OneVoteCore

Core Rules

Ruleset and Gamestate

This is the Ruleset for BlogNomic; all Explorers shall obey it. Section One consists of the “core rules” of BlogNomic, covering basic proposal mechanics; Section Two contains the rules of the current dynasty; and Section Three contains the appendix, which exists solely to clarify the remainder of the ruleset.

The Ruleset and Gamestate can only be altered in manners specified by the Ruleset.

Explorers may correct obvious spelling and typographical mistakes in the Ruleset and their own Pending Proposals at any time, including replacing Spivak and gender-specific pronouns with the singular “they”.

If the Ruleset does not properly reflect all legal changes that have been made to it, any Explorer may update it to do so.

Explorers

Any human may apply to join BlogNomic (if they are not already an Explorer) by registering at http://blognomic.com via the Register link in the sidebar, and then making a post making clear their wish to be a Explorer. An Admin shall add them to the roster in the sidebar and the GNDT, at which moment they become an Explorer.

An Explorer may cease to be an Explorer at any time by posting an entry to the BlogNomic weblog requesting such an action. A human who has ceased to be an Explorer in this way may not become an Explorer again within the following two weeks. An Explorer may only change their name as a result of a proposal approving the change.

Some Explorers are Admins, responsible for updating the site and the Ruleset, and are signified as such in the sidebar. Explorers who wish to become Admins may sign up with a username for the Ruleset Wiki, and submit a Proposal to make themselves Admins. Existing Admins may be removed from their posts by Proposal, CfJ, or voluntary resignation. New admins shall be given the GNDT configuration password when they become admins.

Idle Explorers

Some Explorers are Idle, and shall be marked as such in the sidebar. For the purposes of all Gamestate and the Ruleset, excluding Rules “Ruleset and Gamestate”, “Explorers”, “Dynasties”, “Fair Play” and any of those Rules’ subrules, Idle Explorers are not counted as Explorers.

If a Proposal contains a provision that targets a specifically named Idle Explorer, then that Idle Explorer is considered to be Unidle solely for the purposes of enacting that specific provision

When an Explorer is unidled, if they went Idle in the same dynasty, their personal gamestate retains the last legally endowed values it had, if they are still valid. Otherwise (including if a value is invalid, does not exist, or the Explorer Idled in a different dynasty), the Explorer is given the default value for new Explorer, if such a value exists.

An Admin may render an Explorer Idle if that Explorer has asked to become Idle in an entry or comment from the past four days, or if that Explorer has not posted an entry or comment in the last seven days. In the latter case, the Admin must announce the idling in a blog post. Admins may render themselves Idle at any time, but should announce it in a post or comment when they do so. An Admin may Unidle an Explorer if that Explorer has asked to become Unidle in an entry or comment from the past four days, and Idle Admins may Unidle themselves at any time, unless the Explorer who would be Unidled asked to become (or rendered themselves) Idle within the previous four days, and within the current dynasty.

Admins who are unidling themselves should, in their first vote following each unidling, highlight their changed idle status and any changes to quorum to have come about as a result of it.

Dynasties

BlogNomic is divided into a number of Dynasties. Each Dynasty may be headed by one or more Explorers, known as the Expedition Leaders. If there is no Expedition Leader, the Dynasty is a Metadynasty.

Votable Matters

A Votable Matter is a post which Explorers may cast Votes on, such as a Proposal, a Call for Judgement or a Declaration of Victory.

Votes

Each Explorer may cast one Vote on a Votable Matter by making a comment to the Official Post that comprises that Votable Matter using a voting icon of FOR, AGAINST, or DEFERENTIAL. Additional voting icons may be permitted in some cases by other rules. A valid Vote is, except when otherwise specified, a Vote of FOR or AGAINST. An Explorer’s Vote on a Votable Matter is the last valid voting icon that they have used in any comment on that Votable Matter. Additionally, if the author of a Votable Matter has not used a valid voting icon in a comment to the post, then the author’s Vote is FOR. A non-Explorer never has a Vote, even if they were an Explorer previously and had cast a valid Vote.

If an Explorer other than the Expedition Leaders casts a vote of DEFERENTIAL, then the Vote of DEFERENTIAL is an indication of confidence in the Expedition Leaders. When a quorum of Expedition Leaders has the same valid Vote other than VETO, then all votes of DEFERENTIAL on that Votable Matter are instead considered to be valid and the same as the Vote of the quorum of Expedition Leaders with the same valid Vote.

A Votable Matter is Popular if any of the following are true:

• It has a number of FOR Votes that exceed or equal Quorum.
• It has been open for voting for at least 48 hours, it has more than 1 valid Vote cast on it, and more valid Votes cast on it are FOR than are AGAINST.

A Votable Matter is Unpopular if any of the following are true:

• The number of Explorers who are not voting AGAINST it is less than Quorum.
• It has been open for voting for at least 48 hours is not Popular.

Enacting and Failing

Votable Matters can either be Pending, Enacted, or Failed. When a Votable Matter is first put forward, it is considered Pending.

Whenever an Admin resolves a Votable Matter, they must also mark their name, and report the final tally of Votes (or the fact that it was self-killed or vetoed). Comments cannot be made on Enacted or Failed Votable Matters.

This rule cannot be overruled by Dynastic Rules in its application to Calls for Judgement or Declarations of Victory.

Proposals

Any Explorer may submit a Proposal to change the Ruleset or Gamestate, by posting an entry in the “Proposal” category that describes those changes (unless the Explorer already has 2 Proposals pending, or has already made 3 Proposals that day).

Special Proposal Voting

When an Explorer casts a vote AGAINST their own Proposal (which is not in the form of a DEFERENTIAL vote), this renders the Proposal Self-Killed, even if the author later changes their Vote. Any Expedition Leader may use VETO as a voting icon to cast a Vote on a proposal; when an Expedition Leader casts a vote of VETO on a Proposal, this renders the Proposal Vetoed, even if that Expedition Leader later changes their Vote.

Resolution of Proposals

The oldest Pending Proposal may be Enacted by any Admin (by updating the Ruleset and/or Gamestate to include the specified effects of that Proposal, and then setting that Proposal's status to Enacted) if all of the following are true:

• It is Popular.
• It has been open for voting for at least 12 hours.
• It has not been Vetoed or Self-Killed.

The oldest Pending Proposal may be Failed by any Admin, if any of the following are true:

• It is Unpopular.
• It has been Vetoed or Self-Killed.

If a proposal somehow ends up being pending for more than 7 days, it is ignored for the purpose of calculating the oldest pending proposal, and can be failed by any Admin.

Calls for Judgement

If two or more Explorers actively disagree as to the interpretation of the Ruleset, or if an Explorer feels that an aspect of the game needs urgent attention, then any Explorer may raise a Call for Judgement (abbreviated CfJ) by posting an entry in the “Call for Judgement” category.

A Pending CfJ may be Enacted by any Admin if all of the following are ture:

• It is Popular.

A Pending CfJ may be Failed by any Admin if any of the following are true:

• It is Unpopular.
• It specifies neither changes to the Gamestate or Ruleset nor corrections to any gamestate tracking entities.

When a CfJ is Enacted, the Admin Enacting it shall update the Gamestate and Ruleset, and correct the GNDT and other gamestate tracking entities, as specified in the CFJ.

This Rule may not be overruled by Dynastic Rules.

Victory and Ascension

If an Explorer (hereafter referred to as the Victor) believes that they have achieved victory in the current Dynasty, either individually, or collectively with other Explorers (hereafter referred to as the co-Victors), then that Explorer may make a post to the Blognomic weblog in the Declaration of Victory category, detailing this, and specifying all the co-Victors, if applicable.

Upon doing so, the game immediately goes into Hiatus, if it hasn’t already. During this time, the only game actions that may be taken are those covered by Rules “Explorers”, “Votable Matters”, “Calls for Judgement”, “Gamestate Tracking” and “Victory and Ascension”.

Every Explorer may cast Votes on that DoV to indicate agreement or disagreement with the proposition that the poster has achieved victory in the current Dynasty.

A Pending DoV may be Enacted by any Admin if any of the following is true:

• It is Popular, it has been open for at least 12 hours, and either a quorum of Expedition Leaders has Voted FOR it or it has no AGAINST Votes.
• It is Popular, and it has been open for at least 24 hours.

A Pending DoV may be Failed by any Admin if any of the following are true:

• It is Unpopular, and it has been open for at least 12 hours.

When a DoV fails and there are no pending DoVs, Hiatus ends.

When a DoV is enacted, all other active DoVs are failed, and a new Dynasty begins, with the Victor, and the co-Victors if there are any, as its Expedition Leaders. At this point, the Victor may pass this role to another Explorer by making a post to that effect, if they wish, provided they have achieved victory individually; and any of the Victor and co-Victors may step down from the role, by making a post to that effect, provided they have achieved victory collectively. If all Victor and co-Victors step down in this way, the new Dynasty is a Metadynasty. The Hiatus continues until either of the following happens:

• one of the new Expedition Leaders makes an Ascension Address by posting an entry in the “Ascension Address” category - this should specify a chosen theme for the new Dynasty, and may optionally specify that the terms Explorer and Expedition Leader will be replaced with theme-specific terms throughout the entire ruleset, and/or a number of dynastic rules to keep. Upon posting such an Ascension Address, the Ruleset is updated to reflect any changed terms, and any dynastic rules which were not listed to be kept are repealed.
• all the Victor and co-Victors have stepped down and there is no longer an Expedition Leader - when this happens, all dynastic rules are repealed.

A DoV may not be started in the period between an enacted DoV and that DoV’s Ascension Address. When a DoV is failed, if it had at least one AGAINST vote, the Explorer who posted it cannot make another DoV until after 120 hours (5 days) have passed since the time their DoV was failed.

This rule cannot be overruled by Dynastic Rules as it relates to Declarations of Victory, but can be overruled in other matters.

Fair Play

The following are BlogNomic’s rules of fair play. If any of these rules are found to have been broken, or if an Explorer's behaviour or actions are otherwise deemed unacceptable (socially or otherwise), a proposal or CfJ may be made to reprimand or punish the perpetrator or, in cases of extreme or repeated violations, remove them from the game and bar them from rejoining.

• A single person should not control more than one non-Idle Explorer within BlogNomic, and should announce publicly if they control both a non-Idle Explorer and any Idle Explorers.
• An Explorer should not “spam” the BlogNomic blog. What counts as spamming is subjective, but would typically include posting more than ten blog entries in a day, more than ten blog comments in a row, or posting a blog entry of more than 1000 words.
• An Explorer should not deliberately exploit bugs or unexpected behaviours in the software running the game (ExpressionEngine, MediaWiki or the GNDT).
• An Explorer should not edit their own blog comments once posted, nor those of any other Explorer.
• An Explorer should not edit the "Entry Date" field of a blog post.
• An Explorer should not make a DoV primarily to delay the game by putting it into Hiatus.
• An Explorer should not do any action meant to make the game unplayable (for example, changing multiple keywords to the same word in an ascension address).
• An Explorer should not roll dice in the GNDT that are clearly associated with a particular action in the Ruleset, but with the intention to not use these rolled values to the best of their ability to resolve that action.

Seasonal Downtime

Blognomic goes into hiatus every year on December 24th, and remains in hiatus until December 27th. During this time no game actions may be taken except those described in the rules entitled “Votable Matters,” “Gamestate Tracking” and “Call for Judgement”.

Atomic Actions

When an Explorer performs an Atomic Action, they must complete all its steps; they must complete them in order; and they may not take any other action defined in the Ruleset until all such steps are complete. In addition, the Explorer performing an Atomic Action performs its steps as quickly as they are able.

If one or more steps of an Atomic Action were done incorrectly, the Explorer must redo the Atomic Action. In redoing an Atomic Action, the Explorer uses any legal steps that were already completed in the illegal Atomic Action and only redoes the illegal ones.

For instance if an Atomic Action consists of rolling a die in the GNDT and then doing steps based upon it’s result the Explorer would have to reroll the die if they rolled the wrong one if the first place and any steps that depended upon the result of that die; however if all they did was take an illegal action later on, the die is still used in the redone action.

If the Atomic Action was illegal due to a die that was wrong in the GNDT (for example, rolling a 1 on a DICE6 gives that Explorer a point and the rest do nothing and the Explorer rolls a DICE5 in the first one) and in redoing the Atomic Action they get the same effect as before (i.e. rolling an incorrect die and getting result X but then rolling the correct die and still getting result X) then the steps that depended upon that result are valid and don’t need to be redone. Steps that depend upon multiple dice which were done incorrectly must have each incorrect die have the same effect to be considered valid.

For the purposes of determining the ordering or legality of game actions the time of an Atomic Action shall be the time that it is completed. For Atomic Actions that are redone, the time of completion is the last redone step.