PROPOSAL ARCHIVE (1651-1700)




Proposal 1651 - Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:33:08 -0600
Allowing for Splitting of the Official Bandwidth
/dev/joe (Joseph DeVincentis)
Decision: Accepted
Amend Rule 372, Customary Subject Line, to read in full:

A message is a public message if and only if it is distributed to all non-vacationing Players or it is sent to any mailing list the postmaster declares to be a public forum, and the subject line contains either "Ackanomic:" or "Acka:". The postmaster may declare any mailing list open to subscription by anyone to be a public forum.


Proposal 1652 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 22:27:50 -0600 (CST)
Presidential Debate
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: Rejected

1. Every Presidential election where there are at least two candidates, and no more than 30 candidates is preceded by a Presidential Debate.

2. If the Speaker is not a candidate for President, and no other player volunteers for the job then e acts as the Debate Moderator. If the Speaker is running for President, then it is his duty to appoint another player who is not running for President as Debate Moderator.
In any case, the name of the Moderator should be anounced at the begining of the nomination period.
If a Moderator is not annouced, then it is permissible for the Presidential candidates to engage in an Unmoderated Debate, defined elsewhere in this rule, provided all candidates agree to this.

3. Once the nomination period begins players and candidates may send debate questions to the Debate Moderator. Each player may send up to two questions. Each Candidate sends at least two questions, and at most 4 questions. If there are two or more substantially similar questions, the Debate Moderator may unify them into a single question.

4. Once the names of the candidates have been anounced, the Debate Moderator anounces the begining of the Presidential Debate

5. All posts which are part of the Debate, must have the word 'Debate' in their subject line.

6. The Debate Moderator may post the Debate questions in any order, and in any time interval, as long as each post contains at most 5 questions, and the last post for any given elections is posted at least 24 hours before the end of the elections.

7. Each candidate may post one reply per question. Each reply has the folowing limits:
a. A maximum of 10 lines of qouted text
b. A maximum of 15 lines of unquoted (original) text.
c. A maximum of 20 lines altogether.
The question, if qouted, is not counted in any of the above clauses .

8. Each candidate may reply to another candidate's reply to a debate question, provided the other candidate's reply is a direct reply to a Debate question, and not a reply to another candidate's reply. Such replies are limited to one reply per candidate per question, and must meet the restrictions in section 7 of this rule.

9. In any posting which is outside the context of the Debate, candidates may not quote either questions or answers that were posted as part of the Debate.

10. If a candidate violates any of the above restrictions, each violation counts as one vote for each of the other candidates.

11. An Unmoderated dabate may take place when the conditions for such a debate as described in section 1 of this rule are met. In an unmoderated Deabte, each candidate may post up to 4 questions to the public forum. Any player who is not a candidate may post up to 1 question to the public forum.
Candidates replies to those questions are subject to all the restriction specified in this rule.

12. Should any of the above fail to occur for any reason, the elections still end at the prescribed time according to R504.


Proposal 1653 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:21 -0600
Be Careful with that Thing!
ThinMan (John Bollinger)
Decision: Accepted

{{ [ Summary: this fixes a couple small bugs with telepathy, telekinesis, and their side effects, and adds a small touch. It makes the language governing when these powers are gained more explicit. It also fixes the problem that if a player has gained and subsequently lost telepathy then they regain telepathy at the same time that they gain telekinesis (if they ever gain telekinesis). Most importantly, I think, it specifies which "powers" may be removed by the W-File pair. (The current text would seem to allow any player power whatsoever to be removed, not just telepathy or telekinesis.) I also added a bonus for players who manage to satisfy the conditions more than twice, and removed the unnecessary protection specification. ] }}

This is a modest proposal.

Rule 1117 "Telepathy, Telekinesis, and Side Effects" shall be amended to read, in whole:

A player's stars are aligned when, and only when, her score, her number of A$, and the number of accepted proposals she has authored are all prime. A player experiences a minor epiphany if and only if she is placed in the Ackanomic Afterlife while her stars are aligned. A player endures a jolt of personal empowerment only by correctly reporting to a public forum that within the past 24 hours she has had a minor epiphany for the first time in at least thirty days.

When a player endures a jolt of personal empowerment, the following occurs: if she does not already have the ability to use telepathy then she gains that ability; otherwise, if she does not already have the ability to use telekinesis then she gains that ability; otherwise she receives one newly-created dose of psi-enhancer. Doses of psi-enhancer are non-tradeable entities.

When a player uses telepathy she is permitted to send one public or private message that other rules prohibit her from sending. This does not constrain the recipient's interpretation of the message (i.e. Telepathy does not permit a player to vote when they are otherwise not permitted to do so, although it does permit them to send a message labelled as a vote). One use of telekinesis permits the telekinetic player to cast one vote even when prohibited to do so by other rules -- she is said to be able to manipulate her (and only her) vote counter. A player may vote telekinetically even if otherwise prohibited from sending messages, whether or not she has the ability to use telepathy.

So long as a player has the ability to use telepathy and/or telekinesis, she may make as many uses of it as she likes. However, if a player uses either telepathy or telekinesis within 17 days (408 hours) of the last time she used one of them, then she is captured and taken into custody by the W-File pair.

The W-File pair is a team of two agents, Mold and Scold. When they take a player into custody they inject her with an alien sedative which destroys one of her doses of psi-enhancer if she has at least one, and which otherwise removes whichever of telepathy or telekinesis that that player has most recently used. They will then question the player about "alien colonization" for 48 hours, during which time the player may neither take any action that would be prohibited if she were in Gaol, nor make any use of telepathy or telekinesis. The player is not actually in Gaol during that time, however, and she is released after the 48 hours are over. The W-File pair is a named, unownable entity.


Proposal 1654 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:22 -0600
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Demon -
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: Accepted

A proposal to create a rule as a member of the Party Chess Rule Suite entitled "Creation of a PartyChessPiece Demon" which contains the following the text:

"
1. A Demon is represented by the ASCII Character D
2. When the square the Demon currently occupies (R,C) is in the range 5<R<15, e<C<o (that is between columns e and o, exclusive) it can move a distance of exactly 1 in any given direction, when the square the Demon is on is not included in the above range, the Demon can move a distance of exactly 2 squares in any given direction.
3. A Demon is promotable. A Demon can be promoted only if and only if there exist two friendly pieces of the same type (as each other, not necessarily the Demon), X and Y such that (xR<R<yR /AND/ xC<C<yC) /OR/ (xR<R<yR /AND/ xC>C>yC) /AND/ the distance between those two pieces is equal too or smaller than 10. A Demon can only be Promoted if the Swinger controling the Demon has just Moved or Captured. It cannot be Promoted following a Placement or a Pass.

4. A Demon's materail value is 2

{{[With the new restrictions in section 3, I think that the two pawn situations is not very likely.]}}


Proposal 1655 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 22:28:25 -0600 (CST)
Fix Guy Fakeks Gambit for multiple check
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

In R 1230.2
Append to section 3 D (iv)(e) the following text:
" In any Swinger remain in a state of chech for two consecutive iterations of A Special DD-Turn. Then the Chess-Umpire declares that Swinger to have Surrendered, and all pieces of that Swinger immediately become off-board. This does not change the value of cp."

Append to section 3 D (iv), preceding section 3 D (iv) (a) the following text:
"When it is required that an Assitant Chess-Umpire be appointed, the appointed must be made as soon as possible, and the turn begins as soon as the Assistant Chess-Umpire is appointed."

{{[The first addresses something that Guy Fawkes pointed out, which is that the current language allows a single Swinger to fillibuster the entire move by keeping eirself in checkma and thus forcing a massive Surrender. GF's suggestion was to ammend this to allow Swingers to be checked by other swingers then the ones they were checked by at the begining of the move. I opposed this, because it would have allowed checked swingers to to make moves that would have otherwise been illegal. This ammendment removes Swingers who can't can't out of this state of check

The second fixes a point that might have cost all checked Swingers an iteration]}}


Proposal 1656 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:22 -0600
Reorganization III
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: retracted by author

I. [Leftover from Reorg II]

Renumber R 201, "Quorum and Active Players" to 107, and change its title to "Quorum". ['Players' moved the definition of active player out of this rule, it should have changed the title back, too.]

Renumber R 208, "When Score Changes Take Effect", to 205. [putting the meta-rule before the actual rules.]

Renumber R 210, "Resolving Conflicts" to 102.

Renumber R 1448 "Crazy French-Scotsmen" to 1129.
Renumber R 1630, "Happy Birthday Ackanomic!" to 1131.

---------------------------------------------------

II. [Where to put R 1519, "The Size of Things"]

{{[With all due respect, I still wish to decouple making this rule functional from the intent of this proposal. As it stands, the rule is neutered anyway by the fact that the sizes are not defined, so setting them to 0 really doesn't change much. Also, until some officer has the duty of tracking sizes, I wish to not change them.

I suppose it should eventually go to 500.4, with the entity meta-rules, but it refers to 'items' and 'structures', terms not defined by the rules, and does not refer to entities. Moreover, if we change items to entitites, then both a building and what it holds would be an entity, and we could put buildings in buildings, etc. Not that this is necessarly a bad thing to allow to happen, its just not well defined. In other words, I think some of the definitions need to be worked out better before it is moved up with the meta-rules, so I propose to leave it at 1519 for now. I do want to fix a couple of things real quick while I'm here, though:]}}

Amend R 1519, "The Size of Things" to replace:

"
I wish to make a modest proposal.

All Items in Acka have a size measured in thingees.
"

with:

"
All Items in Acka have a size measured in thingees. Unless otherwise specified in the Rules, an item's size is 0 thingees.
"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. [In the queue, some of these will be invalid rule changes]

Renumber R 1632, "Parents, Children, the Bees and the Gumball" to 1133; then amend R 1133 to remove all text enclosed in single curly braces, inclusive.

Renumber R 1633, "Evil Twins" to 1135; then amend R 1135 to remove all text enclosed in single curly braces, inclusive.

Repeal R 1644, "Ridiculous!"
Repeal R 1645, "Too Many Hunters"
Renumber R 1646, "Unambiguizing ambiguities" to 714 [crime]
Renumber R 1647, "snowgod's Cure" to 207.3 [scoring]
Repeal R 1648, "Generic Proposal Title #1648"
Renumber the rule entitled "Presidential Debate" to 1137

------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. [Discouraging Drift - assumes P 1623 passes]

Amend R 303, "Proposal and Rule Numbering" to add the following text to the end of section II, sub-section 2.:

"
[Proposals should specify rule numbers for any rules they create so that the new rule(s) are numbered into the appropriate section of the rules.]
"

{{[and please start numbering your rule creations. The passage of P 1623 makes this real easy.]}}

------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. [Section Headings]

{{[it occurs to me that the rules document is unregulated, and the web-harfer could add chapter headings to it now without changing the game state, if he wants to, so I am going to leave this alone]}}


Proposal 1657 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:23 -0600
De-emphasizing Winning by Points (Longer Cycles)
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

Amend R 220, "Winning by Points" to replace all occurrances of "257" with "541".

{{[I could fill volumes explaining the benefits of this rule change]}}


Proposal 1658 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:23 -0600
Amending Hearings
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
Decision: Accepted

Amend R360 "Hearings" to have the following added at the end:

A hearing may be retracted any time before its result is announced by the player who put it forward.


Proposal 1659 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:23 -0600
More Cool Stuff About Primes
breadbox (Brian Raiter)
Decision: Rejected

This is a modest proposal.

For the purposes of every rule that takes the primeness of numbers into consideration, the number 57 is to be considered prime.

{{Renumber this rule to 350.}}


Proposal 1660 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:24 -0600
Bad Pointer Reference
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: retracted by author

This is a Modest Proposal.

Amend Rule 1319 so that the number 729, found in its last paragraph, is changed to 1307.


Proposal 1661 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:24 -0600
Otzma Card of type Scientist for a Day
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: Accepted

Create a new rule, a member of the Otzma Cards Rule Suite, with text as follows.

A Card of this type may be played only in the public forum. A player who does so pays A$20.

In the message in which a player states he is playing a card of this type, he may also include exactly one collection of text which he would like to see as a new Blueprint. This text becomes a new Brueprint in the Blueprint Archive; this Blueprint is said to be created by the player who played the Scientist for a Day Otzma Card.

If at least 5 active players, or 20% of the active players, whichever is greater, publically protest this Blueprint within 3 days of its creation, it is destroyed, and its creator loses 10 points.

Counter-Action: Any Blueprint created by the use of the countered Scientist for a Day Card is destroyed.


Proposal 1662 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:25 -0600
Ethics in Duels
Lestrade (John Duncan)
Decision: Rejected

Ethics in Duels
Lestrade (John Duncan)

This is a Modest Proposal

Change Rule 1215 Duels, # 2) 4th paragraph from

"The Game or Contest (hereafter called Contest) chosen for the Duel must be one accepted for listing (or listed) on the Games & Contests web page. Moreover, it must be playable by exactly two players and have definative rules for determining a winner."

to

"The Game or Contest (hereafter called Contest) chosen for the Duel must be one accepted for listing (or listed) on the Games & Contests web page. Moreover, it must be playable by exactly two players and have definative rules for determining a winner. If the contest calls for a vote of the whole of Ackanomic, then the duelists and their seconds are ineligible to vote in the contest."


Proposal 1663 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:25 -0600
Amending "Winning by Paradox"
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
Decision: Rejected

{This will allow *limited* loophole surfing without problematic side effects. That should allow for a little more clean good fun. It will also allow us to train at paradox spotting :o) }

Amend R219 "Winning by Paradox" to read, in whole:

If any of the following occurs: (i) the rules are changed so that further play is impossible, or (ii) rule changes are impossible, or (iii) an action which would affect the game state appears equally legal and illegal, or (iv) there exist a contradiction or paradox in the rule set that is only resolved by R210, then a player may call for judgement on a statement to that effect, identifying clearly in the reasoning with which of the four above cases they invoke the call for judgement.

Such a call for judgement must also contain in its reasoning a statement to the effect that the initiator is claiming a win in accordance with R 219 on a verdict of True. Such a CFJ is called a "Paradox Win CFJ". No CFJ may be called a Paradox Win CFJ, except as designated by the Rules.

If the statement is judged True, and the judgement is not overruled, then the player who called for judgement is declared the winner of the cycle; the win occurring at the time it becomes illegal to appeal the CFJ under the current rules.


Proposal 1664 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:25 -0600
Amending "Invoking Judgement"
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
Decision: Rejected

{The following change means that there is no indefinite protection of paradoxes within the rules}

Amend the last line of R211 "Invoking Judgement" to read, in whole:

Any Paradox Win CFJ which is based on the same sort of Paradox, in the judgement of the judge, as any Paradox Win CFJ judged TRUE in the previous two cycles shall be judged Invalid.


Proposal 1665 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:26 -0600
Amending "Overturning Judgements"
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
Decision: Rejected

{This actually makes use of AOJs by the Supreme Court, as it was once meant to do}

Amend R217 " Overturning Judgements" by adding the following at the end:

The Supreme Court will return its verdict as an AOJ in the according format and with proper formalities as defined in the rule set. There is no need to quote the entire CFJ that was appealed, only ensure that proper reference to that CFJ is made in the AOJ.


Proposal 1666 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:26 -0600
The Morning After
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

Repeal the rule created by proposal 1630, "Happy Birthday Ackanomic!".

{{[no offense, but we have a whole year to think up a new one. I still believe the rule is a paradox, but even if it isn't, well I dunno...]}}


Proposal 1667 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:27 -0600
ee Breakfast
Jammer (John Lotz)
Decision: Rejected

Author Jammer AKA John-Martin Lotz

This is neither a modest nor a grandeous proposal

Any player who holds an functional office is allowed one time per office per cycle to declare any one action of theirs to not have occured. This rule may only be invoked if the action has not affected the game state.

For the puposes of this rule, the game state changes if the rules change, any hearing is held AND a vedict is passed down, or if an entity is created or destroyed.

This rule is invoked by the player quoting the post which stated the action occured, then saying "Yumm feathers taste good, this never happened."

If the rule is invoked, all activity related to this action cease, the approriate records state the player took advantage of the "Free Breakfast" rule and play continues as if the action never occured.

{This is frankly a reward and appreciation for the hard work put in by the functional officers, It gives them a break}

{This proposal would not go back and change something that occured in the past, but rather stop an action in its tracks}


Proposal 1668 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:27 -0600
Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: Rejected

This is a modest proposal.

Amend Rule 360 "Hearings" by adding the following to the end of its first paragraph.

If a hearing is called into session by a voluntary player action, the initiating player pays a fee of A$20 times the number of Hearings already in session. [i.e. the fee is zero if no Hearings were in session when the Hearing was called.] This fee is payed to the Treasury. If more than one Hearing is initiated by the same player action, they are called into session non-simultaneously, each one separated by an infitessimal amount of time.


Proposal 1669 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:28 -0600
A Small But Non-Trivial Detail
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal. Amend Rule 211 as follows:

In the fourth paragraph, change the first occurrence of "to the statement of a CFJ" to "to the statement of another CFJ".

In the sixth paragraph, change the first occurrence of "to the statement of a Paradox win CFJ" to "to the statement of another Paradox Win CFJ".


Proposal 1670 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:28 -0600
Stop Giving Away Valuables!
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
Decision: Rejected

{The following will stop giving away land and houses. Note that they reside with their mentors until they do get their house. This is no inconvenience to the Mentor really, who is supposed to help and guide their protege anyway and get paid for it}

Amend section 1 of R252 to read:

1) When a new player buys his first kaa of urban land ever, a Small house will be given to him for free on that plot of land. This building shall be known as their Home. This building shall also be known as "player name's House", where "player name" is replaced by their official Ackanomic name. Until they have their own home, new players reside with their mentors (as defined in section 4 of this rule). New players may reside with their mentors for one month maximum.

{The next one is to make sure we don't have cash flow problems anytime soon when a number of players join, while making sure they can always buy their first land by making a minimum}

Amend section 2 of R252 to read:

2) The New player is paid from the Treasury the average A$balance of all other players divided by two, or A$400, which ever is more.


Proposal 1671 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:28 -0600
Fix Home, Legal Residence and Renaming
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
Decision: Accepted

{A part of R252Sec1 was removed because it makes more sense in R839. The follwing also reconciles the different terminology of "home" and "legal residence". I've also reduced the workload of the Senate so that land deals without much impact are not subject to approval}

In R839, change:

"Each instance of a player Home is a Common Location, with the restriction that no player may enter a Home they don't own without permission of the owner.

The Senate Building is lavish. The FM building is a classy place. The Courthouse is a cosy building. These buildings may never be smaller that as defined originally but can be greater. All of these buildings are Common Locations.

All other land, with or without buildings on them, that is not owned by players is called common lands. All deals to sell or buy common land must be approved by Senate vote.

The size of the buildings cannot be changed except as allowed by the rules. "

To:

"A player may own more than one building, although only one (of his choosing) may be his home. A player's home is also his legal residence. Each instance of a player home is a Common Location, with the restriction that no player may enter a Home they don't own without permission of the owner.

A player may change the name of buildings they own by publicly announcing the new name and unambiguously identifying the building they wish to rename.

The Senate Building is lavish. The FM building is a classy place. The Courthouse is a cosy building. These buildings may never be smaller that as defined originally but can be greater. All of these buildings are Common Locations. All other land, with or without buildings on them, that is not owned by players is called common lands.

All deals to sell or buy common land which would result in a player owning more than 5kaa of land must be approved by Senate vote. Otherwise the Financier will acknowledge the transactions."


Proposal 1672 - Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:43:29 -0600
Constructions and Architectural Aesthetic
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
Decision: Accepted

{Renumber this rule to 846}

{This rule will allow players to manipulate buildings. It will set a base price for buildings, while allowing players to describe their home for the record. It will also define construction and destruction, rebuilding and upgrade}

The following table details the prices involved with various buildings:

Size               Construction    Destruction     Rebuilding      Upgrade
Small              A$100                A$10       A$100                 A$500
Cosy               A$500                A$50       A$250                 A$1600
Classy             A$2000              A$200       A$1000                A$4000
Lavish                   A$5000              A$500                A$2500 A$7000
Sumptous                   A$10000           A$1000              A$5000 A$15000
Extravagant         A$20000           A$2000       A$10000           n/a
Construction costs do not include land. If a building is destroyed, it no longer exists. If a building is damaged it may be repaired for the cost of rebuilding. For the cost of an upgrade and provided the player owns enough land, a building's size is increased to the next. No building can be more than extravagant.

Such costs are paid to the Treasury and events associated with them occur upon acknowledgement by the Financier. A player may only build on land they own and provided they own enough land. A player may only alter buildings they own.

The player may post a description of a building they own. After paying A$2 per word for the description (to the Treasury) the building is made exactly as their description of it, provided that description follows the rules. It is a crime to give a description of the house which is not in accord with the rules.


Proposal 1673 - Fri, 24 Jan 1997 09:36:54 -0600
Reorganization IIIa
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

I. [Leftover from Reorg II]

Renumber R 201, "Quorum and Active Players" to 107, and change its title to "Quorum". ['Players' moved the definition of active player out of this rule, it should have changed the title back, too.]

Renumber R 208, "When Score Changes Take Effect", to 205. [putting the meta-rule before the actual rules.]

Renumber R 210, "Resolving Conflicts" to 102.

Renumber R 1448 "Crazy French-Scotsmen" to 1129.
Renumber R 1630, "Happy Birthday Ackanomic!" to 1131.

---------------------------------------------------

II. [Where to put R 1519, "The Size of Things"]

{{[you've seen my justification of this a few times, now :)]}}

Amend R 1519, "The Size of Things" to replace:

"
I wish to make a modest proposal.

All Items in Acka have a size measured in thingees.
"

with:

"
All Items in Acka have a size measured in thingees. Unless otherwise specified in the Rules, an item's size is 0 thingees.
"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. [In the queue, some of these will be invalid rule changes]

Renumber R 1632, "Parents, Children, the Bees and the Gumball" to 1133; then amend R 1133 to remove all text enclosed in single curly braces, inclusive.

Renumber R 1633, "Evil Twins" to 1135; then amend R 1135 to remove all text enclosed in single curly braces, inclusive.

Repeal R 1644, "Ridiculous!"
Repeal R 1645, "Too Many Hunters"
Renumber R 1646, "Unambiguizing ambiguities" to 713.1 [crime]
Renumber R 1647, "snowgod's Cure" to 207.3 [scoring]
Repeal R 1648, "Generic Proposal Title #1648"
Renumber R 1652, "Presidential Debate" to 1137

Renumber R 1667, "Free Breakfast" to 1139; then amend R 1139 to remove the sentence which reads: "This is neither a modest nor a grandeous proposal", and to replace all left and right curly braces with left and right square brackets, respectively.

Renumber R 1672, "Constructions and Architectural Aesthetic" to 846; then amend R 846 to remove all text enclosed in single curly braces, inclusive.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. [Discouraging Drift - assumes P 1623 passes]

Amend R 303, "Proposal and Rule Numbering" to add the following text to the end of section II, sub-section 2.:

"
[Proposals should specify rule numbers for any rules they create so that the new rule(s) are numbered into the appropriate section of the rules.]
"

{{[and please start numbering your rule creations. The passage of P 1623 makes this real easy.]}}

------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. [Section Headings]

{{[it occurs to me that the rules document is unregulated, and the web-harfer could add chapter headings to it now without changing the game state, if he wants to, so I am going to leave this alone]}}


Proposal 1674 - Fri, 24 Jan 1997 09:36:57 -0600
Squeal
breadbox (Brian Raiter)
Decision: Rejected

This is a modest proposal

Any player who submits more than four proposals within any 24 hour period shall automatically incur a penalty of 3 points. Furthermore, they shall be deemed to be silly and shall be assigned by the Speaker the name of a farmyard animal, which must be used in all subsequent communications when referring to them while they are silly.

If a player was already silly at the time they infringed this rule, the Speaker shall assign them the name of a different, preferably larger, farmyard animal.

A player ceases to be silly 7 days after their most recent infringement of this rule.

{{Renumber this rule to 1128.}}


Proposal 1675 - Fri, 24 Jan 1997 15:47:29 -0600
Giving Beldin a Longer Needle
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal. Amend Rule 939, section 1, to read:

1) They may replace any one word in the rule with a different word, and as part of this amendment, optionally replace an article which directly precedes the replaced word (if present) with another article. The new word must appear in the Official Dictionary or elsewhere in the rules.


Proposal 1676 - Fri, 24 Jan 1997 17:03:33 -0600
Giving Ghost a Thorough Rewrite
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: retracted by author

Create a new rule with text as follows.

{{ The rules for Ghost, a Game on the Games and Contests Page, shall be replaced by the below text, delineated by the :) symbols

[changes include fixing the nagging questions with protests, allowing players to join games in progress in a limited fashion, creating a contingency for the referee leaving, and allowing three letter words that are real words -- with all the 3-letter "Scrabble words" in the 2nd official dictionary, it seemed appropriate.]

:)
1. Equipment: none

2. Players: minimum -- 2; maximum -- the number of active players when an instance of Ghost is initiated; Referees -- one

3. Beginning of game
An instance of ghost begins upon the referee sending the GamesMaster a message expressing the intent to start a game of Ghost and listing the players who will begin the game, and the GamesMaster publically announcing the start of the game or as directed by other rules.

4. Rules
The referee shall randomly assign each player a different integer ranging from 1 to N, where N is the number of players in the game. Player 1 shall play first, and after that, play shall proceed in order of increasing number. Player 1 plays again just after the turn of the player with the highest number. Each player's turn begins when the previous player's ends, unless that player's play was a protest, in which case it begins when the protest is resolved. Each player's turn shall last the lesser of three days or until that player plays.

At any time prior to the first turn of the player assigned the highest number, players may be added to the game. One wishing to be added to the game should inform the referee of their desire to do so; the referee shall then inform all current players of the addition. The new player will be assigned the number one greater than the highest number already assigned to a player in the game. Before the beginning of the new player's first turn, or three days after their addition, whichever comes first, the new player may be removed from the game if any player already in the game protests their addition. Players may not be added to instances of Ghost being played as a Duel.

Players in a game of Ghost are forbidden from using dictionaries or other reference books to aid their play. They may use these references for other purposes.

In his turn, each player shall do one of the following: (1) begin a new ghost word; (2) continue an existing ghost word; (3) protest the ghost word; (4) resign. Plays shall be made by sending a message describing the play to all players and the referee.

(1) A player may only begin a new ghost word where there is no existing ghost word, or when the previous player resigned. He shall do so by naming any letter of the alphabet. Upon this action, any previously existing ghost word is destroyed, being replaced by this letter.

(2) A player may continue an existing ghost word only when there is an existing ghost word. He shall do so by posting a string of letters identical to the existing ghost word except for the addition of one letter at either the beginning or the end of the ghost word. This string then becomes the new ghost word.

(3) A player who protests the ghost word shall do so by either by stating that the ghost word is a word of four or more letters in the official dictionary, or by stating that the ghost word cannot be found within any word in the official dictionary. ("uperso" can be found within "supersonic"; "spronc" cannot.) A protest is said to be made against the player whose turn caused the ghost word to be changed to its present form.

When a player protests the ghost word, play is suspended until the protest is resolved. If the protest was on the grounds that the ghost word is a word of four or more letters in the official dictionary, the referee shall attempt to locate it therein and report his findings. If the ghost word is a word of four or more letters in the official dictionary, the protest is valid; otherwise it is invalid. Either way, when the referee reports the validity or lack thereof of the protest, it is considered resolved.

If the protest was on the grounds that the ghost word cannot be found within any word in the official dicitonary, the player against whom the protest was made has three days to post a word containing the ghost word. If he does not, the protest is resolved as valid. If he does, the referee shall attempt to locate that word in the official dictionary, and shall report his findings. If the named word is a word in the official dictionary, the protest is invalid; otherwise, it is valid. Upon the referee reporting on the validity or lack thereof of the protest, it is considered resolved.

A player who makes an invalid protest is removed from the game; a player who has a valid protest made against him is removed from the game.

(4) A player who resigns is removed from the game. A player who does not make a move within his turn is assumed to have resigned.

A player may remove themselves from an instance of the game at any time by posting a message to that effect. If it was their turn, they are assumed to have resigned. If they leave Ackanomic, they are assumed to have posted such a message.

5. Winning
If exactly one player remains in the game, that player wins. There are no other winning conditions.

When a winner is found, the referee shall receive 8 A$. If this game took place as a Duel, the winner shall receive no additional compensation. If it was not a Duel and fewer than four players began the game, the winner receives four points. If from four to eight players began the game, the winner receives points equal to the number of players that began the game. If more than eight players began the game, the winner receives 8 points.

6. The Referee
Upon request, the referee must provide the following information: the players in the game and their order of play, whose turn it is, the current ghost word, and a history of the game in progress. He may, but is not required to, keep a web page with this information.

If the referee resigns his position, goes on vacation, or leaves the game of Ackanomic, he is no longer the referee. In this event, any player of Ackanomic who is not a player of that instance of Ghost may become referee by publically expressing his desire to do so. While there is no referee, the game is suspended.
:)
}}


Proposal 1677 - Sun, 26 Jan 1997 16:59:01 -0600
Short and Sweet
breadbox (Brian Raiter)
Decision: Rejected

This is a modest proposal.

Whenever a proposal amends this rule, the author of the proposal receives 15 points over and above what they would have received, provided that from the time the proposal was submitted until its successful adoption, the player's Ackanomic name is that of any character from a Walt Disney cartoon.

{{Renumber this rule to 731.}}


Proposal 1678 - Sun, 26 Jan 1997 16:59:02 -0600
Checked Swingers do not get extra moves
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

Ammend R1230.2 in the following ways:

1.Section 2 E is ammended to read in full:
"
Determining the playing-order:
(i)The Chess-Umpire maintains a list called the Swinger Play List. Initially the NAP Swinger is at the top of the list. The names of the other Swingers (including non-active players)follow in a random order determined at the begining of the PartyChess game by the Chess-Umpire. Once the order has been determined, it can only change as dictated by this rule.
(ii) The Swinger whose name is at the top of the list is the Swinger whose turn it is to play. When the turn is over. The top name is moved to the bottom of the list, and every other name on the list moves one step up on the list, except when this rule specifies otherwise.
(iii) When a single is checked, eir name is immediately moved to the top of the list.
(iv) When more than one Swinger are checked simultaneously, the names of all of the checked Swinger are moved to the top of the list simultaneously and the procedure described in section 3 D of this rule is carried out. When the situation called a Special DD-turn is resolved, the Chess-Umpire arranges the names of the Swingers who were at the top of the list (including non-active ones) in random order, and places the resultant list at the bottom of the Swinger Play List.
(v) When a Swinger's Office is destroyed, its name, and the name of the last Swinger to occupy it, are removed from the Swinger Play List.
(vi) When an Office of Swinger is created, its name, and the name of Swinger who holds that office, are placed at the bottom of the list. {{Upon acceptance of this proposal, the Chess-Umpire will create the Swinger Play List according to the current playing order, such that the Swinger whose it is to play is at th top of the list, the next Swinger to play is second in the list, etc.}}

"

2. Delete section 2 G of this rule

3. Delete section 3 D (iv) (a) of this rule

4. Delete section 3 D (iii) of this rule

5. Rename section 3 D (iv) to 3 D (iii)


Proposal 1679 - Sun, 26 Jan 1997 16:59:04 -0600
Wibble
breadbox (Brian Raiter)
Decision: Rejected

This is a modest proposal.

All proposals which are made by the player who is currently the Speaker (or the Acting Speaker, if the Speaker is on vacation) must include an approved silly word; otherwise, the proposal is invalid.

The approved list of silly words is as follows: spong, wibble, ni!, pheeeeew, zopzop, boing, banana, squawk, thatcher, and yeenewkleorrrrmeeesseilllllee.

{{ Renumber this rule to 111. }}


Proposal 1680 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 14:00:39 -0600
Internomic Judgment
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: Accepted

In Rule 419.2, replace

"Whenever Ackanomic is required to serve as a judge in Internomic, the Liaison shall render that judgement, and shall do so in the best interests of Ackanomic."

with:

Whenever Ackanomic is required to serve as a judge in Internomic, the Liaison shall publically post the statement for judgement along with any accompanying reasoning. During the four days following this post, players are encouraged to respond to the statement for judgment with whatever comments and reasoning they may have on the judgdment. Four days after the Liaison's posting of the statement for judgement, a Hearing will commence. The valid responses for this Hearing will be the valid verdicts Ackanomic may deliver in response to the Internomic statement for judgement. For the purposes of determining a verdict in this Hearing, each response from a Bronze Torch holder counts as two player responses, and non-player responses do not count. The verdict of this hearing shall be the verdict delivered on the statement for judgement. In the event of a tie, the Liaison shall determine which verdict to deliver. In whatever areas this rule differs from the usual procedure for Hearings, this rule takes precedence. When reporting the verdict to Internomic, the Liaison should use whatever player comments on the matter he feels are appropriate.


Proposal 1681 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 14:00:39 -0600
Honoring Elder tinan
snowgod (Phil Ackley)
Decision: Rejected

Amend R207.1 by replacing all occurances of the phrase "cows eat grass"with the complete text of R207.1

Proposal 1682 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 14:00:40 -0600
Honoring mr cwm
snowgod (Phil Ackley)
Decision: Accepted

This is a modest proposal.

{{Change the title of Rule 221 to "Winning is Inherently Amusing (or Winning by Palindrome)"}}


Proposal 1683 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 14:00:41 -0600
Everyone deserves a telephone call.
snowgod (Phil Ackley)
Decision: Accepted

This is a modest proposal.

Amend R709 by adding the following line of text to the end of the numbered list:

9)) A player in the Gaol may post up to 3 public messages a day.


Proposal 1684 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 14:00:42 -0600
Debtor's Bribery
snowgod (Phil Ackley)
Decision: Rejected

This is a modest proposal.

Amend R315 By removing the final sentence from section vii


Proposal 1685 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 14:00:42 -0600
ng CnH to 100 failed
snowgod (Phil Ackley)
Made harfy by Malenkai at Tue, 28 Jan 1997 23:24:00 -0500
Decision: Rejected

Create a new rule with the following text:

Pinnochio's Nose exists. It is unique and nontradeable. Pinnochio's Nose will always attach itself to the face of it's owner in place of his real nose. It cannot be removed except as described in this rule.

Upon the acceptance of any proposal that contains either the word "modest" or the word "harf" Pinnochio's Nose will grow by three inches. It's owner must then post a message saying something to the effect of

"Oh no, My nose is growing. Since I have been in possesion of Pinnochio's Nose it has grown x times. Pinnochio's Nose is now y feet and z inches long. Once the nose exceeds 10 feet in length, I will be top heavy and unable to change locations."

Failure to submit a message similar to the above when mandated by this rule is a crime, a felony.

Once Pinnochio's Nose reaches ten feet in length it's owner will become top heavy and tip over, planting his nose in the ground. He will be unable to change locations for one week for as long as he is in possesion of the nose. Aditionally, the final line of his "Oh no," post must be changed to indicate the distance of of the ground that Pinnochio's Nose has raised him to [measured by the distance over ten feet that the nose has grown].

Once Pinnochio's Nose exceeds 15 feet in length in will miraculously remove itself from its current owner and attach itself the face of the player who's score is closest to the mean of the score of all the other players.

{{Initially, Pinnochio's Nose will be possesed by the player with the lowest positive score}}


Proposal 1686 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 14:00:44 -0600
Repeal Politeness Moon
Guy Fawkes (Phil Ackley)
Decision: Rejected

This is a Modest Proposal. Repeal Rule 374.

In Rule 1209 "Machine That Goes *ping*" remove the string, "immune from the Politeness Moon in doing so"

{{[There is no risk in calling a Politeness Moon. For similar purposes, a Duel has a higher fun/work ratio. More details on request.]}}


Proposal 1687 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 23:51:43 -0600
Giving Ghost a More Thorough Rewrite
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: Accepted

Create a new rule with text as follows.

{{ The rules for Ghost, a Game on the Games and Contests Page, shall be replaced by the below text, delineated by the :) symbols

:)
1. Equipment: none

2. Players: minimum -- 2; maximum -- the number of active players when an instance of Ghost is initiated; Referees -- one

When the rules specify that a player is removed from the game, it means that he is no longer a player it that instance of ghost. It is not necessarily a resignation, although a resignation does cause a player's removal from the game.

3. Beginning of game
An instance of ghost begins upon the referee sending the GamesMaster a message expressing the intent to start a game of Ghost and listing the players who will begin the game, and the GamesMaster publically announcing the start of the game or as directed by other rules.

4. Rules
The referee shall randomly assign each player a different integer ranging from 1 to N, where N is the number of players in the game. Player 1 shall play first, and after that, play shall proceed in order of increasing number. Player 1 plays again just after the turn of the player with the highest number. Each player's turn begins when the previous player's ends, unless that player's play was a protest, in which case it begins when the protest is resolved. Each player's turn shall last the lesser of three days or until that player plays.

At any time prior to the first turn of the player assigned the highest number, players may be added to the game. One wishing to be added to the game should inform the referee of their desire to do so; the referee shall then inform all current players of the addition. The new player will be assigned the number one greater than the highest number already assigned to a player in the game. Before the beginning of the new player's first turn, or three days after their addition, whichever comes first, the new player may be removed from the game if any player already in the game protests their addition. Players may not be added to instances of Ghost being played as a Duel.

Players in a game of Ghost are forbidden from using dictionaries or other reference books to aid their play. They may use these references for other purposes.

In his turn, each player shall do one of the following: (1) begin a new ghost word; (2) continue an existing ghost word; (3) protest the ghost word; (4) resign. Plays shall be made by sending a message describing the play to all players and the referee.

(1) A player may only begin a new ghost word when there is no existing ghost word. He shall do so by naming any letter of the alphabet.

(2) A player may continue an existing ghost word only when there is an existing ghost word. He shall do so by posting a string of letters identical to the existing ghost word except for the addition of one letter at either the beginning or the end of the ghost word. This string then becomes the new ghost word.

(3) A player who protests the ghost word shall do so by either by stating that the ghost word is a word of four or more letters in the official dictionary, or by stating that the ghost word cannot be found within any word in the official dictionary. ("uperso" can be found within "supersonic"; "spronc" cannot.) A protest is said to be made against the player whose turn caused the ghost word to be changed to its present form.

When a player protests the ghost word, play is suspended until the protest is resolved. If the protest was on the grounds that the ghost word is a word of four or more letters in the official dictionary, the referee shall attempt to locate it therein and report his findings. If the ghost word is a word of four or more letters in the official dictionary, the protest is valid; otherwise it is invalid. Either way, when the referee reports the validity or lack thereof of the protest, it is considered resolved; if the protest was valid, the ghost word is destroyed.

If the protest was on the grounds that the ghost word cannot be found within any word in the official dicitonary, the player against whom the protest was made has three days to post a word containing the ghost word. If he does not, the protest is resolved as valid. If he does, the referee shall attempt to locate that word in the official dictionary, and shall report his findings. If the named word is a word in the official dictionary, the protest is invalid; otherwise, it is valid. Upon the referee reporting on the validity or lack thereof of the protest, it is considered resolved; at the resolution of any protest of this sort, the ghost word is destroyed.

A player who makes an invalid protest is removed from the game; a player who has a valid protest made against him is removed from the game.

(4) A player who resigns is removed from the game. A player who does not make a move within his turn is assumed to have resigned. When a player resigns, the ghost word is destroyed.

A player may remove themselves from an instance of the game at any time by posting a message to that effect. If it was their turn, they are assumed to have resigned. If they leave Ackanomic, they are assumed to have posted such a message.

5. Winning
If exactly one player remains in the game, that player wins. There are no other winning conditions.

When a winner is found, the referee shall receive 8 A$. If this game took place as a Duel, the winner shall receive no additional compensation. If it was not a Duel and fewer than four players began the game, the winner receives four points. If from four to eight players began the game, the winner receives points equal to the number of players that began the game. If more than eight players began the game, the winner receives 8 points.

6. The Referee
Upon request, the referee must provide the following information: the players in the game and their order of play, whose turn it is, the current ghost word, and a history of the game in progress. He may, but is not required to, keep a web page with this information.

If the referee resigns his position, goes on vacation, or leaves the game of Ackanomic, he is no longer the referee. In this event, any player of Ackanomic who is not a player of that instance of Ghost may become referee by publically expressing his desire to do so. While there is no referee, the game is suspended.
:)
}}


Proposal 1688 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 23:51:43 -0600
Runestone of Jukkasjarvi
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

Bribe: A random Trinket whose name contains the string 'Jukkasjarvi'.

Create a new rule with the following text:

{{[The fragments of the Runestone of Jukkasjarvi, in sum, contain all the clues necessary to find the Golden Frog. Although the technology doesn't quite exist in the rules to do what I want to do, it is fairly close, and I figured I'd give it a go with Trinkets as a prototype. Whenever you legally view a Runestone of Jukkasjarvi fragment, I will e-mail you the runes on that fragment.

The Golden Frog is quite a valuable treasure, and an ancient historical relic from the game. Worst case is you end up with a Trinket worth A$3 for voting yes, and it could be fun. Most importantly, this prototype could open up development of an interesting line of gameplay by someone wiser than myself, who knows.

I had planned to simply distribute the fragments as gifts, but the Bribe mechanism is perfect for this, for at least 2 reasons. As for pieces that do not get distributed as a result of the Bribe, they will all be distributed in some manner afterwords, to interested people. I realise some of the problems with Trinkets, but they offer other potentially interesting situations. I'd rather try something than not try something :)

And so that this is not a Null proposal, I might as well get another Automatic Sculpture for another Treasure Hunt someday. Remember, I don't profit from these things:]

An Automatic Sculpture is created and transferred to Malenkai.
}}


Proposal 1689 - Mon, 27 Jan 1997 23:51:44 -0600
More Fun and Games
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: Accepted

Create a new rule with text as follows:

{{
The two collections of text herein, the first delimited by **** symbols, and the second by ^_^ symbols, shall become two separate Games on the Games and Contests Page. The name of the first game is Double Crash. The name of the second game is Single-Capture Go.

****

Double Crash

I. Equipment: none

II. Players
minimum: 2; maximum 2

III. Starting an instance of Double Crash
To start an instance of Double Crash, the two participants should notify the GamesMaster of their intent to play Double Crash. The game begins when the GamesMaster posts a public message stating that the game is beginning.

IV. Rules of the Games
Throughout these rules, an N-round Salvo is a public post taking the form of a numbered list of N five-letter words. The numbering convention and format should be:

        1) [five-letter word]
        2) [another one]
        ...  and so on, up to  ...  
        N) [the last one]
A Reply to a Salvo is a reposting of the Salvo being replied to, with the addition of a number from 1-5 to the right of each five-letter word. This number is the number of "crashes" as defined below, of that word with the Replying player's Target Word. The format should be
        1) [five-letter word]  2 [actual number will vary]
        2) [another one]       3
        ... and so on, up to ...
        N) [the last one]      1
Two words crash once for each letter that occupies the same position in each word. (ie, if they have the same first letter, they crash once; if they have the same third letter, they crash again. HEART crashes once with SPADE (for the A). STAFF crahses three times with CHAFF. SWORD does not crash with WORDY. A five-letter word crashes five times with itself.)

The game consists of several rounds, each of which lasts three days or until all actions required of players in that round, whichever comes first. If ever a player fails to complete all required actions before the end of a round, his opponent wins. If both players so fail, and the game is being held as a Duel, the challenged player wins. If both players so fail, and the game is not being played as a Duel, neither player wins, and the game is over. Each round begins immediately upon the end of the previous one.

Round 1) Each player selects a five-letter word from the Official Dictionary. This is his Target Word, and should be kept secret. Also, each player posts a 6-round Salvo.
Round 2) Each player Replies to the other's 6-round Salvo.
Round 3) Each player posts a 5-round Salvo.
Round 4) Each player Replies to the other's 5-round Salvo.
Round 5) Each player posts a 4-round Salvo.
Round 6) Each player Replies to the other's 4-round Salvo.
Round 7) Each player posts a 3-round Salvo.
Round 8) Each player Replies to the other's 3-round Salvo.

Hereafter, each odd-numbered round consists of each player posting a 3-round Salvo; each even-numbered round consists of each player Replying to the Salvo the other posted the previous round.

If a player improperly reports the number of crashes any word in any Salvo has with his Target Word, or if a player selects as his Target Word a word other than a five-letter word from the Official Dictionary, his opponent wins as soon as the error is discovered.

The rounds continue until upon the end of a round of Replies, one or both Replies indicates that some word in the previous Salvo crashed five times with the Replying players Target Word. If only one-player posted a Salvo which included a five-crash word, that player is the tentative winner. If both players posted such a Salvo, the player who posted a five-crash word higher in the Salvo's list is the tentative winner, if such a player can be uniquely defined. (ie, a five-crash word at the #1 slot in a Salvo beats one at #2.) If the two five-crash words occupy the same position in their respective Salvos, the player who posted their Salvo first is the tentative winner.

Once a tentative winner is found, the two players shall reveal their respective Target Words. The players may then examine each others' plays for errors. If no actual errors are found within three days, the tentative winner wins the game.

Upon a player winning the game, it ends. If the game was not being played as a Duel, the winner receives A$25 from the Treasury.

****

^_^

Single-Capture Go

I. Equipment: none

II. Participants:
minimum players: 2; maximum players: 12 one referee; any non-player who volunteers may be the referee

III. Starting an instance of the game:
Single-Capture Go begins when a sufficient number of players agree to start and participate in a game of it, and when they inform the GamesMaster of their intent. When the GamesMaster publically announces the beginning of the game, it begins.

At the beginning of the game, the referee assigns each player a different capital Letter of the alphabet.

IV. Rules of play
The game is played on an N by N grid, where N is the smallest integer such that N^2 is equal to or greater than 12*(the number of players who begin the game.

The grid is labeled according the following convention:

        a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 ...
        b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 ...
        c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 ...
        d1 d2 d3 d4 d5 ...
        e1 e2 e3 e4 e5 ...
        ...
Each square in the grid may be occupied by exactly one Letter or by the @ character.

A round begins when the referee announces the beginning of a round. For all rounds but the first, he should include in this announcement a depiction of the grid, showing all Letters upon it, as well as a summary of the any moves made or attempted in the last round and the players remaining in the game. A round lasts three days after this announcement.

During the course of a round, each player may privately mail the referee their play, which shall consist of naming exactly one square on the grid not occupied by a Letter at the beginning of the round. (ie, e7, assuming e7 was unoccupied at the beginning of the present round.) If a player sends the referee two valid moves, only the latter one shall count.

At the end of a round, the referee shall determine its results as follows.
1) If exactly one player legally played a given grid square that round, the referee shall place the Letter assigned to that player on that grid square.

2) If more than one player legally played a given grid square that round, the referee shall place a @ character on that grid square. The players who played that square are still counted as having moved that round.

3) A Group is a set of identical Letters occupying squares on the grid, such that each member of the Group occupies a square orthogonally adjacent to one occupied by at least one other member of the Group. The exception to this definition is that a single Letter, not so adjacent to any identical Letters, is considered a Group of one member.

A Group has Liberty as long as at least one of its members is orthogonally adjacent to an unoccupied grid square.

At this point, if any Group does not have Liberty, the player corresponding to that Group's Letter is doomed. Any player who did not play in the most recent round is also doomed.

4) Any Letters on the grid corresponding to a doomed player are transformed into @ characters.

5) If exactly one non-doomed player remains in the game, that player wins. If no non-doomed players remain, the player who had the most correpsonding Letters on the grid prior to the most recent transformation into @ characters wins. There are no other winning conditions.

6) All doomed players are removed from the game. If more than one player remains, the referee announces the start of a new round, as described above. Otherwise, the game ends.

^_^

}}


Proposal 1690 - Wed, 29 Jan 1997 12:05:50 -0600
Preventing Infinite Win Crashes
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal. Amend Rule 666 as follows.

Reletter step m) to n). Add the text "m) If the game state is such that the single winner of the last cycle would immediately win again upon the resumption of Ackanomic play, the Chartreuse Goose is transferred to that player." directly after step l).


Proposal 1691 - Wed, 29 Jan 1997 12:05:51 -0600
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Tornado
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

Create a new rule called "Creation of a PartyChessPiece Tornado" to be a member of the Party Chess Rule Suite, reading:

1. A Tornado is represented by the ASCII character T.
2. A Tornado's material value is 11.
3. A Tornado's move consists of N+1 segments, where N is the number of pieces captured by the Tornado in its current move sequence:

a) In the first segment of its move sequence, the Tornado can move up to 2 squares in any direction, provided all the squares between the current square and the destination square are unoccupied.

b) If a Tornado fails to capture an enemy piece on the current segment of its move sequence, its move sequence ends when the current segment is completed (its movement ends).

c) If a Tornado captures an enemy piece on its current move segment, it may start a new move segment as follows: the Tornado can move up to M squares, in any direction except for the direction it moved on its previous move segment, provided all the squares between the current square and the destination square are unoccupied. For the purposes of this section, M is the material value of the most recent piece captured by the Tornado, unless that piece was a HarfyBlob, in which case M is the Hn of that HarfyBlob.


Proposal 1692 - Wed, 29 Jan 1997 12:05:52 -0600
Thief
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

Create a rule entitled: "Otzma Card of type Art Thief", which is a member of Otzma Cards Rule Suite, and has the following text:

"
A Card of this type can only be played in the public forum, and only when the Ackanomic Museum of Antiquities (Museum) contains one or more entities other than players.

A player who plays this Card shall unambiguously announce the name of an entity (other than a player) contained in the Museum. Upon doing so, the entity is removed from the Museum and transferred to the player, (and is no longer considered "on display" in the Museum).

Its Counter-Action: The player playing the card is deemed to have been "caught stealing" [and suffers the applicable penalties, qv R 850]. If the player still possesses the entity transferred as above, it is transferred back to the Museum as if it had never been removed (i.e., its donor and display status are restored).
"


Proposal 1693 - Thu, 30 Jan 1997 10:17:05 -0600
Stuff
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I. [at least provide a sequence and reference to all end of cycle stuff that is not part of R 666. I almost forgot about the Archaeologist last time. Account for pass/fail of P 1690]

a) Amend Rule 666, "End of Cycle", to add the following section directly before the section which contains "Ackanomic play resumes":

"
x) All events specified by other rules to occur at the end of the cycle occur, in the numeric order of the rule that defines the event [see rules 593 and 670].
"

then reletter each lettered section sequentially, starting with 'a'.

--

b) Amend Rule 593, "Ackanomic Research Guild", to replace:

"
The Office of Archaeologist has one seat. This seat is filled or transferred only as follows: At the end of a Cycle, before player scores are reset, this seat is transferred to the single player who has the highest score which is both a prime number and not equivalent to the Magic Number, and is not already a Scientist. If no such player exists, this seat is not transferred (nor filled if vacant).
"

with:

"
The Office of Archaeologist has one seat. This seat is filled or transferred only as follows: At the end of a Cycle, this seat is transferred to the single player who had the highest score when the cycle ended, which was both a prime number and not equivalent to the Magic Number at that time, and who is not already a Scientist. If no such player exists, this seat is not transferred (nor filled if vacant).
"

--

c) Amend Rule 670, "Commission d'Arts", to remove the following sentence:

"
This clause takes precedence over any other in any rule dealing with the starting of a Commission d'Arts session.
"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. [de-goosing some precedence]

a) Amend R 1211, "Boons of the Ancients" to remove the following sentence:

"This takes precedence over the rule entitled "Chartreuse Goose""

b) Amend R 1240.11, "Otzma Card Type Foul Fowl" to remove the following sentence:

"This rule takes precedence over rule 235."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

III. [replacing machine truth revelation precedence with deferrence]

a) Amend Rule 1240.12, "Otzma Card of type TruthSeeker" to remove the following sentence:

"This rule has precedence over Rule 1209 where there is a conflict."

b) Amend Rule 1209, "The Machine That Goes *ping*", to replace:

"
IV. It is strictly against this rule for the Scholar to use any means whatsoever, other than those described in this rule, to communicate any information regarding the Truth to any player, so long as the Truth remains unknown to all players but him.
"

with:

"
IV. It is strictly against this rule for the Scholar to use any means whatsoever, other than those described in the rules, to communicate any information regarding the Truth to any player, so long as the undisguised Truth is not publically knowable.
"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. [Shortening On-Ice shelf life]

Amend Rule 255, "Vacationing", to replace

"on ice for 90 consecutive days" with "on ice for 60 consecutive days"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

V. [I've been meaning to do this for awhile]

Amend Rule 374, "Self Deleting Text", to add the following paragraph directly before the one which begins with "Any text":

"
If a rule contains more sets of left double curly braces than right double curly braces, that rule is amended to append a set of right double curly braces after all of its other text.
"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. [Stuff requiring a rule]

Create a new rule with the following text:

{{
A. [executing the Eponimondas CFCJ, sort of]

If an Undead named Eponimondas exists [this will occur in the CFJ 340 FALSE thread], perform the following actions in the order listed:

a) A$20 is transferred from the treasury to /dev/joe.
b) The undead known as Eponimondas stops haunting all A$s it is haunting
c) The undead known as Eponimondas starts haunting A$500.

----

B. [common sense for the automatic sculpture]

a) Amend the Blueprint for "Automatic Sculpture" to replace:

"
When an Automatic Sculpture is buried as a Treasure
"

with:

"
When an Automatic Sculpture is buried as, or as part of, a Treasure
"
}}


Proposal 1694 - Thu, 30 Jan 1997 10:17:11 -0600
Overworked-Rest in Peace
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

Create a new rule entitled "Undead-Harfer", numbered 426, with the following text:

"
The Office of the Undead-Harfer is a Functional Office.

The Duties are:

a) To maintain a list of all Undead, the entities they are haunting, and any other pertinent details of the Undead.
b) To make this list available to any player upon request.

$$
The text in this rule enclosed in double dollar signs, inclusive, is known as 'This Section'.

Within a fortnight of the creation of this rule, the Undead-Harfer or acting Undead-Harfer shall produce a list which is a good faith attempt at an accurate list as specified in section a) above. If no list is published within the time limit, the null list is assumed to have been published upon the expiration of the time limit.

[All officers shall make a good faith attempt to help the Undead-Harfer compile such a list. I have some of it, and I know of one player who stated willingness to do the Undead-Harfer job].

Upon the contents of such a list being publically knowable, the following will occur in the order specified:

1) All Undead not on the list shall be known as 'Lost Souls'. No other entities shall be known as 'Lost Souls'; any such attribute is removed from any such entities.

2) All Lost Souls shall stop haunting all A$s they are haunting. Any other A$s being haunted, but not accounted for on the list, shall no longer be being haunted as well.

3) All entities, including houses and land, being haunted by Lost Souls shall have the attribute of 'ZZimsy'. No other entities, except as designated by this rule, shall have the attribute of ZZimsy.

4) All entities which are not on the list, but are being haunted by Undead on the list, are given the attribute of ZZimsy as well.

5) All ZZimsy entites are destroyed. This clause has precedence over all rules.

6) All Lost Souls are destroyed. This clause has precedence over all rules.

7) This rule is amended to delete This Section.
$$


Proposal 1695 - Thu, 30 Jan 1997 10:17:11 -0600
Overworked II - Bond-Harfer
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

Create a new rule entitled "Bond-Harfer Meta Rule", numbered 427.1, with the following text:

"
[I. Do we want bonds?]

Upon the creation of this rule, the following will occur, in the order specified:

1) A Hearing shall be called on the future of PFBonds, the valid responses being:

"Bonds are worth the work, and I'm willing to do that work." "Bonds are cool, but they just aren't worth the effort."

[II. No, we do not.]

Upon a result of the Hearing of "Bonds are cool, but they just aren't worth the effort.", being publically knowable, with the added stipulation that at least two thirds of the responses were this response, the stuff on the following lettered list (Bond Repeal List) will occur in the order specified:

a) All players are paid A$5 for every PFBond they possess.
b) All PBbonds, Bond Promissories, and Bond Options are destroyed.

c) Rule 252 is amended to delete the following 2 sections of text:
"
3) The New player is given 100 newly created PFBonds associated with himself. The Financier shall assign a label that may be used to refer to the PFBonds associated with the New player, although this procedure may continue without waiting for him to do so.
"
and
"
3) All Bond Promissories in that player's real life name are converted to PFBonds associated with that player. Their label is the same as the PFBonds whose conversion created the Bond Promissories.
"

[and then the Spelling Bee renumbers the sections]

d) Rule 256 is amended to remove ", every PFBond associated with him is destroyed", and
"
6) Every PFBond associated with him is converted into a Bond Promissory in his real life name. Bond Promissories are tradeable entities.
"

e) Rules 507 ("PF Bonds"), 508 ("Bond Yields"), and 512 ("Bond Options") are repealed.

f) Rule 666 is amended to remove
"g) Bond payments are held in suspension." and
"i) Bond payments are reinstituted, as if all players' scores were their Eggplant Weight at the end of the previous bond cycle."

[and then the Spelling Bee reletters the sections]

g) Rule 427.1, "Bond-Harfer Meta Rule", is then repealed.

[III. Sure, lets keep bonds around.]

Upon any other result of the Hearing being publically knowable, including a result of "Bonds are cool, but they just aren't worth the effort." such that that response received less than two thirds of the responses, the following will occur in the order specified:

1) A new rule entitled "Bond-Harfer", and numbered 427, shall be created with the text below, delimited by double dollar signs:

[
$$
The Office of the Bond-Harfer is a Functional Office. The Duties of the Bond-Harfer are:

(a) to calculate and publically report the yields on PFBonds, per PFBond, when they occur.
(b) to calculate and report PFBond yields per player based on the PFBond yields per bond and players' PFBond portfolios.
$$
]

2) [A nomination for the functional office of Bond-Harfer now occurs]

3) Upon the results of the Nomination for the office of Bond-Harfer being publically knowable, one of the following will occur:

A) If there was at least one volunteer for the office, this rule (Rule 427.1, "Bond-Harfer Meta Rule") is repealed upon a Bond-Harfer being appointed.

B) If there were no volunteers for the office, Rule 427, "Bond-Harfer", is repealed, the nomination for that office is terminated, then steps a) thru g) on the list entitled "Bond Repeal List" occur.


Proposal 1696 - Thu, 30 Jan 1997 10:17:12 -0600
Prelude to Pretty Powerful Party Pieces
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Decision: Accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

Amend R 1230.1, "Swingers Play Around I - the board and the playing pieces" to add the following sub-section directly after section 3, sub-section I:

J. A PartyChessPieceDef rule may define an instance limit for that type of piece. If it does not, there is no instance limit for that piece. Instance limits are always enforced on a per Swinger basis. If such a limit is defined, a Swinger may not control more pieces than the limit; if it is ever found that e possesses pieces in excess of the specified limit, all excess pieces are destroyed until this situation is corrected, starting with off-board pieces. If random determination is required to perform this destruction, the Chess-Umpire shall handle it.


Proposal 1697 - Thu, 30 Jan 1997 10:17:13 -0600
Chess Things
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: retracted by author

This is a Modest proposal
In 1230.2 "Swinger Like to Play Around II - Managing the game" section 2 J.(i) will be ammended to read in full:
"A Round play is defined as a time period in which each Swinger played exactly once, where a Default Pass also counts a play, and a Special DD-Turn counts as a play for each Swinger taking part in that turn, in eir capacity as Swinger."

In section 2 D the text :
" as a result of the fact that eir Party no longer exists,"
Will be deleted.

{{[The second is a correction to the null proposal. The first should have really gone with the check fix, because playing order may change as a result of check, it is possible that the current condition of each Swinger playing exactly once, might never be met. In the spirit of that ammendemnt, Special DD-Turn also count.]}}


Proposal 1698 - Thu, 30 Jan 1997 15:21:57 -0600
Postal Code
/dev/joe (Joseph DeVincentis)
Decision: Accepted

Repeal Rule 372, "Customary Subject Line". {{[Incorporated into 422]}}

Amend Rule 422, "Postmaster", to read in full:

The Postmaster is an optional functional office with one seat.

A duty of the Postmaster shall be to create and maintain an official mailing list for Ackanomic, so public messages can be sent to one address and forwarded from there to all players and observers automatically. The Postmaster shall create additional, optional lists as he deems it appropriate. Another duty of the Postmaster shall be to keep a publicly available record of the Postal Code.

The Postal Code is a document which may be changed by the Postmaster by publicly posting the desired changes; if fewer than 2 players publicly disagree with the change within 3 days, it is applied to the Postal Code; otherwise, the change is ignored.

A message is a public message if and only if it is distributed to all non-vacationing Players or it is sent to any mailing list indicated as a public forum in the Postal Code, and any actions performed in the message obey all restrictions in the Postal Code for that list, and the subject line contains either "Ackanomic:" or "Acka:". [Only actions are regulated; discussion can take place anywhere, though players should try to post to appropriate lists.]

For a player not on vacation not to be subscribed to at least one form official mailing list is a Crime. There may be multiple forms of the official list, such as a regular list and a digest list. Any person subscribed to any public forum who is not a player is considered to be an observer. The Postal Code must always indicate which list is the official list.

If a digest version of any mailing list exists, the Postmaster shall have the privilege of moving any player or observer from the normal list to the digest version of that list if that person's e-mail is bouncing.

The Postmaster shall receive the usual salary for a Functional Office.

{{The Postal Code now reads as follows:

All addresses below which end in @wilma should be treated as having ".che.utexas.edu" appended to the name. All mailing lists mentioned below are public forums unless otherwise specified.

ackanomic@wilma is the official mailing list.
ackanomic-digest@wilma is the digest version of this list.
acka-priv@wilma is an alternate form of ackanomic@wilma, suitable for messages desiring a private reply.

acka-games@wilma may only be used for actions pertaining to Games & Contest games, treasure hunts, Grab-a-Donkey, and The Machine that Goes *ping*.
acka-games-priv@wilma is an alternate form of acka-games@wilma, with the same restrictions, but suitable for messages desiring a private reply.
ackanomic-digest@wilma is also the digest form of acka-games@wilma

acka-chess@wilma may only be used for actions in Party Chess.

acka-financial@wilma may only be used for trades or gifts of entities.
}}


Proposal 1699 - Thu, 30 Jan 1997 15:21:59 -0600
Chess Things
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: retracted by author

{{[Now, that's more like it]}}

This is a Modest proposal
In 1230.2 "Swinger Like to Play Around II - Managing the game" section 2 J.(i) will be ammended to read in full:
"A Round of play is defined as a time period in which each Swinger played at least once, where a Default Pass also counts a play, and a Special DD-Turn counts as a play for each Swinger taking part in that turn, in eir capacity as Swinger."

In section 2 D the text :
" as a result of the fact that eir Party no longer exists,"
Will be deleted.

{{[The second is a correction to the null proposal. The first should have really gone with the check fix, because playing order may change as a result of check, it is possible that the current condition of each Swinger playing exactly once, might never be met. In the spirit of that ammendemnt, Special DD-Turn also count.]}}


Proposal 1700 - Thu, 30 Jan 1997 17:25:58 -0600
Prime Otzma
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: rejected by failure to meet quorum

This is A Modest proposal.
In R1240.1 delete section VI

Create a new rule entitled "Prime Otzma", as a member of the Otzma Card Rule Suite which contains the following text:
"
Whenever a non-Null proposal whose proposal number is prime accepted, one Otzma Card is created. The type of Card is selected with equal probability from the legal Otzma Card type, the creation of which would not exceed any limits set by the rules of this Rule Suite. It is the duty of the RuneMaker to determine the type of Otzma Card, and Auction it in either a public or private Auction."