FAQ Modification Project

2.  Character Posting On A.F.D.: Introduction
     Character posting is welcomed in this group as long as it is
dragon-friendly. Since a.f.d. is an unmoderated newsgroup (ie.
cheerfully uncensored anarchy), there are no current rules set in
stone regarding character posting format. However, this section
contains some guidelines you should consider when posting.

2-a.  I've already joined in; is it too late to read this?
     No; it will help keep you form making any "Netiquette" mistakes
with this newsgroup and give you some guidelines to post by. Most of
the information in this section is just a series of suggested
guidelines for posting and interacting with others on the a.f.d
newsgroup.

2-b.What is roleplaying?
     Roleplay is generally defined as the interaction of people who
are playing characters.  Do you remember playing 'let's pretend' as a
child?  It's sort of like that, although adult roleplayers are
generally a bit more serious about it, creating ongoing scenarios and
characters that can last for a much longer time and can seem somewhat
more three-dimensional (if sometimes just as unrealistic).

2-c.  Is this all roleplaying?
     Some individuals consider it roleplaying, and others don't.  Many
folks on the group are dragons in mind, spirit or body.  Thus, a.f.d
is not exactly a typical role-playing game or newsgroup.  Individuals
place a lot of thought and emotion into their posts. Please keep this
in mind when composing your posts. Due to the fact that individuals
are exposing their feelings to other readers of this group, you should
be careful of where you are stepping, so to speak, so that you don't
cause any bad feelings or flame wars and you don't discourage
individuals from reading or participating in the newsgroup.

2-d.  Do I need a dragon character to post?  
     Absolutely not. It may be hard to tell that by reading the 
group-it has, for many years, been dominated overwhelmingly by folks 
who post using dragon characters or as dragons.  But afd has, at one
time or another, had elves, humans, wolves, bats, robots, cats, dogs, 
and many other strange creatures in residence.  It is not necessary 
to post as a dragon, nor is it necessary to post anything but yourself 
if you don't want to.  95% of the population shares a general taboo 
against eating anything that talks back, and the rest only eat people 
in fun. Just let us know who and what you are, and we'll go with it.

2-e.  How do I start and introduce myself?
     Before posting to any news group, its always best to read it for
at least a few days to get the feel of it.
     First come up with a name, pseudonym or nickname. This can be your
birth name if you choose, or you can choose something else.  When
selecting a name you may wish to check the Quentinus Dragon
Description Website to make sure someone else isn't using that name,
though this is by no means a sure fire answer. This can be found at
the A.F.D. Web Site. (www.dragonfire.org).  Generally, though, as long
as someone else isn't using that name right now, it's probably fine;
it gets way too confusing of 2 different residents use the same name
simultaneously.  
     If you're looking for a character name, that can come from all 
sorts of places.  Many folks have found names in books or by splicing
together words or sounds, but go with whatever works for you.
     You may want to visit Wyrm's Dragon Code website and construct 
your own dragon code for signing your messages.  Basically, the dragon 
code is a shorthand description of you that gives others a lot of
information at a glance.  Many residents find these so helpful, they
stick them into special signature files that added to the end of every
post they send out.  It is also hugely helpful to fill out your own
form on the Quentinus Dragon Description Website, so as to organize
your background information (if you have any of note; many folks
don't) and description and to help other readers and posters to better
interact with you.  
     Next, you can post a message describing your arrival.  Some good
things to include are your name or dragon name, a description of
yourself, and a greeting.  A few people choose to jump straight into
replying, but most folks find it simpler to arrive formally and
receive the welcome and food. When describing your arrival there are
some things that should avoided, however.  
     For starters, you shouldn't arrive declaring to be king, master, 
or other such keeper of all dragons information, the universe, etc. are
usually either ignored or scoffed at. You will find there are a
multitude of different types of dragons and others who post from 
various different backgrounds and universes so it would be impossible
to be ruler of them all anyway. Try not to be someone who is
invincible to all things and always wins.  Those who need to present
themselves as invincible usually come off less nifty and more
insecure, anyway.  First and foremost, a.f.d is for discussion and
fellowship, not for power gamers' roleplaying.  
     Also, you should try not to arrive requiring assistance from other
dragons, such as being wounded or chased.  The reason behind this
suggestion is that there are periods when every new arriving dragon is
in some way in danger.  Some think that this  is a unique and
interesting way of introducing yourself, but many others have already
thought of it and it happens almost every week.  It also puts a bit of
a strain on your friendships to start in such an odd place.  If you'd
like to start a role play that involves that sort of plot device,
that's fine; but give us a chance to meet you on your own terms first.
The posters of a.f.d are friendly group and they will welcome you,
even if your arrival isn't an earthshaking event.
     Folks are not likely to object if you fall asleep at the end of 
your own arrival post, but it is something to be a bit wary of.  After 
all, while in real time a set of posts should happen over a few weeks, 
in a.f.d. time, they usually only take a few minutes.  You might sleep
through your own welcoming party.

2-f.  Nobody replied to my post! Does everyone hate me?
     No, they don't, and there are several possibilities for what
might be going on. The most likely is just that you haven't waited
long enough.  The messages from you will appear instantly on your own
news-system, but take quite a while to shuffle around the world.  Some
news readers won't receive it for a week or more.  The order in which
other servers receive posts differs from your server. Your server may
receive news posts before or long after other servers do.  As a
general rule of thumb, wait at least five days before giving up on
replies.  The usenet news network is not instant. Don't let it worry
you, it just happens.
     Another possibility is that your news-server isn't working. Find a
poster who seems to be pretty active at the moment, and email them
asking if they saw your post. If not they didn't, try sending it again
or talking with your local News Administrator.
     Newcomers are sometimes missed when a.f.d. receives high volumes 
of posts, particularly if several newcomers all arrive at the same time
(which is very common).  We have only so much energy, after all, and
many of us don't read everything that comes through.  Even if only a
few folks reply, don't assume it's because everyone else dislikes you;
many of them probably just didn't have much to say.
     You always can try posting again if your post seems to have been
missed.

2-g.  I want to do something that involves other individual's dragons!
Can I just type the whole thing up myself?
     There is one key rule here. Never act for someone else. Don't say
"[other person] does this", or "[other person] says", or anything
similar.  The other dragon or individual will decide what they do.
Don't make assumptions about what other posters will say or do, let
them do it themselves. Just finish your post at a suitable point and
wait for responses. This is one of the most important points to
remember when character posting to a.f.d.  After all, you wouldn't
want other people telling you what to do or how to react.
     If you need to include another poster, get their permission first, 
and be aware that others can join in if they choose, so you'll have to
include them in the story. Be creative; a good writer and story teller
can work around anything. Dramatic events have their place in place on
a.f.d., but it is far more often a place for discussion and relaxing
together.

2-h.  Can I post something while "out of character?"
     Yes, you can. Some of the common terms and phrases used when
posting out of character are "this is my human form saying" or "my
typist says" or even the simple "ooc".  This is generally used while
character-posting an event or remark.
     Even though much of what happens in a.f.d is character posting and
posting in nonhuman form, anyone is free just to post and discuss any
acceptable subject without character posting.  If you don't want to
make any great distinction (either if you don't roleplay a character
or you feel that you don't need to be distinguished from the character
right then), you can always just post whatever it was you wanted to
post, just as if you were writing an ordinary email.

2-i.  Can I have two characters?
     Feel free to create another dragon character; others have done it
in the past. However, please don't create a dragon for the specific
purpose of killing them off or something else nasty in a script you
are planning.  This will annoy and dishearten many of the readers and
posters.  Everyone hates to loose friends they've grown attached to,
even on the internet.
     You may also find it helpful to change your name in your post 
headers between the 2 characters, so that others can easily tell who is
speaking.

2-j.  I don't know who or what someone is!  Help!
     If you just want to know who and what someone is briefly and
quickly, try checking their posts for a dragon code.  This can give
you a lot of information right off the bat.  Wyrm's Dragon Code page
has translations of all of the tags and links to a couple of decoder
programs that others have written.
     If you need more detailed information about their life history,
background and physical descriptions, try the Quentinus Dragon
Description Web site.  Many dragons are listed there, especially those
who've been around for a long time.
     If you can't find the person in either reference documents, feel 
free to email the individual and ask. Both of the above reference 
documents are available through the a.f.d. web site.

2-k.  Are there any other general posting guidelines I should be aware
of?
     Yes.
       1) Keep your line lengths under 75 characters when making
posts. Most people use newsreaders that only display line widths of 80
characters. You may also want to use a fixed-width font like Courier
to keep your characters even.
       2) When replying to someone else's post, don't repost the whole
message. Most individuals reading the newsgroup have already read it,
and digging through the whole thing to find your reply is annoying.
But please do include some quoted text for context.  Edit the post
down to small sections that introduce your replies so readers will
know what you are talking about.  If you need to cut part of a
paragraph, make note of it (<snip> and its variants are traditional).
       3) Please don't reply to spam advertisements on the group.  It
is inevitable that the newsgroup receives some unwelcome
advertisements.  Some folks' servers have spam filtering, however, so
they don't normally see it.  When you reply to spam, even mocking it,
you mess with that filtering process so that a lot of people see spam
that they wouldn't have otherwise.  Also, the group's official topic
is 'subjects that are of interest to dragons'.  Thus, if we wish to
have a spammer removed for posting off-topic, we have to establish
that we have no interest in anything that spammer has to say.
       4) Please don't post private & personal email messages or
discussions to the newsgroup without consulting the other party.
       5) If you have a personal dispute with another individual, take
it to email.  	
       6) Ours is a community newsgroup, and watching people fight on
the group is like hearing folks scream at each other in the middle of
a crowded mall.  As such, please avoid posting personal insults or
flames.  If you are angry enough that you feel you cannot be civil
with someone, please either leave that thread (i.e. series of posts in
succession) or take the discussion to email.
       7) This is what is referred to as a 'family newsgroup', meaning
that it is meant to be acceptable viewing for minors.  Thus, we try
not to do or talk about anything really explicit on the group.  Also,
try not to use any foul language.  As a general rule of thumb, try not
to do anything that wouldn't fit under a movie's PG13 rating.  If you
would like to continue something into more adult territory, take it to
email.
       8) If you are dissatisfied with how something is working out on
a.f.d. or get into a personal dispute with someone, please don't
threaten to leave because this individual did something, especially if
you are planning on coming back.  This is called grandstanding, and is
a form of emotional blackmail.  If you really must leave and can't
work out your differences, please don't publicly place blame when you
leave.  Deliberately causing emotional strife on the newsgroup will
just end up hurting other friends that you have. It's unfair to
everyone else who reads a.f.d. to be pulled into your dispute.
       9) You can join into any post, but please be polite and
courteous. If you have joined the a.f.d newsgroup for the sole purpose
of causing problems, you will largely be ignored and someone will
contact your system administrator.
-----------------------

dester'edra

Pyros:

general, including 2i - I agree with eliminating first-person references--the last sentence of 2i makes it sound like there's one individual moderator and/or administrator, which is not the case.  Changing it to a generic third-person reference would probably be better.

2c - I agree with your change, although someone who knows EP should probably try to contact and see if the website will be up, if someone else can take over the webmasterly duties, or if AFD should get a new official site.

2d - The DWC hasn't been visible as an official group as long as I've been here.  You might take out references to them but include something 
like "The residents will usually respond enthusiastically to a newbie post", etc.

Nargus:

2h: Quentinus Dragon Description, I haven't heard this site name in two years I've been Here. Is this website still opened?

Eredien:

2h: I've been here going on five years now, and that website was starting to show its age even befoe that...I don't even know if it's still around.