Learning about this website

[Bêthberry]

Gosh, remember when we were pseoudonymous (except for a certain few people)? And then we started mooting.

I think one of the really memorable things about the Downs is that it was limited to Tolkien talk. That focus was not dissipated by other topics and it allowed us to communicate without the usual distractions of real life partisanship, age, gender.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I'm one of the moderators that hasn't gone completely treeish, though my life has changed since the days I joined here (going on 20 years ago!) and I don't have the time to spend in intensive discussion or storytelling any more. I remember (wistfully) the days when I spent nights (due to time zone differences) in the Downs' chat room.

For me, lots of additional reading was inspired by discussions of Tolkien books that I hadn't previously read, and real life activities (especially Tolkien Society conferences and Oxonmoot, plus the German Tolkien Society, of which I am an active member) came about because of information shared on the Downs.

As others have said, the limitation to Tolkien discussion, with special emphasis on the books, and the insistence on (family) friendliness that some felt restrictive is what made this site unique. Meeting other members in real life was a privilege, and even in these days of restricted travel, keeping in touch with BD friends online is one of my life's pleasures.

I often forget to look in daily, but do try to keep up with any interesting discussions going on. We shall see if the new series sparks renewed interest in discussion...

Anyway, welcome to you and any other new members, and please enjoy yourself - you might inspire us Entish trees to wake up again!

[Boromir88]

Oooh, first Rune, then Bb and now Esty! Form, how many long-time members returning does it take that it does become a party house, in your opinion?

Granted I keep in touch with a few of you almost daily now since the pandemic, but it is nice to return to the forum to discuss our favorite author and his stories again.

Pardon me if I told you this story, Esty, because I can't remember if I did, but I haven't forgotten it. One of my first threads I created was "The Decision to Croak" (I would link the thread, but I don't want to return to that embarrassing time). Anyway, Esty, rightfully raked me over the coals for that atrocious thread title. And if your intention was to sear into my brain "do better when naming threads here" it definitely worked. 15 years later I still agonize over what to title threads. "Will Esty drag me for this thread title?" is to this day what I ask myself before submitting a new thread. "I haven't seen her around for a while, but she could be lurking and it's not worth the risk!"

So, Soriman, welcome and thank you for your interest in learning more about this site. Some of us, myself included, might seem like we are Huorns, as described through Merry's eyes:

"They stand here and there in the wood or under its eaves, silent, watching endlessly over the trees; but deep in the darkest dales there are hundreds and hundreds of them, I believe."

"..Dangerous. I should be terrified of meeting them, if there were no true Ents about to look after them."~Flotsam and Jetsam

But (at least for myself) I'm just protective over a place that has been like a home for over half my life now. Unfortunately, that could lead to an impression that I'm naturally suspicious and standoffish to new members, but I'll make more of an effort to not be so insular.

[Ring Bearer]

When was this website last updated?

The social media links to use for Personal Messaging are ANCIENT.

I've never even heard the names of these social media connections except for Skype.

Probably should include some modern stuff.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Ring Bearer

When was this website last updated?

The social media links to use for Personal Messaging are ANCIENT.

I've never even heard the names of these social media connections except for Skype.

Probably should include some modern stuff.

Who are you calling ancient?!

I know a lot of the peripheral applications on the actual Downs site are obsolete. My guess would be that it's due to the fact that only the forum section is seeing any real use, and it's been that way for quite a few years.

You know, though, for me that's part of the charm. I can still look at my attempts at winning the haiku contest all those years ago. Sometimes, I can even keep a straight face.

[Ring Bearer]

Btw, I am not able to post a reply to a thread which had the last comment in 2001.

I do not have "enough privileges" it seems.
Is it archived or something?

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Ring Bearer

Btw, I am not able to post a reply to a thread which had the last comment in 2001.

I do not have "enough privileges" it seems.
Is it archived or something?

Yeah--the forum got some rather significant upgrades between its first iteration in 2000 and 2003ish: from EZboard to VBB if I'm not entirely mangling acronyms I haven't seen/used in a decade. Anything older than about 2003ish got archived at some point, if the thread wasn't, at that point, recently active.

It was always, however, considered fine form to post a NEW thread, linking to the old one and explicitly saying in the new thread that you were continuing the old one--if an Admin roused from their slumber and noticed, they'd combine the two threads: otherwise, it's a field trip for the Old Folks to go down memory lane and new thread of its own.

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I know a lot of the peripheral applications on the actual Downs site are obsolete. My guess would be that it's due to the fact that only the forum section is seeing any real use, and it's been that way for quite a few years.

Honestly, even when I joined in (*looks at dusty scroll...*) MMV anno Domini, the non-forum parts of the website were rather less used. I've had my bookmark link set at the forum mainpage since about 2006. I suspect too that even where the forum software has been updated here or there, insofar as forums are not exactly cutting edge technology anymore, the supporting software may not readily have modern social media plug-ins.

[Bêthberry]

Well said, Inzil. Rather strange for a newbie to come in and immediately start criticizing the place without any context or history.

Mirc has long passed its day and people can chat in multiple other forms of social media. What this forum has always been about is the posts, the discussion, the way people have responded to Tolkien and to those who enjoy reading him.

Burra's haiku thread was great. So are many others. Well worth reading.

This is internet history.

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Who are you calling ancient?!

I know a lot of the peripheral applications on the actual Downs site are obsolete. My guess would be that it's due to the fact that only the forum section is seeing any real use, and it's been that way for quite a few years.

You know, though, for me that's part of the charm. I can still look at my attempts at winning the haiku contest all those years ago. Sometimes, I can even keep a straight face.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

We used to get new members though the Elvish name generator! I'll have to check and see if it still works...

The fun stuff on the main site doesn't keep anyone's interest that long, but the forum discussions are still valid, and some of them have moments of pure genius. It's the content, not the form that matters!