How do players advance through the game? What is the rhythm?

[tannerwelsh]

Context

Winnable games have stages to demarcate progress. Mario has levels; tennis has games, sets, and matches; chess has turns, games, and tournaments.

This is 1/2 of a broken up issue #74

Criteria

• [x] Determine how levels, phases, and calendar interact in the game mechanics.
• [x] Articulate the rites of passages / progress markers in the game.

  Principles razor

In order for an issue to be marked as passing, the proposed solution must be aligned with our principles. Check off the principles that this solution is consistent with.

• [x] Cultivate a learning community.
• [x] Prioritize scale over quality
• [x] Align incentives
• [x] Build a team game
• [x] Trust people's intentions and potential
• [x] Enable self-organization & self-determination
• [x] Map feedback loops
• [x] Optimize for agility
• [x] Simulation not preparation
• [x] Sustain the tension between individual and collective gain

[tannerwelsh]

Submitted PR: #234

[shereefb]

Moving to testing since this needs to be compatible with answers for #211 and #222

[tannerwelsh]

@awolfinthewind does the proposed solution here jive with your issue #211? @simonlguild does the proposed solution here jive with your issue #222?

(see PR #234)

[tannerwelsh]

Summary of proposal:

• Cycles are a game mechanic. They are the heartbeat of the game.
• Phases (5 weeks) and Stages (10 weeks) are player support. They are used to create shared cadence, and to provide opportunities to celebrate transformation.

[carlabagdonas]

Checking for my own understanding:

• cycles don't have a fixed duration, they just refer to an arc of experience (goal, work, retrospective)
• phases and stages have a fixed duration, players advance through phases and stages at the same time within their cohort

Questions:

• do the different stages correspond to the different player types (aspirant, apprentice, etc.)?
• if so: players move through these types on a fixed timeline along with the stage they're in?
• if not: what determines whether a player advances to the next player "type"?

With clarity on those points, this looks good to me.

[simonlguild]

• Cycles as game mechanic - Yes
• Phases and Stages as Player Support - Yes

I also have curiosity around how people move up to the next stage in this model. Is it time bound, or other metric bound?

[simonlguild]

In #233 it states that Cycles are determined by player support. Is that in conflict with it being determined here as a game mechanic?

[tannerwelsh]

responding to @carlabagdonas:

cycles don't have a fixed duration, they just refer to an arc of experience (goal, work, retrospective)

As a game mechanic, this is true. They are like a "turn" in a game like Monopoly. However, to make player support work more smoothly, Player Support uses a 1-week cycle. This is like setting a turn clock in Chess.

phases and stages have a fixed duration, players advance through phases and stages at the same time within their cohort

True.

do the different stages correspond to the different player types (aspirant, apprentice, etc.)?

For this issue, I'm assuming no different player types. That would be covered in #196 . Stages are just time markers.

[tannerwelsh]

responding to @simonlguild:

I also have curiosity around how people move up to the next stage in this model. Is it time bound, or other metric bound?

For now, it is time-bound.

[tannerwelsh]

responding to @simonlguild:

In #233 it states that Cycles are determined by player support. Is that in conflict with it being determined here as a game mechanic?

To clarify, the length of cycles are determined by player support. The concept of a cycle is a mechanic. To use the chess analogy, the concept of a player's turn in chess is a game mechanic. Tournaments add a support element of a "turn clock" to enforce a certain kind of gameplay. Same principle applies here.

[tannerwelsh]

Ok moving this back into testing.

Because an old PR was merged into the outstanding work in #231, I'm not going to create a new PR until that one is closed. But the proposal as it stands is thus:

1. Cycles are a game mechanic. They are the heartbeat of the game. As a mechanic, there is no set length.
2. Phases (5 weeks) and Stages (10 weeks) are not a game mechanic. They are player support (see #233).
3. There are no player roles corresponding to different stages. This issue doesn't affect roles.