There were a lot of proposals last year: by my very rough count,
the most of any year since 2013, and more than twice as many as in 2019.
Given the large number of worthy proposals, I'm choosing
a bit of an unusual structure this year.
I have divided proposals into two categories. First are the nominees,
which consist of those excellent proposals that prompted significant
gameplay, adding to the story of Agora. Second are the honorable
mentions, which consist the larger number of proposals that were
interesting or creative enough to make me smile when I was looking
through the proposals, but did not have the same degree of gameplay impact,
and in some cases did not even pass.
There will now be a few days of discussion. During this time, people
can say which proposals they think will receive the final award,
as well as suggesting any proposals that should be added or moved
between lists. Given the outstanding showing this year, I will consider
awarding the Quill to between 1 and 3 proposals. If you are pressed for
time, I suggest not going over the honorable mentions, and just looking
at my nominees and any proposals nominated by other players.
Nominees:
ID Author(s) AI Title
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
8360 Alexis 3.0 Social Distancing
8407 G. 2.0 no stinking auction definitions
8408 nix, [1] 3.0 Sets v1.4
8483 G. 1.0 a minor adjustment
8514 Aris, nix, Trigon, [2] 3.0 The Buoyant Economy
8521 Jason, G., [3] 2.0 Stones
Proposed honorable mentions:
ID Author(s) AI Title
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
8291 Bernie, [4] 3.0 Interesting Chambers v3.1
8303 Aris, [5] 3.0 Contract Patency v3
8336 Jason 3.0 Define "publicly"
8354 Alexis, [6] 3.0 Statutory Instrumentation
8363 Warrigal 1.0 Somebody gets a coin
8388 nix 1.0 The Webmastor
8402 Aris, Falsifian 3.0 Promises
8409 Aris 3.0 College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences
8441 nix, Trigon 1.0 Transmutation
8476 ATMunn, [7] 1.0 Contract charities
8487 Murphy, R. Lee 3.0 Simpler ribbon switches
#NaN Gaelan 2.0 Agoran Bit-streaming
[1] Trigon, Falsifian, PSS, Jason, Aris, G., ais523
[2] nix, Trigon, G., Jason, ATMunn
[3] G., Aris, nix, Trigon, Gaelan, Falsifian
[4] Trigon, Aris, Gaelan, G., Jason, twg
[5] Gaelan, Jason, Falsifian
[6] Murphy, Aris, Gaelan
[7] G., Falsifian, PSS
The full text of all nominees is below. For reasons of space,
the full text of the proposed honorable mentions will be in a seperate
message.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ID: 8360
Title: Social Distancing
Adoption index: 3.0
Author: Alexis
Co-authors:
Enact a new power-3.01 rule entitled "Eclipse Light", reading as follows:
{{
An emergency message is one whose subject line contains the text
"[Emergency]".
The Prime Minister CAN, in an emergency message and with 3 Agoran
consent, enact, amend, or repeal Emergency Regulations, provided that
the intent to do so was also contained in an emergency message.
Emergency Regulations CAN:
- Extend any deadline provided for by any instrument other than this
rule, including a deadline for an obligation to be met, or deadline
prior to which an action must be performed in order to be valid, such
as the end of voting period. Such an extension CANNOT cause the total
time period, such as the time from when an obligation was created to
the deadline or the whole of a voting period, to be more than double
its original length.
- Create, destroy, or transfer assets, or require or forbid their
creation, destruction, or transfer.
- Cause one or more players to win Agora.
- Appoint or remove officeholders.
- Modify the Festivity.
- Award Patent Titles not mentioned in any Rule and Badges.
- Modify the Publicity of Fora.
The Prime Minister CAN, in an emergency message and with 4 Agoran
Consent, provided that the intent to do so was also contained in an
emergency message, Extend the Emergency.
If the Prime Minister has not Extended the Emergency in the past
month, any player CAN cause this rule to repeal all Emergency
Regulations and then itself.
If the Prime Minister has not sent a message to a public forum in the
preceding four days, the Speaker CAN exercise eir powers under this
rule as if e were the Prime Minister, and notwithstanding any rule
that would prohibit a single player from holding both offices.
}}
[I don't think we actually need an emergency rule. But deadline
extensions might be nice, and I figure a little bit of levity might
help us all.]
[Knowing us, we will manage to not only pass it too late, but also too soon.]
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ID: 8407
Title: no stinking auction definitions
Adoption index: 2.0
Author: G.
Co-authors:
Repeal Rule 2584 (Free Auctions)
Repeal Rule 2552 (Auction Termination)
Repeal Rule 2551 (Auction End)
Repeal Rule 2550 (Bidding)
Repeal Rule 2549 (Auction Initiation)
Amend Rule 2545 (Auctions) to read in full:
An auction is a way for entities to give away specified assets
(items), grouped into lots, in exchange for a currency. A lot is a
non-empty list of items to be transferred to a single recipient
(an auction winner).
When the rules authorize a person (the auctioneer) to conduct an
auction, e CAN do so by any wholly public method that would be
generally recognizable, as specified by the auctioneer at the
start of the auction, and under common definitions and terms used
in auctions, as a fair, equitable, and timely means of determining
the auction winners from among the current players, and enabling
the appropriate exchange of goods.
The rule that authorizes the auction further authorizes the
auctioneer or auction winners to transfer said items as necessary
to conduct the auction in a manner consistent with the auction
method. If the authorization is to auction "new" items, it further
authorizes the creation of said items as per the chosen method.
The Treasuror is the promulgator for regulations that define
specific auction methods (i.e. "the default auction method") and
SHOULD do in order to aid trade and commerce. For the purposes of
interpreting auction definitions, such methods are treated as if
they are defined in this rule. To further aid trade and commerce,
auction methods should be interpreted in the name of fairness with
deference to the method's clear intent, if intent can be
reasonably inferred.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ID: 8408
Title: Sets v1.4
Adoption index: 3.0
Author: nix
Co-authors: Trigon, Falsifian, PSS, Jason, Aris, G., ais523
Enact a new Power=1 rule titled "Cards & Sets" with the text:
Cards are a type of currency with a corresponding Product.
Products are also currencies. The types of Cards and their
corresponding Products are:
* Victory Cards and Victory Points.
* Justice Cards and Blot-B-Gones
* Legislative Cards and Pendants
* Voting Cards and Extra Votes
A player CAN pay a 'set' of X Cards of the same type to earn Y
corresponding Products. The value of X determines the value of Y
in the following ways:
* 1 Card = 1 Product
* 2 Cards = 3 Products
* 3 Cards = 6 Products
* 4 Cards = 10 Products
A player CANNOT pay more than 4 Cards as one 'set'.
Cards and Products are tracked by the Treasuror.
For each player that is not a zombie, grant em 1 card of each type.
[The core of this proposal. Collect cards to make the other assets.]
Amend rule 2499 "Welcome Packages" by replacing:
When a player receives a Welcome Package, e earns 10 coins.
with:
When a player receives a Welcome Package, e earns 10 coins and
one of each type of Card defined in the rules.
[Simple Welcome package addition]
Amend rule 2483 "Economics" by removing the following line:
A player CAN win the game by paying a fee of 1,000 Coins.
[Ultimately counter to an economy where we want constant trading and
asset movement.]
Enact a new Power=1 rule titled "VP Wins" with the following text:
If a player has at least 20 more Victory Points than any other
player, e CAN win by announcement. When a player wins this way,
all Cards and all Products are destroyed. Then each non-zombie
player is granted 1 card of each type.
[Exactly what it says on the tin.]
Amend rule 2555 "Blots" by replacing the following paragraph:
If a person (the penitent) has neither gained blots nor had more
than 2 blots expunged from emself in the current Agoran week, then
any player (the confessor) who has not, by this mechanism,
expunged any blots in the current Agoran week CAN expunge 1 blot
from the penitent, by announcement.
with:
Any player CAN expunge a blot from a specified person (or emself
if no one is specified) by paying a fee of one Blot-B-Gone.
[Pretty straightforward, now you need to use Blot-B-Gones to get rid of
Blots (except for the fugitive decay, I left that in).]
Amend rule 2350 "Proposals" by replacing:
Creating a proposal adds it to the Proposal Pool. Once a proposal
is created, neither its text nor any of the aforementioned
attributes can be changed. The author (syn. proposer) of a
proposal is the person who submitted it.
with:
Creating a proposal adds it to the Proposal Pool. Once a proposal
is created, its text, author, and AI cannot be changed. The author
(syn. proposer) of a proposal is the person who submitted it.
[I moved all the pending stuff out of here, but still modified the
language to allow the co-author mechanic.]
Create a new Power=1 rule titled "Pending Proposals" with the following
text:
Pended is a negative boolean proposal switch tracked by the
Promotor. Any player CAN pay 1 Pendant to flip the Pended switch
of a specified proposal to True. If the player did not create the
proposal and is not listed in the list of co-authors of the
proposal, e is added to the list of co-authors.
The Promotor CAN, once a week and with 2 support, flip the Pended
switch of a proposal in the Proposal Pool to True. E SHOULD NOT do
so if the author of the proposal has at least one Pendant or
Legislative Card.
A proposal with a Pended switch set to True is 'pending'.
[Basically pending is a separate mechanic from the Pool, so that it
interferes with long standing rules about the pool much less.]
Amend 1607 Distribution by replacing:
The Promotor CAN distribute a proposal which is in the Proposal
Pool at any time.
In a given Agoran week, the Promotor SHALL distribute each
proposal that was in the Proposal Pool at the beginning of that
week, except for those excepted from automatic distribution by
other rules, or those that are otherwise removed from the Pool.
with:
The Promotor CAN distribute a proposal which is in the Proposal
Pool at any time, but SHALL NOT do so unless it is pending.
In a given Agoran week, the Promotor SHALL distribute each
pending proposal that was in the Proposal Pool at the beginning
of that week, except for those excepted from automatic
distribution by other rules, or those that are otherwise removed
from the Pool.
If a proposal has been in the proposal pool for more than 7 days
and is not pending, the Promotor CAN and SHOULD remove it from the
Pool by announcement.
[This looks long but the actual changes are small. Basically where it
says someone can distribute a proposal it now specifies a pending
proposal. Also adds a way to clear out proposals nobody ever pended.]
Amend rule 2422 "Voting Strength" by adding:
A player CAN Buy Strength by paying 1 Extra Vote and specifying a
current Agoran decision on which e is a voter. For each time a
player has Bought Strength on a decision, eir voting strength is 1
greater on that decision. A player CANNOT Buy Strength for the
same decision more than 3 times.
[Inserting this in 2422 is a little wonky, but there's no issues with it
afaik. I might proposal a somewhat cleaner solution later.]
Create a new Power=1 rule titled "Popular Proposal Proposer Privilege"
with the following text:
The player who proposed the proposal with the greatest F/A, as
defined in rule 955, among all proposals assessed in the last 7
days CAN once earn one Legislative Card by announcement. If there
is a tie, all authors of the tied proposals may do so once each.
[This introduces 4 (or more!) Legislative Cards per month. My math says
that this, along with the 6 that can be created by officers should be
enough. But time will tell for sure.]
Create a new Power=1 rule titled "Card Administration" with the
following text:
Justice Cards are associated with the Ministry of Justice.
Legislative Cards are associated with the Ministry of Legislation.
Voting Cards are associated with the ministry of Participation.
An officer CAN, once per month and by announcement, grant another
player a specified type of card under the following conditions:
* the officer holds at least one office with the Card's associated
ministry in its interests,
* the player receiving the Card does not hold an office with the
Card's associated ministry in its interests, AND
* the player receiving the Card is not a zombie.
[I like this system a lot but I note the PM and Speaker can't receive
cards this way. I'm open to patches but I think they'll likely be able
to trade the cards they can create for the ones they need, so I'm not
immediately concerned.]
Flip the Pended switch of every proposal in the proposal pool to True.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ID: 8483
Title: a minor adjustment
Adoption index: 1.0
Author: G.
Co-authors:
If G., acting as emself, has published a single body of text clearly
labeled as "THE MYSTERY DOCUMENT" after the voting period on the
referendum for this proposal has began, this proposal applies all effects
specified in that body of text.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ID: 8514
Title: The Buoyant Economy
Adoption index: 3.0
Author: Aris
Co-author(s): nix, Trigon, G., Jason, ATMunn
Enact a new power 1.0 rule, entitled "Buoyancy Control", with the following
text:
The Total Buoyancy is a singleton integer switch, tracked by the
the Treasuror in eir monthly report.
The Treasuror CAN, by announcement, set the Total Buoyancy to a specified
value approximately equal to the sum of all coin balances at a specified
point within the first Eastman week of the current month. Whenever e does so,
e SHALL endeavor to calculate the correct sum for eir chosen point. E
SHALL set the Total Buoyancy once a month.
The Treasuror CAN and MAY exercise reasonable judgement in calculating the
Total Buoyancy. The Total Buoyancy will be deemed set so long as the value
chosen by the Treasuror is not obviously and grossly incorrect. The Treasuror
CAN and MAY set the Total Buoyancy more than once a month, but SHOULD NOT do
so unless there is reason to believe eir previous setting of the value
failed.
[The divisor, 2500, was selected based on some testing suggesting that
it would work well at meeting the dual goals of promoting social
mobility and keeping inflation manageable. We can tweak it later
as needed.
Re the term boatloads, which may be the best part of this, I want to
thank nix and G. for pointing me in the right direction, and most of all
Trigon for suggesting the term.]
Enact a new power 1.0 Rule entitled "Floating Rate Fleet", with the
following text:
The Unit of Flotation is equal to 1/2500 times the Total Buoyancy,
unrounded. A boatload of something is a quantity of that thing equal in
count to the Unit of Floatation. When a quantity of assets is
expressed in boatloads, it is rounded up to the next whole asset.
The Floating Rate Schedule is part of the Treasuror's monthly report. It
contains the Total Buoyancy, the Unit of Flotation, and the real value
of every quantity that is expressed in boatloads in a rule or regulation. The
Treasuror is ENCOURAGED to also consider including quantities in contracts.
The Treasuror SHOULD publish the Floating Rate Schedule immediately after
setting the Total Buoyancy.
When taking an action, a person SHOULD expand all quantities that are
expressed in boatloads.
[This means that the changes don't really take effect until the Treasuror
publishes the first Floating Rate Schedule.]
Set the Total Buoyancy to 2500.
[This incorporates Trigon's proto, "End monthly officer stipends".]
Amend Rule 2559 "Paydays" so it reads:
Whenever a Payday occurs, each active player earns 10 boatloads of coins.
The occurrence of Paydays is secured. At the beginning of each
month, a Payday occurs.
# MINOR COIN CLEANUP THAT YOU CAN PROBABLY IGNORE
[There is literally no reason Agora should ever have any coins.]
Revoke all coins from Agora.
Amend Rule 2483, Economics, by changing
"They can be owned by Agora, players, and contracts."
to read
"They can only be owned by players, contracts, and the Lost and
Found Department."
# TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS
Amend Rule 2496, "Rewards", by replacing each instance of "coins" with
"boatloads of coins".
Amend Rule 2499, "Welcome Packages", by replacing "coins" with "boatloads
of coins".
Amend Rule 2602, "Glitter", by replacing "coins" with "boatloads of coins".
Amend Rule 2631, "Charities", by replacing "coins" with "boatloads of coins".
[This one is phrased like this in case some version of ATMunn's birthday
proposal passes.]
Amend Rule 2585, "Birthday Gifts", by replacing each instance of "coins" with
"boatloads of coins".
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ID: 8521
Title: Stones
Adoption index: 2.0
Author: Jason
Co-authors: G., Aris, nix, Trigon, Gaelan, Falsifian
Enact a new rule, power 2, title "Stones", with the following text:
{
A stone is a unique indestructable liquid asset defined by the rules. To
define a stone, the definition must include:
(i) A name unique among stones;
(ii) The escape risk of the stone, which must be a percentage between
0% and 100% inclusive;
(iii) A scroll, which is a document specifying the effects of the stone
(iv) Optionally, a frequency, which must be one of daily, weekly,
monthly, or quarterly.
Ownership of stones is entirely restricted to Agora and active players.
If a stone is owned by the Lost and Found Department or in abeyance, it
is immediately transferred to Agora.
The Stonemason is an office, and the recordkeepor of stones.
}
Enact a new rule, power 2, title "Wielding Stones", with the following text:
{
Except as otherwise specified by the rules, the owner of a stone CAN
wield it by announcement specifying any values needed to interpret the
stone's effects.
If a stone has a frequency, then it is IMPOSSIBLE to wield that stone if
it has been previously wielded in the same Agoran time interval as
indicated by its frequency (e.g. if its frequency is daily, if it has
been wielded in the same Agoran day).
When a stone is wielded, the Rule defining that stone applies the
effects in that stone's scroll.
}
Enact a new rule, power 2, title "Distributing Stones", with the
following text:
{
The Stonemason CAN initiate an auction for any set of stones belonging
to Agora for which an auction is not ongoing, with each individual stone
being an auction lot. The Stonemason is the auctioneer, and the currency
is coins.
The Stonemason SHALL so initiate an auction for a set of stones
consisting of at least one third the stones eligible for auction in a
timely fashion after publishing a collection notice, provided there any
eligible stones.
}
Enact a new rule, power 2, title "Collecting Stones", with the following
text:
{
Once per month, the Stonemason CAN publish a collection notice by
announcement, specifying all necessary information and choices. The
Stonemason SHALL publish such a notice in a timely fashion after the
beginning of each Agoran month.
A stone is immune if there has been no collection notice after it was
most recently granted immunity (if ever), as defined by other rules.
A collection notice includes, for every non-immune stone not belonging
to Agora, a random choice of whether that stone escapes, escaping with
probability equal to its escape risk. When a collection notice is
published, stones that escape are transferred to Agora in an order
specified by the collection notice.
}
Enact a new rule, power 2, title "The Gauntlet", with the following text:
{
When a player makes a correct announcement that a single specified
player owns 5 or more stones, the specified player Wields the Guantlet.
When a player Wields the Gauntlet, e wins the game and all existing
stones are transferred to Agora.
}
Enact a new rule, power 2, title "The Stones", with the following text:
{
The following stones are defined, one per paragraph, with the following
format: Stone Name (Frequency, Escape Risk): Scroll.
- Power Stone (weekly, 40%): A specified player hereby buys strength 3
times on a specified unresolved Agoran decision.
- Wealth Stone (weekly, 50%): A specified player hereby earns 5
boatloads of coins.
- Soul Stone (weekly, 50%): The Soul Stone is hereby transferred to the
owner of a different specified non-immune stone, then that stone is
transferred to the wielder.
- Sabotage Stone (weekly, 80%): The adoption index of a specified
AI-majority Agoran decision is hereby increased by 1.
- Concentration Stone (weekly, 60%): A specified player earns the Grant
associated with eir Focus.
- Protection Stone (monthly, 70%): A specified stone is granted immunity.
}
Jason hereby becomes the Stonemason.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
