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The MacroNomic FAQ v1.8

Changes:
May 11, 1998: authored by Ed Murphy
May 26, 1998: updated by Philo
June 2, 1998: updated by Philo
June 15, 1998: converted to HTML and updated by Lambda
June 30, 1998: updated by Lambda
July 17, 1998: updated by Lambda
August 10, 1998: updated by Lambda
August 17, 1998: updated by Lambda
August 28, 1998: updated by Lambda
  1. General
    1. How do I join?
    2. How do I get a copy of the rules?
    3. How do I vote?
    4. How do I submit a proposal?
    5. How do I leave?
  2. Official Positions
    1. What official positions exist? What do they do?
    2. How are these positions filled?
  3. Other Specifics
    1. What is the Revolutionary Party? What do they do?
    2. What is Loyalty?
    3. What are Vote Farms, Proposal Commodities and Vouchers?
    4. What's with the two dates on proposals?
    5. What is a Protoproposal?
    6. What's with all these acronyms?

I. General

1. How do I join?

Send a message to the Secretary of Membership saying that you intend to join, and giving your name and e-mail address. You may optionally give a nickname as well; if you don't, your real name is used. [Section 2-0-0]

Then subscribe to the mailing list. To do this, send a message to <macronomic-request@dragoncat.net> with the text "subscribe" in either the subject of the message or the body of the message.

Once you have joined, you should vote on any Active Proposals. If you joined because a specific player caused you to, you should also mention this fact, since e will get a bonus for each player who joins and stays more than a month because of eir advertising. [Section 2-0-0-0]

2. How do I get a copy of the rules?

The rules are available at the following URLs:

<http://world.std.com/~lambda/macronomic/rules.html>
<http://www.kyogen.com/pascal/mnomic/rules.html> (very old)

You can also send a request to the mailing list, and someone will probably be nice and send you a copy.

3. How do I vote?

Send a message to the Secretary of Truth. Valid votes are FOR, AGAINST, LOYAL, or NONE; all votes are initially NONE unless changed. A Vote of LOYAL supports the majority opinion of the Revolutionary Party, and may only be cast on proposals that are created by members of the Revolutionary Party; members of the Party may not vote LOYAL. [Section 3-1-0]

4. How do I submit a proposal?

Send a message to the Secretary of Truth containing your proposal. Indicate clearly that it is a proposal. The proposal must explicitly and unambiguously describe a change to the gamestate. You must have the required number of Proposal Commodities. The Secretary of Truth will distribute your proposal by the next Wednesday; voting lasts for 5 days following distribution. [Section 3-1]

5. How do I leave?

Send a message to all players saying that you intend to do so. [Section 2-0]

II. Official Positions

1. What official positions exist? What do they do?

Secretary of the Central Committee - Fills any Secretarial position that would otherwise be vacant. [Section 1-1]

Secretary of the Proletariat - Doesn't do anything, but is the most loyal prole [Section 1-4]

Secretary of Truth - Tracks proposals and votes. [Section 3-1]

Secretary of Friendship - Tracks players, Revolutionary Party membership, Loyalty, and general objects. [Section 2-0]

Secretary of Love - Liaison to InterNomic. [Section 4-0]

Secretary of Justice - Accounts for CFJs. [Section 3-2-0]

Secretary of the University - Manages Papers. [Section 5]

Secretary of Economics - Tracks tradable objects, including Vote Farms and Proposal Mines. [Section 6-0-1]

Secretary of Games - Handles RPGs (Requests for Popular Games). [Section 7]

Secretary of the Revolution - Tracks Trotsky points [Section 2-2-0]

Secretary of the State - Tracks State Mandates [Section 6-0-0]

Assistant Secretary for MicroNomic Foreign Affairs - MicroNomic's Liaison to Internomic. [Section 4-2]

Seargent of the Occupying Force in Command of Foreign Matters - PNomic's Liaison to Internomic. [Section 4-2]

2. How are these positions filled?

The SoCC is always the most Loyal member of the Revolutionary Party. Any other Secretarial position is filled by the SoCC whenever it would otherwise be vacant, and may be transferred to another consenting player at any time. If a player goes on vacation, e may specify who temporarily takes over the position. If e doesn't, or if the person refuses, the SoCC temporarily takes over the position. Secretaries may also delegate certain portions of their duties to Secretarylets. [Section 1]

III. Other Specifics

1. What is the Revolutionary Party? What do they do?

On April 1, 1998 (really!), the Revolutionary Party took over MacroNomic. There are at most three members. If a non-member is at least twice as Loyal as a member, then e may replace that member by informing the Secretary of Membership. [Section 2-2]

The Revolutionary Party always holds the position of Secretary of the Central Committee, and can veto any proposal if all members vote against it.

2. What is Loyalty?

Each player's Loyalty is a number (minimum 100 for members of the Revolutionary Party, 0 for non-members). [Section 2-1]

At the end of a proposal's voting period:

  • Each player who voted LOYAL gains 3 Loyalty (If it's an RP-made proposal)
  • Each player who voted NONE loses 10 Loyalty.
  • If the proposal is adopted, its author gains 10 Loyalty if e is a member of the Revolutionary Party, or 15 if e is a non-member.
  • If the proposal is rejected, its author loses 10 Loyalty. [Section 3-1]

3. What are Vote Farms, Proposal Commodities and Vouchers?

Vote farms are measured in integral numbers of acres. They are essentially the weight that is given to your votes. When you join, if there are already fewer than 200 acres of vote farms you are given 10; otherwise, you are given none. You may also buy them from The State at a rate of 5 Vouchers per acre of farmland. When you vote, the total number of vote farms voting FOR is compared with the number AGAINST, and if there are more FORs then the proposal passes. For example, if player A has 15 vote farms and player B has 20, and they are the only two that vote, player B's vote will win. [Section 3-1]

Proposal Commodities come from The State, and are bought using Vouchers. There are three types of proposal commodities. The types are Word, Idea, and Terminology, or Term for short. In order to make a proposal, you must use up one of each type of Commodity. You always have at least one pf each kind unless you have just traded them away. [Section 3-1]

Vouchers are gained by some Secretaries and are recieved whenver a proposal passes. They are the unit of currency in MacroNomic. [Section 6-1-0-0]

4. What's with the two dates on proposals?

Proposals are shown with two dates, separated by a slash. The first is the date the proposal was submitted; the second is the date the proposal was distributed.

5. What is a Protoproposal?

Submitting the text of a proposal for discussion without acutally proposing it. Whether this is generally a good idea is somewhat controversial.

6. What's with all these acronyms?

The common MacroNomic-specific acronyms are as follows:

  • ERROR: "Edict for the Reordering and Reorganization of the Rules". Referendum that can only be created by the Secretary of Truth, and can only move rules around, not change them. [Section 3-3]
  • CFJ: "Call for Judgement". Referendum that can be called by anyone when there is a dispute on the interpretation of the rules. [Section 3-2-1]
  • INP: Internomic Proposal. A proposal in Internomic, voted on only by the secretaries of Sovereign Republics. [Section 4-0-0]
  • INCFJ: Internomic Call For Judgement. A Call for Judgement in Internomic, voted on only by the secretaries of Sovereign Republics. [Section 4-0-1]
  • RP: Revolutionary Party. Group of three players with veto power over proposals (with a unanimous vote within the RP) as well as some other perks. [Section 2-2]
  • SoCC: "Secretary of the Central Commitee". See above.
  • SoP: Secretary of the Proletariat. See above.
  • SoT: "Secretary of Truth". See above.
  • SoF: "Secretary of Friendship". See above.
  • SoL: "Secretary of Love". See above.
  • SoJ: "Secretary of Justice". See above.
  • SoU: "Secretary of the University". See above.
  • SoE: "Secretary of Economics". See above.
  • SoG: "Secretary of Games". See above.
  • SoS: "Secretary of the State". See above.
  • SoR: "Secretary of the Revolution". See above.
  • ASfMFA: "Assistant Secretary for MicroNomic Foreign Affairs". See above.
  • SoOFiCoFM: "Seargent of the Occupying Force in Command of Foreign Matters". See above.