Archive-name: games/roleplay/part1ãLast-modified: 3/25/93ããMany FAQs, including this one, are available on the archive site ãrtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers.  The nameãunder which a FAQ is archived appears in the Archive-name ãline at the top of the article.  ãã                Welcome to the rec.gameFromãWATTERS_C%NORSE.decnet@gate.hosp.ohio-state.edu  Mon Mar 29 15:18:40 1993ãReceived: from gate.hosp.ohio-state.edu by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduã(5.65/3.910213)  id AA17736; Mon, 29 Mar 93 15:18:40 -0500ãMessage-Id: <9303292018.AA17736@quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>ãDate: 29 Mar 93 15:07:00 ESTãFrom: "NORSE::WATTERS_C" <WATTERS_C%NORSE.decnet@gate.hosp.ohio-state.edu>ãTo: "cwatters" <cwatters@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>ãStatus: ORããNewsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce,news.answers,rec.answersãFrom: rg-frp-announce@magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduãApproved: cwatters@magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduãSubject: [rec.games.frp.*] Welcome to the roleplaying discussion groups!ãFollowup-To: rec.games.frp.miscãOriginator: cwatters@top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduãKeywords: etiquette, news.announce.newusers, roleplaying games, administriviaãSender: news@magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduãNntp-Posting-Host: top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduãReply-To: cwatters@magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduãOrganization: The Ohio State UniversityãDistribution: worldãSupersedes: <1993Mar11.215007.7335@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>ããArchive-name: games/roleplay/part1ãLast-modified: 3/25/93ããMany FAQs, including this one, are available on the archive site ãrtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers.  The nameãunder which a FAQ is archived appears in the Archive-name ãline at the top of the article.  ãã                Welcome to the rec.games.frp newsgroupsããPlease send suggested corrections and additions to the followingãaddress:ã                  CWATTERS@magnus.acs.ohio-state.eduãã*  Asterisks are used to indicate new/updated information.ããThis is the first of a set of semi-monthly posts, all of which areãposted to rec.games.frp.announce:ãã1        Welcome to the rec.games.frp newsgroups!ã2        Frequently asked questions, part 1ã2a       Frequently asked questions, part 2ã2b       Stackpole's Defense of Gamingã3        Archive sites with Roleplaying materialã4        Roleplaying Mailing Lists and Digests part 1/2ã5        Roleplaying Mailing Lists and Digests part 2/2ã6        BBS's of interest to Roleplaying gamersã7        Roleplaying Net.*.books, Gaming FAQ Keepersã8***     Armor, armament, and bows in Medieval Timesãã***  - any day now!ããWELCOME TO THE REC.GAMES.FRP NEWSGROUPS!ããThe Charter for this newsgroup is in the following article, withãthe answers to frequently asked questions.ããThis article collects important information which will help you use thisãnewsgroup. If you're new to the rec.games.frp newsgroups, please take aãfew minutes to read the rest of this posting and the associatedãadministrivia postings. If you are also new to netnews, please readãthrough the net etiquette postings in news.announce.newusers, includingã"Introduction to news.announce," "What is Usenet?", "Rules for postingãto Usenet", "A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community", "Hintsãon writing style for Usenet", "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions",ãand "Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette". Some of theseãpostings may be found most easily in news.answers,rec.answers.ããOther postings that you should be familiar with, though you don't haveãto read them all the way through at first, include: "How to GetãInformation about Networks"; "List of Active Newsgroups"; "PubliclyãAccessible Mailing Lists, Parts I, II, & III"; "List of PeriodicãInformational Postings"; "Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies, Parts I &ãII"; and "A Guide to Social Newsgroups and Mailing Lists".ããFinally, here are some regular postings that new users probably don'tãneed to read unless they want to build newsreading software, create aãnewsgroup, or get more involved with the network than most users seemãto: "USENET Software: History and Sources"; "How to Create a NewãNewsgroup"; "Regional Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part I,II,III"; "List ofãModerators"; "How to Create a New Trial Newsgroup"; "Checkgroupsãmessage (with INET groups)"; and "How to Construct the MailpathsãFile".ããWHAT DOESN'T BELONG IN REC.GAMES.FRP.*?ããThese groups are *not* intended for the discussion of wargames and otherãboard games, except as directly related to role-playing games; tryãrec.games.board instead. Nor is this the proper group for discussingãcomputer games. Computer game discussions and spoiler requests forãAdventure-type games (such as Zork and Ultima) belong inãrec.games.video, rec.games.misc, rec.games.int-fiction, rec.games.mud,ãrec.games.moria, or the relevant computer-related newsgroup (e.g.,ãcomp.sys.mac.games).ãã* The general consensus is that the ROLEPLAYING aspects of games which areãprimarily tabletop or board games, i.e. BattleTech and WarHammer 40k, areãwelcome here, postings of a tactical or "wargaming" nature should be postedãto rec.games.board* ããSUGGESTIONS FOR POSTINGããThe following suggestions are intended to SUPPLEMENT the generalãguidelines for posting to the net. You should already be familiar withãthe guidelines contained in "Rules for posting to Usenet", "A Primer onãHow to Work With the Usenet Community", and "Hints on writing style forãUsenet", which can be found in the newsgroup news.announce.newusers.ããThe most relevant parts of these postings, or rather the parts of theseãpostings most often ignored on these newsgroups, are: Don't post anythingãthat is intended for only one other person, send flames and argumentsãthrough E-mail; Read threads through to the end before adding to them,ãoften other people make your point first (M or m is a very usefulãkeystroke in rn); Don't post "yeah, me too" articles; Don't quoteãexcessively, especially don't quote the entirety of another person'sãposting and then add two lines at the bottom, if someone wants to readãthe entire first posting they can go back and read it for themselves.ããWhen posting messages to a large newsgroup there are several things youãcan do to help readers cope with the volume. First and foremost is toãuse the right newsgroup, and avoid cross-posting. If your posting is anãoriginal piece of work which can stand on its own without comments byãother people, such as a story or poem based on a roleplaying game, aãscenario, campaign background, or the like, then post it toãrec.games.frp.archives, the newsgroup for "keepers." If your posting isãan announcement about a new roleplaying product, a roleplayingãconvention, a pbem, and so on, post it to rec.games.frp.announce. Ifãyour posting concerns official rules or official game backgrounds forãD&D, AD&D1, AD&D2, or BD&D, then post it to rec.games.frp.dnd. If youãare posting to buy or sell roleplaying materials, post toãrec.games.frp.marketplace. If your posting is intended to convinceãpeople that one roleplaying game is better than some or all otherãroleplaying games, or other inflammatory opinions, then post it toãrec.games.frp.advocacy. Finally, if your post doesn't fit into any ofãthe above niches, as is the case with a large plurality of postings,ãthen send it to rec.games.frp.misc.ããRec.games.frp is a defunct newsgroup, please post new threads on otherãnewsgroups instead.ããSecond, no matter what newsgroup you post to, please use descriptiveãtitles. Whenever you post an article which is specific to a particularãgame system, please include the name of the system in the Subject ofãyour post. Subjects like: "Combat initiative in AD&D" or "ChampionsãCharacter: Nightstorm" are much more informative than "Combat" orã"Character: Nightstorm".ããIf you're posting a story, you are urged to include the word STORY inãthe subject, and to use a consistent title for your work. If you postãan article related to Tabolport Net City project, please include theãword TABOLPORT in the subject so that the appropriate persons will seeããHere is a short list of keywords which you may want to include inãthe subject lines of your postings to rec.games.frp.*ããMETA:     for meta-discussion about the newsgroup, like this threadãLARP:     Discussion of "Live Action Role Playing"ãPBEM:     announcement concerning a play by e-mail roleplaying campaignãFORSALE:  games for sale announcementsãWANTED:   games wanted announcementsãCON:      convention announcements and discussionãSTORY:    storiesãFLUFF:    non-story, non-game, anecdotes, like the bard songs, sillyã          knight names, and other basically humorous offerings.ããWhen offering character classes, skill lists, magic spells, monsters,ãcharacter sheets, and the like, the name of the game system (or itsãabbreviation) is appropriate for the subject line.ããI (early in my Net.career) solicited the net for suggestions, yielding anãextremely comprehensive list of games and likely abbreviations for them,ãof which I have extracted the following. If you must abbreviate the nameãof the game, try to choose an abbreviation from this list.ããAbbreviation    System NameããAD&D            Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, either editionãAD&D1           Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, First EditionãAD&D2           Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Second EditionãArs             Ars MagicaãBtech,btek      BattletechãC&S             Chivalry and SorceryãCHAMPS          ChampionsãCoC             Call of CthuluãCP2020          Cyberpunk or Cyberpunk 2020ãD&D             Dungeons and DragonsãFH              Fantasy HeroãGBI             Ghostbusters InternationalãHERO            The Hero System (Champions, Fantasy Hero, Star Hero, etc)ãMEK2            Mekton 2ãMERP            Middle Earth Role PlayingãMSH             Marvel Super HeroesãMtrav           MegaTravellerãPAL             PalladiumãRM              RolemasterãRQ              RuneQuestãSFB             Star Fleet BattlesãSRUN,SR         ShadowrunãTFOS            Teenagers from Outer SpaceãTMNT            Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other StrangenessãTRAV            TravellerãTREK            Star Trek, the Role Playing GameãT2000           Twilight 2000ãV&V             Villains and VigilantesãWFRP            WarHammer Fantasy Role PlayingããDISTRIBUTIONããAs always, be sure to choose the proper distribution for yourãarticles. Most discussion deserves "world" distribution, but postersãof convention announcements might want to consider regional or evenãlocal distribution. Posters seeking gaming groups to join shouldãlimit the distribution to the area they're willing to travel.  Postings ofãthe latter two are urged to utilize rec.games.frp.announce, geographic ãdistribution is limited by that groups Moderator.ããFLAMESããSome topics have a way of turning into enormous arguments whichãfeed on themselves and take over the newsgroup for long periods ofãtime.ããProbably the most frequent arguments come from comparison and criticismãof different game systems. That's why they have their own newsgroup,ãrec.games.frp.advocacy. While discussion along these lines can beãproductive, flames and put-downs are not. Try to remember that peopleãwho play a particular system probably like that system; if a friendlyãrecommendation won't get them to switch to something different, personalãattacks and insults certainly won't work. At the same time, peopleãshould remember that criticism of their favorite game doesn't constituteãan attack on themselves.ããSeveral truisms invariably come up during arguments about game systems:ãã1. "The game system doesn't matter as long as you've got a good GM."ã2. "Preference of one system over another is largely a matter of taste."ã3. "The reason for playing these games is to have *fun*, and whateverã    game you enjoy is the one that's right for you."ããFew would disagree with the above statements--but if you post, don'tãjust repeat the obvious. Granted that you like one game better thanãanother, try to explain *why*. Other people may not agree with yourãpreference, but at least they'll be able to learn something about theãgames you're discussing.ããA second occasional point of dispute concerns whether Society forãCreative Anachronism dueling provides valid data for the purpose ofãreality-checking combat systems. The prospect of a bunch of people whoãplay games with pencil and paper arguing over the realism of SCAãtourneys is ironic, to say the least. All that can be hoped for is thatãparticipants in any such discussion will follow the rules of courtesyãestablished by the Society. (In-depth discussion of SCA-related issuesãshould be directed to rec.org.sca.)ããã