The New RP Forum Opinion Thread

[Narv]

Aig had the good idea of making a poll to gather interest on what new forums we'd like to see. Also I haven't tried making a poll on here yet, so let's see how that goes.

Note that the winner doesn't necessarily turn into a new forum or anything, but this will definitely guide the process. And if there's a lot of interest for a forum that WASN'T one of the 9 original kingdoms, then it very likely won't get its own ranks or custom headers for a real long time. But anyway, have at it...

[Narv]

Well that poll looks horrible. Nice website Narv

also I voted for KD and Fangorn

[Eriol]

Gets the job done, sir, it's appreciated! All sounds fair, Narv.

[Thorin Firehelm]

Vote sir. Less is more I think. I remember looking through the regions and seeing no activity for many months. Back when it was just kingdoms it was much more conducive to proper discussion and RPing, Please cna we just have the kingdoms, no regions.

[Eriol]

Aye. I'm certain I'll be able to condense some things by thread in Imladris and the Shire if necessary. Glad to see people are still interested in Lorien, KD, Isengard, and Fangorn though.

[Celebrin]

I think the first three are necessary, maybe Isengard if you want a bunch of wizards running around... can just make subforums in main areas for less popular areas. Most people just want their old kingdom back. Personally I would make them into races and subforum their kingdoms. Though Mordor is a mess of races so... do whatever I'm just rambling.

[Winddancer]

Original kingdoms! <3

[Aerlinn]

I think Khazad-Dum and Fangorn add the most variety to the Kingdoms (yay!) already up and would start there. If things really take off and if I can really keep up, I'd love to get out of my elvish shell and stretch my imagination a little bit. But as has been said -- better to have a few busy places than a lot of half-dead ones. Day by day, week by week, and all that.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Original kingdoms! <3

I agree. There were around 7, right? When we switched to regions, there were too many areas to try and keep track of.

[Veowyn]

I would love something for Mirkwood to open up, even just a free rp thread inside another kingdom.

[Quill]

I would love to go back to the original kingdoms too. Some of the other regions could just be threads inside relevant kingdoms, like Veowyn suggested.

[Joel Cotton]

Original kingdoms, for sure.

And if this did turn into a more long-term thing, some of the Inter-Kingdom Planning stuff (Drill, Debate, etc.)

[Silky Gooseness]

I think it may be a potential option to have the ranks and icons of all 9 kingdoms, but not actually create a forum for each one. I recall a couple of kingdoms being nothing but a throne room for OOC and announcements by the end, but obviously people identify strongly with particular areas even if they’re not traffic heavy.

[Eriol]

Veo and Quill, I'll make up some Mirkwood threads in Imladris right now in the meanwhile until we see what's up. I'm doing that with Lindon and the Lone Lands in Imladris and Brew in the Shire.

[Eriol]

Bree...typo, lol.

[Eriol]

I also have an alternative idea but I'll speak about that in Rivendell OOC. I'm glad people are voting though!

[Winddancer]

You know you have an edit button, right Aig? :P

[Eriol]

I have been using it plenty since yesterday, Windy, but can't see it on my mobile, lol.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Aig: if you make a Mirkwood thread, I’ll be sure to show up there. :)

[Eriol]

Hopefully I'll make one today! I'll put that on my Plaza To Do List.

I'm so glad I've had two days off, lol! Perfect timimg. Mirkwood Free RP coming up soon!

[Nia]

You know what, I had completely forgotten we moved to regions. My memory is atrocious.

[Eriol]

I honestly like Regions best even though we didn't get many people in some areas of them I still had a blast, lol. I'm even in that mindset now, lol Glad to see you back, Nia!

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Rather important question for RPGs, what Age is the plaza in? Or will it be on a more thread by thread basis?

I did like the idea of Regions as there were more areas to play in, but I think that spread things a bit thin. I’d be down with having a RPG thread for any specific areas we need, but maybe not a full “kingdom”.

[Oak]

I am formerly a member of Fangorn, so I would like my old home back. Also the icons from that kingdom would bring back some nostalgia.

[Eriol]

That is a great question, Dimcairien! I decided to go with the year 3007 in the Third Age, mentioned in The Last Homely House thread. By this time Brand is king in Dale and Bilbo is a guest of Rivendell. I could scale back the years to centuries ago in the Third Age just in case people get frustrated with the marching of time passing the War of the Ring inevitably...but it's always seemed that people are comfortable with a time close to the events of LOTR. Not sure what threadrunners are doing outside of Imladris forum though.

A Free RP thread has been made for Lindon and Mirkwood in Imladris! viewtopic.php?f=10&t=55

[Oak]

Is this RP stuff that same thing as kingdom?

[Li.]

I voted for KD and Fangorn, because I was an Ent on the old Plaza and I liked it, plus Dwarves are cool.

Icon-wise, I'd be willing to try my hand at some Kingdom icons for new places, unless Peeg wants to reclaim his throne.

[Elvheimdros]

If there was actually a Kingdom of Dale/Erebor I'd be so tempted to switch - also voted for Harad etc. cause that be a fun addition to the world-building. But really ought to prioritize the "old" kingdoms people will be looking for.

[Dwim]

I think less is more, and believe a streamlined approach with RP forums matching the original kingdoms and icons is the best way to go. I always felt as if regions and areas dispersed things too much. Four regions with five areas each, or whatever it became, doesn't sound like much, but all of a sudden you have 20 different places to RP. Like butter scraped over too much bread as the old fella once said.

[Esme]

The kingdoms of the original plaza, please. It worked so well over the years. I found the split into regions, other timelines and the strange downsize confusing those days and less attractive for me. Just my thoughts

[Li.]

Kingdoms > Regions.

Regions broke the plaza.

[Thorin Firehelm]

Kingdoms > Regions.

Regions broke the plaza.

I agree. Without wishing to go down an alley long since closed, the regions really didn't work. The site became too big and there just wasn't the membership there to support it. I'd look around the regions and see no activity for a year or more. That was never the case before. Our plaza has always worked best as a small community.

[Mojo]

I raise a branch in support of the notion that Kingdoms are better than Regions.

Also Fangorn Forever!

Just my opinion, but I think given the Kingdoms that currently exist, Fangorn and KD make the most sense to add. There is already at least 1 kingdom of Elves, Men, Orcs, and Hobbits. I guess if we want to get technical from a "Fourth Age of Middle Earth" standpoint, Fangorn did take over Isengard so the (potential) addition of Fangorn could (temporarily) include some Isengard items as well.

[Narv]

Thanks for all the votes and input -- on the scale of debates over Plaza RP forums this has gotta be the most respectful in history. It's almost like we're all 10 years older or something

For now, I'm gonna put up the top 2 picks: KD and Fangorn.

Isengard is a bit of a distant 4th (I guess 5th after Mirkwood & associates), and it's also something that (as others have mentioned) might work well as threads within Rohan and/or Fangorn. That has the benefit of boosting some of the less-active forums and Istari were a wandering folk anyway. Uh at least like, the good ones. So I hope our Wizard friends can find a way to make that work.

Lorien is the hardest one for sure, as it was the first time around IIRC, so I'm gonna leave that open for discussion. It's hard for a bunch of minions like Sil & Uruva & I to get inside the mind of an elf - is having the icons and ranks sufficient to allow coexistence with Rivendell given that this is almost surely gonna be a significantly smaller site than the old plaza, or is there a core contingent of yall that feel like you need a separate forum and would keep it active?

Other more region-type places I'm gonna recommend stay as threads in whatever existing forum it feels appropriate to have them in for now.

[Aduchil]

Speaking personally as a Lorien Elf, and only on my own behalf, I feel alright about having any Lorien activity placed within Imladris. I think the benefits of consolidating activity within a few forums outweigh any benefits from the Elves having two kingdoms (the original split happened, if I recall, in part because the Elves were by far the largest member group).

So I am satisfied with the current arrangement, though I would suggest that if permanent leaders are chosen to supervise the forum, one could focus on Imladris, the other on Lorien (i.e. have an Elrond and a Galadriel, rather than an Elrond and Glorfindel, for instance). And perhaps change the name of the forum to be something like "The Elven Lands" to reflect it is for the entire Elven population? That would also allow Elves from Mirkwood and Lindon to feel at home there etc. Basically make it a common forum for all Elves.

[Oak]

Yes. Agree with Mojo. The region scheme with the blanket icons really didn't make the site very attractive. I am happy to see this reboot go back to the old scheme.

[Silky Gooseness]

It’s really easy to get inside the mind of an elf, if you have the right kind of saw

[Aduchil]

It’s really easy to get inside the mind of an elf, if you have the right kind of saw

That only gets you inside their head. To get inside their minds, you gotta put pineapple on lembas and watch them squirm.

[Dincairwen]

Regarding Lothlórien:

I did originally consider us having our own forum as my choice, but I have grown and matured in the last 24 hours.

I think I do pretty much agree with Aduchil on this one. He is wise. A combined elven forums would be good, I think, with different areas in each. And titled something general, not Imladris. Perhaps to be differentiated by thread colors or some such? Or just have the region in the thread title by default.

I want to believe Lothlórien would be active enough to sustain its own place, but I know from having talked to some of our other Galadhrim that many of us won’t have as much time on our hands for this once the pandemic starts subsiding and regular life resumes.

I would want to make sure Lothlórien does have some solid autonomy from Imladris and that contingent of elves. We’ve become our own separate group with a different tone and style. Not better or worse, just different. A Lorien specific ruler or overseer would be good.

[Winddancer]

Basically there is no hurry, wait and see how the Plaza is doing after the move and after lockdown eases for all, then time will tell if we need more kingdoms. As there are no rules (sorta) just make the threads you want in the kingdoms that are closest to home :)

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Aduchil: I agree that's the best situation, at least depending on what happens after quarantine is over. Having the separate kingdom icons does help to distinguish the two groups of elves, which is rather important.

Cair: I do wish Lothlorien would be its own kingdom, but that might not be feasible right now. There does need to be some way to distinguish the Lothlorien threads. Having it in the title or using some form of colorcoding would probably be best And yes, if we are combing Elven kingdoms, we need a different title. And if things do stay active, a Lorien specific ruler would be nice to have.

[Mojo]

Yessss so happy to see Fangorn has spawned again!!!

[Li.]

I don't feel the need to have any Kingdoms that weren't present on the original Plaza either. I just don't think there is enough interest to support the creation of a Kingdom like Dale. My feeling is that those places are best suited for an RP forum, or could be integrated into a Kingdom. I remember the old old Plaza had a weird juxtaposition of the 3rd and 4th ages that, broadly, seemed to work. I would be less inclined to create more forums and more inclined to style new stuff into the tried and tested structure.

[Elvheimdros]

I for one am happy for the Mark to formally annex Isengard... though as I remember my lore it was actually handed to the Ents to ward, so since we've got a Fangorn now?

[Reikon Suchi-ru]

KD and Fangorn seem the most unlike the others and like their content would differ the most from the fora we already have. Lothlorien I think would be my third choice but not as pressing I think as the other two.

[Mojo]

I for one am happy for the Mark to formally annex Isengard... though as I remember my lore it was actually handed to the Ents to ward, so since we've got a Fangorn now?

We are currently battling over the 3 Wizards and who gets to claim them

[Oak]

I don't feel the need to have any Kingdoms that weren't present on the original Plaza either. I just don't think there is enough interest to support the creation of a Kingdom like Dale. My feeling is that those places are best suited for an RP forum, or could be integrated into a Kingdom. I remember the old old Plaza had a weird juxtaposition of the 3rd and 4th ages that, broadly, seemed to work. I would be less inclined to create more forums and more inclined to style new stuff into the tried and tested structure.

Recall that when the Plaza restructured into the regions, while it was innovative, it actually spread things too thin and was too complex. It created a number of issues. I don't believe the change over was too popular with the membership either.

With with the simpler setup here, that option might work later on of the board slows down because members would still be able retain their icons and ranks.

I really like the simplicity of this forum. The fewer add ons the less likely it is to break.

I wouldn't recommend fiddling with the icons too much now that we have them installed.

[DEATH]

Original kingdoms is my definite preference. Elves may hate hearing it but I think Lothlorien was the beginning of the end, certainly in my experience of the Plaza. And I happily admit I didn't hang around for much of the "Region Age" because there were other politicky things that really doused my enthusiasm.

I never did, and wouldn't have advocated for an expansion beyond Mordor for us 'evils' as I think we had a rich tapestry of RPG threads that incorporated places like Umbar and Harad. And after all, isn't that what we do? We imagine, we create, we role play. I think Kingdoms should encapsulate types of characters and don't need to exist to represent every physical place in the ME universe.

Fine with Rohan and Gondor as they seem to encapsulate 'city folk' and 'country folk', to way oversimplify things, and there were a LOT of mannish beings in ME. But I'm also happy with a kingdom for each of the other major players and not much more. Trek from any of those places to other places, or role-play a Lorien Elf hanging with their Imladris cousins - heck build a Lorien inside the larger Imladris kingdom. I see we have the icons, that should help people play in one imaginary place that's geographically outside, but forumwise inside another imaginary place.

LOTR was, let's not forget, a commentary on the industrialisation and 'expansion' of modern Britain and the world outside. Could be a lesson in it. Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the blah blah blah blah.

[Winddancer]

I 100% concur with the blah blah

[Rivvy Elf]

One of the benefits for me with regions was by the end of the original plaza, I could literally raid most of them with little repercussions. As in announce a raid in a free rp thread, announce a raid timer, and take however many resources my raiding party of five could fit in said time.

Kingdoms as a preference btw