Subject: [ADMIN] The Dragons Inn F.A.Q. From: "Jeff A. Simon" Date: 7/31/98 3:34 PM Pacific Daylight Time Message-id: <35C246DF.A6A2BD80@home.com> FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ALT.PUB.DRAGONS-INN "Let us go forth, the tellers of tales, and have no fears. Everything exists, everything is real, And the Earth is only a little dust under our feet." -- Yeats Last Update: June 27th, 1998 ADMINISTRATIVE: Deleted Alfvaen's page from mention in the FAQ, as it no longer seems to exist. If I am informed otherwise, I will restore it. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+- This Document is intended to answer introductory questions to the Newsgroup Alt.Pub.Dragons-Inn (APDI). It is designed as a guideline and aid to assist new writers in writing their own A.P.D.I. stories and begin posting them to the site without alienating the other authors or contradicting the charter of the group. It is also intended to provide pointers towards the various A.P.D.I. resources, including supplemental FAQs, various homepages and archives, and helpful people who may be able to answer some of your questions. -- OUTLINE ======= A. Introduction B. Rules 1. No Flaming 2. No Stats 3. No Interference 4. No Limits 5. No Mass Destruction 6. No Violence in the Inn 7. No Control 8. No Trash 9. No Stereotypes 10. No Bogus User-ID's C. Questions: 1. How do I "play"? 2. What is this newsgroup? 3. What stops people from creating ultra-powerful characters? 4. Who is in control? 5. What is a "thread"? 6. How do I start? 7. How do I join a thread? Do I just jump in? 8. How do I get all of the previous stories in one of the threads? 9. How can I use other characters in my posts? 10. Who is ADMIN? 11. Why is there an alt.dragons-inn and alt.pub.dragons-inn? 12. Who is the "final judge" when a conflict arises between writers? 13. Who the *hell* do you think you are to tell me all of this? 14. Why should I bother being polite? D. Generica E. Main and Secondary Characters F. Time in the Inn G. Miscellaneous H. Appendices 1. AMDIN Services And Their Keepers 2. Archive Sites For APDI Material 3. WWW Pages For APDI 4. About The Frequently Asked Questions List 5. Origin Of APDI 6. Helpful People 7. Copyright Information I. Dedication -+-+-+-+-+-+-+- A. Introduction =============== Written by "The Dreamer" with modifications by "Outlander": The original concept of alt.pub.dragons-inn (APDI) was to create a newsgroup to stage the beginnings of play-by-e-mail games. After much argument over the name and the "rules", the Powers That Be (tm) decided to let us have the group. Since its creation (sometime around May 12th, 1992) APDI has evolved into its present form. In short, APDI is a newsgroup where authors get together and write a collective story. The setting of this story is in or near the city of Generica (named because it is a generic fantasy setting, big enough to share). Each author has their own character(s) who interact with the characters of other people or with the same author's minor characters. The resulting story is the heart of Dragon's Inn. The main story is broken into large chunks called "threads". These threads are designated by a prefix in brackets. An example is the [KQ] thread, which dealt with the Kron Questors. This part of the collective story dealt with a captain of the guard named Kron and his friends. They walked around Generica looking for clues that eventually lead them to Kron's missing sister. After finding his sister (and killing her), they disbanded and went on to other threads. B. Rules ======== 1) NO FLAMING. This group is for entertainment. If you have a problem with something that someone is writing, send them e-mail. If you have a major problem with someone's writing, you should e-mail other long-standing members of the group to discuss appropriate action. Please avoid sarcasm...many people take their writing very seriously. 2) NO STATS. Please don't post the statistics of your characters to the group. This is a group-story, not a war game. If someone is interested in your character's stats, send them via e-mail. 3) NO INTERFERENCE. Please do not interfere with the writings of people in another thread. If they are planning a six-month series of posts and you destroy their plot in week one, they are going to be a little less than grateful. All attempts to interfere with a thread will be ignored. If you have an idea for how your character could help out in the thread, send e-mail to one of its authors. Note that certain "powers" like mind-reading and magical detections could be constrewed as interference if the abilities of your characters are limiting the plot line of another writer. Please be careful. 4) NO LIMITS. There is no maximum post frequency. Post often, just make sure that you don't replace quality with quantity. 5) NO MASS DESTRUCTION. Please don't eat the city or destroy the universe. Don't wander around the city killing random peasants. Resorting to pure violence to get attention is a mark of poor writing. This is one of the few plot-limiting rules, but we need it to maintain a workable shared-space. 6) NO VIOLENCE IN THE INN. The inn has many magical properties. One of these is an anti-violence field. All violations of this rule will be treated as if they never happened. 7) NO CONTROL. No one has the right to take over the city and start telling the other authors what they can and can't do. As long as people obey the rules and show a little consideration there is no need. 8) NO TRASH. Okay, so this is more of a suggestion than a true rule. Please look at your work before posting it. If you really want people to read your writing, then is should be in a pleasant format. A post with 70 characters per line, neat margins, good grammar, and correct spelling is much more enjoyable to read than a draft-quality work. This may require some behind-the-scenes e-mail between authors, but this small effort pays off in the long run. 9) NO STEREOTYPES. We have seen quite enough sword-swinging warriors, ultra-powerful mages, and stealthy-beyond-stealth thieves. Characters in a story need personalities. This includes quirks, weaknesses, passions, moods, and opinions on matters of importance. Your character should have a reason behind everything that he/she/it does. Like an ordinary person, they will sometimes give in to temptation, catch a cold, feel like sleeping in, fall in love, make mistakes, and generally bumble through life. 10) NO BOGUS USER-ID'S. If you are going to post ANYTHING to APDI, please use a valid user-id and full internet address. This should look something like "asg102@psuvm.psu.edu". If you post and your address is just "asg102", then there is a problem...my node doesn't know what node you are at, so mail won't go through. If your address is "your-uid@psuvm.psu.edu", then my computer knows the node, but can't tell you from anyone else at your location. Addresses should be personalized and specific. I have written this into the FAQ because it has been happening more and more often (mainly with OSU). C. Questions =========== Q: How do I play? A: There is nothing to "play" this is a collective story, NOT a game. Q: What is this newsgroup? A: A setting where a bunch of people get together and write a collective story, broken into sub-stories called "threads". Q: What stops people from creating ultra-powerful characters? A: Nothing, BUT (and this is a MAJOR point), if you create someone who can do anything he/she/it wants with no limits, you will not be able to write a story with a good plot. How can you develop a plot without a conflict? There is also the matter of interaction with other characters. No one will want to write a story with you if your characters are all-powerful. It simply isn't interesting or fun in any way. Q: Who is in control? A: No one and everyone. You have control over the characters that you write. Your actions will not be moderated by any super-user. This could change if you are involved in an organized thread (one person may be put in charge of the plot). Q: What is a "thread"? A: A thread is a way to identify a certain set of posts that are related. You can tell if a post belongs to a thread because it will have a thread title in brackets along with the title of the post. For example, the post titled "[ELR] Night Swimming" belongs to the "Erik-Lex Romance" thread [ELR] and was about surfing (the way wizards would do it). Another one, "[ELR] The Proposal" belongs to the same thread and is about the same characters...like another small chapter in the [ELR] story. Q: How do I start? A: There are a couple of options here: 1. Read the group for a while. If you don't have the time to read all the posts, then follow one of the threads. Threads are signified by a prefix in brackets : [L&S] and [Roaming] are examples. One thread will be easier to follow since it will have a more narrowed list of characters and a consistent setting and tone. 2. Come up with a character and introduce him/her/it to the inn or a similar setting. Be sure to include a physical description and a hint of the character's abilities. Clarify the setting that your character is in so the other authors know if their people are in the same area as yours. 3. The Story Buyer. There is a small person who works out of the Dragon's Inn by the name of A'arden. A'arden is a businessman from another world, a world with an unquenchable desire to hear stories. You can have your character walk into the inn, walk over to his table, and tell A'arden the story that you want to tell. The following is a description of A'arden by his creator Steve Hutchison" A'arden is exactly what he seems -- a story buyer. He will listen to anyone's story, and he'll supply beer or wine or food, whatever they need to make them comfortable enough to tell their tale. His staff is made of people who look like him, so anyone who really wants to sell their tale can find someone to listen. His purpose in the Inn is to provide writers with someone to talk to, so new writers or people who aren't in threads at the time, can still have someone to tell their stories to. Don't worry about mis-writing him. He's just a small polite fellow who will listen to what you tell him, and ask the right questions, and he never offers advice, or judgement, or commentary, unless you ask him (and you have to write it yourself!) He doesn't care about the contents of the story you tell him, but it has to be your own story to tell -- you can't sell him someone else's tale. Q: How do I get all of the previous stories in one of the threads? A: Many authors save most or all of their posts, usually on their host system or on disk. Contact one of the authors in a thread and ask them for a copy of relevant posts or some background material. I'm sure they would be happy to oblige. Q: How do I join a thread? Do I just jump in? A: Depends :) Sometimes a free for all, or invitation is made, eg. people asking for help from no-one in particular, or the fight to save the Inn, HOWEVER, in the majority of cases, and to avoid being ignored, it is probably best to email the instigator of the thread and say that you want in, plus maybe outline your suggestions for joining. This not only stops toes being stepped on, but it also means that a character already involved in the thread can pull your character in, rather than you having to jump in and hope for the best. If you don't know who started a thread, mail someone in it and ask them who you should ask. Q: How can I use other characters in my post? A: Under NO circumstances should you interfere with another character UNLESS it is only conversation level (including passing notes, trinkets, name-dropping etc.) OR you are invited to in a post, OR you tee up something via email OR there is a way out provided where nothing effectively happened. There is a very fuzzy line here and while different people will react in different ways, it is better to err on the side of caution. Q: Who is ADMIN? A: ADMIN stands for ADMINistration - it's for out of story announcements news or discussion. It is used in the subject line to mark it as such. ADMIN postings should be kept to a minimum and posted only as necessary with the exception of the regular ADMIN reference postings (like the FAQ). Q: Why is there an alt.dragons-inn and an alt.pub.dragons-inn? A: A few years back, when the group was still just an idea and we were still arguing about the official name, someone jumped the gun and created "alt.dragons-inn" which only showed up at a few sites. A few days later, a second "alt.games.dragons-inn" was created and generally ignored. Finally, we settled on a name and created "alt.pub.dragons-inn". However, the original groups remained at certain sites and developed their own set of fans, rules, and styles. One sect of alt.dragons-inn was renamed "alt.pub.cloven-shield" but the original dragons-inn remains intact. Q: Who is the "final judge" when a conflict arises between writers? A: This is an interesting question. Alt.Pub.Dragons-Inn is an unmoderated newsgroup, so no one has absolute authority over what a contributor may or may not post, or who is right and who is wrong when it comes to a dispute between writers. In the end, this place is a community. You will be judged by your peers. In an emergency, or where major policy decisions are concerned, the matter will be put to a vote among those authors who are considered mainstays of the group. This is mostly the group of FAQ and homepage keepers, along with the authors that have been here since the formation of the newsgroup. Q: Who the hell do you think you are to tell us all this!? A: Ms. Manners. :) As has been pointed out by other people, the quality of stories being developed in this group are excellent and the secret is a lot of behind-the-scenes work being done in email. Respect for one another's characters and not wanting to hog the limelight make for threads that are enjoyed by all involved. If you want a little ego-tripping, go on a solo adventure, or tell a story in the Inn. Q: Why should I bother being polite? A: Because many of us have lived, laughed, loved, and died in this electronic landscape. As a result, we get a little miffed when someone stomps through our beloved Generica smashing buildings and shooting townsfolk. Please take a little extra time and write with consideration. =========== D. Generica =========== There are some more extensive guides to Generica available as regular postings in a.p.d-i. (See appendices.) This is a brief guide of Generica. Extracted from a posting by NightStalker. Version 2.1 12.5.92 (May 12, 1992) Generica, is a generic fantasy city. It is approximately Renaissance. Technology excludes gunpowder, but includes glass cutting, crossbows and sundials. It is a city state, run by Melwis the Wise, a merchant. It is a traders' city, on a very busy trade route by land, river and sea. It is run by merchant families, and there are many guilds of various descriptions. It is not inherently corrupt, but money will get you far in this city, and there is not much that you can't buy. By day it is bustling with trade, by night there is much action, festivities and so on. In some areas, there is much evil. It is your average fantasy city. Being on a prime trade route means that you can come from almost anywhere, and can add on your campaign to the world in which generica is as you like. Even portal connections from other prime material plane worlds (to borrow from AD&D language), are allowed. Also as a result, many religions are found, of any pantheon you can think of, and they won't interfere (except tell that to the followers). Magic is active in many forms. Many races also pass through. However, there are many of the populace who are ignorant to the wider world, especially those in the outlying farmlands. Generica is on a west coast. Think of the position something similar to where Italy is on the earth. Warm summers and cold winters. Across the sea to the west (The Great Blue, as it is called), is the Great Western Isle, where magic abounds and strange things happen. (Note that The Great Western Isle is (tm) of the founder of the group, as are the exploits of certain characters. See below.) The mists which take travelers to Ravenloft can swirl here. Also, to the west passing from the mountains, under the Great Forest, and even to the city sewer system itself, is the Underwurlde. The Underwurlde is an extensive system of grotto, caves and so on, which travel fro hundreds of miles. There is said to be a whole city in a large, magic grotto, itself called The Underwurlde, where many dark and evil races dwell. E. Main and Secondary Characters (SCs) ======================================== Needless to say there must be bad guys in any story. These are generally SCs. SC's are free for use by any player in a.p.d-i, within some constraints. Some SCs are free for use but are not permitted to be killed, some should only be used after seeking permission from their originator via E-Mail. It is dependant on the SC in question. SCs are usually introduced during some character interactions, and clarified with either an ADMIN posting, or and ADMIN paragraph in the original posting. These should give an idea of their general ability, their character (if this is not already clear) and conditions of use. F. Time in the Inn ================== Due to the non-instantaneous distribution of news, it is inevitable that some postings will conflict, and the time stream will become tangled. There have been several suggestions as to why (from the characters point of view) this happens: - The overwhelming presence and concentration of magic items has distorted the time stream itself. - A future time machine was accidentally lost in the past (ie the present). Apologies have been made for inconvenience. By far the best suggestion is that the resolving the timeline to make sense is just part of the fun. Needless to say this means some actions will need to be retracted, or clarified. This will rarely create any problems, but you should be aware that everyone else is aware that the time stream is sometimes irregular. :) G. Miscellaneous ================= Due to the large number of 'dark, hooded' characters in earlier postings, and the high demand for corners, the inn has approximately 19 corners. This is a purely local phenomenon. Possibly it is related to the twisted time stream. :) Please make sure that your postings are correctly formatted, ie they do not exceed 70 characters in line length. While many people have screens capable of supporting >80 columns, most are using terminals incapable of this. It can lead to the message wrapping in a peculiar manner, or worse, bunching at the end of the screen, totally losing the message. If you thought it worth posting, we want to read it. Bad message format can be caused by using word-processors which do not save with hard returns. Most Unix text editors will insert hard returns at the end of the line. H. Appendices ============= 1. ADMIN Services & Their Keepers: ---------------------------------- MiniFAQ (for newcomers): ...sage - Pared down version of the FAQ for people new to APD-I - not regularly posted, please request The Directory of Generica: "Outlander" - The Directory of Persons of Importance in Generica - 1st Friday of each month, with bi-weekly mini-updates (This has been suspended until activity on the group increases) Character Summaries List: S. Boardman - Descriptions of the characters you meet in APD-I Tourists Guide to Generica: Kent Peterson - Descriptions of the places / buildings / streets of Generica Bulletin Board: ...sage - Notices from characters to other characters in the Dragon's Inn - not regularly posted, please request Atlas of the Known Lands: ...sage - Descriptions of the cities, countries and features of Nexus - not regularly posted, please request History of Nexus: A. Smith - what has happened in times of yore (in chronological order) - posted monthly, on or about the first weekend Mage Guild FAQ: Kelly J. Cooper - Description of the Mage Guild, its politics and its many NPCs 2. Archive Sites For APD-I Material ----------------------------------- - This archive is currently being kept by Steve Hutchison. It has not yet been made available for downloading via telnet or web browser, but hopefully it will be before much longer. You can find various threads at the homepages of the various authors. 3. WWW Pages For APD-I ---------------------- - Steve Hutchison (hutch@agora.rdrop.com) http://www.rdrop.com/~hutch - Patrick Visel (pvisel@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) http://aleph.lib.ohio-state.edu/www/APDI.html - Corey Venour (C.Venour@cit.gu.edu.au) http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~cvenour/dragons-inn/ - Stiltman (stiltman@teleport.com) http://www.teleport.com/~stiltman/stiltman.html - Kelly J. Cooper (kjc@apocalypse.org)List. http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/kjc/dragon.html 4. Frequently Asked Questions List. ------------------------------------ Now currently being updated by "Outlander" With help from: Andrew Solberg Steve Hutchison Stiltman Tanya Olsen Any mistakes or misinformation are my fault. Unless I can work out someone else to blame. 5. Alt.Pub.Dragons-Inn. ------------------------ Alt.Pub.Dragons-Inn was originally conceived and supported through formation by: The NightStalker 6. Helpful People ------------------ Some friendly people have volunteered to answer any additional questions you might have: Outlander Andrew Solberg Stiltman Tanya Olsen Steve Hutchison Spider Boardman ...sage Remember, all of these people have real lives as well, so it may take them a couple of days to get back to you. Be patient and if you do not get a response, try one of the other addresses. Thanks to those who have volunteered to answer questions. If you would like to be added to this list, just eMAIL me. 7. Copyright Information (written by The Dreamer) ------------------------ This is a general summary of copyright information. I only claim that it applies to people in the United States. Copyright laws in other countries may vary greatly. However, from what I have heard, most countries have the same general guidelines. In the USA, anything you write is automatically copyrighted as soon as it's fixed in a tangible medium of expression. This specifically includes electronic media such as a file on a computer. This means that as soon as you send something across the net, it is copyrighted to you. While a copyright notice is not necessary, you can't collect statutory damages without one. A copyright notice consists of "Copyright, ". Additional information can be included such as the origin of the post or thanks to people who helped. The phrase "All Rights Reserved" can be included and has some legal effect. When in doubt, include it. The word "copyright" can be replaced with a "c" inside a complete circle. The common computer abbreviation "(C)" currently has no legal standing. In case you decide to prosecute someone for copyright infringement, you need to have the copyrighted material in question OFFICIALLY copyrighted by sending a notarized copy to the appropriate government office in DC. There is set of "Fair Use" laws which state that someone may use parts of your post to make "critical commentary". Before you can really do anything to someone who you feel has violated your copy rights, you have to prove that they did so with malicious intent. A common defense is for the violator to say that he/she didn't know that the material was copyrighted. This is defense is eliminated by the inclusion of the copyright notice. If you want more information on copyrights, contact me (The Dreamer), a copyright lawyer, or the United States Copyright Office (202) 707-3000. Note: I am not a lawyer. What I have presented here is not to be considered legal advice, just a short summary of information I have gathered on copyrights. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+- -- End FAQ `'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,. I. This FAQ is dedicated to: - All the hard working authors of our collective delusion - Nightstalker, without whom this group would not exist - The Dreamer, one of the founders of the group, the author of this FAQ, and the man who faithfully maintained it for a very long time. Thanks Dream. `'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,. A