To see each iteration of the Bill as it existed over time, check out the incredible interactive Bill of Rickies at Rickies.co.
- #517: With the new Rickies rules now being put into practice, some clarifications about whether the risky pick contains conditions or is made up of conditions need to be made. Ultimately, the wording is changed to "a pick comprising three conditions" to settle it.
- #516: Ahead of the iPhone event, the hosts continue to reform the game to break the years-long streak of overly risky Risky picks and games decided by tiebreakers. There's a live brainstorming session, but some of Silvia's suggestions stand out as clear winners.
- Ultimately, the risky picks get a bit more structure: at least 3 conditions, and new scoring based on the conditions. As before, a completely correct Risky pick is 2 points, but partial success is now also allowed, 2 correct conditions earning a point, 1 correct condition earning no points, and only if all conditions are incorrect will the host lose a point.
- In the regular picks, hosts may make a bonus pick for every incorrect pick that later came true going back to the last 3 games, further shaking things up and hopefully cutting down on everything coming down to the coins.
- #505: A host who is both the current Keynote Chairman and Annual Chairman is henceforth known as the Ricky Benchman (think two chairs next to each other) and is introduced as such in the intro for every show.
- #504: Right at the top of the show, Myke proposes that to replace the defunct Twitter handles, hosts should be introduced with their titles as a prize instead.
- #484: In a first attempt to end the multi-year drought of correct risky picks, the rule that rumored picks are inherently not risky was removed. At the beginning of 2024, the last correct risky picks had happened all the way back in November of 2020. Federico also put out the idea of a Mario Kart-esque "blue shell" rule, giving a boost to a host on a losing streak, perhaps by allowing them a rule modification, but for now it's just an idea for everyone to ponder in their hearts.
- #473:
- The rules for coin flips to resolve three way ties are finally codified.
- The timing window of Keynote Rickies is slightly expanded to when the live video stream starts rather than the actual event start time, to accommodate a pick that was slightly out of bounds last time.
- #466: Added to the rules about titles between episodes: if someone holds all four titles, they are allowed to choose their own moniker.
- #452: Not codified in the rules officially just yet, but it was agreed that a holder of all 4 titles (both Chairmanships and both Flexy titles) should be able to choose a title befitting his dominant performance.
- #431:
- 2022 saw some, uh, changes to Twitter, and the hosts had basically left the site by the end of the year. Thus, references to the Keynote Chairman and Annual Chairman Twitter accounts were removed from the Bill, although the accounts themselves still exist. Besides, they had been intended to stand in for a traveling trophy, but with The Tricky there's now an actual trophy that doesn't need international shipping multiple times a year. The idea of an entire Mastodon instance for the winners is proposed but left for later.
- While finishing The Reading of The Rules for The Flexies, the hosts for the first time begin to consider a difference between the Annual Flexies champion and the Keynote one. Myke proposes an upgrade to the "chosen title" system as a result: if a host has both Flexie crowns, he may use a more prestigious title. The titles are: "King Flexie" for Federico, "Archduke of Flexington" for Myke, and, after consulting the line of succession and discovering that the next higher in line for the US Presidency is the Secretary of Defense, "Secretary of Deflex" for Stephen.
- #413:
- When Stephen's Risky pick turns out to have been in the rumor mill as has happened to him a couple times before, the Bill is updated to codify an unwritten rule that picks with rumors backing them up are, by definition, not risky. Specifically, 9to5Mac and MacRumors are chosen as the publications of record. Myke wants to call them "publications of Rickord" but that pun is shot down.
- #404: Listener Jen points out that the hosts have misremembered what game The Annies are (it's the game where each month of the year is ranked in the year end review, not the Annual Rickies).
- #392: Tidying up from the last two weeks of Bill changes, the language about Annual pick choices was revised, and the nickname "The Annies" was attached to the Annual games. Federico also takes advantage of the new API on Rickies.co to create a new Shortcut.
- #391: Continuing from the previous episode's discussion:
- The pick reuse rule is discussed in depth, and ultimately gets relaxed a bit further. For Keynote games, hosts may not reuse their own picks from either the last Keynote event or the ongoing Annual game, but all other picks are available, including the picks of other hosts in any previous game. When picking for the Annual games, hosts may not reuse their own picks from the last year's game. As before, Flexies are always reusable. (The Ineligible Picks page has been updated once again with each host's currently restricted picks.)
- #390: In a special post-vacation congress, Stephen proposes a major restructuring of the rules and a change to drop the 365 day reuse rule, but the others want some time to ponder first.
- #387: Minor change to the wording of the Flexie winner's chosen title.
- #379:
- Updated the name of the trophy from "official Rickies Trophy (Late 2021)" to The Tricky.
- Although forgotten this episode, the Closing Ceremonies were established for the changing of the trophies. Listeners should update their own MagTrickies at this time in their own private ceremony.
- #368:
- Matt VanOrmer, Discord admin extraordinaire, made an official physical trophy for The Rickies, which can be changed to reflect the current Chairmanships. It is dubbed The Tricky after its clever implementation. The rules are updated with the proper procedures for the new trophy.
- #367:
- Removed a redundant and inaccurate line about access to the Twitter accounts.
- Resolving an issue that came up in the 2021 September Rickies (for this pick specifically), picks can only be deemed correct if publicly available information is available.
- Reuse of picks is revisited, and is changed to be allowed after a year has passed. How exactly to define a year is debated a bit, but 365 days is the ultimate answer. A list of ineligible picks can be found here.
- The coin flip rules are reworded.
- It isn't part of the rules officially, but a tangent leads to the establishment of a Rickies Line of Succession, which also becomes a potential conspiracy to take over the show.
- #362:
- The phrasing about annual pick order is modified to match the phrasing of the Keynote order rule.
- Dice by PCalc, in its Relay FM mode, is made the official method of flipping coins. Jason Snell continues to be banned for life from flipping physical coins.
- #349:
- Flexies are changed to be graded purely by percentage, which had been the rule in the hosts' minds for some time anyway. (For the record, this publication had some thoughts on this and was very much not listened to. But at least now it's clear.) If the ratio is the same, the tie is broken by coin flip (even if the number of picks differ, e.g. 3/6 and 5/10).
- The long standing practice of resolving ties with coin flips was codified, with a lifetime ban on Jason Snell flipping a physical coin.
- #348: Links to fan sites Rickies.co and Rickipedia were added to the top of the document.
- #328: "Non-graded" removed from the Flexie rules by listener request.
- #327: Clarified the difference between Keynote and Annual Chairmanships.
- #317:
- More of a rules non-change, the hosts address the audience's feedback on the Bill, emphasizing that the lopsided importance of the risky pick is a feature, not a bug. Listener Matthias' beautiful representation of the Bill, updated with the latest changes, is also mentioned, along with a caveat that it is already out of date again.
- #316:
- Clarified that Flexies may be reused (technically the "no reuse" rule wasn't in the Flexies section anyway, but it was agreed that banning their reuse would be too limiting).
- Myke notices that the rules do not identify when keynote picks can come true, and proposes that the window open at the start of the event and close at grading. (He also noted this in #311 and proposed a similar rule change, but it was never written down.) Stephen prefers starting at the publication of the prediction episode, but Federico breaks the tie in Myke's favor, agreeing that it is a competition about the event. Unlike the Keynote Draft on Upgrade, which only allows information from the presentation itself, ancillary material is allowed. For example, a specifications page that clarifies details may figure into grading as long as it is available at that time.
- #312: Donations for the Flexies must be done on the air after Stephen chooses to do so.
- #311:
- The title of "Chairman Ricky" is rephrased as "Keynote Chairman" and "Annual Chairman".
- The Flexie rules are simplified back down to just a donation to charity, dropping the additional gift to the winner.
- The existing Chairman Twitter accounts are explicitly added to the written rules.
- For the first time, the reading of The Bill is given the solemn musical treatment it deserves.
- #300: The "ratio" based tiebreaker for the Flexies is added, and then the ideas start flowing. Instead of just buying drinks for the winner, bigger financial stakes are added. After much debate, the final decision is that the loser must pay both $25 per wrong Flexie to the winner's choice of charity and also purchase a surprise for the winner of the same amount. A 5 Flexie minimum is added. "tondog" in the Discord coins "The Bill of Rickies".
- #275: The practice of separating annual picks and event picks for the purpose of pick order was codified in the written rules, after being discussed in #260. Stephen coins "The Flexies".
- #259: Myke proposes naming the competition "The Rickies", after Stephen's now infamous typo. The rule about the previous winner going first is revised. The title for the winner is "Chairman Ricky".
- #245: Stephen said "Ricky" instead of "risky" in an iMessage, and now they're Ricky Picks. The loser of the non-graded picks has to buy drinks at the WWDC live show.
- #243: No reuse of picks added as a new rule.
- #236: The unwritten rule of resolving ties with Siri coin flips was established.
- #224:
- It is claimed that at some point in 2018, Federico insisted that half points be banned. (If this happened on-air, please let me know.) This could be conflating the instigator of the rule change with the picker of the pick that caused it.
- "Everything written down must come true" added as a result of this pick.
- #210:
- It isn't clear when this rule was formally changed, but when re-litigating a grading decision from the previous week, Myke firmly insists that "there are no half points around here." (Quite a change of opinion from the previous week, incidentally.)
- #174: The Risky Pick round emerges fully formed from Federico's head after he hears Myke describe wanting to go big with a very specific pick. Two points for a correct pick and loss of a point for an incorrect one, to be implemented for the first time in the 2018 Annual Predictions.
- #123: The first "predictions draft", used "round robin" ordering in 3 rounds. Picks were not allowed to be too "simple", like "Apple will release an iPhone", they must be specific. Myke decides, apparently on the spot, that these predictions will be checked at the end of the year to pick a winner.