From: R Andrew Hayden <rahayden@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Subject: BITNET list not in FRP FAQ
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Originator: cwatters@top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Reply-To: rahayden@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 03:44:16 GMT


At HEARN.BITNET, I am the owner of the SHADOWTK list (short for
ShadowTalk).  SHADOWTK is a fictional "bbs" for the shadowrun universe.

Actually, the best thing for me to do is to include the FAQ.  It will
alswer most of your questions about it.  If you have any other questions,
please don't hesitate to ask.

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Frequently Asked Questions for SHADOWTK@HEARN.BITNET
Version 0.2  (11-03-92)

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1.  What is SHADOWTK
2.  What can be posted (and what can't)?
3.  What is the posting format?
4.  How can I use SHADOWTK in my own games?
5.  Where can I get past logs of discussions?
6.  What are some other interesting/important LISTSERV commands? 
7.  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 2053 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 Shadowrun.  At times there may be some
cross-over between SHADOWRN and SHADOWTK, and that is fine.

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2.  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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3.  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:

>>>>>[Text to be discussed]<<<<<
        --  ID < Time / Date >

Where:
        ID =  Your LTG identification.  Please use only one and not
              a herd of them in order to avoid confusion.
      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 2053 during 1992)

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.  (see questions #5 and #6)

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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4.  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.

There is a myrid of possibilities.

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5.  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@HEARN.  You should get a response in a little
while that lists all of the files available.

The log files will be named 'SHADOWTK LOGyymm', where 'yy' is the
year of the file and 'mm' is the month. 

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
LOG9211).  After a bit, you should receive that file in the mail.

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6.  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 you 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.

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

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 7.  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 #3.  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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8.  There is no number eight.


The End


]> And a rock feels no pain            + Robert Hayden                     <]
]> And an island never cries           +                                   <]
]>            -----                    +    rahayden@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu  <]
]>      Question Authority             +    aq650@slc4.INS.CWRU.Edu        <]

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce,news.answers