BlogNomic History

The First Dynasty of Kevan

Attention Citizens!

Your new Imperial government is in the process of installing itself. Proclamations of rule repealing will be made over the course of the next few days. Please stay in your homes while the Empire is slowly repainted in the colours of the new Dynasty, and take no notice of the black security cameras going up on street corners.

Ignore the rumours of the quarantine zones and government cull squads - please go about livestock trading as normal. You will remain informed. Thankyou for your attention.

This Dynasty lifted many of its themes and references from George Orwell's novel 1984.

Anthony, Aaron, Ben, Bottle, Cayvie, est, Gillian, Kevan, Mat, Renee, Royce, Shalin, Sheeley, Squirrel.

Career Options (Kevan, 8/13/03). Changes in terminology are all well and good, but this was the rule that really got the new dynasty rolling. On the surface, it created an air of freedom; citizens were allowed to choose what sort of life they wanted to lead. However, in that final clause, Kevan cleverly laid the foundation for the possibility of an oppressive government that could deny its citizens their requests.

Location Location Location (Kevan, 8/13/03). Another alteration of the game structure, this rule created locations, which were specific places where citizens could be.

The Proletariat Clause (Mat, 8/14/03). This proposal made career branches other than Government actually mean something, and also made the Factory useful.

The Sun Never Shines on CCTV (Kevan, 8/18/03). This allegedly trivial thing managed to sneak its way into both thoughtcrimes and war. Insidious little bugger.

Thoughtcrime (Kevan, 8/18/03). Increased the government's power and the players' scrutiny over each other's blogs. Increased the sense of paranoia to an exciting level.

Coup d'Etat (Squirrel, 8/18/03). The first victory condition. These almost always are important, as they give the players something to work toward and focus on. If Dynasties of BlogNomic could be divided into Opening, Midgame, and Endgame, I'd argue that the Midgame begins with the first victory condition.

Mongering (Ben, 8/19/03). This proposal made it possible for BlogNomic to declare war on other nomics, which happened later on in the Dynasty.

Winds of War (Royce, 8/25/03). Increased the focus on war. This proposal outlined the actual methods by which BlogNomic could declare and carry out war.

Energy Drink (Cayvie, 8/26/03). The menu at the Chestnut Tree Cafe had been a project of Cayvie's throughout his presence in this Dynasty, but this was the first time anything on the menu actually got bought in large quantities. For a small price of 10 credits, this increased the number of non-trivial proposals a player could make to three.

Time Out Revision (Cayvie, 8/26/03). To my knowledge, this has been the longest-lasting amendment from this Dynasty. This proposal made it possible for government citizens to decide the fate of a proposal even if quorum had not been reached, provided the proposal had been sitting for 48 hours.

Turnover (Aaron, 8/30/03). This made it possible for the citizens to overturn an Imperial Veto. This rule became crucial when it was carried over into the First Dynasty of Anthony, as the legendary Mad King Anthony began vetoing everything in sight.

Sub-Branches (Kevan, 9/2/03). This proposal created varying levels within the different career branches. This got quite complicated later, with applications for promotion and whatnot.

Declaration of War: LiveJournal Nomic (Royce, 9/3/03). As Royce stated in the proposal, "To arms! To arms!" The war eventually proved rather fruitless, but it was a neat experiment.

Trade Workshop (est, 9/5/03). This ingenious proposal created the idea of classes that different citizens could take to advance in their fields. This was a very popular thing to do in the later stages of this Dynasty.

Workers of All Lands, Unite! ... again (Aaron, 9/6/03). Not only did this create the Labour Union, but it also provided a second victory condition (the Labour Union Leader's credits exceeding the total of the Government's credits). This was the victory condition used by Anthony to ascend.

By overwhelming other government officials with his insurmountable wealth, Anthony takes power and becomes Emperor. "It seems my credit count as Labor Union Leader has now exceeded that of all Government officials."