Facilitator Issues
6 posts,
2 voices
Juergen Stro...
28 posts
|
Hello,
for my multiplayer sim I'm having a facilitator page. At this page there is a multiplayer run table from where I can start and rest runs. When the player submits his decision I used the "save.run" command. Now to the problem: At the facilitor page I have a "start" button which sets two decisions and saves the run. When I press this button, I want to create a new run which is then shown in the multiplayer run table. But actually nothing happens when I do this. In contrast to this, the multiplayer run table displays a new run after the players set their first decision. But I want that the the facilitator can decide to start a new run without the players action. Is the any solution to this issue? Additionally, is there any chance that multiple runs can be started so that the facilitator can afterwards determine any single run? Greetings, Max |
Billy Schoen...
Administrator
255 posts
|
Hi Max,
The start button on the facilitator page does not create a new run in the Multiplayer Summary Progress table because the run that you created is not assigned to a multiplayer team, but to yourself as facilitator. There is currently no way to start a new run for a team who has not already started a run. Is there a way that this process could be accomplished manually by adding a new role to your teams which you yourself login to? This would allow you to setup the game as a player then let the players play on their own. I hope this helps, if not feel free to ask me more, Best, Billy |
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Juergen Stro...
28 posts
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Hi Billy,
I would like to explain a bit more in detail why we asked if the facilitator could start a run. The idea is that the facilitator is able to set some parameters that are important to the game, for instance if a company is active or not, the default demand for one company, etc. For this year's game we might be able to work around this issue by uploading a perfectly paramterized model, but for future use it would really be helpful it the facilitator had more influence on the game. Therefore, we would love to see the follwing logic supportet: - The facilitator sets initial parameters, starts the game and allows the players to log in. - The players make their decision, enter the values and submit them. - The facilitator is able to observe when all submissions are completed and then advances the game. And so on till the end of the game. Is there any chance that we come close to this procedure by using the workaround that you have suggested? Thank you very much in advance. Best Jürgen |
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Billy Schoen...
Administrator
255 posts
|
Hi Juergen,
Thanks for the clarifications around what exactly you are attempting to do. Currently the features you describe cannot be accomplished using the UI designer unless you add an "observer/facilitator" role to each team. That observer/facilitator would: #1 - Be the first person to log into the sim as a player on the team. They would set all initial parameters etc, and then once that person has completed their decisions could allow the others to login. #2 - Once the others have logged in the facilitator could logout and return to the facilitator view which would contain a Multiplayer Run Summary Progress Table which give the facilitator the option of advancing the game. But what it really sounds like you want is for when all the students are done entering their decisions for the game to advance. If so let me know and I can describe how to accomplish that. As for generalizing this style of feature into the UI designer, I am unsure if or when that will happen. I have to defer to my colleagues here and determine what we can do for you. Hope that helps! Billy |
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Juergen Stro...
28 posts
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Hi Billy,
Thank you very much for your answer and thank you for this clarification. @#1 We might not have understood correctly how to set up teams, roles and the facilitator characteristics to achieve what we want to achieve. Let me be even more precise about the intended gaming process. I plan to run a multiplayer game with up to 10 players in a team and one facilitator assigned to that team. All 11 persons are gathered in one room. Before class starts the facilitator sets certain parameters that are the same for all of these 10 teams, for example, a price sensitivity parameter (non-subscripted) that influences how customers react to price changes. Then the players are allowed to log in and they are displayed the parameter values that the facilitator has set. They make their decisions in a 10 minute time span, enter the decision values and submit their decisions. After 9 minutes the facilitator announces that one last minute is allowed to enter decisions. Once the 10 minute time span is over, the facilitator advances the game – if somebody has not entered a decision value the old/default value is used. Then the process repeats itself for another cycle. It is not planned but it could happen that a second game with 10 different players and a different facilitator is run at the same time. If I understand your suggestions correctly, we have to assign each of the 10 players a different role but the same team; and we also have to define a facilitator role for this team. Do we also need an 11th facilitator/player, for logging in as the first person? Or can we use a facilitator to whom also a role is assigned? „ Be the first person to log into the sim as a player on the team.“ This can only be enforced organizationally, right? There is no technical way to block other players from logging in before the parameters are set. @#2 “Once the others have logged in the facilitator could logout and return to the facilitator view which would contain a Multiplayer Run Summary Progress Table which give the facilitator the option of advancing the game.“ I am a bit confused by this. Do you mean that the facilitator/player is logging out and then has to log in as facilitator anew (with no team and no role assigned)? „But what it really sounds like you want is for when all the students are done entering their decisions for the game to advance.“ I do not want that one cycle takes longer than 10 minutes. Therefore, it is not intended that all the players wait for the last one to enter his/her decisions. On the other hand, I would like to allow the facilitator to react to problems (e.g. with a computer) and to allow a slightly longer time span. Therefore, I do not want a timer to advance the game. Thank you very much for your suggestions. Best Jürgen |
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Billy Schoen...
Administrator
255 posts
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Hi
I think I understand the confusion, to us facilitator has a special meaning. It means someone who can see data for all users in a group. For you it sounds like it means a "Team Leader" or someone in charge of making sure that one particular team successfully navigates the game. This is good news though, because your use of the facilitator (who I am going to call Team Leader so as to not confuse other readers of this thread) is much more compatibile with what the UI designer can do. So like you say you would want to assign each of the 10 different players a unique role, and then to the team leader give an 11th unique role. All 11 people (10 players + 1 Team Leader) will all have the same team but different roles. The first person to login to the sim will be the team leader. This person will be shown a page (using the On Login Conditionals) that allows them to setup the models initial state, view the current decisions from all of the other players and advance the simulation. As for the ability for someone to login before the Team Leader has setup the sim, technically it is possible, BUT you can put a parameter in your model called something like, players_can_login. Then using the On Login conditionals if the user is not the team leader, and players_can_login = 0 then players are shown a screen that says something like "You logged in too early, please leave". Then as a part of the setup process the team leader goes though, then can set this variable to 1. As for the auto advance that I suggested, or the Multiplayer Run Summary Progress Table, ignore that! Those suggestions were based on my misinterpretation of facilitator. From what I understand of what you are trying to do everything that you need can be accomplished in the current UI designer. If you would like help building your sim we offer something called a Forio Fastbreak (http://forio.com/services/fast-break-consulting/) which may be of use to you here. Otherwise I am happy to continue to answer any questions I can. Billy |
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