[Amanaduial the archer]

Rimbaud, I love your avatar- and that song!

Ok, prepare to have sharp and pointy objects thrown at me...
I liked the old system of RPGing, in the freestyle room. It was harder to understand, but it was less controlled; this way seems a bit too controlled in a way. Its good for newbies I suppose; I sent a PM welcoming Iarhen to the downs a few days ago, and I suppose Iarhen will find this easier.
The way the games were shared out when the split happened didnt seem entirely fair either- one game I was in was put into the section it wouldnt otherwise have been put in apart from the fact that the moderator and one of the gamers really didnt get on, and this didnt really seem right- I thought it deserved to go in a higher category, and it was downgraded for personal reasons. Also, the top section doesnt really seem to be getting anywhere- there are very few games in it; the seventh star (in which many of the main character are from the Lonely Star, not easy for others to understand.), Castle Maladil and The Revenge of the Entish Bow (invitation only.) Most of the moderators seem to clique together.

The Shire is doing very well though, and has introduced alot of new players to games ina controlled enviroment. Less games die, which is good, because several good games simply died in the Freestyle room and were lost in the, well, yes, the chaos, such as The New Mirkwood RPG and the Shadowherd. But the Shadowherd was an 'indie' RPG, as one player described it- it wasnt entirely LotR related, but neither was the Crimson Sword, and the Crimson Sword was a brilliant RPG (The game was anyway, and the discussion was fun until the last page or so.)
There are less gatecrashers this way though, practically none- if there have been any, I havent seen them. The moderators can deal with this swiftly and easily, which is great, as it annoys me when random people post entirely stupid and Off topic posts on the actual game thread. But the moderators are in danger of becoming this big, omnipotent power who is unconnected.

Just some thoughts.
Aman

Oh, and Mithadan, Bethberry and a few others; the ideas are mine and not biased by any less agreeable persons who have left the downs one way or another, dont worry. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]