JP2003529397A - Interactive game play system and method scheduled based on actual events - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) SUMMARY A method and system for providing online game competition is provided. The player selects his favorite team, participates with other fans of the team, and competes with the opponent's player. Teams compete with each other in matches based on actual event schedules, such as sports schedules or entertainment schedules. Players are grouped together with other players associated with their favorite team, and matches are organized. Various trivia quiz games are presented, and the player has a predetermined time to answer questions. Points may be awarded based on the player's success in the competition and the overall team's success in the match. Prizes are further awarded based on points given to the player.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to games, and more particularly, to online electronic team games of trivia scheduled based on actual events.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Competitive games are well known as one of recreation. The game is
Physical activity such as basketball or baseball, or "Mon
Includes less active games, such as "board games" such as "opoly" (R) and "Trivial Pursuit" (R). Innovations are adding new games and replacing existing ones. Such innovations allow games such as basketballs, baseballs, or "Monopoly" ® to be played in electronic form.

Competitive games are entertaining games because they allow participants to compete friendly with other participants interactively. However, electronic games have the drawback of limiting the number of people participating in one game. Many existing electronic videos
The game is limited to two players competing against each other. This allows
The number of participants will be limited.

Also, many conventional games are limited due to geographical reasons. Players can only play games with other players nearby. In order to participate in the game, the player has to spend a large amount of money and travel a long distance in order to go to the game ground. This allows players to play various competitions (
Stop thinking about participating in the contest.

Traditional electronic games also suffer from the inability to play the game among multiple players with a common interest. Many electronic games are limited to a schedule created by the game manufacturer. These games are
It does not incorporate the actual competitive game and / or the player's preexisting loyalty. Even if a player has pre-existing loyalty to a college football team, existing electronic games do not specifically use these loyalties to promote competition in the electronic game. .

[0006] There are these and other problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-referenced problems and other problems with existing systems and methods.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for allowing multiple players to play a game electronically with other players in a competition.

Another object of the invention is to have a plurality of players team up based on at least a portion of a player's profile, such that a team of such players play against other teams in a game. System and method for doing so.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for allowing a team of players to play against another team in a game that is based on actual events.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for grouping players as a team based on a sports team selected by the player and allowing the teams to compete with each other based on an actual sports schedule. Is to provide a method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for creating empirical items that compelling a large number of players and facilitating the creation of groups of sports fans of the same hobby. That is.

Another object of the present invention is to promote the loyalty of a player driven by a preexisting strong loyalty to a sports team. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for enabling a player to score a score based on their performance in a competition and their team's performance in a competition. It is to be.

Another object of the present invention is to allow multiple players to play a game in a trivia-based competition by providing a series of questions to multiple players and scoring the responses from the players. It is to provide a system and method for enabling

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that provides players with the opportunity to participate in the competition and compete with other players while accumulating the chances of winning prizes. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing an opportunity for brand promotion to partners and customers who are competitive sponsors of players.

Existing online sports content that is a competitive sponsor of players
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and a method for providing contents with great added value to a provider.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by the various embodiments of the invention. In one embodiment of the invention, multiple players are registered to play the game. The player becomes a member of the team based on the team preferences indicated by the player. Teams compete based on actual events. The score of the competition is calculated and the player gets a score based on the player's own performance and the team's performance.

The present invention has other objects and advantages. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The present invention will be described in the context of an Internet-based world wide web interface system accessed by a player using a web browser. In this embodiment, the invention provides a scheduled match based on actual events as an electronic online team-facing game of trivia. However, the characteristics and parameters associated with electronic team games are also applicable to other types of competition.

To illustrate the invention, the embodiments of the invention are set up as follows. A player connects to a server program on the Internet using a browser and logs on to an electronic team game of trivia. A player's profile includes player-selected teams that may or may not be associated, such as favorite and disliked teams or rival teams.

Using a browser, a player logs on to the system and selects a team to play the game. Players are prohibited from playing games for a team they do not like, or against a team they like. The team page is presented to the player,
The game to play is displayed on the page. The game corresponds to the actual schedule and various competitions. In a match, a plurality of players from one team are required, and these players and the game play with the plurality of players of another team.
One player is assigned to the appropriate match by the system, chooses the match himself, or creates a new match himself. A computer-controlled player, or "bot," is added so that both teams are equal. A match is initiated by the system presenting a question and multiple answer choices to the player, who may select an answer or pass the question. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the system presents the correct answer to the player. After the answers are input, the number of correct answers for each player and the number of correct answers for each team are calculated. The match may include a predetermined number of questions.

A score is given based on the number of correct answers obtained for each team and each player.
At the end of the match, the player's final score is awarded based on the number of questions answered correctly, the match ends, and the team disbands. Tickets can be used as a way to calculate the points earned by a player based on the player's score, where more tickets lead to higher scores. The prize is indexed from the plurality of awarded tickets and given to the player. Various features and components of the invention are described in detail below.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a multiplayer game, such as a trivia game, provides for players to jointly determine the outcome of a planned match based on the actual game / schedule. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the player has Netscape ^™ 4.0 or above, Microsoft Internet Explorer ^™ 4.0.
Any known internet browser such as these or other browsers may be used. The player may connect to the server via the Internet 60, as shown in this browser 50 in FIG. Methods of practicing the present invention may include various steps including the steps of login / registration, match management, match play, score determination and reward determination.

FIG. 1 shows the implementation of the present invention including login / registration (step 2), battle management (step 4), battle play (step 6), score determination (step 8) and reward determination step (step 10). The flowchart of the form of FIG. The present invention may also be implemented with or without additional steps. The steps of FIG. 1 that may be included in the present invention are detailed below.

As mentioned above, the system provided to the player has a login / registration step 2
Provide players with login and registration before playing the game at. First, the player is registered with the system by entering information to give the player's identity. Once registered, the player is assigned or chooses a username and password to log in to the system. Once the player has registered,
Or, if the player was previously registered, the player can be logged into the system. Other login procedures may also be used.

In step 4, the system begins a procedure for managing the match. The system organizes multiple players into teams and competes against multiple teams to allow competition. The team then competes in competition against one or more other teams. In the embodiment of the present invention, the team is limited in the number of players for each competition. Computer controlled players or "robots" are used to ensure that each team has the desired number of players. For example, if the match is set to 6 to 6, but one has only 5 players when the match begins, then the robot is added to become the 6th player. The score of each player is weighted by the number of players in the team. For example, if one team has 8 players and the other has 4 players, the score of the 8 player team will be halved and will be similar to the score of the 4 player team. Other embodiments may be used.

Players are placed directly on the teams currently competing in the match. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the player is placed in an effective optimal match, as will be described in more detail below. The player may choose to participate in a particular match or may also choose to create a new match. Matches can be combined to reduce the total number of matches. As described below, other battle management also occurs.

Once the match is established, the system provides match play in step 6. A directory of players on the team and chat area is provided to allow players to talk with other players during competition in competition. The gameplay is
Provided to create competition, which may include various questions, answer choices. The correct answer is displayed and the correct answer to the question by each player and team is scored. Other methods of competitive play also occur.

The system provides for scoring teams and players in step 8. Each player is given a score based on the achievements of the player and the achievements of the team. For example, the player is given a score based on the number of correct answers. Team wins are the result of high scores by the players. Other scoring methods can be used as detailed below.

In step 10, the player may be offered a prize. As described below, prizes are awarded to the player based on the score received by the player.
For example, the Raffle system may be used to award prizes. Each player receives a "ticket" based on the player's score, provided the ticket is given to the player with the higher score. The figure determines which player receives the prize. Other methods of awarding may be used.

In order to perform these and other functions, a scheduled match trivia system according to embodiments of the present invention.
A game system 100 is provided. System 100 includes one or more of the following modules. That is, the web shell 102, the player management module 104, the battle management module 106, the battle module 108, the chat module 110, the game logic module 112, the dialogue server 114, the content
Module 116, game management module 118, reward / winner module 120
, Advertising / sponsor module 122. The operation of each of these modules is described in detail below. Generally, web shell 102 includes a web page that provides a primary interface for non-gaming features. This includes login, game / match information, player trading cards, help,
Like any other function. The match management module 104 maintains player information (username, real name, personal statistics, team affiliation, etc.) and management registration of new player and existing player logins. The player management module 104 provides the player with a player profile or personal "trading card".
Allow some of the stored information to be customized.

The battle management module 106 maintains the current battle proof and management initial conditions of the new battle, and places the players in the battle. The management module 108 includes one or more sub-modules. These sub-modules interface with a chat module 110 that provides in-match chat functionality and a content management module 116 that provides game logic, processes match scores and obtain trivia content. A referee message (or a system administrator's message) is sent via the chat module 110, and prize data is provided to the player management module 104 as a result of the game or competition.
A game logic module 112 that updates the current player "ticker" and a dialogue server 114 or "match" that synchronizes with the system sponsoring customer, distributes the content, and handles incoming messages from the system sponsoring customer. Marshall. ”Customer-side applications (eg, customer websites) work in concert with some of the chat and game logic features. Customer-side applications may be Java, Shockwave ^™ or other programming languages. The content management module 116 includes the game management module 11.
For 2, generate and provide game or battle information including questions and answers of trivial matters. The game management module 118 maintains current proofs, season game schedules, game scores for games, and team profit / loss records.

The prize / winner management module 120 periodically selects a winner based on the prize ticket data and generates and distributes a winner report to the prize service. The ad / sponsor module 122 provides the web shell 102 with an ad and sponsor module.
Providing content. A more detailed description of system 100 and the various modules included therein will now be described.

The web shell 102 contains the central control element of the system that provides global navigation to the players accessing the system. As mentioned above, system 100 includes a server system that provides web access to the team-based competitive play system described herein. The system provides a series of web pages to players engaged in gameplay. Therefore, the web shell 102 provides the user with the basic interface mechanism for navigating through the pages of the site and determining the content of the page presented to the player. Thus, according to an embodiment of the present invention, each page provided by the web shell has a set of textual links to areas of the website. this is,
Includes home page, help section content table, prize page, and player information edit page. Other links may also be provided. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the player information edit page is provided only when the player is logged in. Depending on the conditions (eg, player logged in or not logged in, location in site, etc.), there are additional links.

The web shell 102 provides a splash screen to introduce the player when the player logs in to the system. According to embodiments of the present invention, the introduction of splash screens may include name and logo products, animations or movies, music or other content. After a predetermined period of time (eg, after the time for loading an image or animation), or the player clicks on the logo and the player views the home page.

The home page is on the central hub page to introduce content, explain procedures, and provide various aspects of the competition. The home page displays the status of the games and the progress of all games along the score for each of these games. The interface is provided on the home page and allows the player to log in / register. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the home page displays an introduction to the player and an overview explaining how the system operates. For example, a player receives an instruction that the player is a sports-based trivia game. Other competition types could also be used. A list of matches in progress and the current score is provided as well as the number of opponents in the match, as well as the first listed winning team, for example, the winning fan 255 and the failing fan 210. By clicking on one of these matches, the player gets the optimal game information page. The home page also has a link to the game schedule, a link to the prize page, and a login box for login and / or registration.

The web shell 102 may include a match information page, which presents all available information for the selected match (Team X vs. Team Y), allowing the player to view either match. Allow access to the team locker room. The competition information page presents the current score of each team and the number of players playing for each team. According to embodiments of the invention, a team is referred to as a “fan of Team X” rather than “Team X” to show that the competition is between fans and not between actual teams. To be done. The battle information page also indicates when the battle is scheduled to end.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the match information page presents the player with a login box. Players may link to the appropriate Team Locker Room by selecting the appropriate softkey or button (eg, "Click here to play for Team X," and "Play for Team Y, here. Click ').

In addition, the battle information page presents information regarding the battle result. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a match result ticker is presented as a right-to-left scrolling ticker displaying various information about a recently completed match. The battle result information may be displayed by other methods. The information displayed in the match result ticker may include the player's username, the player's city and country of origin, and the number of prize tickets the player has won in a particular match. According to embodiments of the invention, a ticket may hold a maximum number (eg 22) of names, with each new name being added the oldest name is pushed out of the list. Other information may also be displayed.

The web shell 102 also includes a team locker room page.
The Team Locker Room page is the "headquarters" of a particular team and provides access to all specific information about the team. The Team Locker Room page presents the scores of the games in which the team is competing. As mentioned above,
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the teams are referred to as “Team X” rather than “Team X” to show that the competition is between the fans and not the actual teams.
Referred to as a "fan of." According to embodiments of the present invention, a team may be involved in multiple matches. For example, Team X can have 20 fans competing in three competitions. The results of all matches are displayed on the Team Locker Room page, along with the combined results of the match. If there are no matches on a particular day or week, a message will be presented indicating this. For example, the sentence "Currently, fans of Team X are not playing games" is displayed on the Team Locker Room page.

The team locker room page also displays when the game is scheduled to end, if there is a game. The player actuates a button to enter a particular game, or actuates a button to select or create a new game. A login box is presented on the team locker room page to allow the player to login to the selected game.

Web shell 102 may include a game page that displays information about a particular match. The game page shows which teams are playing, the number of players participating in each team, and the overall score of the game. Also,
The game page allows players to enter the team locker room page. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a ticker displays information about the player and the game, including player ranking and prize points, match results and status, and other information. Other information is displayed on the game page.

FIG. 7 shows a graphical user interface representing a game page according to an embodiment of the invention. The game page 500 displays a title 502 identifying the game and a sponsor logo 504. For example, the title may indicate a regular season game, a featured rival, a playoff game, or other information about the game. The sponsor logo 504 identifies the owner or sponsor of the website where the system is located.

A logo 506 showing fans of Team A and a logo 508 showing fans of Team B
Is displayed with a score 510 accumulated by fans of team A and a score 512 accumulated by fans of team B. Also, game page 5
00 displays a login 514 for a fan of team A and a login 516 for a fan of team B, respectively. According to an embodiment of the invention, when the player selects login 514 or 516, a pop-up registration window will appear. A pop-up registration window prompts the player to enter the appropriate username and password to log in to the system. The team locker room page is then displayed to the player.

The game page also presents a ticker 518, which consists of a ticker that scrolls from right to left presenting information about the game. The ticker 518 provides information about the player (including the player's score), match results,
Scroll through the number of players participating and other information. The game page 500 also displays other information.

The web shell 102 may also include a fan ranking page. The fan ranking page presents a list of players. According to an embodiment of the invention, the fan ranking page presents a list of players, such as the top ten players, along with information about the players. The information may include username, city, country, player win / loss records, and other information. The fan ranking page provides goals for players to achieve, thereby increasing challenge and encouragement to the competition.

According to an embodiment of the invention, each player has a player profile or personal “trading card”. Personal trading cards,
This page presents the player's personal statistics along with user information. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the personal trading card presents the player's name, the player's image, the player's city and country, and the player's favorite and most disliked team. Personal trading cards appear as electronic versions of known trading cards such as baseball cards. Personal trading cards also present player statistics.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the personal trading card presents the outcome of the player's competition. The results include a record of the player's team wins / losses, the percentage of correct answers offered by the player, and all prize tickets the player has won. Other information may also be presented.

FIG. 8 illustrates a graphical user interface representing a personal trading card according to an embodiment of the present invention. Personal Trading ·
The card 400 includes a player name and address 402 and a player image 404.
To be displayed. According to an embodiment of the invention, the player's name and address are
Includes real name, user name, and city and country of residence. Other information may also be included.

The personal trading card also includes player statistics 406, which includes the number of games played, the player's win / loss record, player win rate, the number of questions the player has seen, and the player's correct answers. It may include the number of questions asked, percentage of correct answers, prize points or scores awarded, and ranking or level achieved by the player. Other information may also be included. Also, personal trading
The card 400 may display a sponsor logo for advertising purposes. Other embodiments of personal trading cards can also be used.

The web shell 102 is a game schedule that displays game schedules, including games in progress, games that have already been played, and games that should be played.
Can include pages. The game schedule page shows appointments for a particular team, multiple teams or all teams. According to an embodiment of the invention, the game schedule is based on real-life events. For example, the system is Detroit
Lions®, Cincinnati Bengals®, Seattle
Provides various teams associated with the National Football League (NFL), such as the Seahawks (R) football team. NF
The actual schedule for L is that Detroit Lions® play with Cincinnati Bengals® in the first week and Cincinnati Bengals® in the Seattle Seahawks® in the second week. Trademark). Competitions between team fans will be played according to this schedule. That is,
Detroit Lions® fans play with Cincinnati Bengals® fans in the first week of the match, and Cincinnati Bengals® fans play the Seattle Seahawks in the second week of the match. Play with registered trademark fans. Other sports event schedules may be used to coordinate the match, including professional sports or league sports such as basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis, golf, boxing and other sports. World-class sporting events such as World Cup Soccer, Davis Cup or Olympics may be used. In addition, Oscar (registered trademark; for example, fans of various nominated actors can compete), Emmy (registered trademark), Cannes Film Festival, elections (eg Republican vs. Democratic Party, supporters of rival candidates, etc.). ), Large-scale trials (eg, Microsoft® vs. US government in antitrust trials), or any other real-world scheduled event that excites or entices potential players. Non-sports events may be used for competition.

The prize page may be included in the web shell 102. The prize page displays the prize at that time and the recent winner. Other information may also be displayed. The web shell 102 may include other pages.

The player management module 104 is a player's personal trading
A database for storing personal player information including cards is provided. Personal player information may include username, password, email address, birthday, first name, last name, address, city, state, postal code, opt-in, and other information. Opt-in is a generally accepted method of acceptance of a customer privacy policy, in which the user can communicate with the server program by, for example, marking a box or supplying a positive acknowledgment. Indicates acceptance. If the user is considered to be opted in, no negative acknowledgment will occur unless steps are taken to get out of it. The database also contains player competition information, which includes the number of matches played, the number of questions answered, the number of questions answered correctly, the number of questions passed, the number of prize tickets won, the number of games participated, It may include the number of games won. In addition, the player competition information includes data of the last won prize, team affiliation, and team rival (affiliation on the opposite side). The team affiliation and team rivals can be selected when the player registers. The player management module 104 can also log in and register players, as described below in connection with FIG.

The battle management module 106 organizes a plurality of players from a team into a group, and organizes the plurality of groups to compete with each other. According to embodiments of the present invention, the player is presented with a variety of options. The player may choose to enter the match directly, in which case the player will be directly placed in the appropriate match. If a player is trying to play against his / her team, a warning dialog will be displayed and avoid playing against the team the player likes and willing to lose To do so. If the user is trying to compete for his / her rival team, a warning dialog will be displayed to avoid the player competing for the rival team and intentionally losing. To do. When a player chooses to participate in a match, if there is no match currently being played, a new match is created. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the new match is referred to as a "match of <username>", where <username> refers to the first player in the match. When incorporating a player into an appropriate match, the difference in the number of prepared human players between each side of the unstarted match is determined and the player is most likely to lack the human player on his side. Will be placed in the match. Other methods can be used to determine the appropriate match. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a computer controlled player is used to satisfy an imbalanced match. This computer controlled player is a "robot"
Called.

An example is shown below. For example, assume that the New York Jets (TM) will play against the New York Giants (TM) on November 6, 2000. Two
On November 4, 000, a player named Tony, looking for a match to join as a fan of Jets, logs in and chooses to join the match. At that moment,
Suppose there are three unmatched matches. Matchup # 1 has six human Giants fans and four human Jets fans (and two robots). In match # 2, there are four humans (and four robots) Giants fans and eight Jets fans. Match # 3 has 10 Giants fans and 6 humans (and 4 robots) Jets Fans.
Tony is placed in battle # 3 on behalf of one robot. Because there are more Jets fans in that match than any other match.

If the disparities between the players of one team and the players of the other team in more than one match are the same, the system places the player in the match with the fewest human players. For example, in the above example, if only two human Jets fans (and four robots) participate in match # 1, the difference between the two sides is the same as match # 3. In that case, Tony is placed in match # 1 where there are few human players. Players are randomly assigned to one of their matches if the differences between the two sides of more than one match are the same and the number of human players is the same. Players can be assigned in other ways.

Also, the player selects a match or creates a match when logged in. The player is taken to the lobby page, where the current match for the selected game is listed and updated dynamically. The matches listed include the name of the match, the total number of players in the match, and the score for each team. The match name is selected by the player who created the match or is assigned by the system. Other information can be included.

The player may select an existing match, in which case the player is taken to that match and introduced to the match module 108. The player can also choose to create a new match. If a player chooses to create a new match, the player actuates the match creation button to start a new match in the name of that player, and that player is included in the new match.

According to one embodiment of the invention, existing competitions can be combined. When a new match is created, a test to see if multiple matches can be combined to reduce the number of robots in the game system and to facilitate interesting and lively chats and gameplay. Is done. The match-up test for combinations is done at predetermined time intervals or based on the number of human players. According to one embodiment of the invention, the matches are combined in such a way that existing matches are not split. That is, a match is combined only if the match can be moved to another match unharmed and there is sufficient headroom to handle all players. You can also combine battles using other methods.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, when determining whether or not to combine battles,
The system checks to see if another match is being formed. If another match has been formed, the system determines whether the current match has enough open slots to fit the players of the other match. If not, inspect the next formed match. If so, the system determines the difference X in the number of players between each side if the match is combined. This number X is an index of suitability for a combination of battles, and the smaller the number, the better. If X = 0, combine the battles. According to one embodiment of the invention, the current match can be combined with the match with the lowest value of X, ie the difference between the two sides is minimal. X
A match is randomly combined with a match with the same value of X if more than one combination was put out because of the same value of. You can also combine battles using other methods.

The battle module 108 is used to facilitate game play and competition. As described above, the match module 108 may include the chat module 110.
, A game logic module 112 and a dialogue server 114. According to one embodiment of the present invention, when participating in a match, the player is provided with a scrolling chat window including a field for entering a chat message, a list of players currently participating in the match of one team, and the other. A screen is presented that includes a list of the players currently participating in the team of the player and the main game panel in which the questions and answers appear. Other information can also be presented.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, audio and visual media may also be used to present information and give the player additional excitement. You can also announce the player's name and team name, or play a team video highlight from a real match. Other options can also be used.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, gameplay starts at a predetermined time, or does not start until at least a predetermined number of human players have gathered on one side. Chat may be kept active while the players are waiting for the start of the game, and interaction between the players may be possible while waiting for the start of the match.

It is possible to display a list of players of each team currently participating in the battle.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, players playing as fans of the visitor team are displayed on the left side and fans of the home team are displayed on the right side. Home teams and visitor teams are designated based on actual competition. Each player has personal ability statistics located near the player's name. According to one embodiment of the invention, the statistical format may be in the form of x / y, where "x" is
The number of questions correctly answered by the player in the match, and “y” is the number of questions seen by the player. If you click on the player name (including your name),
A new window is introduced, which contains the player's personal trading cards. Other formats can be used.

The roster can be dynamically filled or emptied by the player as they decide to play or not while creating a match. The player can also participate in ongoing competition. The roster can also be dynamically sorted by the percentage of correct answers, with the highest percentage player on each side at the top of the roster. Player sorting occurs after the scores for each question are counted. The roster can also be displayed using other methods.

A chat area may be presented to the players to allow communication between the players during the competition and may be monitored by the chat module 110. According to one embodiment of the invention, a scrollable chat window is presented at the bottom of the screen. With the keyboard cursor over the chat input field, the player does not have to click on the chat input field to start typing. The chat input field acts like a known chat input field or has specific instructions for using the chat input field that may be communicated to the player. Messages in the chat field can appear in a variety of formats. According to one embodiment of the invention, a player's chat message may be displayed in a color appropriate to the player's team (eg, blue for visitors, red for home). Messages from non-participants (eg, referee messages, messages from systems that notify you of certain conditions or things, etc.) are
Appears in a third color under the designated name.

Players can use additional features. According to one embodiment of the invention, players may chat by "emoting.""Emoting" is described as the ability to describe an action, rather than just "speaking." For example, a colon sign (":")
By using as a preamble to enter the text entered into the chat input field, the following text can appear next to the name rather than appearing as normal spoken text. For example, the user name "Elava"
Players with can type "I'm sleepy" in the chat input field. The chat window displays "Elava>I'msleepy". But when Elava types ": is sleepy", the chat window says "Elava
"is sleepy" can be displayed. Other features may also be used in connection with the chat feature.

According to one embodiment of the invention, gameplay may begin when a match has a predetermined number of human players on each side. As described above, this is achieved by the combination of users participating in the competition, and the competition management module 106 adds robots and merges the competition with the insufficient number of people. For illustration purposes only, when there are six human players on each side, the announcement from the referee indicates that the game is set to start within a predetermined time period. Assuming that at least six players are still on one side after the predetermined time period has elapsed, the side with the fewest players may be replenished with sufficient computer-controlled players (robots) to make both sides identical. it can. At that point, the referee can announce in a chat window that the game is about to begin. A corresponding voiceover component can be provided for this announcement.

According to one embodiment of the invention, gameplay is done in the central portion of the display and may include a series of multi-choice simple questions. Other styles of competition are also provided to the player, and the display of the competition may change depending on the competition's style. The game logic module 112 can interact with the content management module 116 to obtain competition data. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, all players can see the same question at the same time. According to one embodiment of the invention, the player is given a predetermined time period to answer each question. Thus, the clock counts down the time the player has to answer each question. The player has a sufficient allotment of time to choose the answer. According to one embodiment of the invention, the player may change the answer as often as he wishes within that time frame, for example by selecting a new desired answer.
After each question, the answer appears with a short factual statement about the question / answer, and then points are raised. According to one embodiment of the present invention, each player's correct answer may be worth +1 and an incorrect answer may be worth -1 and may be "passed" or 0 points if they do not answer the question. Other scoring methods can also be used.

The question screen includes a question, a predetermined number of multi-choice answers, a “pass” button,
Timer, location of question with question sequence (eg, first, second, last, etc.)
, And the current match score. Other information can also be provided on the question screen. The question screen can also indicate whether the question is a bonus question. Bonus questions are detailed below.

When a question is given to the player, the timer can start counting as soon as the answer is displayed. The answer can have a rollover state as well as the selected state, like a "pass" button. A rollover condition is the detection that the mouse cursor is positioned on one object, eg a particular line of text. The selected state is an acknowledgment that the mouse cursor is positioned on one object and the object receives a mouse click. According to one embodiment of the invention, the full allocation of time must be completed before the player can proceed to the answer screen. The player can change the selected answer at any time until the time is up. The one answer selected at the end of time (eg, the "pass" button) is presented for evaluation. According to one embodiment of the invention, if no answer is scored as a "pass", if the player fails to answer a predetermined number of questions in a row, the player is disconnected from the match as inactive. .

FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical user interface 250 according to one embodiment of the invention. The graphical user interface 250 displays the teams in the competition and the roster of teams. The symbols or logos 252 and 254 are used to identify Team A and Team B, respectively. Team A roster 25
5 and Team B's roster 256 can be displayed under the appropriate logo. Each roster can list participating players, including robots. According to one embodiment of the invention, each player's name can be provided with a link to that player's personal trading card. In this way, players can find information about other players.

The match score board 258 may display the current score of the match. Other data can also be displayed, including how many questions remain and other match information. The game scoreboard 259 can display the current total score of all matches associated with a game. For example, consider a game between New York Jets® and New York Giants®, which has a total of 17 games in progress. New York Jets (R) Fans and New Yor
Graphical user for one game with k Giants® fans
The interface 250 may display on the match scoreboard 258 that Jets® fans are winning 47:38. The game scoreboard 259 may display that Giants® fans have won 17 matches with an overall score of 510: 390.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a question is provided at 260 and the player can specify the answer on display 262. According to one embodiment of the invention, the player is provided with answer choices and pass choices on the display. Players can specify the button or softkey associated with an answer or pass to
Answer or pass the question.

Chat area 264 displays discussions between various players. A player can type during a discussion with another player and read what the player has said. Other forms of providing a graphical user interface can also be used.

The answer screen is a status message showing the status of the answer (eg, “correct”, “wrong”, “timed up”, “you passed”, etc.), correct answer,
It may include a response, such as additional information about the answer, and the current match score. Other information can also be displayed on the answer screen. According to one embodiment of the present invention, after a pause for a predetermined time period, a tally screen is displayed, for each team, the number of players who answered the question correctly, and the question answered incorrectly. You can include a number. The tally screen is
It can also include the number of points scored for each team question, the total points after each team's question points have been added, and whether the last question was a bonus question.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the correct answer may be scored for each team at the same time. When each correct answer is added to the total, the next number of user names in the roster list is appropriate, for example, when each player who gave the correct answer added both total (team) correct answers. Updated so that you can see the numbers (number of questions and number of correct answers) increment. As mentioned above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a correct answer is worth +1 point, an incorrect answer is worth -1 point, and a pass is worth 0 point. If the question is a bonus question, the value of points is increased by a predetermined amount (eg, points are tripled). According to one embodiment of the invention, the total score for either the player or the team may not fall below zero points.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the game flow may repeat a question screen, an answer screen, and a tally screen until a predetermined number of questions have been provided. Once a predetermined number of questions have been provided and the results recorded, the match result screen can be displayed.

The outcome of the match is determined and announced along with the player's personal statistics and a personal record of the award tickets won. The match result screen may include the match result, the number of questions in the match, and the number of questions the player has correctly answered. According to one embodiment of the invention, the player is awarded a ticket based on the scored score. Tickets can also use raffles to give awards. The more tickets a player accumulates, the greater the chance of winning a prize. Tickets are also awarded to individual players based on their successful participation in team play, and also to those who have played in team play. By way of example only, the player is awarded one ticket for play, one ticket for each correct answer, and a predetermined amount of bonus tickets if the player's team wins. Additional tickets may be given if a player plays for a designated popular team, plays against a designated unpopular team, or plays on a popular team against a designated unpopular team. Other methods of giving tickets and / or awards can be used.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, bonus questions may be provided to the team to allow the side that has lost the most competition to maintain the chance of winning.
Bonus questions can be worth a certain amount of time over regular questions. According to one embodiment of the present invention, bonus questions may be increased in value in the positive direction for correct answers and in the negative direction for incorrect answers. Other scoring methods can be used for bonus questions.

After the points for each question have been calculated, a check is made to determine whether to ask the bonus question. In one embodiment of the present invention, the check is performed using the score W of the winning team, the score L of the losing team, the number Q of remaining questions, and the total number T of players belonging to the team. Based on this information, the system determines whether to give the bonus question. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, if (W−L)> (Q * T), the chance of the bonus question being asked is (90− (10 * Q)). According to one embodiment of the present invention, only one bonus question is presented per match. Although merely an example, the following case is assumed. Suppose a fan of Team A beats a fan of Team B by a score of 58: 6 when 8 out of 12 questions have already been asked in a match. The score difference is 52. In this example, 52 (W-L
) Is greater than 48 (Q * 12 or 4 * 12), the probability that the next question will be a bonus question is (90− (10 * 4)) or 50%.

According to one embodiment of the invention, computer controlled players, or robots, are used to balance the number of players belonging to the teams competing in a match. The robot is treated like a real human player in that it accumulates statistics and has a personal trading card that can be viewed by clicking on its name. In one embodiment of the invention, the robot answers the question with correctness according to various predetermined accuracy rates. Some robots are considered good at being more likely to answer the question correctly, and some robots are less likely at being less likely to answer the question correctly. Robots are randomly assigned to teams.

The correct answer rate includes a percentage of the probability of correctly answering the question, a percentage of the probability of incorrectly answering the question, and a percentage of the probability of passing the question. The accuracy rate varies according to the difficulty of a particular question. For example, the robot may be able to correctly answer a question having a difficulty level of 1 in the case of 80%, but may be able to correctly answer a question of a higher difficulty level in the case of 30%. In one embodiment of the invention, the robot can answer the question at a level based on the registered player's correct answer rate. For example, if all registered players in the system give a correct answer to a question of difficulty level A (where A means a certain predetermined difficulty level) with a correct answer rate of 75%, the robot asks the question of A. Answer correctly in 75% of cases. A correct answer rate and a method of determining the correct answer rate other than this may be used.

The battle play will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In some embodiments of the present invention, a player may use a browser to access web pages having various web pages used in connection with the present invention. A new match is created in step 300. The system determines if there are at least a predetermined number of human players on each side. In one embodiment of the invention, there must be at least 6 human players on each side. The minimum number of human players may be other than this. According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is also possible to play an unbalanced battle by changing the given score. For example, consider a case where four human players belong to the team A and eight human players belong to the team B in the battle between the team A and the team B. In such a case, the score given to the player belonging to the team A can be twice as valuable as the player belonging to the team B. As for the method of executing the battle, other methods can be used.

When there are a predetermined number of human players for both teams, the system announces in step 304 that the match will start after a predetermined amount of time. In one embodiment of the invention, the system announces that the match will start after 1 minute. It is possible to specify a time other than this. After a certain period of time,
In step 306, the robot (
For example, a computer-controlled player is added so that each side has the same number of players. At step 308, a message is displayed to the player. This message indicates that the match is ready to start. Other information may be included in the message.

If each team does not have at least a predetermined number of human players on each side, the system checks in step 310 whether multiple matches can be combined. If so, then in step 312 the multiple matches are combined and the system returns to step 302 to determine if each team in the match has at least a predetermined number of human players. If there are no matches that can be combined, the system determines in step 314 whether a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the match started. In one embodiment of the invention, the system determines if 5 minutes have elapsed since the match started. Other times can be specified. If the predetermined amount of time has not elapsed, the system returns to step 302 and determines if each team has a predetermined number of human players. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the system will proceed to step 3
Move to 06 and add robots to balance the number of teams.

After the message announcing the start of the match is displayed at step 308, the system checks at step 316 whether the player's inactive counter has reached a predetermined number. According to one embodiment of the invention,
Only when the inactivity counter reaches 3 is the player considered inactive. Other than this, the predetermined number for determining whether the player is inactive can be used. You can also check to make sure the player has not forgotten to log out when they stop playing. If the player has been inactive three times, the system can log the player out.

If a player is not inactive, the system determines in step 318 whether to ask the players a bonus question. In one embodiment of the invention, the bonus question occurs at a certain percentage of the time that (W−L)> (Q * T). Here, W is the score of the winning team, L is the score of the losing team, Q is the total number of questions, and T is the number of players belonging to one team. Other methods can be used to determine whether to ask a bonus question.

If the bonus question is not posed, the question is posed to the players in step 320. If a bonus question is to be posed, then in step 322, the bonus question is posed to the players. The system determines in step 324 whether a player has answered the question. If the player has not answered, then in step 326,
The player's inactivity counter is incremented by one.

At step 328, an answer to the question may be provided, regardless of whether the player is inactive. According to some embodiments of the invention, the answer may include not only the correct answer to the question, but also additional information regarding the context of the question being asked (eg, historical context, etc.).

At step 330, a score for each player is provided. In one embodiment of the invention, each player receives 1 point for correct answers and -1 point for incorrect answers. No score will be given if the question is passed. The bonus question score is multiplied by 3. For how to give a score,
Other methods may be used. The total points for each player and each team are recorded at step 332.

The system determines in step 334 whether the previous question was the last question in the match. If not, the system proceeds to step 3
Returning to 16, it is determined if the player's inactivity counter is at a predetermined threshold. If the last question has been asked, then in step 336 the results of the match are displayed. The results of the match include final scores, team records, and statistics for various players and teams. Other information can be displayed. The system then returns to step 302 to begin a new match. Other methods and processes for the match flow may be used.

There is a "login box" on the web shell page. When a page containing a login box is requested, the system checks if there is an electronic marker on the player's browser indicating that a player has logged in previously, such as a session cookie. If the session cookie does not exist, or if the session cookie does not contain a valid key, the player is required to log in to the system. If a session cookie exists and is recognized, the user is considered logged in.

For example, if the player is not logged in (eg, the session cookie does not exist or is invalid), the login box will ask, “Enter username and password next. If you are a new user, click <link to registration> to sign up and enter the <link> action. ”Message. The login box contains a form with a username field, a password field and a submit button. The login box can contain additional fields.

If the player is logged in (eg, if a session cookie exists and is valid), the login box will read "Welcome, <username>, your name. Then look at your personal trading card. " Clicking on the name will open a new window displaying the player's personal trading cards.

An embodiment of the login and registration process will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the player uses a browser to access web pages having various web pages. In step 200, the appropriate page is requested. The system determines in step 202 whether there is a valid cookie. If the cookie is present and valid, then in step 204 a message is displayed, welcoming the player and giving access to the web site. If the player chooses to log in as another user (eg, one person has multiple user names, or someone's computer is used by someone other than the owner), then the cookie is received in step 206. Deleted and the system returns to step 200.

If the cookie is not found or is incorrect, a login form and a new player registration link are displayed at step 208. The form is submitted in step 210 and the system determines in step 212 whether the username and password are correct. If so, the cookie is set in step 214 and the welcome screen of step 204 is displayed to the player. If the username and / or password is incorrect, the system checks at step 216 if the form fields were left empty. If the form fields were not empty, a page is displayed at step 218 indicating that the username / password was incorrect. The player may be given another opportunity to log in or be presented with a login help page.

If the form fields are empty, the registration form is presented at step 220. In addition, the player can activate the new user registration link displayed at step 208 and be presented with the registration form at step 220. The player completes and submits the form at step 222 and the system determines at step 224 if the submitted username exists. If the user name exists, a message indicating that the user name has been obtained is displayed at step 226.
Is displayed. Another username may be suggested. The player then returns to submit a new registration form at step 222.

If the username does not exist, the system determines in step 228 if any of the required fields are blank. If one or more fields are blank, then a message is presented to the player in step 230.
The message can identify if the required fields were blank and can return the player to a complete form submission in step 222.

Once all of the required fields have been completed, the system determines in step 232 if the email address provided on the form is in the wrong format. If the email address is incorrect, then in step 234 a message is displayed to the player. The message informs the player that the email format is incorrect and suggests the proper format. The player is then returned at step 222 to submit the registration form with the correct email address.

If the email address is in the correct format, the system proceeds to step 23.
At 6 it can be determined if the email is present in the system's database. If an email address exists, then in step 238 a message is displayed to the player notifying that only one username per email address is allowed. Other messages may also be displayed. Step 22
At 2 you can be returned to the form submission with the new email address.

If the email address does not exist, a new player is added to the database at step 240 and the information is sent to the database at step 242. The session cookie is set in step 214 and the player receives the welcome message and accesses the website in step 204. Other processes for login and registration are also available.

The login help page can be associated with the player management module 104,
You can link from the error page. The error page is when the player tries to log in with a username that doesn't exist, with the wrong password for the username, and with an email address that already exists in the database (already registered). Can be the result. Other errors could also occur.

The login help page may display a text message to the player indicating the nature of the error and suggesting appropriate remediation. For example, the login help page is
The player may enter an email address in the input box and request that it be sent to the system administrator. The system administrator can then send the appropriate username and password to the player by email. If the input box is left blank, the login help page may prompt the player to enter an email address if the player wants to enter the game. e
If the email address does not match the registered user, the login help page may prompt the player to correct the entered email address or register as a new user. If the email address is correct, the system manager can send the appropriate username and password to the player at the submitted email address. Other methods are further available for the player to log on to the system.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the player can change the user information. According to an embodiment of the invention, the edit player information link links to a page with a forms interface, allowing the player to change parts of the player profile. At the top of the page, the password entry field needs to be filled in correctly for the change to occur. The player can change the address, city, state, zip code, team affiliation, team competition, or password. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, changing team affiliation and team competition results in the player being presented with a pull-down list of all available teams and selecting from that list. Other means of changing the information can be used.

The content management module 116 enables the content to be provided to the match manager 108, and more specifically the game logic module 112. The content management module 116 can store the question data and can be responsible for compositing and distributing the data to the match manager 108. Question data can include questions, correct answers, many wrong answers, facts about answers, and difficulty levels. Questions can be presented randomly. Content management module 116 may include other content.

The game management module 118 may maintain a pool of current games or competitions, game schedules for sessions, current game scores, team wins / losses records, and other competition information.

The reward / winner module 120 manages the awarding of competition-related awards. According to the embodiment of the present invention, a prize is awarded on a monthly basis, and one "player award" is awarded to each team as a product. The "Grand Prize" may be awarded to a single winner from the entire pool of players. As mentioned above, awards are awarded based on the number of “award tickets” earned, where the award tickets act as raffle tickets,
Each prize ticket is counted as one chance to win from the number of tickets awarded.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the total of award tickets can be rolled over from month to month. Players may be required to play at least once during the months suitable for winning the prize. If a player who has not played for a month is selected, the selection may be ignored and a new drawing may occur. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a player may not win prizes for two consecutive months. If a player won in the previous month is selected, a new lottery may occur. The list of winners may be displayed on the recent winners page.

Advertising / sponsor module 122 may integrate advertising information with sponsors. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sponsor's web page may host an online trivia game on that website and provide the website with an advertising banner. Advertising / sponsor module 122 integrates competition and advertising to enable efficient use of the website. The ad / sponsor module 122 can perform other functions.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein may be provided for electronic competition. For example, the computer usable medium includes a CD ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or any other computer usable medium. One or more modules of system 100 are provided on a computer-usable medium such that when the computer-usable medium is installed in a computer system, the modules can cause the computer system to perform the functions described above. It may include computer readable program code.

According to one embodiment, web shell 102, player management module 104, match management module 106, match module 108, chat module 110, game logic module 112, dialogue server 114, content module 116, game. Management module 118, reward / winner module 120,
Advertising / sponsor module 122 includes computer readable code that, when installed on a computer, performs the functions described above. Moreover, only some of the modules are provided in computer readable code.

In accordance with one particular embodiment of the present invention, system 100 includes the components of a software system. System 100 may be coupled to other systems operating on a network and sharing a shared database. Other hardware arrangements can also be provided.

Other embodiments, uses, and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. The specification and examples should be considered exemplary only. The intended scope of the invention is limited only by the claims appended hereto.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1]   3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the method of the present invention.

[Fig. 2]   1 is a schematic diagram of a hardware system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 3]   1 is a schematic diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 4]   6 is a flowchart of a login and registration method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a graphical user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 6]   9 is a flowchart of game execution according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a graphical user interface diagram showing a game page according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a graphical user interface diagram showing a personal trading card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OA (BF, BJ , CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, K E, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG , ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, BZ, C A, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM , DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, K E, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS , LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, R U, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM , TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW (72) Inventor Gito, Anthony Frank             New York State 11211, United States             Looklin, Leonard Street             245 number 2 (72) Inventor Ram, Richard Edward             10803, New York, United States             Luham Manor, Hazen Street             Four F-term (reference) 2C001 AA04 BB02 BD03 CA01 CB01                       CB04 CB06 CB08 CC02

Claims (28)

[Claims] 1. A step of identifying a plurality of players, each player being associated with one of a plurality of teams, each team being associated with an actual participant in a scheduled event, and a practice between two or more teams. A computer-implemented gameplay method comprising: playing two or more teams against one or more competitions based on the scheduled event of, and executing one or more competitions. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a score to each of a plurality of players based on the results of one or more competitions. 3. Each player has a player profile displayed in the form of a player trading card, the player profile being a) an image of the player, b) statistical data of the player's play, and c). The method of claim 1, comprising at least one of a player's name and d) the player's intimacy with the actual entity. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of playing multiple teams comprises the step of playing two or more teams based on an actual sports schedule. 5. The step of performing one or more competitions further comprises: a) providing a plurality of questions to a plurality of players, and b) calculating an answer for each team for each of the plurality of questions. And c) calculating an answer for each of a plurality of players for each of a plurality of questions, the step of providing a score further comprising: a statement for each team and a statement for a player. The method of claim 1 including the step of providing a score to each of the plurality of players based on at least one of: 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the player utilizes a gameplay system operably connected to the server via a distributed network environment. 7. A step of logging in multiple players, each player being associated with a selected one of the plurality of entities, and assigning each player to a team based on being associated with one of the plurality of entities. A computer-implemented game playing method comprising: arranging; playing a plurality of teams in one or more competitions; and executing one or more competitions. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of scoring each of a plurality of players based on the results of one or more competitions. 9. Each player has a player profile displayed in the form of a player trading card, the player profile being a) an image of the player, b) statistical data of the player's play, and c). The method of claim 7, comprising at least one of a player's name and d) the player's intimacy with the actual entity. 10. A) said step of performing one or more competitions further comprises: i) asking a plurality of questions to a plurality of players, and ii) answering each of the plurality of questions for each team. Calculating; and iii) calculating an answer for each of the plurality of questions for each of the plurality of questions, and b) providing a score, further comprising the statement for each team and for the player. The method of claim 7, including the step of providing a score to each of the plurality of players based on at least one of the statements. 11. The selected entity is an actual entity, and the step of playing a team against one or more competitions comprises the step of playing the team against an actual schedule of events. Item 7. The method according to Item 7. 12. The method of claim 7, wherein the player utilizes a gameplay system operably connected to the server via a distributed network environment. 13. A system for controlling gameplay in which a plurality of players participate in one or more competitions via an input / output device connected to a central server that manages the one or more competitions. Means for uniquely identifying a player, means for assigning a plurality of players connected to the central server via a network to a team for one or more competitions, and one or more based on the actual schedule of events A system that includes means for competing multiple teams to participate in a competition, and means for competing players in one or more competitions based on the actual schedule of the event. 14. The plurality of teams are based on actual sports teams, and playing the plurality of teams includes playing the plurality of teams based on an actual sports schedule. System. 15. A player profile for each player
Further comprising means for displaying in the form of trading cards, the player profile comprising: a) an image of the player, b) the player's competition statistics, c) the player's name, and d) the player's intimacy with the actual organization. 14. The system of claim 13, comprising at least one of. 16. A) the means for competing a plurality of players further comprises means for asking a plurality of questions to a plurality of players, and b) the system further comprises storage means for storing player information, said storage means. Further includes i) means for calculating an answer for each team for each of the plurality of questions; ii) means for calculating an answer for each of the plurality of players for each of the plurality of questions; and iii) 14. The system of claim 13, comprising means for providing a score to each of the plurality of players based on at least one of a statement for each team and a statement for a player. 17. A system for controlling gameplay in which a plurality of players participate in one or more competitions via an input / output device connected to a central server managing the one or more competitions. Means for uniquely identifying a player, means for assigning a plurality of players connected to the central server via a network to a team for one or more competitions, and a player selected by the player for a plurality of teams A system comprising means for grouping based on entities, means for competing multiple teams to participate in one or more competitions, and means for competing players in one or more competitions. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the selected entity is a real entity and playing multiple teams includes playing multiple teams based on an actual schedule. 19. A player profile for each player
Further comprising means for displaying in the form of trading cards, the player profile comprising: a) an image of the player, b) the player's competition statistics, c) the player's name, and d) the player's intimacy with the actual entity. 18. The system of claim 17, comprising at least one of. 20. a) the means for engaging a plurality of teams to compete, further comprising means for providing a plurality of questions to each of a plurality of players of the plurality of teams; and b) the system further comprising player information. Storage means for storing, said storage means further comprising: i) means for calculating an answer for each team for each of a plurality of questions; and ii) each of a plurality of players for each of the plurality of questions. 18. The method of claim 17, comprising means for calculating a profitable answer, and iii) means for providing a score to each of a plurality of players based on at least one of a statement for each team and a statement for a player. 21. One or more provided by a competition system connected to a player system via a network server managing the competition to players having selected relationships with actual participants in the scheduled event. In the player system for participation in one or more competitions, allocation of multiple players to one or more competitions and to multiple teams' competitions to participate in one or more competitions based on actual scheduled events. A player system comprising a competition display means for displaying, a means for allowing a player to participate in the competition by responding to the competition information, and a means for receiving the result of participation of the player in the competition. 22. The player of claim 21, wherein the selected relationship is with an actual sports team and playing the team includes playing the team according to an actual sports schedule. system. 23. Player trading card means for displaying a player profile for each player, the player profile comprising: a) an image of the player, b) player statistical data, c) a player's name, and 23. The player system of claim 21, comprising d) at least one of player intimacy with the actual entity. 24. a) the means for competing a plurality of players further comprises means for asking a plurality of questions to a plurality of players, and b) the system further comprises storage means for storing player information, said storage means. Further includes i) means for calculating an answer for each team for each of the plurality of questions; ii) means for calculating an answer for each of the plurality of players for each of the plurality of questions; and iii) 22. The player system of claim 21, comprising means for providing a score to each of the plurality of players based on at least one of a statement for each team and a statement for a player. 25. The player having a player having a selected relationship with an entity participate in one or more competitions provided by a competition system connected to the player system via a network server managing the competition. In the system, in order to participate in one or more competitions, competition display means for displaying teams for one or more competitions and assignments of the plurality of players to the competitions of the teams, and players by responding to the competition information A player system comprising input means for participating in a competition and receiving means for receiving the results of participation of the player in the competition. 26. Player trading card means for displaying a player profile for each player, the player profile comprising: a) an image of the player, b) player statistical data, c) a player's name, and 26. The player system of claim 25, comprising at least one of d) the player's intimacy with the actual entity. 27. The player system of claim 25, wherein the selected entity is a real entity and playing the team comprises playing the team according to an actual sports schedule. 28. a) the means for competing a plurality of players further comprises means for asking a plurality of questions to a plurality of players, and b) the system further comprises storage means for storing player information, said storage means. And i) means for calculating an answer for each team for each of the plurality of questions, ii) means for calculating an answer for each of the plurality of questions for each of the plurality of players, and iii. 26.) The player system of claim 25, comprising means for providing a score to each of a plurality of players based on at least one of a statement for each team and a statement for a player.