2018 TTT: Scheduling (Game Starts and Ends)

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• Playing in the Tournament
  1. Scheduling (Game Starts & Ends)
     
     • See also: Maximum Years Per Variant
       
  2. Power Auction & Selection Procedure
     
  3. House Rules & Orders Submission Schedule
     
  4. Scoring
     

Scheduling (Game Starts and Ends)
This page provides more detail about when each of the five rounds in the Tournament Through Time may begin and end.

Estimated Schedule
This Google Spreadsheet of the Estimated Schedule lists all of the Mondays and Thursdays in 2018. Per the House Rules, all seasonal orders (Spring, Autumn, & Winter) are regularly due on Mondays and Thursdays.

Start Dates
The official "start date" for a variant is the point in time that final power assignments are officially announced by the GM and posted to the PlayDiplomacy forum. The official start date for Ambition & Empire will be January 1st, 2018. Start dates are estimated to land on Mondays or Thursdays, but that is not required.

In any case, players will have approximately one week after the start date to submit their first Spring orders for the variant. After that, the Orders Submission Schedule will kick in, with subsequent phases scheduled accordingly.

Here are the estimated starting dates of each variant. To reiterate, this is not the official schedule. These dates can change.

1. Ambition & Empire - 01 January 2018
2. 1812 Overture - 19 March 2018
3. 1900 - 03 May 2018
4. 1936 - 28 June 2018
5. Dissolution - 04 October 2018

Concurrent Games & Start Date for 1900
Neither the first variant (Ambition & Empire) nor last variant (Dissolution) is intended to be played concurrently with any other. However, there will be overlap between the three middle variants. To prevent more than two games in the tournament from being played at once, 1936 will not begin until after 1812 Overture has completed.

The third round's variant, 1900, is slated to begin after the fourth Autumn (1814) of 1812 Overture. In this manner, the first years of 1900 will overlap with 1812 Overture, and the later years of 1900 are likely to overlap with 1936. This timing can shift, and the GM will be sure to communicate if a change is necessary to start 1900 earlier or later than planned.

Transitioning from Variant to Variant
Where applicable, when a variant ends the GM will announce publicly the start date of the next round. Immediately, Dynasties must then submit their power/bye preferences (see the Last-First Draft procedures for each variant after A&E). It is possible (and encouraged) for Dynasties to submit these in advance. All Draft picks will be due roughly 24 hours prior to the declared start date; this deadline will be posted alongside the start date.

The GM will endeavor to ask Dynasties their preferences in draft order so that each Dynasty will know what their predecessor picked. This is not guaranteed, so please consider sending a priority list of preferences in advance instead.

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Maximum Years Per Variant
As mentioned briefly in the House Rules, each variant will automatically end in a draw (including all survivors) after the completion of its maximum number of game-years. A game can, of course, end earlier than that (in either a draw or solo).

These are the intended maximums per variant:

1. Ambition & Empire - 7 years
2. 1812 Overture - 9 years
3. 1900 - 9 years
4. 1936 - 9 years
5. Dissolution - 6-8 years

Note that I have state that these maximums are intended. They can be subject to change based on delays that take place during the tournament, including delays caused by the GM.

Potential Changes to Dissolution
Dissolution is intended to be the only variant whose maximum is adjusted in event of schedule shifts. The estimated schedule currently carves out enough time for Dissolution to last 7 game-years, running from October 4th until December 17th. If games finish up faster than expected, that number can increase to 8 game years. If some delays occur, it will shrink to 6 game-years.

Potential Changes to 1812 Overture, 1900, & 1936
If more serious delays occur than what a shortening of Dissolution allows, the maximum years for the three middle variants can be reduced below 9 years. The GM will try to keep the maximums for these three variants as equal as possible, but that is not guaranteed.

The Maximum Can Change, But Not After a Game Starts
Any change to the max game-years for a specific variant will be announced prior to final power assignments. It is the intent of the GM that all players are aware of the maximum before the game starts and can plan accordingly. Only in a significant emergency will a game's maximum length be changed once it has begun.