Community Voices--Part 1

When the announcement came that the LOTRO Community Forums were to be tidied, my first thought was, "Here's a subject to sink teeth into!". But the more I thought about it, the more daunting of a task it became. How to approach it? As Tribute, highlighting threads, posts and individuals that have made the Community what it is today? That wouldn't do much but create a pale mirror-vision of the true Community.
Besides, how can one person presume to sum up such a vast collection of talent, creative insults, and engaging debate?

I actually did begin the task, and the more time I spent with it, the more wrong it felt. The Forums were the way they were because of the people that populated it. And I'd rather leave the memory of the Community as it was to you, the Community member. So I asked several Community members to sum up what the Community meant to them, how they saw it.

To butcher a Gandalf-ism here, some people were asked that shouldn't have been, and others were not yet should have been. Please don't feel left out, as I chose randomly, and yet with some thought as to who might be able to write about the Community.

I'm breaking this into two parts, today and again tommorrow, as I don't have the heart to edit the contributions. They are great as is, and I want to present them in that light, without coloring them with my own thoughts. Ans since a couple are pretty lengthy, I thought I'd spare you and give you some time to digest between doses.

Ok, enough. Here's what some of the LOTRO Community to say as this latest chapter has come to a close:


Tav'Roon

Through all of my time here on the LotRO (and MeO) forums, I don't think I've ever had more fun anywhere else. There's a certain quality to these forums and
its community that keep me coming back for more. It's a little bit of charm, and
maybe even a drumstick on a string tied in front of me. I dunno, but whatever it
is, I love it! I'd like to give my thanks to all of its awesome members, each
adding a little bit more awesomeness to an already awesomely large pile of
awesome. From a spamtastic thread to a good ol' bashing, it's the most damn fun
I've ever had on a forum. EVER.

ieatglue44

Wow. People need to kind of stop talking like this is the end. I know a lot of people will be leaving and it's going to be quite sad to see them go...but we will be moving to a new forum. Even so, these forums mean a lot to me. I would not be the mature (haha) fourteen year-old I am today without people like Morthoron and this community. It's amazing how much of an effect this has had in my daily life. I never would've known what a "noob" was if I wasn't part of this community. I would've had literally no conception of 1337 speak. I'm not sure if these are good or bad things, but they're still funny. The whole community has influenced me amazingly, especially the Role-playing forums and the Off-topic forums. I'll never forget the great times in the General Store or the Ice Cream Shoppe. I'll never forget the widespread commotion when people like ep and Morth were getting chased away. Fortunately, this is not the end. Not yet. Maybe close, but not yet.

Aquilla

So I'm supposed to write something summing my thoughts on the community up to this point in time, eh?
Well, if I were going to try and describe it to someone who hasn't ever been around here, I would likely compare it to High School, and that's just because High School is fairly universal. Most of the pople on the forums are either in High School or they're done with it. In either case, it's something we can look back on and have some common ground; it's the one thing that's universal on these boards, since we can't even always agree on our own level of devotion to Tolkien and the original writings. I'm going to start with

The Faculty: Patience, Ramen, & Saffron. Patience is math teacher that, even though you hate the rules and homework and standards, she's nice enough on a regular basis that you still look forward to the class, even though you hate the subject. Ramen is the cool substitute teacher that you try and trick by saying, "Well, when PATIENCE is here, she let's us run naked through the threasd, and talk about politics, and make fun of people who use bad grammar," even though everybody knows that's not true, and the sub isn't going to fall for it. But she'll roll her eyes and smile, just because she knows if things get too bad, she won't be the one we really complain about. Saffron is the crazy magic science teacher that, even when her back is to the class and she's writing notes, she STILL sees what's going on. She can ban people and lock threads without skipping a beat, and the whole class sits around thinking, "How did she do that? I didn't even see that coming." You've also got the various administrators, like hsinclair that you only see at lunch time or roaming the halls before & after class. And while you think, "Yeah, they've got a desk job, they don't really care about me and my work here," all of a sudden she comes right out and says something directly to you, and you're really surprised and walk away thinking, "maybe devs are people, too."

The Cheerleading Squad: These are the people that, it really doesn't matter what's going on, they're all for it. They're so chalk-full of "school-spirit" that the admin could start sacrificing virgin she-goats on the campus lawn, and they'd be all for it. At worst blind sheep, at best over-exuberant supporters, they will support any and everything that happens, so long as they get to cheer about the game. The game is all that's important, and so they're cheering right alongside of it. *Ahem*Link5935*sniff*

The Bathroom Smokers: On the other end of the spectrum, you've got the "wastoids," the "freaks," the "potheads," the kids that are only doing their time, trying to get through another day, not caring what happens except it gives them a reason to complain. Nothing that happens can be good, no update meets with their approval, no event garnishes their interest, they live to complain. They bend the rules of the CoC whenever possible, and flame & troll mercilessly, generally defending their actions by saying, "You're all just a bunch of sheep." Pretending to be "nonconformists" or "free-thinkers," they generally just don't have anything better to do than complain, and try to convert all those around them into another embittered, disenchanted, angsty complainer. *coughunthorcough*

The Jocks: These are the guys that everyone, whether you like it or not, admires at some level. In our little world, they'd be the lore-giants, those individuals who spend so much time training and exercising their Tolkien muscles, and it would seem that it's all they care about. We do admire them at some point, although we all know that there is little if any real-world application for what they're doing. They'll get the recognition around here for what they do, and when we need that, we know who to talk to. But we can't consider them as "real" or "human," because who in their right mind would spend THAT much time on something so irrelevant? Aaaa... ahhhh...aaaaCHOOOOOOOOfutsieOOOooooooo. /sniff, excuse me

The Freshman: Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em. There are striking similarities to the lower classmen who would buy an "elevator pass" from a senior before realizing it's a 1-floor building, and preordering a game from a site that's changed it's expected release date 75 million times in the past 3 years. God bless 'em, without them the school would grow any more, we wouldn't get any new ideas or new faces or new points of view, but we'd also miss out on the "game will fail without PvP" threads. I'll lump in here all the transfer students that persistently wail about the "Well, at my last school they had mounts, and PvP, and all kinds of races, and we were state champs." The thing about this group, is we ALL were there at one point. Some feel like it was so long ago it doesn't apply; while others are so ashamed of their past actions that they pick on the Freshmen incessantly, trying to make up for their own past noobiness. Which leads into...

The Bullies: Every school's got 'em, and we've got more than our fair share. Many times there are crossovers from this group into the Jocks, other times they might be the smokers that are just bound and determined to squash anyone's goodwill, the bullies take it upon themselves to put down those that don't "measure up" to whatever standards they've mentally erected as being what all students/posters should be like. Sometimes it's because they're so insecure with themselves, they have to put down others to feel better about themselves. Sometimes they have a rotten homelife and they have to work out their agressions elsewhere. Sometimes they just haven't had their morning cup of coffee yet. In any case, they go about trying to take everyone down a notch, and sometimes a faculty member has to slap some sense into 'em, and sometimes you just have to get tired enough of it that you verbally *****-slap them upside the head to leave you alone. (Morthoron anyone?)

Band Nerds & Drama Freaks: Creative to a fault, the RPers have a great subculture going. They can hang out with each other with no problem. They have their own language, dress, expressions, and lunch table, and everyone concerned is more comfortable when they stick to it. While crossing the gap and making friends is possible, and even advisable it's generally hard to do, because of so many misconceptions on both sides of the fence. They add their own panaché to the most mundane things, and if you can get past that, or even learn to embrace it, they can be some of the friendliest people and most worthwhile contacts you'll find. (I'll throw Morth in here too, to make up for that last one. :wink

And so there we have it. There's our little group as I see it, and I daresay as many of you may see it. I'm sure I've offended more than one person here by "naming names" as it where, especially since I left myself out. In all fairness to that, I will agree to have myself placed in any of the above groups, or have a new group added just for me, and you can throw me in whatever stereotype best suits you. But I daresay most of us fit into one of these categories.

Actually, we have ALL probably fallen into each of these categories at one point or another. And I stick by my earlier analogy, that this is simply a time of a change for us. Many things will never be the same, but that is the nature of change. We'll get in a new crop of freshman, the scene and classes will change, I may actually stop looking at myself as a mouthy freshman, and promote myself to mouthy sophmore. Who knows? But whatever tomorrow brings, it will bring some kids dropping out, some kids moving in, maybe some new faculty, maybe they'll fine get a new floor for the gym. Whatever happens next, I'm excited about seeing it.

Jorel D'Lyn

Jorel's Thoughts on "Community"

To quote John Donne, “No man is an island…”. No matter how much one seeks solitude there is always some dependency on others. We are social creatures and have an innate longing to be a part of a community. For most of us our first community is our immediate family: mom, dad, brother(s)/sister(s) and perhaps a dog, cat or goldfish and we love this community more than life. As we grow and develop we form other communities, first in kindergarten and then throughout school. The forming of communities doesn’t stop there but continues with our work place and, certainly for some, through religious affiliations. These communities have existed for many centuries, and in fact, since before recorded human history. One thing these communities have in common is face to face contact. People can the experience the gambit of human emotion on our faces as well as touch through the shaking of hands, hugs and kisses.

Our ingenuity and intelligence have brought about the invention of the personal computer and the development of the internet; and not surprisingly, people have found ways to communicate and “touch” each other through the pulses of energy that course through the wires that connect us. Only within the last fifteen years has this newest form of community existed and although we generally do not touch the people within these communities they are nonetheless valid and affect us in ways no less equivalent than those communities first developed in our ancient past.

The Lord of the Rings Online Community has, I think for most of us, a special place in our hearts; for the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien were but a beginning in the genre of fantasy and have come to serve as a bridge to the future through which we, as the LotRO COMMUNITY, have used to connect. I, as many of you, have made friends through the LotRO Community that are ever bit as real as those that I can see and touch. I feel this is a monumental step in human evolution as we are connecting through commonalities rather than through the visual cues of beauty or otherwise.

I think those of us who have been a part of the LotRO Community will remember the second week of May in 2006 as a time of excitement and hope. The LotRO community has gone through changes before but I feel this latest metamorphosis is but the next step in an evolutionary process whereby the pupa will ultimately emerge from the chrysalis with renewed strength and soon be ready to soar to the heights of gaming and online-gaming-community excellence. I look forward to being with my online friends throughout the coming year as we continue to grow our Community not only for the experience of playing LotRO, but strengthen and deepen our friendships as well.