Announcement:The Ballot of Proposals Cycle 0 is available at: www.xnet.com/~dmckenna/Ballot0.html(** What follows is the initial McNomic Ruleset. Because this is the first time most of you have been exposed to this game, I will be enclosing some remarks. As such, please accept that anything enclosed within "(**" and "**)" is NOT part of the actual Ruleset - it is just me trying to explain some of how the game works ahead of time, so new players feel comfortable with the concept.
Because Nomic is a game whose only purpose is to define its own rules, my objective in this initial Ruleset is to establish the most minimal (odd phrase, that) structure under which we may proceed, so that the game may evolve on its own without my having imposed any theme or direction to it. **)
McNomic - Period 0.1
McNomic Ruleset - current as of 1-7-00 @ 2:15 am Eastern (US) Cycle 0
I. What is McNomic?
A. Introduction
McNomic is a game about itself. Starting from a base ruleset, participants engage in a process of refining and enhancing those rules, evolving them. These rules do not currently specify any manner in which this game can be won.
B. The McNomic Forum
The McNomic Forum (or, simply "the forum") is the "McNomic" Topic of the Live Games Forum message board on Delphi. The Live Games Forum can be reached via www.delphi.com/livegames. All public business of McNomic will take place in the forum.
C. Language
Any and all usages of gender specific words such and "he", "she", "his", "hers", etc, will be understood to apply to all genders and the usage of either is freely permitted whithin McNomic.
(** Many other Nomics define new gender-neutral pronouns instead of going this route. Its a pain in the neck. I don't think we need to do that here. **)
D. Time
When time itself is a relevent issue, current Eastern (US) Time will be used, regardless of its Daylight Savings status. Whatever time it is in Washington D.C. is what time it is in McNomic.
E. Participants
1. Players
All participants of McNomic are called "Players".
The following is a list of current players. It will be modified without comment when each new player is activated and thier name is added to it.
Player Name Delphi Name Preferred EMail ----------- ----------- --------------- Mac DSMcKenna dmckenna@xnet.com Sed Sed100 sed413@cegi.net Id AHuberman davidh@arin.net Cav Cavalier99 scotth@muhlon.com Puzz PuzzledMom puzzledmom@hotmail.com Frank Frodo_30 frodo_30@delphi.com Kevan Mornington kevan@somethingorother.com Char MsChar mschar@delphi.com Kont Kontrarie kontrarie@delphi.com Ellen Hobo99 hobo99@delphi.com Blue StripedRat stripedrat@aol.com Dave Brigden DBrigden dbrigden@delphi.com Malaprop Malaprop mkastle1@emsd63.n-cook.k12.il.us VickiLyn Lynn70 andrews@fmhi.usf.edu
2. Moderator
One Player is named the Moderator. The current Moderator of this McNomic is:
Player Name: Mac Delphi Username: DSMCKENNA Preferred EMail: dmckenna@xnet.com
(** The Ruleset does not currently define a mechanism by which I may be replaced as Moderator. Nevertheless, a proposal can be made. **)
All Official EMail communication with the Moderator, as well as any unofficial communication which pertains to McNomic must have a Subject Line that starts with "McNomic:".
(** I get a lot of EMail - I need something in the Subject Line that says "I'm not junk mail". **)
All conflicts which may arise regarding the the interpretation of the Ruleset will be resolved by the Moderator.
3. Player Activation
People wishing to become Players must send an EMail to the Moderator. The Subject Line of the EMail must say "McNomic: Join Request" The body of the EMail must contain the player Name, the Delphi User Name, and the preferred EMail address. Upon Approval of the Moderator, the person will be activated as a Player, and the Moderator will post a message in the Forum informing other players of the addition.
II. The Ruleset
A. Definition
This document will henceforth be refered to as "The RuleSet". The only version of The Ruleset which has jurisdiction is the one which is posted in the forum with the most current date and time. Any conflict arising between Rules within the Ruleset will be settled by applying first those Rules closest to the top of this document, unless the Rule specifically state its own precidence. Any remaining conflicts will be decided upon by the Moderator.
B. Custodianship
The Moderator is the Custodian of the Ruleset. When it is modified, the Moderator will either repost The Ruleset in its entirety, or post a narrative explaining what changes should be made to The Ruleset, or edit the most recent posting of the current Ruleset to reflect the changes (for spelling changes or numbering mistakes, for example). If an edit is made to the most recent posting, the Moderator will post a message to that effect, notifying the other players.
III. The Nomic Cycle
A. Definition
Time within the Nomic game will begin at 0.0 and be measured by its position within the Nomic cycle. The number to the left of the decimal point designates which Nomic Cycle is in progress, and the number to its right will designate the current Period. The Cycle is divided into 4 Periods, the durartion of each period is set by the Moderator upon its initiation. The Periods are defined as follows:
1. Reactions and Informal Proposals
This is intended as a recovery period - when players may react to the most recently passed or unpassed laws in a conversational manner. Possible intial Proposals may be floated informally during this period to be discussed openly. Floating of initial Proposals is VOLUNTARY, and does not constitute Official Proposal Submission.
(** The game is now in Period 0.1, and no end to this Period has yet been specified by the moderator. I'm just gonna wait for the rule I.E.3 submissions to roll in. **)
2. Final Proposals
Final Proposals must be sent to the Moderator by EMail with the subject line "McNomic: Cycle x Proposals" where "x" is the number of the current cycle. Each proposal must have:
a. cute little title b. specific description of how The Ruleset will be modified if the proposal passes
In addition, each final proposal may include comments, enclosed in "(**" and "**)" which are not intended for inclusion into the Ruleset, and clarify the Proposer's intentions beyond the language of their proposal
(** I will be posting a "Proposal Tutorial" immediately after posting this initial Ruleset. Please learn what you can from it, but remember - it is a tutorial. The Proposals within are not REAL proposals. **)
3. Voting
a. The Ballot
At the end of the Final Proposals period, the Moderator will post each Final proposal in its entirety, assigning a number to it's title. The Moderator reserves the right to clean up the language of any given proposal for grammar and punctuation mistakes.
Each Proposal will be identified by a Cycle number and a Proposal number. The Moderator will establish an end of the voting period upon its inception.
b. The Vote
To cast ballot, an Email must be sent to the Moderator. The subject line must be "McNomic: Cycle x Votes", x being the number of the current cycle. For each proposal, votes of FOR or AGAINST should be in the body of the EMail, by Proposal number. A vote must be cast for each Proposal in the Cycle for the ballot to be considered valid. Players may vote ONCE during each Cycle.
Example voting ballot, sent via EMail to the Moderator, assuming 4 proposals.
Subject: McNomic: Cycle 0 Votes 0.1 FOR 0.2 AGAINST 0.3 AGAINST 0.4 FOR
4. Ruleset Impact
Proposals recieving more FOR votes than AGAINST votes will pass. Proposals that do NOT receive more FOR votes than AGAINST votes will fail. In other words, in case of a tie, the proposal fails.
After the end of the designated voting period, the Moderator will:
a. Post the election results b. Revise and Post the resulting ruleset, c. establish the beginning of the next Nomic Cycle and the ending date of the next Nomic Period.
When the revised Ruleset is posted, it becomes the effective Ruleset for the game; it has jurisdiction of all future game activities until the end of the next Nomic Cycle
IV. Placeholder
This section of the Ruleset will cease to exist upon the completion of Nomic Cycle Zero. It is here specifically to emphasise the temporary nature of any rules described herein - they may be revised, revoked, added to or strengthened via actions that the rules, as decribed in The Ruleset, permit.