spoon-business: Proposal: Offers

["Glotmorf" <glotmorf@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[[ Offers are sort of like mini-contracts that only involve two parties and very specific actions.  Anything more complex than that could probably be done as a Society. ]]

{{ _I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Accept_

{{ _Offers_

An Offer is a set of required actions that two entities (Parties) agree to be bound by.  A Party agrees to be bound by an Offer when e Commits to it.  One Party, the Offeror, Commits to the Offer when e creates it by posting its terms on the public forum.  The other Party, the Acceptor, Commits to the Offer when e states on the public forum that e agrees to (Accepts) the Offer.

The Offeror may restrict what entities are permitted to Accept the Offer, either by naming them explicitly or stating characteristics that include certain entities; if no such restriction is made, any entity is permitted to Accept the Offer.  At least one entity must be permitted to Accept the Offer.  The Offeror may withdraw the Offer at any time prior to its Acceptance.

An action that an Offer can require of a Party can be either a Gift or a Service.  A Gift is a transfer of game resources from the required Party to the other Party.  A Service is a game action that the required Party must perform; this game action must be accompanied by a Time Limit before which the action must be performed, and may be accompanied by a Contingency, which is a specification of game resources the required Party must transfer to the other Party if the action is not performed before the Time Limit.

If a Party is responsible for a Gift, or if a Party is responsible for a Service that includes a Contingency, the resources stated in the Gift or Contingency are removed from the Party's possession when the Party Commits to the Offer.  Said resources (known as Escrow) are held by the Offer until the Offer is Concluded.

If an Offer involves no Services, the Offer is Concluded when two Parties Commit to it.  At that time, resources held in Escrow are transferred to the Parties intended to receive them.

If an Offer involves Services, or Gifts and Services, the Offer is Concluded when all Services are Performed or Defaulted.  A Service is Performed if the Party responsible for the Service performs the action specified by the Service before the Time Limit specified by the Service; a Service is Defaulted if said Party fails to perform said action before the Time Limit.  Once all Services are Performed or Defaulted, if any Defaulted Services in the Offer do not have Contingencies, all Escrow is returned to the Parties that originally provided it; otherwise, Escrow for Gifts is transferred to the receiving Party, Escrow for Contingencies of Defaulted Services is transferred to the receiving Party, and Escrow for Contingencies of Performed Services is returned to the providing Party.

A Party cannot Commit to an Offer if e cannot perform the actions in Services that would be required of em, or if e does not have the resources for Gifts or Contingencies that would be required of em.

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