Apparatus, method and system for crew mechanics in multiplayer games

1. A method, comprising operations of:

obtaining, on a client device, a plurality of crew members from a crew inventory to define a crew whose crew members have unique responsibilities in order to complete a collaborative task assigned to a user by an online multiplayer game executing on a plurality of servers connected by a network to the client device, wherein the obtaining is facilitated by a graphical user interface (GUI) that is displayed to the user;

sending, from the client device, a game action help request message directed to the at least one selected crew member for the crew, wherein the help request message is transmitted over the network to a social network by the plurality of servers;

unlocking, by the plurality of servers, a content item whose access is restricted by the online multiplayer game based at least in part on crew member messages responsive to the help message received from the social network, wherein progress toward the unlocking of the content item is displayed to the user in a progress bar in the GUI; and

syndicating, through the plurality of servers, the unlocking of the content item to the social network, where the unlocking is presented in a feed that is displayed on other client devices, wherein each operation is executed by one or more processors.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

surfacing for crew inventory selection a set of crew member profiles.

3. The method of claim 2 , comprising:

determining the set of crew member profiles to surface for crew inventory selection.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining comprises:

automatically generating the set of crew member profiles via a randomly generated social graph.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining comprises:

automatically generating the set of crew member profiles via historical data and a crew mechanic type and a social graph.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining comprises:

automatically selecting the set of crew member profiles via selection to assemble the crew request message.

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

presenting the set of crew member profiles to surface for selection.

8. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

retrieving a gating rule based on a set of selected crew members and a number of selected crew members.

9. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

retrieving a gating rule based on least one of the following: a set of selected crew members, a number of selected crew members or an in-game social activity point value.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

retrieving a progress amount based on the gating rule and messages received responsive to the help message.

11. A system, comprising:

a memory;

a processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

select, on a client device, a plurality of crew members from a crew inventory to define a crew whose crew members have unique responsibilities in order to complete a collaborative task assigned to a user by an online multiplayer game executing on a plurality of servers connected by a network to the client device, wherein the selecting is facilitated by a graphical user interface (GUI) that is displayed to the user;

receive, from the client device, a game action help request message directed to the at least one selected crew member for the crew, wherein the help request message is transmitted over the network to a social network by the plurality of servers;

unlock, by the plurality of servers, a content item whose access is restricted by the online multiplayer game based at least in part on crew member messages responsive to the help message received from the social network, wherein progress toward the unlocking of the content item is displayed to the user in a progress bar in the GUI; and

syndicate, through the plurality of servers, the unlocking of the content item to the social network, where the unlocking is presented in a feed that is displayed on other client devices.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

surface for crew inventory selection a set of crew member profiles.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

determine the set of crew member profiles to surface for crew inventory selection.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

automatically generate the set of crew member profiles via a randomly generated social graph.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

automatically generate the set of crew member profiles via historical data and a crew mechanic type and a social graph.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

automatically select the set of crew member profiles via selection to assemble the crew request message.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

present the set of crew member profiles to surface for selection.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

retrieve a gating rule based on a set of selected crew members and a number of selected crew members.

19. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

retrieve a gating rule based on least one of the following: a set of selected crew members,

a number of selected crew members or an in-game social activity point value.

20. A computer-readable medium that is non-transitory storing processor executable instructions to:

select, on client device, a plurality of crew members from a crew inventory to define a crew whose crew members have unique responsibilities in order to complete a collaborative task assigned to a user by an online multiplayer game executing on a plurality of servers connected by a network to the client device, wherein the selecting is facilitated by a graphical user interface (GUI) that is displayed to the user;

receive, from the client device, a game action help request message directed to the at least one selected crew member for the crew, wherein the help request message is transmitted over the network to a social network by the plurality of servers;

unlock, by the plurality of servers, a content item whose access is restricted by the online multiplayer game based at least in part on crew member messages responsive to the help message received from the social network, wherein progress toward the unlocking of the content item is displayed to the user in a progress bar in the GUI; and

syndicate, through the plurality of servers, the unlocking of the content item to the social network, where the unlocking is presented in a feed that is displayed on other client devices.