[The Barrow-Wight]

It is time again to remind people that the Downs is a discussion forum, a Middle-earth discussion forum, to be precise, and not a chatroom. I am seeing a proliferation of chatty comments across the forum, and it is time they stopped. All levels of members are responsible, from our newest internees to our oldest, most decrepid corpses (who know better).

When posting, your remarks should:
1) Address the topic of the thread
2) Address a previous remark without straying from the topic of the thread

Conversely, your remarks should not:
1) Address a previous remark, unless doing so is part of a discussion of the thread topic
2) Address another topic unless tying threads together somehow

Let me give some examples:
Topic Where are you from?
Discussion I'm from Canada. Tolkien is quite popular here.
Chat I love Canada!
BW Comment I love pizza, but who cares!? Stop chatting!
This type of topic is chatty by nature, but is still not a place for chat.

Topic What music goes best while reading Tolkien?
Discussion When I listen to Rush "The Trees" I think about Ents.
Chat When I listen to Rush "The Trees", I think about Canada. I love Canada!
BW comment When I listen to Rush "The Trees", I think about hatchets, axes, and saws, which I intend to use on chatty posts!

I could cut and paste dozens of examples from recent posts, but I won't point fingers at anyone yet. Just stop doing it. Get back on topic and stay on topic.

Thanks
BW