First Notes

This page is for people once they've become players. To become a player, look at the joining page.

Please keep in mind that by its nature, Agora is always changing and this page may be somewhat outdated. If it is, please nag nix to fix it. Also keep in mind that there are likely many many more things you can do in Agora, and only the rules will provide a full list. This is simply meant to get you started.

Things to Do Right Away

Give Yourself a Welcome Package by simply saying (in Agora-Business) "I award myself a Welcome Package." This gives some starting items to new players. At the time of writing, it includes a "stamp" and some "hooves". Read the Ways to Win section for an idea of what to do with those. See Rule 2499 for more details.

Things to Do Regularly

Vote on Proposals - You can't vote on proposals that were being voted on before you joined, but whenever new proposals are distributed, you can vote by replying to the distribution message and stating how you vote on each one. Your options are FOR, AGAINST, PRESENT, endorse (any player or officer), or any conditional vote that could be reasonably resolved. See Rules 2127 and 2528 for more info

Ask Questions - A little confused? Ask other players in the chat or on the mailing lists. Very confused, or think you see something no one else has noticed? Call for Judgment! This results in a judge being assigned and determining the result. You can do so by saying "I CFJ: [statement]" on agora-business. Please only do so for direct gameplay questions where you genuinely think both TRUE and FALSE are possible results.

Envision Your Dream - Each week your dream is set to whatever dream you last envisioned, giving you a reward related to that dream. The full list and their rewards are in Rule 2675. To envision, just say "I envision my dream to be [dream]" on agora-business. It will take effect the following week. You can see what each player's current dream is in the Dream Keeper's weekly report.

Participate in Horse Races - Once a week you can take one action in a Horse Race, such as buying horses and betting on it. When the race is over, the players that earned the most dollaries on it gain some bonuses. Check Rule 2672 for the full list of actions.

Goals/Ways to Win

There are usually several ways to win Agora at once. Winning does not stop or interrupt overall play. The winner gets awarded the Champion Title, may become Speaker of Agora (a largely honorary role), and play continues.

Achieving a High Score - This is a competitive type of win. The first player to have over 100 points can win by announcement, which also sets eir own score to 0 and sets everyone else's scores to half eir current value. Points are earned from successful proposals, winning horse races, cashing in Stamps, and more. Score is defined in Rule 2656, but search the rules for all the ways to gain points.

Collecting Ribbons - This is a long term goal (usually >1 year), and a way to win that's noncompetitive. The rules define ribbons that players can award emselves when they meet certain conditions, and collecting all of the different ribbons allows you to Raise a Banner, which awards you a win and resets you ribbon collection. Ribbons can be gained from things as simple as getting your proposal adopted and things as complex as writing a Thesis. The full list is in Rule 2438, and you can see current ribbon holdings in the newest Tailor report.

Things to Do When You're More Comfortable

The following things can be a little tricky and frustrating at first, so don't feel pressured to do them until you're really interested. And with all things, feel free to ask for help and more info.

Submit Proposals - When you're ready and you have an idea, submit your own proposals! This is how we make the game into what we want it to be. Some ideas for proposals may include fixing broken things, clarifying things, improving the balance of game mechanics, adding or removing mechanics, or trying to sneak loopholes into the rules. Be careful with the last one, if it's all you do people will be suspcious of all of your actions. Ask for advice on how to make your proposals more solid. When you're ready, send your proposal to agora-business with the statement "I submit the following proposal: [proposal]".

Run for Office - Agora is maintained by Officers, who keep the game information up to date and perform regular game actions to keep everything running. Officers often get small benefits for their work, but are largely doing so out of love of the game and wanting to share the workload. If you see an unfilled spot, or someone struggling to fill multiple offices at once, don't be afraid to jump in.