Welcome to rec.arts.anime.misc

1) What is rec.arts.anime.misc?

2) Anime Related Newsgroups

The official short description is: Japanese animation fen discussion

[Editor’s Note: fen is a pluralized form of fan.]

Originally, it was called rec.arts.anime and was created in November of 1987 and absorbed discussion from rec.arts.comics and rec.arts.sf-lovers. It became the only Big 8 newsgroup for all forms of animation. Discussion of American animation, e.g., Disney, Warner Brothers, etc., became seen as a disruption in the newsgroup. This would lead to the creation of rec.arts.animation in 1990.

By the spring of 1993, rec.arts.anime was getting crowded with an onslaught of FAQs, people seeking to buy, sell, or trade for anime, and works of fan written anime fiction. This overcrowding was relieved by the creation of three new rec.arts.anime newsgroups:

rec.arts.anime.info
Announcements about Japanese animation. (Moderated)
Created: May 5, 1993

rec.arts.anime.marketplace
Things for sale in the Japanese animation world.
Created: May 23, 1993

rec.arts.anime.stories
All about Japanese comic fanzines. (Moderated)
Created: May 5,1993
Superseded: March 18, 1996

In 1996, a final splitting of rec.arts.anime occurred. Additionally, rec.arts.anime.stories was renamed and retooled.

rec.arts.anime.misc
Japanese animation fen discussion.
Created: March 18, 1996

Charter:
An unmoderated newsgroup for general anime discussion and topics that don't fall into any of the other categories.

[Editor’s Note: r.a.a.m officially supersedes rec.arts.anime at this point and r.a.a. is remove grouped (rmgrouped) May 20, 1996.]

rec.arts.anime.models
Models designed after Japanese animation characters.
Created: March 18, 1996
Removed: April 12, 2008

rec.arts.anime.games
Video games, card games, and RPGs based on anime.
Created: March 18, 1996
Removed: April 12, 2008

rec.arts.anime.creative
Original works by fans, related to anime/manga. (Moderated)
Created: March 18, 1996

[Editor’s Note: This moderated newsgroup does accept fan created artwork in binary attached form.]

rec.arts.anime.music
Music as it pertains to Japanese animation.
Created: March 18, 1996
Removed: April 12, 2008

rec.arts.anime.fandom
Important issues concerning Japanese animation fans.
Created: March 18, 1996

More details on the history of the rec.arts.anime.* hierarchy and other early anime newsgroups can be found at: http://www.tcp.com/~doi/alan/webguide/postings/info.net.history.html

2) Anime Related Newsgroups

The rec.arts.anime sub-hierarchy is far from the only place on Usenet to find newsgroups relating to anime. Many of these other newsgroups are geared to a specific anime or type of anime.

A (hopefully) complete list of the other anime newsgroups, in English and other languages, is posted to rec.arts.anime.misc monthly and is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.geocities.com/willrobsm/raam/anime.htm. 

a) Do not ever post in html, use plain-text only.

b) Do not send (post) binary files to the newsgroup. Be sure to read 4).

c) DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS.

d) do not type in all lower case letters.

e) Dude! Don’t say things like, "4|\|I|\/|3 I5 |<3\/\/|_." Kewlspeak or "l33t" is frowned upon by most members in r.a.a.m and Usenet in general.

f) Please remember to spell check before posting. 

g) If you have something to say, look to see if someone else has said it before. Even if you are answering a simple question, you will look foolish if you give an answer that was already given earlier by someone else. If somebody beats you to what you wanted to say, then just add anything useful to what they started. ("Me, too!" is not useful.)

h) Do not get angry with other people in the newsgroup just because many of them don’t feel the same way you do about something. Remember, they outnumber you, sometimes a few thousands to one. 

i) Do not "test" post to rec.arts.anime.misc. Test posting should be done in an alt.test newsgroup. If alt.test is too crowded for your taste, entering "test" into your newsreader's search form will provide a wealth of alternative choices. misc.test is a good alternative to alt.test.

Binaries are all computer files that do NOT end in .TXT. These include photographs and scans (.jpg, .gif, .png), videos (.rm, .avi, .mpg), sounds and music (.avi, .mp3), other text formats (.doc, .rtf), Zip-type files (.zip, .rar) and all forms of HTML encoding. Do not use any other file format, just because it is not mentioned. Further, be sure, before sending a post, that your email/newsreader is set to send in "Plain Text" format only.

5) Where can I show my pictures?

If you have something you want to show us, then upload it to your website and post the URL address with a description of it. If you don’t have a website, you can post it to an anime related newsgroup that accepts binaries. These other newsgroups include: 

alt.binaries.pictures.anime (Photographs)
alt.binaries.multimedia.anime (Videos)
alt.binaries.multimedia.anime.repost (Videos)
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.anime (Hentai Pictures)
alt.binaries.pictures.erotic.anime (Hentai Video)
alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica.anime (Hentai Video)

Mass kill filing is the second worse thing possible in a newsgroup. Being kill filed is similar to "Block Sender" in your email program. Once kill filed you will not show up in that person’s version of the newsgroup. The more members who kill file you, the less chance someone will reply to what you write. Eventually, almost no one will know you are still around, much less, reply to you.

The ultimate punishment is "abuse@server". Being reported to your News Service Provider or Internet Service Provider for your bad behavior can cost you access to all of Usenet, including r.a.a.m, and/or the Internet itself.

7) What does "*plonk*" mean?

It means you have been publicly kill filed. This greatly increases the likelihood many more members will follow the writer’s lead and privately kill file you.

The other advice/demand you may hear from veteran members just as you are starting out, besides reading this document, is to "lurk" for a while. "Lurking" means reading the postings to the newsgroup by other members for at least a few weeks before posting anything to r.a.a.m. (Replying to [Polls] are an exception to this policy.) This will allow you to see what is being discussed, who is in the "dog house", likely will answer some of your questions, and tell you which way the wind is blowing, so to speak.

In fact, it is a very good idea to lurk every time you come back to r.a.a.m and every time you start reading a new subject (thread), so you don’t say the same thing as someone else has said earlier or ask a question that has been answered recently. Not lurking upon every return or every new thread can get you flamed or, at least, ignored.

9) What are "spoilers" and "spoiler space"?  

If asking about, or referring to, an episode or season or series not yet broadcasted on Canadian and American television and/or cable television, do not use any information from them in the Subject Line but, do include the name of the anime in the Subject line to aid the avoiding of the potential spoiler. In case someone encounters something in the text of the message posted or accidentally opens a message they would rather not read, it is expected that you will add....

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

P

A

C

E

....before your "spoiler" information to be helpful to those of us who want to wait until they can see the fan-subbed or the dubbed broadcast and see what you want to discuss for themselves.

It is expected that you quote the person to whom you are replying, both before and above your reply. If you are replying only to a small part of a message, <snip> anything written that is not relevant to which you are replying. If you wish to respond to several points in a message, break into the quoted message, by hitting the enter button once before and twice after you reply. Explaining what you are snipping is helpful to your fellow members.

Remember, do not reply and then quote (known as "top posting").

The three kinds of messages you should never reply to are: spam, trolls, and misdirected postings. The reasons why will also be given.

a) Spam is advertising of any kind, unless it is directly related to anime or r.a.a.m. Replying to spam lets the spammer know they are not wasting their time with us, because they know you are reading their garbage. Even if you flame them, they are still happy to know someone will read what they have to offer.

Additionally, on-topic advertising should be posted in rec.arts.anime.marketplace.

b) Trolls are people who are trying to start arguments for the fun of it. They will often cross-post to many newsgroups at once in hope that they can start flame wars between the newsgroups. Many of them have many games to play with anyone foolish enough to reply to them, even just to flame them. In the past, some of us forgot the rule of not replying to trolls and regretted it.

See Also: http://www.geocities.com/willrobsm/t-guide.htm

c) Misdirected posts are those from people who post to r.a.a.m but, who have no idea who or what anime is, and post to us based on what they think we are discussing. For example, a person might think this newsgroup is about people who are professional anime artists/cartoonists. Replying may just confuse them even more and add to their eventual embarrassment (and it may only be a troll's trick to start a flame war).

With this many members and with the sheer number of postings on a daily basis, it can be a bit overwhelming to try to read everything posted by everyone. After a while you get to liking some members and what they write. If they don't have the time to read most of what's new or what is written, people tend to read only those who are known to them. As such, you might have to wait until someone more well-known to the newsgroup notices what you wrote and replies to get others to notice you. Be patient.

There are a few ways to get noticed a little easier. One, is to answer a [Poll], which is more likely to be read thoroughly by many members. If you give some good answers and don't make a fool of yourself trying to answer a poll you don't really understand, people may remember the name you are using and may take a look at what you later write.

Another way is to post an introductory message, like "Hi! I'm New Here", telling about you and your enjoyment of anime. A few friendly people will stop to welcome you to r.a.a.m, and likely, recommend you read the Welcome to r.a.a.m FAQ, which, of course, you are doing right now.

The third, and stupid way, is to attract attention to yourself by deliberately doing something flame-able. Besides asking for trouble, you risk quick and permanent kill filing by everyone after the flaming gets old.

Any posting to rec.arts.anime.misc not related somehow to anime is considered "off-topic". These off-topic messages must be marked as such. As you are likely aware, r.a.a.m receives hundreds of postings daily. This consumes a great deal of time when it comes to opening and downloading the newsgroup in a newsreader. Some of us don't always have the time to download everything, and worse, some of our International members have to pay by the minute to access the Internet, while others are simply not interested in seeing certain topics that are frequently posted to r.a.a.m.

In order to assist these members, a system was devised long ago to aid them in deleting these off-topic messages before they are downloaded needlessly to their newsreaders. Keywords placed in brackets, "[ ]", are used to filter out some or all off-topic postings. Further, some of us are interested in some particular off-topic postings.

For more information on the bracket system, please refer to the Anime Acronym List posted to rec.arts.anime.misc and rec.arts.anime.fandom twice monthly and available on the World Wide Web at: http://robkelk.tripod.com/acronyms.html

14) Why did I get e-mail from "LISTSERV.VT.EDU" about my post?

Virginia Tech University maintains a mailing list (ANIME-L) that mirrors rec.arts.anime.misc. Ordinarily, that's not a problem but if a Va. Tech student posts to the newsgroup, they will receive an "informational email" automatically from VT's Listserver. It is best to just ignore it.

If you want to unsubscribe from ANIME-L send an email to:
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.VT.EDU with any subject and write only:

SIGNOFF ANIME-L

in the body (writing part) of the email.

15) History of this FAQ

This FAQ was created and previously maintained by Steve Pearl, the moderator of rec.arts.anime.info, until the fall of 1998.

In January of 2001, maintenance of this FAQ was assumed by the current maintainer, and after significant revisions and updates, regular posting resumed in February, 2001.

Thanks to:

Rob Kelk (listserv.vt.edu)
alt.fan.sailor-moon (Helping to hammer out the original faq)

END

© 2001-2008 Rob Maxwell and the members of r.a.a.m