i totally agree, everyone should be nice, and when there a specific thread about a certain topic of lotr, then it should stay ON THE TOPIC, this going off topic is for the birds, honestly! threads on topics are made for a reason, to talk about that topic, if you want to make a topic about something else, then go ahead, but dont bring it into a thread thats talking about lotr, okay?
maybe im making no sense here, but...i dont know..*sits down*
Anyways, this thread shouldn't be carried off-topic... I think Sauron made it clear he was serious about this ✅
I agree completely with what you said.
But the "clique mentality" thing- I don't completely agree with it. Because everyone here acts differently, I suppose. Some people really have this clique mentality, and some openly embrace any respectful newbies.
My "clique" is just the people I know best here. Imo, to some extent, a "clique mentality" is just human nature. You can't help but favour those people you know better.
I'm not saying it's a good thing to automatically register yourself against newbies, but it's a tendency we have to favour people we know better.
But I'm definitely against flaming newbies ❌ Unless it's one of those newbies who come just to start arguements 😠
hope I made sense... I didn't read it over...
Being clique-ey can be passive as well as active. Forming a clique-like mentality is not always as dramatic as deliberately flaming newbies. The trick is to try and see how you look to them. That's not easy.
It is, of course, possible that LOTR has been over-discussed. It is, after all, a finite resource and the films are now done.
I built this place- the first distinct movie franchise area to emerge from the general movies area (which I was also running at the time, and as opposed to the Star Wars areas which actively pre-date the movies area)- as a means of catching the traffic increasingly interested in the coming franchise, and soon sidelined it into being a general discussion point for the entire Tolkien world.
Now, at the time I built it, there was no such thing as socialising in the franchise areas- all of that was done in the GDF, around which all other areas revolved. With a smaller intake, I was free to concentrate on keeping everything as a relatively serious (but not necessarily so dry as to be hostile) discussion on things hositle. New people were not necessarily agreed with, but were always made to feel welcome.
Now, it is not necessarily possible to rewind to that point. For a start, the social dynamic in the forums is very different now. Things have devolved out to the franchise areas, with the GDF a bit of a curiosity and the more recent OTF... well... kind of being a strange and scary zone unto itself. Once that ported in here, a mood change was inevitable.
There are also so many more posters now. The old personal touch is no longer practical!
And like I say, so much has been done. A lot of people have made commendable effort to try and force things back on track. Problem is, once you are having to do that, you are fighting a losing struggle. Things should flow naturally to useful topics, not have to be forcibly pushed that way.
It is, after all, years since I built this place, over a year since I moved on, in fact. Combined with the grand scale change of the forums, there is a certain vibe which I do not think can be practically re-captured. Still, that does not mean that ome things cannot positively change.
Clique mentality forms, not as some form of deliberately attempted hositlity, but as a natural result of social interaction. None of you should see it as a negative assault on your character- but it does have to be accepted that it happened. Well, forums have their ups and downs. The entirity of KMC was once labelled as clique- and to be frank, if it is now now, it is only because it has split into so many mini-areas. It would still be pretty cliquey if homogonous. In fact, there's one of the things; it is not either clique or unclique, on or off- it is in degrees. Some level of clique is an ineivtable by-product of the formation of a strong community; we use the term 'clique' to refer to the negative parts of it all but you cannot completely eliminate that without destroying that community. You probably shouldn't overlook the strengths of the community that was built, and that was after I went. After all, that really wasn't my focus.
If you feel the fourm needs improving- and there are several who think that- then it all comes down to basic rules, simple things like Storm said. Think twice before you do things. Treat what you think the idea of the forum is with respect. Maybe one thing to tbhink about is that the fundamental idea behind this forum is not easily apparent to the new viewer. It is a place to discuss Tolkien, or a place to have fun in a Tolkien-esque backdrop? Pretend you are new, look at the threads, and see what you might think.
Other than that, as I say... it is not worth trying TOO hard to force the pace with more 'intellectual' threads. If that is the sort of thing you want, then if you manage to get that mentality across, quality threads will follow naturally afterwards.
But as I say- the LOTR crescendo has passed. The purpose for which this place was set up, is technically gone. Now, that does not necessarily mean its certain doom, but it does have to be borne in mind. And due to many reasons, some things of the past cannot be repeated now.
Anyway. Why don't you guys come up between you with what you want this place to be? That is technically an impossible task as no two people want the same thing- but with luck, you might be able to come up with some solid 'vibes' to work fom.