US20150045114A1 - Systems and methods for referral benefits - Google Patents
Systems and methods for referral benefits Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20150045114A1 US20150045114A1 US14/513,196 US201414513196A US2015045114A1 US 20150045114 A1 US20150045114 A1 US 20150045114A1 US 201414513196 A US201414513196 A US 201414513196A US 2015045114 A1 US2015045114 A1 US 2015045114A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- player
- game
- players
- multiplayer game
- online multiplayer
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
- G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
- G07F17/3225—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
- A63F13/70—Game security or game management aspects
- A63F13/79—Game security or game management aspects involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
- A63F13/792—Game security or game management aspects involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories for payment purposes, e.g. monthly subscriptions
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
- G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
- G07F17/326—Game play aspects of gaming systems
- G07F17/3272—Games involving multiple players
- G07F17/3274—Games involving multiple players wherein the players cooperate, e.g. team-play
Definitions
- Referral rewards as marketing and/or consumer loyalty tools, have consistently been provided in a limited variety of implementations. This is partly due to the fact that the typical implementations of referral programs are relatively easy and/or inexpensive to implement and generally serve their purpose satisfactorily. As consumers continue to expand their online, social media, and/or online gaming activities, however, traditional referral programs fail to provide desirable benefits and/or fail to achieve modern goals.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and FIG. 9E are example interfaces according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to some embodiments.
- FIG. 11A , FIG. 11B , FIG. 11C , and FIG. 11D are perspective diagrams of exemplary data storage devices according to some embodiments.
- Embodiments presented herein are descriptive of systems, apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture for games that may be adjusted to provide bonuses to players playing together, such as when one player has referred the other to the system. Game win amounts may be adjusted to account for bonuses that may be provided to Refer-A-Friend (RAF) players.
- RAF Refer-A-Friend
- a player may generally refer to any type, quantity, and or manner of entity associated with the play of a game.
- a player may comprise an entity conducting play of an online game, for example, may comprise an entity that desires to play a game (e.g., an entity registered and/or scheduled to play and/or an entity having expressed interest in the play of the game—e.g., a spectator) and/or may comprise an entity that configures, manages, and/or conducts a game.
- a player may be currently playing a game or have previously played the game, or may not yet have initiated play—i.e., a “player” may comprise a “potential player” (e.g., in general and/or with respect to a specific game).
- a player may comprise a user of an interface (e.g., whether or not such a player participates in a game or seeks to participate in the game).
- a player may comprise an individual (or group) that enters, joins, logs into, registers for, and/or otherwise access an online game room, session, server, and/or other particular instance and/or segmentation of an online game.
- a “player device” is a subset of a “network device”.
- the “network device”, for example, may generally refer to any device that can communicate via a network, while the “player device” may comprise a network device that is owned and/or operated by or otherwise associated with a player.
- Examples of player and/or network devices may include, but are not limited to: a Personal Computer (PC), a computer workstation, a computer server, a printer, a scanner, a facsimile machine, a copier, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a storage device (e.g., a disk drive), a hub, a router, a switch, and a modem, a video game console, or a wireless or cellular telephone.
- Player and/or network devices may, in some embodiments, comprise one or more network components.
- network component may refer to a player or network device, or a component, piece, portion, or combination of player or network devices.
- network components may include a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) device or module, a network processor, and a network communication path, connection, port, or cable.
- SRAM Static Random Access Memory
- networks are associated with a “network” or a “communication network.”
- network and “communication network” may be used interchangeably and may refer to any object, entity, component, device, and/or any combination thereof that permits, facilitates, and/or otherwise contributes to or is associated with the transmission of messages, packets, signals, and/or other forms of information between and/or within one or more network devices.
- Networks may be or include a plurality of interconnected network devices.
- networks may be hard-wired, wireless, virtual, neural, and/or any other configuration or type that is or becomes known.
- Communication networks may include, for example, devices that communicate directly or indirectly, via a wired or wireless medium such as the Internet, intranet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a cellular telephone network, a Bluetooth® network, a Near-Field Communication (NFC) network, a Radio Frequency (RF) network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), Ethernet (or IEEE 802.3), Token Ring, or via any appropriate communications means or combination of communications means.
- LAN Local Area Network
- WAN Wide Area Network
- cellular telephone network a Bluetooth® network
- NFC Near-Field Communication
- RF Radio Frequency
- VPN Virtual Private Network
- Ethernet or IEEE 802.3
- Token Ring or via any appropriate communications means or combination of communications means.
- Exemplary protocols include but are not limited to: BluetoothTM, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Digital AMPS (D-AMPS), IEEE 802.11 (WI-FI), IEEE 802.3, SAP, the best of breed (BOB), and/or system to system (S2S).
- TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
- CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
- GSM Global System for Mobile communications
- EDGE Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution
- GPRS General Packet Radio Service
- WCDMA Wideband CDMA
- AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone System
- D-AMPS Digital AMPS
- IEEE 802.11 WI-FI
- SAP the best of breed
- SAP the best of breed
- S2S system to system
- information and “data” may be used interchangeably and may refer to any data, text, voice, video, image, message, bit, packet, pulse, tone, waveform, and/or other type or configuration of signal and/or information.
- Information may comprise information packets transmitted, for example, in accordance with the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) standard.
- IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6
- Information may, according to some embodiments, be compressed, encoded, encrypted, and/or otherwise packaged or manipulated in accordance with any method that is or becomes known or practicable.
- the system 100 may comprise a gaming platform such as a gaming platform via which one or more multiplayer and/or online games may be played.
- the system 100 may comprise a plurality of player devices 102 a - n in communication with and/or via a network 104 .
- a game server 110 may be in communication with the network 104 and/or one or more of the player devices 102 a - n .
- the game server 110 (and/or the player devices 102 a - n ) may be in communication with a database 140 .
- the database 140 may store, for example, game date (e.g., processed and/or defined by the game server 110 ), data associated with players (not explicitly shown) owning and/or operating the player devices 102 a - n , and/or instructions that cause various devices (e.g., the game server 110 and/or the player devices 102 a - n ) to operate in accordance with embodiments described herein.
- game date e.g., processed and/or defined by the game server 110
- data associated with players not explicitly shown
- players owning and/or operating the player devices 102 a - n
- instructions that cause various devices (e.g., the game server 110 and/or the player devices 102 a - n ) to operate in accordance with embodiments described herein.
- any or all of the components 102 a - n , 104 , 110 , 140 of the system 100 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer or more components 102 a - n , 104 , 110 , 140 (and/or portions thereof) and/or various configurations of the components 102 a - n , 104 , 110 , 140 may be included in the system 100 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein.
- any component 102 a - n , 104 , 110 , 140 depicted in the system 100 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 102 a - n , 104 , 110 , 140 , and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable.
- one or more of the various components 102 a - n , 104 , 110 , 140 may not be needed and/or desired in the system 100 .
- the player devices 102 a - n may comprise any type or configuration of electronic, mobile electronic, and or other network and/or communication devices (or combinations thereof) that are or become known or practicable.
- a first player device 102 a may, for example, comprise one or more PC devices, computer workstations (e.g., game consoles and/or gaming computers), tablet computers, such as an iPad® manufactured by Apple®, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., and/or cellular and/or wireless telephones such as an iPhone® (also manufactured by Apple®, Inc.) or an OptimusTM S smart phone manufactured by LG® Electronics, Inc. of San Diego, Calif., and running the Android® operating system from Google®, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.
- one or more of the player devices 102 a - n may be specifically utilized and/or configured (e.g., via specially-programmed and/or stored instructions such as may define or comprise a software application) to communicate with the game server 110 (e.g., via the network 104 ).
- the network 104 may, according to some embodiments, comprise a LAN, WAN, cellular telephone network, Bluetooth® network, NFC network, and/or RF network with communication links between the player devices 102 a - n , the game server 110 , and/or the database 140 .
- the network 104 may comprise direct communications links between any or all of the components 102 a - n , 110 , 140 of the system 100 .
- the game server 110 may, for example, be directly interfaced or connected to the database 140 via one or more wires, cables, wireless links, and/or other network components, such network components (e.g., communication links) comprising portions of the network 104 .
- the network 104 may comprise one or many other links or network components other than those depicted in FIG. 1 .
- a second player device 102 b may, for example, be connected to the game server 110 via various cell towers, routers, repeaters, ports, switches, and/or other network components that comprise the Internet and/or a cellular telephone (and/or Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)) network, and which comprise portions of the network 104 .
- PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
- the network 104 may comprise any number, type, and/or configuration of networks that is or becomes known or practicable. According to some embodiments, the network 104 may comprise a conglomeration of different sub-networks and/or network components interconnected, directly or indirectly, by the components 102 a - n , 110 , 140 of the system 100 .
- the network 104 may comprise one or more cellular telephone networks with communication links between the player devices 102 a - n and the game server 110 , for example, and/or may comprise the Internet, with communication links between the player devices 102 a - n and the database 140 , for example.
- the game server 110 may comprise a device (and/or system) owned and/or operated by or on behalf of or for the benefit of a gaming entity (not explicitly shown).
- the gaming entity may utilize player and/or game information or instructions (e.g., stored by the database 140 ), in some embodiments, to host, manage, analyze, design, define, price, conduct, and/or otherwise provide (or cause to be provided) one or more games such as online multiplayer games.
- the gaming entity (and/or a third-party; not explicitly shown) may provide an interface (not shown in FIG. 1 ; such as the interfaces 920 a - e of FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and/or FIG.
- the interface may be configured, according to some embodiments, to allow and/or facilitate electronic game play by one or more players.
- the system 100 and/or interface provided by the game server 110 ) may present game data (e.g., from the database 140 ) in such a manner that allows players to participate in one or more online games (singularly, in/with groups, and/or otherwise).
- the game server 110 may provide benefits to players based on player referrals and/or based on groups of players that play together in an online multiplayer game.
- the database 140 may comprise any type, configuration, and/or quantity of data storage devices that are or become known or practicable.
- the database 140 may, for example, comprise an array of optical and/or solid-state hard drives configured to store player and/or game data, and/or various operating instructions, drivers, etc. While the database 140 is depicted as a stand-alone component of the system 100 in FIG. 1 , the database 140 may comprise multiple components. In some embodiments, a multi-component database 140 may be distributed across various devices and/or may comprise remotely dispersed components. Any or all of the player devices 102 a - n may comprise the database 140 or a portion thereof, for example, and/or the game server 110 may comprise the database 140 or a portion thereof.
- the system 200 may comprise a gaming platform such as a platform via which social, multiplayer, and/or online games may be played.
- the system 200 may comprise a plurality of player devices 202 a - n , the Internet 204 , a load balancer 206 , and/or a game server cluster 210 .
- the game server cluster 210 may, in some embodiments, comprise a plurality of game servers 210 a - n .
- the system 200 may comprise a cache persistor 220 , a Simple Queuing Service (SQS) device 222 , a task scheduler 224 , an e-mail service device 226 , and/or a query service device 228 .
- SQL Simple Queuing Service
- any or all of the various components 202 a - n , 204 , 206 , 210 a - n , 220 , 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 may be in communication with and/or coupled to one or more databases 240 a - f .
- the system 200 may comprise, for example, a dynamic DataBase (DB) 240 a , a cloud-based cache cluster 240 b (e.g., comprising a game state cache 240 b - 1 , a slot state cache 240 b - 2 , and/or a “hydra” cache 240 b - 3 ), a non-relational DB 240 c , a remote DB service 240 d , a persistence DB 240 e , and/or a reporting DB 240 f.
- DB Dynamic DataBase
- any or all of the components 202 a - n , 204 , 206 , 210 a - n , 220 , 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 240 a - f of the system 200 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein.
- any component 202 a - n , 204 , 206 , 210 a - n , 220 , 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 202 a - n , 204 , 206 , 210 a - n , 220 , 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 240 a - f depicted in the system 200 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 202 a - n , 204 , 206 , 210 a - n , 220 , 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 240 a - f , and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable.
- one or more of the various components 202 a - n , 204 , 206 , 210 a - n , 220 , 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 240 a - f may not be needed and/or desired in the system 200 .
- the player devices 202 a - n may be utilized to access (e.g., via the Internet 204 and/or one or more other networks not explicitly shown) content provided by the game server cluster 210 .
- the game server cluster 210 may, for example, provide, manage, host, and/or conduct various online and/or otherwise electronic games such as online bingo, slots, poker, and/or other games of chance, skill, and/or combinations thereof.
- the various game servers 210 a - n (virtual and/or physical) of the game server cluster 210 may be configured to provide, manage, host, and/or conduct individual instances and/or sessions of available game types.
- a first game server 210 a may host a first particular session of an online bingo game (or tournament), a second game server 210 c may host a second particular session of an online bingo game (or tournament), a third game server 210 c may facilitate an online poker tournament (e.g., and a corresponding plurality of game sessions that comprise the tournament), and/or a fourth game server 210 d may provide an online slots game (e.g., by hosting one or more slot game sessions).
- the player devices 202 a - n may comprise various components (hardware, firmware, and/or software; not explicitly shown) that facilitate game play and/or interaction with the game server cluster 210 .
- the player device 202 a - n may, for example, comprise a gaming client such as a software application programmed in Adobe® Flash® and/or HTML 5 that is configured to send requests to, and receive responses from, one or more of the game servers 210 a - n of the game server cluster 210 .
- such an application operating on and/or via the player devices 202 a - n may be configured in Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture with a communication manager layer responsible for managing the requests to/responses from the game server cluster 210 .
- MVC Model-View-Controller
- one or more of the game servers 210 a - n may also or alternatively be configured in a MVC architecture with a communication manager and/or communications management layer (not explicitly shown in FIG. 2 ).
- communications between the player devices 202 a - n and the game server cluster 210 may be conducted in accordance with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) version 1.1 (HTTP/1.1) as published by the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IET) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in RFC 2616 (June 1999).
- HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol
- IET Internet Engineering Taskforce
- W3C World Wide Web Consortium
- communications between the player devices 202 a - n and the game server cluster 210 may be managed and/or facilitated by the load balancer 206 .
- the load balancer 206 may, for example, route communications from player devices 202 a - n to one or more of the specific game servers 210 a - n depending upon various attributes and/or variables such as bandwidth availability (e.g., traffic management/volumetric load balancing), server load (e.g., processing load balancing), server functionality (e.g., contextual awareness/availability), and/or player-server history (e.g., session awareness/“stickiness”).
- bandwidth availability e.g., traffic management/volumetric load balancing
- server load e.g., processing load balancing
- server functionality e.g., contextual awareness/availability
- player-server history e.g., session awareness/“stickiness
- the load balancer 206 may comprise one or more devices and/or services provided by a third-party (not separately shown in FIG. 2 ).
- the load balancer 206 may, for example, comprise an Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) service provided by Amazon® Web Services, LLC of Seattle, Wash.
- ELB Elastic Load Balancer
- the load balancer 206 may manage, set, determine, define, and/or otherwise influence the number of game servers 210 a - n within the game server cluster 210 .
- the load balancer 206 may call and/or bring online one or more of the other game servers 210 c - n depicted in FIG. 2 .
- each game server 210 a - n comprises an instance of an Amazon® Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service
- the load balancer 206 may add or remove instances as is or becomes practicable and/or desirable.
- the load balancer 206 and/or the Internet 204 may comprise one or more proxy servers and/or devices (not shown in FIG. 2 ) via which communications between the player devices 202 a - n and the game server cluster 210 are conducted and/or routed.
- proxy servers and/or devices may comprise one or more regional game hosting centers, for example, which may be geographically dispersed and addressable by player devices 202 a - n in a given geographic proximity.
- the proxy servers and/or devices may be located in one or more geographic areas and/or jurisdictions while the game server cluster 210 (and/or certain game servers 210 a - n and/or groups of game servers 210 a - n thereof) is located in a separate and/or remote geographic area and/or jurisdiction.
- the game server cluster 210 may provide game results (such as a full set of drawn bingo numbers and/or bonus metrics) to a controller device (not separately shown in FIG. 2 ) that times the release of game result information to the player devices 202 a - n such as by utilizing a broadcaster device (also not separately shown in FIG.
- TCP Transmission Control Protocol
- IP Internet Protocol
- DRPA Defense Advance Research Projects Agency
- the game server cluster 210 (and/or one or more of the game servers 210 a - n thereof) may be in communication with the dynamic DB 240 a .
- the dynamic DB 240 a may comprise a dynamically-scalable database service such as the DyanmoDBTM service provided by Amazon® Web Services, LLC.
- the dynamic DB 240 a may, for example, store information specific to one or more certain game types (e.g., slots) provided by the game server cluster 210 such as to allow, permit, and/or facilitate reporting and/or analysis of such information.
- the game server cluster 210 (and/or one or more of the game servers 210 a - n thereof) may be in communication with the cloud-based cache cluster 240 b .
- Game state information from the game server cluster 210 may be stored in the game state cache 240 b - 1 , for example, slot state (e.g., slot-game specific state) data may be stored in the slot state cache 240 b - 2 , and/or other game and/or player information (e.g., progressive data, referral data, player rankings, audit data) may be stored in the hydra cache 240 b - 3 .
- slot state e.g., slot-game specific state
- player information e.g., progressive data, referral data, player rankings, audit data
- the cache persistor 220 may move and/or copy data stored in the cloud-based cache cluster 240 b to the non-relational DB 240 c .
- the non-relational DB 240 c may, for example, comprise a SimpleDBTM service provided by Amazon® Wed Services, LLC.
- the game server cluster 210 may generally access the cloud-based cache cluster 240 b as-needed to store and/or retrieve game-related information.
- the data stored in the cloud-based cache cluster 240 b may generally comprise a subset of the newest or freshest data, while the cache persistior 220 may archive and/or store or move such data to the non-relational DB 240 c as it ages and/or becomes less relevant (e.g., once a player logs-off, once a game session and/or tournament ends).
- the game server cluster 210 may, in accordance with some embodiments, have access to the non-relational DB 240 c as-needed and/or desired.
- the game servers 210 a - n may, for example, be initialized with data from the non-relational DB 240 c and/or may store and/or retrieve low frequency and/or low priority data via the non-relational DB 240 c.
- the SQS device 222 may queue and/or otherwise manage requests, messages, events, and/or other tasks or calls to and/or from the server cluster 210 .
- the SQS device 222 may, for example, prioritize and/or route requests between the game server cluster 210 and the task scheduler 224 .
- the SQS device 222 may provide mini-game and/or tournament information to the server cluster 210 .
- the task scheduler 224 may initiate communications with the SQS device 222 , the e-mail service provider 226 (e.g., providing e-mail lists), the remote DB service 240 d (e.g., providing inserts and/or updates), and/or the persistence DB 240 e (e.g., providing and/or updating game, player, and/or other reporting data), e.g., in accordance with one or more schedules.
- the e-mail service provider 226 e.g., providing e-mail lists
- the remote DB service 240 d e.g., providing inserts and/or updates
- the persistence DB 240 e e.g., providing and/or updating game, player, and/or other reporting data
- the persistence DB 240 e may comprise a data store of live environment game and/or player data.
- the game server cluster 210 and/or the task scheduler 224 or SQS device 222 may, for example, store game and/or player data to the persistence DB 240 e and/or may pull and/or retrieve data from the persistence DB 240 e , as-needed and/or desired.
- the server cluster 210 may, according to some embodiments, provide and/or retrieve spin and/or other game event info and/or configuration information via the persistence DB 240 e.
- the reporting DB 240 f may be created and/or populated based on the persistence DB 240 e .
- a data transformation and/or mapping program may be utilized to pull data from the live environment (e.g., the persistence DB 240 e ) into the reporting DB 240 f .
- the query service 228 may then be utilized, for example, to query the reporting DB 240 f , without taxing the live environment and/or production system directly accessible by the game server cluster 210 .
- the system 300 may comprise and/or define a “front-end” architecture of a gaming platform such as a platform via which social, multiplayer, and/or online games may be played.
- the system 300 may comprise a plurality of user devices 302 a - b , a plurality of networks 304 a - b (e.g., a primary service provider network 304 a , a secondary service provider network 304 b , a production network 304 c , and/or a VPN 304 d ), a plurality of routers 306 a - b , a plurality of firewall devices 308 a - b , a plurality of game servers 310 a - g (e.g., web servers 310 a , application servers 310 b , messaging broker servers 310 c , game broadcaster servers 310 d , chat servers 310 e , database servers 310 f , and/or management and monitoring servers 310 g ), and/or an application delivery controller cluster 322 .
- a plurality of user devices 302 a - b e.g., a primary service provider network 304 a ,
- any or all of the components 302 a - b , 304 a - b , 306 a - b , 308 a - b , 310 a - g , 322 of the system 300 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein.
- any component 302 a - b , 304 a - b , 306 a - b , 308 a - b , 310 a - g are depicted and while single instances of other components 322 are depicted, for example, any component 302 a - b , 304 a - b , 306 a - b , 308 a - b , 310 a - g , 322 depicted in the system 300 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 302 a - b , 304 a - b , 306 a - b , 308 a - b , 310 a - g , 322 , and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable.
- one or more of the various components 302 a - b , 304 a - b , 306 a - b , 308 a - b , 310 a - g , 322 may not be needed and/or desired in the system 300 .
- a first user device 304 a may comprise an electronic device owned and/or operated by a player of an online game (not explicitly shown) and/or by an entity that otherwise accesses online game content and/or services externally (e.g., requiring external login and/or access credentials and/or procedures).
- the first user device 304 a may, for example, be utilized to access content provided by and/or via the application delivery controller cluster 322 .
- the first user device 304 a may interface with and/or connect to the production network 304 c via the primary service provider network 304 a and/or the secondary service provider network 304 b .
- the primary service provider network 304 a and the secondary service provider network 304 b may, for example, load balance and/or provide redundant coverage for outage recovery by utilization of a first primary service provider network router 306 a - 1 , a second primary service provider network router 306 a - 2 , a first secondary service provider network router 306 b - 1 , and/or a second secondary service provider network router 306 b - 2 .
- the application delivery controller cluster 322 may be insulated and/or protected from the production network 304 c by an external firewall cluster 308 a .
- the first user device 304 a may, for example, be required to provide credentials to and/or otherwise access the application delivery controller cluster 322 via the external firewall cluster 308 a.
- the application delivery controller cluster 322 may receive via and/or from the external firewall cluster 308 a and/or the production network 304 c , one or more requests, calls, transmissions, and/or commands from the first user device 304 a .
- the first user device 304 a may, for example, submit a call for an online gaming interface (such as the interfaces 920 a - e of FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and/or FIG. 9E herein) to the application delivery controller cluster 322 .
- an online gaming interface such as the interfaces 920 a - e of FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and/or FIG. 9E herein
- the application delivery controller cluster 322 may comprise one or more hardware, software, and/or firmware devices and/or modules configured (e.g., specially-programmed) to route events and/or responses between the first user device 304 a and one or more of the servers 310 a - g .
- the first user device 304 a is utilized to access an online gaming interface for example, one or more of the web servers 310 a (e.g., that may provide graphical and/or rendering elements for an interface and/or other web services) and/or the application servers 310 b (e.g., that may provide rule and/or logic-based programming routines, elements, and/or functions—e.g., game play engines) may be called and/or managed by the application delivery controller cluster 322 .
- the web servers 310 a e.g., that may provide graphical and/or rendering elements for an interface and/or other web services
- the application servers 310 b e.g., that may provide rule and/or logic-based programming routines, elements, and/or functions—e.g., game play engines
- the messaging broker servers 310 c may receive and/or retrieve messages from the first user device 304 a (and/or from one or more of the other servers 310 a - b , 310 d - g ) and perform one or more inter-application processes in relation thereto.
- the messaging broker servers 310 c may, for example, route, transform, consolidate, aggregate, store, augment, and/or otherwise process one or more requests in connection with provision of online gaming services to the first user device 304 a (e.g., facilitating a decoupling of services provided by various applications on and/or from the various servers 310 a - b , 310 d - g ).
- the game broadcaster servers 310 d may provide scheduled releases of information descriptive of an online game.
- the game broadcaster servers 310 d may, for example, provide a broadcast feed of bingo numbers, slot and/or other random (and/or pseudo-random) number results that may be accessed by (and/or transmitted to) the first user device 304 a (e.g., in connection with the play of an online bingo, slots, and/or other game for which broadcast information may be utilized).
- the chat servers 310 e may provide, manage, and/or facilitate communications between the first user device 304 a (and/or first user thereof) and one or more other player/user devices (such as a second user device 302 b and/or other player/user devices not shown in FIG. 3 ).
- the second user device 304 b may generally comprise an electronic device owned and/or operated by a user (not shown) closely affiliated with an entity that operates the system 300 (such entity also not shown).
- An employee e.g., programmer and/or Customer Service Representative (CSR)
- CSR Customer Service Representative
- contractor and/or other agent of an online gaming company may, for example, utilize the second user device 304 b to interface with the privately-accessible VPN 304 d .
- the VPN 304 d may, for example, provide direct access to the application servers 310 b , the database servers 310 f , the management and monitoring servers 310 g , and/or the application delivery controller cluster 322 .
- such access may be gated through and/or insulated or protected by an internal firewall cluster 308 b .
- the second user device 304 b may, for example, be required to provide credentials to and/or otherwise access the application delivery controller cluster 322 and/or servers 310 a - g via the internal firewall cluster 308 b.
- the database servers 310 f may provide access to one or more databases and/or data stores (e.g., not shown in FIG. 3 ; for data storage and/or retrieval).
- the management and monitoring servers 310 g may provide services such as monitoring, reporting, troubleshooting, analysis, configuring, etc. to the second user device 304 b .
- the second user device 304 b may, for example, access the management and monitoring servers 310 g and/or the database servers 310 f to run reports descriptive of online gaming operations, game play, and/or game referral setup, management, and/or analysis.
- either or both of the user devices 304 a - b in conjunction with one or more of the servers 310 a - g and/or the application delivery controller cluster 322 may conduct (in whole or in part), facilitate, and/or otherwise be associated with execution of one or more stored procedures, applications, processes, and/or methods (e.g., the method 800 of FIG. 8 herein, and/or a portion thereof).
- server Utilization of the term “server” with respect to the servers 310 a - g of the system 300 of FIG. 3 is meant solely to ease description of the configuration and/or functionality of the servers 310 a - g .
- the term “server” is not intended to be limiting with respect to any particular hardware, software, firmware, and/or quantities thereof utilized to implement any or all of the servers 310 a - g of the system 300 .
- severs 310 a - g While multiple types and/or instances of the severs 310 a - g are depicted in FIG. 3 , any or all of the servers 310 a - g may be implemented in, on, and/or by one or multiple computer server and/or other electronic devices.
- the system 400 may comprise and/or define a “front-end” architecture of a gaming platform such as a platform via which social, multiplayer, and/or online games may be played.
- the system 400 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality, for example, to the system 300 of FIG. 3 and/or one or more portions thereof.
- the system 400 may comprise a user device 402 , a plurality of networks (and/or environments and/or layers) 404 a - j (e.g., the Internet 404 a , a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) protection layer 404 b , a primary transit provider layer 404 c , a secondary transit provider layer 404 d , a Pre-Production (PP) environment 404 e , a live environment 404 f , a LAN 404 g , a backend environment 404 h , a PP backend layer 404 i , and/or a live backend layer 404 j ), a plurality of routers 406 b - d , a plurality of firewall devices 408 e - g , 408 i - j , a plurality of servers 410 e - f (e.g., a PP server cluster 410 e and/or
- PP
- any or all of the components 402 , 404 a - j , 406 b - d , 408 e - g , 408 i - j , 410 e - f , 422 a , 422 e - f , 422 i - j , 424 f , 430 i - j , 452 e - f of the system 400 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein.
- one or more of the various components 402 , 404 a - j , 406 b - d , 408 e - g , 408 i - j , 410 e - f , 422 a , 422 e - f , 422 i - j , 424 f , 430 i - j , 452 e - f may not be needed and/or desired in the system 400 .
- the user device 402 may be utilized to access one or more of the PP environment 404 e , the live environment 404 f , and/or the backend environment 404 h via the Internet 404 a . In some embodiments, the user device 402 may be utilized to access the backend environment 404 h and/or the PP hydra service 430 i via the PP backend layer 404 i .
- a PP backend switch device 422 i and/or a PP backend firewall device 408 i may, for example, gate and/or control access to the backend environment 404 h and/or the PP hydra service 430 i , via the PP backend layer 404 i .
- the user device 402 may be utilized to access the backend environment 404 h and/or the live hydra service 430 j via the live backend layer 404 j .
- a live backend switch device 422 j and/or a live backend firewall device 408 j may, for example, gate and/or control access to the backend environment 404 h and/or the live hydra service 430 j , via the live backend layer 404 j.
- any communications (e.g., requests, calls, and/or messages) from the user device 402 may be passed through the DDoS protection layer 404 b .
- the DDoS protection layer 404 b may, for example, monitor and/or facilitate protection against various forms of cyber attacks including, but not limited to, DDoS attacks.
- the DDoS protection layer 404 b may comprise and/or be in communication with a plurality of DDoS router devices 406 b - 1 , 406 b - 2 , 406 b - 3 , 406 b - 4 that may be utilized to route and/or direct incoming communications (e.g., from the user device 402 ) to appropriate portions of the system 400 .
- the DDoS protection layer 404 b and/or a first DDoS router device 406 b - 1 may route communications from the user device 402 through and/or via a first switch device 422 a - 1 and/or to, through, and/or via a first primary transit provider router device 406 c - 1 .
- the first switch device 422 a - 1 may comprise a device utilized for security switching such as may implement communications in accordance with the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) communications tunneling protocol described in RFC 2784 “Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)” published by the Network Working Group (NWG) in March, 2000.
- GRE Generic Routing Encapsulation
- the first primary transit provider router device 406 c - 1 may, for example, provide access to the PP environment 404 e and/or the PP server cluster 410 e thereof, such as via one or more PP firewall devices 408 e - 1 , 408 e - 2 and/or one or more PP switch devices 422 e - 1 , 422 e - 2 .
- the PP switch devices 422 e - 1 , 422 e - 2 may comprise content switching devices that process and route data (e.g., in the data link layer) based on data content.
- the first primary transit provider router device 406 c - 1 may direct communications to, through, and/or via a PP LAN switch device 422 e - 3 that provides and/or facilitates access to the LAN 404 g .
- the LAN 404 g may, for example, provide private access to and/or between the PP environment 404 e , the live environment 404 f , and/or the backend environment 404 h .
- the first primary transit provider router device 406 c - 1 and/or the PP LAN switch device 422 e - 3 may direct communications to, through, and/or via a LAN firewall device 408 g that provides direct access to either or both of the PP server cluster 410 e and the live server cluster 410 f.
- the DDoS protection layer 404 b and/or a second DDoS router device 406 b - 2 may route communications from the user device 402 through and/or via a second switch device 422 a - 2 and/or to, through, and/or via a first secondary transit provider router device 406 d - 1 .
- the second switch device 422 a - 2 may comprise a device utilized for security switching such as may implement communications in accordance with the GRE communications tunneling protocol described in RFC 2784 “Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)” published by the Network Working Group (NWG) in March, 2000.
- the first secondary transit provider router device 406 d - 1 may, for example, provide access to the live environment 404 f and/or the live server cluster 410 f thereof, such as via one or more live firewall devices 408 f - 1 , 408 f - 2 and/or one or more live switch devices 422 f - 1 , 422 f - 2 .
- the live switch devices 422 f - 1 , 422 f - 2 may comprise content switching devices that process and route data (e.g., in the data link layer) based on data content.
- the first secondary transit provider router device 406 d - 1 may direct communications to, through, and/or via a live LAN switch device 422 f - 3 that provides and/or facilitates access to the LAN 404 g .
- the first secondary transit provider router device 406 d - 1 and/or the live LAN switch device 422 f - 3 may direct communications to, through, and/or via the LAN firewall device 408 g that provides direct access to either or both of the PP server cluster 410 e and the live server cluster 410 f.
- the DDoS protection layer 404 b and/or one or more of a third DDoS router device 406 b - 3 and/or a fourth DDoS router device 406 b - 4 may route communications from the user device 402 through and/or via one or more of the primary transit provider layer 404 c and/or the secondary transit provider layer 404 d .
- a transit provider switch device 422 a - 3 may direct, swap, route, and/or manage communications between the primary transit provider layer 404 c and the secondary transit provider layer 404 d .
- the transit provider switch device 422 a - 3 may comprise a switching device that operates in accordance with an Exterior Border Gateway Protocol (EBGP)—e.g., the transit provider switch device 422 a - 3 may comprise one or more edge or border routers.
- EBGP Exterior Border Gateway Protocol
- the first primary transit provider router device 406 c - 1 , the first secondary transit provider router device 406 d - 1 , a second primary transit provider router device 406 c - 2 , and/or a second secondary transit provider router device 406 d - 2 may be utilized to route and/or direct communications between (i) the primary transit provider layer 404 c and/or the secondary transit provider layer 404 d and (ii) the PP environment 404 e and/or the live environment 404 f.
- the PP server cluster 410 e and/or the PP environment 404 e may comprise various hardware, software, and/or firmware that permits a user (e.g., of the user device 402 ) to program, edit, manage, and/or otherwise interface with PP game elements and/or interfaces (e.g., for development and/or testing purposes).
- the PDU devices 452 e - 1 , 452 e - 2 may generally provide power distribution, supply, management, backup, and/or conditioning services (e.g., to the PP server cluster 410 e ) as is or becomes desired.
- additional switch devices 422 e - 4 , 422 e - 5 may be utilized to distribute, balance, manage and/or control communications to, from, and/or within the PP server cluster 410 e.
- the live server cluster 410 f and/or the live environment 404 f may comprise various hardware, software, and/or firmware that permits a user (e.g., of the user device 402 ) to program, edit, manage, and/or otherwise interface with live game elements and/or interfaces (e.g., for troubleshooting, corrective, and/or live environment management purposes).
- the PDU devices 452 f - 1 , 452 f - 2 may generally provide power distribution, supply, management, backup, and/or conditioning services (e.g., to the live server cluster 410 f ) as is or becomes desired.
- additional switch devices 422 f - 4 , 422 f - 5 may be utilized to distribute, balance, manage and/or control communications to, from, and/or within the live server cluster 410 f .
- the TC device 424 f may be utilized to manage communications from a variety of data sources such as by providing communication capability between various communications channels (not separately depicted in FIG. 3 ).
- FIG. 5 a block diagram of a system 500 according to some embodiments is shown.
- the system 500 may comprise and/or define a “back-end” architecture of a gaming platform such as a platform via which social, multiplayer, and/or online games may be played.
- the system 500 may be utilized in conjunction with the systems 300 , 400 if FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4 herein, for example, and/or may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to the backend environment 404 h of the system 400 of FIG. 4 .
- the system 500 may comprise a user device 502 , a plurality of networks (and/or environments and/or layers) 504 a - i (e.g., the Internet 504 a , an ISP 504 b , an External Firewall-Router (EXTFW-RTR) Virtual LAN (VLAN) 504 c , an Internet VLAN 504 d , an Internal-External (INT-EXT) VLAN 504 e , a web VLAN 504 f , a database VLAN 504 g , an application VLAN 504 h , and/or an administrator VLAN 504 i ), an external router cluster 506 , a plurality of firewall clusters 508 a - b (e.g., an external firewall cluster 508 a and/or an internal firewall cluster 508 b ), a plurality of servers 510 a - j (e.g., a server cluster 510 a , a first
- any or all of the components 502 , 504 a - l , 506 , 508 a - b , 510 a - j , 522 a - d , 524 , 540 , 552 of the system 500 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein.
- any component 502 , 504 a - l , 506 , 508 a - b , 510 a - j , 522 a - d , 524 , 540 , 552 depicted in the system 500 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 502 , 504 a - l , 506 , 508 a - b , 510 a - j , 522 a - d , 524 , 540 , 552 depicted in the system 500 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 502 , 504 a - l , 506 , 508 a - b , 510 a - j , 522 a - d , 524 , 540 , 552 , and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable.
- one or more of the various components 502 , 504 a - l , 506 , 508 a - b , 510 a - j , 522 a - d , 524 , 540 , 552 may not be needed and/or desired in the system 500 .
- the user device 502 may be utilized to access and/or interface with one or more of the servers 510 a - j via the Internet 504 a .
- the Internet 502 a may be linked to the ISP 504 b via multiple (e.g., redundant) connectivity paths 504 b - 1 , 504 b - 2 (e.g., for load balancing, security, and/or failure recovery).
- the ISP 504 b may be in communication with (and/or comprise) the external router cluster 506 .
- the external router cluster 506 may route certain requests, calls, and/or transmissions (and/or users—e.g., based on credentials and/or other information) through the EXTFW-RTR VLAN 504 c and/or through the external firewall cluster 508 a , for example, and/or may route certain requests, calls, and/or transmissions (and/or users—e.g., based on credentials and/or other information) through the Internet VLAN 504 d and/or through the internal firewall cluster 508 b.
- the external router cluster 506 may direct communications through the EXTFW-RTR VLAN 504 c and/or through the external firewall cluster 508 a .
- the external router cluster 506 may direct communications through the Internet VLAN 504 d and/or through the internal firewall cluster 508 b .
- access via either or both of the external firewall cluster 508 a and/or the internal firewall cluster 508 b may permit the user device 502 to communicate via the INT-EXT VLAN 504 e .
- the INT-EXT VLAN 504 e may, for example, provide access to the content switches 522 a which may, in some embodiments, serve content from any or all of the servers 510 a - j to the user device 502 , as is or becomes appropriate or desired.
- the content switches 522 a may communicate with the first spare server pool 510 b via the web LAN 504 f.
- private and/or other specialized access to the system 500 via the internal firewall cluster 508 b may permit the user device 502 to communicate via one or more of the database VLAN 504 g , the application VLAN 504 h , and/or the admin VLAN 504 i .
- the database VLAN 504 g may be utilized, for example, to access and/or communicate with the database servers 510 d .
- the application VLAN 504 h may be utilized to access and/or communicate with any or all of the hydra servers 510 e , the game controllers 510 f , and/or the ruby servers 510 g.
- the admin VLAN 504 i may allow, promote, conduct, facilitate, and/or manage a wide variety of communications within the system 500 .
- the admin VLAN 504 i may, for example, communicatively connect and/or couple any or all of the firewalls 508 a - b , the servers 510 a - j , the switches 522 a - d , the TC device 524 , the SAN storage 540 , and/or the PDU devices 552 .
- the user device 502 may be utilized, in conjunction with the admin servers 510 h and/or via the admin VLAN 504 i for example, to define, edit, adjust, manage, and/or otherwise access settings (and/or data) of the firewalls 508 a - b , any or all of the switches 522 a - d , the TC device 524 , and/or the PDU devices 552 .
- the user device 502 (and/or the admin servers 510 h ) may be utilized to manage and/or access content, rules, settings, and/or performance characteristics or preferences for any or all of the servers 510 a - j.
- the server cluster 510 a may comprise one or more servers and/or other electronic controller devices (e.g., blade servers) configured to provide online gaming data (e.g., interfaces and/or results) to the user device 502 .
- the first spare server pool 510 b and/or the second spare server pool 510 c may comprise one or more server and/or other electronic controller devices configured to supplement and/or replace the server cluster 510 a as needed and/or desired (e.g., to manage load and/or error recovery situations).
- the database servers 510 c may provide and/or manage access to stored data such as data stored in and/or by the SAN storage device 540 .
- the hydra servers 510 e and/or the game controllers 510 f may provide online game information such as interfaces, results, graphics, sounds, and/or other media to the user device 502 (e.g., via the application VLAN 504 h ).
- the ruby servers 510 g may comprise one or more processing devices configured to provide access to one or more programming languages (e.g., “Ruby”) and/or Application Programming Interface (API) mechanisms via which the servers 510 a - j and/or other portions of the system 500 may be configured to operate (e.g., in accordance with specially and/or pre-programmed instructions written in the programming language and/or developed by the API provided by the ruby servers 510 g ).
- programming languages e.g., “Ruby”
- API Application Programming Interface
- the admin servers 510 h , the monitoring servers 510 i , and/or the logging servers 510 j may be utilized and/or configured to provide administrative, parameter and/or metric monitoring and/or reporting, and/or data logging and/or audit services, respectively.
- the system 600 may comprise one or more original (and/or referring) players 602 (e.g., player #101; e.g., a “Sugar Daddy” and/or “Parent”), one or more first tier referral players 604 (e.g., players #201 and #202; e.g., “Sugar Buddies” and/or “Children”), one or more second tier referral players 606 (e.g., players #301, #302, and #303; e.g., “Sugar Buddies” and/or “Grandchildren”), and/or one or more third tier referral players 608 (e.g., players #401 and #402; e.g., “Sugar Buddies” and/or “Great-Grandchildren”).
- any or all of the players 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 may be associated
- any or all of the components 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 , 660 a - c of the system 600 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer or more components 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 , 660 a - c (and/or portions thereof) and/or various configurations of the components 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 , 660 a - c may be included in the system 600 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein.
- Any component 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 , 660 a - c depicted in the system 600 may comprise a single object, a combination of objects and/or components 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 , 660 a - c , and/or a plurality of objects, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable.
- one or more of the various components 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 , 660 a - c may not be needed and/or desired in the system 600 .
- the various players 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 may be related via player referrals.
- the original or Parent player 602 may have invited and/or referred each of the first tier players or Children 604 to an online gaming system (e.g., the system 600 ).
- Typical referral systems may provide a bonus and/or other incentive to the Parent player 602 for having referred the Children players 604 (e.g., upon the Children players 604 establishing accounts with the system 600 ).
- the player #202 of the Children players 604 may have similarly referred and/or invited each of the second tier or Grandchildren players 606 .
- the player #202 of the Children players 604 may be rewarded for having referred the Grandchildren players 606 .
- the player #302 of the Grandchildren players 606 may have invited and/or referred the Great-Grandchildren players 608 .
- the referral (and/or other, such as a “friend” and/or social networking) relationships between the players 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 depicted in FIG. 6 are provided for non-limiting exemplary purposes and for illustration and ease of description only. Fewer or more referral relationships may be possible and/or desirable in accordance with some embodiments.
- the players 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 may have access to, login to, register for, enter, join, and/or play an online game (e.g., an online multiplayer game such as bingo) via one or more of the game rooms 660 a - c .
- a first game room 660 a may host a first game (e.g., “Bingo Game #1”)
- a second game room 660 b may host a second game (e.g., “Bingo Game #2”)
- a third game room 660 c may host a third game (e.g., “Bingo Game #3”).
- a first game e.g., “Bingo Game #1”
- a second game room 660 b may host a second game (e.g., “Bingo Game #2”)
- a third game room 660 c may host a third game (e.g., “Bingo Game #3”).
- each game room 660 a - c may list the players currently logged-in, registered for, joined, and/or playing in the respective game.
- the term “game room” may generally refer to any grouping, segmentation, categorization, listing, and/or other virtual and/or actual association between one or more players and a particular game, game type, and/or game session.
- players may join a particular server hosting a particular game and/or may enter and/or join a particular “room” (e.g., a virtual and/or graphical representation of a particular grouping of players) via which a game may be played.
- the game rooms 610 a - c may comprise online virtual game rooms in which different sessions of the respective games are hosted and/or managed.
- the referral relationships between the various players 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 may be identified and/or determined with respect to one or more of the game rooms 660 a - c .
- the first game room 660 a for example, it may be determined that the Parent player 602 , player #201 of the Children players 604 , and player #302 of the Grandchildren players 606 have each joined, registered for, entered, and/or are otherwise associated with the first game room 660 a .
- one or more of the players #101, #201, and #302 in the first game room 660 a may be rewarded based on the referral (and/or other type) of relationship between the players #101, #201, and #302 and based on their joining and/or playing in the first game room 660 a (e.g., the same game room; and/or game session).
- any or all of the players #101, #201, and #302 may be awarded monetary value (e.g., credits, currency (virtual or real), points, miles) and/or may be awarded a feature, characteristic, power, advantage, bonus, and/or other benefit in the first game room 660 a , in the respective “Bingo Game #1”, and/or in a particular session of the game.
- the rewarding may be conducted upon a determination that (i) the players #101, #201, and #302 are all “in” the first game room 610 a , and/or (ii) the players #101, #201, and #302 are all actively playing (or have completed playing) in/via the first game room 660 a .
- the Parent player 602 may receive a bonus of a first magnitude for having managed to have successfully referred both of player #201 and player #302 and for having managed to join the same game room (the first game room 660 a ) and/or game session as the referred player #201 and player #302.
- either or both of player #201 and player #302 may also (or alternatively) receive bonuses, such as of a second magnitude different than the first magnitude (e.g., lower) for having managed to join the same game room (the first game room 660 a ) and/or game session as the Parent player 602 .
- bonuses may only be provided to one or more of the players #101, #201, and #302 in the case that one or more of such players #101, #201, and #302 achieves a winning condition in a game session conducted via the first game room 660 a .
- the Parent player 602 may be awarded not only the allotted prize for achieving the win, but may also receive a bonus and/or other benefit due to the presence of the player #201 and/or player #302 in the same room and/or session.
- each of player #202 of the Children players 604 and player #301 and player #303 of the Grandchildren players 606 may be associated with the second game room 660 b . It may be determined, for example, that a particular game session is being conducted in and/or via the second game room 660 b and that the players #202, #301, and #303 are currently competing in the game session (adversarially or cooperatively). In some embodiments, a referral and/or friend reward may be provided in response to such a determination (upon completion of the determination and/or upon one of the players #202, #301, and #303 winning the game session in the second game room 660 b ).
- the magnitude of the reward may be based upon the magnitude of related players 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 in the same session/room.
- player #202 may receive a larger benefit (e.g., a double and/or additive bonus) due to two (2) Grandchildren players 606 being in the same session/room as the player #202 (and having been referred, invited, and/or “friended” by, the player #202).
- rewards for playing with (and/or being in the same game room 660 a - c with) related players may be based upon and/or take into account other factors.
- the Great-Grandchildren players 608 may receive a special reward and/or bonus for having managed to join the entire “Great-Grandchild” generation (i.e., all of the Great-Grandchildren players 608 ) in the same session/room.
- Such a bonus may differ in magnitude from other related-player bonuses (such as those described with respect to the first game room 660 a and/or the second game room 660 b ; such as by being larger).
- rewards may be based on player participation in the third game room 660 c (and/or one or more of the game sessions thereof) outside of the relationships of the referral players 602 , 604 , 606 , 608 .
- one or more of the players #401, #402, and #403 may receive a reward for playing together, even though player #403 is not a member of the same referral/friend tree.
- Rewards may be based, for example, on playing with other players having certain pre-defined characteristics and/or other criteria (known or unknown to the players).
- the system 600 may reward players having consecutive player identifiers (e.g., players #401, #402, and #403) that play together, for example, and/or may reward players of a certain geographic, demographic, and/or other class, type, and or categorization.
- consecutive player identifiers e.g., players #401, #402, and #403
- a relationship between the original player 602 and one or more of the referral players 604 , 606 , 608 may be associated (e.g., cause and/or trigger) with an awarding of a benefit, reward, and/or prize based on a magnitude of interaction of the one or more of the referral players 604 , 606 , 608 with the system 600 (and/or an associated entity).
- An online gaming, wagering, and/or other entity and/or company may, for example, allow and/or provide login credentials and/or player (or other type) accounts that may be utilized to play games, place wagers, make purchases, win prizes (e.g., jackpots), etc.
- a first reward and/or benefit may be provided to the original player 602 in the case that a referral player 604 , 606 , 608 (i.e., someone that the original player 602 has referred to the entity, company, website, game, and/or system 600 ) consummates a first action.
- a referral player 604 , 606 , 608 i.e., someone that the original player 602 has referred to the entity, company, website, game, and/or system 600 .
- one or more second rewards/benefits may be provided in the case that the referral player 604 , 606 , 608 consummates a second action.
- a first monetary amount or other award may be provided to the original player 602 in the case that the referral player 604 , 606 , 608 visits a website, for example, and/or a second monetary amount/other award may be provided in the case that the referral player 604 , 606 , 608 creates a player and/or other type of account at/with the website, logs into such an account, places a wager utilizing the account, wins a game utilizing the account, etc.
- tiered benefits may be mutually exclusive—e.g., a second and/or subsequent reward replaces the first reward.
- such benefits may be at least partially cumulative.
- the system 700 may comprise a plurality of online games 760 a - c , each gaming defining and/or comprising various attributes.
- the games 760 a - c may define and/or comprise wager amounts 762 a - c , progressive win amounts 764 a - c , group RAF bonuses 766 a - c , and/or win amounts 768 a - c.
- any or all of the components 760 a - c , 762 a - c , 764 a - c , 766 a - c , 768 a - c of the system 700 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein.
- Any component 760 a - c , 762 a - c , 764 a - c , 766 a - c , 768 a - c depicted in the system 700 may comprise a single object, a combination of objects and/or components 760 a - c , 762 a - c , 764 a - c , 766 a - c , 768 a - c , and/or a plurality of objects, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable.
- one or more of the various components 760 a - c , 762 a - c , 764 a - c , 766 a - c , 768 a - c may not be needed and/or desired in the system 700 .
- the system 700 may illustrate how player and/or group referrals (and/or other relationships) affect implementation of online games 760 a - c .
- a first online game 760 a e.g., “Bingo Game #1” as depicted; and/or game session or room
- a first wager amount 762 a may, for example, be configured to require (and/or accept) a first wager amount 762 a of one hundred (100) units (e.g., credits, dollars, points, and/or other indicators of monetary, pseudo-monetary, and/or non-monetary value), may provide a first progressive win amount 764 a of ten percent (10%) of the first wager amount 762 a (i.e., ten (10) units), and/or may provide a first win amount 768 a of sixty-five (65) units.
- the first game 760 a may illustrate an example of a typical “progressive” online game configuration.
- the first game 760 a may, as depicted for example, not include and/or offer any first group RAF bonuses 766 a.
- a second online game 760 b may also (or alternatively) illustrate an example of a typical “standard” and/or “non-progressive” online game configuration.
- the second game 760 b may, for example, be configured to require (and/or accept) a second wager 762 b of one hundred (100) units (e.g., credits, dollars, points, and/or other indicators of monetary, pseudo-monetary, and/or non-monetary value), may not provide any second progressive win amount 764 b (and/or may provide the second progressive win amount 764 b as zero percent (0%) of the second wager amount 762 b (i.e., zero (0) units)), and/or may provide a second win amount 768 b of eighty (80) units.
- the second game 760 b may not include and/or offer any second group RAF bonuses 766 b.
- a third game 760 c (and/or game session or room) may be configured to require (and/or accept) a third wager amount 762 c of one hundred (100) units (e.g., credits, dollars, points, and/or other indicators of monetary, pseudo-monetary, and/or non-monetary value), may not provide any third progressive win amount 764 c (and/or may provide the third progressive win amount 764 c as zero percent (0%) of the third wager amount 762 c (i.e., zero (0) units)), and/or may provide a third win amount 768 c of seventy (70) units.
- third group RAF bonuses 766 c are provided.
- a typical player of the third game 760 c may be awarded a first bonus amount 766 c - 1 of a first magnitude (e.g., zero percent (0%) or zero (0) units), a player having joined as a result of a referral (and/or otherwise having a pre-defined relationship and/or a relationship of a relatively lower hierarchical rank with respect to another related player; a “buddy”) may be awarded a second bonus amount 766 c - 2 of a second magnitude (e.g., ten percent (10%) or ten (10) units), and/or a player having referred others (and/or otherwise having a pre-defined relationship and/or a relationship of a relatively higher hierarchical rank with respect to another related player; a “daddy”) may be awarded various bonus amounts based on a number of “buddies” playing in the same session/room/game (e.g., the third game 760 c ) as the
- the “daddy” may be awarded, for example, (i) a third bonus amount 766 c - 3 of a third magnitude (e.g., one hundred percent (100%) or one hundred (100) units) in the case that three (3) “buddies” play with the “daddy”, (ii) a fourth bonus amount 766 c - 4 of a fourth magnitude (e.g., fifty percent (50%) or fifty (50) units) in the case that two (2) “buddies” play with the “daddy”, (iii) a fifth bonus amount 766 c - 5 of a fifth magnitude (e.g., twenty-five percent (25%) or twenty-five (25) units) in the case that one (1) “buddy” plays with the “daddy”, and/or (iv) a sixth bonus amount 766 c - 6 of a sixth magnitude (e.g., zero percent (0%) or zero (0) units) in the case that zero (0) “buddies” play with the “daddy”.
- the various magnitudes depicted for the bonus amounts 766 c - 1 , 766 c - 2 , 766 c - 3 , 766 c - 4 , 766 c - 5 , 766 c - 6 are provided as non-limiting examples.
- Other magnitudes, hierarchical relationships, schemes, and/or configurations of the bonus amounts 766 c - 1 , 766 c - 2 , 766 c - 3 , 766 c - 4 , 766 c - 5 , 766 c - 6 may be provided in some embodiments.
- bonus amounts 766 c - 1 , 766 c - 2 , 766 c - 3 , 766 c - 4 , 766 c - 5 , 766 c - 6 may be provided.
- the bonus amounts 766 c - 1 , 766 c - 2 , 766 c - 3 , 766 c - 4 , 766 c - 5 , 766 c - 6 may be awarded upon the occurrence of various triggering conditions and/or the satisfaction of one or more pre-stored rules and/or criteria.
- the second bonus amount 766 c - 2 may awarded to a player having been referred to the third game 760 c , for example, upon the “buddy” logging into, joining, registering for, and/or initiating play of a game session of the third game 760 c and/or the second bonus amount 766 c - 2 may be provided to the “buddy” in the case that the “buddy” earns and/or obtains the third win amount 768 c .
- the bonus amounts 766 c - 1 , 766 c - 2 , 766 c - 3 , 766 c - 4 , 766 c - 5 , 766 c - 6 may be based on the number of players of the third game 760 c , the number of related/referral players and/or types thereof in the third game 760 c (e.g., as depicted by the third, fourth, and fifth bonus amounts 766 c - 3 , 766 c - 4 , 766 c - 5 ), the third wager amount 762 c , and/or the third win amount 768 c (e.g., a multiplier thereof).
- implementation of a referral bonus feature may cause an alteration and/or setting of various game parameters. While a typical “non-progressive” game such as the second game 760 b may be configured to provide the second win amount 768 b of eighty (80) units, for example, a group RAF version of the second game 760 b —e.g., the third game 760 c —may be altered and/or configured to provide, instead, the third win amount 768 c of seventy (70) units.
- the ten (10) unit difference may, for example, be implemented to account for the possibility that group RAF players (i.e., “daddies” and “buddies”) may earn and/or achieve one or more of the third group RAF bonuses 716 c .
- a typical “progressive” game such as the first game 760 a in some embodiments, may be altered and/or configured to provide the third win amount 768 c instead of the first win amount 768 a (and/or the first progressive win amount 764 a may be modified to become the third progressive win amount 764 c and/or the first group RAF bonus amounts 766 a may be altered to becomes the third group RAF bonus amounts 766 c ).
- the first game 760 a and/or the second game 760 b may be actively altered and/or reconfigured to define the third game 760 c .
- the first game 760 a may be configured as depicted in FIG. 7 , for example, but may be reconfigured as depicted by the path “A” upon an occurrence of one or more triggering events.
- the third group RAF bonuses 766 c may be implemented (e.g., to reward player referrals and/or coordinated playing), the third progressive win amount 764 c may be implemented (e.g., effectively removing the progressive feature from the game), and/or the third win amount 768 c may be implemented (e.g., actually increasing the standard win for a game session).
- the first game 760 a may be transformed and/or converted into the third game 760 c .
- the second game 760 b may be configured as depicted in FIG. 7 , for example, but may be reconfigured as depicted by the path “B” upon an occurrence of one or more triggering events.
- the game parameters may be altered to achieve the third game 760 c (e.g., within the same game room/server).
- reconfiguration may occur between game sessions.
- a first game session of the second game 760 b may be conducted, for example, in which a plurality of group RAF players have joined and/or played.
- the second game 760 b may be converted to the third game 760 c for the next/subsequent game session.
- the makeup of players in a given game 760 a - c and/or game room may affect the game parameters implemented in subsequent sessions of the same game and/or games in the same room or on the same server.
- the presence of certain payers having per-defined relationships e.g., referrals, “friends”, adversaries, stat-based groupings
- the win amounts 768 a may be adjusted and/or the group RAF bonuses 766 a - c may be implemented.
- the games 760 a - c may comprise multiplayer online games such as the depicted bingo, poker, sports simulation games, strategy games, first-person shooter games, role-playing games, etc.
- the games 760 a - c may comprise wagering games, games of chance, games of skill, and/or hybrids thereof.
- the win amounts 768 a - c may comprise and/or define benefits conferred upon a limited set of players in a single session of the games 760 a - c .
- a single session of the second game 760 b may, for example, involve a plurality of players (not shown in FIG. 7 ) playing adversarially and/or cooperatively to obtain the second win amount 768 b .
- the second win amount 768 b may be provided to a single “winner” (in skill, chance, and/or both) of the session of the second game 760 b or may be provided to a subset of the top ranked players at the end of game play (each such player may receive the second win amount 768 b , for example, or the second win amount 768 b may be split amongst such players evenly, randomly, and/or in a pro rata or other distribution fashion).
- FIG. 8 a flow diagram of a method 800 according to some embodiments is shown.
- the method 800 may be performed and/or implemented by and/or otherwise associated with one or more specialized and/or computerized processing devices (e.g., the player and/or user devices 102 a - n , 202 a - n , 302 a - b , 402 , 502 and/or the servers and/or controller devices 110 , 210 a - n , 310 a - g , 410 e - f , 510 a - j of FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , FIG. 3 , FIG. 4 , and/or FIG.
- the method 800 may be embodied in, facilitated by, and/or otherwise associated with various input mechanisms and/or interfaces such as the interfaces 920 a - e of FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and/or FIG. 9E , herein.
- a storage medium e.g., a hard disk, Universal Serial Bus (USB) mass storage device, and/or Digital Video Disk (DVD)
- USB Universal Serial Bus
- DVD Digital Video Disk
- the method 800 may comprise determining a relationship between players, at 802 .
- An electronic and/or computerized processing device and/or controller device may, for example, identify, lookup, derive, and/or otherwise determine that two or more players are related.
- the players may be related by nature of a first one of the players having referred a second one of the players to an online gaming system.
- players may be related by nature of a stored indication that the players are “friends”—e.g., within an online gaming system/account system and/or within and/or via one or more social media systems and/or accounts such as Facebook®, Twitter®, etc.
- the relationship may be determined by receiving one or more indications from one or more of the players.
- a first and/or referring player may “invite” the other player(s) to the system (and/or to a specific game room and/or session) via an interface provided by the system, for example, such that the system is privy to an identifier of the invited player (as well as an identifier of the inviting/referring player).
- the system may utilize identifying information of the responding player to determine that the invited player is related to the inviting player.
- the inviting and/or referred player may provide a code and/or other identifier to the system, e.g., upon registration and/or otherwise.
- the system may utilize the code and/or identifier to identify the referring/inviting player and accordingly define and/or establish a relationship there between.
- third-party systems and/or websites or devices may be queried and/or accessed to determine a relationship between players.
- the system may, for example, search a third-party account system (e.g., Facebook®) to determine which registered online game players are related via such a third-party system.
- players may then be contacted and/or prompted to carry-over such third-party relationships into the gaming account system.
- such third-party relationships may be determined by receiving a query and/or prompt from and/or via such a third-party system.
- a player may utilize a third-party account system to request and/or notify the gaming system of a third-party relationship between players, for example.
- the method 800 may comprise determining that the players are in the same game session, at 804 .
- a game such as an online game, a multiplayer game, a wagering game, a skill game, and/or any combinations thereof, for example, it may be determined that the related players are logged into, have joined, are registered for, and/or are playing in a particular game session (e.g., an instance of a game), game room, and/or on a particular game server.
- Player identifiers for players in a particular game session and/or room may be cross-references and/or checked, for example, to determine that two or more of the players are related.
- the nature of the relationship may be determined.
- the players are related as a referring player (e.g., a “Sugar Daddy”) and a referred player (e.g., a “Sugar Buddy”), as social networking “friends” (and/or family), and/or as players selected by the system as being related (e.g., to incent such players to play together).
- a referring player e.g., a “Sugar Daddy”
- a referred player e.g., a “Sugar Buddy”
- social networking “friends” and/or family
- players selected by the system e.g., to incent such players to play together.
- the same session/room it may be determined how many related players (and/or related players of certain tiers and/or classes) are in the same session/room (e.g., it may be determined that a single “Sugar Daddy” and two (2) “Sugar Buddies” are playing the same game session).
- the method 800 may comprise determining a win by one of the players, at 806 .
- the gaming system may, for example, determine that one or more conditions required for achieving a win condition (due to skill and/or chance) have been satisfied with respect to one or more players (e.g., as part of an execution of a game program and/or procedure).
- the win may comprise an ultimate and/or concluding win for a game session. Such a win may be earned solely by a single winning player and/or team or may be distributed in some fashion amongst a subset of the highest ranking and/or top-rated players having finished and/or completed the game session.
- the win may comprise an intermediate, non-final and/or non-conclusory, and/or other win and/or winning event and/or outcome.
- the win may comprise, for example, an achievement earned and/or obtained via game play in the game session such as a rate of play, number of “kills”, team cooperative-play points (and/or other team-based metrics), etc.
- it may be determined that two (2) or more related players (e.g., two or more referral-related players) have achieved a winning condition.
- the method 800 may comprise rewarding the winning player based on the presence of the related player in the same game session, at 808 .
- the rewarding may be conducted in response to the determining of the win by the one of the players at 806 .
- the winning player for example, may be awarded a prize based on a successful completion of the game session and/or may receive an additional prize and/or consideration based on the presence of the related player(s) in the session that has been won.
- a single prize may be awarded but may be selected (e.g., from a pool of available prizes) and/or defined (e.g., in terms of magnitude and/or type) based on the presence of the related player(s) in the same game session as the winning player.
- an in-game bonus, feature, capability, and/or item may be selected and/or provided based on the achievement occurring in the presence of the related player(s).
- the rewarding may be conducted in response to the determining that the players are in the same game session at 804 .
- One or more of the related players may be rewarded even in the absence of a win, for example, such as upon initiating play of the same game session, entering the same game room, and/or performing some joint action in the game session.
- the rewarding may be based on a number and/or type of related players in the same game session and/or room (and/or a number of related players that achieve one or more win conditions in the game session/room).
- a winning player having played with zero (0) related players in the same session may receive a default and/or standard prize, for example, while in the case that one (1) related player was present for the win (and/or during at least a portion of the game play of the session) a higher-magnitude and/or different prize may be awarded, and/or in the case that three (3) related players were present to “witness” the win an even higher-magnitude prize and/or different prize and/or prize type may be provided to the winning player.
- certain numbers and/or combinations of relationship types may be promoted by enhancing awards for players playing in game sessions (and/or winning such game sessions) where such combinations occur.
- the rewarding may occur after an initial game session in which it is determined (e.g., at 804 ) that the related players are present.
- Player lists from a first game session may influence and/or dictate or define game parameters (e.g., win amounts, bonus amounts, and/or progressive settings) for subsequent game sessions, for example.
- game parameter changes may take place in a given game room, server, and/or for a particular game type, class, and/or tournament and be applied to subsequent tournaments.
- such changes may be effectuated regardless of whether the player list stays the same.
- the subsequent game session may, for example, have a different player composition (e.g., may not include the related players and/or the same related players) yet may nevertheless be altered based on the player composition from the previous session.
- example user interfaces 920 a - e may comprise one or more web pages, web forms, web browser plug-ins and/or add-ins, database entry forms, API tools, spreadsheets, tables, and/or applications or other GUI tools via which a user may participate in, conduct, and/or manage one or more online games.
- the user interfaces 920 a - e may, for example, comprise a front-end of an online gaming portal program and/or platform programmed and/or otherwise configured to execute, conduct, and/or facilitate the method 800 of FIG. 8 and/or portions or combinations thereof described herein.
- the user interfaces 920 a - e may be output via a computerized and/or electronic device such as one or more of the player and/or user devices 102 a - n , 202 a - n , 302 a - b , 402 , 502 and/or the servers and/or controller devices 110 , 210 a - n , 310 a - g , 410 e - f , 510 a - j of FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , FIG. 3 , FIG. 4 , and/or FIG. 5 herein.
- a computerized and/or electronic device such as one or more of the player and/or user devices 102 a - n , 202 a - n , 302 a - b , 402 , 502 and/or the servers and/or controller devices 110 , 210 a - n , 310 a - g , 410 e -
- a first user interface 920 a may comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields.
- the first user interface 920 a may be configured and/or organized to provide a user (e.g., a player and/or customer) with information related to an online game.
- the first interface 920 a may indicate that the information provided via the first interface 920 a is descriptive of a particular bingo game 960 a (e.g., a “90 Ball Bingo—Bingo Royale” and/or “Game No. 3765854013”).
- the particular bingo game 960 a may, for example, comprise a particular game session, a particular game “room”, a particular game tournament, and/or may otherwise specifically and/or uniquely identify a particular instance of a game, game type, and/or game activity.
- the first user interface 920 a may display information descriptive of the particular bingo game 960 a such as a ball indicator 960 a - 1 and/or a group RAF win indicator 966 a.
- the ball indicator 960 a - 1 may, for example, represent a progression of the particular bingo game 960 a (e.g., sixty-five (65) balls out of a total ninety (90) balls have been drawn/played) and/or the group RAF win indicator 966 a may represent and/or convey potential winnings (e.g., a pay table) based on how many related players—e.g., “Buddies”—are joined and/or playing in the particular bingo game 960 a .
- potential winnings e.g., a pay table
- the group RAF win indicator 966 a may convey that the potential win amount is two hundred (200) units (e.g., dollars, pounds, points) in the case that one (1) “Buddy” is in the particular bingo game 960 a (e.g., the “same” game/game session/room that the user of the first interface 920 a is joined and/or playing in), the potential win amount is increased to two hundred and fifty (250) units in the case that two (2) “Buddies” are in the particular bingo game 960 a , and/or the potential win amount is increased to two hundred and seventy-five (275) units in the case that three (3) or more “Buddies” are in the particular bingo game 960 a.
- the potential win amount is two hundred (200) units (e.g., dollars, pounds, points) in the case that one (1) “Buddy” is in the particular bingo game 960 a (e.g., the “same” game/game session/room that the user of the first interface 920 a is joined and
- the first interface 920 a may provide an indication of the current player/user 970 a (e.g., a screen name and/or other identifier) and/or an indication of a total number of players 972 a .
- the total number of players 972 a may comprise a total number of players that are online and/or otherwise available to play, a total number of registered players (e.g., players having accounts), and/or a total number of players in a lobby and/or room associated with the particular bingo game 960 a .
- the first interface 920 a may provide a chat interface 974 a via which the current player 970 a may initiate and/or conduct communications (e.g., textual and/or otherwise) with any or all of the players from the total number of players 972 a (e.g., certain groups of players, certain selected players, etc.).
- communications e.g., textual and/or otherwise
- the first interface 920 a may provide an indication of a number of related players 976 a associated with the particular bingo game 960 a .
- the related players 976 a may, for example, comprise referral and/or friend players that have joined a particular game room in and/or via which the particular bingo game 960 a is conducted and/or that have joined in and/or are playing the particular bingo game 960 a .
- there may be two (2) related players 976 a associated with the particular bingo game 960 a which may, for example, qualify the current player 970 a for the mid-range group RAF bonus 966 a of two hundred and fifty (250) units.
- the first interface 920 a may comprise an invite button 978 a .
- the invite button 978 a may be utilized by the current player 970 a , for example, to invite one or more players from the total number of players 972 a to play in the particular bingo game 960 a .
- the current player 970 a may then qualify for the highest group RAF bonus 966 a of two hundred and seventy-five (275) units (i.e., having achieved three (3) or more “Buddies”/related players in the same particular bingo game 960 a —presuming the invite is accepted by the “Buddy”).
- the first interface 920 a may comprise a portion indicating information descriptive of a subsequent and/or next game session 980 a .
- the first interface 920 a may display, for example, a timer 980 a - 1 displaying the amount of time until the next game session 980 a starts may be provided, for example, a total number of tickets 982 a (e.g., entries, credits, health, buy-in, etc.) currently purchased for the next game session 980 a , and/or a total number of “Sugar Buddies” 984 a currently registered for the next game session 980 a .
- a total number of tickets 982 a e.g., entries, credits, health, buy-in, etc.
- the first interface 920 a may comprise a purchase button 986 a that allows the current player 970 a (and/or user of the first interface 920 a ) to manage the amount of tickets (credits, wagers, etc.) that the current player 970 a (and/or user) has dedicated and/or committed to the next game session 980 a.
- the first interface 920 a may comprise a mini-game portion 990 a .
- the mini-game portion 990 a may provide, for example, a second and/or secondary game via the first interface 920 a (e.g., a second game provided via a single game room).
- the mini-game portion 990 a may provide a secondary game that is distinct from the particular bingo game 960 a (such that, for example, results from the mini-game portion 990 a do not affect results from the particular bingo game 960 a ).
- the mini-game portion 990 a may provide a secondary game that is related to the particular bingo game 960 a (such that, for example, results from the mini-game portion 990 a affect results from the particular bingo game 960 a ). According to some embodiments, the mini-game portion 990 a may also or alternatively by affected by the number of related players 976 a.
- a second user interface 920 b may also or alternatively comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields.
- the second user interface 920 b may comprise a game type selection portion 922 b via which one or more tabs and/or other graphical representations that may be interfaced with (e.g., via user input/selections) to select a particular type of game that is desired.
- the second user interface 920 b may list a plurality of available game rooms 960 b (e.g., the “Top Games”, as depicted in the example of FIG.
- a user may select one or more of the available game rooms 960 b to enter and/or play in via one or more “Play” buttons 960 b - 1 .
- the second user interface 920 b may display (e.g., for each of the available game rooms 960 b ) a price 962 b - 1 , a maximum 962 b - 2 (e.g., number of players, wager size, number of wagers, etc.), a progressive amount 964 b , a jackpot or win amount 968 b , and/or a total number of players 972 b (e.g., currently joined in, registered for, and/or playing in the particular available game room 960 b ).
- the second user interface 920 b may provide an indication of a number of “Buddies” 976 b - 1 in each of the available game rooms 960 b.
- the second user interface 920 b may provide an indication of “Friends” 976 b - 2 , “Sugar Buddies” 976 b - 3 , and/or “Buddies” 976 b - 4 .
- Different categories, tiers, and/or types of relationships may exist, for example, between a player and one or more other players and/or groups of players.
- “Friends” 976 b - 2 may comprise a first and/or basic tier of related players, for example, while “Sugar Buddies” 976 b - 3 and/or “Buddies” 976 b - 4 may comprise secondary and/or more specific and/or particular types of sub-relationships amongst the “Friends” 976 b - 2 . “Sugar Buddies” 976 b - 3 , for example, may comprise “Friends” 976 - 2 (and/or others) that have been referred by a first player (e.g., a “Sugar Daddy” and/or a current user of the second user interface 920 b ).
- bonuses, win amounts, and/or other game parameters may be based on (or altered based on) whether a “Friend” 976 b - 2 , “Sugar Buddy” 97 b - 3 , and/or “Buddy” 976 b - 4 (and/or based on a number of such related players) is playing in the same available game room 960 b as a first player/user.
- a “Join Game” button 960 b - 2 may be provided that allows quick and easy access to the available game room 960 b in which a particular related player (and/or group thereof) is playing.
- group RAF bonuses (and/or other game parameters) based on referred players may be limited to a particular time window, such as for a particular period after a referral (and/or qualifying event) occurs.
- a third user interface 920 c may also or alternatively comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields.
- the third user interface 920 c may comprise a listing of games 960 c and/or may provide a menu 922 c via which particular game rooms 960 c - 1 may be selected.
- the menu 922 c may be associated with and/or tied to one or more related players 976 c - 2 (e.g., “Friends”, “Sugar Buddies”, etc.).
- the menu 922 c may, for example, provide an invite button 978 c that causes an invitation to be sent to one or more selected related players 976 c - 2 (the selection of which is not explicitly shown in FIG. 9C ).
- a user may quickly and easily invite a related player 976 c - 2 to a particular game room 960 c - 1 (e.g., to gain an opportunity for the user (and/or friend, buddy, etc.) to qualify for a group RAF bonus and/or other special related player parameter and/or benefit).
- a fourth user interface 920 d may also or alternatively comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields.
- the fourth user interface 920 d may comprise an indication of a particular game room 960 d (e.g., “Game No. 1439286572”). Within the particular game room 960 d (e.g., represented by the fourth user interface 920 d ) game sessions may be initiated, played, and/or concluded in a serial fashion. In some embodiments, a subsequent or next game session may be indicated by a timer 980 d - 1 .
- the fourth user interface 920 d may, for example, display a ticket counter 982 d for the next session and/or provide a ticket purchase button 986 d that permits a user of the fourth user interface 920 d to purchase tickets for the next session.
- the fourth user interface 920 d may provide an indication that a current player 970 d has received an invite 976 d from another player (e.g., a friend, buddy, referral, etc.).
- the fourth user interface 920 d may provide a “Play Together” button 960 d - 1 that allows the user (e.g., the current player 970 d ) to accept the invite 976 d and join the other player in the indicated game room/session.
- the user e.g., the current player 970 d
- the invite 976 d to “Bingo Room 4 ” may have been initiated by a player/user via the menu 922 c and/or the invite button 978 c of the third user interface 920 c of FIG. 9C (e.g., where “Bingo Room 4 ” is indicted as being selected as a room to which to invite one or more other players).
- a fifth user interface 920 e may also or alternatively comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields.
- the fifth user interface 920 e may represent activity and/or results of a particular bingo game session 960 e .
- the fifth user interface 920 e may display a bingo ball history 960 e - 1 of the particular bingo game session 960 e , for example, and/or may indicate other game result and/or characteristic data.
- the fifth user interface 920 e may, in some embodiments, indicate to a particular player 970 e (i) a total number of players 972 e - 1 in the particular bingo game session 960 e , (ii) a winner 972 e - 2 of the particular bingo game session 960 e or a previous session, (iii) a bonus prize winner 972 e - 3 of the particular bingo game session 960 e or a previous session, and/or (iii) details of a wining payout 968 e .
- the winning payout 968 e may comprise an actual payout or an estimated (e.g., maximum or best-case scenario) payout for the particular bingo game session 960 e (and/or an upcoming session).
- the winning payout 968 e may comprise a first win portion 968 e - 1 (e.g., a “Full House” payout), a second win portion 968 e - 2 (e.g., a “Two Lines” payout), a third win portion 968 e - 3 (e.g., a “One Line” payout), a group RAF bonus 966 e , and/or may indicate a total win amount 968 e - 4 (e.g., all “standard” game payouts plus the group RAF bonus 966 e ).
- the group RAF bonus 966 e may be based on a number of related players (e.g., group RAF players; upstream and/or downstream referral players).
- example user interfaces 920 a - e are depicted herein with respect to a specific example of a bond product portal, other products, portals, searches, and/or other functionalities may be provided in accordance with some embodiments. While the depicted underwriting product comprises a bond product, for example, other underwriting products such as insurance and/or surety products may also or alternatively be utilized by and/or incorporated into the user interfaces 920 a - e.
- FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and FIG. 9E have been described with respect to certain labels, layouts, headings, titles, and/or configurations, these features have been presented for reference and example only. Other labels, layouts, headings, titles, and/or configurations may be implemented without deviating from the scope of embodiments herein.
- a certain number of tabs, information screens, form fields, and/or data entry options have been presented, variations thereof may be practiced in accordance with some embodiments.
- FIG. 10 a block diagram of an apparatus 1000 according to some embodiments is shown.
- the apparatus 1000 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any of the player and/or user devices 102 a - n , 202 a - n , 302 a - b , 402 , 502 and/or the servers and/or controller devices 110 , 210 a - n , 310 a - g , 410 e - f , 510 a - j of FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , FIG. 3 , FIG. 4 , and/or FIG.
- the apparatus 1000 may, for example, execute, process, facilitate, and/or otherwise be associated with the method 800 described in conjunction with FIG. 8 herein.
- the apparatus 1000 may comprise a processing device 1012 , an input device 1014 , an output device 1016 , a communication device 1018 , a memory device 1040 , and/or a cooling device 1050 .
- any or all of the components 1012 , 1014 , 1016 , 1018 , 1040 , 1050 of the apparatus 1000 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer or more components 1012 , 1014 , 1016 , 1018 , 1040 , 1050 and/or various configurations of the components 1012 , 1014 , 1016 , 1018 , 1040 , 1050 be included in the apparatus 1000 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein.
- the processing device 1012 may be or include any type, quantity, and/or configuration of electronic and/or computerized processor that is or becomes known.
- the processing device 1012 may comprise, for example, an Intel® IXP 2800 network processor or an Intel® XEONTM Processor coupled with an Intel® E7501 chipset.
- the processing device 1012 may comprise multiple inter-connected processors, microprocessors, and/or micro-engines.
- the processing device 1012 may be supplied power via a power supply (not shown) such as a battery, an Alternating Current (AC) source, a Direct Current (DC) source, an AC/DC adapter, solar cells, and/or an inertial generator.
- a power supply such as a battery, an Alternating Current (AC) source, a Direct Current (DC) source, an AC/DC adapter, solar cells, and/or an inertial generator.
- a power supply such as a battery, an Alternating Current (AC) source, a Direct Current (DC) source, an AC/DC adapter, solar cells, and/or an inertial generator.
- AC Alternating Current
- DC Direct Current
- AC/DC adapter AC/DC adapter
- solar cells and/or an inertial generator.
- the apparatus 1000 comprises a server such as a blade server
- necessary power may be supplied via a standard AC outlet, power strip, surge protector, a PDU, and/or Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) device.
- the input device 1014 and/or the output device 1016 are communicatively coupled to the processing device 1012 (e.g., via wired and/or wireless connections and/or pathways) and they may generally comprise any types or configurations of input and output components and/or devices that are or become known, respectively.
- the input device 1014 may comprise, for example, a keyboard that allows an operator of the apparatus 1000 to interface with the apparatus 1000 (e.g., by a player, such as to participate in an online game session as described herein).
- the input device 1014 may comprise a sensor configured to provide information such as player relationships to the apparatus 1000 and/or the processing device 1012 .
- the output device 1016 may, according to some embodiments, comprise a display screen and/or other practicable output component and/or device.
- the output device 1016 may, for example, provide a game interface (not explicitly shown in FIG. 10 ; e.g., the interfaces 920 a - e of FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and FIG. 9E ) to a player (e.g., via a website).
- the input device 1014 and/or the output device 1016 may comprise and/or be embodied in a single device such as a touch-screen monitor.
- the communication device 1018 may comprise any type or configuration of communication device that is or becomes known or practicable.
- the communication device 1018 may, for example, comprise a network interface card (NIC), a telephonic device, a cellular network device, a router, a hub, a modem, and/or a communications port or cable.
- the communication device 1018 may be coupled to provide data to a player device (not shown in FIG. 10 ), such as in the case that the apparatus 1000 is utilized to provide a game interface to a player as described herein.
- the communication device 1018 may, for example, comprise a cellular telephone network transmission device that sends signals indicative of game interface components to customer and/or subscriber handheld, mobile, and/or telephone device.
- the communication device 1018 may also or alternatively be coupled to the processing device 1012 .
- the communication device 1018 may comprise an IR, RF, BluetoothTM, and/or Wi-Fi® network device coupled to facilitate communications between the processing device 1012 and another device (such as a player device and/or a third-party device).
- the memory device 1040 may comprise any appropriate information storage device that is or becomes known or available, including, but not limited to, units and/or combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., a hard disk drive), optical storage devices, and/or semiconductor memory devices such as RAM devices, Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, Single Data Rate Random Access Memory (SDR-RAM), Double Data Rate Random Access Memory (DDR-RAM), and/or Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM).
- the memory device 1040 may, according to some embodiments, store one or more of game instructions 1042 - 1 and/or interface instructions 1042 - 2 .
- the game instructions 1042 - 1 and/or the interface instructions 1042 - 2 may be utilized by the processing device 1012 to provide output information via the output device 1016 and/or the communication device 1018 .
- the game instructions 1042 - 1 may be operable to cause the processing device 1012 to process player data 1044 - 1 , game data 1044 - 2 , tournament data 1044 - 3 , and/or prize data 1044 - 4 .
- Player data 1044 - 1 , game data 1044 - 2 , tournament data 1044 - 3 , and/or prize data 1044 - 4 received via the input device 1014 and/or the communication device 1018 may, for example, be analyzed, sorted, filtered, decoded, decompressed, ranked, scored, plotted, and/or otherwise processed by the processing device 1012 in accordance with the game instructions 1042 - 1 .
- player data 1044 - 1 , game data 1044 - 2 , tournament data 1044 - 3 , and/or prize data 1044 - 4 may be fed by the processing device 1012 through one or more mathematical and/or statistical formulas and/or models in accordance with the game instructions 1042 - 1 to provide online game session, identify and/or manage player relationships, and/or provide “play-together” incentives such as group RAF rewards, in accordance with embodiments described herein.
- the interface instructions 1042 - 2 may be operable to cause the processing device 1012 to process player data 1044 - 1 , game data 1044 - 2 , tournament data 1044 - 3 , and/or prize data 1044 - 4 .
- Player data 1044 - 1 , game data 1044 - 2 , tournament data 1044 - 3 , and/or prize data 1044 - 4 received via the input device 1014 and/or the communication device 1018 may, for example, be analyzed, sorted, filtered, decoded, decompressed, ranked, scored, plotted, and/or otherwise processed by the processing device 1012 in accordance with the interface instructions 1042 - 2 .
- player data 1044 - 1 , game data 1044 - 2 , tournament data 1044 - 3 , and/or prize data 1044 - 4 may be fed by the processing device 1012 through one or more mathematical and/or statistical formulas and/or models in accordance with the interface instructions 1042 - 2 to provide one or more game interfaces (e.g., the interfaces 920 a - e of FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and FIG. 9E ) such as to provide group RAF rewards, in accordance with embodiments described herein.
- game interfaces e.g., the interfaces 920 a - e of FIG. 9A , FIG. 9B , FIG. 9C , FIG. 9D , and FIG. 9E
- the memory device 1040 may, for example, comprise one or more data tables or files, databases, table spaces, registers, and/or other storage structures. In some embodiments, multiple databases and/or storage structures (and/or multiple memory devices 1040 ) may be utilized to store information associated with the apparatus 1000 . According to some embodiments, the memory device 1040 may be incorporated into and/or otherwise coupled to the apparatus 1000 (e.g., as shown) or may simply be accessible to the apparatus 1000 (e.g., externally located and/or situated).
- the apparatus 1000 may comprise a cooling device 1050 .
- the cooling device 1050 may be coupled (physically, thermally, and/or electrically) to the processing device 1012 and/or to the memory device 1040 .
- the cooling device 1050 may, for example, comprise a fan, heat sink, heat pipe, radiator, cold plate, and/or other cooling component or device or combinations thereof, configured to remove heat from portions or components of the apparatus 1000 .
- FIG. 11A , FIG. 11B , FIG. 11C , and FIG. 11D perspective diagrams of exemplary data storage devices 1140 a - d according to some embodiments are shown.
- the data storage devices 1140 a - d may, for example, be utilized to store instructions and/or data such as the game instructions 1042 - 1 and/or interface instructions 1042 - 2 , each of which is described in reference to FIG. 10 herein.
- instructions stored on the data storage devices 1140 a - d may, when executed by a processor (such as the processor device 1012 of FIG. 11 ), cause the implementation of and/or facilitate the method 800 described in conjunction with FIG. 8 , and/or portions thereof, as described herein.
- a processor such as the processor device 1012 of FIG. 11
- the first data storage device 1140 a may comprise a CD, CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-RayTM Disc, and/or other type of optically-encoded disk and/or other computer-readable storage medium that is or becomes know or practicable.
- the second data storage device 1140 b may comprise a USB keyfob, dongle, and/or other type of flash memory data storage device that is or becomes know or practicable.
- the third data storage device 1140 c may comprise RAM of any type, quantity, and/or configuration that is or becomes practicable and/or desirable.
- the third data storage device 1140 c may comprise an off-chip cache such as a Level 2 (L2) or Level 3 (L3) cache memory device.
- the fourth data storage device 740 d may comprise an on-chip memory device such as a Level 1 (L1) cache memory device.
- the data storage devices 1140 a - d may generally store program instructions, code, and/or modules that, when executed by an electronic and/or computerized processing device cause a particular machine to function in accordance with embodiments described herein.
- the data storage devices 1140 a - d depicted in FIG. 11A , FIG. 11B , FIG. 117C , and FIG. 11D are representative of a class and/or subset of computer-readable media that are defined herein as “computer-readable memory” (e.g., memory devices as opposed to transmission devices). While computer-readable media may include transitory media types, as utilized herein, the term computer-readable memory is limited to non-transitory computer-readable media.
- additional functionality related to group referrals may be provided.
- Various reports detailing referral relationships between players, expiration dates associated therewith, total increased bonus and/or win amounts attributable to such relationships, etc. may be provided to players and/or system operators.
- game plays with related players and/or game plays without related players may be tracked, monitored, and/or reported on. A player may be notified, for example, of how much in group RAF bonuses has been forfeited due to not playing games and/or not playing games with related players.
- games in which related players do play together may be analyzed to predict and/or determine appropriate and/or desired times (e.g., future games, game types, rooms, etc.) in and/or via which to provide targeted promotions to such players (e.g., to a group of RAF players and/or friends).
- appropriate and/or desired times e.g., future games, game types, rooms, etc.
- targeted promotions e.g., to a group of RAF players and/or friends.
- Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory.
- Volatile media include DRAM, which typically constitutes the main memory.
- Other types of transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to the processor.
- Computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, Digital Video Disc (DVD), any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, a USB memory stick, a dongle, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
- the terms “computer-readable medium” and/or “tangible media” specifically exclude signals, waves, and wave forms or other intangible or transitory media that may nevertheless be readable by a computer.
- sequences of instruction may be delivered from RAM to a processor, (ii) may be carried over a wireless transmission medium, and/or (iii) may be formatted according to numerous formats, standards or protocols.
- network is defined above and includes many exemplary protocols that are also applicable here.
- one or more specialized machines such as a computerized processing device, a server, a remote terminal, and/or a customer device may implement the various practices described herein.
- a computer system of an gaming entity may, for example, comprise various specialized computers that interact to provide for online games as described herein
Abstract
Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture provide for games that may be adjusted to provide bonuses to players playing together, such as when one player has referred the other to the system. Game win amounts may be adjusted to account for bonuses that may be provided to Refer-A-Friend (RAF) players.
Description
- This application claims benefit and priority to, and is a continuation of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/802,673 filed on Mar. 13, 2013 and titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REFERRAL BENEFITS”, which will issue as U.S. Pat. No. 8,858,322 on Oct. 14, 2014, and which itself claims priority to and is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/642,269 filed on May 3, 2012 and titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GROUP REFER-A-FRIEND (RAF)”, the entirety of each such application of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
- A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any-one of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever
- Referral rewards, as marketing and/or consumer loyalty tools, have consistently been provided in a limited variety of implementations. This is partly due to the fact that the typical implementations of referral programs are relatively easy and/or inexpensive to implement and generally serve their purpose satisfactorily. As consumers continue to expand their online, social media, and/or online gaming activities, however, traditional referral programs fail to provide desirable benefits and/or fail to achieve modern goals.
- An understanding of embodiments described herein and many of the attendant advantages thereof may be readily obtained by reference to the following detailed description when considered with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 9A ,FIG. 9B ,FIG. 9C ,FIG. 9D , andFIG. 9E are example interfaces according to some embodiments; -
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to some embodiments; and -
FIG. 11A ,FIG. 11B ,FIG. 11C , andFIG. 11D are perspective diagrams of exemplary data storage devices according to some embodiments. - Embodiments presented herein are descriptive of systems, apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture for games that may be adjusted to provide bonuses to players playing together, such as when one player has referred the other to the system. Game win amounts may be adjusted to account for bonuses that may be provided to Refer-A-Friend (RAF) players.
- As utilized herein, the term “player” may generally refer to any type, quantity, and or manner of entity associated with the play of a game. In some embodiments, a player may comprise an entity conducting play of an online game, for example, may comprise an entity that desires to play a game (e.g., an entity registered and/or scheduled to play and/or an entity having expressed interest in the play of the game—e.g., a spectator) and/or may comprise an entity that configures, manages, and/or conducts a game. A player may be currently playing a game or have previously played the game, or may not yet have initiated play—i.e., a “player” may comprise a “potential player” (e.g., in general and/or with respect to a specific game). In some embodiments, a player may comprise a user of an interface (e.g., whether or not such a player participates in a game or seeks to participate in the game). In some embodiments, a player may comprise an individual (or group) that enters, joins, logs into, registers for, and/or otherwise access an online game room, session, server, and/or other particular instance and/or segmentation of an online game.
- Some embodiments described herein are associated with a “player device” or a “network device”. As used herein, a “player device” is a subset of a “network device”. The “network device”, for example, may generally refer to any device that can communicate via a network, while the “player device” may comprise a network device that is owned and/or operated by or otherwise associated with a player. Examples of player and/or network devices may include, but are not limited to: a Personal Computer (PC), a computer workstation, a computer server, a printer, a scanner, a facsimile machine, a copier, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a storage device (e.g., a disk drive), a hub, a router, a switch, and a modem, a video game console, or a wireless or cellular telephone. Player and/or network devices may, in some embodiments, comprise one or more network components.
- As used herein, the term “network component” may refer to a player or network device, or a component, piece, portion, or combination of player or network devices. Examples of network components may include a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) device or module, a network processor, and a network communication path, connection, port, or cable.
- In addition, some embodiments are associated with a “network” or a “communication network.” As used herein, the terms “network” and “communication network” may be used interchangeably and may refer to any object, entity, component, device, and/or any combination thereof that permits, facilitates, and/or otherwise contributes to or is associated with the transmission of messages, packets, signals, and/or other forms of information between and/or within one or more network devices. Networks may be or include a plurality of interconnected network devices. In some embodiments, networks may be hard-wired, wireless, virtual, neural, and/or any other configuration or type that is or becomes known. Communication networks may include, for example, devices that communicate directly or indirectly, via a wired or wireless medium such as the Internet, intranet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a cellular telephone network, a Bluetooth® network, a Near-Field Communication (NFC) network, a Radio Frequency (RF) network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), Ethernet (or IEEE 802.3), Token Ring, or via any appropriate communications means or combination of communications means. Exemplary protocols include but are not limited to: Bluetooth™, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Digital AMPS (D-AMPS), IEEE 802.11 (WI-FI), IEEE 802.3, SAP, the best of breed (BOB), and/or system to system (S2S).
- As used herein, the terms “information” and “data” may be used interchangeably and may refer to any data, text, voice, video, image, message, bit, packet, pulse, tone, waveform, and/or other type or configuration of signal and/or information. Information may comprise information packets transmitted, for example, in accordance with the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) standard. Information may, according to some embodiments, be compressed, encoded, encrypted, and/or otherwise packaged or manipulated in accordance with any method that is or becomes known or practicable.
- Turning first to
FIG. 1 , a block diagram of asystem 100 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, thesystem 100 may comprise a gaming platform such as a gaming platform via which one or more multiplayer and/or online games may be played. In some embodiments, thesystem 100 may comprise a plurality of player devices 102 a-n in communication with and/or via anetwork 104. In some embodiments, agame server 110 may be in communication with thenetwork 104 and/or one or more of the player devices 102 a-n. In some embodiments, the game server 110 (and/or the player devices 102 a-n) may be in communication with adatabase 140. Thedatabase 140 may store, for example, game date (e.g., processed and/or defined by the game server 110), data associated with players (not explicitly shown) owning and/or operating the player devices 102 a-n, and/or instructions that cause various devices (e.g., thegame server 110 and/or the player devices 102 a-n) to operate in accordance with embodiments described herein. - According to some embodiments, any or all of the components 102 a-n, 104, 110, 140 of the
system 100 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer or more components 102 a-n, 104, 110, 140 (and/or portions thereof) and/or various configurations of the components 102 a-n, 104, 110, 140 may be included in thesystem 100 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein. While multiple instances of some components 102 a-n are depicted and while single instances ofother components system 100 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 102 a-n, 104, 110, 140, and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable. Similarly, in some embodiments, one or more of the various components 102 a-n, 104, 110, 140 may not be needed and/or desired in thesystem 100. - The player devices 102 a-n, in some embodiments, may comprise any type or configuration of electronic, mobile electronic, and or other network and/or communication devices (or combinations thereof) that are or become known or practicable. A
first player device 102 a may, for example, comprise one or more PC devices, computer workstations (e.g., game consoles and/or gaming computers), tablet computers, such as an iPad® manufactured by Apple®, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., and/or cellular and/or wireless telephones such as an iPhone® (also manufactured by Apple®, Inc.) or an Optimus™ S smart phone manufactured by LG® Electronics, Inc. of San Diego, Calif., and running the Android® operating system from Google®, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. In some embodiments, one or more of the player devices 102 a-n may be specifically utilized and/or configured (e.g., via specially-programmed and/or stored instructions such as may define or comprise a software application) to communicate with the game server 110 (e.g., via the network 104). - The
network 104 may, according to some embodiments, comprise a LAN, WAN, cellular telephone network, Bluetooth® network, NFC network, and/or RF network with communication links between the player devices 102 a-n, thegame server 110, and/or thedatabase 140. In some embodiments, thenetwork 104 may comprise direct communications links between any or all of the components 102 a-n, 110, 140 of thesystem 100. Thegame server 110 may, for example, be directly interfaced or connected to thedatabase 140 via one or more wires, cables, wireless links, and/or other network components, such network components (e.g., communication links) comprising portions of thenetwork 104. In some embodiments, thenetwork 104 may comprise one or many other links or network components other than those depicted inFIG. 1 . Asecond player device 102 b may, for example, be connected to thegame server 110 via various cell towers, routers, repeaters, ports, switches, and/or other network components that comprise the Internet and/or a cellular telephone (and/or Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)) network, and which comprise portions of thenetwork 104. - While the
network 104 is depicted inFIG. 1 as a single object, thenetwork 104 may comprise any number, type, and/or configuration of networks that is or becomes known or practicable. According to some embodiments, thenetwork 104 may comprise a conglomeration of different sub-networks and/or network components interconnected, directly or indirectly, by the components 102 a-n, 110, 140 of thesystem 100. Thenetwork 104 may comprise one or more cellular telephone networks with communication links between the player devices 102 a-n and thegame server 110, for example, and/or may comprise the Internet, with communication links between the player devices 102 a-n and thedatabase 140, for example. - According to some embodiments, the
game server 110 may comprise a device (and/or system) owned and/or operated by or on behalf of or for the benefit of a gaming entity (not explicitly shown). The gaming entity may utilize player and/or game information or instructions (e.g., stored by the database 140), in some embodiments, to host, manage, analyze, design, define, price, conduct, and/or otherwise provide (or cause to be provided) one or more games such as online multiplayer games. In some embodiments, the gaming entity (and/or a third-party; not explicitly shown) may provide an interface (not shown inFIG. 1 ; such as the interfaces 920 a-e ofFIG. 9A ,FIG. 9B ,FIG. 9C ,FIG. 9D , and/orFIG. 9E herein) to and/or via the player devices 102 a-n. The interface may be configured, according to some embodiments, to allow and/or facilitate electronic game play by one or more players. In some embodiments, the system 100 (and/or interface provided by the game server 110) may present game data (e.g., from the database 140) in such a manner that allows players to participate in one or more online games (singularly, in/with groups, and/or otherwise). According to some embodiments, thegame server 110 may provide benefits to players based on player referrals and/or based on groups of players that play together in an online multiplayer game. - In some embodiments, the
database 140 may comprise any type, configuration, and/or quantity of data storage devices that are or become known or practicable. Thedatabase 140 may, for example, comprise an array of optical and/or solid-state hard drives configured to store player and/or game data, and/or various operating instructions, drivers, etc. While thedatabase 140 is depicted as a stand-alone component of thesystem 100 inFIG. 1 , thedatabase 140 may comprise multiple components. In some embodiments, amulti-component database 140 may be distributed across various devices and/or may comprise remotely dispersed components. Any or all of the player devices 102 a-n may comprise thedatabase 140 or a portion thereof, for example, and/or thegame server 110 may comprise thedatabase 140 or a portion thereof. - Referring now to
FIG. 2 , a block diagram of asystem 200 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, thesystem 200 may comprise a gaming platform such as a platform via which social, multiplayer, and/or online games may be played. In some embodiments, thesystem 200 may comprise a plurality ofplayer devices 202 a-n, theInternet 204, aload balancer 206, and/or agame server cluster 210. Thegame server cluster 210 may, in some embodiments, comprise a plurality ofgame servers 210 a-n. In some embodiments, thesystem 200 may comprise acache persistor 220, a Simple Queuing Service (SQS) device 222, atask scheduler 224, ane-mail service device 226, and/or aquery service device 228. As depicted inFIG. 2 , any or all of thevarious components 202 a-n, 204, 206, 210 a-n, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228 may be in communication with and/or coupled to one or more databases 240 a-f. Thesystem 200 may comprise, for example, a dynamic DataBase (DB) 240 a, a cloud-basedcache cluster 240 b (e.g., comprising agame state cache 240 b-1, aslot state cache 240 b-2, and/or a “hydra”cache 240 b-3), anon-relational DB 240 c, aremote DB service 240 d, a persistence DB 240 e, and/or areporting DB 240 f. - According to some embodiments, any or all of the
components 202 a-n, 204, 206, 210 a-n, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 240 a-f of thesystem 200 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer ormore components 202 a-n, 204, 206, 210 a-n, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 240 a-f (and/or portions thereof) and/or various configurations of thecomponents 202 a-n, 204, 206, 210 a-n, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 240 a-f may be included in thesystem 200 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein. While multiple instances of somecomponents 202 a-n, 210 a-n, 240 a-f are depicted and while single instances ofother components component 202 a-n, 204, 206, 210 a-n, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 240 a-f depicted in thesystem 200 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/orcomponents 202 a-n, 204, 206, 210 a-n, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 240 a-f, and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable. Similarly, in some embodiments, one or more of thevarious components 202 a-n, 204, 206, 210 a-n, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 240 a-f may not be needed and/or desired in thesystem 200. - According to some embodiments, the
player devices 202 a-n may be utilized to access (e.g., via theInternet 204 and/or one or more other networks not explicitly shown) content provided by thegame server cluster 210. Thegame server cluster 210 may, for example, provide, manage, host, and/or conduct various online and/or otherwise electronic games such as online bingo, slots, poker, and/or other games of chance, skill, and/or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, thevarious game servers 210 a-n (virtual and/or physical) of thegame server cluster 210 may be configured to provide, manage, host, and/or conduct individual instances and/or sessions of available game types. Afirst game server 210 a, for example, may host a first particular session of an online bingo game (or tournament), asecond game server 210 c may host a second particular session of an online bingo game (or tournament), athird game server 210 c may facilitate an online poker tournament (e.g., and a corresponding plurality of game sessions that comprise the tournament), and/or afourth game server 210 d may provide an online slots game (e.g., by hosting one or more slot game sessions). - In some embodiments, the
player devices 202 a-n may comprise various components (hardware, firmware, and/or software; not explicitly shown) that facilitate game play and/or interaction with thegame server cluster 210. Theplayer device 202 a-n may, for example, comprise a gaming client such as a software application programmed in Adobe® Flash® and/orHTML 5 that is configured to send requests to, and receive responses from, one or more of thegame servers 210 a-n of thegame server cluster 210. In some embodiments, such an application operating on and/or via theplayer devices 202 a-n may be configured in Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture with a communication manager layer responsible for managing the requests to/responses from thegame server cluster 210. In some embodiments, one or more of thegame servers 210 a-n may also or alternatively be configured in a MVC architecture with a communication manager and/or communications management layer (not explicitly shown inFIG. 2 ). In some embodiments, communications between theplayer devices 202 a-n and thegame server cluster 210 may be conducted in accordance with the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) version 1.1 (HTTP/1.1) as published by the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IET) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in RFC 2616 (June 1999). - According to some embodiments, communications between the
player devices 202 a-n and thegame server cluster 210 may be managed and/or facilitated by theload balancer 206. Theload balancer 206 may, for example, route communications fromplayer devices 202 a-n to one or more of thespecific game servers 210 a-n depending upon various attributes and/or variables such as bandwidth availability (e.g., traffic management/volumetric load balancing), server load (e.g., processing load balancing), server functionality (e.g., contextual awareness/availability), and/or player-server history (e.g., session awareness/“stickiness”). In some embodiments, theload balancer 206 may comprise one or more devices and/or services provided by a third-party (not separately shown inFIG. 2 ). Theload balancer 206 may, for example, comprise an Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) service provided by Amazon® Web Services, LLC of Seattle, Wash. According to some embodiments, such as in the case that theload balancer 206 comprises the ELB or a similar service, theload balancer 206 may manage, set, determine, define, and/or otherwise influence the number ofgame servers 210 a-n within thegame server cluster 210. In the case that traffic and/or requests from theplayer devices 202 a-n only require the first andsecond game servers 210 a-b, for example, allother game servers 210 c-n may be taken off-line, may not be initiated and/or called, and/or may otherwise not be required and/or utilized in thesystem 200. As demand increases (and/or if performance, security, and/or other issues cause one or more of the first andsecond game servers 210 a-b to experience detrimental issues), theload balancer 206 may call and/or bring online one or more of theother game servers 210 c-n depicted inFIG. 2 . In the case that eachgame server 210 a-n comprises an instance of an Amazon® Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service, theload balancer 206 may add or remove instances as is or becomes practicable and/or desirable. - In some embodiments, the
load balancer 206 and/or theInternet 204 may comprise one or more proxy servers and/or devices (not shown inFIG. 2 ) via which communications between theplayer devices 202 a-n and thegame server cluster 210 are conducted and/or routed. Such proxy servers and/or devices may comprise one or more regional game hosting centers, for example, which may be geographically dispersed and addressable byplayer devices 202 a-n in a given geographic proximity. In some embodiments, the proxy servers and/or devices may be located in one or more geographic areas and/or jurisdictions while the game server cluster 210 (and/orcertain game servers 210 a-n and/or groups ofgame servers 210 a-n thereof) is located in a separate and/or remote geographic area and/or jurisdiction. - According to some embodiments, for specific game types such as bingo, the
game server cluster 210 may provide game results (such as a full set of drawn bingo numbers and/or bonus metrics) to a controller device (not separately shown inFIG. 2 ) that times the release of game result information to theplayer devices 202 a-n such as by utilizing a broadcaster device (also not separately shown inFIG. 2 ) that transmits the time-released game results to theplayer devices 202 a-n (e.g., in accordance with the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) suite of communications protocols (TCP/IP),version 4, as defined by “Transmission Control Protocol” RFC 793 and/or “Internet Protocol” RFC 791, Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA), published by the Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, J. Postel, ed. (September 1981)). - In some embodiments, the game server cluster 210 (and/or one or more of the
game servers 210 a-n thereof) may be in communication with thedynamic DB 240 a. According to some embodiments, thedynamic DB 240 a may comprise a dynamically-scalable database service such as the DyanmoDB™ service provided by Amazon® Web Services, LLC. Thedynamic DB 240 a may, for example, store information specific to one or more certain game types (e.g., slots) provided by thegame server cluster 210 such as to allow, permit, and/or facilitate reporting and/or analysis of such information. - According to some embodiments, the game server cluster 210 (and/or one or more of the
game servers 210 a-n thereof) may be in communication with the cloud-basedcache cluster 240 b. Game state information from thegame server cluster 210 may be stored in thegame state cache 240 b-1, for example, slot state (e.g., slot-game specific state) data may be stored in theslot state cache 240 b-2, and/or other game and/or player information (e.g., progressive data, referral data, player rankings, audit data) may be stored in thehydra cache 240 b-3. In some embodiments, thecache persistor 220 may move and/or copy data stored in the cloud-basedcache cluster 240 b to thenon-relational DB 240 c. Thenon-relational DB 240 c may, for example, comprise a SimpleDB™ service provided by Amazon® Wed Services, LLC. According to some embodiments, thegame server cluster 210 may generally access the cloud-basedcache cluster 240 b as-needed to store and/or retrieve game-related information. The data stored in the cloud-basedcache cluster 240 b may generally comprise a subset of the newest or freshest data, while thecache persistior 220 may archive and/or store or move such data to thenon-relational DB 240 c as it ages and/or becomes less relevant (e.g., once a player logs-off, once a game session and/or tournament ends). Thegame server cluster 210 may, in accordance with some embodiments, have access to thenon-relational DB 240 c as-needed and/or desired. Thegame servers 210 a-n may, for example, be initialized with data from thenon-relational DB 240 c and/or may store and/or retrieve low frequency and/or low priority data via thenon-relational DB 240 c. - In some embodiments, the SQS device 222 may queue and/or otherwise manage requests, messages, events, and/or other tasks or calls to and/or from the
server cluster 210. The SQS device 222 may, for example, prioritize and/or route requests between thegame server cluster 210 and thetask scheduler 224. In some embodiments, the SQS device 222 may provide mini-game and/or tournament information to theserver cluster 210. According to some embodiments, thetask scheduler 224 may initiate communications with the SQS device 222, the e-mail service provider 226 (e.g., providing e-mail lists), theremote DB service 240 d (e.g., providing inserts and/or updates), and/or the persistence DB 240 e (e.g., providing and/or updating game, player, and/or other reporting data), e.g., in accordance with one or more schedules. - According to some embodiments, the persistence DB 240 e may comprise a data store of live environment game and/or player data. The
game server cluster 210 and/or thetask scheduler 224 or SQS device 222 may, for example, store game and/or player data to the persistence DB 240 e and/or may pull and/or retrieve data from the persistence DB 240 e, as-needed and/or desired. Theserver cluster 210 may, according to some embodiments, provide and/or retrieve spin and/or other game event info and/or configuration information via the persistence DB 240 e. - In some embodiments, the
reporting DB 240 f may be created and/or populated based on the persistence DB 240 e. On a scheduled and/or other basis, for example, a data transformation and/or mapping program may be utilized to pull data from the live environment (e.g., the persistence DB 240 e) into thereporting DB 240 f. Thequery service 228 may then be utilized, for example, to query thereporting DB 240 f, without taxing the live environment and/or production system directly accessible by thegame server cluster 210. - Turning now to
FIG. 3 , a block diagram of asystem 300 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, thesystem 300 may comprise and/or define a “front-end” architecture of a gaming platform such as a platform via which social, multiplayer, and/or online games may be played. In some embodiments, thesystem 300 may comprise a plurality ofuser devices 302 a-b, a plurality of networks 304 a-b (e.g., a primaryservice provider network 304 a, a secondaryservice provider network 304 b, aproduction network 304 c, and/or aVPN 304 d), a plurality of routers 306 a-b, a plurality of firewall devices 308 a-b, a plurality of game servers 310 a-g (e.g.,web servers 310 a,application servers 310 b, messaging broker servers 310 c,game broadcaster servers 310 d, chatservers 310 e,database servers 310 f, and/or management and monitoring servers 310 g), and/or an applicationdelivery controller cluster 322. - According to some embodiments, any or all of the
components 302 a-b, 304 a-b, 306 a-b, 308 a-b, 310 a-g, 322 of thesystem 300 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer ormore components 302 a-b, 304 a-b, 306 a-b, 308 a-b, 310 a-g, 322 (and/or portions thereof) and/or various configurations of thecomponents 302 a-b, 304 a-b, 306 a-b, 308 a-b, 310 a-g, 322 may be included in thesystem 300 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein. While multiple instances of somecomponents 302 a-b, 304 a-b, 306 a-b, 308 a-b, 310 a-g are depicted and while single instances ofother components 322 are depicted, for example, anycomponent 302 a-b, 304 a-b, 306 a-b, 308 a-b, 310 a-g, 322 depicted in thesystem 300 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/orcomponents 302 a-b, 304 a-b, 306 a-b, 308 a-b, 310 a-g, 322, and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable. Similarly, in some embodiments, one or more of thevarious components 302 a-b, 304 a-b, 306 a-b, 308 a-b, 310 a-g, 322 may not be needed and/or desired in thesystem 300. - In some embodiments, a
first user device 304 a may comprise an electronic device owned and/or operated by a player of an online game (not explicitly shown) and/or by an entity that otherwise accesses online game content and/or services externally (e.g., requiring external login and/or access credentials and/or procedures). Thefirst user device 304 a may, for example, be utilized to access content provided by and/or via the applicationdelivery controller cluster 322. In some embodiments, thefirst user device 304 a may interface with and/or connect to theproduction network 304 c via the primaryservice provider network 304 a and/or the secondaryservice provider network 304 b. The primaryservice provider network 304 a and the secondaryservice provider network 304 b may, for example, load balance and/or provide redundant coverage for outage recovery by utilization of a first primary service provider network router 306 a-1, a second primary service provider network router 306 a-2, a first secondary serviceprovider network router 306 b-1, and/or a second secondary serviceprovider network router 306 b-2. - According to some embodiments, the application
delivery controller cluster 322 may be insulated and/or protected from theproduction network 304 c by anexternal firewall cluster 308 a. Thefirst user device 304 a may, for example, be required to provide credentials to and/or otherwise access the applicationdelivery controller cluster 322 via theexternal firewall cluster 308 a. - In some embodiments, the application
delivery controller cluster 322 may receive via and/or from theexternal firewall cluster 308 a and/or theproduction network 304 c, one or more requests, calls, transmissions, and/or commands from thefirst user device 304 a. Thefirst user device 304 a may, for example, submit a call for an online gaming interface (such as the interfaces 920 a-e ofFIG. 9A ,FIG. 9B ,FIG. 9C ,FIG. 9D , and/orFIG. 9E herein) to the applicationdelivery controller cluster 322. In some embodiments, the applicationdelivery controller cluster 322 may comprise one or more hardware, software, and/or firmware devices and/or modules configured (e.g., specially-programmed) to route events and/or responses between thefirst user device 304 a and one or more of the servers 310 a-g. In the case that thefirst user device 304 a is utilized to access an online gaming interface for example, one or more of theweb servers 310 a (e.g., that may provide graphical and/or rendering elements for an interface and/or other web services) and/or theapplication servers 310 b (e.g., that may provide rule and/or logic-based programming routines, elements, and/or functions—e.g., game play engines) may be called and/or managed by the applicationdelivery controller cluster 322. - In some embodiments, the messaging broker servers 310 c may receive and/or retrieve messages from the
first user device 304 a (and/or from one or more of the other servers 310 a-b, 310 d-g) and perform one or more inter-application processes in relation thereto. The messaging broker servers 310 c may, for example, route, transform, consolidate, aggregate, store, augment, and/or otherwise process one or more requests in connection with provision of online gaming services to thefirst user device 304 a (e.g., facilitating a decoupling of services provided by various applications on and/or from the various servers 310 a-b, 310 d-g). According to some embodiments, thegame broadcaster servers 310 d may provide scheduled releases of information descriptive of an online game. Thegame broadcaster servers 310 d may, for example, provide a broadcast feed of bingo numbers, slot and/or other random (and/or pseudo-random) number results that may be accessed by (and/or transmitted to) thefirst user device 304 a (e.g., in connection with the play of an online bingo, slots, and/or other game for which broadcast information may be utilized). In some embodiments, thechat servers 310 e may provide, manage, and/or facilitate communications between thefirst user device 304 a (and/or first user thereof) and one or more other player/user devices (such as asecond user device 302 b and/or other player/user devices not shown inFIG. 3 ). - According to some embodiments, the
second user device 304 b may generally comprise an electronic device owned and/or operated by a user (not shown) closely affiliated with an entity that operates the system 300 (such entity also not shown). An employee (e.g., programmer and/or Customer Service Representative (CSR)), contractor, and/or other agent of an online gaming company may, for example, utilize thesecond user device 304 b to interface with the privately-accessible VPN 304 d. TheVPN 304 d may, for example, provide direct access to theapplication servers 310 b, thedatabase servers 310 f, the management and monitoring servers 310 g, and/or the applicationdelivery controller cluster 322. In some embodiments (as depicted inFIG. 3 ), such access may be gated through and/or insulated or protected by aninternal firewall cluster 308 b. Thesecond user device 304 b may, for example, be required to provide credentials to and/or otherwise access the applicationdelivery controller cluster 322 and/or servers 310 a-g via theinternal firewall cluster 308 b. - In some embodiments, the
database servers 310 f may provide access to one or more databases and/or data stores (e.g., not shown inFIG. 3 ; for data storage and/or retrieval). In some embodiments, the management and monitoring servers 310 g may provide services such as monitoring, reporting, troubleshooting, analysis, configuring, etc. to thesecond user device 304 b. Thesecond user device 304 b may, for example, access the management and monitoring servers 310 g and/or thedatabase servers 310 f to run reports descriptive of online gaming operations, game play, and/or game referral setup, management, and/or analysis. According to some embodiments, either or both of the user devices 304 a-b in conjunction with one or more of the servers 310 a-g and/or the applicationdelivery controller cluster 322 may conduct (in whole or in part), facilitate, and/or otherwise be associated with execution of one or more stored procedures, applications, processes, and/or methods (e.g., themethod 800 ofFIG. 8 herein, and/or a portion thereof). - Utilization of the term “server” with respect to the servers 310 a-g of the
system 300 ofFIG. 3 is meant solely to ease description of the configuration and/or functionality of the servers 310 a-g. The term “server” is not intended to be limiting with respect to any particular hardware, software, firmware, and/or quantities thereof utilized to implement any or all of the servers 310 a-g of thesystem 300. Similarly, while multiple types and/or instances of the severs 310 a-g are depicted inFIG. 3 , any or all of the servers 310 a-g may be implemented in, on, and/or by one or multiple computer server and/or other electronic devices. - Referring now to
FIG. 4 , a block diagram of asystem 400 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, thesystem 400 may comprise and/or define a “front-end” architecture of a gaming platform such as a platform via which social, multiplayer, and/or online games may be played. Thesystem 400 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality, for example, to thesystem 300 ofFIG. 3 and/or one or more portions thereof. In some embodiments, thesystem 400 may comprise auser device 402, a plurality of networks (and/or environments and/or layers) 404 a-j (e.g., theInternet 404 a, a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS)protection layer 404 b, a primarytransit provider layer 404 c, a secondarytransit provider layer 404 d, a Pre-Production (PP)environment 404 e, alive environment 404 f, a LAN 404 g, abackend environment 404 h, a PP backend layer 404 i, and/or alive backend layer 404 j), a plurality ofrouters 406 b-d, a plurality of firewall devices 408 e-g, 408 i-j, a plurality of servers 410 e-f (e.g., a PP server cluster 410 e and/or alive server cluster 410 f), a plurality of switchingdevices 422 a, 422 e-f, 422 i-j, a Terminal Concentrator (TC) 424 f, a plurality of “hydra”services 430 i-j (e.g., aPP hydra service 430 i and/or alive hydra service 430 j), and/or a plurality of Power Distribution Unit (PDU) devices 452 e-f. - According to some embodiments, any or all of the
components 402, 404 a-j, 406 b-d, 408 e-g, 408 i-j, 410 e-f, 422 a, 422 e-f, 422 i-j, 424 f, 430 i-j, 452 e-f of thesystem 400 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer ormore components 402, 404 a-j, 406 b-d, 408 e-g, 408 i-j, 410 e-f, 422 a, 422 e-f, 422 i-j, 424 f, 430 i-j, 452 e-f (and/or portions thereof) and/or various configurations of thecomponents 402, 404 a-j, 406 b-d, 408 e-g, 408 i-j, 410 e-f, 422 a, 422 e-f, 422 i-j, 424 f, 430 i-j, 452 e-f may be included in thesystem 400 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein. While multiple instances of some components 404 a-j, 406 b-d, 408 e-g, 408 i-j, 410 e-f, 422 a, 422 e-f, 422 i-j, 430 i-j, 452 e-f are depicted and while single instances ofother components component 402, 404 a-j, 406 b-d, 408 e-g, 408 i-j, 410 e-f, 422 a, 422 e-f, 422 i-j, 424 f, 430 i-j, 452 e-f depicted in thesystem 400 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/orcomponents 402, 404 a-j, 406 b-d, 408 e-g, 408 i-j, 410 e-f, 422 a, 422 e-f, 422 i-j, 424 f, 430 i-j, 452 e-f, and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable. Similarly, in some embodiments, one or more of thevarious components 402, 404 a-j, 406 b-d, 408 e-g, 408 i-j, 410 e-f, 422 a, 422 e-f, 422 i-j, 424 f, 430 i-j, 452 e-f may not be needed and/or desired in thesystem 400. - In some embodiments, the
user device 402 may be utilized to access one or more of thePP environment 404 e, thelive environment 404 f, and/or thebackend environment 404 h via theInternet 404 a. In some embodiments, theuser device 402 may be utilized to access thebackend environment 404 h and/or thePP hydra service 430 i via the PP backend layer 404 i. A PP backend switch device 422 i and/or a PPbackend firewall device 408 i may, for example, gate and/or control access to thebackend environment 404 h and/or thePP hydra service 430 i, via the PP backend layer 404 i. In some embodiments, theuser device 402 may be utilized to access thebackend environment 404 h and/or thelive hydra service 430 j via thelive backend layer 404 j. A live backend switch device 422 j and/or a livebackend firewall device 408 j may, for example, gate and/or control access to thebackend environment 404 h and/or thelive hydra service 430 j, via thelive backend layer 404 j. - According to some embodiments, any communications (e.g., requests, calls, and/or messages) from the
user device 402 may be passed through theDDoS protection layer 404 b. TheDDoS protection layer 404 b may, for example, monitor and/or facilitate protection against various forms of cyber attacks including, but not limited to, DDoS attacks. In some embodiments, theDDoS protection layer 404 b may comprise and/or be in communication with a plurality ofDDoS router devices 406 b-1, 406 b-2, 406 b-3, 406 b-4 that may be utilized to route and/or direct incoming communications (e.g., from the user device 402) to appropriate portions of thesystem 400. - In some embodiments, the
DDoS protection layer 404 b and/or a firstDDoS router device 406 b-1 may route communications from theuser device 402 through and/or via a first switch device 422 a-1 and/or to, through, and/or via a first primary transitprovider router device 406 c-1. In some embodiments, the first switch device 422 a-1 may comprise a device utilized for security switching such as may implement communications in accordance with the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) communications tunneling protocol described in RFC 2784 “Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)” published by the Network Working Group (NWG) in March, 2000. The first primary transitprovider router device 406 c-1 may, for example, provide access to thePP environment 404 e and/or the PP server cluster 410 e thereof, such as via one or more PP firewall devices 408 e-1, 408 e-2 and/or one or more PP switch devices 422 e-1, 422 e-2. According to some embodiments, the PP switch devices 422 e-1, 422 e-2 may comprise content switching devices that process and route data (e.g., in the data link layer) based on data content. In some embodiments, the first primary transitprovider router device 406 c-1 may direct communications to, through, and/or via a PP LAN switch device 422 e-3 that provides and/or facilitates access to the LAN 404 g. The LAN 404 g may, for example, provide private access to and/or between thePP environment 404 e, thelive environment 404 f, and/or thebackend environment 404 h. In some embodiments, the first primary transitprovider router device 406 c-1 and/or the PP LAN switch device 422 e-3 may direct communications to, through, and/or via aLAN firewall device 408 g that provides direct access to either or both of the PP server cluster 410 e and thelive server cluster 410 f. - According to some embodiments, the
DDoS protection layer 404 b and/or a secondDDoS router device 406 b-2 may route communications from theuser device 402 through and/or via a second switch device 422 a-2 and/or to, through, and/or via a first secondary transitprovider router device 406 d-1. In some embodiments, the second switch device 422 a-2 may comprise a device utilized for security switching such as may implement communications in accordance with the GRE communications tunneling protocol described in RFC 2784 “Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)” published by the Network Working Group (NWG) in March, 2000. The first secondary transitprovider router device 406 d-1 may, for example, provide access to thelive environment 404 f and/or thelive server cluster 410 f thereof, such as via one or morelive firewall devices 408 f-1, 408 f-2 and/or one or morelive switch devices 422 f-1, 422 f-2. According to some embodiments, thelive switch devices 422 f-1, 422 f-2 may comprise content switching devices that process and route data (e.g., in the data link layer) based on data content. In some embodiments, the first secondary transitprovider router device 406 d-1 may direct communications to, through, and/or via a live LAN switchdevice 422 f-3 that provides and/or facilitates access to the LAN 404 g. In some embodiments, the first secondary transitprovider router device 406 d-1 and/or the live LAN switchdevice 422 f-3 may direct communications to, through, and/or via theLAN firewall device 408 g that provides direct access to either or both of the PP server cluster 410 e and thelive server cluster 410 f. - In some embodiments, the
DDoS protection layer 404 b and/or one or more of a thirdDDoS router device 406 b-3 and/or a fourthDDoS router device 406 b-4 may route communications from theuser device 402 through and/or via one or more of the primarytransit provider layer 404 c and/or the secondarytransit provider layer 404 d. In some embodiments, a transit provider switch device 422 a-3 may direct, swap, route, and/or manage communications between the primarytransit provider layer 404 c and the secondarytransit provider layer 404 d. According to some embodiments, the transit provider switch device 422 a-3 may comprise a switching device that operates in accordance with an Exterior Border Gateway Protocol (EBGP)—e.g., the transit provider switch device 422 a-3 may comprise one or more edge or border routers. In some embodiments, the first primary transitprovider router device 406 c-1, the first secondary transitprovider router device 406 d-1, a second primary transitprovider router device 406 c-2, and/or a second secondary transitprovider router device 406 d-2 may be utilized to route and/or direct communications between (i) the primarytransit provider layer 404 c and/or the secondarytransit provider layer 404 d and (ii) thePP environment 404 e and/or thelive environment 404 f. - According to some embodiments, the PP server cluster 410 e and/or the
PP environment 404 e may comprise various hardware, software, and/or firmware that permits a user (e.g., of the user device 402) to program, edit, manage, and/or otherwise interface with PP game elements and/or interfaces (e.g., for development and/or testing purposes). In some embodiments, the PDU devices 452 e-1, 452 e-2 may generally provide power distribution, supply, management, backup, and/or conditioning services (e.g., to the PP server cluster 410 e) as is or becomes desired. According to some embodiments, additional switch devices 422 e-4, 422 e-5 may be utilized to distribute, balance, manage and/or control communications to, from, and/or within the PP server cluster 410 e. - In some embodiments, the
live server cluster 410 f and/or thelive environment 404 f may comprise various hardware, software, and/or firmware that permits a user (e.g., of the user device 402) to program, edit, manage, and/or otherwise interface with live game elements and/or interfaces (e.g., for troubleshooting, corrective, and/or live environment management purposes). In some embodiments, thePDU devices 452 f-1, 452 f-2 may generally provide power distribution, supply, management, backup, and/or conditioning services (e.g., to thelive server cluster 410 f) as is or becomes desired. According to some embodiments,additional switch devices 422 f-4, 422 f-5 may be utilized to distribute, balance, manage and/or control communications to, from, and/or within thelive server cluster 410 f. In some embodiments, theTC device 424 f may be utilized to manage communications from a variety of data sources such as by providing communication capability between various communications channels (not separately depicted inFIG. 3 ). - Turning to
FIG. 5 , a block diagram of asystem 500 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, thesystem 500 may comprise and/or define a “back-end” architecture of a gaming platform such as a platform via which social, multiplayer, and/or online games may be played. Thesystem 500 may be utilized in conjunction with thesystems FIG. 3 and/orFIG. 4 herein, for example, and/or may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to thebackend environment 404 h of thesystem 400 ofFIG. 4 . In some embodiments, the system 500 may comprise a user device 502, a plurality of networks (and/or environments and/or layers) 504 a-i (e.g., the Internet 504 a, an ISP 504 b, an External Firewall-Router (EXTFW-RTR) Virtual LAN (VLAN) 504 c, an Internet VLAN 504 d, an Internal-External (INT-EXT) VLAN 504 e, a web VLAN 504 f, a database VLAN 504 g, an application VLAN 504 h, and/or an administrator VLAN 504 i), an external router cluster 506, a plurality of firewall clusters 508 a-b (e.g., an external firewall cluster 508 a and/or an internal firewall cluster 508 b), a plurality of servers 510 a-j (e.g., a server cluster 510 a, a first spare server pool 510 b, a second spare server pool 510 c, database servers 510 d, “hydra” servers 510 e, game controllers 510 f, ruby servers 510 g, admin servers 510 h, monitoring servers 510 i, and/or logging servers 510 j), a plurality of switches 522 a-d (e.g., content switches 522 a, Storage Area Network (SAN) switches 522 b, connectivity switches 522 c, and/or network switches 522 d), a TC device 524, a SAN storage device 540, and/or one or more PDU devices 552. - According to some embodiments, any or all of the components 502, 504 a-l, 506, 508 a-b, 510 a-j, 522 a-d, 524, 540, 552 of the
system 500 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer or more components 502, 504 a-l, 506, 508 a-b, 510 a-j, 522 a-d, 524, 540, 552 (and/or portions thereof) and/or various configurations of the components 502, 504 a-l, 506, 508 a-b, 510 a-j, 522 a-d, 524, 540, 552 may be included in thesystem 500 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein. While multiple instances of some components 504 a-l, 508 a-b, 510 a-j, 522 a-d are depicted and while single instances ofother components system 500 may comprise a single device, a combination of devices and/or components 502, 504 a-l, 506, 508 a-b, 510 a-j, 522 a-d, 524, 540, 552, and/or a plurality of devices, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable. Similarly, in some embodiments, one or more of the various components 502, 504 a-l, 506, 508 a-b, 510 a-j, 522 a-d, 524, 540, 552 may not be needed and/or desired in thesystem 500. - In some embodiments, the user device 502 may be utilized to access and/or interface with one or more of the servers 510 a-j via the
Internet 504 a. In some embodiments, the Internet 502 a may be linked to theISP 504 b via multiple (e.g., redundant)connectivity paths 504 b-1, 504 b-2 (e.g., for load balancing, security, and/or failure recovery). According to some embodiments, theISP 504 b may be in communication with (and/or comprise) theexternal router cluster 506. Theexternal router cluster 506 may route certain requests, calls, and/or transmissions (and/or users—e.g., based on credentials and/or other information) through the EXTFW-RTR VLAN 504 c and/or through theexternal firewall cluster 508 a, for example, and/or may route certain requests, calls, and/or transmissions (and/or users—e.g., based on credentials and/or other information) through theInternet VLAN 504 d and/or through theinternal firewall cluster 508 b. - In the case that a user (not shown) of the user device 502 comprises an online game player, consumer, and/or other member of the public, for example, the
external router cluster 506 may direct communications through the EXTFW-RTR VLAN 504 c and/or through theexternal firewall cluster 508 a. In the case that the user of the user device 502 comprises a programmer, tester, employee, and/or other agent of an entity that operates thesystem 500, for example, theexternal router cluster 506 may direct communications through theInternet VLAN 504 d and/or through theinternal firewall cluster 508 b. In some embodiments, access via either or both of theexternal firewall cluster 508 a and/or theinternal firewall cluster 508 b may permit the user device 502 to communicate via the INT-EXT VLAN 504 e. The INT-EXT VLAN 504 e may, for example, provide access to the content switches 522 a which may, in some embodiments, serve content from any or all of the servers 510 a-j to the user device 502, as is or becomes appropriate or desired. In some embodiments, the content switches 522 a may communicate with the firstspare server pool 510 b via theweb LAN 504 f. - According to some embodiments, private and/or other specialized access to the
system 500 via theinternal firewall cluster 508 b may permit the user device 502 to communicate via one or more of thedatabase VLAN 504 g, theapplication VLAN 504 h, and/or the admin VLAN 504 i. Thedatabase VLAN 504 g may be utilized, for example, to access and/or communicate with thedatabase servers 510 d. In some embodiments, theapplication VLAN 504 h may be utilized to access and/or communicate with any or all of thehydra servers 510 e, the game controllers 510 f, and/or theruby servers 510 g. - The admin VLAN 504 i may allow, promote, conduct, facilitate, and/or manage a wide variety of communications within the
system 500. The admin VLAN 504 i may, for example, communicatively connect and/or couple any or all of the firewalls 508 a-b, the servers 510 a-j, the switches 522 a-d, theTC device 524, theSAN storage 540, and/or thePDU devices 552. The user device 502 may be utilized, in conjunction with theadmin servers 510 h and/or via the admin VLAN 504 i for example, to define, edit, adjust, manage, and/or otherwise access settings (and/or data) of the firewalls 508 a-b, any or all of the switches 522 a-d, theTC device 524, and/or thePDU devices 552. In some embodiments, the user device 502 (and/or theadmin servers 510 h) may be utilized to manage and/or access content, rules, settings, and/or performance characteristics or preferences for any or all of the servers 510 a-j. - In some embodiments, the
server cluster 510 a may comprise one or more servers and/or other electronic controller devices (e.g., blade servers) configured to provide online gaming data (e.g., interfaces and/or results) to the user device 502. According to some embodiments, the firstspare server pool 510 b and/or the secondspare server pool 510 c may comprise one or more server and/or other electronic controller devices configured to supplement and/or replace theserver cluster 510 a as needed and/or desired (e.g., to manage load and/or error recovery situations). In some embodiments, thedatabase servers 510 c may provide and/or manage access to stored data such as data stored in and/or by theSAN storage device 540. In some embodiments, thehydra servers 510 e and/or the game controllers 510 f may provide online game information such as interfaces, results, graphics, sounds, and/or other media to the user device 502 (e.g., via theapplication VLAN 504 h). In some embodiments, theruby servers 510 g may comprise one or more processing devices configured to provide access to one or more programming languages (e.g., “Ruby”) and/or Application Programming Interface (API) mechanisms via which the servers 510 a-j and/or other portions of thesystem 500 may be configured to operate (e.g., in accordance with specially and/or pre-programmed instructions written in the programming language and/or developed by the API provided by theruby servers 510 g). According to some embodiments, theadmin servers 510 h, themonitoring servers 510 i, and/or thelogging servers 510 j may be utilized and/or configured to provide administrative, parameter and/or metric monitoring and/or reporting, and/or data logging and/or audit services, respectively. - Referring now to
FIG. 6 , a block diagram of asystem 600 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, thesystem 600 may comprise one or more original (and/or referring) players 602 (e.g.,player # 101; e.g., a “Sugar Daddy” and/or “Parent”), one or more first tier referral players 604 (e.g., players #201 and #202; e.g., “Sugar Buddies” and/or “Children”), one or more second tier referral players 606 (e.g., players #301, #302, and #303; e.g., “Sugar Buddies” and/or “Grandchildren”), and/or one or more third tier referral players 608 (e.g., players #401 and #402; e.g., “Sugar Buddies” and/or “Great-Grandchildren”). In some embodiments, any or all of theplayers - According to some embodiments, any or all of the
components system 600 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer ormore components components system 600 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein. Anycomponent system 600 may comprise a single object, a combination of objects and/orcomponents various components system 600. - In some embodiments, the
various players Parent player 602, for example, may have invited and/or referred each of the first tier players orChildren 604 to an online gaming system (e.g., the system 600). Typical referral systems may provide a bonus and/or other incentive to theParent player 602 for having referred the Children players 604 (e.g., upon theChildren players 604 establishing accounts with the system 600). In some embodiments, theplayer # 202 of theChildren players 604 may have similarly referred and/or invited each of the second tier orGrandchildren players 606. In typical systems, theplayer # 202 of theChildren players 604 may be rewarded for having referred theGrandchildren players 606. According to some embodiments, theplayer # 302 of theGrandchildren players 606 may have invited and/or referred the Great-Grandchildren players 608. The referral (and/or other, such as a “friend” and/or social networking) relationships between theplayers FIG. 6 are provided for non-limiting exemplary purposes and for illustration and ease of description only. Fewer or more referral relationships may be possible and/or desirable in accordance with some embodiments. - According to some embodiments, the
players first game room 660 a may host a first game (e.g., “Bingo Game # 1”), asecond game room 660 b may host a second game (e.g., “Bingo Game # 2”), and/or athird game room 660 c may host a third game (e.g., “Bingo Game # 3”). As depicted inFIG. 6 , each game room 660 a-c may list the players currently logged-in, registered for, joined, and/or playing in the respective game. As utilized herein, the term “game room” may generally refer to any grouping, segmentation, categorization, listing, and/or other virtual and/or actual association between one or more players and a particular game, game type, and/or game session. As is typical in many online games, for example, players may join a particular server hosting a particular game and/or may enter and/or join a particular “room” (e.g., a virtual and/or graphical representation of a particular grouping of players) via which a game may be played. In many cases, such “rooms” comprise “lobbies” or areas where players may virtually congregate between sessions of a game hosted by and/or via the room and/or otherwise when not playing (e.g., prior to joining an actual session of the game play and/or after having joined—e.g., after elimination). According to some embodiments, the game rooms 610 a-c may comprise online virtual game rooms in which different sessions of the respective games are hosted and/or managed. - In some embodiments, the referral relationships between the
various players first game room 660 a, for example, it may be determined that theParent player 602,player # 201 of theChildren players 604, andplayer # 302 of theGrandchildren players 606 have each joined, registered for, entered, and/or are otherwise associated with thefirst game room 660 a. In some embodiments, it may be determined that each of players #101, #201, and #302 are playing, have played, and/or are likely to imminently play in a game session hosted by and/or via thefirst game room 660 a. According to some embodiments, one or more of the players #101, #201, and #302 in thefirst game room 660 a may be rewarded based on the referral (and/or other type) of relationship between the players #101, #201, and #302 and based on their joining and/or playing in thefirst game room 660 a (e.g., the same game room; and/or game session). - According to some embodiments for example, any or all of the players #101, #201, and #302 may be awarded monetary value (e.g., credits, currency (virtual or real), points, miles) and/or may be awarded a feature, characteristic, power, advantage, bonus, and/or other benefit in the
first game room 660 a, in the respective “Bingo Game # 1”, and/or in a particular session of the game. In some embodiments, the rewarding may be conducted upon a determination that (i) the players #101, #201, and #302 are all “in” the first game room 610 a, and/or (ii) the players #101, #201, and #302 are all actively playing (or have completed playing) in/via thefirst game room 660 a. For example, theParent player 602 may receive a bonus of a first magnitude for having managed to have successfully referred both ofplayer # 201 andplayer # 302 and for having managed to join the same game room (thefirst game room 660 a) and/or game session as the referredplayer # 201 andplayer # 302. - In some embodiments, either or both of
player # 201 andplayer # 302 may also (or alternatively) receive bonuses, such as of a second magnitude different than the first magnitude (e.g., lower) for having managed to join the same game room (thefirst game room 660 a) and/or game session as theParent player 602. In some embodiments, such referral bonuses may only be provided to one or more of the players #101, #201, and #302 in the case that one or more of such players #101, #201, and #302 achieves a winning condition in a game session conducted via thefirst game room 660 a. In the case of the example “Bingo Game # 1”, for example, in the case that theParent player 602 wins a bingo match conducted via thefirst game room 660 a, theParent player 602 may be awarded not only the allotted prize for achieving the win, but may also receive a bonus and/or other benefit due to the presence of theplayer # 201 and/orplayer # 302 in the same room and/or session. - As another example, it may be determined that each of
player # 202 of theChildren players 604 andplayer # 301 andplayer # 303 of theGrandchildren players 606 are associated with thesecond game room 660 b. It may be determined, for example, that a particular game session is being conducted in and/or via thesecond game room 660 b and that the players #202, #301, and #303 are currently competing in the game session (adversarially or cooperatively). In some embodiments, a referral and/or friend reward may be provided in response to such a determination (upon completion of the determination and/or upon one of the players #202, #301, and #303 winning the game session in thesecond game room 660 b). In some embodiments, the magnitude of the reward may be based upon the magnitude ofrelated players second game room 660 b, for example,player # 202 may receive a larger benefit (e.g., a double and/or additive bonus) due to two (2)Grandchildren players 606 being in the same session/room as the player #202 (and having been referred, invited, and/or “friended” by, the player #202). - In some embodiments, rewards for playing with (and/or being in the same game room 660 a-c with) related players (e.g., related by referrals, friend status, and/or otherwise) may be based upon and/or take into account other factors. In the example of the
third game room 660 c, for example, the Great-Grandchildren players 608 may receive a special reward and/or bonus for having managed to join the entire “Great-Grandchild” generation (i.e., all of the Great-Grandchildren players 608) in the same session/room. Such a bonus may differ in magnitude from other related-player bonuses (such as those described with respect to thefirst game room 660 a and/or thesecond game room 660 b; such as by being larger). In some embodiments, rewards may be based on player participation in thethird game room 660 c (and/or one or more of the game sessions thereof) outside of the relationships of thereferral players player # 403, for example, one or more of the players #401, #402, and #403 may receive a reward for playing together, even thoughplayer # 403 is not a member of the same referral/friend tree. Rewards may be based, for example, on playing with other players having certain pre-defined characteristics and/or other criteria (known or unknown to the players). Thesystem 600 may reward players having consecutive player identifiers (e.g., players #401, #402, and #403) that play together, for example, and/or may reward players of a certain geographic, demographic, and/or other class, type, and or categorization. - According to some embodiments, a relationship between the
original player 602 and one or more of thereferral players referral players original player 602 in the case that areferral player original player 602 has referred to the entity, company, website, game, and/or system 600) consummates a first action. In some embodiments, one or more second rewards/benefits may be provided in the case that thereferral player original player 602 in the case that thereferral player referral player - Turning to
FIG. 7 , a block diagram of asystem 700 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, thesystem 700 may comprise a plurality of online games 760 a-c, each gaming defining and/or comprising various attributes. In the case of an online wagering and/or multiplayer game such as bingo, as depicted, the games 760 a-c may define and/or comprise wager amounts 762 a-c, progressive win amounts 764 a-c, group RAF bonuses 766 a-c, and/or win amounts 768 a-c. - According to some embodiments, any or all of the components 760 a-c, 762 a-c, 764 a-c, 766 a-c, 768 a-c of the
system 700 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any similarly named and/or numbered components described herein. Fewer or more components 760 a-c, 762 a-c, 764 a-c, 766 a-c, 768 a-c (and/or portions thereof) and/or various configurations of the components 760 a-c, 762 a-c, 764 a-c, 766 a-c, 768 a-c may be included in thesystem 700 without deviating from the scope of embodiments described herein. Any component 760 a-c, 762 a-c, 764 a-c, 766 a-c, 768 a-c depicted in thesystem 700 may comprise a single object, a combination of objects and/or components 760 a-c, 762 a-c, 764 a-c, 766 a-c, 768 a-c, and/or a plurality of objects, as is or becomes desirable and/or practicable. Similarly, in some embodiments, one or more of the various components 760 a-c, 762 a-c, 764 a-c, 766 a-c, 768 a-c may not be needed and/or desired in thesystem 700. - In some embodiments, the
system 700 may illustrate how player and/or group referrals (and/or other relationships) affect implementation of online games 760 a-c. A firstonline game 760 a (e.g., “Bingo Game # 1” as depicted; and/or game session or room) may, for example, be configured to require (and/or accept) a first wager amount 762 a of one hundred (100) units (e.g., credits, dollars, points, and/or other indicators of monetary, pseudo-monetary, and/or non-monetary value), may provide a first progressive win amount 764 a of ten percent (10%) of the first wager amount 762 a (i.e., ten (10) units), and/or may provide a first win amount 768 a of sixty-five (65) units. In the example ofFIG. 7 , thefirst game 760 a may illustrate an example of a typical “progressive” online game configuration. Thefirst game 760 a may, as depicted for example, not include and/or offer any firstgroup RAF bonuses 766 a. - In some embodiments, a second
online game 760 b (and/or game session or room) may also (or alternatively) illustrate an example of a typical “standard” and/or “non-progressive” online game configuration. Thesecond game 760 b may, for example, be configured to require (and/or accept) a second wager 762 b of one hundred (100) units (e.g., credits, dollars, points, and/or other indicators of monetary, pseudo-monetary, and/or non-monetary value), may not provide any second progressive win amount 764 b (and/or may provide the second progressive win amount 764 b as zero percent (0%) of the second wager amount 762 b (i.e., zero (0) units)), and/or may provide a second win amount 768 b of eighty (80) units. In the example ofFIG. 7 , thesecond game 760 b may not include and/or offer any secondgroup RAF bonuses 766 b. - According to some embodiments, a
third game 760 c (and/or game session or room) may be configured to require (and/or accept) a third wager amount 762 c of one hundred (100) units (e.g., credits, dollars, points, and/or other indicators of monetary, pseudo-monetary, and/or non-monetary value), may not provide any third progressive win amount 764 c (and/or may provide the third progressive win amount 764 c as zero percent (0%) of the third wager amount 762 c (i.e., zero (0) units)), and/or may provide a third win amount 768 c of seventy (70) units. In the example of thethird game 760 c, thirdgroup RAF bonuses 766 c are provided. As depicted, for example, a typical player of thethird game 760 c (e.g., a non-“buddy”) may be awarded afirst bonus amount 766 c-1 of a first magnitude (e.g., zero percent (0%) or zero (0) units), a player having joined as a result of a referral (and/or otherwise having a pre-defined relationship and/or a relationship of a relatively lower hierarchical rank with respect to another related player; a “buddy”) may be awarded asecond bonus amount 766 c-2 of a second magnitude (e.g., ten percent (10%) or ten (10) units), and/or a player having referred others (and/or otherwise having a pre-defined relationship and/or a relationship of a relatively higher hierarchical rank with respect to another related player; a “daddy”) may be awarded various bonus amounts based on a number of “buddies” playing in the same session/room/game (e.g., thethird game 760 c) as the “daddy”. The “daddy” may be awarded, for example, (i) athird bonus amount 766 c-3 of a third magnitude (e.g., one hundred percent (100%) or one hundred (100) units) in the case that three (3) “buddies” play with the “daddy”, (ii) afourth bonus amount 766 c-4 of a fourth magnitude (e.g., fifty percent (50%) or fifty (50) units) in the case that two (2) “buddies” play with the “daddy”, (iii) afifth bonus amount 766 c-5 of a fifth magnitude (e.g., twenty-five percent (25%) or twenty-five (25) units) in the case that one (1) “buddy” plays with the “daddy”, and/or (iv) asixth bonus amount 766 c-6 of a sixth magnitude (e.g., zero percent (0%) or zero (0) units) in the case that zero (0) “buddies” play with the “daddy”. - The various magnitudes depicted for the bonus amounts 766 c-1, 766 c-2, 766 c-3, 766 c-4, 766 c-5, 766 c-6 are provided as non-limiting examples. Other magnitudes, hierarchical relationships, schemes, and/or configurations of the bonus amounts 766 c-1, 766 c-2, 766 c-3, 766 c-4, 766 c-5, 766 c-6 may be provided in some embodiments. In some embodiments, fewer or more bonus amounts 766 c-1, 766 c-2, 766 c-3, 766 c-4, 766 c-5, 766 c-6 may be provided. In some embodiments, the bonus amounts 766 c-1, 766 c-2, 766 c-3, 766 c-4, 766 c-5, 766 c-6 may be awarded upon the occurrence of various triggering conditions and/or the satisfaction of one or more pre-stored rules and/or criteria. The
second bonus amount 766 c-2 may awarded to a player having been referred to thethird game 760 c, for example, upon the “buddy” logging into, joining, registering for, and/or initiating play of a game session of thethird game 760 c and/or thesecond bonus amount 766 c-2 may be provided to the “buddy” in the case that the “buddy” earns and/or obtains the third win amount 768 c. In some embodiments, the bonus amounts 766 c-1, 766 c-2, 766 c-3, 766 c-4, 766 c-5, 766 c-6 may be based on the number of players of thethird game 760 c, the number of related/referral players and/or types thereof in thethird game 760 c (e.g., as depicted by the third, fourth, and fifth bonus amounts 766 c-3, 766 c-4, 766 c-5), the third wager amount 762 c, and/or the third win amount 768 c (e.g., a multiplier thereof). - According to some embodiments, implementation of a referral bonus feature may cause an alteration and/or setting of various game parameters. While a typical “non-progressive” game such as the
second game 760 b may be configured to provide the second win amount 768 b of eighty (80) units, for example, a group RAF version of thesecond game 760 b—e.g., thethird game 760 c—may be altered and/or configured to provide, instead, the third win amount 768 c of seventy (70) units. The ten (10) unit difference may, for example, be implemented to account for the possibility that group RAF players (i.e., “daddies” and “buddies”) may earn and/or achieve one or more of the third group RAF bonuses 716 c. Similarly, a typical “progressive” game such as thefirst game 760 a in some embodiments, may be altered and/or configured to provide the third win amount 768 c instead of the first win amount 768 a (and/or the first progressive win amount 764 a may be modified to become the third progressive win amount 764 c and/or the first group RAF bonus amounts 766 a may be altered to becomes the third group RAF bonus amounts 766 c). - In some embodiments, the
first game 760 a and/or thesecond game 760 b may be actively altered and/or reconfigured to define thethird game 760 c. Thefirst game 760 a may be configured as depicted inFIG. 7 , for example, but may be reconfigured as depicted by the path “A” upon an occurrence of one or more triggering events. In the case that thefirst game 760 a is populated by a plurality of group RAF players, for example, the thirdgroup RAF bonuses 766 c may be implemented (e.g., to reward player referrals and/or coordinated playing), the third progressive win amount 764 c may be implemented (e.g., effectively removing the progressive feature from the game), and/or the third win amount 768 c may be implemented (e.g., actually increasing the standard win for a game session). In accordance with such an embodiment, thefirst game 760 a may be transformed and/or converted into thethird game 760 c. This may occur in a variety of manners such as by switching players of thefirst game 760 a from a first game room (not separately depicted) to a third game room (also not separately depicted) or by modifying the game parameters within a single game room. - Similarly, the
second game 760 b may be configured as depicted inFIG. 7 , for example, but may be reconfigured as depicted by the path “B” upon an occurrence of one or more triggering events. Upon a win by a group RAF player in thesecond game 760 b, for example, the game parameters may be altered to achieve thethird game 760 c (e.g., within the same game room/server). In some embodiments, reconfiguration may occur between game sessions. A first game session of thesecond game 760 b may be conducted, for example, in which a plurality of group RAF players have joined and/or played. Based on their presence (generally or specifically, such as based on the number and/or configuration of such players in thesecond game 760 b) thesecond game 760 b may be converted to thethird game 760 c for the next/subsequent game session. In such a manner, for example, the makeup of players in a given game 760 a-c and/or game room may affect the game parameters implemented in subsequent sessions of the same game and/or games in the same room or on the same server. In some embodiments, the presence of certain payers having per-defined relationships (e.g., referrals, “friends”, adversaries, stat-based groupings) in a first game session may cause a subsequent game session to be reconfigured. In the example ofFIG. 7 , for example, the win amounts 768 a may be adjusted and/or the group RAF bonuses 766 a-c may be implemented. - According to some embodiments, the games 760 a-c may comprise multiplayer online games such as the depicted bingo, poker, sports simulation games, strategy games, first-person shooter games, role-playing games, etc. In some embodiments, the games 760 a-c may comprise wagering games, games of chance, games of skill, and/or hybrids thereof. In some embodiments, the win amounts 768 a-c may comprise and/or define benefits conferred upon a limited set of players in a single session of the games 760 a-c. A single session of the
second game 760 b may, for example, involve a plurality of players (not shown inFIG. 7 ) playing adversarially and/or cooperatively to obtain the second win amount 768 b. In some embodiments, the second win amount 768 b may be provided to a single “winner” (in skill, chance, and/or both) of the session of thesecond game 760 b or may be provided to a subset of the top ranked players at the end of game play (each such player may receive the second win amount 768 b, for example, or the second win amount 768 b may be split amongst such players evenly, randomly, and/or in a pro rata or other distribution fashion). - Turning to
FIG. 8 , a flow diagram of amethod 800 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, themethod 800 may be performed and/or implemented by and/or otherwise associated with one or more specialized and/or computerized processing devices (e.g., the player and/or user devices 102 a-n, 202 a-n, 302 a-b, 402, 502 and/or the servers and/orcontroller devices FIG. 1 ,FIG. 2 ,FIG. 3 ,FIG. 4 , and/orFIG. 5 herein), specialized computers, computer terminals, computer servers, computer systems and/or networks, and/or any combinations thereof (e.g., by one or more online gaming company and/or online gaming player processing devices). In some embodiments, themethod 800 may be embodied in, facilitated by, and/or otherwise associated with various input mechanisms and/or interfaces such as the interfaces 920 a-e ofFIG. 9A ,FIG. 9B ,FIG. 9C ,FIG. 9D , and/orFIG. 9E , herein. - The process and/or flow diagrams described herein do not necessarily imply a fixed order to any depicted actions, steps, and/or procedures, and embodiments may generally be performed in any order that is practicable unless otherwise and specifically noted. Any of the processes and/or methods described herein may be performed and/or facilitated by hardware, software (including microcode), firmware, or any combination thereof. For example, a storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, Universal Serial Bus (USB) mass storage device, and/or Digital Video Disk (DVD)) may store thereon instructions that when executed by a machine (such as a computerized processing device) result in performance according to any one or more of the embodiments described herein.
- In some embodiments, the
method 800 may comprise determining a relationship between players, at 802. An electronic and/or computerized processing device and/or controller device may, for example, identify, lookup, derive, and/or otherwise determine that two or more players are related. In some embodiments, the players may be related by nature of a first one of the players having referred a second one of the players to an online gaming system. In some embodiments, players may be related by nature of a stored indication that the players are “friends”—e.g., within an online gaming system/account system and/or within and/or via one or more social media systems and/or accounts such as Facebook®, Twitter®, etc. In some embodiments, the relationship may be determined by receiving one or more indications from one or more of the players. A first and/or referring player may “invite” the other player(s) to the system (and/or to a specific game room and/or session) via an interface provided by the system, for example, such that the system is privy to an identifier of the invited player (as well as an identifier of the inviting/referring player). In the case that the invited player responds (e.g., directly to the invite, such as by clicking on a hyperlink and/or indirectly), the system may utilize identifying information of the responding player to determine that the invited player is related to the inviting player. - In some embodiments, the inviting and/or referred player may provide a code and/or other identifier to the system, e.g., upon registration and/or otherwise. The system may utilize the code and/or identifier to identify the referring/inviting player and accordingly define and/or establish a relationship there between. In some embodiments, third-party systems and/or websites or devices may be queried and/or accessed to determine a relationship between players. The system may, for example, search a third-party account system (e.g., Facebook®) to determine which registered online game players are related via such a third-party system. In some embodiments, players may then be contacted and/or prompted to carry-over such third-party relationships into the gaming account system. In some embodiments, such third-party relationships may be determined by receiving a query and/or prompt from and/or via such a third-party system. A player may utilize a third-party account system to request and/or notify the gaming system of a third-party relationship between players, for example.
- According to some embodiments, the
method 800 may comprise determining that the players are in the same game session, at 804. With respect to a game such as an online game, a multiplayer game, a wagering game, a skill game, and/or any combinations thereof, for example, it may be determined that the related players are logged into, have joined, are registered for, and/or are playing in a particular game session (e.g., an instance of a game), game room, and/or on a particular game server. Player identifiers for players in a particular game session and/or room may be cross-references and/or checked, for example, to determine that two or more of the players are related. In some embodiments, the nature of the relationship may be determined. It may be determined, for example, that the players are related as a referring player (e.g., a “Sugar Daddy”) and a referred player (e.g., a “Sugar Buddy”), as social networking “friends” (and/or family), and/or as players selected by the system as being related (e.g., to incent such players to play together). According to some embodiments, such as in the case that more than two (2) related players are determined to be in the same session/room, it may be determined how many related players (and/or related players of certain tiers and/or classes) are in the same session/room (e.g., it may be determined that a single “Sugar Daddy” and two (2) “Sugar Buddies” are playing the same game session). - In some embodiments, the
method 800 may comprise determining a win by one of the players, at 806. The gaming system may, for example, determine that one or more conditions required for achieving a win condition (due to skill and/or chance) have been satisfied with respect to one or more players (e.g., as part of an execution of a game program and/or procedure). In some embodiments, the win may comprise an ultimate and/or concluding win for a game session. Such a win may be earned solely by a single winning player and/or team or may be distributed in some fashion amongst a subset of the highest ranking and/or top-rated players having finished and/or completed the game session. In some embodiments, the win may comprise an intermediate, non-final and/or non-conclusory, and/or other win and/or winning event and/or outcome. The win may comprise, for example, an achievement earned and/or obtained via game play in the game session such as a rate of play, number of “kills”, team cooperative-play points (and/or other team-based metrics), etc. In some embodiments, it may be determined that two (2) or more related players (e.g., two or more referral-related players) have achieved a winning condition. - According to some embodiments, the
method 800 may comprise rewarding the winning player based on the presence of the related player in the same game session, at 808. In some embodiments, the rewarding may be conducted in response to the determining of the win by the one of the players at 806. The winning player, for example, may be awarded a prize based on a successful completion of the game session and/or may receive an additional prize and/or consideration based on the presence of the related player(s) in the session that has been won. In some embodiments, a single prize may be awarded but may be selected (e.g., from a pool of available prizes) and/or defined (e.g., in terms of magnitude and/or type) based on the presence of the related player(s) in the same game session as the winning player. In some embodiments, such as in the case that the win comprises an intermediate win and/or an in-game achievement (e.g., as opposed to a conclusory and/or game session-ending win), an in-game bonus, feature, capability, and/or item may be selected and/or provided based on the achievement occurring in the presence of the related player(s). - In some embodiments, the rewarding may be conducted in response to the determining that the players are in the same game session at 804. One or more of the related players may be rewarded even in the absence of a win, for example, such as upon initiating play of the same game session, entering the same game room, and/or performing some joint action in the game session. According to some embodiments, the rewarding may be based on a number and/or type of related players in the same game session and/or room (and/or a number of related players that achieve one or more win conditions in the game session/room). A winning player having played with zero (0) related players in the same session may receive a default and/or standard prize, for example, while in the case that one (1) related player was present for the win (and/or during at least a portion of the game play of the session) a higher-magnitude and/or different prize may be awarded, and/or in the case that three (3) related players were present to “witness” the win an even higher-magnitude prize and/or different prize and/or prize type may be provided to the winning player. In some embodiments, certain numbers and/or combinations of relationship types may be promoted by enhancing awards for players playing in game sessions (and/or winning such game sessions) where such combinations occur.
- In some embodiments, the rewarding may occur after an initial game session in which it is determined (e.g., at 804) that the related players are present. Player lists from a first game session may influence and/or dictate or define game parameters (e.g., win amounts, bonus amounts, and/or progressive settings) for subsequent game sessions, for example. In some embodiments, such game parameter changes may take place in a given game room, server, and/or for a particular game type, class, and/or tournament and be applied to subsequent tournaments. In some embodiments, such changes may be effectuated regardless of whether the player list stays the same. The subsequent game session may, for example, have a different player composition (e.g., may not include the related players and/or the same related players) yet may nevertheless be altered based on the player composition from the previous session.
- Turning now to
FIG. 9A ,FIG. 9B ,FIG. 9C ,FIG. 9D , andFIG. 9E , example user interfaces 920 a-e according to some embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, the user interfaces 920 a-e may comprise one or more web pages, web forms, web browser plug-ins and/or add-ins, database entry forms, API tools, spreadsheets, tables, and/or applications or other GUI tools via which a user may participate in, conduct, and/or manage one or more online games. The user interfaces 920 a-e may, for example, comprise a front-end of an online gaming portal program and/or platform programmed and/or otherwise configured to execute, conduct, and/or facilitate themethod 800 ofFIG. 8 and/or portions or combinations thereof described herein. In some embodiments, the user interfaces 920 a-e may be output via a computerized and/or electronic device such as one or more of the player and/or user devices 102 a-n, 202 a-n, 302 a-b, 402, 502 and/or the servers and/orcontroller devices FIG. 1 ,FIG. 2 ,FIG. 3 ,FIG. 4 , and/orFIG. 5 herein. - According to some embodiments, and referring specifically to
FIG. 9A , afirst user interface 920 a may comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields. In some embodiments, thefirst user interface 920 a may be configured and/or organized to provide a user (e.g., a player and/or customer) with information related to an online game. In the examplefirst user interface 920 a ofFIG. 9A , for example, thefirst interface 920 a may indicate that the information provided via thefirst interface 920 a is descriptive of aparticular bingo game 960 a (e.g., a “90 Ball Bingo—Bingo Royale” and/or “Game No. 3765854013”). Theparticular bingo game 960 a may, for example, comprise a particular game session, a particular game “room”, a particular game tournament, and/or may otherwise specifically and/or uniquely identify a particular instance of a game, game type, and/or game activity. In some embodiments, thefirst user interface 920 a may display information descriptive of theparticular bingo game 960 a such as a ball indicator 960 a-1 and/or a groupRAF win indicator 966 a. - The ball indicator 960 a-1 may, for example, represent a progression of the
particular bingo game 960 a (e.g., sixty-five (65) balls out of a total ninety (90) balls have been drawn/played) and/or the groupRAF win indicator 966 a may represent and/or convey potential winnings (e.g., a pay table) based on how many related players—e.g., “Buddies”—are joined and/or playing in theparticular bingo game 960 a. As depicted, for example, the groupRAF win indicator 966 a may convey that the potential win amount is two hundred (200) units (e.g., dollars, pounds, points) in the case that one (1) “Buddy” is in theparticular bingo game 960 a (e.g., the “same” game/game session/room that the user of thefirst interface 920 a is joined and/or playing in), the potential win amount is increased to two hundred and fifty (250) units in the case that two (2) “Buddies” are in theparticular bingo game 960 a, and/or the potential win amount is increased to two hundred and seventy-five (275) units in the case that three (3) or more “Buddies” are in theparticular bingo game 960 a. - In some embodiments, the
first interface 920 a may provide an indication of the current player/user 970 a (e.g., a screen name and/or other identifier) and/or an indication of a total number ofplayers 972 a. In some embodiments, the total number ofplayers 972 a may comprise a total number of players that are online and/or otherwise available to play, a total number of registered players (e.g., players having accounts), and/or a total number of players in a lobby and/or room associated with theparticular bingo game 960 a. In some embodiments, thefirst interface 920 a may provide achat interface 974 a via which thecurrent player 970 a may initiate and/or conduct communications (e.g., textual and/or otherwise) with any or all of the players from the total number ofplayers 972 a (e.g., certain groups of players, certain selected players, etc.). - According to some embodiments, the
first interface 920 a may provide an indication of a number ofrelated players 976 a associated with theparticular bingo game 960 a. Therelated players 976 a may, for example, comprise referral and/or friend players that have joined a particular game room in and/or via which theparticular bingo game 960 a is conducted and/or that have joined in and/or are playing theparticular bingo game 960 a. As depicted by the indication of therelated players 976 a inFIG. 9A , there may be two (2)related players 976 a associated with theparticular bingo game 960 a, which may, for example, qualify thecurrent player 970 a for the mid-rangegroup RAF bonus 966 a of two hundred and fifty (250) units. In some embodiments, thefirst interface 920 a may comprise aninvite button 978 a. Theinvite button 978 a may be utilized by thecurrent player 970 a, for example, to invite one or more players from the total number ofplayers 972 a to play in theparticular bingo game 960 a. In the case that such an invited player comprises arelated player 976 a, thecurrent player 970 a may then qualify for the highestgroup RAF bonus 966 a of two hundred and seventy-five (275) units (i.e., having achieved three (3) or more “Buddies”/related players in the sameparticular bingo game 960 a—presuming the invite is accepted by the “Buddy”). - In some embodiments, the
first interface 920 a may comprise a portion indicating information descriptive of a subsequent and/ornext game session 980 a. Thefirst interface 920 a may display, for example, a timer 980 a-1 displaying the amount of time until thenext game session 980 a starts may be provided, for example, a total number oftickets 982 a (e.g., entries, credits, health, buy-in, etc.) currently purchased for thenext game session 980 a, and/or a total number of “Sugar Buddies” 984 a currently registered for thenext game session 980 a. In some embodiments, thefirst interface 920 a may comprise apurchase button 986 a that allows thecurrent player 970 a (and/or user of thefirst interface 920 a) to manage the amount of tickets (credits, wagers, etc.) that thecurrent player 970 a (and/or user) has dedicated and/or committed to thenext game session 980 a. - According to some embodiments, the
first interface 920 a may comprise amini-game portion 990 a. Themini-game portion 990 a may provide, for example, a second and/or secondary game via thefirst interface 920 a (e.g., a second game provided via a single game room). In some embodiments, themini-game portion 990 a may provide a secondary game that is distinct from theparticular bingo game 960 a (such that, for example, results from themini-game portion 990 a do not affect results from theparticular bingo game 960 a). According to some embodiments, themini-game portion 990 a may provide a secondary game that is related to theparticular bingo game 960 a (such that, for example, results from themini-game portion 990 a affect results from theparticular bingo game 960 a). According to some embodiments, themini-game portion 990 a may also or alternatively by affected by the number ofrelated players 976 a. - In some embodiments, and referring specifically to
FIG. 9B , asecond user interface 920 b may also or alternatively comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields. In some embodiments, thesecond user interface 920 b may comprise a gametype selection portion 922 b via which one or more tabs and/or other graphical representations that may be interfaced with (e.g., via user input/selections) to select a particular type of game that is desired. In some embodiments, thesecond user interface 920 b may list a plurality ofavailable game rooms 960 b (e.g., the “Top Games”, as depicted in the example ofFIG. 9B , and/or other list categories such as based on game and/or room characteristics, user preferences, “favorites”, etc.). In some embodiments, a user may select one or more of theavailable game rooms 960 b to enter and/or play in via one or more “Play”buttons 960 b-1. - According to some embodiments, the
second user interface 920 b may display (e.g., for each of theavailable game rooms 960 b) aprice 962 b-1, a maximum 962 b-2 (e.g., number of players, wager size, number of wagers, etc.), aprogressive amount 964 b, a jackpot or winamount 968 b, and/or a total number ofplayers 972 b (e.g., currently joined in, registered for, and/or playing in the particularavailable game room 960 b). In some embodiments, thesecond user interface 920 b may provide an indication of a number of “Buddies” 976 b-1 in each of theavailable game rooms 960 b. - In some embodiments, the
second user interface 920 b may provide an indication of “Friends” 976 b-2, “Sugar Buddies” 976 b-3, and/or “Buddies” 976 b-4. Different categories, tiers, and/or types of relationships may exist, for example, between a player and one or more other players and/or groups of players. “Friends” 976 b-2 may comprise a first and/or basic tier of related players, for example, while “Sugar Buddies” 976 b-3 and/or “Buddies” 976 b-4 may comprise secondary and/or more specific and/or particular types of sub-relationships amongst the “Friends” 976 b-2. “Sugar Buddies” 976 b-3, for example, may comprise “Friends” 976-2 (and/or others) that have been referred by a first player (e.g., a “Sugar Daddy” and/or a current user of thesecond user interface 920 b). In some embodiments, bonuses, win amounts, and/or other game parameters may be based on (or altered based on) whether a “Friend” 976 b-2, “Sugar Buddy” 97 b-3, and/or “Buddy” 976 b-4 (and/or based on a number of such related players) is playing in the sameavailable game room 960 b as a first player/user. In some embodiments, such as to facilitate play of a game with one or more related players, a “Join Game”button 960 b-2 may be provided that allows quick and easy access to theavailable game room 960 b in which a particular related player (and/or group thereof) is playing. As depicted inFIG. 9B , group RAF bonuses (and/or other game parameters) based on referred players may be limited to a particular time window, such as for a particular period after a referral (and/or qualifying event) occurs. - According to some embodiments, and referring specifically to
FIG. 9C , athird user interface 920 c may also or alternatively comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields. In some embodiments, thethird user interface 920 c may comprise a listing ofgames 960 c and/or may provide amenu 922 c via whichparticular game rooms 960 c-1 may be selected. In some embodiments, themenu 922 c may be associated with and/or tied to one or morerelated players 976 c-2 (e.g., “Friends”, “Sugar Buddies”, etc.). Themenu 922 c may, for example, provide aninvite button 978 c that causes an invitation to be sent to one or more selectedrelated players 976 c-2 (the selection of which is not explicitly shown inFIG. 9C ). In such a manner, for example, a user may quickly and easily invite arelated player 976 c-2 to aparticular game room 960 c-1 (e.g., to gain an opportunity for the user (and/or friend, buddy, etc.) to qualify for a group RAF bonus and/or other special related player parameter and/or benefit). - In some embodiments, and referring specifically to
FIG. 9D , afourth user interface 920 d may also or alternatively comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields. In some embodiments, thefourth user interface 920 d may comprise an indication of aparticular game room 960 d (e.g., “Game No. 1439286572”). Within theparticular game room 960 d (e.g., represented by thefourth user interface 920 d) game sessions may be initiated, played, and/or concluded in a serial fashion. In some embodiments, a subsequent or next game session may be indicated by atimer 980 d-1. Thefourth user interface 920 d may, for example, display aticket counter 982 d for the next session and/or provide aticket purchase button 986 d that permits a user of thefourth user interface 920 d to purchase tickets for the next session. In some embodiments, thefourth user interface 920 d may provide an indication that acurrent player 970 d has received aninvite 976 d from another player (e.g., a friend, buddy, referral, etc.). In some embodiments, thefourth user interface 920 d may provide a “Play Together”button 960 d-1 that allows the user (e.g., thecurrent player 970 d) to accept theinvite 976 d and join the other player in the indicated game room/session. In the example ofFIG. 9D , theinvite 976 d to “Bingo Room 4” may have been initiated by a player/user via themenu 922 c and/or theinvite button 978 c of thethird user interface 920 c ofFIG. 9C (e.g., where “Bingo Room 4” is indicted as being selected as a room to which to invite one or more other players). - According to some embodiments, and referring specifically to
FIG. 9E , afifth user interface 920 e may also or alternatively comprise one or more tabs and/or other segmented and/or logical-presented data forms and/or fields. In some embodiments, thefifth user interface 920 e may represent activity and/or results of a particularbingo game session 960 e. Thefifth user interface 920 e may display a bingo ball history 960 e-1 of the particularbingo game session 960 e, for example, and/or may indicate other game result and/or characteristic data. Thefifth user interface 920 e may, in some embodiments, indicate to aparticular player 970 e (i) a total number of players 972 e-1 in the particularbingo game session 960 e, (ii) a winner 972 e-2 of the particularbingo game session 960 e or a previous session, (iii) a bonus prize winner 972 e-3 of the particularbingo game session 960 e or a previous session, and/or (iii) details of a winingpayout 968 e. The winningpayout 968 e may comprise an actual payout or an estimated (e.g., maximum or best-case scenario) payout for the particularbingo game session 960 e (and/or an upcoming session). In some embodiments, the winningpayout 968 e may comprise a first win portion 968 e-1 (e.g., a “Full House” payout), a second win portion 968 e-2 (e.g., a “Two Lines” payout), a third win portion 968 e-3 (e.g., a “One Line” payout), agroup RAF bonus 966 e, and/or may indicate a total win amount 968 e-4 (e.g., all “standard” game payouts plus thegroup RAF bonus 966 e). As depicted inFIG. 9E , thegroup RAF bonus 966 e may be based on a number of related players (e.g., group RAF players; upstream and/or downstream referral players). - While the example user interfaces 920 a-e are depicted herein with respect to a specific example of a bond product portal, other products, portals, searches, and/or other functionalities may be provided in accordance with some embodiments. While the depicted underwriting product comprises a bond product, for example, other underwriting products such as insurance and/or surety products may also or alternatively be utilized by and/or incorporated into the user interfaces 920 a-e.
- While various components of the interfaces 920 a-e of
FIG. 9A ,FIG. 9B ,FIG. 9C ,FIG. 9D , andFIG. 9E have been described with respect to certain labels, layouts, headings, titles, and/or configurations, these features have been presented for reference and example only. Other labels, layouts, headings, titles, and/or configurations may be implemented without deviating from the scope of embodiments herein. Similarly, while a certain number of tabs, information screens, form fields, and/or data entry options have been presented, variations thereof may be practiced in accordance with some embodiments. - Turning to
FIG. 10 , a block diagram of an apparatus 1000 according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may be similar in configuration and/or functionality to any of the player and/or user devices 102 a-n, 202 a-n, 302 a-b, 402, 502 and/or the servers and/orcontroller devices FIG. 1 ,FIG. 2 ,FIG. 3 ,FIG. 4 , and/orFIG. 5 herein, and/or may otherwise comprise a portion of thesystems FIG. 1 ,FIG. 2 ,FIG. 3 ,FIG. 4 , and/orFIG. 5 herein. The apparatus 1000 may, for example, execute, process, facilitate, and/or otherwise be associated with themethod 800 described in conjunction withFIG. 8 herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may comprise aprocessing device 1012, aninput device 1014, anoutput device 1016, acommunication device 1018, amemory device 1040, and/or acooling device 1050. According to some embodiments, any or all of thecomponents more components components - According to some embodiments, the
processing device 1012 may be or include any type, quantity, and/or configuration of electronic and/or computerized processor that is or becomes known. Theprocessing device 1012 may comprise, for example, an Intel® IXP 2800 network processor or an Intel® XEON™ Processor coupled with an Intel® E7501 chipset. In some embodiments, theprocessing device 1012 may comprise multiple inter-connected processors, microprocessors, and/or micro-engines. According to some embodiments, the processing device 1012 (and/or the apparatus 1000 and/or portions thereof) may be supplied power via a power supply (not shown) such as a battery, an Alternating Current (AC) source, a Direct Current (DC) source, an AC/DC adapter, solar cells, and/or an inertial generator. In the case that the apparatus 1000 comprises a server such as a blade server, necessary power may be supplied via a standard AC outlet, power strip, surge protector, a PDU, and/or Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) device. - In some embodiments, the
input device 1014 and/or theoutput device 1016 are communicatively coupled to the processing device 1012 (e.g., via wired and/or wireless connections and/or pathways) and they may generally comprise any types or configurations of input and output components and/or devices that are or become known, respectively. Theinput device 1014 may comprise, for example, a keyboard that allows an operator of the apparatus 1000 to interface with the apparatus 1000 (e.g., by a player, such as to participate in an online game session as described herein). In some embodiments, theinput device 1014 may comprise a sensor configured to provide information such as player relationships to the apparatus 1000 and/or theprocessing device 1012. Theoutput device 1016 may, according to some embodiments, comprise a display screen and/or other practicable output component and/or device. Theoutput device 1016 may, for example, provide a game interface (not explicitly shown inFIG. 10 ; e.g., the interfaces 920 a-e ofFIG. 9A ,FIG. 9B ,FIG. 9C ,FIG. 9D , andFIG. 9E ) to a player (e.g., via a website). According to some embodiments, theinput device 1014 and/or theoutput device 1016 may comprise and/or be embodied in a single device such as a touch-screen monitor. - In some embodiments, the
communication device 1018 may comprise any type or configuration of communication device that is or becomes known or practicable. Thecommunication device 1018 may, for example, comprise a network interface card (NIC), a telephonic device, a cellular network device, a router, a hub, a modem, and/or a communications port or cable. In some embodiments, thecommunication device 1018 may be coupled to provide data to a player device (not shown inFIG. 10 ), such as in the case that the apparatus 1000 is utilized to provide a game interface to a player as described herein. Thecommunication device 1018 may, for example, comprise a cellular telephone network transmission device that sends signals indicative of game interface components to customer and/or subscriber handheld, mobile, and/or telephone device. According to some embodiments, thecommunication device 1018 may also or alternatively be coupled to theprocessing device 1012. In some embodiments, thecommunication device 1018 may comprise an IR, RF, Bluetooth™, and/or Wi-Fi® network device coupled to facilitate communications between theprocessing device 1012 and another device (such as a player device and/or a third-party device). - The
memory device 1040 may comprise any appropriate information storage device that is or becomes known or available, including, but not limited to, units and/or combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., a hard disk drive), optical storage devices, and/or semiconductor memory devices such as RAM devices, Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, Single Data Rate Random Access Memory (SDR-RAM), Double Data Rate Random Access Memory (DDR-RAM), and/or Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM). Thememory device 1040 may, according to some embodiments, store one or more of game instructions 1042-1 and/or interface instructions 1042-2. In some embodiments, the game instructions 1042-1 and/or the interface instructions 1042-2 may be utilized by theprocessing device 1012 to provide output information via theoutput device 1016 and/or thecommunication device 1018. - According to some embodiments, the game instructions 1042-1 may be operable to cause the
processing device 1012 to process player data 1044-1, game data 1044-2, tournament data 1044-3, and/or prize data 1044-4. Player data 1044-1, game data 1044-2, tournament data 1044-3, and/or prize data 1044-4 received via theinput device 1014 and/or thecommunication device 1018 may, for example, be analyzed, sorted, filtered, decoded, decompressed, ranked, scored, plotted, and/or otherwise processed by theprocessing device 1012 in accordance with the game instructions 1042-1. In some embodiments, player data 1044-1, game data 1044-2, tournament data 1044-3, and/or prize data 1044-4 may be fed by theprocessing device 1012 through one or more mathematical and/or statistical formulas and/or models in accordance with the game instructions 1042-1 to provide online game session, identify and/or manage player relationships, and/or provide “play-together” incentives such as group RAF rewards, in accordance with embodiments described herein. - In some embodiments, the interface instructions 1042-2 may be operable to cause the
processing device 1012 to process player data 1044-1, game data 1044-2, tournament data 1044-3, and/or prize data 1044-4. Player data 1044-1, game data 1044-2, tournament data 1044-3, and/or prize data 1044-4 received via theinput device 1014 and/or thecommunication device 1018 may, for example, be analyzed, sorted, filtered, decoded, decompressed, ranked, scored, plotted, and/or otherwise processed by theprocessing device 1012 in accordance with the interface instructions 1042-2. In some embodiments, player data 1044-1, game data 1044-2, tournament data 1044-3, and/or prize data 1044-4 may be fed by theprocessing device 1012 through one or more mathematical and/or statistical formulas and/or models in accordance with the interface instructions 1042-2 to provide one or more game interfaces (e.g., the interfaces 920 a-e ofFIG. 9A ,FIG. 9B ,FIG. 9C ,FIG. 9D , andFIG. 9E ) such as to provide group RAF rewards, in accordance with embodiments described herein. - Any or all of the exemplary instructions and data types described herein and other practicable types of data may be stored in any number, type, and/or configuration of memory devices that is or becomes known. The
memory device 1040 may, for example, comprise one or more data tables or files, databases, table spaces, registers, and/or other storage structures. In some embodiments, multiple databases and/or storage structures (and/or multiple memory devices 1040) may be utilized to store information associated with the apparatus 1000. According to some embodiments, thememory device 1040 may be incorporated into and/or otherwise coupled to the apparatus 1000 (e.g., as shown) or may simply be accessible to the apparatus 1000 (e.g., externally located and/or situated). - In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may comprise a
cooling device 1050. According to some embodiments, thecooling device 1050 may be coupled (physically, thermally, and/or electrically) to theprocessing device 1012 and/or to thememory device 1040. Thecooling device 1050 may, for example, comprise a fan, heat sink, heat pipe, radiator, cold plate, and/or other cooling component or device or combinations thereof, configured to remove heat from portions or components of the apparatus 1000. - Referring now to
FIG. 11A ,FIG. 11B ,FIG. 11C , andFIG. 11D , perspective diagrams of exemplary data storage devices 1140 a-d according to some embodiments are shown. The data storage devices 1140 a-d may, for example, be utilized to store instructions and/or data such as the game instructions 1042-1 and/or interface instructions 1042-2, each of which is described in reference toFIG. 10 herein. In some embodiments, instructions stored on the data storage devices 1140 a-d may, when executed by a processor (such as theprocessor device 1012 ofFIG. 11 ), cause the implementation of and/or facilitate themethod 800 described in conjunction withFIG. 8 , and/or portions thereof, as described herein. - According to some embodiments, the first
data storage device 1140 a may comprise a CD, CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-Ray™ Disc, and/or other type of optically-encoded disk and/or other computer-readable storage medium that is or becomes know or practicable. In some embodiments, the seconddata storage device 1140 b may comprise a USB keyfob, dongle, and/or other type of flash memory data storage device that is or becomes know or practicable. According to some embodiments, the thirddata storage device 1140 c may comprise RAM of any type, quantity, and/or configuration that is or becomes practicable and/or desirable. In some embodiments, the thirddata storage device 1140 c may comprise an off-chip cache such as a Level 2 (L2) or Level 3 (L3) cache memory device. According to some embodiments, the fourth data storage device 740 d may comprise an on-chip memory device such as a Level 1 (L1) cache memory device. - The data storage devices 1140 a-d may generally store program instructions, code, and/or modules that, when executed by an electronic and/or computerized processing device cause a particular machine to function in accordance with embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, the data storage devices 1140 a-d depicted in
FIG. 11A ,FIG. 11B ,FIG. 117C , andFIG. 11D are representative of a class and/or subset of computer-readable media that are defined herein as “computer-readable memory” (e.g., memory devices as opposed to transmission devices). While computer-readable media may include transitory media types, as utilized herein, the term computer-readable memory is limited to non-transitory computer-readable media. - In some embodiments, additional functionality related to group referrals may be provided. Various reports detailing referral relationships between players, expiration dates associated therewith, total increased bonus and/or win amounts attributable to such relationships, etc. may be provided to players and/or system operators. In some embodiments, game plays with related players and/or game plays without related players may be tracked, monitored, and/or reported on. A player may be notified, for example, of how much in group RAF bonuses has been forfeited due to not playing games and/or not playing games with related players. In some embodiments, games in which related players do play together may be analyzed to predict and/or determine appropriate and/or desired times (e.g., future games, game types, rooms, etc.) in and/or via which to provide targeted promotions to such players (e.g., to a group of RAF players and/or friends).
- The terms “computer-readable medium” and “computer-readable memory” refer to any medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read by a computer and/or a processor. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to non-volatile media, volatile media, and other specific types of transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media include DRAM, which typically constitutes the main memory. Other types of transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to the processor.
- Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, Digital Video Disc (DVD), any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, a USB memory stick, a dongle, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer can read. The terms “computer-readable medium” and/or “tangible media” specifically exclude signals, waves, and wave forms or other intangible or transitory media that may nevertheless be readable by a computer.
- Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in carrying sequences of instructions to a processor. For example, sequences of instruction (i) may be delivered from RAM to a processor, (ii) may be carried over a wireless transmission medium, and/or (iii) may be formatted according to numerous formats, standards or protocols. For a more exhaustive list of protocols, the term “network” is defined above and includes many exemplary protocols that are also applicable here.
- In some embodiments, one or more specialized machines such as a computerized processing device, a server, a remote terminal, and/or a customer device may implement the various practices described herein. A computer system of an gaming entity may, for example, comprise various specialized computers that interact to provide for online games as described herein
- The present disclosure provides, to one of ordinary skill in the art, an enabling description of several embodiments and/or inventions. Some of these embodiments and/or inventions may not be claimed in the present application, but may nevertheless be claimed in one or more continuing applications that claim the benefit of priority of the present application. Applicants intend to file additional applications to pursue patents for subject matter that has been disclosed and enabled but not claimed in the present application.
Claims (20)
1. A method of conducting an online multiplayer game, comprising:
determining, by a processing device, a first player of the online multiplayer game, the first player having a first player account;
determining, by the processing device, a second player of the online multiplayer game, the second player having a second player account;
determining, by the processing device, that the first player account and the second player account are related;
determining, by the processing device, that the first and second players are at least one of: (i) joined in the same particular session of the online multiplayer game; and (ii) actively playing in the particular session of the online multiplayer game; and
awarding, by the processing device and based on (a) the determining that the first player account and the second player account are related, and (b) the determining that the first and second players are at least one of: (i) joined in the same particular session of the online multiplayer game; and (ii) actively playing in the particular session of the online multiplayer game, and to at least one of the first and second players, at least one of a bonus and an award.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first player account and the second player account are related as result of the second player having created the second player account in response to a referral by the first player.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first player account and the second player account are related as result of an establishing of a “friend” relationship between the two accounts.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the bonus and the award comprises at least one of: (i) a feature; (ii) a characteristic; (iii) a power; (iv) an advantage, and (v) a capability, for the particular session of the online multiplayer game.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the processing device, that at least one of the first and second players is a winner of the particular session of the online multiplayer game.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the awarding is further based at least in part on the determining that at least one of the first and second players is the winner of the particular session of the online multiplayer game.
7. A method of conducting an online multiplayer game, comprising:
determining, by a processing device, a first player of the online multiplayer game, the first player having a first player account;
determining, by the processing device, a plurality of other players of the online multiplayer game, the plurality of players having a plurality of other player accounts;
determining, by the processing device, that the plurality of other player accounts is related to the first player account;
determining, by the processing device, that each player of the plurality of players are at least one of: (i) joined in the same particular session of the online multiplayer game; and (ii) actively playing in the particular session of the online multiplayer game; and
awarding, by the processing device and based on (a) the determining that that the plurality of other player accounts is related to the first player account, and (b) the determining that the each player of the plurality of players are at least one of: (i) joined in the same particular session of the online multiplayer game; and (ii) actively playing in the particular session of the online multiplayer game, and to at least one of (a) the first player and (b) each player of the plurality of players, at least one of a bonus and an award.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first player account and the plurality of other player accounts are related as result of each other player account of the plurality of other player accounts having been created in response to at least one referral by the first player.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first player account and the plurality of other player accounts are related as result of an establishing of a “friend” relationship between the first player account and each of the other player accounts of the plurality of other player accounts.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the at least one of the bonus and the award comprises at least one of: (i) a feature; (ii) a characteristic; (iii) a power; (iv) an advantage, and (v) a capability, for the particular session of the online multiplayer game.
11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
determining, by the processing device, that the plurality of players comprises all players that have registered as a player of the online multiplayer game as a result of a referral by the first player.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the awarding is further based at least in part on the determining that the plurality of players comprises all players that have registered as a player of the online multiplayer game as a result of a referral by the first player.
13. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
determining, by the processing device, that one of the players of the plurality of players is a winner of the particular session of the online multiplayer game.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the awarding is further based at least in part on the determining that one of the players of the plurality of players is a winner of the particular session of the online multiplayer game.
15. The method of claim 7 , wherein the at least one of the bonus and the award comprises a benefit having (i) a first value in the case that that the plurality of players does not comprise all players that have registered as a player of the online multiplayer game as a result of a referral by the first player, and (ii) a second value, greater than the first value, in the case that that the plurality of players comprises all players that have registered as a player of the online multiplayer game as a result of a referral by the first player.
16. A method of conducting an online multiplayer game, wherein completion of a session of the online multiplayer game results in an awarding of a prize to a winner of the online multiplayer game, comprising:
determining, by a processing device, a first player of the online multiplayer game;
determining, by the processing device, a second player of the online multiplayer game;
determining, by the processing device, that the second player has registered as a player of the online multiplayer game as a result of a referral by the first player;
determining, by the processing device, that the second player consummates a first action with respect to the online multiplayer game;
determining, by the processing device and based on the determining that second player consummates a first action with respect to the online multiplayer game, and to the first player, a first award having a first value;
determining, by the processing device, that the second player consummates a second action with respect to the online multiplayer game; and
awarding, by the processing device and based on the determining that second player consummates a second action with respect to the online multiplayer game, and to the first player, a second award having a second value different than the first value.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
awarding, by the processing device and based on the determining that second player consummates a first action with respect to the online multiplayer game, and to the first player, the first award having the first value.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first award and the second award are mutually exclusive.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first action comprises a visiting of a website and wherein the second action comprises at least one of: (i) a creating of a player account; (ii) a logging-in to the player account; (iii) a placing of a wager utilizing the player account; and (iv) a winning of a game utilizing the player account.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein at least one of the first and second awards comprises at least one of: (i) a feature; (ii) a characteristic; (iii) a power; (iv) an advantage, and (v) a capability, for the particular session of the online multiplayer game.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US14/513,196 US20150045114A1 (en) | 2012-05-03 | 2014-10-13 | Systems and methods for referral benefits |
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US201261642269P | 2012-05-03 | 2012-05-03 | |
US13/802,673 US8858322B2 (en) | 2012-05-03 | 2013-03-13 | Systems and methods for referral benefits |
US14/513,196 US20150045114A1 (en) | 2012-05-03 | 2014-10-13 | Systems and methods for referral benefits |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/802,673 Continuation US8858322B2 (en) | 2012-05-03 | 2013-03-13 | Systems and methods for referral benefits |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20150045114A1 true US20150045114A1 (en) | 2015-02-12 |
Family
ID=49512936
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/802,673 Active US8858322B2 (en) | 2012-05-03 | 2013-03-13 | Systems and methods for referral benefits |
US14/513,196 Abandoned US20150045114A1 (en) | 2012-05-03 | 2014-10-13 | Systems and methods for referral benefits |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/802,673 Active US8858322B2 (en) | 2012-05-03 | 2013-03-13 | Systems and methods for referral benefits |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US8858322B2 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2022125945A1 (en) * | 2020-12-11 | 2022-06-16 | Guardiangamer, Inc. | Monitored online experience systems and methods |
Families Citing this family (19)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20130344963A1 (en) * | 2012-06-22 | 2013-12-26 | Diwakar Gupta | Multiplayer synchronous gaming systems and methods |
US9842169B1 (en) * | 2012-08-03 | 2017-12-12 | Zynga Inc. | Actionable social news generator |
US20140080579A1 (en) * | 2012-09-17 | 2014-03-20 | Wms Gaming, Inc. | Rewarding Player Referrals in a Wagering Game |
US20140274356A1 (en) * | 2013-03-13 | 2014-09-18 | Userjoy Technology Co., Ltd. | Expandable online casino game system |
US20140357376A1 (en) * | 2013-05-31 | 2014-12-04 | Sudhir Kumar Rama Rao | Mobile player acquisition for computer-implemented games |
US10706437B2 (en) * | 2013-09-27 | 2020-07-07 | Gree, Inc. | Non-transitory computer-readable medium storing game program, game processing method, and information processing apparatus |
US20150142540A1 (en) * | 2013-11-21 | 2015-05-21 | Yyy Net Co., Ltd. | Application providing system with reward providing function |
CN105850091B (en) * | 2013-12-20 | 2018-12-28 | 瑞典爱立信有限公司 | For providing method, border networks device and the IP server of the connection between communication service providers and the IP server for providing service |
WO2015113009A1 (en) * | 2014-01-27 | 2015-07-30 | Gamesys Ltd | Bingo game system with bingo listener |
WO2015113008A1 (en) * | 2014-01-27 | 2015-07-30 | Gamesys Ltd | Bingo game servers, controllers, broadcasters, and systems |
US10086278B2 (en) * | 2014-01-27 | 2018-10-02 | Gamesys Ltd. | Bingo game system with bingo listener |
WO2015113010A1 (en) * | 2014-01-27 | 2015-07-30 | Gamesys Ltd | Systems, apparatus, and methods for a game utilizing a wheel with dynamically resizable game spaces |
US9993728B2 (en) * | 2014-01-27 | 2018-06-12 | Gamesys Ltd. | Bingo game system with bingo listener and subpool bonus feature |
GB2524465A (en) * | 2014-01-31 | 2015-09-30 | Pridefield Ltd | Systems and methods for networked bingo |
KR101756191B1 (en) * | 2014-05-16 | 2017-07-12 | 엔에이치엔엔터테인먼트 주식회사 | Management Server of Game Service and Provision Method of Game Service |
US10304290B2 (en) * | 2014-05-28 | 2019-05-28 | Gamesys Ltd. | Systems, apparatus and methods for slot-style games having a symbol locking feature |
US10463949B2 (en) | 2015-01-22 | 2019-11-05 | Video Gaming Technologies, Inc. | System and method for presenting a game of chance with a progressive jackpot |
GB2548320A (en) * | 2016-01-25 | 2017-09-20 | Pridefield Ltd | Networked bingo with supplementary win features |
US11138833B2 (en) * | 2019-10-01 | 2021-10-05 | Igt | Gaming system and method for offering social media activity in association with wagering |
Family Cites Families (63)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5537314A (en) | 1994-04-18 | 1996-07-16 | First Marketrust Intl. | Referral recognition system for an incentive award program |
US6015344A (en) | 1996-04-05 | 2000-01-18 | Rlt Acquisition, Inc. | Prize redemption system for games |
US6206782B1 (en) | 1998-09-14 | 2001-03-27 | Walker Digital, Llc. | System and method for facilitating casino team play |
US6029141A (en) | 1997-06-27 | 2000-02-22 | Amazon.Com, Inc. | Internet-based customer referral system |
US6289318B1 (en) | 1998-03-24 | 2001-09-11 | Timothy P. Barber | Method and architecture for multi-level commissioned advertising on a computer network |
US6363356B1 (en) | 1998-07-16 | 2002-03-26 | Preview Software | Referrer-based system for try/buy electronic software distribution |
US6319122B1 (en) | 1998-12-31 | 2001-11-20 | Walker Digital, Llc | Electronic amusement device and method for providing payouts based on the activity of other devices |
US6859821B1 (en) | 1999-07-19 | 2005-02-22 | Groove Networks, Inc. | Method and apparatus for prioritizing data change requests and maintaining data consistency in a distributed computer system equipped for activity-based collaboration |
US7774229B1 (en) | 1999-08-09 | 2010-08-10 | R-Coupon.Com, Inc. | Methods of anti-spam marketing through personalized referrals and rewards |
US7240093B1 (en) | 2000-02-29 | 2007-07-03 | Microsoft Corporation | Use of online messaging to facilitate selection of participants in game play |
US7319975B2 (en) | 2000-07-24 | 2008-01-15 | Emergency 24, Inc. | Internet-based advertising and referral system |
US6446044B1 (en) | 2000-07-31 | 2002-09-03 | Luth Research Inc. | Multi-layer surveying systems and methods with multi-layer incentives |
US7584118B1 (en) | 2001-06-25 | 2009-09-01 | Oracle International Corporation | Methods and systems for electronic affiliate compensation |
US7412716B2 (en) | 2001-06-25 | 2008-08-12 | Jlb Ventures, Llc | Method and system for enabling visitors to subscribe to currently-viewed programming packages |
US7120797B2 (en) | 2002-04-24 | 2006-10-10 | Microsoft Corporation | Methods for authenticating potential members invited to join a group |
US7722458B2 (en) | 2002-10-21 | 2010-05-25 | Igt | Gaming device method and apparatus employing alternate payout features |
US20040097287A1 (en) | 2002-11-14 | 2004-05-20 | Richard Postrel | Method and system for gaming over a computer network |
US20050014558A1 (en) * | 2003-07-16 | 2005-01-20 | Estey Richard Craig | Method for improving a player tracking system to provide players a recruiting incentive |
US7401150B2 (en) | 2003-09-19 | 2008-07-15 | Wildtangent, Inc. | Joint consumption of content invitation methods and apparatus |
US7311608B1 (en) | 2003-10-31 | 2007-12-25 | Microsoft Corporation | Online game invitations using friends list |
US8306874B2 (en) | 2003-11-26 | 2012-11-06 | Buy.Com, Inc. | Method and apparatus for word of mouth selling via a communications network |
US7249064B1 (en) | 2004-01-16 | 2007-07-24 | Carmen Billy W | Method for consumer referral of products to retailers |
US9129476B2 (en) * | 2004-05-07 | 2015-09-08 | Scientific Games Holdings Limited | Method and apparatus for providing player incentives |
US8527319B2 (en) | 2004-10-22 | 2013-09-03 | Pure Crystal Co., Ltd. | Two-leg multilevel marketing organization construction system |
US7819749B1 (en) | 2004-12-21 | 2010-10-26 | Aol Inc. | Using a participant list to invite players to an on-line game |
WO2006099398A2 (en) | 2005-03-11 | 2006-09-21 | Gamelogic Inc. | System and method for rewarding game players |
US20060264257A1 (en) * | 2005-03-31 | 2006-11-23 | Jaffe Joel R | Gaming machine having gaming loyalty features |
GB0522079D0 (en) * | 2005-10-29 | 2005-12-07 | Griffin Ian | Mobile game or program distribution |
US8317618B2 (en) | 2005-12-15 | 2012-11-27 | At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp | System, method and computer program for enabling an interactive game |
US8041343B2 (en) | 2006-02-23 | 2011-10-18 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Apparatus and methods for incentivized superdistribution of content |
US20070225070A1 (en) | 2006-03-24 | 2007-09-27 | Zahorik Michael A | Method of facilitating participation in on-line, multi-player role playing games |
US20070244757A1 (en) * | 2006-03-27 | 2007-10-18 | Brett Walter | Automated system and method for advertising, utilizing an online sweepstakes |
US20070294088A1 (en) * | 2006-05-31 | 2007-12-20 | Big Fish Games, Inc | Network Service Recruitment Architecture |
US20070294175A1 (en) * | 2006-05-31 | 2007-12-20 | Big Fish Games, Inc | Operation of a Network Service Recruitment Architecture |
US20070294174A1 (en) * | 2006-05-31 | 2007-12-20 | Big Fish Games, Inc. | Electronic Greeting Recruitment Architecture |
US7689302B2 (en) | 2006-06-13 | 2010-03-30 | Igt | Server based gaming system and method for selectively providing one or more different tournaments |
US7958368B2 (en) | 2006-07-14 | 2011-06-07 | Microsoft Corporation | Password-authenticated groups |
US8075387B2 (en) | 2006-10-06 | 2011-12-13 | Scientific Games International, Inc. | Multiplier for lottery game |
US8078608B2 (en) | 2007-01-08 | 2011-12-13 | Chacha Search, Inc. | Method and system for promotion of a search service |
US20080207297A1 (en) | 2007-02-28 | 2008-08-28 | Gregory Zilba | Computer-based poker card game |
US8180680B2 (en) | 2007-04-16 | 2012-05-15 | Jeffrey Leventhal | Method and system for recommending a product over a computer network |
US7664726B2 (en) | 2007-06-25 | 2010-02-16 | Microsoft Corporation | Influence based rewards for word-of-mouth advertising ecosystems |
US8403748B2 (en) * | 2007-08-20 | 2013-03-26 | Wms Gaming, Inc. | Presenting and controlling wagering game play |
US8073906B2 (en) | 2007-08-24 | 2011-12-06 | Microsoft Corporation | Inviting a conferencing unaware endpoint to a conference |
US7912751B1 (en) | 2007-08-27 | 2011-03-22 | Haytham Issa Allos | System and method for customer loyalty system utilizing referrals |
US8128487B2 (en) | 2007-10-15 | 2012-03-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Compensating participants of virtual environments |
US8161106B2 (en) | 2007-10-30 | 2012-04-17 | Microsoft Corporation | Supporting serendipitous group interaction based on user activities |
US8515807B2 (en) | 2007-12-06 | 2013-08-20 | Motherlode Network | Methods and systems for retail customer referral compensation programs |
US7953644B2 (en) | 2007-12-27 | 2011-05-31 | Timothy C. Tracey | Networking system for referrals |
US7689700B2 (en) | 2008-01-08 | 2010-03-30 | Microsoft Corporation | Configuration of a peer group |
US8234193B2 (en) | 2008-03-03 | 2012-07-31 | Wildfire Interactive, Inc. | Method and system for providing online promotions through a social network-based platform |
US8206224B2 (en) | 2008-05-22 | 2012-06-26 | Sony Online Entertainment Llc | User created content and quests |
US8506395B2 (en) * | 2008-07-18 | 2013-08-13 | Wms Gaming, Inc. | Communicating wagering game information using mesh networks |
EP2335790B1 (en) | 2008-10-08 | 2022-06-15 | Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. | Game control program, game device, game server and method for controlling game |
US20100203935A1 (en) | 2009-01-21 | 2010-08-12 | Open Sports Network, Inc. | Method and system for conducting an online fantasy game |
WO2011082242A1 (en) | 2009-12-29 | 2011-07-07 | Hardy Dow K | System and method for controlling online awards activity |
US8504423B2 (en) | 2010-08-27 | 2013-08-06 | Snap Services, Llc | Social network appreciation platform |
US9707486B1 (en) | 2011-02-25 | 2017-07-18 | Zynga Inc. | Apparatus, method and system for crew mechanics in multiplayer games |
US8328643B1 (en) | 2011-09-26 | 2012-12-11 | Zynga Inc. | Crew creation for quest progression |
US8771080B2 (en) * | 2011-06-30 | 2014-07-08 | Zynga Inc. | Socially-mediated flash sales |
US8533015B2 (en) | 2011-09-01 | 2013-09-10 | Dennis Meegan | Method and system for creating electronic business referrals with cloud computing |
US8554836B1 (en) | 2012-06-04 | 2013-10-08 | Google Inc. | Sharing software applications |
US9652936B2 (en) * | 2012-08-27 | 2017-05-16 | Gamesys, Ltd. | Methods and systems for rewarding friends of a player based on bonus qualifying condition triggered by player |
-
2013
- 2013-03-13 US US13/802,673 patent/US8858322B2/en active Active
-
2014
- 2014-10-13 US US14/513,196 patent/US20150045114A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2022125945A1 (en) * | 2020-12-11 | 2022-06-16 | Guardiangamer, Inc. | Monitored online experience systems and methods |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US8858322B2 (en) | 2014-10-14 |
US20130296060A1 (en) | 2013-11-07 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US8858322B2 (en) | Systems and methods for referral benefits | |
US9652930B2 (en) | Systems, methods, and apparatus for a bingo game having special ball functions | |
US20130331968A1 (en) | Systems and methods for tournament modifiers | |
US20190188946A1 (en) | Systems, apparatus, and methods for a game utilizing a wheel with dynamically resizable game spaces | |
US10319196B2 (en) | Systems and methods for slot-style games | |
US10304290B2 (en) | Systems, apparatus and methods for slot-style games having a symbol locking feature | |
US9317991B2 (en) | Systems, methods, and apparatus for providing a bingo game having a sharing feature | |
US20190295359A1 (en) | Systems, methods, and apparatus for bingo games having a visible ball queue | |
US11138840B2 (en) | Systems and methods for associating game symbols | |
US20150213672A1 (en) | Bingo game servers, controllers, broadcasters, and systems | |
US10086278B2 (en) | Bingo game system with bingo listener | |
US20160071369A1 (en) | Systems and methods for detection and management of fraudulent or collusive poker game play | |
US10147278B2 (en) | Systems and methods for mobile device interface modification | |
US9993728B2 (en) | Bingo game system with bingo listener and subpool bonus feature | |
US10803705B2 (en) | Systems and methods for dynamic wagering | |
US9508229B2 (en) | Systems and methods for bingo-style games | |
US20160027246A1 (en) | Systems and methods for detection of gaming experience management implementations | |
US10744398B2 (en) | Systems and methods for a table game using a special deck of cards and a conventional deck of cards | |
US20150087375A1 (en) | Systems and methods for player allocation | |
US9576429B2 (en) | Systems and methods for site-wide jackpots | |
US20140370961A1 (en) | Systems and methods for a bonus game |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: GAMESYS LTD., UNITED KINGDOM Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:HAYDEN, NOEL THOMAS JOHN;REEVES, ROBESON MANDELA;MONDEN, RAJKO;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20130717 TO 20140812;REEL/FRAME:051769/0124 |