Acquiring people

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for displaying to a user, names associated with a plurality of real persons, wherein each person can be acquired by the user at a respective monetary value, displaying to the user a value of an account, receiving from the user a request to acquire a person, responsive to the request, reducing the value of the account by a monetary value of the acquired person, and displaying to the user the name of the acquired person.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising,
 displaying by one or more servers to a user a list of names associated with a plurality of real persons, wherein each person can be acquired by the user at a respective monetary value, and wherein multiple different users can acquire the same person;   displaying by the one or more servers to the user a portfolio of persons acquired by the user;   displaying by the one or more servers to the user a value of an account, wherein the value of the account represents virtual currency;   receiving by the one or more servers from the user a request to acquire another person from the displayed list of names;   responsive to the request:
 reducing by the one or more servers the value of the account by a monetary value of the another person; and 
 adding by the one or more servers the another person to the portfolio; and 
   displaying by the one or more servers to the user the portfolio of persons acquired by the user, wherein the displayed portfolio includes the another person.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to an action by the user, removing an acquired person from the portfolio and increasing the value of the account. 
     
     
         3 . An apparatus comprising,
 one or more processors; and   a tangible computer readable medium having one or more programs stored thereon that when executed by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to:   display to a user a list of names associated with a plurality of real persons, wherein each person can be acquired by the user at a respective monetary value, and wherein multiple different users can acquire the same person;   display to the user a portfolio of persons acquired by the user;   display to the user a value of an account, wherein the value of the account represents virtual currency;   receive from the user a request to acquire another person from the displayed list of names;   responsive to the request:
 reduce the value of the account by a monetary value of the another person; and 
 add the another person to the portfolio; and 
   display to the user the portfolio of persons acquired by the user, wherein the displayed portfolio includes the another person.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the one or more processors to:
 responsive to an action by the user, remove an acquired person from the portfolio and increasing the value of the account.   
     
     
         5 . A method comprising,
 displaying by one or more servers to a user, names associated with a plurality of real persons, wherein each person can be acquired by the user at a respective monetary value;   displaying by the one or more servers to the user a value of an account;   receiving by the one or more servers from the user a request to acquire a person;   responsive to the request, reducing by the one or more servers the value of the account by a monetary value of the acquired person; and   displaying by the one or more servers to the user the name of the acquired person.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising displaying to the user a list of names of persons acquired by the user. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising displaying to the user a list of names of persons acquired by the user and a monetary value at which the respective person was acquired. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising adding the acquired person to a portfolio of persons acquired by the user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising, responsive to an action by the user, removing the acquired person from the portfolio and increasing the value of the account. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the value of the account represents virtual currency. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein multiple different users can acquire the same person. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more servers determine, at least in part, the monetary value at which the user acquires the acquired person. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the monetary value at which the user acquires the acquired person is based at least in part on data about the person. 
     
     
         14 . An apparatus comprising,
 one or more processors; and   a tangible computer readable medium having one or more programs stored thereon that when executed by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to:   display to a user, names associated with a plurality of real persons, wherein each person can be acquired by the user at a respective monetary value;   display to the user a value of an account;   receive from the user a request to acquire a person;   responsive to the request, reduce the value of the account by a monetary value of the acquired person; and   display to the user the name of the acquired person.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the one or more processors to display to the user a list of names of persons acquired by the user. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the one or more processors to display to the user a list of names of persons acquired by the user and a monetary value at which the respective person was acquired. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the one or more processors to add the acquired person to a portfolio of persons acquired by the user. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the one or more processors to:
 responsive to an action by the user, remove the acquired person from the portfolio and increasing the value of the account.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the value of the account represents virtual currency. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein multiple different users can acquire the same person. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the apparatus determines, at least in part, the monetary value at which the user acquires the acquired person. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the monetary value at which the user acquires the acquired person is based at least in part on data about the person.