World Cup RNG — Decision Log, June 8 to July 10 2026

2026-07-15  ·  world-cupdecisionloggame-design

Extraction coverage: #world-cup channel June 17-19 and July 6-10 read in full, June 23-24 Claude design sessions, #velocity June 24-July 10. Gaps: #world-cup June 8-17 (pre-relaunch) and June 20-July 5 channel messages (covered indirectly via velocity), and all screenshot-only data (funnel images, thumbnails). Each entry: date · decision · rationale · status.

Launch and discovery

# Date Decision Rationale / evidence Status
D1 Jun 17 Clean relaunch on a fresh place ID, old place renamed [OLD] Fresh algorithmic identity for the reworked game (same protocol as FAB relaunch doctrine) Shipped
D2 Jun 17 Pay ~100K Robux to bypass the 500-engaged-players ads requirement, transfer funds from group Unlock paid UA immediately at launch Done
D3 Jun 17 Genre set to Sports Discovery categorization Shipped
D4 Jun 17 Like-gating rewards is impossible (API can't verify likes), use favorites check + group verification, gift button asks for a like Team verified Kick a Lucky Block doesn't check likes either Shipped
D26 Jul 8-9 Icon rework to full-bleed (per Build a Soccer Squad), thumbnail standard: match Roblox style, one focal object, hook words, Nano Banana Pro QPR/PTR declining In progress (Mike)

Core loop and onboarding

# Date Decision Rationale / evidence Status
D5 Jun 17-19 Autoroll: flagged confusing → locked behind paid pass → made free-at-start again after funnel data Evidence-driven reversal, Danyil predicted full revert may follow Reverted partially
D6 Jun 19 First two rolls guaranteed same country Scripted synergy teach (corpus L14, controlled early experience) Shipped
D7 Jun 18-19 Nation adjacency bonuses + same-nation VFX + reshuffle-button idea Depth from Build a Soccer Squad comp, drag-to-swap literacy Shipped (bonuses, VFX)
D9 Jun 18 SquadFull churn root-caused to plot-cap bug (6 vs 12 slots), fixed Funnel conversion 46% → ~50%+, real rate ~67% on fresh cohort Fixed
D11 Jun 24 Fill grinds, match retains: D1 6.7%, 50.7% loss FirstPick→SquadFull vs 97.65% FirstMatch conversion → lower the play gate, single-surface UX, board co-visible with roll Funnel analysis session Direction adopted
D12 Jun 24 Diegetic 3D stadium direction: pads on pitch, tunnel as progress, jumbotron, portal reveals Flat UI → world-space per corpus L8 In progress
D15 Jun 30 Scripted wins for the first few matches ("cheated wins") Guaranteed early jackpot, corpus L14 Shipped
D24 Jul 9 PvE simulation simplified: no card choices in PvE (PvP-only feature), shorten toward ~30s Card-pick timeout created friction and wait time in PvE Agreed
D25 Jul 9 Biggest single churn located at first played match (8-9%) New funnel data, fresh-account tests found no onboarding bug yet Investigating
D30 Jul 8 Squad state saves on leaving the game Direct player request, shipped same day, player noticed immediately Shipped

Economy and progression

# Date Decision Rationale / evidence Status
D22 Jul 9-10 Economy rework: disable per-roll income entirely, cash ONLY from matches via fans system. Cash = Tickets Sold × Ticket Price, fanbase grows from match moments, capacity and ticket price upgradable Ties income to the retaining action (matches) instead of the churning one (rolling), Arda's formula spec In build, the week's core work
D23 Jul 8-10 Stadium plot progression Free/L1/L2/L3 built, direction: move stepped buttons to upgrade trees, every purchase must show its exact effect Yel: purchases must feel rationed and legible L1-3 shipped, tree pending
D13 Jun 24 Mutation tiers locked: Foil ×2 / Flare ×3 / Confetti ×5 / Pyro ×7 / Aurora ×10, reserved ×25 live-ops slot Naming collisions with pack tiers resolved, stadium-atmosphere throughline Shipped
D21 Jul 8-10 Moments reworked as skins: old moment cards frozen (kept, not rollable), moments obtainable only as skins on default cards via packs, each skin shows the real-life moment that inspired it Makes moments monetizable (packs + skins) without inflating the card pool Shipped Jul 8, spec refined Jul 10
D14 Jun 26 Live moments pipeline: daily Vercel cron pulls real World Cup match data, generates boost cards during live matches The tournament wedge, unique differentiator Live

PvP

# Date Decision Rationale / evidence Status
D16 Jul 1 Challenges/duels shipped: opt-in, disable-able in settings, no rewards initially Social layer without economy risk Live
D17 Jul 6-7 PvP arena: one-pair-at-a-time proposal rejected by Yel (area must not be exclusive) → client-side parallel matches on the shared center pitch Spectator value traded for throughput, solved technically instead Shipped

Monetization

# Date Decision Rationale / evidence Status
D19 Jul 7 2x cash pass shipped, luck pass hidden for UI space (resurface when player earns free luck) First passes live Shipped
D20 Jul 7-10 Direction: 5-8 dev products modeled on Build a Soccer Squad's catalog (rerolls, refreshes, coin bundles, OP moment rolls, cash bundles), consider roll-cap after full squad to open reroll monetization BASS earns rank #39 with only 8 products, comp-anchored Planned for weekend update
DL1 Jul 10 Monetization law (Yel): players are trying to beat their best XI, every monetization option should help them do that Candidate for the law bank Stated
D27 Jul 9 Metric goals set: conversion to 0.47% (green), average spend per payer to 100 Robux, continuous D1/D7 uplift First explicit metric targets in channel Active

Process and instrumentation

# Date Decision Rationale / evidence Status
D8 Jun 18 Custom events added before deciding: Roll Count Till Match, match-count funnel Instrument first (Arda) Shipped
D10 Jun 18 Feedback button shipped, produced immediate player comments Direct player-voice channel Live
D18 Jul 7-8 Console access enabled after gamepad review "TON of players from computer," consoles statistically strong per Arda Live
D28 Jul 9 3-week roadmap: W1 finish progression + collect data, W2 polish whichever core (matches vs rolling) the data favors, W3 content + dailies/quests/events + monetization Branch-on-data plan (Danyil) Active
D29 Jul 10 Data collection and custom events prioritized before the big update ships "May be even more important than the upgrade system itself" (Arda) Agreed
D31 Jul 7 Weekly metric expectations requested from the team (Yel) Proto pre-registration Requested, not yet ritualized

Open questions carried forward

Upgrade trees vs stepped buttons (D23), full autoroll revert (D5), roll-cap after full squad (D20), in-world 3D roll model and halved first step (Yel Jul 9), fans/managers as physical models around the stadium (Yel Jul 9), first-match churn cause (D25), post-tournament plan after the July 19 final (not yet discussed in channel).


Superseded 2026-07-10 by v2 (full-month coverage, 6 eras, genealogy chains, law candidates). Kept for the KB's supersession pair.