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Frequently Asked Questions

About the Game

What is Nomopoly?

Nomopoly is a board game based on the concept of Nomic. Basically, you can propose your own rules, and if the majority of the players approve of your proposal, it is accepted and becomes an official rule. The game gets crazy pretty fast.

You can take a look at Nomopoly I and Nomopoly II for an idea of what this game might be like.

Who runs all this?

Nomopoly is run by Jeff Yakel, a computer science student at the University of Manitoba.

Is Nomopoly III going to be the same as Nomopoly I and II?

Yes and no. Mostly no.

Yes, because the rules of the game are pretty much the same as the previous two games. (Except for a few minor changes, but you'll have to look carefully to find them).

No, because the medium for the game has completely changed. Nomopoly I and II were played by e-mail. Nomopoly III will be completely web-based, with all actions taking place directly through the Nomopoly III website. This will allow players to see the results of their actions immediately, rather than waiting for the semi-weekly updates. I do believe this will simplify matters for both myself and the players. And if this doesn't work, well, stay tuned for Nomopoly IV to be played by e-mail...

I want to play! How do I join?

Just send an email to me at umyakelj@cc.umanitoba.ca and let me know what username you would like to use. Depending on the current state of the game, I may or may not be accepting new players (taking into account criteria such as the current number of players, how close the game is to ending, and just how stressed out I am at the time).

The Rules

Rule I-4 says that an action may be illegal even if I am able to perform it. What does this mean?

It means I'm not perfect. Every time the rules are changed, some part of the website will need to be re-programmed. If the website allows a player to do something, there is the chance that the rules don't allow that particular action. This is not a game of "take advantage of bugs", and any actions that are taken will be reverted by the Admin if they are illegal.

If you have found a bug in the website, please let me know about it so I can fix it, rather than abusing it and making me revert it.

Is the Admin always right?

Most of the time :-) But I do make mistakes, and you have the right to notify me if I have made a mistake. As per rule II-4, players are allowed and encouraged to question the Admin's decisions, but ultimately the Admin will make the final judgement.

Do I have to take turns?

You must take at least one turn every 120 hours (5 days), and you may take turns as often as every 72 hours (3 days). Failure to take your turn within the required time will result in a $100 fine, and the turn will then be taken for you anyway.

When may I make a proposal?

You may make a proposal at any time, providing you do not have any proposals currently being voted on. If you have a proposal that you urgently need to post, you may retract your currently active proposal.

If my proposal is accepted, does this guarantee that it will be implemented into the game?

Yes, as long as your proposal is not illegal or incredibly stupid. Rule VIII-8 gives me the right to refuse to implement any proposal if the situation warrants it.

Note that this is not Imperial Nomic. I will not refuse to implement a proposal simply because I "don't like it". I will only refuse a proposal if it is illegal or if I believe it is destructive of gameplay. Some examples:

Proposal TypeExample
Illegal (such as immutable player references)"Any player whose email address ends in hotmail.com loses $10000"
Nonsense"Help! I'm being held prisoner by the Rber Ducky! The pies will be here soon, so please hurry"
Paradoxial on its own"A player may not land on Square #6 if he lands on Square #6"
Infeasible to implement"The board now contains 1000000000000000000 squares"
Just plain stupid"The Admin may not use a keyboard"

During the past two Nomopoly games, I have never had to use this power, so don't worry too much about your proposal being rejected.

What is a "pause"? Why would a pause happen?

The Admin may "pause" the game if the situation warrants it. Notably, if a paradox or infinite loop occurs in the game state due to the rules, the game will be paused until the situation can be resolved. A pause may also occur in situations such as a major update to the Nomopoly website or if I go crazy and need some time off from the game.

During a pause, no actions other than voting may take place.

After a pause, the Admin may extend the deadline for certain events that have a cutoff time (such as voting or taking a turn).

What's the deal with rule VIII-3: "No proposal may make any reference to a characteristic of a player if that characteristic is immutable within the current set of rules, ignoring the fact that rules may change in the future."?

Basically this means that you can't make a proposal that would target an absolute pre-determined player or group of players. If you want to target a player, you must do so by referencing something that has the possibility of being changed within the current set of rules. The concept of "immutable" can vary over the course of a game. For example, the proposal "Any player whose name starts with T loses $1000" is illegal, since there is no way to change your name. However, if in the future, the ability for a name to change was possible, then the above proposal would become legal.

If you're not sure about the legality of a proposal, you are more than welcome to send it to me before posting it so I can read it over and determine if it is legal or not.

How do I win?

You will win the game if you are the only player in the game who has a positive amount of money. Other than that, this is Nomopoly, so feel free to propose any other way to win that you want. On that note, this is Nomopoly, so feel free to propose a change to ANYTHING that you want...

Miscellaneous

Do I need any particular browser/software/whatever to play?

Just make sure your browser has JavaScript and cookies enabled.

Will my e-mail address be visible to everyone?

On the Options page you may choose to have your e-mail address visible on the Players page. Doing so will allow other players to see your e-mail address. Your e-mail address will not be visible to non-logged in users.

Do I have to log in to use the message board?

Technically, no, but non-logged in people cannot post under the name of a player who is logged in. So if you're playing, it is probably a good idea to log in if you want to post under your own name.

Do the rules of the game apply to the message board?

Once again, technically no. But someone could always change the rules...

One rule will be enforced by me whether it is in the rules or not: be nice. I don't want another flame war like we had in Nomopoly I to break out, so any posts that are inappropriate or are attempting to pick a fight will be deleted.

Can I use HTML on the message board?

Yes. No annoying JavaScript popups or anything like that :-P

Can I use HTML in my proposals?

No.

The website is down! Will this happen often?

Hopefully not, and when it does, it won't be for long. The website will be down for very brief periods of time when I am implementing a proposal. These outages shouldn't last long (a half hour at the very most).

On the other hand, if the website is down for more than a half hour, there probably is a problem, and you should let me know about it.

My proposals keep getting rejected! Do I suck?

Keep in mind that the other players are not voting against you, they are voting against your proposal. What one person finds to be a brilliant proposal can seem like a very bad proposal to another player. That's just the nature of this game. If you would like to make proposals that other players approve of, you are free to post your proposal on the message board before submitting it. Other players will be more than willing to give you feedback and help you create a proposal that everyone will approve of.

After running Nomopoly I and II, here are my observations on how to make a proposal that is likely to be accepted:

What do I do if someone has taken an action that is against the rules?

Let me know about it so I can judge the situation. If the action was in fact against the rules, it will be reverted.

I found a bug in the website! Am I allowed to use it to my advantage?

No. As stated above, Nomopoly is not a game of abusing bugs. Any action that is against the rules will be reverted, and players who are found to be continuously taking advantage of bugs will be warned and eventually removed from the game.

If you find a bug, the correct course of action is to let me know so I can fix it. Please be as descriptive as possible when reporting a bug. (i.e. "The board page gives me the following message: '...' when I click on the Take a Turn button" is better than "Board page doesn't work"). A cut and paste of any stack trace or error message you get would help. Remember, if I can't reproduce the bug, I can't fix it.

I have an action that is legal, but unusual and may break the website (ie. one of the last actions in Nomopoly I or II that used numbers on the order of 103000000). What should I do?

If you believe an action will break the website, do not attempt to perform it directly. The website is guarded against inputs with extremely large numbers and other odd inputs, so your action will most likely not work. If you need to perform such an action, please do so by e-mail and I will perform the action for you.

How do I quit the game?

Do nothing. Your account will automatically be deleted if you don't log in for 21 days.

I have a question that isn't listed here.

That's not a question!

But feel free to clutter my inbox at umyakelj@cc.umanitoba.ca if you have a question, suggestion, or whatever. Or feel free to post your comments on the message board.