The decline of entmoot

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Eruviel Greenleaf
It's evolution, not decline!

I love this place. You might have noticed, considering how much I'm here. I'm a newbie, in that I joined after Dec. 19th, but hey, if there weren't newbies, the site would die out!

I know I tend to do a lot of one-line posts, and so on. I'm a hopeless spammer, I guess. Alas for me.

I most likely would not have read Lord of the Rings if it weren't for the movies. But I do not consider myself a 'movie-person,' because I read the books first. And therefore, if it were not for the movie, I would not have discovered entmoot, which would have been tragic

I don't think it's about being just a newbie, but what kind of newbie. There is nothing wrong with reading the books after seeing the movie, and I think that was expected to happen for alot of folks. I have friends that I have tried for years to get them into the books, and only the movie succeded to do that. They had ulterior motives though. They could not stand not knowing what would happen next. They have only read the Two Towers and The Return of the King. Not the Fellowship. That is sad to me. Do I consider them true Tolkien fans? No. Do they now qualify as Tolkien experts? NO. Do they know more than they did before the movie? Yes. Are they serious about Tolkien enough to explore further books? No. Will they still be talking about the story a month after they see the movie of RoTK? No. It is sad though, when you have movie goers that have not read the books and try to inneract with book readers, who chances are have read the books more times than you could count and have read beyond LotRs, it is simply annoying and I am not sure that they realize that they look foolish when they do this.

[BeardofPants]

I don't know about anyone else, but I could live w/out the movies forum.

And as for the books one, it needs new life injected into it. Surely someone has some new topics to post?!

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by afro-elf
I agree that there is a decline but why don't the admin's post more threads as a stimulus

this is just a suggestion not a complaint

the problem is after about 3 years we are working with limited sources and the "big" topics have all been discussed

i fear that without the movies section which is the weakest part of the moot IMO and the GM section the moot would be quickly decline in post do to the dearth of new topics concerning the literary aspects of tolkein

are we doomed to the fate of the arnor?

I have to disagree with this afro-elf. I think with a work as complex as LotRs, the Sil, U.T. and the HoMe, you can never run out of things to discuss. It is wide open. Without study though, that is not possible, and you as a teacher know that. Why should it be up to the admins to introduce new topics? We are outnumbered greatly by members. So, I say put your noses in a good book, and then we'll all be able to talk on a more evenkey, with or without the influence of the movie.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
I don't know about anyone else, but I could live w/out the movies forum.

And as for the books one, it needs new life injected into it. Surely someone has some new topics to post?!

It's all about imagination. That's what Tolkien was about.

Think people. Think.

[afro-elf]

Why should it be up to the admins to introduce new topics? .

the admins are fans too, i would assume. so why shouldn't they start new topics? Does being an admin exempt you from posting or contributing to the board as a fan?

I was not implying that it is the SOLE responisiblity of the admins to post new post but they should ALSO contribute.

?
.

We are outnumbered greatly by members

I'm not following the logic here. why does less numbers prevent an admin from posting interesting topics


SGH please be aware that in no way was anything written above meant to be antagonistic

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

I am not against the movie forum at all, I rather am glad it is there, partly because I know discussion of the movies would somehow seep in to the conversations. . .but also because this is a messageboard for which the purpose is discussing the works of Tolkien, and I think the movie is part of that, seeing as he wrote what they're based on. BoP, I know you don't like the movie very much, which could, no offense, be cause for bias.

I would be sad if any of the forums (General messages, movies, anything. . .) were to close. Besides, Tolkien often comes up in GM discussions anyway. . .

[afro-elf]

I would be curious to know way a lot of the old timers left?



Maybe the movies have cheapened the works since they ( the films) seem to lack depth.

maybe its too much to expect everyone to have the same reverence for the works when we so readily get it from the screen

I find it appalling that people will see the movies and think THAT"S IT

zenarwen, bumbling gandalf, no history about glamdring, or the barrow blades, shadowfax, the gifts of galadriel i could go on and on

they will compare the books to the movies and not vice versa

the really good threads have wound to halt ( mostly)

our numbers are up but the quality is down

however there are some newbie's here that are "on it"

personally I would prefer a more the pre-movie board.


if you wish a more "scholarly" board maybe there could be a quiz that one would have to pass that is based on the books.

if one passes they can post


or make it manditory that one has to post on an older thread

or write a essay on what they like about tolkien

or compare the books to the movies

it may make an elitist board but...

i don't know 'cause it not my board

just throwing out some cerebral fatulence

[afro-elf]

EDIT Double post

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by afro-elf


I'm not following the logic here. why does less numbers prevent an admin from posting interesting topics

I think there are admins and mods that do post topics and take part in discussion of Tolkien. I know I do. What I am saying is, this board has over 1,000 members, including admins and mods. I think that expands a wide range of possibilities for any learned Tolkien fan to create threads and interesting topics.

SGH please be aware that in no way was anything written above meant to be antagonistic [/B]

That never at any time ocurred to me afro-elf.

[Garina]

As I've only been a member for a week and a half, I can't really comment on Entmoot declining, but this is definitely the best one I've been on so far because there are threads that deal with deeper stuff than Orlando Bloom's good looks. I was amazed when I came on that there were people here who not only liked Tolkein, but my other favourite authors. No other board that I've found so far has the kind of diversity that this one has.
I read the books way before the movie came out, although I did thoroughly enjoy them. There are less posts on the Silmarillion forum because the Silmarillion is harder to read than the other books.
Yes, there are some threads that are more light hearted, but as Tolkein tended to end books on a bittersweet note, we could all get very depressed without them.
I must admit, people who count the book and film characters as the same people annoy me, because there are differences.
I think that the board is evolving too.
I wish all Star Wars comments would stay in the Star Wars forum!!!

[Rána Eressëa]

Like good ol' Fuel said, "All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade away again."

You might be able to turn this Bree into a Numenor, but it's just gonna become a Bree again one day.

[Cirdan]

Originally posted by Rána Eressëa
Like good ol' Fuel said, "All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade away again."

You might be able to turn this Bree into a Numenor, but it's just gonna become a Bree again one day.

Hi RE. Excellent tune! Your hair's changed since I ran off.

Sadder still to watch it die than never to have known it.
For you the blind who once could see, The bell tolls for thee...

-Rush ld, old, old:

[afro-elf]

Sadder still to watch it die than never to have known it.

losing it from signals

great ablum ( it was vinyal then)

glad to have you back

[Cirdan]

Originally posted by afro-elf


losing it from signals

great ablum ( it was vinyal then)

glad to have you back

It's still vinyl in my house, AE. I'm set up to rip LPs to MP3 on my PC. I've done a few albums that I can't replace or don't want to pay for again. It's in the queue.

Thanks, glad to be back.

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

Welcome back, Cirdan

Okay, Garina, I at least will try to keep my Star Wars comments in the Star Wars forum

[Garina]

I was actually talking about our wonderful Resident Bard #1!!!

I don't really mind.

Fed up I am, of people talking like this!!!

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

I know, but spread Star Wars all over, I do as well.

I have the feeling that the Bard of Mangled Songs (the first one) would not stop even if he tried (er, did )

[Nienna Grey]

I've only recently joined but, believe me, I read the books long before I ever saw the movie.

I enjoy discussing a wide variety of Tolkien-related subjects, both serious and humorous. I think it's good to have a variety of different forums as this gives the whole place a well-balanced feel.

[Snowdog]

My comments were basicly a reflection of what I have seen on the boards I primarily posted at. I am glad to see more people getting to reading the books now, even though can one who saw the movie erase Elijah Wood's face from their mind when reading first of Frodo? It is a different level of fan I think, and I dont disparage them at all. I however have seen many a person on many a Tolkien board only post about Orlando or Viggo or Liv's hottness. I have begun a search for a board where the books are all that is discussed and I am convinced none exist.

And as one stated, it is evolution, and it is quite true, for one can never go back to the 'old days' but look forward to better days. And maybe sometime in the Summer of 2004 when the three movies are passe' then the true Tolkien fans, be they new or old, will settle in the goldpan when all the actor/actress swooners have sloshed out over the side and moved on.

Also, some asked why I have gone back in the depths of threads and posted to old ones. I look for the discussion in the thread, not the 'newness' of it. I look for book discussion in the book forums, and if I want to read about the movies I can look in the movie forum.

About movie discussion... when there were unknown factors in their making, there was lots of speculation and discussion of the various aspects of the movies. Now, we know basicly how they all will appear, so there is not so much left to discuss. I like the movies for what they are... an adaptation of the story of The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Has Tolkien fandom been bettered by them? Yes! I just like to see more Tolkien and less actor/actress worship on all Tolkien message boards.

Anyway, on light of all, I can remember visiting the EZ board Entmoot long ago, and again coming here in August, and I can say about Entmoot, along with all the other fine Tolkien boards, they are changing ever constantly. Lets enjoy them for what they are today and work to better them in any way we can.

[Nienna Grey]

I think that actor/actress worship is a problem for many Tolkien sites nowadays. It's odd really because if you type any of the actors' names into a search engine there will be numerous fan sites and forums dedicated exclusively to them, and those types of forums would be far better suited to the actor-worshipper's needs than a Tolkien discussion forum.

Alternatively there are many sites which are dedicated exclusively to the movies. Marvellous for movie-only fans who don't want to be bored with our beloved books.

One way of dealing with the problem is to create a separate forum for idol worship. This way it keeps all the "(actor's name) is so hot" messages in the same place.