Following is the ballot for McNomic Cycle 1.I will begin accepting votes immediately, but do not feel a need to get your votes in fast - I will be accepting votes until the end of this Tuesday.
The rules don't prohibit us from openly discussing these proposals, including how we intend to vote upon them.
So feel free to give it some thought or discussion before you vote.
--------------------------------------------------- Proposal 1.1: U.N. McNomic Submitted by Kevan
Add a new section, "The World":-
A. Countries
A number of Countries exist in the world of McNomic. Each Player is considered to be resident in one of these Countries.
B. Travel
A Player may, at any time, announce to the forum that they are leaving the Country they live in and joining a new one, naming this new Country. If the Country doesn't already exist in the world of McNomic, it is created. Either way, the Player takes up residence in that Country.
When a Player creates a new Country in this manner, they become its Leader. When a Leader leaves their Country, they cease to be its Leader and a random member of that Country (if any remain) becomes its new Leader.
The Leader of a Country currently has no special powers or abilities.
Upon this Proposal passing, the Country of "Limbo" shall be created, and all Players moved to it. Limbo has no Leader.
----------------------- Proposal 1.2: The Ballad of McNomic Submitted by Kevan
Add a new section, "A Bit of Culture":-
A. Penning
Any Player other than the Moderator may, during the Final Proposals Period of any Cycle, email a Ballad Submission to the Moderator - if there are currently an odd number of lines in the McNomic Ballad, this Submission must rhyme and scan with the last line of the Ballad, or be rejected.
At the end of this Period, the Moderator should select a Submission, if any were made, and add it to the end of the Rule called "The Ballad of McNomic".
The writer of the chosen Submission shall gain five Millikarms.
B. The Ballad of McNomic
---------------------- Proposal 1.3: Powerful Chiselling Submitted by Kevan
In the Rule "Ruleset Impact", add, after the first paragraph:-
If a Proposal to amend or repeal a Stone Rule received at least one AGAINST vote, however, it automatically fails.
(** So that everyone has to be agreed before we change one of the more critical rules. **)
---------------------- Proposal 1.4: Nit-Picking Submitted by Kevan
In the Rule "Ruleset Impact", replace "After the end of the designated voting period" with "During this Period", "recieving" with "receiving" and "election results" with "voting results".
---------------------- Proposal 1.5: The Voting Golem Submitted by Kevan
Add a new section, "Non-Player Lifeforms":-
A. The Voting Golem
A shadowy clay figure behind the ranks of Players, the Voting Golem is an entity which is able to cast a single legal Vote on each Proposal, every Cycle.
Currently, the Voting Golem's Favourite Word is "Golem", and his Most Hated Word is "Hammer".
During the Vote Period, the Voting Golem will vote FOR any Proposal which contains (outside of comments) his Favourite Word and AGAINST any Proposal which contains (again, outside of comments) his Most Hated Word.
If both words appear, the Voting Golem votes AGAINST. If neither word appears, the Golem votes UNDECIDED.
Whenever the Moderator updates the Ruleset, he or she may change the Golem's Favourite and Most Hated Words to anything he or she desires, provided that both of the Golem's words are different, and both are more than four letters in length.
----------------------------- Proposal 1.6: Calvinball Submitted by Kevan
Add a new section, "Calvinball":-
A. The Calvinball
The Calvinball is a patched and battered leather football, and may, at any given time, either be in the possession of a Player or On The Floor.
All actions related to the game of Calvinball should be posted to the "Calvinball" discussion in the "McNomic" Forum. Illegal actions (throwing when you don't have the ball, picking it up when someone beat you to it) are ignored.
B. Catching and Taking
If a Player has the Calvinball, he or she may throw it to another Player by announcing this in the "Calvinball" discussion. The Calvinball is passed successfully to the cited Player.
If the Calvinball is On The Floor, any Player may pick it up by announcing this in the "Calvinball" discussion.
Upon the passing of this Proposal, the Calvinball is On The Floor.
------------------------------ Proposal 1.7 The Better Mousetrap Submitted by Kevan
Add a new section, "The Better Mousetrap":-
A. Instructions
The Better Mousetrap is a potentially-complicated piece of machinery designed to catch a single mouse, resident in an anonymous concrete cell deep beneath McNomic headquarters.
Players are invited to develop the Mousetrap through Proposals - rearranging the currently listed components, removing old ones, bringing in new ones, and whatever seems appropriate.
The first time that the Better Mousetrap catches a mouse, the Moderator shall select the Player he or she feels is responsible for this breakthrough and declare them the Mousetrap Genius. This honour shall be heralded on a suitably extravagant Web page.
(** Dodgy wording on the "feels is responsible", I confess, but it's the best I can think of for now. Maybe some sort of vote for the person most responsible would be fairer. We can change this later, though - the Trap shouldn't be catching anything for a while. **)
B. The Mousetrap
In an unlit concrete cell, the Better Mousetrap sits in darkness, awaiting its destiny. An unopened packing crate labelled "WARNING: FRAGILE!" sits mournfully in the centre of the chamber.
Peering out from a hole in the corner of the cell, a small brown mouse watches the proceedings warily.
(** This might be fun; gradually building a Heath Robinson style mousetrap, the winner being the one who makes it work. But, of course, people won't vote for your amendment if they know it's going to result in the mouse being caught, so you'll have to be subtle and gradual about it...
Example followup Proposals:-
In the Rule "The Mousetrap", replace "an unlit" with "a", replace "in darkness" with "on the floor", and add the following paragraph:-
"A new light bulb has recently been fitted in the cell. Any Player may turn the light on or off by posting a message to the "Better Mousetrap" discussion, announcing their intention."
In the Rule "The Mousetrap", add the following paragraph:-
"A small electric bell is mounted just above the mousehole. Every Monday at 6:00pm (GMT), the bell rings, briefly and loudly. Alarmed by this, the mouse will run out of the hole, not returning until 6:07pm (GMT)."
In the Rule "The Mousetrap", add the following paragraph:-
"A menacing-looking black cat sits in the corner of the cell opposite the mousehole. If the cell is ever illuminated and the mouse is not in his mousehole, the cat will pounce and catch the mouse."
You get the idea. **)
------------------------------- Proposal 1.8: How's my Karma? Submitted by Id
B. Rule V.A. will be amended to include the following paragraph:
The Moderator shall include a chart in Section V.A.1. listing all active players and the corresponding number of Millikarms assigned to each player. The list will be ordered numerically with the highest-valued integer listed at the top and the lowest-valued integer listed at the bottom.
-------------------------------- Proposal 1.9: Titular Locomotion Submitted by Id
B. Section V.A., paragraph 2, will be replaced with the following text: If a Player's Karma is above zero, the Player is considered to be among "The Heroes of McNomic". If a Player's Karma is below zero, the Player is considered to be among "The Scourges of McNomic". If a Player's Karma is at zero, the Player is considered to be among "The McNomic Watchguard".
--------------------------------- Proposal 1.10 Emergency Anfractious Pro-Tem Replacement Moderator Frambulation Doohickey Submitted by Malaprop
(** This proposal is meant to take effect only in the dire scenario of the Moderator being completely unable to continue any portion of his duties. Death, dismemberment, bankruptcy, loss of all 10 fingers or both hands, or being struck down with chronic Nomic ennui - any of these could cause the Moderator to not only be unable to perform their duties, but also unable to assign a new Moderator. In such a case, it would be a shame for the Nomic to end, so this is proposed in that event **)
To the sentence in II.D.2, change the final sentence to the following:
"The Moderator will have final say in who is posting any changes, and only as deemed by the Moderator will a replacement be made in the case of an emergency unless the Moderator is unable to make such determination, then follow part II.D.3, as follows."
To be added after II.D.2:
3. Emergency Replacement Moderator
In the event the Moderator is unable to fulfill the duties listed in section B, and the Moderator is also unable to assign a replacement, then a replacement will be voted upon immediately in the following manner:
A. As soon as the Moderator makes known, or a Player has verifiable indication that the Moderator is unable to assign a replacement in event of emergency, this information will be posted on Delphi with the heading "EMERGENCY Replacement Moderator Vote Imminent"
B. Five (5) days will pass during which time Players may discuss possible Emergency Moderators, and potential Moderators may voice their wish to become or intention of turning down any Moderator-ship bestowed upon them.
C. At the end of 5 days, a new heading will be created on Delphi with the title "VOTE on Replacement Moderator". All Players who wish to vote on their pick for new Moderator will do so there, on open. There will also be 5 days allowed for voting.
D. After the voting period is complete, the votes will be tallied and the person with the most votes shall be considered officially the new Moderator Pro Tem.
E. In the case of an elected Emergency Moderator unable or unwilling to fulfill their duties, the individual with the second greatest number of votes will be considered the Replacement Moderator. In the same event with that individual, then the process MUST begin again with Step A.
F. In the case of a tie, the two (or more) who have tied may choose to split duties, or the process may begin again starting with Step A and appending the number '2' to each Delphi heading.
-------------------------------- Proposal 1.11: Enquiring minds ... (revised) Submitted by Malaprop
This is to reword the I.E.2 ruleset ("Player Activiation") paragraph to read as follows:
People wishing to become Players must send an EMail to the Moderator. The subject Line of the EMail must say "McNomic: Join Request". The body of the EMail must contain the following:
1. Player Name 2. Delphi User Name 3. Preferred EMail address 4. Short introduction or statement about oneself (e.g. what you do for a living, current major in school, etc. as desired) 5. City and/or State, plus country you are McNomicing from. NOTE that this information is considered entirely optional 6. Brief description of why you wish to join the ranks of Players.
Upon Approval of the Moderator, the person will be activated as a Player, and the Moderator will post a message in the Forum informing other players of the addition and publicizing the provided information.
------------------------------- Proposal 1.12: Evo-Nomic Submitted by Malaprop
This is to come after V. and be renumbered as necessary.
VI. Player evolution.
A. In the Beginning ...
Upon joining McNomic, all Players are initially considered single-celled organisms.
------------------- Proposal 1.13: Delegation's The Plan Submitted by Puzz
Add the following to the ruleset, numbered appropriately:
Delegate, delegate
A. In the event that a passed proposal shall create mork work or take up more time of that the moderator, the moderator had the right to delegate any responsibilities he or she so chooses, which are related to the passed proposal, onto the player who submits that proposal.
1. The tasks delgated much be in direct relation to the additional work created by the passed proposal.
2. If in the future the rule that came from the passed proposal no longer requires upkeep or consumes any more time, the player will be relieved of their delegated responsibilities.
3. In the event that the rule that is created by the proposal is altered in any way by another passed proposal, the player submitting the most recent proposal shall be the one that the moderator may delegate the additional tasks to.
4. The moderator make these delegations or choose to take them on him/herself as the moderator sees fit.
(**my idea on this one is that we would all be more careful on submitting anything that we would not be willing to contribute some time to and to prevent too large of a work load on the moderator**)
------------------------------------------------ Proposal 1.14 : Back Up Moderator Submitted by Puzz
Replace rulset III A. 2. with the following:
III.A.2. Back Up Moderator
a. Appointed by the moderator. i. The moderator will request by email, one player to be his/her back up moderator. ii. If the player refuses the moderators request in an email, then the moderator will choose another player, make the request again, until a player accepts the responsibility. b. Responsibilities i. to assist the moderator in whichever ways the moderator and the asst moderator deem neccessary. ii. In the event the moderator is unable to fulfill the duties listed in section B, the back up moderater will fulfill any and/or all of these duties, as needed, due to emergency.
---------------------------------- Proposal 1.15: The Big Brother Chase Submitted by Mac
<** Ugh - what an embarrassing oversight on my part. Last Cycle, Titles, passed, and Big Brother passed, but Big Brother was not a Title. Duh. I'm just moving it where it belongs in this proposal.**>
Within Rule III.A (Titles,Definition), create a new Title: "Big Brother" as follows:
#) Big Brother
Players of sufficient experience may volunteer to tutor new players. Players wishing to have tutors should consult Rule I.E.4: Big Brother, where the list of currently active Big Brothers will be maintained by the Moderator.
Relocate rule I.E.4.c: Being a Big Brother to this Title as Rule #.1.
as Rule #.2, insert the following:
2. Responsibilities
The roll of the Big Brother is defined very broadly. The Primary duty of the Big Brother is to review proposals from newer players before they are submitted for possible advice concerning how to "polish 'em up". The Big Brother is not limited, however, to proofreading proposals. They will often project possible ramifications of a proposal that had not been considered.
The Brotherhood's Agenda is very simple: Turn new Players into Interesting Players.
Relocate rule I.E.4.d: Leaving the Brotherhood to this Title as Rule #.3.
-------------------------------- Proposal 1.16: Custodianship of the Ruleset (revisited).
Remove those god-awful 2nd and 3rd sentences from Rule II.D.1 (Rule Set, Custodianship, Responsibilities.) and replace them with the following:
The Moderator will post modifications to the Ruleset at the McNomic Website at the very moment they take effect. Th Moderatror will announce in the forum when any non-trivial change has been posted to the Ruleset.
--------------------------------- Proposal 1.17: The Interlude Chase
In III.A.1.a.i change "...each Period and Cycle..." to "Each Period, Interlude, or Cycle"
In IV.A: The McNomic Cycle Definition, insert the following text after the sentence "The Cycle is divided into 4 Periods, the duration of each period is set by the Moderator upon its initiation."
The end of each period may be changed by the Moderator as a result of general consensus among Players participating in the Forum.
Add the following paragraph to the end of Rule IV.A.2(Final Proposals):
When the deadline for Proposal Submission has passed, the McNomic enters an Interlude state while the Moderator composes the ballot. This Interlude will last as long as it takes for the Moderator to post the official ballot.
Add the following paragraph to the end of Rule IV.A.3.a(The Ballot):
The posting of the Ballot by the Moderator signifies the beginning of this period.
Add the following paragraph to the end of Rule IV.A.3.b(Voting):
When the deadline for Vote Submission has passed, the McNomic enters an Interlude state while the Moderator tallies the results of voting. This Interlude will last as long as it takes for the Moderator to tally and post the results of the voting, and to make and post the necessary changes to the Ruleset. The Interlude, Period and Cycle all end upon the announcement by the Moderator of the publication of the revised Ruleset.
Rules which require the re-evaluation of of an existing game metric each cycle will not be actually cause that re-evaluation within the cycle in which they are first proposed and passed. (For Example, Rule Materiality, Player Karma, etc.)