On Thu, 2017-09-28 at 14:24 -0400, ATMunn . wrote: > What exactly is quorum? I read rule 879 stating that it's a thing, > but it doesn't seem to explain what it is and what it means.
It's a mechanism that causes votes to end with no result if not enough people participate in them. This exists in both Agora and in real-life legislative systems for much the same reason: it prevents a small minority of people forcing something through while other people aren't paying attention. More specifically, quorum in Agora is a number attached to Agoran Decisions. See rules 955 and 2168 for the precise effect it has, but at a rough approximation, it causes voting periods to be first extended, and then ended with no useful result, if fewer people than quorum have a valid vote on the decision. Quorum's also connected to PRESENT votes; a vote of PRESENT helps to satisfy the quorum restriction even though it doesn't express an opinion on the decision itself. So if, e.g., you don't care about whether a proposal passes or don't want to express an opinion, but don't think that there's an attempt at foul play on the proposal or to force it through, you can vote PRESENT to reduce the chance it ends up inquorate, whilst allowing other players' votes to determine whether it actually passes. -- ais523
