From asterphage@yahoo.com Wed Nov 29 12:46:33 2000 Path: news.bu.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!howland.erols.net!portc.blue.aol.com.MISMATCH!portc03.blue.aol.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!nntp2.deja.com!nnrp1.deja.com!not-for-mail From: Paul Segal Newsgroups: alt.toys.transformers Subject: Re: A question about posts that are allowed and posts that are not allowed. Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 16:15:19 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Before you buy. Lines: 108 Message-ID: <903a2f$33g$1@nnrp1.deja.com> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.98.142.130 X-Article-Creation-Date: Wed Nov 29 16:15:19 2000 GMT X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.01; Windows NT 5.0) X-Http-Proxy: 1.1 x71.deja.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 63.98.142.130 X-MyDeja-Info: XMYDJUIDasterphage Xref: news.bu.edu alt.toys.transformers:443654 In article , Aziraphale wrote: > So it is forbidden (or at least discouraged) to post OT posts, porn > messages, stupid ads, spam and binaries. > > Now is it forbidden to post some of the above when they have any > Transformer content? > > I mean, I suppose it's possible to post links to TF porn, or stories > with dubious content as long as you add SPOILER SPACE... The following is my opinion, and not necessarily the opinion of anyone else, or of alt.toys.transformers a community. Don't get people mad at you; that's the most important thing. The more people on the newsgroup are angry, the worse off the newsgroup is. I used a few examples below of things people posted that made lots of people mad; I don't mean to stir up finished conflicts, just to make the stuff I say relate more directly to what actually gets posted. Whether people think it's right or wrong to post certain things is irrelevant - it is indisputable that my examples made people angry, and my point is that trying to avoid making people angry should dictate what one should and shouldn't post. Don't post ads, don't post spam, those are general rules for newsgroups that aren't for selling stuff. No one minds if you post saying "I'm (selling/looking to buy/etc) so-and-so" but don't do it excessively, and crosspost it to alt.toys.transformers.marketplace, and if you want, to rec.toys.transformers.nmarketplace - you might have better luck on those groups. You're not allowed to post binaries on alt.toys.transformers. It doesn't matter if they're TF-related or not. What about TF porn?: Don't even think of it in terms of rules, or what's allowed and forbidden - just think in terms or peoples' reactions. If you post links to TF porn, then at least some people will get mad at you. If you post links to TF porn in a deceptive way, without explicitly stating that it's porn, then a lot of people will get mad at you. We don't need a hundred angry replies to your post - so say what it is. Don't be like TFFreak - make the subject of your message "Link to Transformers pornography" or something equally obvious - and yes, include spoiler space. The important thing in deciding what to post and what not to post is the effect it will have on the general state of the newsgroup. If it will get a lot of people mad, and cause a lot of pointless angry replies because of it, don't post it. If you do post objectionable content, make sure people know what it is before they get to the link or the actual content. Of course, if it's not Transformers-related, don't post it, not even if you see a girl on one of Howard Stern's tv shows that you think looks like Arcee. That would just be ridiculous. About OT posting: Always use the [OT] tag, in caps and surrounded by brackets, so people who don't want to read OT posts can killfile it. Try not to post OT too much, if you do. Some OT topics are better than others. Posts about non- TF transforming toys are almost always welcome, especially Japanese ones. It seems that a lot of people on a.t.t like Gundam, though some get annoyed at excessive Gundam discussion. Other giant robot series don't seem to be as popular - however, I don't remember any objections to the voluminous discussion of Escaflowne that was going on recently. Some other interests are common to many a.t.t regulars, like various toy lines, comics, and cartoons, but try not to post just about one of those things. If it relates to Transformers, or comes up in an on-topic discussion, it's fine. But as Brian Kilby said, starting five threads about X-Men in one day is unacceptable. And always use the [OT] tag, in caps and surrounded by brackets, so people can killfile it. Try not to use terms/abbreviations exclusive to something that's not Transformers - if you post a message about how your local Toys R Us got in the U.S. release of the Gundam Wing "Mobile Suit In Action!" figures, and you post "GW MSIAs sighted at TRU!", then most people will know that you found a toy at Toys R Us, but not everyone will know what a GW MSIA is, and therefore they won't know that the post is about Gundam until they read it. I don't think I've ever seen it done, but if someone used abbreviations exclusively (i.e. only writing "GW MSIA" and not the expanded form, and referring to individual Gundams as DS-H, WG, HA, etc) then someone might read the whole post without having any idea what it's about, just because they're not familiar with Gundam. If the poster took the effort to write things out and explain what they are in a few words, then people could get some more meaning out of an OT post even if they're not familiar with the topic of the post. In conclusion: Keep For Sale/Want To Buy posts brief. Don't post binaries. Try not to post porn. If you really must post objectionable content, put an accurate description in the subject and use spoiler space. Don't post OT much, use [OT] in your subject if you do, and describe things clearly in case people don't know much about the subject of your post. The preceding is my opinion, and not necessarily the opinion of anyone else, or of alt.toys.transformers a community. -- Paul Segal, star eater. "Here's hoping you don't become organic, squish squish, oops, too late." Rebel against Cheetor! asterphage@yahoo.com, jaskells@aol.com, ICQ# 24024819 http://www.geocities.com/asterphage (not much meaningful content yet)