Repost: How I think we should be run

[Wittlich]

Beta, I will submit my replies to the questions tomorrow (when I have time to think about them)...but ONLY if:

You comply with Eli's thread titled: Our mIRC Channel. I'm with Eli concerning this - We need our own private and potected chat channel here at Apolyton.

So far myself and Eli have registered, with Jon pomising to do it later.

We only have 6 members...it shouldn't take to long to get us all properly registered and protected against spying by the other teams.

Just follow Eli's instructions - it's rather easy to do.

[Beta]

OK I will comply. Or try to...

(I feel like a techno-incompetent half the time, but I will comply. Besides - Eli is very patient with me.)

javascript:smilie('')

(now - let's see if my first smiley attempt worked...)

[Beta]

ah - sort of.

[Wittlich]

And here are my answers:

1. 10 Turns sounds good to me.

2. Since the job of being The Controller is going to rotate, term limits shouldn't be an issue. However, we can say that person can only be Controller for 2 consecutive terms just to be safe.

3. C.

4. Foreign Relations: I think having a Foreign Minister (Voice for Foreign Affairs - VFA) is a good idea, but it would have to be someone who has a lot of contact with the other teams (ie, through the forums). I think this position should be a permanent one - Would Jon Miller mind assuming the permanent position of VFA, since he is the one who is responsible for getting Vox Controli together in the first place?

5. Does he, or they, need to consult with the team before negotiating? I depends on what's being negotiated.

6. And if we do have a separate Voice for Foreign Affairs (VFA), how do we determine that position. Votes. One each. Appointed by controller. Previous controller becomes the VFA??? See answer 4. Make it a permanent position.

7. And most importantly - in the votes - can you vote for yourself? Yes.

8. In the non-confidence votes - does the current controller get a vote. Yes, the current controller would get 2 votes, everybody else would have 1 vote each.

9 Speaking of which - how do we break ties in the elections (recount Florida?). If there is a tie on a no confidence vote, then the vote failed the current controller remains in control.

10. Or how about a new position - VIM - Voice of Internal Matters? No. Remember, we are only 6 people, we really don't need all these extra titles/jobs to make our team work.

[Eli]

All the elections and no confidence stuff arent needed, they just add animosity between the players.

How I think we should run:

We should select a controller, randomly, or just by agreement(some will want to play first, some wont, etc). This controller will play for X turns*.

Now, at the very beginning of the game we are having at least 48 hours breaks between turns. Later on, when many will be using the 24 hours limit we will play once in 4-6 days.
So we'll be having more than enough time to discuss everything in the forums. The controller will have to follow our decisions, so the no confidence thingie wont be needed.

The controller will have some freedom, but not in the early game.
Everything too minor to be effectively discussed in the forums will be left in the controller's hands. For example, workers(when we have a lot of cities and workers), exploring troops, sometime even city building queues, etc.

Major decisions like relations, research, direction of expansion, trade, new city locations, will all be discussed in the forums.

The only mistakes the controller will be able to make are those concerning workers, and in this case we should just explain him what he did wrong. There is no need for grandiose impeachments.

The difference in this system is that it's less dependent on the controller, and more on the team. When the controller makes most of the decisions, long term projects might not get accomplished because of the switches. This way, the controller is not the ruler who sometimes reports to the team, but the messenger of the team.

* - If the game goes too slowly, 10 turns might take a month or two.
I propose implementing a top limit. Every controller will play maximum 15 days OR 5 turns, whatever comes FIRST.
As explained in the previous paragraph, the controller is only a messenger of the team, so relatively rapid change of controllers will not affect the game.
The above numbers can change, since they depend on the pace of the game.

[Jon Miller]

I think that makes sense for now

later we can implement the controler idea (when we ahve more cities than it is feasible to come to a consensus on)

Jon Miller

[Jon Miller]

BTW, I was imagining no confidence for stuff like running a war badly

if it is a large war, I know that I would not want to come to a consensus on every movement, but there are diffinitely bad movements, so there is reason for no confidence

I didn't expect it to be used much (if at all)

Jon Miller

[Beta]

I understand Eli's position, and generally agree with it, but I think we do need elections for the controller (every 10 turns), even if we envision a more limited role than was the original plan.

I like the impeachment idea as well. As with jon, I didn't see it getting used much either. I suspect there will be enough chit chat going on that the controller will get a sense of the will of the team.

To me that leaves two issues - two term limit for the contoller - some of us think it might be an OK idea - and the thorny question of foreign affairs. .... hmm....

[Beta]

Eli - I also saw your note in the 'who has the file' forum - and now that I think about it - maybe you are right - for the first bit - when not much is happening - whoever happens to be on-line can play the turn.

And I think Vox and the Neu D. team will end up being the fast teams.

[Dis]

yeah the controller and no confidence is no big deal now.

But when we get more cities and get involved in wars that will play a bigger part. We'll just try to iron things out how we are going to do it in the future.