Obviousness

The provided patent document for US12070691B2 does not list specific prior art patent documents or publications in its "Prior art keywords" or descriptive sections. Instead, it generally describes the state of the art at the time of the invention's priority date (November 19, 2012) and highlights the problems it aims to solve. Therefore, a direct obviousness analysis by combining named prior art references is not possible based solely on the provided text.

However, the patent itself describes the general scope and content of the prior art, which allows for an analysis of what a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) would have known and been motivated to combine.

Obviousness Analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103

Claim 1 of US12070691B2 describes a computer-implemented method for enabling virtual gameplay, involving:

1. Providing a video game with virtual characters, statistics, and multiple players in real-world geographic locations.
2. Detecting and storing a player's real-world geographic location using a location sensor.
3. Retrieving a local element script associated with the location from a database to modify virtual character statistics and plot nodes.
4. Retrieving mapping information related to the location.
5. Actuating the local element script to modify the player's virtual character statistics and other players' virtual character statistics or plot nodes, only when the player's real-world geographic location is not already represented by another player.

1. Scope and Content of the Prior Art (as described by the patent):

The patent states that "Prior art virtual worlds have storylines that are either static or branch in a rather predictable fashion." It further notes that "Prior art methods for a branching storyline are well known in the industry." The patent explicitly acknowledges that "determining the player location is a well known method in the art," mentioning techniques like GPS, A-GPS, WiFi networks, and IP addresses. It also indicates that "weather information and local news are also readily available over the Internet. These news streams may be used for gathering the local elements of a location."

Therefore, a PHOSITA in the field of video game development or virtual world design, around November 2012, would have been aware of:

• Virtual worlds and multiplayer online games (MMORPGs): These systems already featured virtual characters, character statistics, complex storylines, and player interaction across different virtual environments.
• Branching storylines and plot nodes: Games commonly used these to create varied gameplay experiences based on player choices or in-game events.
• Location-aware computing: Mobile devices equipped with sensors (e.g., GPS) were widespread, enabling applications to detect and utilize a user's real-world geographic location.
• Access to real-world data streams: Publicly available APIs and online services provided access to real-time local information such as weather, news, traffic, and other geographical indicators.
• Dynamic content generation and scripting in games: Game developers routinely used scripting languages and programmatic logic to dynamically alter game environments, character behaviors, and events based on various inputs.

2. Differences Between the Claimed Invention and the Prior Art:

The patent identifies a key deficiency in prior art: "These existing virtual worlds lack the ability to take the player's location and its various local elements into account for meaningful impact on gameplay."

The distinguishing features of Claim 1, therefore, lie in:

• Explicitly correlating "local elements" (derived from real-world location) to "local element scripts."
• Using these scripts to modify virtual character statistics and plot nodes within the game's storyline.
• The specific multiplayer logic: actuating the script only when a player's real-world location is not represented by another player, and consequently modifying other players' virtual character statistics or plot nodes.

3. Level of Ordinary Skill in the Pertinent Art:

A PHOSITA would be a game designer or developer with experience in creating virtual worlds, multiplayer games, and mobile applications, possessing knowledge of game engines, scripting, server-client architecture, and integration of external data sources.

4. Motivation to Combine Known Elements:

The patent itself provides the motivation: "By exploiting this emotional bond and making the storyline of a virtual world dependent on the local elements a more interesting and meaningful experience can be provided." A PHOSITA would have been motivated to combine the known elements of location-aware gaming, dynamic storylines, and real-world data integration for several reasons:

• Enhancing Player Immersion and Engagement: Game developers are always motivated to create more immersive and engaging experiences. Dynamically linking real-world local elements to gameplay would naturally deepen a player's connection to the virtual world by making it more relevant to their immediate surroundings.
• Creating Dynamic and Unique Gameplay: Prior art storylines were "static or branch in a rather predictable fashion." Incorporating external, real-world data would offer an inexhaustible and unpredictable source of dynamic content, leading to a more unique experience for each player based on their location and local events.
• Leveraging Available Technologies: Given the widespread availability of mobile devices with location sensors and accessible online data streams for local information (weather, news), it would be a natural progression for a PHOSITA to explore ways to integrate these readily available technologies into virtual worlds to enrich gameplay.
• Extending Existing Game Mechanics: The concept of character statistics changing based on in-game events, or plot nodes diverging based on player actions, was well-established. Extending this to external, real-world events through local element scripts would be a logical and desirable innovation to make games more responsive to the player's real-world context.

Specific Obviousness Argument for Claim 1:

A PHOSITA, observing the existing landscape of virtual worlds with branching storylines and the ubiquity of location-aware mobile devices and readily available local data, would have found it obvious to combine these elements to create a more dynamic and engaging gameplay experience.

• Computer-implemented method for virtual gameplay on a device with storage and location sensor, providing access to a video game with virtual characters, statistics, and multiplayer interaction: These components were foundational to MMORPGs and mobile gaming by 2012.
• Detecting and storing a player's real-world geographic location using a location sensor: This was a standard feature of many mobile applications and location-based games.
• Retrieving a local element script associated with the location from a database to modify virtual character statistics and plot nodes: Knowing that local news and weather data were accessible (as stated by the patent) and that games used scripts to manage dynamic content (e.g., NPC behavior scripts), a PHOSITA would have found it obvious to create scripts that pull in such local data (the "local elements") and use them to influence game parameters like character stats (e.g., "The local element script may be used to modify character statistics of a virtual character.") or advance plot nodes, thereby making the storyline more relevant to the player's real-world context. For example, if local news reported a crime wave, a script could increase the "aggression" stat of NPCs or introduce a "new quest" plot node to investigate.
• Retrieving mapping information related to the location: Integrating maps with location data was common practice in location-aware applications.
• Actuating the local element script... when the player's real-world geographic location is not represented by another player and not actuating the local element script when the player's real world player geographic location is represented by another player, wherein actuating the local element script comprises modifying the virtual character statistic of the player's virtual character and modifying one or more of a virtual character statistic and a plot node of at least one of the other players' virtual characters: In multiplayer environments, managing how global events or changes originating from individual players impact the shared world is a fundamental design challenge. A PHOSITA would be motivated to devise rules for how real-world local elements, when introduced by a player, affect the shared virtual space. The specific condition of actuating a script only if a location is not already represented by another player, and then having that script affect other players' characters or the overarching plot, represents a design choice aimed at ensuring distinct local impacts while maintaining multiplayer coherence. This could be seen as an obvious game design decision to either distribute unique localized events across players or to prevent redundant or conflicting storyline alterations when multiple players are in close real-world proximity. For example, if a player's local "festival" event is to spawn unique in-game items, it would be logical to only trigger this event once per real-world location, and for its effects (e.g., changing the "mood" statistic of all players' characters in the virtual region, or adding a temporary "festival quest" plot node) to be visible to all players within that virtual region, regardless of their real-world location.

In summary, while the patent highlights a specific combination of features, the individual components and the overall motivation to integrate real-world local context into virtual game storylines and character mechanics were either well-known or would have been obvious to a PHOSITA seeking to enhance player engagement and dynamism in games by leveraging readily available technologies at the time of the invention.