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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Mark Imbriaco <mark@********.IP.NET>
Subject: ShadowTK FAQ: Part 1 (of 2)
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 18:47:23 -0400
Welcome to SHADOWTK,

This document is Part 1 of a two-part FAQ related to the mailing list
ShadowTalk (SHADOWTK). It contains a brief overview of the the purpose of
the mailing list as well as instructions on how to subscibe, unsubscribe
and navigate the mazes of LISTSERV.

Part II of the FAQ contains additional information about the list,
including guidelines and rules relating to characterization and
formatting. If you have recently subscribed to the list and are seeing
this as part of your "Welcome to ShadowTalk" package, it is important you
read and abide by the formatting guidelines or you will be deleted from
the list.

Thanks for your interest,

Virtually,
The SHADOWTK Listowners

Robert Hayden: <hayden@*******.mankato.msus.edu> "Fearless
Leader"
Doctor Doom: <jch8169@*******.tamu.edu> "Assistant Fearless
Leader"
Mark Imbriaco: <mark@***.ip.net> "Assistant Deputy Fearless
Leader"
____________________________________________________________________________
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Frequently Asked Questions for SHADOWTK@*****.BITNET
Version 4.3 (10-21-94)

Originally compiled by your fearless leader: Robert Hayden
hayden@*******.mankato.msus.edu

Maintained by your Assistant Deputy Fearless leader: Mark Imbriaco
mark@***.ip.net
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I. INTRODUCTION
A. What is SHADOWTK?
B. How do I subscribe to SHADOWTK?
C. How do I post to SHADOWTK?
D. How do I unsubscribe to SHADOWTK?
E. How do I reconfirm my subscription
F. Other Important LISTSERV Commands.
G. Why am I getting deleted from the list for no reason?
H. Why does the list reject postings from my account?
I. HELP! Mail from the list has stopped coming, but I'm
still subscribed!
______________________________________________________________________________
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PART I: INTRODUCTION
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A. What is ShadowTK?

Shadowtalk is an interactive fiction mailing list based on the
paper & pencil role-playing game Shadowrun, published by FASA.
Members of the list post as characters in genre, and by responding
to each other's posts "in character", stories are developed.
These stories may then be used by players and GMs alike as a basis
for contacts, NPCs, and adventure plots in their own campaigns.

Shadowrun takes place in Seattle 61 years in the future.
Cybernetics, Virtual Reality, and biotechnology are available to
the public. Furthermore, Magic exists and is controlled by mages
and shamans, and mythical beings once again roam the land.
Megacorporations, with the power of small nations, rule the
politics and hold the ultimate stranglehold on the underclass.
Surviving in the world of Shadowrun takes as much courage as it
does skill.

And perhaps just a little luck.

**********
B. 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 instructing you how to
confirm your subscription request. Simply follow the instructions
and you will soon start getting regular postings.

If you have difficulty with bitnet addresses, you can also use the
internet address, which is LISTSERV@*****.nic.SURFnet.nl

**********
C. How do I post to SHADOWTK?
To post to SHADOWTK, you send your posting via email to
SHADOWTK@*****.BITNET (or SHADOWTK@*****.nic.SURFnet.nl for
internet).

**********
D. How do I unsubscribe to SHADOWTK?
To unsubscribe, you must send a control message to the listserv at
HEARN.bitnet. To do this, send email with the following
parameters:

TO: listserv@*****.bitnet (or LISTSERV@*****.nic.SURFnet.nl)
SUB: <leave blank>
1st line: signoff shadowtk

In a little while you should get email confirming your unsubscription
request.

**********
E. How do I reconfirm my subscription
From time to time while you are subscribed to the lists, you will
get a message from the LISTSERV that requests that you reconfirm
that you still want to be on the list.

If you wish to stay on the list, you need to follow the instructions
in your confirmation request.

If, for whatever reason, you no longer wish to be on the list, you
can simply wait for two weeks and your subscription will timeout
and you will be removed from the list.

**********
F. Other Important LISTSERV Commands.
There are many commands you can give to the listserv in order to change
how your subscription works.

SET listname REPRO (default):
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 is simply an confirmation of the posting you just made.
It is returned to you in email.

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.

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
alleviate this problem is to delete your subscription, so
PLEASE use the NOMAIL command if you are going to be gone
for a while.

SET listname DIGEST:
When this option is set, instead of all of the postings
being delivered separately, they will be delivered in
one mailing at the close of the day (in HEARN's timezone).
This is helpful if the number of mailings become a burden.

SET listname MAIL (default):
This option is invoked to restore active status after sending
a NOMAIL request, and is also used to change from DIGEST
back to getting all postings separately.

HELP:
Sending this command will give you a listing and brief
descriptions of all available commands.

**********
G. Why am I getting deleted from the list for no reason?
99% of the time, the reason you are deleted from the list (by the
listowner) 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 available (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 listowner. 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 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.

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.

*********
H. Why does the list reject postings from my account?
As part of some security features recently installed, the list
will only accept mailings that come from the same address your
subscription is registered on. This is to prevent non-list
people from flooding the mailboxes of dozens of people.

Because of this, if you attempt to post from another account or
machine, your message will be rejected. Please read the error
message enclosed with your rejection and determine what you must
do to fix it in the future.

*********
I. HELP! Mail from the list has stopped coming, but I'm still subscribed!
Mail has an annoying characteristic in that, while most of the time
it is instantaneous, there are times when it can take up to two
weeks to go from one computer to another that is located ten feet
away (much like snail mail, eh?).

If mail suddenly suddenly stops coming, wait at least 48 hours before
you contact the listowner. Very likely a link is down between you and
the list, and as soon as that link comes back up, you will get
all of the old mailings.

Also note that the listowner won't be able to help at all in terms
of mail not arriving. All he can do is to verify that you are
indeed subscribed, anything beyond that is under the control of
someone else.

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Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about ShadowTK FAQ: Part 1 (of 2), you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.