I'm not sure I should post this here, chances are someone already has. This will jog some AW-BW memories for some. I can't even remember who to credit for it, maybe someone will.
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So you've decided to wander into bigweek.
First things first. You aren't anything new or exciting. We don't care how long you've been flying, we don't care about your kill totals. Your seemingly fresh, inventive, and righteous viewpoints will likely be picked apart in a manner so vicious and rampant that vultures will find
it repulsive. We don't care what you do for a living. We don't care about your accomplishments within a game. This is an electronic roadkill session that never ends. It is a neighborhood bar recreated for a bad Sci-fi channel, late night, made for TV special. It never really
changes, it just gets an occasional new face. That being said, it's ground rules time.
1. Topics. Guns, God, and politics. I dare you to start a conversation on any of these three topics. You can argue all you want, your arguments have not only been heard before, they have been fought over like a WW1 battlefield. Healthy discussion of any and all topics is encouraged, but
don't be surprised when the flames start flying. (note: if you don't know what a flame is, RUN, don't walk, to the nearest exit. This isn't the place you want to be.) If you can't take a little drubbing now and then, this isn't the place for you. Your points will be countered, both
by closed minded folk who know they're right and you're wrong, As well as by open minded people who enjoy discussion. Idiots are encouraged to shoot their mouths off, and they usually do. Be prepared to defend every aspect of any topic you bring up. No one will say "You've got a point,
you're right, I'm wrong, I'll drop my arguments."
2. Posts. If you're here, you likely have some rudimentary knowledge of how to use a newsreader. Congratulations. However, you're not Jean-luc Picard just yet. HTML is a wonderful markup language, but it was not made for posting to newsgroups. HTML is consider a symptom of the
disease known as cluelessness. If your concepts don't stand up as plain text, Making them into red, 96 point wingdings won't help. As a matter of courtesy, outlook users who add everyone into their address book will be shot. It goes without saying virii and other bits of malicious code
will be reported to abuse and local authorities. Links to web sites are nice, try not to wrap them. If the link isn't very intuitive, provide a short description. We're a lazy lot. Make your subjects concise. Try not to re-use subject titles, as some news readers like to lose them in the
shuffle of posts. There are roughly 200-400 posts per 24 hour period. Don't be a seagull. (Fly in, crap all over everything, then leave. It's rude.) DON'T SPAM. Everyone has a kill file and knows how to use it. We've seen the nieman marcus cookie recipe, we've heard the duckjob.wav.
Got a cool picture? Don't post it as a bitmap (.BMP)
3. Trolls. Go right ahead and try. Even the biggest fish in these waters have hook scars. But it's not a socially acceptable way of introducing yourself.
4. Courtesy and Ethics. Discussions get heated around here. If you don't like it, walk away. It's a big scary world out there, but if you can't take a bloody nose, you should go back to AOL chat. The insults here are generally good natured, but mostly because the people insulting each
other have been doing so for the past few years. Don't expect to waltz in and be able to call somebody a rim-jobbing, poodle pumping, cockmaster after a day or two. Don't expect to call someone a wetback-kyke-spic-jig-hun-gook-dago-wop-camel jockey. Ever. And if
things get really bad with you and another person here. diddlying take it to e-mail. And keep it there. If it gets that bad, the rest of us don't want to hear. There's nothing worse than seeing "well he called me this in an e-mail he sent me." It's time for the first use of the double
standard phrase you'll constantly hear around here. "Grow Up." Subscribe to the news group, read the discussions for a few days, (this is known as lurking.) then decide if you want to toss your hat in the ring. We are a generally accepting lot. We are user friendly, but we can be
rather selective about who our friends are. Do yourself a favor. Get in the ford explorer, take the dollar tour of jurassic park, then decide if you want to get out and walk around. And don't go pissing in the T-rex enclosure.
5. Grammar and Spelling. We make English teachers cry. You have a newsreader. It has a spell checker. I strongly suggest you use it. Don't get pissy about being corrected on the usage of "You're" and "They're." You've probably graduated middle school by now, you should know things
like this by now.
6. Enjoy yourself. This isn't a bad place, it just has a very steep learning curve. There is a nice relaxed atmosphere that is punctuated with alternating levels of maturity and immaturity. Learn which one is which, and which one is appropriate. This is a private board, with no
form of censorship, no corporate affiliations, and no terms of service. Every rule here is unwritten, except for what you're reading now. Even these aren't written rules. They're suggestions on conduct. I suggest you follow them.
7. If you don't know, ask. Stupid questions are forgotten far faster than stupid actions.
8. This list will be updated in two weeks.
(this was a joke because we were always told our work would come in software updates in 2 weeks, which rarely came in 2 weeks)
