Patent ID: 8606904

Claim:
A server arranged to administer a modular on-line virtual environment, each on-line module of the on-line virtual environment having a plurality of parallel instances each having a capacity to host a limited number of users, the server comprising: a network communications arrangement operable to receive data representative of actions of users within an instance of the plurality of instances of a first on-line module of the modular on-line virtual environment, and to transmit to each of the users within the instance of the first on-line module data representative of the actions of each other user within the instance of the first on-line module; a behaviour analyzer operable to analyse user behaviour within the instance of the first on-line module, in which if the behaviour of two or more users satisfies a predetermined criterion then the two or more users are classified as belonging to a social group comprising the two or more users; a module instance selector operable to select an instance of a second on-line module for one of the users when said one of the users moves within the modular on-line virtual environment from the first on-line module to the second on-line module, in which the module instance selector is operable to select the instance of the second on-line module that has a capacity to accommodate one or more further members of the social group so that if said one of the users and the one or more further members of the social group join that instance of the second on-line module, the number of users of that instance of the second on-line module will not exceed the limited number of users, once a first user classified as a member of said social group moves within the modular on-line virtual environment from the first on-line module to the second on-line module; and if a subsequent respective user, classified as a member of the same social group as the first user, moves within the modular on-line virtual environment from the first on-line module to the second on-line module, the server is operable to place the subsequent respective user in the same selected instance of the second on-line module as the first user.