Patent ID: 7367888

Claim:
In a computing environment comprising at least one online game service and a plurality of online game players, a method for determining an official result for an online game session when the validity of the official result is in dispute, the method comprising the steps of the online game service: (a) automatically establishing a trust rating for each player connected to an online gaming service and participating in an online game session where the session involves a disagreement about the official results of the session, the trust rating being based on information associated with each player collected during the session, the trust rating being further configurable to be updatable when players participate in successive online game sessions; (b) receiving alleged results for the online game session from the computer systems of the online game players participating in the online game session; and (c) determining the official result for the online game session, based on a function of the alleged online game session results reported by the players' computer systems and the trust ratings of each player participating in the online game session as indicated by the online game service based on prior involvement in online game sessions where the session involved a dispute over the official results.