# The inns



## Niniel (Jan 28, 2004)

I was wondering what was the purpose of all the different inns? I know they were created for some reason, though I can't remember what that was, but nothing has happened to them yet. All it says is that they are looking for an innkeeper. So what is going to happen to them? Wouldn't it be a better idea to delete them if nothing happens in the near future?


----------



## Talierin (Jan 28, 2004)

WM has a couple plans for them, but give him some time, he has a ton of projects going on right now, hehehe... something will be done with them within a couple months, I should think though.


----------



## Ithrynluin (Feb 2, 2004)

How about we devote a separate section to Tom Bombadil? God knows there are enough threads about him to warrant a separate section.


----------



## Sarde (Feb 2, 2004)

And don't forget the politics/religion (I think ethics/philosophy should be added as well) inn that was promised to us.


----------



## Aulë (Feb 2, 2004)

Sarde said:


> And don't forget the politics/religion (I think ethics/philosophy should be added as well) inn that was promised to us.



You have GOT to be kidding....


----------



## Sarde (Feb 2, 2004)

Why have I got to be kidding?


----------



## Aulë (Feb 2, 2004)

After all the trouble that religion and politics have caused, and how Webmaster has said how he wants to _limit_ religious and political conversations on this board.


----------



## Niniel (Feb 2, 2004)

Because we have been discussing this at great length before, and the debate got rather heated. I believe the conclusion was that there would be no religion/politics section, but that these subjects could be discussed in Stuff & bother. However I have noticed that new threads about religion and politics were closed lately because there were too many, so maybe we should have a separate section for them. But there's no point in reopening the whole discussion.


----------



## Inderjit S (Feb 2, 2004)

Some of the latest politics discussions have diverged into pages full of sarcastic and/or agressive posts. If you learn to respect each other's ideologies and ideas then it would be a brilliant idea to set up a GoP/R. If the GoP discussions have been going the way they have been going as of late, then I don't see no point in them. Also why was the Iraq thread closed? I can understand the American nationalism thread being closed, that may have got out of hand and context, but at least there were some good discussion on the Iraq thread.


----------



## Sarde (Feb 2, 2004)

Discussing politics, religion, ethics and philosophy can be a lot of fun if everyone respects one another's viewpoints and does not get personal. And Talierin said that IF they would open a place for such discussion that there would be a time limit to the debates, which I think is a great idea.


----------



## Aulë (Feb 2, 2004)

Sarde said:


> Discussing politics, religion, ethics and philosophy can be a lot of fun if everyone respects one another's viewpoints and does not get personal. And Talierin said that IF they would open a place for such discussion that there would be a time limit to the debates, which I think is a great idea.



A Politics Guild and a Religious Guild have both been tried before. Both were failures. People started off respecting each others opinions, but after a short time, the quality degraded, and insults became common. A few members even got banned over it. A huge arguement resulted, and I believe that it would be wise not to bring up this topic again. Let sleeping dogs lie.


----------



## Ithrynluin (Feb 2, 2004)

Sarde said:


> Discussing politics, religion, ethics and philosophy can be a lot of fun if everyone respects one another's viewpoints and does not get personal.


It would be great if this were the case, but I don't think such a harmonious attitude will ever prevail in discussions of this sort. Even one word can sometimes be enough to trigger an avalanche of hurt feelings!


----------



## Sarde (Feb 2, 2004)

So people are unable to stay polite in a discussion? They are unable to separate the person from the opinion? That would be a sad thing indeed. I think if such topics would be tightly moderated and a time limit would be set for each debate, there should not be a problem.



ithrynluin said:


> It would be great if this were the case, but I don't think such a harmonious attitude will ever prevail in discussions of this sort. Even one word can sometimes be enough to trigger an avalanche of hurt feelings!


But that is where people go wrong! To attack someone's opinion does not mean to attack the person himself. And to get personal in a discussion on such topics is just -sorry to say it- plain stupid behavior...


----------



## Lantarion (Feb 2, 2004)

Both Sarde and Inder are right, discussing philosophy and religion and politics can be stimulating and fun. There's nothing wrong with that, although I definately understand the reason why this has been such a problem to execut properly.
BUT I'm afraid I will have to remind everybody that this is a Tolkien forum. And despite my own interest in discussing philosophy (I'm not too crazy about politics, or religion either althuogh it ties in with philosophy very closely), I would not want to see a Guild or Section or any new part of TTF that would be devoted to these discussions. It was once a very important and serious issue that people were supposedly not posting enough in the Book sections; although I am not implying that it would necessarily follow that with the setting up of a GoP/R this problem would again rise, it _would_ inevitably and eventually follow that people would begin to frequent TTF, or continue to, because of this new Guild. And that is a notion that I personally, though it may have litle or no effect on the issue at hand, find uncomfortable.
I was and I suppose I still am willing to go as far as a Serious and Lighthearted division of S&B, but I am against any new GoP/R. 
Also, if somebody decides to do what Úlairi already did some time ago and use the fact that the GoR would discuss religion and philosophy in the context of Toklien's works, then I would point out that the Annals of the Eldanyárë are still around for that very purpose.

Well, this was just my 2 euro-cents on the matter.. 


Ithrynluin said:


> How about we devote a separate section to Tom Bombadil? God knows there are enough threads about him to warrant a separate section.


That would actually be an excellent idea!! Or perhaps a section should be devoted entirely to such enigmas and unsolvedmysteries, with a sub-forum for each topic. We could have Balrogs, Tom B., Goldberry, the Mouth of Sauron and other such enigmas there; not only would it be more orderly and tidy, it would give Moderators a chance to pay closer attention to these threads in particular.


----------



## Aulë (Feb 2, 2004)

Sarde said:


> So people are unable to stay polite in a discussion? They are unable to separate the person from the opinion? That would be a sad thing indeed. I think if such topics would be tightly moderated and a time limit would be set for each debate, there should not be a problem.


No, they are unable to stay polite. No, they are unable to seperate the person from the opinion. It is a sad thing, but that's what religion and politics bring out in people. You just have to look at real life to see that TTF isn't the only place where that happens.
Mods do their very best to control it, but as we saw last time, it just isn't enough.

And remember: this is a *Tolkien* forum. It is here so we can discuss *Tolkien*, not politics and religion. If you wish to discuss them, you can always go to a political or religious forum.


----------



## Sarde (Feb 2, 2004)

The reason why I would like to dicuss politics etc. here is that I want to discuss it with THESE people. I feel I am among 'my own kind' here. Probably doesn't make much sense, but I guess you know what I mean. I would definitely not go to TTF only to post to non-Tolkien-related issues.

I think, until now, my posts would be 50/50 on Tolkien-related and non-Tolkien-related. But that has a lot to do with the fact that I haven't even finished reading TLotR yet and I often do not have sufficient knowledge to join in the more in-depth discussions on Tolkien's work. But I am planning to read all of Tolkien's work and I did come here primarily to discuss just that.

Philosophy is one of my favorite things, I love to speculate about just about anything, from the meaning of life to the meaning of reality. I would guess that it is mostly religion and politics that would cause problems because people can get so overly passionate about those things. I mean, religion and politics are probably the most common causes of war... I am just hoping that we here could be more intelligent than that and not start wars amongst ourselves...

Let's all love one another and be kind! *throws flowers in the air and dances around*


----------



## Ithrynluin (Feb 2, 2004)

Sarde said:


> The reason why I would like to dicuss politics etc. here is that I want to discuss it with THESE people.


And you can, in Stuff and Bother. I am closing this thread because this has been discussed at length and I don't want to see the same quarrelsome arguments reappear. The decision lies ultimately with the Webmaster.


----------

