Introduction to the Robert Jordan Usenet groups

[bruce]

RJ groups intro v1.7, last updated 23/04/08.


0. Contents
===========
1. Welcome
2. The Groups
3. Accessibility
4. Topicality
5. Some FAQ's
5.1. What is the next book called and when will it be published?
5.2. Is Robert Jordan really dead?
5.3. What books are in the Wheel of Time?
5.4. What other WoT merchandise is there?
5.5. Something's wrong with this information, what kind of idiot are you?
6. Links


1. Welcome
==========
To whichever of the Robert Jordan groups you're now reading. You may not be
aware that there are in fact four of them. The purpose of this document is
to enable you to decide which is best suited to your needs.


2. The Groups
=============
"Why so many RJ groups?", you ask.

Alt.binaries.fan.robert-jordan is for the posting of binaries (pictures,
etc.). This group is just an outgrowth of alt.fan.robert-jordan and doesn't
have a community of its own.

Alt.wheel.of.time is for role-playing in a world derived from the earlier
books of the Wheel of Time.

Alt.fan.robert-jordan (afr-j) and rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan
(raswr-j) were created about the same time for much the same purpose - to
get WoT discussion off of rec.arts.sf.written. The creation of raswr-j was
still under discussion when a spectator created afr-j. Thus, many (primarily
from raswr-j) would say that afr-j was created improperly (though
technically in line with standards) and should not be used.

The disregard for convention shown in the creation of afr-j was not terribly
suited to the earlier inhabitants of the group, but does match the mindset
of the current lot of monkeys (myself included). Contrarily, raswr-j adheres
to strict rules of netiquette. Not conforming will find you being 'plonked',
(placed in someone's killfile). If that worries you, then perhaps raswr-j is
the group you'll be most comfortable in.

"raswrj has killfiles, strict adherence to netiquette, etc. afrj has fun."
-- Me.


3. Accessibility
================
Alt.fan.robert-jordan and rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan should be
carried by any news server worth the name, alt.wheel.of.time sometimes
isn't, and you'll be lucky to find alt.binaries.fan.robert-jordan.

If your server doesn't carry a group, you can ask your administrator to add
it (try an email to ***@your-isp). Cross-posts (eg, to misc.misc or
alt.test) will help propagation.

<http://groups.google.com> is a free web-based server that has all the text
groups. It does not support binaries.

If you hear of a free web-based newsreader that has
alt.binaries.fan.robert-jordan, please let me know.


4. Topicality
=============
In alt.wheel.of.time, since the 'topic' is role-playing, off-topic posts are
generally marked by an OOC: ('Out Of Character') prefix in the subject line.

In rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan, off-topic posts are marked by a [TAN]
(short for tangential) prefix in the subject line.

Alt.fan.robert-jordan doesn't worry so much that a thread be on- or
off-topic, but topical threads are generally marked by topical subject lines
(eg, 'Wheel of Time Book 1 Chapters 13-14', 'WOT Series Question', or 'AFRJ
History, chapter 21: Is This a Jordan Group or What?') and off-topic threads
are marked by off-topic subjects (eg, 'Iraq is dangerous', 'usstan inbal zik
atatal d' haruk.' or 'Penis'). Simple, eh? You'd think so..


5. Some FAQs
============
5.1. What is the next book called and when will it be released?
---------------------------------------------------------------
The next and final book in the Wheel of Time was to be titled
_A Memory of Light_. At the time of Robert Jordan's death, the story had
been completed, and recounted to friends and relatives, but not fully written.
Tor Books has announced that aMoL will be completed by Brandon Sanderson, and
is expected to be published in 2009.

5.2. Is Robert Jordan really dead?
----------------------------------
Yes. He died on September 16th, 2007, after losing his battle with amyloidosis.

5.3. What books are in the Wheel of Time?
-----------------------------------------
Prequel 0: "The Strike at Shayol Ghul" (tSaSG)
<http://www.tor.com/shayol.html>
Prequel 1: "New Spring" (NS), from _Legends_, ed. Robert Silverberg
Prequel 1a: _New Spring: The Novel_ (NS:TN) - an expansion of the novella

Book 1: _The Eye of the World_ (tEotW)
Book 1a: _From the Two Rivers_ (ftTR), includes a new prologue, "Ravens"
Book 1b: _To the Blight_ (ttB), with an expanded glossary
Book 2: _The Great Hunt_ (tGH)
Book 2a: _The Hunt Begins_ (tHB)
Book 2b: _New Threads in the Pattern_ (NTitP)
Book 3: _The Dragon Reborn_ (tDR)
Book 4: _The Shadow Rising_ (tSR)
Book 5: _The Fires of Heaven_ (tFoH)
Book 6: _Lord of Chaos_ (LoC)
Book 7: _A Crown of Swords_ (aCoS)
Book 8: _The Path of Daggers_ (tPoD)
Book 9: _Winter's Heart_ (WH)
Book 10: _Crossroads of Twilight_ (CoT)
Book 11: _Knife of Dreams_ (KoD)
Book 12: _A Memory of Light_ (aMoL) - working title

_The World of Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time"_ (the guide)

Tor re-released tEotW and tGH under their Starscape imprint for the junior
market, splitting each book into two volumes. The new books are ftTR, ttB,
tHB and NTitP. Can someone please let me know if these last two have any
extras?

5.4. What other WoT merchandise is there?
-----------------------------------------
a computer game - <http://www.wheeloftime.com>
a d20 RPG - <http://www.wizards.com/wheeloftime/>
Afr-j stuff:
<http://www.cafeshops.com/afrjstore>
<http://www.cafeshops.com/afrj1>

5.5. Something's wrong with this information, what kind of idiot are you?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The kind that has read the books a few times, and likes discussing them, but
has better things to do than spend every last minute hanging around tor,
dragonmount, wotmania, rasfwrj, and wherever else updates might be found.
If this post is getting a little stale, let me know by posting to afr-j.


6. Links
========
Tor's Robert Jordan page:
<http://www.tor.com/jordan>
Robert Jordan's weblog:
<http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan>
Brandon Sanderson's weblog (aMoL category):
<http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/category/39>

alt.binaries.fan.robert-jordan, alt.fan.robert-jordan:
<http://www.afrj-monkeyhouse.org>
alt.wheel.of.time:
<http://www30.brinkster.com/awot>
rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan:
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sf/robert-jordan-faq>

alt.fan.robert-jordan group re-read:
<http://www.geocities.com/mortarn/usenet/AFRJ-reread.html>

Wheel of Time FAQ:
<http://linuxmafia.com/jordan>
Character Archive:
<http://netspace.net.au/~dmt/wot>

[Joshua Crawford]

Post by bruce
RJ groups intro v1.7, last updated 23/04/08.

5 years today since I updated the intro. Let's see how out of date it is.

Post by bruce
0. Contents
===========
1. Welcome
2. The Groups
3. Accessibility
4. Topicality
5. Some FAQ's
5.1. What is the next book called and when will it be published?
5.2. Is Robert Jordan really dead?
5.3. What books are in the Wheel of Time?
5.4. What other WoT merchandise is there?
5.5. Something's wrong with this information, what kind of idiot are you?
6. Links
1. Welcome
==========
To whichever of the Robert Jordan groups you're now reading. You may not be
aware that there are in fact four of them. The purpose of this document is
to enable you to decide which is best suited to your needs.

Ok so far.

Post by bruce
2. The Groups
=============
"Why so many RJ groups?", you ask.
Alt.binaries.fan.robert-jordan is for the posting of binaries (pictures,
etc.). This group is just an outgrowth of alt.fan.robert-jordan and doesn't
have a community of its own.

abfr-j was never carried very widely. I made it because people were posting pictures in afr-j, and some servers used to strip binaries from text groups.

Post by bruce
Alt.wheel.of.time is for role-playing in a world derived from the earlier
books of the Wheel of Time.

awot started dwindling in 2007, and was dead by 2009.

Post by bruce
Alt.fan.robert-jordan (afr-j) and rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan
(raswr-j) were created about the same time for much the same purpose - to
get WoT discussion off of rec.arts.sf.written. The creation of raswr-j was
still under discussion when a spectator created afr-j. Thus, many (primarily
from raswr-j) would say that afr-j was created improperly (though
technically in line with standards) and should not be used.
The disregard for convention shown in the creation of afr-j was not terribly
suited to the earlier inhabitants of the group, but does match the mindset
of the current lot of monkeys (myself included). Contrarily, raswr-j adheres
to strict rules of netiquette. Not conforming will find you being 'plonked',
(placed in someone's killfile). If that worries you, then perhaps raswr-j is
the group you'll be most comfortable in.
"raswrj has killfiles, strict adherence to netiquette, etc. afrj has fun."
-- Me.

I haven't bothered looking; is anyone still using rec.arse, or is just cross-posts?

Post by bruce
3. Accessibility
================
Alt.fan.robert-jordan and rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan should be
carried by any news server worth the name, alt.wheel.of.time sometimes
isn't, and you'll be lucky to find alt.binaries.fan.robert-jordan.
If your server doesn't carry a group, you can ask your administrator to add
alt.test) will help propagation.
<http://groups.google.com> is a free web-based server that has all the text
groups. It does not support binaries.
If you hear of a free web-based newsreader that has
alt.binaries.fan.robert-jordan, please let me know.

All good advice.

Post by bruce
4. Topicality
=============
In alt.wheel.of.time, since the 'topic' is role-playing, off-topic posts are
generally marked by an OOC: ('Out Of Character') prefix in the subject line.

Never really happened much.

Post by bruce
In rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan, off-topic posts are marked by a [TAN]
(short for tangential) prefix in the subject line.

Flame threads were good for TAN's.

Post by bruce
Alt.fan.robert-jordan doesn't worry so much that a thread be on- or
off-topic, but topical threads are generally marked by topical subject lines
(eg, 'Wheel of Time Book 1 Chapters 13-14', 'WOT Series Question', or 'AFRJ
History, chapter 21: Is This a Jordan Group or What?') and off-topic threads
are marked by off-topic subjects (eg, 'Iraq is dangerous', 'usstan inbal zik
atatal d' haruk.' or 'Penis'). Simple, eh? You'd think so..

Of course, 'Penis' *was* a topical thread.

It took Rand nine books to figure out how to clean his penis.

Post by bruce
5. Some FAQs
============
5.1. What is the next book called and when will it be released?
---------------------------------------------------------------
The next and final book in the Wheel of Time was to be titled
_A Memory of Light_. At the time of Robert Jordan's death, the story had
been completed, and recounted to friends and relatives, but not fully written.
Tor Books has announced that aMoL will be completed by Brandon Sanderson, and
is expected to be published in 2009.

Except he stuffed two extra books in, and only took 4 years longer.

Post by bruce
5.2. Is Robert Jordan really dead?
----------------------------------
Yes. He died on September 16th, 2007, after losing his battle with amyloidosis.
5.3. What books are in the Wheel of Time?
-----------------------------------------
Prequel 0: "The Strike at Shayol Ghul" (tSaSG)
<http://www.tor.com/shayol.html>
Prequel 1: "New Spring" (NS), from _Legends_, ed. Robert Silverberg
Prequel 1a: _New Spring: The Novel_ (NS:TN) - an expansion of the novella
Book 1: _The Eye of the World_ (tEotW)
Book 1a: _From the Two Rivers_ (ftTR), includes a new prologue, "Ravens"
Book 1b: _To the Blight_ (ttB), with an expanded glossary
Book 2: _The Great Hunt_ (tGH)
Book 2a: _The Hunt Begins_ (tHB)
Book 2b: _New Threads in the Pattern_ (NTitP)
Book 3: _The Dragon Reborn_ (tDR)
Book 4: _The Shadow Rising_ (tSR)
Book 5: _The Fires of Heaven_ (tFoH)
Book 6: _Lord of Chaos_ (LoC)
Book 7: _A Crown of Swords_ (aCoS)
Book 8: _The Path of Daggers_ (tPoD)
Book 9: _Winter's Heart_ (WH)
Book 10: _Crossroads of Twilight_ (CoT)
Book 11: _Knife of Dreams_ (KoD)
Book 12: _A Memory of Light_ (aMoL) - working title
_The World of Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time"_ (the guide)
Tor re-released tEotW and tGH under their Starscape imprint for the junior
market, splitting each book into two volumes. The new books are ftTR, ttB,
tHB and NTitP. Can someone please let me know if these last two have any
extras?

Surprisingly little change here. Two extra novels. Unless Sanderson also did the other prequels?

Post by bruce
5.4. What other WoT merchandise is there?
-----------------------------------------
a computer game - <http://www.wheeloftime.com>
a d20 RPG - <http://www.wizards.com/wheeloftime/>
<http://www.cafeshops.com/afrjstore>
<http://www.cafeshops.com/afrj1>

These still work. Who gets the money?

Post by bruce
5.5. Something's wrong with this information, what kind of idiot are you?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The kind that has read the books a few times, and likes discussing them, but
has better things to do than spend every last minute hanging around tor,
dragonmount, wotmania, rasfwrj, and wherever else updates might be found.
If this post is getting a little stale, let me know by posting to afr-j.
6. Links
========
<http://www.tor.com/jordan>

Dead as RJ.

Post by bruce
<http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan>

Last updated 2010.

Post by bruce
<http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/category/39>

Up-to-date.

Post by bruce
<http://www.afrj-monkeyhouse.org>

Dead.

Post by bruce
<http://www30.brinkster.com/awot>

Dead.

Post by bruce
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sf/robert-jordan-faq>

More out of date than this introduction. My favourite quote: "Jordan is not bloody dying. Goddammit."

Post by bruce
<http://www.geocities.com/mortarn/usenet/AFRJ-reread.html>

On any geocities address, replace ".com" with ".ws".
<http://www.geocities.ws/mortarn/usenet/AFRJ-reread.html>

Post by bruce
<http://linuxmafia.com/jordan>

Updated for book 12.

Post by bruce
<http://netspace.net.au/~dmt/wot>

Dead.

Post by bruce
--
Joshua 'bruce' Crawford ... http://geocities.com/mortarn
---
http://www.rewardscentral.com.au/Join/Default.aspx?refer=mortarn
Be rewarded! Join RewardsCentral today!
---
If you don't think women are explosive, drop one!

Overall, not too bad. I could fix this up easily if I still felt like posting it, which I don't.

--bruce

[David DeLaney]

Post by Joshua Crawford
Of course, 'Penis' *was* a topical thread.
It took Rand nine books to figure out how to clean his penis.

Cleanse. :P

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
Tor Books has announced that aMoL will be completed by Brandon Sanderson, and
is expected to be published in 2009.

Except he stuffed two extra books in, and only took 4 years longer.

Well, more like when he went to see what-all needed to go into "the last book"
before the Last Battle, he and Tor decided between them that they did NOT want
to try releasing one book with that many pages in it, and it got split into
three. Which is probably at LEAST as many as Jordan would have taken.

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
Book 12: _A Memory of Light_ (aMoL) - working title

Surprisingly little change here. Two extra novels.

The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, A Memory of Light, which together
make up what needed to go into the planned AMoL.

Post by Joshua Crawford
Unless Sanderson also did the other prequels?

No, and it looks like they won't get done, alas.

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
6. Links
========
<http://www.tor.com/jordan>

Dead as RJ.

Probably want to direct people instead to the Leigh Butler reread blog, which
has been going on for quite a while now. If you ever want to fix it up that is.

Dave

[Chucky @ Work]

On Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:12:04 -0700 (PDT), Joshua Crawford

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
RJ groups intro v1.7, last updated 23/04/08.

5 years today since I updated the intro. Let's see how out of date it is.

Bahahahaha! Gold.

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
The disregard for convention shown in the creation of afr-j was not terribly
suited to the earlier inhabitants of the group, but does match the mindset
of the current lot of monkeys (myself included). Contrarily, raswr-j adheres
to strict rules of netiquette. Not conforming will find you being 'plonked',
(placed in someone's killfile). If that worries you, then perhaps raswr-j is
the group you'll be most comfortable in.
"raswrj has killfiles, strict adherence to netiquette, etc. afrj has fun."
-- Me.

I haven't bothered looking; is anyone still using rec.arse, or is just cross-posts?

There are a few people still around there, yeah. They're mostly
reacting rather than acting though, in long-term lurk mode.

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
Alt.fan.robert-jordan doesn't worry so much that a thread be on- or
off-topic, but topical threads are generally marked by topical subject lines
(eg, 'Wheel of Time Book 1 Chapters 13-14', 'WOT Series Question', or 'AFRJ
History, chapter 21: Is This a Jordan Group or What?') and off-topic threads
are marked by off-topic subjects (eg, 'Iraq is dangerous', 'usstan inbal zik
atatal d' haruk.' or 'Penis'). Simple, eh? You'd think so..

Of course, 'Penis' *was* a topical thread.
It took Rand nine books to figure out how to clean his penis.

Turns out he needed Nynaeve's help.

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
Tor re-released tEotW and tGH under their Starscape imprint for the junior
market, splitting each book into two volumes. The new books are ftTR, ttB,
tHB and NTitP. Can someone please let me know if these last two have any
extras?

Surprisingly little change here. Two extra novels. Unless Sanderson also did the other prequels?

Not so far.

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
5.4. What other WoT merchandise is there?
-----------------------------------------
a computer game - <http://www.wheeloftime.com>
a d20 RPG - <http://www.wizards.com/wheeloftime/>
<http://www.cafeshops.com/afrjstore>
<http://www.cafeshops.com/afrj1>

These still work. Who gets the money?

Good question. Probably Dabs.

Post by Joshua Crawford

Post by bruce
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sf/robert-jordan-faq>

More out of date than this introduction. My favourite quote: "Jordan is not bloody dying. Goddammit."

I know it's wrong to laugh at this, but I laughed.

Post by Joshua Crawford
Overall, not too bad. I could fix this up easily if I still felt like posting it, which I don't.

And I would not expect you to, sir.





***@w