History of this Forum

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

For the purposes of complete disclosure, I have or had three accounts. I would use the alter egos for various purposes. There were a few times, during quiet periods, when I would actually “talk to myself” in a thread in an attempt to encourage posting. There was one occasion when a member was caught by his friends using a second account. For reasons that I do not recall, his friends took offense. He apologized and even suggested that he would abandon the Downs entirely. I used an exchange between Mithadan and an alter ego to poke fun at the situation and, together with some PMs, encouraged the member to stay. He still posts.

I certainly recall a situation like that. I was PMing at the time with one who was genuinely hurt by it. I understood the reason the member had for the ruse, but also the feelings of the other parties. I felt it was only a matter of time before matters would rest, and it seems that was the case.

Originally Posted by Mithadan

Obviously, I never left entirely. One event that helped draw me back, at least a bit, took place about ten (ish) years ago. The old, regimented, and structured RPG system was no longer working. The tiered forums and application process was discouraging and annoying potential participants. I stepped in and encouraged a dialogue for the airing of gripes and ideas. A contentious thread that reminded me of the old times. Ultimately, we did away with the old system and allowed a return, with some rules, of the freestyle RPG format. Unfortunately, while this was initially well received, by that time there generally was not a critical mass of enough interested members to resurrect RPGs on the Downs. Another casualty of social media, perhaps? Too many other ways to have fun online?

I was always interested in the RPGs, but had some doubt as to my ability to participate in one.
It was only after modding my first Werewolf game, and receiving a much appreciated compliment on my "storytelling", that I thought to actually try it.
Sadly, just as I was really getting into it, one of the main characters abruptly disappeared from the Downs, and it just petered out.

Originally Posted by Mithadan

So, the Hobbit movies? There was some speculation that those releases might inspire a revival in posting. My suspicion, that those movies would not, turned out to be correct. Maybe this was because those movies were played as a pure action tale with little depth and too much absurdity. The departures from the story as written may also have contributed to the relative lack of interest in posting, beyond criticism. In 2001, Arwen wielding a sword at the fords of the Bruinen generated debate. The appearance of Tauriel in the Hobbit movies barely caused a blink. I have heard speculation that the upcoming series may also generate discussion. Perhaps…

While I (grudgingly) did finally see the LOTR films, I saw too many previews, trailers, and discussions of TH to say, "no". And no. And no. Since all I was inclined to do was rail about it, it wasn't worth the effort.

Originally Posted by Mithadan

I have tried to find enthusiasm in posting over the past few years. Sometimes I have inspiration and interest and, at other times I do not. This is apparently a common theme. At the tail end of last year’s birthday party (thank you Estelyn!) I made a toast to members departed. The list was distressingly long. Members have always come and gone here. Now, it seems, more go than come. This also factors into my lack of posts. Those that I deemed to be my comrades ten, fifteen or twenty years ago are now gone like wraiths in the wind or rarely appear and seldom stay. The analogy to the Elves departing as the ages progress is all too appropriate. Hmmmm, does that make me Cirdan, awaiting the last ship?

I find that recently a good deal of the discussions are involving "canon" and HoME type stuff. I seem to be getting more and more averse to that sort of speculation.
I have had a worry for quite some time, that delving too deeply into the "construction" aspect of the works will rub away some of the lustre, the elvishness, as it were. I hear Gandalf's admonition against breaking things to figure them out. As I get older, I only seem to want to enjoy Tolkien's works as stories, and take my own inner meanings as I like.
I'm always up though for the (no)wings Balrog debate, Bombadil's nature, or why Túrin really was to blame for his own fate and that of his family, Morgoth's curse notwithstanding.

[Mithadan]

I forgot to mention the werewolf games! Of course, this is because I never participated in one. As I said, my history of this site is subjective. I also did not mention The New Silmarillion forum and project which still, to some extent, lives and breathes. As I recall, Lindil was instrumental in getting it started. An ambitious undertaking; sift through HoME and try to figure out what JRRT's final conception of The Silmarillion was. I actually thought this was possible at the outset. I no longer do. First, it would require too much creative or interpretive writing to do it as JRRT may have intended. Only the tales of Beren and Luthien and of Turin were drawn out with any significant detail as the years progressed. The fall of Gondolin was only drawn out in detail in Lost Tales and the fall of Doriath was barely revisited except in summary. Second, I am no longer sure that Tolkien had a specific final version in mind. I have my own views on what Tolkien wanted The Silmarillion to be in his later years and have sympathy for him that he never achieved his vision.

I agree, Inziladun, that threads about HoME and NoME can be a bit off-putting. This is why I encourage members to open new threads or revive old ones that may be of broader interest.

[Formendacil]

My entire 'Downsian tenure (nearing 17 years) fits entirely into Mithadan's Third Chapter: Post-Movies. As such, I missed the heyday. But I did join pre-WereWolf!

Still, I think my experience of the 'Downs is "typical" insofar as it's generational. Though I missed the Movie years, I was a teenager (14, almost 15) when the FotR was released and I joined the forum where my peers--even those with three or more years on the forum--were the same age: teenagers just about coming of age whose teen years had become dominated by the Middle-earth experience. It's irrelevant to this larger picture that I was a pre-Movie, Book-first, didn't-have-a-fandom-till-the-Downs fan.

I would break my 'Downs years into three chunks that were more-or-less distinct, though they bleed together:

1. Teen Spirit! The forum was vibrant, I was online daily--well, nightly (well, nightly AND daily). This was roughly 2005-2008. This was pre-Social Media, and I was discovering who I was and so were all these other Internet Tolkien fans. This was an age when learning people's real names and seeing people's real faces was rare and generally only happened in private conversations, and there was still a stigma taken Very Seriously about meeting people you'd only known online, and I was still too young to have a chance to travel.

This was the era of Hookbill the Goomba's great race in the Mirth forum, of Werewolf appearing for the first time, of MSN and AIM chats late at night, of LiveJournal posts and Downer mutual-follows. There was still a lot of firepower in the Books forum, and occasional anger and spittle. Davem was banned and then unbanned and then banned again--and something like twenty of us unruly Millennials muttered about it on LiveJournal and PROTESTED.

2. The Social Media era. Eventually, since we'd all joined Facebook, we all got used to people's Real Names and Real Faces (the 40 or so that all friended each other, anyway). This was the era of Moots, since my generation was a little older and braver and had a little more money--and not too much responsibility yet. For me, this is era was 2008-2012ish. I met Brinn in person one summer, then Fëanor of the Peredhil the next, then Bostonmoot, then I changed countries for grad school, got engaged to someone met through the 'Downs, roommated with another 'Downer, had a near-Moot of a Wedding--and the entire trajectory of my life and the existence of my children now is because of this website.

This era was a bit quieter than the previous one: the slide between youthful post-Moviehood where there was still plenty of time to drown the website in youthful enthusiasm--and the later era of busy adulthood. Werewolf may have been a bit less frequent, but there were still regular games and growing frighteningly complex at times. People would fall of the face of the Earth, but in ones and twos, and they'd come back to find the community still bustling.

3. And then there's... now. People don't fall off the face of the forum singly, but only return singly. Real Life has enveloped people like me for the better part of a decade: nearly 35 years old, nearly a decade out of grad school, nearly a decade married--with all the pressures and demands this includes. For those of us who remain, the Downs is the same as ever, but the crests of each wave are days apart not minutes. Werewolf is becoming an annual event, if that, and the rest of the forum likewise adds to itself only intermittently.

We find comfort in the 'Downs still being here, and however long we return (weeks where once it was hours--indeed, the difference of the three eras for me might be Check Hourly, Check Daily, Check Weekly). It's harder to find energy to post when real life involves more intellectual drain and more demands on my time. There are more distractions in the world, from politics to pandemics to streaming services.

Where once the off-site elements just added to the swelter of the community, now they come a bit too close to replacing it. In truth, though, even those media are wearing old, and I'm only still on Facebook because I am an exile keeping up with home and because I'm a Downer who still finds social media fun because Encaitare or [/b]Boro[/b] or Lalwendë fill my timeline rather than Angry Relatives and Acquaintances.

This last stage has had occasional scares, where the forums goes down, and we all dread the day when no one can find The Barrow-Wight to wake it back up once again. One of the real joys I'm looking forward to post-pandemic (whenever we draw that line) is A Moot Again! They've been fewer in this era, but almost better: like mixing the comfort and joy of coming back to this forum with a Found Family Reunion.