System for establishing a support hierarchy for a player in a competitive game

1. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and containing instructions that, when executed, causes a game apparatus provided with a memory unit to provide a game to be executed between a plurality of groups to which a plurality of players belong, wherein causing the game apparatus to provide the game comprises:

executing a control function to provide at least one match between the plurality of groups, the at least one match having at least one victorious group and at least one defeated group;

executing a setting function, the setting function comprising setting an order of the plurality of groups according to a time of defeat associated with each defeated group in the plurality of groups, and providing a predetermined arrangement of the plurality of groups based on the order;

displaying, on a display, the predetermined arrangement of the plurality of groups; and

executing the control function to provide at least one further match between the plurality of groups based on the predetermined arrangement,

wherein executing the control function comprises providing, to each player belonging to the plurality of groups, a controllable action, wherein each controllable action for each of the players in each of the plurality of groups is based on the order, and further comprises providing a controllable interface element configured to execute the controllable action, wherein executing the control function further comprises enabling and disabling the controllable action interface element based on an in-game timing.

2. The computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein setting the order of the plurality of groups according to the time of defeat associated with each defeated group in the plurality of groups comprises setting groups with a later time of defeat to a lower part of the order.

3. The computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of controllable actions are provided, a first controllable action in the plurality of controllable actions being executable by each player in at least one predetermined group and not by each player in the at least one defeated group, and a second controllable action different from the first controllable action being executable by each player in the at least one defeated group and not by each player in the at least one predetermined group.

4. The computer program product according to claim 3 , wherein a plurality of defeated groups is provided and wherein each of the plurality of groups is provided with a rank; and

wherein the second controllable action different from the first controllable action is executable by each player in a lower-ranked defeated group in the at least one defeated group, the lower-ranked defeated group having a lower rank than a predetermined rank.

5. The computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of groups is provided with a rank; and

wherein a controllable action in the plurality of controllable actions is executable by each player belonging to a group having a predetermined rank or a rank higher than a predetermined rank, and is not executable by each player belonging to a group having a rank lower than a predetermined rank.

6. The computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein executing the control function comprises deducting at least one first point consumed in the game;

further comprising executing a point storage function, comprising associating a set of second points with each of the plurality of groups, and storing a set of associated point values in the storage unit; and

further comprising executing a point consumption function, comprising consuming at least one second point associated with a group in the plurality of groups and restoring at least one first point associated with the group in the plurality of groups based on the consumption of the at least one second point.

7. The computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein each controllable action for each of the players comprises changing a parameter of at least one predetermined group based on the action.

8. The computer program product according to claim 7 , wherein, for one or more players in the plurality of players in one or more groups in the plurality of groups, the step of changing a parameter of the at least one predetermined group based on the action comprises:

associating at least one second point associated with the one or more groups with the at least one predetermined group; and

removing an association for the at least one second point with the one or more groups.

9. The computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein a magnitude of the at least one second point is based on the order.

10. The computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein associating at least one second point with the at least one predetermined group further comprises associating the at least one second point with a valid term, wherein the at least one second point is configured to expire after an end of the valid term.

11. The computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein causing the game apparatus to provide the game further comprises:

executing a reward association function, wherein the reward association function comprises determining one or more ranks based on the order, and generating a set of different rewards, a first reward in the set of different rewards being associated with a first group and a first rank and a second reward in the set of predetermined rewards being associated with a second group and a second rank.

12. The computer program product according to claim 11 , wherein the first reward is based on a number of groups associated with a first group.

13. The computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein causing the game apparatus to provide the game further comprises:

transmitting display data for displaying a message exchange screen, and providing, with the message exchange screen, a message exchange configured to transmit messages between each player belonging to a predetermined group and each player belonging to the at least one defeated group.

14. The computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein causing the game apparatus to provide the game further comprises:

determining a controllable action execution frequency of one or more players belonging to the plurality of groups; and

adjusting a rank of the one or more players based on the controllable action execution frequency.

15. A method for controlling a game apparatus provided with a memory unit to provide a game to be executed between a plurality of groups to which a plurality of players belong, wherein the method comprises:

executing a control function to provide at least one match between the plurality of groups, the at least one match having at least one victorious group and at least one defeated group;

executing a setting function, the setting function comprising setting an order of the plurality of groups according to a time of defeat associated with each defeated group in the plurality of groups, and providing a predetermined arrangement of the plurality of groups based on the order;

displaying, on a display, the predetermined arrangement of the plurality of groups; and

executing the control function to provide at least one further match between the plurality,

wherein executing the control function comprises providing, to each player belonging to the plurality of groups, a controllable action, wherein each controllable action for each of the players in each of the plurality of groups is based on the order, and further comprises providing a controllable interface element configured to execute the controllable action, wherein executing the control function further comprises enabling and disabling the controllable action interface element based on an in-game timing.

16. A game apparatus comprising a memory unit and configured to provide a game to be executed between a plurality of groups to which a plurality of players belong, wherein the game apparatus is configured to execute steps of:

executing a control function to provide at least one match between the plurality of groups, the at least one match having at least one victorious group and at least one defeated group;

executing a setting function, the setting function comprising setting an order of the plurality of groups according to a time of defeat associated with each defeated group in the plurality of groups, and providing a predetermined arrangement of the plurality of groups based on the order;

displaying, on a display, the predetermined arrangement of the plurality of groups; and

executing the control function to provide at least one further match between the plurality of groups based on the predetermined arrangement,

wherein executing the control function comprises providing, to each player belonging to the plurality of groups, a controllable action, wherein each controllable action for each of the players in each of the plurality of groups is based on the order, and further comprises providing a controllable interface element configured to execute the controllable action, wherein executing the control function further comprises enabling and disabling the controllable action interface element based on an in-game timing.