Subject: Theme thoughts

From: [email-masked]
Date: 15 Dec 2000 15:03:33 -0500

I've rejected a couple of proposals on grounds something like "it
embeds the theme too pervasively in the rules".

Let me clarify that -- or muddy it. 

I built the initial ruleset with the idea in mind that there would be
no termination condition for the game, but that it would be divided
into rounds that have a termination condition (someone wins).

Deliberately, I didn't put in anything about the ruleset reverting to
its initial state, or anything like that, for each new round. I
didn't want to lose any particularly good and useful rule changes. At
the same time, I envisioned that any rules that develop a particular
theme might be subject to a repeal proposal -- or even a repeal
proclamation -- at the start of a new round.

To some extent I had FRC in mind in so thinking. Now I think perhaps
I should have followed FRC's example more closely, and made a
distinction between theme-developing rules and more general, non-theme
rules (corresponding to FRC's Fantasy Rules and Regular Ordinances).

Not that I'd want to turn DocNomic into an FRC clone. For one thing,
I'd rather have each round be longer, slower, and more developed than
a typical FRC round. Certainly none of this round-killing "e who
posts the last valid rule wins". I mean, I enjoy FRC, but I want
DocNomic to have a different set of flaws!

I'm not even sure I'd want the theme-developing rules to expire
automatically with each new round. If we're having fun with a
particular theme, it'd be nice to have the option of retaining it. At
the same time, if a theme is getting a bit stale, it'd be nice to have
the option of easily jettisoning it by repealing the theme-based
rules.

Note, by the way, the start of BiNomic, another bilevel Nomic
exploring a similar structure.
<http://people.we.mediaone.net/nau1/index.html> (or just ask Mark!)

Any thoughts?

-- 
- Doc