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Game Library - Rules & Bylaws

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DRAFT ARTICLE
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Library Rules
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In addition to all the normal codes of conduct one is expected of Friends at all times, here are some additional rules for the Pittsburgh Quaker Tabletop Gaming Club (the “club”).

Rule #1: Limit the games you play to those aligned with the testimonies.: You are allowed to bring whatever games you want to play with others, but you may be asked not to play specific games at the meetinghouse. See our discernment filters below.

Rule #2: Bring a friend.: Bring a non-Quaker friend who likes to play games with you. It helps us grow the club and it also helps introduce new people to our ways.

Rule #3: Recommend games for the club. New games may be proposed to be joined to the library. Before games are added they go through a period of “evaluation” where friends consider the game against the testimonies, and then a discernment process will take place to help determine if the game is a good fit for our club.

The Game Submission Process
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We are interested in providing a space for friends to play tabletop games together in a quiet space, that is safe, free from distraction, and with games that engage us in positive ways and enrich our spirit with a sense of wonder and joy. We want to make sure the games we play are aligned to the Quaker testimonies of simplicty, peace, integrity, community, equality, stewardship. Thus, each game that is a admitted as part of our collection will go through a process of submission, evaluation, review, and clubwide consent to admission (e.g. a final vote).

  • Submission: Any friend may propose a game for admission by name. It will be added to a list to be considered for admission to the game library.

  • Rulebook Evaluation: Another friend will review the game’s rulebook and description on boardgamegeek.com against the agreed upon discernment filters and then make a recommendation to the club if the game should be evaluated for it’s gameplay or not.

  • Gameplay Evaluation: If a recommendation is made, the club will acquire a copy by loan or donation and then the friend who submitted the game, the friend who evaluated the rulebook and any other number of friends that are necessary will play the game and again evaluate it against the discernment filters.

  • Review: Upon completion of no more than three complete games, these friends will make a recommendation to members of this club for if the game should be admitted to the library or not. With the recommendation, the friends who’ve evaluated the game will each offer their perspective on why they think the game should be included or not. Then a vote should be cast seeking a “loose” unity of members in agreement for the action to be taken to admit the game or reject the game.

    In order to admit the game to the library:

    • if the club has less than ten (10) members:
      • The unanimous consent of all members, and
      • The approval of the Clearness & Care committee.
    • if the club has between ten (10) and twenty-five (25) members:
      • The unanimous consent of all members.
    • if the club has twenty-five (25) members or more:
      • The consent of an elected body of 5 “game library board” representing the overall club.
      • The approval of the Clearness & Care committee.

  • Admission: This club will acquire a copy of the game for the library.

In this way we discern what items will enter our collection of games and which will not.

The Discernment Filters
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Simplicity: We are here to enjoy each other’s prescense and to enjoy tabletop games together. Games that violate or threaten this sense of joy for anyone, will not be permitted. You should never come to feel a true sense of loss from losing a game, for we all gain in the experience of enjoying the journey of the game together. That is it’s real value. A win is meaningless. A loss is meaningless. The journey with friends is priceless. Games that make players feel victimized or bullied will not be permitted to join the library.

For example, the game Tammany Hall is one of the best political strategy games ever made however, it’s mechanics encourage bullying and intimidation of other players. This is thematically correct, since the game is about Bossism but it sometimes can be quite unfun for other players, and the game is known to end friendships. For similar reasons, games like Diplomacy are discouraged because they encourage players to ally and gang up on weaker opponents in order to eliminate them. This game is also known to end friendships.

Peace: Games which glorify violence, warfare, warfare strategy, combat, colonialism, or exploitation of a vulnerable population will not be admitted into the library. This means most wargames, 4X games, space combat games, or civilization games which heavily feature a military strategy will not be admitted. Games which merely mention war, or proxy a mechanic to represent military power between polities may be permitted in some circumstances if friends agree.

An example of such a game that might be permitted is 7-Wonders which proxies warfare with swords/shields between neighboring players. 7-Wonders is a fast-past civilization game that features multiple mechanics and pathways to victory which warfare is a small part, and is not glorified by the game itself. This would be opposed to something like Warhammer in which two factions of miniatures are progressively killed on a battlefield until the player with the last standing armies wins. One game uses warfare in a highly abstracted way because it’s an unavoidable reality of civilization’s past, whereas the other is litterally about armies murdering each other and laughing about it.

To make things more confusing a game like Warhammer: Cursed City might be admitted if friends agree, because the goal of the game is to work co-operatively together to put down an evil undead horde. Is it justice to commit violence against an evil undead horde? Have friends ever considered this question? Is an evil undead horde a product of God’s creation and thus worthy of reverence? Deep philosophical questions abound in the oddest places.

Integrity: For Quakers, it is important to avoid lying, deception and falsity at all times. For this reason, social deception games, or other games that have deception at the core of their mechanics will not be permitted. The core discernment principal here is to consider how strongly the game encourages deception or lying in it’s players. Intrigue or misdirection mechanics themsleves are not necessarily immoral or prohibited but games which make lying and deception their core mechanics are. For example consider the following:

There was once a regiment of angry soldiers chasing a hungry thief. The thief happened upon a Buddhist monk who begged the monk to help hide him. The thief explained that he was merely taking food to feed his starving children and that if he was caught he would surely be killed. The monk assured the thief and quickly hid him inside a nearby hollowed out tree. The monk then returned to his original spot on the road, took one step towards his right and patiently waited for the soliders to arrive. Sure enough, a few minutes later they did. One solider approached the monk and asked him “While you were standing there, have you seen anyone run this way?” The monk replied “While standing here? No. I have seen no one come this way while I have been in this spot.”. The soliders were confused. Certainly if the theif had ran past this monk, the monk would have seen him. The soldier asked again “Noone has come this way since you’ve been standing here? Are you sure?” The monk quickly replied “Since I have been standing here all I have seen is you and your regiment of soliders.” The leader of the soldiers grew more frusturanted and commanded his troops to spread themsleves throughout the area to search for the thief. Not long after one of the soliders found a small path a little way up the road. “He must have went this way!”, the soldier shouted to the others. The monk knodded in agreement, “It is a small path, fit for one to hide in.” The soldiers nodded in agreement with one another, now confident they had picked up the thief’s trail and so continued their chase down the small path doomed to failure. The thief, once safe, took off in the opposite direction.

Did the monk engage in dishonesty with these soliders? Or was his words carefully crafted to be true, while engaging in misdirection and intrigue without dishonesty? Was the monk right to protect the thief? What about protecting the thief’s hungry children from being orphaned? Sometimes one can be clever, truthful, protective, and misdirective all at once. Games that allow this kind of intrigue or misdirection may be considered for play.

Examples of Games that are NOT permitted:

Examples of Games that might be permitted:

Community: [todo]

Equality: [todo]

Stewardship: [todo]

Library Storage
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Proposal: We would like to keep the games that are accepted as part of the library at the meeting house. We believe it is important to align the games we play in this club with the Quaker testimonies. To help enforce this we wish to maintain an “approved library” of games on-site at the meeting house. Outside games will still be permitted, as long as they are aligned with the testimonies, but we want to encourage people to explore tabletop games which friends have already determined are in unity with the testimonies. That is why we have a process that allows new games to be added to the library.

Proposal: This club is forming around a shared love for tabletop games, so our initial members will purchase the means by which we will store the games within the space. We would like to keep these games placed nearby the space approved for play (still TBD; likely fellowship room).

Two options identified:
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  1. Large Metal Rolling Cabinet:
    • Advantages: Movable. Can contain many games. Chosen method of CABS (a very large board game club).
    • Disadvantages: Expensive. Large. Limited places it can go.
  2. HDPE Shelving Units:
    • Advantages: Cheap. Knockdown/Disassemble (can move with effort). Can expand as needed.
    • Disadvantages: Tipsy. Disorder can’t be hidden. Has to be constantly organized. Limited space for games.