IP Library Granted Patent US 8,845,428
Granted Patent B2
US 8,845,428 · App. 12/904,077 · Granted Sep 30, 2014

Coordinating real-world gatherings to promote online community

View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,845,428
App. No.
12/904,077
Granted
Sep 30, 2014
Kind
B2
Abstract

Coordinating real-world gatherings to promote an online community, the method including: encouraging participants of the online community to participate in a real-world gathering by providing incentives for the participants; promoting familiarity among the participants by providing and introducing online community titles of the participants at the real-world gathering; and providing online benefits or rewards to the participants for participating in the real-world gathering. Keywords include socializing in the real world, community building and bridging the gap between the game world and the real world.

Claims (46)

1. A method of coordinating real-world gathering to expand and promote an event associated with a community of an online game, the method comprising:

encouraging players of the online game community to participate in a real-world gathering by providing incentives for participants at the real-world gathering,

wherein the real-world gathering is an event separate from the online game to expand and promote the online game community;

promoting familiarity among the participants by providing and introducing online game community titles of the participants at the real-world gathering;

providing online benefits and rewards to the participants for participating in the real-world gathering;

enabling online participants of the real-world gathering to track the real-world gathering on a map; and

enabling the online participants to communicate with the participants at the real-world gathering,

wherein the communication between the online participant and the participants at the real-world gathering includes sending messages and tips.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the online game is a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) and the participants are players of the MMOG.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incentives include allowing the participants at the real-world gathering to form a clan within the online game.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

encouraging the participants at the real-world gathering to physically participate in a social interaction with other participants at the real-world gathering,

wherein the social interaction includes a real-world game to introduce each other.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the participants at the real-world gathering physically participate in the social interaction using a mobile device.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the real-world game includes an assignment to find a certain number of different character types of the participants at the real-world gathering.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein a reward for those participants physically participating in the social interaction includes

a power up buff in the online game.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the participants can participate in the real-world gathering using a mobile device; and further comprising

enabling the participants to provide the positional data of the participants at the real-world gathering to the online participants.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

leveraging a network system of a current game being played by the online participant to:

enable the online participants to monitor the real-world gathering; and

enable communications between the participants at the real-world gathering and the online participants.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the online game titles of the participants at the real-world gathering are provided from data collected within the online game by a promoter.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

encouraging the players of the online game to organize and host the real-world gathering by providing additional perks or points based on a number of people who participate in the real-world gathering.

12. A non-transitory tangible storage medium storing a computer program for coordinating real-world gathering to promote an event associated with a community of an online game, the computer program comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:

encourage players of the online game community to participate in a real-world gathering by providing incentives for participants at the real-world gathering,

wherein the real-world gathering is an event separate from the online game to expand the online game community;

promote familiarity among the participants by providing and introducing online game community titles of the participants at the real-world gathering through a mobile device used by each participant;

provide online benefits and rewards to the participants for participating in the real-world gathering;

enable online participants of the real-world gathering to track the real-world gathering on a map; and

enable the online participants to communicate with the participants at the real-world gathering,

wherein the communication between the online participant and the participants at the real-world gathering includes sending messages and tips.

13. The non-transitory tangible storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the online game is a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) and the participants are players of the MMOG.

14. The non-transitory tangible storage medium of claim 12 , further comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to

communicate with the mobile device to encourage the participants at the real-world gathering to physically participate in a social interaction with other participants at the real-world gathering.

15. The non-transitory tangible storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the social interaction includes

an assignment to find a certain number of different character types of the participants at the real-world gathering.

16. The non-transitory tangible storage medium of claim 15 , wherein a reward for those participants physically participating in the social interaction includes

a power up buff in the online game.

17. The non-transitory tangible storage medium of claim 12 , further comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to leverage a network system of a current game being played by the online participant to:

enable the online participants to monitor the real-world gathering; and

enable communications between the participants at the real-world gathering and the online participants.

18. The non-transitory tangible storage medium of claim 12 , further comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to

encourage the players of the online game community to organize and host the real-world gathering by providing additional perks or points based on a number of people who participate in the real-world gathering.

Assignments (4)
MERGER Recorded Mar 30, 2020
From: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
To: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC
Reel/Frame 053323/0567 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded May 5, 2016
From: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
To: SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
Reel/Frame 038617/0474 →
MERGER Recorded Feb 2, 2011
From: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA INC.
To: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC
Reel/Frame 025735/0830 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 13, 2010
From: KHAN, MOHAMMED
To: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA INC.
Reel/Frame 025134/0840 →