Gaming System Progressive Award Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mystery progressive award gaming systems face issues such as jackpot fatigue, where players feel deflated when awards are provided at different machines, and players are discouraged from placing maximum wagers as their chances of winning are lower, leading to reduced engagement and prolonged waiting times for high-value awards.
Innovation Solution
A gaming system that uses a central server to track occurrences of various events across multiple gaming devices, allowing for progressive awards to be triggered based on designated thresholds independent of wager amounts, providing equal chances for all players and offering multiple types of progressive awards with different triggering conditions to maintain excitement and frequency of wins.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If progressive awards are provided at different gaming machines, then players can win awards, but players feel deflated and experience jackpot fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments progressive awards into multiple types (first, second, third progressive awards) with different triggering conditions and value ranges. This segmentation allows players to target specific award types based on their preferences, preventing the deflation that occurs when any award can be won at any machine. Each segmented award type maintains its own triggering criteria, so players seeking high-value awards can focus on machines offering those specific types.
Solution Approach 2:
Different gaming machines are configured with different local qualities - some machines offer only certain types of progressive awards (e.g., first progressive awards with lower values), while others offer different types (e.g., second or third progressive awards with higher values). This local quality differentiation ensures that players seeking high-value awards are not deflated by winning low-value awards at other machines, as each machine's award profile is tailored to specific player preferences.
2Quantity of substance
If players place maximum wagers, then higher awards may be won, but chances of winning progressive awards are lower leading to reduced engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments progressive awards into multiple categories with different triggering conditions. Some progressive awards can be triggered by symbol combinations regardless of wager amount, while others may have wager-dependent triggering. This segmentation allows players to pursue different award types based on their wagering strategy, maintaining engagement even when maximum wagers don't guarantee the highest winning chances for all award types.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of progressive awards by offering different value ranges and triggering conditions. Instead of a single progressive award structure where maximum wagers are required for any chance of winning, the system provides multiple progressive award types with varied parameters - some accessible with lower wagers, others potentially requiring higher wagers. This parameter diversity maintains player engagement across different wagering levels.
3Productivity
If multiple types of progressive awards are provided, then frequency of wins increases, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments progressive awards into distinct types (first, second, third progressive awards) each with specific triggering conditions and value ranges. This segmentation increases the frequency of wins by providing multiple pathways to victory - players can win different types of progressive awards based on the symbols obtained and wagering patterns. The segmentation is implemented through structured software logic that tracks different event types and triggers appropriate award types, managing complexity through organized categorization rather than chaotic multiplication of award mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The gaming system is designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple types of progressive awards through a unified framework. The same basic progressive award mechanism serves multiple functions by accepting different triggering conditions (symbol combinations, wager amounts, game events) and providing different award types. This universal approach increases win frequency without proportionally increasing system complexity, as the core progressive award infrastructure is reused across multiple award types rather than building separate systems for each.
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming system including a central server linked to a plurality of gaming devices. The central server tracks the occurrences of one or more suitable events occurring at or in association with one or more gaming devices in the gaming system. Upon the central server determining that the quantity of occurred events tracked has reached a designated quantity or threshold, (i.e., a triggering event has occurred), the gaming system provides a progressive award to one of the players at one of the gaming devices in the gaming system.