THE SHORT LOGICAL RULESET
Most Recent Ruleset Change Recorded:
Adoption of Proposal 7793, 28 October 2015
Online documents:
http://faculty.washington.edu/kerim/nomic/rkeep/current_flr.txt (FLR)
http://faculty.washington.edu/kerim/nomic/rkeep/current_slr.txt (SLR)
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The Game of Agora
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Rule 101/17 (Power=3)
The Game of Agora
Agora is a game of Nomic, wherein Persons, acting in accordance
with the Rules, communicate their game Actions and/or results of
these actions via Fora in order to play the game. The game may
be won, but the game never ends.
Please treat Agora Right Good Forever.
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Rule 869/38 (Power=3)
How to Join and Leave Agora
Any organism that is generally capable of freely originating and
communicating independent thoughts and ideas is a person. Rules
to the contrary notwithstanding, no other entities are persons.
Citizenship is a person switch with values Unregistered
(default) and Registered, tracked by the Registrar. Changes to
citizenship are secured. A registered person is a Player.
A person CAN (unless explicitly forbidden or prevented by the
rules) register by publishing a message that indicates
reasonably clearly and reasonably unambiguously that e intends
to become a player at that time. A person, by registering,
agrees to abide by the Rules. The Rules CANNOT otherwise bind a
person to abide by any agreement without that person's willful
consent.
A player CAN deregister (cease being a player) by announcement.
If e does so, e CANNOT register by announcement for 30 days.
If a player has not sent a message to a public forum in the last
month, then any player CAN deregister em without objection. In
the first week of every month, the Registrar SHALL use this
method to attempt to deregister every player that has not sent a
message to a public forum in the preceding month.
The Rules CANNOT compel non-players to act, nor compel players
to unduly harass non-players. A non-person CANNOT be a player,
rules to the contrary notwithstanding.
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Rule 2141/9 (Power=3)
Role and Attributes of Rules
A rule is a type of instrument with the capacity to govern the
game generally, and is always taking effect. A rule's content
takes the form of a text, and is unlimited in scope.
Every rule has power between 0.1 and 4.0 inclusive. It is
not possible for a rule to have a power outside this range.
Rules have ID numbers, to be assigned by the Rulekeepor.
Every rule shall have a title to aid in identification. If a
rule ever does not have a title, the Rulekeepor SHALL assign a
title to it by announcement in a timely fashion.
For the purposes of rules governing modification of instruments,
the text, power, ID number, and title of a rule are all
substantive aspects of the rule. However, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, the Rulekeepor CAN set rule aspects as
described elsewhere in this rule.
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Rule 478/32 (Power=3)
Fora
Freedom of speech being essential for the healthy functioning of
any non-Imperial nomic, it is hereby resolved that no Player
shall be prohibited from participating in the Fora, nor shall
any person create physical or technological obstacles that
unduly favor some players' fora access over others.
Publicity is a forum switch with values Public, Discussion, and
Foreign (default), tracked by the Registrar. Changes to
publicity are secured.
The Registrar's report includes, for each forum with non-Foreign
publicity, sufficient instructions for players to receive
messages there.
The Registrar may change the publicity of a forum without
objection as long as:
(a) e sends eir announcement of intent to that forum; and
(b) if the forum is to be made public, the announcement by which
the Registrar makes that forum public is sent to all
existing public fora.
Each player should ensure e can receive messages via each public
forum.
A public message is a message sent via a public forum, or sent
to all players and containing a clear designation of intent to
be public. A rule can also designate that a part of one public
message is considered a public message in its own right. A
person "publishes" or "announces" something by sending a public
message.
Where the rules define an action that CAN be performed "by
announcement", a person performs that action by unambiguously
and clearly specifying the action and announcing that e performs
it. Any action performed by sending a message is performed at
the time date-stamped on that message. Actions in messages
(including sub-messages) are performed in the order they appear
in the message, unless otherwise specified.
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Rule 2449/0 (Power=3)
Winning the Game
When the Rules state that a Player or Players win the game,
those players win the game; specifically they win the Round
that ends with the indicated win. Agora itself does not end and
the ruleset remains unchanged. The Herald is then authorized to
award those players the Patent Title of Champion.
Winning the game is secured, except as described in Ephemeral
Rules.
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Rule 1698/4 (Power=3)
Agora Is A Nomic
Agora is ossified if it is IMPOSSIBLE for any reasonable
combination of actions by players to cause arbitrary rule
changes to be made and/or arbitrary proposals to be adopted
within a four-week period.
If, but for this rule, the net effect of a proposal would cause
Agora to become ossified, or would cause Agora to cease to
exist, it cannot take effect, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding. If any other single change to the gamestate
would cause Agora to become ossified, or would cause Agora to
cease to exist, it is cancelled and does not occur, rules to the
contrary notwithstanding.
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Mutability
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Rule 2125/8 (Power=3)
Regulation Regulations
An action is regulated if: (1) the Rules limit, allow, enable,
or permit its performance; (2) describe the circumstances under
which the action would succeed or fail; or (3) the action would,
as part of its effect, modify information for which some player
is required to be a recordkeepor.
Regulated Actions CAN only be performed as described by the
Rules. The Rules SHALL NOT be interpreted so as to proscribe
unregulated actions.
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Rule 1688/8 (Power=3)
Power
The Power of an entity is a non-negative rational number. An
Instrument is an entity with positive Power.
The Power of an entity cannot be set or modified except as
stipulated by the Rules. All entities have Power zero except
where specifically allowed by the rules.
Power less than one is called Ephemeral power, and an instrument
with a power less than one is an Ephemeral instrument.
A Rule that makes a change, action, or value secured (hereafter
the securing Rule) thereby makes it IMPOSSIBLE to perform that
change or action, or to set or modify that value, except as
allowed by an Instrument with Power greater than or equal to the
change's Power Threshold. This Threshold defaults to the
securing Rule's Power, but CAN be lowered as allowed by that
Rule (including by the Rule itself).
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Rule 2140/1 (Power=3)
Power Controls Mutability
No entity with power below the power of this rule can
(a) cause an entity to have power greater than its own.
(b) adjust the power of an instrument with power greater than
its own.
(c) set or modify any other substantive aspect of an instrument
with power greater than its own. A "substantive" aspect of
an instrument is any aspect that affects the instrument's
operation.
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Rule 1030/11 (Power=3.2)
Precedence between Rules
In a conflict between Rules, the conflict shall be resolved by
performing the following comparisons in the sequence written in
this rule, until the conflict is resolved.
- In a conflict between Rules with different Power, the Rule
with the higher Power takes precedence over the Rule with the
lower Power; otherwise,
- If all of the Rules in conflict explicitly say that their
precedence relations are determined by some other Rule for
determining precedence relations, then the determinations of
the precedence-determining Rule shall be used to resolve the
conflicts; otherwise,
- If at least one of the Rules in conflict explicitly says of
itself that it defers to another Rule (or type of Rule) or
takes precedence over another Rule (or type of Rule), then
such provisions shall be used to resolve the conflict, unless
they lead to contradictions between each other; otherwise,
- If any of the rules in conflict have ID numbers, then the Rule
with the lowest ID number takes precedence; otherwise,
- The Rule enacted earliest takes precedence.
Clauses in any other rule that broadly claim precedence (e.g.
over "all rules" of a certain class) shall be, prima facie,
considered to be limited claims of precedence or deference that
are applicable only when such claims are evaluated as described
within the above sequence.
No change to the Ruleset can occur that would cause a Rule to
directly claim precedence over this Rule as a means of
determining precedence. This applies to changes by the
enactment or amendment of a Rule, or of any other form. This
Rule takes precedence over any Rule that would permit such a
change to the Ruleset.
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Rule 2240/1 (Power=3)
No Cretans Need Apply
In a conflict between clauses of the same Rule, if exactly one
claims precedence over the other, then it takes precedence;
otherwise, the later clause takes precedence.
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Mechanisms
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Rule 105/12 (Power=3)
Rule Changes
Where permitted by other rules, an instrument generally can,
as part of its effect,
(a) enact a rule. The new rule has power equal to the minimum
of the power specified by the enacting instrument,
defaulting to one if the enacting instrument does not
specify or if it specifies a power less than 0.1, and the
maximum power permitted by other rules. The enacting
instrument may specify a title for the new rule, which if
present shall prevail. The ID number of the new rule cannot
be specified by the enacting instrument; any attempt to so
specify is null and void.
(b) repeal a rule. When a rule is repealed, it ceases to be a
rule, and the Rulekeepor need no longer maintain a record
of it.
(c) reenact a rule. A repealed rule identified by its most
recent rule number may be reenacted with the same ID number
and the next change identifier. If no text is specified,
the rule is reenacted with the same text it had when it was
most recently repealed. If the reenacting proposal provides
new text for the rule, the rule must have materially the
same purpose as did the repealed version; otherwise, the
attempt to reenact the rule is null and void.
(d) amend the text of a rule.
(e) retitle a rule.
(f) change the power of a rule.
A rule change is any effect that falls into the above classes.
Rule changes always occur sequentially, never simultaneously.
Any ambiguity in the specification of a rule change causes that
change to be void and without effect. An inconsequential
variation in the quotation of an existing rule does not
constitute ambiguity for the purposes of this rule, but any
other variation does.
A rule change is wholly prevented from taking effect unless its
full text was published, along with an unambiguous and clear
specification of the method to be used for changing the rule, at
least 4 days and no more than 60 days before it would otherwise
take effect.
This rule provides the only mechanism by which rules can be
created, modified, or destroyed, or by which an entity can
become a rule or cease to be a rule.
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Rule 106/36 (Power=3)
Adopting Proposals
When a decision about whether to adopt a proposal is resolved,
if the outcome is ADOPTED, then the proposal in question is
adopted, and unless other rules prevent it from taking effect,
its power is set to the minimum of four and its adoption index,
and then it takes effect. Except as prohibited by other rules,
a proposal that takes effect CAN and does, as part of its
effect, apply the changes that it specifies. If the proposal
cannot make some such changes, this does not preclude the other
changes from taking place.
If there is no Agoran Decision to adopt a particular proposal
that has an outcome of ADOPTED, that proposal CANNOT take
effect, rules to the contrary notwithstanding.
Preventing a proposal from taking effect is a secured change;
this does not apply to generally preventing changes to specified
areas of the gamestate, nor to a proposal preventing itself from
taking effect (its no-effect clause is generally interpreted as
applying only to the rest of the proposal).
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Rule 2162/6 (Power=2)
Switches
A type of switch is a property that the rules define as a
switch, and specify the following:
a) The type(s) of entity possessing an instance of that switch.
No other entity possesses an instance of that switch.
b) One or more possible values for instances of that switch,
exactly one of which is designated as the default. No other
values are possible for instances of that switch.
c) Optionally, exactly one office whose holder tracks instances
of that switch. That officer's (weekly, if not specified
otherwise) report includes the value of each instance of that
switch whose value is not its default value; a public
document purporting to be this portion of that officer's
report is self-ratifying, and implies that other instances
are at their default value.
At any given time, each instance of a switch has exactly one
possible value for that type of switch. If an instance of a
switch comes to have a value, it ceases to have any other value.
If an instance of a switch would otherwise fail to have a
possible value, it comes to have its default value.
"To flip an instance of a switch" is to make it come to have a
given value. "To become X" (where X is a possible value of
exactly one of the subject's switches) is to flip that switch to
X.
If an action or set of actions would cause the value of an
instance of a switch to become indeterminate, the instance
instead takes on its last determinate and possible value, if
any, otherwise it takes on its default value.
A natural switch is a switch with a default value of 0, unless
the rules explicitly specify a different default value. If the
rules define an upper limit for the switch, then the possible
values are non-negative integers not greater than that limit,
otherwise the values are the non-negative integers.
A singleton switch is a switch for which Agora Nomic is the only
entity possessing an instance of that switch.
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Rule 1728/33 (Power=3)
Dependent Actions
A rule which purports to allow a person (the performer) to
perform an action by a set of one or more of the following
methods (N is 1 unless otherwise specified):
1) Without N Objections, where N is a positive integer no
greater than 8. ("Without Objection" is shorthand for this
method with N = 1.)
2) With N Supporters, where N is a positive integer. ("With
Support" is shorthand for this method with N = 1.)
3) With N Agoran Consent, where N is an integer multiple of 0.1
with a minimum of 1.
4) With Notice.
thereby allows em to perform the action by announcement if all
of the following are true:
a) A person (the initiator) announced intent to perform the
action, unambiguously and clearly specifying the action and
method(s) (including the value of N for each method), at
most fourteen days earlier, and (if the action depends on
objections or notice) at least 4 days earlier.
b) At least one of the following is true:
1) The performer is the initiator.
2) The initiator was authorized to perform the action due
to holding a rule-defined position now held by the
performer.
3) The initiator is authorized to perform the action, the
action depends on support, the performer has supported
the intent, and the rule authorizing the performance
does not explicitly prohibit supporters from performing
it.
c) Agora is Satisfied with the announced intent, as defined by
other rules.
d) If a set of conditions for the performance of the action was
given in the announcement of intent to perform the action,
all those conditions are met.
The actor SHOULD publish a list of supporters if the action
depends on support, and a list of objectors if it depends on
objections.
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Rule 2124/18 (Power=2)
Agoran Satisfaction
A Supporter of a dependent action is an eligible entity who has
publicly posted (and not withdrawn) support (syn. "consent") for
an announcement of intent to perform the action. An Objector to
a dependent action is an eligible entity who has publicly posted
(and not withdrawn) an objection to the announcement of intent
to perform the action.
The entities eligible to support or object to a dependent action
are, by default, all players, subject to modification by the
document authorizing the dependent action. However, the
previous sentence notwithstanding, the Executor of the
announcement of intent is not eligible to support it.
Agora is Satisfied with an intent to perform a specific action
if and only if:
(1) if the action is to be performed Without N Objections, then
it has fewer than N objectors;
(2) if the action is to be performed With N supporters, then it
has N or more supporters; and
(3) if the action is to be performed with N Agoran Consent, then
the ratio of supporters to objectors is greater than N, or
the action has at least one supporter and no objectors.
The above notwithstanding, if the action depends on objections,
and an objection to it has been withdrawn within the past 24
hours, then Agora is not Satisfied with the intent.
The above notwithstanding, Agora is not satisfied with the
intent if the Speaker has objected to it in the last 48 hours.
A person CANNOT support or object to an announcement of intent
before the intent is announced, or after e has withdrawn the
same type of response.
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Politics
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Rule 1006/37 (Power=2)
Offices
Officeholder is an office switch tracked by the IADoP, with
possible values of any person or "vacant". An officer is the
holder of an office, who may be referred to by the name of that
office. If the holder of an office is ever not a player, it
becomes vacant.
An imposed office is an office described as such by the rule
defining it. All others are elected. A person CANNOT be made
the holder of an elected office without eir explicit or
reasonably implied consent.
The holder of an elected office CAN resign it by announcement,
causing it to become vacant. Any player CAN cause an office to
become vacant without 2 objections.
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Rule 103/22 (Power=2)
The Speaker
The Speaker is an imposed office and the figurehead leader of
Agora.
The player or players who have most recently won the game are
called Laureled. If at any time the office of Speaker is vacant,
or when one or more players win Agora, then the Prime Minister
CAN and SHALL, once and in a timely fashion, appoint a Laureled
player to the office of Speaker.
If the office of Speaker has been held continuously by the same
person for 90+ days, then any player CAN appoint another player
to the office with Support.
The offices of the Speaker and the Prime Minister are
incompatible. If at any point in time one player holds both of
these offices, e ceases to hold the position of Prime Minister.
For an election of the Prime Minister, the Speaker has voting
strength one greater than e would have if e did not hold the
office.
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Rule 2423/0 (Power=2)
First Among Equals
The Prime Minister is an office. The Prime Minister is elected
by the players of Agora primarily on account of not being the
other guy. The Prime Minister SHOULD ensure that Agoran affairs
proceed smoothly.
The holder of the office of Prime Minister has voting strength
one greater than e would have if e did not hold the office. This
does not apply in respect of an election of the Prime Minister.
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Rule 2451/0 (Power=1)
Executive Orders
Once per week and except as otherwise forbidden by this
rule, the current Prime Minister CAN issue a Cabinet Order
and perform the action(s) authorized by that Order.
Each Cabinet Order is associated with an office. The current
Prime Minister CANNOT issue more than one Cabinet Order
associated with the same office more than once in the same
month, nor can e issue a Cabinet Order associated with a
vacant office.
The available Cabinet Orders are:
- Certiorari (CotC): The Prime Minister assigns emself as
judge of a specified open case.
- Dive (Referee): The Prime Minister issues a specified Card
to a specified player. In doing so, the Prime Minister
SHOULD cite a specific grievance against that player, not
necessarily a violation of a rule.
- Manifesto (Promotor): The Prime Minister distributes a
specified proposal in the Proposal Pool.
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Rule 2154/48 (Power=2)
Election Procedure
A player CAN initiate an election for a specified elected office
for which no election is already in progress
a) by announcement, if e is the IADoP, if the office has been
deputised for within the past two weeks, or if no election
has been initiated for the office either since the last time
a player won the game or within the past 90 days;
b) with 4 Supporters, otherwise.
After the election is initiated, any player CAN once initiate an
Agoran decision to determine the new officeholder, and the IADoP
SHALL do so in a timely fashion if no one else does first. For
this decision, the valid options are the players, the vote
collector is the IADoP, and the voting method is instant runoff.
Upon the resolution of this decision, its outcome, if a player,
is installed into office, and the election ends.
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Proposals
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Rule 2350/9 (Power=3)
Proposals
A proposal is a type of entity consisting of a body of text and
other attributes. A player CAN create a proposal by
announcement, specifying its text and optionally specifying any
of the following attributes:
* An associated title.
* A list of co-authors (which must be persons other than the
author).
* An adoption index.
Creating a proposal adds it to the Proposal Pool. Once a
proposal is created, nether its text nor any of the
aforementioned attributes can be changed. The author (syn.
proposer) of a proposal is the person who submitted it.
If a decision of whether to adopt a proposal was resolved as
FAILED QUORUM in the last seven days, the Promotor CAN once add
the proposal back to the Proposal Pool by announcement.
The author of a proposal in the Proposal Pool CAN remove (syn.
retract, withdraw) it from the Pool by announcement.
The Promotor CAN remove a proposal from the Proposal Pool by
announcement if it is not pending and has been added to the Pool
more than 14 days ago.
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Rule 2445/2 (Power=1)
How to Pend a Proposal
Imminence is a switch, tracked by the Promotor, possessed by
proposals in the Proposal Pool, whose value is either "pending"
or "not pending" (default).
Spending power is an office switch, whose values range over the
positive integers between 1 and 10 inclusive, with a default of
1. Spending power is tracked by the IADoP. The IADoP CAN flip
the spending power of an office by announcement, provided that
the Promotor always has spending power no less than 1 less than
the greatest spending power among offices, and further provided
that the current IADoP has not already flipped that office's
spending power in the current month.
A player can flip a proposal's imminence to "pending" by
announcement, unless e has already done so a number of times
that week that equals or exceeds the total spending power of the
offices e holds.
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Rule 2443/0 (Power=3)
Expediting Proposals
A player CAN expedite a proposal whose adoption index is at most
1.5, in a message containing the character string "[Expedition]"
in the subject line,
(a) by specially deputising for the Promotor to distribute the
proposal, if it has not been distributed; or
(b) by announcement, otherwise.
If, in an Agoran Decision to adopt a proposal, the strength of
AGAINST is zero, and the proposal was expedited at least 7 days
earlier, then any player CAN specially deputise for the Assessor
to resolve the decision.
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Rule 1607/42 (Power=3)
Distribution
The Promotor is an office; its holder is responsible for
receiving and distributing proposals.
Determining whether to adopt a proposal is an Agoran decision.
For this decision, the vote collector is the Assessor, the
adoption index is initially the adoption index of the proposal,
or 1.0 if the proposal does not have one, and the text of the
proposal is an essential parameter. Initiating such a decision
is known as distribution, and removes the proposal from the
Proposal Pool.
The Promotor CAN distribute a proposal which is in the Proposal
Pool at any time. The Promotor SHALL NOT distribute proposals
which are not pending.
In a given Agoran week, the Promotor SHALL, as part of eir
weekly duties, distribute all pending proposals.
Distributed proposals have ID numbers, to be assigned by the
Promotor.
If there is a Proposal in the Pool that it would otherwise be
IMPOSSIBLE for any player to distribute, then any player CAN
distribute that Proposal Without 3 Objections.
The Promotor's report includes a list of all proposals in the
Proposal Pool, along with their text and attributes. This
portion of a public document purporting to be a Promotor's
report is self-ratifying.
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Rule 2431/1 (Power=1)
Proposal Competitions
Any player CAN, with Agoran Consent, initiate a Proposal
Competition with a specified Objective. Only one Competition may
be in progress at a time. The Objective should be a
specification of effects of a proposal, and SHOULD NOT depend on
factors that could not be determined from the text of a
proposal.
During the Agoran Week following the initiation of a Proposal
Competition, any player CAN specify that a Proposal e submits is
a Competition Proposal for that Competition. Players are
ENCOURAGED to describe how their Competition Proposals fulfill
the Objective.
The Promotor SHALL distribute all Competition Proposals for a
given Competition in the same message. The Assessor SHALL
resolve all the Agoran Decisions to adopt the Competition
Proposals for a given Competition in the same message.
Once all Agoran decisions to adopt Competition Proposals for a
given Competition have been resolved, the Competition ends.
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Decisions
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Rule 2137/2 (Power=1)
The Assessor
The Assessor is an office; its holder is responsible for
collecting votes and keeping track of related properties.
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Rule 693/15 (Power=3)
Agoran Decisions
When the rules calls for an Agoran decision to be made, the
decision-making process takes place in the following three
stages, each described elsewhere:
(a) Initiation of the decision.
(b) Voting of the people.
(c) Resolution of the decision.
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Rule 107/18 (Power=3)
Initiating Agoran Decisions
An Agoran decision is initiated when a person authorized to
initiate it publishes a valid notice which sets forth the intent
to initiate the decision. This notice is invalid if it lacks
any of the following information, and the lack is correctly
identified within one week after the notice is published:
(a) The matter to be decided (for example, "the adoption of
proposal 4781").
(b) A clear indication of the set of valid votes.
(c) The identity of the vote collector.
(d) Any additional information defined by the rules as essential
parameters.
The publication of such a valid notice initiates the voting
period for the decision. The voting period lasts for 7 days.
The minimum voting period for a decision with at least two
options is five days. The vote collector for a decision with
less than two options CAN and SHALL end the voting period by
announcement, if it has not ended already, and provided that e
resolves the decision in the same message.
The voting period for a decision cannot be set or changed to a
duration longer than fourteen days.
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Rule 208/11 (Power=3)
Resolving Agoran Decisions
The vote collector for an unresolved Agoran decision CAN resolve
it by announcement, indicating the outcome. If it was required
to be initiated, then e SHALL resolve it in a timely fashion
after the end of the voting period. To be valid, this
announcement must satisfy the following conditions:
(a) It is published after the voting period has ended.
(b) It clearly identifies the matter to be resolved.
(c) It specifies the outcome, as described elsewhere, and, if
there was more than one valid option, provides a tally of
the voters' valid ballots.
Each Agoran decision has exactly one vote collector, defaulting
to the initiator of the decision. If the vote collector is
defined by reference to a position (or, in the default case, if
the initiator was so defined), then the vote collector is the
current holder of that position.
This rule takes precedence over any rule that would provide
another mechanism by which an Agoran decision may be resolved.
In general, changes to the gamestate due to the outcome of an
Agoran decision take effect when the decision is resolved.
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Rule 1950/31 (Power=3)
Decisions with Adoption Indices
Adoption index is an untracked switch possessed by Agoran
decisions and proposals, whose value is either "none" (default)
or an integral multiple of 0.1 from 1.0 to 9.9.
Adoption index is secured with a power threshold of 2.
An Agoran decision with an adoption index has the following
essential parameters:
a) Its adoption index.
b) Its author (and co-authors, if any).
For any Agoran decision with an adoption index, the voting
method is AI-majority.
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Rule 879/32 (Power=2)
Quorum
Quorum for an Agoran Decision is equal to the number of players
who voted on the most recently resolved Agoran Decision to adopt
a proposal, minus 3.
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Voting
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Rule 683/21 (Power=3)
Voting on Agoran Decisions
An entity submits a ballot on an Agoran decision by publishing a
notice satisfying the following conditions:
(a) The ballot is submitted during the voting period for the
decision.
(b) The entity casting the ballot (the voter) was, at the
initiation of the decision, a player.
(c) The ballot clearly identifies the matter to be decided.
(d) The ballot clearly identifies a valid vote, as determined by
the voting method.
(e) The voter has not publicly retracted the ballot during the
voting period. ("Changing" a vote is equivalent to
retracting it and casting a vote with the new value.)
(f) It is the most recent of the voter's otherwise-valid
ballots.
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Rule 2422/0 (Power=3)
Voting Strength
The voting strength of an entity is an integer between 1 and 5
inclusive, defined by rules of power 2 or greater. If not
otherwise specified, the voting strength of an entity is 1.
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Rule 2127/9 (Power=3)
Conditional Votes
If a vote on an Agoran decision is submitted conditionally (e.g.
"FOR if <X> is true, otherwise AGAINST"), then the selected
option is evaluated based on the value of the condition(s) at
the end of the voting period, and, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, is clearly specified if and only if the value
of the condition(s) is/are determinate at the end of the voting
period. If the option cannot be clearly identified, a vote of
PRESENT is cast.
Casting a vote endorsing another voter is equivalent to
conditionally casting a vote whose value is the same as the most
common value (if any) among that voter's valid votes on that
decision.
Casting a vote denouncing another voter is equivalent to
conditionally casting a vote whose value is opposite to the most
common value (if any) among that voter's valid votes on that
decision. FOR and AGAINST are opposites.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2168/7 (Power=1)
Extending the voting period
Whenever the voting period of an Agoran decision would end, and
the result would be FAILED QUORUM, the length of the voting
period for that decision is instead increased to 14 days, except
if it is already that length, provided this has not already
happened for the decision in question.
Upon such an occurrence, the vote collector for the decision
SHALL issue a humiliating public reminder to the slackers who
have not yet cast any votes on it despite being eligible, and
CAN end its voting period by announcement (resolving it
constitutes an implicit announcement that its voting period is
first ended) if the result would no longer be FAILED QUORUM, or
if the decision is whether to adopt a proposal and no voter
(other than possibly the proposal's author) has voted FOR.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 955/20 (Power=3)
Determining the Will of Agora
Each Agoran decision has a voting method, which determines how
voters may vote on it and how to calculate the outcome. The
following voting methods are defined:
(1) AI-majority: the valid votes are FOR and AGAINST. Let F be
the total voting strength of all voters with valid ballots
cast FOR a decision, A be the same for AGAINST, and AI be
the adoption index of the decision. The outcome is ADOPTED
if F/A >= AI and F/A > 1 (or F>0 and A=0), otherwise
REJECTED.
This is the only voting method which takes voting strength
into account.
(2) Instant runoff: the valid votes are ordered lists of
options, and the outcome is whichever option wins according
to the standard definition of instant runoff. In case
multiple valid options tie for the lowest number of votes at
any stage, the vote collector CAN and must, in the
announcement of the decision's resolution, select one such
option to eliminate; if, for N > 1, all eir possible choices
in the next N stages would result in the same set of options
being eliminated, e need not specify the order of
elimination.
(3) First-past-the-post (default): the valid votes are the
options, and the outcome is whichever option received the
most votes. In case of a tie, the vote collector CAN and
must, in the announcement of the decision's resolution,
select one of the leaders as the outcome.
The previous notwithstanding:
- If there is more than one option, and the number of valid
ballots is less than quorum, the outcome is instead FAILED
QUORUM.
- PRESENT is always a valid vote, with no effect on the outcome
except counting towards quorum.
- If there are no valid options, the outcome is null.
The outcome of a decision is determined when it is resolved, and
cannot change thereafter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2034/8 (Power=3)
Vote Protection and Cutoff for Challenges
A public message purporting to resolve an Agoran decision
constitutes self-ratifying claims that
a) such a decision existed,
b) it was resolved as indicated, and
c) (if the indicated outcome was to adopt a proposal) such a
proposal existed, was adopted, and took effect.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================
Interpretations
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 991/16 (Power=2)
Calls for Judgement
Any person (the initiator) can initiate a Call for Judgement
(CFJ, syn. Judicial Case) by announcement, specifying a
statement to be inquired into. E may optionally bar one person
from the case.
At any time, each CFJ is either open (default), suspended, or
assigned exactly one judgement.
The Arbitor is an office, responsible for the administration of
justice in a manner that is fair for emself, if not for the rest
of Agora.
When a CFJ has no judge assigned, the Arbitor CAN assign any
player to be its judge by announcement, and SHALL do so within a
week. The players eligible to be assigned as judge are all
players except the initiator and the person barred (if any).
The Arbitor SHALL assign judges over time such that all
interested players have reasonably equal opportunities to judge.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 591/42 (Power=1.7)
Delivering Judgements
When a CFJ is open and assigned to a judge, that judge CAN
assign a valid judgement to it by announcement, and SHALL do so
in a timely fashion after this becomes possible. If e does not,
the Arbitor CAN remove em from being the judge of that case by
announcement.
The valid judgements, based on the facts of the case at the time
the CFJ was initiated, are TRUE, FALSE, and DISMISS. DISMISS is
appropriate if the statement is malformed, undecidable,
irrelevant to the game, if insufficient information exists to
make a judgement with reasonable effort, or the statement is
otherwise not able to be answered TRUE or FALSE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 217/11 (Power=3)
Interpreting the Rules
When interpreting and applying the rules, the text of the rules
takes precedence. Where the text is silent, inconsistent, or
unclear, it is to be augmented by game custom, common sense,
past judgements, and consideration of the best interests of the
game.
Definitions and prescriptions in the rules are only to be
applied using direct, forward reasoning; in particular, an
absurdity that can be concluded from the assumption that a
statement about rule-defined concepts is false does not
constitute proof that it is true. Definitions in lower-powered
Rules do not overrule common-sense interpretations or common
definitions of terms in higher-powered rules.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, any rule change that
would (1) prevent a person from initiating a formal process to
resolve matters of controversy, in the reasonable expectation
that the controversy will thereby be resolved; or (2) prevent a
person from causing formal reconsideration of any judicial
determination that e should be punished, is wholly void and
without effect.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2152/7 (Power=3)
Mother, May I?
The following terms are defined. These definitions are used
when a rule includes a term in all caps, and provide guidance in
determining the ordinary-language meaning of a term when a rule
includes a term otherwise. Earlier definitions take precedence
over later ones. If a rule specifies one or more persons in
connection with a term, then the term applies only to the
specified person(s).
1. CANNOT, IMPOSSIBLE, INEFFECTIVE, INVALID: Attempts to
perform the described action are unsuccessful.
2. MUST NOT, MAY NOT, SHALL NOT, ILLEGAL, PROHIBITED: Performing
the described action violates the rule in question.
3. NEED NOT, OPTIONAL: Failing to perform the described action
does not violate the rules.
4. SHOULD NOT, DISCOURAGED, DEPRECATED: Before performing the
described action, the full implications of performing it
should be understood and carefully weighed.
5. CAN: Attempts to perform the described action are successful.
6. MAY: Performing the described action does not violate the
rules.
7. MUST, SHALL, REQUIRED, MANDATORY: Failing to perform the
described action violates the rule in question.
8. SHOULD, ENCOURAGED, RECOMMENDED: Before failing to perform
the described action, the full implications of failing to
perform it should (in the ordinary-language sense) be
understood and carefully weighed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 911/51 (Power=1.7)
Motions and Moots
If a CFJ (1) has a judgement that has been in effect for less
than seven days and not been appealed, and (2) has not had a
Motion to Reconsider filed for it at any time while it has been
assigned to its current judge, then any Player CAN file a Motion
to Reconsider the case with 2 Support, or by announcement if e
is that case's judge. When a Motion to Reconsider is so filed,
the case is rendered open again.
If a CFJ has a judgement assigned, a player CAN enter that
judgement into Moot with two support. When this occurs, the CFJ
is suspended, and the Arbitor is once authorized to initiate the
Agoran decision to determine public confidence in the judgement,
which e SHALL do in a timely fashion.
For this decision, the vote collector is the Arbitor and the
valid options are AFFIRM, REMAND, and REMIT. When the decision
is resolved, the effect depends on the outcome:
- AFFIRM, FAILED QUORUM: The judgement is reassigned to the case,
and cannot be entered into Moot again.
- REMAND: The case becomes open again.
- REMIT: The case becomes open again, and the current judge is
recused. The Arbitor SHALL NOT assign em to the case again
unless no other eligible judges have displayed interest in
judging.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2175/9 (Power=1)
Judicial Retraction and Excess
A new case is a judicial case that has not had any judge
assigned to it. The initiator of a new case CAN retract it by
announcement, thus causing it to cease to be a judicial case.
An excess case is a new case whose initiator previously
initiated five or more cases during the same week as that case.
A person SHALL NOT initiate an excess case. The Arbitor CAN
refuse an excess case by announcement, thus causing it to cease
to be a judicial case. When e does so, e fulfills any
obligations with regards to that case.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1023/34 (Power=2)
Common Definitions
The following terms are defined:
(a) The phrase "in a timely fashion" means "within 7 days".
This time period is set when the requirement is created
(i.e. X days before the limit ends). A requirement to
perform an action at an exact instant (e.g. "when X, Y
SHALL Z"), but not "in the same message", is instead
interpreted as a requirement to perform that action in a
timely fashion after that instant.
(b) Agoran epochs:
(1) Agoran days begin at midnight UTC.
(2) Agoran weeks begin at midnight UTC on Monday.
(3) Agoran months begin at midnight UTC on the first day of
each Gregorian month.
(4) Agoran quarters begin when the Agoran months of January,
April, July, and October begin.
(5) Agoran years begin when the Agoran month of January
begins.
(5) A pivot is either the instant at which Agora Nomic began
(June 30, 1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200) or an instant at
which at least one person won the game. When used as a
period of time, a "Round" (historical syn: "game") is
the period of time between a pivot and the next pivot.
These definitions do not apply to relative durations (e.g.
"within <number> days after <event>").
(c) If a regulated value, or the value of a conditional, or a
value otherwise required to determine the outcome of a
regulated action, CANNOT be reasonably determined (without
circularity or paradox) from information reasonably
available, or if it alternates instantaneously and
indefinitely between values, then the value is considered to
be Indeterminate, otherwise it is Determinate.
(d) Two points in time are within a month of each other if:
(1) they occur in the same Agoran month;
(2) they occur in two consecutive Agoran months, and the
later of the two occurs in an earlier day in the month
than the earlier one;
(3) they occur in two consecutive Agoran months on the same
day of the month, and the later of the two occurs at the
same or earlier time of day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1769/13 (Power=3)
Holidays
The period each year from midnight GMT on the morning of 24
December to the beginning of the first Agoran week to begin
after 2 January is a Holiday.
The week that contains the beginning of Agora's Birthday,
together with the following week, is a Holiday.
If a person breaks a Rule by missing a deadline that occurs
during a Holiday, punishment is generally not appropriate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2448/2 (Power=1)
Eras
An Era is a period of time that has a defined start, either
has a defined end or is still ongoing, and has been initiated
as specified by this rule.
Upon the initiation of an Era, each existing Ephemeral Rule
(in the order they were created) is repealed, unless the
initiation specifies otherwise.
A player CAN initiate a new Era with Agoran Support.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================
Breakages
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2426/4 (Power=1)
Cards
The Referee is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping
track of wrongdoing.
The Referee CAN issue a Card to a specified player by
announcement. When issuing each Card, e SHALL cite a unique
violation of the rules e perceives to have occurred within the
last 14 days, and CANNOT issue more than three Cards per week,
or one per week to a single player. The Arbitor CAN issue Black
Cards to the Referee solely for alleged violations of the former
requirement.
The following Cards exist:
- Green Card, intended for offenses which the Referee does not
believe warrant effective punishment. When a Green Card is
issued, the target player is ENCOURAGED to travel to the
United States.
- Red Card, intended for more severe offenses. The effects of a
Red Card are described elsewhere.
- Black Card, naming an office held by the player, intended for
severe abuses of power (the perceived rule violation must
involve use or non-use of that office's powers). Within seven
days after a Black Card is issued, any player CAN become the
holder of the target office with two support; the issuer of
that Card CANNOT initiate or support this.
The Referee SHALL issue at least one Card per week, unless no
violations occurred that week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2450/0 (Power=1.7)
Pledges
Breaking a publicly-made pledge is a cardable offense.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2427/0 (Power=3)
Red Cards
After a Red Card has been issued to a player, e SHOULD publish a
formal apology of at least 200 words, including all the
prescribed words, explaining eir error, shame, remorse, and
ardent desire for self-improvement; other effects are described
elsewhere. Until e does so or 30 days have passed, e CANNOT
cast votes other than PRESENT, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1789/9 (Power=2)
Cantus Cygneus
Whenever a Player feels that e has been treated so egregiously
by the Agoran community that e can no longer abide to be a part
of it, e may submit a document to the Registrar, clearly labeled
a Cantus Cygneus, detailing eir grievances and expressing eir
reproach for those who e feels have treated em so badly.
In a timely fashion after receiving a Cantus Cygneus, the
Registrar shall publish this document along with a Writ of
Fugiendae Agorae Grandissima Exprobratione, commanding the
Player to be deregistered. The Registrar shall note the method
of deregistration for that Player in subsequent Registrar
Reports.
The Player is deregistered as of the posting of the Writ, and
the notation in the Registrar's Report will ensure that,
henceforth, all may know said Player deregistered in a Writ of
FAGE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================
Rulesets
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1051/18 (Power=1)
The Rulekeepor
The Rulekeepor is an office; its holder is responsible for
maintaining the text of the rules of Agora.
The Rulekeepor's Weekly report includes the Short Logical
Ruleset. The Rulekeepor's Monthly report includes the Full
Logical Ruleset.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1681/20 (Power=1)
The Logical Rulesets
The Short Logical Ruleset (SLR) is a format of the ruleset. In
this format, each rule is assigned to a category, and the rules
are grouped according to their category.
Rules are assigned to, ordered within, or moved between
categories, and categories are added, changed, or empty
categories removed, as the Rulekeepor sees fit.
The listing of each rule in the SLR must include the rule's ID
number, revision number, power, title, and text.
The Rulekeepor is strongly DISCOURAGED from including any
additional information in the SLR, except that which increases
the readability of the SLR.
The Full Logical Ruleset (FLR) is a format of the ruleset. In
this format, rules are assigned to the same category and
presented in the same order as in the SLR. The FLR must contain
all the information required to be in the SLR, and any
historical annotations which the Rulekeepor is required to
record.
The Rulekeepor SHOULD also include any other information which e
feels may be helpful in the use of the ruleset in the FLR.
Whenever a rule is changed in any way, the Rulekeepor SHALL
record a historical annotation to the rule indicating:
a) The type of change.
b) The date on which the change took effect.
c) The mechanism that specified the change.
d) If the rule was changed due to a proposal, then that
proposal's ID number, author, and co-author(s) (if any).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2455/0 (Power=1)
The Olive Tree
Every existing Rule (every Child) has an existing Rule as a
Parent. The lowest numbered existing Rule is the Root. The
default parent for all children is the Root.
This collection of relationships is known as the Olive Tree,
to be published weekly by the Rulekeepor. The Olive Tree can
be changed as the Rulekeepor sees fit, though e SHOULD maintain
it in a reasonably flourishing condition.
In general, definitions associated with the tree data structure
(in computer science) are appropriate to use in interpreting
the Olive Tree. The Rulekeepor SHOULD name major aspects of
the tree (e.g. branches) to aid in ruleset navigation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2327/1 (Power=1)
Read the Ruleset Week
The first Agoran week each year which falls entirely in February
is Read the Ruleset Week. Agorans are encouraged to read the
ruleset during Read the Ruleset Week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2429/1 (Power=1)
Bleach
Replacing a non-zero amount of whitespace with a different
non-zero amount of whitespace is generally insignificant, except
for paragraph breaks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2430/1 (Power=3)
Cleanup Time
The Rulekeepor CAN, without objection, cause this rule to amend
any specified rule by:
a) Changing the capitalization of a word, except to or from
all caps.
b) Changing visual formatting (such as the layout and
bulleting of a list).
c) Correcting formatting inconsistencies (such as doubled or
skipped items in a list).
Such a change SHALL NOT be made if it would plausibly affect the
interpretation of a rule.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================
Recordkeeping
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2143/24 (Power=1)
Official Reports and Duties
For each person:
a) If any task is defined by the rules as part of that person's
weekly duties, then e SHALL perform it at least once each
week. If any information is defined by the rules as part of
that person's weekly report, then e SHALL maintain all such
information, and the publication of all such information is
part of eir weekly duties.
b) If any task is defined by the rules as part of that person's
monthly duties, then e SHALL perform it at least once each
month. If any information is defined by the rules as part of
that person's monthly report, then e SHALL maintain all such
information, and the publication of all such information is
part of eir monthly duties.
Any information defined by the rules as part of a person's
report, without specifying which one, is part of eir weekly
report. Failure of a person to perform any duty required of em
within the allotted time is the Class-2 crime of Tardiness.
An official duty for an office is any duty that the Rules
specifically assign to that office's holder in particular
(regardless of eir identity).
A person SHALL NOT publish information that is inaccurate or
misleading while performing an official duty, or within a
document purporting to be part of any person or office's weekly
or monthly report.
Reports SHALL be published in plain text. Tabular data must
line up properly when viewed in a monospaced font. Publishing a
report that deviates from these regulations is the Class 2 Crime
of Making My Eyes Bleed.
Officers SHOULD maintain a publicly visible copy of their
reports on the World Wide Web, and they SHOULD publish the
address of this copy along with their published reports.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2379/0 (Power=1)
No News Is Some News
If the rules define a report as including a list, then while
that list is empty, that report includes the fact that it is
empty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2160/13 (Power=3)
Deputisation
Any player (a deputy) CAN perform an action as if e held a
particular office (deputise for that office) if all of the
following are true:
(a) The rules require the holder of that office, by virtue of
holding that office, to perform the action (or, if the
office is vacant, would so require if the office were
filled). This requirement is fulfilled by the deputy
performing the action.
(b) A time limit by which the rules require the action to be
performed has expired, or the office is vacant.
(c) If the office is filled, then the deputy announced between
two and fourteen days earlier that e intended to deputise
for that office for the purposes of the particular action.
(d) It would be POSSIBLE for the deputy to perform the action,
other than by deputisation, if e held the office.
(e) The deputy, when performing the action, announces that e
is doing so by deputisation.
When a player deputises for an elected office, e becomes the
holder of that office.
A rule which purports to allow a person (a special deputy) to
perform an action via special deputisation for an office thereby
allows them to perform the action as if e held the office, as
long as
(a) it would be POSSIBLE for the special deputy to perform the
action, other than by special deputisation, if e held the
office, and
(b) the special deputy, when performing the action, announces
that e is doing so by special deputisation.
Special deputisation is not a type of deputisation, and
therefore does not generally have the effects that deputisation
has.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1551/18 (Power=3.1)
Ratification
A public document is part (possibly all) of a public message.
When a public document is ratified, rules to the contrary
notwithstanding, the gamestate is modified to what it would be
if, at the time the ratified document was published, the
gamestate had been minimally modified to make the ratified
document as true and accurate as possible. Such a modification
cannot add inconsistencies between the gamestate and the rules,
and it cannot include rule changes unless the ratified document
explicitly and unambiguously recites either the changes or the
resulting properties of the rule(s). If no such modification is
possible, or multiple substantially distinct possible
modifications would be equally appropriate, the ratification
fails.
An internally inconsistent document generally cannot be
ratified; however, if such a document can be divided into a
summary section and a main section, where the only purpose of
the summary section is to summarize information in the main
section, and the main section is internally consistent,
ratification of the document proceeds as if it contained only
the main section.
Text purportedly about previous instances of ratification (e.g.
a report's date of last ratification) is excluded from
ratification. The rules may define additional information that
is considered to be part of the document for the purposes of
ratification; such definitions are secured at a Power
Threshold of 3.
Ratifying a public document is secured with power threshold 3.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2202/6 (Power=3)
Ratification Without Objection
Any player CAN, without objection, ratify a public document,
specifying its scope.
Ratification Without Objection CANNOT cause the repeal,
amendment, enactment, or mutation of any Rule, rules to the
contrary notwithstanding.
A player SHALL NOT knowingly use or announce intent to use
Ratification Without Objection to ratify a (prior to
ratification) document containing incorrect or Indeterminate
information when a corrected document could be produced with
reasonable effort, unless the general nature of the document's
error and reason for ratifying it is clearly and plainly
described in the announcement of intent. Such ratification
or announcement of intent to ratify is the Class-8 Crime of
Endorsing Forgery.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2201/6 (Power=3)
Self-Ratification
A public document defined by the rules as self-ratifying is
ratified when it is continuously undoubted for one week.
A doubt is an explicit public challenge via one of the following
methods, identifying a document and explaining the scope and
nature of a perceived error in it:
a) An inquiry case, appropriate for questions of legal
interpretation.
b) A claim of error, appropriate for matters of fact. The
publisher of the original document SHALL (if e was required
to publish that document) or SHOULD (otherwise) do one of
the following in a timely fashion:
i) Deny the claim (causing it to cease to be a doubt).
ii) Publish a revision.
iii) Initiate an inquiry case regarding the truth of the
claim (if the subject is actually a matter of law),
or cite a relevant existing inquiry case.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2446/2 (Power=1)
The Agoran Newspaper
The Agoran Newspaper is a weekly publication describing
noteworthy recent events that occured in the public fora in the
prior Agoran Week. The Herald SHALL write and publish The
Agoran Newspaper each week. When the Herald publishes the
Newspaper for a given Agoran week, any obligation e has to
publish the Newspaper for a prior week is discharged.
The Agoran Newspaper will be formatted at the discretion of the
Herald. The Herald SHOULD include all information necessary to
give the Agoran people a comprehensive understanding of the
events occuring in Agora in a given week.
The purpose of the Agoran newspaper is to provide the Agoran
people an easily understandable source of information concerning
the happenings of Agora in order to create a more informed
people.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2138/22 (Power=1)
The Associate Director of Personnel
The Associate Director of Personnel (ADoP) is an office; its
holder is responsible for keeping track of officers.
The ADoP's report includes the following:
a) The date of the last change (if any) to each office's
Officeholder.
b) The date on which the most recent election for each office
was initiated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2139/7 (Power=2)
The Registrar
The Registrar is an office; its holder is responsible for
keeping track of players.
The Registrar's report includes:
a) A list of all players, including information sufficient to
identify and contact each player.
b) The date on which each player most recently became a player.
c) For each former player for which the information is
reasonably available, the dates on which e registered and
deregistered.
The Registrar is also responsible for tracking any switches that
would otherwise lack an officer to track them, unless the switch
is defined as untracked.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================
Organizations
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2456/1 (Power=1)
The Secretary
The Secretary is an office. The Secretary's weekly report
includes:
a) A list of which persons are on Personal Lockout.
b) The time at which each person on Personal Lockout comes off
Lockout.
c) Whether Agora is on Global Lockout, and if so, when it ends.
d) A list of all Organizations and their Income.
e) Each player's Expenditure.
The Secretary's monthly report includes:
a) Each Organization's Charter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2459/0 (Power=1.2)
Organizations
An Organization is a type of entity. The following changes are
secured: creating, modifying, or destroying an Organization; and
causing an entity to become an Organization or cease to be an
Organization.
Budget is a switch belonging to (Organization, player) pairs
(i.e. there is one instance of the switch for each combination
of an Organization and a player), tracked by the Secretary,
whose legal values are integers from 0 to 100 inclusive,
defaulting to 0. An Organization's Income is the total value of
all Budget switches for pairs that include that Organization. A
player's Expenditure is the total value of all Budget switches
for pairs that include that player. Changes to Budget are
secured.
A "member" of an Organization is a player for which the pair
consisting of that Organization and that player has a nonzero
Budget.
It is IMPOSSIBLE, by any means, for a player to become a member
of an Organization, or for an organization to be created with a
player as a member, without that player's explicit, willful
consent. This rule takes precedence over any rule that might
make such a change possible.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2460/0 (Power=1.2)
Organizational Restructuring
Charter is an Organization switch, tracked by the Secretary in
eir monthly report, whose legal values are texts, and with
default value "An amendment to this Organization is Appropriate
if intent to perform it was announced between 4 and 14 days ago,
and no members of the Organization have publicly objected to it
since."
A change to an instance of a Budget or Charter switch is known
as an "amendment" to the Organization to which that instance of
the switch applies. Each amendment to an Organization is
considered to be either Appropriate or Inappropriate. An
Organization's Charter SHOULD contain a method of determining
the appropriateness of amendments to that Organization.
If a Charter does not specify the appropriateness of an
amendment to its Organization, or if it attempts to specify the
appropriateness of such an amendment but in a way that is
unclear, ambiguous, circular, inconsistent, paradoxical, or that
depends on information that is impossible or unreasonably
difficult to determine, the amendment is Inappropriate;
otherwise, it is Appropriate if and only if the Charter
specifies that it is.
Organizations can be amended as follows:
a) A member of an Organization CAN flip that Organization's
Charter by announcement, if doing so is Appropriate, and that
member is not on Lockout.
b) Any player CAN flip a Budget Switch by announcement, if doing
so is Appropriate and the player is not on Lockout, except
where other rules prevent this.
c) A member of an Organization CAN flip that Organization's
Charter without objection, even if doing so is Inappropriate,
as long as that member is not on Lockout. Players SHOULD only
use this mechanism to recover from situations where the
Charter is underspecified or has unintended effects.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2461/0 (Power=1.2)
Death and Birth of Organizations
If an Organization's Income is ever lower than 50, then any
player CAN destroy it by announcement. The Secretary SHALL NOT
allow an Organization to exist with Income below 50 for more
than a week.
If player's Expenditure is 50 or lower, and that player is not
on Lockout, that player CAN create an Organization by
announcement, specifying a name for that Organization that is
unique among Organizations, and a Charter. When an organization
is created that way, its Charter is set to the value that the
player specified, and the Budget switch for that player and
Organization is set to 50.
Notwithstanding the above, a player CANNOT create more than one
Organization in a day, and CANNOT create Organizations while e
is member of an Organization with an Income lower than 50.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2462/0 (Power=1.2)
Bankruptcy
While a player's Expenditure exceeds 100, then any player CAN
cause that player to become Bankrupt by announcement. The
Secretary SHALL NOT allow any player's Expenditure to exceed 100
for more than a week.
When a player becomes Bankrupt:
a) All Budget switches for pairs including that player are
flipped to 0.
b) The Secretary CAN, and SHALL in a timely manner, award that
player a Red Card.
c) A Lockout Event happens to that player.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2457/0 (Power=1.2)
Lockout
There is such a thing as a Lockout Event, which can happen
either to a person or to Agora as a whole. Lockout Events only
happen when a Rule with power 1 or greater explicitly states
that they happen.
A person is on Personal Lockout if a Lockout Event happened to
that person within the past 90 days.
Agora is on Global Lockout if a Lockout Event happened to Agora
as a whole within the past 7 days.
A person is on Lockout if that person is on Personal Lockout,
Agora is on Global Lockout, or both. A person is "off Lockout"
if that person is not on Lockout.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2458/0 (Power=1.2)
Invoking Lockout
A player who is not on Lockout can Invoke Lockout by
announcement.
When a player Invokes Lockout, a Lockout Event happens to that
player and a Lockout Event happens to Agora as a whole.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================
Winning
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2452/1 (Power=0.5)
Trust Tokens
Any player can issue a Trust Token to another person by
announcement.
A person can win the game by announcement if e has been issued a
Trust Token by each player except emself; if no person has won
via this mechanism in the past; and if in the same message, e
quotes, for each of those players, a public message in which
that player issued em a Trust Token.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2454/0 (Power=0.5)
The New Map
_______
| _
_| A |
_______|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2438/4 (Power=3)
Ribbons
The Tailor is an office, and the recordkeepor of Ribbons.
Ribbon Ownership is a person switch, tracked by the Tailor in
his monthly report, whose values are the subsets of the set of
types of Ribbon, defaulting to the empty set.
To "award a person a <Ribbon type>" is to add that type of
Ribbon to that person's Ribbon Ownership. A person "owns a
<Ribbon type>" if that type of Ribbon is an element of eir
Ribbon Ownership.
While a person qualifies for a type of Ribbon, any player can
generally award em that type of Ribbon. A person qualifies for a
type of Ribbon if e has earned that type of Ribbon within the
preceding 7 days (including earlier in the same message) and has
not owned that type of Ribbon within the preceding 7 days.
While a person owns all types of Ribbon, that person can Raise a
Banner by announcement. This causes that person to win the game.
That person's Ribbon Ownership becomes the empty set.
The types of Ribbon, and the methods of obtaining them, are as
follows:
Red (R): When a proposal is adopted and changes at least one
rule with Power >= 3, its proposer earns a Red Ribbon.
Orange (O): When a proposal is adopted via an Agoran Decision on
which no valid votes were AGAINST, its proposer earns an Orange
Ribbon.
Green (G): While a person has held an elected office
continuously for 30 days, and has not failed to perform any
duties of that office within the appropriate time limits during
those 30 days, that person qualifies for a Green Ribbon.
Cyan (C): When a person deputises for an office, that person
earns a Cyan Ribbon.
Blue (B): When a person assigns a judgement to a CFJ, and has
never violated a time limit to assign a judgement to that CFJ,
that person earns a Blue Ribbon.
Magenta (M): During Agora's Birthday, each person who has
publicly acknowledged the fact qualifies for a Magenta Ribbon.
Ultraviolet (U): When a person is awarded the Patent Title
Champion, that person earns an Ultraviolet Ribbon.
Violet (V): When a person is awarded a Patent Title other than
Champion or a degree, that person earns a Violet Ribbon.
Indigo (I): When a person is awarded a degree, that person earns
an Indigo Ribbon.
Platinum (P): The Speaker qualifies for a Platinum Ribbon.
Lime (L): A person qualifies for a Lime Ribbon if three or more
proposals adopted in the preceding 7 days had that person as a
coauthor.
White (W): A player qualifies for a White Ribbon if e has never
previously owned a White Ribbon (including under previous
rulesets). A player who has been registered for at least 30 days
and has never caused another person to gain a White Ribbon
(including under a previous ruleset) CAN award a White Ribbon to
another person by announcement.
Black (K): This rule does not specify any methods of obtaining
Black Ribbons.
Gray (Y): The Tailor CAN award a Gray Ribbon by announcement,
unless e has done so earlier in the month. E is ENCOURAGED to
award such a Ribbon in the same message in which e publishes eir
monthly report.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2444/1 (Power=1)
Silver Quill
The Silver Quill is a biannual award designed to honor the
authors of proposals of outstanding merit and influence on the
game.
The Marker Dates are July 14, two weeks after Agora's Birthday
(to avoid the Holiday), and December 29, the day of Agora's
Half-birthday, of each year, except for dates preceding the
enactment of this Rule. After midnight on a given Marker Date,
the Herald CAN once initiate a Silver Quill Ceremony for that
Date by announcement, and SHALL do so in a timely fashion; e is
ENCOURAGED to initiate it on that exact Date if possible.
After a Silver Quill Ceremony has been initiated, players are
ENCOURAGED to discuss which eligible proposals best satisfy the
aforementioned criteria. To be eligible, a proposal must have
been adopted at least 2 months, but no more than 14 months,
before the Marker Date, and must not have previously won a
Silver Quill Ceremony. Proposals submitted by new players
SHOULD be given somewhat higher weight, but the primary
reference should be the proposals themselves and their effect on
the game since adoption.
Once four days have passed since initiation, the Herald CAN once
initiate the Agoran decision to determine the winner, and SHALL
do so in a timely fashion. For this decision, the valid options
are all eligible proposals, the vote collector is the Herald,
and the voting method is instant runoff.
Upon the resolution of the decision, if the outcome is not
FAILED QUORUM and there were at least three votes containing it
in any preference slot, that proposal wins the Ceremony, and the
Herald is authorized to award its author the Patent Title of
"Silver Quill YYYY/MM", substituting the Marker Date; otherwise,
there is no winner. This ends the Ceremony.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================
Trophies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 649/37 (Power=1.5)
Patent Titles
A Patent Title is a legal title given to a person in recognition
of the person's distinction. The Herald is an office; its
holder is responsible for tracking Patent Titles in eir monthly
report.
Awarding or revoking a Patent Title is secured. A person
permitted and enabled to award (revoke) a Patent Title SHALL do
so in a timely fashion after the conditions authorizing em to do
so are announced, unless there is an open judicial case
contesting the validity of those conditions.
The Herald CAN award a specified Patent Title to a specified
player With 2 Agoran Consent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1367/19 (Power=3)
Degrees
Certain patent titles are known as degrees. The degrees are
- Associate of Nomic (A.N.)
- Bachelor of Nomic (B.N.)
- Master of Nomic (M.N.)
- Doctor of Nomic History (D.N.Hist.)
- Doctor of Nomic Science (D.N.Sci.)
- Doctor of Nomic Philosophy (D.N.Phil.)
Degrees are ranked in the order they appear in this rule, with
degrees listed later being ranked higher. A specific degree
CANNOT be awarded to any person more than once.
A specified degree CAN be awarded with 2 Agoran Consent, and
SHOULD only be awarded for the publication of an original
thesis of scholarly worth (including responses to peer-review),
published with explicit intent to qualify for a degree. The
Herald SHOULD coordinate the peer-review process and the
awarding of degrees.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2231/5 (Power=3)
Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic
Heroic titles are Agora's premier patent titles of distinction,
and CAN be awarded to persons for meritorious service only by a
proposal of power 3 or greater, which SHOULD explain why those
persons are qualified. Bearers of heroic titles (Heroes)
constitute the Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic.
The Heroic titles in decreasing precedence are:
Grand Hero of Agora Nomic (GHAN) -- This title may be awarded to
any person obviously and directly responsible for the existence
of Agora and/or Nomic in general. As this title is the highest
honour that Agora may bestow, a Bearer of this title OUGHT to be
treated right good forever.
Hero of Agora Nomic (HAN) -- This title may be awarded to any
person for outstanding meritorious service to Agora above and
beyond the call of duty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2415/0 (Power=1.5)
Badges
A Badge is any patent title with the word 'badge' as part of
its name. A badge SHOULD be used to award multiple persons for
participating in specific event of note within Agora. Any
player CAN award a badge that does not yet exist to three or
more persons simultaneously, with Agoran Consent. The Herald
CAN award an existing badge to persons Without Objection.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 104/0 (Power=3)
First Speaker
The Speaker for the first game shall be Michael Norrish.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 1727/18 (Power=1)
Happy Birthday
WHEREAS, in June 1993, the world's only MUD-based nomic, Nomic
World, had recently collapsed; yet, many of its players enjoyed
nomic and did not wish to forego such a noble pursuit;
And WHEREAS, Originator Chuck Carroll therefore composed an
Initial Ruleset for an email nomic, based on the Initial
Rulesets of Peter Suber, inventor of Nomic, and on the Rulesets
of Nomic World and other nomics,
And WHEREAS, a nomic thus rose like a phoenix from the ashes of
Nomic World, played on the mailing list originally set up for
discussion of Nomic World, and coming into existence at June 30,
1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200, with a message sent by FIRST SPEAKER
Michael Norrish, which read, in part,
"I see no reason to let this get bogged down; there are no
precedents or rules that cover this situation, so I think we
may as well begin directly.... Proposals for new rules are
invited. In accordance with the rules, these will be
published, numbered and distributed by me at my earliest
convenience."
And WHEREAS, this nomic began as a humble and nameless nomic,
known unofficially as yoyo, after the mailing list it was played
on, until its Players, much later, gave it its OFFICIAL NAME of
Agora,
And WHEREAS, Agora has now become the wisest, noblest, eldest,
and most interesting of all active email nomics, due to the hard
work and diligence of Agorans as well as the frequent advice of
Agoraphobes,
And WHEREAS, Agorans desire to joyously commemorate Agora's
founding,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that Agora's Birthday is defined to be
the entire day of June 30, GMT +1200, of each year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule 2029/0 (Power=4)
Town Fountain
/\ /\
/ \ / \
T
his
Power-4
Rule (the first ever)
was placed to honor
The Agoran Spirit Of The Game
by Goethe, Steve, Murphy, root
and OscarMeyr, Scamsters. Look
on our works, ye Marvy, but do
always Dance a Powerful Dance. Hail Eris!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
======================================================================
Highest Rule ID number ever assigned: Rule 2462
Last Ruleset Ratification:
Short Logical Ruleset of 7 Apr 2014, ratified on 1 May 2014
END OF THE SHORT LOGICAL RULESET
