From: al@calsci.UUCP (Al Petterson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics
Subject: Re: split (yes, again.)
Keywords: MARVEL, DC, INDY.
Date: 16 Apr 92 05:04:14 GMT
Reply-To: al%calsci@gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com (Al Petterson)
Followup-To: rec.arts.comics
Organization: California Scientific Software
News-Software: FSUUCP 1.1 Release 5


I've been reading r.a.c.  for a few years now, on and off, and discussion of
course has periodically come up regarding splitting the newsgroup.

Please understand I enter this discussion with the utmost trepidation and
without my normal assertiveness, but it seems to me that the following is
true:

(1) A significant number of people consider the r.a.c bandwidth excessive
and the signal-to-noise ratio below their personal tolerance threshold.

(2) The objectives for dividing a newsgroup along a given set of lines would
seem to be:

    a) Crosstalk is minimized.  All but some small fraction of existing
        posts would naturally fall into one or another new newsgroup.

    b) Many readers would experience convenience from being able to
        disregard a large section of the bandwidth.

        [Kill files are not the preferred method of achieving this.  If
        they were, there would be no need for newsgroup divisions at all;
        kill files and descriptive subject lines would be sufficient.
        Newsgroup divisions are a resource;  do not underuse them.]

    c) Those who currently read all or most of the current bandwidth are
        assumed to intend to subscribe to all or most of the groups created
        by the split.

(3) At least 95%, probably significantly more, of the articles posted to
r.a.c can be properly characterized by one of three terms in the header:
MARVEL, DC, and INDEPENDENT (by the way, people *use* these quasi-newsgroup
statements in the subject header most of the time.) Perhaps CEREBUS
qualifies as a major split header, perhaps not.

(4) The objections I have seen raised to division along the above lines
befuddle me.  They seem to be:

    a) "The indy fans are snobs and look down on us Marvel/DCers."

        So what?  Let them look down their noses.  If they're that
        unpleasant, give them their own newsgroup and they'll go away.

    b) "I read some Marvel, some DC and some indies.  I'd have to read all
        three groups."

        You read the whole bandwidth now.  You would subscribe to the whole
        r.a.c.* bandwidth were it to split.  In what way does a split
        inconvenience you?

    c) "There's a lot of crosstalk that would get misfiled or lost in a
        split."

        I think you have rec.games.frp on the brain.  Crosstalk between
        Marvel and DC?  The last crossover was in 1982.

    d) "No, really, Joe Artist does work for both Marvel and DC.  How will
        we talk about him?  And how will we run a poll for 'favorite
        comic'?"

        First of all, most talk is about the work, not the artist.  Talk
        about Next Men in r.a.c.indy and She-Hulk in r.a.c.marvel.  If you
        actually want to ask who John Byrne is sleeping with these days, or
        if you want to take a poll of all comics readers, crosspost.  (Gasp!
        Horrors!)  :-)

    e) "Sandman would get tossed in with all that DC 'trash,' and Malibu
        would be discussed among the 'lofty' Independents."

        And Watchmen is discussed in r.a.c while Phule's Company gets
        discussed in rec.arts.sf.something.  So what?  Sandman fans would at
        least not have to sort through tons of X-* if they did not also read
        Marvel.

    f) "It would be better to split this as 'superheroes' and 'everything
        else'.  We'd split people better that way."

        Where would Sandman go?  How about Doom Patrol?  Shade?  Green
        Arrow?  Next Men?  Ironwood?  Marvel's upcoming "cops" book?  I'm
        sure any given comics fan could answer those questions.  I'm also
        sure there could be nothing even remotely resembling consensus.
        This violates the precept that there should be, in nearly all cases,
        a clear distinction of where a given post should be placed.  You're
        asking for trouble, rec.arts.comics.superheroes backers.

        Notice that no one starts their posts with Subject: SUPERHEROES: or
        Subject: SF:.  The natural inclination is to post Subject: MARVEL:
        or Subject: DC:.  There might be a reason.  Think about it.

    g) "*I* have a newsreader whose killfile will do everything but wipe my
        nose for me.  Go away with your nasty split talk, you brute you."

        My response: Some of us stick-and-fire primitives use the net too.
        My newsreader has neither killfiles nor "mark as unread"
        capabilities.

(5) There've been twenty Star Wars posts on r.a.c in the last forty-eight
hours that have nothing to do with Dark Empire.  Take another look at this
pristine, virgin system that you're defending against the godless hordes of
splitters.

Such are my thoughts.  Please, please, please, don't make me responsible for
lighting a conflagration.  If you have something intelligent to respond,
post it.  If you feel personally offended by something I've said, /dev/null
it or, if you must, vent your spleen via email.  Also, feel free to email me
(as well as post) split objections I have not covered here;  I am interested
in reasoned debate and do not read this newsgroup religiously.  I am willing
to be converted, if someone were to put forth an argument I did not feel I
could refute against splitting r.a.c.

Those who made it to the end here, thanks for your time spent on my words.

----------------
Al Petterson
al%calsci@gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com