RE: [spoon-discuss] Re: viving the Nomic Market idea

[Bill Adlam <sagitta_elegans@xxxxxxxxx>]

Teucer wrote:

> I was thinking it would be better to individually ban each item we
> want to have as contraband.
> 
> Remember, also, that once something is an Export Good from another
> Nomic, we've got an nweek to do something about it.
> 
> I don't object to your way of doing it, however. If this passes,
> we'll probably have a while to tweak it before it hurts us.

Your way, everyone has to constantly scan the export lists of all
recognised Market Nomics for potentially disruptive items.  Given the
sketchiness of your proposed descriptions, we'll also need to monitor
the rulesets to get any grasp of what they actually do.  This is a
large and unreasonable burden to place on the players, not to mention
the Admin.

This prop would more or less merge the rulesets of all participating
Nomics, creating a morass of contradictory effects.  (For example, what
if we export the GIPEC and then pass a Declaration Of Extreme
Cleverness?  Both rulesets agree there is only one prize, but according
to our rules it belongs to a B Nomic player, while in the other Nomic
it belongs to someone else, who is allowed to transfer it to one of
us.)  Worse, it allows destructive rules to escape from their natural
habitat and infect other Nomics, potentially wiping out all of them.

We would also be vulnerable to pranks or worse from other games. 
Suppose I buy a Potion Of Belching from Y Nomic and then, during our
voting period, Y Nomic changes its Export List to say that a Potion Of
Belching prevents any changes to the ruleset from occuring, and cannot
be destroyed or transferred.  In the very unlikely event that one of us
notices this obscure alteration immediately, we still can't do anything
about it before it takes effect.  

Another possibility is for Z Nomic to export a candy as a palatable
confection, but for a brief period (perhaps only seconds) change its
definition to a deadly poison that causes anyone possessing it to lose
the game.  You take one from a stranger and then, one nweek after the
change of recipe on the Z Nomic export list, you drop dead.  And when
someone claims Z Nomic changed the description, how do we know whether
e's telling the truth?

In general, there is far too much scope here for accidental or
malicious carnage.  We need a firewall, not an orgy of promiscuity.

> Huh. I thought a PGGB was the one thing you couldn't buy in a party?

No, it's the one alcoholic beverage you can't get for free on New
nYear's nDay.  Partying is different, and occurs at the end of a solar
year.  They just happened to coincide last time.

Sagitta


	
	
		
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