Infinite Nomic

Infinite Nomic
Founded:	November 2018
Played on:	Discord
Current status:	Active
Active players:	unknown
Current ruleset:	link
Website:	https://discord.gg/uBFBfsn
Game information correct as of August 2023

The server for Infinite Nomic was created at the end of November 2018 by Discord User @Zephnik#4897 and the first proposal was made on December 5. Originally, the Nomic was intended for Zephnik's close friends, but word quickly spread and the game acquired a good amount of new players and the game became a lot more serious, developing many new mechanics.

Now, the Constitution governs general gameplay practices and the transitions between rounds, while the Official Rules are filled with ephemeral rules describing the mechanics of the individual rounds.

As of August 2023 the game is in its 14th Cycle, a game of "The Obelisk Cycle".

Initial Ruleset

The original ruleset was composed of only three rules:

1. Players take turns adding a proposal to the game. A proposal can be changing an existing rule, deleting an existing rule, or making a completely new rule. You may only make 1 proposal on your turn. The player(s) whose turn it is can be found in #turns.
2. When a proposal is made in #proposals, a @Moderator will add it to #voting. If the rule has more votes for than against after 48 hours of it being in #voting, it will be added to #official-rules (or other appropriate thing will happen) and it will have an immediate effect from then on.
3. The first player to reach 1000 points, wins the game.

The simplicity of this ruleset allowed for a more casual nomic in which extremely precise procedure was not stressed, allowing for an exploration of how seriously the individual players wanted to take the game. It also allowed the players to decide how the procedures that were unspecified should actually work. According to Zephnik:

"I'm not really a big fan of the suber ruleset (or any other big premade ruleset), because I feel like a nomic needs these problems to stay alive. I have a couple of arguments: (1) With all problems solved beforehand, the Nomic is at a large risk of lacking those engaged arguments and problemsolving. It can just become boring. (2) There's so much stuff in these rulesets. Why can't we just define the game as we want?

This is why I started this Nomic off with the very simple rules "Propose stuff", "Take turns doing that" and "first to 1000 points wins".Suber's initial ruleset is like a full-grown Christmas tree you have to put decorating on. While these simple, three rules we started with, are like a seed. We have to water the tree, but also at an accurate rate, see what I'm getting at?"

--Zephnik, March 1, 2019

History

Round One

Round One was very unfocused, since the players did not have a good conception of what they wanted the game to be like. Many useful mechanics, like Shop Items and the Leader and Judge system, were created, but never expanded upon, leading to the game lacking much direction.

Like many round-based nomics, this round began with the groundwork for a single continuous ruleset. It wasn't until the introduction of the Constitution that round-based play became conceivable. Eventually, enthusiasm to begin a second round outgrew the enthusiasm to continue playing the current round and Round Two began by unanimous agreement.

Round Two

Round Two has the theme of "Space Piracy".

Round Six

Marks the adoption of a new meta ruleset similar to the Constitution.