AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TRAVELLER MAILING LIST
FIRST POSTED: JULY 1, 1987
LAST MODIFIED: JULY 1, 1987
Hello everybody, and welcome to the Traveller Mailing List.
Please read this whole (3-page) document thoroughly (You'll only need to
read it once), and then make a hard copy of it and keep it for future
reference. It *should* contain everything you need to start using (as
opposed to abusing :-) the Traveller Mailing List.
SUBSCRIBERSHIP
This all started June 16, 1987 with a posting to USENET, and already we
have grown to 44 members, with 10 more to be added as soon as their
addresses are confirmed. As long as I am co-ordinating this list,
membership will be open to everyone for free (it's my personal labor of
love for the game of "Traveller").
The membership seems to be very diverse, and well distributed over the
continent of North America. In the addresses I see all kinds of sites:
defense contractors, electronics manufacturers, publishers,
universities, and homebrew USENET sites. We even have a couple
subscribers who know the people at GDW or who have been licensees of
GDW. One has said that he can get timely information/answers direct
from the owners (But I'll let him identify himself). That's really
exciting to me!
It is my sincere wish that we get the largest possible membership on
this list (the more the merrier), so feel free to tell others about it
that could be interested and have E-mail access. However, since I
cannot be responsible for any transmission charges, the membership is
probably restricted to North America and those sites which shoulder
their own burden of transmission costs.
I plan to continue monthly "recruitment" messages to USENET, like the
first two, to inform those new to USENET or who have just begun to
deepen their interest in Traveller, of the existence of this mailing
list. Also, I plan to have this list added to the "List-of-lists" that
appears on USENET periodically.
DESCRIPTION OF THE LIST
As you all know by now, this list exists to discuss Game Designer's
Workshop's TRAVELLER Science Fiction Role Playing System (what a
mouthful). Discussion is intended to be unlimited and to people with a
broad base of familiarity with Traveller. Subscribers can exchange
programs, news bulletins, new "rules", war stories, questions at any
level of expertise, answers, etc.
Also there are a number of you out there (you know who you are), who are
interested primarily in other gaming systems, but want to transfer
concepts embodied in Traveller to other systems. Discussion about other
SFRP games is encouraged, but personally I wouldn't want them to greatly
overwhelm the Traveller discussion. If a need appears for a
general-purpose SFRP list, I will avidly support anyone else's trying to
organize it.
A VERY BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO TRAVELLER
For those of you completely unfamiliar with Traveller, a short
explanation is in order. Traveller is a set of rules for a Role Playing
Game. Another common Role-Playing Game of wide familiarity is Dungeon &
Dragons by TSR, in which players attempt to guide fictional people (like
characters in a book) through a plot and setting set up by a person
designated to provide most of the setting and arbitrate the results of
player actions (the Dungeon Master, or DM). What makes Traveller
different from Dungeons and Dragons is that instead of being set in a
medieval/magical/fantasy setting, it is set in a futuristic,
technological society of Interstellar Government and Commerce. This is
the primary distinction, as both "games" exist to provide the basic
framework and rules by which each world operates.
An illustration: Dungeon & Dragons could provide the background for a
storyline such as any of the "Sinbad", "Conan", "Lord of the Rings",
"Eternal Champion" or other medieval/fantasy stories (to name a few),
while Traveller provides an excellent framework for stories similar to
"Alien", especially "Star Wars", and to a lesser extent "Dune".
Unfortunately for you buffs interested exclusively in "Star Trek",
Traveller in general doesn't mesh well with arbitrating that sort of
science fiction (but other gaming systems exist just for this purpose).
For more information on Traveller, you should look in your Yellow Pages
for the most sophisticated gaming/hobbyist shop in a nearby metropolitan
area, call them and ask how to get Game Designer's Workshop's "Traveller
Book 0 -- An Introduction to Traveller." Other sources of Up-to-date
Traveller information can be found in "White Dwarf" magazine (an import
from the UK, as I understand it), and other magazines targeted at
Science Fiction gaming. Naturally, this list will be happy to answer
any questions you have, too.
SENDING ARTICLES TO THE LIST
For those of you unfamiliar as to what a mailing list is, it is simply a
mail alias stored on a UNIX host computer. Any mail sent to that alias
at that host computer is resent to every address in the alias.
There are two aliases which exist for this list. The first is the
address to send any requests to add or delete a subscription, or inform
me that your account is moving. All mail sent to this alias will be
sent only to me. Many of you, who responded to the second USENET
article, have already used this alias. Here is the "REQUEST" alias:
UUCP: {decvax,gatech,hplabs,ihnp4}!tektronix!dadla!traveller-req
INTERNET: [email removed]
CSNET: [email removed]
All mail sent to "traveller-req" will be assumed private unless
explicitly stated otherwise: I will make a strong effort at keeping
traveller-req correspondence confidential. You will not find your name
appearing in a list somewhere, if I can help it!
The second alias broadcasts all mail it receives to everybody on the
mailing list, including you. This message was sent to all of you by my
mailing to it. This is akin to posting an article to USENET, and so the
usual posting suggestions exist: do not flame (send those via direct
mail), and be reasonably brief (this means if there is a lot to say, go
ahead and say it; but if there is little to say, don't ramble). Here is
the "BROADCAST" alias:
UUCP: {decvax,gatech,hplabs,ihnp4}!tektronix!dadla!traveller
INTERNET: [email removed]
CSNET: [email removed]
The addresses on the list are as brief and as simple as I could keep
them, internet addresses if possible, so that the Tektronix mailing
system could choose the quickest route for each message (mostly CSNET
and UUCP, and a couple ARPA). Since the mail is in effect resent by my
host, as long as you can reach the list here at dadla from your host,
then you can reach everybody on the list, regardless of the mailer
domain they are in.
WHAT TO DO IF MAIL HICCUPS (AFTER SENDING TO THE MAILING LIST)
Occasionally you may get a copy of your message regurgitated to you,
with strange messages such as "user unknown" or "host unknown", or
"message not delivered in 3 days". If this occurs, PLEASE FORWARD A
COPY OF THE ENTIRE MESSAGE TO traveller-req, so that I can attempt to
determine why the address is bad, and if necessary remove the address
from the list.
WATCH THOSE CC:'S
When responding to any article received via the alias, look carefully at
who is going to receive it before letting your mailer send it. It
wouldn't do to have a private response automatically and carelessly sent
to the whole list! This is why I have a "Reply-To: [email removed]"
line in the message header of all messages I send to the broadcast
alias.
A WORD ON MANNERS AND LIST OWNERSHIP
I know that everyone on the list is pleasant and excited in Traveller
and will use the list for sharing all the things that make Traveller
exciting, but....
There is no room on this mailing list for people who would destroy the
fun the rest of us are having. If anyone on the list habitually resorts
to abusive language, misuses the list, or I receive numerous complaints
about them (sent to traveller-req), I will warn them by direct mail. If
the situation cannot be resolved, I will remove them from the mailing
list. All attempts at fairness and understanding will be attempted.
Furthermore, the existence of this list and the cost for it's
administration and existence is supported by Tektronix, Inc. and James
Perkins (me). The fact that anyone is on it at all is because I want
you here to listen and to share. If at any time I perceive a need to
discontinue the list for personal or employer's reasons, or discontinue
any individual's participation in the list, I must reserve that right
with no questions asked. Sorry.
HOW TO GET OLD ARTICLES THAT YOU HAVE MISSED
I am going to *try* to maintain an archive of all messages sent to the
mailing list. On a time-available basis, I will attempt to recover old
articles for you and resend them by direct mail.
LET THE GAMES COMMENCE!
All right folks, let's start sharing!
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
James T. Perkins Traveller Mailing List Administrator
Tektronix Logic Analyzers "Load Auto/Evade, Beowulf!"
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
UUCP: {decvax,gatech,hplabs,ihnp4}!tektronix!dadla!traveller-req
INTERNET: [email removed]
CSNET: [email removed]