Management of payment obligations among players

Abstract

In a video game different players can enter contracts and engage in various simple or complex financial transactions employing credit systems such as credit cards, other financial instruments and other mechanisms to facilitate the enforcement of such contracts. Default on agreements by players or player characters can result in financial penalties which the video game system can apply.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by a computer, the method comprising:
 providing, by a Video Game Central Server, a virtual environment that is accessible to one or more players;   receiving, by the Video Game Central Server, an identifier of a real world financial account from a player;   maintaining, by the Video Game Central Server, the identifier of the real world financial account in a player account associated with the player;   receiving, by the Video Game Central Server, a request to incur a financial obligation from the player;   providing, by the Video Game Central Server, the player with the option to satisfy the financial obligation with virtual funds or real world funds providing, by the Video Game Central Server, the player with a virtual price for the financial obligation, wherein the virtual price indicates the cost of the financial obligation in virtual funds;   providing, by the Video Game Central Server, the player with a real world price for the financial obligation, wherein the real world price indicates the cost of the financial obligation in real world funds; and   periodically determining, by the Video Game Central Server, whether the real world financial account can cover the financial obligation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining that the player does not have sufficient virtual funds to cover the virtual price; and 
 penalizing the player. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein penalizing the player comprises
 using the identifier of the real world financial account to receive real world funds to cover the financial obligation. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein
 the identifier of the real world financial account includes a credit card number and further comprising 
 charging the real world fee to the credit card. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2  wherein penalizing the player comprises
 altering an appearance of a player character associated with the player. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising
 using, by the Video Game Central Server, the identifier of the real world financial account to obtain real world funds in order to satisfy the financial obligation. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising
 locking, by the Video Game Central Server, the real world price on the credit card. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising
 using, by the Video Game Central Server, the identifier of the real world financial account to determine if the player has sufficient real world funds to cover the financial obligation. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising
 determining that the player does not have sufficient real world funds to cover the real world financial obligation; and 
 penalizing, by the Video Game Central Server, the player. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein penalizing the player comprises
 suspending the player's account. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein penalizing the player comprises
 liquidating one or more virtual assets owned by the player. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising
 distributing, by the Video Game Central Server, the proceeds of the liquidation to creditors associated with the financial obligation. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein, if proceeds of the liquidation are not sufficient to cover the financial obligation owed to the creditors, the method further comprises distributing, by the Video Game Central Server, the proceeds of the liquidation in ratio to the obligation for each creditor compared to the total outstanding balance. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein, if proceeds of the liquidation are not sufficient to cover the financial obligation owed to the creditors, the method further comprises distributing, by the Video Game Central Server, the proceeds of the liquidation in a priority order. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the method further comprises
 receiving, by the Video Game Central Server, payment from a creditor for the right to become a priority creditor. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the payment is received at the time the player incurs the financial obligation. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising
 determining, by the Video Game Central Server, the priority order based on the date the financial obligation was incurred. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising
 determining, by the Video Game Central Server, that the real world financial account cannot cover the financial obligation; and 
 giving, by the Video Game Central Server, the player a warning. 
 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and   a tangible computer readable medium in communication with the processor;   in which the tangible computer readable medium stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, direct the processor to
 provide a virtual environment that is accessible to one or more players; 
 receive an identifier of the real world financial account from a player; 
 maintain the identifier of the real world financial account in a player account associated with the player; 
 receive a request to incur a financial obligation from the player; 
 provide the player with the option to satisfy the financial obligation with virtual funds or real world funds 
 provide the player with a virtual price for the financial obligation, wherein the virtual price indicates the cost of the financial obligation in virtual funds; 
 provide the player with a real world price for the financial obligation, wherein the real world price indicates the cost of the financial obligation in real world funds; and 
 periodically determining whether the real world financial account can cover the financial obligation. 
   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , in which
 the identifier of the real world financial account includes a credit card number, and in which the tangible computer readable medium stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, direct the processor to   determine that the player does not have sufficient virtual funds to cover the virtual price;   use the credit card number to receive real world funds to cover the financial obligation;   determine that the real world financial account cannot cover the financial obligation; and   give the player a warning.