Hey, +G

Hey, +G. Hussain Chinoy I hear there has been some talk between the factions recently that I might have some interest in…along with some other people like +Carl Hamlin and +Scott Jacobs.

I'm not really one for "behind closed doors" chats.
I'm more one for transparency and open discussion.

I've seen the discussion so far, and I think there's value in continuing it in an open forum.

I'm also someone who is big on community and had a deep and abiding interest in game design, in the vein of Richard Bartle (The Bartle Test), Raph Koster (A Theory of Fun), and Jane McGonigal (Reality is Broken) 

Here are the only givens that I see:
* This is a game – defined by McGonigal as "unnecessary tasks that we volunteer to accomplish".
* "Fun" is the reward that makes players more likely to keep playing. "Frustration" is the opposite of reward. It makes players more likely to quit.
* Different people find different things to be "fun" or "frustrating". They likely fall broadly into Bartle's classifications of Socializer, Achiever, Killer, and Explorer.
* "Emergent" gameplay is huge. People are getting rewards paid in "fun", but are doing things that are not at all related to the core gameplay. They are making maps, they're creating key-sharing databases, they're organizing group outings, they are collecting and distributing invitations, they are connecting with other Ingress communities, etc.
* Actions we can take that increase the overall level of fun for everyone are beneficial to the community. Conversely, actions that we can take that increase the overall level of frustration for everyone are detrimental to the community.
* Higher level players, through their expanded Resonator and XMP abilities, necessarily have larger roles in building and maintaining the overall tone of the community of both sides, through mentoring new players and through their ability to increase either fun or frustration of players of the opposite faction.

Let's get some people in here and talk…