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This FAQ last updated on 11/26/96. This page is maintained by Steven "Swann" Swiniarski. WARNING: This is a pre-release, incomplete version of the FAQ.
0.0: Introduction.
3.0: Democracy in Agora.
4.0: The judicial system of Agora.
5.0: The executive branch of Agora.
9.0: History, in-jokes and miscellany.
10.0: Credits
This FAQ is intended to be a quick and dirty way for people not familiar with the game of Agora to learn enough of the basics to participate in the game. Ideally, someone new to Agora will be able to read this, register as a Player, and participate with a minimum of confusion.
This FAQ will eventually be made available through monthly posts to alt.games.nomic, and a web site at http://www.sff.net/people/SASwann/agorafaq.htm
Agora is one of the most long-lived games of nomic in existence. The Agora Ruleset has been in existence for over three years and has grown from a initial set not much different from Suber's original, to now encompass over 250 Rules and 280K worth of text.
This FAQ assumes that you are familiar with the concept of nomic, if you aren't, you should look up Malcolm Ryan's Nomic FAQ. You can find it:
Posted monthly to alt.games.nomic, and alt.answers. New versions are posted to alt.fan.hofstadter and rec.games.abstract.
It can also be FTP'ed from the nomic ftp site:
ftp://ftp.cse.unsw.edu.au/pub/users/malcolmr/nomic/FAQ.
An HTTP version also exists at:
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~malcolmr/nomic-faq.html.
and is mirrored by Doug Chatham at:
http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~chatham/nomicfaq.html
We'll wait for you :) For those who want to read this straight through, nomic, most simply stated, is a game where one of the principal "moves" is to change the rules. Therefore, the rules of any particular nomic game are changing over time, mostly at the hands of the players. Agora has been compared to a Parliament, or a Senate.
At the moment Agora is Played through four mailing lists. Three comprise what in Agora is known as the "Public Forum," the fourth is a discussion list which by the Rules, and game custom, has no real impact on the game. In order to play Agora, you must be subscribed to the three lists that comprise the Public Forum. Subscription to the discussion list (traditionally the highest volume list) is optional.
The lists are:
nomic-discussion@lists.teleport.com
-- the discussion list: for unofficial Agora talk.
nomic-business@lists.teleport.com
-- the public forum: for general Agora business.
nomic-official@lists.teleport.com
-- the public forum: for official Agora reports.
nomic@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au
-- the public forum: the Agora backup list.
To subscribe to the first three, send a message to majordomo@teleport.com with a body of:
subscribe nomic-discussion
subscribe nomic-business
subscribe nomic-official
To subscribe to the backup list, send a message to listserv@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au, with a body of:
subscribe nomic
REMEMBER: the backup list is part of the Public Forum, and Players are required to subscribe to it.
nomic-discussion is a pure discussion list. It is a forum for the Players to talk to each other. Anything non-essential (i.e. anything the Rules don't require to be produced and/or read by any Players.) goes here. Ideally, any player can participate in Agora without paying attention to the discussion list, though watching the debates that erupt on it is one of the better ways to learn some of the fine points of the rules-- and is also one of the fun parts of the game.
REMEMBER: Officers will generally not pay attention to official business placed on the discussion list.
nomic-official is the part of the Public Forum that is generally reserved for Officers' Reports. Normally a Player who is not an Officer will not have need to post anything to this list. However, Players should generally pay attention to what is posted in nomic-official, because these reports are descriptions of the Game State, which includes everything from lists of who is an Officer, to the Ruleset itself.
nomic-business is the part of the Public Forum used for all other communications that Rules require, or other communications that are related to the "business" of Agora; things such as public communications to Officers, announcements that a Player is going On Hold or deregistering (see section 2), the creation of Contests (see section 7), and, in general, anything that should be posted to the Public forum that isn't an official report. If a Player needs to send a message to an Officer, it is always acceptable to send that message to nomic-business-- the Officer will receive it, even if the Player is unsure exactly who the Officer is.
yoyo is a backup list, and usually lies dormant unless some problem erupts with the teleport lists. It is also part of the Public Forum, and can be used in the same way as nomic-business & official, but only if necessary.
There are few legal restrictions on what goes on the lists, but you should be aware that anything you send to the Public Forum should be correct, to the best of your knowledge, or else contain a disclaimer that it is not/might not be correct. Deliberate lies may not be posted to the Public Forum. (Lying on nomic-discussion, while strongly discouraged, is allowed.) [cf. 1497]
The two indispensable documents for the beginning Agoran are the Registrar's Report, and the Logical Ruleset. You can wait for them to be posted to the Public Forum, which they are, weekly. Or you can post a request for them in the Public Forum, and the Officers in charge will e-mail them to you. In addition, you can find the Logical Ruleset in a number of different forms at:
http://www.dfw.net/~ccarroll/agora/rules/
The Logical Ruleset is the preferred format for dealing with the large collection of Rules that govern play in Agora. The Rules are in the Logical Ruleset are organized to facilitate finding the rules covering specific areas. Every Rule is placed in a particular category with other Rules relating to the same area. So, if you are interested in finding a specific Rule related to Voting, you'd spend time looking in the categories "Voting on Proposals," "The End of the Voting Period," and "Referenda and Elections," without worrying about Rules in categories like "Patent Titles," and "Silliness." (Of course there's inevitable overlap in categories, and since the Rules change over time, sometimes a Rule ends up in an inappropriate Category-- but the broad principle still holds.)
The Logical Ruleset also contains a lot of other information in addition to the Rules and their Numbers, such as Rule titles, amendment numbers & histories, and annotations (mandatory ones ordered by the courts, and unofficial ones provided by the Rulekeepor) that help in interpreting the rules.
In most Agora correspondence, a Rule is referred to by a Rule Number alone, without an amendment number. This is taken to refer to the current version of the Rule. In this FAQ, most sub-sections will contain references to Rule numbers ( such as [cf. 1048] ) which refer to the Rules that most apply to the section containing them. {WWW note, these Rule links lead off-site and don't contain a return link.}
Hint: A simple way to find a rule, given its number, is to load the Logical Ruleset into any text editor and search for the text string "NNNN/" (no trailing spaces) where NNNN is the number of the Rule. It will take you straight to the heading of the Rule. [cf. 1048]
The Registrar's Report includes a section known as the Nomic Phone Books, which are important for two reasons. First, they will give you a list of all the current players, and their contact addresses. Second, they will tell you which Players serve in which Offices, which is indispensable information when you're first trying to feel your way around the game. [cf. 1502, 676]
Joining the game is called "registering." All you have to do is post a message to the Public Forum (not the discussion list) saying that you want to join, and give (optionally) your fellow Agorans a nickname to call you. [cf. 869, 1432]
When you know that you will be away from your internet access for more than a couple days, you may place yourself "On Hold". Doing so lets everyone know that you'll be quiet for a while, and prevents game-related obligations from cropping up while you're away. [cf. 1584]
Simply post a message to the Public Forum (nomic-business, preferably) saying that you go On Hold. [cf. 1016]
Being On Hold means that you can't Vote or make Proposals, but also absolves you of any game-related duty that might crop up. In addition, it precludes being an Officer or being the Speaker. (see section 5) [cf. 1584]
Simply post a message to the Public Forum (nomic-business, preferably) saying
that you go Off Hold. You have to have been On Hold for at least 4 days.
[cf.
1016]
"Active" is synonymous with "Off Hold", and is usually a lot less awkward to say.
Simply post a message to the Public Forum saying that you deregister. Deregistration means you are no longer a Player, although you can rejoin at a later date (at east a month later). [cf. 1043]
Yes. If you aren't On Hold (see section 2.1) and don't post anything at all for a period of two weeks, you may be deregistered. If you are On Hold for longer than sixty days, you may also be deregistered. [cf. 1042]
Whenever something is voted upon in Agora, there is a specific Player the Rules designate to collect those votes. A Player votes by sending a message indicating what e is voting upon, and how e is voting, to that Player. While vote collectors keep the votes of Players (and other entities who may vote) secret, the Players themselves are permitted to post their votes in the Public Forum. [cf. 452, 1625]
An announcement that there is something to vote upon is always made in the Public Forum. After this announcement there is a limited time for Players to submit their votes to the appropriate vote collector. This time is called the voting period, and votes submitted outside this period are not counted.
Players vote on Proposals, Elections, and Referenda. [cf. 693, 1434, 1445]
The Assessor collects Votes for Proposals. To vote on a Proposal, a Player sends a message to the Assessor indicating a specific Proposal, and a vote of either or, Against, or Abstain for that Proposal. This vote can be changed if the Player sends a corrected vote to the Assessor within the voting period. The voting period for Proposals is ten days. [cf. 683, 693]
REMEMBER: The Assessor collects votes on Proposals, but the Promotor collects Proposal submissions, and distributes the Proposals. (see sections 3.3, 5.4)
The Registrar announces Elections for all Offices (except for the Office of Registrar itself; those Elections are announced by the Speaker). Whoever legally announces an Election is the vote collector for that Election, even if someone else becomes Registrar (or Speaker) before the voting period ends. To vote in an Election a Player sends a message to the vote collector indicating the Election being voted in, and the nominee for whom the Player is voting. This vote cannot be changed once made. The voting period for Elections is one week. [cf. 1445, 1558, 790]
Referenda of various sorts may be called for by the Rules. In general they are announced by that Referenda's vote collector, require a non-retractable vote of For, Against, or Abstain, and have a voting period of one week. Things that call for Referenda are the Impeachment of Officers, the Tainting of Speakers, and things related to Internomic. [cf. 1434, 1486, 1658, 1632]
All you need to do is label a piece of text as a Proposal and send it to the Promotor, either directly or through the Public Forum. [cf. 1483, 404, 1605, 1036]
Disowning a Proposal prevents the Proposer from getting penalized for that Proposal. Usually it's done when the Proposer realizes (after submitting it) that eir Proposal is flawed.
A Player may disown eir own Proposal either before its distribution or early in its voting period, by posting to the Public Forum that e does so. Disowning carries a 5 Mil cost. [cf. 1451]
Disinterested Proposals are related to Disowned Proposals, but their purpose is completely different. Disinterested Proposals came about because it was silly that the uncontroversial, minor-fix Proposals were receiving bigger rewards than the really good major-revision Proposals. Some Players were voting against Proposals they liked just to decrease the author's reward. By making a Proposal Disinterested, the author states that e wishes no reward for the Proposal, to prevent that.
Proposals are made Disinterested by designating them as such when they are submitted. [cf. 1623]
It is customary to submit preliminary drafts of all but the most minor of Proposals to the Public Forum for review and comment by the other Players. Such submissions are labeled Proto-Proposals (PROTO for short) to distinguish them from actual Proposals being submitted for vote. The Proto custom is completely informal at the moment, and while optional, it is highly recommended to Proto any Proposal of more than a few lines.
Well, as you might expect, that's hard to say. If you don't get any comments on your Proto-Proposal, it might mean any number of things. It could be that no one found any problems with your Proto. Or it could mean that everyone is very busy, and didn't really look at it. If your Proto is fairly short and makes no radical changes, that probably means it's OK. But if it's a longer proposal or makes some radical changes, you should definitely get comments on it before proposing it. You might try posting it again saying, "Hey, no one commented on this the first time around," or you might want to send it privately to a few Players to ask for comments.
This is a debate that comes up every once in a while, even among the more experienced Players. There are a few who feel that it's unfair to criticize a Proposal if you didn't do so when it was a Proto. However, this view is not held by most Players. As much as we all might like to devote 8 or more hours per day to Agora, that is not possible. And so, Players don't always look over Protos very carefully. Most Players do, however, examine Proposals carefully before voting on them. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot that can be done about this. When the flaw is first pointed out, you do have a few options, though. If it's still less then four days since the Promotor sent out your Proposal, you can disown the Proposal, so you won't be penalized for it. Another option is to convince the Players that although your Proposal is flawed, the flaw is not fatal, and they should go ahead and pass the Proposal, and that you will then propose a fix for the flaw.
Strictly speaking, anything can be contained in a Proposal. However, when a Proposal is adopted, the only parts of it that have effect are legally defined Rule Changes and Directives contained within it. [cf. 404, 594, 993, 1606]
Legal Rule Changes are one of the following; the Creation of a new Rule; the Amendment of an existing Rule; the Repeal of an existing Rule; and the modification of an existing Rule's Mutability Index, known as Mutation. [cf. 105, 1339]
There are a number of permissible Directives, they include; a Vote of Confidence, which adjusts the Game State to conform to a given official report; there can be Directives to change the Title and Categories of Rules; there can be Directives to create new Rule Categories, and new names for Categories; there can be Directives to award Patent Titles to Players; and there can be Directives to manipulate the amount of currency, and its distribution in the game.
REMEMBER: that the only Directives that can have effect in a Proposal are Directives that are defined in the Rules. There's no such thing as an undefined Directive.
[cf. 1550, 1551, 1552, 1054, 1052, 1524, 1485, 649, 1466]
Indices are one of the potentially confusing aspects of the game. However, they provide little difficulty as long as they aren't confused with each other. [cf. 1274]
Only Proposals have Adoption and Voting Indices. These Indices are properties of the Proposal as a whole. The Voting Index of a Proposal is (generally) the ratio of Votes in favor to those opposed. The Adoption Index of a Proposal is a measure of how much support a Proposal needs to pass. If a Proposal's Voting Index exceeds its Adoption Index, it passes. [cf. 594, 955]
Only Rule Changes have a Power Index, and only Rules have a Mutability Index. If two or more Rules are in conflict the Rule(s) with higher Mutability Index wins the conflict. Since those Rules are more powerful, they're also harder to amend; A Rule Change only succeeds if its Power Index is at least as high as the Mutability Index of the Rule it tries to amend create or delete.
The Power Index of a Proposed Rule Change is equal to the Adoption Index of the Proposal that contained it. If a Rule Change is caused by another Rule, its Power Index is the same as the Mutability index of the Rule that caused it. [cf. 1322, 1021, 1482]
Let's say you Proposed an amendment to an existing Rule with a Mutability Index of 2. To have any effect, that Rule Change has to have a Power Index of 2. (At least as great as the Mutability Index of the Rule it is trying to amend) Because of this, the Proposal containing your amendment would have to have an Adoption Index of 2 as well, because the Adoption Index of a Proposal has to be the least possible Adoption Index that would allow all Rule Changes and Directives within it to have effect. This means that in order to pass, your proposal will have to achieve a Voting Index of more than 2 (In other words; two For votes for every Against vote, plus at least one more vote For.) because to pass, a Proposal has to achieve a Voting Index greater than its Adoption Index.
An Extra Vote, known as an EV, is a currency (see section 6), one unit of which will allow a Player (or other voting entity) to gain an additional vote on a Proposal (REMEMBER: EVs do not apply to Referenda or Elections.)
EVs can be transferred like any other currency (see section 6) [cf. 1472]
You can get EVs in a number of ways; When a Player receives the Patent Title of Zeitgeist (bestowed for having a Proposal adopted unanimously) e receives an EV; at the end of every week, all Players who had Proposals of theirs adopted during that week receive an EV; when someone is given a Champion's Reward (for winning the game) e receives 10 EVs; the Wizard receives one EV a week; the Speaker receives a Gratuity of 2 EVs per month of service, and can patronize you with an EV. [cf. 1047, 1525, 1662, 1465, 1543, 1661]
An EV is "used" by sending a message to the Assessor saying that you are spending the EV to gain an additional vote, specifying the Proposal on which you are "spending" the EV, and specifying the additional vote (For, Against, or Abstain-- this need not be the same as any other votes cast on that Proposal.) If you're allowed to spend the EV for an additional vote, you lose it to the Bank and your additional vote is cast. Normally, you are only allowed to cast one additional vote on a Proposal. [cf. 206, 1477, 1442]
Powers are entities that confer abilities above and beyond those of normal
Agorans. Depending on the type of Power, it can give a Player the ability
to cast more Extra Votes than usual (Influence), prevent a Player from casting
Extra Votes at all (Quiet), reward or penalize a Player depending on whether
a specific Proposal passes or not (Skeptic and Oracle), or neutralize the
effect of another Power (Immunity). An individual instance of a Power is
called a Card.
[cf.
1517,
1522,
1523,
1540,
1521,
1520]
There are a set number of Powers (one or more of each specific Card) which are either owned by a Player, or in the Bank. If a Power is in a Bank, any Player who has not possessed two other Powers in the past ten days may purchase that Power by posting a message to the Public Forum stating the Power e wishes to purchase and transferring the price of that Power to the Bank. The Power will return to the Bank when used, of if a Player doesn't use or transfer it within a week of receiving it. Powers may be transferred between Players, as long as the Player receiving the Power has not held two other Powers in the past ten days, the Player transferring the Power does so by sending a message to the Assessor telling em who e is giving the Power to. A Player may also come to possess a random Power in a weekly Powers lottery held by the Assessor. [cf. 1517, 1518, 1603]
Powers are used by casting them. Only Active Players may cast Powers. Once cast, some cards go into Limbo for ten days, a period during which they cannot be cast. A Player casts a Power e owns by sending a message to the Assessor saying e casts it, who or what e casts it on, and sometimes other information (usually a Proposal Number) required by the specific Power. [cf. 1517]
There are 4 Immunity cards, they cost 10 Mil, they can only be cast on their owner, & they nullify Powers cast on that Player by other Players. [cf. 1520]
There are 2 Oracle cards, they cost 10 Mil, they can be cast on any Player other than the Assessor, & they force that Player to predict the outcome of a specified proposal. [cf. 1521]
There is one Influence card, which can be cast on any Player, & it allows that Player to cast additional EVs on a specified Proposal, the number dependent on the price paid for the card. (10 Mil=3 Votes, 25 Mil=4 Votes & 50 Mil = 5 Votes.) [cf. 1522]
There are 3 Quiet Cards, they cost 5 Mil, they can be cast on any Player, & they prevent that Player from spending EVs on a specified Proposal. [cf. 1523]
There are 2 Skeptic Cards, they cost 10 Mil, they can be cast on any Player other than the Assessor, & they force that Player to affirm or deny the belief that a specified Proposal will fail. [cf. 1540]
The Wizard gives or takes away Style Points from all the other Players, based on how "stylish" e thinks their Proposals are.
Style is a concept borrowed from the FRC, in which each Proposal author is given a certain (very subjective) number of Style Points. Style Points accumulate until a Wizard Transition, when the Player with the most SPs becomes Wizard and all SPs are reset to 0.
The Wizard is not an Officer because the Wizard's salary is paid in Extra Votes, and it used to be required that Officer Salaries be paid in Marks (see section 6); however, that requirement has since been removed. More importantly, the Wizard is not an Office because the Wizard is not an elected position (see section 5) [cf. 1542, 1543, 1609, 1610]
CFJ stands for a Call for Judgement (BTW, for reasons lost in the mists of Agora pre-history, that is the correct Agoran spelling) and is the method used for resolution of legal disputes in Agora. A CFJ can be submitted by any Player. A Player making a CFJ is referred to as the Caller of that CFJ. [cf. 991]
You send a message to the Clerk of the Courts, identify it as a CFJ, and make sure it includes a clearly identified Statement as well as any other information you wish to include in the CFJ (see section 4.1.2) [cf. 991]
A CFJ must at the least consist of a mandatory Statement to be judged true or false. It may include an optional (but recommended) list of reasons and arguments for (or against) the Statement made by the Caller. The Caller can also include evidence, usually in the form of Rule texts (which is polite, relieving some of research the Judge has to do.) and posts made by the Players. The Caller can also include a list of up to three Players who are barred from Judging the Statement. [cf. 991, 897, 1563]
In addition, a CFJ alleging that a Rule is to be interpreted in some way, should include a list of Rules relevant to the given interpretation, including the rule being interpreted. [cf. 1571]
Technically no. However, after you make a CFJ it can be dismissed if you've made more than five CFJs in the prior week. This is an Infraction (see section 4.7) for the Caller if the Clerk of the Courts catches it. This doesn't mean anything's wrong with the CFJ, and it can be resubmitted and Judged normally after the week's over. [cf. 1562]
The Statement in a CFJ can cover a lot of technical ground. The two major things that Statement can cover are allegations that a specific Rule or Rules should be interpreted in a certain fashion and allegations that a player has committed a Crime (see section 4.7). However, a Statement can be anything relevant to the Rules that can admit to being true or false. Often, when Agora is in flux, CFJs are made alleging that the Game State is one of some number of alternatives. [cf. 1563, 1565]
The major restriction you need to worry about is that you cannot submit a Statement alleging that some post in the Public Forum is erroneous unless you first make a COE (see section 4.3) about the alleged error, and that error is denied by the Player in charge of the post. (This broadly applies to all official reports, as well as other things.) [cf. 1431]
Also, bear in mind that Crime (see section 4.7) is a serious business in Agora, and it is very rare that a CFJ is called alleging the commission of one. This is primarily a cultural phenomenon, but it's one you should be aware of. A CFJ alleging a Crime is taken as a grave matter, and should be called with some gravity. Even if a Player commits a Crime, e is often given the benefit of the doubt.
COE stands for Claim of Error. It is a allegation made in the Public Forum that some other post to the Public Forum is incorrect in some fashion. The person who produced the allegedly incorrect information has a week to respond to the COE, either admitting the error and correcting it, or denying that the alleged error exists. This is primarily a mechanism allowing Players to officially point out mistakes in official reports. It was created to prevent frivolous CFJs on the accuracy of the many reports in Agora; a Player can't CFJ as to the accuracy of such a report until e's COE'd the error first. (see section 4.2.1) [cf. 1431]
The Clerk of the Courts selects a Player at Random to serve as Judge. The Players come from the pool of active Players who are legible to Judge the CFJ. (i.e. Players who aren't barred, who aren't the Caller, who aren't otherwise made ineligible by the Rules.) [cf. 951, 698]
The Judge determines if the Statement in the CFJ is True or False based first on the Rules, or, if the Rules are unclear on the matter, then based upon game custom, common sense, past Judgements, and the best interests of the game. [cf. 591, 217]
The Judge is bound by a higher standard of proof in the case of alleged Crimes, i.e. True only if beyond a reasonable doubt. In other case e's only obliged to rule based on the preponderance of the evidence. [cf. 1575]
A Judge also can Dismiss improperly-made CFJs and issue Injunctions. [cf. 1565, 663]
A Judge is required to dismiss CFJs that don't contain identifiable Statements, whose Statements aren't relevant to the Rules, whose Statements can't admit to being True or False, whose Statements aren't in accord with the Rules, or Statements where a reasonable effort cannot determine the truth or falsity of the Statement. The Clerk of the Courts can also Dismiss excessive CFJs (see section 4.1.3) [cf. 1562, 1565]
An Injunction is a Judicial order telling certain Players to do something in response to a Judgement. A Judge can only issue Injunctions that are defined in the Rules. (Like a Directive, there's no such thing as an undefined Injunction.) [cf. 663, 1571]
The primary defined Injunctions are Injunctions to annotate a Rule with a Statement alleging a specific interpretation of that Rule, and Injunctions requiring specific prescribed words (up to ten) to appear in a Formal Apology (see section 4.7.1) in the case of a Player found to have violated a Rule. [cf. 789, 908]
Don't panic! :) You can always make yourself ineligible to Judge a specific CFJ by notifying the Clerk of the Courts that you decline to serve. [cf. 408, 1567]
If you wish to serve, just remember that your job is to find the given Statement true or false under the Rules. (see section 4.4.1) If you're lost, ask the other Players their opinions before you render yours. And make sure you're legally justified in a dismissal or an Injunction. You have a period of one week from your assignment as Judge to send your rulings to the Clerk of the Courts. [cf. 591, 1565, 663]
An Appeal is made when a number of Players post in the Public Forum that they feel that a CFJ was dealt with incorrectly. A Player can insist on the Appeal of the Judgement delivered by a Judge (believing that the CFJ was Judged in error) on the Appeal of a Injunction (in the belief that it was incorrect or not in accord with the Rules) or on the Appeal of a CFJ's Dismissal, (believing that the dismissal wasn't mandated by the Rules.)
When three Players (or fewer in some special cases) an Appeal is made and a Board of Appeals is formed to decide if the original CFJ was handled correctly. The Board can issue its own Judgements, set aside prior Judgements, Injunctions and Dismissals, or order that a CFJ be Judged again. The decision of the Board is final. [cf. 911, 1564, 1447]
Some Rules make requirements of Players, and provide to penalize Players if they do not act as they dictate. Generally, these Rules specify that such a Player has committed a Crime or an Infraction. The difference is that an Infraction is generally less serious, and its penalty is applied immediately. Penalties for a Crime are only applied after a CFJ alleging the Crime is Judged true. [cf. 1503, 1504]
These penalties are usually an award of Blots, or a fine of Marks. [cf. 1505]
Formal Apologies are mandated whenever a CFJ alleging that a Player violated a Rule is Judged true. This happens even if the violated Rule doesn't specify such a violation to be a Crime or Infraction.
A Player makes a Formal Apology by positing to the Public Forum an essay of at least 200 words that shows eir contrition, and contains all the prescribed words (if any) given by the Judge who ruled on the CFJ, in the order they were prescribed. (see section 4.4.3) [cf. 908]
Blots prevent a Player from Winning the Game, and every calendar Quarter a player with Blots loses an amount of Mil equal to eir Blots. [cf. 1435, 1441]
You don't have to do anything. However you can remove those Blots by paying five Mil to the Bank for each Blot you wish to erase. Every calendar quarter Players' Blot totals are halved, though never reduced below one. [cf. 1440, 1441]
An Office is a position of authority or responsibility. Each Office is held by one Player at all times, and carries a number of duties and responsibilities. [cf. 1006]
All Offices are elected positions in Agora, and anyone who is elected to fill an Office holds it in "normal fashion" until eir term of service expires. However, an Office is never vacant, so Players may serve "temporarily" in an Office until an election to fill the Office is resolved. Whenever an Office is held temporarily, an election is held to fill it in normal fashion. [cf. 790]
Offices held normally can be declared to be held temporarily (therefore starting an election for the Office) by a Speaker calling for Elections, by a Referendum to Impeach an Officer, or by a Revolt. [cf. 1486, 1644, 1659]
The Speaker isn't an Officer because most of the default rules for Officers simply don't apply. Prior to the invention of Offices, the Speaker had a whole lot of duties; now eir only job is to be a "default Officer"--if an Officer disappears or resigns without appointing a successor, the Speaker takes over until everything is sorted out. The Speaker is most important in times of crisis, such as when several Officers disappear. [cf. 1006]
In addition, the Speaker is granted a few extra benefits and privileges, such as the Speaker's Vote, Patronage, and Gratuity. [cf. 1660, 1661, 1662]
The Speaker-Elect is the Officer who is designated to be the Speaker's successor. The Speaker-Elect becomes Speaker when the Player holding the Speakership ceases to be Speaker. [cf. 1647]
A Speaker is Tainted if e was not elected to Speaker-Elect before becoming Speaker. A Tainted Speaker is replaced by the Speaker-Elect whenever the Office of Speaker-Elect is held in normal fashion. (see 5.1.2) [cf. 1648]
A Speaker can be Tainted by a Referendum. (Therefore initiating a change in Speakers.) [cf. 1658]
The Registrar's main job is to maintain a list of all Players and their e-mail addresses, and a list of all Offices and Officers. E also calls elections for vacant Offices, keeps track of Patent Titles, and a few other minor things. (see sections 1.5, 3.2.2) [cf. 676, 790]
The Notary maintains a list of Groups and Contests, and Players in the Jurisdiction of their SLCs. (see section 7) [cf. 1458]
Players submit their Proposals to the Promotor, who then numbers and distributes them. This distribution begins the Voting Period on those Proposals. (see sections 3.3, 3.4) [cf. 1036]
Players then send votes to the Assessor, who tallies these Votes and publishes the results of the Vote on a Proposal. In addition, the Assessor is the Recordkeepor for Extra Votes and Powers. (see sections 3.2.1, 3.6, 3.7) [cf. 683, 1477, 1517]
The Banker keeps track of all Marks in the game, and the value of the Mil. In addition, e keeps track of what currencies exist and who keeps Records for them. (See section 6) [cf. 1548]
The Clerk of the Courts is in charge of the judiciary branch of Agora. E receives all CFJs, assigns Judges, distributes CFJs, etc. [cf. 991, 951] In addition, e serves on the Board of Appeals. (See section 4) [cf. 911]
The Justiciar serves on the Board of Appeals. [cf. 911]
The Rulekeepor maintains the Ruleset, and every week distributes a copy. (see section 1.4) [cf. 1051]
The Archivist maintains the Archives, which in theory contain all prior Proposals, Rules, CFJs, and anything else that ever happened in Agora. (Unfortunately, the record is not quite complete.) [cf. 417]
The Tabulator keeps track of Win Tokens and Blots, and every week distributes a report containing current holdings of each. [cf. 1436]
The Herald keeps track of Kudos, and every week distributes a report containing holdings of each. [cf. 1377]
FOIA stands for "Freedom of Information Act" and anything protected by it is public record. About the only thing in Agora that is not protected by FOIA is statistics on a Vote in progress. If a Player is requested to provide information protected by the FOIA, e must provide it within one week. [cf. 1064]
A currency is a unit of exchange between players. There are several types of currencies, each with their own characteristics. All of them share the properties of being quantized, and being transferable between (some) treasuries.
MUQ stands for Minimum Unit Quantity. All currencies have a MUQ, and all transfers of currency must be made in integral multiples of this MUQ. The default MUQ of all currencies, if not specified otherwise, is 1. [cf. 1577]
A Treasury is a place where currencies are stored. All currency is in some Treasury somewhere. Every Player has a Treasury where eir own currencies are stored, Groups and Contests have Treasuries (see section 7), and there is a large public Treasury known as the Bank. Salaries bonuses and such are paid out of the Bank, fines and fees and such are paid into the Bank. [cf. 1468, 1470, 1479]
The precise definition of a Recordkeepor is a Player in charge of recording transfers of a specific currency, and the amount of that currency in each Treasury. [cf. 1578]
REMEMBER: "Recordkeepor" in Agora discourse has become a generic term for any Officer or Player whose main job is to record data about the Game State. So occasionally you might hear the Herald or Wizard referred to as a Recordkeepor, though this is-- strictly speaking-- erroneous. Always bear in mind that this usage is distinct from that used in the Rules, and should not be used in any official manner (Proposals, CFJs, &c.)
The primary currency in the game is Marks, the Recordkeepor of Marks is the Banker. [cf. 1473, 1548]
Powers and EVs are currencies, and their Recordkeepor is the Assessor. [cf. 1477, 1517]
Win Tokens are a currency, and their Recordkeepor is the Tabulator. [cf. 1491]
Each Group has the power to create its own currency, and the Recordkeepor for each Group's currency is that Group's Vizier. [cf. 1620]
No. The primary characteristic of a currency is the ability of a Player who owns a currency to transfer that currency to another Player. This is not true of Blots, Kudos, or Style Points, none of which are transferable in the normal sense. [cf. 1435, 1062, 1542]
No is isn't, strictly speaking. Marks are a currency, and the Mil is a quantity of Marks. The value of the Mil varies over time, and is equal to 1/1000 of the Marks not held by the Bank. Its value is calculated monthly by the Banker. [cf. 1608]
REMEMBER: The Mil is always equal to the last legal value the Banker posted in the Public Forum.
Yes they are :)
Yes. That is the main universal characteristic of currencies. As long as you have a positive value of any currency in your Treasury you can, with some restrictions on certain currencies, transfer any amount of that currency (up to the amount you have) to another Player's Treasury by sending a message to that currency's Recordkeepor.
With some more restrictions, you may transfer that currency to any other Treasury in the game. [cf. 1596, 1598]
There is a special limitation on Powers known as the "ten-day restriction." The Rules prevent Players from possessing more than two powers in any ten day period, so if another Player has owned two Powers in the past ten days, you cannot transfer another Power to em. [cf. 1518]
There is a special restriction on Win Tokens so that they can only be owned by Player Treasuries. You cannot transfer a Win Token to a non-Player Treasury. [cf. 1559]
There are also special actions known as Win Token Transactions. Every Player has three such Transactions a week. These are either creating a Win Token and giving it to some other Player, or taking a Win Token from any Player and destroying it. These are done by sending a message to the Tabulator (the Win Token Recordkeepor.) [cf. 1493]
Kudos are transferred, but in a way distinct from currencies. Each Player has two Kudo transfers a week. A Kudo transfer takes one Kudo from some Player, and gives it to another Player (other than the Player doing the transfer.) To transfer Kudos, a Player sends a message to the Herald stating where the Kudo is coming from, and who it is going to, the message must contain the reason the transfers are being made. [cf. 1378]
These are the Spivak pronouns, created by mathematician Michael Spivak. They are gender-neutral and are the preferred pronouns for referring to a person in the Rules. The Spivak pronouns were first popularized on Nomic World (a predecessor to Agora) by Malcolm Ryan, a player whose nickname was Blob. As an amorphous Blob, e used these gender-neutral pronouns to refer to emself.
The Spivak pronouns are:
e (for he/she)
em (for him/her)
eir (for his/her)
eirs (for his/hers)
emself (for himself/herself)
You may occasionally see eir corrupted as eis, em as eim and emself as eirself, but these are not the recommended forms.
Here are some commonly used acronyms (capitalization may vary):
Some words have a specific meaning in Agora, different from their meaning in ordinary speech. For instance, a group is just any collection of two or more persons; but a Group is a collection of Agora Players, subject to various rules, and able to Vote on things (in addition to the Players themselves Voting).
REMEMBER: Not all words that have a non-ordinary meaning in Agora are capitalized, e.g. "random", "as soon as possible". Look through the "Definitions" Category of the Logical Ruleset.
[cf. 766, 206, 1653, 1023, 1079]
Rulekeepor Wes took it upon himself to capitalize Words he felt were Important. many of the capitalizations that now exist in the Rules were not there in the Originally proposed versions of those Rules.
For almost two years (Aug 94-Jul 96), there was a Player named Kelly in Agora. This person was very careful not to specify eir gender. Kelly was a major player in the development of the Ruleset during eir tenure; you can thank em for much of our modern judicial system, as well as the way Currencies work, and the fundaments of the legislative system (eir influence there used to be much more extensive, but much has been Amended since).
Unfortunately, due to internet difficulties, Kelly was forced to deregister in late July of 1996. Several months later, a player named Scott joined Agora. Scott has some definite but unspecified relationship to Kelly, although Scott isn't saying which. A number of current players believe them to be the same.
A large mammalian sea creature.
A rather long time ago now (early 1994), Ronald Kunne (then known as Stella?) submitted a whole set of Proposals to repeal every single rule in the Ruleset. Just a few people took them seriously, but those people voted FOR the proposals--all of them!--which, subsequently, passed. Agora was in an uproar, until it turned out that the proposals were illegally submitted and didn't count anyway.
This time is now known to Agora historians as the Black Repeals. There have since, at various times, been other sets of proposals to repeal every rule, which are now traditionally colored. In Fall of 1994, there were the Grey Repeals (named by comparison with the Black Repeals); a few months later there were the Pink Repeals (named after their proposer, Kelly, who was at the time known as "the Pink Bimbo"); and then in November there were the Green Repeals. Quite the Agoran tradition, really.
When not otherwise specified, this FAQ has been written by S. Andrew "Swann" Swiniarski.
The following contributors are responsible for the indicated sections:
Don "Vanyel" Blaheta: 2.1;2.1.1;2.1.2;2.1.3;2.1.4;2;2.3;3.3.1;3.3.2;3.8;9.1;9.2;9.3; 5.1;5.2;5.3;5.4;5.5;5.6;5.7;5.8;5.9
Charles "Chuck" Carroll: 1.2.1;3.3.4;3.3.5;8.1;8.2;8.3
Ed "Murphy" Murphy: 3.5.2;3.7;3.8;8.4
"Scott": 8.4.1
This FAQ last updated on 11/26/96. This page is maintained by Steven "Swann" Swiniarski. WARNING: This is a pre-release, incomplete version of the FAQ.