Path: alphanet.ch!imp.ch!news.uni-stuttgart.de!news.belwue.de!zib-berlin.de!zrz.TU-Berlin.DE!netmbx.de!Germany.EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!pipex!uunet!hearye.mlb.semi.harris.com!jabba.ess.harris.com!dr3w!smccoy From: smccoy@dr3w.ess.harris.com (Cheshire Cat) Newsgroups: alt.romance.chat Subject: alt.romance.chat FAQ Date: 31 Jan 1995 13:10:52 GMT Organization: Harris Corp. Information Systems Division Lines: 240 Distribution: world Message-ID: <3glcst$n9p@jabba.ess.harris.com> Reply-To: smccoy@dr3w.ess.harris.com NNTP-Posting-Host: dr3w.ess.harris.com Keywords: faq X-Newsreader: mxrn 6.18-30 Archive-name: not yet determined Posting-frequency: twice a month Last-modified: Thu Jan 19 14:10:47 EST 1995 FAQ: Alt.Romance.Chat Cheshire Cat smccoy@dr3w.ess.harris.com Changes: - None. ------------------------------ Subject: 1. Introduction This FAQ contains answers to some common questions about ARC. It provides a pretty good introduction to the group, so please take a moment to read it. ------------------------------ Subject: 2. Table of contents 1. Introduction 2. Table of Contents 3. What is this thang called 'alt.romance.chat'? 4. Should I post personal ads to ARC? 5. "E-mail me" and "I want to chat" posts in ARC. NO! 6. No? But you said this was a place for meeting people!!! 7. Are these people serious? 8. What is the RFA? And how do I get an 'official' title? 9. That last message was really stupid. Should I flame? 10. I want to talk dirty. Should I do that in ARC? 11. How come everybody seems to know everybody else? 12. Hey! That last post had nothing to do with ARC! 13. What's the difference between ARC and alt.romance? 14. Where can I get more information on the USENET? 15. Now what? ------------------------------ Subject: 3. What is this thang called 'alt.romance.chat'? Alt.romance.chat is nominally dedicated to questions, advice, poems, stories, anecdotes, ruminations, etc., regarding "romance." Romance is probably undefinable, so don't worry about any ARC.accepted.norms... There aren't any. (However, there are Rip's, Rob's, and Ross's, and more than a few cats around here. But no Norms. And don't ask about grog!) ------------------------------ Subject: 4. Should I post personal ads to ARC? NO! Be aware that there are other groups that are appropriate for that type of posting. For example, if you're trying to meet people via the net like the personal ads in newspapers, check out the alt.personals tree. In other instances, some groups that may be more appropriate are alt.romance, soc.penpals, and soc.singles. If you're in doubt, check out the FAQs for these groups. They can be found on RTFM.MIT.EDU, and accessed via anonymous ftp. While you're there, read a copy of the Netiquette Guide. The net will thank you. (And so will your mother -- do you have clean underwear on?) ------------------------------ Subject: 5. "E-mail me" and "I want to chat" posts in ARC. NO! With regular frequency, we get posts along the lines of "e-mail me", or "I want to chat", mostly from newlings. Please don't post this sort of thing to ARC. If you want an e-mail penpal, try soc.penpals. If you're looking for an e-mail friend in ARC, lurk for a while. Read the posts. Get a feel for the personalities. Then, ask someone directly, in e-mail. (I said "feel for the personalities", not "feel the persons"! Sheesh! You people!) ------------------------------ Subject: 6. No? But you said this was a place for meeting people!!! It is. However, like any group or party, there are certain conventions that are really just common courtesy. For example, do you usually walk up to a group of strangers at a party and say "Hi! I'm a SWM ISO DHF for wild, frenzied sex"??? If you do, then you need some serious help, and ARC is not the place to get that help. If you want to meet the ARC.folk, just hang around for a while. Follow the threads. Make a comment or two about a thread. Start your own thread. Ask a question about romance or love or relationships that has been bothering you for as long as you knew what romance or love or relationships were. Or better yet, start a net.food-fight! (Speaking of which, have you seen the Super-Pie-O-Matic 2000?!?!? No??? *SPLOOSH* Now you have!!) ------------------------------ Subject: 7. Are these people serious? Much Silliness and other OddUnRomanceRelated conversation goes on here. That's why it's a *.*.CHAT group. Folks who lurk or post in ARC might be joined by the common thread of "romance," but it's also something of a social contact arena. However, ARC is not an IRC or MUSH or a MUD or a MOO area. If that's what you want, you need to look elsewhere. (And you'll probably find that one blue sock you've been missing all these years, too!) ------------------------------ Subject: 8. What is the RFA? And how do I get an 'official' title? RFA is a subset of the people who read and/or post to ARC. RFA stands for RomanticFiresideAssociation. To join, all you have to do is post a story/poem/anecdote involving a) a fire and b) romance, and, if you want, choose a title afterwards. Check with the RFA Prez (currently, Mary Epperson at gemr@netcom.com) to make sure a title hasn't already been reserved. All this voting stuff is really a formality since people are busy; if you take the plunge, you're in. Don't be miffed if people don't respond; they're often busy and some sites don't get all the messages. ------------------------------ Subject: 9. That last message was really stupid. Should I flame? No! Take a deep breath. Let it out. *phew* There is one norm of ARC we forgot to mention. DON'T FLAME. We take pride in keeping ARC as flame-free as possible, so as not to waste bandwidth or incite hard feelings. If you have a problem with someone here, take it to e-mail. Chances are, nobody else wants to read it. If you really can't contain yourself, follow-up to alt.flame. (And do something about your breath, will ya?) ------------------------------ Subject: 10. I want to talk dirty. Should I do that in ARC? Sex and violence. *sigh* We like to consider ARC part of the FamilyNet. We don't tend to be very profane, explicit, or perverse. That's what alt.sex, talk.bizzare, and other such places are for. ------------------------------ Subject: 11. How come everybody seems to know everybody else? Because we do! But think about it for a moment. If you don't say something, we don't know you're out there. You will also notice that the threads in the group tend to run in cycles. Oftentimes, a small group of ARC.folk appear to be dominating the postings. Don't worry. We're not ignoring you. If you feel left out, step up and say something. We don't bite (unless you ask very very politely!). ------------------------------ Subject: 12. Hey! That last post had nothing to do with ARC! Watch out for cross-posting. We sometimes are inflicted with flame-bait from other groups. Ignore them. They go away faster that way. Just pay attention to the newsgroups that you are posting or following-up to, and all of us will enjoy ARC that much more. Also, watch out for idiots who don't bother to read a newsgroup for a couple of weeks before they post. Ignore them. If you can't, send them a gentle e-mail note and point out that they made a mistake. Don't expect any gratitude, though. ------------------------------ Subject: 13. What's the difference between ARC and alt.romance? About four letters and a period. Actually, the difference is more a matter of attitude than anything else. Both groups tend to deal with similar subjects. However, in AR, you *are* likely to get flamed for having a problem with a relationship. ARC is much more friendly, but does drift off of the strictly 'romance' topic from time to time, with stories and poems and general silliness (that's why it was created in the first place). There are people who read both groups, and enjoy both. Others seem to think that one group is better than the other. *shrug* It takes all kinds. We should warn you though: cross-posting between AR and ARC is generally frowned-upon by some folks in AR. They seem to think we're inflicting ourselves on them. Go figure. ------------------------------ Subject: 14. Where can I get more information on the USENET? Glad you asked! You can anonymous ftp to one of the following: rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet-by-groups/news.announce.newusers ftp.uu.net:/usenet/news.answers and pick up a copy of the Netiquette Guide, as well as the other Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) lists that are there. Some suggested reading: How_to_find_the_right_place_to_post_(FAQ) A_Guide_to_Social_Newsgroups_and_Mailing_Lists A_Primer_on_How_to_Work_With_the_Usenet_Community Answers_to_Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Usenet Emily_Postnews_Answers_Your_Questions_on_Netiquette Hints_on_writing_style_for_Usenet Rules_for_posting_to_Usenet Anonymous_FTP:_Frequently_Asked_Questions_(FAQ)_List What_is_Usenet? What_is_Usenet?__A_second_opinion. USENET_Software:_History_and_Sources For Web access, some URLs are http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/bngusenet/news/announce/newusers/top.html ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.announce.newusers/ ------------------------------ Subject: 15. Now what? So, stay awhile and see the sights! I know there's a champagne jacuzzi around here, a vat full of chocolate (don't mind the cat hair -- it's a long story), a castle, some strawberry fields, a beer spring, grog's cave (be afraid, be very, very afraid!), and other places that I'm sure folks will be glad to take you to! If you want to talk to me, I'm under the ARC.couch, sleeping. ------------------------------ FAQ Contributors: Grog (fes9s@faraday.clas.virginia.edu) Ross Mair (rmair@nyx10.cs.du.edu) Cheshire Cat (smccoy@dr3w.ess.harris.com) -- Cheshire Cat Official Back Scratcher of the RFA Sartrean kiss -- a kiss that you worry yourself to death about even though it really doesn't matter anyway.