WO2008061746A1

WO2008061746A1 - Synchronised provision of media for on line game playing

Info

Publication number: WO2008061746A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/010120
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Spyres; Adrian Michael Wildsmith
Original assignee: Cloudcity Games Plc
Priority date: 2006-11-22
Filing date: 2007-11-22
Publication date: 2008-05-29
Also published as: GB0623313D0; GB2444765A

Abstract

A system for the provision of questions within an on line entertainment system involving one or more servers and client stations for the provision of games which enables players to select both the nature of the game and method of game play and the provision of the questions is such that the same question is made available at the same time to participants in the different types of game and method of game play.

Description

SYNCHRONISED PROVISION OF MEDIA FOR ON LINE GAME PLAYING

The present invention relates to the provision of questions in an on line entertainment system and in particular is concerned with the synchronisation of the provision of questions across a variety of different methods of playing the entertainment system. The invention allows the same questions to be provided simultaneously to a multitude of users each of whom can choose the method by which they wish to answer the question and, optionally, if they wish to place a stake on the correctness of their answer to the question and also the amount of the stake. The synchronisation provided by the present invention ensures that although many different game formats may be in operation the information that is released in the development and provision of the question cannot provide information from one game format that gives advanced information for another format.

Our co-filed application reference GB Application 0623312.6 relates to interactive entertainment systems that select questions for testing knowledge and ensures that individuals can test their knowledge in competition with others (known as tournaments) whenever they wish to do so. The system also allows participants to place stakes on the correctness of their answer to a question and also to employ a variety of methods of staking according to the individual preference. The present invention therefore provides systems which ensure that multiple users located anywhere in the world can simultaneously test their knowledge against the same question or series of questions whenever they wish to do so.

The embodiment of the present invention which allows a participant to place a stake on the correctness of the answers integrates the question delivery system of this invention with a financial system which is integrated with a game play system such as that described in our co-filed application reference GB Application 0623314.2. The financial system preferably provides automatic real time credit management, real time transaction confirmation, credit management tracking system and player auditing, coupled with an appropriate security system.

The present invention therefore relates to the provision of questions within an on line entertainment system involving one or more servers and player client stations for the provision of games which provides the ability for a player to decide whether to participate in a game whereby the system enables players to select both the nature of the game and method of game play; the provision of the questions is such that the same question is made available at the same time to participants in different types of games and method of play as selected by players.

In a preferred form of the present invention a game comprises one or more multiple choice questions in which the player will be provided with several, usually four, possible answers to a question and is provided with the opportunity to attempt to select the correct answer. The interaction between the player and the game server will allow the player to select on line the game method of play, for example he or she may choose a tournament or an individual game, the interaction will also allow the player to select the nature of the question from a series of categories and/or subjects provided. Examples of such categories can include sport, movies, television, general knowledge etc and examples of subjects within categories are tennis, baseball etc. Having selected a category and/or subject for the game one or more questions will be displayed according to the format of game selected and the question will then be provided on the player's screen ready to be answered within a prescribed time.

A further embodiment allows the participant to place a stake on the correctness of their answers to the questions provided by the present invention by selecting from staking options provided as screen shots on the players display. The system provides an additional degree of flexibility to enable the participant to select a particular size and type of stake according to the game format selected and the method of play selected.

Another novel and important feature of the present invention is that the entertainment can operate in different formats simultaneously and furthermore the various formats can be available to participants around the world simultaneously. By "Game Format" we mean the overall nature of the way in which questions are delivered and/or displayed to the players. The game format can be individual testing or can be a tournament in competition with others. Whilst there are many format options examples of four preferred entertainment formats and how they may be played are as follows:- (i) TOURNAMENTS

A tournament is a multiplayer game where each player starts by making a specific fixed commitment to 'join' the game. This may be an initial financial outlay as approved and audited by the financial system. Game play may vary by parameters such as whether players are allowed to pass on a question or are obliged to play and so on, but all players will start with the same fixed amount commitment which can conveniently be represented within the game system by tokens. Winners are identified according to player performance throughout the tournament and prizes/winnings are distributed at the end of the tournament.

Tournaments operate at specific times in the calendar as indicated to a potential participant by the calendar system and can be provided on demand. Some tournaments will require preregistration by the participant before the tournament commences.

(ii) PYRAMIDS

In a pyramid game players can progress from one (lower) level of the game to a higher level, alternatively players may enter a pyramid game at a level selected by the player. A player may also leave one pyramid game with credits to play at a particular level and may use these credits to enter another pyramid game. The staking system can be controlled according to the level of the pyramid and also according to the manner in which the player wishes to enter the pyramid.

Pyramids may operate either at specific times in the calendar as indicated to potential participants by the calendar system or they can be provided on demand. If a pyramid is only running at a specific time, as indicated by the calendaring system, it will require preregistration by the participant before the game commences.

(iii) OPEN GAMES

An open game is another multiplayer game where each player 'buys' a certain number of tokens to play for as long as they like or until the players tokens are spent. Each question is run individually and players can decide whether to place stakes to play the question or to pass. Players who guess the correct answer to the question receive an equal share of the tokens in the total kitty generated for that question and these are added to their own game token balance. Players may join an open game after it has commenced and may leave at any time before the game has finished. When a player leaves an open game their token balance within the game is converted back into 'cash' which is credited to their wallet via the financial system.

Open games operate at specific times in the calendar as indicated to the potential participant by the calendar system. An open game does not require preregistration before the game commences as players may come and go as they please.

(iv) TEASERS

A teaser is a single player game which allows a player to play 'for free' with no prizes, teasers can operate continuously on a start-on-demand basis.

Within each format it will be necessary for the player to answer a question within a prescribed time and the system also indicates on the player's screen the time remaining to provide the answer to the question.

A facet of the system is that the question provision is synchronised so that one question can be provided to the players on their screen simultaneously in multiple forms of entertainment. This requires the provision of a question delivery system which is programmed to stage and synchronise the steps required for the selection of a question across different game formats. This delivery system therefore needs to allow for one or more periods for the selection of category and subject (for example the category may be "sport" and the subject "tennis"), the time allowed for the decision whether or not to play the question (if included) and the time allotted for answering the question, the amount and type of the stake and the time allotted to answer the question before the answer is provided by the system.

The invention ensures that within open games or tournaments the question provision is synchronised so that the same question is provided simultaneously irrespective of the game format (for example classic, masters and specialist) within open and tournament games. In this way it is possible to ensure that whatever method of play is employed information is released to a player without compromising the integrity of other games that may be taking place at the same time..

The system therefore allows one or more on line participants to answer the same question in different game formats and perhaps with a different method of play and amount of stake simultaneously. The tournament game play can also allow the participants to choose various stake options and can allow the different options to be employed by different participants on the same questions at the same time.

The game format also includes the scope of questions that are provided within any particular open game or tournament. For example, the participant may be provided with the following three options on the scope of question:

a. A classic tournament and open game in which the question can be drawn at random from the entire question database irrespective of the category of the question or the subject of the question. b. A masters tournament and open game in which the question is drawn at random from all subjects within a selected category (for example sport) c. A specialist tournament and open game in which the question is drawn from all the questions within a particular subject (for example tennis)

The number of questions in a tournament can also be varied for example tournaments can contain: 20 Question, 40 Question or 60 Question tournaments.

The time available to answer questions can be varied, for example there may be 36 Second Questions, 48 Second Questions or 60 Second Questions

The question provision system is synchronised so as to provide the same question simultaneously to each player wishing to play the question irrespective of the number of questions and the question time is selected by each player.

By "Method of play" we mean the manner in which the game is played including the manner in which stakes can be placed on the correctness of the answer and also the amount that can be staked. Method of play is described in our co-filed application reference GB Application 0623314.2.

The system of the present invention can deliver questions for tournament and open games in classic, masters or specialist formats and can be integrated with a financial system for staking by the methods described in co-filed application reference GB Application 0623312.6.

The game play system, the financial system and the client interface are integrated so that the staking options are displayed to the player on their client screen, tokens are provided to the player for staking, the tokens are provided at the appropriate time according to the game format chosen, the rewards and losses are calculated, a financial credit or debit is made to the player's account and a report is provided to the player. The report may also include a relative ranking of performance of players within a tournament.

In the preferred system of the present invention the question provision/game play system integrates with the question provision system and the integrated system is combined with a financial system that supports participant staking. In order for effective operation it is preferred that the financial system provides the following features: -

• a wallet (or account) for each participant

• payment provider integration

• security

• assists in responsible playing • financial incentives

• audit and reporting

The present invention therefore provides questions for an entertainment system which provides to an on line player through the interface between the player and the underlying software of a game server, a highly versatile and flexible on line entertainment system with or without staking. The system may also be used as an educational system in schools, colleges and other educational and certification outlets. The system also has the flexibility to provide for private tournaments which can, if desired, be based on questions provided by those who are organising the tournament. For example this facility would enable communities and groups scattered around the world to participate in a single, unitary tournament via the internet.

The invention provides the ability to synchronise the question selection on a random basis to allow the same question to be used simultaneously in a variety of tournaments without compromising the integrity of the system and without untimely releases of information. This synchronised question selection can be coupled with the ability to apply different staking techniques and methods of play simultaneously to the single question by as many participants who wish to participate.

The present invention and its operation are illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings in which

Figure 1 shows a network system useful for operation of the present invention to enable the provision of multi-faceted entertainment. Figure 1 shows how a centralised system containing the game logic is linked to game servers which are then linked through the interact to individual client stations for user/players. Also included is the financial system showing its interface with the central game logic and database system.

Figure 2 shows a screen shot provided to the participant on a client facility to enable implementation of the type of entertainment according to the present invention.

Figure 3 shows the icons which can be exhibited to show the categories of questions that are available to the participants.

Figure 4 illustrates a screen which provides the options for the participant to choose the type of game he or she wishes to play, the subject matter available and when the combination of choice will be available. These screens may also be structured to provide additional information such as the number of players currently on line, monies paid out and can also provide a link for the exchange of e-mails with, for example, other participants.

Figure 5 shows the screen of play to which a question has been provided according to this invention and in which the clock has been activated to indicate the time in which the participant must decide if he or she wishes to participate and attempt to answer the question. If the participant elects to attempt to answer the question the clock will then indicate how long the participant has to answer the question. Depending upon the format selected the clock may also record how long it takes the participant to answer the question and calculate the return on the stake if the format is time dependent. Figure 5 also shows the staking options provided, provides the names of the players participating in the tournament and the current ranking of performance within the tournament and shows also the balance in the account of the participant.

Figure 6a shows the time line for the delivery of a question in an open classic game in which the question is developed and answered in 60 seconds and which can be run in parallel with a classic tournament with simultaneous question delivery, Figure 6b shows a similar synchronised question delivery for masters open and tournament games. Figure 6c shows how the same question can be delivered simultaneously in a specialist open and tournament game. The figure also shows how the various game formats can be played with different stakes which within the classic, masters and specialist tournaments can be varied at different stages in the question delivery process and how the kitty can be accumulated.

Figure 7 shows how 72 tournaments can be played simultaneously wherein the number of players is varied, the number of questions in the tournament is varied (20, 40 and 60) the stake can also be varied. The following abbreviations are used for the different methods of game play that are employed in Figure 7.

CS = Choice Stakes CSMP = Choice Stakes Must Play

CSMPT = Choice Stakes Must Play Turbo

CST = Choice Stakes Turbo

FS = Fixed Stakes

FSMP = Fixed Stakes Must Play FSMPT = Fixed Stakes Must Play Turbo

FST = Fixed Stakes Turbo

AIS = All In Stakes

AISMP = All In Stakes Must Play

AISMPT = All In Stakes Must Play Turbo AIST = All In Stakes Turbo

Figure 8 is a schematic process flow diagram which illustrates the overall process flow for question provision and game play and each box represents an instance of communication between a client (as shown in Figure 1) and the game servers (as shown in Figure 1) and the financial server (as show in Figure 1).

The following functions are performed in each of the boxes showing in Figure 8 the following symbols are used in the boxes to depict certain activities:- ^&) Is an interaction with the financial system

Is an activity which can affect the number of tokens in the participants wallet.

Indicates a period of time required to synchronise the delivery of a question to

different game formats

REGISTER

A player will be playing on a client machine as a user player. When the player decides to play a chosen game may first be required to register an interest in the game. This is done through the invocation of the REGISTER process. The act of registration must occur a minimum number of seconds before the game commences. The act of registration may involve the user placing a financial stake - if this is the case the game logic will interface with the financial system in order to gain the necessary permission to withdraw the corresponding funds from the players account. Once registered, the user is required to come back at a later point in time to either CANCEL their registered interest (in effect to deregister from the game) or once the game is due to begin the player is required to JOIN the game.

CANCEL A player who changes their mind and decides that they no longer wish to play a future game must deregister or cancel their registration in the game. This is done through the invocation of the CANCEL process. The act of cancelling registration must occur a minimum number of seconds before the game commences. Any previously withdrawn financial stake is recredited to the players account through an interface to the financial system at this stage. Once cancelled, a players involvement in logic concerning this game ceases, although subject to time constraints, they may reregister for the same game again should they wish.

JOIN

A player with a registered interest in a game may join the game any time after registration closes (after the point at which new players can no longer register). This is done through the invocation of the JOIN process. This process does not advance play logic but sends information to the client that creates the appropriate display on the client screen. After joining a game, the player client is instructed to GO at a certain time.

START

Some game types such as open games do not require preregistration. For these games, an alternative combined version of REGISTER and JOIN is provided which is a START process. A player cannot CANCEL their interest in this type of game. After starting a game, the player client is instructed to GO at a certain time.

GO

Once the game is ready to commence, all clients will simultaneously issue a GO request. The game server(s) ensure that clients issue the GO simultaneously by having previously instructed every client to wait a specified time delay, such that all clients come back at approximately the same time. This will typically be in the final few seconds before a game commences. Once the game is ready to GO, no more players can join, start or register and interest so the game server is able to collate specific statistics for the game (such as number of participating players etc.). After the GO stage, clients then enter the question cycle, beginning with an ASK request for the next available question.

The Question Cycle (ASK-PLAY-ANSWER-CHECK)

The Question cycle is repeated a number of times - once per question for each available question until the end of the game (or until the player has been eliminated if they do not survive the entire game). In order to enable the question synchronization of the present invention, the question cycle is split into four separate processes, each of which are described below; ASK

Whenever the client requires a piece of the question for a game (a question fragment), this is requested within an ASK process. Examples of four question fragments that can be used are: Question Category, Question Subject, Question Text, Possible Answer Choices. Each fragment of the question has a defined time 'window' during which the server will release that fragment of the question. If a client requests the question fragment within the expected window, the game server provides that information, if not, then the player is told to come back later

(if the fragment is requested too early) or is struck from the game (if the fragment is requested too late.

PLAY

Some game types may require players to confirm that they wish to progress with the current question. In these cases a PLAY request is required before the next ASK may be issued to retrieve the next fragment of the question. There is a corresponding allowable PLAY time window related directly to the first three question fragments (Category, Subject and Question Text). There is no PLAY request relating to the fourth fragment, as by the time the client has been successfully sent the possible answer choices, the player has no choice but to continue and attempt to answer the question so no corresponding confirmation is required.

ANSWER

When a player indicates on their screen their selection of an answer to a question (either by electing to pass, or by selecting one of the provided possible answer choices) the client sends an ANSWER request to the server. There is a specific allowable time window related to the ANSWER. In order to avoid any chance of collusion between players, no indication of a correctness of the players answer is released by the server during the answer request.

CHECK

Once the timeframe for answers has passed, the game server enters a 'CHECK' phase, during which clients are allowed to request an update concerning the correctness of their last answer and their current standing within the game (ranking, estimated rewards, token balance etc.). A correctly issued check request will also release information indicating which of the previously provided possible answer choices was the correct answer.

Once the question cycle has been repeated for every available question in a tournament, or the player has been eliminated, the client will enter the closing phase of the game and will issue a CLOSE request.

CLOSE The close request may only occur after the game is complete or the user has been eliminated. A successful CLOSE causes the server to interface with the financial system in order to credit the players account with relevant funds (from any winnings or remaining funds for instance). The close will also enable the server to inform the client of the players actual closing status within the game (final rank, actual winnings etc.)

The timeline of the activities that takes place in the hatched box of Figure 8 is illustrated in Figure 9 which shows the following three global settings which are provided to control timing and logic, to ensure question time-line is consistent across all game types.

Latency - The number of seconds to allow for round-trip network transmission and server processing time. Typically 6 seconds.

• Reveal - The number of seconds allocated to allow the player to read the revealed information (category, subject or text of the question) and/or respond if required for the game type. Typically 6 seconds. • Play - The number of seconds allocated to allow the player to select and answer or pass the question (if appropriate). Typically 6 seconds.

With reference to Figure 9

• Category Reveal - will only occur in classic games where questions may be picked from multiple categories. Otherwise, game play will skip directly to the next valid state (e.g. Subject Reveal).

• Subject Reveal - will only occur in classic or masters games where questions may be picked from multiple subjects. Otherwise, game play will skip directly to the question but is the only item required on specialist games and tournaments which will occur in all questions.

• Choice Reveal - will occur in all questions.

In operation of the system of the present invention players may register for a pre- registered game any time before a game commences up to the cut-off time in the "Register" box. This is typically 300 seconds (5 minutes) defined before the game start time, funds may be deducted from the player's wallet at this time.

The register request will credit a player with the Opening balance' of tokens for the game (usually 1000 tokens for a tournament). Players may cancel previous registration for a pre-registered game any time before a game commences as indicated by the "cancel" box up to the defined cut-off time (typically 5 minutes) and appropriate funds are credited to player wallet at this time.

In open games players may come and go as they please and players may attempt to start an open game any time after the cut-off time (typically 12 seconds before open game start time) up to the start of the final question (when it is asked). A start request will deduct the required funds from a player's wallet. This amount will be specified by the player through the client interface.

The start request will credit the user with the number of tokens equivalent to their selected play balance (i.e. if a player elects to join an open game with $50.00 then 5000 token [one token per cent] will be credited to their game token balance.

Players may top-up tokens in play in an open game any time after the maxWait cut-off time (typically 12 seconds before open game start time) up to the start of the final question (when it is first asked). The player must already be playing that open game and the request will deduct the required funds from a player's wallet. This amount will be specified by the player through the client interface.

Figure 10 sets out the sequence that is employed for picking a question Figures 11 to 16 illustrate the sequence that is followed for an open classic game (Figure 11); a tournament classic game (Figure 12); an open masters game (Figure 13); a masters tournament (Figure 14; a specialist open game (Figure 15) and a specialist tournament (Figure 16)

Comparison of Figures 11 to 16 shows the different steps required in each game format that are preformed within the hatched area of Figure 8 in the development of a question. These show how the different formats are synchronised so that open classic games which require category, subject, question and choice of answer to be revealed and open master games which require subject, question and choice of answer to be revealed and open specialist games which require question and choice of answer to be revealed can be synchronised so that the same question is delivered, at the same time in each game. They also show how the various tournaments which require question and choice to be revealed, because category and subject have been pre-selected, can be correlated with the question provision in the various forms of the open game so that the same question is delivered in the tournaments, according to the same chronology as it is delivered in the open games.

The following optional features are also illustrated in Figure δ.

WATCH - The client requests in-game statistics. The request is issued in parallel with player 'play time' so that statistics are received by a client shortly after the client has displayed relevant question information to a player.

CHECK - The client requests detail of the correct answer to the question. Additional instructions are released to allow the client to correctly navigate to the next question (or close of tournament if appropriate).

Claims

1. A system for the provision of questions within an on line entertainment system involving one or more servers and client stations for the provision of games which enables players to select both the nature of the game and method of game play and the provision of the questions is such that the same question is made available at the same time to participants in the different types of game and method of game play.

2. A system according to claim 1 which provides the ability for a player to decide whether to participate in a game or not

3. A system according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the game comprises one or more multiple choice questions in which the player will be provided with several possible answers to a question and is provided with the opportunity to attempt to select the correct answer.

4. A system according to any of the preceding claims wherein the interaction between the player client station and the game server will allow the player to select on line the game method of play and will allow the player to select the nature of the question from a series of categories and/or subjects provided whereby one or more questions will be displayed to the player according to the format of game selected and the answer options will then be provided on the player's screen for answering within a prescribed time.

5. A system according to any of the preceding claims which allows the participant to place a stake on the correctness of their answers to the questions as provided by the systems according to any of claims 1 to 4 by selecting from staking options provided as screen shots on the players display.

6. A system according to any of the preceding claims in which the nature of the game is selected from a tournament, a pyramid, an open game and a teaser.

7. A system according to any of the preceding claims in which the server transmits to the player client's screen the time remaining to provide the answer to the question.

8. A system according to any of the preceding claims which is programmed to stage and synchronise the steps required for the selection of a question across different game formats.

9. A system according to claim 8 in which the question provision is synchronised so that the same question is provided simultaneously for concurrent tournaments and open games.

10. A system according to any of the preceding claims in which the player is provided on the client screen with the following three options on the scope of question a. a classic game b. a masters game c. a specialist game

11. A system according to any of the preceding claims in which the game is a tournament and the number of questions in the tournament is selected from 20

Question, 40 Question and 60 Questions.

12. A system according to any of the preceding claims in which the time available to answer questions is selected from 36 seconds, 48 seconds and 60 seconds.

13. A system according to any of the preceding claims that is integrated with a financial system for staking.

14. A system according to claim 15 in which the game play system, the financial system and the client interface are integrated so that the staking options are displayed to the player on their client screen.

15. A system according to claim 16 in which the financial system provides tokens to the player for staking at the appropriate time according to the game format chosen.

16. A system according to claim 17 in which after a game the rewards and losses are calculated, a financial credit or debit is made to the player's account within the financial system and a report is provided to the player.

17. A system according to any of the preceding claims in which phantom participants (known as ghosts) are provided.

18. A system according to claim 19 which further provides a separate staking system for the ghost players.

19. A system according to claim 20 wherein the ghost loses whatever is staked if they provide an incorrect answer and any rewards they may make are recycled to the ghost financial pot to enable further ghost staking.