Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza

Toasty, but several locations could be easily put in one thread, and people can indicate where exactly they are at, no? Unless people post crazily much and overcrowd the thread.

Oro and I have been debating on the Rangers, pooling our experience, everything that's already been said here, and taking into account some pragmatic considerations.

We think we're on to something that a lot of you would really like and - most important of all- enjoy! So, we're asking you to let us produce and present a finished product to you. If you all appreciate it, we can take it further. Our question to you would be not to go and post any Ranger/Army threads just yet! Let us surprise you?

And if it's lame you can totally call us out on it. :smiley8:

Just a thought, and we can talked about it, but maybe the answer lies in a event that broke the elite ranger corps. I mean it could be a large attack, or corruption, anything that we feel would be best for role playing.

This would allow old characters we want to play to have different ranks, and experiences, it also kinda allows for a new narrative which might help get things started. Then we role play and see how it forms in game rather than out. See where the story takes us per say. Might be a starting point

Daeryn- Yes, absolutely! That's what I was thinking; sorry if that wasn't clear.

Arnyn- Heck yes. Happy to leave it in your capable hands, bro. Glad your brains are plotting! Is this specifically for the rangers/army / are you open to other thread types being posted before then? (Ex. City, houses of healing-- I don't have anything I'm planning on posting, just asking for clarity).

Red- I really like that idea. Gives a strong reason and shifting point for various characters, and something to build and play with.

Mor Toast Arnyn just means Army/Ranger threads. We have put our heads together and think we have a really cool story and plot for the group. We want to build up to it so we would like a little leeway in creating the story and plot then if people dont like it we can always change things.

Red- Yea I had a similar idea. If you dont mind, Arnyn and I will create a thread in a few days that should work for everyone I think.

Yup, Toasty: the only thing we're asking is to hold off on Ranger/Army threads for now! Hope that's okay!

What I always thought was kind of fun too was (Naith's) Tower of Tales in the Telling. But maybe that's mainly my nostalgia talking. xD

Also, Oro, how do you have 35 points right now? You spammer.

Sounds good, and makes sense.I'm happy to sit back and await fun surprises! As for Tower Tales-- I don't know if I remember that -- what was it? I mean, at this point... everything is nostalgia talking, isn't it?
Wow, yeah, that's a lot of points. Which is hilarious considering old point totals-- I think I had 5k some, but that was nothing. Now here we are. Didn't some fora used to be worth 2 pts? But the out of middle earth role-playing and stuff were worth one? Or am I making that up.

Did anyone decide they wanted to open up / run the Houses of Healing? I know those were tough to keep going. We could do something like combine with another kingdom-- send healers for training to Imladris or some such. But I know that's not quite the same.

Heeey, huuuge request! Can we have a MT prison?? :D

I volunteer for creating a new marketplace, since I was one of the last people to run it. Not going to be as extensive to go up the ranks, and I'm working with ideas of how to keep guilds but still promote individual shops as well. I could use help with making a banner, but I do hope to have something going this weekend.

Oro, Arnyn: Yeah that is cool with me, if yall are set for doing it. Just let me know if yall need any help.

Winddancer: that sounds like a pretty cool idea, I would mind seeing something like that.

Mor Toast: Yeah that is what I was thanking, I believe it would be pretty cool, Im just excited to write with yall again haha

Daeryn - Findy’s spent so much more time than I have in posting/working in/rp-big in the Houses of Healing than I ever did. I’d love to hear more of her ideas on it. Do you have any ideas for what you’d love for it to be?

Findy - Do you still have a lot of stuff and/or interest in the HoH?

So, as big a part as the Rangers played in Gondor, and I did join and will again, my character has never been really ranger based. Meaning, I’m not nearly as invested in the rangers as many of you are. So, may I suggest, as an outside opinion that might possibly horrify you all, that the ranger commander rotate based on who is organizing the particular thread or battle? If we would consider the idea of a specialized band or unit of rangers (which I quite like, because my character is more suited to scouting or gathering intel than actual fighting), then it seems to follow that, reasonably, there would be only one or two commanders. What if the commander rotated among those who 1) had some experience or reached some level starting from scratch and 2) desired it (ie not me) and is based on who is running/coordinating that specific thread? I know that makes it difficult to post in threads outside of the ongoing rpg, but would seem more fair to all of you who did invest such time and effort into the rangers in the past. Just an idea....don’t shoot me for it :)

Edit loop: Crap, I missed the entire second page of this thread. Eek. Looking forward to what you guys create, Arnyn and Oro. I will volunteer to take on the revamping of the Houses of Healing if no one else wants to. There are so many of you more qualified than I am for that! Also, I work in a hospital in rl and am working mandatory OT during this mess so while I’m looking forward to posting, I am more than happy to shrug off all actual responsibility onto anyone else, hehe.

@Durien That is exactly Arnyn and my plan. We have developed an NPC commander and 2nd in command that we are going to write the first plot arc about. Then eventually they will retire and we can rotate through stories.

We want to go away from the static military and move more towards an RPG style “campaign”. The ranks will be for people to move up, but the first two ranks will be the Game Masters players or NPCs. That way we can create a more authentic story driven experience. We are working on the posts and exact threads but we have already come up with a fun first “Campaign Arc” with a few chapters outlined already. Hope everyone likes it.

@Oro @Arnyn Since you guys are setting out on developing this- I have a character who was a sergeant in the Army (not the Rangers, though there was some joint RP'ing) and would like to bring him back. Do you think there'll be a place for him? Are you planning on having the rangers cover army and rangers? If there's just rangers and no army does anyone care if I just play him in free RP and pubs and stuff as though he was still an army sergeant??

@Moriel This will be a Rangers regiment. We will explain that because the army is less needed a lot of people were tapped out for the Rangers. The Army is more of a militia now and the Rangers do all the patrolling and combating evil in the 4th age. So you could RP him as either an Army Sgt tapped to join the rangers, or not join the rangers and just post as him being an Army Sergeant around. Either works. Does that make sense?

Right then, waiting to see the interesting army ideas!

Durien, I have also collected quite a lot of materials on HoH; even have a training programme, though it was too extensive for the awfully slow plaza activities, so didn't really apply it. At least some of it has been preserved (lost a lot of valuable materials when I switched laptops last time). Oh, and found some rather old stuff! Like this:

and also this...

We’ve got kind of lot of ideas flying through here, and I realized a few things are getting buried. Would anyone take offense to opening a Houses of Healing OOC thread for planning what we want and an OOC for the Marketplace. Personally, Veowyn, I’d love to see you run with getting a marketplace opened up. With an OOC for both the Marketplace and HoH, we can ask around and see if anyone had a strong interest in helping and planning and getting them up and running. I’m game if you wanted to start that OOC Daeryn.

OOC would probably be good, will see what I can do.

Semi caught up reading but extremely short on sleep, so not sure I understood it all. Personally not at all thrilled with the idea of starting any of my characters as trainees again. Likely won't write them as Rangers if that is required. I don't mind being enlisted, but being a trainee sucks after having had to redo it multiple times in the old system. Just putting in my 2 cents on that bit.

Hey Karis, there are pros and cons to starting fresh as well as reinstating people. I can see both sides, though.

Look, just wait like a little longer to see what our starting idea is. Everyone can then weigh in and we can all tweak and trash it however the majority likes as long as it's not insane (like having 6 high ranking officers and 2 soldiers, that kind of thing). It'll just take me a while longer because I have a one year old trying to push my computer's power off button every two minutes.

Just my 2 cents in regards to starting as trainees vs ranked, see it as getting back into rp'ing :P I know I am rusty as heck!
And hope you guys do the prison <3

Veowyn, I think the Gondorian Market was an excellent activity. It would be great to see it again. By incorporating apprenticeships to add to the community feel and the experience gained, it always seemed like a little different than most of the other marketplaces which sprang up throughout the kingdoms.

sure, I can open a OOC for the market. Hopefully it attracts the help I need

Could someone whack a Streets of MT free rp up? I would do it, but dont want to step on toes. Just a place for free rp within MT that doesnt fit into the threads being made. Also a place to rp while you guys build your threads :)

@Winddancer -- I'm digging through the way back machine to find some inspiration / outline for how we had the Streets of MT. I'm working on putting something together once I've read through a couple iterations. I suppose I'll have to find some pictures... If anyone else decides they really want to open this instead, that's okay, too- just let me know since I don't want to end up doubling up on the posting/work for it.

Otherwise, hang tight, and I'll work on having something up for you soon!

P.S. Did you have a particular thing you were looking for with it / a particular iteration of it you remember liking? Either way, I know it's free rp so it probably doesn't matter a ton, but just in case you had something particular in your brain. Just let me know!

Morwen, I might have some pics of MT saved, but not the opening post. Let me know if you need pics (glad I didn't discard them...).

@Daeryn Talaith -- That would be great, actually. I'm digging now for some OP's for inspiration, I think I'm going to go with a streets of MT / but maybe I'll add stuff and make it a bit more of a combined area. Shall see what I find and how it might structure best. What do you have pics of? Luckily, my silly brain has figured out how to put images in posts thanks to the handy tutorials shared, so I should be in fairly good shape on that count.

Morwen, I'll see what I have and could drop it for you to look at on fb.

I still have a sort of MT map somewhere, Toast, if you need it!

Red, I love that idea too.

Arnyn / Oro, would I be possibly considered part of that Ranger/Army think tank?

Winddy, Back in the day, I recall there was a Dungeons. I had actually got into some trouble for not letting the person who ran it know I was doing a personal rp story in it for a day or two. Got a pretty good slap on the wrist for it. Ah, good times.

Daeryn, that is an awesome badge.

Loving the activity in trying to get this place back up and running. One thing that I liked to take part in was the Riddle Halls. Another thing I wouldn't mind see come back is the Debate Teams. But don't know if there are enough people for that though.

@Turin Ringhûn Yes! Dungeons! Go make it :P

MT used to have a Library. One thing in there was a big Journal for people to write in to give a rundown on their goings-on, which I enjoyed. Would anyone else utilize that? There's really no NPC or "owner" needed, save for an elderly white-bearded librarian asleep in the corner. I could set one up (I'm pretty sure I have an OP for that someplace in my piles of stuff, or I can put one together with some nice "dusty old library, scrolls & inkwell" photos for inspiration).

Findy until we move servers and we get rulers, Narv has said this is a free for all, to post any threads you want to rp in. Obviously we are all being courteous and not really posting cross kingdoms, we are so well mannered :P But if you have an idea for a thread, do it! Right now there is no way of knowing if it will work or not, sometimes you just have to jump in feet first and give it a go :D And hey, if it dies a painful death (like Boromir :P) then you will know not to continue it. But for now, have fun! :)

@Winddancer you got it!!! Thanks!

@Mor Toast , I just want to commend you on the Free RP! Well done - it is very thorough and comprehensive.

Turin, everyone is part of the think tank in that thread! We just need to make sure we keep track of all the ideas, so it doesn't get cluttered.

Yay, a library! I am definitely using that, Findy!

Great, consolidated free rp thread, Mor Toast. Really prefer it to 3 or 4 separate ones!!

@Finduilas Faelivrin I'm glad I caught your library going up-- it was nice to be able to add that link into the OP. And I do want to add that much credit goes to Naith, and some others who built past threads, since I used a lot of old material. It was mostly a process of streamlining, tweaking, and editing. And then getting everything to look all liked up and neat. XD So a good deal of digging, and a lot of staring at my computer while I turned 20 pages into like... 3.

I even tossed a couple goofy things in there for those close readers. Not too goofy, mind you. Just goofy enough for my tired brain.

@Arnyn I'm with you- I think it'll be nice to have it all in one place. It's easy enough to follow as long as people post a brief heading denoting where they are at the top of their post.

If there ends up being any additions, new threads to link, or areas/guilds people are particularly interested in having in that OP, just let me know. Happy to edit them in.

Turin, Everyone is part of the Ranger think tank! I want everyone involved. It’s not mine or Arnyn’s it is all of ours and I was hoping that we could start a solid foundation.

@Mor Toast HOLY COW. What a fantastic job on the RP area. I am salivating at the chance to dive in there. You did amazing work!

@Finduilas Faelivrin LOVE IT! I used to post in the library from time to time. Maybe we can meet there sometime. It’s been a while for us to RP.

@Winddancer and @Turin Ringhûn I am all for a dungeon. The nice thing about this plaza is that we dont know how long it will last, there are no rulers, and we can just make and go. If it isn’t well liked, and only used a few times...at least it got used. Any traffic is better than no traffic.

Yay! RP threads! <3 Thanks Mor and Veo! :D

I’m not sure if anyone else has already noticed yet, or if this is the best place to mention it, but in the Administration messages forum there’s a thread asking for aspiring artists to volunteer/attempt pictures etc for the banners of each kingdom.

Since we are looking at the setup of Gondor here, I just felt it might be prudent to point anyone with ideas for how Gondor’s banner should look, thataway.

hi again, everyone. Thanks for the help; I've learned how to get my signature back, too; so I look like 'me' now.

This brings a tear to my eyes and warms my cold dead heart, good to see you again geordie! <3

Speaking of banners I have this pic, but it probably would need editing and is quite small; besides, I have lost any reference to the source it was taken from. But just as an idea...


I have some banners from the Shadowed Lands, but not MT one.

Probably it would be best to just make a new one.

@Finduilas Faelivrin Hey Findy, is your Library thread something that a visitor from another race might RP in if they were desirous of finding information in the archives, or is it primarily a journal thread?

@Lirimaer I've posted in the thread just now. I'm thinking both journal and people can utilize the Library for RP finding information or just sitting around reading or writing poetry. Also, I think ANY kingdom writers are most welcome - it'll be kinda like a guest book of sorts. I'm thinking it can be used for whatever people want. Findy used to go to the Library in her early years here and find out all sorts of useful information (usually dug out of my Tolkien research books in RL). I'll poke some of that info into the OP. Thanks for asking and WELCOME!!!

@Finduilas Faelivrin Lush, thank you!

(I am insanely considering RPing a story for my own amusement - not that I have time for such frivolity when lockdown eases! I might have to be less serious then... :smiley10:)

@Moriel Thank you! I've started digging through wayback machine-- and I vaguely remember seeing those, maybe even still as recently as when I put up some of the threads not long before the Plaza went down? So I may be able to track down larger versions. If they exist. In the meantime, I shall save these for OP building!

@Moriel quite the collector of random images! They come in handy eventually huh.

I too have been digging through the wayback machine, I will look today to see if I can find any useful images. *Puts on goggles and swaps to dwarf character* Time to get mining.