I'm not gonna pretend to understand all this "gaming" that you speak of, but I can offer a generic warning. Sounds like you're possibly uhhh overthinking this. Go with your gut and feel secure your enthusiasm will be contagious. Then again, you _want_ them to be paranoid so mayhap _you_ should be paranoid, too. Stacking the deck? Hell, man, _somebody's_ gotta steer the ship. Maybe their activity should somehow mirror your activity, that is, the types of decisions they will have to make should follow the types of decisions you're making now in planning this thing, if that's not too uhhh ouroborosy/deus ex machinery.