Patent ID: 8353767

Claim:
A method of providing a virtual presentation for entertaining a user, the method comprising: using a user computer for generating a virtual environment that includes at least one virtual object; displaying a virtual character that represents a real-world item in the virtual environment; accepting controls for the virtual character in the virtual environment to interact with the virtual environment responsive to commands input by the user via a user computer; using a processor component provided to the user computer, evaluating a parameter associated with at least one of the virtual object and the virtual character, where said parameter varies at different times, and relates to a condition of said at least one of said virtual object and said virtual character; responsive to the evaluating, automatically preparing with the processor component a communication from the virtual character to be transmitted to the user without user intervention, wherein the communication includes content comprising a readable message related to the parameter evaluated, and where said readable message is selected from among a plurality of different readable messages, each of said plurality of different readable messages having a different probability of being selected related to the value of the parameter evaluated, allowing said content included in said communication to be different at a first time than at a second time based on a determination of said value resulting from said evaluating and said probability, and where said first and second times relate to said condition; and initiating transmission of the communication from the virtual character in a way to allow viewing of the readable message on the user computer.