Apologies to WW ^^
Robotech Cantina FAQ and Introduction V. 3.52
===================================
Written by: Michael White ( mikew@atcon.com, aj331@ccn.cs.dal.ca )
Last Updated August 13, 1996.
-----
It is night. As you walk down the dark, narrow alley, you notice a harsh
orange neon sign reading 'Cantina' illuminating a sturdy door at the far
end. The last three letters of the sign flicker uncertainly, and you notice
an increasingly distasteful aroma of alchol, solvents, and smoke as you
approach the dilapidated entrance. Hesitating as you hear a sudden outburst
of raucous laughter, you push aside the heavy door and step inside.
Instantly your senses are assaulted by a smell of oil and alcohol ten times
worse than that outside. You become aware of several sets of eyes on you,
and look around the room. You see a variety of disreputable-looking
characters either drinking at the bar or at a table, or over in the corner
playing pool. You notice a couple of broken-down Cyclones over on the far
wall, an assortment of tools spread around them. Off to your right is the
bar, sparsely populated with patrons, behind which a rather large man is
cleaning beer glasses with a fairly unsanitary rag. You walk up to him. What
will you ask him?
====
FAQ Contents
1 What is the Robotech Cantina?
1.1 What is the Robotech Cantina?
2 What is acceptable here?
2.1 What, generally, is acceptable here?
2.2 What, generally, is not acceptable here?
2.3 What about the novels, comics, RPG, etc.?
2.4 What about PBEM RPG games?
2.5 What aboutfan fiction?
2.6 What are the penalties for violating the rules?
3 Miscellaneous
3.1 What are the majordomo commands?
3.2 What about the Cantina WWW and FTP resources?
====
1 What is the Robotech Cantina?
The Robotech Cantina is a mailing list for discussion amongst fans of the
animated science fiction series known as 'Robotech'
====
1.1 What is the Robotech Cantina?
You walk up the man and ask him about this place. He looks up mumbles
something about you looking like another non-paying cusomer.
"This is the Robotech Cantina. Here is where veterans of the Robotech wars
come to talk about their experiences and generally shoot the wind. I'm the
bartender, Frank Domojk. Everybody just calls me Domo. Used to be a Major in
the Southern Cross, before the Invid came..." Domo puts down the glass and
points over to a table nestled in the opposite corner.
"There are basically six guys you should make it your business to keep an
eye on. Why? They're the co-managers of this joint, and what they say goes."
"See those two guys? The one on the right is Mike White. Used to be an
Legios pilot during the war with the Invid, and a Valkyrie pilot before
that. Rumor has it he has his own private collection of functioning mecha.
The one on the left goes by the name of 'Pumukl' Once led a special forces
op that blew the hell out of two Invid hives with no mecha support. He may
be a bit on the short side, but I wouldn't joke about it with him if I were
you," Domo smirks. "He's an expert in high explosives"
Domo then draws your attention to a cubicle near that table, where a fellow
in a black leather jacket is apparently cleaning a rather large laser rifle.
"That's 'Mad' Mike Choi," Domo stares straight at you. "Do NOT mess with
him. One time he was surrounded by Invid mecha, with only a laser rifle,
H90, and a grenade or two. He blew the crap out of twenty-seven Shock
Troopers. And wanted more. I swear... he's crazy, man..."
Domo points to a figure hunched over the carcass of a black Cyclone.
"That's Bas van Krieken, better known as ProtoCultureVulture. Cyclone rider
extrodinaire. He rode the Reflex Point Gauntlent, running circles around
Invid Patrols, to bring vital recon data to the returning REF force. He owns
the bike shop on the edge of town," He
then points out the guy fiddling with a cyclone engine that looked like it
took a couple of grenades in the wrong places. "That's Arek Wdowiak. He was
a Mr. Fix-It for a resistance cell during the occupation, and we've yet to
find something he can't fix... He also spends a lotta time on the ham radio
setup we have in the bac... errr... out back."
"Finally, we have Paul McGougan. Actually, he owns this place. White bought
the building for the original Cantina on the other end of town, but a week
before it was scheduled to open, the place was completely levelled by a bomb
blast."
"Wha..." you say, shocked. "What happened? Who did it?"
"Dunno," Domo replies. "Never did figure out who did it, but there's a
number of people in this town who are royally ticked at one or the other
co-managers for a variety of reasons. They caught the bomber, but he
wouldn't talk," Domo smiles at you evilly. "Now he couldn't if he wanted to.
Anyway, McGougan opened this place a coupla months after the blast. He used
to be a member of Wolff's special forces unit. He's quite the
sharpshooter...." Domo then hands you a small card. "Here's the email
addresses of the managers. If you stay on their good side, they will help
you out if you run into trouble"
Mike White: mikew@atcon.com, aj331@ccn.cs.dal.ca
Pumukl: pumukl@mail.idt.net
Mad Mike: mschoi@SoCA.com
ProtoCultureVulture: bkriek@hacom.nl
Paul McGougan: paul@paulm.chemistry.uq.edu.au
Arek Wdowiak: awdowiak@eecs.uic.edu
====
2 What is acceptable here?
====
2.1 What, generally, is acceptable here?
Domo thinks for a moment. "Pretty much anything. This is just a place for
people to hang in a relaxed atmosphere. You can talk about pretty much
anything, but try and stay on topic. But the managers are usually pretty
lenient with the topics. There are, however, some things that you probably
shouldn't bring up."
----
2.2 What, generally, is not acceptable here?
Domo eyes you suspiciously. "Why? You plan on starting trouble?"
"No," you reply, holding your hands up defensively, "I just want to know
what to avoid."
"Good idea," he says after looking you over for a moment. "Don't go looking
for a fight and you'll do fine. Being confrontational is frowned upon.
Topics like politics and religion, even when related to Robotech, have
generally ended in barroom brawls, so we're naturally very leery of them.
We'd prefer it if you didn't crosspost between lists, but if you have a good
reason to, just ask the managers. And please, don't bring any binaries in
here; we're just too small to handle them. Once the Cantina FTP gets up and
running, though, you'll be able to find a lotta Robotech-related stuff
there, including binaries.
"If you come in here and start picking fights, fine. Just don't expect the
managers to be savin' your butt when it's being kicked around the room.
They're as likely to kick back and watch as they are to do anything. In
other words, don't start anything you don't intend to finish. If someone's
bugging you, though, drop one of the managers a line. If they agree, they
might be inclined to lend you a hand. Personally, I'd recommend you not be
hostile at all, but then I'm not your mother.
"Finally, just chill. This is a place where we all come to relax after a
hard day. Chat, have a few drinks, shoot some pool and whatnot. You want to
debate what role the SC really played with the RDF, yap about the scientific
principle of spacefolds, or talk about that bull in the National Inquisitor
about VTs actually being controlled by mind-reading 'thinking caps', that's
your business. Talk about whatever you want, but if all you're looking for
is strictly serious Robotech-related discussion with no spam, you're in the
wrong place. We have our fair share of serious debates, but some people
might not appreciate the irrelevant ramblings that also take place here. If
you're one of those people, there are other places in town devoted to
strictly Robotech-related topics, and you should take advantage of them.
If you rile too many customers, make life miserable for too many people, or
generally ruin the atmosphere, well... we'll have to 'discipline' you.
Basically, if you're uncertain, ask one of the managers *privately*."
----
2.3 What about the novels, comics, RPG, etc.
Domo shrugs. "Sure, whatever's your thing. Just keep this in mind: the show
is pretty much considered central to this whole place, and there are a lot
of differences between it and the novels, RPG, comics and whatnot. Not
everyone enjoys them all.
"For this reason, we've come up with message tags. Make *sure* you append
these to the subject of *every new message you send,* since replies will
contain the tag automatically. They serve to identify what the message is
about without people having to read it."
**MESSAGE TAGS**
Remember to put these in subject line of every new message you send!!!
No tag - It's assumed you're referring to the 85 episode TV series.
[novels] - The 21-book McKinney novel series and related topics.
[RPG] - The Palladium Role Playing Game and related topics.
[comics] - Any of the Robotech comics and related topics.
[misc] - Related to Robotech, but not in any of the above categorys. ( ex.
The N64 game, The Robotech Perfect soundtrack, toys, etc. )
[PBEM] - Related to a Play By EMail role playing game. *SEE SECTION 2.4!*
----
2.4 What about PBEM RPG games?
"Ah, a gamer," Domo says, smiling. "Yes, Play By EMail RPG games *are*
allowed here. We're a pretty small place, though, so we can only host two,
maybe three games at any one time. We only have three tables large enough to
accomodate them in any case.
"If you want to start a PBEM game as a GM, email one of the managers. You'd
do well to get players beforehand, but it's not necessary. If the mail load
proves too much, though, the managers may ask the GM of the third game to
take it to private mail, perhaps to be re-invited to the list if the mail
load drops. Also, the managers may ask you to take a game to private mail if
it stretches on too long and there's a demand for the table.
"If you want to join in a PBEM game as a *player*, email the GM of the game
you want to join. The GM is second only to the managers in authority over
the game. The managers reserve the right to limit the number of players a
game can have, though, in an effort to limit the mail load.
"Finally, remember that *all* messages related to the game *must* contain
the tag [PBEM] in the header. Not everyone wants to read these games, and
the tags allow them to delete the messages without reading them."
----
2.5 What about fan fiction?
"No, sorry," Domo replies, shaking his head. "They're just too big. If
you're in search of Robotech fanfics, try out ftp.std.com, various web
pages, or the FanFiction Mailing List. Soon, however, the Cantina FTP site
will be filled with fanfics as well. We'll keep you posted."
----
2.6 What are the penalties of violating the rules?
Domo's eyebrows go up. "You sure are the inquisitive one, aren't ya? A
first or minor violation simply earns you a private chewing-out. A
moderately serious or second violation will get you chewed out up on the
stage, in front of everyone. A serious violation or a repeated violation
will get you kicked out of here for a period of time. Keep it up, or REALLY
get the locals riled, and you'll be booted out of here for good. You'll
really, REALLY have to work at being a jerk for that to happen since we're
all pretty easygoing, but should you try and come back after that... well...
that's why I keep this H90 back here.
"Don't get me wrong; we're all pretty easygoing and forgiving around here.
If you make an honest mistake you'll most likely only get a warning, just
try not to let it happen too often, 'kay?"
====
3 Miscellaneous
====
3.1 What are the majordomo commands?
"Should you need anything else, send me an email. Keep it to the simple
requests listed below. I'm a busy guy, and anything else I simply toss out.
It's my old address they gave me in the SCA," Domo smirks. "I don't think
they're going to revoke it."
Majordomo: listserver@paulm.chemistry.uq.edu.au
***Commands:
Remember to replace the things in brackets <> with the appropriate
information. Keep the message body to ONLY ONE OF THE LINES listed below. No
subject heading is required.
Command Description
subscribe cantina <name> Subscribe to the Cantina, with the
specified User Name.
unsubscribe cantina Unsubscribe from the Cantina.
set cantina <options> Set the options for the Cantina.
Legal options are:
REPRO - Reproduce submitted article.
NOREPRO
**NOTE: To get the list to reproduce your posts and send them back to you,
send the REPRO command. By default, your membership is set to NOREPRO.
ACK - Send short acknowledge when article is
submitted.
NOACK
**NOTE: By default, the list will notify you every time you send a message
to it. To change this, send the NOACK command.
MAIL - Receive articles from list.
NOMAIL
CONCEAL - Conceal presence on review.
NOCONCEAL
query cantina Display the currently selected options for the
current user on the Cantina.
review cantina Lists the current members of the Cantina,
info commands This listing.
info lists List the available lists on the server.
----
3.2 What about the Cantina WWW and FTP resources?
"Got some additional questions?" Domo asks. "Wanna know the real story
behind the Cantina? Got something you wanna send or are you looking for
Robotech-related and member web pages, or stuff to download? Try these
places, but keep in mind they're still under construction!"
*The Cantina web page is located at:
http://www.hacom.nl/~bkriek/cantina.html
*with a mirror site at:
http://paulm.chemistry.uq.edu.au/Cantina/Cantina.htm
*Cantina FTP: Coming soon!
----
To Get a copy of this FAQ, send a request to:
cantina-faq@paulm.chemistry.uq.edu.au
====
"What else can I tell ya, kid? Just try and follow the rules, don't be a
jerk, and keep your head down when things get ugly and we won't have a
problem. Don't let the tough guys fool ya, we got a good crowd here. Once
you get to know them, you'll realize we're all friends here. You keep that
in mind and you'll do fine. Now, can I get ya something...?"
- MW
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