Thanks for the input.
I like your ideas, but since they're all also introducing new concepts, I'm currently in favor for something else, which doesn't introduce anything new.
I definitely understand where you're coming from; it would be nice to be able to make interesting, meaningful decisions sooner rather than later so that we can start actually playing a game. The problem is, I just can't come up with anything good we can do with what we have now. Honestly, I don't like the treasure chest idea; while it is nice that it connects the board with money, it doesn't really add anything to the game. Finding the optimal way to move toward a treasure chest is pretty trivial (especially now since we can create our first unit anywhere we want), so it's basically just a way of randomly giving some players money. If we're going to be doing something using the framework we have, it should be for the purpose of allowing people to make interesting decisions, which I don't think the treasure chests do at all. I appreciate the suggestion and obviously if a majority want it I can't stop it from passing on another player's turn, but I would rather do something I like with my turn.
Okay, so here's kind of a funky thought I just had regarding houses:
On a player's turn, (s)he may pay $x to a player who is directly (diagonally?) adjacent to him/her on the board. If (s)he does, (s)he builds a house on an unoccupied space directly adjacent to him. That player is in ownership of that house. Players not in ownership of a house cannot move onto a tile with a house on it.
We don't need to specify yet what a house does (other than reserve a space for a player). The idea of this rule is that you need someone's help to build a house. Maybe they should have an option to deny your offer, I don't know. I was thinking $x would be some fixed price but maybe it should just be any amount of money, and then players agree on a price. I kind of like the idea of players requiring other players' help in order to build things.
Anyway, now I've started thinking about something different. If we want this game to be negotiation-based, maybe we just need a more general rule that will allow that kind of thing to work. I was going to try something that would allow us to make binding agreements, but man that turned out to be really hard. So maybe we could just try something that allows players to pay each other:
On his turn, a player may post "
Give N$x to Y", where "x" is a positive integer and Y is a player name. If he does, and if player Y in the same turn quotes this post and immediately says "
Agree", then the player taking his turn loses N$x (x Nomic dollars) and player Y gains N$x (x Nomic dollars). On his turn, a player may post "
Receive N$x from Y", where "x" is a positive integer and Y is a player name. If he does, and if player Y in the same turn quotes this post and immediately says "
Agree", then the player taking his turn gains N$x (x Nomic dollars) and player Y loses N$x (x Nomic dollars).
Maybe the wording could be better. Players can only give money to another player if it is one of the two players involved's turn, but maybe that's not a necessary requirement. I think that quoting the proposal and then stating "
Agree" is kind of awkward but the only other way I can think of doing it would require numbering every potential transaction, which seems like it would be more obnoxious. Maybe not though. Thoughts? Would people vote for this (or something like it)?