[s-b] Consultation on blueprints and devices

["William P. Berard" <william.berard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I submit the following Consultations:

A)

{{
Is it true that any player can define a blueprint?
}}


Reasoning: Rule 3-12 do not state anything as far as who can or cannot 
define a blueprint. On top of this, Rule 3-14 states:

"Any player with sufficient currency may purchase a device from the 
Ministry of Goods. Upon purchase, a device is instantly defined based 
on a blueprint designated by this player, who becomes the device owner. 
The price, as specified by the blueprint in question, is instantly 
subtracted from this player's currency."

Nothing is said about the designated blueprint, the blueprint the 
player chooses, it could be owned by anyone, and defined by anyone.

I am completely new to the game, but from what I gathered in the rules, 
it seem there is a subtext that the Artisan is the only one able to 
define and own blueprints. Am I reading this right? A tighter rule need 
to be written for this to be properly enforced. This leads me to my 
second consultation :

B)
{{
Can a player, other than the Artisan, own one or several blueprints?
}}

Reasoning : Rule 3-12 do not state anything about this, nor does 3-12. 
However, now that I am reading this, A Blueprint is an Object, not a 
Device. As such, it does not have an Owner attribute. I take it then 
that blueprints cannot be owned, and are in the public domain? I am 
thinking a set of rules that could establish an economy in the game, 
and, as such, ownership or opensource-ness of blueprints are crucial.

C)
This might seem a silly one, and perhaps need not a proper, formal, 
consultation, but I am submitting it as one, since consultations end up 
in the Wiki, whereas informal discussions and Q and A do not. As a 
newcomer to the game, my only source of information on the state of the 
game prior to my joining as a player is the wiki, and I think having 
this answered clearly (and, possibly, added to Rule 3-12) would clarify 
the situation, especially for future players.
{{
Does a device (unique or not) need a corresponding, existing blueprint 
to be defined?
}}
Reasoning : Rule 3-12 do not mention anything saying that devices need 
to be created from blueprints. It might seem obvious that it has to be 
the case, but it is not explicitely stated. The rule mentions, however 
: "The rule or rules defining a device detail the powers associated 
with it." Which means that devices are defined in a rule, but it does 
not state that a pre-existing blueprint is needed, so, virtually, any 
Player could sumbit a Proposal  of a rule defining a device, straight 
away, and specifying the value of its owner attribute, without going 
through the blueprint phase, nor needing the Artisan to get it defined 
from a blueprint.

One might argue that this loophole, if it is one, would be 
self-regulatory: if a player submits a proposal for a ruel defining a 
device and setting the owner of this device to himself, other players 
would be very likely to vote against this proposal. But on the other 
hand, it seems from what I grasp here and there on the mailing lists (I 
still feel like I've walked in the middle of a complicated political 
situation) that the game is starting to evolve towards something 
faction orientated, and a Player from faction A could submit a proposal 
of a rule to create a terrible, doomsday device (say, the "selective 
nuclear bomb") whose effect would be to reduce voting powers 
/health/points of all players from faction B; this proposal could be 
backed up by faction B, and, with careful timing (if some players from 
faction B are on holiday...), pass. This is just an hypothetic example, 
but you know what I mean... ;-]


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