The Lord of the Rings discussion project

[Serenoli]

Poor BB! Every thread I go to, you're fighting another battle!

I think a huge fuss is being made over nothing very important... and it seems the main reason azalea wanted us not to introduce too many outside stuff was so that newbies wouldn't get scared... but there are so few ppl here that this seems kinda pointless! It seems silly to open up a whole new thread just for this... what would we call it? The Power of Vows? I don't see why we can't just do it here, and then go on to discussing the rest of the chapter... its not hurting anyone as far as I can see.

[Serenoli]

Maybe we should shift this whole discussion on 'What to discuss and what not to' into a new thread cos its not relevant to the chapter!

seriously mods, give us a break... its been ages since there has been any kind of participation in the discussion thread, and now that we finally stirred ourselves up and came here, you start getting all dutiful and waving the rule-book around! BB is right, if the new law passes through then we will have little to say... everytime we make a comment, we will worry about the censor board...

[Valandil]

I will soon be splitting all this disputing off and likely closing it.

I would do so now except that apparently azalea will be coming to check on things herself soon enough.

As a moderator, it is my job to keep things on track. For me to post a comment like I did is entirely appropriate. And regardless of who said what that was being responded to, once a moderator has tried to redirect - to protract things in this manner is totally unacceptable. Look what a mess has been made of this thread!

So for now, I want this sidetrack discussion to END!

[azalea]

I have been contacted regarding this issue and replied via pm, but I wanted to bring some closure here since it was discussed in open forum. I support Valandil's comments, in that although mention of tidbits from the greater mythology is not forbidden, conversation in the thread should pertain only to the text in that chapter, not to stories and info contained in other works.

Here is part of my reply to the pm I received:

"The reasons for this do include the fact that I wanted the discussions to be accessable to everyone who has read or is reading Lotr, regardless of their knowledge of the greater mythology. My vision was that people who are reading Lotr for the first time could come and participate in each of these project threads, as well as people who had read them multiple times, and that the threads would not only be active for the duration of the project, but for the future as well, hence the subforum. That is why I wished also that we not discuss stuff from the appendices YET, that we instead wait for discussion of that info when the thread for those is posted.

Another reason for the narrow focus of these particular threads is that I wanted us to look at Lotr as a stand-alone work, as the readers did when it was first published. Furthermore, at the time this was started (and perhaps even now), the books forum was somewhat inactive, with mainly the trivia/ game threads being active. We were trying to find ways to start new and fresh discussions, and I felt that keeping the focus narrow in the project threads would accomplish this naturally. By discussing the chapters in depth, people would naturally come up with questions and ideas for discussion [beyond the scope of the chapter, and thus create new threads or revive existing ones to the end that there would be renewed widespread meaningful discussion in the forum]..."

That is the gist of my reasoning behind that decision. By all means, make a new thread! Hope this has helped to clear up the matter, and again, I apologise for not being around lately.

By the way, is there a reason that one thread is stuck at the top of the subforum? Just curious.

[Valandil]

Originally Posted by azalea

By the way, is there a reason that one thread is stuck at the top of the subforum? Just curious.

Probably a mistake. I just unstuck it.

BTW - for those wanting to talk about the Oath-breakers - I bumped a thread in the ME forum - named "The Power of a Curse" - check it out!

[Serenoli]

I would like Book 6 Ch 1, The Tower of Cirith Ungol, please.

[Landroval]

Errr... I wonder if newbie has a shot at any available chapter .

[Serenoli]

Originally Posted by Landroval

Errr... I wonder if newbie has a shot at any available chapter .

If I get Book 6, Ch1, then Ch2 of the same book would still be free. And Val says that the last 2 of Book 5 are still uncomfirmed, so if Crickhollow decides not to, you can have tham. There's nothing against a newbie getting a chapter... its a democratic system!

Guess we both just have to wait for Val to confirm...

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

Nope, sorry, I've got Chapter's 2 and 3.

[Valandil]

Yes - my mistake on the chapter assignments. The one which Crick may still keep is the last 2 (#'s 9 & 10) of Book V, but the one Cass is giving up is only Chapter 1 of Book VI. Most of our assignments are 2 chapters, so I made that assumption without checking.

You can see the actual assignments in about the second post of this thread.

Serenoli, I'll put you down for that 1st chapter of VI since you asked first. Landroval, sit tight - there are some other assignments coming up which are made to members who are no longer active. And yes - we're happy to have a new member participate.

[Serenoli]

Great, new chapter coming up...

[Valandil]

Crickhollow - are you about ready to post?

[crickhollow]

yes, almost! I was going at it like gangbusters a month ago, and then when my deadline got postponed, so did my motivation. I'll have it up later tonight.

[Valandil]

Serenoli - I've seen that you're taking some time away.

Will you be able to post your chapter summaries?

Since Crick posted on April 1 - can you do April 22? If you see this, please let me know.

[Serenoli]

I only saw your message today! Oh, well, I will try my best... and if not on the 22nd, at least by the 24th.