Patent ID: 8657686

Claim:
A method, comprising: associating a first user as a second user's friend; associating the second user as the first user's friend, the second user being associated with a second computer; retrieving data from a first computer associated with the first user; determining a first login status associated with the first user relative to a synthetic environment and a second login status associated with the second user relative to the synthetic environment; in the event that the first login status indicates that the first user is logged into the synthetic environment: determining at least a location associated with the first user, the retrieving being performed in real-time or substantially real-time by accessing a file on a game server configured to store data associated with the first user and the second user; determining an attribute associated with the first user, wherein the determining of the attribute occurs in real-time or substantially real-time, wherein the attribute includes a changing player status, a player mode, a stance, or any combination thereof, wherein the changing player status indicates active, inactive, live, or dead, wherein the player mode indicates movement, combat, planning, buying, or selling, and wherein the stance indicates sitting, standing, defensive or offensive; and incorporating the first user's real-time or substantially real-time location and the attribute into a friends feed; in the event that the first login status indicates that the first user is not logged into the synthetic environment: determining at least a location associated with the first user in a real-world environment; and incorporating the location of the first user into a friends feed; formatting the friends feed according to a first format if the login status indicates that the second user is logged into the synthetic environment, and formatting the friends feed according to a second format if the login status indicates that the second user is not logged into the synthetic environment; and generating a visual display including the friends feed on a physical display associated with the second computer.