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Over the years, a.f.p. has been responsible for the development of many in-jokes and, whilst these may seem fresh and new to new subscribers, there is the potential for older afpers to find them boring after a while. Similarly, there are threads which appear with depressing regularity - some of which can be recognised as previously contentious and liable to provoke unfriendly reactions among posters.
This situation finally culminated in a document being posted on alt.fan.pratchett from which this version is taken. This document is commonly referred to, on a.f.p., as the "Vampire Threads FAQ". However, it should be noted that it is not officially recognised as an FAQ although it remains an highly useful set of guidelines and has been included here as a supporting document.
AFP (alt.fan.pratchett) is a long-established newsgroup. It has a very large, wide and varied readership, and a certain number of in-jokes. One of the other things that a.f.p. appears to have is a very loyal membership, which can mean that some people have seen the same joke occur over and over... and over... and over. This document aims to bring to your attention some of these threads, and hopefully explain why the more seasoned posters on a.f.p. tend to groan at their inception.
For the purposes of this document, a recurring thread is one in which a given topic is discussed repeatedly, with an interval between each discussion. There are three basic classes - the "hardy perennial", which is basically a fairly benign discussion, but one which recurs with some frequency; perennial weed threads, which are the type of thread which takes over the whole group; and the "vampire" thread, which is (usually) an [M] thread which can lead to rather acrimonious comments.
The reason for the name "vampire thread" is that the thread will occur, it will be thrashed out, staked down, have its head chopped off, its mouth stuffed with garlic, be exposed to the sun, the ashes gathered and scattered, and people will think that it's finally over. Then someone comes along with the newsgroup equivalent of a beetroot sandwich... and here we go again.
There are several of these. The list below is not intended to be comprehensive.
Editor: In March 1999, a Welcome email, containing all relevant introductory information, was introduced. This is sent out automatically to all new posters to a.f.p., in an attempt to remove this particular burden on the group's regular posters.
A second resource was introduced shortly afterwards, namely The Clue Fairies, who exist to deal with all queries relating to alt.fan.pratchett and alt.books.pratchett, technical or otherwise.
The Clue Fairies can be contacted at afp-help@lspace.org.
Another list - once again, it's not that comprehensive. The thing to remember about all of these threads is that they're about topics where many people have strong opinions.
Again, this isn't meant to be a comprehensive list.
There are some threads which can appear to the newer person to be rather like the perennial weed threads - they're widespread, they're taking over most of the group, and they seem to be provoking some strong reactions. A couple of examples are listed below, and these sorts of threads could be classed as "annual weeds". An "annual weed" thread is generally more lighthearted than the perennial version, and tends to peter out on its own.
The Temple, or to give its full name, The Temple of AFPdoration, was an annual-weed-type thread which was in full flight around June/July 1997. An archived version of this thread is available in the AFP Timelines Section.
"The Great Cheese Wars" began in mid-October 1998 as a response to a thread on politics which was beginning to turn nasty. One of the posters deliberately changed the subject in that thread from politics to cheese. Another poster took up an anti-cheese position, they each gathered their followers, and for a brief period, the Cheese Wars were in full flight on a.f.p.. The cheese wars ended when the two original posters discovered that they had a lot in common (a mutual liking for Nick Cave, for eg), and afproposed to each other, ending the wars.
a.f.p. being a.f.p., recurring threads are likely to be a part of the landscape for a long while now. This section aims to give just a few tips on how to deal with them.
With these, it's important to remember that, while you may have strong feelings or opinions on the particular subject, the feelings and opinions of others are likely to be equally as strong. Given that, remember that people can, and do, tend to lose their composure. Keep it civil, and always try to remember this advice:
"One should never, ever, state in public that one is offended by someone else's comments. Being offended is one of those things that, as the expression goes, takes two. One may, and should, of course, express concern about the direction of a thread, but offence is a very strong emotion indeed that simply doesn't belong in public."
(8' Flesh Eating Dragon, in a.f.p., 3 December 1998).
Vampire Threads, by their very nature, are going to come back. These pointers are mainly aimed at avoiding the flamewars, acrimony, anger, nastiness and general ill-feeling that seems to come with them.
In conclusion, there is just this to say: alt.fan.pratchett is a very well-established newsgroup. The majority of the threads mentioned above are part of the "group culture". As such, the comments here are meant purely in an advisory sense - "helpful hints on how to avoid a flamewar", if you will.
They are not, in any sense, prescriptive.
It is, above all, the forgiving nature of a.f.p. which keeps folks (and filks) coming back to the group, no matter how major the schism.
Many thanks to all of the denizens of a.f.p., but most especially to the following people:
Last updated: 23rd August 2005.
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