Learning about this website - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Soriman the Whide · 04-08-2021, 01:29 PM

Hello, I'm still fairly new. I'm just trying to piece together where this site is at? It seems that there are only a handful of active users left and as far as I can tell The Barrow Wight is supposed to be the admin/owner here but that account has not been active for a while.

Can anybody give me a quick rundown of who is in charge round these parts and the recent history of the site?

Looking forward to spending a good long while here anyway, I don't mind the slow pace.

Formendacil · 04-08-2021, 06:53 PM

You have basically apprehended the basics: this is The Barrow Wight's site and it has grown quite sleepy--the analogy of the Ents turning treeish has been made many times and it grows truer with each year.

As far as "in charge" goes, it is still the Barrow Wight's site, even if he rules it as Elessar did Arnor--i.e. mostly from afar. There has, in my sixteen years, always been an element of "self-policing" among the membership, and this has grown as the membership had become more stolid and staid: the influx of teens during the early years after the original Peter Jackson movies is no more.

That said, even if we are more of Old Folks Home than a party house these days, some of the admins or mods are still about, even if they're not always logging in, and one of the factors that contributed to the site falling asleep was the rise of social media--but with the silver lining that, should any of them be needed, someone can usually be summoned swiftly enough through the Facebook group.

Ultimately, if there's a desire to shake us up or wake us up, I am not entirely unsympathetic (perhaps I am more of a Quickbeam than a Huorn)--I would gladly have a return to the days of logging in and finding a stack of posts awaiting me daily, but that would seem to imply a need for change and, well, change isn't always such a popular thing. From a structural standpoint, as noted, this website is still legally the Barrow-Wight's and although the majority of the membership has clearly fallen away from regular activity, I can attest to a high degree of emotional--and even financial--investment in the 'Downs as it was .

Soriman the Whide · 04-08-2021, 08:37 PM

Thanks for the background, completely understandable situation you find yourselves in here. It's a shame most forums began to fade with the rise of social media, so much knowledge and great connections can be found on forums such as this one.

I find it entirely regrettable that I did not find this site 10 years ago.

Galadriel55 · 04-08-2021, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soriman the Whide

I find it entirely regrettable that I did not find this site 10 years ago.

Let me tell you that I joined some 10-odd years ago, and still feel a very young Entling and the newbie of the place.

Pervinca Took · 04-09-2021, 04:02 AM

According to the words under my username, I've been here just over 11.5 years. I joined after I met and liked some of the members in person at various Oxonmoots (the main annual event of The Tolkien Society). I was once very active on a Tolkien messageboard under a website called Imladris, but it crashed about 20 years ago and was never the same after it was rebuilt, and then disappeared completely a few years ago. It always had a very heavy film bias, too, which was probably partly why I didn't feel at home there once I had seen and not particularly liked the films.

Nearly all my posts are in the Password thread. Unless anyone starts a conversation about Frodo, when you will see that I am not really sleeping, whether I snore or not.

A hearty welcome, Sir!

Huinesoron · 04-09-2021, 04:16 AM

It is pretty slow here. The only thread with regular activity is the Password game, but others pop on and off at times - a couple of the other Games threads have had bursts of engagement, and every so often there's a game of Werewolf/Mafia (as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, because we are geeks).

But - as this very thread demonstrates! - if a new thread goes up, it will usually accumulate at least a few replies over the next few days. There's been activity in all three Discussion subforums this year (ten different threads posted in over in Books!), and in both Quizzes and Mirth, so yeah, it rattles along. It just takes someone throwing out an interesting idea or question to get the discussion going.

You can probably see for yourself that Roleplaying is long since departed; the last attempt to start an RP was in 2018 and didn't get any traction. Fanfiction is under construction (and currently serves as an archive for older material), and the New Silmarillion is an interesting project that has about two people occasionally working on it.

hS

04-08-2021, 01:29 PM	#1
Soriman the Whide Haunting Spirit Join Date: Mar 2021 Posts: 88	Learning about this website Hello, I'm still fairly new. I'm just trying to piece together where this site is at? It seems that there are only a handful of active users left and as far as I can tell The Barrow Wight is supposed to be the admin/owner here but that account has not been active for a while. Can anybody give me a quick rundown of who is in charge round these parts and the recent history of the site? Looking forward to spending a good long while here anyway, I don't mind the slow pace. __________________ "And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite... ". The Silmarillion - Ainulindalë Last edited by Soriman the Whide; 04-08-2021 at 01:32 PM.

04-08-2021, 06:53 PM	#2
Formendacil Dead Serious Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Perched on Thangorodrim's towers. Posts: 3,326	You have basically apprehended the basics: this is The Barrow Wight's site and it has grown quite sleepy--the analogy of the Ents turning treeish has been made many times and it grows truer with each year. As far as "in charge" goes, it is still the Barrow Wight's site, even if he rules it as Elessar did Arnor--i.e. mostly from afar. There has, in my sixteen years, always been an element of "self-policing" among the membership, and this has grown as the membership had become more stolid and staid: the influx of teens during the early years after the original Peter Jackson movies is no more. That said, even if we are more of Old Folks Home than a party house these days, some of the admins or mods are still about, even if they're not always logging in, and one of the factors that contributed to the site falling asleep was the rise of social media--but with the silver lining that, should any of them be needed, someone can usually be summoned swiftly enough through the Facebook group. Ultimately, if there's a desire to shake us up or wake us up, I am not entirely unsympathetic (perhaps I am more of a Quickbeam than a Huorn)--I would gladly have a return to the days of logging in and finding a stack of posts awaiting me daily, but that would seem to imply a need for change and, well, change isn't always such a popular thing. From a structural standpoint, as noted, this website is still legally the Barrow-Wight's and although the majority of the membership has clearly fallen away from regular activity, I can attest to a high degree of emotional--and even financial--investment in the 'Downs as it was . __________________ I prefer history, true or feigned. Last edited by Formendacil; 04-08-2021 at 06:53 PM. Reason: Missed some pronouns that left a sentence ungrammatical.

04-08-2021, 08:37 PM	#3
Soriman the Whide Haunting Spirit Join Date: Mar 2021 Posts: 88	Thanks for the background, completely understandable situation you find yourselves in here. It's a shame most forums began to fade with the rise of social media, so much knowledge and great connections can be found on forums such as this one. I find it entirely regrettable that I did not find this site 10 years ago. __________________ "And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite... ". The Silmarillion - Ainulindalë

04-09-2021, 04:02 AM	#5
Pervinca Took Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Treetops, C/O Great Smials Posts: 5,035	According to the words under my username, I've been here just over 11.5 years. I joined after I met and liked some of the members in person at various Oxonmoots (the main annual event of The Tolkien Society). I was once very active on a Tolkien messageboard under a website called Imladris, but it crashed about 20 years ago and was never the same after it was rebuilt, and then disappeared completely a few years ago. It always had a very heavy film bias, too, which was probably partly why I didn't feel at home there once I had seen and not particularly liked the films. Nearly all my posts are in the Password thread. Unless anyone starts a conversation about Frodo, when you will see that I am not really sleeping, whether I snore or not. A hearty welcome, Sir! __________________ "Sit by the firelight's glow; tell us an old tale we know. Tell of adventures strange and rare; never to change, ever to share! Stories we tell will cast their spell, now and for always."

04-09-2021, 04:16 AM	#6
Huinesoron Overshadowed Eagle Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: The north-west of the Old World, east of the Sea Posts: 3,909	It is pretty slow here. The only thread with regular activity is the Password game, but others pop on and off at times - a couple of the other Games threads have had bursts of engagement, and every so often there's a game of Werewolf/Mafia (as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, because we are geeks). But - as this very thread demonstrates! - if a new thread goes up, it will usually accumulate at least a few replies over the next few days. There's been activity in all three Discussion subforums this year (ten different threads posted in over in Books!), and in both Quizzes and Mirth, so yeah, it rattles along. It just takes someone throwing out an interesting idea or question to get the discussion going. You can probably see for yourself that Roleplaying is long since departed; the last attempt to start an RP was in 2018 and didn't get any traction. Fanfiction is under construction (and currently serves as an archive for older material), and the New Silmarillion is an interesting project that has about two people occasionally working on it. hS