Ranking of online Tolkien sites

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

It's a shame we aren't in those Top 100 yet.
Unless, of course, we're content to remain a forum for the chosen few who will find their way here by themselves sooner or later...

I expect there'll be a rather large bump in membership when the Hobbit movie is released. That's going to be a while, though.

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

On the other hand, they can only find us if they know we're out there somewhere...

The spambots don't seem to have any trouble.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I expect there'll be a rather large bump in membership when the Hobbit movie is released.

And then the forum will look like this:

Threads in Forum: The Books

Helpp??

Who is...

Hey?

What???

Hottest elve's?11??!!?!??

are horbits real???!!

GUESS WHAT!?!?!?!?!??!?!

Look at MEEEEEEE!!!!

is sarin teh necormanser???!!!!

why is Dragon calld smog is becuase he brathes fier and smoke tell me plz plz!!!??

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

And then the forum will look like this:

Sad but true, I fear. And in my experience, with popularity comes a reduction of civility. Cliques form, fights break out more often, and... Well, that's one of the biggest reasons I left TOR.n. When you're "the place to be," everybody comes, and it tends to make for a bigger, noiser, messier, less friendly place. You get noticed, but at what cost? Something to consider, I think.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Ah, but you're both forgetting one thing - this forum has moderators! We may be dealing mostly with spambots for now, but we will be ready to keep things tidy when the rush comes. Just because the skwerlz aren't needed at this time doesn't mean they're no longer existent...

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

Ah, but you're both forgetting one thing - this forum has moderators!

Oh, no, I'm not forgetting, but I was one of the moderators for TORn. It got ugly, I got appalled, and... Well, a long story, and I'm not here to air the dirty laundry of another site. Suffice it to say that over the years, I've seen too much of the seamy underbelly of fame, seen too many things that started well end badly because of a desire to become noticed and popular. I guess I just don't want to see it happen again. I may not be the most active member of the Downs, but I've come to appreciate the fact that it's a site where people can actually disagree and be civil about it. Not perfect, of course, but during my time here, the heated arguments I've watched have generally ended with at least an agreement to disagree, and then let go. It's harder for that to happen in a big crowd.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Ibrîniðilpathânezel

Oh, no, I'm not forgetting . . . . I guess I just don't want to see it happen again. I may not be the most active member of the Downs, but I've come to appreciate the fact that it's a site where people can actually disagree and be civil about it. Not perfect, of course, but during my time here, the heated arguments I've watched have generally ended with at least an agreement to disagree, and then let go. It's harder for that to happen in a big crowd.

No matter how large the crowd was back in the day, the Mods and Admins were always on top of things, long before there was the Reputations system to consider. And the chat room became the natural outlet for humorous ridicule.

Of course, Downers themselves often "policed" matters and strenuously proclaimed the quality of the conversation here. That could well happen again. Consider this chestnut: Rimbaud's (sp?): The Phantom Menace. It is quite amazing what a well-aimed trout and a little humour can do.

[Mister Underhill]

Actually this thread takes me back to the pre-movie days, when we used to compete for the top spot on the Tolkien-ranking site 25hobbits.com with (the now defunct, I think) Minas Tirith. Then one day the Spanish language site El Senor de los Anillos rose up through the rankings and whipped everyone by a wide margin. There were accusations of voting irregularities; it got a little ugly.

After the movie rush (we fared better than some sites, at least in part, I think, as Snowdog mentions, because of our book-oriented theme) we were less eager to seek out extra attention.

The movies will probably bring an influx of new members which could make things bumpy for a time, but if last time around was any indication, after the wave recedes many treasures will have washed up on our shores. The new films might also reactivate some long dormant members (fingers crossed).