COE-errata and rules changes

Errata issued by the CoE, open discussion of candidate rules for errata, and submissions for the Annual Rules Vote.
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thorondor
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 727
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:53 pm
Location: salzburg, austria
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i would like to clarify the process of HOW card errata and rules changes are made. here are a few of my thoughts, please add ...


first thing to do is rewriting the COE Charta. cause iirc something like errata&rules changes is not part of it. (the COE charta os the topmost priority anyway also for other reasons).

a group of rules experts is needed that is capable of doing this. natrually the netrep should be the head of this. the COE nominates these experts. the discussion is open to every community member, but the decision is made by the group of experts.

errata and rules changes have to be play tested for a certain period of time before a decision is made.

final legitimation through the COE (with power of veto and reprieve).

when proposing an erratum or rules change it has to be done in the designated forum and meet several requirements (like: fixing missing rules or contradictions, balance issues, cross to tolkiens world, ...).
Bruce
Ex Council Member
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:43 pm
Location: Rome, Italy

from http://www.councilofelrond.org/index.php?id=2
Charter of the CoE wrote:Powers

[...]

The Council shall enact new rules of play, or modify existing rules of play, upon the assent to two thirds majority vote of a quorum. A quorum shall be deemed convened when no less than six out of nine council members vote within the announced time frame. Votes shall be cast either as YEA or as NAY, indicating respectively those in favour of the matter or those not in favour of the matter. Rules enacted or modified shall be ratified only by the affirmative vote of two thirds of the members of metw@silent-tower.org and such persons as shall communicate their vote by email to the Council Registrar or by web form on the egroups site. Ratified rules, be they enacted or modified, shall come into force 30 days following the last vote establishing ratification.
(bold mine)

According to the Charter, CoE is entitled to modify rules of play. We can either interpret this extensively, thus including official erratas and new rulings, or we can amend the charter. I'm for the first option, by the way.

What I find a little awkward is the majority rule, actually: the required majority is 2 thirds of a quorum, which is in turn 2 thirds of the CoE's members. This means that a motion can pass with 4 ayes, 2 nays, and 3 abstentions. I'd add a further requirement that the number of ayes be at least a simple majority of the CoE's plenum, i.e. at least 5 ayes.
Thorondor wrote:a group of rules experts is needed that is capable of doing this. natrually the netrep should be the head of this. the COE nominates these experts. the discussion is open to every community member, but the decision is made by the group of experts.
I agree, except for opening the discussion to everybody. This would make the whole process too chaotic IMO. The feedback from the whole community is vital to fix goals and priorities, i.e. in the very first stage, but it can clog the process in the following stages.
Thorondor wrote:errata and rules changes have to be play tested for a certain period of time before a decision is made.
My greatest "aye" :wink:

Finally, I'd eliminate that final approval from the mailing list (metw@silent-tower.org) and rather involve the national councils to gather feedback: this is where the national spokespeople would play a key role to stimulate debate (and playtest) in the national forums, and eventually report the feelings of their national councils.

The playtest period doesn't require an amendment to the Charter to be introduced: it can be simply introduced by means of custom. Same applies for the involvement of the national councils through the national spokespeople. As for the approval from the mailing list, we could just remove that from the Charter. Maybe it's the only amendment which is really necessary.
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Bandobras Took
Rules Wizard
Posts: 3109
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:30 pm

I agree with Bruce's comments.
The game is flawed, but this does not mean it cannot be loved.
Frodo
Ex Council Member
Posts: 506
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:09 am
Location: NYC, NY

Looks good!
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miguel
Ex NetRep
Posts: 705
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:21 am

Looks very promising. :)
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