Proposal Archive (3051-3100)


Proposal 3051 - Tue 12 May 1998 19:34 EDT
Archers are defensive pieces
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: accepted

{{[There were some comments from Swingers that Archers upset game balance with their distance capture. I don't want to repeal Archers, and I like to think of them as defensive pieces. That's why I submitted the Defensive POsition proposal, and also this one. The Defensive Position proposal creates a sort of dynamic territory, and might be used by other pieces as well. I think this proposal restores some balance, and makes the piece more interesting]}}


Amend R1230.15 "Creation of a PartyChessPiece Archer" to read in full:
"
1. An Archer is represented by the ASCII Character 'A'.

2. The Archers move is made up of two parts: In the first part the Archer moves either vertically or horizontally a distance of d1 squares, where d1 is either 1,2,3 or 4. In the second part the Archer moves a distance of 4-d1 in a direction perpendicular to the direction he moved in the first part (in the second part the distance can be 0).

3.
a. When an Archer is in a Defensive Position it can capture from a distance. An Archer can capture any opposing piece that occupies a square at a maximum distance of 4, either vertically or horizontally, or a at a maximum distance of 3 diagonally, provided that all the squares between the Archer and the captured piece are unoccupied.

The Archer does not replace the captured piece, but remains on the same square it occupied when the turn started. An Archer in a Defensive Position cannot capture using the move described in section 2 of this rule.

b. An Archer which is not in a defensive position can only Capture using the Move described in section 2 of this rule, provided all the squares it passes through are unoccupied.

4. An Archer has a material value of 7.


Proposal 3052 - Tue 12 May 1998 19:35 EDT
Binding Demons
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
Decision: accepted

{{[It has been pointed out that Demons as they stand are too powerful promotables. This proposal seeks to restrict the promotion zone from teh entire square between two identical pieces to just the diagonal. This would still allow for interesting plays, like the Demon double promotiong that was executed a couple of months back]}}

{{[this is a chess proposal ]}}
This is a Modest Proposal.

Amend section 3 of R1230.18 "Creation of a PartyChessPiece Demon" to read in full:
"

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 ABS(xR-R)=ABS(yR-R) /AND/ ABS(xC-C)=ABS(yC-C) /AND/ the distance between those two pieces is equal to or smaller than 8. A Demon can only be Promoted if the Swinger controlling the Demon has just Moved or Captured. It cannot be Promoted following a Placement or a Pass.

"


Proposal 3053 - Tue 12 May 1998 19:36 EDT
Chess Peace
J. M. Bear (Frank Schmidt)
Status: retracted

This is a Grandiose Proposal.
Amend Rule 1230.2 Section 6 ("Playing the game") Point C ("Placement") by replacing the text "The Swinger may not place the piece in such a position that it attacks one or more opposing pieces" with "The Swinger may not place the piece in such a position that it or another piece puts any king in check which wasn't in check before the Placement. The Swinger may also not place the piece in such a position that it attacks one or more opposing pieces"


Proposal 3054 - Tue 12 May 1998 19:37 EDT
Clutching at Straws
J. M. Bear (Frank Schmidt)
Status: retracted

{{[When a new game of Party Chess starts, all Swingers should be allowed to play. Those who are checkmated in the new game still remain outside unless there's a FFA, during which any Swinger may enter - but which can easily be vetoed]}}

Amend Rule 1230.2 Section 4 ("Turns") Point B ("Warmth") by replacing the text "(iii) When there are 7 or more Swingers with on-board pieces," with the text "(iii) When there are 7 or more Swingers with on-board pieces and the current round is not the first or second of the current Party Chess game,".


Proposal 3055 - Tue 12 May 1998 19:37 EDT
Put the left action in
else...if (Henry Towsner)
Decision: rejected

Add the following before the last paragraph of rule 534: "
The AREB may add and remove actions. If two members of the AREB publicly specify the same alteration to the list of actions then that change will occur. The specification must include whether it is an addition or a removal, and what event will become classified or cease to be classified as an action. When the alteration occurs the list of actions in rule 530 will be changed appropriately.
"


Proposal 3056 - Wed 13 May 1998 00:19 EDT
Mentoring fix once more
JT (JT Traub)
Decision: accepted

{{[ This is to fix the fact that the proposal was null the last time it went through. ]}}

Amend rule 253 'Mentors' as follows:
Replace this OLD delimited sentance
OLD
Any Acting player may place emself in the mentor pool or remove emself therefrom.
OLD
with the following NEW delimited sentances
NEW
Any Active player may place emself in the mentor pool or remove emself therefrom by notifying the Registrar. This notification may be done privately.
NEW


Proposal 3057 - Wed 13 May 1998 00:20 EDT
One more Convention
JT (JT Traub)
Decision: rejected

{{[ This is a small attempt to fix the problem of some types of Null proposals. In the case that brought this up, a rule number was left out of the proposal. ]}}
Amend rule 340 'Conventions' as follows:
Add a section 'IX' in the appropriate place with the following NONULL text
NONULL
IX. If a proposal specifies the addition, deletion, or replacement of text, and it is possible to determine from context that this a) applies to a rule and b) which rule it applies to [IE: the text to change/delete is quoted and it occurs in only one place in the rule set, or the text to add is specified as being added before or after certain text and that text is distinguishable as above], then that proposal will be treated as if it correctly specified the rule to amend.
NONULL


Proposal 3058 - Wed 13 May 1998 00:21 EDT
Excess of Chess Mess Redress: Less Stress
Hubert (Eric Plumb)
Decision: accepted

[ This proposal attempts to address (whoops) the issue of TGW's recent amendment to the Check rules: e wanted to simply allow only a single non-Placement Atomic Play to escape Check. Unfortunately, the automatic surrender e introduced made Swingers extremely vulnerable to Paratroop cards, as Slakko and Koxvolio pointed out. My proposed amendment is to once again allow multiple-Atomic Play moves whilst in Check. It also calls for a Hearing on the subject of whether a Placement move should be allowed to get a player out of Check. I personally think it shouldn't, but there are enough Swingers who seem to think it should that I think a Hearing on the matter is required. ]

Repeal the second paragraph of section 7, "Check and Checkmate", of Rule 1230.2, "Swingers Like to Play Around II - Let's play". (This reads (or rather read (or, rather, will have read (or, I suppose, wioll haven on-read))), "A Swinger is in Checkmate if e is in Check and there are no single atomic plays of type Move, Capture or Special which would cause the swinger not to be in Check. If a Swinger is in Checkmate then e automatically makes a default play of Surrender.")
[ I think most everyone agrees this should go. ]

Create a new Rule numbered 69, entitled "temp", with the following REGRESS-delimited text:

REGRESS
Upon the creation of this Rule, a Chess Hearing is called with Hubert as the Hearing Harfer. A Chess Hearing is similar to the Hearings described in Rule 360, except that:
a) any votes in the Hearing cast by non-player entities other than Party Hall shall be ignored, and
b) for each Swinger who casts a vote in the Chess Hearing, Party Hall will cast a vote identical to the vote of that Swinger. [ In effect, this gives Swingers two votes each, and the rest of the hoi polloi but one. ]

The valid responses to a Chess Hearing are "Swingers should be allowed to escape Check via Placements." and "Like they should." The duration of a Chess Hearing is three days.

If the verdict of the Chess Hearing is inconclusive, the votes shall be recounted, with votes by non-player entities being ignored. If the verdict is still inconclusive, a verdict shall be determined randomly by the Hearing Harfer.

If the verdict of the Chess Hearing is "Swingers should be allowed to escape Check via Placements.", this Rule shall repeal itself. [ No changes are necessary to the Party Chess rules in this case. ]

If the verdict of the Chess Hearing is "Like they should.", the following CRESS-delimited paragraph shall be appended to the end of section 7, "Check and Checkmate", of Rule 1230.2, "Swingers Like to Play Around II - Let's play", and this Rule shall be repealed.

CRESS
When a Swinger is in Check, e does not have the option of making a Placement move. This paragraph takes precedence over any Rule or clause therein which would suggest otherwise.
CRESS

This Rule takes precedence over any Rules which regard Hearings, the types of entities allowed to cast votes in Hearings, and Party Chess where there is a conflict.
REGRESS


Proposal 3059 - Wed 13 May 1998 00:22 EDT
The REAL Fair Play Award
Hubert (Eric Plumb)
Status: retracted

Append to the end of Rule 1250.10, "Fictionary," the string "As being Walking Dictionaries is just as illegal as consulting Official Dictionaries, neither the player who originally joined Ackanomic with the name of Alfvaen nor the player who originally joined Ackanomic with the name of JT may take part in a game of Fictionary; this sentence takes precedence over any other clause in this Rule Suite where there is a conflict. {{ The current game of Fictionary is updated to follow the revised rules. }}"


Proposal 3060 - Thu 14 May 1998 05:16 EDT
Providing a True Benefyt
Slakko (Duncan Richer)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest Proposal.

[A couple more Benefyt Special Moves.]

Append the following text to Rule 1230.8, "Creation of a PartyChessPiece Pawn":

"7. A Pawn has a Special Move, which consists of moving as a Rook would normally move. It may not be used to take a piece, nor may it be used so that the destination square is a square mentioned in Section 4. [That is, no direct Benefyt movement to a promotion square.]"

Rename Rule 1230.8 "PartyChessPiece Pawn".

Append the following text to Rule 1230.11 "Creation of a PartyChessPiece Jester":

"4. A Jester has a Special Move, which consists of moving to any square on the board, such that the Jester is not attacking any pieces after the Special Move has been made. [The mysterious Jester - where will it hop to next?]"

Rename Rule 1230.11 "PartyChessPiece Jester".

[The renames are to simplify the long-winded titles by dropping the "Creation of a" bit which is redundant. By chucking the renames in with the Benefyt creations they don't add a line to the tracking list of their own accord.]


Proposal 3061 - Thu 14 May 1998 06:37 EDT
Enough With These Stupid CSRs Already
breadbox (Brian Raiter)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest Proposal.

I. {{[I am tired of issuing CSRs every time someone forgets to give their new rule a number. Furthermore, the policy of new rules taking the number of their creating proposal is a holdover to the long-ago times before the ruleset was organized. (You newcomers have no idea what it was like back then - 500K of rules scattered about willy-nilly. The "Rules by Category" page was essential for survival.) I think the following is much more appropriate to the way the rules are currently organized, and it allows me to avoid having to set up a new web page whenever another hundred proposals go by.]}}


II. Create a rule, numbered 1399 and titled "Miscellaneous Rule Suite", with the following text:

All rules in the Miscellaneous Rule Suite defer precedence to rules outside of this Rule Suite.

[Miscellanous rules.]


III. In Rule 303 ("Proposal and Rule Numbering") under section II, replace the text of item 3 with the following:

Otherwise, the new rule is created as a member of the Miscellaneous Rule Suite, as per above.


IV. {{[This last bit isn't really relevant to the above, but it's something I've been meaning to do. The ASS Rule Suite lacks a proper link text.]}} Append the following paragraph to Rule 950 ("Ackanomic Sound System Rule Suite"):

[Ackanomic Sound System Rules.]


Proposal 3062 - Fri 15 May 1998 19:48 EDT
He knows you know
J. M. Bear (Frank Schmidt)
Status: retracted

Renumber Rule 1230.41 to 1230.24

Amend Rule 1230.2 Section 4 ("Turns") Point B ("Warmth") by replacing the text
"(iii) When there are 7 or more Swingers with on-board pieces, the turn of any Swinger who has no on-board pieces is skipped entirely." with the text
"(iii) When there are 7 or more Swingers with on-board pieces, the turn of any Swinger who has no on-board pieces is skipped entirely, unless the Swinger Office has a Chess Invitation."

Create a Rule, numbered 1230.35, titled "The value of being there", with the text delimited by INTRODUCTION.

INTRODUCTION
Chess Invitations and Introductions are nameless, non-tradeable entities. Only Swinger's Offices may own such entities.

When a Swinger's Office's type is changed, these entities are not affected. When a Swinger's Office is destroyed, so are its Chess Invitations and Introductions.

Whenever a Swinger places eir off-board king on the board, e 'is introduced to the Chess Community' and this Swinger's Office gains an Introduction unless it already has one.
INTRODUCTION

Append the INVITATION-delimited text to Rule 1230.40.

INVITATION
g) All Chess Invitations are destroyed. Then, all Swinger's Offices that owned one or more Introductions gain a Chess Invitation. Then, all Introductions are destroyed.
INVITATION

{{All Swinger's Offices which were extant in Round 34 gain a Chess Invitation.}}

[I hope I got around the cliffs this time...]


Proposal 3063 - Fri 15 May 1998 19:49 EDT
He knows you know
J. M. Bear (Frank Schmidt)
Decision: rejected

Renumber Rule 1230.41 to 1230.24

Amend Rule 1230.2 Section 4 ("Turns") Point B ("Warmth") by replacing the text
"(iii) When there are 7 or more Swingers with on-board pieces, the turn of any Swinger who has no on-board pieces is skipped entirely." with the text
"(iii) When there are 7 or more Swingers with on-board pieces, the turn of any Swinger who has no on-board pieces is skipped entirely, unless the Swinger Office has a Chess Invitation."

Create a Rule, numbered 1230.35, titled "The value of being there", with the text delimited by INTRODUCTION.

INTRODUCTION
Chess Invitations and Introductions are nameless, non-tradeable entities. Only Swinger's Offices may own such entities.

When a Swinger's Office's type is changed, these entities are not affected. When a Swinger's Office is destroyed, so are its Chess Invitations and Introductions.

Whenever a Swinger places eir off-board king on the board, e 'is introduced to the Chess Community' and this Swinger's Office gains an Introduction unless it already has one.

Whenever a Swinger surrenders, or eir king is captured, eir Swinger's Office loses all eir Chess Invitations.
INTRODUCTION

Append the INVITATION-delimited text to Rule 1230.40.

INVITATION
g) All Chess Invitations are destroyed. Then, all Swinger's Offices that owned one or more Introductions gain a Chess Invitation. Then, all Introductions are destroyed.
INVITATION

{{All Swinger's Offices which were extant in Round 34 gain a Chess Invitation.}}

[I hope I got around the cliffs this time...]


Proposal 3064 - Fri 15 May 1998 19:51 EDT
Gorilla Grodd's Revenge
Alfvaen (Aaron Humphrey)
Decision: rejected

This is a Modest proposal:

Amend Rule 721, "Annoyances", by appending the following text(delimited by DANZA)as a new section, with the first line(the section title)preceded by a capital Roman numeral section number one greater than the highest such already existing(e.g. if the highest numbered section is III., then this will be added as section IV.).:

DANZA
Trinket Arrays

Creating(at one time)a group of Trinkets which differ in name only by a differing numerical or alphabetical index, and which either have the same description or descriptions which differ by the same means as the title, is Annoying, unless each Trinket has a value greater than A$100.
DANZA

{{[ Arguably, this will just make people do things like Slakko's multiple "$100" trinkets, which would not fall under this rule, but I'd like to toss the idea out. Also, I know I can get saaremaa's vote. :-) ]}}


Proposal 3065 - Fri 15 May 1998 19:52 EDT
On Both Your Houses
Hubert (Eric Plumb)
Decision: accepted

[ Having RFCed this to resounding silence, I thought I'd put it to the acid test already. You know, full speed ahead, both feet forward, take the bull by the horns and damn the torpedoes. I would also like to point out that since this is going to amend Rule 207, no anti-voting points will be scored due to the Potato Paradox. So there's no reason to anti-vote NO. ]

[ This is a chess proposal. Take two. ]

Create a rule as a new member of the Party Chess Rule Suite entitled "Creation of a PartyChessPiece Locust" with the following EXPONENTIA-delimited text:

EXPONENTIA
A Locust is a piece with a Material Value of the smaller of
a) 6, or
b) 1.5*N rounded down, where N is the number of on-board Locust pieces.

A Locust is depicted by the ASCII character '&'. {{ [ Hey, it kinda looks like a Locust. Gimme a break. While I'm here, note that R1230.1 does not prevent tabs or newlines from being chosen as character representations. If I ever try to define a Boomerang piece... ] }}

A Locust may move up to N/2 squares, rounded up, in any horizontal, vertical, or diagonal direction, and then N/2 squares, rounded down, in a direction perpendicular to that of the first move, where N is the number of on-board Locust pieces. A Locust may not skip over pieces in its path, and must make both halves of its move in order to move at all.

{{ Hubert loses 2 points. Richard Garfield gains 2 points. [ Attribution? ]}}
EXPONENTIA

Append the end of the second-to-last paragraph of Rule 1230.14, "Creation of a PartyChessPiece HarfyBlob," the sentence "If the captured piece was a Locust, the Hn of the HarfyBlob is increased by the number of Locust pieces remaining on-board after the Capture." [ This actually increases the Hn of the HarfyBlob by the number of Locust pieces on-board *before* the capture, because it was increased by 1 by the first sentence. ]


Proposal 3066 - Fri 15 May 1998 19:53 EDT
Sanctuary must be accepted
JT (JT Traub)
Decision: accepted

Amend rule 1307 'Ackanomic Middle Ages' by appending the following SAFE delimited text to the end of the final paragraph.
SAFE
The player who is being burnt as a witch is not saved unless e posts a public message (before the witchhunt is resolved) stating, 'I am taking the Sanctuary of the Church of', then the name of the church offering him Sanctuary of Salvation, then 'and offering them this tithe of A$10'. At the time this message is posted, the Witchhunt shall be considered over and the verdict discarded with no penalty to either the alleged witch or the Witchfinder General. The alleged witch is considered to have gifted A$10 to the church which saved em from being burnt.
SAFE
{{[Part of this is to prevent people from saving people who want to be burnt, the other part is just to get rid of a small ambiguity I saw in the rules which said they were saved from being burnt, but not whether the hearing was cancelled or not]}}


Proposal 3067 - Fri 15 May 1998 19:54 EDT
Jeeves
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Decision: accepted

This is a modest proposal.

Modify rule 594.18 (Blueprint: Butler) by replacing the text:

"This duty is even more taxing to the Butler, however, and after it has finished performing it one Processing Chip must be given to it for every ten entities in the list (including any additions made after the initial list), or the Butler will become Broken. "

with the text:

"This duty is even more taxing to the Butler, however, and after it has finished performing it it must rest and recharge itself for longer. The butler may then not be used until a period of rime equal to twice the time it was performing this duty has passed."


Proposal 3068 - Sat 16 May 1998 19:14 EDT
If anybody can take advantage of this within a week, go ahead.
/dev/joe (Joseph DeVincentis)
Decision: accepted

Amend Rule 506, "Trinkets" as follows:

1. Amend the following sentence [1st sentence, next-to-last paragraph]: "A player-created Trinket, whose name contains the name of a current or former player other than that of the creating player, such that the player name in question existed before the Trinket was created, is a forgery."

by inserting "and which has not been owned at some time by each player whose name it contains, " before "is a forgery."

2. Change the sentence: "Upon it becoming publically knowable that a Trinket is a forgery, it is transferred to the Treasury, unless the player name contained in its name is that of a currently active player, in which case it is transferred to that player."

to: "Upon it becoming publically knowable that a Trinket is a forgery, it is transferred to the Treasury, unless it contains the name of exactly one current player and no former players, in which case it is transferred to that player."


Proposal 3069 - Sat 16 May 1998 19:15 EDT
I bite my tongue at you sir!
JT (JT Traub)
Status: retracted

Create rule 1160.X where X is the lowest positive legal integer for a new rule with the following HONOR delimited text

HONOR
Each player in Ackanomic has a certain amount of Honor. The amount of Honor each player has is tracked by the Herald. Honor may only be gained or lost as described by the rules. Each player begins the game with 1 Honor.

The following ways exist to gain or lose honor:
a) Whenever a player recieves a Blue Cross, a Silver Stripe, a Gold Stripe, or a Ruby Slipper.
b) Gaining the first Blue Cross Bonus or the first Bronze Torch, gains a player 2 Honor.
c) Whenever a player is convicted of committing a crime or is burnt as a heretic, they lose 1 Honor.
d) When a player wins a duel they gain 1 Honor.
e) When a player loses a duel they lose 1 Honor.
f) A player may exchange 6 swing points for 1 Honor.

Other rules may define other methods by which honor is gained or lost.

{{ All existing players are given one Honor. }}
{{ All existing players with a Bronze Torch or Blue Cross Bonus are given 2 Honor for each }}
{{ All existing players with a Blue Cross, a Silver Stripe, a Gold Stripe or a Ruby Slipper are given 1 Honor for each }}


Proposal 3070 - Sat 16 May 1998 19:16 EDT
Just in Case
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Decision: accepted

This is a modest proposal.

Modify rule 406 (Promoter) by replacing the following text:

"The Privileges of the Promoter are:

a) To frob or tweak the proposal queue, as a public action. The proposal queue remains in whichever state (frobbed or tweaked) it was last set to.

b) To ignore any proposal submission by a player who already has three or more proposals that are currently being voted on (i.e., in the voting queue). This Privilege may only be exercised when the voting queue is frobbed. [Furthermore, the Promoter shall only use this power for good, and never for evil.] "

with the text:

"The Privileges of the Promoter are:

a) To frob or tweak the proposal queue, as a public action. The proposal queue remains in whichever state (frobbed or tweaked) it was last set to.

b) To ignore any proposal submission by a player who already has three or more proposals that are currently being voted on (i.e., in the voting queue). This Privilege may only be exercised when the voting queue is frobbed. [Furthermore, the Promoter shall only use this power for good, and never for evil.]

These two privileges may be exercised even by an acting Promoter."

Also, in rule 401 (Offices, Commonalities) by replacing the following text:

"In such a case, the Player is responsible for performing all of the Duties without receiving any of the Privileges of the Office, except for Privileges which are also explicitly defined to be Duties by the rules, or Privileges required to perform explicitly defined Duties, or Privileges of the office when the Acting officer is filling in for a vacationing player."

with the text:

"In such a case, the Player is responsible for performing all of the Duties without receiving any of the Privileges of the Office, except for Privileges which are also explicitly defined to be Duties by the rules, or Privileges required to perform explicitly defined Duties, or Privileges of the office when the Acting officer is filling in for a vacationing player, or the Privilege is explicitly stated to be available to an Acting Officer."

[Anyone else realised that they could get round a frobbed voting queue by filing an impeachment paper against the Promoter? Whilst I'm sure the offending player would get slammed for being Annoying I don't think it ought even to be possible.]


Proposal 3071 - Sat 16 May 1998 19:17 EDT
Coming home
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Decision: rejected

This is a modest proposal.

Modify rule 255 (Vacationing) by replacing the text:

"The only thing a player on vacation may legally do is take himself off vacation and send public messages. A player shall take himself off vacation by declaring to the public forum that he is back from his vacation. As soon as the player makes this public declaration, he returns to the player state besides Vacation he most recently had.. The one exception is that a player who has been on vacation less than 2 days may not take themselves off vacation. "

with the text:

"The only thing a player on vacation may legally do is take himself off vacation and send public messages. A player shall take himself off vacation by declaring to the public forum that he is back from his vacation. As soon as the player makes this public declaration, he returns to the player state besides Vacation he most recently had.. The one exception is that a player who has been on vacation less than 2 days may not take themselves off vacation unless they were placed on vacation involuntarily, in which case they may remove themself from vacation at any time."


Proposal 3072 - Sat 16 May 1998 19:18 EDT
A Kind of Magic
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Decision: accepted

This is a modest proposal.

Modify rule 343 (Spellbooks) by replacing the text:

"Some Offices may include possession of Shimmering Spellbooks among their privileges; in this case, if ever the holder of such an Office does not possess a Shimmering Spellbook, one is created in eir possession. "

with the text:

"Some Offices may include possession of Shimmering Spellbooks among their privileges; in this case, if ever the holder of such an Office does not possess a Shimmering Spellbook, one is created in eir possession. If ever a player leaves such an office through any means then their Shimmering Spellbook is destroyed and a Dull Spellbook is created in their possession."

Also, in the same rule, replace:

" Both are nontradeable"

with:

" Both are nontradeable entities"

[May as well whilst I'm here. You can never be too safe with explicit entityhood]


Proposal 3073 - Sat 16 May 1998 19:19 EDT
Lamb Chops
Slakko (Duncan Richer)
Decision: rejected

This is a Modest Proposal.

Append the following SAVE-delimited text to Rule 931:

SAVE
Wool Sweaters are Tradeable, Mimsy Garments. A player wearing a Prosthetic Forehead may not put on (i.e. start wearing) or take off (i.e. cease wearing) any Wool Sweater they may own.
SAVE

Repeal Rule 929, "Baaa".

[I will put the Lamb into the Harfonian at a later date. Currently its effects are minimal, only affecting the Magic Potato. I'm saving the garments - they have yet to have any use, but someone might come up with something later.]


Proposal 3074 - Sat 16 May 1998 19:20 EDT
Bandwagoning
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Status: retracted

This is a modest proposal.

Append the following text (as delimited by ITISGREEN) to the end of rule 721 preceded by the lowest integer Roman numeral not used as a label for any of that rule's sections:

ITISGREEN
Jumping on the BandWagon

Exploiting a loophole in the rules after another player has pointed it out or exploited it is Annoying.
ITISGREEN


Proposal 3075 - Sat 16 May 1998 19:21 EDT
One Coat of Arms is Enough
Slakko (Duncan Richer)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest Proposal.

Amend Rule 1160 by replacing the following LOOP-delimited text:

LOOP
If the response is "The flower of Knighthood would be proud to be caparisoned thusly!", then the Coat of Arms is made the official Ackanomic Coat of Arms. If the response is "I'd rather see 'Or, a gorges Purpure!'", then the Coat of Arms is rejected. (If the blazon of the Coat of Arms is actually "Or, a gorges Purpure", then the Coat of Arms is assumed to be rejected without need for Hearing.)
LOOP

with the following ONCEONLY-delimited text:

ONCEONLY
If the response is "The flower of Knighthood would be proud to be caparisoned thusly!", then the Coat of Arms is made the official Ackanomic Coat of Arms, the text "The Ackanomic Coat of Arms is: " shall be appended to this rule, the blazon of the official Ackanomic Coat of Arms shall be appended to this rule, and then this paragraph and the preceding paragraph of this rule shall be repealed.
ONCEONLY

[Once we have a Coat of Arms, there's no need to keep submitting designs for them. The Coat of Arms can be recorded in the ruleset, and the mechanism by which it was adopted can be removed.]


Proposal 3076 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:46 EDT
Elephant's Graveyard
Alfvaen (Aaron Humphrey)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

{{[ One thing that's bothered me for a long time is that if you vote for your Proposal, and it doesn't pass, then you lose the same number of points whether it's a normal Proposal or modest. Not that I want to get rid of anti-voting or anything... ]}}

Amend Rule 207, "Scoring When A Proposal's Voting Results are Reported", by replacing, in Section III, "Scoring on Proposals", the sentence

"If a Modest proposal is rejected, but meets quorum, the player who proposed it loses 5 points, and every player who voted YES on it receives 1 point."

with the sentence

"If a Modest proposal is rejected, but meets quorum, the player who proposed it loses 4 points, and every player who voted YES on it receives 1 point."


Proposal 3077 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:47 EDT
I bite my tongue at you sir!
JT (JT Traub)
Decision: rejected

Create rule 1160.X where X is the lowest positive legal integer for a new rule with the following HONOR delimited text

HONOR
Each player in Ackanomic has a certain amount of Honor.
The amount of Honor each player has is tracked by the Herald.
Honor may only be gained or lost as described by the rules.
Each player begins the game with 1 Honor.

The following ways exist gain or lose honor:
a) Whenever a player receives a Blue Cross, a Silver Stripe, a Gold Stripe, or a Ruby Slipper they gain 1 honor.
b) Gaining the first Blue Cross Bonus or the first Bronze Torch, gains a player 2 Honor. [These items can be gained multiple times. I want to restrict the honor gain to the first time]
c) Whenever a player is convicted of committing a crime, impeached, burnt as a heretic, or tarred and feathered, they lose 1 Honor.
d) When a player wins a duel they gain 1 Honor.
e) When a player loses a duel they lose 1 Honor.
f) A player may exchange 6 swing points for 1 Honor.
g) A player gains 1 honor for being inducted as an Elder.
Other rules may define other methods by which honor is gained or lost.

When a player rejoins the game, if they have an Honor score already, that is their honor score, otherwise they gain an honor score of 1 honor, plus 2 honor for each of a Blue Cross Bonus or Bronze Torch, plus 1 honor for each Blue Cross, or Silver Stripe, plus 3 honor for each Gold Stripe or Ruby Slipper.

{{ All existing players are given one Honor. }}
{{ All existing players gain 2 honor for each Bronze Torch or Blue Cross Bonus }}
{{ All existing players gain 1 honor for each Blue Cross, or Silver Stripe }}
{{ All existing players gain 3 honor for each Gold Stripe or Ruby Slipper }}


Proposal 3078 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:48 EDT
Words Don't Mean A Thing
Alfvaen (Aaron Humphrey)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest Proposal.

{{[ Before Vynd's recent Proposal, there was at least some possibility of a check on name changing, if the Registrar refused to ack. I think we can have it both ways. And I'm beginning to regret having allowed H*bert to adopt eir current name...player names that only differ by one characters lead to lots of mistakes. ]}}

Amend Rule 251, "Player Names", as follows:

Replace the last paragraph

{{[
A player may change his Ackanomic name, so long as the new name complies with all applicable rules. The Registrar shall record and acknowledge each legal name change; a legal name change takes effect at the time of the Registrar's acknowledgement, at which time the player in question shall pay the standard Harfer Fee. If three days have passed, and the Registrar has yet to acknowledge a players attempt to change his name, and the new name complies with all applicable rules, then the name change takes effect. The Registrar is still required to record and announce that the change occurred. If a player attempts to change his name to something not in compliance with the rules, that attempt fails. Public notification of this failure by the Registrar is encouraged but not required. When a player changes their Ackanomic name, all Ackanomic business will be changed to follow their new name.
]}}

with the following text(delimited by NOWHERE):

{{[ A bit of rearrangement and sub-paragraphing might help too, I think. ]}}

NOWHERE
A player may change eir Ackanomic name, so long as the new name complies with all applicable rules. If a player attempts to change eir name to something not in compliance with the Rules, that attempt fails. In addition, if the name change has not yet been accepted as described in the following paragraph, the Registrar may object to the name change if e feels that the new name is either a) too close to an existing player name(i.e. differs by only one or two characters), or b) is intended only to exploit Malenkai's Loophole(see Rule 721).

If the Registrar acknowledges a legal name change, or after three days have passed if the Registrar neither acknowledges the change nor objects to it(and the new name complies with all applicable rules), then the name change is accepted and occurs, at which time the player in question shall pay the Standard Harfer Fee.

The Registrar is required to record and announce any legal name changes, and is encouraged but not required to point out any failed name changes as well.

When a player changes eir Ackanomic name, all Ackanomic business will be changed to follow eir new name.
NOWHERE


Proposal 3079 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:49 EDT
Use the Source Luke
JT (JT Traub)
Decision: accepted

Amend rule 210 by appending the following WORDUP delimited text as the final paragraph in the rules.
WORDUP
"If a proposal that is a Great Work passes" [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 210] "which contains a list of words which are" [The Rules of Ackanomic , Rule 346] "in the Ackanomic Rule Set previous to" [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 605] "the adoption of this rule, or the" [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 611] "Rules of Ackanomic (known as the Official Rules Document)" [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 407.1] "then the following steps occur, in order: " [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 851] "the player who submitted the proposal is" [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 207.1] "said to be foolish, and shall score 10 points" [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 207.1], "the Rules of Ackanomic (known as the Official Rules Document)" [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 407.1] "won't let your proposal qualify as literature" [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 210] "and this paragraph shall then be repealed." [The Rules of Ackanomic, Rule 1319]
WORDUP

{{Remove The Rules of Ackanomic from the Literature List}}


Proposal 3080 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:50 EDT
Good Samaritans
Astro (Roie Marianer)
Decision: rejected

[Why not? There is an "Alice in wonderland" law already] Create a rule numbered 43 called "The Good Samaritans' Law" with the following content as delimited by SEINFELD
SEINFELD
Any player that sees an entity in danger must help that entity if possible.
SEINFELD
Correct any unambigious spelling errors in Rule 43 and its title.


Proposal 3081 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:52 EDT
Now we can get swingpoints without playing chess
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Decision: rejected

This is a modest proposal.

Modify rule 1044 by replacing the text:

"4. It is the duty of the Chess-Umpire to track all aspects of Swingpoints. If there is no Chess-Umpire, then it is the duty of the newest Swinger to keep track of Swingpoints. "

with the text:

"4. It is the duty of the Chess-Umpire to track all aspects of Swingpoints. If there is no Chess-Umpire, then any player may volunteer to keep track of Swingpoints, in which case it becomes eir duty to do so. If there is no such volunteer then no swingpoints may be awarded or used."


Proposal 3082 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:53 EDT
Nameless Thing #1
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Status: retracted

This is a modest proposal.

Warning Contains: fortnights.

Append the following text to the end of the first paragraph rule 1140:

"No player may receive the chocolate frog in two consecutive months."

Replace the second paragraph of rule 901 [The first Magic Potato will be given out on the first Monday following the accepting of this Proposal into law. ] with the following text:

"No player may receive the magic potato in two consecutive weeks."

Add the following text to rule 836 after the second paragraph:

"No player may have the great raft or great oars transferred to them in 2 consecutive fortnights. No player may be selected to have the great raft or great oars transferred to them if they currently have the other (i.e. they can't get the oars if they have the raft and vice versa)."


Proposal 3083 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:54 EDT
Nameless Horrors in the Proposal Queue: Film at 11
breadbox (Brian Raiter)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest Proposal.

Amend Rule 301 ("Proposal and Rule Titles"), by replacing the sentence that reads:

"If the player doesn't indicate a Title for the Proposal then the Promoter shall select a Title."

with the following sentence:

"If the player doesn't indicate a legal Title for the Proposal then the Promoter shall select a Title."

{{[Since Rule 301 was first drafted, it's become possible for a player to specify an invalid Title. The Promoter needs to be able to supply a title in those cases as well.]}}


Proposal 3084 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:55 EDT
Actually, Let's Just Straighten Out This Whole Title Thing Right Now
breadbox (Brian Raiter)
Decision: accepted

{{[Proposals and Rules are the original named entities by tradition. Obviously, their names correspond to their titles. All well and good, except that the rules never come out and state this. Titles are always referred to as Titles, and the rules indicate that they are really entity names only indirectly - mainly, by all the exceptions to the restrictions that entity names are subject to (because we don't usually think of them as names). So much of this stuff isn't in the rules and is only upheld via game custom. It's past time to put this stuff in writing, so to speak.]}}

I. [The following changes to Rule 301 codify current game practice, and clear away some aniquated language.]

Replace the text of Rule 301 ("Proposal and Rule Titles") with the following text as delimited by DELIMITED:

DELIMITED
Rules and Proposals are named, unownable entities. The names of Rules and Proposals are referred to as their titles.

The titles of Rules and Proposals are not required to be unique, with respect to each other or with respect to any other entity. (This paragraph takes precedence over Rule 348.)

The following characters:

":;()

[i.e., double-quote, backquote, colon, semicolon, and parentheses] are legal name characters when they appear in the titles of Proposals and Rules. Proposals and Rules may have titles of up to one hundred forty name characters. (This paragraph takes precedence over Rule 500.1.)

When a Proposal is accepted that creates a new Rule, the new Rule shall have the title indicated by the Proposal, or, if no valid title is specified, the new Rule shall have the same title as the Proposal.
DELIMITED

{{[All of the explicit extensions to legal titles have their precedent in previous proposals. Please don't consider this an invitation to go wild. I'm just trying to keep legal what we've treated as legal in the past. Note that angle-brackets are still not permitted, by the way, in order to preserve my sanity when harfing the HTML. (I'd outlaw the ampersand too if I thought I could get away with it.)]}}

II. [Removing now-redundant language]

Amend Rule 348 (" ") by replacing its initial paragraph:

No two named entities may have names that match. The names of Rules and Proposals are exempted from this restriction.

with the following paragraph:

No two named entities may have names that match.

{{[Thus a rule must override via precedence in order to violate this restriction, as do Rules 301 and 258.]}}

III. [Moving the Promoter's duty to where it belongs]

Amend Rule 406 ("Promoter") by replacing the text:

"(d) to promptly distribute each numbered proposal for voting."

with the following:

"
(d) to assign a title to each proposal for which the submitter did not indicate a legal title;

(e) to promptly distribute each proposal for voting.
"

{{[This duty was originally in Rule 301.]}}


Proposal 3085 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:56 EDT
Something special
J. M. Bear (Frank Schmidt)
Decision: rejected

Amend Rule 1230.5 by removing the string ", provided that the orthogonal direction taken is only 45 degrees rotated from the diagonal direction taken (e.g. you can move up-left then left, but not up-left then right)".
[This isn't needed, since the moves excluded are already moves allowed as standard or special moves.]

Amend Rule 1230.6 to read as delimited by CARAVAN.

CARAVAN
A Camel is a piece with a material value of 5, represented by the character C.

A Camel's move consists of movement of 3 squares in any orthogonal direction, followed by movement of 1 square in a direction perpendicular to the other one, skipping over pieces in its path.

A Camel has a Special Move, consisting of movement of 3*n squares in any orthogonal direction, followed by movement of n squares in a direction perpendicular to the first one, skipping over pieces in its path, with n being an integer between 2 and 6, inclusive. This move may not be used as a Capture.
CARAVAN

Change the title of Rule 1230.6 to "PartyChessPiece Camel".

Amend Rule 1230.21 by appending the GHOUL-delimited text as a separate paragraph.

GHOUL
A Zombie has a Special Move, consisting of a movement of one square in any diagonal direction. This move may not be used as a Capture.
GHOUL

Amend Rule 1230.22 by appending the JEOPARDY-delimited text as a separate paragraph.

JEOPARDY
A Gess has a Special Move, consisting of a movement in any direction to SQn, n being an integer between 2 and 10, inclusive, if SQ(n-1) is occupied. This move may not be used as a Capture.
JEOPARDY

[The special moves should be special, but somehow linked to the normal ones.]


Proposal 3086 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:57 EDT
Win, When?
Slakko (Duncan Richer)
Status: retracted

This is a Modest Proposal.

[Rule 603 never says when a player actually achieves the relevant Winning Condition. This amendment should make the timing obvious.]

Amend Rule 603 by replacing the following UNCLEAR-delimited text:

UNCLEAR
If a voting player has a number of points equal to or greater than the Magic Number, and that player is the first one to have done so in the current Cycle, then that player has achieved a Winning Condition.
UNCLEAR

with the following CRYSTAL-delimited text:

CRYSTAL
A player achieves a Winning Condition at the instant their number of points first reaches or exceeds the Magic Number in any given Cycle, provided that at such time their score is the highest current score.
CRYSTAL


Proposal 3087 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:58 EDT
Sigh
/dev/joe (Joseph DeVincentis)
Decision: accepted

This is a modest proposal.

Amend Rule 1020, "Dispensations", by adding the following double-quote-delimited text at the end of the rule as a new paragraph:

"The Dispensation list may only be manipulated as specified by the rules. {{ If any item appears on the dispensation list which was not added by the method specified in this rule, remove it from the list. }}"


Proposal 3088 - Mon 18 May 1998 09:59 EDT
Majickal Rhapsody
JT (JT Traub)
Decision: rejected

Possessing quadruple Majicks bestows Enlightenment; additionally Wierdness.


Proposal 3089 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:42 EDT
Infinite Schminfinite
ThinMan (John Bollinger)
Decision: accepted

{{[
Rule-mandated infinite loops worry me. The following rule does not cover all possible such loops, but does address itself to most of those which are likely to be created by mistake or mistake-like scam.
]}}

Create a new rule, numbered 110, titled "Infinite Schminfinite", with the following THERECANBEONLYONE-delimited text:

THERECANBEONLYONE
If the rules are modified so as to specify that an action occurs without specifying at what time or under what circumstances that action occurs, then the action occurs exactly once, an ininitessimal time after the rules are so modified.
THERECANBEONLYONE


Proposal 3090 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:43 EDT
Infinite Schminfinite II
ThinMan (John Bollinger)
Decision: accepted

Create a new rule, numbered 5000, entitled "patch.Acka.0001742", with the following text:
"
If Alfvaen has more than 1000 points then the following occurs:
1) his score is set to the magic number,
2) he achieves a winning condition,
3) The Gingham Wearer's score is set to zero.

This rule repeals itself five minutes after it is enacted.
"

ThinMan


Proposal 3091 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:44 EDT
This is a boring title
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Decision: rejected

This is a modest proposal.

Append the following text to the end of the first paragraph rule 1140:

"No player may receive the chocolate frog in two consecutive months."

Replace the second paragraph of rule 901 [The first Magic Potato will be given out on the first Monday following the accepting of this Proposal into law. ] with the following text:

"No player may receive the magic potato in two consecutive weeks."

Add the following text to rule 836 after the second paragraph:

"No player may have the great raft or great oars transferred to them in 2 consecutive fortnights. No player may be selected to have the great raft or great oars transferred to them if they currently have the other (i.e. they can't get the oars if they have the raft and vice versa)."


Proposal 3092 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:45 EDT
No-lix
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Decision: accepted

This is a modest proposal.

Repeal Rule 207.5 (Prolix Propositions).


Proposal 3093 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:46 EDT
What about other sorts of bias?
saaremaa (Randy Hall)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

[this rule has been broken many times because of inappropriate scope of the last sentence. Also, there are many minor inconsistencies to fix.]

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

Amend rule 253, "Mentors", as follows:

---

I. Replace:

"
A mentor must always provide information without political or religious bias.
"

with:

"
A Mentor shall provide information to the new player without bias while performing the above duties.
"

---

II. Replace the first occurrance of the article 'a' in sections 2) and 3) with the article 'the'. ['a player' is wrong; 'the player' is better and consistent, 'eir protege(e)' is correct, but 'the player' is good enough for now.]

---

III. Replace 'mentor' with 'Mentor" wherever it appears. [capitalization should be consistent within the same rule.]

---

IV. Replace all gender-specific pronouns with their appropriate gender-neutral (Spivak) forms. [regardless of how we feel about this (and it used to be a holy war), we should at least be consistent within the same rule]


Proposal 3094 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:47 EDT
Hmmm
saaremaa (Randy Hall)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

Amend rule 410, "Scorekeeper", to replace "winning a cycle" with "achieving a Winning Condition"


Proposal 3095 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:48 EDT
Fasttrack Literature changes
saaremaa (Randy Hall)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

[gist: allow anyone to modify the literature list, allow CSRs to work on all documents, reuse the CSR mechanism for the postal code]

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

Amend rule 210, "Literature", to remove:

"
The Literature list may only be altered through the use of Proposals or the Spelling Bee.
"

then add the following text as a new section following section IV:

"
V. Any player may issue a CSR that consists solely of modifications to the Literature list. Otherwise, the Literature list may only be modified by Proposals and by the Spelling Bee.
"

---

Amend rule 421.2, "Common Sense Reports", to replace

"
list of suggested changes to the Rules
"

with:

"
list of suggested changes to the Rules or other document
"

---

Amend rule 422, "Postmaster", to replace:

"
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.
"

with

"
It is a privilege of the Postmaster to issue CSRs that consist solely of modifications to the Postal Code.
"


Proposal 3096 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:49 EDT
Dusting the Laboratory
saaremaa (Randy Hall)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest proposal.

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

Amend rule 594.18, "Blueprint: Butler", to replace

"Processing Chip" with "Swingpoint".

---

Destroy all Oscars.

---

Repeal rule 594.13, "Blueprint: Oscar"

[this manipulates contracts, which do not seem to exist]

---

[how did this escape the cutting room floor :-)]

Amend rule 841, "Towers", to remove:

"
7) Any tower in the Gaol's evidence room is twisted into a pretzel-shaped blob, and will not exceed the height of the Gaol. Towers may not manipulate protected entities or perform protected actions except where specified by the rules. Towers may only be destroyed as specified in the rules.
"

then renumber sections 8 and 9 to 7 and 8, respectively.

---

Amend rule 1004, "Societies", to replace "Organization Powers" with "Organizational Powers".

---

Amend rule 1240.1, "Definition of Otzma Cards", to remove the string "any Institution," from section III, subsection 2.


Proposal 3097 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:50 EDT
Banzai!
Slakko (Duncan Richer)
Decision: rejected

This is a Modest Proposal.

[A real Kamikaze stunt: it costs you the piece, but eliminates any piece "weaker" than a Kamikaze that you want eliminated. It's a great way to kill off Checks which rely on a Cantor - material weights are 6 for Z versus 5 for %.]

Amend Rule 1230.16 by appending the following CRASH-delimited text:

CRASH
5. The Kamikaze has a Special Move, which consists of moving to any square on the board currently occupied by a piece of positive Material weight lower than that of the Kamikaze, moving over unoccupied squares in the path. The Kamikaze is destroyed after this Special Move has occurred.
CRASH


Proposal 3098 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:51 EDT
Win, When?
Slakko (Duncan Richer)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest Proposal.

[Rule 603 never says when a player actually achieves the relevant Winning Condition. This amendment should make the timing obvious. Thanks to those who pointed out the unintentional flaw in the rewording.]

Amend Rule 603 by replacing the following UNCLEAR-delimited text:

UNCLEAR
If a voting player has a number of points equal to or greater than the Magic Number, and that player is the first one to have done so in the current Cycle, then that player has achieved a Winning Condition.
UNCLEAR

with the following CRYSTAL-delimited text:

CRYSTAL
A player achieves a Winning Condition at the instant their number of points first reaches or exceeds the Magic Number in any given Cycle, provided that no one else has previously had a score reach or exceed the Magic Number during that cycle.
CRYSTAL


Proposal 3099 - Tue 19 May 1998 20:52 EDT
Wibble
The Gingham Wearer (Tom Walmsley)
Decision: accepted

Wibble.


Proposal 3100 - Thu 21 May 1998 00:14 EDT
Justiciary Fix
Slakko (Duncan Richer)
Decision: accepted

This is a Modest Proposal.

[Guy Fawkes may be iced for 14 days. At that point, e is no longer a Justice, and under Rule 416.1 may not own a Supreme Cortex. However, Rule 416.1 does not dictate what actually happens to that cortex. It needs to be specified, given standing game custom, that eir ownership of the cortex is lost.]

Amend Rule 416.1 by inserting the following LOSE-delimited text immediately after the first sentence of the second paragraph:

LOSE
If a player who is not a Justice owns a Cortex, then they lose ownership of that Cortex.
LOSE


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