God's Imitator

Yao Yuan continued, ”As for how exactly those four spots are determined, I think using ’the top four contributors to the community fund’ is the most appropriate approach.

”Because it simultaneously represents two abilities of the stronger players: ’the ability to earn time’ and ’the willingness to contribute.’ Neither can be absent.

”And no one needs to worry about certain players overextending themselves to put on a show, because the foundational rules still stipulate that a player’s personal visa time cannot fall into the bottom seven, so contributions cannot be unlimited.”

Lu Bingjun paused briefly and added, ”I think the general framework of this plan is fine.

”However, I have an additional suggestion. One of these four spots could be set aside as a ’special slot.’

”The ability to earn visa time is certainly important, but it shouldn’t become the sole standard for measuring a player’s contribution to the community.

”We should also consider that some players may not stand out in games, but due to their knowledge base and professional expertise, they play an irreplaceable role within the community.

”This special slot, rather than being based on the specific amount of visa time contributed, would instead be decided by a vote among all players.”

He looked toward Lin Sizhi and Qin Cheng and said, ”What do the two of you think of this plan? If there’s anything you’re dissatisfied with, you’re still welcome to speak freely.”

Lin Sizhi nodded and said, ”That works.”Qin Cheng did not say much either, simply responding, ”Yes, I agree as well.”

Seeing that no one raised any further objections, Lu Bingjun said, ”Good. Then let’s get the detailed proposal finalized as quickly as possible and hold a vote to select the person for the ’special exemption slot.’”

...

Yao Yuan completed the detailed proposal in short order.

[Proposal: Addition of ”Community Special Fund” Rules]

[1. Any player in the community may deposit any amount of visa time into this fund.]

[2. Players who have deposited time may withdraw ”90% of their deposited amount” back as personal visa time at any time, without requiring authorization or consent from others.]

[3. The ”Community Special Fund” shall not be counted toward the ”Community Development Fund” or its corresponding rankings.]

[4. All players may decide the use of this fund through a vote.]

After distributing the printed copies of the proposal to all the players, Yao Yuan said, ”Let me explain to everyone exactly how this proposal works in practice.

”We’ve already established one thing: the ’community fund’ cannot exist as a ’pure bank.’ In other words, a fund that allows completely free and lossless deposits and withdrawals will not be recognized under community rules.

”A ’community fund’ must have two characteristics. The first is that it must be jointly managed by all members of the community, which is what the fourth clause of this proposal addresses. We can vote to decide how the fund is used, rather than leaving that to any individual.

”The second is that there must be some degree of loss involved in depositing and withdrawing from the fund.

”So the second and fourth clauses in this proposal are essentially patches added to pass the community rules review.

”In practice, we will not be initiating any votes on ’how to use these funds.’

”The primary purpose of this proposal is to allow players to voluntarily deposit and withdraw visa time in order to alter the composition of the ’half of players with less visa time’ list, thereby achieving the goal of having more people share in the pain.

”The specific method is as follows.

”We have 4 exemption slots. Three of them go to the ’3 players who have contributed the most to the community development fund.’ These three don’t need to do anything extra. They simply need to ensure that their remaining personal visa time stays in the top seven, which shouldn’t be difficult for them.

”If that cannot be ensured, then we move down the rankings by ’contribution to the community development fund’ to fill the slot.

”The remaining 1 slot is the ’special exemption slot.’ The person in this slot may very well be unable to get into the top seven on their own.

”In that case, the players ahead of them in visa time would need to proactively deposit some of their time into the ’Special Fund’ to bring that person into the top seven.

”By the same logic, players like me, who ’are originally in the top seven but are not on the exemption list,’ should cooperate with this plan by depositing a portion of their visa time into the ’Special Fund’ at the appropriate time, causing themselves to drop into the bottom seven, thereby replacing someone who was originally in the bottom seven and sharing in the pain.”

Yao Yuan paused briefly and continued, ”Everyone has probably already realized that a great deal of what this plan involves cannot be achieved through the written terms of the proposal alone. It can only work if everyone consciously adheres to it of their own accord.

”If someone refuses to cooperate no matter what, for example, if someone simply will not deposit time into the ’Special Fund’ under any circumstances, then this plan cannot function properly.

”But I believe that since everyone has already agreed to this plan, it should be followed earnestly.

”If someone truly fails to comply, we will consider passing a new proposal to impose penalties.”

Before long, Lu Bingjun went to the community management office and submitted the proposal, and everyone cast their votes.

[The results of the anonymous vote are now being announced.]

[Proposal: Addition of ”Community Special Fund” Rules]

[In favor: 15 votes]

[Opposed: 0 votes]

Some players were still surprised by this result. They had expected there to be at least one or two votes against it, and yet it had passed unanimously.

Lu Bingjun looked quite pleased. In his view, this was an excellent outcome.

”Good. Even though we had some disagreements earlier, this vote shows that our community is made up of players who understand the bigger picture, know when to advance and when to step back, and are willing to help one another and shoulder burdens together.

”This result is heartening.

”Next, let’s confirm the 3 ’exemption slots,’ that is, the top 3 players with the greatest contributions to the community development fund.

”Anyone who wants to secure a spot on this list may make their contributions now.

”I do want to remind everyone, though: the prerequisite for being in the ’top 3 contributors to the community development fund’ is that your remaining personal visa time must still be in the community’s top seven.

”If you contribute too much and exceed your own capacity, you still won’t be exempted, since our proposal cannot contradict the community’s foundational rules.

”The right balance is for each of you to judge for yourselves.”

Lu Bingjun was the first to step up to the vending machine and complete his contribution.

Right after, Ye Lin stepped forward and completed hers as well.

At this point, the other players did not know exactly how much visa time the two of them had remaining, nor did they know how much they needed to keep in reserve to ensure they did not fall into the ”bottom seven.” They could only make rough estimates.

Shen Bowen glanced at Lin Sizhi and fell into hesitation.

It was evident that she had a considerable amount of visa time on hand, but whether to contribute or not was the question.

There were only 3 spots available for exemption through contributions, and Lu Bingjun and Ye Lin had been contributing to Community 2 all along, building up a substantial accumulated total that effectively locked up 2 of those spots with near certainty.

That left every other player competing for the last remaining spot.

If they failed to secure it, they would not only be unable to gain exemption from the pain, but would also sustain a direct loss in visa time. Either way, it amounted to a losing situation.

After careful consideration, Shen Bowen chose not to take any action for the time being.