Subject: Ackanomic Digest V2 #70
From: [email-masked] (Ackanomic Digest)
To: ackanomic-digest

Ackanomic Digest          Friday, May 2 1997          Volume 02 : Number 070

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 01:26:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Potato + Aliens

On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Bascule wrote:

> > This is what I understand the current semi-consensus on the Aliens voting
> > crisis to be:
> > 
> > Since the Aliens rule extends any time periods governed by the abducted
> > rule, the voting periods for all pre-abduction proposals will end upon the
> > return of Rule 106. 
> 
> I don't agree with this; all business to do with voting is on-hold at 
> the moment I believe. I think the voting period will not end at the 
> return of rule 106; it will start to count down again at that time. 
> So it's a bit like having a 1 week voting holiday.
> 
> Bascule

I am inclined to agree with Bascule on this one, but it's an interesting
question.  The Aliens rule states "Any deadlines that would be violated
because of the abduction will be extended one week."  Clearly this means
that the Promoter gets an extra week in which to distribute any proposals
that came due during the time Rule 106 is gone.  I'm not sure if it
applies to the voting deadline or not.  One could say that the deadline
was simply missed, not violated, by any players that didn't vote on a
given proposal.  It would be nice if we could reach a consensus on this
before the Rule is returned, since the threads for this one could be very
messy indeed.

                              - Vynd

[email-masked]

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 21:40:00 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Registrarness

	It's a big day in Ackanomic.

We have two new observers.  The first one you might remember as Ross
Bohlen, an original ackanomian.  His real name is Paul Leonard and his
email adress is [email-masked].

The second new observer is LadyAnn, no real name given, who's email address
is [email-masked] (I pity the guy who has to remember
that).

Finally, we have a new player.  His real name is Aaron Humphrey and his
email address is [email-masked].  For his Ackanomic name he
has chosen Alfvaen.  In response to the market research question, he writes:

>I've been looking to find
>a good Nomic game for a while, and I happened across your Web page while
>going through a list of old links I got off of Usenet a while back.  I've
>been giving the current ruleset a read-through, and think I have at least a
>vague idea how things are working...

Malenkai has been randomly chosen as his mentor.

Let's welcome them all to Ackanomic.

snowgod
Registrar

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 03:11:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Registrarness

On Wed, 30 Apr 1997, Phil Ackley wrote:

> 	It's a big day in Ackanomic.
> 
> We have two new observers.  The first one you might remember as Ross
> Bohlen, an original ackanomian.  His real name is Paul Leonard and his
> email adress is [email-masked].
> 
> The second new observer is LadyAnn, no real name given, who's email address
> is [email-masked] (I pity the guy who has to remember
> that).
> 
> Finally, we have a new player.  His real name is Aaron Humphrey and his
> email address is [email-masked].  For his Ackanomic name he
> has chosen Alfvaen.  In response to the market research question, he writes:

> 
> Let's welcome them all to Ackanomic.
> 
> snowgod
> Registrar

Huzah!  Welcome!  Um, here's a fruit basket, or something.  Let me be the
first to tell you to trust no one, that we're all liars, and that Acka can
really be quite fun once you get the hang of it.

                             - Senator Vynd, Crazy French-Scotsman

[email-masked]

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 16:00:31 +0000
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Acka: Creating a new game

#trinket CarsesraC: The Rule Book of Rings  : 1000 :
#trinket CarsesraC: The Rule Book of Rings  : 1000 :
#trinket CarsesraC: The Rule Book of Rings  : 1000 :
#trinket CarsesraC: The Rule Book of Rings  : 1000 :
#trinket CarsesraC: The Rule Book of Rings  : 1000 :
#trinket CarsesraC: The Rule Book of Rings  : 1000 :

I am creating a Trinket worth A$ 15 called 
"A box to put rule books in" described as follows: "Its box with on 
top of it a small sign. The sign says :

This book contents 6 rulebooks of the game Rings. 
By taking a rulebook you support that this game must come a part of 
the "Games & Contests".
Please take only one copy per person. "   

I am creating 6 identical Trinkets worth each A$ 1000 called  "The Rule Book of Rings"
described as follows: "It a paper of with the following text:

R I N G S (tm)
- ---------

by Stephen Linhart
(c) 1995 by Stephen Linhart

Ideas form like crystals in the collective consciousness of the human
mind. Structures of thought spread from mind to mind, until a critical
point when the idea becomes what we call truth.  Rarely do we see
truth as what it really is - the shadow of our thoughts in a
particular place and time.  Truth always appears to be eternal.  We
forget the time when the  idea  had  not  yet occurred  in our minds. 
Finally, we become the champions of our thoughts.  We become the tool,
the mechanism that the idea uses to spread itself throughout society. 
RINGS is a game about the spread and crystallization of ideas in human
society.

EQUIPMENT

RINGS includes: a board with 91 interlocking circles in a hexagonal
pattern, and 60 stones in each of six colors.

          AB CD EF GH IJ KL MN OP QR ST UV WX

       1                  . .                   1
       2               . .   . .                2
       3            . .   . .   . .             3
       4         . .   . .   . .   . .          4
       5      . .   . .   . .   . .   . .       5
       6   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .    6
       7  .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   .   7
       8   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .    8
       9  .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   .   9
      10   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   10
      11  .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   .  11
      12   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   12
      13  .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   .  13
      14   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   14
      15  .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   .  15
      16   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   16
      17  .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   .  17
      18   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   . .   18
      19      . .   . .   . .   . .   . .      19
      20         . .   . .   . .   . .         20
      21            . .   . .   . .            21
      22               . .   . .               22
      23                  . .                  23

          AB CD EF GH IJ KL MN OP QR ST UV WX

             Figure 1.  Empty Rings Board

OBJECTIVE

The object of the game is to control as many circles as you can, by
spreading your sphere of influence across the board.

GETTING STARTED

RINGS can be played by two to six players.  The players sit around the
board, choose colors, and decide at random who goes first.  Play then
proceeds clockwise around the board.

PLAY

Each turn consists of two parts.  First you may place a stone on the
board, then you have an opportunity to convert your opponents' stones.
Place stones on the points where three circles intersect.  The stone
is then considered to occupy each of the three circles which form the
intersection.

RINGS

Six stones of the same color in one circle form a ring.  The stones
which form a ring become safe and may no longer be converted.  Rings
are also important because they increase your influence on the
surrounding circles.  You will want to form rings to secure your
position on the board.

INFLUENCE

Your influence on a circle is equal to the number of stones you have
in that circle  plus  the  number of rings you have which adjoin it.
You use influence to convert your opponents' stones, and to win the
game.  Each stone exerts influence on three circles.  Each ring exerts
influence on six neighbouring circles.

CONVERSION

On your turn, after placing a stone, you may convert your opponents'
stones in any circles on which you have the majority of influence.  To
determine if you have the majority of influence on any particular
circle, compare your influence on that circle to the total of your
opponents' influences PLUS the number of empty spaces in the circle.
Because empty spaces (intersections without stones) count for the
defence, you will always need at least four points of influence on a
circle in order to have the majority.  When you convert the stones in
a circle, all of your opponents' stones in that circle are replaced
with your own.  Although converting in any particular circle is
optional, you must replace ALL of the opposing stones in each circle
in which you convert, with one exception.  You MAY NOT convert stones
which form opponents' rings, even when you convert other stones in the
same circle.

You can use the influence you gain by converting to continue
converting on the same turn.  A cunning series of conversions can have
a dramatic affect.

ENDING THE GAME

You may choose to pass your turn, and not place a stone.  This does
not prevent you from converting.  When all players pass in sequence,
the game is over. Your score is the number of circles on which you
have the majority of influence.  The winner is the player with the
highest score when the game ends.  Play is not limited by the number
of stones provided.  If you run out of stones before the game ends,
simply select a color which is not in use, and continue playing with
that new color. For two and three player games, choose two colors
before the game begins.

NOTE:  You may place stones on the intersections formed by the partial
circles around the edge of the board.  However, you may not convert in
partial circles, and they do not count toward winning the game.  You
cannot form rings in partial circles.

TIP:  The first few turns of each game are of critical importance.
First, picture the area of the board that you want to control.  Then,
use your stones to define and control the borders of that territory.

"

I am going to the Museum, and Im going to look at the Gimme Shelter and
the Loophole Surfboard. I will stay at the museum for some days and 
maybe I will donate some rulebooks to the Museum if they are willing 
to name a new wing after me.

- --
CarsesraC, expert on Viruses

Buy the PFCarser at a sheap price of A$1.00 a piece

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 08:42:08 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: Creating a new game

CarsesraC wrote:

> I am creating a Trinket worth A$ 15 called 
> "A box to put rule books in" described as follows: "Its box with on 
> top of it a small sign. The sign says :
> 
> This book contents 6 rulebooks of the game Rings. 
> By taking a rulebook you support that this game must come a part of 
> the "Games & Contests".
> Please take only one copy per person. "   
> 
> I am creating 6 identical Trinkets worth each A$ 1000 called  "The
> Rule Book of Rings"
> described as follows: "It a paper of with the following text:
> 
I am pretty certain that CarsesraC does not have enough cash to create
more than one of these, and perhaps not even that.  Also, the rules
appear to be copyrighted (CarsesraC even helpfully duplicated the
copyright notice), thus it is illegal to post them like this unless he
has _written_ permission from the copyright holder.

The game does look interesting, however, and a set of rules
suitably-modified for Ackanomic G&C play would not be subject to the
copyright problem (the game concept cannot be copyrighted -- only
the specific representation of the rules).  The boardgame version of
the rules is wholly unsuited for usage as a G&C game, though.  If
CarsesraC is interested, I will send him a copy of some of the current
sets of G&C rules so that he can get an idea of what kind of
modifications are necessary.

[Copyrighted material omitted.]

> CarsesraC, expert on Viruses
> 
Speaking of that, will we be seeing the first set of results any time
soon?

> Buy the PFCarser at a sheap price of A$1.00 a piece
> 
Is that an official offer?  I'll buy as many as you'll sell at that
price (this is an official offer).

ThinMan

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 08:48:40 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: Creating a new game

Oh, and one other thing about the rules of Rings: they seem to indicate
that stones may not be played to the points on the edge of the playing
area because those are part of only one or two rings, not three.  It
seems to me that that is not a useful restriction, and probably not
the true intent.

ThinMan

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 08:49:07 -0500 (CDT)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Creating a new game

On Wed, 30 Apr 1997 [email-masked] wrote:

> CarsesraC, expert on Viruses
> 
> Buy the PFCarser at a sheap price of A$1.00 a piece

Nice!  I'll buy as many as you're willing to sell at A$1.
(this is an official offer -- so let it be acked, so let it be done)

Guy Fawkes

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 09:46:02 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Potato + Aliens

> I would definitely agree. The late proposals will be "grandfathered"
> so as to become due at the moment that Rule 106 returns (plus three
> days for Speed).
	Is the concensus that the proposals will be finalized on
Monday when the rule returns, or that they will resolve two weeks
after their publishing date?  This is an important point because it
determines whether or not anyone will be able to vote on most of them.
	Also:  if the former is the case, does a player "abstain" on a
proposal if e did not vote on it before the voting period and then was
unable to vote on it because R106 was abducted?  R106  says something
like "A voting player may also *choose* not to vote on a proposal,
which is called abstaining." (emphasis mine.)  I believe the common
interpretation of this is that if you run out of time it is assumed
you "chose" not to vote, regardless of whether it slipped your mind or
whatever... in any case the interpretation of that word may decide the
fate of a number of proposals.

> Of course, the bot also deals with the Promoter's duties, which have
> not been changed by this abduction.
	Oh yeah, that's right.  Well, no one has submitted a proposal
in the past few days, as far as I can tell, and I would appreciate it
muchly if no one would.
	Thanks.  :o)
	I took the first of my finals today but I still have a paper
to write, two projects due, two less important assignments, and of
course four more exams.  A week from now things will be back to "normal".

- -- 
Mohammed
Once, she left him for tall non-smoking running backs from Indiana.

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 09:52:01 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Potato + Aliens

On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Bascule wrote:
> > This is what I understand the current semi-consensus on the Aliens voting
> > crisis to be:
> > 
> > Since the Aliens rule extends any time periods governed by the abducted
> > rule, the voting periods for all pre-abduction proposals will end upon the
> > return of Rule 106. 
> 
> I don't agree with this; all business to do with voting is on-hold at 
> the moment I believe. I think the voting period will not end at the 
> return of rule 106; it will start to count down again at that time. 
> So it's a bit like having a 1 week voting holiday.
	I agree with this reasoning but it's open to debate.  I think
106 takes precedence over the Aliens rule when it returns.  This could
mean, if you read it that way, that the proposal endtime is moved back
(as far as 106 can move it) when 106 is reinstated.
	I find it more comfortable to think that the Aliens rule just
says those 7 days didn't happen for voting periods.

- -- 
Mohammed
A teacher.  Enough said.

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 09:57:03 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka: Creating a new game

> CarsesraC wrote:
> > I am creating a Trinket worth A$ 15 called 
> > "A box to put rule books in" described as follows: "Its box with on 
> > top of it a small sign. The sign says :
 [...]
> > I am creating 6 identical Trinkets worth each A$ 1000 called  "The
> > Rule Book of Rings"
> > described as follows: "It a paper of with the following text:

> I am pretty certain that CarsesraC does not have enough cash to create
> more than one of these, and perhaps not even that.

By my records, he has A$975 after spending A$15 on the box, so no rule
books of rings are created.  Also, each trinket would need to have a
unique name anyway, so at most one would be created even if he did have
the money.

/dev/joe

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 10:15:48 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka: Registrarness

> Finally, we have a new player.  His real name is Aaron Humphrey and his
> email address is [email-masked].  For his Ackanomic name he
> has chosen Alfvaen. 

By my calculations, his starting A$ is 848 (18642/22).

/dev/joe

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 09:24:13 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Hello awl

Greetings Ackanomians!  I'm the new member, as has been recently
announced...though I'll feel more secure in my existence once I can see
myself on the web pages too...

I'm feeling incredibly gung-ho, so don't be surprised if you see a few
proposals(or at least RFCs)from me in the next few days as I try to make
the rules make a little more sense to me, and take advantage of that
three-week proposal bonus.

I was going to name my home the "Den of Ubiquity", but since this is a wee
bit close to Bascule's(and even though such similarity is probably not
against the Rules), to keep from giving everyone a headache I'll call my
place "Tamson House".  (An A$1 trinket to anyone who recognizes the
reference...)

Anyway, until later...

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Song In My Head--Iron Maiden:Where Eagles Dare
Current Book--Alistair MacLean:Where Eagles Dare
A lot of people are afraid of heights.  Not me.  I'm afraid of widths.

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 10:22:12 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: My email

In all places where "terranet.terranet.ab.ca" appears, it can be replaced
by "terranet.ab.ca".  'Cause the machine called "terranet" is set up as
the mail exchanger for the terranet.ab.ca domain, and is thus more or less
redundant.  (The longer address works, but it looks somehow _wrong_ to
me.)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Song In My Head--Danielle Dax:Inky Bloaters
Current Book--Alistair MacLean:Where Eagles Dare
Unanimous is a mouse with a single horn in its forehead.

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 13:44:08 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Potato + Aliens

I gather, from this discussion, that Rule 106 has been abducted by aliens?
(There's no way of deducing this from the online Rules pages, but that may
just be Web-Harfing lag, I suppose, absolutely no disrespect to the
Web-Harfer meant, since I'm guilty of it all too often myself...)

> 	Also:  if the former is the case, does a player "abstain" on a
> proposal if e did not vote on it before the voting period and then was
> unable to vote on it because R106 was abducted?  R106  says something
> like "A voting player may also *choose* not to vote on a proposal,
> which is called abstaining." (emphasis mine.)  I believe the common
> interpretation of this is that if you run out of time it is assumed
> you "chose" not to vote, regardless of whether it slipped your mind or
> whatever... in any case the interpretation of that word may decide the
> fate of a number of proposals.

IMVHO, I'd say that if the voting time for a proposal was shortened, due to
circumstances beyond a player's control, that e would not be considered to
have _chosen_ not to vote, because opportunities to vote were removed.  Of
course, then people who would have abstained anyway would be
indistinguishable from procrastinating potential voters, but with any luck
this situation will be very, very, very rare.

> > Of course, the bot also deals with the Promoter's duties, which have
> > not been changed by this abduction.
> 	Oh yeah, that's right.  Well, no one has submitted a proposal
> in the past few days, as far as I can tell, and I would appreciate it
> muchly if no one would.
> 	Thanks.  :o)
> 	I took the first of my finals today but I still have a paper
> to write, two projects due, two less important assignments, and of
> course four more exams.  A week from now things will be back to "normal".

So does this week of forced proposal moratorium count against my three-week
new-player period of "New Player Author Bonus/Soft Penalty"?  (Okay, part
of the week, since I've only just been actually added?)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Song In My Head--Alan Parsons Project:You Don't Believe
Current Book--Alistair MacLean:Where Eagles Dare
CTHULHU not found: try [1]CHIHUAHUA [2]CATHY [3]CUDDLY ?

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

Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 15:03:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka: Potato + Aliens

> I gather, from this discussion, that Rule 106 has been abducted by aliens?
> (There's no way of deducing this from the online Rules pages, but that may
> just be Web-Harfing lag, I suppose, absolutely no disrespect to the
> Web-Harfer meant, since I'm guilty of it all too often myself...)

Worse, I know I made tht change, but I must have edited the actual page,
rather than the template page (which is used to build both the full rules
page and the rules-by-hundreds pages) which then got overwritten the next
time I built the rules pages.  Usually I don't make this mistake, but I
was probably already editing the full rules page (which I do to search for
things that appear anywhere in the rules -- in this case looking for other
rules which might supply some of the pieces lost during the abduction of
R106) when I realized I needed to mark the rule as abducted.

In any case, the info is there now.  Whenever you see anything on any of
the web pages that looks wrong, let me know. (or if it's not my page,
let the maintainer of that page know)

> So does this week of forced proposal moratorium count against my three-week
> new-player period of "New Player Author Bonus/Soft Penalty"?  (Okay, part
> of the week, since I've only just been actually added?)

Yes.
It counts against the time between Whamiol bonuses too, so don't think you
are the only one hurt or potentially hurt by the abduction.

/dev/joe
Web-Harfer

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

Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 18:49:09 -0400
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Acka: Registrarness 

At 09:40 PM 4/30/97 -0900, you wrote:
>	It's a big day in Ackanomic.
>
>We have two new observers.  The first one you might remember as Ross
>Bohlen, an original ackanomian.  His real name is Paul Leonard and his
>email adress is [email-masked].

Welcome!

>The second new observer is LadyAnn, no real name given, who's email address
>is [email-masked] (I pity the guy who has to remember
>that).

Hmm...that email address looks familiar...hmm...;v)

I will seal my lips for now.

Al (ha ha ha ha ha!!)

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

End of Ackanomic Digest V2 #70
******************************