Subject: MN: Year 2, Week 12: Proposals

From: Kevan Davis <kdavis@i...>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 21:32:46 +0100 (BST)

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MORNINGTON NOMIC

Proposals for Voting on in Year Two, Week Twelve
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Proposal 434 - Radioactivity [other, multiple]

{Comment: this is another one of those lengthy multiple proposals which started
off as a simple idea, but ended up needing significant amendments to several
rules in order to be sound. The 'simple' idea is this: allow players to be
Voting or Non-Voting. I think there is a need for this because recently there
seem to be proposals getting through with only one or two votes FOR and a
ludicrous number of Passes, which seems silly. I know this has been proposed
and failed before but the situation is getting daft. Anyway, I've taken this
basic idea and developed it to make a vote of Pass distinct from an abstention,
which in turn means the definition of Quorum can be altered (so, if you can't
decide whether to vote FOR or AGAINST, but don't want to affect quorum, you can
make a PASS vote, and your presence will be registered; abstentions by Inactive
and 'Non-voting' players won't be counted in the reckoning, only valid votes
and abstentions by 'Voting' Players). I've also included a definition of 'The
Speaker' (strange that this hasn't been done before) and removed all the 'or
eir nominee' bits, which should have been done long ago.}

1. Play the Game [amendment]

Rename Rule 0.3.1 to 'Players and Player States' and amend it to read as
follows:

Any person may apply to join Mornington Nomic by sending an email request to
the current Speaker (see Rule 0.3.2) stating that they wish to join the game,
and giving a one-word Name by which they wish to be known. The Speaker will
then determine whether the application is successful. Any successful applicant
becomes a Player. The Speaker's decision is final in this matter.

There are three Player States: Active, Non-Voting and Inactive. A new Player's
Player State shall be Active, unless e specifies otherwise. A Player may change
eir Player State at any time by sending a message to the list announcing the
change, which will take effect immediately. The definitions of Player States
are as follows:

* Active: takes part in Games and votes on Proposals.
* Non-voting: takes part in Games, but does not vote on Proposals.
* Inactive: does not take part in Games or vote on Proposals.

A Player may, at any time, post a message to the mailing list announcing a
desire to change the Name e uses in Mornington Nomic. This change shall take
effect at the end of the current Game Week or after three days, whichever is
later, provided that no other Player objects to the change of Name before then.

All Players must always abide by all the Rules.

{Comment: note the clause in the penultimate paragraph to discourage Players
from changing their name on a Tuesday morning -- not that I have anything
against anyone doing so, but it would be against the spirit of the rule.}

2. The Speaker [enactment]

{Comment: I'm working on the assumption that if enacted this will become 0.3.2
(see above)}

One Player shall hold the office of Speaker. The Speaker's role is to maintain
the ruleset, distribute proposals and voting results, and perform various other
functions as specified in the rules.

If the Speaker is unable, unwilling, or prevented by a rule, from fulfilling
any of eir tasks, e may desginate a Deputy to take responsibility for those
tasks (either temporarily or permanently). Any other Player who is willing and
able is a valid candidate for the role of Deputy Speaker. Throughout the
Ruleset, the term 'Speaker' shall be read as meaning the Speaker or Deputy
Speaker, as appropriate.

{Comment: perhaps the current Speaker's name and email address should be listed
here for the convenience of newcomers?}

3. Inactivity [enactment]

When a Player's Player State changes to Inactive, an asterisk is marked next to
eir name in the Game State Document of any Games in which e is currently taking
part and eir turn is skipped until e changes eir state back to Active or
Non-voting.

4. Fight for the Right [amendment]

Amend Rule 0.5.2 (How to Vote) to read as follows.

All Active Players may cast Votes on current Proposals by sending eir valid
Votes in an email to the Speaker with a subject line of 'MN: Votes'. If it does
not have this subject line, Votes may be considered invalid.

Valid Votes are FOR, AGAINST or PASS. Any other Vote is invalid. No Votes may
be revealed by the Speaker before the end of the Nomic Week in which they are
cast. Each Voter has exactly one Vote per Proposal. If a Player attempts to
vote for a single Proposal more than once, only the latest valid vote shall be
counted.

Any votes cast by Inactive and Non-voting Players are invalid.

{Comment: the 'latest vote' bit allows for Voters changing eir mind}

5. Oliver's Twist [amendment]

Rename Rule 0.5.3 (Rule Adoption) to 'Proposal Adoption' and amend it to read
as follows:

In order for a Proposal to be adopted, it must achieve Quorum and receive more
valid FOR votes than AGAINST.

6. Your Presence is Required [amendment]

Amend Rule 0.5.4 (Quorum) to read as follows:

Any Active Player who does not submit a valid Vote shall be deemed to have
abstained. If the total number of abstentions exceeds the total number of valid
votes (FOR, AGAINST or PASS), the Proposal fails to reach Quorum.

7. Dead Wood [repeal]

Repeal Rule 0.8.1 (Inactivity)

{Comment: now incorporated into the above}

8. Apathy Rules, ho hum! [amendment]

Renumber Rule 0.10.2 to 0.3.3 and amend it to read as follows:

Each Active Player shall have an Apathy Level, being an integer number between
zero and three. This is detailed in the Voting Results Document.

For each Week in which an Active Player casts no valid Votes (unless all that
Week's Proposals were eir own), eir Apathy Level increases by one. For each
Week in which an Active Player casts any valid Votes (or if all that Week's
Proposals were eir own), eir Apathy Level decreases by one.

If a Player's Apathy Level reaches three, that Player loses all of eir Kudos
and becomes Inactive.

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Proposal 435 - Duel [enactment, special ruleset]

1. Dollis Hill at Ten Paces [enactment]

Any Player may challenge another Player (provided e is not inactive) to a Duel
by means of a public announcement to the mailing list, naming the player e is
challenging and giving a reason for eir challenge. The Player being challenged
may accept the Duel, forfeit or appeal for Protection. If e fails to respond to
the challenge within five days (not including weekends) e is deemed to have
automatically forfeit the game. If the challenged Player feels the reasons for
the challenge are poor, e may appeal to the Speaker for Protection. If the
Speaker grants Protection, the challenge is annulled and the challenging player
may never again challenge the same player to a Duel without first making a
successful appeal to the Speaker for Protection to be removed.

If the Speaker is either the Player challenging or the one being Challenged, e
must nominate another Player as deputy to take eir role for the purposes of the
Duel. This deputy must be acceptable to both Players and must be willing to
take the role.

2. The Referee [enactment]

If the challenged Player accepts the Duel, another Player is then nominated to
take the role of Referee. Any Player may volunteer eir services for this role,
providing e is acceptable to both duellists. The Referee assumes the Speaker's
role for the purposes of this game (i.e. decides order of play, etc) and
adjudicates on any buzzes.

3. Two's Company [enactment]

The maximum number of Players in a Duel is two and there is no Drone. All Rules
and sections of Rules relating to the Drone are ignored.

4. Choose Your Weapons [enactment]

The Duellists and/or the Referee may suggest any further adaptations to the
regular ruleset. Providing these adaptations are acceptable to both parties,
they shall be regarded as rules for the purposes of that particular Duel.

{Comment: I got the idea for this from the fast and furious games we've seen
recently.}

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Proposal 436 - Burnt alive! [amendment]

Remove the phrase "or if eir Move finishes at it," from the second paragraph of
Rule 1.9.2 (Escalator Fires).

{Comment: stands to reason -- apart from the fact that you shouldn't be hanging
around at a station where there is a fire, the rule currently goes against not
being allowed to remain *at* a blocked station.}
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Proposal 437 - Changing Home Stations [Other, Multiple]

Action: [Changing Home to <station>] 30mins duration, post-move action,
cost 4 Br, 1 Si, 1 Go.

After completing this Action, the Player's Home Station is changed to
<station>, where <station> is a legal Home Station (as defined
elsewhere), no Piece currently rests on <station>, and <station> is not
Wild.

{ This makes it relatively difficult to perform a Change, but still
possible. }

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Proposal 438 - Twiddling [Other, Multiple]

Move Rule 1.4.3 (Stubbery) to Section 1.7 (Actions).

{ Comments: The Rule only defines the Stub Link Action, these days, so
doesn't really belong in the Possessions section any more. }

Add "Bush", "Elm", "Oak" and "Poplar" to the list of Plant Stations,
and "Chapel", "Church" and "Cross" to the list of Holy Stations.

{ Comments: Just a few intuitive ones that I've occasionally expected to
be in the definitions, but which weren't. }

Replace the word "Overground" with "British Rail" throughout the
Ruleset.

{ Comments: For too long this has bothered me; the fact that a good
few of our "Overground" Stations are below ground in
real life, and that a lot of our non-Overground ones
are actually situated above ground. Since our use of the
term is entirely BR-based rather than having anything to
do with altitude, I think it'd be best to use a
different term - certainly so when we've got the term
"British Rail" sitting around unused, and explained on
the Map's Key. }

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Proposal 439 - Stupid Compass Oversight [Other, Multiple]

{ Comments: This Rule has the Token cost given in the Rule itself and
strangely not in the Action list. I'll tweak the wording a
little, while I'm here... }

1. True North [Amendment]

A Player may perform the post-Move Action of "[<Compass> Wormhole
to <Place>]", where "<Compass>" is a compass string ("North", "South",
"East" or "West") that appears in the name of eir Piece's current
Location as a distinct word, and "<Place>" is a Station with a name
that contains the "<Compass>" word as a distinct word.

Upon performing this Action, the Player's Piece is moved directly
to the cited Station.

2. Wormhole Toll [Amendment]

In Rule 1.7.15 (Post-Move Actions), Amend the cost of "[<Compass> Wormhole
to <Place>]" to 2 Silver Tokens.

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Proposal 440 - My Mate, Marmalade [Other, Multiple]

Reword the Marmalade Sandwich bit of Rule 1.4.16 to:-

If a Player performs the Action "[Eating Marmalade Sandwich]",
Paddington becomes a Valid Move for the remainder of eir Turn.

Add Marmalade Sandwiches to the Special Moves list in Rule 1.5.0 (Valid
Moves).

{ Comments: Rather than Paddington becoming Wild and the Sandwich
being destroyed at the end of the Turn. The original
wording was struck prior to the "Eating" Action, so this
seems like something that could use bringing in line. I'd
offer more exciting Proposals, but lack the enthusiasm and
time to polish my new ideas enough. }

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