Editing Round 9/History (section)

=== Stuck Ducks ===

The first major crisis of the game struck when the ducks got stuck. On 1 February 2021, Trungle posted a draft proposal<ref>https://discord.com/channels/515560801394753537/518856008605499402/805696974321614909</ref> that would introduce the mechanic of ponds. Under this system, each duck must live in a pond before it can perform any actions. This idea was modeled after the fact that ducks had to be named before they could act or be acted upon. There were a few suggestions, which Trungle implemented. The proposal was created on 2 February 2021 as Proposal 🦆 🏘️.

{{Proposal Box
| name=🦆 🏘️
| text=
Enact a new rule entitled "Ponds" which reads:
:There exist ponds in the land. The number of ponds is initially equal to the number of ducks in existence, divided by four and rounded down. Whenever a new duck is created, any player can roll a d6. If the result is 6 then a new pond is created.
:
:Each duck lives in up to one pond. The owner of a duck can move that duck to a pond that it does not already live in by stating that they do so in #game-actions. Unless that duck did not live in a pond before being moved, it loses one quack. Players cannot move ducks that already live in a pond and possess no quacks. Players cannot interact with a named duck that does not live in a pond in any way other than to move it to a pond.
:
:At the beginning of each voting period, each duck loses one quack for each duck of its same color in the pond it lives in, not including itself. It also gains one quack for each duck of a different color that lives in that pond.
:
:Ducks on scouting missions are not considered to live in any pond until they return. They cannot be moved, and return to their most recent home pond when they are retrieved.
}}

In retrospect, the problems with this proposal should have been obvious. When a duck is on a scouting mission it doesn't live in a pond and player cannot interact with ducks that don't live in a pond. The intent was that the duck just wouldn't get the diversity benefits if it went on a scouting mission. There really needed to be two different terms for these two concepts, and if there were at any point in drafting, it hardly matters now.

The proposal nonetheless passed. It was submitted on Wednesday, which is during voting period 1, thus it went into effect the next Saturday (5 February 2021) at the end of voting period 2. It wasn't until a legal question on the 7th of February that we understood that the game was broken<ref>https://discord.com/channels/515560801394753537/518856008605499402/808044906164912200</ref>.

Indeed, every duck that was on a scouting mission when proposal 🦆 🏘️ passed could not be retrieved. The fix proposal came on 7 February 2021 (moonroof, Proposal Unstuck Ducks).

{{Proposal Box
| name=Unstuck Ducks
| text=
In the rule Ponds, replace the second paragraph with the following text:

:Each duck lives in exactly one pond. Any duck that does not live in a pond may be assigned a pond at any time by its owner by posting in #game-actions. If the duck is not on a scouting mission, it moves immediately to that pond. If the duck is on a scouting mission, it will return to that pond when it returns.
:
:Players may move ducks from one pond to another by spending one quack from that duck and posting in #game-actions. Players cannot move a duck (after its initial assignment) that does not have any quacks. 
:
:If a duck does not have an assigned pond, it must be assigned a pond before any player may interact with that duck.

In the rule Ponds, replace the fourth paragraph with the following text:

:Ducks on scouting missions cannot change their pond assignment, except to be assigned one. They are not considered to be in the pond while on a scouting mission.
}}

With Proposal Unstuck Ducks, the gamestate was slated to be fixed on February 12th. Every player with ducks on a scouting mission would just have to wait it out. The proposal passed without incident, but, as we'd soon discover, another breakage was about to rear its ugly head.