Glossary

Definitions of key terms used throughout the OLN Constitution. Terms are grouped by topic area.

Core Concepts

Open Lore Network (OLN). The platform as a whole. Also referred to as "the Network." Consists of all Franchises, Contributors, and shared infrastructure.

LoreDoor. The first Franchise launched on OLN, operated at loredoor.com. Used as a worked example throughout this Constitution but not synonymous with OLN; subsequent Franchises will operate alongside it under the same Network Constitution.

Creator. The founder of OLN, initially Adam. The Creator holds the same rules as any other contributor. "Creator" is used with respect to founding status; it is not a title of current authority beyond what contribution-earned Power provides.

Contributor. Any person with an account on OLN who has made any contribution to the platform. All governance participants are contributors.

Content Zones

Commons. Collectively owned canonical content — the Fact graph, canonical exposition, curation, reference, and infrastructure. Stewarded by Franchise Teams (or Network bodies for Network-level Commons).

Home. Individually owned personal space on the platform. Three sub-types:

• Creator Home — public creative space for published work, where monetization happens
• Profile — persona and identity surface
• Journal — private drafts and works-in-progress

Franchise. A self-governing entity on OLN organized around a shared fictional universe. Each Franchise has its own Team, Constitution, Fact graph, and Commons.

Governance

Team. The body of contributors who have reached the Team Credit threshold in a Franchise. Teams govern their Franchise per the Franchise Constitution.

Council. The Network-level representative body, composed of delegates from Franchise Teams with seats allocated by Franchise Power. Handles routine Network governance.

Arbiters. The Network's judicial body. Seven members elected by quadratic vote, 2-year staggered terms. Interpret the Constitution, rule on jurisdictional questions, hear appeals.

Chief Arbiter. An Arbiter selected by the body to manage procedural operations. Holds no additional substantive authority.

Delegation. The mechanism by which a contributor can assign their Power to a Team member for routine governance decisions. Revocable; cannot apply to Constitutional amendments.

Liquid Democracy. The governance model combining direct voting with delegation. Used for routine Network decisions at scale.

Economy

Credit. The unit of contribution measure. Earned through recognized contribution per the Rubric. Two subtypes:

• Commons Credits — for Commons contributions, eligible for Team membership
• Home Credits — for Home contributions, based on Impact, not eligible for Team membership

Power. The weighted measure of governance influence, computed from Credits via the Power Curve. Subject to role ceilings, decay, and the 12,000 absolute cap.

Kudos. The mechanism to transfer Credits from one contributor to another as recognition. Subject to per-period percentage and absolute caps.

T₁ / T₂. Power curve thresholds:

• T₁ (default 1,000): below this, Power scales linearly with Credits
• T₂ (default 10,000): above this, Power asymptotically approaches the role ceiling

Role Ceiling. The maximum Power a contributor can hold at their current role. Ceilings rise with earned role (Team membership, multi-Franchise involvement, Council or Arbiter service).

Absolute Cap. The maximum Power any contributor can hold regardless of role or Credits, set at 12,000. An entrenched value.

Decay. The reduction of Power during inactivity. 90-day grace, 5% per quarter thereafter, compounding, with a floor at 10% of lifetime peak.

Reactivation Boost. 1.5× normal Credit accrual for the first 90 days after a contributor returns from 90+ days of inactivity.

Founding Grant. A one-time non-decaying Credit award to named Founding Contributors per Layer 12. Non-transferable via Kudos.

Creator's Founding Ledger. The Creator's initial Credit award for pre-launch work. Subject to ratification per Layer 6; subject to decay like all Creator Credits.

Contributor Fund. A Network-created compensation fund with specific purpose and eligibility criteria. Personal compensation path for contributors beyond Home monetization.

Treasury. A collective holding of Credits and/or cash owned by a Franchise or the Network. Used for operational costs, feature purchases, commissioning, and ambitions.

Four-Tier Spending:

1. Platform Operation — mandatory running costs
2. Platform Features — optional premium capabilities
3. External Commissioning — commissioning outside work with Credit-to-cash conversion
4. Franchise Ambitions — large-scale initiatives with opt-in funding

Credit-to-Cash Rate. The exchange rate used when Credits fund external payments. Set by Network, adjusted annually by Council vote, capped at ±20% annual change.

Content and Facts

Fact. A Subject-Predicate-Object triple constituting canonical truth within a Franchise. The foundational unit of the Fact graph.

Fact Graph. The structured canonical knowledge base of a Franchise. Facts are interconnected; content references Facts; the graph evolves over time.

Fact Lifecycle States:

• Speculative — no canonical source, community theory
• Pre-Release — based on official pre-release material (trailers, marketing)
• Provisional — source released, grace period not elapsed
• Canonical — ratified and stable
• Historical — previously Canonical, now superseded
• Retconned — explicitly reversed by later canonical source

Grace Period. The time between source material release and auto-ratification of Provisional Facts to Canonical. Varies by source type.

Canonical Tier. A defined level of canonicity within a Franchise (e.g., "main canon" vs. "legends"). Franchises decide whether to use multi-tier structure.

Templated Reference. A content reference to a Fact by pointer rather than by hard-coded claim. Auto-updates when the Fact changes, except for fundamental meaning changes.

Fact-Grounded. Content whose claims are tied to Facts in the Fact graph. Eligible for full Credit value.

Explicitly Non-Factual. Content explicitly marked as not claiming canonical truth (speculation, interpretation, alternate canon, fan fiction). Allowed and supported; subject to different Credit valuation.

Spoiler. Content that reveals canonical events or Facts derived from media. Inherited from Fact-to-media relationships; dynamically obfuscated for readers who have not marked the source as consumed.

Contribution and Rubric

Six Categories:

1. Canon Contribution
2. Visual and Media Contribution
3. Curation and Editing
4. Community Contribution
5. Technical Contribution
6. Meta Contribution

Base Credits. Credits awarded at publication/lock-in for the work itself (craft, labor, completeness).

Impact Credits. Credits accrued over time based on downstream effects (traffic, citations, retention, usage, prevented incidents, resolution success).

Signal-and-Review Pipeline. Two-stage contribution evaluation:

1. Algorithmic signal produces provisional Credits at publication
2. Peer review by Team members verifies, elevates, or reduces Credits within 30 days

Provisional Credits. Credits awarded by signal but not yet locked in after peer review window. Count toward Power immediately; can be adjusted.

Verified Contribution. Contribution that has been peer-reviewed and either ratified, elevated, or reduced with written justification.

Signal Weight. The relative weight of signals (upvotes, citations, etc.) from different contributors. Scales with signaler Power, capped at 3× new-account signal weight.

Promotion. The formal process by which Home content is nominated for Commons inclusion. Franchise Team reviews; if accepted, content moves to Commons with one-time Credit award.

Disciplinary

The Ladder. The four rungs of disciplinary response:

1. Warning
2. Credit Penalty (prospective or revocation)
3. Suspension
4. Ban

Warning Sunset. Warnings expire after 12 months of clean conduct in the same category, preventing lifetime accumulation.

Credit Revocation. Removal of specific past Credits, used only when the contribution itself was fraudulent or the Credits were gamed. Not used for unrelated misconduct.

Frivolous Complaint. A complaint found by Arbiters to be made in bad faith. Results in disciplinary action against the complainant.

Dispute-Gated Monetization. Rule that content with active unresolved disputes cannot generate monetization revenue during the dispute period.

Restoration. The path for banned contributors to apply for platform re-admission after 2 years.

Procedural

Entrenched Clause. A Constitutional clause requiring 90% of Network Power plus 3/4 of Franchise Teams to amend. Some entrenched clauses are unamendable.

Amendable Clause. A Constitutional clause requiring 2/3 of Network Power plus simple majority of Franchise Teams to amend.

Standard Clause. A rule requiring simple majority of Network Power to amend, subject to quorum.

Quadratic Voting. A voting mechanism where the cost of casting N votes is N². Used for Arbiter elections.

One-Account-One-Vote. The voting mechanism for Founding Ratification (Layer 6), distinct from Power-weighted voting used elsewhere. Used because the Constitution being ratified is the system that creates Power.

Ratification. The initial process by which the Constitution takes effect (Layer 6). Also used for specific high-stakes approvals (Franchise creation, licensing deals).

Founding Mode. The operational state of the platform during the ratification process. Platform is live; Credits are Provisional; no binding governance.

Compounding Cooling Period. The mandatory wait between failed ratification attempts, lengthening with each rejection (30/60/90/180/180...).