Subject: RE: Re: New ruleset idea

From: "Wayper, Paul" <WayperP@p...>
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 10:15:22 +1000

On Tuesday, July 04, 2000 6:48 PM, Kevan [SMTP:kevan@s...]
wrote:
> This seems too disparate a system, each Player pursuing their own 
> (possibly overlapping) whims. At the end of the day, the Nomic system 
> is generally quite bad when it comes to creating a readable ruleset - 
> we really need a single "Scribe" to get the thing written in a 
> consistent style and reasonably flowing sequence. (With other 
> Players, naturally, pointing a finger at any typos or dodginess.)

I'm prepared to accept the possibility of occasionally having two or more
overlapping proposals. I've been prepared in the past, and am prepared now,
to abandon a proposal of my own in favour of someone else's better written
idea. You can't deny the benefit of abandoning the Nomic system of
proposals being thrown out if they don't immediately pass.

At the moment, there's sort of vague talk about various concepts but no real
evidence of physical rules. Having proposals that explicitly state the
wording out there on the list being reviewed by everyone makes it look like
we're actually progressing toward a goal. And while 'readable' can often
mean 'full of loopholes', this too allows for revision by consultation via
the list.

> I think we need a Speaker (or at least a vague consensus) to keep 
> discussions on-track, attempting to deal with game issues in turn, 
> and the Scribe writing it down as we go, occasionally posting a 
> "Right, this is what the 'Moving' section will look like - any 
> objections?" message to the list.

I agree, but I see those two as being the Speaker's roles - keeping the web
files of the ruleset up to date and posting news of when they've been
updated. If the Scribe isn't having to actually draft the rules this means
they won't burn out.

> Making registration a requirement would let us all know where we 
> stood, how many people were interested, and the rest, I think. A 
> clear line between "Players" and (say) "Designers" wouldn't hurt, 
> though.

Well, as far as Voting is concerned it makes things easier. Dunno about the
Designers idea - are you talking about Players being Players Of MC and
Designers being Designers Of The Ruleset?

> I've got rather less spare time than I used to have, I'm afraid. (I 
> hope the "hasn't ever written back" doesn't refer to private email, 
> though? Didn't I send you something a month or two ago?) Mostly I'm 
> just nodding at the list traffic here; if anything particularly 
> objectionable crops up, I'll take the time to say something.

Ironic that you should say this in light of our recent discussions about
Cyberlearning... :-)

Have fun,

-- Paul Wayper -- DPI IS&S Computer Systems Officer
SigClean 1.5a prevents all errors in transcription, transmission, and
reception of eMail, destroys sig and email viruses, and stops flames.
Report all bugs to the author. SigClean is FreeWare. (c) 1998-9 PJW