[HOE] Posting Etiquette

[Matt and Teresa Steflik <grifflik@stny.rr.com>]

Hey there,

I know Mr. Seyberth used to field this kind of stuff before he retired. 
Don't know who (if anyone) is handling it now.  Despite the patience and
level-headed responses from several listers, it seems some of us are
still failing to commnicate effectively on certain levels.  At the risk
of sounding like a stick in the mud, I'd like to make three polite
requests.  To list veterans, I apologize for this redundant information.

1.  When quoting a previous post, please limit the quoted material to
the bare bones of what's needed as reference.  Several posts in this
recent "Unity Spoilers" thread have been overboard in the extraneous
quote department - one I just received quoted the whole digest from the
previous day.  Please be frugal and quote only when its relevant to your
response.  Indiscriminate quoting just takes up space and makes your
response harder to read.

2.  When dealing with "Marshal Only" or otherwise player sensitive
information in a post, please use some spoiler space before the body of
your post.  It's the polite thing to do and the way we've always
conducted business here.  Just saying "Spoiler" in the subject or
assuming that a player will know not to read a post based on the subject
is not acceptable procedure.  As Mr. Black stated in several posts, some
email programs preview messages.

And, to a lesser, but nonetheless present extent:

3.  When posting, please keep personal attacks, inappropriate references
and inappropriate language from your responses.  The list isn't the
place for that kind of behavior.  I've always enjoyed this list for the
open, intelligent discussions of ideas and mechanics that the folks here
generate.  Several things I've seen recently could be written off as
simple ranting or just plain rude.  Please, if you have a problem with
something about the system or setting as written, fine.  Go ahead and
state your opinion.  Just do so politely and offer some constructive
criticism on how your differences might be addressed to suit you or your
group.  If you're not sure how they should be handled, ask nicely for
some input.  If things are done this way, you'll be more apt to be taken
seriously and we can have a discussion instead of an argument.  

Thanks for your time.

Matt Steflik
Gimme Shelter - http://www.geocities.com/grifflik