Ruleset 202

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Contents

Core Rules

Ruleset and Gamestate

This is the Ruleset for BlogNomic; all Memories of Atlantis shall obey it.

It comprises four Sections: 1) the “core rules” of BlogNomic, covering the essential elements of gameplay; 2) the rules of the current Dynasty; 3) rules which apply in special cases; and 4) the appendix, which complements and clarifies the Ruleset.

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

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

Memories of Atlantis

The process of applying for access to the BlogNomic blog is outlined in the FAQ. A human with access to the blog who is not already a Memory of Atlantis may make a blog post making clear their wish to be a Memory of Atlantis (plural form Memories of Atlantis); in response, an Admin shall add them to the roster in the sidebar, at which moment they become a Memory of Atlantis.

A Memory of Atlantis may only change their name as a result of a Proposal approving the change.

Some Memories of Atlantis are Admins, responsible for updating the site and the Ruleset, and are signified as such in the sidebar. Memories of Atlantis 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.

Idle Memories of Atlantis

If a Memory of Atlantis is Idle, this is tracked by their name being removed or concealed in the list of currently active Memories of Atlantis in the Sidebar. For the purposes of all Gamestate and the Ruleset, excluding the core and appendix Rules “Ruleset and Gamestate”, “Memories of Atlantis”, “Dynasties”, “Fair Play”, "Mentors" and any of those Rules’ subrules, Idle Memories of Atlantis are not counted as Memories of Atlantis. The combined term “Idle Memory of Atlantis” can be used to refer to Memories of Atlantis who are Idle even in rules that do not treat them as Memories of Atlantis.

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

When a Memory of Atlantis 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 Memory of Atlantis Idled in a different Dynasty), the Memory of Atlantis is given the default value for new Memories of Atlantis, if such a value exists.

An Admin may render a Memory of Atlantis Idle if that Memory of Atlantis has asked to become Idle in an entry or comment from the past 96 hours (4 Days), or if that Memory of Atlantis has not posted an entry or comment in the past 168 Hours (7 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 a Memory of Atlantis if that Memory of Atlantis is Idle and has asked to become Unidle in an entry or comment from the past 96 hours (4 Days), and Idle Admins may Unidle themselves at any time, unless the Memory of Atlantis who would be Unidled asked to become (or rendered themselves) Idle within the past 96 hours (4 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.

Idle admins can resolve Votable Matters as if they were not idle.

Dynasties

BlogNomic is divided into a number of Dynasties. Each Dynasty may be headed by a single Memory of Atlantis, known as the Linguist Team. If there is no Linguist Team, the Dynasty is a Metadynasty.

An Interregnum is the period between dynasties, after a DoV has been enacted and before an Ascension Address has been posted. During an Interregnum the game is in hiatus; additionally, no DoVs may be made, and no Memory of Atlantis may achieve Victory. However, dynastic actions that are specifically permitted to be carried out during an Interregnum may be carried out.

Votable Matters

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

Votes

Each Memory of Atlantis 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. A Memory of Atlantis’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-Memory of Atlantis never has a Vote, even if they were a Memory of Atlantis previously and had cast a valid Vote.

If a Memory of Atlantis other than the Linguist Team casts a vote of DEFERENTIAL, then the Vote of DEFERENTIAL is an indication of confidence in the Linguist Team. When the Linguist Team has a valid Vote other than VETO on a Votable Matter, then all votes of DEFERENTIAL on that Votable Matter are instead considered to be valid and the same as the Linguist Team's Vote for the purposes of other rules unless otherwise specified.

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. Exception: Proposals which would change the text of a Core, Special Case or Appendix rule if enacted cannot be Popular on this basis.

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

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

Enacting and Failing

Votable matters have a status, which can either be Pending, Enacted, Failed, or Illegal. When a votable matter is first put forward it is considered Pending (which is tracked as having no status in the current blog software), and it remains Pending until it is Resolved.

A votable matter is resolved by an admin setting its status through use of the “status” field in the blog post editing form. When an admin resolves a votable matter they should mark their name, and are highly encouraged to report the final tally of Votes (or the fact that it was withdrawn or vetoed). Comments cannot be made on resolved Votable Matters.

A votable matter may not be resolved except as directed by the ruleset, and the status of a resolved votable matter, once resolved, is determined by the votes cast upon it, as assessed by the rules that govern the specific kind of votable matter (as well as any other considerations regarding the legality of the votable matter, such as the stipulations put forward in the Appendix rule Official Posts). When a Failed proposal has been Vetoed it may optionally have the Vetoed status upon resolution, which is considered to be the same as Failed for the purposes of all other rules.

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

Tags

Votable Matters have zero or more tags. Tags are represented in the title of a Votable Matter with the format “[X]” (e.g. “[Core] Wording Fix”, where “[Core]” is the tag). Votable Matters require the “[Core]” tag in order to make changes to the Core Rules, the “[Special Case]” tag in order to make changes to the Special Case Rules, and the “[Appendix]” tag in order to make changes to the Appendix Rules. Votable Matters other than DoVs require the “[Victory]” tag in order to grant victory to a Memory of Atlantis.

If a Votable Matter would make a modification to the rules and it does not have the tag to make that modification, that Votable Matter will still be able to make that specific modification if any of the following on the following list are true:

  • The modification is preceded or followed immediately by an unambiguous statement of which section of the ruleset it takes place.
  • The modification specifically states a rule using its number or the name of the stated rule only occurs once in the ruleset.

Proposals

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

Special Proposal Voting

When a Memory of Atlantis casts a vote AGAINST their own Proposal (which is not in the form of a DEFERENTIAL vote), this renders the Proposal Withdrawn, even if the author later changes their Vote. The Linguist Team may use VETO as a voting icon to cast a Vote on a Proposal; when the Linguist Team casts a vote of VETO on a Proposal, this renders the Proposal Vetoed, even if the Linguist Team later changes their Vote.

Resolution of Proposals

The oldest Pending Proposal may be Enacted by any Admin 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 Withdrawn.

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 Withdrawn.

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.

When a Proposal is Enacted, its stated effects are immediately applied in full; the Admin Enacting it shall update the Gamestate and Ruleset, and correct any gamestate-tracking entities, as specified in the Proposal.

Calls for Judgement

If two or more Memories of Atlantis actively disagree as to the interpretation of the Ruleset, or if a Memory of Atlantis feels that an aspect of the game needs urgent attention, then any Memory of Atlantis 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 true:

  • 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 any gamestate-tracking entities, as specified in the CfJ.

This Rule may not be overruled by Dynastic Rules.

Victory and Ascension

If a Memory of Atlantis (other than the Linguist Team) believes that they have achieved victory in the current Dynasty, they may make a Declaration of Victory (abbreviated “DoV”) detailing this, by posting an entry in the “Declaration of Victory” category.

A Memory of Atlantis’s vote on a DoV is encouraged to reflect whether or not they agree with the proposition that the poster has achieved victory in the current Dynasty. If there is at least one pending DoV, BlogNomic is on Hiatus.

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

  • It has a number of FOR Votes greater than 2/3rds of the number of Memories of Atlantis, it has been open for at least 12 hours, and either the Linguist Team has Voted FOR it or it has no AGAINST Votes.
  • It has a number of FOR Votes greater than 2/3rds of the number of Memories of Atlantis, 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.
  • It is more than 48 hours old and cannot be Enacted

If a DoV is Failed and it had at least one AGAINST vote, the Memory of Atlantis who posted it cannot make another DoV until after 120 hours (5 days) have passed since the time their DoV was Failed.

When a DoV is Enacted, all other pending DoVs are Failed, the Memory of Atlantis who posted the DoV becomes Linguist Team, and the game enters an Interregnum. When a DoV is enacted then all game actions that led up to it are considered to be upheld.

If the game is in an Interregnum then the new Linguist Team must either Pass the Mantle (by making a post naming a Memory of Atlantis who was not the last dynasty’s Linguist Team, in which case the passing Memory of Atlantis ceases to be the Linguist Team and the Memory of Atlantis so named becomes the Linguist Team) or start a new dynasty by completing the following Atomic Action:

  • Make an Ascension Address by posting an entry in the “Ascension Address” category. This should specify the Linguist Team's chosen theme for the new Dynasty, and it may optionally specify new dynasty-specific terms as outline in the rule "Synonyms", and/or list a number of dynastic rules to keep (if none are specifed then the entire Dynastic Ruleset is repealed).
  • Update the Ruleset to reflect any changed terms, and any dynastic rules which were not listed to be kept are repealed.

Once this Atomic Action has been completed the Interregnum ends and the new dynasty begins.

Fair Play

The following are BlogNomic’s rules of fair play. If any of these rules are found to have been broken, or if a Memory of Atlantis’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. Memories of Atlantis should vote against any DoV that relies on having broken a fair play rule.

  • A single person should not control more than one non-Idle Memory of Atlantis within BlogNomic, and should announce publicly if they control both a non-Idle Memory of Atlantis and any Idle Memories of Atlantis. This extends to exerting full control over the actions of another Memory of Atlantis, defined here as the controlled Memory of Atlantis’s game behavior being functionally indistinguishable from if the controlling Memory of Atlantis was logged into their account and playing through it, over a period of more than a day.
  • A Memory of Atlantis 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.
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not deliberately exploit bugs or unexpected behaviours in the software running the game (ExpressionEngine, MediaWiki or other blognomic.com scripts).
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not edit their own blog comments once posted, nor those of any other Memory of Atlantis.
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not edit the “Entry Date” field of a blog post.
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not make a DoV primarily to delay the game by putting it into Hiatus.
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not do any action meant to make the game unplayable (for example, changing multiple keywords to the same word in an Ascension Address).
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not roll dice 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. A Memory of Atlantis must use their own name in the Dice Roller, when rolling dice.
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not deliberately and unreasonably prolong the performance of a game action once they have started it.
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not use a Core, Special Case, or Appendix rules scam to directly or indirectly cause a Memory of Atlantis to achieve victory.
  • A Memory of Atlantis should not trade actions in BlogNomic for favors or compensation outside of BlogNomic, nor trade actions in any other game for favors within BlogNomic.

All Memories of Atlantis and idle Memories of Atlantis should be aware of the BlogNomic Community Guidelines. The contents of this page are not ruletext and are nonbinding as pertains to the ruleset, but Memories of Atlantis are encouraged to commit to upholding them to whatever extent is possible.

Dynastic Rules

Atlantean Language

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

In this dynasty, Proposals by Memories of Atlantis face the following limitation:

  • They may add a maximum of 200 words of English language text to the dynastic ruleset

Dynastic rules may contain either (or a mix of) English language text or Atlantean text. Atlantean text is a pictographic language that is found on Atlantean Scraps; where an Atlantean Scrap would be part of a rule then that Scrap must be embedded into the ruleset.

An Atlantean Scrap must be a static, single-frame PNG, JPEG or GIF image, in greyscale only, and may not be interpreted or considered to contain any additional meaning or information beyond that visually represented in it. Any image within the ruleset that meets these criteria is an Atlantean Scrap. Any text on Atlantean Scraps is to be interpreted as Atlantean Text irrespective of meanings external to the Atlantean language. If an element of an Atlantean Scrap cannot be reasonably seen by looking at the scrap visually, that element is to be ignored.

All Atlantean Scraps recovered so far, and the meanings of any pieces of Atlantean text, are publicly tracked.

When using images in the contents of a Votable Matter, only images that have been uploaded to the blognomic wiki are permitted, and only then if it has been uploaded with the intent of it being a valid Atlantean Scrap. The Votable Matter may contain text as normal.

“Linguistics Team” is considered to be a synonym for Linguist Team.

Etched in Stone

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

Any images that are in Votable Matters and are found nowhere else in the gamestate are subject to the rules described in the Official Posts rule in Gamestate Tracking as if they were written contents of the post. All other Atlantean Scraps that are found anywhere in the gamestate other than the aforementioned ones found exclusively in Votable Matters instead fall under the rule Representations of the Gamestate rule in Gamestate Tracking as normal for tracked wiki pages.

Codex Use

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

Whenever an Atlantean Scrap is added to gamestate through any gameplay mechanism, it becomes publicly tracked and should be added to gamestate tracking along with the name of whichever Memory of Atlantis was directly responsible for its addition to gamestate.

Optionally, Memories of Atlantis may publicly track individual elements of Atlantean Scraps. At any time, a Memory of Atlantis may reproduce a single, identifiable, discrete element of an existing Atlantean Scrap, reproduce it as a separate image file, and add it to the gamestate tracking document. Once they have done so, that image (and the element that it depicts) become an Atlantean Element and must be treated as a single coherent concept. If an Atlantean Element has a confirmed English meaning then that may be tracked there, too.

Argumentation

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

An Argument is a special type of votable matter, used to establish or resolve the meaning of Atlantean words or pictographs. A Memory of Atlantis or the Linguist Team may make an Argument at any time, except as restricted elsewhere in the ruleset.

An Argument must contain only a single proposition about a piece of Atlantean language that can be observed in an existing Atlantean Scrap. That proposition may include the meaning of a specific Atlantean Element or an argument about the grammar or syntax of the language, and may not make any statement about any other part of gamestate. When an Argument is Adopted, its proposition is publicly tracked and must be accepted as true by all Memories of Atlantis. When an Argument is Rejected it is publicly tracked and must be accepted as untrue by all Memories of Atlantis.

Arguments must be posted in the Story Post: Votable Matter category. They do not count towards proposal counts or limits, but each Memory of Atlantis may only have one pending Argument at a time. A Memory of Atlantis may not create an Argument for a specific symbol if they are the original creator of that symbol. (The creator of a symbol is the Memory of Atlantis who uploaded the original Atlantean Scrap containing the first instance of that symbol.)

Any Memory of Atlantis may resolve the oldest Argument that has not been resolved, on the following basis:

  • If the Argument has been open for voting for at least 24 hours, has at least one vote cast on it by a Memory of Atlantis other than its author, and has more FOR votes than AGAINST votes, it may be Adopted.
  • If the Argument has been open for voting for at least 24 hours, and it cannot be Adopted, then it can be Rejected.
  • In either case, the resolving Memory of Atlantis should post a comment to the Argument detailing the number of votes tallied and the outcome of the resolution.

Any admin may set a resolved Argument to the Enacted (if Adopted) or Failed (if Rejected) status at any time.

RECOVERED FRAGMENT 20220419-01

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

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RECOVERED FRAGMENT 20220417-01

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

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Fates

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

Memories of Atlantis each contain a perceived Fate of Atlantis (known as that Memory of Atlantis’s Fate), which is privately tracked by the Linguist Team. A Memory of Atlantis’ Fate can be one of the following: Catastrophe, Invasion, Rebellion or Translocation.

Whenever a Memory of Atlantis joins the game (either as a new player or through unidling for the first time) then the Linguistics Team should select a Fate for them secretly randomly, and inform them of their Fate, as well as any other Memories of Atlantis they share a Fate with.

Each Fate has a level of Influence, which is privately tracked by the Linguistics Team. Any time an Argument is enacted, the Influence of the Fate of the Argument’s Author increases by 1.

Each adopted Proposition may have a publicly-tracked Tone, being one of the following (with the Tone’s related Fates in brackets):-

  • Annihilation (Catastrophe, Invasion)
  • Collapse (Catastrophe, Rebellion)
  • Disappearance (Catastrophe, Translocation)
  • Conflict (Invasion, Rebellion)
  • Capture (Invasion, Translocation)
  • Departure (Rebellion, Translocation)

If a Proposition has no Tone, the Linguistics Team may give it one that they deem most appropriate.

RECOVERED FRAGMENT 20220417-02

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

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Precious Element3.png

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

Each Memory of Atlantis has an amount of Element3.png, which is publicly tracked and defaults to Element2.png.

Once every Element1.png, a Memory of Atlantis may Element4.png their Element3.png by 2.

Where a Memory of Atlantis has a value for Element3.png that is comprised of both English numbers and Atlantean elements, it may be expressed as an equation of the two (eg “Element2.png + 3”).

Facts on the Ground

The remainder of this rule is flavour text.

Memories of Atlantis may take actions based on their understanding of instructions of the ruleset that are wholly or partially in Atlantean, where that Atlantean does not have an agreed, tracked meaning; such an action is a Interpreted History Action. An Interpreted History Action may only extend to altering dynastic variables, and may not under any circumstances extend to altering the ruleset in any way; Atlantean ruletext may not be interpreted as allowing or endorsing any action that would result in the contents of the Ruleset being altered, nor may they claim to have priority over this clause of this rule.

All Interpreted History Actions must be publicly tracked in a log, along with the section of ruleset that justified it and the precise gamestate change that was made as a result of the interpretation.

If a piece of Atlantean language gains a concrete meaning that contraindicates the change made by an Interpreted History Action, that Interpreted History Action in question may be rendered invalid and reverted by any Memory of Atlantis, with its entry removed from the log.

Fail State

The DSV Haniver has an amount of Hull Pressure Integrity, which is publicly tracked and which defaults to 200.

As a daily communal action, any Memory of Atlantis or the Linguist Team may Apply Pressure. Applying Pressure is an atomic action with the following steps:

  • If a Memory of Atlantis has taken a dynastic action or posted a proposal that affects the dynastic rules or argument in the preceding 24 hours then this instance of the Applying Pressure action ends with no further steps taken.
  • Calculate the number of whole hours since a Memory of Atlantis took a dynastic action (other than Applying Pressure) or made a proposal that affects the dynastic rules.
  • Subtract that number from the Hull Pressure Integrity.
  • If the result is zero or lower and no Memory of Atlantis has yet Forgotten the Language, then any Memory of Atlantis may Forget the Language by adding the paragraph “The remainder of this rule is flavour text.” to the start of every dynastic rule (other than this one) that doesn’t already have it.
  • Posting a blog entry announcing the new Hull Pressure Integrity

Recollections

Each Memory of Atlantis has a Recollection, being a string of publicly-tracked flavour text, which if not blank should describe (or hint at) a description of the fate of Atlantis and how the next dynasty of BlogNomic will revisit its fall.

A Memory of Atlantis has Consensus if a quorum of Memories of Atlantis Concur with them. If a Memory of Atlantis has had Consensus for the past 24 hours, then it has achieved victory and the next dynasty should reflect their Recollection.

A Memory of Atlantis may never change their Recollection to a string which contains the entirety of another Memory of Atlantis’s non-blank Recollection as a substring.

If a Memory of Atlantis’s Recollection is a shorter substring of another Memory of Atlantis’s Recollection, and is not blank, then the former Memory of Atlantis is said to Concur with the latter. In addition, a Memory of Atlantis always Concurs with itself.

Primary sources

As a daily action, a Memory of Atlantis may post a Primary Source.

A Primary Source is a post in the Story Post category that must contain the following elements: a static, single-frame PNG, JPEG or GIF image, in greyscale only, that purports to be an Atlantean Artefact recovered and brought to the surface; and an Interpretation, which may not be more than 20 English words in length.

In comments to a Primary Source, any Memory of Atlantis other than its original author may post up to one Additional Scholarship, which may optionally include another Atlantean Artefact and which must include another Interpretation.

A Conclusion is the combination of the Interpretation of a Primary Source and any number of the Interpretations of Additional Scholarships posted on it, of the former’s choice. At any time, a Memory of Atlantis may Form a Conclusion from any Primary Source that they have either posted or responded to with Additional Scholarship, and then may set that Conclusion as their Recollection, along with a link to the relevant Primary Source post. When they do so, they must also blank the Recollection of every other Memory of Atlantis who Concurs with them.

If no Memory of Atlantis otherwise has Consensus then Recollections based on Conclusions may be considered to Concur with the author of the Primary Source from which that Conclusion is derived.

A Memory of Atlantis may change their own Recollection to be a shorter substring of another Memory of Atlantis’s Recollection, at any time.


Special Case

Special Case Rules can be Active or Inactive. If the title of a Special Case Rule includes "[X]", where X is either Active or Inactive, then its status is X. Otherwise, its status is its Default Status.

Special Case Rules have a Default Status, which can be Active or Inactive. If the title of a Special Case Rule includes "[Rare]", its Default Status is Inactive, otherwise, its Default Status is Active.

When a new Dynasty is started, the Ascension Address may list any number of existing Special Case Rules to be set to a status other than their respective Default Status. All other Special Case Rules are set to their respective Default Status.

The text of a Special Case Rule that is Inactive is flavour text.

Seasonal Downtime [Active]

On the 24th, 25th and 26th of December, BlogNomic is on Hiatus. In addition, game actions defined by the core rules titled “Memories of Atlantis” and “Victory and Ascension” (with the exception of Voting in DoVs) may not be taken.

Dormancy [Inactive]

While BlogNomic is Dormant, this fact is tracked in the sidebar of the blog. If BlogNomic is Dormant, then it is on Hiatus.

The criteria for Dormancy are:

  • That there are four or fewer Memories of Atlantis; or
  • That of the Memories of Atlantis, two or fewer of them have posted an Official Post or made an edit to the gamestate tracking page as part of a defined dynastic action during the past seven days.

If either criterion is met and BlogNomic is not Dormant, any admin may make BlogNomic Dormant by updating the sidebar to that effect. If neither criterion is met and BlogNomic is Dormant, any admin may remove BlogNomic’s Dormant status by updating the sidebar to that effect.

Imperial Deferentials [Active]

If the Linguist Team has voted DEFERENTIAL on a Proposal, that vote is instead considered to be valid and either FOR (if more Memories of Atlantis have a valid FOR vote on that Proposal than have a valid AGAINST vote on it) or AGAINST (in all other cases). However, in either case, votes of DEFERENTIAL made by other Memories of Atlantis on the same Proposal are not considered to be valid.

Dynastic Distance [Active]

For the purposes of dynastic rules which do not deal with voting, the Linguist Team is not a Memory of Atlantis.

Malign Emperors [Inactive] [Rare]

The Linguist Team may be recipient of the Mantle, as if they were a Memory of Atlantis, during an Interregnum, as per the rule Victory and Ascension. The Linguist Team may not cast a vote of VETO on any Proposal whose effect is limited to the dynastic rules or gamestate; any such vote is disregarded for the purposes of proposal resolution.

If the Special Case rule “No Collaboration” is Active, any Memory of Atlantis may set it to Inactive. (The combo is too strong.)

Dynastic Tracking [Active]

The gamestate tracking page for this dynasty is the Atlantean Codex page of the wiki. Unless otherwise stated, all publicly tracked gamestate information is tracked on it. An Linguist Team may change the wiki page referred to in this rule to a different page as part of their Ascension Address, provided that page did not exist at the time the Ascension Address was posted and does not begin with the word “Ruleset”.

No Collaboration [Inactive] [Rare]

If “Dynastic Distance” is also active, the Linguist Team is not considered a Memory of Atlantis for the purposes of this rule.

Memories of Atlantis may not privately communicate with each other about dynastic gameplay or votable matters that affect the dynastic ruleset or gamestate. Private communications are considered to be anything that any other Memory of Atlantis could not reasonably be privy to, perceive, or understand. Discussion conducted in plain English on the BlogNomic wiki and blog, and Discord channels, are not considered to be private communication. Idle Memories of Atlantis (or people who are not yet Memories of Atlantis) also face the same restrictions if they intend to become an active Memory of Atlantis during the course of the dynasty. The use of creative strategies to circumvent this rule may be considered to be a scam for the purposes of determining whether an infraction of Fair Play has taken place.

A mentor and mentee may still privately converse with each other, but should keep their conversations away from discussing specific gameplay strategy.

If information which was not allowed to be discussed is still privately discussed, the Memories of Atlantis who were part of the conversation should make a post to the blog disclosing what information was discussed as their earliest convenience.

Mantle Limitations [Active] [Rare]

The mantle may not be passed. (Memories of Atlantis should also not make deals based on being made Emperor of the next dynasty by other means than achieving victory or being passed the mantle.)

Alliances [Inactive] [Rare]

Each Memory of Atlantis may have an Alliance, which is publicly tracked, and consists of the distinct names of no more than two other Memories of Atlantis; a Memory of Atlantis’s Alliance defaults to an empty set. A Memory of Atlantis may change their Alliance as a daily action.

If "Mantle Limitations" is also active, and if a Memory of Atlantis has achieved victory in this dynasty, has posted a Declaration of Victory which has been enacted, and did not change their Alliance for at least the 48 hours immediately prior to the posting time of their Declaration of Victory: then that Memory of Atlantis may pass the Mantle to a Memory of Atlantis who was named in their Alliance at the posting time of their Declaration of Victory.

If “No Collaboration” is active, it does not apply to communications between Memories of Atlantis who each have the other’s names in their Alliance, nor does the prohibition on deals in “Mantle Limitations” (if it is active) apply to Memories of Atlantis who have each other’s names in their Alliance.

Event Types [Active]

An Event is an official post that meets a type definition in the dynastic rules, if and only if that type definition is specified as defining a type of Event; the type definition must include the following:

  • A type name, such as “Auction” or “Quest”. A post with the Event type’s name as a tag is an Event of that type, provided it was (legally) posted while the type had a complete definition.
  • A Response Format, the format by which a comment on that type of Event is classified as a Response for that Event. While other comments are allowed on an Event, only those comments which conform to its type’s Response Format are officially considered Responses. Whether or not a comment is currently considered a Response may change according to circumstances, but comments submitted on an Event while it is Ended can never be considered Responses.

An Event type definition may also optionally stipulate:

  • Creation Condition(s). Unless they are met, an Event of that type may not be posted. They may include a format for the body of the post.
  • Ending Condition(s). Unless they are met, an Open Event of that type may not be Ended.
  • Ending Action(s). A Memory of Atlantis must do these when they End an Open Event of that type.

An Event is either Open or Ended, defaulting to Open. Except as otherwise specified, any Memory of Atlantis may post or may End an Event. To End an Event is to make it Ended by submitting a comment on that post saying it is Ended or is being Ended, and then immediately taking its Ending Action(s), if any. Once an Event has been Ended, it may not become Open again, nor may any Memory of Atlantis End it again.

Bounties [Rare][Inactive]

A Bounty Notice is a post in the Story Posts category which broadly requests a single mechanical or ruleset change. A Bounty Notice may be Open or Closed, being Open by default and being when set to the ‘Closed’ category in the post backend.

This sentence names, at the end of this sentence after a colon, a single dynastic resource or variable, which is the Bounty Reward Variable for this dynasty: Qubits

The Linguist Team may post a Bounty Notice, close an open Bounty Notice, or change the Bounty Reward Variable in this rule at any time.

If the Linguist Team believes that an enacted votable matter satisfies the demand of an open Bounty Notice then they may iterate the Bounty Reward Variable of that votable matter’s author by a single step (unless that author was themselves) and set that Bounty Notice to closed.

Appendix

Keywords

A keyword defined by a rule supersedes the normal English usage of the word. A keyword defined in this glossary supersedes that defined by a rule. (e.g. A rule specifying “bananas are blue” cannot be overruled by posting a dictionary definition or a photo of a banana, and a rule specifying “every day is Sunday” will be overruled by the glossary entry below.)

Imperatives

Can
“is able to”
Shall
“is required to”
Should
“is recommended that”

Time

Daily Action
If a game action is a Daily Action, each Memory of Atlantis able to perform it may take that action once each day, but not more than once every ten hours.
Daily Communal Action
A Daily Communal Action is a Daily Action that can only be performed by one Memory of Atlantis per day.
Day
References to a “day” as an entity rather than as a duration (e.g. “Sunday”, “The day after performing this action”, or “August 2nd”), unless otherwise stated, refer to a day beginning at and including 00:00:00 UTC, ending when the next day begins. It can never be 2 different days at the same instant.
Week
References to a week as an entity rather than as a duration (e.g. “At the beginning of each week”, or “already happened this week”), unless otherwise stated, refer to a period of time between the beginning of a Monday and the end of the following Sunday.
Weekly Action
If a game action is a Weekly Action, each Memory of Atlantis able to perform it may take that action once each week, but not more than once every twenty-four hours.
Weekly Communal Action
A Weekly Communal action is a Weekly Action that can only be performed by one Memory of Atlantis per week.

Other

Comment
A blog comment published to the BlogNomic weblog at blognomic.com
Core Proposal
A Proposal which mandates changes that, even if conditionally, are limited to the creation, deletion, and/or amendment of core rules and/or the glossary, and/or renaming, banning, and/or the granting or removing of Admin status from one or more Memories of Atlantis.
Dice
References to “DICEX” or “YDICEX” refer to X-sided dice and Y amount of X-sided dice, rolled using the Dice Roller.
Dynastic Action
An action that is defined in the Dynastic rules.
Dynastic Proposal
A Proposal which mandates changes that, even if conditionally, are limited to the creation, deletion, and/or amendment of dynastic rules and/or gamestate defined by dynastic rules.
Effective Vote Comment (EVC)
A Memory of Atlantis’s Effective Vote Comment with respect to a given Votable Matter is that Memory of Atlantis’s Comment to that Votable Matter, if any, that contains that Memory of Atlantis’s Vote on that Votable Matter.
Commentary
When posting a blog entry, a Memory of Atlantis may use the “Commentary or flavour text” field of the blog publishing form to add their own comments or description of their post. For the purposes of all other rules, such text is not considered to be part of the post.
Discord
The BlogNomic Discord can be accessed at https://discord.gg/J7kP9KuHQK and is also linked to on the sidebar. Memories of Atlantis, as well as people who are not Memories of Atlantis but are interested in learning more about BlogNomic, may join the Discord by clicking the button in the sidebar.
Discord Channel
A Discord Channel is any channel on the BlogNomic Discord in the BlogNomic Discussion category. All Memories of Atlantis who are in the Discord should have the ability to access all of these channels. To reference a Discord Channel, use a hash (#) followed by the name of that channel (e.g. #random).
Flavour Text
If a part of the ruleset or gamestate is defined as being “flavour text”, it retains its context, but is not considered to have any meaning beyond being a string of characters. Memories of Atlantis are not required to obey flavour text and may not perform any action defined by it, and any statements that flavour text makes about gamestate are ignored.
Gamestate
Any information which the Ruleset regulates the alteration of. All wiki pages that the Dynastic Rules explicitly mention (except for dynastic histories and discussion pages) and any images or Templates contained within those Wiki Pages are assumed to be Gamestate.
Hiatus
If BlogNomic is on Hiatus, Dynastic Actions may not be taken (except where the rule defining the action explicitly requires it to be taken during Hiatus), and Proposals may not be submitted or Resolved. If multiple rules require BlogNomic to be on Hiatus at any given time, BlogNomic will continue to be on Hiatus until no rules require it.
Post
A blog post published to the BlogNomic weblog at blognomic.com
Private Message
A message sent via BlogNomic’s Private Messages system at blognomic.com.
Quorum
Quorum of a subset of Memories of Atlantis is half the number of Memories of Atlantis in that subset, rounded down, plus one. If the word Quorum is used without qualifying which subset of Memories of Atlantis it is referring to, it is referring to a Quorum of all Memories of Atlantis.
Resolve/Resolution
If used in a context of a Votable Matter, the word “Resolve” means to perform the act, as an Admin, of enacting, failing, or marking illegal a Votable Matter. The world “Resolution” means then the act of doing so. If used in any other context, the meaning of both “Resolve” and “Resolution” is the standard English meaning of these words. The resolution of a votable matter is tracked by reference to its status in the blog post edit form. If otherwise legally applied, the application of any status through the blog post editing form is sufficient to consider that votable matter to have been correctly resolved, but a resolved votable matter should have the correct status wherever possible; if any admin believes that a resolved votable matter has an incorrect status then they may correct it.
Rule
Each individually numbered and titled block of text (using the wikimedia section heading formatting) of the Ruleset is a rule, including rules that are subrules of other rules; with the exception that the top-level headings defined as ‘sections’ in the rule “Ruleset and Gamestate” are considered sections but not rules themselves.
Story Post
A Story Post is an entry in the “Story Post” category.
Subject
The “subject” of a blog entry is the part of the Title of an entry which is after the first colon. If the Title does not contain a colon, then the whole Title is the subject. Any entry whose subject is “” (i.e. an empty string) is not valid.
Subrule
A subrule is a type of rule that is hierarchically ordered beneath another rule. Rules and proposals that refer to a rule do not also refer to its subrules, unless otherwise specified.
Table of Contents
The directory of section headings that is generated by the MediaWiki software for most pages in the wiki.
Uphold
To Uphold an illegal action is to retroactively declare the attempt to take it to have been successful, and to declare that all attempted game actions taken after it were attempted as if the Upheld action had been successful.
Vote
The word “Vote”, used as a noun, means a Vote that is cast in accordance with Rule “Votable Matters”. The word “Vote”, used as a verb, means the act of casting such a Vote.
Voting Icons
For use in voting, a check box http://blognomic.com/images/vote/for.gif shall represent a Vote FOR, an X http://blognomic.com/images/vote/against.gif shall represent a Vote AGAINST, a DEF http://blognomic.com/images/vote/imperial.gif shall represent a Vote of DEFERENTIAL, and a crossed-out circle http://blognomic.com/images/vote/seal.gif shall represent a vote to VETO.
Wiki
The BlogNomic Wiki at http://wiki.blognomic.com

Gamestate Tracking

Official Posts

Votable Matters and other official posts, as well as specific gamestate information, shall be tracked by the BlogNomic blog at http://blognomic.com. Any Memory of Atlantis may post to the blog at any time, but may only make official posts to the blog when the Ruleset allows it. Posts following the format specified by a rule are considered official posts. Any single official post cannot be of two different types of official post unless a rule explicitly states otherwise. Dynastic rules cannot define posts in the “Call for Judgement” category to be a type of official post other than a Call for Judgement, and this restriction cannot be overridden by dynastic rules.

An official post may only be removed as allowed by the Ruleset. An official post may be altered by its author if it is less than 4 hours old and either no Memory of Atlantis has commented on it or (if it is a Votable Matter) if all comments on it contain no voting icons; otherwise this can only be done as allowed by the Ruleset. However, despite this, official posts can never be changed from one category to another, or changed to be a different sort of official post, if they have been posted for more than fifteen minutes. The Admin processing an official post is allowed to append to the post to reflect its new status. Anything appended to a post in this way must be placed in the Admin field of the post, and the post’s Status must be changed to reflect its status. An official blog post that has the status of Enacted or Failed cannot change categories, except that a votable matter’s illegal resolution may be overturned. An official blog post’s status may never be altered except in accordance with the rules that define that official post.

A non-official post may not, through editing of the blog or otherwise, be changed into an official post, with the following two exceptions: Firstly, whilst a non-official post has been posted for less than fifteen minutes and has no comments, the author may change the categories as they wish. Secondly, if a post by a New Memory of Atlantis is not in any category but follows the wording of a Proposal, in that it has written changes the gamestate and or Ruleset, and if it has been posted for less than six hours, then any Admin may change it to be in the Proposal category. A New Memory of Atlantis is defined as a Memory of Atlantis who has been a Memory of Atlantis for fewer than seven days or a Memory of Atlantis that has unidled in the past seven days after being idle for at least 3 months.

Any post that is or is made illegal as a result of an infraction against any of the prohibitions set out in this rule, except for a votable matter’s illegal resolution that has been overturned, continues to be an Official Post but may no longer have any effect on the ruleset or the gamestate. If it is a Votable Matter then it is Unpopular, regardless of any other performance against criteria set out in the core rules. When it is resolved it may be marked as Illegal by the resolving admin. A post that is illegal in this manner cannot subsequently be made legal by any means, except for the legal enactment of a CFJ. An illegal CFJ cannot cause itself to become legal.

Representations of the Gamestate

For gamestate which is tracked in a specific place (such as a wiki page), any alteration of that gamestate as a result of a Memory of Atlantis’s action is (and can only be) applied by editing that data in that place. One wiki update may contain one or more alterations, or one alteration may be split over multiple updates, as long as it is clear what is happening and the alterations are otherwise legal. The wiki merely represents the Gamestate tracked there, and is not the same thing. In the event that the Gamestate and its representations are different, any Memory of Atlantis may correct the representations to comply with the Gamestate.

If a Memory of Atlantis feels that a representation of the gamestate (such as a wiki page) does not match the gamestate, they may either:

  • Undo the effects of any alteration that led to it, if that alteration did not follow the rules at the time it was made.
  • Alter the representation to match what they believe to be the correct application of an incorrectly-applied alteration. This may include completing incomplete actions on behalf of the original Memory of Atlantis, if doing so would not require the correcting Memory of Atlantis to make any decisions on behalf of the original Memory of Atlantis.

Instead of repeatedly reverting and re-reverting a disputed alteration, however, Memories of Atlantis are encouraged to raise a Call for Judgement.

The historical fact of the occurrence of a defined game action is itself considered to be gamestate, tracked in the history of whatever resource is used to track the gamestate modified by that action, where possible, or in the wiki page Gamestate Modifications if this is not possible.

Orphan Variables

An Orphan Variable is a dynastic gamestate variable which has neither a location in which it’s tracked, nor a reasonable manner in which it can be determined from other gamestate variables, specified in the Ruleset.

A Memory of Atlantis may not take any dynastic actions that are contingent on the specific value of an Orphan Variable.

Random Generators

The Dice Roller at https://blognomic.com/dice/roll.php can be used to generate random results.

  • The DICEN command can be used to generate a random number between 1 and N.
  • The FRUIT command will return a random result from the following options: Lemon, Orange, Kiwi, Grape, Cherry, Tangelo.
  • The COLOUR (or COLOR) command will return a random result from the following: White, Red, Green, Silver, Yellow, Turquoise, Magenta, Orange, Purple, Black.
  • The CARD command will return a card with a random suit (either Hearts, Diamonds, Spades or Clubs) and a random value (either Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King). A card with a value that is either Jack, Queen or King is a face card.
  • A list of comma-separated values in curly brackets (eg {x,y}) will return one of the values at random.

Any changes to the potential outcomes of the Dice Roller’s random result commands must be made by Votable Matter.

If a Votable Matter proposes a change to this rule that would require server-level access to the BlogNomic site to fully enact its effects, that Votable Matter must name a Memory of Atlantis with such access. Only a Memory of Atlantis with such access may Enact that Votable Matter. If that Votable Matter does not name a Memory of Atlantis with such access, that Votable Matter is Illegal.

If a number or other game variable is selected “at random” or “randomly” from a range of possible values, its value shall always be taken from a uniform probability distribution over the entire range of possible values, unless otherwise specified. This value must be determined by an appropriate roll in the Dice Roller, unless otherwise specified, and which value the roll result corresponds to must be reasonably inferable from the nature of the roll and any comments supplied by the Memory of Atlantis making the roll before or while making the roll. If a selection is explicitly specified as being “secretly” random, the Memory of Atlantis making this determination may do so using a private method of their choosing, instead of the Dice Roller.

Atomic Actions

An Atomic Action combines otherwise separate game actions into a single action.

  • All steps of an Atomic Action are considered one action, including the steps of an Atomic Action that is itself a step of a parent Atomic Action.
  • When a Memory of Atlantis performs an Atomic Action, they must complete all its steps; they must complete them in order; and they may not take any other dynastic action, or achieve victory, until all the steps are complete.
  • If a rule allows the Memory of Atlantis performing an Atomic Action to skip some of its steps, the skipped steps are considered to have been completed.
  • If a Memory of Atlantis arrives at a step in an Atomic Action and they cannot perform that step, they undo all the steps they have performed of that Action and are considered never to have performed that Action.
  • If one or more steps of an Atomic Action were done incorrectly, the Memory of Atlantis must redo the Atomic Action; for that purpose, the Memory of Atlantis uses any legal steps that have already been completed in the illegal Atomic Action and only redoes the illegal ones. (For example, if an Atomic Action consists of rolling a dice and then doing steps based upon its result, the Memory of Atlantis would have to reroll the dice only if they rolled the wrong one in the first place, and would then have to repeat any steps that depended upon the result of that dice; however, if they rolled the dice correctly but took an illegal step later on, the result of the original dice roll would still be used in the redone step.)
  • 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.

Clarifications

Numbers and Variables

  • If a set of valid values is not specified in their definition, game variables defined to hold numeric values can hold only non-negative integers. Any action that would set those values below zero is an illegal action unless explicitly otherwise stated in the Ruleset.
  • Any situation which would require a roll of DiceX when X is zero or lower always yields a value of 0 unless stated otherwise.
  • All numbers, unless stated otherwise by a rule, are in base ten.
  • Unless otherwise specified, to “spend,” “pay” or “lose” an amount X of a numeric value “V” means to subtract X from V; to “gain” X of a numeric value “V” means to add X to V; and to “transfer” or “pay” X of a numeric value “V” from A to B means to subtract X from A’s V and add X to B’s V. Unless otherwise specified, only positive amounts can be spent, paid, lost, gained, or transferred, a Memory of Atlantis can spend or pay from only their own values, and a rule that allows Memories of Atlantis to transfer or pay a numeric value to another Memory of Atlantis only allows them to transfer that value from themselves to that other Memory of Atlantis (of their choice unless otherwise stated).
  • If a Dynastic Action is defined as having a cost X of numeric value V, or defines a requirement to spend, pay, or lose X of numeric value V to accomplish an effect or multiple effects, then the arithmetic effects of spending or payment and the act of carrying out those effects are considered to be subsequent steps in an Atomic Action, with the spending or payment step taking place before the effects step unless stated otherwise.
  • A Memory of Atlantis who has a choice in whether to take an action defined by a dynastic rule may not take that action if both of the following conditions are true: a) the action’s effects are limited to changing values tracked in gamestate-tracking entities (such as a wiki page), and b) the action would change one or more of those values to an illegal value.
  • If a rule implies that the result of any calculation should be an integer (for instance, by attempting to store that result in, or add it to, a gamestate variable that can only hold integers), the result of the calculation is instead the result rounded towards 0.
  • If a game variable has a default value but no defined starting value, then its default value should also be considered a starting value. If a game variable has neither a default value nor a starting value, then both may be considered to be the nearest legal value to zero that it may take (for numerical variables, defaulting to positive if tied), blank (for a text string or list that may be blank), the alphabetically earliest legal text string it may take (for a text string which may not be blank, with the digits 0 through 9 considered to precede “A”), or the list which is alphabetically earliest from the set of lists with the fewest elements (for lists which may not be blank, and considering each list to be a single unpunctuated text string, with the digits 0 through 9 considered to precede “A”).
  • If the rules that define a game variable are amended, and some previously valid values become invalid as a consequence, any existing variables whose current values would become invalid are instead set to their starting value.
  • Invalid values for game variables can never be used, even if the values stored in a gamestate-tracking entity remain valid. (for example, if X appears in a formula referring to a value that is a non-negative integer, X must be used as a non-negative integer)
  • DICEN cannot be rolled in the Dice Roller if N is greater than one million.
  • If a piece of information is described as being tracked secretly or privately by the Linguist Team (including secretly random selections), then that information may only be revealed by the Linguist Team when the ruleset allows it. If a Memory of Atlantis should already know such a piece of information (in that the Linguist Team has already told them it, or vice versa, and there is no way that the information could have been changed since then), the Linguist Team may repeat it to them.

Rules and Votable Matters

  • If a new rule is created by a Votable Matter and its location is not noted in that Votable Matter, that new rule is to be placed in the Dynastic Rules.
  • If a wiki page becomes gamestate as a result of a Votable Matter enacting, that page shall – unless otherwise specified – be reverted to whatever state it was in at the time of that Votable Matter’s submission (and if the page did not exist at that time, it shall be blanked).
  • Where a Votable Matter would amend the effects of Votable Matter Enactment, this does not apply to its own enactment unless explicitly stated (e.g. a Votable Matter proposing that enacted Votable Matters earn their author a banana when enacted would not earn a banana for its own author, when enacted).
  • Rules which trigger upon the Resolution of a Votable Matter are the responsibility of the Admin who Resolves it.
  • Unless otherwise specified, a new Dynastic rule shall be placed at the end of the Dynastic Rules.
  • If the Admin enacting a Votable Matter reaches a step which cannot be applied immediately (e.g. “two days after this Votable Matter enacts, Memory of Atlantis A gains 1 point”), that step is ignored for the purposes of enactment. Once a Votable Matter has been enacted, it can have no further direct effect on the gamestate.
  • If a dynastic rule has no text and no subrules, any Memory of Atlantis may delete it from the ruleset.
  • A rule may be accompanied by one or more illustrations, and an illustration may have a caption. In all situations, unless otherwise explicitly stated, an illustration and a caption to an illustration must be treated as flavour text.
  • When the ruleset calls for the use of a specific tool (such as the dice roller, or an off-domain website, or a specific piece of downloadable software), Memories of Atlantis may not deliberately interfere with the function of that tool except in ways explicitly permitted by the ruleset.

Time

  • For the purpose of all rules, time in BlogNomic is in UTC.
  • All references to time must be either specific or defined within the Ruleset to be considered achievable in the gamestate. Abstract concepts of time (e.g. “dinnertime”, “twilight”) cannot be achieved until they fulfil one of these criteria.
  • Where the month, day and/or year of a calendar date are ambiguous (e.g. “04/10/09”), it shall be assumed that the date is in a day/month/year format.
  • A Memory of Atlantis may not take more than one dynastic game action at the same time (excluding any actions which have been ongoing for more than three hours).

Spelling and formatting

  • Superficial differences between the spelling of geographic versions of English, e.g. British English, American English and Australian English shall be construed as irrelevant for the purposes of play.
  • Memories of Atlantis may correct obvious spelling and typographical mistakes in the Ruleset and their own Pending Votable Matters at any time, including replacing Spivak and gender-specific pronouns with the singular “they”.
  • A Memory of Atlantis may reformat a list of items in the dynastic ruleset to have bullet points or other appropriate list markup, if doing so would not change the order of that list, nor how any rules interpreted its content.

Names

  • Within the Ruleset, a word only refers to the name of a Memory of Atlantis if it is explicitly stated that it refers to a Memory of Atlantis’s name.
  • If a rule would ever have no name, it is instead given the name of the Votable Matter that created it, or (if this is not possible) the name “Unnamed Rule”.
  • The names of rules and wiki pages (other than the Ruleset) are flavour text.
  • Subrules can be referred to by a name which incorporates name of the rule they are a subrule of. Example: a subrule of the rule “Gin” is a “Gin Rule”, however the rule “Gin” is not a “Gin Rule” because it’s not a subrule of the rule “Gin”.
  • When referring to a Votable Matter, the name used in reference to a specific Votable Matter may be simplified by not including braces and any text between the opening and closing braces. i.e. a Votable Matter named “Changes [Core]” could instead be referred to by the name “Changes”.
  • When referring to a Rule, the name used in reference to a specific Rule may be simplified by not including braces and any text between a pair of opening and closing braces, as long as such a reference would be unambiguous.
  • Where a Votable Matter refers to a second Votable Matter by name, it is assumed to refer to the most recently posted Votable Matter of that name which pre-dates the first Votable Matter.
  • When changing their name or joining the game for the first time, a Memory of Atlantis’s (or prospective Memory of Atlantis’s) new name must be between 4 and 30 characters in length, and may only include the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, numbers, underscores, hyphens, full stops and apostrophes.

Prioritisation

  • If two parts of the Ruleset contradict each other, precedence shall be construed in the following order:
  1. The Appendix has precedence over any other Rule;
  2. If a Core Rule explicitly says it cannot be overruled by a Dynastic Rule, that Core Rule has precedence over a Dynastic Rule, otherwise a Dynastic Rule has precedence over that Core Rule;
  3. If a Special Case Rule explicitly says that it cannot be overruled by a Dynastic Rule, that Special Case Rule has precedence over a Dynastic Rule, otherwise a Dynastic Rule has equal precedence as that Special Case Rule;
  4. If two contradicting parts have equal precedence, the part with more limited scope applies (e.g. if the rules “Memories of Atlantis may Kick each other” and “Memories of Atlantis may not Kick each other on Tuesdays” exist, and it is Tuesday, Memories of Atlantis may not Kick each other);
  5. If two contradicting parts have the same scope, or have scopes that only overlap where they contradict each other, the negative rule applies (e.g. with “Memories of Atlantis may Punch a Spaceman on Friday” and “Memories of Atlantis may not Punch Spacemen on Friday”, then Memories of Atlantis may not Punch Spacemen on Friday).

Archives

This document is considered to be, in effect, the only Ruleset for BlogNomic, so long as it is located at at the URL https://wiki.blognomic.com/index.php?title=Ruleset.

Mentors

A Memory of Atlantis may have another Memory of Atlantis as a Mentor. Memories of Atlantis who are willing to act as a Mentor are listed on the Mentorships wiki page, and are said to be “Tenured”. An Admin may add or remove their own name, or the name of a Memory of Atlantis who has requested a change on their own behalf, from this list at any time.

If an unmentored Memory of Atlantis requests a Mentor, or a new Memory of Atlantis has joined the game and has no Mentor, the Linguist Team should select a Tenured Memory of Atlantis and ask them to take that Memory of Atlantis on as a Mentee; if they accept, then such a Mentorship is established. The members and starting dates of all active Mentorships are tracked on the Mentorships wiki page, and whenever a new Mentorship is established, the Linguist Team should announce it in a blog post. The Linguist Team should take care to consider game balance when selecting a potential mentor.

A relationship between a mentor and a mentee is a Mentorship. A Memory of Atlantis may dissolve a Mentorship they are part of at any time, by announcing this in a blog post.

If there is no Linguist Team, any Memory of Atlantis who has been active in at least three previous dynasties may act as Linguist Team for the purposes of this rule.

Things that a mentor must do

A mentor must do the following:

  • Make pro-active contact with their mentee when appointed, and explain the dynamics of the Mentorship system;
  • Be available to answer any questions that their mentee may have about the game, including explaining the rules, common standards and etiquette of play, proofreading posts and clarifying game events;
  • Introduce their mentee to the various platforms of the game, including the wiki, Discord, and end-of-dynasty notifications through the Facebook group or Twitter;
  • If possible, give their mentee a nudge if it appears that they are at risk of becoming Idle;
  • If they themselves go idle, communicate with their mentee to either continue to support them as an idle Memory of Atlantis or arrange a handover to another mentor if requested.

Things that a mentor should do

The following sets out suggested best practice for Mentorship relationships:

  • The Mentorship lasts for four weeks or until the next Ascension Address, whichever occurs latest. It can continue informally for longer but after this threshold the mentor is no longer bound by any of the conditions set out in the parent rule to this rule, or any of its subrules.
  • The mentor can and should advise the mentee on how to proceed in the mentee’s own best interests. This can include making connections with other Memories of Atlantis.
  • The mentor should consider copying the mentee in on private, game-related communications, where it does not unfairly prejudice their own interests. The mentee should keep this information private without explicit consent from the mentor.
  • The mentor and mentee may work together to achieve victory. If a mentor achieves victory with support of their mentee then they should, if the mentee wishes it, pass the baton to the mentee.

Things that a mentor should not do

The following sets out a list of things that a mentor should not do in their relationship with their mentee. All of these are considered to be Fair Play rules, as per the rule Fair Play.

  • The mentor should not sock-puppet, bully, coerce or otherwise manipulate the mentee into performing any game actions.
  • The mentor should not seek to dissuade the mentee from pursuing other alliances.
  • A former mentor should not seek to use the fact of a prior Mentorship to influence the former mentee on an ongoing basis.

Synonyms

A dynasty may provide extra theming by using alternative terms for words like “Memory of Atlantis” and “Linguist Team”.

Each term in this list is synonymous with the term in parentheses

  • Memory of Atlantis (Player)
  • Linguist Team (Emperor)

When a new Dynasty is started, the Ascension Address may specify new terms for each entry in the above list, provided the newly chosen term does not appear anywhere in the ruleset outside of this rule (though if it only appears in rules which are being removed as part of the Ascension Address, it is fine), and that doing so would not cause two terms in the above list to become synonymous with each other. Doing so causes the old corresponding value (including regional spelling variations) to be replaced by the new value everywhere in the ruleset except in any of the parentheses in the above list.