Thank you!

[Mithadan]

To all the Downers, and particularly Barrow-Wight, that helped revive this place, thank you. Mae govannen!

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

To all the Downers, and particularly Barrow-Wight, that helped revive this place, thank you. Mae govannen!

What he said!

[Nogrod]

What they said...

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

I am so happy. All of our wonderful friends brought the Downs back to us!

[Morthoron]

You really don't appreciate what was lost until it is gone. My appreciation goes to the Barrow Wight and everyone else for this spirited return.

[Pervinca Took]

Thank you!

[Bêthberry]

*invites everyone to join in dancing the springle ring*

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Well, that was a horrible few months. Major thanks to everyone involved in saving this site.

[Mithalwen]

Well I'm back.

May I add my thanks to those above to those who made this happy return possible. I had to say good by to the home that had been in my family for 3 generations the week the board went down and I felt the loss of my cyber home as keenly.

The past couple of days have been tantalising... how long does it take to dismantle a reputation system? How long to upgrade I pondered rhetorically.. and here we are.....

sorry but there is something I have to do:

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EE...

Ok going to refresh the memory...

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Lotrelf]

Thank you so much for saving this site. Logging in to again it is really, really a great pleasure.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

I have heard of a theory that if we are living for too long in an idylic state, we get used to it and no longer perceive it. At that point, the best service life can grant us is to grab us by the collar and throw us out into the cold.

I assume that's what just happened. But, O the happiness of being back inside our warm - erm, cold, but our good and old and well-known barrow!

Eternal thanks to everyone who rushed in to the rescue. This place indeed is our home.

I just hope all the lost souls manage to find this place again and wander back in!

[Lalwendë]

He drew a deep breath. "Well, I'm back," he said.

[Morthoron]

And we have our newest spammer "werwrterotwz" logging in. Just amazing.

[Inziladun]

'Well, I never expected to see any of your faces again, and that's a fact! Going off into the 'net like that, with those spambots around and all. But I'm glad to see you, and none more than The Barrow-Wight!'

Just had to channel my inner Butterbur there.

Around the first of February I started having doubts that this place would return, and by April I'd pretty much decided I had to come to terms with that idea that it was gone for good. Before, when there had been periods of a day or two I hadn't been able to access it, I had wondered just how large of a hole there would be in my daily life if this forum disappeared, and the last few months I've learned the unpleasant answer.
But now I'm just pleased to no end that it's back. Thanks much to the BW, who cares enough for this old dusty barrow to put forth so much time, effort, and silver pennies to keep it running.

Here's to another 15 years (at least)!

[Aganzir]

So happy to be back. Thank you, Barrow-Wight and everybody else who helped. ♥

And so good to see you again, Inzil, I missed you! Many wights are in the Barrow-Downs facebook group, and I was genuinely worried I'd never see the others again.

[Thinlómien]

So happy to see things back to how they should be. Thank you everyone for the group effort, especially Sally and not to mention our wonderful Barrow-Wight.

I think I threatened to revive a couple of old threads so consider it done by tomorrow evening. (Yeeeehaaaaaaa!!!)

PS. Glad to see you found your way back so fast Inzil! We were worrying about you and Nerwen and other non-facebook using barrow residents and how are we ever going to get back in touch with you/ let you know what's going on!

[Eönwë]

I know I haven't been very active here in the last few years, but as has been said so many times above, you really don't know what you have until it's gone. I really don't know what I'd do if the Barrow-Downs were gone forever. It really has been a large part of my life.

I'm glad to be back.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The Downs revival was *almost* on time for the forum's (15th, if I remember rightly) birthday, which we have celebrated in the past on several May the firsts! What do you say, fellow dead ones? Shall we start a party thread to honour the double occasion? Bb, we can dance the springle ring and any other dance that occurs to us, we can bring appropriate refreshments, and of course, mathoms for all and sundry!

[Mithalwen]

Well I don't see why not..the Bank Holiday for May Day is tomorrow here in Blighty. And the return was in the throes on May 1...

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

And so good to see you again, Inzil, I missed you! Many wights are in the Barrow-Downs facebook group, and I was genuinely worried I'd never see the others again.

I missed you too! I almost was moved to get a new FB account (having deleted mine years ago) just so I could find out what was up with the forum, but other things held me back.

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

Glad to see you found your way back so fast Inzil! We were worrying about you and Nerwen and other non-facebook using barrow residents and how are we ever going to get back in touch with you/ let you know what's going on!

I was checking on a regular basis, hoping to see the forum's return. When I saw the 'test' status, I started looking every day. Then, when I saw the updates over the past several days, I knew Day would indeed come again.

[Mithalwen]

I see we have some new features. Spiffy. All I need to do know is remember all the things I have been wanting to post for four months and have forgotten.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I see we have some new features. Spiffy. All I need to do know is remember all the things I have been wanting to post for four months and have forgotten.

Those on 'profile' must have been loaded in the tea time down time, as I was on my profile earlier and it still had the old appearance then. So downtimes may be for uploading new features.

[Mithalwen]

ditto. The calendar seems to be stuck back in 2012 still, so we ain't any older

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

ditto. The calendar seems to be stuck back in 2012 still, so we ain't any older

This, I certainly approve of

[Mithalwen]

To be honest I have been contra-ing off my years dead against my time lived so I stopped the clock when I joined really but hey.. belt and braces.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Welcome to the Barrow-Downs birthday party! I have revived the good old tradition of celebrating an RPG style festivity. Please post your entrance and activities - we would love to "hear" your poetry and songs and stories, "see" you dance and feast on the goodies you bring, and hope there will be lots of mathom presents for all!

Party thread here: http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=18879

[Rikae]

Hooray!

Thank you, everyone who helped make this possible, and special thanks to the Barrow Wight and to Sally, for kicking things off on facebook.

[mormegil]

I too have not been very active lately, but this was such a big part of life I am extremely grateful it's back and I'm in such fine company. Who knows, my daughter is getting old enough she may join one day.

[Macalaure]

Here to add to the list of rarely-active people who are still happy to see the site back up.

Thank you to the Barrow-wight and everybody else who worked on making this happen!

[Snowdog]

Good to see the Barrow Open again!

[Galadriel55]

Yuppeeee!!!!! All hail the Barrow Wight and the great tech team! Thank you for the Scouring of the Downs!

And I also want to give a big thanks to the dear Downers who kept me informed of the goings on while I was stranded, having no facebook. Without you I would have been very lonely and morose, and completely lost about the updates. So thank you for taking the time to bring me up to date with the news and to just chat about this and that. You are great!

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I missed you too! I almost was moved to get a new FB account (having deleted mine years ago) just so I could find out what was up with the forum, but other things held me back.

Same here! Well, not so much to find out what's up, but to be able to keep in touch with all the wonderful people I met on the Downs.

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I see we have some new features. Spiffy. All I need to do know is remember all the things I have been wanting to post for four months and have forgotten.

Hah! Ditto! Almost every day a thought would come that I should assign this to Mordor, or post this incredibly funny meme, or just crack a joke about Balrog wings or something... Now all that's required is to remember four months of that nonesense.

[Kuruharan]

Mere words really aren't enough.

Like Inzil I had resigned myself to the fact that the Downs had sailed West never to return. I had even given up checking on it. On a whim I checked again earlier this week and lo and behold the beloved black screen was back again!

This hasn't been the best year for me so far, so this is extra special!

A big thank you to all involved in bringing the Downs back!

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I missed you too! I almost was moved to get a new FB account (having deleted mine years ago) just so I could find out what was up with the forum, but other things held me back.

Aww you could have done what somebody else did - a Mithadan Nonesuch suddenly appeared in the BD facebook group!

Anyway I should probably tell that when I felt the most desperate, I resorted to googling people by what little I knew of them, in case I could find an email address or any way to contact them about what was going on. Sadly no luck, but I did find an article about shots fired and a cream coloured cadillac.

[alatar]

Did not know how much I missed this place.

Thank you much for reviving this site!

[Pitchwife]

Everybody who worked together to bring the Downs back on, thank you for giving this prodigal son a place to come home to. You folks never cease to amaze me.

[Andsigil]

I had no idea that the Downs were going offline. Did I miss an announcement?

I enjoy this place so much, that I was checking every couple of days in the hope that it was going to come back. Glad that I persisted, instead of deleting this place from my bookmarks.

[Aganzir]

No, there wasn't an announcement because the shutdown wasn't planned.

Here's a summary of what happened, for people who didn't follow the discussion on facebook. I'm quoting the BW because his post was brilliant:

Originally Posted by The Barrow-Wight Himself

The Downs are not Dead, nor are they living. Instead, they currently exist buried away, waiting for Tom to roll away the entry stone, peer inside with a song on his tongue, and chase away the malignant spirit that has taken up residence.

But I don’t mean the Barrow-Wight. Oh, no! That old spirit has grown tired and lazy, but he is a permanent fixture of this musty tomb. The evil in the Barrow is much newer than he and is known as a Spam Script.

Apparently this foul creature slipped through the cracks of the multitude of conversations that hold up the ancient walls of the Downs, oozing between posts and sliding between topics, and nestling down between this bit or that one. Content that its hiding place was secure and secret, it began to whisper spells into the darkness. Spells in the form of emails, which it sent in great numbers to random email addresses.

Throughout the land the foul writings of the Spam Script harassed the population, and the Lords of the Web were angry. So angry that they sent emissaries to the Barrow with demands to cease the unwanted racket.

But the old Wight was dumbstruck by what had happened. He had sat so long in his corner of the tomb that he no longer knew his own pathways under the ground. The darkness had surrounded him to such an extent that he could only sit and hope the roof did not collapse upon him.

Unsatisfied with the tired ghost’s inaction, the Lords were left with only one alternative. They sealed the Barrow with great wards of power, vowing to free it again only if the Spam Scripts were removed.

The Barrow-Wight retreated further into the black to think. And moan. And think. Until finally he knew nothing but oblivion, which seemed sweet, but lonely. The Downs were silent, and the world continued to spin. Time passed, and memories faded but were not forgotten.

~ ~ ~

An Age later, the decrepit ghoul still yearned for his home to be open to the guests that had once visited. But the Spam Script was still there, somewhere, and could not be unleashed lest it consume to world. What could the Wight do? To whom could he turn? Bombadil had never came. Questions ran circles in Barrow’s mind, and he slipped back to his dreams.

~ ~ ~

Then a voice that was not his own and definitely not the unwanted guest, spoke to him in his slumber. “You are not alone, dear Wight”, it whispered. “Don’t give up,” another voice said, more plainly heard. “Let us in,” several shouted. “Release the Kraken!” boomed Liam Neeson.

Images of pointy eared, green-shirted, smiling faces appeared in the darkness, each with a plea for his attention. The Barrow-Wight smiled.

How could he have forgotten all the hapless Hobbits he had lured into the Barrow? Why had he forsaken his duty to trick them into the grave and shackle them to heavy stones of literature, mirth, and movies? Did he really want to exist without them?

No!

Would they forgive him for having left them in the dark for so long?

Hope…

But what about the unwanted, noisy guest? How could the Downs be freed if it still lingered? It could not! The Spam Script must be exorcised. The Wight needed one of two things, a priest to chase the demon out, or an architect to build a new Barrow, a new repository for all the wisdom stored in the musty libraries he kept beneath the earth.

After much contemplation, the Wight decided on the latter. He slipped out of the Barrow and headed toward the kingdom of Ultimate Bulletin Board to speak with their masons and carpenters.

Many of us chipped in for the forum upgrade, and lo and behold, here we are again!

Special thanks to satansaloser2005 for maintaining morale and organising one last push to get the forum running again (namely, calling for us all to change our profile pictures to something Barrow-Downs related - it looked magnificent).

[Inziladun]

Thanks for that, Agan. While I suspected something of the sort had happened, I didn't know the details.

I'm ashamed that my FaceBook avoidance kept me from being able to contribute anything to the forum's resurrection. All I knew to do was to try and contact the BW using the main Barrow Downs site, but I had very little hope that I'd have any success, and I never heard anything.

I will always do anything in my power to help this place, and I am sorry I missed an opportunity to do so in such a major time of need.

[Kuruharan]

Like Inzil I avoid facebook, and again like him, I suspected the cause was something like what happened.

Many praises to those who chipped in to end The Great Whiteout.

I would give rep to Agan for sharing this, but apparently I've given rep to her too recently.

[Guinevere]

I am so happy , the good old Barrow-Downs are really back again! It was good that, thanks to facebook, I was able to read what was going on. Many many thanks to the Barrow Wight and everybody who made this possible!