The BatMUD Council rules v.0.02 (DRAFT)

*) The Council consists of two mortals, 1-2 developers (wizards) and 1-2
admins (archwizards) for a total of no more than 5 members. All members
are voted by their peers for a term of 1 year.

*) The council selects the chairman from the elected archwizards. If only
one archwizard is a member of the council, he/she is automatically the
chairman.

*) The council may not change the council rules. The rules are revised by
the Bat RY board if necessary.

*) The purpose of the council is to debate and decide issues related to
gameplay and the development of the game.

*) Decisions of the council are by default public and will be published.
Exceptions are agreed by voting or when required by local legislation due
to privacy or other legal reasons. Debate on the issues is by default
private and must not be divulged to the mortal population. Individual
votes are not public information. The decisions are altered so that the
individuals are not recognizable from the decision, and subject matter
may be summarized to a level suitable for the mortal audience.

*) A mortal or wizard member who releases private information to the mortal
population can be released from his/her duties by the chairman and a
supporter.

*) The purpose of the council is not to solve single disputes between mortals,
mortals and wizards, or mortals, wizards and archwizards, except in
extraordinary circumstances.

*) Any votes will be announced 1 week prior to the vote taking place. Missing
three consequtive votes is grounds for release of duties by the chairman and
a supporter.

*) If a member falls inactive for more than 30 calendar days, or so requests,
he/she can be granted leave from his/her duties by the chairman. In this case,
the person who received the most votes in the previous election from the same
group (mortal, developer or admin) is selected.

*) The Council will take an item under consideration if a) any approver or
archwizard proposes it, or b) if any two members of the council propose it.

*) The chairman has the right to decline a work item, provided any one
member of the council supports the motion, or if the item violates BAT ry:s
charter, bylaws or local legislation.

*) The chairman can, after warning the council one day in advance, close
debate on an issue and force the proced
ure to the vote. The regular 7 day
forewarning about an impeding vote is observed.

*) A simple majority of the council can force a vote on an issue currently
being debated at any time. The regular 7 day forewarning about an impeding
vote is observed.

*) Any decision of the council is binding to all wizards and archwizards.

*) Any decision of the council can be overruled if three archwizards agree.
This only invalidates the specific decision, and does not preclude the issue
from being handled again, not does it constitute a reversal of the decision.

*) The council can at any time be permanently disbanded, put on hiatus or
dissolved by Bat RY board decision. There are no exceptions to this rule.

*) Archwizards and wizards are required, on request, to give a high-level
summary on their plans for long-term changes in the game, and to provide
additional information to the council so it can efficiently debate the issue.
The information need not be on the level of formulas and integers, nor are
the wizards required to divulge information that clearly has no bearing on
the issue.

*) Approvers and archwizards are required to seek the approval of the council
for changes that potentially have an effect
on the game lasting for more than 3 months. This does not include tunes and
changes that are clearly introduced
to restore game balance, such as minor changes to weapons, armour or minor
tunes to races, guilds, skills or spells. This does
not include new areas or content that's considered 'regular', except when it
contains changes that have wider
effects, nor does this include one-time events and special happenings that
have regular prizes (such as gold, task
points, equipment that can be considered 'regular' or simply 'novelle' without
extraordinary powers).