From: David Ferris Subject: ADMIN: monthly FAQ posting (Hey! Read this!) I finally updated the Consim-L FAQ (bloody "real job", mutter mutter mutter) to include the up-to-date information on the list's new addresses and digest procedures. I also added these bits in a hopeful effort to save time in the long run: Under the "Q. What about flamewars?" section: "Subscribers who have been on Consim-L for several years will tell you that the list goes in cycles. Every few months or so a big 'flamewar' (a nasty on-line argument, usually off-topic, usually heated and emotional rather than cooly rational, and usually degenerating into personal attacks) will crop up. This is usually followed by someone (usually a subscriber who has just recently joined the list and doesn't recognize the cycle yet) suggesting that things are getting out of hand and the list should be moderated to prevent such nonsense in the future. This is inevitably followed by a bunch of responses about how the list has already voted against moderation, and everyone should just pipe down. Usually this ends with someone saying 'Didn't we just go over all this?'. Usually." ... And this paragraph, under the "Q. What's considered on-topic and off-topic?" section: "The list owners, and a majority of list members, have decided on several occaisions to stick with the unmoderated format for this mailing list, rather than having a moderator filter out off-topic and improper messages. The reasons for this are many, but chiefly it's because it is generally agreed that the open and frank discussions that are enjoyed by so many on Consim-L would be stifled and killed, as has happened on so many other mailing lists that switched to a moderated format, and that the purpose of Consim-L would be lost." DLF _____________________________________________________________________ David Ferris Technical Account Manager dferris@research.att.com CGS Computer Associates/AT&T Labs Research Room B221, 973-360-8664 http://www.research.att.com/info/dferris CONSIM-L FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Version 1.20 Last Updated: December 1, 1997 This FAQ will be circulated monthly on the mailing list, along with the list Charter. This is a "living" document, meaning its contents are open to discussion by the list members, and sections will be added, dropped, and changed as need be. As always, comments can be sent to the FAQ keeper: David Ferris (ferns1@aol.com). Questions and topics covered in this FAQ: * Accepted protocol for writing messages * Handling flamewars * Things that are on-topic and off-topic * Subscribing to (and unsubscribing from) the list * List archives * Digest mode * Temporarily stopping the messages * Web Grognards * List of abbreviations and acronyms Q. What are the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for message discourse on this mailing list? A. The following are "gentle suggestions" or guidelines for the use and enjoyment of the Consim-L mailing list, rather than hard and fast rules. Most of these guidelines have their roots in generally accepted Internet netiquette dating back to the early 1980's, some are specific to the circumstances of this mailing list. * Don't quote entire messages in your replies. Quote only short, concise passages (a few sentences or a short paragraph or two) that are pertinent to your reply. Cut out the rest, and mark the cut with [snip] or some such. Remember, you are only reminding the audience of the discussion, not repeating it in toto. By quoting the entire message, you are clogging the net (and everyone's mailbox) with unnecessary bulk. Every time you include the entire body of text of the message to which you're replying, hundreds of other list members think really unpleasant thoughts about your heritage. a. Resist the temptation to cut & paste your enemy's message out of context. b. Mark the quoted passages with some sort of special character at the beginning of every quoted line. It is very important that you clearly mark which passages are yours, and which were posted by someone else. If you don't clearly mark which sections are whose, it becomes impossible for readers to tell who is saying what and very difficult to follow the conversation. * It is considered bad form to criticize other posters for spelling and grammar. * Include your e-mail address in the body of your messages. Many e-mail programs strip the headers off incoming messages, meaning that someone may want to reply to you privately but won't be able to see your e-mail address if it is not included in the text of the message itself. * Check, double check, and triple check the "send to:" box (the e-mail address you're sending the message to) *before* you send each and every e-mail message. Make sure you don't send things that were meant to go to individual people to the entire mailing list, ESPECIALLY things like auction bids. * When using abbreviations and acronyms, even ones you think are common and well-known, spell them out at least once in your message for the benefit of newcomers to the conversation. There's nothing worse than being a FNG and having to PYHO trying to FO what some SM is talking about in a MSG full of YMUFA. IMHO. * Don't cross-post from things from unrelated mailing lists or Usenet groups and mark it "FYI". As Scott Adams points out in "Dilbert", people who forward unwanted material marked "FYI" to the rest of the world have way too much free time on their hands and should be killed. * Don't put attachments on messages sent to a mailing list. It can get screwed up going through certain types of mail gateways and firewalls and can screw up the digest format. * When the subject drifts from wherever it was originally, change the subject line to reflect the new shift. On the other hand, remember that many people now use e-mail readers that sort by thread, so it's usually not a good idea to change the subject line when it's already appropriate. * If you get the digest form of Consim-L and you're replying to a message, don't forget to update the subject line. By defaults it's "Re: CONSIM-L Digest - [date] to [date]", so you have to manually correct it. * Discussions on computer conflict games (historical or near-historical subject matter) should have a prefix of "COMP:" in the header. Other suggested prefixes are: "BOARD:" for boardgames "MIN:" for miniatures "HIST:" for interpreting past events "ASL:" for true fanatics :-) "ADMIN:" for dull messages like this one. * Remember that there are a bazillion different e-mail programs in the world, most of which do not work the same as yours, and that people have different levels of net access than you do. * Remember that this is an international mailing list, and not all of the members are from the same country as you. Nor are they all the same age group, religion, or political affiliation. Q. What about flamewars? A. When someone posts something that you think is complete idiocy, it is often best to totally ignore them. They may be "trolling for flames", that is, trying specifically to generate a heated response. By replying to their idiocy, you are feeding their need for negative attention, and they will want more. If you ignore them, they will be starved of the negative attention they desire, and they will either go away or learn to behave more appropriately. Subscribers who have been on Consim-L for several years will tell you that the list goes in cycles. Every few months or so a big "flamewar" (a nasty on-line argument, usually off-topic, usually heated and emotional rather than cooly rational, and usually degenerating into personal attacks) will crop up. This is usually followed by someone (usually a subscriber who has just recently joined the list and doesn't recognize the cycle yet) suggesting that things are getting out of hand and the list should be moderated to prevent such nonsense in the future. This is inevitably followed by a bunch of responses about how the list has already voted against moderation, and everyone should just pipe down. Usually this ends with someone saying "Didn't we just go over all this?". Usually. Q. What's considered on-topic and off-topic? A. This is an unmoderated list that covers quite a lot of subject matter territory. There are lots of people on this list with widely divergent interests that fall within the "conflict simulation" category, so quite often the subject matter will turn to things which are of no interest to you. All of us seem to define "off-topic" as "anything that I'm not interested in"; what you consider to be uninteresting and completely unrelated to wargaming may be fascinating and imminently on-topic to many other list members. Liberal use of the "Delete" key is recommended in these circumstances. The list owners, and a majority of list members, have decided on several occaisions to stick with the unmoderated format for this mailing list, rather than having a moderator filter out off-topic and improper messages. The reasons for this are many, but chiefly it's because it is generally agreed that the open and frank discussions that are enjoyed by so many on Consim-L would be stifled and killed, as has happened on so many other mailing lists that switched to a moderated format, and that the purpose of Consim-L would be lost. Q. How do I subscribe to the list? Later on, when I've recovered my senses, how do I unsubscribe? A. To subscribe to CONSIM-L, send just the message: subscribe consim-L [your@email.address] to: majordomo@halisp.net To unsubscribe from CONSIM-L, send just the message: unsubscribe consim-L [your@email.address] to: majordomo@halisp.net Q. How to I post messages to the list? A. Send e-mail to: consim-l@halisp.net Q. How do I get help information for using list commands? A. For a list of commands, send just the message: help to: majordomo@halisp.net Q. Are there any archives of the mailing list? A. Since June 2000 CONSIM-L is archived by Reference.COM: - Searchable archives for the lists are available at: http://www.halisp.net/listserv/consim-l Q. Does the list have a digest format, so I can get all the messages in one big daily file instead of a bunch of individual messages? A. To subscribe to the digest version of CONSIM-L, send just the message: subscribe consim-L-digest [your@email.address] to: majordomo@halisp.net To unsubscribe from f the digest version oCONSIM-L, send just the message: unsubscribe consim-L-digest [your@email.address] to: majordomo@halisp.net Q. I'm going on holiday next week and I don't want my cat reading my e-mail when I'm gone. Is there a way to put a temporarily hold on my subscription to Consim-L? A. Currently there isn't a NOMAIL option available to temporarily hold your messages, so you need to unsubscribe to the list before you leave and re-subscribe when you get back. Sorry 'bout that. Q. Is there a site on the World Wide Web for this stuff? A. There are quite a few excellent wargame-related web sites. The best place to start is Web Grognards at: http://grognard.com This site contains a wide array of information on games and game- related activities, and includes a list of related sites from which you can find the rest of the web's gaming resources. Q. What do those abbreviations mean? A. Here's a handy-dandy list: (Thanks to Andrew Webber and many others for help compiling the games list!) Frequently Seen Abbreviations and Acronyms Spotted on Consim-L: Common All-Around Internet Abbreviations & Acronyms: AFAIK = As Far As I Know BTW = By The Way DIY = Do It Yourself FWIW = For What It's Worth HAND = Have A Nice Day IIRC = If I Remember [or Recall] Correctly IMO = In My Opinion IMHO = In My Humble [or Honest] Opinion IMNSHO = In My Not So Humble Opinion ISTM = It Seems To Me JMO = Just My Opinion LOL = Laughing Out Loud OTOH = On The Other Hand PITA = Pain In The Ass POV = Point Of View ROTFL = Rolling On The Floor Laughing ROTFLMAO = Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off ROTFLOL = Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud RTF = Read the FAQ RTFM = Read The F***ing Manual SOP = Standard Operating Procedure TIA = Thanks In Advance TTFN = Ta Ta For Now WRT = With Regard To YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary Common Game-Related Acronyms: AAR = After Action Report CCG = Collectable Card Game CRT = Combat Results Table DRM = Die Roll Modifier FTF = Face-to-Face LARP = Live Action Role-Playing LOS = Line Of Sight OOB = Order Of Battle PBM, PBEM = Play-by-Mail, Play-by-E-Mail PFTGBPIA = Played a Few Turns, Got Bored, Put It Away RPG = Role-Playing Game TEC = Terrain Effects Chart VP = Victory Points ZOC = Zone of Control VWHQ: Virtual Wargamer's Headquarters (http://www.manzana.com/webx) WG: Web-Grognard (http://grognard.com) Military Acronyms: FNG = F***ing New Guy REMF = Rear Echelon Mother F***er TO&E = Table of Organization & Equipment Historical Acronyms: ACW = American Civil War AWI or ARW = American War of Independence or American Revolutionary War ECW = English Civil War RCW = Russian Civil War 7YW = Seven Years War 30YW = Thirty Years War Specific Game and Game Company Abbreviations and Acronyms: AH (or TAHGC), GMT, SPI, TSR, WOTC, XTR, 3W: various game companies past and present S&T = Strategy & Tactics magazine 3DoG = Three Days of Gettysburg 3R = Third Reich 8AF = 8th Air Force A3R = Advanced Third Reich A&A = Axis & Allies ADC = Aide de Camp AD&D = Advanced Dungeons & Dragons AoR = Age of Renaissance, Age of Reason, or Age of Rifles AQ or AQOTWDF = All Quiet On the Western Front AS = Achtung Spitfire! ASL = Advanced Squad Leader BfG = Battle for Germany BNA = Battle for North Africa BoB = Battle of Britain, or Bastogne or Bust CD = Command Decision Civ = Civilization CNA = Campaign for North Africa CWB = Civil War Brigade series DBA = De Bellis Antiquitatis DBM = De Bellis Multitudinus DBR = De Bellis Renaissance (?) DBW = De Bellis Whatever (refers to the entire DB* series) D&D = Dungeons & Dragons, or Death & Destruction D@K = Decision at Kasserine EatG = Enemy at the Gates EotMA = Empires of the Middle Ages ETO = European Theatre of Operations FL = Fateful Lightning GBACW = Great Battles of the American Civil War GBOH = Great Battles of History GCACW = Great Campaigns of the American Civil War HBN = Hell Before Night HBTLF = Home Before The Leaves Fall HOTT = Hordes Of The Things HOTW = History of the World HTTR = Highway to the Reich LotSM = Lords of the Sierra Madre MtG = Magic: the Gathering NaC = Napoleon at Chattanooga NB = Napoleon's Battles NBS = Napoleonic Brigade Series NLB = Napoleons Last Battles OCS = Operational Combat System OtR = Over the Reich PGG = Panzergruppe Guderian PitS = Panthers in the Snow PTO = Pacific Theatre of Operations PW = Pacific War ROTL = Rise of the Luftwaffe SB3 = Shipbase III SCS = Strategic Combat System SFB = Star Fleet Battles SL = Squad Leader TCS = Tactical Combat System TEM = The Europa Magazine TGWAS = The Great War at Sea TGWIE = The Great War in Europe TGWitNE The Great War in the Near East TITM = Tigers in the Mist TotP = Tigers on the Prowl TSS = Terrible Swift Sword VtW = From Valmy to Waterloo VvB = Vance von Borries (designer) WH40K or 40K = Warhammer 40,000 WIE = War In Europe WIF = World In Flames WITP = War In The Pacific WOT = Wave Of Terror WRG = Wargames Research Group WTP We The People WV = Wellington's Victory W@W = World at War Emoticons or "smilies", computerized facial expressions: :) :-) :-> 8-) :-P (many other variations) ;-) = Wink = Grin = Big Grin = Very Big Grin Keeper of the FAQ: David Ferris dferris@research.att.com or ferns1@aol.com NB Amended June 2000 with revised details of Consim-L by Alan Poulter