Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza

Hilarious!

All I get is a blank stare :P

Did you tell him that it still exists and we’re still running around Middle Earth?

That is amazing.

...

this is amazing. I wonder if it was us, or another site. I hope it was us though. The Plaza is the best.

It sounds like an intervention.

LOOOOOL. Perfect. Oh that's amazing.

*X-Files theme music playing*

Wow who does roleplay by text in the year 2020 what a bunch of NERDS

Tari, I'm super curious what you said by way of explaining this site!

Omg that is amazing, Tari.
But also - I swear I remember someone posting here to ask questions about a similar research project. I thought they asked us to fill out a survey (not a Firvey. sad face) I wonder if its the same person.

I have not ever had a single RL conversation about the Plaza that wasn't awkward. But maybe that says more about me than the Plaza...

My typical strategy is to keep it general - "it's a Lord of the Rings fan site, people discuss lore and play games and such." The most keen questioner was my brother in law, who asked me if people had, like, Tolkien-y usernames and if so, what mine was. I deflected pretty clumsily and just said people tended to use random name generators.

Gah was gonna edit this to avoid double posting but edited mentions don't work ANYWAY I'm prettttty sure I remember @Lord of the Rings doing a study on GMing for an anthropological linguistics class we took together in college (why I remember this detail of all the details, I have no idea, probably because I thought it was so cool) so now I'm wondering if he did a survey of plaza-ites for that? *thinking face*

Interesting for sure! I have a few friends who basically understand after long explanations, but yeah I mostly get slightly puzzled looks with a few interested ones. Fun to know that the Plaza was the topic of study but curious to know what their conclusions were.

I have often shared about plaza with people, explaining what roleplay is, even showing the site. Most of the people in the latest Bible Core Course I staffed thought it was really cool, and one of my fellow-staff said he and his wife enjoy D&D, and he was the most excited. However, didn't manage to lure him in.

Also, I remember doing a sort of study paper on plaza at some point for Foundations in Communication School, but not sure I ever shared it. lol...

@Tari - I thought it might not be, but nonetheless - its interesting that its been a topic of study over the years.

And yeah I'm also in the general boat of talking about the Plaza being awkward/I don't really mention it to many people to be honest.

Wamba_the_Fool wrote: ↑Tue Aug 11, 2020 7:09 pm I've been calling what we do here "collaborative short-story writing."

Ooooh, yes, this is very similar to how I've been thinking of it myself.

Wamba_the_Fool wrote: ↑Tue Aug 11, 2020 7:09 pm"collaborative short-story writing."

Oh , I'm borrowing this term if anyone ever asks me about the Plaza (highly unlikely, but you never know).

Agree, that's a great way of putting it rather obliquely

Wamba_the_Fool wrote: ↑Tue Aug 11, 2020 7:09 pm "collaborative short-story writing."

That might become how I explain this place to certain groups of people now.

I have described the plaza as a role play site before, but then I'm usually talking about it with people who either already role-play in some capacity and/or already enjoy LotR.

I was in a group video call with some friends from my university a few weeks ago and was sharing my screen for some reason, and a text editor with a bunch of Plaza code was on it. I didn't close it quick enough and of course was asked 'oh what's that, you got a little side project going there?' (all of us being desperate eager junior software developer types now)

Ensues a wild half hour of me explaining my teenage self, turn-of-the-millennium web forums, the vicissitudes of Plaza history, and wtf we all actually DO here, to a healthy mixture of praise, derision and general 'dude who are you even'. Ultimately they found the whole thing hilarious and had to admit that none of THEIR cool apps and trendy not-from-2003 tech projects had 20000 posts and its own discord, plus they found you all quite wholesome and adorable soooo I think I ended up with some respect. They ask me how yall are doing every week now

@Narv That's so wholesome, tell the fan club we say hi

Narv wrote: ↑Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:57 amThey ask me how yall are doing every week now

So, wacky hijinks weekly so Narv has stories to tell; got it.

Narv wrote: ↑Wed Aug 12, 2020 5:57 am Ensues a wild half hour of me explaining my teenage self, turn-of-the-millennium web forums, the vicissitudes of Plaza history, and wtf we all actually DO here

Really wish I could’ve been a fly on the wall to hear what you said to explain this very wide range of topics

I would be here for the 'explaining my teenage self' in half an hour with other subjects ........ was that a teaser for Season 1? Because if not, you left out a LOT.

Tari wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 12:48 pmWhen I explain this website I don't get to say it was a weird teenage time...because although it partially was. This is how I spent my 20s. No bars, parties, drinking, or typical college fun.

Well your brain is probably better off for it!

Unless you spent time in LLL.

Then it's a wash.

*hides*

You were the Queen of LLL, that's for certain.

And this place was where I spent a substantial amount of my teen years - I joined soon after turning 14 and was highly active until around age 18 or 19. It was certainly a wholesome way to being exploring the wilds of the internet.

You say wholesome, I say I found many threads in the archives of you challenging people to duels in the Battle Arena

KingODuckingham wrote: ↑Fri Aug 14, 2020 5:54 am You say wholesome, I say I found many threads in the archives of you challenging people to duels in the Battle Arena

Are you saying I used the Battle Arena?

Not just like a one-off either, like a lot.

Exhibit A: https://web.archive.org/web/20150404203 ... TID=232822

Exhibit B: https://web.archive.org/web/20150412134 ... TID=233684

Exhibit C: https://web.archive.org/web/20150518075 ... TID=234667

Bonus thread featuring @Narv @Queen Nerwen @merSILess @Allafyrefleorhtlig @Reikon Suchi-ru and @Uruva: https://web.archive.org/web/20150404181 ... TID=231943

I used to *love* battle-arena. Umm fairly certain there used to be tournaments where you would get paired against people and then whoever won would go through to the next round and fight the next person. I also remember purchasing equipment with my points earned and being determined to get Allacan’s full cavalry regalia in plaza items!

I remember the Battle Arena being a thing, but I had zero recollection of actually holding fights. Goodness, the things the Wayback sometimes brings back.

STILL UNDEFEATED

You must not have battled me then Narv..

Ahhhh Ducky with the receipts I love all of this so much

I do not recall this reign ... if anything I was a lady-in-waiting!

I do remember introducing/breeding some ponies there and starting a Supernatural Appreciation thread (the photos are still on my facebook!!!!!)

Yeah, LLL was a lot of fun, and I accept that I must have needed training, Tari - thank you for imparting your wisdom!

And one man (Amalric)!

This thread had me laughing out loud on the train! My husband has just given up and declared me the biggest nerd he knows, but he is still married to me, so I guess he is sort of fine with it

I tend not to talk about it, because I am already a nerd since I play the flute and love LOTR and HP and slept outside to get tickets for the movies... but if I do mention it is more in the way that friends online can also become great friend IRL and about the fun it brings me to write stories with great writers. Did I mention that I love this place?

Lail wrote: ↑Sun Aug 09, 2020 11:03 pm Omg that is amazing, Tari.
But also - I swear I remember someone posting here to ask questions about a similar research project. I thought they asked us to fill out a survey (not a Firvey. sad face) I wonder if its the same person.

That may have been me. I wrote my Bachelors dissertation on online fantasy and sci-fi communities and whether the impact they had on individuals and communities, and asked a load of plaza-ites to do questionnaires back in 2008 or 2009 ish, which I then worked through with my tutor. People gave some really interesting insights and I referenced them in the bibliography alongside the academics. I got a First, I am proud to say! Sorry I'm not involved in this other university though, would love to hear what they had to say about it all.

(Can't believe I missed that post first time around, I was clearly too excited about Battle Arena)

@Allacan ob Burzum Oh yes?! I do remember a survey going out but for the life of me I cannot remember who it was and if it was you I'm sorry! That is really interesting I'd love to read it. Is a First a top mark (for the clueless American)?