| From: | "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@*******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | ADMIN: ShadowTalk Frequently Asked Questions |
| Date: | Mon, 3 May 1993 01:55:31 -0500 |
This document is sent automanually to all new subscribers and serves
to outline the guidelines for the list. It is also posted monthly to
SHADOWTK to serve as a reminder. All subscribers are expected
to read and attempt to adhere to these guidelines in an attempt to
maintain conformity. Special attention should be given towards
posting format (Part 5) in an effort to maintain the sanity of the
editor.
Thanks for your interest,
Virtually,
The ShadowTalk Listowners
Robert Hayden: <aq650@****.INS.CWRU.Edu> "Fearless Leader"
Vincent Esposito: <vesposit@****.sunysb.edu> "Deputy Fearless
Leader"
____________________________________________________________________________
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Frequently Asked Questions for SHADOWTK@*****.BITNET
Version 2.2 (04-20-93)
Compiled by your fearless leader: Robert Hayden
aq650@****.INS.CWRU.Edu
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1. What is SHADOWTK?
2. How do I subscribe to SHADOWTK?
3. How come I keep getting deleted from the list?
4. What can be posted (and what can't)?
5. What is the posting format?
6. Are there any rules regarding characterizaion?
7. What days of the week do dates fall on in 2054?
8. How can I use SHADOWTK in my own games?
9. Where can I get past logs of discussions?
10. What are some other interesting/important LISTSERV commands?
11. Are the digested logs available via FTP?
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1. What is SHADOWTK
SHADOWTK, bitnet convention for ShadowTalk, is a Listserv devoted
to the role-playing game Shadowrun, which is published by FASA.
Shadowrun takes place in the year 2054 and centers in the city of
Seattle. ShadowTalk is an attempt to emulate the public
communications networks presented in the game.
There is also a companion list to SHADOWTK called SHADOWRN. The
purpose of this other list is to discuss the rules, mechanics, and
implementation of the game Shadowrun. At times there may be some
cross-over between SHADOWRN and SHADOWTK, and that is fine.
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2. How do I subscribe to SHADOWTK?
To subscribe, you must send a control message to the listserv at
HEARN.bitnet. To do this, send email with the following
parameters:
TO: listserv@*****.bitnet
SUB: <leave blank>
1st line: subscribe shadowtk your-real-name
In a little while you should get email confirming your subscription
and then you will start getting regular postings.
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3. How come I keep getting deleted from the list?
99% of the time, the reason you are deleted from the list (by one of
the listowners) is because for some reason mail is bouncing off of
your account.
Usually this is caused by one of two reasons. Either A) your account
is filled and can't hold any more or B) for some reason your account
is not availble (either the machine or your account is down). When
this happens, it causes an error message to be sent back to the list.
The list software attempts to detect error messages and route them to
the listowners. Sometimes, though, the error is not detected by
the listserv software and the error gets reported to the list. This
causes the error message to get sent our to all subscribers, including
the person who is bouncing mail. This leads to a big loop that really
messes things up.
Thus, standard procedure when an error message is reported it to delete
the subscription of the person causing the error. You should, in theory,
get this deletion reported to you.
Once the problem has been fixed (you are back on the net or have room),
you are, of course, free to join the list again.
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4. What can be posted (and what can't)?
In general, any aspect of the Shadowrun society can be discussed.
Rumors, reports, opinions, etc. about the Shadowrun universe are
the subject.
As a general guideline, though, discussions of the rules and
mechanics of the shadowrun game itself belong on SHADOWRN.
Essentially, take a look at the 'BBS' entries spread throughout
the FASA rulebooks. The subjects presented in there are more than
appropriate for this list.
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5. What is the posting format?
The best guideline for posting format can be found in the FASA
rulebooks, but in summary, a post should be made as follows:
***** Encrypt: key-designation (optional)
>>>>>[Text to be discussed]<<<<<
-- ID < Time / Date >
Where:
Encrypt= Some postings to the ShadowTalk storyline need 'encrypting'.
Encrypted posts are usually of a nature that person's outside
of the ShadowTalk list would be unable to see it without the
correct counter-key. This has no real-world significance but
can serve to enhance the mystery and storyline.
>>>>>[ = All postings should start with five (5) greater-than symbols
followed by an opening bracket.
]<<<<< = All postings should end with a closing bracket followed by
five (5) less than symbols.
ID = Your fictional LTG identification. This ID should be
preceeded by one TAB, two dashes (--), and a single space.
Time = The time of the post in 24hr format (ie, 23:45:16)
I've found it personally convienient to simply use the
current real-world time.
Date = The Shadowrun Date. In order to keep things in order,
use the current month and day, and for the year, take
the current year and add 61 to it (Shadowrun takes
place in 2054 during 1993)
OTHER EDITING INSTRUCTIONS:
All postings should be made flush-left. Do not TAB in new paragraphs. Do
not use TABs for formatting purposes (use spaces).
At the end of a paragraph, press return twice and start the next paragraph
flush-left
NOTE: There are some industrious "deckers" that alter the
time-date stamp into saying something else. While this can be fun,
it can hamper attempts to port the messages to a log file in the
correct order.
Signature Files:
As a general rule, it is unnescessary to include a signature file
for SHADOWTK postings, as your entries will have your "ID" to
identify you. Most mailers are able to resolve return addresses.
Quoting Previous Postings:
This is also frowned upon, mostly because of the difficulty in
creating a log file. Discussion should occur rapidly enough that
quoting of will be unecessary. If you feel that you need to
address specific points, please try to simply address them without
wasting bandwidth with unecessary quoting. Use the subject of the
posting to refresh everyone's memory if you can.
Flaming:
Isn't very nice, period.
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6. Are there any rules regarding characterizaion?
The characters that develop in our stories are wonderful.
Unfortunately, some complaints are leading to the establishment of a
few guidelines with regards to how characters can be used.
A) You cannot use someone else's character without
permission. This means that I do not write something up and
sign it as being from Dark Elf. Of course, interacting with
another's character is encouraged.
B) If you do use someone else's character (with
permission), keep the posting style consistant, especially
with regards to the ID and time/date stamp.
C) NEVER kill off someone else's character.
D) Give your characters some depth if you can. Make them
more than just a screenful of ASCII, give them a personality
in their posting style and way of speaking and thinking.
E) Above all, have fun.
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7. What days of the week to dates fall on in 2054?
Here is a calendar of 2054 to help you out as you might need it.
2054
Jan Feb Mar
S M Tu W Th F S S M Tu W Th F S S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31
Apr May Jun
S M Tu W Th F S S M Tu W Th F S S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 4 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
26 27 28 29 30 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 29 30
31
Jul Aug Sep
S M Tu W Th F S S M Tu W Th F S S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 4 1 1 2 3 4 5
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30
30 31
Oct Nov Dec
S M Tu W Th F S S M Tu W Th F S S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 27 28 29 30 31
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8. How can I use SHADOWTK in my own games?
There are a number of ways you can use this list in you games. By
watching the rumors and discussions here, you might be given a
number of campaign ideas. In addition, you can have your players
read and participate in the list and use their actions and
discussions in your games.
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9. Where can I get past logs of discussions?
Logs of activity on SHADOWTK will be kept online and be available
via the listserv at HEARN. In order to get a directory
listing of the SHADOWTK related files, send the command INDEX
SHADOWTK to LISTSERV@*****. You should get a response in a little
while that lists all of the files available.
The log files will be named 'SHADOWTK LOGyymm{A-E}', where 'yy' is the
year of the file, 'mm' is the month and the final letter indicates the
week, with the first week being 'A', and the start of the 5th week
being 'E'.
To get one of them, send the command GET filename, where filename is
the name of the file you wish to receive (example: GET SHADOWTK
LOG9303D). After a bit, you should receive that file in the mail.
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10. What are some other interesting/important LISTSERV commands?
There are many commands you can give to the listserv in order to
change how your subscription works.
SET listname REPRO:
This command will have the listserv include you in the
distribution of any posting you make (ie, you get your own things
back, too).
SET listname ACK:
This will cause the listserv to send you a message every
time you post telling you how many people your posting was sent
out to. If you find this annoying, you can change this back with a
NOACK command.
SET listname NOMAIL:
If you are going on vacation or something, sending a NOMAIL
command will halt your receiving any postings. This is helpful if
you know that your quota will be exceeded during Christmas break,
for example. When you return, you can use the MAIL command to
start receiving again.
WARNING: If you forget to do this and your quota is
exceeded, this will cause all of the postings to be bounced back
to the list, possibly leading to a loop. The only way to quickly
allievitate this problem is to delete your subscription, so PLEASE
use the NOMAIL command if you are going to be gone for a while.
REVIEW listname:
This command will return to you a listing of all
subscribed persons to the list and then a total tally.
UNSUB listname:
Will remove you from a list.
HELP:
Sending this command will give you a listing and brief
descriptions of all available commands.
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11. Are the digested logs available via FTP?
Not at present. In the future, it is my hope that an edited
version of the logs will be available via anonymous FTP. This is
contingent on locating a site to place them.
The edited version of the logs will have all of the headers and
signatures removed so that you can simply read a series of
postings. For this reason, you can see why it would be helpful to
following the posting format outlined in section #5. The editing of
these files will have to be done manually (unless I can get some
kind of auto-editor written up) and using the correct format will
speed up this process.
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12. There is no part twelve.
The End
