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From: [email protected] (Andrew Sterian)
Newsgroups: rec.games.computer.stars,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: [rec.games.computer.stars] Introduction and Information (FAQ)
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Summary: This posting describes the newsgroup rec.games.computer.stars,
        including where to find more information on the game itself.
        This posting should be read by anyone who wishes to post to the
        rec.games.computer.stars newsgroup.
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.games.computer.stars:58101 rec.answers:54842 news.answers:173668

Archive-name: games/stars/newsgroup-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly (23rd day of the month)
Last-modified: 1999/01/26
Version: 1.5
URL: http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~asterian/stars-faq.txt
Maintainer: Andrew Sterian <[email protected]>

                   Introduction to rec.games.computer.stars

This FAQ is posted monthly to the rec.games.computer.stars newsgroup. For
corrections or suggestions on improving the FAQ, please contact the
current maintainer listed in the 'Maintainer:' header above. Please read
the "Newsgroup Charter" section below before posting to this newsgroup.

------------------------------

Subject: 0. Table of Contents

       1. What is Stars! (very brief)
       2. Newsgroup Charter
       3. Nomenclature
       4. Other Stars! Resources

------------------------------

Subject: 1. What is Stars! (very brief)

Stars! is a computer strategy game for the Windows platform. If you want
to learn more about this game, or if you want to download a playable demo
version, visit the Stars! WWW page:

                     <http://www.webmap.com/stars!>
                OR
                     <http://www.webmap.com/stars%21>

The above site also offers many other resources, including a comprehensive
FAQ, links to other Stars! WWW sites, and reviews of the game.

------------------------------

Subject: 2. Newsgroup Charter

CHARTER: rec.games.computer.stars

This newsgroup is a forum for the discussion of the strategy game
"Stars!", written by Jeff Johnson and Jeff McBride.  This newsgroup
will not be moderated. Acceptable postings to this newsgroup include:

    * Announcements of new "Stars!" games requiring players, or
      existing "Stars!" games in which replacement players are needed

      As a courtesy to readers, these announcements should begin with
      the key word GAME: at the beginning of the subject line. The
      key word REPLACE: should be used if replacements for an
      existing game are sought.

      Games in which players are required to pay a fee for
      participating should clearly indicate this in the game
      announcement. Postings that do not announce the beginning of a
      new pay-for-play game but instead advertise the pay-for-play
      service itself fall under the category of 'commercial services'
      and will be governed by the rules regarding advertisements
      below.

    * Strategies for playing the game

    * Tips and questions regarding the game mechanics

    * Suggestions for future versions of the game

    * Information on new releases, upgrades, patches, etc. from the
      game authors

    * Direct comparison of "Stars!" and other strategy games in the
      same genre

    * Announcements of commercial or shareware programs or services
      that are directly related to "Stars!"

      These postings must be concise and informative, must contain a
      minimum of hype, and no more than 1 advertisement per month for
      a single product or service is allowed.

      All advertisements should be marked with the key word AD: or
      ADVERTISEMENT: at the beginning of the subject line.

    * Announcements of free programs or services directly related to
      "Stars!"

      These postings are not considered advertisements but should
      nonetheless be governed by common sense and restraint in the
      nature of the announcement and the frequency of posting.

      It is suggested that such posts be marked with the key word
      ANNOUNCE: at the beginning of the subject line.

All forms of advertisement other than those covered above are
considered UNACCEPTABLE for posting to this newsgroup.

Postings containing binary files (regardless of encoding) are
UNACCEPTABLE for this newsgroup.  Rather than posting a binary
file, the binary file should be placed at an appropriate FTP site
(such as the /pub directory of beast.webmap.com, which is the
main "Stars!" FTP server) or posted to alt.binaries.games or
alt.binaries.misc and a pointer to the binary file's location posted
to this newsgroup.

------------------------------

Subject: 3. Nomenclature

Here is a list of terms that you may encounter in newsgroup discussion.
Please contact the current maintainer for changes or additions to this
list. Thanks to Kent Peterson for getting this started. A larger set
of acronyms is available online at:

        <http://www.grigzy.com/mysteryguild/strat/abriv.htm>

 Racial Acronyms
 ---------------

   IT   - Inter-stellar Traveller
   IS   - Inner-Strength (note that one should be careful when using
          IS to mean Inner-Strength and *not* Inter-stellar Traveller)
   SS   - Super-Stealth
   WM   - War Monger
   JOAT - Jack of All Trades
   CA   - Claim Adjuster
   AR   - Alternate Reality
   SD   - Space Demolition
   HE   - Hyper-Expansion
   PP   - Packet Physics
   HP   - Hyper-Producer (a race design for high resource output)
   HG   - Hyper-Growth (a race design for high population growth)

 General Game Terms
 ------------------

   PRT  - Primary Racial Trait (e.g., Super Stealth, Alternate Reality)
   LRT  - Lesser Racial Trait  (e.g., Improved Starbases, Total Terraforming)

 Ship Acronyms
 -------------

   BB  - Battleship
   CA  - Cruiser (CA is also used for Claim Adjuster, perhaps CC is better)
   DD  - Destroyer

 Other Terms
 -----------

   PBEM - Play-by-E-Mail
   MM   - Micro-management

------------------------------

Subject: 4. Other Stars! Resources

* If you want to join in a play-by-email game, the best place to read
 about new game announcements is the Stars! Player Mailing List
 (S!PML) which is maintained by Trevor Scallen and Mathias Dellaert
 (formerly maintained by Alan Beall at the Stars! Depot). The S!PML has
 a huge number of active subscribers. You can subscribe or unsubscribe
 directly at:

     <http://www.grigzy.com/mysteryguild>  (The Mystery Guild)

* If you don't have time to read this newsgroup, subscribe to Andrew Sterian's
 Stars! Announcements list. This is a low-volume list consisting mainly of
 announcements of new Stars! versions, new auxilliary programs that aid
 in playing/hosting Stars!, and other significant postings culled from the
 rec.games.computer.stars newsgroup. To subscribe, send e-mail with the
 single word SUBSCRIBE in the SUBJECT line (and spell it right!) to:

                      [email protected]

----
End of "[rec.games.computer.stars] Introduction and Information (FAQ)"
**********************************************************************

--
Andrew.  [email protected] | Me: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~asterian
----------------------------+----------------------------------------------
Faith is the willingness to get out of bed in the morning and just show up...
                                                           -- Richard Thieme