The Handy-Dandy Freaking Guide to Reading and Posting on Hunter-Net



Hey there, this is, as it says above, a handy-dandy, short, sweet, and I really hope to high heaven entertaining bunch of guidelines to the intricacies of this virtual world you've just strolled into. First thing you got to understand is, these aren't really rules, just happy advice. It may sound harsh at times, but I mean it all friendly-like. Take a deep breath, kiddies, buckle up, here we go...

A. Some basics.

1. Read the list before you post. Give it at least a couple days, so you can get a feel for what's going on around here. I personally recommend a week of lurking, but that's just me. Trust me though, it'll help you get off on the right foot. Another way to get off on the right foot is to read the FAQs. See Tip #8 for more on the FAQs.

2. There is no storyteller here. No, wait, I take that back, there are lots of storytellers here, and you, yes, you, are one of them. You have the great freedom of telling a story about whatever you like (and here's where I shout) WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF WW's HUNTER STORYTELLING SYSTEM. Period. Now understand, this doesn't make you anyone else's storyteller. Not at all. You are responsible for your stories. Everyone else is responsible for theirs.

3. Play a Hunter character. Please. I'm telling you, playing a Hunter on Hunter-net is the path of wisdom. This doesn't mean a Hunter from any other story-telling system, it means White Wolf's system. Period. The guidelines are set out in the following White Wolf publications (along with the spiffy abbreviations for same that many posters use):


Hunter: the Reckoning (HtR)
Hunter Book: Avenger (HbA)
Hunter Book: Defender (HbD)
Hunter Book: Innocent (HbI)
Hunter Book: Judge (HbJ)
Hunter Book: Martyr (HbM)
Hunter Book: Redeemer (HbR)
Hunter Book: Visionary (HbV)
Hunter Book: Hermit (HbH)
Hunters' Survival Guide (HtR-SG)
Hunter Storyteller's Companion (HtR-SC)
Hunter Player's Guide (HtR-PG)
Hunter Apocrypha (HtR-A)
Hunter Storytellers' Guide (HtR-STG)
Hunter Book: Wayward (HbW)

When you design your Hunter character for the list, there's some things you should keep in mind. Hunter, the Reckoning is supposed to be about average, everyday people, not about Duke Nukem, GI Joe, that guy in DOOM, or any variation on that theme. This list is generally not impressed by someone who comes on claiming to have been the first Imbued ever, then proceeds to give us all the info about everything anyone could ever want to know, as well as being a Shwarzenegger body double, an expert sniper, and a martial artist who has more money than a Rockefeller. These are generally boring and uninteresting characters, ones that often leave a bad taste in people's mouths.

4. Don't play a monster. This used to be one of those gray areas, but with the release of the Storyteller's Guide, it became a moot point. Monsters attempting to post on the list will make the list disappear. Therefore, no monster posters. Period.

Feel free to develop interesting adversaries and allies of the supernatural world in plot posts and through IC reports, but letting them post is a big ol' no-no.

5. Don't pee in the pool. Now this is a tricky concept here. What it means is this: you don't get to tell another player what happens to his/her character. You don't get to tell another player what happens in his/her story. You don't get to invade a story that isn't yours to invade, kill off characters that aren't yours to kill, blow up, build, include, etc. Don't. No. Bad. Now, if you want to participate in an existing campaign, by all means, contact the player or players in private first. Be nice, be clear on what you think you can offer to the story, and be gracious if they can't accommodate your request. The reverse is true, too. If you are contacted in private by a player, be nice, be polite. If you don't have room in your story at the time, say so. Nicely. And keep that person in mind when there's an opening.

6. Some super secret code, kiddies! Woohoo! These codes will appear in the subject lines and occasionally in the body text of a post. Shh, secret stuff, here.

First one, (IC), that's "In Character." This means that everything said in that post is in character, and becomes common knowledge to the other players, to comment, criticize, make nasty fun of, also (IC) and we know now that this code means "in character." Got it? Cool. Piece of cake, huh?

Second, since there's (IC), it seems only logical that there be (OOC), that is, and I know you're way ahead of me here, "Out of Character." This is when you, yes, you the player, are speaking in a post. Not as Godley Woeisme, the manic/depressive Innocent, but as yourself.

Third one is a tricky one. It's called "Plot Post." (We don't really feel comfortable abbreviating that one into (PP). Who wants to put (PP) on the top of their hard work?) Also known as a "non-post," it indicates events concerning your character(s) which happen "off camera," and are important to the development of the storyline and/or character, but would not make it to the list in the body of an (IC) post.

7. While this is an unmoderated list, there is a List Constable. This is a volunteer (read: sucker) who has the authority, granted by the rest of us, to settle disputes of rules and behaviors. The List Constable is the voice of White Wolf and List Canon, that is, the body of material produced by White Wolf, and the list members here. If you have a rules question, or a problem with another player, please contact the Constable in private at:

list_constable@yahoo.com

And by all means, if you believe that another list member is behaving inappropriately towards you, you know, harassing private emails, unwanted sexual attention, threats, etc... PLEASE, contact the List Constable. Save the relevant material, if you can.

8. READ THE FAQs! Sorry for yelling, but taking a small chunk of time out of your busy posting schedule to read the FAQs will save all of us a lot of trouble, woe, heartache and flames. The FAQs are up and available at any time of the day or night at:

http://patriot.net/~jmeehan/Hunters/HtR_List.html

There's a lot of other handy stuff there, too. Info on some of the characters, past and present, a chatroom, lots of great stuff. Take advantage of this wonderful resource.

There is also a wealth of resources to be found at:

http://hunter-unity.org/list

You have to apply for a username and password to participate in the discussions, but the essays are available for everyone to read. And you really should read them.

B. Now some real quick and dirty Netiquette:

1. Please post in plain text. Posts using html, attachments, and all those other features don't always make it to everyone's email accounts, are unreadable by some email accounts, and look like garbage in archived form. Nobody can stop you from posting in rich text, html, or whatever, but you're denying yourself a good portion of audience.

2. Trim your reply posts. Only keep enough of a post to get the actual point you're responding to across. Wading through a whole bunch of old text to find "Me, too!" or an emoticon (that's a smilie) as the only new text is just plain insulting.

3. Don't reply to the Digest. You would not believe how many times the entire digest has been coughed up onto the list, because someone wanted to reply to a single post. People, this is the beauty of copy and paste. Use it.

And that's about it. You want to know more, read the FAQs; they're still posted on a regular basis, and remember, that web addy above is 24/7/365. (Closed on Leap Day, of course.)

Happy Hunting.