructure installation policy, the hi-tech venture promotion policy and the military exemption policy contributed greatly to development of the online game industry. However, these policy tools were not intended for online game industry but in the end gave a great impact on the service innovation system of the online game industry.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.123-135
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• 2009

The considerable progress of IT industry has changed the industrial structure and lifestyle of our society. One of the remarkable fields of IT industry is online game industry. It showed rapid growth for the past decade. But in recent years online game industry faced with the limit of its growth for a number of reasons. To overcome such situation, online game companies should improve functions of game and analyze their customer's needs for sustainable growth through increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. The purpose of the study is to investigate and evaluate the factors of online game service quality and the relation of customer satisfaction and loyalty. SPSS 14.0 and AMOS 7.0 are used for experimental research. Through reliability and validity test, service quality factors influencing the customer satisfaction are appeared to be 5 latent variables(reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, tangibles). In addition, by structural equation model and covariance structural model, the result showed that empathy is the most influenced factor to customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction has positive effect on customer loyalty. The results of this research have important implications for explaining an mechanism for service quality of online game, customer satisfaction and loyalty and they might provide operational guidelines to the online game service company.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.293-308
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• 2011

The preliminary security assessment is an information security process to analyze security weaknesses before beginning of services. Discovering security weakness through preliminary security assessment is highly required because it costs much when security incident occur in the middle of service operation. However, this assessment is not widely spread in the online game service domain yet. In this paper, we summarize the security risk existed in the online game service, and we classify the security requirements related to the each risk. Also, through the case study, we evaluated the effectiveness of preliminary security assessment in this domain. In addition, we suggest checklists that should be reviewed once in game-client side, network-side and game-server side for the purpose of security enhancement.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.93-103
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• 2009

The domestic online game market is rapidly growing and changing because of the game service that makes game users agreeable to their characters. However, the game service cannot satisfy with game users' need because it only considers game users' characters. As a result of this, there gives rise to side effects such as a secession from a customer group and a boycott. Furthermore, these have effect on life or death in the game market. Therefore, the purpose of this study examines game users' dissatisfaction and satisfaction about online game how to express. Through this process, this study willing to suggest a strategy for recovering service of the game company.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1307-1312
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• 2014

Online games are virtual space where it connects individual users through network connection to offer enjoyment of play games and game developer who service online games have to develop new contents and provide them to users to extend life of their service. Typically, in order to update new contents, all service companies have maintenance schedule to stop the game service for a while to update both server and client applications. Usually this process takes quite amount of time and users do not have any other choice but disconnected from server and wait until it is over. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the advantages of new design system which will allows users to continue to play the game even during the update. The main focus of this design is to make users feel more convenience in online gaming experience by move client from previous server to new server while users are still playing. If they can to connect current client with new server without any certificate validation process while users information from the client can automatically pass through to the new server, users may not need to experience maintenance for new contents update.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.101-117
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• 2013

As the number of online game user has been rapidly increased thanks to the recent vitalization of online contents market, not only new business opportunity but also the opportunity to create high profits have been provided as well. However, the increase of the number of online game user and the rapid expansion of the market evoke a cutthroat completion among online game service providers, and also high barriers to entry to online game market have been erected. Thus, what kinds of efforts need for the business success and sales increase in online game market? In lots of researches regarding online contents business, the deepening of loyalty was considered as a critical factor for the business success. According to the study on user's behavior in online environment, users would experience the Flow while using online service, and then, if they were in state of the Flow, they would use the service constantly. High customer loyalty to online game means high will to use the online game too. The purpose of this research was i) to examine what factors enable users to be naturally immersed in online game while playing it, ii) to examine what properties of online game can make game more interesting and exciting, iii) to verify that such factors are critical in deepening customer loyalty, and iv) to suggest some essential factors to be fun and exciting games, on where the focus should be put, and the directionality for the development for sales expansion of online game developer or online game service provider. The research results are as below: First, the involvement and the perceived quality which were characteristics of brand appeared to be factors most affecting Flow. This shows that once game user get interested in online game that user has played frequently, even though new games are released, user will continuously flow the game not moving to new games, and also shows that users not only get more interested but also put more trust in games in the site to where users are frequently going than games in other sites, and consequently user can increasingly flow the game. Second, the compensation and graphics which are the characteristics of contents appeared to be factors affecting Flow. Proper compensation which is given to game users triggers fun and interests in game and makes them flow more and more. And graphics make users to feel game space as if real space and let them flow in game with more reality. Third, challenges, support, and the stability which are technical characteristics appeared to be factors affecting Flow. Challenges enable users to not only experience new virtual world but also solve various difficulties and obstacles. Once users feel fun and interests through this challenge, they can naturally flow games. In addition, the stability of network provides reliability in security and hacking. By doing so, it can induce users to flow more and more. Lastly, when aforementioned characteristics including contents characteristics, technical characteristics, and brand characteristics are organically combined each other, game users feel fun and total minutes are naturally increased, so that game users experience Flow, and consequently the customer loyalty will be deepened as well.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.11-20
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• 2009

When an online game is considered as a commercial product, now an online game should arouse the consumer's purchase desires as a service item. Most of all, the contents of an online game are important, but, on the other hand, beyond the online game services, it is also important to improve the accessibility of online games, which are developed through the specific testing processes. That is, it is necessary to develop comprehensive and systematic game testing processes considering even the aspects of the usability of the online games on the basis of the qualitative and measureable game tests. Therefore, this study is intended to suggest the proper scopes of the online game testing processes in a view that an online game is a commercial product.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.127-138
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• 2011

The creation and interchange of information through the Internet network forms online community and makes Social Network Game (SNG) as a new entertainment by grafting it onto the most popular online games. SNG means the service which amalgamates social network service (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc) strong points and the fun of online game. It promotes the intimacy of relation between the friends above social network service and the gaming amusement for users. The domestic SNG market is currently fast changing according to the smart environment which is quickly shifted. The existing online game field will continuously maintain a market size. SNOG will be more developed because it is competitive from the business perspective of managing cost and production cost when compares with the existing online game. In relation to Facebook, Twitter, etc. overseas SNS platform base SNOG service, the domestic competition for launching SNG is expected to heat up as NHN, Daum and SK Communication introduce open type SNS. This study examines the successful factors and strategy for domestic SNOG by studying the case of MapleStory Adventures successful possibility. The possible successful factors are combing SNS on the existing popular online game, marketing through the existing users, and solving the platform problem of a failure factor of NexonStar. This case study is expected to contribute to the domestic SNOG industry development by providing several implications for the successful factors and strategy of SNOG which will be continuously developed.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.83-98
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• 2007

This study focused on online game security, which has been considered relatively insignificant when compared to the online game industry's rapid growth. In this study, the state of security incidents in the Korean game industry and security solutions for such cases were examined. At first the security incidents were classified according to the type of game security infringement. Based upon this classification, this study analyzed the causes that give rise to infringement of online game security, and developed technical solutions for such cases. Finally, this study verified whether or not these technical solutions could be applied to online game sites.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.23-43
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to identify the types of consumer problems involving the use of online game services in Korea. This study analyzed the consumer damage cases by age and type that were reported to the Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB). The results of this study are as follows: The online game complaints varied by age. In the case of children, most complaints involved phone charging online game fees without parents' consent. There were similarities in the victimization of teens and children according to reason for complaint, handling result and type of damage. However, based on method of charging, mobile phone and credit card payments were causes in the case of teen victimization. Meanwhile, complaints among adults showed more complexity than the previous two groups such as cases relating to online game companies illegally seizing game items and game accounts, and charging fees for unused services caused by identity theft. By type of charging method, most complaints involved phone and mobile phone payments. According to the analysis result of online game victims, the monetary damage of consumers did not differ among socio-demographic variables such as age, residence, gender and occupation but there was difference in the method of charging. In the handling period, differences could be seen by age, year, gender and type of damage.