# The History Of This The Tolkien Forum Dot Com Place (From Your Point Of View).



## YayGollum (Nov 11, 2005)

Greetings, readers. Was searching about, seeing a few reminiscing sort of threadses. I thought that I would make my own. A better one. One for people to record unabridged tales of themselves at this particular website thing, rather than merely spouting bits of ---> "Oh, I remember the grand as well as ancient days, when one particular moment popped into being..." An example ---> 

There I was. In some random high school in the southeastern portion of the country that has oftenly been called the United States. Had recently finished that The Lord Of The Rings story, knew that some movies were being rumored to be shown at some point in the future, and wished to become reassured that I would not be the only one to spot all of the mistakes. I have never been an expert on this creepy internet thing, but since I had heard that it was oftenly seen as a useful place to locate brains of similar interests and those sorts of brains were scarce where I lived, I searched. 

Many minds were now open for myself to pick at, but I had no computer of my own, so I narrowed my search to looking for the best website thing. Mayhaps I chose incorrectly, but who knows? I looked for a while before joining anything. This The Tolkien Forum Dot Com place was the clear winner in my brain, mostly because of the seeming intelligence of the posters coupled with the variety of subjects to occupy myself with. In the beginning, I was there to discuss the books, but this place beat several others because it had good looking writing sections. I had no interest in writing at the time, but saw the use in joining a place that left many options for me. 

It took me a while to come up with a good name. I looked at the choices of others and wondered why so many chose to steal a name that some other person had already come up with. As in, why use the name of a character that this Tolkien person came up with? Is that not unoriginal and disrespectful? oh well, I told myself. Show them what they should have done. If they are fans of some particular character, they should say so, which is what I did with my YayGollum choice. I also thought of No-H-Thorin, since my name is Torin, but YayGollum sounds much nicer. 

New name in paw, I leapt from the ranks of the lurkers and into the serious book types of discussions. No offense to anyone (mayhaps I should have written that part elsewhere already?  ), but the New Members sorts of places seemed achingly useless to myself. What is the point of showing up to write posts of this sort? ---> "Greeings, all. Am new. Toss unearned attentions at myself. For some unknown reason, I happen to be interested in any knowing that I exist." 

I showed up to discuss my interests of the moment. It looked like many were annoyed.  I wonder if they thought that I was there to merely annoy or because I was crazy. Most of the ideas that I jumped into their threads with were different from all others. I can see why they might have thought that I was there to be silly. They asked me to head for the less serious sections, which I did. But then, I never really left the regular book sections, either. 

Many tossed halfway bewildered as well as halfway entertained comments of appreciation at me. Mostly mentioning that I was silly, and that they loved the character that I played. Did anyone think that I came with entertaining others as my main goal, I wondered? Why would anyone think that I was playing a character, I wondered, since I wrote exactly the way that I spoke? oh well, I ranted at myself again. Someone will see my crazy ideas and notice that I knew what I was writing about, but that I just had a different way of seeing things. I hoped to get people to agree with me, but very few did. Even less actually seemed to understand that I wasn't crazy, but they were appreciated. 

I branched out to almost every section of the forum, having much fun. Once I got too popular, though, I backed away. You are either an Outcast, or you are in denial, I told myself. I happen to be the achingly confident sort of Outcast that has cast himself out. Popularity is creepy, especially when it is among people that don't understand Outcastism.  There were plenty of times when I stayed away from this place, mostly for that reason. Too creepy, but I kept coming back, because this place is still the best. 

I remember the Gollum Fan Club, which I made since so many in the serious book types of discussions were fed up with me. It didn't stay true to the idea that I had for it for very long, but I guess that it was fun. 

I remember the Humorous Bombadillians and was happy to join. Am attempting to remember stuff in chronological order. Let me see here. 

I was achingly enthused after I finished another Tolkien type story, since I always came up with at least one crazy new viewpoint to wave at people. Another book section to invade and disrupt, I guess.  I looked in on the R. P. G. sections many times but wasn't sure about joining them yet. Mostly because I wished to know everything about the Tolkien type of stories, so that I would have every bit of available information to base a good character on. Also, because I hadn't done much writing yet. 

I was invited to join the Hope And Despair series, which, as far as I can remember was my first R. P. G. of all time. Very good, although, I was only a bit of the comedic type of relief. Hey, snaga1 person, I still wish to know what was going to happen at the end. *hides* 

I remember much debate with myself over what I would play. I knew that I couldn't play a human, elf, or hobbit, since they were far too sickeningly popular, in my opinion. Why not show them something that they haven't seen very much of? I struggled between Beorning and Dwarf and ended up on Beorning just because I couldn't see anyone else using one. Truor Tupnm was my first and is still my favorite. 

Not too long after that, I got into a story very simply called The Quest. It didn't look like the person in charge of the thing had given much thought to it (no offense to that person who's name I can't remember), but I was muchly eager for more stories to have fun in. Since there was a fixed cast on that one, and I couldn't use my Beorning, I made my Dwarf character, Boffin. Much thought was tossed into the guy, but the way that the story went, it pretty much turned out that I hadn't need to think at all. I had wanted to make the best Dwarf character of all time, mostly because every other Dwarf character that I saw being played wasn't showing off the coolness of the spirit of Dwarves, in my opinion. But, since I knew that I wasn't such a great writer yet, I decided to make him a messed up as well as achingly pathetic Dwarf.  His personality was irrevocably shaped for my by an elf character in the story. 

Very creepy, the way that my characters got personalities that ran away from me, but oh well. The Quest also got me to come up with my first human character, which I had never wished to have, since they were so common. I made sure that he was an achingly boring character, to show all my opinion of the race.  Once humans were opened to me, I decided to make a representative of every race but hobbit. If you happen to see my character profile thread sometime, tell me what I may be missing. 

Anyways, the R. P. G. section helped me out a lot. Lots of crazy bars that I messed around in to get used to playing characters. Lots of me turning my nose up at the government sections of the R. P. G. sections. And then, me getting involved in them.  Very barely, though. They were pretty boring to me. 

I remember getting named Mr. T. T. F. Not my fault, really. 

I remember some Planet Coruscant place getting opened more than once and dying. I had fun there and wished for many fruitful Star Wars types of R. P. G. things, but oh well. 

I remember that crazy Council Of Nine idea, getting tossed into it, then it dying horribly. 

I remember my Guild Of Outcasts, which most of the people inside of refused to stop calling it anything but GOO. Much like my old Gollum Fan Club, it ran with a tilt that happened to be achingly full away from its roots, but I guess that it was fun for a while. It took longer than I wanted it to to finally shrivel up as well as allow its spirit to leave its body. I had to leave this website thing and force myself to avert my eyes from its death throes. No offense to any crazy old Outcast. *hides in a better spot*  

There is probably much that I happen to be forgetting. Ah. The R. P. G. Oscars. I got one for the comedic type of relief, of course.  I wonder why I don't have that honor in my signature thing? oh well. I doubt that many remember those things. 

I shall leave my history with specific members (the few with names that I remember  ) for another time. I hope that you people have fun with this thread, which I think is the best way to record the history of a particular website thing.


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## Halasían (Feb 10, 2006)

What to say about my just over 200 posts since I first joined TTF in December 2001...

It was the day Fellowship of the Ring hit the theaters. My old Tolkien web-haunt Tolkienonline crashed under the burden of mismanagement of resources and server overload. I at the time was registered at Ringbearer.org at the time too, and they struggled with the server load as they were using the same software and so I went out to find other places. I registered here, and at Barrow Downs, and did a little lurking and random posts here and there. I always check out the Tolkien books section as they are a first love of mine. I posted my thoughts on some of the topics, but when my opinions on certain parts of the books differed with one in power and one of my posts was edited to state what their opinion was, I pretty much quit posting there. I pretty much quit posting on TTF at that time too. So I was out and about for a time, wandering the Tolkien net-world, where I would register for a board, post a bit, and wander on. 

What brought me back to TTF was my mistress and I wanted to start writing a collaborative story. That helped bridge the gap of miles between us, but after we got together in real life, the writing stopped. I didn't care too much for her somewhat cheesy, soap-opera style of writing, and it was hard to get ones thoughts around a story when you were dealing with them directly in life, especially when they didn't have a good boundry between what was real life and what was role play. It turned out the whole relationship was a sort of role play, and after we split I continued writing the story here on my own. I have since gotten together in real life with a great fantasy writer (Elora) and we are working out a story from thre remains of the old. That is the primary reason I still come to TTF... a stable place to write good Middle Earth collaborative role play stories.

I venture out of the Glittering Caves now and again, and so here I am again... editing this post that I didn't have time to write in the first place.


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## Noldor_returned (Feb 11, 2006)

That's a good idea! A Star Wars RPG. I wonder if the mods would care...


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## Ithrynluin (Feb 11, 2006)

Noldor_returned said:


> That's a good idea! A Star Wars RPG. I wonder if the mods would care...



Not at all, we have a Star Wars section, don't we? And even if we didn't, there's still the Green Dragon or Stuff and Bother for your general entertainment (films, literature, music) and off topic interests, respectively.


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## Noldor_returned (Feb 11, 2006)

Okay then. Shall I go first Yay?


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## YayGollum (Feb 16, 2006)

Hm. Okay. Well, I thank the Halasian person for using this thread the way that it was meant to be used.  oh well. It looks like you didn't wait for me, Noldor_returned person. You have fun. It doesn't look like there are enough Star Wars fans about to have some good R. P. G. things here. Besides, most of the Star Wars fans that I have run into haven't done enough research or aren't focused enough. These crazy Tolkien fans are more reliable, but I can't get them to inject enough self-confidence to write with me!


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## Noldor_returned (Feb 17, 2006)

I have made one. It doesn't involve too much background knowledge, and isn't about Jedi. I always thought it would be a good game for LucasArts to make. Anyway, it's about bounty hunting. Found in Star Wars subforum.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Feb 17, 2006)

so is there a history of this forum itself anywhere? like how it was born and how the firstborn (or first joined  ) came to be? and the music er i mean coding of master Admin? 
_Gets into a Samwise Mood:_
Tell me a story dad, tell me a story of ttf and 9 fingered sam er i mean the genious 10 fingered TTF Admin that created this forum!


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## Noldor_returned (Feb 17, 2006)

There probably is. I haven't been here long enough to know it, though.


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## Halasían (Feb 20, 2006)

YayGollum said:


> Hm. Okay. Well, I thank the Halasian person for using this thread the way that it was meant to be used.  oh well.


You're welcome. It looks like this thread, like so many others, has slid down the slippery slope of off-its-topic chattiness. Oh well.


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## Noldor_returned (Feb 20, 2006)

What can you expect? Some of us have a short attention span.


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## YayGollum (Feb 20, 2006)

A short attention span does not explain writing stuff that is irrelevant, in a particular thread thing. I could expect people who have no interest in contributing to the point to have fun with the threads with points the do interest them. But then, maybe I am just crazy.  Anyways, pretty much every thread that I make dies a death. Some sort of unfortunate one, usually. As to more of the history of this the Tolkien Forum Dot Com place from my point of view, I shall wait until I am in more of a reminiscent sort of mood again. I have no problem with showing up after myself in a dead thread to toss a few new views in.


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## Snaga (Feb 20, 2006)

Yay said:


> I was invited to join the Hope And Despair series, which, as far as I can remember was my first R. P. G. of all time. Very good, although, I was only a bit of the comedic type of relief. Hey, snaga1 person, I still wish to know what was going to happen at the end. *hides*


I think I should post something about that... it was a shame it ended up as an Unfinished Tale!


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## YayGollum (Feb 22, 2006)

Yes, it very muchly was! Garn. But oh well. You have lost interest or don't have the time that you consider would be sufficient to mess with R. P. G. type things. oh well. Stop that!  *thinks up many offers that he could make to attempt to draw certain old R. P. G. type peoples to join him in stories but decides that it would be best to avoid inventing new ways for people to make him cry*


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## HobbitGirl (Feb 22, 2006)

Wow.

First of all, I'd like to say that I have absolutely no idea why I came back here. As far as I can tell, it's been 3 or 4 years since I was an active member of this place. So I guess this post is just one of those "cameos-from-beyond-the-grave" things, cause as far as TTF regulars are concerned, I AM dead.

Secondly, I'd like to say that on coming here, I was both completely bewildered and completely delighted that some of the names I recognize from my extensive 8th-grade TTF gallavantings are still alive and posting. And I was especially elated to see you're still here, Yay. I left this forum because it had gotten too stuffy, too uptight, too "LET'S KILL ALL SPAM BECAUSE WE DON'T LIKE FUN!"-ish. (At least, that was my view of this place.) But TTF (and every community, for that matter) needs a person like you, Yay, to offer an educated, alternate point of view, to be completely serious in your craziness, and to generally stir things up just by being yourself. That's why I was so delighted to see you're still around.

I remember several-to-most of the things you described in the first post, Yay. Now, I don't know if being that much of an oldbie can be construed as good or scary...but it's the truth.   

When I was in 8th grade, my complete and total OBSESSION for all things Tolkien-ish ended up being a springboard into a pasttime that I still waste my time with today: roleplaying.  I remember roleplaying on this forum before the roleplaying was moved to that other site, Middle-Earth RPG (is that still the way it is, or have things changed yet AGAIN?). My first couple of characters, Ashari Fairbairn the Hobbit, Fiara Romita the Human Ranger, Plamaya Carasylia, Resbrita, Nimerkh...even though I've moved on to what could be considered "bigger, better" things in terms of plot and characters, these characters still hold a special place in my heart. They're my originals. My creations. All of them reflected a certain aspect of my own personality, and in my complete set of TTF characters, every major aspect of myself was represented. (Coincidence?) It was perhaps because of this (as well as my fervent obsession) that kept me so connected to this place. I lived here, in quite the literal sense, actually.

I remember the Guild of Outcasts. Yes. Our beloved GOO. Those were good, good times. *wibble/sniff of reminicing* The amount of fun we had in that place was criminal.   Which is probably why it was eventually dismantled by the Modses...<.< >.> 

Yeah. I'm suddenly also remembering (bitterly) how easily people get offended here. Especially the Mods. That doesn't include you, Yay, cause you don't fall into the whole Mod "genre."  I think the stingy, easily-offended, at times even control-freak-ish attitude of some people (names escape me, honestly) is part of what drove me away from here. That, and the death of the GOO, were probably the biggest factors in my departure.

(I'm going to attempt to leave you on an inspirational note... )

So all you regulars who joined long after I died, and all you newbies...I hope that my little essay here will get my message across. Don't repeat the mistakes of the past. Don't be so EASILY offended. And don't let the Mods breathe down your neck. Let them know that they can't push you around for excersising your freedom of speech.

Am I bitter? Yes. But that's why I'm gone. And maybe this place has changed for the better since I've left, so maybe my bitterness is unfounded...maybe it hasn't changed. Maybe it's gotten worse. I don't know. All I have to offer is my own point of view, the point of view taken from a time when there were sweeping changes over this forum that angered a LOT of people and drove many of us away from TTF forever.

The closeness of community that TTF has always had that many other forums don't is truly admirable. However, when those relationships become tainted and strained, the forum no longer becomes a worthwhile place to be. That's my two cents.

*looks back at the post* Ah yes. I believe I've given my two dollars instead, as per ususal. Boy, this place sure makes me feel wordy.



Cheers,
HobbitGirl
aka
HG


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## Snaga (Mar 5, 2006)

Nice to hear from you HobbitGirl. I felt the same way as you for a while, but the place does seem more relaxed now. I guess people don't spend quite so much time here any more, so people aren't so overinvested in it.

Anyway Yay, my problem was just that I had uni finals, a wedding and a house move and a new job! Just small distractions! I don't think I could resurrect Hope/Despair as an RPG now - too few of the people playing the main characters are around, and to get people up to speed would be impossible. There are probably 1000 posts to read! Even I've forgotten a lot of it...


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## YayGollum (Mar 6, 2006)

You crazy, snaga1 person. There are plenty of Hope and Despair threads in the R. P. G. archive things. The nice little summary things that were written back then would be achingly helpful to get any new people (or yourself) up to speed. Also, it seems to me to be that everyone who was in on that story was a large fan of it and hated to see it stop. Do you think that if word was given to them that the story was starting up again, they wouldn't wish to help out? Hm. Maybe I was one of the more faithful bit players and others merely thought of it as just some random R. P. G. thing that they happened to have time for? I doubt it. Check to see how many R. P. G. Oscars you got. I still cherish mine.  If, though, for some crazy reason, some of the old writers can't come back, there are other resources. 

Anyways, did I ever actually suggest that we restart the thing? I thought that I had merely expressed a wish to know what your plans for the future of the story were. Maybe you hadn't thought everything through, at the time. Or maybe you just don't remember.  I thought that you were pretty opposed to restarting the story, for some crazy reason, which is why I stopped mentioning it all of the time. But now that you brought bringing it back again, Wahoo! The person says that he isn't as bogged down by real life troubles, nowadays!


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## Barliman Butterbur (Mar 6, 2006)

There was a time when I _really loved_ coming here, because I could interact with some of the brightest, most prolific and expressive people I have ever known on any bulletin board. I was a _full-time_ participant. We had intense discussions over Tolkien, Jackson, politics, religion, the news, the culture wars — it was a wonderful boiling cauldron of intellectual ferment. People composed major essays on all sorts of subjects, and held forth in fascinating discourse. It was fabulous.

Then the censorship started. No more political or religious discussion. (And many times those subjects were the "happening" places on this site.) Then those subjects were moved to a completely different website, a move which — I thought at the time — was a good idea, because it at least saved a place to discuss the subjects. Then the censorship started — _again._ 

I was particularly loud and intense politically, so The Powers That Be banned me from PE forever, and in addition, I was given a snarling warning that my continuing presence on _TTF_ is but a permanent probation, and will go on only as long as I do not displease, and because of that I feel like all my subsequent posts are — totally unfairly — subject to more-than-usual scrutiny. So be it. Ah, the power of the man who owns his own website.

And the consequences of all this censorship? Both TTF and PE appear to be virtually dead in the water. I still look in on TTF from time to time — fairly frequently at this point — but it appears that nothing much is going on. Most of the best and brightest have either left or stopped participating, at least in the full-bore way they used to.

Censorship has stifled the best ideas from being expressed. 'Twas ever thus. 

Thank you, YayGollum, for providing a thread in which I was allowed to finally express my Point of View.

Barley


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## Aulë (Mar 6, 2006)

HobbitGirl said:


> My first couple of characters, Ashari Fairbairn the Hobbit, Fiara Romita the Human Ranger, Plamaya Carasylia, Resbrita, Nimerkh...even though I've moved on to what could be considered "bigger, better" things in terms of plot and characters, these characters still hold a special place in my heart. They're my originals. My creations. All of them reflected a certain aspect of my own personality, and in my complete set of TTF characters, every major aspect of myself was represented. (Coincidence?)


 
Don't forget your dog that my character (Chokang) stole from you in Heren Istarion.  Did you even get him back in the end?


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## Snaga (Mar 13, 2006)

Maybe I should return to the topic and post my account of the History of TTF.

I arrived at TTF shortly after seeing the Fellowship of the Ring movie. Having lurked for a while I joined under the name of Variag of Khand. I quickly got embroiled in the FAD vs NPW war, though at first I deceived myself that you could sit on the fence. Then, realising that nothing but unbridled hatred for PJ would cut it with the NPW, I decided that I was a natural FAD. Of course the FAD ring-leader was Harad the Horrid, who was then going from Grey to White, and then fell into darkness. That, combined with some run-ins in the Guild of Politics, and I felt myself despairing of TTF.

But then a strange thing happened, borne out of innocence and mischief. I made another screen-name 'snaga1'. Now the truth of this was, that snaga1 was made to spam a thread... and worse to subvert a poll. Remember the 'Orc Pentathlete' thread? Ugluk was doing too well, and clearly Grishnakh needed to win. I made snaga1 to help the cause, and snaga2, snaga3 etc were all to follow. Ah for shame... I can hardly bare to admit it. Of course, I knew this was not really in the rules of the Forum... but I didn't think it was a severely punishable offence.

But then... I decided I liked the snaga persona, rather better than sombre Variag of Khand. I mean, VoK was respected by people such as Grond, Ancalagon, and other such greybeards. Snaga1, however, was soon a hit in the RPG world. VoK fell by the wayside, just at the point at which Harad finally was thrown without. This was a shock: he was booted out, amongst other things (many other things!) for having a double account! I feel somewhat ashamed to say, I told Harad Variag of Khand was leaving TTF in solidarity with him, but really, I was still here as snaga1 all the time. What a terrible thing... although what I now know about Harad rather takes away the guilt. Nevertheless, for such a long time I lived in fear and doubt, lest the mods find out my double life. So to make sure, I never once made a serious Tolkien post, for perhaps 2 years.

Now of course, over time, snaga1 became less fearful and elevated himself to Snaga. Snaga was the life and soul of the Dark Legion, barmy bombadier of the British Army, and even the peter pan of the Periaur (being of course, much too old!). Yes... great times. By this stage, the reknowned RP35 (Hope and Despair series) was in full swing and growing out of all proportion. And into all of this came one Wonko the Sane. Ah ... love. Well, what one can talk about in PMs and on MSN might even be worth a plane ticket to put into practice. A week later, one engagement ring on an overheated credit card, and yes... we were ENGAGED.

Many were happy... others were not. Whatever happened to the RP Forbidden? Well you might ask. But small matter. Actually, so many kind words on our Engagement thread meant more than you could guess. Almost 18 months later, and we were married. But in that time I had met so many TTF-ers... like Merry, Legoman, Tookish_Girl, Legolam, Idril, Thol... it seems strange: I now have much less separation in my mind between real-world and TTF.

What else? Well, painful days in the Chronicles, full of toil and war and hard words. Beautiful beginnings never completed. Here is my greatest regret: that The Fall of the Faithful withered, after such a promising start. More toil, great victories and ultimately not quite managing to win the Great Debate Tournament. I think if people had known it was Variag of Khand who was debating for the Periaur, they might have had rather less of a shock. But then my self-denying ordinance, of never posting on a serious Tolkien thread was broken.

I turned myself in. I wrote to the mods, I confessed my wrong-doings. And they were merciful. I am more sincerely thankful for that than my orcish persona allows me to express. I have had great times here at TTF... it is truly part of who I am. Some say it is not the place it was. But even if its glory is faded, I still feel at home here. And every time an old friend comes by, even if it is only a passing visit, it does make me glad.

Long live TTF!

PS: I'd like to link to my best ever post. But I can't find it...


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## YayGollum (Mar 14, 2006)

Oh, don't even worry about that, snaga1 person. I found it for you. ---> http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showpost.php?p=73009&postcount=41  

Anyways, a bit of history that this snaga1 person reminded me of. ---> I remember the days of the Wonko The Sane person's entrance! Please, nobody start remembering the days of my first entrance. Except for the cool parts.  At first, the lady annoyed me. Seemed like one of the most spastic that I had come across in a while, but since I had been pretty bad in that way, too, I mostly just ignored her.  

But then, the lady posted in all sorts of places, and I eventually started to talk to her. She wasn't halfway uncool. I found out that she wasn't just another unintelligent spamming type, which was a large relief. I remember talking at her pretty regularly, getting invited to some crazy little website thing that she and I am guessing her brother made, having lots of fun over at the Planet Coruscant Dot Com place before it died. 

After a while, though, the lady seemed to calm down. She certainly wasn't acting as spastic. That was probably a relief to some, but I figured that it meant that she was getting tired and losing interest. But then, she started showing up in some of the achingly boring war R. P. G. threads. Ick! I asked ---> "Why, Wonko The Sane person?" I don't even remember her character doing much of anything interesting in those threads. Mayhaps she was prodded into the position by some unknown evil?   oh well. 

She got all serious and stuffy. I remember her making a large deal when she saw that my e-mail address thing was based on a Star Wars animal, instead of some crazy Tolkien type thing, as plenty of others around here have. But after a while, she dropped her old Star Wars-referenced e-mail address thing and made up some (assumed by me to be  ) snooty Tolkien-looking one. *sniff* Probably the influence of the capitalized Snaga person. I don't know that guy. Must be pure evil. Not like the snaga1 person, who would stay in character even in Private Message things and had me entirely wariful.


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## Mormegil (Mar 15, 2006)

Way back in the mists of time somewhere, a young Tolkien fan heard that there were some films being made of his favourite book.

Being about that time that his parents finally entered the Twenty-First Century, and got internet access, he set about finding a Tolkien based forum to join. After looking at various options, he joined TTF Sometime in late 2001. He took the name Mormegil, after his favourite Tolkien character.

Some memorable events from the top of my head....

-My original account getting corrupted in early 2002. Meaning I had to re-register, Leaving me avatar-less for a while .

- My first forays into the serious discussions areas, stating my opinions on those classic topics such as; Balrog wings (They don't have any), and Who/What is Tom Bombadil (Maia). 

-The Orc Pentathlete thread. GO GRISHNAKH!! 
such a funny thread.

- Entering the Chronicles RP and declaring the independance of the White Mountains. 

- Debating what happened to the Blue Wizards with Ulairi.

- Taking part in RP35 Hope/Despair. I too would love to see the resolution of the story. 

- Being a founder member and Mod of the breakaway RP section of this forum MERPG. Which sadly did not meet with univeral approval from the TTF membership.

- Finding less and less time to visit TTF as my uni workload increased

- Triumphantly returning to TTF in 2006.


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## Snaga (Mar 16, 2006)

Yay - cut out using spastic as an insult. Its very offensive. You're a mod and you should know better.


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## YayGollum (Mar 16, 2006)

Yes, yes, yes, superly sensitive snaga1 person. Yay for me getting to hear that ---> "You're a mod and you should know better." sort of warning at me for the first and, I am certain, not last time.  How's about a run-down of the section of my post of which you refer to? ---> 

"Seemed like one of the most spastic that I had come across in a while, but since I had been pretty bad in that way, too, I mostly just ignored her."

Spastic is not used as an insult, even though, sure, I have the ability to observe that it has been misconstrued as one. Spastic was used with the definition ---> Posting all over this particular website thing. Many different sections, many different threadses, making many crazy threads for many different purposes. Merely an accurate observation of activity, superly sensitive snaga1 person. 

Also, to attempt to soften the observation, since I was intelligent enough to foresee the super sensitivity, I mentioned that I used to be the same way. I have a very high opinion of myself, so spastic can't be too bad.  oh well. 

Another thing that I remember about the Wonko The Sane person (Yes. Am still risking ire by way of the superly sensitive snaga1 person by sticking to this subject, but I have no fears, since I am merely as well as purely sticking to the subject of the thread by recalling items from the past and am not attempting to insult) ---> When everyone was making such a large deal about this person and sickening romance type things, I came up with the idea to undermine the idea of such sickening emotions by way of turning a superly popular love story sort of movie into an R. P. G. thing (Ghost). For some reason, it never went anywhere.  

It was going to be the first in a series of movie adaptations, all designed to undermine concepts that people are large fans of just because I would be copying something instead of coming up with something original, which would mean that I actually cared about it.  I was going to play a Beorning who hated elves, but, for some reason, was the only one who could see the spirit of some dead elf, who would have been played by the snaga1 person. The Wonko The Sane person would have to be that one love interest of his from that movie. It would have been funny. *sigh*


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## Snaga (Mar 16, 2006)

You're being superly defensive. Of course 'spastic' was being used as an insult. Unless you think I could say 'Yaygollum is mentally disabled' ... and then justify it by saying 'I just mean he posts a lot - which I also do'. You cannot just redefine 'spastic' to mean 'spammer' as a post-hoc justification. Frankly, you're just lying badly to cover your tracks.

It also doesn't make any difference if you use the term about yourself. The point is that 'spastic' is not a word you should use as a term of abuse. End of. People with mental disabilities should not be treated with derision. Therefore, using a term like 'spastic' as an insult is wrong.

Since you won't apologise or retract, I'm reporting your post. For what that's worth.


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## Elbereth (Mar 16, 2006)

Wow...someone is overreacting just a little bit. 

I would have to back up YayG's claim that when Wonko first joined, her frantic posting did seem a little spastic to those of us who really didn't know what to think of her. She of course redeemed herself in time and proved to be an intellegent and essential member of the forum, which I think YayG proved in his posting. 

From what I read YayG was merely stating his first impression...and yes, sometimes first impressions can be harsh. There is really no need to get so huffy about it. I can't imagine that his comment hurt her so badly that she was crying in her pillow about it.


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## YayGollum (Mar 17, 2006)

It is worth having that Beorn person writing a Private Message thing at me. I thank you muchly, snaga1 person. Would it be satisfactory to you if I did not attempt to defend? I request an excuse for my earlier post (Number Twenty-Four, of this thread), in which I did not offer an apology or retraction. Here is the apology that I should have offered. ---> snaga1 and Wonko The Sane people, along with any others who I offended but weren't able to write opinions, I offer my sorrow to you. Mostly for using a highly inappropriate term to describe someone who didn't deserve it. I understand why anyone would be angry if it was done to them or someone that they happened to be fans of. I should not use such evil language again. Don't even worry about it, snaga1 person. That reporting a post option really does work. You won't catch me being evil in that way again. 

Also, Elbereth person, I ask for zero defense from anyone. I was evil, and this snaga1 person wasn't overreacting. He was merely stating facts. I ask you not to attack anyone, either, even if you were just agreeing with me. You should be able to see how a fan can be offended.


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## Snaga (Mar 17, 2006)

Thank you Yay, I do accept what you say this time. 

For the record, Elbereth (since you have chosen to post before your brain has got out of first gear), Wonks is not worried at all about Yay's opinion and freely admits she spammed in a huge way when she first joined.

If you had been a little bit more careful, you might have noticed that my objection is to using 'spastic' as a term of abuse. I don't think I made that difficult to understand.

Anyway, perhaps it might be better not to use this thread to post detailed accounts of personal conflicts and antagonisms? I don't think that's helpful.


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## YayGollum (Mar 17, 2006)

Sure, I agree that it isn't especially helpful to use this thread to write about personal conflicts or antagonisms, but then, is this thread helpful at all?  I thought that it was just for a bit of reminiscence. Yay for a place to finally laugh about things that happened a long time ago? oh well. I have heard that it is better to tiptoe around subjects that people may still be sensitive about, so, unless you get the approval of everyone else who was involved, try not to post detailed accounts about personal conflicts or antagonisms. This was mostly a place to tell the history of this The Tolkien Forum Dot Com website thing from specific people's points of view. As in, I joined around this time, for this reason. I remember this event only barely, mostly because I didn't care about that section of the website. But then, this other event didn't get enough hype, for my tastes.


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## Aulë (Mar 17, 2006)

Ahhhh - forum drama.
Nothing like it!


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## Snaga (Mar 17, 2006)

Back a little closer to the topic, thank you for posting that link Yay. It wasn't what I had in mind for my best ever post. I do recall you liked that I posted a statue of Smeagol the Poor in that RPG. No, alas, after extensive searching I have confirmed my best ever post is no more. It must have been culled. I found a link to it posted by Aragil, saying how much he liked it, but the link is broken, and post has been cast into the void.


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## chrysophalax (Apr 26, 2006)

Ah, yes...good ol' TTF! How well I remember my early days here.

It took months of harrassment by my hatchling, the esteemed YayGollum, to convince me to join, as at the time I was boycotting anything computer-based. Finally I gave in and never looked back. In fact, once his two sisters joined as well, we became the first family to have all its members writing at the same time here. Our pics, I believe, are on pg.5 of the TTF fotoalbum.

My first RPG part was in Hope and Despair, where I was commissioned by Snaga to play a Dragon. Thus, Magnus the silver Dragon was born and has terrorised the place on and off ever since. I co-authored with Maedhros the much-read Redemption RPG, which happily won a couple of RPG Oscars (do we still have those?) and was tricked by Snaga into creating my favourite character, Artos Wolfhame, also for Hope and Despair...grrrrrrrrrrr, nasssty, tricksssey Orc!

I debated a bit here also (rather pathetically in my opinion) and basically had a great time. 

Many interesting people inhabit the cyberspace here and among those I found most notable were and are; Turgon, Gothmog, Ancalagon, Grond (of course) Snaga (grrr, again) and one of my favourite writers, Baragund. These are but to name a few, no offense to the many others that still think of fondly from time to time, yes, Barliman, that would be you. I've appreciated reading many of your thoughts. 

Anyhoo, now that I'm back, always look up. You never know when a silver Dragon may find you a tasty snack!


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## Barliman Butterbur (Apr 27, 2006)

Aulë said:


> Ahhhh - forum drama. Nothing like it!



You should have been here to experience the titanic upheavals which involved Mrs. Maggott, Joxy, Arthur Vandelay, myself and other "esteemed participants " — _thems were the days!_ 

And _Chrysofalax_ — _*God's Blood*_ — welcome back indeed, indeed! This place can use some fresh smoke and flame from your silvery snout!  

Barley


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## Uminya (May 8, 2006)

Aulë said:


> Ahhhh - forum drama.
> Nothing like it!



Nothing like misinterpretations of English and American. Ha, that was even on BBC, about how British and American definitions of "spastic" are different.

For the record, the American definition of a "spaz" (or any variation on the spelling) is a person who exhibits rapid behavior, subject to outbursts of speech or action either from nervousness, anxiety, excitement, etc that do not reflect a mental condition, but rather an emotional state.

The British definition of a "spastic" is someone with a mental disease/condition.





For the other record, though, I think Snaga's reaction was hilarious. At least to my dark, sinister, and burning-hobbits-at-the-stake-sense-of-humor self.



I should write up a history of myself here at this place. 6 years, ha! EDIT: Yes, 6. I can do basic mathematics. Trust me!


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## HobbitGirl (May 16, 2006)

Aulë said:


> Don't forget your dog that my character (Chokang) stole from you in Heren Istarion.  Did you even get him back in the end?


HA! How could I ever forget that? *doubles over in nostalgic laughter* We never did settle that, did we Aule? *knavish grin* Poor Lita wanted to rip Chokang to shreds, but Anamatar stopped her. I always liked and respected Anamatar, but Lita wasn't too fond of him after that. 

>.> <.< Wow, why did I come back yet again? I guess I just can't stay away from this place. It's good to know that I'm not ignored, at least!


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## Arvedui (May 18, 2006)

HobbitGirl said:


> >.> <.< Wow, why did I come back yet again? I guess I just can't stay away from this place.


Join the club! 
And believe me, it is always a source of joy when members long gone pops up again. 

To the topic:
Ah, the days long gone, when the aftermath of "The Fellowship of the Ring" caused me to search for more on Tolkien on the net. And when a link on TORN led me to a forum that I can't remember anymore. Lotronline maybe? Anyways, I came across someone named Grond on that place, when joining a Guild for those of us who were a bit older than the rest; I think it was the Gwaith-i-Mirdain.
Well, the activity there wasn't exactly what I had hoped, and Grond sent me a link to another forum called TTF. And one day in august, Arvedui appeared here for the first time.

I like to think that I went along easily in the beginning, trying to get a feel for this place. And the knowledge of some of the members here at the time was such that I realized that I needed to refresh my memory on the works of the professor before contributing in the Tolkien-related threads. So in the beginning, I believe that I posted a bit more in the now defunct Guild of Politics. 
I still remember the "Congratulations, Jimmy Carter"-thread. Boy, how we managed to get some angry US citizens in those days. 
And then, Ancalagon dragged me along on a guild vs. guild debate, and I was astonished at how fun it actually can be to having to defend a preset point of view. And how frustrating...

And I still remember the totally surprising PM from Beaorn asking me if I would join the Band of Brothers (or mods as most members call them). So I joined, and did my best to contribute to the welfare of this place, by mostly cleaning and sorting in the Tolkien-section. Every time I see the "Links-thread" I get a sting of guilt for not having kept it updated for the last two years or so. Time-restraints are a nuisance!

So I had to resign my post as Mod, and as real-life took its toll, my presence here has become less and less. But I still log in whenever I can.

Along the way, I have met a number of wonderful people, to many mention each and every one of the. Some who are brilliant in their knowledge of Tolkien, some who are brilliantly humorous, and a lot who are both.
And I think that it is the members, more than the contents, that have brought me back again and again.

cheers


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## YayGollum (May 18, 2006)

Ah, to some unspecified location we proceed! Now, what this Arvedui person wrote is a History Of This The Tolkien Forum Dot Com Place, From One Person's Point Of View. Other people need to do that, too. But oh well. I wrote that I would mention a few of the personalities with names that I can remember. Well, I started to but got tripped up on a root of pure evil, which I, of course, tossed in front of myself, for some uncharacteristic reason.  *hides* 

Anyways, I continue --->

Yes, I remember reading a lot before actually posting. I found the spots that contained at least halfway intelligent discussions leaning towards my interests and tossed my apparently original observations inside. Even though I had read plenty before jumping in, I didn't care much to remember names or take note of invisible hierarchies. I still don't. Explain to me a use for such silly information. 

Many were a bit miffed when I bounded in to preach what they considered to be a joke to the types of members that they normally looked at with awe. Ick, I write! Respect for a fellow intelligence is fine but awe and grovelling and the like is sickening. The Ancalagon and Grond and Harad types were cool and at least halfway intelligent, I thought. Jumping into discussions with them to show off new ideas should be fun. 

It was, but many were annoyed at the disturbances that I brought while they attempted to complete their rituals of fumbling praises. Called me silly and decided to patronize the unfortunate newbie. Garn, man. Garn. You don't even know. I checked out the Stuff As Well As Bother section, which they referred me to. Hadn't seen much use in the place, before that. I had all kinds of fun with using it to show off my ideas. 

Most thought that I was merely attempting to entertain, but I was still just trying to get people to think differently. Sure, I am always happy to entertain. Why not? But don't disrepect people just because they see no use in cautiously mincing around the types who are considered bigwigs by the masses. Yay for self-confidence, I write! 

Hm. Well, I mentioned some names in there but it kind of turned into a rant. Maybe next time?


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## Goldberry344 (May 22, 2006)

Hm, it seems that things never change. Yay and Snaga are still bickering like the married couple they aren't.


I think everyone should know that Yay's avatar hasn't changed in about 2 years, yet in that time Snaga has changed from snaga1 to just plain old Snaga.

there's no point to that, it's just true.


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## YayGollum (May 22, 2006)

Greetings again, crazy Goldberry344 person. I can only assume that you know that I am not actually calling you insane, which would be evil to you and all mentally handicapped sorts, I am sure.  Anyways, since when did I ever bicker with this snaga1 person? Sure, I remember bickering with several people, probably, but I used to think that this snaga1 person was at least halfway cool. oh well. Also, Yay for you reminding me of my avatar thing, which is the greatest in existence! Why do so many others feel the crazy (not intending to insult, of course. Am using the word in a lighthearted as well as casual manner.) need to change those things regularly? They get bored of the old one? They wish to confuse people who oftimes can't remember names and wish to associate personalities with pictures? I could understand if they find something that is way more awesome than their old one, though. Who was it that made mine, again? The I.am.Smeagol person, or the Kit Baggins person? Both of them were pretty achingly cool, though. *sniffs, then visits their graves* <--- Which is not me saying that they are dead and that I know where their graves would be. It is to say that they have been gone for a while, so I lightheartedly and sarcastically assume that they are dead. Hm. But then, yes, I happen to be pretty achingly (No, I am not actually feeling any pain, at the moment. My apologies to anyone who is, though. I wasn't attempting to make lightheartedness out of your misery.) sure that anyone could read the little explanations that I leave in my writing and not believe them. Might even accuse me of lying while attempting to cover up my large gobs of pure evil. But oh well.


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## Goldberry344 (May 22, 2006)

I.am.smeagol made yours....cause she's my best friend in real life. I don't acctually stalk (I'm using the word stalk in a joking manner and not acctually in referance to anyone who is mentally obsessive) the people who make avatars on this community.


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## YayGollum (May 23, 2006)

Oh, the I.am.Smeagol person made my superly as well as achingly cool avatar thing just because she happens to be your best friend in real life? Not because she must be the greatest avatar thing constructor of all time and wishes to show off her amazing talents? Not because poor Smeagol is a great subject and I was the perfect person to hand such impressiveness at? oh well. Yay for other beings who can recognize sarcasm, beside the way!  Anyways, don't feel like tossing the history of this The Tolkien Forum Dot Com place, from your point of view, Goldberry344 person? *hides*


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## Goldberry344 (May 24, 2006)

Well..since you ask...

In December of 2001, or around that time, a few girls who went to school together and shared an obsession with LOTR decided to join this very forum. They were Arathin, Goldberry344, I.am.Smeagol and Eogthea. They joined, they conquered. Goldberry preferred lighter festivities, starring in The Quest for the Mirror, The Catriders Quest to Find Food and The RPG Oscars Afterparty...the original one, I believe. Arathin and Eogthea seemed to prefer hefty RPGing while I.Am.Smeagol mostly just made awesome avatars and dyed Goldberry's hair...in real life.

Time wore on and TFF split into two forums. Goldberry thought that that was really gross and she stopped posting. But she did keep in touch with an amazing person....Wonks! Wonks and Goldie still talk on and off to this day, but since Wonks ran off to England, Goldie hasn't heard from her that often.

Along the way, Goldie married a dwarf. She doesn't remember which one. She's sure it was a mistake.

Goldie and I.Am.Smeagol are friends to this day. They are still in contact with Arathin and Eogthea, though college, it seems, has torn them asunder.


the end, i think


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## YayGollum (May 25, 2006)

Okay. Good stuff! More of that, you other posters! People's experiences are a much better way to record the history of a place, rather than ---> Founded in random year by random person, random others as the first few around, large amount of growth in random year, amazing breakthrough in the field of discussion forums implemented in random year...


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## Halasían (Jun 1, 2006)

Interesting read so far after this thread got back on subject. I had toi edit my initial post as I was working at the time and didn't have the time to put it all in there. It is more complete now.

The whole censorship issue, and/or if the overly sensitive and outspoken folk get into their respective drama wars, etc, it can squelch a community as many will just silently leave for other climes when a site becomes a burden.


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## YayGollum (Jun 2, 2006)

Very true, but, for some crazy reason, many decide to come back to this place. I merit that point to the nice as well as green background.  Also, I thank you muchly for the better history from your point of view, Halasian person. Mine is still the best, though.


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## Ermundo (Jun 2, 2006)

Goldberry344 said:


> but since Wonks ran off to England,



I wonder why...

It's cause Wonks is getting married.


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## Halasían (Jun 2, 2006)

YayGollum said:


> I thank you muchly for the better history from your point of view, Halasian person. Mine is still the best, though.


Of course it is.... but then you have 4040 posts, vs my 225, so you have more history  .

The reasons people come back are many, as mine is only one. But usually when people come back, especially if they left under less than desirable on-board reasons, they are not too active. This too seems to be the forte of those who left due to real life commitments and such.


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## YayGollum (Jun 4, 2006)

Sure, I have more of the little post things attributed to me, but the little thing that informs when we joined are the same. Even if you weren't posting, you could have been observing and forming opinions. oh well.


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## Halasían (Jun 5, 2006)

*Re: The History Of This The Tolkien Forum Dawt Com Place (From Your Point Of View).*

I agree, but the reason I wasn't posting was because I w2asn't observing or even visiting, so I can't really say much about the times I wasn't around. 
I guess what I meant was you have been a bigger part of the history as far as participation.


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## YayGollum (Jun 6, 2006)

That's what it sounded like, from the history that you provided, but I was mostly guessing that you'd checked in every now and then. Mayhaps you aren't one of those people, which I definitely am. 

And, yes, Ick, I have participated enough to have taken part in a few of the larger stepping stones in this particular website thing's history. I am not a large fan of the exposure, though. I am a lurker first, only posting since I'm surprised that nobody else has pointed out my own viewpoints, since the subject of Tolkien type writings is pretty old and well known by now. Becoming too popular drove me away a few times, even though I still checked in. But then, my newly gained as well as achingly evil and creepy moderating powers should cancel out the popularity. 

None of which means that I am shy at all. Ick! Shyness makes no sense, to myself. Grow some self-confidence, maybe? oh well. In the stage of life, I consider myself a lighting director, pointing out what I consider to be significant. While we're not doing a play, though, I'd take center stage as a speaker, with my own words, though.


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## Goldberry344 (Jun 22, 2006)

morgoththe1 said:


> I wonder why...
> 
> It's cause Wonks is getting married.




nah. she already is married, right? 

whatever. Silly Snaga. I miss my Wonks.


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## Eledhwen (Jun 24, 2006)

I can't remember how I came across The Tolkien Forum; probably Googling for reviews of the first film before going to see it. Anyway, I'm glad I did, because although I live close enough to Oxford to go for a pub lunch at the Eagle and Child, I know very few people who want to discuss, or even who appreciate, the wonderful saga of Middle-earth.

During the film releases, the forum was both more entertaining and more exasperating. Meaty debates and essays sat alongside spam and giggly stuff that would have been better posted on MSN messenger or the like; and like car drivers who grow horns and a tail when they slip into the anonymity of an automobile on the road, some TTF-ers beep'd their horns in anger at each other more than was absolutely necessary. 

I too was sorry to see the general debating banned. It was the inevitable result of people taking themselves too seriously. I remember being seriously vilified when I announced that I was a proxy vegetarian (the cattle eat the plants and I eat the cattle) by one of the non-proxy variety who failed miserably to see through my words to the tongue firmly planted in my cheek. And as a Christian myself, I was dismayed at the wrathful intolerance of some of my brethren (and sistren?), not many of whom would have dined with Zacchaeus.

A debating forum was opened specially for ... er.. debates. I signed on, posted once, then kept forgetting it was there. I also tried the RPG threads, but I'm not really a team writer.

And as I read through this thread, I was wondering how well YayGollum would fit the personality of Thorin (without an H). I decided he'd do a great job whether speaking through the guise of Thorin or YG.


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## Ithrynluin (Jun 24, 2006)

Eledhwen said:


> And as I read through this thread, I was wondering how well YayGollum would fit the personality of Thorin (without an H). I decided he'd do a great job whether speaking through the guise of Thorin or YG.



You hit the nail on the head, and in more than just one sense.


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## YayGollum (Jun 25, 2006)

No-H Thorin was the name that I came up with first, since I thought of myself first, and Thorin has always been one of my favorite Tolkien type characters, but it didn't have much of a ring to it, in my brain. YayGollum was the very next idea, since spreading the word that Gollum is the hero was one of my top priorities, at the time. Also, since everyone seemed to be having lots of fun with multiple accounts and the only ones who seemed to mind very much were a bit too serious for me, I almost made a second account, but I couldn't come up with a good name for it. HooraySmeagol? WahooSmeagol? Booevilsam? None of those roll off of the tongue as well as YayGollum. oh well. I guess that's the only reason for why I wasn't banned.  

Anyways, Yay for the Eledhwen person's beautiful summary! Also, the Eledhwen person should jump into the R. P. G. things anyway. *hides*  What is not a team writer? Of course, writing alone is more enjoyable, since you don't have to deal with other people messing up what you already think is a good story, but writing with a team about a story that you all enjoy should just be considered a different brand of fun, yes?


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## Persephone (Jun 27, 2006)

I see that you are still holding the torch for Gollum, Yay! lol! I miss reading your silly banter about him being the hero and all. *sigh* The good old days.

This is a nice thread you've started -- I think it's been what -- 10 years? I think I was involved here for a maximum of 3. Missed out on some very interesting RPG's I think, been depressed too long I suppose.

Anyway, this is a very funny thread. I love the whole nostalgic effect reading through the history. Brings back memories.


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## Uminya (Jun 28, 2006)

Narya said:


> This is a nice thread you've started -- I think it's been what -- 10 years? I think I was involved here for a maximum of 3. Missed out on some very interesting RPG's I think, been depressed too long I suppose.



I'm thinking that the first incarnation of Tee-Tee-Eff came about at some point in 1999 or thereabouts. It was a fairly new place when I joined back around then...

I found the original forum when it was "The Tolkien Forum at thelordoftherings.com" using the now almost-unheard-of Lycos search engine. It was a set of boards that didn't have its own domain name as it does now, and started off with a pale blue theme that reminded me of a rainy, sleepy day. Except for the big, catlike eye staring back at me from the top of the screen.

I remember entering the same way Bilbo left; with a flash and a bang and a bunch of people wondering just who this dodgy fellow was after all, and causing quite a raucous with my first couple of posts. Yes, Cir was very naughty in his fiery, youthful days. After managing to nearly get the site shut down, I decided to stop being a nutter and calm down.

In the beginning, I went by the name "Ciryaher Hyarmendacil", because it was a neat-looking name and I liked the brief little story behind him. I also went by just plain old "Hyarmendacil", "Goldram", and "Marby Burrowes" before finally settling down with "Ciryaher". Those were back in the days when you could change your screen-name whenever you liked. I forget what board software we were using...phpBB, I think.

Ah, those were the days when Balrogs having wings was a fresh debate. Whether or not Tom Bombadil was Aule was still a new idea. These movies and their riff-raff of FADnatical followers were an army of Haradrim and Variags storming the shabby old ivory tower that we NPW's were growing beards in (just kidding ). I got kinda burnt out after about 2 years, though, and after that I mostly stuck to RPs and Politics.

Anyhow, the site went to a white and red scheme and it was around then that Webmeister allowed me to begin my long and notorious stint as a super-moderator (later just a moderator). Back then we only needed one crazy moderator to run this place, and eventually ReadWryt came along, and the rest, and so history goes. It was fun being a mod, although I seemed to always find ways of offending people. Looking back on it, I am both glad I did--because you people need a good stirring-up now and again--and sorry I did, because I feel that people get a very wrong impression of how I really am.

At any rate, there I was, moderator, blah blah. The Forums at TLotR became a nice little community, and as it came nearer the time for the movies to come out, Webmeister decided to make a new set of boards running at the same time. These new boards with a black and burgundy theme (but still with the big Eye) were very seldom used, since there was still a Forums @ TLotR for everyone to use. Around 2001, we finally made the migration and the old site shut down and everyone made their diaspora over to the new place, which is--as Yay puts it--*this* The Tolkien Forum dot Com place.

I think we started off with a green theme, which is the theme that I use to this day. When September 11 rolled around, we switched to an all-black theme to mourn the loss of lives, and political debate flared up. I think that some time before, Dengen-Goroth had started up the Guild of Politics, and that it carried over onto the new Tee-Tee-Eff. Quite a place. I have to say that because of political debate on this website, I've gone from a neoconservative *insert colorful metaphor here* to...whatever it is I am now. Hippy? But yes, thank you all for the views and such. It has broadened my perpective greatly.

The real meat-and-morethanonepotato of Tee-tee-eff has always been roleplaying. I wasn't in the old RP#1 or RP#2, which I'm told were quite interesting. I hopped on #3, which Lantarion started (back then he was Pontifex Cactus). Since then, I've almost always involved myself in one RP or another. PlanetCoruscant opened and closed twice (due to such low traffic), as did MERPG (for similar reasons). I've always been sad that the heyday of grandiose RP has come and gone; those days when Beorn was made king of Gondor, Ancalagon crashed on Minas Tirith, Dengen-Goroth covered all of Middle Earth in his shadow, Elessar led an uprising in Arnor, and Mithrandir led the council of wizards. Ah, those were the days. I don't think I'll ever have so much fun again on here, since we've come down to having so few RPers left.

Where was I...hrm...oh. Politics and Religion discussions being banned and being moved to the...not-so-fast-paced ProjectEvil. Similar to the RP move from TTF to MERPG, it seems to have killed 99% of all discussion. I guess whatever works, eh?

My personal experience hasn't always been that great here; things like my first demotion from being a mod, my avatars always causing a raucous, and the Hurin Thalion escapade (my second demotion) were things that made this place less than relaxing. Losing many of my friends to time and distance hasn't been easy either. But the memories and experiences I've had because of this place have, I think, made up for those few bad things. It's been a long...6 or 7 years. Things really have changed a lot around here. Friends have come and gone, lives have changed, the world is a bit different of a place. But still in the end, this TTF place brings us together, even if only for a while.

There. My not-so-entertaining History of this The Tolkien Forum dot Com place.


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## Persephone (Jun 28, 2006)

^ Speak for yourself, that was quite a read! Thanks for that. (You were demoted twice?  Where the bloody heck was I? Oh yeah, being depressed.)

Anyway, I got here because of Greenwood, who I think has stopped coming over. Was greatly impressed with lots of stuff especially the RPG's, and my very memorable pub.

I agree with you. This place brings us all back together, ey? Different though we are, TTF will remain our common ground. And I, too, am glad I am part of this community.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jun 28, 2006)

Narya said:


> This place brings us all back together, ey? Different though we are, TTF will remain our common ground. And I, too, am glad I am part of this community.



I'm glad to be a part of it too, but I miss the old days — which will never be back any more than a failed marriage can be revived. These days, it's as lively as a cemetery... 

Barley


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## Persephone (Jun 28, 2006)

Yeah, I can see that.  I feel sad to see so few online nowadays.

I hope things change and this community livens up again so the ttf history will go on.


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## YayGollum (Jun 29, 2006)

Silly banter about poor Smeagol being the hero? Well, sure, it might have seemed to have been presented in a silly manner. Yay for waving the flag of entertainment to point out an obviously overlooked truth, but oh well. Anyways, if this place is a cemetary, are you people necrophiliacs? Or just the type who think that cemetaries are cool places to relax? Or the crazy types who somehow enjoy showing up to grieve over a patch of dirt? oh well. I don't consider this place a cemetary. Mayhaps an old diner that once had several groups of people who frequented it for the convenient social interaction in the comfortable setting, then a bunch of people happened to move away. Or they just didn't like the "No shirt, no shoes, no service" sort of policy and stubbornly decided that any place that couldn't tolerate their preferences was pure evil.


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## Uminya (Jun 29, 2006)

I'd say we're like an old coffee shop that suddenly became very fashionable for a lot of people for a little while, but when it was no longer fashionable, there were still the same kinds of people left behind who just liked the coffee, the service, and the atmosphere (rather than the hype).


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## Kementari (Jun 29, 2006)

I am *very* surprised that Cir managed to keep his numerous love affairs out of his history


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## Uminya (Jul 25, 2006)

I dug up this old file on my computer, and it made me laugh. I wrote it as a joke about a situation that arose where apparently a member was causing trouble. The part referring to Ol' Gaffer made me laugh especially, because I'm odd and laugh at my own jokes. Anyhow, it's a snapshot of TTF history, so...enjoy!



> *Associated Press News Service*
> 
> 15 April 2004
> 2040 GMT
> ...


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## Noldor_returned (Jul 25, 2006)

ROFL..that is hilarious. Also, in my crazy searches through Wikipedia, I found an article on this the tolkien forum dot com place.


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## Aulë (Jul 26, 2006)

Hehehe, I've rumaged through a few of the old files in my computer recently. Some of the things I came across were: screenshots from Thol's erotic story about Nom's obsession with Fingon, various avatars that people made for me over the years, screenshots of me and Thol "testing" Elgee's modding abilities (my personal favourite), maps from my Chronicles days, and various MSN convos ranging from Nom, Thol and myself tricking Matar by pretending to be different people in the C9, planning my attack on Ciryaher in the Chronicles with Snaga (and then talking to Dengen as we all awaited Cir's response), and discussions about the debate tournament (usually me begging people to hurry up with their judging).

Ahhh...memories...


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## Ermundo (Jul 26, 2006)

Noldor_returned said:


> ROFL..that is hilarious. Also, in my crazy searches through Wikipedia, I found an article on this the tolkien forum dot com place.




Hah! I've read it before! I learned some stuff I didn't know before about this place actually.


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## Talierin (Jul 26, 2006)

Well... WELL I have my ORIGINAL posts from the ORIGINAL TTF somewheres, yeah, if we're talking old school! That means stuff from like, 6 years ago, hahaha *god I'm old*

That means we have names like:
Pontifex Cactus
DancesWithSharks
and a bunch of other people


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## Nenya Evenstar (Jul 29, 2006)

I'm curious if people use MSN as much now as we used to. I think I did as much on MSN as I did on the forums! It went hand-in-hand: plot on MSN, put it into action on TTF.

I had messages going to my inbox whenever anyone replied to a thread I was in. I remember sometimes having forty to fifty threads to reply back to. It was crazy!


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## Snaga (Jul 30, 2006)

Nothing like as much, Nenya. Some of those convos never seemed to end. The RP plotting was ridiculous. The convos with Dengen, Telchar, Sting etc would go on forever. Then we'd post. Then we'd have even longer discussions about all the inevitable arguments after the posts. Such fun, or so it would sometimes seem.

I also at one point got into the bad habit of logging on to either TTF and/or MSN after long night at the pub. That probably clarifies why not all of my posts were as belligerent and aggressive as usual - give me a little bit of orc-draught and I'm as nice as anyone. For some reason I seemed to spend a lot of time talking to Tar-Ancalime on AOL when I was a little inebriated. I don't know why she bothered, she must be unusually patient. I think I slur when I type, which must be very unappealing.

P.S. Goldie - its not my fault if Wonks is online as much as before. I haven't chopped her fingers off, or anything. OK our comp did get stolen recently but basically since we got married she is on a one-person mission to read every book I ever bought, which since I have a lot of books is keeping her out of mischief. Besides the fact she likes to add to the book collection regularly, so, for now, until she has read the entire corpus of English (and indeed translated-into-English) literature, her posting time might be limited. I'm just grateful there's no 'buy-all' button on Amazon. But is that my fault? I think not. It does raise the worrying possibility that she married me for my book collection though... and I thought it was my snarly face. 

Anyway Cir - I would like to raise a glass to you. One of the best mods for keeping the site interesting! I can tell you that my fellow trouble makers were always hopeful that you would be the mod making the decision, because it made life more colourful. And you rarely let us down! Heaven forbid that it was, say, Beorn on the case. The various rogues of the British Army had convinced themselves that he was 50 and excruciatingly stern with it, and were gobsmacked when they found out that was not true. (Having met Mike not so recently, I can finally verify he really isn't some grey-haired disciplinarian ogre at all).


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## Uminya (Jul 31, 2006)

Alas that I cannot grace you all with my benevotyrannical dictomoderatorship anymore *dabs at eye with a kerchief*

All that's left now to me are meeeeemorieeeeeeeees.

I've got a lot of stuff saved. Conversations with people I no longer talk to, war diagrams, controversial avatars, and Super Classified Moderator Propaganda Handbooks. I should post more of that stuff up sometime...


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## Nenya Evenstar (Jul 31, 2006)

I have a lot saved from the short time I was in the Chronicles. I still have a map that I made of Middle-earth. I basically took the map from the books and blew it up with colored pencil. It has color-coded markings all over it where armies were posititioned. I plotted evilness on that.

I vaguely remember a post that talked about some teachers somewhere recommending TTF to their students because they saw it as a very scholarly resource. Unfortunately, I don't remember anything more than that . . . if anyone does, please dig it up! I always thought that was super cool.

I've always thought it would be kind of neat to start a TTF movement and grow TTF to real life as well. It would just mean that wherever TTF members live they would start a Tolkien club in their home town. A contact person for each club would be established, and the towns where the clubs are would be listed here. Then, whenever a TTF member visits a town with a club in it, they go to that town's club and meet real, live TTF members! Afterall, we've all pretty much met each other in some way or another, or else we know each other through somebody else!

Wouldn't that be fun and crazy? But it might not work, because someday some weirdo would come along and mess up the fun.


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## Arvedui (Aug 3, 2006)

That reminds me of the huge TTF get-together that was talked and talked about for a loooong time, which ended with very little at all.
Wonder if Beorn wants us to forget that...


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## Eledhwen (Aug 4, 2006)

Nenya Evenstar said:


> I've always thought it would be kind of neat to start a TTF movement and grow TTF to real life as well. It would just mean that wherever TTF members live they would start a Tolkien club in their home town. A contact person for each club would be established, and the towns where the clubs are would be listed here. Then, whenever a TTF member visits a town with a club in it, they go to that town's club and meet real, live TTF members! Afterall, we've all pretty much met each other in some way or another, or else we know each other through somebody else!
> 
> Wouldn't that be fun and crazy? But it might not work, because someday some weirdo would come along and mess up the fun.


Needs a pub with a back room, no juke box, preferably with a log fire for winter chinwags, ale and cider from the wood, a couple of pipe smokers - one in an aran jumper - propping up the bar, and a group of like-minded Tolkienites who nevertheless do not take themselves too seriously. (makes me think of a series of commercials on TV at the moment - for John Smiths Ales - where a pub landlord bans people for having bluetooth devices growing out of their ears & similar modern icons)

PS: I often wondered if the proposed Tolkien convention went ahead without me. I suspect not. The trouble is, Heren Istarion and the UK equivalent are already so good at it.


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## Aulë (Aug 6, 2006)

Nenya Evenstar said:


> I have a lot saved from the short time I was in the Chronicles. I still have a map that I made of Middle-earth. I basically took the map from the books and blew it up with colored pencil. It has color-coded markings all over it where armies were posititioned. I plotted evilness on that.
> 
> I vaguely remember a post that talked about some teachers somewhere recommending TTF to their students because they saw it as a very scholarly resource. Unfortunately, I don't remember anything more than that . . . if anyone does, please dig it up! I always thought that was super cool.
> 
> ...


 
The Australian chapter would be rather small, methinks.


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## Persephone (Aug 6, 2006)

Nenya Evenstar said:


> I've always thought it would be kind of neat to start a TTF movement and grow TTF to real life as well. It would just mean that wherever TTF members live they would start a Tolkien club in their home town. A contact person for each club would be established, and the towns where the clubs are would be listed here. Then, whenever a TTF member visits a town with a club in it, they go to that town's club and meet real, live TTF members! Afterall, we've all pretty much met each other in some way or another, or else we know each other through somebody else!
> 
> Wouldn't that be fun and crazy? But it might not work, because someday some weirdo would come along and mess up the fun.


 
That's not a bad suggestion. We (meaning here in Manila) have a society called TPTS (The Philippine Tolkien Society) which is actually a part of a much bigger organization for Fantasy and Sci-Fi fanatics. There are conventions held every year especially when a Fantasy or Sci-Fi movie is about to premiere. During those conventions, members come in costumes (yes, the young, the young at heart, and the not so young  ), have skits (and some using real weapons and real live acrobatics), and then there's the singing and the dancing to the tunes of their genre (included here are Anime, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy, so there's JPop included in the songs).

TPTS has bi-monthly meetings called "Moots" where members meet and just basically talk about the books and learn the languages since there is a member who can actually read, write, and speak fluent Elvish, Dwarvish, and Black Speech. There are also book swaps, table-top card games, reviews, and yes debates. We also play these action figures that are not exactly Tolkien, but Tolkienish, called Mage Knight, and I recently sold my last three boxes because I seriously couldn't play anymore (no time) and my kid was slowly giving them away to her pals as a gift. TPTS members are from all over the Phil. Island, and when one member visits one Island, she/he is welcomed by the member in that Island, and she/he could stay granting the host has enough provisions. However, as long as they are in that place they are entertained like family.

I was active for a while, until work got in the way  . 

It would be nice to have some kind of Society for us (like the Freemasons), however, the Manila Chapter won't be big either, cause I think I'm the only member  . I tried to get them here but they already have their own site.


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## Noldor_returned (Oct 3, 2006)

From what I can gather, there have been stages for tTF. First of all, there was the beginning, which became the pre-movie era. Then, when New Line Cinema released The Fellowship of the Ring, the movie stage began, and lasted for about 3-4 years. The movie stage lasted until just before I joined a little over a year ago. Now, we are in the post movie stage, and although there may not be as much activity, there is still a bit of action (mainly in the bars and inns), although not as much. I think we can call these stages the Beginning, Build-up, Movie and Bars and Inns.


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## Hobbit-GalRosie (Nov 11, 2006)

I went on a little nostalgia trip tonight which had nothing to do with trying to welcome a friend here, brought on because it got me thinking about all the stuff there is to see here, and all the stuff that there is (sadly) no longer to be seen, and also I was reading the Lord of the Pants thread for the first time in ages, which got me thinking about what else we had around here back then.

I found this place some time in 01, and only joined finally in November of 02. Some of my most loved memories of this place are actually of the era before I was a member, and I can only imagine that the farther back in time you go the better things get, lol. One of the silly, silly things that hooked me was Elgee's thread in which she was selling her giant riding cats, and telling tales of Bump, the one that got away. I thought that if there was room for that kind of nonsense here along with some of the really well thought out and serious debate I saw that it could only be a paradise for someone like me.

Still, I was by and large a new comer to the internet back then, and things transpired that I needed to get an e-mail account before I could join. Imagine that. I didn't get around to it for a long time because of that, much though I would have loved to.

Back when I joined the guilds were still alive, though I never had much to do with them. I kind of regret that now, there must have been at least one I would have found worth joining, if I'd had time enough to really find out what it was all about.

There were endless debates on the virtues of the movies by then, and I went from being a pretty, ah, "reasonable" as I thought of myself FAD that thought the books were much better and FotR changed a few things that were a little degrading to the story and characters, but in very small ways, and this was so much better than any film adaptation I'd ever seen it just didn't seem to matter all that much...even though I increasingly obsessed about them and yelled at the TV about them most of the times I watched the movie. The deeper I went into Tolkien's creation, finishing reading LotR and then the Sil, the more I realized just how much those little changes really go very much against the spirit of that world. Still, I wasn't minded to think too ill of PJ and crew until TT came out. TT pushed me into being a die-hard NPW before too long, and I've never looked back. I _do_ own and enjoy all the EEs, and I don't think PJ should be executed or anything , but it's really sad to think what could have been if the guy actually had a clue what he was doing or more than a passing respect for Tolkien's work.

So that sums up that. And good riddance. Let's try thinking of more pleasant parts of TTF's history, neh?

Back then the Guild of Polotics still existed...I think it was part of some other forum at first then broke off...it was really fun to read that at times, and really sickening at others. It was really great to see that the same people whose lovely insanity I admired in the lighthearted haunts were also so well-versed and sensible in a very wide range on issues, real-world and Tolkien. I just love me a good intellectual debate, yesss precioussss....

For a while of course I had to avoid a great many book-related places that would be spoilery and since became much loved. I wish I had more time for the LotR and Sil book forums, and the Hall of Fire...as it is I just barely keep up with the threads I subscribe to, that's all...not even really that, there's one story that will have grown way out of hand in the Glittering Caves...

I really enjoyed going over threads that brought up some little point, some extrapolation or possible inconsistency, that just dove right into the meat of M-E as it were. I quickly got bored with reading up on things like Balrog wings and the Blue Wizards and whether or not there's two Glorfindels or what Tom Bombadil is. For me, some of these don't need answering, some have an obvious answer I'm quite comfortable with, some I think is an interesting question that just can't be resolved one way or the other and while I have my own instinctive leanings on the issue they'll never be more than that and I'm satisfied with just mulling things over on my own occasionally, or overwhelming some poor noob like my bro Lomin... used to be with talk about it and how obsessed lots of people are. 

In summary, this was a really great place for me to learn, grow, interact, etc, for all these years. I lament in what is lost and rejoice in what is still here.

There are still quite a few genuine old-time TTFers that were here long before me, the vast majority of whom I admire and am very fond of, and a good many of those same people who I WISH WOULD COME BACK!!! ReadWryt! RangerDave! Ponty/Lanty! Where are you???!!! WAAAAAAAH!!!

Now few remain of Wonks' polls that had only the options of stuff like I heart Wonks and Wonks is a fox. So many little pubs and RPGs have fallen by the wayside. Oh, cry. But still...TTF endures, and in many ways is just the same as ever...

We still have our games, lighthearted through challenging and obscure, and debates and on rare occasion now that she's getting married we still have or at least fairly recently had Elgee's silly polls...we still have a lot more stuff than I can possibly keep track of, and a lot of smart and genuinely nice people.

And we still have Yay. Who sometimes helps keep me breathing by bringing some sense to a usually-senseless issue...and sometimes makes me shake my head and think I could never possibly think anything like that, but will still always make me find a new perspective or re-examine an issue that I never thought to need it agian. Good times.


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