Achievements for a virtual world game

• US 9,050,534 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2011
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ganz
• Original Assignee: Ganz
• Inventors: Ganetakos, Joseph Benjamin, Caron, Frank James, Scoble, Jesse Daniel, McLeod, Gord Scott, Larsen, John Alexander, Leung, Felix, Borst, Karl Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, TUYETLIEN T
• Application Number:
  US13/091,627
• Publication Number:
  US 20110265044A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,510 Days
• Field of Search: 715/834, 715/757, 715/835
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/533 for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/537 using indicators, e.g. showing the condition of a game character on screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/825 Fostering virtual characters
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/87 Communicating with other players during game play, e.g. by e-mail or chat
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/303 for displaying additional data, e.g. simulating a Head Up Display
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/308 Details of the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5553 user representation in the game field, e.g. avatar
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/572 Communication between players during game play of non game information, e.g. e-mail, chat, file transfer, streaming of audio and streaming of video
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/575 for trading virtual items
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8058 Virtual breeding, e.g. tamagotchi
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

A user interface for a virtual world controls and allows registering new characters and also registering achievement when the user has carried out a number of different items.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a computer, providing output information in a form to be displayed on a display screen, said output information including virtual world information indicative of a virtual world with which a user can interact, said computer controlling registering a number of different virtual characters with which the user can interact in the virtual world, said computer also maintaining information about actions taken by the user, comparing said actions to a sequence of actions that is necessary to obtain an achievement icon, and providing said user with said achievement icon when said user has carried out all of said sequence of actions, and displaying achievement icon information on at least one user information page in the virtual world, where said user information page shows first achievement icons that have been awarded, second achievement icons that have not been awarded but where actions to obtain the achievement award are known, and third achievement icons that have not been awarded but where actions to obtain the achievement award are not known; and

where said first achievement icons that have been awarded are shown in a first way, said second achievement icons that have not been awarded but are known are shown in a second way that is distinguishable from the first way, and said third achievement icons that have not been awarded and are not known are shown in the third way different than the first and second ways, wherein said achievement icon that has been awarded includes an achievement card which shows a level of achievement of the user, a numerical count of a number of the user'"'"'s friends who have earned the same achievement, and said sequence of actions which were taken to earn the achievement.

2. A system as in claim 1, wherein said achievement card also shows a total percentage of all participants in the virtual world who have earned the achievement.

3. A system as in claim 1, wherein said page of achievement icons shows achievement icons that cannot yet be obtained by a user.

4. A system as in claim 3, wherein said page of achievement icons also shows achievement icons that have been started but have not yet been awarded, because the user has not completed the entire sequence of actions but where the user has completed some part of said sequence of actions.

5. A system as in claim 4, wherein said page of achievement icons also shows other achievement icons which have not been started, and where the user is not given information about what will be necessary to complete the other achievement Icons.

6. A system as in claim 1, wherein said virtual characters can be traded in the virtual world, but said achievement icons cannot be traded in the virtual world.

7. A system as in claim 1, wherein said achievement icon is awarded when the user has collected a specified number of virtual objects in the virtual world.

8. A method comprising:

sending from a server computer system to a client computer over a network, output information in a form to be displayed on a display screen, said output information including virtual world information indicative of a virtual world with which a user can interact;

registering, in the server computer system, a number of different virtual characters with which the user can interact in the virtual world;

maintaining information about actions taken by the user in the virtual world in the server computer system;

comparing said actions to a sequence of actions that is necessary to obtain an achievement icon; and

providing said user with said achievement icon as part of said output information when said user has carried out all of said sequence of actions, and displaying said achievement icon on at least one user information page in the virtual world, and where said user information page shows first achievement icons that have been awarded, second achievement icons that have not been awarded but where actions to obtain the achievement award are known, and third achievement icons that have not been awarded but where actions to obtain the achievement award are not known; and

where said first achievement icons that have been awarded are shown in a first way, said second achievement icons that have not been awarded but are known are shown in a second way that is distinguishable from the first way, and said third achievement icons that have not been awarded and are not known are shown in the third way different than the first and second way, wherein said achievement icon that has been awarded includes an achievement card which shows a level of achievement of the user, a numerical count of a number of the user'"'"'s friends who have earned the same achievement, and said sequence of actions which were taken to earn the achievement.

9. A method as in claim 8, wherein said achievement card also shows a total percentage of all participants in the virtual world who have earned the achievement.

10. A method as in claim 8, wherein said page of achievement icons shows achievement icons that cannot yet be obtained by a user.

11. A method as in claim 10, wherein said page of achievement icons also shows achievement icons that have been started but have not yet been awarded, because the user has not completed the entire sequence of actions but where the user has completed some part of said sequence of actions.

12. A method as in claim 11, wherein said page of achievement icons also shows other achievement icons which have not been started, and where the user is not given information about what will be necessary to complete the other achievement icons.

13. A method as in claim 8, further comprising allowing said virtual characters to be traded in the virtual world, but preventing said first achievement icons from being traded in the virtual world.

14. A method as in claim 8, wherein said achievement icon is awarded when the user has collected a specified number of virtual objects in the virtual world.