SOCIAL WARGAMING -- TRIANGLES EVENT V 1.5 

Objectives 

Can quantitative methods and social network analysis allow us to consciously andprecisely craft the shape of social systems online? Competing over the same, narrowly-
defined space of real, living users, this game tests this possibility that we might be ableto do so. The team to build the most interlocked social infrastructure over the course of 
the competition wins. 

Materials 

1) A cluster of target users. 
2) Sets of teams, numbering no larger than five (5) persons. 
3) A team of game managers. 


Phases of Play 

1) SETUP 

On a pre-set date, the game managers will release simultaneously to all teams a list offifty users, the “battleground” of targets within the game. Depending on the mood of themanagers, these users will variably selected for their interconnectedness, strong orweak ties, or other structural features. These might also not exist all on one platform. 
They will however, be unaware of the presence of the game. Following this release, 
there will be a two week period for these teams to plan and analyze the data on theseusers and their interconnections. They will also declare an “ego” account, which they 
will create on the initiation of the mobilization phase and attempt to attract connectionstowards. 

2) MOBILIZE 

On a given day and time, the teams will simultaneously create “ego” accounts, andbegin the attempt to forge connections between their account and the “battleground”
accounts in the mobilization phase by whatever method they see fit. Their actions are 
constrained only be the “Illegal Plays,” defined below. 

3) SCORING 

At the end of the mobilize phase (a period of time specified at the beginning SetupPhase), all players will stop activity on all accounts they control. Game Managers thenscrape user data at that point to score the game. Points are awarded based on thenumber of “triads” that exist between the user and two of the targets on thebattleground. This is to say, the “ego” account must not only be connected to A and B, 
but A and B must themselves be connected to one another for a team to score a point. 


VERSION 1.5 ERRATA 

* For Scoring: These connections must be new connections as of the beginning of the 
mobilize phase. Note that this does incentivize teams to watch for new connectionsbuilt by other users or emerging among the battleground users and swoop in to takeadvantage of them. 
* For Scoring: When played on Twitter, these connections must be mutual to be 
counted. That is accounts must both followed and be following, in order for a 
“connection” to be registered. 
Illegal Plays 

The following is a list of plays and strategies not allowed in Triangles. For each violation,
judges will choose to deduct points or disqualify a team, based on the severity of theviolation. Any team can call for a judgement on an opposing team's action by contactingthe game managers, who are responsible for acting as soon as possible to thecomplaint. 

1) 
Hackers Not Allowed -- This wargame is designed to test the ability to shape and 
engineer social relationships, not the formal representation in code. To that end, the 
hacking of accounts, compromise of computer systems or other exploitation of thetechnical terrain precluded by the platform's terms of service will be considered 
cheating. Fraudulent reporting of opposing team accounts as “spam” are alsoprohibited. However, it is worth noting that this rule does not preclude the creation of 
multiple accounts beyond the target “ego” account, the use of automated bots, or thediscrediting of other “ego” accounts. 

2) 
Fight Club: Teams may not reveal publicly or to the “battleground” targets that the 
game exists or is in progress. Doing so will result in disqualification. 

3) 
No Financial Misrepresentation: While teams are able to represent their “ego”
account however they wish (including representing them as fictional identities), theyare not allowed misrepresent financial for connecting with users or having themconnect with one another. While not fully illegal, saying “You could win five dollars forbeing friends with me!” when no money actually exists is considered bad form andgrounds for penalty (beyond opening a play for opposing teams to discredit the egoaccount). 

4) 
No Head Starts: All teams may not bring accounts that they already control into playduring the course of the game. No team may create an account they will use for thepurpose of the game before the start date of the Mobilize phase. 

VARIANTS 


1. Robots: Lengthening the Setup Phase, teams script and launch bot scripts. They 
may not make any edits to these once the Mobilize Phase is in motion. 
2. Invisible Mode: Teams are unaware of each other's existence and which “ego”
account teams are defining as the one to be scored. 
3. Offense / Defense: Two round game. In one round, a group of teams attempts to 
foster connections, while the opposing teams aim to inhibit their activity. In the 
second round, these teams switch roles. Final score is the winner.