Re: [s-b] [Oracle] judge assignments

[James Baxter <jebaxter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 16:20:19 -0400
> From: wooble@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: spoon-business@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [s-b] [Oracle] judge assignments
> 
> CFJ 21, called by Walker, "The phrase 'as a Game Action' is synonymous
> to 'by announcement' for the purposes of the Rules." is assigned to
> Judge JamesB.

I judge CFJ 21 True.

Arguments:
The rules are silent on this matter so, in accordance with Rule 6, I will consider game custom, common sense, past judgements, and the best interests of the game.

*Game custom: In previous eras "as a Game Action" has been used in much the same way as "by announcement". This can be seen by looking at rules from previous eras and comparing them with the current definition:
	Rule 16 (current):	"Where the rules define an action that CAN be performed "by announcement", a person performs that 	action by unambiguously and clearly specifying the action and announcing that e performs it. Any 	action performed by sending a message is performed at the time date-stamped on that message."

	Rule 1-10 (4th era):	"A Game Action is defined as any activity specified by the rules to be a Game Action. Other Outsiders 	may also take Game Actions if explicitly permitted by the rules. To perform a Game Action, an Outsider 	must post a message to a Public Forum specifying that he is taking that action. He must also specify 	any targets and/or parameters necessary for that action [[for example, you must specify a proposal in 	order to vote against a proposal]]. He may list multiple actions that he wishes to take, in which case he 	takes them in the order he lists them. He may also state a specific positive integer to perform a 	particular action that many times (if legal, of course) sequentially."

	Rule 5E10 (5th era, did not exist but considered part of game custom at the time):	"A Game Action is defined as any activity specified by the Rules that changes the state of the game. 	To perform a Game Action, an Outsider must post a message to a Public Forum specifying that they 	are taking that action."
Although Game Actions are not defined, rendering the 4th era definition unusable, if Game actions were defined then they would probably replace actions which may be taken by announcement. The 5th era definition is consistent with the current definition as an action performed by announcement usually changes the state of the game. In any case, there is likely to be very little ambiguity in stating that something is done "as a Game Action" when someone is aware of previous game custom.

*Common sense: The words "Game Action" can be taken to mean an action performed in the game. Actions performed "by announcement" certainly fit that description and so the words "as a Game Action" could be interpreted as performing an action "by announcement", particularly if the action in question is unambiguously specified.

*Past judgements: There are no past judgements pertaining to this matter although this judgement will create precedent to augment the rules after it is judged.

*The best interests of the game: The text "as a Game Action" is fairly unambiguous, given game custom and common sense so disallowing what looks like a reasonable statement of an action could be accepted by some while being ignored by others, possibly leading to inconsistency in reports, so it is in the best interests of the game to have a clear definition, although what this definition should be cannot be decided by consideration of the best interests of the game alone.

Given all of the above arguments it makes sense to  judge true on the grounds of common sense and game custom.

 		 	   		  
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