OxNomic: Nomic in Oxford University

Rules were made for changing...

What is Nomic?

Nomic is an abstract game in which changing the rules is a move: indeed, though the initial object was merely to gain 100 points, the satisfaction of playing comes from the interplay of existing rules and newly-introduced rules. Nomic was invented by the philosopher Peter Suber as a simple analogue of a law-making process in which laws can apply to themselves. He published it as an appendix to his book, 'The Paradox of Self-Amendment', and maintains an informative page devoted to Nomic [see below].

OxNomic is a game of Nomic which started on 29 October 1996 and is restricted to members of Oxford University. Play occurs in the local newsgroup ox.games.nomic, which is a particularly convenient way of disseminating news and holding discussions between players.

The initial set of rules for OxNomic was identical (except in the name of the first Speaker) to that used in Agora Nomic suitable for playing by e-mail. The first game started with this ruleset in force, but naturally the ruleset has changed over time.

Administrivia

The Speaker may be e-mailed at <oxnomic.speaker@ox.compsoc.net>.
Write to the Speaker with requests to join the game or with Proposals, votes, nominations for style points and Courtesy Titles, dates of Suspended Animation and so forth.

The newsgroup ox.games.nomic is used for official game announcements and discussion of Proposals (and everything else!). This newsgroup is only carried by the Oxford news server, which forces us to restrict players to those with e-mail accounts in Oxford University. Non-players with access are welcome to contribute. There is a mailing list for current players to which the Speaker sends only details of Proposals, vote results and other important messages. To join, e-mail the Speaker.

The Speaker maintains the following information in accordance with Rule 218:

The current rules of OxNomic and
The current players with their scores (together with C.V. points, Offices, Courtesy Titles, etc.).

This page also carries information on:

Votes in progress including Elections;
The Scribes' newsletters;
The Initial Ruleset;
Successful rule changes [302-427] and [P1-current];
Rule changes which were rejected or withdrawn and
The final scores of previous games.

The Recorder maintains an archive of Calls for Judgement and Referendux.
Write to the Recorder to make a Call for Judgement.

The Rule Clerk maintains an annotated and logically ordered version of the current ruleset.
Note that in any conflict between the two lists of rules the former is deemed to be the correct version.

Resources

Terry Boon's OxNomic page

Peter Suber's Nomic page
Nomic FAQ
Nomic Bulletin Board
Nomic Links Page

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times since its inception.

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