BlogNomic: The First Dynasty of Desertfrog

Here’s a takeaway one might reasonably get from a quick review of the text of “REALTOR Points:” “Eli Curf may roll a die with a number of sides equal to the total number of RP,  subdivide the range of possible die results according to how many of those RP each respective Realtor possesses (with these subdivisions being assigned to Realtors in alphabetical order), then cross-check the result of the roll against those assignments and match it to the Realtor whose assigned range it fell within, who in turn wins.”

But that’s not what the rule says, because I didn’t write it that way. The first clause of its critical sentence—“The roll will correspond to a Realtor whose position in the list of Realtors matches their proportion of the total X”—doesn’t really mean anything, certainly not anything specific enough to determine a victor. How would a Realtor’s position “match their proportion” when they’re never given a position? The clause is, by design, a word salad that consumes the mandatory die roll, then fails to specify any action beyond that. By contrast, the second clause of the sentence does have a specific designation—“the first Realtor in alphabetical order”—which provides the only clear antecedent to the word “that” in the sentence “That Realtor is thus determined to be REALTOR PRIME.” There is no other Realtor who can actually be selected as victor, no matter what the roll.

If I were reading this myself, I might object to the fact that the rule contains the phrase “randomly determine,” since “randomly” has a special meaning in the Appendix: “taken from a uniform probability distribution over the entire range of possible values, unless otherwise specified.” But this determination is indeed “otherwise specified,” and moreover, the “range of possible values” contains only one value: the first Realtor in alphabetical order.

“The roll will correspond to a Realtor whose position in the list of Realtors matches their proportion of the total X, starting with the first Realtor in alphabetical order.”

So, you’re saying that the first clause of this sentence is nonsense? That there’s no list of Realtors, or that even if there were, Josh’s position in that list couldn’t be construed to match his proportion of the RP? Mathematically, I suppose that checks out. Though, it’s a bit tricky to then say that the next sentence works, when it refers to half of the previous, false sentence. We’re being asked to draw a fine line between the sense and nonsense parts, a line which is in the middle of the sentence, and accept the most sensible interpretation.

“This value must be determined by an appropriate roll in the Dice Roller, unless otherwise specified…”

Your second argument is that specifying the exact Realtor in that way satisfies the Appendix requirement for an appropriate die roll. I’m not sure this quite fits, because that is specifying the value, not the method of determining the value. You might still need a die roll of DICE1, and I’m not even sure 1 would be the right number, if Eli Curf were willing to do it.

It’s all pretty sketch, and I’m still on the fence.

Ok, wait, I guess the method of determining the value is pretty much specified in the rest of the paragraph:

“may randomly determine the REALTOR PRIME. This shall be accomplished by rolling DICEX, ... That Realtor is thus determined to be REALTOR PRIME.”

Ok, I think I’m sold on the second argument.

Ah, but then, the value wasn’t really determined BY the dice roll, it was purportedly determined BY MAKING the dice roll.

So even if the range of possible values was determined to be [Brendan], there was no dice roll made to determine the value in that range. It’s a tentative counterpoint to your tentative argument.

Lol. I agree with your reasoning. Didn’t see this ahead of time but when I saw the DoV I went to check your original proposal and likewise considered that sentence to be useless. One of these days I’ll be able to spot this kind of thing BEFORE it happens.

Eli Curf action incomplete: did not include an appropriate dice roll to determine the value of the REALTOR PRIME.

I’ve been saving this one for a special occasion, but:

Nothing specifies that “alphabetically first” my be determined according to the Latin alphabet.

(incidentally, “Josh” would be first in the Arabic alphabet.)

In an early draft of the explanatory comment above, I called this an “old-school, Josh-style scam.”

To your point, TyGuy6, I won’t fight it if Eli Curf wants to roll DICE1 to wrap things up, but I still think “an appropriate roll in the Dice Roller, unless otherwise specified” suffices.

@Brendan I am v flattered by that, and agree that the “missing word” scam is one of my all time favourites! Tbh I’m happy either way on this one

I don’t think DICE1 could complete the action while in Hiatus, and I don’t know whether he’d be willing to redo or complete the action should this DoV fail…

Good luck with the rest of the votes.

Cov In the cold light of day, this is a classic Josh scam; I would run it and expect it to work, do integrity demands that I vote for it. Well worked, Brendan.

I also forgot to mention that I unidle, and that quorum is unchanged as a result.

I don’t agree on Scams, but considering this is just a Imperial Scam, no Core readings was needed, I defer to Trapdoor.

Also I’d like to unidle myself.

Welcome back, chiiika! Quorum rises to 6.

remarkable!! incredible!!! how on earth did u get away with this? i think ur scam is founded on total nonsense, but i guess we don’t have any stable protocols for what to do when a sentence in the rules is simply unintelligible?? how do we “obey” truly empty words? this hurts my head!

‘how do we “obey” truly empty words?’

the eternal question

Re- CoV

I think when all is said and done, the sentence “If Eli Curf has determined a REALTOR PRIME, then the REALTOR PRIME achieves and has achieved Victory in the current dynasty” requires that Eli Curf has actually determined a REALTOR PRIME, which they either haven’t done, or they have and it’s me, depending on how that that sentence shakes out. So in a substantive sense Brendan has not achieved Victory.

It’s a bit of a punt, a bit of a stall for time, because it may be that TDS has to name Brendan as REALTOR PRIME. I’m not sure about that. But I’d like more time to dig into it.

Maybe-maybe-not final CoV to

I think I’m too partial and my motivated opinion can’t be separated from my objective opinion, so I should sit out.

CoV because i now believe that the realtor prime is an orphan variable. what a rollercoaster

what did I miss on Saturday, dang