Bookshelved Wiki: SimpleRules

Simple Rules for a Complex World, Richard A. Epstein, [ISBN 0674808215 (amazon.com, search)]

These are the simple rules of our game with books :

Game pieces

The game pieces are Wiki pages. Only two kinds of pages may be created :

Person pages; this includes
- Reader pages (e.g. LaurentBossavit, your initial host, or KentBeck, guest of honor) (tagged with MyBookAboutMeByMeMyself)
- Author pages (e.g. HenryMiller) (tagged with TheAuthorsDue)
Publication pages; this includes:
- Book pages (tagged a BookOnTheBookshelf)
- Periodical pages (tagged MagazineDesign)
- Plays (tagged with AllTheWorldsAStage)

Pages are tagged, like the Category system in use on other Wikis. On Bookshelved, however, the category pages must follow the rules too, so they are also names of books (in italics in the list above).

Just to make this clear: Every page must be the name of either a book or a person. So, you can't have a page named CategoryCategory, like you'd have on other Wikis, unless there's a book (or person) named Category Category.

Extensions to this scheme are discussed over at Categories and at BeyondCategory where we look at genres. Also see McGuffin.

Moves

The possible moves are :

Tell us about yourself
Tell us what you've been reading
Tell us about a book you've read
Tell us about a book you might like to read
Tell us about a book you might like to write
Tell us about a book you're writing or have written
Tell us about something else that matters to you

Topics

Bookshelved is expected to have a software bent, given the inclinations of our original host; but the rule here is basically 'AnythingGoes'.

Scoring

We value :

Respect
Simplicity
Diversity

Winning

Everybody wins. :)

Subsidiary rules

There are a few sub-games, with subsidiary rules.

The game of McGuffin attracts the occasional player.
At least two traditions involving TheVisitorsBook are strong enough to almost be rules of Bookshelved. For instance, every visitor adding a home page is eventually added to TheVisitorsBook.

And that's it. The rest is up to you. Break all the rules; invent new rules; or obey the meta-rule which says that the winner is the one who waits the longest before introducing a rule change that's actually necessary to express something worthwhile. Or just chat, rant, rave and flame if that's what you're after. This Wiki is much indebted, as all are, to Wiki:WardsWiki. The intention - at least at the start - is that it should live up to that first "noble experiment".

I love the SimpleRules as they offer us the chance to exercise our creativity in focused directions. If wikis were poems, most would be free-form; Bookshelved is a sonnet. -- StephenGilbert

Or a haiku (it's so small). --lb

I guess I lose by proposing a new rule, but here it goes anyway:

I think it would be a good idea for book reviewers to sign their reviews. Unlike many wikis, which are repositories of egoless collective wisdom, Bookshelved is a collection of diverse personal opinions. Knowing individual reviewers' personalities is helpful when reading reviews.

I'm not suggesting that anonymous reviews be prohibited; I'm just suggesting that the game is more enjoyable when you know the people with whom you are playing.

-- KrisJohnson

Nope, you can't lose; everybody wins. :-)

Seriously, I think this is an excellent rule. If there are no objections, I propose refactoring this new recommendation into this page.

-- BrentNewhall

What's supposed to happen if a player [BreaksAllTheRules]? (ex HarryPotterBooks) (no longer so)

The game changes or the game stops. See FiniteAndInfiniteGames for more on the consequences of either outcome. -- ade