I love so many things about the Downs that I can't mention all of them here. However, these are the things that I love the most (in no particular order):
[list=1][*]In-depth discussions on Balrog wings and Legolas’ hair in the Books forum[*]Making new friends all over the world[*]The effort everyone puts into their spelling and grammar[*]Dreaming about the day you get your personal title[/list=a]

Number 1 because it always intrigues me the new dimensions that people add to the book with the in-depth discussions. Tons of times, I find out new things about the books of which I never would have thought.

Number 2 because I always love to hear about different parts of the world and I just think it's really cool to know people from all around the globe.

Number 3 because I take it as a sign of respect that people take the time to spell right (even though I'm sure I have an occasional error in spelling).

Lastly, I love number 4 because... I don't know... I figure it will be a way to express myself. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I love:

-Sharing feelings and ideas without fear of being laughed at (unless I'm trying to be funny),

-The warm, fuzzy feeling of being quoted, or told that my idea was good,

-Improving my typing skills by posting,

-Feeling like I have friends all over the world who I have never met,

-So much more that I can't put into words.

There are many, many, many things I love about Barrow-Downs and to list all of them would take infinity to write and read it! I love Barrow-Downs in so many ways. It relaxes me, I love the fact that when you are on here you do not learn one thing a day but many things a day. People here have the freedom to debate and voice their own opinions. When you go on Barrow-Downs you leave the world behind you and you have enjoyment and you deal with magnificently humorous, sophisticated and prudent people from all walks of life. We tend to put our differences behind us and most of the time we leave religions, the battle of the sexes etc out of our posts and it gives us a break from daily debates and instead we enter the world of Tolkien discussions! That is what I love about Barrow-Downs forum. You see I am already going on… I could list more but I fear it will take hours to read!

Exactly!

Ignore my sappy post on the first page. I think it's time everyone know the truth, and the truth is that I come here to pick up the easy men.

Like burra.

Obloquy cut through all of my false-humility with that one.

Actually I ahve gotten a kick at reading something I wrote nearly 3 years ago! and being suprised that I knew waht I said, having forgotten it in the intervening years.

I have learned so much here [well OK 'been exposed to ' would be more accurate, I don't know how much I have made my own]:

• Better grammar and spelling!
• a certain graciousness in conversation
• how to follow arcane and painfully convulted threads and come out the other side.
• seeing your old posts years later
• getting to do Translations from the Elvish!
• Being exposed to the depths and Wonders of HoM-E - I had only read 1 and 2 when they came out, and browsed abit on the others.
• seeing the newfound joy and wonder for those just encountering the LotR [ or Silm or UT] for the first time.
• Seeing some of the great thinkers and posters year after year, and being part of the 'elders' - I prob shouldn't mention it, but it is a nice warm buzz.
• Oh, and realizing I know practically nothing about the vast subject of Sindarin and Quenya, and probably never will!
• and seeing how self-reflective the Downs has become! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

I mean it was so amazing to wander in here when it was only a month old or something and just dive in with some great minds. After having Middle-Earth 'all to myself' for 20 + years it was a long cool refreshing draught - that my wife still does not understand!

The Downs is a marvel, and even though I am away sometimes for a month or 2 and even when I am around I can't to get to 1/3 of the topics I wish I could, knowing that it is living and breathing and generating discussion and wonder is an unexpected comfort in this strange and often cruel world. Seriously. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img] IT is a veritable Cyber-Imladris.

lindil

[ July 25, 2003: Message edited by: lindil ]

That hurt me...in here... *points at heart*

*sniff*

Ah, yes...I know...when/how do you get one, anyway?

Definitely! Some message boards are full of people who...well, lets just say, should be ready to canonize Bill Gates, though they should use his wonderful gifts more often! I won't name any names, though, out of simple courtesy. *cough*ringbearer*cough*

Ahem, yes, I am big on courtesy. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] And you get that here too.

Read the Titles for the Future thread, and I'm sure you'll get the info you need.
Another thing I really like is the fact that people share their opinions and aren't afraid to stick to their guns, like the discussion in the Inherent Evil thread. That's really valuable at times. Sometimes too much compromise in an argument makes it unexciting and uninformitive, and it gives less incentive to really search out the truth. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
Peace

I just really like being able to communicate with other lotr fanatics [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] . I don't feel so alone anymore. And its really fun to post and read others posts ect. Some of them are really funny. The people on this site are wonderful: so exciting, lively, and hilarious. The Barrow-Downs is so much fun!! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I don't really know how to put this, but the Barrow-Downs kinda gives you a feeling of belonging, and you feel like you know people here even though you hardly ever dare to intrude in the in-depth discussions with all your newbieness...
Oh, and I love all the Tolkien geniuses here who makes you feel like a newbie no matter how badly you try not be one... And the way they're all friendly to poor little newbies. This is the only forum where a member has bothered to PM a welcome message to me, just to say welcome to the Downs. Samwise is one of the nicest people I've never really met... [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I love the open opportunity for discussion, and the variety of different views that people have.

Iarwain

I know I'm new here, but I love the 'Downs already!

Aside from the fact that the B-D is somewhere I can take a break, I really love reading people's opinions and ideas and the stuff that's not-so-common knowledge.
I love being somewhere where I can share common interests with others, without being ridiculed about being too obsessed or fanatical, or even juvenile.
I love the forum where people actually use their brains - and their manners. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
And, oh - I really appreciate how people here are generally nice and friendly (except probably for a few occasional nitpickers [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] ), and even interesting.

Yes, I enjoy being dead.

[ August 09, 2003: Message edited by: Kaiserin ]

What I love about the downs...

-When I go into the books,
someone makes me research,

-When I go into N&N,
someone makes me care,

-When I go into movies,
someone makes me wonder,

-When I go into the Quiz room,
someone makes me think,

-When I go into Quotable Quotes,
someone makes me remember,

-When I go into Mirth,
someone makes me laugh

-When I go into any of the RPGs,
someone makes me read,

-When I go into announcements,
someone makes me informed,

-When I go into the obituaries,
well, I havn't been in there yet.

Congrats to everybody who helped make this the best Tolkien site on the web,
Cheers...

Some thoughts:
I think the reason people are so much nicer here is partly that, you may read something that, if someone said it to your face, would provoke an irate response, but you can't reply immediately, (no matter how fast you can type it still takes more time to post than to respond verbally) and you have a little time to cool off, relax, and acknowledge other's rights to their opinions.

whoops, run-on sentence, but I know you won't make fun of me for it!

Also, my typing speed improved by about 10 wpm over the summer, due to all my posting.

My love is a microcosmic model of perhaps the only major failing of the Downs.

I joined because of the discussion and the mutual interests; I remain more for the people, and they (generally) know who they are. So I'm probably the worst sort of member...

I don't love anything ever. Except free lunch.

Ah, but you're in good company. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] As much as I love Tolkien (and the movies, so there) I can only stay interested enough in one subject for so long (at least in order to put research into it and post thoughtfully, deeply and articulately on it.) My enthusiasm for Tolkien related debate and inspection ebbs and flows. But I think that the only thing that really ever makes any place worth staying around at any time or any mood, is the people. And the parodies.

Though free lunch is good, too. But I'm not entirely sure how burra is getting that from here....

[ September 25, 2003: Message edited by: Diamond18 ]

I'M NOT.

I know you all love my friendly reminders, so here's one:

Enough conversation, please. Back to topic.

[ September 26, 2003: Message edited by: The Barrow-Wight ]

RPing ROCKS!!!!

Burra, there is no free lunch, so your love is doomed.

DOOOOOOMED!

I've never been able to figure out just what it is about the Barrow Downs. I love the works of the Good Professor, but then, I love the works of many other authors as well. Yet ya don't see me hanging out at the Charles Dickens or Jack London websites.

Perhaps there is something in the virtual water.

The thing is that most Authors don't make up a coherent world that is not quite this world. Most fake worlds are obviously so. Even if you can susspend disbelief when you are reading, it doesn't ever have that certain quality of realness like Tolkien has done. I can believe that Turin existed at one point in my world just the same as I can believe that certain other mythological persons existed in one form or another.

You know what I love about this site is the forum and the way it's arranged. Actually, I've yet to find another forum of similar style. Because of this, I find other forums hard to use(I think it's the white backgrounds) so this is the only I can look at longer than five minutes. Is this a good or bad thing I wonder. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Yes, the layout is great. This site reminds me of some of my other favorite websites in the past. And strangly enough most of them had black backgrounds (maybe it is because I have a hidden, darker personality? I don't know?). Additonally I love that this forum and site are very easy to navigate. And it is very easy to read the topics and responses (unlike certain other web forums [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ) I love this place!

Why do I love the Downs? Here's one good reason(and one is enough for me; two is a landslide)

Most of the people in my freaking vicinity have never heard of LotR or any of Tolkien's works. Those who have are not obsessed enough. Where can I babble on and on about Tolkien? *thinks for a while* Here!

There, that's my reason. I'm person who becomes deeply obsessed, about international politics, and the World Wars, and *on and on*. Now can anyone build a forum site for these things above-mentioned?

Oh, and the layout's good, too.

Later days! [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]
->banakil on mumakil

P.S. Love the people on the "You know you're obsessed..." thread! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Exactly! Couldn't have said it better myself! My hometown lacks of Lord of the Rings "freaky" people.

I also love Barrow Downs cause it gives me a chance to learn new things about Lord of the Rings and Tolkien that I never would have learned otherwise.

I love the Downs because they don't let anything lusty/dirty into the forums. It's nice being able to surf the movie forum without being bombarded with threads devoted to how hot so and so is...So thank you, mods!

I love everything about this site..
it's just awesome, I guess you could say.
But if I had to pick one thing I LIKE about it , it would have to be the chat room, because..well
A)You don't have to worry about being made fun of.
B)All your questions can be answered.
And C)The people are just so fun and nice to talk to even the op's... although they can be a little harsh

*applauds* Amen!

Peace

The thing I love most about the Barrowdowns is that I can be among LotR fanatics that are just as obsessed as me. Everywhere else, whenever I try to discuss anything Tolkein, people think I am crazy.

Another thing I love about this forum is the way my vocabulary grows every single time I read something in the books forum (I don't think I've ever posted there, but I read a lot of it [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]) I think I soon know more English words than Norwegian. And as someone else said, I love the layout of the BD. I like all sites with dark backgrounds better and better just because I'm so used to it it seems wrong with a white background.

Deleted my entire old message, 'cause I started to hate it more and more as time went by...

BTW, I agree with you completely, vanwalossien! I love to read in the books, learning new things, or laugh when I already know something that they don't, apparently. Not that that happens much... [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

In short, I like to learn in the Books, chill in Mirth, but my brain to work in the Quiz room and with the Quotes, helping newbies at Novices and Newcomers, and freak out about some spoilers in Movies. Also, I like to belong somewhere ( just like vanwalossien again [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]), oh and ofcourse reading about my fellow corpses at the 'Barrow-downs' forum!

Cheers!

Aethelwine.

Here's hoping that your love should not wane, even after having to experience a few of the more implicitly wicked members.

Oh those scoundrels.

*shakes a finger*

I love creating a thread and seeing what other people can add to it, as a fan it's great to see other like minded people. :D

Wow.. so many. I love:

- the kindness of the moderators and just about everyone here -- if you do something out of line you'll get a little slap on the wrist, but you won't be made to feel stupid.

- the fact that I'm getting to know some people here pretty well, and they're getting to know me; it's a nice community feeling.

- the chapter-by-chapter forum, currently my favorite. I don't post there very much because my thoughts aren't quite deep enough :p but the posts there are always interesting and thought-provoking.

- the Reputations system. It's always nice to click User CP and see a new little green box.

- the Quiz/Quotes forums, because they make me look up obscure bits of the Appendices or the index to the Sil while I hunt for the correct answers.

I've got a whole list. :D

I love it, too. It's a nice feeling. Some of my reps come from those supposedly shallow (I thought to myself at time of publication) thoughts of mine that somehow found words - I'm horrible at expressing thoughts into words - and it makes me say "Wow. It's not so shallow, after all." Makes me want to hug to life the giver of the said green box.
__________________

My reason for loving the Downs remains quite the same.

()

I mean, obsessions must have their vents. They must be continuously shaped, scrutinised and kicked around. Otherwise it fades slowly and you're left wondering what might have been if . . . like the time I lost my talent for completing the Rubik's cube . . .

Geek.

I love feeling popular. Here, I have so many friends! Combined with my "real" friends (meaning those I've actually met face to face) I probably have more friends than the "popular" people at my school. So I feel loved. *hugs everyone*

A little thing I enjoy is checking the Members List to watch davem and Fordim vying for highest reputation. Let's see... davem's got it right now. Goodness me, they're up to five boxes apiece??? :eek: :p

I love the color scheme. It is very Barrow-esque.

I also love how much there is to be learned here. I've found more knowledge here than I have in my Eglish Literature class, I can tell you that. And it's infinitly more fun to boot.

I enjoy watching the little newbies as they enter the forums. Then they grow to have more posts than I do, and they're no longer newbies. They are well-educated Downers with something witty and smart to say.

I love the Downs...(Insert evil smiley)

Check the List now, check it now, quick! Before davem posts again and once more moves past me.

I'm number one, I'm number one, I'm number one!

*Fordim pumps his fist in the air "wooting" rhythmically*