Nomic VIII Initial Ruleset

Rule 101 (Immutable)

All players must always abide by the bodies of all the rules then in effect, in the form that they are then in effect. The game begins with the rules from the Initial Set in effect. The Initial Set consists of Rules 101-116 (which are immutable) and 201-213 (which are mutable).

Rule 102 (Immutable)

Rules have properties. Other rules may add additional properties for rules along with said properties’ default values, so long as said properties do not contradict the properties defined in this rule.

A rule’s number is a natural number used for reference. The set of rules currently in effect shall never contain multiple rules with the same number. A rule’s number must be present and cannot be modified.

A rule’s mutability designates whether said rule is mutable or immutable. Mutability must be either mutable or immutable; it cannot be neither nor both. Rules are mutable by default. Initially, rules in the 100s will be designated immutable and rules in the 200s mutable. Transmutation is defined as the modification of a rule’s mutability.

A rule’s body is the main section of the rule. For all rules currently in effect, players must always abide by the contents of those rules’ bodies.

Rule 103 (Immutable)

A rule-change is either of the following:

The enactment or repeal of a mutable rule

The modification of one of a rule’s properties

Rule 104 (Immutable)

A proposed rule-change, or proposal, is a motion to adopt a rule-change. All rule-changes shall be adopted if and only if their respective proposals are put to a rules-defined vote and they receive the required number of votes.

Proposals have properties. Other rules may add additional properties for proposals along with said properties’ default values, so long as said properties do not contradict the properties defined in this rule.

A proposal’s rule-change is the rule-change that will take effect if the proposal is passed. Proposals must have a rule-change, and a proposal’s rule-change may be changed if explicitly allowed and if the proposal is not currently being put to vote.

A proposal’s number is a natural number used for reference once the proposal is put to a vote. Proposals not yet put to vote do not have numbers, and a proposal’s number cannot be changed once it is assigned.

A proposal’s author is the player who created the proposal. If the proposal was not created by a player, then the proposal does not have an author. If the player who created the proposal leaves the game, then the proposal loses its author. A proposal’s author cannot be otherwise modified.

Rule 105 (Immutable)

An adopted rule-change is incorporated into the ruleset at the moment of the start of the turn following the turn that it was voted on in the proper way. No rule-change may have retroactive application or change prior game state.

Rule 106 (Immutable)

The first proposal scheduled to have a vote receives a number of 301. Each proposal that is scheduled to have a vote in the proper way receives the next successive number, whether or not the proposal is passed. Additional rules may clarify how numbers are distributed among proposals that are scheduled simultaneously. In the absence of any additional clarification, such proposals will receive their successive numbers randomly.

When a proposal that enacts a new rule is passed, the new rule receives said proposal’s number.

Rule 107 (Immutable)

Rule-changes that modify an immutable rule’s property, including mutability, are adopted if and only if the vote is unanimous among the voters. Rule-changes that transmute a mutable rule to an immutable rule are adopted if and only if the vote is unanimous among the voters.

Rule 108 (Immutable)

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 a mutable and an immutable rule, the immutable rule takes precedence and the conflicting section of the mutable rule has no effect; 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), and such provisions both resolve the conflict in question and do not conflict with each other, then said provisions shall be used to resolve the conflict; otherwise,

If the conflict is between an event or action happening or being allowed to happen versus it being barred from happening, the latter effect takes precedence; otherwise,

The rule with the lowest number takes precedence

Rule 109 (Immutable)

A player is a person formally taking part in the game. The server moderators select the initial set of players upon the game’s commencement. Rules that facilitate other persons joining the game as new players are permitted.

Persons may not act as multiple players at once, nor may a player be composed of multiple persons.

Players must be present on the server. If a person who is a player is absent from the server for more than 168 consecutive hours (one week), said person is considered to have left the game and will no longer be a player.

A player always has the option to leave the game rather than continue to play or incur a game penalty.

A former player rejoining the game is treated as a new player.

Rule 110 (Immutable)

The game is ossified if both of the following conditions are true:

It is impossible to change the rules of the game

The game has either not ended or is not set to end at any specific time

If, but for this rule, the net effect of a rule would cause the game to be ossified, then the offending section or sections of said rule have no effect until they would no longer cause the game to be ossified. If, but for this rule, the state of the game were to change in such a way as to render the game ossified, then said change is canceled and does not occur.

Rule 111 (Immutable)

Rules can make the following changes to the ruleset:

Change their own body

Repeal themselves

Define additional rule properties along with their default values

Rules may not make any other changes to the ruleset, nor change the interpretations of other rules, unless such a change is via the adoption of a rule-change. Rules that clarify or that define mechanisms that clarify, rather than change, the interpretations of rules are permitted.

Rule 112 (Immutable)

A player’s vote must be unambiguous. A vote that would be ambiguous is not considered to be a vote. Additional rules may be made to clarify what constitutes ambiguity.

Rule 113 (Immutable)

Server moderators regulate the server and the game, regulate the components of the server and the game, and determine the state of the game. The instantiator of this instance of the game selects the initial set of server moderators upon the game’s commencement.

Server moderators can, by majority decision:

Ban and unban persons from joining the server

Ban and unban persons from playing the game

Add or remove persons as server moderators

Server moderators are empowered to take unilateral actions in the course of their duties, including but not limited to deleting inappropriate messages and kicking or temporarily banning non-server moderators from the server.

Server moderators are empowered to enact and enforce bans prior to the start of the game.

The game adheres to the Discord Terms of Service and the Discord Community Guidelines. Server moderators are empowered to remove content that violates the terms and guidelines as well as sanction violating persons, up to and including banning.

The instantiator of this instance of the game starts as a server moderator. If there are no server moderators, the instantiator becomes a server moderator.

Rule 114 (Immutable)

All actions, including voting, endorsing, rule-change proposals, and public declarations, must occur in the locations designated for them. Any action that does not occur in said action’s publicly-designated location is not considered a valid action.

Rule 115 (Immutable)

References to specific persons in a rule, including but not limited to references via legal name, username, display name, or commonly-used nickname, are considered to be references to the person or persons being referred to at the time the text containing said reference was proposed unless the rule explicitly states otherwise.

A person that is specifically referred to by a rule cannot stop being referred to by said rule by no longer associating with the identification being used in said rule, nor would a person start being referred to by a rule if they were to change their identification to match the rule’s reference.

References to a group of persons based on their identification fall outside the scope of this rule.

Rule 116 (Immutable)

Whatever is not prohibited or regulated by a rule is permitted and unregulated, with the sole exception of changing the rules, which is permitted only when a rule or set of rules explicitly or implicitly permits it.

Rule 201

The Proposal Queue is a queue that proposals go in. Players may have up to one proposal in the Proposal Queue. Active players may create a proposal to go in the Proposal Queue at any time; if a player that already has a proposal in the Proposal Queue creates another one, the first proposal is removed. Players may also remove their proposals from the Proposal Queue without replacement. Proposals in the Proposal Queue may not have their rule-changes edited.

The Deck is a collection that proposals go on. A proposal that is on the Deck can have its rule-change edited by that proposal’s author.

Active players may freely endorse and unendorse proposals in the Proposal Queue. Proposals in the Proposal Queue are sorted first in descending order of number of active endorsing players, then in ascending order of proposal creation time.

Players endorse their own proposals in the Proposal Queue by default.

Rule 202

At 48 hours before a turn’s initial scheduled end, the top proposal in the Proposal Queue, if it exists, is removed from the Proposal Queue and added onto the Deck.

At 24 hours before a turn’s initial scheduled end, proposals on the Deck are removed from the Deck and individually put to vote for the remainder of the turn.

If no proposals are added onto the Deck during a turn, then no votes on proposals will be held on said turn. The length of such a turn will be unchanged.

Turns start and end by default at 00:00 UTC on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Rule 203

A proposal is passed if and only if it receives a simple majority of votes in favor of its passing when compared to those against its passing.

Other rules may introduce additional conditions necessary for passing a proposal, notwithstanding the above paragraph.

Rule 204

All players start the game as active. An active player becomes inactive (i.e. loses their active status) if said active player has publicly declared that they are now inactive.

A player who has become inactive may attempt to become active again by declaring that they are active or by attempting to cast a vote. If the player becomes active by attempting to cast a vote, then the vote will be counted as though the player had cast it while active.

Other rules can affect or add new possible subtypes for a player’s activity.

Rule 205

Players required by the rules to perform an action have a total of 48 hours to perform said action unless otherwise specified. A player who does not perform said action within the allotted 48 hours becomes inactive and cannot become active until either they do perform said action or said action becomes impossible to perform.

Rule 206

Each active player can vote up to once per vote. Inactive players cannot vote.

Players may change their votes by voting again. Players may withdraw their votes with the phrase “withdraw” or “abstain”. Players may neither edit nor delete messages that contain votes. An edited or deleted message’s vote is invalid.

Rule 207

The following text phrases, and only the following phrases, are considered to be unambiguous affirmative votes:

The following phrases, and only the following phrases, are considered to be unambiguous negative votes:

Phrases for voting are case-insensitive.

Rule 208

If the server moderators deem that any section of a rule is infeasible to implement manually to the point that a bot is required, and there is no such bot functional, then said rule’s section has no effect until said bot is functional.

Rule 209

If any player disagrees on the legality of a move or the interpretation or application of a rule, any of those players may insist on invoking Judgment. During Judgment, a randomly selected eligible player is to be the Judge and decide the question.

A term for Judges starts when Judgment is invoked without a current term, and ends at the end of the first turn that started during the term. Invoking Judgment during the middle of a term does not affect the term’s length or the incumbent Judge.

The Judge is selected at the start of a term, or in the middle of an ongoing term if the previous Judge is disbarred. A player is eligible to be selected as Judge if and only if said player fulfills all of the following criteria:

The player did not invoke the Judgment that triggered the start of the current term

The player has not already been Judge for the current term

The player has explicitly opted into being selected Judge

The player is active

The player has voted on a proposed rule-change during the previous turn, or the player has voted on a proposed rule-change during the current turn

Should no player be eligible to be selected as Judge, the above criteria shall be progressively ignored in reverse order until at least one player becomes eligible.

The incumbent Judge settles all questions arising from the game until the end of their term, including questions as to their own legitimacy and jurisdiction as Judge.

A Judge may be disbarred for the remainder of their term, in which case all Judgments made by said Judge during their current term are considered invalid and another random eligible player is selected to serve as Judge for the remainder of the term. The following events invoke disbarment:

A three-fourths majority of all active players vote in favor of the Judge’s disbarment

A simple majority of all server moderators vote in favor of the Judge’s disbarment

The Judge does not publicly acknowledge their position as Judge within 24 hours of Judgment’s invocation

The Judge recuses themselves from their position as Judge

Server moderators can only disbar a Judge in their capacity as server moderators if their Judgment egregiously conflicts with the rules.

A Judge may also resign from their position as Judge, which ends the term early. Unlike recusal, resignation does not invoke disbarment and the former Judge’s Judgements are not considered to be invalid.

Judges are not bound by the decisions of previous Judges. Judges may, however, settle only those questions on which Judgment has been invoked and that affect the current state of the game. All decisions by Judges shall be in accordance with all the rules then in effect, but when the rules are silent, inconsistent, or unclear on the point at issue, then the Judge shall consider game custom and the spirit of the game before applying other standards.

Rule 210

A Judicial Proposal is a kind of proposal that Judges may create to address or complement a Judgment they have made during their current term.

Incumbent Judges may create only one Judicial Proposal per term. Judicial Proposals are put onto the Deck at the start of the turn following their creation if and only if the Judge was not disbarred for the remainder of their term.

If a Judicial Proposal is put to vote simultaneously with proposals originating from the Proposal Queue, then it receives the first available number after the other proposals being put to vote have received theirs.

Judicial Proposals may have their rule-changes edited and may be deleted by their respective authors before they go on the Deck. An author that deletes a Judicial Proposal may create a replacement Judicial Proposal if and only if they are the incumbent Judge.

Rule 211

Unless otherwise specified, when a player declares one or more winners and a server moderator has seconded this claim, then the game enters an End State. A server moderator cannot second their own declaration.

The purpose of an End State is to adjudicate and come to a consensus on the existence and identity of the game’s winner or winners. During an End State, all in-game mechanics except for those outlined in the Initial Set are suspended, and Judgment on the claim of victory is considered to have been automatically invoked by the declaring player. The suspension of in-game mechanics does not affect or negate the declaration of victory.

The current Judge can declare an End State to have been erroneously declared, in which case the End State ends prematurely and all suspended mechanics resume.

Turns do not end during an End State. If, during an End State, a turn would normally end, and the game has been in said End State for at least 168 hours, then the game ends instead.

Rule 212

All players start with 0 points. The winner of the game is the first player to possess at least 1,024 (positive) points. If multiple players achieve this objective simultaneously, then said players all win the game.

Rule 213

Persons wishing to become players may request to do so publicly. If no player objects to the requester joining the game within 24 hours of the request, either publicly or privately (to a server moderator), the requester will join the game as a new player at the start of the next turn. If such an objection occurs, a vote is immediately held on whether or not the requester joins the game. If there is a majority vote in favor 24 hours following the start of the vote, the requester will join the game as a player.