Subject: ackanomic digest V3 #73
From: [email-masked] (ackanomic digest)
To: [email-masked]

ackanomic digest       Saturday, March 28 1998       Volume 03 : Number 073

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 00:01:08 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Gumball

> I apologise for my mistimed Gumball chewing.

Or is this a job for...The Murrey Veil?

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Idyl Tea:How I See This Table
Current Book--Charles de Lint:Trader
All we have to do now is take these lies and make them true somehow

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 00:02:20 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Dice server)
Subject: Acka: Robbing Mr. Lunatic Fringe's Grave

- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Dice rolls requested by: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Rolls also sent to:
    [email-masked]

# What does Rex Mundi find?
# 1-2    Bonus Vote
# 3      Right-Handed Grapefruit Juice
# 4      Whamiol
# 5      Gravitational Monopole
# 6      Oscar
# 7      Otzma Card Untouch Me
# 8      Otzma Card Tactical Retreat
# 9      Otzma Card Foul Fowl
# 10     Otzma Card Truthseeker
# 11-12  Prosthetic Foreheads
# Alfvaen

No. of sides on every die:     12
No. of dice for every roll:     1
No. of dice rolls requested:    1
No. of rolls per line:          1

      3

Information on the dice server:
   DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE!
   Replies to [email-masked] vanish into a seldom-read mailbox.

   For instructions on using the dice server, send a message with
   subject "help" to [email-masked], or see http://www.pbm.com/dice/

   The dice server is provided by:

      Shadow Island Games
      http://www.pbm.com/ds.html

Original message follows:
> From [email-masked]  Fri Mar 27 21:02:03 1998
> Received: (from smtp@localhost) by xkey.com
>       id VAA13967 for <[email-masked]>; Fri, 27 Mar 1998 21:02:03 -0800
> Received: from edtntnt1-port-106.agt.net(204.209.198.99) by xkey.com via smtp (V1.3)
>       id sma013965; Fri Mar 27 21:02:00 1998
> Received: (from alfvaen@localhost) by edtntnt-port-106.telusplanet.net (8.7.6/8.7.3) id WAA00601 for [email-masked]; Fri, 27 Mar 1998 22:03:36 -0700
> Message-Id: <[email-masked]>
> Subject: Acka: Grave
> To: [email-masked]
> Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 22:03:35 -0700 (MST)
> Reply-To: [email-masked]
> From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
> Content-Type: text
> 
> 
> #P [email-masked]
> #S 12
> #D 1
> #R 1
> #L 1
> #T Acka: Robbing Mr. Lunatic Fringe's Grave
> 
> #C What does Rex Mundi find?
> #C
> #C 1-2    Bonus Vote
> #C 3      Right-Handed Grapefruit Juice
> #C 4      Whamiol
> #C 5      Gravitational Monopole
> #C 6      Oscar
> #C 7      Otzma Card Untouch Me
> #C 8      Otzma Card Tactical Retreat
> #C 9      Otzma Card Foul Fowl
> #C 10     Otzma Card Truthseeker
> #C 11-12  Prosthetic Foreheads
> #C
> #C Alfvaen

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Version: 2.7

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 00:26:29 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Cortices

So are any of the multiple Justice-eligible people going to do the
Cortex thing?  Because otherwise nothing's going to change.

I'd do it if someone else were willing to take over as Praetor(and
someone else was willing to be in my Cortex--ooh, that would smart,
wouldn't it?), but if any other folks would, then that would be okay.

The following people are eligible to be Justices:

Alfvaen (Gold Stripe)
breadbox (Justice, Bronze Torch)
Calvin N Hobbes (Bronze Torch)
/dev/joe (Bronze Torch)
Guy Fawkes (Elder, Gold Stripe)
IdiotBoy (Elder)
Niccolo Flychuck (Bronze Torch, Gold Stripe)
Robert Sevin (Gold Stripe)
ThinMan (Bronze Torch)
Vynd (Bronze Torch)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Images In Vogue:In The House
Current Book--Charles de Lint:Trader
Always look out for #1 and be careful not to step in #2.

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 08:09:03 -0500 (EST)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: B-ack question

As Clerk of the Court
If I post a CFJ
Will I lose some cash?

This message was brought to you
By me, that's TGW.

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 09:28:39 -0500 (EST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Cortices

On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> So are any of the multiple Justice-eligible people going to do the
> Cortex thing?  Because otherwise nothing's going to change.
> 
> I'd do it if someone else were willing to take over as Praetor(and
> someone else was willing to be in my Cortex--ooh, that would smart,
> wouldn't it?), but if any other folks would, then that would be okay.

 I'd be willing to be the other half of your Cortex, if you can find a
replacement Praetor.  Otherwise, does anyone else want to parent a Cortex
with me?

GF

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 09:33:08 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Cortices

On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, Guy Fawkes wrote:

> 
> 
> On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:
> 
> > So are any of the multiple Justice-eligible people going to do the
> > Cortex thing?  Because otherwise nothing's going to change.
> > 
> > I'd do it if someone else were willing to take over as Praetor(and
> > someone else was willing to be in my Cortex--ooh, that would smart,
> > wouldn't it?), but if any other folks would, then that would be okay.
> 
>  I'd be willing to be the other half of your Cortex, if you can find a
> replacement Praetor.  Otherwise, does anyone else want to parent a Cortex
> with me?

I am not currently eligible, but, provided I am not impeached, I will be
eligible for a Blue Cross when my term ends as President.  This will take
my BCR over 60 (assuming proposals don't get it there beforehand), and at
that point I would be most happy to become a Cortex owner if there was
someone I could pair up with (of course, having first received my Gold
Stripe from an appropriately officed individual).

Yours,
Slakko
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 10:25:50 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: B-ack question

> As Clerk of the Court
> If I post a CFJ
> Will I lose some cash?

I'm not sure.  The Hosed definition(which the B-Ack rule uses at two
removes) says "a public message that contains something other than [poetry]
(excluding customary headers, quoted material written by someone else, or
customary instructions to officers)".

So you could submit the text of the CFJ, the "customary headers" for it,
and rhyme the choice of Judge...:-)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--Images In Vogue:Save It
Current Book--Charles de Lint:Trader
U is for Una who slipped down a drain, V is for Victor, squashed under a train.

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 10:31:57 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: The Infrequent Ackan Volume 1 Issue 16

Volume 1, Issue 16
March 28, 1998
This issue's slogan:
"More Bandwidth - More Wastage"
In this issue:
1. Editorial
2. Apologies and Retractions.
3. Poll Question #4
4. More Ackanomic News
5. Special Report - Interview with a Veal Fan
6. Meaningless Statistic of the Week
7. Party Chess Report
8. Sub-Game Summary
9. Advertisement		
 		
Editorial
Hopefully Acka this week is back to its usual voting self.  Another batch
of proposals runs out tonight, and we hope to get through it without the
need for the Puppet Heads to once again come out of hiding.  Fortunately,
last week's outbreak was relatively contained, and caused few casualties.
Apart from Goldenmean being rendered non-voting, the only real cost was
the bandwidth used for the Puppet Head removal messages - a modest price
for a guarantee of a week's quorum crisis at worst.
However, each crisis we get through appears to bring out the best in
Ackans.  Proposals are already in the works to enable such crises to be
modified, especially when the voting consequences are partially the result
of a universal temporary anomaly (i.e. a muppetlabs crash).  We hope that
reason will see these changes implemented up to the point where they
remain useful without becoming loose.  We wouldn't want to see a repeat of
the Senate Resolution Incident, now, would we?
The other issue I wish to talk about this week is lunar.  It has been well
known for a significant period of time that Acka possesses a number of
moons.  These most notably include the moon of Kansas, but there may well
be others out there.   We know that no Ackan has ever been to these moons,
although there may or may not be evidence in the Codex of Kra from the
Ancients about trips to such moons.
We see these moons in the night sky, and wonder what they are like.  Yet
surely Acka possesses the technology and the wonder to reach these images!
Ackans should unite to see these moons explored and the wonders they
possess brought to further study on Acka itself.  Why, there might be
whole civilizations there, even other Nomics!  We cannot pass up such a
golden opportunity, and we should set ourselves the goal, before Proposal
3000 is out, of landing an Ackan on a moon and returning em safely to
Acka.
Admittedly such a task will not be easy - creation of spaceships is a
difficult art, and they are not made available easily.  In fact, no one in
Acka has yet possessed the sacred 2 Ruby Slipper spaceship rumoured to be
capable of instantaneous transport between here and Kansas.  No-one has
ever seen the surface of Kansas - a wierd celluloid appears to infect our
telescopes whenever we look there.  Perhaps such instantaneous transport
is the only way - or perhaps our intrepid Research Guild will come up with
another way to beat the problem.
A reminder from the Editor: Letters to the Ackan are always welcome. We
will publish contributors within reason, because our aim is to provide
Ackans with a comprehensive news and opinions service. This includes
opinions contradicting the paper, so feel free to criticise editorial
comments. 
If you want your opinions heard, or letters published, please send them to
[email-masked].
Send a stamped self-addressed email to the address listed above, marked
"Acka: Ackan" and we'll do our best to get back to you.
Have another good Ackan week - banna willing we'll be back next week.
Slakko
Editor, The Infrequent Ackan 

Apologies and Retractions
The Ackan apologises for the errors in last issue. Most notably, the error
that The Gingham Wearer was at the time Boy Wonder. The sub-editor
responsible for checking accuracy against the rules was transferred to
another newspaper (who we cannot name without permission for royalty
reasons), where e proceeded to continue in eir bumbling job.
Fortunately, the new fact checker here at the Ackan is a better performer,
having been bred especially at the Ackanomic Institute for Genetic
Replication for this purpose. E's so confident of eir own ability to check
the rules, e stakes es on life on it.. Just as well, because I was going to
stake es life on it instead.
The Ackan heartily apologises for any damage or difficulties caused by
these errors and/or omissions.
 
Poll Question Results
Last Issue saw the release of Poll Question Number 4, viz:
4. Cheeses - are they too easy, too hard, or just plain cheesy?
(a) Too Easy
(b) Too Hard
(c) Plain Cheesy
In a surprising display of consistency, no Ackans claimed that the Cheeses
were too easy. However, equally, only one player was concerned with the
relative hardness of Cheese, and, even then, qualified the statement by
saying that they were "only a little bit too hard".
The remainder of players simply thought that cheeses were cheesy. A
tautological and simple, if understandable, response to such a strange
question.
Anyway, there were four responses received in all, so Plain Cheesy won out
by 3 votes to 1 over Too Hard, with Too Easy running well behind. In the
Trinket competition, the winning respondant was *drum roll* else...if!
Your Trinket will be sent to you in a separate emailing.
Another question will hopefully be set to tax your minds and inform Acka
further next week. Remember, it costs very little of your time to enter,
and you could win something. /dev/joe and else...if already have in the
Great Ackan Poll Question Competition!
 	 	 
More Ackanomic News
Proposal Queue Stable, reports expert
Renowned Ackan legal expert Gunther Q. Friendsreference has laid down eir
report on the state of the proposal queue.  The Ackan has obtained
exclusive access to the summary of this report, which claims that the last
week has seen the queue return to a much more stable level.
The report says that "an increased awareness of the need for change has
seen an increase of the distribution of proposers, naturally enabling a
pro-mutability population to maximise mutation rates in the ruleset while
evading the simplistic per capita approach of the rule frobbing
technique".  We'll have to trust Gunther on this one - e is the expert.
However, e also raised some concerns about the situation: "The continued
frobbing raises tension amongst certain high-volume mutators in the
population.  When the queue is tweaked, unless careful effort is made such
mutators may decide that a high burst of attempted mutations is desirable.
However, such an attempt is likely to be counter-productive, leading only
to a re-frob and a further increase in tensions".  Gunther recommends
restraint on the part of all those who would see the proposal queue
unfrobbing as an excuse to over load the system - but sees nothing wrong
in a steady plateau rate of proposals thereafter.
Financial Follies
A rather dull week in the Stock Market was reported by else...if's useful
Ackan Financial Times.  Not much can be added here at the Ackan, except to
give the Stock Tip for the week: Buy now before the big expected rise hits
sometime after this evening and before Tuesday evening.  I predict the
stock market could rise by up to 6 points - with more to follow later int
he week.  Remember, it ain't Black Monday unless the Ackan says so! (tm)
Dark Figure Stalks Ackan Streets
The election of a new Caped Crusader having been completed, the new Dark
Knight stalks the back-streets of Acka.  E looks for evildoers, and will
no doubt attempt to root out any crime where it occurs.  However, at this
stage e is still performing this task on eir own, having yet to appoint a
new Boy Wonder to replace The Gingham Wearer, a casualty of else...if's
reign of tyranny as the not-so-effective Caped Crusader.
We here at the Ackan welcome a return to a Caped Crusader being tough on
crime, and hope it is a real rebirth of the role.  K 2 has our full
support, and we're not just saying that because e is the Caped Crusader
and could throw our boss in gaol relatively quickly.  Oh no.  Not by a
long shot.
Oh yeah, Cambridge won the Boat Race today in a record time!  Go
Cambridge!
 	 	 
Special Report - Interview with a Veal Fan
The Ackan now provides its third in a (surprisingly) ongoing series of
interviews with the names that have made Acka great and are still working
to make it great. This issue The Infrequent Ackan is talking with Alfvaen,
currently Scorekeeper and Financier among other roles. Thanks to Alfvaen
for being willing to subject emself to the vicious interview team at the
Ackan.
IA: Alfvaen, thanks for joining us.
A: My pleasure.
IA: You're still far and away Acka's most well-salaried individual. What
led you to be holding so many Functional Offices, and why were there so
many open for you to enter?
A: It was sort of a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
/dev/joe held a number of Functional Offices when I first joined the game,
including Web-Harfer, Scorekeeper, Undead-Harfer, and Bond-Harfer, and
Mohammed was Tabulator, Promoter, and Financier, among others. I kept
agitating for offices during my first couple of months, but I guess my big
break came when /dev/joe announced that e would have to resign eir offices
at the end of July because of a six-month internship which would leave em
unable to maintain wilma.che.utexas.edu, not to mention with less time to
do it. Things were complicated, though, by the slide into bankruptcy of
Terranet, the Internet provider I worked for and got free web-space from,
in mid-July, and Mohammed's increasing inactivity. And the fact that
e(then known as Chaos)was also President at the time.
I managed to get appointed Acting Scorekeeper and Bond-Harfer during one
of Chaos's periods of activity, but it wasn't until e resigned as
President and I was elected to my first term that I could finally take
real hold of the offices. The reason I ended up with so many was, quite
frankly, the fact that there weren't many other people to hold them. I was
the only nominee for many of them, so I ended up as Scorekeeper,
Bond-Harfer, Financier, Map-Harfer, Undead-Harfer, Web-Harfer and even
Promoter briefly. (And, as a result, Acting Speaker for a couple of days.)
Finally, breadbox stepped forward to take Promoter and Tabulator, but I
was still left with a raft of others. Still, being unemployed at the time,
I had lots of free time...
IA: What is your opinion on the optimal distribution of Offices throughout
Acka - your preferred balance between centralisation and distribution?
A: Having seen a heck of a lot of centralization, I don't mind things
being a bit more distributed. There are certain Offices that go together,
like Tabulator and Promoter, or Financier and Undead-harfer, but whereas
in the past it was usually three people(Mohammed, /dev/joe, and Malenkai,
and later me, breadbox, and Malenkai)holding almost all the Functional
Offices, now with me, breadbox, Slakko, The Gingham Wearer, and rufus,
loads seem to be a bit lighter.
The one problem with distribution is that it's more likely that, if one
player stops having enough time to play Ackanomic, it will be an Officer
who will leave Duties undone. But in centralization it's more serious when
it happens, so it evens out.
IA: What Office have you found most fulfilling and why?
A: That's a tough question, my having held so many. I did kinda like being
President, even if it did leave me stuck with all those Offices. I found
Web-Harfing a bit too much work. I'm actually having fun with Praetor
right now, too. I might get the hang of judging CFJ's yet. I think I like
Scorekeeper the best, because I like to watch the scores progress. When I
was just a civilian, I always checked the scores page a lot. Of course,
it's more fun, and more work too, when the game's more active.
IA: Can you still see yourself in that Office this time next year?
A: If I'm still in Ackanomic, sure. It'll be the last Office I divest
myself of, I think. And before anyone starts worrying, it's not that I'm
_planning_ to leave Ackanomic. But I don't know what will be happening a
year from now. I haven't even _been_ here a year yet. So I hesitate to
prognosticate. But odds are high.
IA: You were the Web-Harfer for a good few months. How difficult did you
find it to keep up with all the news going on in Acka - after all, for
just a few people we make a hell of a lot of paperwork.
A: That's for sure. Mostly it wasn't too bad. The disk space problem was
the biggest. The Phoebe archive just grows and grows, as does the *ping*
archive(though more slowly). I'm deeply grateful to breadbox for doing the
Proposal and CFJ archives, which are quite a handful even apart from the
disk space considerations.
I'd just like to mention here that I did all my Web-Harfing except the PE
and Score pages by hand. Oh, sure I cut and pasted, but the HTML was all
by hand. I don't hold with those fancy HoTMeTal-type interfaces and stuff.
And of course I don't care much of graphics either. Though I did find a
few more for the PE page, and would welcome more.
IA: Being middle-aged in Ackan terms, you must have joined a game with an
elaborate ruleset, but have seen it develop over many months. What is, in
your opinion, the single largest change in the emphasis of the ruleset
over this time period?
A: Oddly enough, it seems to have been cyclical. In my first few months, I
witnessed the demise of Silly Vacation Hats, Sinister Aliens, the
Narfalone family, and the Vault of the Chalice. And now we have the B-Ack,
Bracket Pedantry Hearings, True Prophets(well, _next_ Tornado we will,
anyway), Hidden Agendas... As Calvin N Hobbes put it, "The harf is back
and I want a winter cap." So it's been the slow recession of harf, and now
its resurgence. And really, the biggest change has been with the players,
who brought fresh blood and new...I mean, new blood and fresh ideas into
the game a few months ago.
I'm excited about the new Supreme Court thing, though, and hope that it
takes off. If I weren't Praetor, I would've become half-owner of "Cortez's
Courtly Cortege" already.
IA: Do you have any specific future directions you would like the game to
be headed in, or areas where you can see some changes are going to be
necessary or desirable?
A: Well, as I said, I saw the pendulum swing in the direction of less
harf, and now it's swinging back. And as is the nature of pendulums, it
won't stop at the equilibrium point(where the amount of harf balances the
amount of work it puts on the harfers), but will keep swinging back to the
point where the Officers start to complain. So it's more that I'd like to
see that swing damped a little bit, so the game doesn't crash.
And to some extent clearing away some of the old harf will make it better
for the new, if we don't have to keep track of it all at once. But then
I've already stated my opinion on snowgod's disease and Witchhunts(and
Bracket Pedantry Hearings, for that matter)...
IA: What do you think of the current Treasure situation?
A: Well, things have definitely slowed down a bit. I know I don't get as
much time to look at the things as I used to. And the Treasure-Hunting
League hasn't quite taken off yet. I've run out of original hint ideas to
give for my Treasure clues, so I'll just point at the ones I've already
given--the biggest ones are in the "Parade That Never Was" issue of the
Big White Gazette, and that Automatic Sculpture description I did. And
don't forget those "Codes & Ciphers" books I recommended a while back as
well.
IA: Alfvaen, thank you for your time.
A: _My_ time? I thought it was yours! Oh, well. Too late now. Can I have a
receipt, at least? Geez.
		
Meaningless Statistic of the Week
This week our meaningless statistic comes to you courtesy of the Gumball.
Yes, that little bit of harf that likes to bring a good chew into
everybody's day at least four times a month.  The little fella seems to
have been a bit neglected of late, but doesn't mind sharing eir affections
around.  Let's have a look at who has chewed the gumball the most.
First off the rank is the all time leader, Slakko.  Despite having only
been in Acka for a mere 5 months, e has chewed the Gumball more than
anyone else in the game's history.  In doing so, e has also introduced the
Gumball's wrapper, which apparently changes each time it is chewed to
provide an apt description of the current week.
Slakko has chewed the gumball legally on 6 occasions, compared to Alfvaen
with 5 legal chewings.  These two appear to have almost duopolised the
Gumball, despite its completely egalitarian nature and inability to be
Huberted.
No other player has chewed the Gumball more than twice.  There are, in
fact, 8 double-chewers in the history of Acka, including players both past
and present.  They are: Mr. Lunatic Fringe, this is not a name, breadbox,
Guy Fawkes, /dev/joe, Mohammed, two-star and rufus.  An illustrious
collection of chewers if I do say so myself. 
This only leaves the single chewers, of which there are a mere 5.  These
are: chess piece face, Dr McSpong, Calvin N Hobbes, 23 Skidoo and Attila 
the Pun.  Just as interesting as the names on this list, however, are the
names excluded.  Neither Malenkai nor Niccolo Flychuck, two of the most
proposal-heavy players in the history of Acka, chewed the Gumball even
once.  What did it have against them?  Or what did they have against it?
With Malenkai we may never know - and with Niccolo e may never tell us, or
e may have just been waiting for the right moment to pick up that Gumball
and just chew away.
This has been the first in an occasional series of Meaningless Statistics
of the Week.  We hope you enjoyed it - feel free to send feedback to
[email-masked].
		
Party Chess Report
This last week in Party Chess has seen a severe case of weight gain infest
the Swingers.  Slakko has now earned the highest weight since the current
scheme was first brought into place.  His 103, partially assisted by a
clever move (we hope) from Alfvaen saw em pass /dev/joe's previous high
point of 102.5, set late last year.  Despite this, Slakko was slightly
morose at the news of reaching three figures for Weight.  In a statement
to the Ackan, he said that e was "hoping to stay under 100 for some time
to come, but apparently this hope was in vain.  I hope Alfvaen knows what
he is doing, but then again, I already know e's plotting against me on the
Chess Board."
Meanwhile, in shock Chess news this week Goldenmean was sacked as Swinger
for the Razor Boomerangs political party.  After three consecutive
failures to respond to calls to attend the Party Board, e was
unceremoniously dumped in absentia in a small ceremony in Party Hall
during the week.  Hubert has since taken Goldenmean's place as Swinger -
we wish him a long and prosperous (and hopefully weighty) time in eir
post.
More Swingpoints will be awarded this Monday, so the next couple of days
could see some very crucial moves played.  Keep your eyes peeled for some
double dealing, with each Swingpoint worth a couple of crucial points, or
one quarter of a very very useful Bonus Vote.
Sub Game Summary
We thought the "foods beginning with S" thread was getting a little
boring.  Don't you agree?.
Abstract Crescent
Abstract Crescent Game 1 is now well underway, and is evoking significant
interest from all players involved, with the possible exception of rufus.
The game has now finished 5 rounds, and an interesting pattern is
developing in the strategies.
While the early rounds, especially round 3, saw a very low spread of
numbers, with only one value over 20 picked in the first three rounds
combined, this trend has stopped.  The ludicrous nature of round 3, where
5 people attempted to win on their first round, most likely reinforced
this.  Now, by contrast, the winning plays are being well-spread, to the
point where scores for winning rounds have dropped dramatically.
With scores of 11, 10 and 11 being awarded in the first 3 rounds, it
looked like the game would be over quickly.  Now, with the last two scores
awarded being 9 and 2, the game looks much more like a long-term
diversion.  So if you're already in the game, keep playing well!  If not,
and you want to be, the current Umpire, Slakko, is still accepting
submissions from people who want to play, and will be inserting them into
the rolling congruences as soon as possible after e receives them.  So
come and play Abstract Crescent!  You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Fictionary
Alfvaen's win in Game 2 of Fictionary was confirmed on a slightly sour
note this week.  else...if was due to provide the definitions e had
received for the final round (a dead rubber in terms of determining first
place) on Sunday.  However, by Friday e had still failed in this duty, and
so unfortunately the last round finished before it was even played
properly.  Acka is left not even knowing the meaning of ramet, a piece of
knowledge which could well prove crucial in the coming months.  Don't let
Acka fall into this crucial knowledge hole again!
The lack of a last round also left a slightly sour taste in the mouths of
those fighting for second place.  With three players tied on 14 points
going into the final round, it looked like second was going to be an
interesting fight.  Unfortunately, the fight had to be cancelled, leaving
many unsatisfied.
On the brighter side, a new game of Fictionary is looming on the horizon,
with a mix of old hands and new faces ready to take a spin around the
dictionary one more time.  We can only hope that this next game is a
little less one-sided than Game 2 proved to be.
Grab a Donkey
Grab-a-Donkey Game 5 ended this week with more of a whimper than a bang.
The Active List was six players in size when the game ended, with K 2
being the only player game to risk a lariat throw, and hence the only
winner.  Some said that K 2's courage was Lamb-induced, but nonetheless e
is a worthy winner.  Now, as the new Belt Holder and Wrangler, it is eir
job to determine whether or not Grab-a-Donkey can be made even more fun
for the following games.
Some would say that the game as it is is already perfect.  Others would
simply say that improvement is always possible.  Either way, though, the
Belt Holder will have a time convincing eir critics that eir proposal to
change the rules of GAD (if indeed such a proposal is made before the next
game)  is the right and proper one.  Whatever happens, stay tuned
cowpokes! The game is sure to start again in the not-too-distant future.
The betting pool was concluded along with the GAD game this week.  The
Gingham Wearer was spot on the money with 13 rounds the expected duration,
and as a result e received the special ornamental pool valued at A$15.
TGW was unavailable for comment at the time the prize was awarded, but we
here at the Gambling and Other Vices department of The Infrequent Ackan
sure hope he enjoys his pool.
Don't forget -  It could have been you, if you had entered! Remember that
the Ackan runs the betting contests that you want to see in Acka - just
let us here at the Ackan know if there is anything you wish to organise
betting for, and we'll see what we can do about it. 
Viruses
The Viruses battle goes on, still without a clear favourite for the
winner's post.  TGW, still the Viruspoint leader, remains well out of the
Viruscount lead, on 10 infected cells.  Far too small a count at this
stage, it seems, to have a significant effect for at least the next few
rounds.  Similarly, Slakko, once looking good to get back amongst the
points, has collapsed to a mere 9 infected cells and 2 Viruspoints.  His
prospects look even dimmer than those of TGW.
In the middle of the Viruscounts are /dev/joe and two-star.  /dev/joe
looks good from the Viruspoints view, with a cool 6 points leaving em
closest to victory of the current frontrunners.  However, e is known as a
Viruses specialist, and so team strategy may continue to count against em.
two-star, by contrast, has but a single Virsupoint.  However, eir cells
are generally ringing the field, looking to be in prime spaces for
expansion.  Could we see a two-star resurgence in a few rounds time?  Wait
and see.
At the top we have else...if and breadbox, most recently tied on 28
infected cells apiece.  They are both low on the Viruspoint ladder,
though, so any win from either of these players could be seen well in
advance, and possibly countered by an alliance of the remaining players.
However the game progresses, there's still a lot of life in it yet, so
keep watching.
Word Un-Association 
Hubert's good position in Word Un-Association has turned into an
unassailable one.  /dev/joe had one last attempt to sustain the game for
another round, and took a good stab by trying to turn "quartz" into
"smooth".  However, Hubert came up with a smooth vein of quartz, linking
for double points and reaching the goal of 15.  Although the round has yet
to end, the only way that Slakko or /dev/joe can catch Hubert is if e
fails to submit a link word within the time limit.  This would see em fall
back to 12 points, making it a ding-dong battle in the last round.
However, it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
Whatever happens in the final round, the playtest of Word Un-Association
looks to have been a qualified success.  Thanks to TGW for Umpiring the
first game and getting the game concept underway.  We can only hope that
the next instance of this game receives a little more interest than the
first did. 
YORL
Finally a Bard has continued the story.  The Gingham Wearer, fresh from a
recent layoff in YORL, has come back with some great extensions to the
story.  Now we know that Romeo/Sam is looking for the sacred Talisman of
banna.  E is one third of the way through eir quest, but at this stage we
cannot see where the rest of the path will lead.  Whichever way it does,
it must be a very twisty path.  There are plenty of loose ends still to be
cleared up, and plenty of ales to be served (and hopefully drunk).
Will anyone ever pick up the Lunatic Finger? It is a real shame that it
wasn't on a card to be left as a loose end, as that might have been very
interesting. There is still that single empty bench - so if you want in on
the crazy goings on down at the Mir space station, and wherever else the
Talisman of banna is getting parked, park your seat in a seat, drop A$20
in the pot and get ready to play Ye Olde Rusty Lantern.
 
Advertisements
The Ackan is still looking for more interviews. If you've already
responded to our earlier queries but have not yet received your
preliminary questions sheet, don't worry, we'll be getting in contact
shortly to know how you're getting on.
On the other hand, if you have yet to respond to the Ackan call for
interviews, and have held a public office in Acka for at least one month
continuously at any stage in Acka's history, then the staff of the
Infrequent Ackan would like to hear from you. Just email us at
[email-masked] with the keywords "Acka: Ackan" and say you would like to
do an interview. That's all. If you are accepted (which, let's face it, is
still pretty likely at this stage) then someone from the Ackan will be
around to contact you shortly. 
And don't worry, we will only contact you shortly - we won't call you
Shortly.
 	 	 
The Infrequent Ackan, first to you with Ackan news.
Copyright  Duncan Richer writing under the pseudonym of "Slakko", and
Aaron V. Humphrey as "Alfvaen", 28th March 1998.
Check us out on the web, at
http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/Nomic/Acka/infrequent.html 		

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 12:12:13 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Consistency Check

I was just looking over the Illuminatus rule, when I noticed two things.
Firstly, that _all_ players are eligible to submit agenda conditions,
which would include even non-voting ones.  However, non-voting players
are ineligible to be selected randomly, so this might block them from
getting their Agenda Hats.  (Although I suppose it might be said that
since it's the Hats that are selected randomly rather than the players,
this would still work.)  But non-voting players are also ineligible to
win cycles.

Would it be more consistent, do you think, if only Active players were
allowed to submit Agenda Conditions?

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--Idyl Tea:Awfully Nice Eyes
Current Book--Charles de Lint:Trader
It's nothing permanent, just something from the Iron Age

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 12:19:17 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Consistency Check

On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> 
> I was just looking over the Illuminatus rule, when I noticed two things.
> Firstly, that _all_ players are eligible to submit agenda conditions,
> which would include even non-voting ones.  However, non-voting players
> are ineligible to be selected randomly, so this might block them from
> getting their Agenda Hats.  (Although I suppose it might be said that
> since it's the Hats that are selected randomly rather than the players,
> this would still work.)  But non-voting players are also ineligible to
> win cycles.
> 
> Would it be more consistent, do you think, if only Active players were
> allowed to submit Agenda Conditions?

I think it would be more consistent to allow non-voting players to win
Cycles, personally.  After all, why shouldn't they?

Yours,
Slakko
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 12:21:34 -0500 (EST)
From: David Scheidt <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Consistency Check

On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> I think it would be more consistent to allow non-voting players to win
> Cycles, personally.  After all, why shouldn't they?
If you don't vote, you can't do nomicy things, like change  the rules.
Why should you be allowed to win?

ruufs

> 
> Yours,
> Slakko
> -- 
> Duncan C. "" Richer aka
> Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
> Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
> Acka - President "Gumball" Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer
> 

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 12:22:50 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Raft

The Gingham Wearer has found the Great Raft of Ackanomic.

There's still time for em to join the Rafting Team(although Attila
the Pun would unfortunately be left out), in verse if necessary...

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--Scandal:The Warrior
Current Book--Charles de Lint:Trader
Not that I'm bitter.

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 12:42:06 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Consistency Check

On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, David Scheidt wrote:
> On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:
> 
> > I think it would be more consistent to allow non-voting players to win
> > Cycles, personally.  After all, why shouldn't they?
> If you don't vote, you can't do nomicy things, like change  the rules.
> Why should you be allowed to win?
Why should you be allowed to play?
They are playing the game.  Why shouldn't they be allowed to win?
After all, they do some other fun stuff which isn't changing the rules but
is still part of Acka.
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 13:53:11 -0500 (EST)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 550 (Niccolo Flychuck)

For this CFJ please remember
That 550 is the number.

In what must be classed as a stroke of luck
My dice selected Niccolo Flychuck.

Statement:

Serving as an Acting Officer counts for the purposes of determining whether
one has received an edam.

Alfvaen's Reasoning:

I'm pretty sure about this, but I'd rather clear it up now just in case.
(I just went through and recounted, and realized I'd skipped the Acting
Officers before.)

Rule 611 states:

   A player receives an edam if e has held five offices (not including
   Capital Offices) since the adoption of this rule, or the most recent
   destruction of a cheese of this type belonging to this player, or the
   players most recent impeachment; whichever is the most recent.

The question is whether an Acting Officer is "holding" an office.  I
believe that Rule 401 reads this way, since it refers with fair consistency
to "holding a seat in an Acting capacity".

However, Section (vi)b) says "When a Player's Term expires, he is no longer
considered to be holding the Office.  The player performs the Office in an
'Acting' role until the Seat is filled..."

So the Rules are slightly ambiguous on the matter.  (Whichever way it is
decided, the CSRR should clear up Rule 401 so it's all one way or the
other, methinks...)

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

End of ackanomic digest V3 #73
******************************