Reuben Staley
2018-12-01 21:04:11 UTC
THE SHORT LOGICAL RULESET
These rulesets are also online at http://agoranomic.org/ruleset/
Date of last official ruleset of this type: 24 Nov 2018
Date of this ruleset: 1 Dec 2018
Number of rules currently enacted: 119
Most recent change to this ruleset: Rule 2531 amended by Proposal 8130
Highest ID'd rule in this ruleset: 2584
Highest ID'd Proposal Passed: 8132
Highest ID'd Rule Enacted: 2584
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The Game of Agora
This section includes a few rules concerning the Nature of the Game
of Agora.
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Rule 101/17 (Power=4)
The Game of Agora
Agora is a game of Nomic, wherein Persons, acting in accordance
with the Rules, communicate their game Actions and/or results of
these actions via Fora in order to play the game. The game may be
won, but the game never ends.
Please treat Agora Right Good Forever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1698/5 (Power=4)
Agora Is A Nomic
Agora is ossified if it is IMPOSSIBLE for any reasonable
combination of actions by players to cause arbitrary rule changes
to be made and/or arbitrary proposals to be adopted within a
four-week period.
If, but for this rule, the net effect of a proposal would cause
Agora to become ossified, or would cause Agora to cease to exist,
it cannot take effect, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. If
any other single change or inseperable group of changes to the
gamestate would cause Agora to become ossified, or would cause
Agora to cease to exist, it is cancelled and does not occur, rules
to the contrary notwithstanding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Players
This small section provides some rules detailing how joining and
leaving Agora works. If you're a new player, this is probably the
most important section to read.
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Rule 869/44 (Power=3)
How to Join and Leave Agora
Any organism that is generally capable of freely originating and
communicating independent thoughts and ideas is a person. Rules to
the contrary notwithstanding, no other entities are persons.
Citizenship is a person switch with values Unregistered (default)
and Registered, tracked by the Registrar. Changes to citizenship
are secured. A registered person is a Player. To "register"
someone is to flip that person's Citizenship switch from
Unregistered to Registered.
An Unregistered person CAN (unless explicitly forbidden or
prevented by the rules) register by publishing a message that
indicates reasonably clearly and reasonably unambiguously that e
intends to become a player at that time. A player CAN deregister
(cease being a player) by announcement. If e does so, e CANNOT
register or be registered for 30 days.
A person, by registering, agrees to abide by the Rules. The Rules
CANNOT otherwise bind a person to abide by any agreement without
that person's willful consent.
The Rules CANNOT compel non-players to act without their express
or reasonably implied consent. The rules CANNOT compel players to
unduly harass non-players. A non-person CANNOT be a player, rules
to the contrary notwithstanding.
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Rule 478/34 (Power=3)
Fora
Freedom of speech being essential for the healthy functioning of
any non-Imperial nomic, it is hereby resolved that no Player shall
be prohibited from participating in the Fora, nor shall any person
create physical or technological obstacles that unduly favor some
players' fora access over others.
Publicity is a forum switch with values Public, Discussion, and
Foreign (default), tracked by the Registrar. Changes to publicity
are secured.
The Registrar may change the publicity of a forum without
objection as long as:
1. e sends eir announcement of intent to that forum; and
2. if the forum is to be made public, the announcement by which
the Registrar makes that forum public is sent to all existing
public fora.
Each player should ensure e can receive messages via each public
forum.
A public message is a message sent via a public forum, or sent to
all players and containing a clear designation of intent to be
public. A rule can also designate that a part of one public
message is considered a public message in its own right. A person
"publishes" or "announces" something by sending a public message.
Where the rules define an action that CAN be performed "by
announcement", a person performs that action by unambiguously and
clearly specifying the action and announcing that e performs it.
Any action performed by sending a message is performed at the time
date-stamped on that message. Actions in messages (including
sub-messages) are performed in the order they appear in the
message, unless otherwise specified.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2139/12 (Power=2)
The Registrar
The Registrar is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping
track of players.
The Registrar's weekly report includes:
1. A list of all players, including information sufficient to
identify and contact each player.
2. The date on which each player most recently became a player.
3. For each forum with non-Foreign publicity, sufficient
instructions for players to receive messages there.
The Registrar's monthly report includes:
1. For each former player for which the information is reasonably
available, the dates on which e registered and deregistered.
In the first Eastman week of every month the Registrar SHALL
attempt to deregister every player that has not sent a message to
a public forum in the preceding month.
The Registrar's duties and abilities also include:
* Changing the publicity of a forum, as described in Rule 478.
* Publishing Cantus Cygnei and Writs of FAGE as described in
Rule 1789.
The Registrar is also responsible for tracking any switches,
defined in a rule, that would otherwise lack an officer to track
them, unless the switch is defined as untracked.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1789/9 (Power=3)
Cantus Cygneus
Whenever a Player feels that e has been treated so egregiously by
the Agoran community that e can no longer abide to be a part of
it, e may submit a document to the Registrar, clearly labeled a
Cantus Cygneus, detailing eir grievances and expressing eir
reproach for those who e feels have treated em so badly.
In a timely fashion after receiving a Cantus Cygneus, the
Registrar shall publish this document along with a Writ of
Fugiendae Agorae Grandissima Exprobratione, commanding the Player
to be deregistered. The Registrar shall note the method of
deregistration for that Player in subsequent Registrar Reports.
The Player is deregistered as of the posting of the Writ, and the
notation in the Registrar's Report will ensure that, henceforth,
all may know said Player deregistered in a Writ of FAGE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
General Definitions
This section describes the terminology used by all the other rules.
If, when reading a rule, you don't understand what a word means,
chances are that the Agoran definition of that word is described in
one of these rules.
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Rule 2152/7 (Power=3)
Mother, May I?
The following terms are defined. These definitions are used when a
rule includes a term in all caps, and provide guidance in
determining the ordinary-language meaning of a term when a rule
includes a term otherwise. Earlier definitions take precedence
over later ones. If a rule specifies one or more persons in
connection with a term, then the term applies only to the
specified person(s).
1. CANNOT, IMPOSSIBLE, INEFFECTIVE, INVALID: Attempts to perform
the described action are unsuccessful.
2. MUST NOT, MAY NOT, SHALL NOT, ILLEGAL, PROHIBITED: Performing
the described action violates the rule in question.
3. NEED NOT, OPTIONAL: Failing to perform the described action
does not violate the rules.
4. SHOULD NOT, DISCOURAGED, DEPRECATED: Before performing the
described action, the full implications of performing it should
be understood and carefully weighed.
5. CAN: Attempts to perform the described action are successful.
6. MAY: Performing the described action does not violate the
rules.
7. MUST, SHALL, REQUIRED, MANDATORY: Failing to perform the
described action violates the rule in question.
8. SHOULD, ENCOURAGED, RECOMMENDED: Before failing to perform the
described action, the full implications of failing to perform
it should (in the ordinary-language sense) be understood and
carefully weighed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2509/2 (Power=2)
Agoran Numbers
A "number" is considered to refer to a real number, unless
otherwise explicitly specified. A "number of (items)", where
(items) is a set of discrete entities, is considered to refer to a
non-negative integer, unless otherwise explicitly specified.
If a switch is defined as being associated with a specified set of
numbers (a numerical switch), then the possible values for that
switch are the numbers in that set. In particular, a natural or
integer switch is a switch with possible values the non-negative
integers or all integers, respectively. If a limit is further
defined, the possible values are the numbers of the set within the
specified limits.
If 0 is in the specified values for a numerical switch and no
default value is otherwise specified, 0 is the default value for
that switch.
If the rules describe mathematical operations to be used in
flipping an instance of a numerical switch, the operations are
interpreted as having common-sense mathematical application to
determine that instance's resulting value. For example,
"increasing a switch instance by M" is equivalent to "flipping a
switch instance from its current value N to the value N+M". If the
specified mathematical operation would result in a value outside
that switch's defined set, the flipping CANNOT be performed, rules
to the contrary notwithstanding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2125/10 (Power=3)
Regulated Actions
An action is regulated if: (1) the Rules limit, allow, enable, or
permit its performance; (2) describe the circumstances under which
the action would succeed or fail; or (3) the action would, as part
of its effect, modify information for which some player is
required to be a recordkeepor.
A Regulated Action CAN only be performed as described by the
Rules,and only using the methods explicitly specified in the Rules
for performing the given action. The Rules SHALL NOT be
interpreted so as to proscribe unregulated actions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1023/39 (Power=2)
Agoran Time
The following terms are defined:
1. The phrase "in a timely fashion" means "within 7 days". This
time period is set when the requirement is created (i.e. X days
before the limit ends). A requirement to perform an action at
an exact instant (e.g. "when X, Y SHALL Z"), but not "in the
same message", is instead interpreted as a requirement to
perform that action in a timely fashion after that instant.
2. Agoran epochs:
1. Agoran days begin at midnight UTC.
2. Agoran weeks begin at midnight UTC on Monday. Eastman
weeks begin at midnight UTC on the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd,
and 29th of each Gregorian month; the fifth one of the
month (if any) lasts till the end of the month.
3. Agoran months begin at midnight UTC on the first day of
each Gregorian month.
4. Agoran quarters begin when the Agoran months of January,
April, July, and October begin.
5. Agoran years begin when the Agoran month of January
begins.
6. A pivot is either the instant at which Agora Nomic began
(June 30, 1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200) or an instant at which
at least one person won the game. When used as a period of
time, a "Round" (historical syn: "game") is the period of
time between a pivot and the next pivot.
The "Agoran" qualifier is assumed unless a different definition
is indicated (e.g. Eastman weeks). These definitions do not
apply to relative durations (e.g. "within <number> days after
<event>").
3. Two points in time are within a month of each other if:
1. they occur in the same Agoran month;
2. they occur in two consecutive Agoran months, and the later
of the two occurs in an earlier day in the month than the
earlier one;
3. they occur in two consecutive Agoran months on the same day
of the month, and the later of the two occurs at the same
or earlier time of day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1728/40 (Power=3)
Dependent Actions
A rule which purports to allow a person (the performer) to perform
an action by a set of one or more of the following methods (N is 1
unless otherwise specified):
1. Without N Objections, where N is a positive integer no greater
than 8. ("Without Objection" is shorthand for this method with
N = 1.)
2. With N Support, where N is a positive integer. ("With
Support" is shorthand for this method with N = 1.)
3. With N Agoran Consent, where N is an integer multiple of 0.1
with a minimum of 1.
4. With Notice.
5. With T Notice, where T is a time period.
thereby allows em to perform the action by announcement if all of
the following are true:
1. A person (the initiator) conspicuously and without obfuscation
announced intent to perform the action, unambiguously and
clearly specifying the action and method(s) (including the
value of N and/or T for each method), at most fourteen days
earlier.
2. If the action is to be performed Without N Objections, With N
Agoran Consent, or With Notice, if the intent was announced at
least 4 days earlier
3. If the action is to be performed With T Notice, if the intent
was announced at least T earlier.
4. At least one of the following is true:
1. The performer is the initiator.
2. The initiator was authorized to perform the action due to
holding a rule-defined position now held by the performer.
3. The initiator is authorized to perform the action, the
action depends on support, the performer has supported the
intent, and the rule authorizing the performance does not
explicitly prohibit supporters from performing it.
5. Agora is Satisfied with the announced intent, as defined by
other rules.
6. If a set of conditions for the performance of the action was
given in the announcement of intent to perform the action, all
those conditions are met.
Such an action is known as a dependent action. The actor SHOULD
publish a list of supporters if the action depends on support, and
a list of objectors if it depends on objections.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2124/22 (Power=2)
Agoran Satisfaction
A Supporter of a dependent action is an eligible entity who has
publicly posted (and not withdrawn) support (syn. "consent") for
an announcement of intent to perform the action. An Objector to a
dependent action is an eligible entity who has publicly posted
(and not withdrawn) an objection to the announcement of intent to
perform the action.
The entities eligible to support or object to a dependent action
are, by default, all players, subject to modification by the
document authorizing the dependent action. However, the previous
sentence notwithstanding, the initiator of the intent is not
eligible to support it.
Agora is Satisfied with an intent to perform a specific action if
and only if:
1. if the action is to be performed Without N Objections, then it
has fewer than N objectors;
2. if the action is to be performed With N support, then it has
N or more supporters; and
3. if the action is to be performed with N Agoran Consent, then
the ratio of supporters to objectors is greater than N, or the
action has at least one supporter and no objectors.
4. if the action is to be performed With Notice or With T Notice.
The above notwithstanding, if the action depends on objections,
and an objection to it has been withdrawn within the past 24
hours, then Agora is not Satisfied with the intent.
The above notwithstanding, Agora is not satisfied with the intent
if the Speaker has objected to it in the last 48 hours.
A person CANNOT support or object to an announcement of intent
before the intent is announced, or after e has withdrawn the same
type of response.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2518/0 (Power=3)
Determinacy
If a value CANNOT be reasonably determined (without circularity or
paradox) from information reasonably available, or if it
alternates indefinitely between values, then the value is
considered to be indeterminate, otherwise it is determinate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2505/0 (Power=1)
Random Choices
When a Rule specifies that a random choice be made, then the
choice shall be made using whatever probability distribution among
the possible outcomes the Rule specifies, defaulting to a uniform
probability distribution.
The choice CAN be made using any physical or computational process
whose probability distribution among the possible outcomes is
reasonably close to that required by the Rules, and for which the
final choice is not trivially predictable by the selecting person
in advance. The selecting person SHOULD make the selection method
public, and SHOULD use a method for which the final probability
distribution can be readily confirmed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2517/0 (Power=3)
Conditionals and Extricability
A conditional is any textual structure that attempts to make a
statement (the substrate) affecting any part or aspect of the
gamestate, or the permissibility, possibility, or effect of any
action affecting such a part or aspect, dependent on the truth
value or other state of a textual structure (the condition). The
condition is said to be "affixed" to the substrate (inverse "to be
conditional upon").
A condition is inextricable if it is unclear, ambiguous, circular,
inconsistent, paradoxical, depends on information that is
indeterminate, or is impossible or unreasonably difficult to
determine, or otherwise requires an unreasonable effort to
resolve; otherwise it is extricable. A conditional is inextricable
if its condition is inextricable; otherwise it is extricable. A
player SHOULD NOT use an inextricable conditional for any purpose.
An action is said to be "subject to" a conditional if its
possibility, permissibility, or effect (depending on context) is
determined by the conditional. A value is said to be subject to a
conditional of the state of the value is determined by the
conditional.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Entities
"Entity" is a confusing word to new players. This section describes
what an entity is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1586/9 (Power=2)
Definition and Continuity of Entities
If multiple rules attempt to define an entity with the same name,
then they refer to the same entity. A rule-defined entity's name
CANNOT be changed to be the same as another rule-defined entity's
name.
A rule, contract, or regulation that refers to an entity by name
refers to the entity that had that name when the rule first came
to include that reference, even if the entity's name has since
changed.
If the entity that defines another entity is amended such that it
no longer defines the second entity, then the second entity and
its attributes cease to exist.
If the entity that defines another entity is amended such that it
defines the second entity both before and after the amendment, but
with different attributes, then the second entity and its
attributes continue to exist to whatever extent is possible under
the new definitions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2162/11 (Power=3)
Switches
A type of switch is a property that the rules define as a switch,
and specify the following:
1. The type(s) of entity possessing an instance of that switch. No
other entity possesses an instance of that switch.
2. One or more possible values for instances of that switch,
exactly one of which should be designated as the default. No
values other than those listed are possible for instances of
that switch, except that, if no default is specified, then
rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the "null" value is a
possible value for that switch, and is the default.
3. Optionally, exactly one office whose holder tracks instances of
that switch. That officer's (weekly, if not specified
otherwise) report includes the value of each instance of that
switch whose value is not its default value; a public document
purporting to be this portion of that officer's report is
self-ratifying, and implies that other instances are at their
default value.
At any given time, each instance of a switch has exactly one
possible value for that type of switch. If an instance of a switch
comes to have a value, it ceases to have any other value. If an
instance of a switch would otherwise fail to have a possible
value, it comes to have its default value.
"To flip an instance of a switch" is to make it come to have a
given value. "To become X" (where X is a possible value of
exactly one of the subject's switches) is to flip that switch to
X.
If an action or set of actions would cause the value of an
instance of a switch to become indeterminate, the instance instead
takes on its last determinate and possible value, if any,
otherwise it takes on its default value.
A singleton switch is a switch for which Agora Nomic is the only
entity possessing an instance of that switch.
A boolean switch is a switch with values True and False. A
positive boolean switch has a default of True; a negative boolean
switch has a default of False.
Attempting to flip an instance of a switch to a value it already
has does not flip the switch. However, if a person is REQUIRED to
flip a switch instance to a value it already has, then either
attempting to do so using the required mechanism, or announcing
that the switch already has the required value, fulfills the
requirement without flipping the switch.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1688/9 (Power=3)
Power
The Power of an entity is a non-negative rational number. An
Instrument is an entity with positive Power.
The Power of an entity cannot be set or modified except as
stipulated by the Rules. All entities have Power zero except where
specifically allowed by the rules.
A Rule that makes a change, action, or value secured (hereafter
the securing Rule) thereby makes it IMPOSSIBLE to perform that
change or action, or to set or modify that value, except as
allowed by an Instrument with Power greater than or equal to the
change's Power Threshold. This Threshold defaults to the securing
Rule's Power, but CAN be lowered as allowed by that Rule
(including by the Rule itself).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2140/2 (Power=3)
Power Controls Mutability
No entity with power below the power of this rule can
1. cause an entity to have power greater than its own.
2. adjust the power of an instrument with power greater than its
own.
3. set or modify any other substantive aspect of an instrument
with power greater than its own. A "substantive" aspect of an
instrument is any aspect that affects the instrument's
operation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Proposals
Proposals are a staple of Nomic games. If you're a new player, this
is another important section, since the way proposals work in this
Nomic is a little bit complicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2350/11 (Power=3)
Proposals
A proposal is a type of entity consisting of a body of text and
other attributes. A player CAN create a proposal by announcement,
specifying its text and optionally specifying any of the following
attributes:
* An associated title.
* A list of co-authors (which must be persons other than the
author).
* An adoption index.
Creating a proposal adds it to the Proposal Pool. Once a proposal
is created, neither its text nor any of the aforementioned
attributes can be changed. The author (syn. proposer) of a
proposal is the person who submitted it.
If a decision of whether to adopt a proposal was resolved as
FAILED QUORUM in the last seven days, the Promotor CAN once add
the proposal back to the Proposal Pool by announcement.
The author of a proposal in the Proposal Pool CAN remove (syn.
retract, withdraw) it from the Pool by announcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1607/44 (Power=3)
Distribution
The Promotor is an office; its holder is responsible for receiving
and distributing proposals.
Determining whether to adopt a proposal is an Agoran decision. For
this decision, the vote collector is the Assessor, the adoption
index is initially the adoption index of the proposal, or 1.0 if
the proposal does not have one, and the text, author, and
coauthors of the proposal are essential parameters. Initiating
such a decision is known as distribution, and removes the proposal
from the Proposal Pool.
The Promotor CAN distribute a proposal which is in the Proposal
Pool at any time, by announcement.
In a given Agoran week, the Promotor SHALL, as part of eir weekly
duties, distribute all proposals in the Proposal Pool except for
those exempted from automatic distribution by other rules.
Distributed proposals have ID numbers, to be assigned by the
Promotor.
If there is a Proposal in the Pool that it would otherwise be
IMPOSSIBLE for any player to distribute, then any player CAN
distribute that Proposal Without 3 Objections.
The Promotor's report includes a list of all proposals in the
Proposal Pool, along with their text and attributes. This portion
of a public document purporting to be a Promotor's report is
self-ratifying.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2137/2 (Power=1)
The Assessor
The Assessor is an office; its holder is responsible for
collecting votes and keeping track of related properties.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 106/40 (Power=3)
Adopting Proposals
When a decision about whether to adopt a proposal is resolved, if
the outcome is ADOPTED, then the proposal in question is adopted,
and unless other rules prevent it from taking effect, its power is
set to the minimum of four and its adoption index, and then it
takes effect. Except as prohibited by other rules, a proposal that
takes effect CAN and does, as part of its effect, apply the
changes that it specifies. Clearly marked comments are considered
to be removed from the proposal before it takes effect, unless
otherwise stated by the proposal. If the proposal cannot make some
such changes, this does not preclude the other changes from taking
place.
If there is no Agoran Decision to adopt a particular proposal that
has an outcome of ADOPTED, that proposal CANNOT take effect, rules
to the contrary notwithstanding.
Preventing a proposal from taking effect is a secured change; this
does not apply to generally preventing changes to specified areas
of the gamestate, nor to a proposal preventing itself from taking
effect (its no- effect clause is generally interpreted as applying
only to the rest of the proposal). Except insofar as the actions
performed by a proposal happen one after another, rather than
simultaneously, a proposal's effect is instantaneous. A proposal
can neither delay nor extend its own effect. Once a propsal
finishes taking effect, its power is set to 0.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Rules & Regulations
Ah, yes. What would any game be without rules? And these rules
describe how rules work. This section also describes the governance
of the Rulekeepor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2141/10 (Power=3)
Role and Attributes of Rules
A rule is a type of instrument with the capacity to govern the
game generally, and is always taking effect. A rule's content
takes the form of a text, and is unlimited in scope.
Every rule has power between 0.1 and 4.0 inclusive. It is not
possible for a rule to have a power outside this range.
Rules have ID numbers, to be assigned by the Rulekeepor.
Every rule shall have a title to aid in identification. If a rule
ever does not have a title, the the Rulekeepor CAN and SHALL
assign a title to it by announcement in a timely fashion.
For the purposes of rules governing modification of instruments,
the text, power, ID number, and title of a rule are all
substantive aspects of the rule. However, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, the Rulekeepor CAN set rule aspects as described
elsewhere in this rule.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 217/12 (Power=3)
Interpreting the Rules
When interpreting and applying the rules, the text of the rules
takes precedence. Where the text is silent, inconsistent, or
unclear, it is to be augmented by game custom, common sense, past
judgements, and consideration of the best interests of the game.
Definitions and prescriptions in the rules are only to be applied
using direct, forward reasoning; in particular, an absurdity that
can be concluded from the assumption that a statement about
rule-defined concepts is false does not constitute proof that it
is true. Definitions in lower-powered Rules do not overrule
common-sense interpretations or common definitions of terms in
higher-powered rules, but may constructively make reasonable
clarifications to those definitions. For this purpose, a
clarification is reasonable if and only if it adds detail without
changing the underlying general meaning of the term and without
causing the higher powered rule to be read in a way inconsistent
with its text.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, any rule change that would
(1) prevent a person from initiating a formal process to resolve
matters of controversy, in the reasonable expectation that the
controversy will thereby be resolved; or (2) prevent a person from
causing formal reconsideration of any judicial determination that
e should be punished, is wholly void and without effect.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1030/12 (Power=3.2)
Precedence between Rules
In a conflict between Rules, the conflict shall be resolved by
performing the following comparisons in the sequence written in
this rule, until the conflict is resolved.
- In a conflict between Rules with different Power, the Rule with
the higher Power takes precedence over the Rule with the lower
Power; otherwise,
- If all of the Rules in conflict explicitly say that their
precedence relations are determined by some other Rule for
determining precedence relations, then the determinations of the
precedence-determining Rule shall be used to resolve the
conflicts; otherwise,
- If at least one of the Rules in conflict explicitly says of
itself that it defers to another Rule (or type of Rule) or takes
precedence over another Rule (or type of Rule), then such
provisions shall be used to resolve the conflict, unless they
lead to contradictions between each other; otherwise,
- If any of the rules in conflict have ID numbers, then the Rule
with the lowest ID number takes precedence; otherwise,
- The Rule enacted earliest takes precedence.
Clauses in any other rule that broadly claim precedence (e.g. over
"all rules" of a certain class) shall be, prima facie, considered
to be limited claims of precedence or deference that are
applicable only when such claims are evaluated as described within
the above sequence.
No change to the Ruleset can occur that would cause a Rule to
directly claim precedence over this Rule as a means of determining
precedence. This applies to changes by the enactment or amendment
of a Rule, or of any other form. This Rule takes precedence over
any Rule that would permit such a change to the Ruleset.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2240/1 (Power=3)
No Cretans Need Apply
In a conflict between clauses of the same Rule, if exactly one
claims precedence over the other, then it takes precedence;
otherwise, the later clause takes precedence.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 105/19 (Power=3)
Rule Changes
Where permitted by other rules, an instrument generally can, as
part of its effect,
1. enact a rule. The new rule has power equal to the minimum of
the power specified by the enacting instrument, defaulting to
one if the enacting instrument does not specify or if it
specifies a power less than 0.1, and the maximum power
permitted by other rules. The enacting instrument may specify a
title for the new rule, which if present shall prevail. The ID
number of the new rule cannot be specified by the enacting
instrument; any attempt to so specify is null and void.
2. repeal a rule. When a rule is repealed, it ceases to be a rule,
its power is set to 0, and the Rulekeepor need no longer
maintain a record of it.
3. reenact a rule. A repealed rule identified by its most recent
rule number MUST be reenacted with the same ID number and the
next change identifier. If no text is specified, the rule is
reenacted with the same text it had when it was most recently
repealed. If the reenacting proposal provides new text for the
rule, the rule SHOULD have materially the same purpose as did
the repealed version. Unless specified otherwise by the
re-enacting instrument, a re-enacted rule has power equal to
the power it had at the time of its repeal (or power 1, if
power was not defined at the time of that rule's repeal). If
the re-enacting instrument is incapable of setting the
re-enacted rule's power to that value, then the re-enactment is
null and void.
4. amend the text of a rule.
5. retitle a rule.
6. change the power of a rule.
A rule change is any effect that falls into the above classes.
Rule changes always occur sequentially, never simultaneously.
Any ambiguity in the specification of a rule change causes that
change to be void and without effect. An inconsequential variation
in the quotation of an existing rule does not constitute ambiguity
for the purposes of this rule, but any other variation does.
A rule change is wholly prevented from taking effect unless its
full text was published, along with an unambiguous and clear
specification of the method to be used for changing the rule, at
least 4 days and no more than 60 days before it would otherwise
take effect.
This rule provides the only mechanism by which rules can be
created, modified, or destroyed, or by which an entity can become
a rule or cease to be a rule.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2493/5 (Power=3)
Regulations
A regulation is an textual entity defined as such by this rule,
and under the authority of an person, known as its Promulgator. A
regulation must be authorized by a rule (its parent rule) in order
to exist. It has only the effect that rule explicitly gives it.
A regulation CAN be enacted, amended, and repealed as specified by
its parent rule. By default, a Promulgator can enact, amend, or
repeal a regulation with 2 Agoran Consent. Regulations are tracked
in their Promulgator's weekly report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2486/0 (Power=3.14)
The Royal Parade
_
_\ /_
/`.---._`{/ \}`_.---.`\
| / ___`{\_/}`___ \ |
\ \."`* `"{_}"` *`"./ /
\ \ )\ _\ /_ /( / /
\ *<()( >_X_< )()>* /
|._)/._./_\._.\(_.|
jgs |() () () () () ()|
<<o>><<o>><o>><<o>>
`"""""""""""""""""""`
IN CELEBRATION of Alexis being crowned Princess of Agora,
without prejudice to Any before or since
who may come to hold a Title
whether Patent or otherwise;
IT IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED that a Royal Parade be established,
imbued in this very Rule,
which shall travel around Agora to Rules of import;
AND THEREFORE, the Rulekeepor SHOULD place this Rule
near recently-amended rules of high Power;
AND FURTHERMORE, additions to this Parade are most welcome
when Events suiting the honour should occur.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1051/17 (Power=1)
The Rulekeepor
The Rulekeepor is an office; its holder is responsible for
maintaining the text of the rules of Agora.
The Rulekeepor's Weekly report includes the Short Logical Ruleset.
The Rulekeepor's Monthly report includes the Full Logical Ruleset.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1681/21 (Power=1)
The Logical Rulesets
The Short Logical Ruleset (SLR) is a format of the ruleset. In
this format, each rule is assigned to a category, and the rules
are grouped according to their category.
Rules are assigned to, ordered within, or moved between
categories, and categories are added, changed, or empty categories
removed, as the Rulekeepor sees fit.
The listing of each rule in the SLR must include the rule's ID
number, revision number, power, title, and text.
The Rulekeepor is strongly DISCOURAGED from including any
additional information in the SLR, except that which increases the
readability of the SLR.
The Full Logical Ruleset (FLR) is a format of the ruleset. In this
format, rules are assigned to the same category and presented in
the same order as in the SLR. The FLR must contain all the
information required to be in the SLR, and any historical
annotations which the Rulekeepor is required to record.
The Rulekeepor SHOULD also include any other information which e
feels may be helpful in the use of the ruleset in the FLR.
Whenever a rule is changed in any way, the Rulekeepor SHALL record
a historical annotation to the rule indicating:
1. The type of change.
2. The date on which the change took effect.
3. The mechanism that specified the change.
4. If the rule was changed due to a proposal, then that proposal's
ID number, author, and co-author(s) (if any).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2221/7 (Power=3)
Cleanliness
Any player CAN clean a rule without objection by specifying one or
more corrections to spelling, grammar, capitalization, formatting,
and/or dialect, or to whether a synonym or abbreviation is used in
place of a word or phrase, in the rule's text and/or title; the
rule is amended by this rule as specified by that person.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2429/1 (Power=1)
Bleach
Replacing a non-zero amount of whitespace with a different
non-zero amount of whitespace is generally insignificant, except
for paragraph breaks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Voting
Voting is used primarily for Proposals and Elections. This section
describes Agoran Decisions and how to resolve them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 693/16 (Power=3)
Agoran Decisions
When the rules calls for an Agoran decision to be made, the
decision-making process takes place in the following three
stages, each described elsewhere:
1. Initiation of the decision.
2. Voting of the people.
3. Resolution of the decision.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 107/20 (Power=3)
Initiating Agoran Decisions
An Agoran decision is initiated when a person authorized to
initiate it publishes a valid notice which sets forth the intent
to initiate the decision. This notice is invalid if it lacks any
of the following information, and the lack is correctly identified
within one week after the notice is published:
1. The matter to be decided (for example, "the adoption of
proposal 4781");
2. The voting method;
3. A clear description of the valid options;
4. The identity of the vote collector; and
5. Any additional information defined by the rules as essential
parameters.
The publication of such a valid notice initiates the voting period
for the decision. The voting period lasts for 7 days. The minimum
voting period for a decision with at least two options is five
days. The vote collector for a decision with less than two options
CAN and SHALL end the voting period by announcement, if it has not
ended already, and provided that e resolves the decision in the
same message.
The voting period for a decision cannot be set or changed to a
duration longer than fourteen days.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2528/0 (Power=3)
Voting Methods
Each Agoran decision has a voting method, which must be
AI-majority, instant runoff, or first-past-the-post. The voting
method is that specified by the authorizing authority, or
first-past-the-post by default.
Each Agoran decision has a set of valid options (the choices that
the voters are being asked to select from) and valid votes (the
ways in which the voters can express their opinion or lack
thereof. For AI-majority decisions, the valid options are FOR and
AGAINST; for other decisions, the valid options are defined by
other rules.
The valid votes on an Agoran decision are:
1. PRESENT;
2. The valid conditional votes, as defined by rules of power at
least that of this rule; and
3. For an instant runoff decision, the ordered lists of entities.
4. For any other decision, the valid options.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 683/25 (Power=3)
Voting on Agoran Decisions
An entity submits a ballot on an Agoran decision by publishing a
notice satisfying the following conditions:
1. The ballot is submitted during the voting period for the
decision.
2. The entity casting the ballot (the voter) was, at the
initiation of the decision, a player.
3. The ballot clearly identifies the matter to be decided.
4. The ballot clearly identifies a valid vote, as determined by
the voting method.
5. The ballot clearly sets forth the voter's intent to place
the identified vote.
6. The voter has no other valid ballots on the same decision.
A valid ballot is a ballot, correctly submitted, that has not
been withdrawn. During the voting period of an Agoran decision,
a player CAN by announcement withdraw (syn. retract) a ballot
that e submitted on that decision. To "change" one's vote is to
retract eir previous ballot (if any), then submit a new one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 208/13 (Power=3)
Resolving Agoran Decisions
The vote collector for an unresolved Agoran decision CAN resolve
it by announcement, indicating the outcome. If it was required to
be initiated, then e SHALL resolve it in a timely fashion after
the end of the voting period. To be valid, this announcement must
satisfy the following conditions:
1. It is published after the voting period has ended.
2. It clearly identifies the matter to be resolved.
3. It specifies the number of voters (or a list of the voters).
For these purposes and for determining quorum, a "voter" is
someone who submitted a ballot on the decision that was valid
when it was submitted and also valid (i.e. not withdrawn or
otherwise invalidated) at the end of the voting period.
4. It specifies the outcome, as described elsewhere, and, if there
was more than one valid option, provides a tally of the voters'
valid ballots.
Each Agoran decision has exactly one vote collector, defaulting to
the initiator of the decision. If the vote collector is defined by
reference to a position (or, in the default case, if the initiator
was so defined), then the vote collector is the current holder of
that position.
This rule takes precedence over any rule that would provide
another mechanism by which an Agoran decision may be resolved.
In general, changes to the gamestate due to the outcome of an
Agoran decision take effect when the decision is resolved.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 955/26 (Power=3)
Determining the Will of Agora
Each Agoran decision has a voting method, which determines how
voters may vote on it and how to calculate the outcome. The
strength of a ballot is the voting strength of the voter who cast
it on that Agoran decision.
1. For an AI-majority decision, let F be the total strength of all
valid ballots cast FOR a decision, A be the same for AGAINST,
and AI be the adoption index of the decision. The outcome is
ADOPTED if F/A >= AI and F/A > 1 (or F>0 and A=0), otherwise
REJECTED.
2. For an instant runoff decision, the outcome is whichever option
wins according to the standard definition of instant runoff.
For this purpose, a ballot of strength N is treated as if it
were N distinct ballots expressing the same preferences. In
case multiple valid options tie for the lowest number of votes
at any stage, the vote collector CAN and must, in the
announcement of the decision's resolution, select one such
option to eliminate; if, for M > 1, all eir possible choices in
the next M stages would result in the same set of options being
eliminated, e need not specify the order of elimination. If an
entity that is part of a valid vote is not a valid option at
the end of the voting period, or disqualified by the rule
providing for the decision, then that entity is eliminated
prior to the first round of counting.
3. For a first-past-the-post decision, the outcome is whichever
option received the highest total strength of valid ballots. In
case of a tie, the vote collector CAN and must, in the
announcement of the decision's resolution, select one of the
leaders as the outcome.
The previous notwithstanding:
- If there is more than one option, and the number of voters is
less than the quorum of that decision, the outcome is instead
FAILED QUORUM.
- If there are no valid options, the outcome is null.
The outcome of a decision is determined when it is resolved, and
cannot change thereafter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 879/35 (Power=2)
Quorum
Each Agoran Decision has a quorum. This is a number set when the
decision is created, and thereafter cannot be changed. When a
person initiates an Agoran Decision, that person SHALL state the
quorum of that decision. However, incorrectly stating the quorum
of a decision does not invalidate the initiation, nor does it
actually change the quorum of the decision.
The quorum that an Agoran Decision gains as it is created can be
defined by other rules of power 2 or greater. If no other rule
defines the quorum of an Agoran Decision, the quorum for that
decision is equal to 2/3 of the number of voters on the Agoran
Decision to adopt a proposal that had been most recently resolved
at the time of that decision's initiation, the whole rounded to
the nearest integer (breaking ties upward).
As an exception to the previous paragraph, the quorum of an
Agoran Decision can never be less than 2. If the rules would
attempt to set the quorum of an Agoran Decision to less than 2,
it is set to 2 instead.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2422/3 (Power=3)
Voting Strength
The voting strength of an entity on an Agoran decision is an
integer between 0 and 5 inclusive, defined by rules of power 2
or greater. If not otherwise specified, the voting strength of
an entity on an Agoran decision is 3.
When multiple rules set or modify an entity's voting strength on
an Agoran decision, it shall be determined by first applying the
rule(s) which set it to a specific value, using the ordinary
precedence of rules, and then applying the rules, other than
this one, which modify it, in numerical order by ID. Finally, if
theresult of the calculation is not an integer, it is rounded
up, and then if it is outside the allowable range of values for
voting strength, it is set to the the minimum value if it was
less and the maximum value if it was more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2127/11 (Power=3)
Conditional Votes
A conditional vote on an Agoran decision is a vote which indicates
a vote based on some condition(s). A conditional vote is evaluated
at the end of the voting period and, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, is clearly specified if and only if the value of
the condition(s) is/are determinate at the end of the voting
period. If the conditional is clearly specified, and evaluates to
a valid vote, it is counted as that vote; otherwise, it is counted
as PRESENT.
Any vote which is clearly expressed as a conditional, e.g. "FOR if
<X> is true, AGAINST otherwise", is a valid conditional vote that
evaluates as specified.
A vote endorsing another person is equivalent to a conditional
vote evaluating to the vote specified in that person's valid
ballot on the decision, if any.
For an instant runoff decision, a vote consisting of a list, one
or more entries of which are valid conditional votes, and the
remaining entries of which are valid options, is a valid
conditional vote. Such a vote is evaluated by evaluating each
conditional entry to a list of votes (or an empty list, if it
evaluates to PRESENT either directly or indirectly), and then
concatenating those lists with the specified valid options in the
order they occurred in the original vote.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2168/7 (Power=1)
Extending the voting period
Whenever the voting period of an Agoran decision would end, and
the result would be FAILED QUORUM, the length of the voting period
for that decision is instead increased to 14 days, except if it is
already that length, provided this has not already happened for
the decision in question.
Upon such an occurrence, the vote collector for the decision SHALL
issue a humiliating public reminder naming the slackers who have
not yet cast any votes on it despite being eligible, and CAN end
its voting period by announcement (resolving it constitutes an
implicit announcement that its voting period is first ended) if
the result would no longer be FAILED QUORUM, or if the decision is
whether to adopt a proposal and no voter (other than possibly the
proposal's author) has voted FOR.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1950/33 (Power=3)
Decisions with Adoption Indices
Adoption index is an untracked switch possessed by Agoran
decisions and proposals, whose value is either "none" (default) or
an integral multiple of 0.1 from 1.0 to 9.9.
Adoption index is secured with a power threshold of 2.
Adoption index is an essential parameter of an Agoran decision if
that decision has an adoption index.
For any Agoran decision with an adoption index, the voting method
is AI-majority.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2034/10 (Power=3)
Vote Protection and Cutoff for Challenges
A public message purporting to resolve an Agoran decision
constitutes self-ratifying claims that
1. such a decision existed,
2. it had the number of voters indicated,
3. it was resolved as indicated, and
4. (if the indicated outcome was to adopt a proposal) such a
proposal existed, was adopted, and took effect.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Offices & Reporting
Players who hold offices have control over and track various
different mechanics. These rules govern the special
responsibilities that officers have.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1006/42 (Power=2)
Offices
Officeholder is an office switch tracked by the ADoP, with
possible values of any person or "vacant" (default). An officer is
the holder of an office, who may be referred to by the name of
that office. If the holder of an office is ever not a player, it
becomes vacant.
An imposed office is an office described as such by the rule
defining it. All others are elected. A person CANNOT be made the
holder of an elected office without eir explicit or reasonably
implied consent.
A holder of an elected office who did not become its holder by
winning an election, and has not won an election for that office
since, is an interim holder. An elected office that is either
vacant or has an interim holder is an interim office.
The holder of an elected office CAN resign it by announcement,
causing it to become vacant. The non-interim holder of an elected
office CAN, With 3 Support, resign the office while appointing
another player to become the holder of the office, provided that
other player is one of the Supporters. Any player CAN cause an
office to become vacant without 2 objections.
When a proposal takes effect and creates a new office, if the
proposal does not specify otherwise, the author of that proposal
becomes the holder of the office.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2154/52 (Power=2)
Election Procedure
A player CAN initiate an election for a specified office:
a) With 2 Support, if either the office is interim or the most
recent election for that office was resolved more than 90 days
prior, and provided that the initiator becomes a candidate in the
same message.
b) By announcement, if e is the ADoP and if the office is interim,
or if e is the holder of that office.
The above notwithstanding, an election for an office CANNOT be
initiated if one is already in progress.
When an election is initiated, it enters the nomination period,
which lasts for 4 days. After an election is initiated and until
nominations close, any player CAN become a candidate by
announcement. A candidate ceases to be a candidate if e ceases to
be a player during the election or if holding the office would
make em Overpowered.
An election is contested if it has two or more candidates at the
end of the nomination period, and uncontested otherwise. For a
contested election, nominations close at the end of the poll's
voting period. For an uncontested election, nominations close at
the end of the nomination period.
In a timely fashion after the nomination period ends, the ADoP CAN
and SHALL:
1) If the election is contested, initiate an Agoran decision to
select the winner of the election (the poll). For this decision,
the Vote Collector is the ADoP, the valid options are the
candidates for that election (including those who become
candidates after its initiation), and the voting method is instant
runoff. When the poll is resolved, its outcome, if a player, wins
the election. If the outcome is not a player, the election ends
with no winner.
2) If POSSIBLE per the following paragraph, end the election
immediately.
If at any point an uncontested election has a single candidate,
then any player CAN declare them the winner of the election by
announcement. If at any point an uncontested election has no
candidates, then any player CAN declare the election ended with no
winner by announcement.
When a player wins an election, e is installed into the associated
office and the election ends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2573/0 (Power=2)
Impeachment
A player CAN be expelled (impeached) from a specified elected
office which e holds with 2 Agoran Consent. When a person is
impeached from an office, an election is immediately opened for
that office. Players SHOULD NOT use this method of removal unless
the officer has abused the powers of eir office or otherwise shown
emself unworthy the trust of Agora.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2160/18 (Power=3)
Deputisation
A player (the deputy) CAN perform an action ordinarily reserved
for an office-holder as if e held the office if
1. the rules require the holder of that office, by virtue of
holding that office, to perform the action (this requirement is
fulfilled by the deputy performing the action);
2. it would be POSSIBLE for the deputy to perform the action,
other than by deputisation, if e held the office;
3. either (i) a time limit by which the rules require the action
to be performed has expired or (ii) the office is vacant;
4. either (i) the office is vacant, (ii) the aforementioned time
limit expired more than fourteen days ago, or (iii) the deputy
announced between two and fourteen days earlier that e intended to
deputise for that office for the purposes of the particular
action; and
5. the deputy, when performing the action, announces that e is
doing so by deputisation.
When a player deputises for an elected office, e becomes the
holder of that office, unless the action being performed would
already install someone into that office.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2138/24 (Power=1)
The Associate Director of Personnel
The Associate Director of Personnel (ADoP) is an office; its
holder is responsible for keeping track of officers.
The ADoP's report includes the following:
1. The date of the last change (if any) to each office's
Officeholder.
2. The current status of the ongoing election for that office or,
if there is no ongoing election for that office, the date on
which the last election ended
3. For filled elected offices, whether or not the holder is
interim.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2472/2 (Power=2)
Office Incompatibilities
Some pairs of office are incompatible:
1. Prime Minister and Speaker
2. Promotor and Assessor
3. Assessor and ADoP
4. Referee and Arbitor
A player is Overpowered if e holds two offices which are
incompatible with each other. Rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, a player CANNOT be installed into an office if
doing so would make em Overpowered.
If a player is Overpowered, any player CAN Demand Resignation from
em by announcement, provided e has announced intent do to so
between four and fourteen days earlier. The Overpowered player is
then removed from all offices.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2143/27 (Power=1)
Official Reports and Duties
For each person:
1. If any task is defined by the rules as part of that person's
weekly duties, then e SHALL perform it at least once each week.
If any information is defined by the rules as part of that
person's weekly report, then e SHALL maintain all such
information, and the publication of all such information is
part of eir weekly duties.
2. If any task is defined by the rules as part of that person's
monthly duties, then e SHALL perform it at least once each
month. If any information is defined by the rules as part of
that person's monthly report, then e SHALL maintain all such
information, and the publication of all such information is
part of eir monthly duties.
Any information defined by the rules as part of a person's report,
without specifying which one, is part of eir weekly report.
Failure of a person to perform any duty required of em within the
allotted time is the Class-2 crime of Tardiness.
An official duty for an office is any duty that the Rules
specifically assign to that office's holder in particular
(regardless of eir identity).
A person SHALL NOT publish information that is inaccurate or
misleading while performing an official duty, or within a document
purporting to be part of any person or office's weekly or monthly
report.
Reports SHALL be published in plain text. Tabular data must line
up properly when viewed in a monospaced font. Publishing a report
that deviates from these restrictions is the Class 2 Crime of
Making My Eyes Bleed.
Officers SHOULD maintain a publicly visible copy of their reports
on the World Wide Web, and they SHOULD publish the address of this
copy along with their published reports.
A convergence is any change to the gamestate that has, in
accordance with the rules, been designated as such. A change to
the gamestate SHOULD NOT be designated as a convergence unless it
is designed to resolve gamestate ambiguity. Designating a change
as a convergence is secured; any player CAN do so with 3 Agoran
Consent. When officeholders provide historical information, they
NEED NOT accurately document the changes made by the convergence
or related ambiguities, provided that they instead note that the
convergence occurred. Information about a convergence (but not the
resulting state) is inherently uncertain and is thus excluded from
self-ratification.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2379/0 (Power=1)
No News Is Some News
If the rules define a report as including a list, then while that
list is empty, that report includes the fact that it is empty.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Documents
Documents are little bits of text that can be ratified, therefore
modifying the gamestate slightly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1551/19 (Power=3.1)
Ratification
A public document is part (possibly all) of a public message.
When a public document is ratified, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, the gamestate is modified to what it would be if,
at the time the ratified document was published, the gamestate had
been minimally modified to make the ratified document as true and
accurate as possible; however, if the document explicitly
specifies a different past time as being the time the document was
true, the specified time is used to determine the minimal
modifications. Such a modification cannot add inconsistencies
between the gamestate and the rules, and it cannot include rule
changes unless the ratified document explicitly and unambiguously
recites either the changes or the resulting properties of the
rule(s). If no such modification is possible, or multiple
substantially distinct possible modifications would be equally
appropriate, the ratification fails.
An internally inconsistent document generally cannot be ratified;
however, if such a document can be divided into a summary section
and a main section, where the only purpose of the summary section
is to summarize information in the main section, and the main
section is internally consistent, ratification of the document
proceeds as if it contained only the main section.
Text purportedly about previous instances of ratification (e.g. a
report's date of last ratification) is excluded from ratification.
The rules may define additional information that is considered to
be part of the document for the purposes of ratification; such
definitions are secured at a Power Threshold of 3.
Ratifying a public document is secured with power threshold 3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2202/6 (Power=3)
Ratification Without Objection
Any player CAN, without objection, ratify a public document,
specifying its scope.
Ratification Without Objection CANNOT cause the repeal, amendment,
enactment, or mutation of any Rule, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding.
A player SHALL NOT knowingly use or announce intent to use
Ratification Without Objection to ratify a (prior to ratification)
document containing incorrect or Indeterminate information when a
corrected document could be produced with reasonable effort,
unless the general nature of the document's error and reason for
ratifying it is clearly and plainly described in the announcement
of intent. Such ratification or announcement of intent to ratify
is the Class-8 Crime of Endorsing Forgery.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2201/7 (Power=3)
Self-Ratification
A public document defined by the rules as self-ratifying is
ratified when it is continuously undoubted for one week.
A doubt is an explicit public challenge via one of the following
methods, identifying a document and explaining the scope and
nature of a perceived error in it:
1. An inquiry case, appropriate for questions of legal
interpretation.
2. A claim of error, appropriate for matters of fact. The
publisher of the original document SHALL (if e was required to
publish that document) or SHOULD (otherwise) do one of the
following in a timely fashion:
1. Deny the claim (causing it to cease to be a doubt).
2. Publish a revision.
3. Initiate an inquiry case regarding the truth of the claim
(if the subject is actually a matter of law), or cite a
relevant existing inquiry case.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Justice
So you've broken a rule. Now what? This section describes Blots, the
main method of punishment for Agorans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2556/0 (Power=3)
Penalties
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, an impure person CANNOT win
the game.
The voting strength of a player on an Agoran Decision is reduced
by 1 for every 3 blots in eir possession.
A player CAN, with 7 days notice, deregister (exile) a specified
player (the outlaw) who has more than 40 blots.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2555/2 (Power=2)
Blots
Blots are an indestructible fixed currency with ownership
restricted to persons. A person with 1 or more blots is Impure, a
person with 0 blots is Pure. An impure unregistered person is a
Fugitive.
To Levy a Fine of N on a person, where N is a positive integer, is
to grant em N blots. To expunge a blot is to destroy it.
Levying fines and destroying blots are each secured with a power
threshold of 1.7.
The Referee is an office, and the recordkeepor for blots.
If a player has neither gained blots nor expunged any blots from
emself in the current Agoran week, e CAN expunge 1 blot from
emself by announcement.
At the beginning of each quarter, half (rounded down) of each
fugitive's blots are destroyed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2478/8 (Power=1.7)
Vigilante Justice
A player CAN by announcement, but subject to the provisions of
this rule, Point eir Finger at a person (the perp) who plays the
game, citing an alleged violation of the rules by that person.
When a player Points a Finger, the investigator SHALL investigate
the allegation and, in a timely fashion, SHALL conclude the
investigation by:
- Imposing the Cold Hand of Justice on the perp, as described
elsewhere; or
- if e believes that no rules violation occurred or that it would
be ILLEGAL or INEFFECTIVE to levy a fine for it, announcing the
Finger Pointing to be Shenanigans.
The Referee is by default the investigator for all Finger
Pointing. When a Finger, other than the Arbitor's, is Pointed over
an allegation related to the official duties or powers of the
Referee, then the Arbitor CAN, by announcement, take over the
investigation and thereby become the investigator.
The Referee CANNOT Point eir Finger. The Arbitor CANNOT Point eir
Finger at the Referee.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2479/5 (Power=1.7)
Official Justice
The Referee CAN, subject to the provisions of this rule, impose
Summary Judgment on a person who plays the game by levying a fine
of up to 2 blots on em. Summary Judgement is imposed on the
Referee's own initiative, and not in response to any official
proceeding.
The Referee CANNOT impose Summary Judgement more than three times
a week.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2557/1 (Power=1.7)
Removing Blots
When the rules authorize an investigator to impose the Cold Hand
of Justice for a violation, e CAN do so by levying a fine on the
perp with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2x the base value of the
violation, within the following guidelines:
- If the violation is described by the rules as a Class N crime,
then N is the base value; otherwise the base value is 2.
- The fine SHOULD be reduced to the degree that the violation is a
minor, accidental, and/or inconsequential infraction.
- The fine SHOULD be increased to the degree that the violation is
willful, profitable, egregious, or an abuse of an official
position.
Optionally, in the same message in which e imposes justice, the
investigator CAN specify that the violation is forgivable,
specifying up to 10 words to be included in an apology. If the
investigator does so, the perp CAN, in a timely fashion, expunge P
blots from emself, where P is the minimum of the value of the fine
and 3, by publishing a formal apology of at least 200 words and
including all the specified words, explaining eir error, shame,
remorse, and ardent desire for self-improvement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2531/4 (Power=2)
Referee Accountability
Any attempt to levy a fine is INEFFECTIVE if:
(1) it does not include value of the fine in blots, the name of
the person being fined (the perp), and the specific reason for
the fine;
(2) it attempts to levy a fine on a person for an action or
inaction which e (more likely than not) did not commit;
(3) it attempts to levy a fine for an action or inaction which is
not prohibited by the rules;
(4) it attempts to levy a fine with a value that is blatantly and
obviously unsuited to the conduct which constitutes the reason
for its levy or to the person on whom it is being levied;
(5) it attempts to levy a fine (i) by summary judgement more than
14 days after the action constituting the reason for the fine
or (ii) based upon the investigation of of a Finger that had
been Pointed more than 14 days after the action constituting
the reason for the fine;
(6) it attempts to levy a fine on a player for failing to take an
action within the time period set by the Rules and that time
period had expired (i) more than 14 days prior to the
attempted fine, if the attempted fine is imposed by summary
judgement or (ii) more than 14 days prior to the Pointed
Finger, if the fine is imposed based on an investigation of
such Finger;
(7) it attempts to levy a fine on a player who has already been
fined for the conduct constituting the reason for the levy; or
(8) it attempts to levy a fine on a zombie for an action that its
master performed on its behalf.
If the Referee attempts to levy three or more INEFFECTIVE fines in
a week, any player CAN, with two support, issue a writ of
Impartial Arbitration Restoration, immediately making the position
of Referee vacant. When a writ of Impartial Arbitration
Restoration is issued, the ADoP SHALL initiate an election for the
Referee within a timely fashion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Calls for Judgement
What if there is a rule conflict? What if we can't decide what a rule
means? Well then, it's time to call a CFJ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 991/29 (Power=2)
Calls for Judgement
Any person (the initiator) can initiate a Call for Judgement (CFJ,
syn. Judicial Case), specifying a statement to be inquired into by
announcement.
When a person initiates a Call for Judgement, e CAN optionally bar
one person from the case by announcement.
At any time, each CFJ is either open (default), suspended, or
assigned exactly one judgement.
The Arbitor is an office, responsible for the administration of
justice in a manner that is fair for emself, if not for the rest
of Agora.
When a CFJ has no judge assigned, the Arbitor CAN assign any
eligible player to be its judge by announcement, and SHALL do so
in a timely fashion. The players eligible to be assigned as judge
are all active players except the initiator and the person barred
(if any). The Arbitor SHALL assign judges over time such that all
interested players have reasonably equal opportunities to judge.
If a CFJ has no judge assigned, then any player eligible to judge
that CFJ CAN assign it to emself Without 3 Objections.
The Arbitor's weekly report includes a summary of recent judicial
case activity, including open and recently-judged cases, recent
judicial assignments, and a list of players interested in judging.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 591/45 (Power=1.7)
Delivering Judgements
When a CFJ is open and assigned to a judge, that judge CAN assign
a valid judgement to it by announcement, and SHALL do so in a
timely fashion after this becomes possible. If e does not, the
Arbitor CAN remove em from being the judge of that case by
announcement, and SHALL do so in a timely fashion after the time
limit expires, unless the judge assigns a valid judgement in the
mean time.
The valid judgements for an inquiry case are as follows, based on
the facts and legal situation at the time the inquiry case was
initiated, not taking into account any events since that time:
* FALSE, appropriate if the statement was factually and
logically false
* TRUE, appropriate if the statement was factually and
logically true
* IRRELEVANT, appropriate if the veracity of the statement is
not relevant to the game or is an overly hypothetical
extrapolation of the game or its rules to conditions that don't
actually exist, or if it can be trivially determined from the
outcome of another (possibly still undecided) judicial case that
was not itself judged IRRELEVANT
* INSUFFICIENT, appropriate if the statement does not come
with supporting arguments or evidence, and the judge feels as if
an undue burden is being placed on em by the lack of arguments
and evidence. A CFJ judged as INSUFFICIENT CAN and SHOULD be
submitted again with sufficient arguments/evidence.
* DISMISS, appropriate if the statement is malformed, undecidable,
if insufficient information exists to make a judgement with
reasonable effort, or the statement is otherwise not able to be
answered with another valid judgement. DISMISS is not
appropriate if PARADOXICAL is appropriate.
* PARADOXICAL, appropriate if the statement is logically
undecidable as a result of a paradox or or other irresovable
logical situation. PARADOXICAL is not appropriate if IRRELEVANT
is appropriate, nor is it appropriate if the undecidability
arises from the case itself or in reference to it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 911/54 (Power=1.7)
Motions and Moots
If a judgement has been in effect for less then seven days and has
not been entered into Moot, then:
- The judge of that CFJ CAN self-file a Motion to Reconsider the
case by announcement, if e has not already self-filed a Motion
to Reconsider that CFJ.
- Any Player CAN group-file a Motion to Reconsider the case with 2
Support, if the CFJ has not had a Motion to Reconsider
group-filed for it at any time while it has been assigned to its
current judge.
When a Motion to Reconsider is so filed, the case is rendered open
again.
If a CFJ has a judgement assigned, a player CAN enter that
judgement into Moot with N+2 support, where N is the number of
weeks since that judgement has been assigned, rounded down. When
this occurs, the CFJ is suspended, and the Arbitor is once
authorized to initiate the Agoran decision to determine public
confidence in the judgement, which e SHALL do in a timely fashion.
For this decision, the vote collector is the Arbitor and the valid
options are AFFIRM, REMAND, and REMIT. When the decision is
resolved, the effect depends on the outcome:
- AFFIRM, FAILED QUORUM: The judgement is reassigned to the case,
and cannot be entered into Moot again.
- REMAND: The case becomes open again.
- REMIT: The case becomes open again, and the current judge is
recused. The Arbitor SHALL NOT assign em to the case again
unless no other eligible judges have displayed interest in
judging.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2175/9 (Power=1)
Judicial Retraction and Excess
A new case is a judicial case that has not had any judge assigned
to it. The initiator of a new case CAN retract it by announcement,
thus causing it to cease to be a judicial case.
An excess case is a new case whose initiator previously initiated
five or more cases during the same week as that case. A person
SHALL NOT initiate an excess case. The Arbitor CAN refuse an
excess case by announcement, thus causing it to cease to be a
judicial case. When e does so, e fulfills any obligations with
regards to that case.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2492/3 (Power=1)
Recusal
A judge CAN recuse emself from a CFJ e is assigned to by
announcement. When a judge recuses emself from a CFJ, then
* the CFJ becomes unassigned;
* the recused judge becomes ineligible to be assigned as a judge
* for a week; and
* the recused judge SHOULD suggest another judge for the CFJ to
* make the Arbitor's job easier.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Obligations & Contracts
Agreements, promises, treaties, whatever you call them. This section
contains rules which can bind players to obligations, in the form of
Pledges and Contracts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2471/1 (Power=1)
No Faking
A person SHALL NOT make a public statement that is a lie. A
statment is a lie if its publisher either knew or believed it to
be not to be true at the time e published it (or, in the case of
an action, not to be effective), and it was made with the intent
to mislead. Merely quoting a statement does not constitute making
it for the purposes of this rule. Any disclaimer, conditional
clause, or other qualifier attached to a statement constitutes
part of the statement for the purposes of this rule; the truth or
falsity of the whole is what is significant.
The previous provisions of this rule notwithstanding, a formal
announcement of intent is never a lie.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2450/5 (Power=1.7)
Pledges
If a Player makes a clear public pledge (syn. Oath) to perform (or
refrain from performing) certain actions, then breaking the pledge
within the pledge's time window is the Class N crime of
Oathbreaking, where N is 2 unless the pledge explicitly states
otherwise. The time window of a pledge is 60 days, unless the
pledge explicitly states otherwise.
If breaking the pledge harms specific other parties, the Referee
SHOULD solicit the opinion of those parties in determining an
appropriate fine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2466/1 (Power=3)
Acting on Behalf
When a rule allows one person (the agent) to act on behalf of
another (the principal) to perform an action, that agent CAN
perform the action if it is POSSIBLE for the principal to do so,
taking into account any prerequisites for the action. If the
enabling rule does not specify the mechanism by which the agent
may do so, then the agent CAN perform the action in the same
manner in which the principal CAN do so, with the additional
requirement that the agent must, in the message in which the
action is performed, uniquely identify the principal and that the
action is being taken on behalf of that person.
A person SHALL NOT act on behalf of another person if doing so
causes the second person to violate the rules. A person CANNOT act
on behalf of another person to do anything except perform a game
action; in particular, a person CANNOT act on behalf of another
person to send a message, only to perform specific actions that
might be taken within a message.
When an action is performed on behalf of a principal, then the
action is considered for all game purposes to have been performed
by the principal, unless a rule specifically states that it is
treated differently for some purpose, in which case it is treated
as described by that rule.
Allowing a person to act on behalf of another person is secured at
power 2.0. This rule takes precedence over any rule that would
prohibit a person from taking an action, except that it defers to
any rule that imposes limitations specifically on actions taken on
behalf of another person.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2519/0 (Power=3)
Consent
A person gives consent (syn. consents) to an action when e, acting
as emself, publicly states that e agrees to the action. This
agreement may be implied, but only if it is reasonably clear from
context that the person wanted the agreement to take place.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1742/19 (Power=2.5)
Contracts
Any group of two or more consenting persons (the parties) may
make an agreement among themselves with the intention that it be
binding upon them and be governed by the rules. Such an agreement
is known as a contract. A contract may be modified, including
by changing the set of parties, by agreement between all existing
parties. A contract may also terminate by agreement between all
parties. A contract automatically terminates if the number of
parties to it falls below two. For the purposes of this rule,
agreement includes both consent and agreement specified by
contract.
Parties to a contract governed by the rules SHALL act in
accordance with that contract. This obligation is not impaired
by contradiction between the contract and any other contract, or
between the contract and the rules.
A party to a contract may act on behalf of another party to
it as allowed in the contract.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Assets
Assets are things players can own. This section describes how that
works.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2166/28 (Power=3)
Assets
An asset is an entity defined as such by a document that has been
granted Mint Authority by the Rules (hereafter the asset's backing
document), and existing solely because its backing document
defines its existence. An asset's backing document can generally
specify when and how that asset is created, destroyed, and
transferred.
The rules collectively have Mint Authority. Contracts have Mint
Authority. A rule defined asset is public; one defined by a
contract is private.
The recordkeepor of a class of assets is the entity (if any)
defined as such by, and bound by, its backing document. That
entity's report includes a list of all instances of that class and
their owners. This portion of that entity's report is
self-ratifying.
For a class of assets to be "tracked by" an entity is for that
entity to be its recordkeepor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2576/0 (Power=3)
Ownership
Each asset has exactly one owner. If an asset's backing document
restricts its ownership to a class of entities, then that asset
CANNOT be gained by or transferred to an entity outside that
class, and is destroyed if it is owned by an entity outside that
class. The restrictions in the previous sentence are subject to
modification by its backing document. By default, ownership of an
asset is restricted to Agora, players, and contracts.
If an asset would otherwise lack an owner, it is owned by the Lost
and Found Department. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the
Lost and Found Department can own assets of every type. Assets
owned by the Lost and Found Department can be transferred or
destroyed by any player without objection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2577/1 (Power=3)
Asset Actions
An asset generally CAN be destroyed by its owner by announcement,
subject to modification by its backing document. An indestructible
asset is one defined as such by it backing document, and CANNOT be
destroyed except by a proposal or rule, other than this one,
specifically addressing the destruction of indestructible assets
or that asset in particular; any other asset is destructible.
For an entity to earn an asset is for that asset to be created in
that entity's possession. To grant an entity an asset is to create
it in eir possession.
For an entity to lose an asset is for that asset to be destroyed
from that entity's possession. To revoke an asset from an entity
is to destroy it from that entity's possession.
For entity A to take an asset from entity B is to transfer it from
entity B to entity A.
An asset generally CAN be transferred (syn. given) by announcement
by its owner to another entity, subject to modification by its
backing document. A fixed asset is one defined as such by its
backing document, and CANNOT be transferred; any other asset is
liquid.
When a rule indicates transferring an amount that is not a natural
number, the specified amount is rounded up to the nearest natural
number.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2578/0 (Power=3)
Currencies
A currency is a class of asset defined as such by its backing
document. Instances of a currency with the same owner are
fungible.
The "x balance of an entity", where x is a currency, is the number
of x that entity possesses. Where it resolves ambiguity, the asset
or currency being referred to is the currency designated as
"Agora's official currency", if there is one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2579/0 (Power=3)
Fee-based Actions
If the Rules associate payment of a set of assets (hereafter
the fee for the action; syns: cost, price, charge) with performing
an action, that action is a fee-based action.
If the fee is a non-integer quantity of a fungible asset, the
actual fee is the next highest integer amount of that asset.
To perform a fee-based action, an entity (the Actor) who is
otherwise permitted to perform the action must announce that e is
performing the action; the announcement must specify the correct
set of assets for the fee and indicate intent to pay that fee for
the sole purpose of performing the action.
Upon such an announcement:
- If the Rules specify a recipient for the fee, and the Actor
CAN transfer that specified fee from emself to the recipient,
then that fee is transferred from the Actor to the recipient
and the action is performed simultaneously;
- If the Rules do not specify a recipient, and the Actor CAN
destroy the specified fee in eir possession, then that fee in
eir possession is destroyed and the action is performed
simultaneously.
- Otherwise, no changes are made to asset holdings and the
action is not performed.
If the Rules define a fee-based action but the specified set of
assets is the empty set, then the action can be performed by
announcement, but the announcement must include that there is an
(empty or 0) fee for the action.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Economics
The economic landscape changes quickly in Agora. No matter what name
we give to them, though, they all function similarly. This section
only describes the core mechanics. Any other economic subsystems are
described elsewhere.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2456/6 (Power=1)
The Treasuror
The Treasuror is an office.
The Treasuror's weekly report includes the list of all public
classes of assets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2483/12 (Power=2)
Economics
Coins are the official currency of Agora tracked by the Treasuror.
They can be owned by Agora, players, and contracts.
A player CAN win the game by paying a fee of 1,000 Coins.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2496/7 (Power=1)
Rewards
A player CAN create in eir possession the set of assets associated
with a reward condition exactly once in a timely fashion each time
e fulfills it by stating how many assets e earns as a result of
this action.
Below is a list of reward conditions and their associated assets.
* Being the author of an adopted proposal: a number of coins equal
to ((the total strength of all valid ballots cast FOR the
decision - the total strength of all valid ballots cast AGAINST)
times the adoption index of the result) rounded up.
* Judging a CFJ that e was assigned to: 5 coins.
* Publishing a duty-fulfilling report: 5 coins. This reward can
only be claimed once per office per week for a weekly report and
once per office per month for a monthly report.
* Having a Thesis pass peer-review and be granted a Degree based
on its merit: 20 shinies.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2559/6 (Power=2)
Paydays
Whenever a Payday occurs, the following events happen in order:
1. Each player first earns 10 coins; then
2. For each office, if a single player held that office for 16 or
more days in the previous month and no unforgivable fines were
levied on em for eir conduct in that office during that time,
that player earns 5 coins.
The occurrence of Paydays is secured. At the beginning of each
month, a Payday occurs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2499/6 (Power=1)
Welcome Packages
If a player has not received a Welcome Package since e most
recently registered, any player CAN cause em to receive one by
announcement.
When a player receives a Welcome Package, e earns 10 coins.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Auctions
If you want to give out assets, this is the section to look at.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2545/2 (Power=2)
Auctions
An Auction is a way for entities to give away items in exchange
for a currency. Any rule CAN permit or require Auctions to be
initiated.
Each Auction has one or more lots of items. A lot is a non-empty
list of items to be transferred to a single recipient.
Each Auction has an Auctioneer. All rules permitting Auctions to
be initiated should specify an entity to be Auctioneer. If no
Auctioneer is specified, the default Auctioneer is Agora.
Each Auction has an Announcer. Only persons can be Announcers. If
the Auctioneer of an Auction is a player, then that player is also
the Announcer of that Auction. Otherwise, the rule defining an
Auction CAN define the Announcer for that Auction.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2549/3 (Power=1)
Auction Initiation
An entity authorized by a rule to initiate an Auction CAN do so by
announcement. If the rule specifies that that entity MUST do so,
that entity SHALL do so in a timely fashion. An Auction CANNOT be
initiated other than as described by a rule.
An Auction CANNOT be initiated unless the announcer specifies all
of
* the Auction's lots, in the order they will be awarded,
* the items in each lot,
* the Auction's Auctioneer,
* the Auction's Announcer,
* the Auction's minimum bid, and, optionally
* the Auction's currency
in the message initiating the Auction. An Auction also CANNOT be
initiated unless the Auctioneer is able to give away each item in
each of the Auction's lots.
If no currency is specified, it defaults to Agora's official
currency.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2550/1 (Power=1)
Bidding
A person authorized to bid on an Auction CAN do so by
announcement, specifying the amount of the Auction's currency to
bid. A bid placed on an Auction before it is initiated, or after
it has ended, is INEFFECTIVE.
An attempt to place a bid which is less than the Auction's minimum
bid is INEFFECTIVE.
A person CAN withdraw their bid on an Auction by announcement. If
a person submits a bid on an Auction, all bids previously placed
on that Auction by that person are withdrawn.
A rule defining an Auction CAN specify a class of players who are
authorized to bid on that Auction. If the rule does not specify a
class of authorized bidders, any player is authorized to bid on an
Auction defined by a rule.
A person SHALL NOT bid on an Auction if it would be impossible for
em to pay that amount at the conclusion of the Auction.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2551/2 (Power=1)
Auction End
An Auction ends 7 days after its initiation, or immediately if no
bid has been placed or withdrawn in the last 96 hours, or
immediately if it is terminated.
When an Auction ends, any bid placed by an entity which does not
own enough of the Auction's currency to pay the amount specified
in the bid is automatically withdrawn.
Once an Auction has ended, any further attempts to bid on that
Auction or to withdraw bids from that Auction are INEFFECTIVE.
Once the Auction has ended, the Auction's announcer SHALL announce
the end of the Auction in a timely fashion. In the same message, e
SHALL include the a list of all the bids on the Auction and the
winner(s) (if there are any) of the Auction.
A person's priority on an Auction is their position in the list of
persons who have bid on the Auction, sorted by the value of their
non-withdrawn bids in descending order. If two persons have placed
non-withdrawn bids for the same value, a player who placed their
non-withdrawn bid first has a higher priority than a player who
placed their non-withdrawn bid at a later time.
For each lot in the Auction, the winner of that lot is the player
with the highest priority on the Auction who has not won any
previous lot. If there are more lots than there are persons with
non-withdrawn bids, the excess lots are not won by any person.
The winner of a lot SHALL pay the Auctioneer the number of the
Auction's currency equal to eir bid, in a single payment, in a
timely fashion. When e does so, if the auctioneer CAN transfer the
items in that lot to that winner at will, e immediately does so;
otherwise, e SHALL do so in a timely fashion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2552/0 (Power=1)
Auction Termination
Any player CAN terminate an Auction, by announcement, if the
Auction has not ended and the Auctioneer of that Auction cannot
transfer any item included in a lot in that Auction.
When an Auction is terminated, all bids on that Auction are
withdrawn, and then the Auction ends immediately.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2584/0 (Power=1)
Free Auctions
A player who is not the Auctioneer of an existing Auction
specified by this rule CAN, by announcement, initiate an auction
with emself as the Announcer and Auctioneer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
The Undead
A silly mechanic describing what happens after you become inactive.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2532/2 (Power=2)
Zombies
Master is a secured player switch with possible values of any
player, and Agora. Every player's default master is emself; rules
to the contrary notwithstanding, a player CAN always flip eir own
master to emself by announcement.
A player whose master is not emself is a zombie (syn. inactive);
all other players are active. A zombie's master, if another
player, is allowed to act on behalf of the zombie (i.e. as the
zombie's agent), except a master CANNOT act on behalf of a zombie
to:
- initiate, support, object to, or perform a dependent action;
- act on behalf of that zombie's zombies;
- bid in a zombie auction;
- enter a contract, pledge, or other type of agreement;
- initiate a Call fo Judgement;
- deregister.
A zombie's master CAN flip that zombie's master switch to Agora by
announcement.
If a master causes a zombie to perform an ILLEGAL action, the
master commits the Class 4+N Crime of Masterminding (where N is
the class of the illegal action).
If a active player who was a zombie has not received a Welcome
Package since e most recently ceased being a zombie, and if eir
resale value was less than 2 at any point during eir most recent
time as a zombie, then any player CAN cause em to receive a
Welcome Package by announcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2574/1 (Power=3)
Zombie Life Cycle
Any player CAN, with Notice, flip the master switch of an active
player who has not made a public announcement in the past 60 days
to Agora.
Resale is a secured natural switch for zombies, tracked by the
Registrar, with a default value of 2. Whenever a zombie's master
switch is flipped to a player other than emself, eir resale value
is decreased by 1. At the end of a zombie auction, every zombie
that is an excess lot in that auction has eir resale value
decreased by 1.
A zombie with a resale value of 0 CANNOT have eir master switch
flipped to a player other than emself, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding.
Any player CAN, with Notice:
- If a zombie has been a zombie for the past 90 days and not had
Agora for a master during any of that time, flip the zombie's
master switch to Agora;
- If a player is master to more than one zombie, flip the master
switch of one of that master's zombies to Agora;
- Deregister a zombie whose master is Agora and who has a Resale
value of 0.
The Registrar SHALL track the date that each zombie last belonged
to Agora in eir weekly report. The Registrar SHALL perform all
POSSIBLE actions in the preceding paragraph in a timely fashion
after first reporting their possibility via the facts in eir
weekly report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1885/9 (Power=2)
Zombie Auctions
Whenever a zombie (1) has Agora for a master, (2) is not a lot in
an ongoing auction, (3) has a resale value greater than 0, and (4)
has not been won as an auction lot in the past 14 days, then the
Registrar CAN put that zombie (along with any other zombies that
fulfill the same conditions) up for auction.
In a timely fashion after the beginning of each month, the
Registrar SHALL either initiate such an auction or, if no zombies
meeting these conditions existed at the beginning of the month,
announce that no such auction is necessary.
For such an auction, the lots are the qualifying zombies, ordered
at the discretion of the Registrar. The Registrar is the
announcer, and the minimum bid is 1. Rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, the master of a zombie CANNOT bid in a zombie
auction. If a player becomes a zombie's master, all eir bids in
zombie auctions that have not ended are withdrawn. For the purpose
of such a auction, to transfer a zombie to a player is to set that
zombie's master switch to that player.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, if a player's master switch
is flipped while a zombie auction in which e is a lot is ongoing,
then the winner of that lot NEED NOT pay Agora eir bid and Agora
CANNOT and NEED NOT transfer the contents of the lot to the
winner.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Victory & Karma
All games have winners, and Agora is no exception. If you're
interested in getting some serious bragging points among the Agorans,
this is the right place to look.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2449/3 (Power=3)
Winning the Game
When the Rules state that a person or persons win the game, those
persons win the game; specifically they win the Round that ends
with the indicated win. Agora itself does not end and the ruleset
remains unchanged. The Herald is then authorized to award those
persons the Patent Title of Champion once, by announcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2465/0 (Power=0.3)
Victory by Apathy
A player CAN Declare Apathy without objection, specifying a set of
players. Upon doing so, the specified players win the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2510/4 (Power=1)
Such is Karma
Karma is a person switch tracked by the Herald in eir Weekly
Report. Karma is an Integer switch. Agora also has an instance of
the Karma switch.
A player CAN publish a Notice of Honour. For a Notice of Honour
to be valid, it must:
1. Be clear that it is a Notice of Honour, and be the first valid
Notice of Honour that player has published in the current week;
2. Specify any other player or Agora to gain karma, and provide a
reason for specifying that player; and
3. Specify any player or Agora to lose karma, and provide a reason
for specifying that player.
4. Not result in Agora's karma moving farther away from 0.
When a valid Notice of Honour is published, the entity specified
to gain karma has eir karma increased by one, and the entity
specified to lose karma has eir karma decreased by one. Raising
one entity's karma while lowering another's in this manner is
considered to be a "transfer" of karma.
A player's positions in Court are defined as follows:
- Any player with a karma of 5 or greater is a Samurai.
- Any player with a karma of -5 or less is an Gamma.
- The Samurai with the highest karma (if any) is the Shogun.
- The Gamma with the lowest karma (if any) is the Honourless
Worm.
Each player's positions in Court are part of of the Herald's
Weekly Report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2511/2 (Power=1)
Karmic Balance
In a timely fashion after the beginning of each Quarter, the
Herald CAN and SHALL by announcement, perform the following tasks
in order:
1. Halve (rounding towards 0) the Karma of every Unregistered
person.
2. Set the Karma of Agora such that the sum of all Karma switch
instance values in the game is equal to 0.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2553/0 (Power=1)
Win by Paradox
If a CFJ about the legality or possibility of a game action, has
been assigned a judgment of PARADOXICAL continuously for at least
7 days, and e has not done so already in respect of that CFJ, then
that case's initiator CAN, by announcement, win the game.
A player who wins in this fashion SHOULD submit a proposal to
prevent the paradox from arising again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Awards
Even if it's not a win, there are still a good few opportunities to
win bragging points, like Ribbons and Patent Titles.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2438/9 (Power=3)
Ribbons
The Tailor is an office, and the recordkeepor of Ribbons.
Ribbon Ownership is a person switch, tracked by the Tailor in eir
monthly report, whose values are the subsets of the set of types
of Ribbon, defaulting to the empty set. If the rules are amended
to change the types of Ribbon, if a player's Ribbon Ownership is
subsequently illegal, then it is updated by removing all
nonexistent types rather than resetting the entire value to
default.
To "award a person a <Ribbon type>" is to add that type of Ribbon
to that person's Ribbon Ownership. A person "owns a <Ribbon type>"
if that type of Ribbon is an element of eir Ribbon Ownership.
While a person qualifies for a type of Ribbon, any player CAN, by
announcement, award em that type of Ribbon. A person qualifies for
a type of Ribbon if e has earned that type of Ribbon within the
preceding 7 days (including earlier in the same message) and has
not owned that type of Ribbon within the preceding 7 days.
While a person owns all types of Ribbon, that person can Raise a
Banner by announcement. This causes that person to win the game.
That person's Ribbon Ownership becomes the empty set.
The types of Ribbon, and the methods of obtaining them, are as
follows:
Red (R): When a proposal is adopted and changes at least one rule
with Power >= 3, its proposer earns a Red Ribbon.
Orange (O): When a proposal is adopted via an Agoran Decision on
which no valid ballots were AGAINST (after evaluating
conditionals), its proposer earns an Orange Ribbon.
Green (G): While a person has held an elected office continuously
for 30 days, and has not failed to perform any duties of that
office within the appropriate time limits during those 30 days,
that person qualifies for a Green Ribbon.
Cyan (C): When a person deputises for an office, that person earns
a Cyan Ribbon.
Blue (B): When a person assigns a judgement to a CFJ, and has
never violated a time limit to assign a judgement to that CFJ,
that person earns a Blue Ribbon.
Magenta (M): During Agora's Birthday, each person who has publicly
acknowledged the fact qualifies for a Magenta Ribbon.
Ultraviolet (U): When a person is awarded the Patent Title
Champion, that person earns an Ultraviolet Ribbon.
Violet (V): When a person is awarded a Patent Title other than
Champion or a degree, that person earns a Violet Ribbon.
Indigo (I): When a person is awarded a degree, that person earns
an Indigo Ribbon.
Platinum (P): The Speaker qualifies for a Platinum Ribbon.
Lime (L): A person qualifies for a Lime Ribbon if three or more
proposals adopted in the preceding 7 days had that person as a
coauthor.
White (W): A player qualifies for a White Ribbon if e has never
previously owned a White Ribbon (including under previous
rulesets). A player who has been registered for at least 30 days
and has never caused another person to gain a White Ribbon
(including under a previous ruleset) CAN award a White Ribbon to
another person by announcement.
Black (K): This rule does not specify any methods of obtaining
Black Ribbons.
Gray (A): The Tailor CAN award a Gray Ribbon by announcement,
unless e has done so earlier in the month. E is ENCOURAGED to
award such a Ribbon in the same message in which e publishes eir
monthly report.
Transparent (T): A person qualifies for a Transparent Ribbon while
the number of other types of Ribbon that that person qualifies for
and/or has earned within the previous 7 days is at least 5.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2480/1 (Power=2.1)
Festivals
Festivity is a singleton switch, whose possible values are
integers ranging from 0 inclusive to the number of defined types
of Ribbon exclusive, and defaulting to 0. While Agora's Festivity
is 0, Festivity is tracked in the Tailor's monthly report.
Otherwise, it is tracked in the Tailor's weekly report. Changes to
Festivity are secured.
If Agora's Festivity has had the same nonzero value for 14 days or
more, any player CAN flip it to 0 by announcement.
A player who owns at least N types of Ribbon CAN Start a Rank N
Festival, where N is an integer greater than Agora's Festivity,
with 4 Support from players who own at least N types of Ribbon.
Upon doing so, Agora's Festivity is flipped to N. Exception: A
player CANNOT do so if Agora's Festivity has had a value greater
than or equal to N within the past 21 days.
A person who owns a number of types of Ribbon equal to or greater
than Agora's Festivity is known as Festive. Other persons are not
Festive.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2481/1 (Power=2.1)
Festival Restrictions
While Agora's Festivity is nonzero, the following apply:
1. Non-Festive players are never considered Supporters of a
dependent action;
2. Non-Festive players cannot flip the Imminence of any proposal;
3. Quorum for Agoran Decisions is equal to half the number of
Festive players, rounded up;
4. Each Festive player has the maximum possible voting strength.
All other players have the minimum possible voting strength.
While Agora's Festivity is zero, the paragraphs above have no
effect and are ignored.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 649/40 (Power=1.5)
Patent Titles
A Patent Title is a legal title given to a person in recognition
of the person's distinction. The Herald is an office; its holder
is responsible for tracking Patent Titles in eir monthly report.
Awarding or revoking a Patent Title is secured at power 1. A
person permitted and enabled to award (revoke) a Patent Title
SHALL do so in a timely fashion after the conditions authorizing
em to do so are announced, unless there is an open judicial case
contesting the validity of those conditions.
The Herald CAN award a specified Patent Title to a specified
player With 2 Agoran Consent.
If a player publicly petitions that the Herald award a patent
title to another player for a specified reason, the Herald SHALL
respond in a timely fashion by either attempting to grant an
appropriate patent title or explaining publicly why no patent
title is warranted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2415/0 (Power=1.5)
Badges
A Badge is any patent title with the word 'badge' as part of its
name. A badge SHOULD be used to award multiple persons for
participating in specific event of note within Agora. Any player
CAN award a badge that does not yet exist to three or more persons
simultaneously, with Agoran Consent. The Herald CAN award an
existing badge to persons Without Objection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1367/19 (Power=3)
Degrees
Certain patent titles are known as degrees. The degrees are
- Associate of Nomic (A.N.)
- Bachelor of Nomic (B.N.)
- Master of Nomic (M.N.)
- Doctor of Nomic History (D.N.Hist.)
- Doctor of Nomic Science (D.N.Sci.)
- Doctor of Nomic Philosophy (D.N.Phil.)
Degrees are ranked in the order they appear in this rule, with
degrees listed later being ranked higher. A specific degree CANNOT
be awarded to any person more than once.
A specified degree CAN be awarded with 2 Agoran Consent, and
SHOULD only be awarded for the publication of an original thesis
of scholarly worth (including responses to peer-review), published
with explicit intent to qualify for a degree. The Herald SHOULD
coordinate the peer-review process and the awarding of degrees.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2231/6 (Power=3)
Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic
Heroic titles are Agora's premier patent titles of distinction,
and CAN be awarded to persons for meritorious service only by a
proposal of power 3 or greater, which SHOULD explain why those
persons are qualified. Bearers of heroic titles (Heroes)
constitute the Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic.
The Heroic titles in decreasing precedence are:
Grand Hero of Agora Nomic (GHAN) -- This title CAN be awarded to
any person obviously and directly responsible for the existence of
Agora and/or Nomic in general. As this title is the highest honour
that Agora may bestow, a Bearer of this title OUGHT to be treated
right good forever.
Hero of Agora Nomic (HAN) -- This title CAN be awarded to any
person for outstanding meritorious service to Agora above and
beyond the call of duty.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2581/0 (Power=1)
Official Patent Titles
The following Patent Titles CAN be awarded by the indicated
Officers with 2 Agoran Consent. In order to balance the history,
dignity, spontaneity, and serendipity of the awards, the Herald,
Speaker, and Prime Minister are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to provide
their support or objections, and reasons for doing so, reasonably
quickly after any such intents are announced.
- Tapecutter, awardable by the Rulekeepor to the author of an
adopted proposal that significantly reduces, streamlines, or
simplifies the ruleset.
- Scamster, awardable by the Referee to any player who has shown
great enthusiasm, persistence, or skill in the perpetrating of
scams without breaking any Rules.
- Hard Labor, awardable by the ADoP to any player who holds 2+
offices for 3+ continous months while performing eir official
duties in a timely and conscientious manner that promotes the
gameplay of the office.
- MacGyver, awardable by the Assessor to the author of an adopted
proposal that fixes serious bugs in the ruleset, especially if
the fix uses existing rules text in novel and unexpected ways,
or to a judge for similarly using rules text to resolve an
apparent bug without the need for legislative action.
- Bard, by Speaker the award should given be, to persons who
publish repeated creative wit or poetry.
- Necromancer, awardable by the Registrar to any player who makes
such sufficient persistent legal use of zombies that rules need
to be amended to prevent such practices.
- Tycoon, awardable by the Treasuror to any player who executes a
novel economic or contractual enterprise that has a significant
impact on the game, especially if it involves leveraging
synergies for win-win outcomes for the benefit of multiple
players.
- Helping Hand, awardable by any Officer to any person not
holding that office who puts substantial labor into aiding in
the duties of that office, without consideration of any other
reward they might receive.
The Herald is also ENCOURAGED to proactively recommend or, as
otherwise permitted, award these titles when appropriate,
especially if the potential awardee is the officer emself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2582/0 (Power=1)
Annual Awards
April is hereby designated Awards Month.
The following Patent Titles CAN be awarded by the indicated
Officers with 2 Agoran Consent, provided the intent to make
the awards is announced during awards month, and the award is
made to commemorate acts performed in the previous Agoran year.
The full name of each awarded Patent Title is [Title Below] NNNN,
where NNNN is the year each act was performed.
Each indicated Officer SHOULD award these titles to 1-2 persons
each year, and SHOULD solicit an open call for nominations and
discussion before making these awards. The Herald SHALL note any
additional information indicated below as part of eir report of
Patent Titles.
- Silver Quill, awardable by the Promotor to the author of a
proposal of outstanding merit and influence on the game
(additional information: ID Number of the proposal).
- Wooden Gavel, awardable by the Arbitor to the judge of a CFJ
or series of CFJs with a strong and foundational impact on the
judicial precedents of Agora (additional information: ID
Numbers of the judgements).
- Golden Glove, awardable by the Tailor to the player who made
the most interesting, successful, and/or competitive series of
moves while attempting to win or get substantially ahead in
the game.
- Employee of the Year, awardable by the ADoP to the persons
who put the most persistent hard labor into keeping the game
going through the performance of Officers' duties (additional
information: offices held by the awardee during that year).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Leaders
Agora has a good few leaders, most of which are nothing more than
sinecures. This section isn't all that important.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 103/25 (Power=2)
The Speaker
The Speaker is an imposed office and the figurehead leader of
Agora.
The player or players who have most recently won the game are
called Laureled. If at any time the office of Speaker is vacant,
or when one or more players win Agora, then the Prime Minister CAN
once appoint a Laureled player to the office of Speaker by
announcement. Whenever the Prime Minister CAN appoint a Laureled
player to the office of Speaker, e SHALL do so in a timely manner,
except that the Prime Minister MAY defer appointing a new Speaker
while there is pending one or more open CFJs that could plausibly
determine or affect the question of whether a player is Laureled.
If the office of Speaker has been held continuously by the same
person for 90+ days, then any player CAN appoint another player to
the office with Support.
For an election of the Prime Minister, the Speaker has voting
strength one greater than e would have if e did not hold the
office.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 104/0 (Power=3)
First Speaker
The Speaker for the first game shall be Michael Norrish.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2423/3 (Power=2)
First Among Equals
The Prime Minister is an office. The Prime Minister is elected by
the players of Agora primarily on account of not being the other
guy. The Prime Minister SHOULD ensure that Agoran affairs proceed
smoothly.
The holder of the office of Prime Minister's voting strength is
increased by 1 on all Agoran decisions other than a elections of
the Prime Minister.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2463/0 (Power=1)
Motion of No Confidence
Any player can cause the office of Prime Minister to become vacant
with 2 Agoran Consent by publishing a message with the character
string "MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE" in the subject line.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2451/6 (Power=2)
Executive Orders
Once per week and except as otherwise forbidden by this rule, the
current Prime Minister CAN issue a Cabinet Order by announcement
to perform the action(s) authorized by that Order.
Each Cabinet Order is associated with an office. The current Prime
Minister CANNOT issue more than one Cabinet Order associated with
the same office more than once in the same month, nor can e issue
a Cabinet Order associated with a vacant office.
The available Cabinet Orders are:
- Certiorari (Arbitor): The Prime Minister assigns emself as judge
of a specified open case.
- Dive (Referee): The Prime Minister levies a 2 Blot fine on a
specified player. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the
reason for the fine MAY be any grievance held by the Prime
Minister, not necessarily a violation of the rules, against the
person to whom the fine is levied.
- Manifesto (Promotor): The Prime Minister distributes a specified
proposal in the Proposal Pool.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2575/0 (Power=3)
The Distributor
The Distributor is an imposed office whose holder is generally
responsible for the management of the primary Agoran fora. The
holder CANNOT be changed except Without Objection or by proposal.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the Distributor's master
switch CANNOT be flipped to be other than emself, and e CANNOT
deregister or be deregistered.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Agoran Culture
Nothing in here is all that important. Mostly describes holidays and
tournaments, and joke rules.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2327/1 (Power=1)
Read the Ruleset Week
The first Agoran week each year which falls entirely in February
is Read the Ruleset Week. Agorans are encouraged to read the
ruleset during Read the Ruleset Week.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1727/21 (Power=1)
Happy Birthday
WHEREAS, in June 1993, the world's only MUD-based nomic, Nomic
World, had recently collapsed; yet, many of its players enjoyed
nomic and did not wish to forego such a noble pursuit;
And WHEREAS, Originator Chuck Carroll therefore composed an
Initial Ruleset for an email nomic, based on the Initial Rulesets
of Peter Suber, inventor of Nomic, and on the Rulesets of Nomic
World and other nomics,
And WHEREAS, a nomic thus rose like a phoenix from the ashes of
Nomic World, played on the mailing list originally set up for
discussion of Nomic World, and coming into existence at June 30,
1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200, with a message sent by FIRST SPEAKER
Michael Norrish, which read, in part,
"I see no reason to let this get bogged down; there are no
precedents or rules that cover this situation, so I think we may
as well begin directly.... Proposals for new rules are invited.
In accordance with the rules, these will be published, numbered
and distributed by me at my earliest convenience."
And WHEREAS, this nomic began as a humble and nameless nomic,
known unofficially as yoyo, after the mailing list it was played
on, until its Players, much later, gave it its OFFICIAL NAME of
Agora,
And WHEREAS, Agora has now become the wisest, noblest, eldest, and
most interesting of all active email nomics, due to the hard work
and diligence of Agorans as well as the frequent advice of
Agoraphobes,
And WHEREAS, Agorans desire to joyously commemorate Agora's
founding,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that Agora's Birthday is defined to be
the entire day of June 30, GMT +1200, of each year.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2464/4 (Power=1)
Tournaments
A Tournament is a sub-game of Agora specifically sanctioned to be
initiated as a tournament by the Rules. The person who initiates a
tournament is its Gamemaster. If a winner of a tournament is
determined within within 3 months of its initiation, that person
or persons win the game, otherwise the tournament concludes with
no winner.
A Tournament is governed by set of regulations, created in
accordance with its parent rule, which have binding control over
those who freely consent to play the tournament and over the
tournament itself. Once the tournament is concluded, these
regulations cease to have any effect, and CAN be repealed by any
player by announcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2566/0 (Power=1)
Free Tournaments
A player who is not the gamemaster of an existing tournament CAN
initiate a sanctioned tournament with a specified set of
regulations with 2 Agoran Consent. A tournament created using this
method is called a Free Tournament. Rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, only players CAN win the game via a free
tournament.
A free tournament CAN be concluded with no winner without 3
objections. Tournaments SHOULD only be concluded in this manner if
it is clear that its regulations are malformed or contrary to the
tournament's intent or that it is IMPOSSIBLE for any player to win
the tournament.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2495/2 (Power=1)
The Birthday Tournament
In a timely fashion after the start of June 1 of each year, the
Herald SHALL propose a set of Regulations governing a Birthday
Tournament for that year; the Herald CAN also delegate the
responsibility for creating or running the tournament to another
player, with that player's consent, by announcement.
The Birthday Tournament's regulations SHOULD be such that all
persons who choose to participate have a fair chance of winning
the tournament (according to its regulations), and a winner
SHOULD be expected within 2-3 weeks following the tournament's
initiation.
After adequate time for discussion of the Birthday Tournament's
regulations, the Herald (or delegate) CAN initiate a sanctioned
tournament, promulgating a specified, finalized set of tournament
regulations, Without 3 Objections. This title may thereafter
be amended only by the Herald or eir designee Without 3
Objections. The initiation SHOULD be timed to coincide
with Agora's Birthday.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1769/15 (Power=3)
Holidays
The period each year from midnight GMT on the morning of 24
December to the beginning of the first Agoran week to begin after
2 January is a Holiday.
The week that contains the beginning of Agora's Birthday,
together with the following week, is a Holiday.
If a person breaks a Rule by missing a deadline that occurs during
a Holiday, punishment is generally not appropriate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2029/0 (Power=4)
Town Fountain
/\ /\
/ \ / \
T
his
Power-04
Rule (the first ever)
was placed to honor
The Agoran Spirit Of The Game
by G., Steve, Murphy, root
and OscarMeyr, Scamsters. Look
on our works, ye Marvy, but do
always Dance a Powerful Dance. Hail Eris!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
These rulesets are also online at http://agoranomic.org/ruleset/
Date of last official ruleset of this type: 24 Nov 2018
Date of this ruleset: 1 Dec 2018
Number of rules currently enacted: 119
Most recent change to this ruleset: Rule 2531 amended by Proposal 8130
Highest ID'd rule in this ruleset: 2584
Highest ID'd Proposal Passed: 8132
Highest ID'd Rule Enacted: 2584
========================================================================
The Game of Agora
This section includes a few rules concerning the Nature of the Game
of Agora.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 101/17 (Power=4)
The Game of Agora
Agora is a game of Nomic, wherein Persons, acting in accordance
with the Rules, communicate their game Actions and/or results of
these actions via Fora in order to play the game. The game may be
won, but the game never ends.
Please treat Agora Right Good Forever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1698/5 (Power=4)
Agora Is A Nomic
Agora is ossified if it is IMPOSSIBLE for any reasonable
combination of actions by players to cause arbitrary rule changes
to be made and/or arbitrary proposals to be adopted within a
four-week period.
If, but for this rule, the net effect of a proposal would cause
Agora to become ossified, or would cause Agora to cease to exist,
it cannot take effect, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. If
any other single change or inseperable group of changes to the
gamestate would cause Agora to become ossified, or would cause
Agora to cease to exist, it is cancelled and does not occur, rules
to the contrary notwithstanding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Players
This small section provides some rules detailing how joining and
leaving Agora works. If you're a new player, this is probably the
most important section to read.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 869/44 (Power=3)
How to Join and Leave Agora
Any organism that is generally capable of freely originating and
communicating independent thoughts and ideas is a person. Rules to
the contrary notwithstanding, no other entities are persons.
Citizenship is a person switch with values Unregistered (default)
and Registered, tracked by the Registrar. Changes to citizenship
are secured. A registered person is a Player. To "register"
someone is to flip that person's Citizenship switch from
Unregistered to Registered.
An Unregistered person CAN (unless explicitly forbidden or
prevented by the rules) register by publishing a message that
indicates reasonably clearly and reasonably unambiguously that e
intends to become a player at that time. A player CAN deregister
(cease being a player) by announcement. If e does so, e CANNOT
register or be registered for 30 days.
A person, by registering, agrees to abide by the Rules. The Rules
CANNOT otherwise bind a person to abide by any agreement without
that person's willful consent.
The Rules CANNOT compel non-players to act without their express
or reasonably implied consent. The rules CANNOT compel players to
unduly harass non-players. A non-person CANNOT be a player, rules
to the contrary notwithstanding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 478/34 (Power=3)
Fora
Freedom of speech being essential for the healthy functioning of
any non-Imperial nomic, it is hereby resolved that no Player shall
be prohibited from participating in the Fora, nor shall any person
create physical or technological obstacles that unduly favor some
players' fora access over others.
Publicity is a forum switch with values Public, Discussion, and
Foreign (default), tracked by the Registrar. Changes to publicity
are secured.
The Registrar may change the publicity of a forum without
objection as long as:
1. e sends eir announcement of intent to that forum; and
2. if the forum is to be made public, the announcement by which
the Registrar makes that forum public is sent to all existing
public fora.
Each player should ensure e can receive messages via each public
forum.
A public message is a message sent via a public forum, or sent to
all players and containing a clear designation of intent to be
public. A rule can also designate that a part of one public
message is considered a public message in its own right. A person
"publishes" or "announces" something by sending a public message.
Where the rules define an action that CAN be performed "by
announcement", a person performs that action by unambiguously and
clearly specifying the action and announcing that e performs it.
Any action performed by sending a message is performed at the time
date-stamped on that message. Actions in messages (including
sub-messages) are performed in the order they appear in the
message, unless otherwise specified.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2139/12 (Power=2)
The Registrar
The Registrar is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping
track of players.
The Registrar's weekly report includes:
1. A list of all players, including information sufficient to
identify and contact each player.
2. The date on which each player most recently became a player.
3. For each forum with non-Foreign publicity, sufficient
instructions for players to receive messages there.
The Registrar's monthly report includes:
1. For each former player for which the information is reasonably
available, the dates on which e registered and deregistered.
In the first Eastman week of every month the Registrar SHALL
attempt to deregister every player that has not sent a message to
a public forum in the preceding month.
The Registrar's duties and abilities also include:
* Changing the publicity of a forum, as described in Rule 478.
* Publishing Cantus Cygnei and Writs of FAGE as described in
Rule 1789.
The Registrar is also responsible for tracking any switches,
defined in a rule, that would otherwise lack an officer to track
them, unless the switch is defined as untracked.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1789/9 (Power=3)
Cantus Cygneus
Whenever a Player feels that e has been treated so egregiously by
the Agoran community that e can no longer abide to be a part of
it, e may submit a document to the Registrar, clearly labeled a
Cantus Cygneus, detailing eir grievances and expressing eir
reproach for those who e feels have treated em so badly.
In a timely fashion after receiving a Cantus Cygneus, the
Registrar shall publish this document along with a Writ of
Fugiendae Agorae Grandissima Exprobratione, commanding the Player
to be deregistered. The Registrar shall note the method of
deregistration for that Player in subsequent Registrar Reports.
The Player is deregistered as of the posting of the Writ, and the
notation in the Registrar's Report will ensure that, henceforth,
all may know said Player deregistered in a Writ of FAGE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
General Definitions
This section describes the terminology used by all the other rules.
If, when reading a rule, you don't understand what a word means,
chances are that the Agoran definition of that word is described in
one of these rules.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2152/7 (Power=3)
Mother, May I?
The following terms are defined. These definitions are used when a
rule includes a term in all caps, and provide guidance in
determining the ordinary-language meaning of a term when a rule
includes a term otherwise. Earlier definitions take precedence
over later ones. If a rule specifies one or more persons in
connection with a term, then the term applies only to the
specified person(s).
1. CANNOT, IMPOSSIBLE, INEFFECTIVE, INVALID: Attempts to perform
the described action are unsuccessful.
2. MUST NOT, MAY NOT, SHALL NOT, ILLEGAL, PROHIBITED: Performing
the described action violates the rule in question.
3. NEED NOT, OPTIONAL: Failing to perform the described action
does not violate the rules.
4. SHOULD NOT, DISCOURAGED, DEPRECATED: Before performing the
described action, the full implications of performing it should
be understood and carefully weighed.
5. CAN: Attempts to perform the described action are successful.
6. MAY: Performing the described action does not violate the
rules.
7. MUST, SHALL, REQUIRED, MANDATORY: Failing to perform the
described action violates the rule in question.
8. SHOULD, ENCOURAGED, RECOMMENDED: Before failing to perform the
described action, the full implications of failing to perform
it should (in the ordinary-language sense) be understood and
carefully weighed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2509/2 (Power=2)
Agoran Numbers
A "number" is considered to refer to a real number, unless
otherwise explicitly specified. A "number of (items)", where
(items) is a set of discrete entities, is considered to refer to a
non-negative integer, unless otherwise explicitly specified.
If a switch is defined as being associated with a specified set of
numbers (a numerical switch), then the possible values for that
switch are the numbers in that set. In particular, a natural or
integer switch is a switch with possible values the non-negative
integers or all integers, respectively. If a limit is further
defined, the possible values are the numbers of the set within the
specified limits.
If 0 is in the specified values for a numerical switch and no
default value is otherwise specified, 0 is the default value for
that switch.
If the rules describe mathematical operations to be used in
flipping an instance of a numerical switch, the operations are
interpreted as having common-sense mathematical application to
determine that instance's resulting value. For example,
"increasing a switch instance by M" is equivalent to "flipping a
switch instance from its current value N to the value N+M". If the
specified mathematical operation would result in a value outside
that switch's defined set, the flipping CANNOT be performed, rules
to the contrary notwithstanding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2125/10 (Power=3)
Regulated Actions
An action is regulated if: (1) the Rules limit, allow, enable, or
permit its performance; (2) describe the circumstances under which
the action would succeed or fail; or (3) the action would, as part
of its effect, modify information for which some player is
required to be a recordkeepor.
A Regulated Action CAN only be performed as described by the
Rules,and only using the methods explicitly specified in the Rules
for performing the given action. The Rules SHALL NOT be
interpreted so as to proscribe unregulated actions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1023/39 (Power=2)
Agoran Time
The following terms are defined:
1. The phrase "in a timely fashion" means "within 7 days". This
time period is set when the requirement is created (i.e. X days
before the limit ends). A requirement to perform an action at
an exact instant (e.g. "when X, Y SHALL Z"), but not "in the
same message", is instead interpreted as a requirement to
perform that action in a timely fashion after that instant.
2. Agoran epochs:
1. Agoran days begin at midnight UTC.
2. Agoran weeks begin at midnight UTC on Monday. Eastman
weeks begin at midnight UTC on the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd,
and 29th of each Gregorian month; the fifth one of the
month (if any) lasts till the end of the month.
3. Agoran months begin at midnight UTC on the first day of
each Gregorian month.
4. Agoran quarters begin when the Agoran months of January,
April, July, and October begin.
5. Agoran years begin when the Agoran month of January
begins.
6. A pivot is either the instant at which Agora Nomic began
(June 30, 1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200) or an instant at which
at least one person won the game. When used as a period of
time, a "Round" (historical syn: "game") is the period of
time between a pivot and the next pivot.
The "Agoran" qualifier is assumed unless a different definition
is indicated (e.g. Eastman weeks). These definitions do not
apply to relative durations (e.g. "within <number> days after
<event>").
3. Two points in time are within a month of each other if:
1. they occur in the same Agoran month;
2. they occur in two consecutive Agoran months, and the later
of the two occurs in an earlier day in the month than the
earlier one;
3. they occur in two consecutive Agoran months on the same day
of the month, and the later of the two occurs at the same
or earlier time of day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1728/40 (Power=3)
Dependent Actions
A rule which purports to allow a person (the performer) to perform
an action by a set of one or more of the following methods (N is 1
unless otherwise specified):
1. Without N Objections, where N is a positive integer no greater
than 8. ("Without Objection" is shorthand for this method with
N = 1.)
2. With N Support, where N is a positive integer. ("With
Support" is shorthand for this method with N = 1.)
3. With N Agoran Consent, where N is an integer multiple of 0.1
with a minimum of 1.
4. With Notice.
5. With T Notice, where T is a time period.
thereby allows em to perform the action by announcement if all of
the following are true:
1. A person (the initiator) conspicuously and without obfuscation
announced intent to perform the action, unambiguously and
clearly specifying the action and method(s) (including the
value of N and/or T for each method), at most fourteen days
earlier.
2. If the action is to be performed Without N Objections, With N
Agoran Consent, or With Notice, if the intent was announced at
least 4 days earlier
3. If the action is to be performed With T Notice, if the intent
was announced at least T earlier.
4. At least one of the following is true:
1. The performer is the initiator.
2. The initiator was authorized to perform the action due to
holding a rule-defined position now held by the performer.
3. The initiator is authorized to perform the action, the
action depends on support, the performer has supported the
intent, and the rule authorizing the performance does not
explicitly prohibit supporters from performing it.
5. Agora is Satisfied with the announced intent, as defined by
other rules.
6. If a set of conditions for the performance of the action was
given in the announcement of intent to perform the action, all
those conditions are met.
Such an action is known as a dependent action. The actor SHOULD
publish a list of supporters if the action depends on support, and
a list of objectors if it depends on objections.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2124/22 (Power=2)
Agoran Satisfaction
A Supporter of a dependent action is an eligible entity who has
publicly posted (and not withdrawn) support (syn. "consent") for
an announcement of intent to perform the action. An Objector to a
dependent action is an eligible entity who has publicly posted
(and not withdrawn) an objection to the announcement of intent to
perform the action.
The entities eligible to support or object to a dependent action
are, by default, all players, subject to modification by the
document authorizing the dependent action. However, the previous
sentence notwithstanding, the initiator of the intent is not
eligible to support it.
Agora is Satisfied with an intent to perform a specific action if
and only if:
1. if the action is to be performed Without N Objections, then it
has fewer than N objectors;
2. if the action is to be performed With N support, then it has
N or more supporters; and
3. if the action is to be performed with N Agoran Consent, then
the ratio of supporters to objectors is greater than N, or the
action has at least one supporter and no objectors.
4. if the action is to be performed With Notice or With T Notice.
The above notwithstanding, if the action depends on objections,
and an objection to it has been withdrawn within the past 24
hours, then Agora is not Satisfied with the intent.
The above notwithstanding, Agora is not satisfied with the intent
if the Speaker has objected to it in the last 48 hours.
A person CANNOT support or object to an announcement of intent
before the intent is announced, or after e has withdrawn the same
type of response.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2518/0 (Power=3)
Determinacy
If a value CANNOT be reasonably determined (without circularity or
paradox) from information reasonably available, or if it
alternates indefinitely between values, then the value is
considered to be indeterminate, otherwise it is determinate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2505/0 (Power=1)
Random Choices
When a Rule specifies that a random choice be made, then the
choice shall be made using whatever probability distribution among
the possible outcomes the Rule specifies, defaulting to a uniform
probability distribution.
The choice CAN be made using any physical or computational process
whose probability distribution among the possible outcomes is
reasonably close to that required by the Rules, and for which the
final choice is not trivially predictable by the selecting person
in advance. The selecting person SHOULD make the selection method
public, and SHOULD use a method for which the final probability
distribution can be readily confirmed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2517/0 (Power=3)
Conditionals and Extricability
A conditional is any textual structure that attempts to make a
statement (the substrate) affecting any part or aspect of the
gamestate, or the permissibility, possibility, or effect of any
action affecting such a part or aspect, dependent on the truth
value or other state of a textual structure (the condition). The
condition is said to be "affixed" to the substrate (inverse "to be
conditional upon").
A condition is inextricable if it is unclear, ambiguous, circular,
inconsistent, paradoxical, depends on information that is
indeterminate, or is impossible or unreasonably difficult to
determine, or otherwise requires an unreasonable effort to
resolve; otherwise it is extricable. A conditional is inextricable
if its condition is inextricable; otherwise it is extricable. A
player SHOULD NOT use an inextricable conditional for any purpose.
An action is said to be "subject to" a conditional if its
possibility, permissibility, or effect (depending on context) is
determined by the conditional. A value is said to be subject to a
conditional of the state of the value is determined by the
conditional.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Entities
"Entity" is a confusing word to new players. This section describes
what an entity is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1586/9 (Power=2)
Definition and Continuity of Entities
If multiple rules attempt to define an entity with the same name,
then they refer to the same entity. A rule-defined entity's name
CANNOT be changed to be the same as another rule-defined entity's
name.
A rule, contract, or regulation that refers to an entity by name
refers to the entity that had that name when the rule first came
to include that reference, even if the entity's name has since
changed.
If the entity that defines another entity is amended such that it
no longer defines the second entity, then the second entity and
its attributes cease to exist.
If the entity that defines another entity is amended such that it
defines the second entity both before and after the amendment, but
with different attributes, then the second entity and its
attributes continue to exist to whatever extent is possible under
the new definitions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2162/11 (Power=3)
Switches
A type of switch is a property that the rules define as a switch,
and specify the following:
1. The type(s) of entity possessing an instance of that switch. No
other entity possesses an instance of that switch.
2. One or more possible values for instances of that switch,
exactly one of which should be designated as the default. No
values other than those listed are possible for instances of
that switch, except that, if no default is specified, then
rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the "null" value is a
possible value for that switch, and is the default.
3. Optionally, exactly one office whose holder tracks instances of
that switch. That officer's (weekly, if not specified
otherwise) report includes the value of each instance of that
switch whose value is not its default value; a public document
purporting to be this portion of that officer's report is
self-ratifying, and implies that other instances are at their
default value.
At any given time, each instance of a switch has exactly one
possible value for that type of switch. If an instance of a switch
comes to have a value, it ceases to have any other value. If an
instance of a switch would otherwise fail to have a possible
value, it comes to have its default value.
"To flip an instance of a switch" is to make it come to have a
given value. "To become X" (where X is a possible value of
exactly one of the subject's switches) is to flip that switch to
X.
If an action or set of actions would cause the value of an
instance of a switch to become indeterminate, the instance instead
takes on its last determinate and possible value, if any,
otherwise it takes on its default value.
A singleton switch is a switch for which Agora Nomic is the only
entity possessing an instance of that switch.
A boolean switch is a switch with values True and False. A
positive boolean switch has a default of True; a negative boolean
switch has a default of False.
Attempting to flip an instance of a switch to a value it already
has does not flip the switch. However, if a person is REQUIRED to
flip a switch instance to a value it already has, then either
attempting to do so using the required mechanism, or announcing
that the switch already has the required value, fulfills the
requirement without flipping the switch.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1688/9 (Power=3)
Power
The Power of an entity is a non-negative rational number. An
Instrument is an entity with positive Power.
The Power of an entity cannot be set or modified except as
stipulated by the Rules. All entities have Power zero except where
specifically allowed by the rules.
A Rule that makes a change, action, or value secured (hereafter
the securing Rule) thereby makes it IMPOSSIBLE to perform that
change or action, or to set or modify that value, except as
allowed by an Instrument with Power greater than or equal to the
change's Power Threshold. This Threshold defaults to the securing
Rule's Power, but CAN be lowered as allowed by that Rule
(including by the Rule itself).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2140/2 (Power=3)
Power Controls Mutability
No entity with power below the power of this rule can
1. cause an entity to have power greater than its own.
2. adjust the power of an instrument with power greater than its
own.
3. set or modify any other substantive aspect of an instrument
with power greater than its own. A "substantive" aspect of an
instrument is any aspect that affects the instrument's
operation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Proposals
Proposals are a staple of Nomic games. If you're a new player, this
is another important section, since the way proposals work in this
Nomic is a little bit complicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2350/11 (Power=3)
Proposals
A proposal is a type of entity consisting of a body of text and
other attributes. A player CAN create a proposal by announcement,
specifying its text and optionally specifying any of the following
attributes:
* An associated title.
* A list of co-authors (which must be persons other than the
author).
* An adoption index.
Creating a proposal adds it to the Proposal Pool. Once a proposal
is created, neither its text nor any of the aforementioned
attributes can be changed. The author (syn. proposer) of a
proposal is the person who submitted it.
If a decision of whether to adopt a proposal was resolved as
FAILED QUORUM in the last seven days, the Promotor CAN once add
the proposal back to the Proposal Pool by announcement.
The author of a proposal in the Proposal Pool CAN remove (syn.
retract, withdraw) it from the Pool by announcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1607/44 (Power=3)
Distribution
The Promotor is an office; its holder is responsible for receiving
and distributing proposals.
Determining whether to adopt a proposal is an Agoran decision. For
this decision, the vote collector is the Assessor, the adoption
index is initially the adoption index of the proposal, or 1.0 if
the proposal does not have one, and the text, author, and
coauthors of the proposal are essential parameters. Initiating
such a decision is known as distribution, and removes the proposal
from the Proposal Pool.
The Promotor CAN distribute a proposal which is in the Proposal
Pool at any time, by announcement.
In a given Agoran week, the Promotor SHALL, as part of eir weekly
duties, distribute all proposals in the Proposal Pool except for
those exempted from automatic distribution by other rules.
Distributed proposals have ID numbers, to be assigned by the
Promotor.
If there is a Proposal in the Pool that it would otherwise be
IMPOSSIBLE for any player to distribute, then any player CAN
distribute that Proposal Without 3 Objections.
The Promotor's report includes a list of all proposals in the
Proposal Pool, along with their text and attributes. This portion
of a public document purporting to be a Promotor's report is
self-ratifying.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2137/2 (Power=1)
The Assessor
The Assessor is an office; its holder is responsible for
collecting votes and keeping track of related properties.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 106/40 (Power=3)
Adopting Proposals
When a decision about whether to adopt a proposal is resolved, if
the outcome is ADOPTED, then the proposal in question is adopted,
and unless other rules prevent it from taking effect, its power is
set to the minimum of four and its adoption index, and then it
takes effect. Except as prohibited by other rules, a proposal that
takes effect CAN and does, as part of its effect, apply the
changes that it specifies. Clearly marked comments are considered
to be removed from the proposal before it takes effect, unless
otherwise stated by the proposal. If the proposal cannot make some
such changes, this does not preclude the other changes from taking
place.
If there is no Agoran Decision to adopt a particular proposal that
has an outcome of ADOPTED, that proposal CANNOT take effect, rules
to the contrary notwithstanding.
Preventing a proposal from taking effect is a secured change; this
does not apply to generally preventing changes to specified areas
of the gamestate, nor to a proposal preventing itself from taking
effect (its no- effect clause is generally interpreted as applying
only to the rest of the proposal). Except insofar as the actions
performed by a proposal happen one after another, rather than
simultaneously, a proposal's effect is instantaneous. A proposal
can neither delay nor extend its own effect. Once a propsal
finishes taking effect, its power is set to 0.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Rules & Regulations
Ah, yes. What would any game be without rules? And these rules
describe how rules work. This section also describes the governance
of the Rulekeepor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2141/10 (Power=3)
Role and Attributes of Rules
A rule is a type of instrument with the capacity to govern the
game generally, and is always taking effect. A rule's content
takes the form of a text, and is unlimited in scope.
Every rule has power between 0.1 and 4.0 inclusive. It is not
possible for a rule to have a power outside this range.
Rules have ID numbers, to be assigned by the Rulekeepor.
Every rule shall have a title to aid in identification. If a rule
ever does not have a title, the the Rulekeepor CAN and SHALL
assign a title to it by announcement in a timely fashion.
For the purposes of rules governing modification of instruments,
the text, power, ID number, and title of a rule are all
substantive aspects of the rule. However, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, the Rulekeepor CAN set rule aspects as described
elsewhere in this rule.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 217/12 (Power=3)
Interpreting the Rules
When interpreting and applying the rules, the text of the rules
takes precedence. Where the text is silent, inconsistent, or
unclear, it is to be augmented by game custom, common sense, past
judgements, and consideration of the best interests of the game.
Definitions and prescriptions in the rules are only to be applied
using direct, forward reasoning; in particular, an absurdity that
can be concluded from the assumption that a statement about
rule-defined concepts is false does not constitute proof that it
is true. Definitions in lower-powered Rules do not overrule
common-sense interpretations or common definitions of terms in
higher-powered rules, but may constructively make reasonable
clarifications to those definitions. For this purpose, a
clarification is reasonable if and only if it adds detail without
changing the underlying general meaning of the term and without
causing the higher powered rule to be read in a way inconsistent
with its text.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, any rule change that would
(1) prevent a person from initiating a formal process to resolve
matters of controversy, in the reasonable expectation that the
controversy will thereby be resolved; or (2) prevent a person from
causing formal reconsideration of any judicial determination that
e should be punished, is wholly void and without effect.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1030/12 (Power=3.2)
Precedence between Rules
In a conflict between Rules, the conflict shall be resolved by
performing the following comparisons in the sequence written in
this rule, until the conflict is resolved.
- In a conflict between Rules with different Power, the Rule with
the higher Power takes precedence over the Rule with the lower
Power; otherwise,
- If all of the Rules in conflict explicitly say that their
precedence relations are determined by some other Rule for
determining precedence relations, then the determinations of the
precedence-determining Rule shall be used to resolve the
conflicts; otherwise,
- If at least one of the Rules in conflict explicitly says of
itself that it defers to another Rule (or type of Rule) or takes
precedence over another Rule (or type of Rule), then such
provisions shall be used to resolve the conflict, unless they
lead to contradictions between each other; otherwise,
- If any of the rules in conflict have ID numbers, then the Rule
with the lowest ID number takes precedence; otherwise,
- The Rule enacted earliest takes precedence.
Clauses in any other rule that broadly claim precedence (e.g. over
"all rules" of a certain class) shall be, prima facie, considered
to be limited claims of precedence or deference that are
applicable only when such claims are evaluated as described within
the above sequence.
No change to the Ruleset can occur that would cause a Rule to
directly claim precedence over this Rule as a means of determining
precedence. This applies to changes by the enactment or amendment
of a Rule, or of any other form. This Rule takes precedence over
any Rule that would permit such a change to the Ruleset.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2240/1 (Power=3)
No Cretans Need Apply
In a conflict between clauses of the same Rule, if exactly one
claims precedence over the other, then it takes precedence;
otherwise, the later clause takes precedence.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 105/19 (Power=3)
Rule Changes
Where permitted by other rules, an instrument generally can, as
part of its effect,
1. enact a rule. The new rule has power equal to the minimum of
the power specified by the enacting instrument, defaulting to
one if the enacting instrument does not specify or if it
specifies a power less than 0.1, and the maximum power
permitted by other rules. The enacting instrument may specify a
title for the new rule, which if present shall prevail. The ID
number of the new rule cannot be specified by the enacting
instrument; any attempt to so specify is null and void.
2. repeal a rule. When a rule is repealed, it ceases to be a rule,
its power is set to 0, and the Rulekeepor need no longer
maintain a record of it.
3. reenact a rule. A repealed rule identified by its most recent
rule number MUST be reenacted with the same ID number and the
next change identifier. If no text is specified, the rule is
reenacted with the same text it had when it was most recently
repealed. If the reenacting proposal provides new text for the
rule, the rule SHOULD have materially the same purpose as did
the repealed version. Unless specified otherwise by the
re-enacting instrument, a re-enacted rule has power equal to
the power it had at the time of its repeal (or power 1, if
power was not defined at the time of that rule's repeal). If
the re-enacting instrument is incapable of setting the
re-enacted rule's power to that value, then the re-enactment is
null and void.
4. amend the text of a rule.
5. retitle a rule.
6. change the power of a rule.
A rule change is any effect that falls into the above classes.
Rule changes always occur sequentially, never simultaneously.
Any ambiguity in the specification of a rule change causes that
change to be void and without effect. An inconsequential variation
in the quotation of an existing rule does not constitute ambiguity
for the purposes of this rule, but any other variation does.
A rule change is wholly prevented from taking effect unless its
full text was published, along with an unambiguous and clear
specification of the method to be used for changing the rule, at
least 4 days and no more than 60 days before it would otherwise
take effect.
This rule provides the only mechanism by which rules can be
created, modified, or destroyed, or by which an entity can become
a rule or cease to be a rule.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2493/5 (Power=3)
Regulations
A regulation is an textual entity defined as such by this rule,
and under the authority of an person, known as its Promulgator. A
regulation must be authorized by a rule (its parent rule) in order
to exist. It has only the effect that rule explicitly gives it.
A regulation CAN be enacted, amended, and repealed as specified by
its parent rule. By default, a Promulgator can enact, amend, or
repeal a regulation with 2 Agoran Consent. Regulations are tracked
in their Promulgator's weekly report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2486/0 (Power=3.14)
The Royal Parade
_
_\ /_
_X_<
.---._ /_\ _.---./`.---._`{/ \}`_.---.`\
| / ___`{\_/}`___ \ |
\ \."`* `"{_}"` *`"./ /
\ \ )\ _\ /_ /( / /
\ *<()( >_X_< )()>* /
|._)/._./_\._.\(_.|
jgs |() () () () () ()|
<<o>><<o>><o>><<o>>
`"""""""""""""""""""`
IN CELEBRATION of Alexis being crowned Princess of Agora,
without prejudice to Any before or since
who may come to hold a Title
whether Patent or otherwise;
IT IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED that a Royal Parade be established,
imbued in this very Rule,
which shall travel around Agora to Rules of import;
AND THEREFORE, the Rulekeepor SHOULD place this Rule
near recently-amended rules of high Power;
AND FURTHERMORE, additions to this Parade are most welcome
when Events suiting the honour should occur.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1051/17 (Power=1)
The Rulekeepor
The Rulekeepor is an office; its holder is responsible for
maintaining the text of the rules of Agora.
The Rulekeepor's Weekly report includes the Short Logical Ruleset.
The Rulekeepor's Monthly report includes the Full Logical Ruleset.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1681/21 (Power=1)
The Logical Rulesets
The Short Logical Ruleset (SLR) is a format of the ruleset. In
this format, each rule is assigned to a category, and the rules
are grouped according to their category.
Rules are assigned to, ordered within, or moved between
categories, and categories are added, changed, or empty categories
removed, as the Rulekeepor sees fit.
The listing of each rule in the SLR must include the rule's ID
number, revision number, power, title, and text.
The Rulekeepor is strongly DISCOURAGED from including any
additional information in the SLR, except that which increases the
readability of the SLR.
The Full Logical Ruleset (FLR) is a format of the ruleset. In this
format, rules are assigned to the same category and presented in
the same order as in the SLR. The FLR must contain all the
information required to be in the SLR, and any historical
annotations which the Rulekeepor is required to record.
The Rulekeepor SHOULD also include any other information which e
feels may be helpful in the use of the ruleset in the FLR.
Whenever a rule is changed in any way, the Rulekeepor SHALL record
a historical annotation to the rule indicating:
1. The type of change.
2. The date on which the change took effect.
3. The mechanism that specified the change.
4. If the rule was changed due to a proposal, then that proposal's
ID number, author, and co-author(s) (if any).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2221/7 (Power=3)
Cleanliness
Any player CAN clean a rule without objection by specifying one or
more corrections to spelling, grammar, capitalization, formatting,
and/or dialect, or to whether a synonym or abbreviation is used in
place of a word or phrase, in the rule's text and/or title; the
rule is amended by this rule as specified by that person.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2429/1 (Power=1)
Bleach
Replacing a non-zero amount of whitespace with a different
non-zero amount of whitespace is generally insignificant, except
for paragraph breaks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Voting
Voting is used primarily for Proposals and Elections. This section
describes Agoran Decisions and how to resolve them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 693/16 (Power=3)
Agoran Decisions
When the rules calls for an Agoran decision to be made, the
decision-making process takes place in the following three
stages, each described elsewhere:
1. Initiation of the decision.
2. Voting of the people.
3. Resolution of the decision.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 107/20 (Power=3)
Initiating Agoran Decisions
An Agoran decision is initiated when a person authorized to
initiate it publishes a valid notice which sets forth the intent
to initiate the decision. This notice is invalid if it lacks any
of the following information, and the lack is correctly identified
within one week after the notice is published:
1. The matter to be decided (for example, "the adoption of
proposal 4781");
2. The voting method;
3. A clear description of the valid options;
4. The identity of the vote collector; and
5. Any additional information defined by the rules as essential
parameters.
The publication of such a valid notice initiates the voting period
for the decision. The voting period lasts for 7 days. The minimum
voting period for a decision with at least two options is five
days. The vote collector for a decision with less than two options
CAN and SHALL end the voting period by announcement, if it has not
ended already, and provided that e resolves the decision in the
same message.
The voting period for a decision cannot be set or changed to a
duration longer than fourteen days.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2528/0 (Power=3)
Voting Methods
Each Agoran decision has a voting method, which must be
AI-majority, instant runoff, or first-past-the-post. The voting
method is that specified by the authorizing authority, or
first-past-the-post by default.
Each Agoran decision has a set of valid options (the choices that
the voters are being asked to select from) and valid votes (the
ways in which the voters can express their opinion or lack
thereof. For AI-majority decisions, the valid options are FOR and
AGAINST; for other decisions, the valid options are defined by
other rules.
The valid votes on an Agoran decision are:
1. PRESENT;
2. The valid conditional votes, as defined by rules of power at
least that of this rule; and
3. For an instant runoff decision, the ordered lists of entities.
4. For any other decision, the valid options.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 683/25 (Power=3)
Voting on Agoran Decisions
An entity submits a ballot on an Agoran decision by publishing a
notice satisfying the following conditions:
1. The ballot is submitted during the voting period for the
decision.
2. The entity casting the ballot (the voter) was, at the
initiation of the decision, a player.
3. The ballot clearly identifies the matter to be decided.
4. The ballot clearly identifies a valid vote, as determined by
the voting method.
5. The ballot clearly sets forth the voter's intent to place
the identified vote.
6. The voter has no other valid ballots on the same decision.
A valid ballot is a ballot, correctly submitted, that has not
been withdrawn. During the voting period of an Agoran decision,
a player CAN by announcement withdraw (syn. retract) a ballot
that e submitted on that decision. To "change" one's vote is to
retract eir previous ballot (if any), then submit a new one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 208/13 (Power=3)
Resolving Agoran Decisions
The vote collector for an unresolved Agoran decision CAN resolve
it by announcement, indicating the outcome. If it was required to
be initiated, then e SHALL resolve it in a timely fashion after
the end of the voting period. To be valid, this announcement must
satisfy the following conditions:
1. It is published after the voting period has ended.
2. It clearly identifies the matter to be resolved.
3. It specifies the number of voters (or a list of the voters).
For these purposes and for determining quorum, a "voter" is
someone who submitted a ballot on the decision that was valid
when it was submitted and also valid (i.e. not withdrawn or
otherwise invalidated) at the end of the voting period.
4. It specifies the outcome, as described elsewhere, and, if there
was more than one valid option, provides a tally of the voters'
valid ballots.
Each Agoran decision has exactly one vote collector, defaulting to
the initiator of the decision. If the vote collector is defined by
reference to a position (or, in the default case, if the initiator
was so defined), then the vote collector is the current holder of
that position.
This rule takes precedence over any rule that would provide
another mechanism by which an Agoran decision may be resolved.
In general, changes to the gamestate due to the outcome of an
Agoran decision take effect when the decision is resolved.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 955/26 (Power=3)
Determining the Will of Agora
Each Agoran decision has a voting method, which determines how
voters may vote on it and how to calculate the outcome. The
strength of a ballot is the voting strength of the voter who cast
it on that Agoran decision.
1. For an AI-majority decision, let F be the total strength of all
valid ballots cast FOR a decision, A be the same for AGAINST,
and AI be the adoption index of the decision. The outcome is
ADOPTED if F/A >= AI and F/A > 1 (or F>0 and A=0), otherwise
REJECTED.
2. For an instant runoff decision, the outcome is whichever option
wins according to the standard definition of instant runoff.
For this purpose, a ballot of strength N is treated as if it
were N distinct ballots expressing the same preferences. In
case multiple valid options tie for the lowest number of votes
at any stage, the vote collector CAN and must, in the
announcement of the decision's resolution, select one such
option to eliminate; if, for M > 1, all eir possible choices in
the next M stages would result in the same set of options being
eliminated, e need not specify the order of elimination. If an
entity that is part of a valid vote is not a valid option at
the end of the voting period, or disqualified by the rule
providing for the decision, then that entity is eliminated
prior to the first round of counting.
3. For a first-past-the-post decision, the outcome is whichever
option received the highest total strength of valid ballots. In
case of a tie, the vote collector CAN and must, in the
announcement of the decision's resolution, select one of the
leaders as the outcome.
The previous notwithstanding:
- If there is more than one option, and the number of voters is
less than the quorum of that decision, the outcome is instead
FAILED QUORUM.
- If there are no valid options, the outcome is null.
The outcome of a decision is determined when it is resolved, and
cannot change thereafter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 879/35 (Power=2)
Quorum
Each Agoran Decision has a quorum. This is a number set when the
decision is created, and thereafter cannot be changed. When a
person initiates an Agoran Decision, that person SHALL state the
quorum of that decision. However, incorrectly stating the quorum
of a decision does not invalidate the initiation, nor does it
actually change the quorum of the decision.
The quorum that an Agoran Decision gains as it is created can be
defined by other rules of power 2 or greater. If no other rule
defines the quorum of an Agoran Decision, the quorum for that
decision is equal to 2/3 of the number of voters on the Agoran
Decision to adopt a proposal that had been most recently resolved
at the time of that decision's initiation, the whole rounded to
the nearest integer (breaking ties upward).
As an exception to the previous paragraph, the quorum of an
Agoran Decision can never be less than 2. If the rules would
attempt to set the quorum of an Agoran Decision to less than 2,
it is set to 2 instead.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2422/3 (Power=3)
Voting Strength
The voting strength of an entity on an Agoran decision is an
integer between 0 and 5 inclusive, defined by rules of power 2
or greater. If not otherwise specified, the voting strength of
an entity on an Agoran decision is 3.
When multiple rules set or modify an entity's voting strength on
an Agoran decision, it shall be determined by first applying the
rule(s) which set it to a specific value, using the ordinary
precedence of rules, and then applying the rules, other than
this one, which modify it, in numerical order by ID. Finally, if
theresult of the calculation is not an integer, it is rounded
up, and then if it is outside the allowable range of values for
voting strength, it is set to the the minimum value if it was
less and the maximum value if it was more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2127/11 (Power=3)
Conditional Votes
A conditional vote on an Agoran decision is a vote which indicates
a vote based on some condition(s). A conditional vote is evaluated
at the end of the voting period and, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, is clearly specified if and only if the value of
the condition(s) is/are determinate at the end of the voting
period. If the conditional is clearly specified, and evaluates to
a valid vote, it is counted as that vote; otherwise, it is counted
as PRESENT.
Any vote which is clearly expressed as a conditional, e.g. "FOR if
<X> is true, AGAINST otherwise", is a valid conditional vote that
evaluates as specified.
A vote endorsing another person is equivalent to a conditional
vote evaluating to the vote specified in that person's valid
ballot on the decision, if any.
For an instant runoff decision, a vote consisting of a list, one
or more entries of which are valid conditional votes, and the
remaining entries of which are valid options, is a valid
conditional vote. Such a vote is evaluated by evaluating each
conditional entry to a list of votes (or an empty list, if it
evaluates to PRESENT either directly or indirectly), and then
concatenating those lists with the specified valid options in the
order they occurred in the original vote.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2168/7 (Power=1)
Extending the voting period
Whenever the voting period of an Agoran decision would end, and
the result would be FAILED QUORUM, the length of the voting period
for that decision is instead increased to 14 days, except if it is
already that length, provided this has not already happened for
the decision in question.
Upon such an occurrence, the vote collector for the decision SHALL
issue a humiliating public reminder naming the slackers who have
not yet cast any votes on it despite being eligible, and CAN end
its voting period by announcement (resolving it constitutes an
implicit announcement that its voting period is first ended) if
the result would no longer be FAILED QUORUM, or if the decision is
whether to adopt a proposal and no voter (other than possibly the
proposal's author) has voted FOR.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1950/33 (Power=3)
Decisions with Adoption Indices
Adoption index is an untracked switch possessed by Agoran
decisions and proposals, whose value is either "none" (default) or
an integral multiple of 0.1 from 1.0 to 9.9.
Adoption index is secured with a power threshold of 2.
Adoption index is an essential parameter of an Agoran decision if
that decision has an adoption index.
For any Agoran decision with an adoption index, the voting method
is AI-majority.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2034/10 (Power=3)
Vote Protection and Cutoff for Challenges
A public message purporting to resolve an Agoran decision
constitutes self-ratifying claims that
1. such a decision existed,
2. it had the number of voters indicated,
3. it was resolved as indicated, and
4. (if the indicated outcome was to adopt a proposal) such a
proposal existed, was adopted, and took effect.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Offices & Reporting
Players who hold offices have control over and track various
different mechanics. These rules govern the special
responsibilities that officers have.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1006/42 (Power=2)
Offices
Officeholder is an office switch tracked by the ADoP, with
possible values of any person or "vacant" (default). An officer is
the holder of an office, who may be referred to by the name of
that office. If the holder of an office is ever not a player, it
becomes vacant.
An imposed office is an office described as such by the rule
defining it. All others are elected. A person CANNOT be made the
holder of an elected office without eir explicit or reasonably
implied consent.
A holder of an elected office who did not become its holder by
winning an election, and has not won an election for that office
since, is an interim holder. An elected office that is either
vacant or has an interim holder is an interim office.
The holder of an elected office CAN resign it by announcement,
causing it to become vacant. The non-interim holder of an elected
office CAN, With 3 Support, resign the office while appointing
another player to become the holder of the office, provided that
other player is one of the Supporters. Any player CAN cause an
office to become vacant without 2 objections.
When a proposal takes effect and creates a new office, if the
proposal does not specify otherwise, the author of that proposal
becomes the holder of the office.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2154/52 (Power=2)
Election Procedure
A player CAN initiate an election for a specified office:
a) With 2 Support, if either the office is interim or the most
recent election for that office was resolved more than 90 days
prior, and provided that the initiator becomes a candidate in the
same message.
b) By announcement, if e is the ADoP and if the office is interim,
or if e is the holder of that office.
The above notwithstanding, an election for an office CANNOT be
initiated if one is already in progress.
When an election is initiated, it enters the nomination period,
which lasts for 4 days. After an election is initiated and until
nominations close, any player CAN become a candidate by
announcement. A candidate ceases to be a candidate if e ceases to
be a player during the election or if holding the office would
make em Overpowered.
An election is contested if it has two or more candidates at the
end of the nomination period, and uncontested otherwise. For a
contested election, nominations close at the end of the poll's
voting period. For an uncontested election, nominations close at
the end of the nomination period.
In a timely fashion after the nomination period ends, the ADoP CAN
and SHALL:
1) If the election is contested, initiate an Agoran decision to
select the winner of the election (the poll). For this decision,
the Vote Collector is the ADoP, the valid options are the
candidates for that election (including those who become
candidates after its initiation), and the voting method is instant
runoff. When the poll is resolved, its outcome, if a player, wins
the election. If the outcome is not a player, the election ends
with no winner.
2) If POSSIBLE per the following paragraph, end the election
immediately.
If at any point an uncontested election has a single candidate,
then any player CAN declare them the winner of the election by
announcement. If at any point an uncontested election has no
candidates, then any player CAN declare the election ended with no
winner by announcement.
When a player wins an election, e is installed into the associated
office and the election ends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2573/0 (Power=2)
Impeachment
A player CAN be expelled (impeached) from a specified elected
office which e holds with 2 Agoran Consent. When a person is
impeached from an office, an election is immediately opened for
that office. Players SHOULD NOT use this method of removal unless
the officer has abused the powers of eir office or otherwise shown
emself unworthy the trust of Agora.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2160/18 (Power=3)
Deputisation
A player (the deputy) CAN perform an action ordinarily reserved
for an office-holder as if e held the office if
1. the rules require the holder of that office, by virtue of
holding that office, to perform the action (this requirement is
fulfilled by the deputy performing the action);
2. it would be POSSIBLE for the deputy to perform the action,
other than by deputisation, if e held the office;
3. either (i) a time limit by which the rules require the action
to be performed has expired or (ii) the office is vacant;
4. either (i) the office is vacant, (ii) the aforementioned time
limit expired more than fourteen days ago, or (iii) the deputy
announced between two and fourteen days earlier that e intended to
deputise for that office for the purposes of the particular
action; and
5. the deputy, when performing the action, announces that e is
doing so by deputisation.
When a player deputises for an elected office, e becomes the
holder of that office, unless the action being performed would
already install someone into that office.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2138/24 (Power=1)
The Associate Director of Personnel
The Associate Director of Personnel (ADoP) is an office; its
holder is responsible for keeping track of officers.
The ADoP's report includes the following:
1. The date of the last change (if any) to each office's
Officeholder.
2. The current status of the ongoing election for that office or,
if there is no ongoing election for that office, the date on
which the last election ended
3. For filled elected offices, whether or not the holder is
interim.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2472/2 (Power=2)
Office Incompatibilities
Some pairs of office are incompatible:
1. Prime Minister and Speaker
2. Promotor and Assessor
3. Assessor and ADoP
4. Referee and Arbitor
A player is Overpowered if e holds two offices which are
incompatible with each other. Rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, a player CANNOT be installed into an office if
doing so would make em Overpowered.
If a player is Overpowered, any player CAN Demand Resignation from
em by announcement, provided e has announced intent do to so
between four and fourteen days earlier. The Overpowered player is
then removed from all offices.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2143/27 (Power=1)
Official Reports and Duties
For each person:
1. If any task is defined by the rules as part of that person's
weekly duties, then e SHALL perform it at least once each week.
If any information is defined by the rules as part of that
person's weekly report, then e SHALL maintain all such
information, and the publication of all such information is
part of eir weekly duties.
2. If any task is defined by the rules as part of that person's
monthly duties, then e SHALL perform it at least once each
month. If any information is defined by the rules as part of
that person's monthly report, then e SHALL maintain all such
information, and the publication of all such information is
part of eir monthly duties.
Any information defined by the rules as part of a person's report,
without specifying which one, is part of eir weekly report.
Failure of a person to perform any duty required of em within the
allotted time is the Class-2 crime of Tardiness.
An official duty for an office is any duty that the Rules
specifically assign to that office's holder in particular
(regardless of eir identity).
A person SHALL NOT publish information that is inaccurate or
misleading while performing an official duty, or within a document
purporting to be part of any person or office's weekly or monthly
report.
Reports SHALL be published in plain text. Tabular data must line
up properly when viewed in a monospaced font. Publishing a report
that deviates from these restrictions is the Class 2 Crime of
Making My Eyes Bleed.
Officers SHOULD maintain a publicly visible copy of their reports
on the World Wide Web, and they SHOULD publish the address of this
copy along with their published reports.
A convergence is any change to the gamestate that has, in
accordance with the rules, been designated as such. A change to
the gamestate SHOULD NOT be designated as a convergence unless it
is designed to resolve gamestate ambiguity. Designating a change
as a convergence is secured; any player CAN do so with 3 Agoran
Consent. When officeholders provide historical information, they
NEED NOT accurately document the changes made by the convergence
or related ambiguities, provided that they instead note that the
convergence occurred. Information about a convergence (but not the
resulting state) is inherently uncertain and is thus excluded from
self-ratification.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2379/0 (Power=1)
No News Is Some News
If the rules define a report as including a list, then while that
list is empty, that report includes the fact that it is empty.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Documents
Documents are little bits of text that can be ratified, therefore
modifying the gamestate slightly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1551/19 (Power=3.1)
Ratification
A public document is part (possibly all) of a public message.
When a public document is ratified, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, the gamestate is modified to what it would be if,
at the time the ratified document was published, the gamestate had
been minimally modified to make the ratified document as true and
accurate as possible; however, if the document explicitly
specifies a different past time as being the time the document was
true, the specified time is used to determine the minimal
modifications. Such a modification cannot add inconsistencies
between the gamestate and the rules, and it cannot include rule
changes unless the ratified document explicitly and unambiguously
recites either the changes or the resulting properties of the
rule(s). If no such modification is possible, or multiple
substantially distinct possible modifications would be equally
appropriate, the ratification fails.
An internally inconsistent document generally cannot be ratified;
however, if such a document can be divided into a summary section
and a main section, where the only purpose of the summary section
is to summarize information in the main section, and the main
section is internally consistent, ratification of the document
proceeds as if it contained only the main section.
Text purportedly about previous instances of ratification (e.g. a
report's date of last ratification) is excluded from ratification.
The rules may define additional information that is considered to
be part of the document for the purposes of ratification; such
definitions are secured at a Power Threshold of 3.
Ratifying a public document is secured with power threshold 3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2202/6 (Power=3)
Ratification Without Objection
Any player CAN, without objection, ratify a public document,
specifying its scope.
Ratification Without Objection CANNOT cause the repeal, amendment,
enactment, or mutation of any Rule, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding.
A player SHALL NOT knowingly use or announce intent to use
Ratification Without Objection to ratify a (prior to ratification)
document containing incorrect or Indeterminate information when a
corrected document could be produced with reasonable effort,
unless the general nature of the document's error and reason for
ratifying it is clearly and plainly described in the announcement
of intent. Such ratification or announcement of intent to ratify
is the Class-8 Crime of Endorsing Forgery.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2201/7 (Power=3)
Self-Ratification
A public document defined by the rules as self-ratifying is
ratified when it is continuously undoubted for one week.
A doubt is an explicit public challenge via one of the following
methods, identifying a document and explaining the scope and
nature of a perceived error in it:
1. An inquiry case, appropriate for questions of legal
interpretation.
2. A claim of error, appropriate for matters of fact. The
publisher of the original document SHALL (if e was required to
publish that document) or SHOULD (otherwise) do one of the
following in a timely fashion:
1. Deny the claim (causing it to cease to be a doubt).
2. Publish a revision.
3. Initiate an inquiry case regarding the truth of the claim
(if the subject is actually a matter of law), or cite a
relevant existing inquiry case.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Justice
So you've broken a rule. Now what? This section describes Blots, the
main method of punishment for Agorans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2556/0 (Power=3)
Penalties
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, an impure person CANNOT win
the game.
The voting strength of a player on an Agoran Decision is reduced
by 1 for every 3 blots in eir possession.
A player CAN, with 7 days notice, deregister (exile) a specified
player (the outlaw) who has more than 40 blots.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2555/2 (Power=2)
Blots
Blots are an indestructible fixed currency with ownership
restricted to persons. A person with 1 or more blots is Impure, a
person with 0 blots is Pure. An impure unregistered person is a
Fugitive.
To Levy a Fine of N on a person, where N is a positive integer, is
to grant em N blots. To expunge a blot is to destroy it.
Levying fines and destroying blots are each secured with a power
threshold of 1.7.
The Referee is an office, and the recordkeepor for blots.
If a player has neither gained blots nor expunged any blots from
emself in the current Agoran week, e CAN expunge 1 blot from
emself by announcement.
At the beginning of each quarter, half (rounded down) of each
fugitive's blots are destroyed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2478/8 (Power=1.7)
Vigilante Justice
A player CAN by announcement, but subject to the provisions of
this rule, Point eir Finger at a person (the perp) who plays the
game, citing an alleged violation of the rules by that person.
When a player Points a Finger, the investigator SHALL investigate
the allegation and, in a timely fashion, SHALL conclude the
investigation by:
- Imposing the Cold Hand of Justice on the perp, as described
elsewhere; or
- if e believes that no rules violation occurred or that it would
be ILLEGAL or INEFFECTIVE to levy a fine for it, announcing the
Finger Pointing to be Shenanigans.
The Referee is by default the investigator for all Finger
Pointing. When a Finger, other than the Arbitor's, is Pointed over
an allegation related to the official duties or powers of the
Referee, then the Arbitor CAN, by announcement, take over the
investigation and thereby become the investigator.
The Referee CANNOT Point eir Finger. The Arbitor CANNOT Point eir
Finger at the Referee.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2479/5 (Power=1.7)
Official Justice
The Referee CAN, subject to the provisions of this rule, impose
Summary Judgment on a person who plays the game by levying a fine
of up to 2 blots on em. Summary Judgement is imposed on the
Referee's own initiative, and not in response to any official
proceeding.
The Referee CANNOT impose Summary Judgement more than three times
a week.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2557/1 (Power=1.7)
Removing Blots
When the rules authorize an investigator to impose the Cold Hand
of Justice for a violation, e CAN do so by levying a fine on the
perp with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2x the base value of the
violation, within the following guidelines:
- If the violation is described by the rules as a Class N crime,
then N is the base value; otherwise the base value is 2.
- The fine SHOULD be reduced to the degree that the violation is a
minor, accidental, and/or inconsequential infraction.
- The fine SHOULD be increased to the degree that the violation is
willful, profitable, egregious, or an abuse of an official
position.
Optionally, in the same message in which e imposes justice, the
investigator CAN specify that the violation is forgivable,
specifying up to 10 words to be included in an apology. If the
investigator does so, the perp CAN, in a timely fashion, expunge P
blots from emself, where P is the minimum of the value of the fine
and 3, by publishing a formal apology of at least 200 words and
including all the specified words, explaining eir error, shame,
remorse, and ardent desire for self-improvement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2531/4 (Power=2)
Referee Accountability
Any attempt to levy a fine is INEFFECTIVE if:
(1) it does not include value of the fine in blots, the name of
the person being fined (the perp), and the specific reason for
the fine;
(2) it attempts to levy a fine on a person for an action or
inaction which e (more likely than not) did not commit;
(3) it attempts to levy a fine for an action or inaction which is
not prohibited by the rules;
(4) it attempts to levy a fine with a value that is blatantly and
obviously unsuited to the conduct which constitutes the reason
for its levy or to the person on whom it is being levied;
(5) it attempts to levy a fine (i) by summary judgement more than
14 days after the action constituting the reason for the fine
or (ii) based upon the investigation of of a Finger that had
been Pointed more than 14 days after the action constituting
the reason for the fine;
(6) it attempts to levy a fine on a player for failing to take an
action within the time period set by the Rules and that time
period had expired (i) more than 14 days prior to the
attempted fine, if the attempted fine is imposed by summary
judgement or (ii) more than 14 days prior to the Pointed
Finger, if the fine is imposed based on an investigation of
such Finger;
(7) it attempts to levy a fine on a player who has already been
fined for the conduct constituting the reason for the levy; or
(8) it attempts to levy a fine on a zombie for an action that its
master performed on its behalf.
If the Referee attempts to levy three or more INEFFECTIVE fines in
a week, any player CAN, with two support, issue a writ of
Impartial Arbitration Restoration, immediately making the position
of Referee vacant. When a writ of Impartial Arbitration
Restoration is issued, the ADoP SHALL initiate an election for the
Referee within a timely fashion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Calls for Judgement
What if there is a rule conflict? What if we can't decide what a rule
means? Well then, it's time to call a CFJ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 991/29 (Power=2)
Calls for Judgement
Any person (the initiator) can initiate a Call for Judgement (CFJ,
syn. Judicial Case), specifying a statement to be inquired into by
announcement.
When a person initiates a Call for Judgement, e CAN optionally bar
one person from the case by announcement.
At any time, each CFJ is either open (default), suspended, or
assigned exactly one judgement.
The Arbitor is an office, responsible for the administration of
justice in a manner that is fair for emself, if not for the rest
of Agora.
When a CFJ has no judge assigned, the Arbitor CAN assign any
eligible player to be its judge by announcement, and SHALL do so
in a timely fashion. The players eligible to be assigned as judge
are all active players except the initiator and the person barred
(if any). The Arbitor SHALL assign judges over time such that all
interested players have reasonably equal opportunities to judge.
If a CFJ has no judge assigned, then any player eligible to judge
that CFJ CAN assign it to emself Without 3 Objections.
The Arbitor's weekly report includes a summary of recent judicial
case activity, including open and recently-judged cases, recent
judicial assignments, and a list of players interested in judging.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 591/45 (Power=1.7)
Delivering Judgements
When a CFJ is open and assigned to a judge, that judge CAN assign
a valid judgement to it by announcement, and SHALL do so in a
timely fashion after this becomes possible. If e does not, the
Arbitor CAN remove em from being the judge of that case by
announcement, and SHALL do so in a timely fashion after the time
limit expires, unless the judge assigns a valid judgement in the
mean time.
The valid judgements for an inquiry case are as follows, based on
the facts and legal situation at the time the inquiry case was
initiated, not taking into account any events since that time:
* FALSE, appropriate if the statement was factually and
logically false
* TRUE, appropriate if the statement was factually and
logically true
* IRRELEVANT, appropriate if the veracity of the statement is
not relevant to the game or is an overly hypothetical
extrapolation of the game or its rules to conditions that don't
actually exist, or if it can be trivially determined from the
outcome of another (possibly still undecided) judicial case that
was not itself judged IRRELEVANT
* INSUFFICIENT, appropriate if the statement does not come
with supporting arguments or evidence, and the judge feels as if
an undue burden is being placed on em by the lack of arguments
and evidence. A CFJ judged as INSUFFICIENT CAN and SHOULD be
submitted again with sufficient arguments/evidence.
* DISMISS, appropriate if the statement is malformed, undecidable,
if insufficient information exists to make a judgement with
reasonable effort, or the statement is otherwise not able to be
answered with another valid judgement. DISMISS is not
appropriate if PARADOXICAL is appropriate.
* PARADOXICAL, appropriate if the statement is logically
undecidable as a result of a paradox or or other irresovable
logical situation. PARADOXICAL is not appropriate if IRRELEVANT
is appropriate, nor is it appropriate if the undecidability
arises from the case itself or in reference to it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 911/54 (Power=1.7)
Motions and Moots
If a judgement has been in effect for less then seven days and has
not been entered into Moot, then:
- The judge of that CFJ CAN self-file a Motion to Reconsider the
case by announcement, if e has not already self-filed a Motion
to Reconsider that CFJ.
- Any Player CAN group-file a Motion to Reconsider the case with 2
Support, if the CFJ has not had a Motion to Reconsider
group-filed for it at any time while it has been assigned to its
current judge.
When a Motion to Reconsider is so filed, the case is rendered open
again.
If a CFJ has a judgement assigned, a player CAN enter that
judgement into Moot with N+2 support, where N is the number of
weeks since that judgement has been assigned, rounded down. When
this occurs, the CFJ is suspended, and the Arbitor is once
authorized to initiate the Agoran decision to determine public
confidence in the judgement, which e SHALL do in a timely fashion.
For this decision, the vote collector is the Arbitor and the valid
options are AFFIRM, REMAND, and REMIT. When the decision is
resolved, the effect depends on the outcome:
- AFFIRM, FAILED QUORUM: The judgement is reassigned to the case,
and cannot be entered into Moot again.
- REMAND: The case becomes open again.
- REMIT: The case becomes open again, and the current judge is
recused. The Arbitor SHALL NOT assign em to the case again
unless no other eligible judges have displayed interest in
judging.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2175/9 (Power=1)
Judicial Retraction and Excess
A new case is a judicial case that has not had any judge assigned
to it. The initiator of a new case CAN retract it by announcement,
thus causing it to cease to be a judicial case.
An excess case is a new case whose initiator previously initiated
five or more cases during the same week as that case. A person
SHALL NOT initiate an excess case. The Arbitor CAN refuse an
excess case by announcement, thus causing it to cease to be a
judicial case. When e does so, e fulfills any obligations with
regards to that case.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2492/3 (Power=1)
Recusal
A judge CAN recuse emself from a CFJ e is assigned to by
announcement. When a judge recuses emself from a CFJ, then
* the CFJ becomes unassigned;
* the recused judge becomes ineligible to be assigned as a judge
* for a week; and
* the recused judge SHOULD suggest another judge for the CFJ to
* make the Arbitor's job easier.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Obligations & Contracts
Agreements, promises, treaties, whatever you call them. This section
contains rules which can bind players to obligations, in the form of
Pledges and Contracts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2471/1 (Power=1)
No Faking
A person SHALL NOT make a public statement that is a lie. A
statment is a lie if its publisher either knew or believed it to
be not to be true at the time e published it (or, in the case of
an action, not to be effective), and it was made with the intent
to mislead. Merely quoting a statement does not constitute making
it for the purposes of this rule. Any disclaimer, conditional
clause, or other qualifier attached to a statement constitutes
part of the statement for the purposes of this rule; the truth or
falsity of the whole is what is significant.
The previous provisions of this rule notwithstanding, a formal
announcement of intent is never a lie.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2450/5 (Power=1.7)
Pledges
If a Player makes a clear public pledge (syn. Oath) to perform (or
refrain from performing) certain actions, then breaking the pledge
within the pledge's time window is the Class N crime of
Oathbreaking, where N is 2 unless the pledge explicitly states
otherwise. The time window of a pledge is 60 days, unless the
pledge explicitly states otherwise.
If breaking the pledge harms specific other parties, the Referee
SHOULD solicit the opinion of those parties in determining an
appropriate fine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2466/1 (Power=3)
Acting on Behalf
When a rule allows one person (the agent) to act on behalf of
another (the principal) to perform an action, that agent CAN
perform the action if it is POSSIBLE for the principal to do so,
taking into account any prerequisites for the action. If the
enabling rule does not specify the mechanism by which the agent
may do so, then the agent CAN perform the action in the same
manner in which the principal CAN do so, with the additional
requirement that the agent must, in the message in which the
action is performed, uniquely identify the principal and that the
action is being taken on behalf of that person.
A person SHALL NOT act on behalf of another person if doing so
causes the second person to violate the rules. A person CANNOT act
on behalf of another person to do anything except perform a game
action; in particular, a person CANNOT act on behalf of another
person to send a message, only to perform specific actions that
might be taken within a message.
When an action is performed on behalf of a principal, then the
action is considered for all game purposes to have been performed
by the principal, unless a rule specifically states that it is
treated differently for some purpose, in which case it is treated
as described by that rule.
Allowing a person to act on behalf of another person is secured at
power 2.0. This rule takes precedence over any rule that would
prohibit a person from taking an action, except that it defers to
any rule that imposes limitations specifically on actions taken on
behalf of another person.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2519/0 (Power=3)
Consent
A person gives consent (syn. consents) to an action when e, acting
as emself, publicly states that e agrees to the action. This
agreement may be implied, but only if it is reasonably clear from
context that the person wanted the agreement to take place.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1742/19 (Power=2.5)
Contracts
Any group of two or more consenting persons (the parties) may
make an agreement among themselves with the intention that it be
binding upon them and be governed by the rules. Such an agreement
is known as a contract. A contract may be modified, including
by changing the set of parties, by agreement between all existing
parties. A contract may also terminate by agreement between all
parties. A contract automatically terminates if the number of
parties to it falls below two. For the purposes of this rule,
agreement includes both consent and agreement specified by
contract.
Parties to a contract governed by the rules SHALL act in
accordance with that contract. This obligation is not impaired
by contradiction between the contract and any other contract, or
between the contract and the rules.
A party to a contract may act on behalf of another party to
it as allowed in the contract.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Assets
Assets are things players can own. This section describes how that
works.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2166/28 (Power=3)
Assets
An asset is an entity defined as such by a document that has been
granted Mint Authority by the Rules (hereafter the asset's backing
document), and existing solely because its backing document
defines its existence. An asset's backing document can generally
specify when and how that asset is created, destroyed, and
transferred.
The rules collectively have Mint Authority. Contracts have Mint
Authority. A rule defined asset is public; one defined by a
contract is private.
The recordkeepor of a class of assets is the entity (if any)
defined as such by, and bound by, its backing document. That
entity's report includes a list of all instances of that class and
their owners. This portion of that entity's report is
self-ratifying.
For a class of assets to be "tracked by" an entity is for that
entity to be its recordkeepor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2576/0 (Power=3)
Ownership
Each asset has exactly one owner. If an asset's backing document
restricts its ownership to a class of entities, then that asset
CANNOT be gained by or transferred to an entity outside that
class, and is destroyed if it is owned by an entity outside that
class. The restrictions in the previous sentence are subject to
modification by its backing document. By default, ownership of an
asset is restricted to Agora, players, and contracts.
If an asset would otherwise lack an owner, it is owned by the Lost
and Found Department. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the
Lost and Found Department can own assets of every type. Assets
owned by the Lost and Found Department can be transferred or
destroyed by any player without objection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2577/1 (Power=3)
Asset Actions
An asset generally CAN be destroyed by its owner by announcement,
subject to modification by its backing document. An indestructible
asset is one defined as such by it backing document, and CANNOT be
destroyed except by a proposal or rule, other than this one,
specifically addressing the destruction of indestructible assets
or that asset in particular; any other asset is destructible.
For an entity to earn an asset is for that asset to be created in
that entity's possession. To grant an entity an asset is to create
it in eir possession.
For an entity to lose an asset is for that asset to be destroyed
from that entity's possession. To revoke an asset from an entity
is to destroy it from that entity's possession.
For entity A to take an asset from entity B is to transfer it from
entity B to entity A.
An asset generally CAN be transferred (syn. given) by announcement
by its owner to another entity, subject to modification by its
backing document. A fixed asset is one defined as such by its
backing document, and CANNOT be transferred; any other asset is
liquid.
When a rule indicates transferring an amount that is not a natural
number, the specified amount is rounded up to the nearest natural
number.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2578/0 (Power=3)
Currencies
A currency is a class of asset defined as such by its backing
document. Instances of a currency with the same owner are
fungible.
The "x balance of an entity", where x is a currency, is the number
of x that entity possesses. Where it resolves ambiguity, the asset
or currency being referred to is the currency designated as
"Agora's official currency", if there is one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2579/0 (Power=3)
Fee-based Actions
If the Rules associate payment of a set of assets (hereafter
the fee for the action; syns: cost, price, charge) with performing
an action, that action is a fee-based action.
If the fee is a non-integer quantity of a fungible asset, the
actual fee is the next highest integer amount of that asset.
To perform a fee-based action, an entity (the Actor) who is
otherwise permitted to perform the action must announce that e is
performing the action; the announcement must specify the correct
set of assets for the fee and indicate intent to pay that fee for
the sole purpose of performing the action.
Upon such an announcement:
- If the Rules specify a recipient for the fee, and the Actor
CAN transfer that specified fee from emself to the recipient,
then that fee is transferred from the Actor to the recipient
and the action is performed simultaneously;
- If the Rules do not specify a recipient, and the Actor CAN
destroy the specified fee in eir possession, then that fee in
eir possession is destroyed and the action is performed
simultaneously.
- Otherwise, no changes are made to asset holdings and the
action is not performed.
If the Rules define a fee-based action but the specified set of
assets is the empty set, then the action can be performed by
announcement, but the announcement must include that there is an
(empty or 0) fee for the action.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Economics
The economic landscape changes quickly in Agora. No matter what name
we give to them, though, they all function similarly. This section
only describes the core mechanics. Any other economic subsystems are
described elsewhere.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2456/6 (Power=1)
The Treasuror
The Treasuror is an office.
The Treasuror's weekly report includes the list of all public
classes of assets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2483/12 (Power=2)
Economics
Coins are the official currency of Agora tracked by the Treasuror.
They can be owned by Agora, players, and contracts.
A player CAN win the game by paying a fee of 1,000 Coins.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2496/7 (Power=1)
Rewards
A player CAN create in eir possession the set of assets associated
with a reward condition exactly once in a timely fashion each time
e fulfills it by stating how many assets e earns as a result of
this action.
Below is a list of reward conditions and their associated assets.
* Being the author of an adopted proposal: a number of coins equal
to ((the total strength of all valid ballots cast FOR the
decision - the total strength of all valid ballots cast AGAINST)
times the adoption index of the result) rounded up.
* Judging a CFJ that e was assigned to: 5 coins.
* Publishing a duty-fulfilling report: 5 coins. This reward can
only be claimed once per office per week for a weekly report and
once per office per month for a monthly report.
* Having a Thesis pass peer-review and be granted a Degree based
on its merit: 20 shinies.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2559/6 (Power=2)
Paydays
Whenever a Payday occurs, the following events happen in order:
1. Each player first earns 10 coins; then
2. For each office, if a single player held that office for 16 or
more days in the previous month and no unforgivable fines were
levied on em for eir conduct in that office during that time,
that player earns 5 coins.
The occurrence of Paydays is secured. At the beginning of each
month, a Payday occurs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2499/6 (Power=1)
Welcome Packages
If a player has not received a Welcome Package since e most
recently registered, any player CAN cause em to receive one by
announcement.
When a player receives a Welcome Package, e earns 10 coins.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Auctions
If you want to give out assets, this is the section to look at.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2545/2 (Power=2)
Auctions
An Auction is a way for entities to give away items in exchange
for a currency. Any rule CAN permit or require Auctions to be
initiated.
Each Auction has one or more lots of items. A lot is a non-empty
list of items to be transferred to a single recipient.
Each Auction has an Auctioneer. All rules permitting Auctions to
be initiated should specify an entity to be Auctioneer. If no
Auctioneer is specified, the default Auctioneer is Agora.
Each Auction has an Announcer. Only persons can be Announcers. If
the Auctioneer of an Auction is a player, then that player is also
the Announcer of that Auction. Otherwise, the rule defining an
Auction CAN define the Announcer for that Auction.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2549/3 (Power=1)
Auction Initiation
An entity authorized by a rule to initiate an Auction CAN do so by
announcement. If the rule specifies that that entity MUST do so,
that entity SHALL do so in a timely fashion. An Auction CANNOT be
initiated other than as described by a rule.
An Auction CANNOT be initiated unless the announcer specifies all
of
* the Auction's lots, in the order they will be awarded,
* the items in each lot,
* the Auction's Auctioneer,
* the Auction's Announcer,
* the Auction's minimum bid, and, optionally
* the Auction's currency
in the message initiating the Auction. An Auction also CANNOT be
initiated unless the Auctioneer is able to give away each item in
each of the Auction's lots.
If no currency is specified, it defaults to Agora's official
currency.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2550/1 (Power=1)
Bidding
A person authorized to bid on an Auction CAN do so by
announcement, specifying the amount of the Auction's currency to
bid. A bid placed on an Auction before it is initiated, or after
it has ended, is INEFFECTIVE.
An attempt to place a bid which is less than the Auction's minimum
bid is INEFFECTIVE.
A person CAN withdraw their bid on an Auction by announcement. If
a person submits a bid on an Auction, all bids previously placed
on that Auction by that person are withdrawn.
A rule defining an Auction CAN specify a class of players who are
authorized to bid on that Auction. If the rule does not specify a
class of authorized bidders, any player is authorized to bid on an
Auction defined by a rule.
A person SHALL NOT bid on an Auction if it would be impossible for
em to pay that amount at the conclusion of the Auction.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2551/2 (Power=1)
Auction End
An Auction ends 7 days after its initiation, or immediately if no
bid has been placed or withdrawn in the last 96 hours, or
immediately if it is terminated.
When an Auction ends, any bid placed by an entity which does not
own enough of the Auction's currency to pay the amount specified
in the bid is automatically withdrawn.
Once an Auction has ended, any further attempts to bid on that
Auction or to withdraw bids from that Auction are INEFFECTIVE.
Once the Auction has ended, the Auction's announcer SHALL announce
the end of the Auction in a timely fashion. In the same message, e
SHALL include the a list of all the bids on the Auction and the
winner(s) (if there are any) of the Auction.
A person's priority on an Auction is their position in the list of
persons who have bid on the Auction, sorted by the value of their
non-withdrawn bids in descending order. If two persons have placed
non-withdrawn bids for the same value, a player who placed their
non-withdrawn bid first has a higher priority than a player who
placed their non-withdrawn bid at a later time.
For each lot in the Auction, the winner of that lot is the player
with the highest priority on the Auction who has not won any
previous lot. If there are more lots than there are persons with
non-withdrawn bids, the excess lots are not won by any person.
The winner of a lot SHALL pay the Auctioneer the number of the
Auction's currency equal to eir bid, in a single payment, in a
timely fashion. When e does so, if the auctioneer CAN transfer the
items in that lot to that winner at will, e immediately does so;
otherwise, e SHALL do so in a timely fashion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2552/0 (Power=1)
Auction Termination
Any player CAN terminate an Auction, by announcement, if the
Auction has not ended and the Auctioneer of that Auction cannot
transfer any item included in a lot in that Auction.
When an Auction is terminated, all bids on that Auction are
withdrawn, and then the Auction ends immediately.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2584/0 (Power=1)
Free Auctions
A player who is not the Auctioneer of an existing Auction
specified by this rule CAN, by announcement, initiate an auction
with emself as the Announcer and Auctioneer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
The Undead
A silly mechanic describing what happens after you become inactive.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2532/2 (Power=2)
Zombies
Master is a secured player switch with possible values of any
player, and Agora. Every player's default master is emself; rules
to the contrary notwithstanding, a player CAN always flip eir own
master to emself by announcement.
A player whose master is not emself is a zombie (syn. inactive);
all other players are active. A zombie's master, if another
player, is allowed to act on behalf of the zombie (i.e. as the
zombie's agent), except a master CANNOT act on behalf of a zombie
to:
- initiate, support, object to, or perform a dependent action;
- act on behalf of that zombie's zombies;
- bid in a zombie auction;
- enter a contract, pledge, or other type of agreement;
- initiate a Call fo Judgement;
- deregister.
A zombie's master CAN flip that zombie's master switch to Agora by
announcement.
If a master causes a zombie to perform an ILLEGAL action, the
master commits the Class 4+N Crime of Masterminding (where N is
the class of the illegal action).
If a active player who was a zombie has not received a Welcome
Package since e most recently ceased being a zombie, and if eir
resale value was less than 2 at any point during eir most recent
time as a zombie, then any player CAN cause em to receive a
Welcome Package by announcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2574/1 (Power=3)
Zombie Life Cycle
Any player CAN, with Notice, flip the master switch of an active
player who has not made a public announcement in the past 60 days
to Agora.
Resale is a secured natural switch for zombies, tracked by the
Registrar, with a default value of 2. Whenever a zombie's master
switch is flipped to a player other than emself, eir resale value
is decreased by 1. At the end of a zombie auction, every zombie
that is an excess lot in that auction has eir resale value
decreased by 1.
A zombie with a resale value of 0 CANNOT have eir master switch
flipped to a player other than emself, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding.
Any player CAN, with Notice:
- If a zombie has been a zombie for the past 90 days and not had
Agora for a master during any of that time, flip the zombie's
master switch to Agora;
- If a player is master to more than one zombie, flip the master
switch of one of that master's zombies to Agora;
- Deregister a zombie whose master is Agora and who has a Resale
value of 0.
The Registrar SHALL track the date that each zombie last belonged
to Agora in eir weekly report. The Registrar SHALL perform all
POSSIBLE actions in the preceding paragraph in a timely fashion
after first reporting their possibility via the facts in eir
weekly report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1885/9 (Power=2)
Zombie Auctions
Whenever a zombie (1) has Agora for a master, (2) is not a lot in
an ongoing auction, (3) has a resale value greater than 0, and (4)
has not been won as an auction lot in the past 14 days, then the
Registrar CAN put that zombie (along with any other zombies that
fulfill the same conditions) up for auction.
In a timely fashion after the beginning of each month, the
Registrar SHALL either initiate such an auction or, if no zombies
meeting these conditions existed at the beginning of the month,
announce that no such auction is necessary.
For such an auction, the lots are the qualifying zombies, ordered
at the discretion of the Registrar. The Registrar is the
announcer, and the minimum bid is 1. Rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, the master of a zombie CANNOT bid in a zombie
auction. If a player becomes a zombie's master, all eir bids in
zombie auctions that have not ended are withdrawn. For the purpose
of such a auction, to transfer a zombie to a player is to set that
zombie's master switch to that player.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, if a player's master switch
is flipped while a zombie auction in which e is a lot is ongoing,
then the winner of that lot NEED NOT pay Agora eir bid and Agora
CANNOT and NEED NOT transfer the contents of the lot to the
winner.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Victory & Karma
All games have winners, and Agora is no exception. If you're
interested in getting some serious bragging points among the Agorans,
this is the right place to look.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2449/3 (Power=3)
Winning the Game
When the Rules state that a person or persons win the game, those
persons win the game; specifically they win the Round that ends
with the indicated win. Agora itself does not end and the ruleset
remains unchanged. The Herald is then authorized to award those
persons the Patent Title of Champion once, by announcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2465/0 (Power=0.3)
Victory by Apathy
A player CAN Declare Apathy without objection, specifying a set of
players. Upon doing so, the specified players win the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2510/4 (Power=1)
Such is Karma
Karma is a person switch tracked by the Herald in eir Weekly
Report. Karma is an Integer switch. Agora also has an instance of
the Karma switch.
A player CAN publish a Notice of Honour. For a Notice of Honour
to be valid, it must:
1. Be clear that it is a Notice of Honour, and be the first valid
Notice of Honour that player has published in the current week;
2. Specify any other player or Agora to gain karma, and provide a
reason for specifying that player; and
3. Specify any player or Agora to lose karma, and provide a reason
for specifying that player.
4. Not result in Agora's karma moving farther away from 0.
When a valid Notice of Honour is published, the entity specified
to gain karma has eir karma increased by one, and the entity
specified to lose karma has eir karma decreased by one. Raising
one entity's karma while lowering another's in this manner is
considered to be a "transfer" of karma.
A player's positions in Court are defined as follows:
- Any player with a karma of 5 or greater is a Samurai.
- Any player with a karma of -5 or less is an Gamma.
- The Samurai with the highest karma (if any) is the Shogun.
- The Gamma with the lowest karma (if any) is the Honourless
Worm.
Each player's positions in Court are part of of the Herald's
Weekly Report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2511/2 (Power=1)
Karmic Balance
In a timely fashion after the beginning of each Quarter, the
Herald CAN and SHALL by announcement, perform the following tasks
in order:
1. Halve (rounding towards 0) the Karma of every Unregistered
person.
2. Set the Karma of Agora such that the sum of all Karma switch
instance values in the game is equal to 0.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2553/0 (Power=1)
Win by Paradox
If a CFJ about the legality or possibility of a game action, has
been assigned a judgment of PARADOXICAL continuously for at least
7 days, and e has not done so already in respect of that CFJ, then
that case's initiator CAN, by announcement, win the game.
A player who wins in this fashion SHOULD submit a proposal to
prevent the paradox from arising again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Awards
Even if it's not a win, there are still a good few opportunities to
win bragging points, like Ribbons and Patent Titles.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2438/9 (Power=3)
Ribbons
The Tailor is an office, and the recordkeepor of Ribbons.
Ribbon Ownership is a person switch, tracked by the Tailor in eir
monthly report, whose values are the subsets of the set of types
of Ribbon, defaulting to the empty set. If the rules are amended
to change the types of Ribbon, if a player's Ribbon Ownership is
subsequently illegal, then it is updated by removing all
nonexistent types rather than resetting the entire value to
default.
To "award a person a <Ribbon type>" is to add that type of Ribbon
to that person's Ribbon Ownership. A person "owns a <Ribbon type>"
if that type of Ribbon is an element of eir Ribbon Ownership.
While a person qualifies for a type of Ribbon, any player CAN, by
announcement, award em that type of Ribbon. A person qualifies for
a type of Ribbon if e has earned that type of Ribbon within the
preceding 7 days (including earlier in the same message) and has
not owned that type of Ribbon within the preceding 7 days.
While a person owns all types of Ribbon, that person can Raise a
Banner by announcement. This causes that person to win the game.
That person's Ribbon Ownership becomes the empty set.
The types of Ribbon, and the methods of obtaining them, are as
follows:
Red (R): When a proposal is adopted and changes at least one rule
with Power >= 3, its proposer earns a Red Ribbon.
Orange (O): When a proposal is adopted via an Agoran Decision on
which no valid ballots were AGAINST (after evaluating
conditionals), its proposer earns an Orange Ribbon.
Green (G): While a person has held an elected office continuously
for 30 days, and has not failed to perform any duties of that
office within the appropriate time limits during those 30 days,
that person qualifies for a Green Ribbon.
Cyan (C): When a person deputises for an office, that person earns
a Cyan Ribbon.
Blue (B): When a person assigns a judgement to a CFJ, and has
never violated a time limit to assign a judgement to that CFJ,
that person earns a Blue Ribbon.
Magenta (M): During Agora's Birthday, each person who has publicly
acknowledged the fact qualifies for a Magenta Ribbon.
Ultraviolet (U): When a person is awarded the Patent Title
Champion, that person earns an Ultraviolet Ribbon.
Violet (V): When a person is awarded a Patent Title other than
Champion or a degree, that person earns a Violet Ribbon.
Indigo (I): When a person is awarded a degree, that person earns
an Indigo Ribbon.
Platinum (P): The Speaker qualifies for a Platinum Ribbon.
Lime (L): A person qualifies for a Lime Ribbon if three or more
proposals adopted in the preceding 7 days had that person as a
coauthor.
White (W): A player qualifies for a White Ribbon if e has never
previously owned a White Ribbon (including under previous
rulesets). A player who has been registered for at least 30 days
and has never caused another person to gain a White Ribbon
(including under a previous ruleset) CAN award a White Ribbon to
another person by announcement.
Black (K): This rule does not specify any methods of obtaining
Black Ribbons.
Gray (A): The Tailor CAN award a Gray Ribbon by announcement,
unless e has done so earlier in the month. E is ENCOURAGED to
award such a Ribbon in the same message in which e publishes eir
monthly report.
Transparent (T): A person qualifies for a Transparent Ribbon while
the number of other types of Ribbon that that person qualifies for
and/or has earned within the previous 7 days is at least 5.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2480/1 (Power=2.1)
Festivals
Festivity is a singleton switch, whose possible values are
integers ranging from 0 inclusive to the number of defined types
of Ribbon exclusive, and defaulting to 0. While Agora's Festivity
is 0, Festivity is tracked in the Tailor's monthly report.
Otherwise, it is tracked in the Tailor's weekly report. Changes to
Festivity are secured.
If Agora's Festivity has had the same nonzero value for 14 days or
more, any player CAN flip it to 0 by announcement.
A player who owns at least N types of Ribbon CAN Start a Rank N
Festival, where N is an integer greater than Agora's Festivity,
with 4 Support from players who own at least N types of Ribbon.
Upon doing so, Agora's Festivity is flipped to N. Exception: A
player CANNOT do so if Agora's Festivity has had a value greater
than or equal to N within the past 21 days.
A person who owns a number of types of Ribbon equal to or greater
than Agora's Festivity is known as Festive. Other persons are not
Festive.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2481/1 (Power=2.1)
Festival Restrictions
While Agora's Festivity is nonzero, the following apply:
1. Non-Festive players are never considered Supporters of a
dependent action;
2. Non-Festive players cannot flip the Imminence of any proposal;
3. Quorum for Agoran Decisions is equal to half the number of
Festive players, rounded up;
4. Each Festive player has the maximum possible voting strength.
All other players have the minimum possible voting strength.
While Agora's Festivity is zero, the paragraphs above have no
effect and are ignored.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 649/40 (Power=1.5)
Patent Titles
A Patent Title is a legal title given to a person in recognition
of the person's distinction. The Herald is an office; its holder
is responsible for tracking Patent Titles in eir monthly report.
Awarding or revoking a Patent Title is secured at power 1. A
person permitted and enabled to award (revoke) a Patent Title
SHALL do so in a timely fashion after the conditions authorizing
em to do so are announced, unless there is an open judicial case
contesting the validity of those conditions.
The Herald CAN award a specified Patent Title to a specified
player With 2 Agoran Consent.
If a player publicly petitions that the Herald award a patent
title to another player for a specified reason, the Herald SHALL
respond in a timely fashion by either attempting to grant an
appropriate patent title or explaining publicly why no patent
title is warranted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2415/0 (Power=1.5)
Badges
A Badge is any patent title with the word 'badge' as part of its
name. A badge SHOULD be used to award multiple persons for
participating in specific event of note within Agora. Any player
CAN award a badge that does not yet exist to three or more persons
simultaneously, with Agoran Consent. The Herald CAN award an
existing badge to persons Without Objection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1367/19 (Power=3)
Degrees
Certain patent titles are known as degrees. The degrees are
- Associate of Nomic (A.N.)
- Bachelor of Nomic (B.N.)
- Master of Nomic (M.N.)
- Doctor of Nomic History (D.N.Hist.)
- Doctor of Nomic Science (D.N.Sci.)
- Doctor of Nomic Philosophy (D.N.Phil.)
Degrees are ranked in the order they appear in this rule, with
degrees listed later being ranked higher. A specific degree CANNOT
be awarded to any person more than once.
A specified degree CAN be awarded with 2 Agoran Consent, and
SHOULD only be awarded for the publication of an original thesis
of scholarly worth (including responses to peer-review), published
with explicit intent to qualify for a degree. The Herald SHOULD
coordinate the peer-review process and the awarding of degrees.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2231/6 (Power=3)
Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic
Heroic titles are Agora's premier patent titles of distinction,
and CAN be awarded to persons for meritorious service only by a
proposal of power 3 or greater, which SHOULD explain why those
persons are qualified. Bearers of heroic titles (Heroes)
constitute the Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic.
The Heroic titles in decreasing precedence are:
Grand Hero of Agora Nomic (GHAN) -- This title CAN be awarded to
any person obviously and directly responsible for the existence of
Agora and/or Nomic in general. As this title is the highest honour
that Agora may bestow, a Bearer of this title OUGHT to be treated
right good forever.
Hero of Agora Nomic (HAN) -- This title CAN be awarded to any
person for outstanding meritorious service to Agora above and
beyond the call of duty.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2581/0 (Power=1)
Official Patent Titles
The following Patent Titles CAN be awarded by the indicated
Officers with 2 Agoran Consent. In order to balance the history,
dignity, spontaneity, and serendipity of the awards, the Herald,
Speaker, and Prime Minister are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to provide
their support or objections, and reasons for doing so, reasonably
quickly after any such intents are announced.
- Tapecutter, awardable by the Rulekeepor to the author of an
adopted proposal that significantly reduces, streamlines, or
simplifies the ruleset.
- Scamster, awardable by the Referee to any player who has shown
great enthusiasm, persistence, or skill in the perpetrating of
scams without breaking any Rules.
- Hard Labor, awardable by the ADoP to any player who holds 2+
offices for 3+ continous months while performing eir official
duties in a timely and conscientious manner that promotes the
gameplay of the office.
- MacGyver, awardable by the Assessor to the author of an adopted
proposal that fixes serious bugs in the ruleset, especially if
the fix uses existing rules text in novel and unexpected ways,
or to a judge for similarly using rules text to resolve an
apparent bug without the need for legislative action.
- Bard, by Speaker the award should given be, to persons who
publish repeated creative wit or poetry.
- Necromancer, awardable by the Registrar to any player who makes
such sufficient persistent legal use of zombies that rules need
to be amended to prevent such practices.
- Tycoon, awardable by the Treasuror to any player who executes a
novel economic or contractual enterprise that has a significant
impact on the game, especially if it involves leveraging
synergies for win-win outcomes for the benefit of multiple
players.
- Helping Hand, awardable by any Officer to any person not
holding that office who puts substantial labor into aiding in
the duties of that office, without consideration of any other
reward they might receive.
The Herald is also ENCOURAGED to proactively recommend or, as
otherwise permitted, award these titles when appropriate,
especially if the potential awardee is the officer emself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2582/0 (Power=1)
Annual Awards
April is hereby designated Awards Month.
The following Patent Titles CAN be awarded by the indicated
Officers with 2 Agoran Consent, provided the intent to make
the awards is announced during awards month, and the award is
made to commemorate acts performed in the previous Agoran year.
The full name of each awarded Patent Title is [Title Below] NNNN,
where NNNN is the year each act was performed.
Each indicated Officer SHOULD award these titles to 1-2 persons
each year, and SHOULD solicit an open call for nominations and
discussion before making these awards. The Herald SHALL note any
additional information indicated below as part of eir report of
Patent Titles.
- Silver Quill, awardable by the Promotor to the author of a
proposal of outstanding merit and influence on the game
(additional information: ID Number of the proposal).
- Wooden Gavel, awardable by the Arbitor to the judge of a CFJ
or series of CFJs with a strong and foundational impact on the
judicial precedents of Agora (additional information: ID
Numbers of the judgements).
- Golden Glove, awardable by the Tailor to the player who made
the most interesting, successful, and/or competitive series of
moves while attempting to win or get substantially ahead in
the game.
- Employee of the Year, awardable by the ADoP to the persons
who put the most persistent hard labor into keeping the game
going through the performance of Officers' duties (additional
information: offices held by the awardee during that year).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Leaders
Agora has a good few leaders, most of which are nothing more than
sinecures. This section isn't all that important.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 103/25 (Power=2)
The Speaker
The Speaker is an imposed office and the figurehead leader of
Agora.
The player or players who have most recently won the game are
called Laureled. If at any time the office of Speaker is vacant,
or when one or more players win Agora, then the Prime Minister CAN
once appoint a Laureled player to the office of Speaker by
announcement. Whenever the Prime Minister CAN appoint a Laureled
player to the office of Speaker, e SHALL do so in a timely manner,
except that the Prime Minister MAY defer appointing a new Speaker
while there is pending one or more open CFJs that could plausibly
determine or affect the question of whether a player is Laureled.
If the office of Speaker has been held continuously by the same
person for 90+ days, then any player CAN appoint another player to
the office with Support.
For an election of the Prime Minister, the Speaker has voting
strength one greater than e would have if e did not hold the
office.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 104/0 (Power=3)
First Speaker
The Speaker for the first game shall be Michael Norrish.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2423/3 (Power=2)
First Among Equals
The Prime Minister is an office. The Prime Minister is elected by
the players of Agora primarily on account of not being the other
guy. The Prime Minister SHOULD ensure that Agoran affairs proceed
smoothly.
The holder of the office of Prime Minister's voting strength is
increased by 1 on all Agoran decisions other than a elections of
the Prime Minister.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2463/0 (Power=1)
Motion of No Confidence
Any player can cause the office of Prime Minister to become vacant
with 2 Agoran Consent by publishing a message with the character
string "MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE" in the subject line.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2451/6 (Power=2)
Executive Orders
Once per week and except as otherwise forbidden by this rule, the
current Prime Minister CAN issue a Cabinet Order by announcement
to perform the action(s) authorized by that Order.
Each Cabinet Order is associated with an office. The current Prime
Minister CANNOT issue more than one Cabinet Order associated with
the same office more than once in the same month, nor can e issue
a Cabinet Order associated with a vacant office.
The available Cabinet Orders are:
- Certiorari (Arbitor): The Prime Minister assigns emself as judge
of a specified open case.
- Dive (Referee): The Prime Minister levies a 2 Blot fine on a
specified player. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the
reason for the fine MAY be any grievance held by the Prime
Minister, not necessarily a violation of the rules, against the
person to whom the fine is levied.
- Manifesto (Promotor): The Prime Minister distributes a specified
proposal in the Proposal Pool.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2575/0 (Power=3)
The Distributor
The Distributor is an imposed office whose holder is generally
responsible for the management of the primary Agoran fora. The
holder CANNOT be changed except Without Objection or by proposal.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the Distributor's master
switch CANNOT be flipped to be other than emself, and e CANNOT
deregister or be deregistered.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Agoran Culture
Nothing in here is all that important. Mostly describes holidays and
tournaments, and joke rules.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2327/1 (Power=1)
Read the Ruleset Week
The first Agoran week each year which falls entirely in February
is Read the Ruleset Week. Agorans are encouraged to read the
ruleset during Read the Ruleset Week.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1727/21 (Power=1)
Happy Birthday
WHEREAS, in June 1993, the world's only MUD-based nomic, Nomic
World, had recently collapsed; yet, many of its players enjoyed
nomic and did not wish to forego such a noble pursuit;
And WHEREAS, Originator Chuck Carroll therefore composed an
Initial Ruleset for an email nomic, based on the Initial Rulesets
of Peter Suber, inventor of Nomic, and on the Rulesets of Nomic
World and other nomics,
And WHEREAS, a nomic thus rose like a phoenix from the ashes of
Nomic World, played on the mailing list originally set up for
discussion of Nomic World, and coming into existence at June 30,
1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200, with a message sent by FIRST SPEAKER
Michael Norrish, which read, in part,
"I see no reason to let this get bogged down; there are no
precedents or rules that cover this situation, so I think we may
as well begin directly.... Proposals for new rules are invited.
In accordance with the rules, these will be published, numbered
and distributed by me at my earliest convenience."
And WHEREAS, this nomic began as a humble and nameless nomic,
known unofficially as yoyo, after the mailing list it was played
on, until its Players, much later, gave it its OFFICIAL NAME of
Agora,
And WHEREAS, Agora has now become the wisest, noblest, eldest, and
most interesting of all active email nomics, due to the hard work
and diligence of Agorans as well as the frequent advice of
Agoraphobes,
And WHEREAS, Agorans desire to joyously commemorate Agora's
founding,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that Agora's Birthday is defined to be
the entire day of June 30, GMT +1200, of each year.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2464/4 (Power=1)
Tournaments
A Tournament is a sub-game of Agora specifically sanctioned to be
initiated as a tournament by the Rules. The person who initiates a
tournament is its Gamemaster. If a winner of a tournament is
determined within within 3 months of its initiation, that person
or persons win the game, otherwise the tournament concludes with
no winner.
A Tournament is governed by set of regulations, created in
accordance with its parent rule, which have binding control over
those who freely consent to play the tournament and over the
tournament itself. Once the tournament is concluded, these
regulations cease to have any effect, and CAN be repealed by any
player by announcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2566/0 (Power=1)
Free Tournaments
A player who is not the gamemaster of an existing tournament CAN
initiate a sanctioned tournament with a specified set of
regulations with 2 Agoran Consent. A tournament created using this
method is called a Free Tournament. Rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, only players CAN win the game via a free
tournament.
A free tournament CAN be concluded with no winner without 3
objections. Tournaments SHOULD only be concluded in this manner if
it is clear that its regulations are malformed or contrary to the
tournament's intent or that it is IMPOSSIBLE for any player to win
the tournament.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2495/2 (Power=1)
The Birthday Tournament
In a timely fashion after the start of June 1 of each year, the
Herald SHALL propose a set of Regulations governing a Birthday
Tournament for that year; the Herald CAN also delegate the
responsibility for creating or running the tournament to another
player, with that player's consent, by announcement.
The Birthday Tournament's regulations SHOULD be such that all
persons who choose to participate have a fair chance of winning
the tournament (according to its regulations), and a winner
SHOULD be expected within 2-3 weeks following the tournament's
initiation.
After adequate time for discussion of the Birthday Tournament's
regulations, the Herald (or delegate) CAN initiate a sanctioned
tournament, promulgating a specified, finalized set of tournament
regulations, Without 3 Objections. This title may thereafter
be amended only by the Herald or eir designee Without 3
Objections. The initiation SHOULD be timed to coincide
with Agora's Birthday.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1769/15 (Power=3)
Holidays
The period each year from midnight GMT on the morning of 24
December to the beginning of the first Agoran week to begin after
2 January is a Holiday.
The week that contains the beginning of Agora's Birthday,
together with the following week, is a Holiday.
If a person breaks a Rule by missing a deadline that occurs during
a Holiday, punishment is generally not appropriate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2029/0 (Power=4)
Town Fountain
/\ /\
/ \ / \
T
his
Power-04
Rule (the first ever)
was placed to honor
The Agoran Spirit Of The Game
by G., Steve, Murphy, root
and OscarMeyr, Scamsters. Look
on our works, ye Marvy, but do
always Dance a Powerful Dance. Hail Eris!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Trigon
Trigon