Patent ID: 9707486
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: A63F

Claim:
1. A method, comprising operations of: obtaining, on a client device, a plurality of crew members from a crew inventory to define a crew whose crew members have unique responsibilities in order to complete a collaborative task assigned to a user by an online multiplayer game executing on a plurality of servers connected by a network to the client device, wherein the obtaining is facilitated by a graphical user interface (GUI) that is displayed to the user; sending, from the client device, a game action help request message directed to the at least one selected crew member for the crew, wherein the help request message is transmitted over the network to a social network by the plurality of servers; unlocking, by the plurality of servers, a content item whose access is restricted by the online multiplayer game based at least in part on crew member messages responsive to the help message received from the social network, wherein progress toward the unlocking of the content item is displayed to the user in a progress bar in the GUI; and syndicating, through the plurality of servers, the unlocking of the content item to the social network, where the unlocking is presented in a feed that is displayed on other client devices, wherein each operation is executed by one or more processors.