Home > ATXF Unofficial > FAQ
Compiled by: Danny (Danny @ Scoutnet.net.au)
Last Updated: 15th March 2000
{
"Dormant" FAQs:
ATXF Spoiler Policy - $teve2
Anti-FAQ - $teve2
Assimilation to ATXF - $teve2
ATXF Hardy Perennials - Ken Finlayson
How to Nominate for X-Reports (or something like that) - Ken & Robin
}
Changes since last Update: Minor Rehashes all over
For a very sketchy guide to ATXFs traditions and in-jokes, read "Understanding ATXF" posted by me.
Where have you been for the last 6 years????? "The X-Files" is a US Television Show and a Movie, created by Chris Carter, and starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who investigate paranormal or unsolved cases. In Australia, it airs on Channel 10 and affiliates on Wednesdays at 8.30pm. We are currently seeing Season 7. Repeats of older episodes are screened on Fox8 on Foxtel (Pay TV). For more about the show see the Official X-Files Website, http://www.TheX-Files.com or the plethora of other X-Files related sites on the web. For information on X-Files Fandom in Australia, read "SEP - The X-Files in Australia" posted by Ken.
In the days when atxf was a high volume group, Tags were introduced to help those that didn't want to read posts with a topic irrelevant to The X-Files. Although the volume has decreased somewhat, we still think it's a good idea to tag all posts.
The tags are:
REL: Relevant or Related - to The X-Files.
MERCH: Merchandise - any Magazine, Book, Hat, T-shirt, calendar
etc, which is related to the X-Files
ADMIN: Posts concerned with the "running" of the group. FAQs,
Reports, IRC, Statistics etc.
TAN: Posts with a Tangential subject - that is, not related to
the X-Files.
SUNBURN: More than TAN.
SPOILERS: Post contains spoilers for things unseen in Australia
QUOTEWAR: See Question 7.
X-REPORT: See Question 6.
Other tags are used, but these are the most common. Please tag your posts appropriately.
Almost Anything! If you have anything to say, even if it's "Hi, I'm new here!" then please do so. However, we do have certain things we *don't* like here. See below for more on that. Otherwise, join in, tag your posts correctly, start your own threads, and play nice :)
Sure! Anyone is most welcome here, although be warned - If you happen to be in a country which gets certain TV shows and/or movies ahead of Australia, be careful of SPOILERS (See below). This doesn't just mean spoilers for "The X-Files" but a lot of other shows which regulars here like to watch. To be on the safe side, if you want to discuss something that you think we may have not seen, add some spoiler space.
There are a few things that get on everyone's nerves in atxf. If you avoid posting these, then you'll fit in fine. Things not to post are:
If you really must, follow the rules in the ATXF Spoiler Policy. Everyone should read this document anyway. $teve 2 posts it. The basic rule is: put "SPOILER" in the subject, *and* put in about 20 lines of (non-blank) spoiler space. Also say *what you are spoiling* (eg Episode name) and snip spoilers when following up a spoiler-ridden post to a) flame the spoiler-poster or b) warn everyone about the Spoiler.
Bitching is the worst way to start a constructive debate about the show. Don't whine about it, get out and post some X-file related material yourself! However, expect more TAN than REL at all times.
If you don't agree with someone's post about the X-files, or an issue they've raised, play the ball not the person. Argue your case against their case, discuss, debate and generally have a good time of it in an intellectually stimulating environment. Don't resort to personal abuse just because somebody said something about Scully you didn't like.
It will occur, but please ignore it, and don't be a spammer yourself. However, it is permissible to "advertise" X-Files related stuff for sale, but please use the "FS" (For Sale) or "MERCH" tags, and avoid crossposting.
This isn't a binaries group. Don't post them, not even HTML. Nuff said.
The X-Report is an irregular (ie whenever someone bothers to write one) satirical awards ceremony, conducted by a volunteer from the ATXF community, in which contributors to aus.tv.x-files are given awards for various messages they've posted to ATXF. The award categories change from report to report.
To see who's doing the X-Report, keep an eye out for the "ADMIN: X-Report Schedule" posts by Ken Finlayson.
This is easy, although many people don't think so. Here's what to do:
If you can think of some weird, wacky or inventive award name (anything is possible) then include that when you nominate the post. Otherwise, the report author has to think them up him/herself, and after actually writing the damn reports, the writer's brain isn't ready to be creative again for quite some time.
Anyone can write an X-Report, even I've done it! First of all, I suggest you get an idea. The reports ususally consist of a "story", which is usually a parody of some well-known movie/TV-show/book/etc, and the "Awards" section. When you've decided on a date that you wish to post your X-Report, email Ken Finlayson (kaf03@uow.edu.au) and tell him this date, your email address and perhaps a "title" for your report. Then get down and write it (the recommendation by Ken "Mr. Late" Finlayson is to write the report *before* you announce it to the group), and if no nominations are coming in, post to the group and complain! (Don't forget you can always nominate posts yourself!) You can find more hints on how to write an X-Report yourself at the ATXF Web Page (See Question 10).
Mutatothread: A rhyming/pattern matching competition whereby an original word, phrase or name is "mutated" to form different meanings, normally humorous, often topical. Refer to deja.com for the great "You can't say..." mutato, or our more recent spate of mutatos. Mutatothreads can start anywhere and anytime, so be wary what you post...
Quotewar: A word association game using song lyrics as combatants attempt to out quote each other by running their opponents out of quotes. Carmageddon with words. Once you've played once, you'll understand how it all works. The Live version is much more difficult.
Flamewar: One to many to one communication with the fire, rather than the smoke signals. These fights range from the personal to the theoretical and they get nasty. They're supposed to get nasty. It's an annual blood letting between the regulars to clear the air, and to settle old scores.
Yes, that's right, atxf have regular IRC sessions for us to talk in real time. The details are:
WHEN: Every Night, from when the first person gets there
until the last person leaves (usually from about 8.30pm EST).
WHERE: Channel #atxf, IRCNet (and rated MA 15+, #atxf_hottub)
SERVERS: IRCNet, accessible randomly by: au.ircnet.org:6667
or by the actual servers: flute.telstra.net.au:6667,
yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au:6667, irc.usyd.edu.au:6667.
We hardly ever talk REL, but if you want to just come in and voice your comment or question and someone might answer it. Mainly we just chat - about anything and everything.
Gatherings are what we call face-to-face meetings of people who usually only have contact online. There have been many ATXF Gatherings in cities all over Australia, and many have made the effort to travel to get to them.
There are regular gatherings of ATXF posters in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Please see Q10 for URLs, and see "SEP - The X-Files in Australia" for details on how to subscribe to their mailing lists.
NatGat is our contraction used for the "National Gathering", a meeting of all ATXFers from around Australia (or if necessary, the world) to do um... stuff. There may or may not be X-Files content, but that's largely irrelevant.
LATEST NEWS
Register your interest for NatGat 2000 at http://www.natgat.com NatGat 2000 will be held in early December in Melbourne. More information will be available soon.
NatGat 99 was held in Brisbane, December 3-5 1999. Everyone had a great time. The website is at http://come.to/natgat
Photo sites:
The ATXF Web Page, maintained by Robin Harrison, is the main resource of information about ATXF. It contains past X-Reports and Records of the Awards, as well as links to most ATXFer's Web Pages.
Ken's put up an Unofficial ATXF site. It contains the groups current FAQs (including this one), and the 1999 X-Reports among a few other things.
&teve Turtle keeps track of who posts what, and creates statistics each month. He also keeps a database of ATXF Birthdays.
Register your interest in NatGat 2000 at http://www.natgat.com
Don't forget these sites too!
Yes, that's right - this isn't the only FAQ that atxf has.
I've written "Understanding ATXF" to explain the more common quirks that we have here. Quotewars, GIPs and the EIP are explained. Well there's an attempt at explaining them anyway.
Ken tells you all you want to know about X-Files and X-Files Fandom in Australia in his "SEP - The X-Files in Australia" FAQ. What does SEP stand for?
You can find these at Ken's Unofficial ATXF site (see Q10).
$teve takes an different view in educating newbies in his ANTI-FAQ.
He has also has created the ATXF Spoiler Policy, which is posted when necessary.
Ken Finlayson maintains ATXF Hardy Perennials, a list of the more common types of posts that may need explaining.
Robin & Ken kluged together a guide to nominating things for the X-Report. Or something like that.
Then of course, there's this FAQ, *The* FAQ, which I post every Wednesday. Sometimes. When my news server is working.
Other FAQs exist, such as Antti's Mini-FAQ, and Ken's long-lost Rough Guide to ATXF, but they seem to be dead, or at least dormant.
None have an "official" URL on the Web, but older copies of some of them can be found on the ATXF Web Site, http://welcome.to/atxf or on The Unofficial Web Site, http://geocities.datacellar.net/wollongong_ken/
Otherwise, please email the author/maintainer of the FAQs for a copy if you can't find one anywhere.
Well I only just thought of putting it here. It's basically a good way for me to sneak in a conclusion to the FAQ and to make it look like an answer to a question.
Enjoy posting to ATXF, we look forward to your contribution!