The Utopians Infofile v3.0

Written by Zippy

Greetings all!

This is version 3 of The Utopian Infofile, created to increase clarity, and to help explain the changes in the organisation.

ABOUT ME

I am Zippy, a Norwegian coder, president of The Utopians. Some people think I'm a megalomaniac, because I call myself that.. Well.. I'm a megalomaniac, but that's because I want to rule the galaxy, not because I call myself the president of The Utopians. I call myself the president of the utopians so people will understand who to come to, if they wish to know anything about The Utopians, or want to join. I created the organisation, and I'm the guy who maintains it, so I think the 'title' is explanatory, and it serves its purpose.

(BTW, remember that KFMF, the OTHER big scene-organisation ;), has a President, and a vice-president, and has had that system for quite some time. A big organisation needs someone to run it.)

I'm a member of the demogroup Utopia, which is unrelated to The Utopians. I am also the author of the DemoScene Starter-Kit series of programs.

ABOUT THE ORGANISATION CALLED 'THE UTOPIANS'

The Utopians is a relatively new organisation. It exists as a contact-network, and an organisation that fights to keep the demoscene, as we know it, alive.

It is completely unrelated to the *demogroup* Utopia, which isn't very active as it is, anyway.

The Utopians is not a demogroup. Becoming a member of The Utopians does not mean that you commit to being a graphician, a coder, or a musician for a group. It only means that you strive to reach the goals of The Utopians, which will be mentioned in detail, later in this text.

It is, of course, non-profit, and membership is, of course, free. We fight for a living breathing, friendly demoscene without predjudism, that accepts newbies. It is an organisation for people who love the demoscene, and are dedicated to keeping it alive. In other words, the demoscene vision of Utopia.

You do not have to be an established demoscener or from an established demogroup to join, all you have to do is support our goals. We encourage newbies to join, as that is a fundamental part of keeping the demoscene alive; bringing new talent into it. We also encourage well-known/skilled demosceners to join, so they also can show their support, and prove that we are past the days of calling newbies lamers, just because they are new to the scene. Members are expected to support each other with a friendly attitude, regardless of how 'famous' they are.

BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE UTOPIANS DOES NOT MEAN YOU QUIT BEING A MEMBER OF YOUR CURRENT DEMOGROUP. The Utopians is not a demogroup. You are just member of an organisation, as well as a demogroup. I mean, you don't say: 'NO! I will not join the army, I'm already in Future Crew' :) It's a completely different thing. However, I hope we will be able to release a few demos and other productions under The Utopians name.

We will try to be present at most big demo-parties, and have some fun 'official' Utopian activities there. And at places like The Gathering'99 we are hoping for a strong presence so we can chase away the lame 'quake-party' feel, and reclaim the demoparty, for real demosceners. TG'99 will be the place of the first major Utopian meeting.

There is also a Utopian newsletter that I hope to release ca. once a month. It has articles written only by members. All members will recieve it by e-mail. There is life after demonews after all! :)

We also have an official web-page: http://bigfoot.stones.com/~zippy

ABOUT THE GOALS OF THE UTOPIANS

Has anyone ever played a series of computer games called Ultima? Remember the seven virtues of the Ultima-games? (Actually there were 8, but let's not spoil my metaphor.) Well, these are the seven virtues of the demoscene. :) These are the goals of The Utopians (in order of importance):

1. Keep the demoscene alive.
2. Make the demoscene a place for genuine friendship.
3. Make demos works of art. Not simply 'showing off computers and coders'.
4. Create a tolerant demoscene.
5. Encourage progress, while preserving the oldskool-style.
6. Recruit fresh demosceners.
7. Protect it against becoming the 'getting into the games-industry'-scene.

The order of importance has been changed, since version 2, reflecting the common consensus of The Utopians.

Becoming a member of, or simply supporting The Utopians, means that you agree with these ideals, and strive for our Utopian view of the demoscene, as shown in our goals.

THE SECTIONS WITHIN THE UTOPIANS

When you join The Utopians, you also choose which section to join. The sections only indicate what kind of thing you do in the organisation, and how commited you are to the organisation.

You are a member of The Utopians, and all the sections are intertwined, and work completely together. The sections exist purely to indicate what the person does withing the organisation. It makes the contact network function more fluidly, and makes it easier to organize the organisation as it grows. There's nothing really serious about the sections.

There are sections for all sorts of people, even those who don't really feel like being active members.

You may be in all the sections you like, except the management-section, which is chosen by the management. You may change sections at any time.

The sections you are a part of will be indicated in the memberlist. These are the sections:

*The Utopian Management*
Abbrebiation: TUM

Role in the organsation: Management-members make decisions concerning how the organisation is organized and run. They take care of Utopian events at demo-parties, can be asked questions of regarding official utopian stuff, and can together with the rest of the management decide to not allow a production to be a utopian production.

Normal members can also veto productions, but then there must be a large majority of the members who wish to do so.

The thing is that if the management says 'No, this is not accepted as an official utopian production', it won't be an official utopian production. If they say 'Sure this can be an official utopian production' it means that the rest of the utopians must decide whether or not to accept it.

So we can say no, but we can't say yes, unless the rest of the organisation agrees, sorta thing. Managament organizes the organisation basically. You can not apply to become a management-member. The current management must choose you, you may of course refuse.

Currently the management is: Zippy, Blade, and PearlHunter.

*The Utopian International Demo Crew*
Abbreviation: TUIDC

Role in the organisation: This is the demo-group section. Those who wish to make demos on behalf of the Utopians, thereby making a 100% official utopian demo, must be a part of TUIDC. It's the first attempt at making a huge international demo-group.. Well KFMF have done it before us, I suppose... ;)

So anyone who wants to do design, code, gfx, or music for a totally official demo should join this section. I hope a lot of you choose this section.

*The Utopian Knowledge Crew*
Abbreviation: TUKC

Role in the organisation: Those of you who feel you have a lot of knowledge and are willing to spend time sharing it should be a part of this section. People in this section should be a big part of the contact network that is an integral part of this organisation. People who write tutorials or other stuff for the newsletter should be a part of this section.

*The Utopian Union of Swappers Traders and Spreaders*
Abbreviation: TUUS

Role in the organisation: This is a whole new area for the organisation. This wasn't originally a part of the organisation. This is something new I've started to keep the scene alive while encouraging progress. The idea is to have this section as almost a sub-organisation, for the dying breed of swappers, traders, and spreaders. I intend to recruit a lot of people to this part, as new members of The Utopians.

This section will be a very useful contact network for swappers/traders/spreaders. What they will do for the utopians is spread our .NFO-files and productions, and recruit members. I think mailswapping and the like is very fun, but it has become less nessecary, so there become fewer and fewer spreaders/traders/swappers, which is partly to blame for everyone going around screaming about the demoscene dying. So other than just beeing a good idea, this is direct action taken to keep the scene alive.

*The Utopian Audience*
Abbreviation: TUA

Role in the organisation: Those of you who don't really do anything other than watch demos, day and night, go to demo-parties, comment on demos, write demo-reviews, and clutter up IRC :) should be members here.

*The Utopian Lazy Layabouts*
Abbreviation: TULL

Role in the organisation: If you understand Norwegian you'll like the abbreviation ;) If you don't fit into any of the above sections, but sill wish to be a member of The Utopians, you end up in this section. This is a section for people who more or less do what they like. They have no real commitment to the organisation other than that they agree with The Utopian Values. I hope more people will want to join, now as we have this 'no-commitment'-section.

Together these six sections make up the organisation that is 'The Utopians'.

ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER

It is a newsletter, not a diskmag. That means there won't be any interface, only ASCII. We accept ASCII-art, and articles, but only from members. It will have tutorials, texts for newbies, texts for pro's, ASCII, info for coders, graphicians, and musicians, and also normal articles, like you'd expect to see in DemoNews, or Imphobia. Perhaps some poetry, but just if I like it. :)

ABOUT THE UTOPIANS AS A DEMOGROUP

The TUIDC-section of The Utopians functions as a large demogroup, so members are free to initiate projects under 'The Utopians' name, however, I hold the copyright on 'The Utopians' name. This means that I have the copyright on the name, but you, of course, still have the copyright on your work.

When someone has made a production they wish to have as an official Utopian production they have to:

* Send it in to me.
* I review it together with the rest of The Utopian Management.
* If we OK it, then it will be open for viewing for Utopian members.
* Unless someone has any major qualms about releasing it, it will then be released to the general public as an official Utopian production.

This is as democratic as you can make it in a large organisation, like The Utopians, methinks.

You may feel free to make Utopian demos, gfx-disks, music-disks, etc, but there are some basic rules that must be followed:

* Nudity is allowed, but not pornography. There is a difference.
* No blasphemy. (Even if you don't agree, check out goal no.4 above.)
* It has to have been through the Utopian release-process mentioned above.

SUPPORTING THE UTOPIANS

You don't have to be a member of The Utopians just to support us. A lot of people don't want to become members for various reasons, but agree with our ideals.

It is not required to be a member of The Utopians, just to support us. A lot of people don't want to become members for various reasons, but agree with our ideals.

Becoming a member of the TULL-section of the Utopians is absolutely an alternative to being an active member, but if you don't even want to do that, I encourage you to have a link to us on your webpages, or mention us in your text-files, or demos, or other productions, simply by stating 'We support The Utopian cause', or 'We support The Utopians', or similar messages.

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER

These are the requirements for membership:

You must be interested in the DEMOSCENE, not simply computers. You must have read the info-file, entirely. Or almost entirely, anyway. You must have an e-mail adress. You must agree with the 7 utopian values. You must have an open and friendly attitude to other members, and demosceners in general.

If you wish to become a member of The Utopians, you must send an e-mail to me, at the following address:

demoscener@hotmail.com

In your e-mail you must tell a bit about yourself, what your interest within the demoscene is (code, gfx, music, design, etc.), what brought you into the demoscene, your handle, and group. If you are interested in writing articles for the newsletter, or starting a demo-project, please say so.

You must also specify which sections within The Utopians you want to join. Your real name is not required. Neither is your phonenumber, or snailmail. You will then shortly recieve an e-mail telling you (most probably) that you have been accepted as a member of The Utopians. There will always be a reply, so if you haven't got a reply after a couple of weeks, send your letter again.

If you don't already have it, you will recieve the most current version of The DemoScene Starter-Kit, by e-mail, as a 'welcoming gift'. Version 4 will be ready sometime before 1999.

You will then be added to the member-list.

NEW! - You'll soon be able to join by sending in a form through the homepage of The Utopians, if people like this idea!

The memberlist will included in each newsletter, updated with new members. The most current memberlist will always be present on The Utopians' homepage.

Show your dedication to the demoscene, and join today!

Keep the scene alive!

- Zippy/Utopia/The Utopians

PS. One last thing, for all you worried people out there, WE ARE NOT A WEIRD SUICIDE CULT! :)

PPS. Well actually, I think there might be a weird suicide cult called something similar to The Utopians, but well... That's not us. :)