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Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man
Actually, assuming that this goes ahead, I don't see any problem with people using their (non-Middle-earth related) screen names and personas, provided that they act in a suitably Middle-earthian manner. It works at the B-D Birthday Parties, after all.
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One may of course log on as your normal self (most RPG'ers do, and how else would we know who showed up to fight?) but the item in question is really the character portrayed, or the Persona. Can that Persona be non-Middle-Earth? Can the Persona be non-Tolkien?
Scroll back to the Barrow Wight's first post on this thread. The Wight prefers to keep it Middle-Earth-related. The Downs (in general) is always Tolkien-related. We may discuss Roverandom, or Smith of Wooton Major or Farmer Giles of Ham; but at the borders of Tolkien's works, there must our proud waves stop.
One of the conditions of "this thing going ahead" (not yet a done deal by any means) will obviously be that it begin, and remain throughout absolutely Tolkien related as befits the Downs. So I think I will say nay; if your character is not from Middle-Earth, then the character that you portray must originate from a Tolkien source. This still would provide tremendous leeway, as that would include Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wootton Major, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Beowulf (he translated that too, didn't he? We just don't have a copy yet), The Lost Road, and even The Notion Club Papers.
However, since not everyone has read all that, you might be prepared with a bibliography and character bio explaining their origins, if you bring in (for instance) an Oxford professor.
All this is food for thought. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread, because this is a great help in sorting all this stuff out.
EDIT:
Unrelated Footnote: How Fordim's Roaming Gauntlet made its way to the
Tolkien Coming Of Age Club , starting at Post 210...