CoS Discussion: Section I - Game Schedule

[Furiey]

You’re both right – we wouldn’t want someone to roll up and post “I’m moving the scheduled chat forward to start in 5 minutes time”. But what is the minimum notice that could be given? 24 hours – is when deputies can start posting in the TCIT, so maybe that would be reasonable to pick giving:

  5.   Changes to a scheduled time with less than 24 hours 
       notice shall result in the cancellation of the session.

(not sure about the exact wording)

You’d still have to put up notification so 4 would still be valid

So for changes the minimum notice is 24 hours or the session is cancelled, but up to a week notice you just have to give proper notification. This gives:

This would mean that special sessions eg: to investigate a city would have to be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance. Would that be OK?
It would also stop the “can I delay 15 mins” at the start of a chat, something I’ve seen happen a few times in chat logs. Would we still want to allow this or is it not considered to be a schedule change as such, just a problem in the chat?


PS: glad I’m not the only one who has trouble catching up with all that’s going on in these threads!

 

[ravensfire]

Furiey,

I think you are on the right track. I would extend the time to 48 hours though, and have it say something like this:


5. Changes to a scheduled turn chat session must be made no later than 48 hours from the start of that session.

-- Ravensfire

 

[DaveShack]

The whole point of having a "special session" for things like investigate a city, make a single trade and see what else comes available, etc. is to avoid starting the "real' chat with insufficient information. Think of this timeline:

1. During the chat, we discover that someone is building a wonder that we want to build
2. After the chat finishes, we go off to the forums to discuss the next moves
3. The person responsible wasn't at the chat, but sees from the log what has happened.
4. An investigation is requested, to see if it is possible to win the wonder race
   [/list=1]
   
   Under the "no special sessions" rules, we would have to investigate the city at the beginning of the next chat, and write extremely complicated instructions like "start (keep producing) the wonder if city x is making less than 25 shields and all of its worked tiles are already improved, but if the city is making more than 25 shields or there are worked and unimproved tiles, then produce or switch to y".
   
   If special sessions are allowed, we could request the investigation, do it immediately (no 48 hour waiting period), and then plan the next chat normally.
   
   With a 48 hour advance notice required, even for a special session, there is no point in doing the special session unless we are also going to cancel the regular one.

 

[Cyc]

So what this means is that if the Predient finds out that the currently scheduled time can't be met for them, they have to assign the VP or next inline to play the chat. But if a revelation is discovered through the course of discussion two days before a chat, let's say, that requires a poll on the issue, then the t/c is automatically postponed. Would this be correct?

 

[DaveShack]

Originally posted by Cyc
So what this means is that if the Predient finds out that the currently scheduled time can't be met for them, they have to assign the VP or next inline to play the chat. But if a revelation is discovered through the course of discussion two days before a chat, let's say, that requires a poll on the issue, then the t/c is automatically postponed. Would this be correct?

Not necessarily. If something requires a poll, the leader can post a poll and use an instruction that refers to the poll result.

 

[Cyc]

That would be applicable if the poll had time to finish. But in most instances, the poll would have no discussion and would not have run its full course. That is why I'm asking. Would using the results of a poll that only ran for 24 - 36 hours with no prior discussion by advisable? This might result in a poll with minimal participation.

 

[donsig]

Hence we should not allow changes to the posted schedule. Once it's set, it's set. We do have a chain of command don't we? There should be no reason to cancel a scheduled game play session.

 

[Furiey]

I still think that it should be possible to change the schedule providing adequate notice is given. We wish to encourage schedules to be posted well in advance, however not being able to change a schedule once published encourages schedules to be posted as late as possible just in case circumstances change. It would work that way with me anyway. As someone who is going to be using the schedule rather than creating it, I would far rather have a schedule well in advance and get good notice of changes than have only short term schedule information.

I would also prefer to see Chain of Command used rather than cancelling the chat if at all possible so Ravenfire’s wording is probably better there.

The special session issue though – I have seen that these sessions can be used to gain information that allow better planning for the game, but with only 3-4 days between turn chats and 48 hours minimum notice, we do not have much time to get things in. How are the special sessions decided – do they have to be discussed then polled eg: shall we build this embassy? If so what is the minimum time required to do this? How long before the chat would it have to occur? I’m sure there must be a discussion/rule on this somewhere. Notice for the special session could be given at the start of the discussion with the chat only taking place depending on the outcome of the poll (if that’s how it’s done) – this would give us some time, but we would still need to hold the session enough in advance of the turn chat. We could always add a 6. to give the notice required for these special sessions if it needs to be different from a standard turn chat.

 

[DaveShack]

Originally posted by Cyc
That would be applicable if the poll had time to finish. But in most instances, the poll would have no discussion and would not have run its full course. That is why I'm asking. Would using the results of a poll that only ran for 24 - 36 hours with no prior discussion by advisable? This might result in a poll with minimal participation.

I'll have to agree with you on this one. There have beeen times that something came up in discussions where I wanted to throw up a roadblock and say don't play the next turns until this issue is resolved. We do indeed need a way to say don't play until we're ready.

Another frequent poster here would say (my interpretation) that this gives a malcontent the ability to keep us from playing any turns, just as much as ignoring these issues gives someone the ability to run away with the save. Ultimately we have to rely on mutual trust and friendship, because pretty much whatever we say for the rules, there is potentially a way to get around them.

 

[ravensfire]

I think we have two seperate issues here, both of which need to be dealt with to get a good section.

First, the regular schedule - who sets it, when, can it be changed and if so, how.

Second, special circumstances - this includes unusual activity in the previous chat, a special chat needed, etc.

To try to keep this straight for a bit, I would suggest posting seperately for each issue until we have the concerns dealt with.

-- Ravensfire

 

[ravensfire]

Regular Session Schedule:

The schedule for all regular sessions should be created by the President. At any given time, there should be at least two chats on the schedule, including a chat taking place on the current date if applicable. Once the schedule has been set, it may not be changed except to correct a typing error (no later than 12 hours after posting), extenuating circumstances within the game requiring additional time for decisions (no later than 24 hours after end of previous chat, may only push schedule back), or extenuating circumstances outside the game requiring additional time to deal with (no time limit). Only the Judiciary (by majority decision) should be able to declare the last situation. Should a change occur, the schedule thread must be updated, a post made in the citizens sub-forum and a post made in the Presidential thread.

Reasoning:
The citizens that choose to attend chats often arrange their personal schedule around these announced date/times. It it unfair to them for a scheduled chat to be changed except under extreme circumstances. If the change is from a type, it needs to be corrected quickly.

Otherwise, we've got the CoC, it's there to have a player around if the DP isn't there.

-- Ravensfire

 

[ravensfire]

Special Circumstances

How about something like this:
-- The President may schedule a special turn chat to accomplish a specific task
-- This need for this must be supported by either a poll or significant support in a discussion
-- The chat shall be scheduled no earlier than 24 hours from when the chat was scheduled.
-- A turn chat instruction thread must still be posted for this chat and shall only have:
-- The time and date of the chat;
-- A link to the save to be used;
-- The reasons and support for the special chat;
-- The specific action to be taken.
-- No other instructions from the Executive or Legislative branches shall be posted.

Combined with the above proposal, should we need a special session, that's grounds for changing the schedule, giving our leaders enough time to determine valid instructions.

-- Ravensfire

 

[ravensfire]

Formal proposal:

V1.0

I.  Game Schedule
  1.  Regular Game Sessions
    a.  The turn chat schedule shall be created by the 
        President
    b.  The schedule shall always have at least two chats
        on the schedule, including the chat taking place on 
        the current date.
    c.  Once set, the schedule may not be changed expect for:
      1.  Correct a minor typing error.  This change must be
          done within 12 hours of the initial post for that
          turn chat.
      2.  Extenuating circumstances within the game requiring
          additional discussion time.  This change must be
          done within 24 hours of the end of the turn chat
          producing the circumstance, and may only delay
          the turn chat.
      3.  Extenuating circumstances outside of the requiring
          additional discussion time.  This change shall only
          be done by the Judiciary acting unanimously.
    d.  All changes shall be posted in the Schedule thread,
        the Presidential thread and as a new thread in the 
        Citizen's sub-forum.  
  2.  Special Game Sessions
    a.  The President may schedule a special game session to
        accomplish a single, specific task.
    b.  The need for this task must be supported by either a
        poll or through significant support in a discussion.
    c.  The chat shall be scheduled no earlier than 24 hours
        from when the chat was added to the schedule.
    d.  A turn chat instruction thread must be posted for 
        this special session, and shall include only:
      1.  The date and time of the chat, in GMT;
      2.  A link to the save to be used;
      3.  The reasons and the support for the chat;
      4.  The specific action to be take.
      5.  No other instructions from the Executive or
          Legislative branches shall be posted.

-- Ravensfire

 

[ravensfire]

Ratification poll as been posted here.

-- Ravensfire