Metaruleset

The following is a copy of the Metaruleset of Infinite Nomic.

Preamble

The game of Infinite Nomic has always been, and will always be, a center for experimentation in the medium of Nomic and Nomic-like games. As a community, we wish to foster creativity in the design of such games by creating a space where unrestricted innovation is rewarded as well as protected from itself. It is for this reason that we establish this, the Metaruleset of Infinite Nomic.

Section 1: Rounds

The game of Infinite Nomic is subdivided into rounds. Each round has its own ruleset. The Metaruleset is active and must be followed at all times, while the ruleset associated with each round must only be followed during that round. The ruleset of a round governs only the state that exists solely because of that round and entities that consent to participate in the round. in particular, a round ruleset governs players in that round, and it does not govern state directly under the Metaruleset (including metaproposals).

A new round begins when players generally agree on a valid initial ruleset for the round. The process for selecting an initial ruleset is not outlined here, but should be done in an orderly and democratic fashion, giving due consideration to all proposed rulesets.

A round ends when and only when the ruleset for that round specifies that that round ends or when the players generally agree that it should be ended.

Periods in which there are no rounds occuring are called interim periods while periods while there are rounds occuring are called playtime periods.

Section 2: Metaproposals

A metaproposal is a body of text specifying one or more changes to the Metaruleset. Any player can submit a metaproposal by submiting its full contents to the channel #metaproposals.

Whenever a metaproposal is submitted, players who have expressed interest in recieving notifications should be warned about it as soon as possible through Discord ping or a similar mechanism.

No metaproposal may refer to a player or group of players by any non-changing uniquely identifiable or real-life characteristic such as name or nickname, to give them exclusive advantages or disadvantages. If a metaproposal does this, it will have no effect even if passed and may be removed by a moderator as soon as possible.

Unless otherwise specified by a different part of the Metaruleset, the voting period lasts 72 hours after the metaproposal has been submitted. At the end of a metaproposal's voting period, each player who has a reaction of :+1: on the proposal message is considered to have voted for it, and each player who has a reaction of :-1: against. If a player's vote is unclear, their vote is considered to be against.

Once the voting term of a metaproposal had passed, if at least two thirds of votes on that metaproposal are for it and the message in which it was submitted has been neither editoed nor deleted, it takes effect, changing the Metaruleset as described.

Metaproposals are the only method by which the Metaruleset can be modified.

Section 3: Emergency Cases

Infinite Nomic is a place to safely experiment with the game design of Nomic and Nomic-like games. In the course of these tests, errors will be found in the ruleset of the round and players will take advantage of unintended consequences of gamestate changes. Such behavior is, in fact, encouraged as it aligns with the goals set out in this Metaruleset.

In the case, however, that the players decide that future play is impossible or impractical due to unbalancing, that there is any other threat to the game or its democratic governance under the metaruleset, or that any other exigent circumstance warrants it, a state of emergency can be declared. In order for this to happen, two players who have the Moderator role must agree that the situation is deserving of being a state of emergency.

When the game is in a state of emergency, any player can submit a special type of metaproposal called an emergency proposal. Emergency proposals function in a similar manner to normal metaproposals, but have the following differences:

• the voting period of emergency proposals lasts 24 hours, and
• emergency proposals can cause any arbitrary change to the gamestate.

Emergency proposals should function only to revert the game to a playable state and fix any problems that players may have faced unmet obligations during the state of emergency, if there are any.

The state of emergency ends when two players who have the Moderator role agree that the issues that caused the game to enter a state of emergency have been resolved.

Section 4: Discord

The Discord Guild with the ID 515560801394753537 is the official forum of Infinite Nomic, and can be referred to as "the Discord Server", "the Server", or anything else that clearly identifies it. Unless explicitly specified by a rule, game actions cannot be taken without the sending of at least one message to the Discord Server. In particular, messages sent to fora other than the Discord Server do not result in the performance of game actions unless explicitly specified by a rule.

All references to "channels" (including references of the form "#name", even when not explicitly described as a channel), refer to the channel with the appropriate name in the Discord Server. In cases where there are multiple channels with the same name in the Discord Server, and all but one are clearly labeled as being archived, then any reference to that name refers to the sole non-archived channel.

Section 5: Defense

Whenever the game is in a state of emergency, and when two players who have the Moderator role recognize that Infinite Nomic is being invaded, the game enters a state of defense (in addition to the state of emergency). When a state of emergency ends, so does the state of defense.

Whenever the game is in a state of defense, any person who has never been a player for at least one week continuously is an invader. Invaders are not considered players and cannot resume being a player until the state of defense ends.

Section 6: Players

Nobody other than a person who is a member of the Discord Server is a player. If a person ceases to be a member of the Discord Server, they cease to be a player. This clause does not apply during a state of emergency.

No person can be a player in a specific round unless they consent to be one in a public fashion. Any method of joining specified by the ruleset of that round implies this consent. As soon as a person revokes this consent for a round they cease to be a player in that round.

Persons shall not use multiple Discord accounts to pretend to be multiple players.