Cycle 2: Cycle 2 Ballot Cycle 2 Voting Results Cycle 1: Cycle 1 Ruleset Cycle 1 Ballot Cycle 1 Voting Results Cycle 0: Cycle 0 Ruleset Cycle 0 Ballot Cycle 0 Voting Results
McNomic - Period 2.1
McNomic Ruleset - current as of 2-12-00 @ 6:30 pm Eastern (US) Cycle 2
Contents
I. What is McNomic? A. Introduction [Stone] B. McNomic Access Points 1. The McNomic Forum [Stone] 2. The McNomic Website [Paper] C. Language [Stone] D. Time [Stone] E. Players [Stone] 1. Active Players Roster [Stone] 2. Player Activation [Stone] 3. Player Deactivation [Stone] 4. Big Brother a. Getting a Big Brother [Paper] b. Thanks for the Help! [Paper] II. The Ruleset A. Definition and Jurisdiction [Wooden] B. Application [Paper] C. Modification [Paper] D. Custodianship 1. Responsibility [Wooden] 2. Backup [Paper] 3. Emergency Replacement Moderator [Paper] E. Paper Wood and Stone [Paper] F. Delegate, Delegate [Paper] III. Titles A. Definition [Wooden] 1. The Moderator [Wooden] a. Responsibilities [Paper] b. Communication [Paper] 2. Back-up Moderator a. Appointed by the Moderator [Paper] b. Responsibilities [Paper] 3. Big Brother [Paper] a. Being a Big Brother [Paper] b. Responsibilities [Paper] c. Leaving the Brotherhood [Paper] IV. The Nomic Cycle A. Definition [Wooden] 1. Reactions and Informal Proposals [Wooden] 2. Final Proposals [Wooden] 3. Voting a. The Ballot [Wooden] b. The Vote [Wooden] 4. Ruleset Impact [Wooden] V. Karma A. The Millikarm [Paper] 1. The Karma Chart [Paper] B. Tilting the Balance [Paper] VI. The World A. Countries [Paper] B. Travel [Paper] VII. Player Evolution A. In the Beginning ... [Paper] VIII A Bit of Culture A. Penning [Paper] B. The Ballad of McNomic [Paper] IX. Calvinball A. The Calvinball [Paper] B. Catching and Taking [Paper]
I. What is McNomic?
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. McNomic Access Points
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.
The Forum is used for official notices regarding ongoing McNomic activity, including announcements, questions, answers, and discussion concerning how the game is played, and what is going on in it.
Official postings may be required by rule to appear in the Forum, and any other McNomic-related postings are encouraged here as well.
2. The McNomic Website [Paper]
A simple website will be maintained providing links to web-based pages which contain any Official Documents required by rule.
The current address of this Website is: http://www.xnet.com/~dmckenna/McNomic.html
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 within McNomic.
When time itself is a relevant 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.
All participants of McNomic are called "Players".
1. Active Players Roster [Stone]
The following is a list of current players. It will be modified without comment when each new player is activated and their 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 Kont Kontrarie kontrarie@delphi.com Blue StripedRat stripedrat@aol.com Dave B. DBrigden dbrigden@delphi.com Malaprop Malaprop mkastle1@emsd63.n-cook.k12.il.us VickiLyn Lynn70 andrews@fmhi.usf.edu
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.
3. Player Deactivation [Paper]
Players wishing to leave the game must send an EMail to the Moderator with a Subject Line of "McNomic: Deactivation". The Moderator will Deactivate the Player, announcing this change in the Forum.
4. Big Brother
a. Getting a Big Brother [Paper]
New players may petition for a Big Brother (or Sister). A Big Brother or Sister is another Player, approved by the Moderator, who can review proposals before they are submitted for clarity and content (usually, via EMail).
To request a Big Brother, an EMail must be sent to the Moderator with the subject line of "McNomic: Big Brother Request", and the Moderator will assign the requesting Player to the Big Brother with the smallest caseload.
The list of currently approved Big Brothers or Sisters which follows will be updated without comment upon the addition or deletion of a new Big Brother or Sister:
Mac (currently assigned Puzz) Kevan
b. Thanks for the help! [Paper]
A Player may break off their relationship with their assigned Big Brother by notifying both the moderator and the Big Brother via EMail with the subject line "McNomic: Thank's Big Brother".
II. The Ruleset
A. Definition and Jurisdiction [Wooden]
This document will henceforth be refered to as "The RuleSet". The presiding version of the Ruleset at any point in time is that which is clearly marked as "most current" directly on, or via a link from the McNomic Website specified in Rule I.B.2..
Where Rules are in conflict, Stone Rules take precedence over Wooden and Paper Rules, and Wooden Rules take precedence over Paper Rules. If two Rules of the same material conflict, and neither states its own precedence, the more specific takes precedence. If neither is more specific, the one nearest the top of the Ruleset takes precedence. Any remaining conflicts will be decided upon by the Moderator.
The Ruleset specifies the conditions under which it may be changed, and under NO OTHER CONDITIONS may it be changed.
D. Custodianship
The Moderator is the Custodian of the Ruleset. The Moderator will post modifications to the Ruleset at the McNomic Website at the very moment they take effect. Th Moderator will announce in the forum when any non-trivial change has been posted to the Ruleset.
In the event the Moderator is unable to fulfill the duties listed in section B, a replacement will be assigned to make such changes. The Moderator will have final say in who is posting any changes, and only as deemed by the Moderator will a replacement be made in the case of an emergency unless the Moderator is unable to make such determination, then follow part II.D.3, as follows.
3. Emergency Replacement Moderator [Paper]
In the event the Moderator is unable to fulfill the duties listed in section II.B, and the Moderator is also unable to assign a replacement, then a replacement will be voted upon immediately in the following manner:
A. As soon as the Moderator makes known, or a Player has verifiable indication that the Moderator is unable to assign a replacement in event of emergency, this information will be posted on Delphi with the heading "EMERGENCY Replacement Moderator Vote Imminent"
B. Five (5) days will pass during which time Players may discuss possible Emergency Moderators, and potential Moderators may voice their wish to become or intention of turning down any Moderator- ship bestowed upon them.
C. At the end of 5 days, a new heading will be created in the Forum with the title "VOTE on Replacement Moderator". All Players who wish to vote on their pick for new Moderator will do so there, on open. There will also be 5 days allowed for voting.
D. After the voting period is complete, the votes will be tallied and the person with the most votes shall be considered officially the new Moderator Pro Tem.
E. In the case of an elected Emergency Moderator unable or unwilling to fulfill their duties, the individual with the second greatest number of votes will be considered the Replacement Moderator. In the same event with that individual, then the process MUST begin again with Step A.
F. In the case of a tie, the two (or more) who have tied may choose to split duties, or the process may begin again starting with Step A and appending the number '2' to each Forum heading.
E. Paper, Wood and Stone [Paper]
Each Rule in the Ruleset is considered to be either printed on Paper, carved into Wood or engraved in Stone - this status is given after the name of the Rule, in square brackets (eg. "A. Introduction [Stone]").
Whenever a new Rule is enacted, it enacts as a Paper Rule.
At the end of each Cycle, the Moderator should select a rule at random; if it is a Paper Rule, it becomes a Wooden Rule. If it is a Wooden Rule, it becomes a Stone Rule. (If it is a Stone Rule, nothing happens.)
In the event that a passed Proposal shall create more work or take up more time of the Moderator, the Moderator has the right to delegate any responsibilities he or she so chooses, which are related to the passed Proposal, onto the Player who submits that Proposal.
1. The tasks delgated much be in direct relation to the additional work created by the passed Proposal.
2. If in the future the Rule that came from the passed Proposal no longer requires upkeep or consumes any more time, the Player will be relieved of their delegated responsibilities.
3. In the event that the Rule that is created by the Proposal is altered in any way by another passed Proposal, the Player submitting the most recent Proposal shall be the one that the Moderator may delegate the additional tasks to.
4. The Moderator may make these delegations or choose to take them on him/herself as the Moderator sees fit.
III. Titles
Players may have one or more Titles, which carry with them certain Obligations.
One Player is named the Moderator. The current Moderator of this McNomic is:
Player Name: Mac Delphi Username: DSMCKENNA Preferred EMail: dmckenna@xnet.com
a. Responsibilities [Paper] i. Keep Time- Establish the beginning and ending dates of each Period, Interlude, and Cycle, posting notices in the McNomic Forum ii. Current Events- Maintain the McNomic Website iii. New/Leaving Player processing iv. Custodian of the Ruleset A. Maintain the "Current Ruleset" web page. B. Update the Ruleset for New/Leaving Players, misspellings, awkward wording, or more sensible ordering or layout of the rules. C. Apply the results of legislated changes to the Ruleset. v. Overseer of the Vote A. Receives all formal proposals via EMail, and creates (and posts) the ballot for the current Cycle's voting. B. Receives and Tallies the votes, posting both the votes and the results of the voting in the forum and/or at links reachable from the McNomic Website. vi. Final interpreter If a conflict arises in the interpretation of the rules, decides the outcome of the conflict. vii. Must be an active Player.
All McNomic-related EMail communication with the Moderator must have a subject line beginning with "McNomic:".
2. Back-Up Moderator
a. Appointed by the Moderator. [Paper]
i. The moderator will request by email, one player to be his/her back up moderator.
ii. If the player refuses the moderators request in an email, then the moderator will choose another player, make the request again, until a player accepts the responsibility.
i. to assist the Moderator in whichever ways the Moderator and the Back-up Moderator deem necessary.
ii. In the event the Moderator is unable to fulfill the duties as define by the Ruleset, the Back-up Moderater will fulfill any and/or all of these duties, as needed, due to emergency.
Players of sufficient experience may volunteer to tutor new players. Players wishing to have tutors should consult Rule I.E.4: Big Brother, where the list of currently active Big Brothers will be maintained by the Moderator.
a. Being a Big Brother [Paper]
Players who are comfortable with the Nomic concept may apply to the Moderator via EMail, subject line "McNomic: Big Brother Application", and upon approval, their names will be added to the list.
The roll of the Big Brother is defined very broadly. The Primary duty of the Big Brother is to review proposals from newer players before they are submitted for possible advice concerning how to "polish 'em up". The Big Brother is not limited, however, to proofreading proposals. They will often project possible ramifications of a proposal that had not been considered.
The Brotherhood's Agenda is very simple: Turn new Players into Interesting Players.
c. Leaving the Brotherhood [Paper]
Players who become inactive will also cease to be Big Brothers. Big Brothers wishing to continue playing but who no longer wish to be Big Brothers must submit notice via EMail to the Moderator with the Subject: "McNomic: Big Brother Resignation". The Moderator will remove them from the list and redistribute their caseload.
IV. The Nomic Cycle
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 duration of each period is set by the Moderator upon its initiation. The end of each period may be changed by the Moderator as a result of general consensus among Players participating in the Forum. The Periods are defined as follows:
1. Reactions and Informal Proposals [Wooden]
This is intended as a recovery period - when players may react to the most recently passed or unpassed laws in a conversational manner. Possible initial 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.
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
When the deadline for Proposal Submission has passed, the McNomic enters an Interlude state while the Moderator composes the ballot. This Interlude will last as long as it takes for the Moderator to post the official ballot.
3. Voting
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. The posting of the Ballot by the Moderator signifies the beginning of the Voting period.
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, UNDECIDED or AGAINST should be listed in the body of the EMail, along with the numbers of the Proposals they correspond to. 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
When the deadline for Vote Submission has passed, the McNomic enters an Interlude state while the Moderator tallies the results of voting. This Interlude will last as long as it takes for the Moderator to tally and post the results of the voting, and to make and post the necessary changes to the Ruleset. The Interlude, Period and Cycle all end upon the announcement by the Moderator of the publication of the revised Ruleset.
Proposals receiving 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.
If a Proposal to amend or repeal a Stone Rule received at least one AGAINST vote, however, it automatically fails.
After the end of the designated voting period, the Moderator will:
a. Post the voting 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.
Rules which require the re-evaluation of an existing game metric each cycle will not be actually cause that re-evaluation within the cycle in which they are first proposed and passed. (For Example, Rule Materiality, Player Karma, etc.)
V. Karma
Karma, in the scope of McNomic, is measured in Millikarms. Each Player has a number of Milli- karms, being a positive or negative integer number. The Moderator shall include a chart in Section V.A.1. listing all active players and the corresponding number of Millikarms assigned to each player. The list will be ordered numerically with the highest-valued integer listed at the top and the lowest-valued integer listed at the bottom.
If a Player's Karma is above zero, the Player is considered to be among "The Heroes of McNomic". If a Player's Karma is below zero, the Player is considered to be among "The Scourges of McNomic". If a Player's Karma is at zero, the Player is considered to be among "The McNomic Watchguard".
When a new Player joins the game, he or she starts with a Karma of zero.
Player Karma ------ ----- The Heroes of McNomic --------------------- Mac 37 Puzz 26 Id 19 Malaprop 18 Kevan 15 VickiLyn 12 Sed 7
The McNomic Watchguard ---------------------- Frank 0 Kont 0 Blue 0
The Scourges of McNomic ----------------------- Dave B. -5
B. Tilting the Balance [Paper]
For each FOR vote made on a proposal that PASSES, the voting Player shall receive one Millikarm.
For each FOR vote made on a proposal that DOES NOT PASS, the voting Player shall be decremented one Millikarm.
For each AGAINST vote made on a proposal that DOES NOT PASS, the voting Player shall receive one Millikarm.
For each AGAINST vote made on a proposal that PASSES, the voting Player shall be decremented one Millikarm.
For each Proposal that a Player submits that PASSES, that Player shall receive one Millikarm for each FOR vote.
For each Proposal that a Player submits that DOES NOT PASS, that Player shall be decremented one Millikarm for each AGAINST vote.
VI. The World
A number of Countries exist in the world of McNomic. Each Player is considered to be resident in one of these Countries.
A Player may, at any time, announce to the forum that they are leaving the Country they live in and joining a new one, naming this new Country. If the Country doesn't already exist in the world of McNomic, it is created. Either way, the Player takes up residence in that Country.
When a Player creates a new Country in this manner, they become its Leader. When a Leader leaves their Country, they cease to be its Leader and a random member of that Country (if any remain) becomes its new Leader.
The Leader of a Country currently has no special powers or abilities.
VII. Player evolution.
A. In the Beginning ... [Paper]
Upon joining McNomic, all Players are initially considered single-celled organisms.
VIII. A Bit of Culture
Any Player other than the Moderator may, during the Final Proposals Period of any Cycle, email a Ballad Submission to the Moderator - if there are currently an odd number of lines in the McNomic Ballad, this Submission must rhyme and scan with the last line of the Ballad, or be rejected.
At the end of this Period, the Moderator should select a Submission, if any were made, and add it to the end of the Rule called "The Ballad of McNomic".
The writer of the chosen Submission shall gain five Millikarms.
B. The Ballad of McNomic [Paper]
IX. Calvinball
The Calvinball is a patched and battered leather football, and may, at any given time, either be in the possession of a Player or On The Floor.
All actions related to the game of Calvinball should be posted to the "Calvinball" discussion in the "McNomic" Forum. Illegal actions (throwing when you don't have the ball, picking it up when someone beat you to it) are ignored.
B. Catching and Taking [Paper]
If a Player has the Calvinball, he or she may throw it to another Player by announcing this in the "Calvinball" discussion. The Calvinball is passed successfully to the cited Player.
If the Calvinball is On The Floor, any Player may pick it up by announcing this in the "Calvinball" discussion.