Wagering game with shared outcome providing individual awards to players

1. A method for conducting a community wagering game on a plurality of gaming terminals, comprising:

in response to receiving wagers, via respective input devices, conducting base wagering games on the plurality of gaming terminals, each of the gaming terminals portraying an associated base wagering game on a video display;

triggering, by one or more processors, a community event in which at least one randomly selected outcome is shared by all participating gaming terminals, the participating gaming terminals being selected from qualified ones of the plurality of gaming terminals and including a first gaming terminal and a second gaming terminal;

if wagering criteria is met by the first gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, entering, by at least one of the one or more processors, the first gaming terminal in the community event;

if additional wagering criteria is met by the first gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, receiving, by at least one of the one or more processors, upon triggering the community event a first enhancement at the first gaming terminal in accordance with the additional wagering criteria of the first gaming terminal;

if wagering criteria is met by the second gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, entering, by at least one of the one or more processors, the second gaming terminal in the community event; and

if additional wagering criteria is met by the second gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, receiving, by at least one of the one or more processors, upon triggering the community event a second enhancement at the second gaming terminal in accordance with the additional wagering criteria of the second gaming terminal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wagering criteria is one or more of a multiplier value, a rate of wager input, and a wagering amount.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first enhancement and the second enhancement is selected from a group consisting of extra credits, an elite bonus for playing after the community event ends, sharing of a community-event progressive award, free base-game spins, rounding-up credits to a next-highest level, increasing a multiplier value, extra seconds of eligibility for a subsequent community event, receiving extra paylines in a base game, replacing a five-reel video screen into a three-reel classic screen, and increasing payback percentage of points.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying a feature of a next base wagering game in accordance with a respective one of the first enhancement and the second enhancement.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the feature of the next base wagering game includes one or more of holding and respinning a number of bonus symbols, receiving one or more pooper savers when picking a bonus, and receiving extra free spins in a free spin bonus.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting community preferences of the community event in accordance with individual preferences.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising

determining average preferences by analyzing the individual preferences; and

setting values representative of the community preferences to be values representative of the average preferences.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the community preferences include one or more of a volume preference, a community event theme, and a game feature choice.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the community event is a world leader big event in which at least one of the participating gaming terminals is physically located in a different gaming establishment than another one of the participating gaming terminals.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting a theme of at least one of the base wagering games from a plurality of base themes, each of the base wagering games having an associated bonus game.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the triggering of the community event occurs at a time interval that is an average value between occurrences of the community event.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising entering each gaming terminal associated with an extra wager in a slot tournament.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying scores of other players competing in the community event, the scores including at least one score of a previous winning player from another gaming establishment.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising

selecting a set number of participating gaming terminals from the qualified ones of the plurality of gaming terminals, and

if the set number of participating gaming terminals is greater than a number of qualified gaming terminals from a first gaming establishment, selecting qualified gaming terminals from a second gaming establishment.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising playing a plurality of base wagering games on a single gaming terminal of the plurality of gaming terminals;

based on gameplay of the plurality of base wagering games, increasing at least one of a cumulative multiplier or multiple individual multipliers.

16. One or more machine-readable non-transitory storage media including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

in response to receiving wagers, via respective input devices, conduct base wagering games on a plurality of gaming terminals, each of the gaming terminals portraying an associated base wagering game on a video display;

trigger a community event in which at least one randomly selected outcome is shared by all participating gaming terminals, the participating gaming terminals being selected from qualified ones of the plurality of gaming terminals and including a first gaming terminal and a second gaming terminal;

if wagering criteria is met by the first gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, enter the first gaming terminal in the community event;

if additional wagering criteria is met by the first gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, receive upon triggering the community event a first enhancement at the first gaming terminal in accordance with the additional wagering criteria of the first gaming terminal;

if wagering criteria is met by the second gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, enter the second gaming terminal in the community event; and

if additional wagering criteria is met by the second gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, receive upon triggering the community event a second enhancement at the second gaming terminal in accordance with the additional wagering criteria of the second gaming terminal.

17. A gaming system for playing a wagering game comprising:

a plurality of gaming terminals adapted to display respective basic wagering games thereon and to provide an award therefrom;

at least one community display for displaying a community event thereon; and

at least one controller in communication with the at least one community display and the plurality of gaming terminals, the controller being operative to,

(i) trigger the community event in which at least one randomly selected outcome is shared by all participating gaming terminals,

(ii) select at least a first gaming terminal and a second gaming terminal to be participating gaming terminals in the community event, the first gaming terminal and the second gaming terminal being qualified gaming terminals of the plurality of gaming machines,

(iii) if wagering criteria is met by the first gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, provide upon triggering the community event a first enhancement at the first gaming terminal in accordance with first wagering criteria of the first gaming terminal, and

(iv) if wagering criteria is met by the second gaming terminal upon triggering the community event, provide upon triggering the community event a second enhancement at the second gaming terminal in accordance with second wagering criteria of the second gaming terminal.

18. The gaming system of claim 17 , wherein the wagering criteria is selected from a group consisting of a multiplier value, a rate of wager input, and a wagering amount.

19. The gaming system of claim 17 , wherein at least one of the first enhancement and the second enhancement is one or more of an extra credit award, an elite bonus for playing after the community event ends, a shared community event progressive award, free base game spins, an extra award based on rounding-up credits to a next highest level, an increased multiplier value, extra seconds of eligibility for a next community event, extra paylines in a base game, and increased points payback percentage.

20. The gaming system of claim 17 , wherein the controller is further operative to adjust community preferences of the community event in accordance with individual preferences.

21. The gaming system of claim 17 , wherein the controller is further operative to increase one or more of a cumulative multiplier and multiple individual multipliers based on gameplay of a plurality of base wagering games at a single gaming terminal of the plurality of gaming terminals.

22. A method for conducting a community wagering game on a plurality of gaming terminals, comprising:

in response to receiving wagers, via respective input devices, conducting base wagering games on the plurality of gaming terminals;

displaying the base wagering games on one or more respective video displays of the plurality of gaming terminals;

triggering, by one or more processors, a community event for playing at participating gaming terminals of the plurality of gaming terminals;

selecting, by at least one of the one or more processors, at least two qualified gaming terminals from the plurality of gaming terminals to participate in the community event; and

in response to meeting general wagering criteria, providing, by at least one of the one or more processors, upon triggering the community event an enhancement at the respective gaming terminal in accordance with specific wagering criteria of the respective gaming terminal.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the general wagering criteria is a predetermined multiplier value and the specific wagering criteria is a specific multiplier value achieved at the respective gaming terminal, the specific multiplier value being greater than the predetermined multiplier value.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the enhancement is selected from a group consisting of extra credits, an elite bonus for playing after the community event ends, sharing of a community event progressive award, free base game spins, rounding-up credits to a next highest level, increasing a multiplier value, extra seconds of eligibility for a next community event, receiving extra paylines in a base game, replacing a five-reel video screen into a three-reel classic screen, and increasing payback percentage of points.

25. The method of claim 22 , wherein the enhancement affects a base game feature of a base wagering game played after the community event.