Imperative Rework

An archived copy of Josh's November 2015 Second Stab proposal to sharpen up the game's definition of imperative "must" and "should" type actions, presented here split into sections for discussion and tinkering.

The version presented here is based on the August 2020 revision Imperator Rex.

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Comments struck through have been integrated into the text to some extent.

Removal

Remove the entries “Can”, “Shall” and “Should” from the list of Keywords in the Glossary.

Remove the items “Daily Action”, “Daily Communal Action”, “Weekly Action” and “Weekly Communal Action” from the Glossary.

Remove the item “Dynastic Action” from the Glossary.

Definition

Add a new rule to the Appendix, called Imperatives and Frequencies:

An Action is any activity that the ruleset specifically permits Readers to carry out, and regulates the usage of. A Dynastic Action is an Action that is permitted by a Dynastic Rule; a Core Action is an Action that is permitted by a Core Rule.

The ruleset regulates the usage of Actions through Imperatives and Frequencies. A Frequency defines how frequently an Action may be undertaken by each Reader. An Imperative defines the circumstances within which Readers can undertake an Action. The terms used below to describe Imperatives and Frequencies are considered to be keywords when used in the contexts defined in this rule. In all other situations, they take their regular English meaning.

Imperatives

Add a sub-rule to that rule, entitled Imperatives:

Imperatives in use within BlogNomic are as follows:

Can or May: A Pathfinder is permitted to carry out this Action at any time, with no restrictions beyond those otherwise explicitly defined by the Ruleset.

Should: In BlogNomic, ‘should’ tends to describe an action which a Pathfinder is recommended or encouraged, but not required, to undertake. For that reason it is recommended that ‘should’ is not used. If it is used, it is recommended that arranagemnents for the fail state (i.e. what happens if the action is not completed as specified) are made in the rule that defines the action

Shall: A Pathfinder is required to carry out this Action but has some flexibility over when and in what order should be carried out, within reason.

Must: A Pathfinder is required to carry out this Action as a priority. A Pathfinder is required to carry out 'must' actions in chronological order of the requirement arising (if discernable; otherwise according to their judgment). A Pathfinder may not take any dynastic action, or post a DoV, if they have a pending 'must' action that has not been completed. If a Pathfinder is obligated to carry out a 'must' action that is impossible then it must be resolved through a CfJ.

Can, May, Shall or Must Not: A Pathfinder is not permitted to carry out this Action under the defined conditions under any circumstances, or under all circumstances if no further qualifications are present.

No part of this rule restricts Readers from posting a CfJ, under any circumstances.

Add the following to the bulleted list in the rule Fair Play:

• A Pathfinder may not intentionally fail to perform an action that the rules state that Amnesiac "must" perform, nor attempt to gain an advantage from intentionally delaying such an action.

Make the following changes to the ruleset:

• In the rule Idle Pathfinders, change the word ‘should’ to ‘must’.
• In the rule Enacting and Failing, change the word ‘should’ to ‘are recommended to’.
• In the rule Victory and Ascension, change the phrase ‘should specify the Computer’s chosen theme ’ to ‘may elaborate on the Computer's chosen theme’.
• In the rule Fair Play, change the sentence “Pathfinders should vote against any DoV that relies on having broken a fair play rule” to “A Pathfinder who has achieved Victory through breaking a Fair Play rule has not achieved Victory. No Dynastic Rule allowing a player to achieve Victory has precidence over this rule”. Change all other ‘should’s to ‘must’s.
• In the rule Seasonal Downtime, change “During this time no game actions may be taken” to “During this time game actions must not be taken”.
• In the rule The Traitor, change the word ‘should’ to ‘must’.
• In the rule Numbers and Clarifications, keep the first instance of the word ‘should’ as the word ‘should’ and change the second to ‘must’.
• In the rule Mentors, change the first instance of the word ‘should’ to ‘may, the second to ‘must’, the third to ‘may’, and the fourth to ‘must’. Change the title of the rule ‘Things a mentor should do’ to ‘Things a mentor may do’. In that rule, change the words ‘can and should’ to ‘may’, change the second ‘should’ to ‘may’, the third to ‘must’, and the fourth to ‘is encouraged to’. In the rule ‘Things that a mentor should not do’ change all instances of the word should, including in the rule title, to ‘must’.

Frequencies

Add another new subrule to the rule “Imperatives and Frequencies”, entitled Frequencies:

Standardised frequencies in use in BlogNomic are as follows:

• Daily: A Pathfinder may carry out this Action once per Day, but not more than once in any ten-hour period.
• Bi-daily: A Pathfinder may carry out this Action once every two Days, but not more than once in any twelve-hour period.
• Weekly: A Pathfinder may carry out this Action once every Week, but not more than once in any twenty-four-hour period.

Action frequencies may be modified as follows:

• Communal: Any Action that is marked as Communal may only be carried out by a single Pathfinder in the stated Frequency period.