Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza

Future threads for consideration:

Hobbit Hole Homes
Periannath Walking Club
The Watch
Shire Players
Hobbit Defense Squad
Shire Fire Orchestra
Cooking/baking school

Please let everyone know here if there's something you'd like to see added to the list! Also, if there's something you'd like to create and run yourself, go for it! No permission needed.

This felt like something we needed, and I'm not just saying that because all the other kingdoms had one and I felt left out. :smiley8: As a start, anyone feel like coming up with a Shire forum header/banner, or does anyone have an old one saved that they would love to resurrect?

I used to love making banners, but I feel like it is a skill I've lost. I also don't have the software for it anymore. I'd be all for someone creating a new banner if they find inspiration. I went back through the Wayback Machine and didn't find too much that looked great from the old Kingdom, however this one from the region days stood out as quite nice to me:



As for credit for this banner, I'm not exactly sure however the Photobucket album name attached to the Wayback link says 'Naeniver' if that's a clue.

Hi, Menolly! I am seeing a few things in the Shire that are here again - yay! - and many things I would love to see here again. My biggest love was the Strawberrystar Brewery. Would we be able to bring that back? I may still even have the old drinks list somewhere, and I used to have a map of the brewery's grounds too. I probably no longer have access to it. It was on an old computer of mine. But a lot of it is still in my memory, and I can reconstruct it.

I also miss helping with the Shire Players, which was the Shire's version of an acting troupe that had its own theater. I don't know of everyone's level of interest in that, but I would like for that to be considered again.
I remember also having some great fun with the Hobbit Defense Squad back in the day. Going to save Sam from some misadventure was quite fun for me, for some reason - probably because I like mysteries. I am currently reading James Patterson's Alex Cross series, and I try to stay one step ahead of Mr. Cross.

Since my RL is pretty busy, I can't mention everything I would like to see. I am not sure how much I can contribute at this time. So I will wait and see if my other thoughts would work later. For now, those are my biggest wishes.

It's great to see you again, @Istya Alassea ! I am very not in charge of anything and you definitely don't have to ask to create things. If you feel like you have the time to run the Brewery, that would be awesome! I don't have a ton of time to run RPGs either, but I would certainly stop in and visit the brewery.

@Istya Alassea If you're bringing back the brewery I still have a map of the brewery that I used when I ran it, I also have a banner for the op and the brewery rank icons if you want any of it.

@Menolly, thanks for letting me know! I would love to run it. That's the one thing I really would like to keep up with here. I will probably get it all set for posting tomorrow. And @Rior Laegiel, that would be amazing! I would like to see your map, compare it with mine, and then get a fully updated map to include with the thread. But I would definitely be honored to use your banner and the brewery rank icons. I think that was just before my time, and I would love to use them.

@Istya Alassea Great. I'll post the links to it all here tomorrow but my senile brain isn't the best so just poke me if I forget.

@Dwim That banner activated some intense nostalgia in the back of my brain somewhere. I like it unless someone with artistic skills (aka not me) would like to create a new one instead. The name Naeniver doesn't ring a bell to me so I'm not sure who made that.

@Istya Alassea

Brewer rank icons:

Head Brewer


Master Brewer


Brewer


Apprentice

OK so in regards to the forum banner, how about we give it 48 hours. If no one's posted one here after 48 hours, I'll ask Narv to use the old one I posted above. If anyone's making a banner but feels like that's not enough time to get it done, just let us know here and we'll wait.

Narv also mentioned he can add text in the header to accompany the banner (just not anything that needs to be regularly updated). Anyone have any ideas for text, if we feel that any is necessary?

@Rior Laegiel , thank you! My map is for the gardens and vineyards outside. So our maps can work together perfectly.

@Istya Alassea I knew there was a map of the gardens and vinyards but I never had that one, wasn't sure who to ask to get it but when I ran the brewery someone made the map of inside the brewery, don't remember who though. If I'm not mistaken I think @Menolly made the banner.

Hello, hello one and all, it is I, a random minion from 10+ years ago that likely none of you remember. I have a quick and (maybe) important question to put to you all here. IK Poetry Competitions, are they something any of you would like to see come back in Plaza 2.0? Am I foolish for thinking this is a good idea? Am I diving into everything too fast? Am I likable?

viewtopic.php?f=15&p=3571#p3571

Greetings everybody!

Khazaddum has recently started their own Newsletter, The Mirromere. We would love everyone from each kingdom to contribute to it. It can be anything. Poetry, prose, a pencil sketch, a painting, a short story. Literally anything creative. If this is something that would interest you, pop on over to our Editor's Office (link above) and put your name down.

Thanks!
Thorin

@Frost , I like that idea of IK Poetry Competitions! I'd say go for it.

Excellent! I set up a poll and potential discussion thread over in Mordor if you wouldn't mind casting a vote in favor? *offers bribe*

@Dwim sounds like a good banner plan to me.

@Rior Laegiel I did make the banner! Some of my fanciest MS Paint work. I don't have any other graphics for the brewery though.

Wow, I was just digging through some very old files on this computer and lo and behold, this is the same laptop I owned when I was a ruler in 2011-ish. I found a bunch of banners! Already swapped out the one at the top of this thread. Here's a different brewery banner and one for the Watch if anyone feels like starting that back up. I also have various seasonal banners like the Yule ball and Lithedays and some random game banners.

@Menolly I remember that brewery banner too. I think you made two and I got to chose which one I wanted and I chose the one with the grapes.

I also found an old market banner. @Shasta Stark do you want it for the market?

Hurry for all the initiatives!
A note from me: perhaps we shouldn't open too much at the same time, so we can first see how things are going? I mean: if we open just everything we can remember from the past, it might become too big a list of threads to be active in and contribute to. We are with just a few Hobbits, so far. When the population of the Shire grows, the amount of activities and threads could grow as well. We could make a list of threads/activities we'd like to have running and see if there are any who want to be thread runner? Looks like the Brewery has lots of fans already!

I agree with Eamila on this one, let's not stretch ourselves too thin with our small numbers, and the uncertainty of how many people will be posting actively as life slowly returns to normal. I think where we're at now, including the upcoming return of the Brewery, feels like the right amount of activities and threads.

On another note, regarding the beauty of Shire life, I came across this quote tonight:

"It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life." - Bilbo Baggins, FotR: Extended Edition

Now I know this is a movie quote, but I think it sums us up wonderfully and would like to see it in our kingdom header accompanying the banner. Is anyone opposed to that?

I fully agree on that!!! It's what makes me a Hobbit :-D

That's a great quote!

I also agree it doesn't make sense to open a ton of threads at once, especially since we are just a few hobbits. But it's nice to have options if things become busier, or if we want to rotate different activities over time.

@Rior Laegiel - Ooh, I like! I just googled an image and found the one from LotRO. Do we want to keep the one currently in the threat or switch? i don't know!

And I agree that it doesn't make sense to open a ton - I might have been too enthusiastic with the Market, but I remember that being a staple from old Plaza, and missed RPing a litte.

One thing I would love to see come back at some point, should the activity keep up for it, is the Periannath Walking Club. *g*

Also, (sorry for double-post):

@Fairy Nuff @Dwim @Dimcairien Luiniel @Istya Alassea and @Lobelia Brindleway - Your stalls are now listed in the OP of the Michel Delving Market. Congrats, and may your sales be favorable!

@Shasta Stark I'm partial to the old banner but I'll let you decide which one you want seeing as the market is yours now.

Thanks @Shasta Stark! And by the way I don't think the Market was too enthusiastic. It's always been a favourite of the Shire and I'm sure we're all glad it's there. I agree the Walking Club is another great idea to consider for the future. I also have very fond memories of the Watch, but that may be too much to organise for the moment.

@Shasta Stark Yes, the Walking Club was great fun! May I ask what your former Plaza Name was? If you were there when the Periannath Walking Club was... surely I must know you?

Another thread I'd love to see open one day, is the Hobbit Hole Homes. Mainly because each Hobbit can just 'make' their own home there and invite others, without needing it to be a busy thread that all take part in. It can be part of your story, when for instance you bake the things that you will later sell in the market.

@Menolly and others, do you think we should edit the top post here and keep it updated with the current state of the Shire? Might be helpful for returning members who haven't got here yet to know where we're at? Something like this:

Sorry for the double post but this also made me realise we haven't discussed whether we're RP'ing in the Third or Fourth Age? That might be something helpful we could add to the state of affairs.

Thank you @Shasta Stark ohh looking forward to rpging.

I was wondering about that Third or Fourth Age as well... and had the idea that this doesn't seem to be big a thing for Hobbits, as they are always into their own 'things'. But it might be nice to agree on an Age here. We can always make an exception for special RPG's, right?

Yay! I have a market stall!

I'm so glad you're bringing back my brewery! I can't find any of my old banners and images, but it's lovely to see the ones here! I will definitely be posting there :D

@Eamila Bolger - I've gone by variations of Joel on here, Joelius Took, Joel(y) Cotton, Joel Twiggins, heck even Twigbeard once when I had a brief foray into Fangorn.

@Rior Laegiel - I'll go with the old banner. I think it works better, and it has the Market printed on it rather than just a generic Shire photo from Lord of the Rings Online lol

I was also wondering about the Third/Fourth Age decision - I always assumed we were in late Third Age, with the Shire going on oblivious to the outside world and not yet touched by the Scouring. But, I'm sure like any ordinary hobbit, I'd roll along with whatever happens. *g*

@Dwim I took most of your post and threw it into the OP, with a few added activities others have mentioned. Great suggestion! However, if folks want to run their own activity, I think they can go for it whenever they want. New plaza is a lot less structured than the old one, and especially with no rulers in place, I don't like the idea of gatekeeping new activities. If there's interest, people will post; if not, it'll sink to the bottom until there's interest. Of course, people can always post here if they want to gauge interest first, or if there's an activity they miss but don't want to run.

I have nostalgia for fourth age because that was the Shire I RPed in for most of my active years, but it went to third age around the time I was a ruler, so...whichever is fine by me, really. Do other people have a preference? I feel like it doesn't really need to be specified for most threads and could be specified in the OP of threads where it's relevant.

@Menolly, cool thanks for adding that (and the activities I missed) and yeah after I typed that up then thought about it over the last day I realised it probably did sound like people can't just start activities without discussing it first. I totally agree with keeping it open (in fact as a ruler of Wilderland my biggest push was to open the place up so anyone could post an activity without ruler permission, and I'm happy to say we got there and it went well ).

As for Third Age vs Fourth Age, it seems like we don't really care, which is fine with me too. :P Doesn't sound like we need to make it one way or the other. It doesn't really affect the Shire too much as @Eamila Bolger said. I only started thinking about it because my hobbit's history would be effected by the Scouring if we were in the Fourth Age. I guess if it's important to an activity, it'll be stated in the OP.

Also @Shasta Stark, I didn't realise you were Joelius, my adopted son back in the day! I was Scary Twiggins then (later Scary Tunnelly, then Dwimmerlaik) among other names over the years. But of course I knew you by the names you mentioned. :smiley8:

@Shasta Stark Yes!!! Like @Dwim I now remember, but I remember you as Joel Cotton and Joelius Took!

@Dwim OMG!! I had completely forgotten about Scary and being adopted!!!

@Eamila Bolger Well, good news, I'm still RPing as Joel Cotton (since that was the last iteration I had been using). Perhaps I'll request a name change so as not to throw others off *g*

@Dwim Ok I had no idea you were Scary, or if I did remember I had long since forgotten. Always throws me for a loop when I miss a name change!

Joely I'm glad you changed back, that's the name I remember you by!

@Menolly well it was over eleven years ago I think haha

@Joel Cotton, nice name change! Now I can go between the different versions of your name again, Joel, Joely, Joelius

If anyone would be interested in this, I have an idea for a future thread for the Shire. A cooking/baking school for young lads and lasses who want to use their creativity in the kitchen. Not sure if anyone want's a thread for young lads and lasses but food is a large part of hobbit culture and I wouldn't want to send them to the brewery before they were old enough.

I don't have a name for a possible thread yet but here's a first draft of an op that I wrote when old plaza was still up and running:
Bungo, the local baker was too busy to have time for young inexperienced apprentices or so he claimed. But the fact was that he had a strong dislike for children and so did his dog who was just as grumpy and unfriendly as its owner.

But Granny, an elderly hobbit lady, had found an old cafe that had been closed for years but if it was properly cleaned first it would be and a good place for the children to learn how to prepare food. When her granddaughter had asked to help in the kitchen, Granny had wondered if there were more young lads and lasses who would like to learn how to cook and bake, and she would be happy to show them how to prepare food and be creative in the kitchen. Not that their parents couldn’t do that but maybe all parents didn’t have the time, there were after all only so many hours in one day. She herself was a widow and her own children were adults now and had children of their own so Granny had some free time on her hands and she wanted to do something that made her feel useful.

If things turned out well maybe they could at least give beggars and the poor a hot meal now and then and if it turned out very well they could open the cafe and serve lunch to paying customers. For a reduced price of course since her students were not yet fully fledged chefs or bakers.

Just spreading the word, I was going through my old photobucket, and I saw I had boards from the old Word Sleuth games. And from the few games I officiated, I have all 26 letter tiles too. I have made a blank tile as well, just because.

The Word Sleuth Tiles are Here
The Word Sleuth Boards are Here

@Rior Laegiel, that's a nice idea. That does sound very Shire-like. I know I could definitely do with some cooking classes! It's never been one of my strengths.

@Turin Ringhûn, great find! It's lucky some of our photobucket accounts are still accessible. Has anyone discussed bringing back IK Word Sleuth yet? I used to enjoy playing a lot, but can't say I'd have the time anymore to participate myself.

Not that I've seen Dwim. I posted it in Gondor, but I figured everyone would want it, so I spammed the post to each kingdom (bad me). Don't know if they'll be put to use at all, but wanted to spread it for just in case.

@Rior Laegiel I put the idea in the OP list. Looks fun! Feel free to start it if you have the time/inclination to keep it running.

@Turin Ringhûn Word Sleuth was one of my favorite activities back in the day! (yikes I'm using that phrase a lot lately) I don't know how much interest you've seen so far but I would love to play if it starts back up.

I just shared it today within the last three hours or so, so if there is any interest, it'll start showing soon. As I said in my last post, I wanted to share it in case there is interest. I didn't play much, but I did get roped into officiating a few matches. Not sure how that happened. But it was fun, the few times I did play.

If I'm not mistaken I think I saw someone asking about currency somewhere but can't seem to find it now but I found this among the stuff I had saved from old plaza and thought it may be helpful:

10 copper = 1 silver
10 silver = 1 electrum
10 electrum = 1 gold
1000 copper = 100 silver = 10 electrum = 1 gold


@Menolly I don't have the time to tr it at the moment but hopefully some time later.