SIMPLE RULES August 27, 2001
IVANHOE: Objectives and Rules
JD/JJM 8.01
Objectives:
1) To increase self-consciousness about the basis on which interpretation is made;
2) To encourage participation in critical scholarship as collaborative;
3) To promote an awareness of resources for criticism and scholarship outside the immediate orbit of play;
4) To open up the imaginative possibilities inherent in textual practice.
Rules:
Opening rules:
1) Anyone may initiate a game by issuing a call for participation.
2) Players wishing to participate must identify themselves within a set time limit.
3) The first round of play will begin at a predetermined launch moment and players should have moves ready to go.
4) Any player who does not make a play within the first TWO rounds of play will forfeit their right to be in the game. The first TWO rounds are defined as TWO moves by ALL players who made a FIRST move, no matter what the sequence. (See sequence of moves below).
Sequence of Moves:
1) Only ONE rule governs sequence: NO PLAYER SHALL make more than ONE move at a time. A player MAY make a next move after ANY OTHER player has played. A game shall be declared OVER if play ceases within a specified period of time, EVEN if a player has other moves to play. (The rationale for this should be clear - to discourage solipscism and self-indulgence). In other words, ALL MOVES MUST BE RESPONSE MOVES.
Ending Moves:
1) A game will be called if there is NO RESPONSE to a move. The Player who plays the FINAL move gets extra points. The player who has played the LAST MOVE may, if there is no next move within 24 hours, set a time to CALL THE GAME, thus putting the other players on notice that the game will be called (with final points going to the Player who played the last move) UNLESS a move is made within the period set by the call (in no case to be less than 24 hours or MORE than 1 week). (These time limits have been set in accord with the Laws of Intellectual Momentum.)
2) At the end of the game, ALL players will receive a SCORE from the COMPUTER based on a strictly quantitative assessment of their moves/links/word count etc.
3) At the end of the game, ALL players will have to ASSESS their fellow players by distributing a finite number of points AMONG all players.
4) Games may end by: inertia, frustration, the computer setting a limit, a date set in advance, or by a finishing a set number of moves.
5) Games may really only be kept alive by excitement.
Some Notes on Internal Moves:
Types of moves (many moves will be hybrid in character):
scholarly moves - depends on and brings in bibliographical evidence
critical moves -- a reading or interpretation
creative moves - a move based on narrative intervention
linking moves - no new material, but new links/associations among moves
justified by an argument - really a kind of critical move but internal to the game
other
Trying to sort out the distinction between ELABORATIONS of existing possibilities vs. introduction of the UNEXPECTED - came up with this set of moves that are textually unlicensed - unprepared for within the existing discourse field:
Moves as OPENINGS into the text, discourse field, or argument:
Birth: new character
Real Estate: new place/scene
Death or Terminal move: eliminating a character by some (narrative) means
Magical Segue: Transporting characters to an unexpected location
Event Continues/Opens: new possibilities for a scene or part of the plot
Re-sequencing: reworking the temporal order of events in the text or narrative