Subject: [MacroNomic] Scam potential?

From: JT <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 16:17:32 -0700 (PDT)

I'm not sure if this is the scam that Slakko was referring to in his
recent message or not, however, the wording that used to exist in the
rules that specified what happened to objects controlled by a player who
left the game got vaped at some point.

Are we safe on vote farms since once a player leaves the game they are no
longer an entity in the game (do we have a rigorous definition?)  As far
as I can tell, a player who has left the game might still be an entity and
therefore could hold vote farms.

Then when this player joins a second time after leaving, they will get 10
more farms in addition to however many they had previously.

I will not attempt this scam, and truthfully, I'd be annoyed if anyone
other than Slakko attempted it.  I think that game custom would hold that
a player stopped being an entity when they left the game, but since it's
not explicitly stated......

I will be proposing something to fix this momentarily.

--JT

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From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1998 09:02:34 +0100 (BST)

> more farms in addition to however many they had previously.

There's another interesting question: If a player who has left the game
becomes a non-entity, how can the game (which no longer admits the player
exists) distinguish between a returning player and a new player?

Yet the rules clearly indicate such a distinction exists, so it would seem
reasonable to infer that people who have left still exist as entities.

-- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
Ackanomic - Web-Harfer, Clerk of the Court, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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From: JT <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1998 09:07:32 -0700 (PDT)

>exists) distinguish between a returning player and a new player?

If a player with that email address existed in the past, then they are
returning.   That doesn't require the player to stay in existance, merely
for the game to have a sense of history and what had happened previously.

>reasonable to infer that people who have left still exist as entities.

I'm not saying the rules cannot be interpreted as you did.  I'm saying
they are sufficiently vague that a CFJ should be used to settle the issue.
And they the rules should be clarified (which is currently occuring).