Ruleset Draft, Take Two

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Core Rules

Ruleset and Gamestate

This is the Ruleset for BlogNomic; all Captains must obey the most recent version of this document.

Section One consists of the "core rules" of blognomic, covering basic Captain and proposal mechanics; Section Two contains the "dynastic rules" of the current round, and Section Three contains the glossary, which exists solely to clarify the remainder of the ruleset.

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

If two parts of the Ruleset contradict each other, precedence shall be construed in the following order:

  1. The Glossary has precedence over any Dynastic Rule or Core Rule;
  2. A Dynastic Rule has precedence over a Core Rule, unless that Core Rule explicitly says it can't be overruled by a Dynastic Rule;
  3. If both contradicting parts are a Core Rule, or if both of them are a Dynastic Rule, the part with more limited scope applies. (e.g. if the rules "Players can Fight each other" and "Players cannot Fight each other on Tuesdays" exist, and it is Tuesday, players cannot fight each other.)
  4. If two parts with the same scope contradict each other, the negative rule applies. (e.g. with "Players can Fight each other on Tuesdays" and "Players cannot fight each other on Tuesdays", Players cannot fight each other on Tuesdays.)

Admins may correct obvious spelling and typographical mistakes in the Ruleset at any time.

No Rule may contain a provision that bars itself from being altered and/or repealed. If at any moment a Rule exists or is altered in a manner that renders it to contain such a provision, the entirety of that Rule shall be considered void and with no effects on the Gamestate. A rule A is considered to fall under this paragraph's provisions if it protects another rule B from being altered and/or repealed and that rule B prevents rule A from being altered. Daisy-chains of protection also fall under this paragraph's provisions. The provisions on this paragraph supersede any text in a Dynastic Rule.

Captains

Anybody may apply to join BlogNomic (if he is not already playing) by registering at http://blognomic.com via the Register link in the sidebar, and then making a post announcing her arrival. An Admin will add her to the roster in the sidebar, at which moment he becomes a Captain.

A Captain may leave the game at any time by posting an entry to the BlogNomic weblog requesting such an action. A Captain may only change her name as a result of a proposal approving the change.

Some Captains are Admins, responsible for updating the site and the Ruleset, and are signified as such in the sidebar. Captains who wish to become Admins shall 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.

Some Captains are Idle, and shall be marked as such in the sidebar. Idle Captains are not counted as Captains, except when they are directly referred to as "Idle Captains". Admins may render a Captain Idle if that Captain has asked to become Idle or if that Captain has not posted a entry or comment for more than 7 days. Admins may unidle a Captain at her request - the Captain's personal gamestate retains the values it had immediately prior to her going Idle. If one or more values would be undefined, it is set to the value new Captains receive, if such a value exists.

If the last Admin would go Idle or resign, they must immediately make one other Captain an Admin.

A single person may not control more than one Captain within BlogNomic. If anybody is suspected of controlling more than one Captain, then a Call for Judgment may be made to remove any number of such Captains from the game, and to bar the perpetrator from rejoining.

Proposals

Any Captain may propose changes to the Ruleset or Gamestate by making a Proposal. To make a Proposal, a Captain must Make a Post, in the "Proposal" category, that describes the changes he wishes to be made. A Proposal is a Voting Post.

Only the oldest Pending Proposal may be Enacted or Failed. This does not stop Voting Posts of other types from being Enacted or Failed.

When a Proposal is Enacted, the effects it describes are made by the Enacting admin.

A Captain may not make a Proposal if he already has 2 Proposals pending. Furthermore, no Captain may post more than 3 Proposals in the same day.

Voting

Some Offical posts, known as Voting Posts, may be voted upon. These posts have 3 states: Pending, Passed or Failed. When a Voting Post is first put forward, it is considered Pending.

Any Captain may cast his Vote on a Pending Voting Post by declaring it in the comments of the entry. Valid votes are FOR, AGAINST, and DEFERENTIAL, which must be represented by appropriate icons. If there exists more than one Vote from a single Captain on a single Post, only the most recent of those Votes is counted. If a Captain leaves the game or goes idle, his Vote no longer counts.

A vote of DEFERENTIAL is a vote of faith in the decision of the Dread Pirate. The vote will count as the same as the Dread Pirate's vote. If the Dread Pirate votes DEFERENTIAL, or there is no Dread Pirate, any DEFERENTIAL votes are not counted.

If the Captain who made a Voting Post has not cast an explicit Vote on it, his Vote is counted as FOR.

Enactment

A Voting Post may be enacted by any Admin if either of the following is true:-

  • It has a number of FOR votes that exceed or equal Quorum, has been open for voting for at least 12 hours, and has not been vetoed or self-killed.
  • It has been open for voting for at least 48 hours, it has more than 1 valid vote, more than half of its votes are FOR, and it has not been vetoed or self-killed.

The oldest pending Voting Post may be failed by any Admin, if any of the following are true:-

  • It has enough AGAINST votes that it could not be Enacted without one of those votes being changed.
  • It has been open for voting for at least 48 hours and half or fewer of its votes are FOR.
  • It has been open for voting for at least 48 hours and has fewer than 2 valid votes.
  • The Captain who posted it it has voted AGAINST it.
  • The Dread Pirate has voted to VETO it.

Whenever an Admin marks a Voting Post as passed or failed e must report the following information on the Voting Post:

  1. the final tally of for to against votes, or whether the proposal was self-killed or vetoed
  2. the time of enactment or failure
  3. the identity of the enacting or failing admin

Calls for Judgment

If two or more Captain actively disagree as to the interpretation of the Ruleset, or if a Captain feels that an aspect of the game needs urgent attention, then any Captain may raise a Call for Judgment by posting an entry in the "Call for Judgment" category. If the Captain wishes, he may post anonymously by choosing "Call for Judgment" from the Author drop-down menu on the OPTIONS tab. The post shall go on to describe the issue, and measures that shall be taken to resolve it.

All Captains may add votes of agreement or disagreement in comments to this entry, using appropriate voting icons (a Captain's later votes overriding their earlier ones). Unfailed CfJs continue until they reach a quorum of FOR votes, a quorum of AGAINST votes, or if there is no hiatus going on, until four days have passed, and if there is a hiatus going on until two days have passed. After this time, if more than half of the cast votes are in favour, the Gamestate and Ruleset shall be amended as was specified. Otherwise, the CfJ fails. A Failed CfJ has no further effect.

Gamestate Tracking

Proposals, Calls for Judgment, and other official posts, as well as specific gamestate information, shall be tracked by the BlogNomic blog at http://blognomic.com. Any Captain 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.

If no Captain has commented on it, an official post may be altered or removed by its author; otherwise this can only be done as allowed by the Ruleset. 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 changed to reflect its status.

A non-official post may not, through editing of the blog or otherwise, be changed into an official post, with the following exception: Whilst a non-official post has been posted for less than five minutes and has no comments, the author may change the categories as they wish.

Voting and comments are accessible through the link at the bottom of every post.

Specific parts of the Gamestate data shall be tracked by the Generic Nomic Data Tracker at http://blognomic.com/gndt/generic.cgi?nomic=blog. Any Captain may update any Captain's data via the GNDT, whenever the Ruleset permits it.

All updates to the GNDT are logged - if a Captain feels that an alteration goes against the Rules (as they were at the time of the alteration), he may simply undo the effects of that alteration. If such an undoing is disputed, a Call for Judgment shall be raised.

Captains shall be assigned a password for the GNDT when they join the Nomic.

Dynasties

BlogNomic is divided into a number of Dynasties. Each Dynasty is headed by a single Captain, known as the Dread Pirate, and is named according to the number of Dynasties he has headed (eg. "The First Dynasty of Myke").

The Dread Pirate may vote to VETO any Proposal.

If at any time there is no Dread Pirate, any Captain may propose that BlogNomic enter into a Metadynasty via a Proposal or a Call for Judgment.

Metadynasties are named according to the number of Metadynasties that have occured (eg. "Third Metadynasty") unless the name is changed.

Victory and Ascension

If a Captain believes e has achieved victory as specified in the current Ruleset and no active DoV has been posted by em, e may Make a Post to the Blognomic frontpage in the Declaration of Victory category. As soon as it is posted, a Declaration of Victory (hereafter referred as a DoV) becomes Active and remains so until it passes or fails. No Captain may have more than one active DoV pending at any time.

Whenever a DoV becomes active and there is not a Hiatus in effect, a Hiatus begins. So long as a Hiatus is in effect, the only game actions that may be taken are those covered by Core Rules "Captains", "Calls for Judgment", "Gamestate Tracking" and "Victory and Ascension".

Every Captain may vote on an active DoV, saying whether e believes the poster has achieved victory or not (using the FOR and AGAINST vote icons). If a single Captain votes more than once on the same active DoV, only the most recent of those Votes is counted.

The Declaration of Victory may be resolved after 24 hours, or after 12 hours if the Dread Pirate has voted on it. Upon resolution, if a Quorum of Captains have voted on the DoV and more than half of those votes were in favour, then the DoV passes - otherwise the DoV fails, and if no other DoVs are still pending, the Hiatus ends. DoV's may not be resolved if a Call for Judgment is pending.

At the winner's discretion, e may choose another active Captain to be the current Dread Pirate for the next dynasty. This is known as Passing the Mantle. If the selected Captain agrees, then all rights and responsibilities of the Dread Pirate transfer to the selected Captain. If the winner makes no mention of Passing the Mantle, it is assumed that the winner has decided to become the next Dread Pirate.

The Hiatus then continues until the new Dread Pirate posts an Ascension Address to the BlogNomic weblog - this shall specify the new Dread Pirate's chosen theme for the new round, and may optionally include a proclamation that any number of Rules will be repealed, and/or that the words "Captain" and "Dread Pirate" will be replaced with new theme-appropriate terms. The new Dread Pirate may also proclaim at the Ascension Address the veto of any Pending Proposals.

Upon posting this Address, and having made the Ruleset changes, the Hiatus period ends and the new Dynasty commences. Unless decreed otherwise by the Dread Pirate in the Axcension Address, all Captains' GNDT (http://blognomic.com/gndt/generic.cgi?nomic=blog) stats are then reset to zero or blank, and all NPC entities are removed.

The current Dread Pirate may not declare victory in eir own dynasty.

Dynastic Rules

Glossary

This is always at the end of the Ruleset. Its only effect can be to clarify ambiguity.

  • It is noted that where a Proposal would amend the effects of Proposal Enactment, this does not apply to its own enactment unless explicitly stated (eg. a proposal proposing that enacted proposals earn their writer a banana when enacted would not earn a banana for its own writer, when enacted).
  • Rules which trigger upon the Enacment or Failure of a Proposal are the responsibility of the Admin who Enacts or Fails it.
  • Appropriate 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, an I http://blognomic.com/images/vote/imperial.gif shall represent a vote of DEFERENTIAL, and an Imperial Seal (currently http://blognomic.com/images/vote/seal.gif) shall represent the Imperial Veto.
  • The "subject" of a blog entry is the Title of the entry. Any entry that does not have exactly one subject is not valid.
  • "Posts" and "comments" refer only to those made to the BlogNomic weblog at blognomic.com
  • 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. (eg. 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.)
  • Unless otherwise specified, game variables defined to hold numeric values can hold only non-negative integers, and any action that would set those values below zero instead sets them to zero. Any situation which would require a roll of DiceX when X is zero or lower always yields a value of 0 unless stated otherwise.
  • Unless otherwise specified: When "X" is a number, to spend X of a numeric value "V" means to subtract X from V (i.e. replace V with V-X); no action may be taken which requires spending X of a numeric value when the subtraction would result in a number which is illegal as a replacement for that value (e.g. if the value represents a variable which is restricted to non-negative integers, but the subtraction comes up negative).
  • 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.
  • Gamestate is defined as any information which the Ruleset regulates the alteration of, such as Captains' names and the blog colour scheme.

Typographic Conventions

  • Italicized text is not considered part of the ruleset and may be used to clarify rules with examples, notes, and flavor text. For example, this italicized text provides an example of the use of italicized text.

Timespans

  • References to "a day" (as an entity rather than a duration, eg. "Sunday") refer to that day in the timezone of the BlogNomic blog, which is considered to be GMT for all purposes.
  • References to a "week" refer to the period of time between the start of a Monday and the end of the following Sunday.
  • 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.
  • If a game action is a Daily Action, each Captain able to perform it may take that action once per day, but not more than once every six hours.
  • If a game action is a Weekly Action, each Captain able to perform it may take that action once per week, but not more than once every twenty-four hours.

Keywords

  • Unless otherwise specified, Quorum is equal to half the number of Captains, rounded down, plus one.

Dice

References to "YDICEX" refer to Y X-sided dice. To roll dice, post DICEX in the comments field of the GNDT, replacing X with the number of sides on the die you wish to roll.

IEEE

  • The IEEE auxiliary verbs used in Blognomic are:
    • Is required to: "shall";
    • Is recommended that: "should";
    • Is permitted to: "may";
    • Is able to: "can".
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