Internet Congress
TL;DR Version
You are a Congressman on the Island of Sen.
You have a set of secret objectives that you are trying to fulfill.
Every player except the President can introduce one bill every year.
Bills improve one policy area and harm another policy area.
Players vote on bills; if a bill passes, and the President signs it, it becomes law.
The President has a veto power and is elected every four years.
The game ends after a set amount of years.
Post "I'm in" to sign up.
THE REST IS OVERLY DETAILED, AND ONLY SERVES TO: A) ELABORATE ON THE BASIC RULES STATED ABOVE, AND B) RESOLVE CONFLICTS
Extended Rules
The Story
As a part of a social experiment, a group of people is placed on a deserted island, "Sen," with sufficient resources (both natural and manufactured goods given), and all contact with the outside world is cut. People revert to a state of self-interest, and chaos ensues. The Senners soon decide to form an orderly government. But, everyone has their own ideas of how society should be run, and natural self-interest has not been removed from the island. With no outside influence to constrain the Senners, what will become of Sen?
The Goal
Score the most points by fulfilling your secret objectives.
The Setup
Each player represents a portion of people on the Island of Sen. Every player receives a set of objectives. These objectives are known to one one else, and no two players' objectives are the same. Players receive points at the end of the game based on their objectives.
The Secret Objectives
Each player will start out with a certain number of secret objectives (probably 3). Policies will be randomized by random.org.
Players will gain a new objective every four years (the same year as a presidential election).
All objectives are stated so that you gain points for enacting that type of legislation, and lose points if that type of legislation goes into the negatives.
An example of starting policies might be:
Player A
+2 Freedom
+3 Morality
+4 Infrastructure Improvement
(Ideologically, specific policies will conflict, but that doesn't matter in-game.)
Player A would receive 2 points for every piece of "Freedom" legislation 4 points for every piece of "Infrastructure Improvement" law that goes into effect. However, for every "Gun Rights" law implemented on Sen, Player A would lose 3 points.
Another example might be:
Player B
+2 Freedom
+3 Gun Control
-4 Socialized Healthcare
The Congress
Congress is composed of all the players except the President. Each year (approximately 7 real-life days), every member of Congress can propose ONE bill. Players have a certain time limit (72 hours from the original introduction) to vote on the bill. Once the time limit is up, the bill is sent to the President.
The Bills
Multiple bills may be in play at once. For every policy that a bill increases, it must decrease a policy in exactly one other area. An increase adds a law into that policy area, and a decrease removes a law from that policy area. For example:
Bill C
+Freedom
-Infrastructure Improvement
Bill D
+Socialized Healthcare
+Racial Equality
-Gun Control
-Environment
You can have as many policy changes on a bill as you like.
A bill that does not adhere to the game rules will not be sent to the President or implemented. If one of your bills is declared void by me, you can introduce another bill. However, once you have introduced a valid bill, it cannot be retracted, and you may not introduce another until next year. Yes, I WILL notice if you change the original introduction date or the policy changes of a bill.
Tip: Increase policies favorable to you, and decrease polices that your rivals desire.
The Voting Process
Players must clearly state "I vote [YES/NO] for [Bill name]." Votes that are not colored in large, red text may not be counted. Votes must be placed in this topic. If I cannot find your vote when quickly scrolling through the topic, it may not be counted. Don't say I didn't warn you.
When voting for the President, the above rules apply. Simply state, "I vote for X".
If you introduce a bill, your vote on that bill will automatically be set to "YES".
If you do not vote, your vote will count as an "Abstain". Passage of a bill requires 50% or more of non-abstain votes to be a "Yea". This means that a tied vote WILL force a bill to proceed to the President.
You may "finalize" your vote by writing "I finalize my vote [YES/NO] on [bill name]" (large red text rule). If 50% of Congress finalizes their votes to either YES or NO (as in, a 10-player Congress requires 5 "YES"es or 5 "NO"s), the bill will automatically be sent to the president.
You can change your vote as many times as you like without annoying me.
Tip: You can make agreements with other players to support (or oppose) each others' bills, or bills for a certain policy.
The President
At the start of the game, and every four turns thereafter, a President is elected. An election also happens any time the office of the President is vacant (due to impeachment, resignation, banning, or some other circumstance).
The President cannot vote for or against legislation, but he can exercise the veto power. The President has 48 hours to act after Congress passes a bill. To act, he must clearly state in the topic "I sign [bill name]" or "I veto [bill name]." The same rules that apply to vote statements apply to the veto statements ("large, red text" rule). If a President does not act on a a bill, the bill dies at the 48 hour mark. Congress can override a veto (or resurrect a dead bill) with a 2/3rds majority vote by the end of the year. (If a player had previously voted on a dead/failed bill, his last vote will be counted unless changed). If the president's acting period ends after the regular year, Congress will have another 24 hours after the acting period ends to override the veto.
The President may resign after all other events in a year have taken place (according to the year schedule outlined in the rules). Before the next year starts, another election will be held to determine the next President, which will serve for the remainder of the original President's term.
The President can be impeached with a 2/3rds vote from Congress. He will be removed at the end of the year.
Tip: The President should use the veto sparingly, or Congress will not cooperate with his policy wishes.
The Events in a Year
Receive Secret Objectives (if applicable)
Vote for President (if applicable)
Players introduce legislation
Vote on bills
Resolve veto conflicts (if applicable)
Tally the changes to policy areas
Presidential Resignation (if applicable)
The Scoring
Running totals of how much of each bill has been made into laws. At the end of the game, (8 years) points will be tallied up, and a victor will be declared. Policy areas may have a negative number of laws implemented.
Policy Areas and Game History
The Policy Areas
May be changed before game starts based on number of players. Once game has begun, the number and name of policy areas will be locked.
% Distribution refers to the percentage of players that have this policy as a secret objective.
Policy Name refers to the name of the policy.
Laws Enacted refers to the net effect of laws implemented. This can be positive or negative
List updated at the end of every year. Last updated Yr 4.
A
% Distribution - Policy Name [Laws Enacted]
0% - Animal Rights [0]
0% - Censorship [0]
0% - Defendants' Rights [0]
20% - Defense [4]
40% - Economy [15]
20% - Education [-13]
40% - Environment [8]
40% - Equality [6]
50% - Freedom [8]
0% - Gun Control [0]
20% - Healthcare [0]
0% - Labor Unions [0]
40% - Morality [9]
50% - Order [-13]
0% - States' Rights [0]
0% - Stability [0]
40% - Technology [-24]
20% - Transportation [0]
20% - Urban Development [0]
Game History
Yr 0 (Pre-game)
Dec 6 2011, 7:37 pm - Topic created
Dec 14 2011, 6:11 pm - Signups closed
Dec 16 2011, 7:44 pm - Secret Objectives sent, first presidential election begins
Dec 19 2011, 6:45 pm - Azrael Wrath elected president
Yr 1
Dec 26 2011, 6:00 pm - Year 1 ends
Yr 2
Dec 30, 2011, 6:00pm - Year 2 ends
Yr 3
Jan 11, 2012 - Year 3 ends
Yr 4
Jan 15, 2012, 6:00pm - Year 4 ends
Yr 5
Jan 15, 2012, - New Secret Objectives handed out
Jan 18, 2012, 6:00pm - Azrael.Wrath re-elected President of Sen
Jan 25, 2012 - Year 5 ends
Yr 6
Year 6's bills are multiplied x 3
Jan 31 - Game over, Azrael.Wrath wins.
Scores
The Players
A
OlimarandLouie
Raitaki
Fire_Kame
Azrael.Wrath
poison_us
TiKels
Lanthanide
Echo
payne
FaRTy1billion
Signups
Signups are closed.
Other
Metagaming is allowed to a certain extent. As long as you don't affect the game in a way that makes it unfun to play (e.g. heavy trolling, game-throwing), you can remain in play. If I deem at any time that you are disrupting play, you can be impeached and removed from the game.
Post has been edited 36 time(s), last time on Feb 1 2012, 11:08 pm by rayNimagi.
Win by luck, lose by skill.