Gaming System Extra Award Feature for Return Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gaming systems lack an efficient method to provide non-linear adjustments to the average expected return for players without modifying the underlying game components.
Innovation Solution
A gaming system that includes a processor and a memory device storing instructions to communicate data for displaying randomly determined outcomes, determining base awards, and providing extra awards based on predetermined thresholds and multipliers, thereby adjusting the return without changing the game components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the gaming system provides fixed base awards based on game outcomes, then the game components remain simple and unchanged, but the average expected return cannot be adjusted to enhance player engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary extra award mechanism that sits between the base award determination and the final player payout. This intermediary layer uses randomly determined multipliers and escrow award pools to adjust the average expected return without modifying the underlying game components, thereby resolving the contradiction between adaptability and device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of award amounts by applying randomly determined multipliers to base awards. This allows the average expected return to be adjusted dynamically through parameter modification rather than through structural changes to the game components, maintaining simplicity while achieving adaptability
2Adaptability or versatility
If the gaming system modifies underlying game components to adjust player returns, then the average expected return can be changed, but the game's core mechanics and structure must be altered
Solution Approach 1:
The extra award feature acts as an intermediary mechanism that decouples the adjustment of player returns from modifications to game components. The base award determination remains stable and unchanged, while the intermediary extra award layer handles the adaptability requirements through random multipliers and escrow pools
Solution Approach 2:
The award system is segmented into two independent parts: base awards determined by game outcomes (maintaining stability) and extra awards determined by random multipliers and escrow pools (providing adaptability). This segmentation allows each part to fulfill its specific function without affecting the other, resolving the contradiction between stability and adaptability
3Adaptability or versatility
If the gaming system provides extra awards for all base awards, then player engagement increases, but the cost to the gaming system becomes unmanageable
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by providing extra awards selectively rather than universally. Randomly determined multipliers and the escrow award pool mechanism ensure that extra awards are granted in some cases while being withheld in others, allowing the system to enhance player engagement while controlling costs through probabilistic selection
Solution Approach 2:
The escrow award pool acts as a feedback mechanism that tracks and regulates the distribution of extra awards. When the pool reaches certain thresholds, it triggers specific actions (such as providing or withholding extra awards), creating a self-regulating system that balances player engagement with cost management
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming system and method that provides an extra award feature in a gaming environment, wherein the extra award feature provides an easier way than known methods for providing non-linear adjustments to the average expected return for the player for a play of a game without changing or reconstructing the underlying components of the game or any related game. The extra award feature provides for these non-linear adjustments to the average expected return to the player that can be based in part on wager level increases by the player. The extra award feature can include a determination of whether to provide the player a first extra award, and in certain instances, a determination of whether to provide the player a second extra award based in part on an escrow pool.