Subject: Nomic: new draft ruleset

From: Joel Uckelman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 23:34:28 -0500

Here, submitted for your approval, is a (thoroughly) revised draft ruleset.
Though some things *are* different, many (I would contend most) elements of
the game are similar to their old counterparts.

Three things I'd like to point out:

1. The extent to which this has been proofread is inconsistent--I spell-
checked it, but I haven't recently read through the whole thing to check
for grammar and other typos, though I have corrected everything I spotted
along the way. Additionally, rules written at widely disparite times may
vary somewhat in terminology--something which I'd also like to correct.

2. There are no precedence rules. Depending on what people say about this,
it may remain this way. All the same, this should be given some mention in
the rules.

3. The judicial system detailed herein is intended to get us by until
we come up with something better in-game. I am not putting it forth
as a model of what I think we should ultimately settle on, as I think
there are quite a few serious flaws in it.

I'd like to start playing again as soon as possible--please look this over
when you get a chance.

--
The Game

[game name] shall refer to the specific instance of Nomic game which
possesses the body of rules containing this definition, unless it is
made clear, whether explicitly or via the context, that [game name]
refers to something else. To this end, all permutations of letter case of
[game name] shall be considered equivalent.

--
Follow the Rules

All game entities must always abide by all the Rules then in effect,
in the form in which they are then in effect. This Rule takes precedence
over all other Rules.

--
The Ruleset

The Ruleset is the collective body of current Rule versions. The Ruleset
may be altered only as provided therein.

--
Rule Numbering

Rule numbers are serial numbers for the Ruleset. The base Rule number
is 300.

--
Revision Numbers

Revision numbers are serial numbers for Rule and Proposal versions. The
base revision number is 0.

--
Versions

Every modification to a Proposal or Rule that does not withdraw or repeal
it creates a new version of it.

--
Rule Changes

A Rule Change is the enactment, repeal, amendment, or transmutation of
a rule. Rule Changes are a type of State Change.

--
Self-Reference and Self-Application in Rules

Rule Changes that affect Rules needed to allow or apply Rule Changes
are as permissible as other Rule Changes. Even Rule Changes that
amend or repeal their own authority are permissible. No Rule Change is
impermissible solely on account its self-reference or self-application.

--
Permissibility of the Unprohibited

Whatever is not prohibited or regulated by the Ruleset is permitted and
unregulated, with the sole exception of Rule Changes, which are permitted
only when a Rule or set of Rules explicitly or implicitly permits them.

--
State Changes

Any change to the game state is a State Change.

--
Recognition of Actions

Each Officer is responsible for recognizing, in a timely fashion, a
particular subset of Agentic actions. The Administrator is responsible
for recognizing actions not specifically within the jurisdiction of any
other Officer. Every action falls within the jurisdiction of at least
one Officer.

An action is considered recognized when the appropriate Officer responds
to it as specified in the Rules. If no response is specified in the Rules,
said action is considered recognized when the appropriate Officer records
it in eir Nweekly Report.

--
Names

Names of game entities may contain alpha-numeric, punctuation, and
whitespace characters only. Names must be at least one but no more
than 255 characters in length. All game entities must have uniquely
identifying names.

--
Name Changes

An entity may initiate changing its name to another uniquely identifying
name by notifying the Administrator. The Administrator shall, in a timely
fashion, record the name-change on the Roster. Entities may change only
their own names.

--
Agents

An Agent is an entity capable of action. The status of entities as
Agents may be altered only as specified in the rules. An entity may
cause emself to lose eir Agency, but may not, solely on eir own authority
become an Agent.

--
Players

A Player is an Agent who is capable of passing the Turing Test, consents
to said designation as a Player, and has become a Player in the manner
proscribed in the Rules.

--
Initial Players

During the first nweek of play, any Agent otherwise qualified as a Player
may become one by publicly declaring eir desire to be so.

--
Motion to Add Players

Any Agent otherwise qualified as a Player may become one if a Motion to
Add naming em is adopted. A Motion to Add may be made by any Player at
any time, and is adopted if its passage ratio is at least two-thirds.

--
The Roster

The Roster is a list of all Players. Whenever a new Player is added, or
a Player forfeits, the Administrator shall update the Roster to reflect
that change.

--
Forfeit

A Player may forfeit at any time by declaring publicly eir intention to
do so. No restrictions may be placed on when a Player may forfeit.

--
Offices and Officers

A Player holding an Office is an Officer. Officers have certain duties and
privileges by virtue of their Offices, as specified in the descriptions
of eir respective Offices. Offices are unique, and may be held by no more
than one Player at a time unless explicitly allowed in the Rules. Offices
may change hands only as allowed in the Rules.

--
Resignation

An Officer may resign from eir office at any time by declaring publicly
eir intention to do so. The Office then becomes vacant, and the
Administrator assumes an Officer's duties until such time as the Office
is again filled.

--
Terms of Office

The Term of Office for an Office is five nweeks, unless otherwise
specified in the Rules.

--
Officer Succession

An Officer ceases to hold eir Office Upon expiration of eir Term unless
e is eir own successor.

An Officer shall convey to eir successor, in a timely fashion following
the expiration of eir Term, all materials necessary to carry out the
duties of the Office.

--
Nweekly Reports

Each Officer shall, during each nweek, issue a Report summarizing actions
during that nweek falling within eir jurisdiction.

--
The Administrator

The Administrator is the Officer responsible for all game duties not
assigned by the Rules to other Officers. The Player whose real name
is Joel Uckelman is the Administrator. The Administrator holds Office
in perpetuity.

--
Days and Nweeks

One Nomic Week, hereafter know as a nweek, is ten days in duration. The
first nweek begins concurrently with the first game day. Each successive
nweek begins concurrently with the end of the previous week. Each game
day begins at 00:00:00 UTC.

--
Nweekly Voting

Voting on a nweek's Ballot opens at the start of the eighth day of that
nweek, and closes at the end of the tenth day of that nweek.

--
The Ballot

The Administrator shall, prior to the close of voting each nweek,
distribute to all Players the Ballot for that nweek. Each nweek's Ballot
shall list all Ballot Issues for the nweek.

--
Ballot Issues

The following become Ballot Issues at the start of a nweek's voting:

1. Proposals then active 2. Motions requiring a vote introduced since
the previous nweek's voting 3. Elections to replace elected Officers
whose terms expire that nweek 4. Elections to fill vacant elected Offices

--
Proposals

A Proposal, when submitted, must consist of one or more Legislative
Orders--the text--and optionally, a title. If it is a revision to an
existing Proposal, it must also include the Proposal identification
number.

--
Recognition and Numbering of Proposals

The Administrator shall, within a reasonable time after receiving a new
Proposal, assign it the next Proposal number and a revision number. The
Administrator shall, within a reasonable time after receiving a revised
Proposal, assign it a revision number. A new Proposal is not officially
recognized until it is assigned a serial number. A revised Proposal is
not officially recognized until its revision number is assigned.

--
Proposal Numbering

Proposal numbers are serial numbers for Proposals. The base serial number
for Proposals is 300.

--
Proposal Submission and Alteration

An Agent may submit a new Proposal whenever e owns fewer than ten live
Proposals and has submitted fewer than ten new Proposals that day. The
Agent who submits a Proposal is its owner. Only the owner of a Proposal
may alter it, but only if the Proposal is both live and not on the
nweek's Ballot. The owner of a live Proposal not on the nweek's ballot
may alter its title or text, activate it if it is inactive, deactivate
it if it is active, or withdraw it from consideration. Only the owner
may take such action.

--
Proposal Status

Proposals withdrawn or conclusively voted on are "dead"; all other
Proposals are "live". Proposals on the Ballot become dead upon the close
of voting, regardless of the outcome of the vote, unless a quorum was
not achieved.

Live Proposals not deactivated are "active"; all other Live Proposals are
"inactive".  Dead Proposals withdrawn are "withdrawn"; dead Proposals
adopted are "passed"; all other dead Proposals are "failed".

--
Adoption of Proposals

A Proposal is adopted iff, at the close of voting, its passage ratio
exceeds one-half. Legislative Orders in the text of an adopted Proposal
shall be executed in a timely fashion by the appropriate Officers.  --

Secret Voting

A Player may vote privately if e so desires by notifying the
Administrator. Votes cast privately shall not be revealed until voting
ends.

--
Eligible Voters

Every Player is an eligible voter on each Ballot Issue. Other Agents
may be eligible voters, as allowed by the Rules.

--
One Vote Each

Each eligible voter may cast one vote on each Ballot Issue.

--
Vote Counting

Only votes equivalent to "yes" or "no" are counted toward adoption of
Proposals and Motions. Abstentions and other non-committal votes are
considered neutral. Only votes cast during voting are counted for voting
purposes. The Administrator shall, in a timely fashion after its closure,
tally the votes and make known the results of voting.

--
Quorum

Quorum is achieved when a simple majority of eligible voters cast votes
on any Ballot Issue. If quorum is not met for a nweek's voting:

1. all Ballot Item Proposals revert to their previous state 2. all Ballot
Item Motions fail 3. all Ballot Item Elections are held again in the
next nweek

--
Majority

For a given r, an r-majority shall be defined as a function from the
positive integers to the positive integers, whose value for an argument
N is the smallest integer m such that m is greater than or equal to r
multiplied by N.

A simple majority shall be defined as an (N+1)/(2N)-majority.

--
Serial Numbers

The serial number for the nth element of a set P is defined as (b + n),
where b is the base serial number for P.

--
Ratio of Passage

The passage ratio for a Proposal or Motion shall be defined as the ratio
of favorable votes to non-neutral votes received during voting on the
Proposal or Motion.

--
Spivak Pronouns

The following table entries, known as Spivak pronouns, shall be understood
to replace the standard English third person pronouns with which they
are paired. The Spivak pronouns shall be understood to refer to either
gender, as appropriate.

[[Example: "e" may refer either to "he" or "she".]]

		Spivak		standard
subject		e		he/she object	       em
him/her possessive	eir/eirs	his/hers reflexive	 emself
himself/herself

--
Comments

The following two non-whitespace characters:

[ ]

are considered "reserved characters when appearing in Official Documents
in ways defined herein.

Excepting any text in the Rule prior to and including this sentence,
any text appearing within doubled square brackets ("[[" and "]]") shall
be considered "comment" text. Comment text shall not have the force of
Rule; its purpose is solely elucidative or demonstrative.

--
Motions

A Motion is a type of action which, if adopted, causes a State Change. A
Motion is adopted iff it receives unanimous consent or in the nweek
it appears as a Ballot Item, the appropriate majority of votes. Only
Motions defined in the Rules have effect if adopted.

--
Unanimous Consent

An Agent introducing a Motion may request unanimous consent at the time
of introduction, unless the Rules explicitly prohibit it. Unanimous
consent is granted if no eligible voters object within one day of the
Motion's introduction.

--
Fora

Fora are the means by which Players communicate. All Fora are either
public or private. A Player using a Forum is considered to be "in" that
Forum at the time of its use. Actions may be taken only in public Fora,
unless otherwise specified in the Rules.

--
Redesignation of Fora

The Administrator may designate a Forum public if it is reasonably
accessible to all Players. The Administrator may designate a Forum private
only if it is not the sole extant public Forum. Only the Administrator may
redesignate Fora. The Administrator shall maintain a list of public Fora.

--
Twilight of the Fora

If at any time there exist no public Fora, the Administrator shall take
such steps as are necessary to designate one. Designation of a Forum as
public when there are no extant public Fora need not [[and cannot!]] be
done publicly.

--
Score

Associated with each Agent is a scalar quantity known as eir Score,
the unit of which is the Point. No Agent may voluntarily reduce eir
Score to less than zero Points, nor may a Player arbitrarily increase
eir Score. All Scores are initially 0 Points.

--
Opposed Minority Scoring

The Administrator shall, in a timely fashion following the close of
nweekly voting, for each Proposal adopted during that voting, credit
each Agent who voted against the adopted Proposal with a number of Points
equaling 5 times its passage ratio.

--
Failed Proposal Scoring

The Administrator shall, in a timely fashion following the close of
nweekly voting, for each Proposal failed during that voting, debit the
owner of the failed Proposal 5 Points.

--
Adopted Proposal Scoring

The Administrator shall, in a timely fashion following the close of
nweekly voting, for each Proposal adopted during that voting, credit the
owner of the adopted Proposal an number of Points equaling 20 times its
passage ratio.

--
Winning

Whenever an Agent's score reaches or exceeds 500 points, the Administrator
shall credit em with a Win.

--
Post-Win Reset

In the event of a Win being awarded, the Administrator shall reset all
Scores to their initial value. If possible, play continues normally;
otherwise, play ceases.

--
Impossibility of Further Play

In the event that further play becomes impossible, or if the legality
of an action cannot be determined with finality, then the Administrator
shall credit with a Win the Agent who took the action.

--
Timing of Events

Actions occur upon reaching the appropriate Fora. Non-action events--i.e.,
events not caused by Agent--occur at exactly the times specified in the
Rules. Events may occur only in the present, and may not alter the past.

--
Orders

An Order is a command directed to some Agent, known a the recipient,
requiring em to perform exactly one action, or to refrain from performing
one or more actions. Any Order that does not unambiguously specify
what action is to be taken in its execution may be declared invalid by
the Courts.

An Order must be either Legislative, Administrative, Judicial, or Private.

--
Legislative Orders

A Legislative Order is an Order issued in consequence of the adoption
of a Proposal. Rule Changes may be affected only through the issuance
of Legislative Orders.

--
Administrative Orders

An Administrative Order is an Order issued by an Officer in the the
course of performing the duties of that Office.

--
Judicial Orders

A Judicial Order is an Order issued by a Judge or Appeals Court in
conjunction with eir Judicial duties. A Judge may, in the course of
making a Judgment, issue one or more Judicial Orders to bring the game
state into accord with the result of the Judgment.

--
Private Orders

A Private Order is any Order that is not Legislative, Administrative,
or Judicial.

--
Execution of Orders

An Agent who is the recipient of an Order must execute the Order in a
timely fashion.

--
Vacation of Orders

An Order later found to be invalid may be vacated by a Judicial Order. In
the event that an Order is vacated, the Agent who executed it shall,
if possible, take such actions as to reverse the effects of the Order.

--
Requests for Judgment

An Agent may, at any time, initiate judicial proceedings in any matter by
making a Request for Judgment. That Agent shall be known as the Plaintiff
with regard to the Request. A Request for Judgment consists of a Statement
to be judged, and analysis as the Plaintiff deems appropriate.

--
Recognition of Requests

Within a reasonable time after receipt of a Request for Judgment, the
Administrator shall assign the Request the next Judgment number, and shall
select a Judge to handle the Request as per the Rules on Judge selection.

--
Judge Selection

The following are excluded from serving as Judges on a Request for
Judgment:

1. the Plaintiff 2. Judges previously recused from the Request

If these exclusions leave no Players eligible to serve as Judge,
exclusions may be waived from highest-numbered to lowest until at least
one Player becomes eligible.

--
Judgments

A Judge shall, within three days of eir selection, give one of the
following responses to the Request for Judgment to which e was assigned,
accompanied by analysis and Judicial Orders as appropriate:

1. Refused: A Judge may refuse to hear the Request if it lacks a clear
Statement or is not germain to the game.  2. True: The Statement is true.
3. False: The Statement is false.  4. Undecided: It cannot be determined
at the time of the Judgment whether the Statement is true or false.

--
Recusal of Judges

The Administrator shall, in a timely fashion, recuse any Judge failing
to issue a Judgment within three days of eir selection, and replace em
with a new Judge.

--
Legal Precedent

A Judgment shall guide interpretation of the Rules until such time as a
subsequent Judgment contradicts it. A Judge reversing or modifying past
precedent shall provide in eir analysis justification for doing so.

--
-- 
J.