The Twenty-Second Dynasty of Josh

9 March - 26 April 2024

Ascension Address

The Sequel

As any good sequel should, I’m going to stick to the formula that worked the last time: no narrative pre-amble, just an acknowledgement that Spring is here, in the Northern hemisphere at least, and so it’s a good time to go outside and take in the beauty of the world.

I’m very open to seeing what direction proposals take, but I’m especially interested in proposals that encourage real-world interactions with other players - including in person where players are geolocated.

Change the term Vassal to Seeker and Sovereign to Observer. Activate the Building Block Everyone’s Playing and Low-Player mode; deactivate all other Building Blocks. Change the Public Tracking page to “Photo Gallery”.

Players

The following players were active at the beginning of this Dynasty: Brendan, Clucky, JonathanDark, Josh, Kevan, naught, pokes, Snisbo

The following players were active at the end of this Dynasty: 4st, JonathanDark, Josh, Juniper.ohyegods, Kevan, NadNavillus, Xebec

The following players were active at other points during the dynasty:

Gameplay summary

As of April 13th: Players take photos of the world, with their name and the Merriam Webster Word of the Day written in shot to prove that they took the photo that day. They each have secret criteria for what they want photos to contain (eg. "taken at night") and score points for any photos that match it. Players can gain bonus upgrades for certain types of shot (eg. "contains the name of another player"), which allow them to post photos more regularly.

To win the game, players have to attain four out of five awards (eg. "have 200 points" or "guess another player's criteria").

Final Ruleset

• Ruleset 224

Gamestate

• Photo Gallery

Posts of Interest

• Snap Happy (Josh) - Re-proposed the basic mechanic of The Eighteenth Dynasty of Kevan, adding the wrinkle that photos woud be assessed against a mixture of public and private criteria. Criteria were later tightened to only include elements visible in the photograph itself. Seekers could also have individual criteria, although this was never used.
• All Points East (Josh) - Photos generated Score based on the Crtieria that they met. Also set out that Snaps could only be posted on according to a Development Interval, initially 5 days.
• Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe (Clucky) - Seekers could Guess each others' Criteria. This would become on of the Victory awards but was only successfully done twice, one of which was a snipe.
• Mise en Abyme (Brendan) - Turned on the No Cooprations building block, which was the source of controversy throughout the dynasty.
• It's Impolite To Be Trite (JonathanDark) - For a while, there was a list of words whose inclusion in a Private Criterion would lead to that Criterion being unable to score. It was repealed, but only after repealing was it discovered that it had, surprisingly, been effective.
• Half-Satisfied (pokes) - Amended Criteria satisfaction such that Criteria scored when either satisfed or unsatisfied, but for the obverse total, encouraging Criteria that were balanced in their assessment. Runaway Games are No Fun (Clucky) further ammended this mechanic to force Criteria to refresh after they had scored a certain number of times.
• Hunter/Seeker (Josh) - A bounty system whereby Development Intervals could be reduced, allowing for more frequent posting of Snaps. monomethyl-p-aminophenol hemisulfate (Josh), This Is Not A Place Of Honour (Kevan), and The Bench Acknowledges (Josh) each added to the Upgrade Benchmarks available.
• Paper Trail (JonathanDark) - DoVs had to be accompanied by a full log of all Private Criteria used in the dynasty.
• Catching Up With The Photos (chiiika) - Allowed new-joining players to catch up quickly.
• Abstraction (Josh) - The victory mechanic for the dynasty. Players could attain Awards through a variety of approached. First to 5 (later brought down to 4) wins. Philosophical Opposites (JonathanDark) and Freeze Frame (Kevan) each added to or amended the Awards available.
• Into the Light (Nadnavillus) - Forced players to declare their Private Criteria when changing them. Exposed at least one ongoing scam that would not otherwise have come to light.
• An attempt was made to remove subjectivity from Criteria formation and scoring. This prompted some formalised subjectivity, alongside some failed attempts to enlist idle Seekers or use AI tools. Aesthetic choices were required to carry a few words of reaosning.
• Aesthetically Out of Order (Clucky) - Provoked a discussion about the limits of sportsmanship in a game that had established a principle of no cooperation. That conversation continued in Skipping Stones.

Core Proposals

• Expecting the Unexpected (Kevan) - Made the wording of No Cooperations a little more restrictive.
• Idle Cooperative (Josh) - Amended No Cooperations again.
• The Table's Edge (Kevan) - Further amended No Cooperations, this time to establish that proposing and voting culd never be considered cooperation.
• Mento Fresh (Josh) - No Cooperations again, this time ensuring that mentorship did not count as cooperation.
• Cooperative Emperor Style (JonathanDark) - Enshrined Imperial Styles in the rulset.
• Get The Laminator (Kevan) - Corrected a long-standing misapprehension in the ruleset by mandating that all wiki pages called by the ruleset were themselves gamestate.

Gallery

• 

  A Rainy London Park

• 

  Ok NOW it’s right

• 

  A Path

• 

  The Alley

• 

  The Angel of Islington

• 

  Sleepless in Seattle

• 

  Monsters in the Back Yard

• 

  Postbox

• 

  Night at the Minibus Stop

• 

  Street Scene

• 

  Poking the Waters

• 

  Squirrel

• 

  A Bit of Gardening

• 

  If Josh Wins

• 

  A Rock

• 

  Man, what is this, the invasion of privacy dynasty or something

• 

  Déjà vu

• 

  Good Vintage?

• 

  Waving From The Other Side of the Mountain

• 

  Trees

• 

  Recycle, kids

• 

  In the middle of the road

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  What That World Will Be Like

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  Drops

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  Ajuga genevensis

• 

  Bark

• 

  Night Blossom

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  Underwing

• 

  Chalk

• 

  Pansy Bowls

• 

  Alien Flora

• 

  Private Furlong

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  A Relaxing Evening

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  A Glass of Water

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  Ahhh…Qua!

• 

  Beach

• 

  Bounty

• 

  Carnivore in the Garden Redux

Ascension

Kevan attained the required 4 Awards and successfully declared Victory.

Commentary

• The Darkroom, post-dynastic discussion

Dynastic Histories [Edit]

Round One - Myke I - Lyndse I - Myke II - Kevan I - Anthony I - Est I - Kevan II - Damanor I - Kevan III - Cayvie I - Josh I - Keitalia I - SatyrEyes I - Metadynasty I - Cayvie II - Brendan I - Kevan IV - Knightking I - Chronos Phaenon I - TrumanCapote I - Knightking II - Quazie I - Simon I - AngryGrasshopper I - Rodney I - Aaron I - Josh II - Metadynasty II - Chronos Phaenon II - Excalabur I - Excalabur II - 75th Trombone I - Elias IX I - Metadynasty III - Angry Grasshopper II - Hix I - Thelonious I - Elias IX II - Rodney II - Clucky I - Doremi I - Chronos Phaenon III - Amnistar I - Clucky II - Amnistar II - Bucky I - Clucky III - Josh III - Kevan V - Hix II - Spikebrennan I - Jack I - Purplebeard I - Rodlen I - Yoda I - Amnistar III - Darknight I - Bucky II - Yoda II - Metadynasty IV - Arthexis I - Amnistar IV - Devenger I - Ais523 I - Ienpw III I - Qwazukee I - Klisz I - Metadynasty V - Bucky III - Wakukee I - Kevan VI - Ais523 II - Josh IV - Purplebeard II - Ais523 III - Ienpw III II - Klisz II - Lilomar I - Coppro I - Ais523 IV - Kevan VII - Brendan II - Alecto I - Josh V - Clucky IV - Purplebeard III - Kevan VIII - Ais523 V - Purplebeard IV - Yoda III - Bucky IV - Kevan IX - Bateleur I - Metadynasty VI - Coppro II - Ais523 VI - Cpt Koen I - Southpointingchariot I - Josh VI - Scshunt III - Quirck I - Clucky V - Bucky V - Kevan X - Josh VII - Kevan XI - Scshunt IV - RaichuKFM I - Larrytheturtle I - Skju I - Metadynasty VII - Purplebeard V - Spitemaster I - Josh VIII - RaichuKFM II - The Alien I - Benzene I - RaichuKFM III - Purplebeard VI - Kevan XII - Ayesdeeef I - Bucky VI - Kevan XIII - Josh IX - Mideg I - Kevan XIV - Brendan III - Kevan XV - Tantusar I - Josh X - Kevan XVI - Thrawn I - Brendan IV - Kevan XVII - Moonroof I - RaichuKFM IV - Larrytheturtle II - Brendan V - Kevan XVIII - Brendan VI - RaichuKFM V - Kevan XIX - Brendan VII - Kevan XX - Viv I - Pokes I - Sphinx I - Madrid I - Pokes II - Madrid II - Metadynasty VIII - Axemabaro I - Diabecko I - Kevan XXI - Diabecko & Card I - Kevan XXII - Derrick I - Card I - Madrid III - Card II - Kevan XXIII - Pokes III - Kevan XXIV - Trigon I - Derrick II - Kevan XXV - Derrick III - Farsight I - TyGuy6 I - Pokes IV - Madrid IV - TyGuy6 II - Kevan XXVI - The Duke of Waltham I - Josh XI - Clucky VI - Naught I - Metadynasty IX - Kevan XXVII - Josh XII - Clucky VII - Josh XIII - Bucky VII - Josh XIV - Kevan XXVIII - Lemonfanta I - Clucky VIII - Josh XV - Misty I - ais523 VII - Josh XVI - Kevan XXIX - Trapdoorspyder I - Metadynasty X - Brendan VIII - Brendan IX - Zack I - Misty II - Josh XVII - MadisonSilver I - Josh XVIII - Kevan XXX - Lendunistus I - Josh XIX - SingularByte I - Trapdoorspyder II - Bucky XIII - JonathanDark I - Trapdoorspyder III - Habanero I - JonathanDark II - Misty III - Metadynasty XI - Josh XX - Lemon II - Kevan XXXI - Josh XXI - Clucky IX - Vovix I - JonathanDark III - Zack II - JonathanDark IV - Josh XXII - Kevan XXXII