[s-d] Proposal to get some life back here - DIPNOMICY

[Arkady English <arkadyenglish@xxxxxxxxx>]

Somewhat inspired by Nomicopoly, I'd like to try applying the powers
of a nomic to the game Diplomacy.

I think the fragile stab-them-in-the-back alliances of Diplomacy lend
themselves excellently to a nomic, as a whole additional layer of
possibilities becomes available.

I have drafted an initial ruleset - it is fairly long, though, at 32
rules. Of these, 11 are to make the nomic work, and the remaining
rules set out the basic structure for Diplomacy to be built on. It
includes armies and navies - I wanted to only include Armies, but
Britain would be screwed (ditto if the navies can't convoy).

I'd be looking initially for 5-7 players, but more is possible with
larger maps which can take large numbers of players if the interest
exists.

Putting a turn-based structure in will, hopefully, keep the game
moving as players have a "use it or lose it" motivation to be active.
I'm aiming for a timescale of 7-10 days per turn (probably each turn
starts on a Monday, move deadline is sometime on Thursday, I publish
the new game-state on Friday and open voting on the proposals, voting
closes on Sunday and the new ruleset goes out soon after, so the new
move starts Monday again - this is flexible and depends on the needs
of the players).

Anyway, here is the proposed initial ruleset for anyone interested. If
there are any typos, or huge loopholes I've left which need shutting
before the start, let me know.

THE RULES
1. (I) All players of Dipnomicy must follow the rules.
2. (I) Each rule is marked as immutable (I), or mutable (M). This is
the rule's mutability.
3. (I) Where two rules conflict, immutable rules take precedence over
mutable rules. If they have the same mutability, than the rule that
explicitly takes precedence over, or defers to the other rule takes
precedence or defers as stated. If the rules have the same mutability,
and no precedence is explicitly stated, the lowest numbered rule takes
precedence.
4. (I) Unregulated actions are illegal.
THE ARBITRATOR
5. (I) The arbitrator  of Dipnomicy I is Arkady English.
6. (I) The arbitrator is not a player.
7. (I) The arbitrator is responsible for enforcing the rules.
8. (I) Wherever a call for judgement on the interpretation of rules is
required, the arbitrator is responsible for judging the decision and
enforcing the outcome of that judgement.
PROPOSALS
9. (I) A proposal contains text to do one of the following: create a
new mutable rule; repeal a mutable rule; modify a mutable rule; make a
mutable rule immutable; make an immutable rule mutable.
10. (I) A proposal passes if it receives more votes in favour than
against, except for proposals to make an immutable rule mutable, which
requires unanimous vote (i.e. no votes against).
11. (I) New rules are numbered XYY, where X is the current turn
number, and YY is assigned by the arbitrator. The lowest YY will be
assigned to the rule with the highest majority, and vice versa.
Modified rules keep their number, but will be given a revision number.
THE PLAYER
12. (I) Each player is assigned a country and a colour.
13. (I) Resources belonging to that player are marked in that colour.
14. (I) Players may freely send messages to each other.
THE MAP
15. (I) The map is split into a number of named territories.
16. (I) Two territories are adjacent if they share a border.
17. (I) Sea territories are marked in blue. All other territories are
land territories.
18. (I) Coastal territories are land territories that share a border
with a sea territory.
19. (I) Some territories have supply centres. Supply centres are a resource.
UNITS
20. (I) Units are a resource.
21. (M) “Hold position” means a unit does not take any action. Any
unit who may take an action, but has no action specified holds
position.
22. (M) An army (pl. armies) is a unit. As an action, it may move into
any land territory adjacent to its current territory. Armies may take
one action per turn.
23. (M) A navy (pl. navies) is a unit. As an action, it may move into
any sea or coastal territory adjacent to its current territory. As an
action, the navy may convoy an army, as long as the army starts and
ends on land territories, and as long as the navy is in a territory
that borders the start and end territories.
THE TURN
24. (I) Each turn, the arbitrator will publish a deadline for players
to submit their activity this turn. Activity submitted after this
deadline are accepted at the discretion of the arbitrator. The
arbitrator may extend this deadline.
25. (I) Players submit their activity for the turn to the arbitrator
privately. Activity in public messages shall have no effect.
26. (M) Players may submit revised activities before the deadline with
no penalty.
27. (M) Player activity each turn shall consist of: a list of actions
taken by units they control; a proposal for the rules.
28. (M) If the arbitrator cannot understand what action is supposed to
be taken, that action is considered illegal and does not take effect.
29. (M) After each turn, the arbitrator shall publish the list of
proposals submitted, and the game shall enter a voting period.
30. (M) During the voting period, players may cast a single vote on
each proposal. If they do not vote in the voting period they are
assumed to abstain.
31. (M) The voting period ends either on a deadline specified by the
arbitrator, or when every player has voted. When the voting period
ends, a new turn starts.
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