It's time for new Forums!

We are almost ready to debut our new forums! This has been a long time coming and we can't wait for you to check them out. We are replacing our old, very outdated forums with newer forums that will offer new features and a much improved experience for all users. However, we do need to start fresh with new forum accounts, as it was impractical and unwise to try to retrofit our problem-plagued former system into the new forums. Here's how it will work:

On or around May 3rd we will bring the forums offline while we do the transition work. Expect a formal announcement on timing in the near future. Once the new forums are ready to open, we will place the existing forums into a read-only state long-term. You'll be able to view but not log into the old forums, and you will be able to find the forums at forums-old.lotro.com.

Just as you do now, you will log into the new forums using the same user name and password that you use to log into the game. Each forum account is tied to a game account. We expect a busy couple of days as players initially log into the forums, pick their user names, profile avatars, signatures, and more! Your existing forum name does not automatically carry over, so please log in at your earliest convenience if you wish to try to retain your existing forum name. We will work with players who feel their name has been improperly taken by someone else; if you feel your name has been maliciously taken, please send in a ticket to Community Support through help.standingstonegames.com and we will look into it. Just because someone else takes the name you want does not mean you get to have your preferred name, but we have the ability to rename forum display names as needed. It is also possible for you to change your own forum display name! Please be patient as we sort through the inevitable challenges of getting new forums up in a long-standing player community.

In many ways the new forums are set up to look and feel like the old forums, with mostly similar sub-forums and categories, but we've been able to add tons of new features as well!

• Staff Tracker: This is the “dev tracker” that keeps tabs on everything we post.
• There is a new “Post Thread” button on the main page that lets you post to any forum you can post in.
• Posting has new formatting options: Discussion, Poll, Article, and Question! Here's how they work:
  
  • Discussion: This is what you are used to from the old forums. It's a standard WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. Here are some of the improved or new features:
    
    • A new “Spoiler” text hider!
    • New List options
    • New Header options
    • New Smilies and other emoticons
    • Wider compatibility with video sites like Twitch, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr, Dailymotion, Apple Music and more!
    • Better table formatting.
    • The ability to save and delete Drafts.
    • Better Previewing of your posts.
    • Functional options to “Watch this thread” and toggle on and off email notifications.
    
    
  • Poll: Ask players to vote! New polling features include:
    
    • The ability to allow voters to change their votes.
    • The ability to display votes publicly (or not).
    • The ability for results to be viewed without voting (on/off).
    
    
  • Article: In many ways this is similar to Discussion, but Articles feature the initial post more prominently and look a bit more like a web site news article.
  • Question: Question posts offer the ability of posters and readers to vote for what they think is the best answer given so far. The highest voted answer is prominently featured below the initial post. Think the way Reddit or Quora does it. The initial poster can also Pause voting on solutions.
  • Thread Types can be changed through Edit. Look for the three dots next to Watch/Unwatch to the upper right of the initial post.
  
  
• Profiles: There are new profile options as well, including:
  
  • Your Profile: Your profile can now feature an image Profile Banner and the ability to update and maintain a posting feed! This gives you the same options as a regular Discussion post, just for your profile page! Maintain a blog, keep a public record, track your progress, give your friends a permanent URL to get the latest news from you, give your best screenshots, images, and art a home and more!
  • New Profile Posts: This feed lets you see profile posts by others.
  • Your News Feed: This feed lists posts by people you follow.
  • Your Account: This is similar to the prior account profile, but now includes additional options to show or not show your online status and current activity, receive news and update emails, receive active summary emails, and determine who can view the details of your Profile Page, messages, and more.
  • Custom Avatars and Gravatars are now available! Pick what you want within the limits of the system and our Community Rules.
  
  
• New Sharing Options: Share pages, posts, and more to a wider variety of social media outlets, or just grab a link! Find the options in the “Share this page” box on a forum page or “Share” options below posts. For example, you can now share your Article to Reddit directly through the forums.
• Better Search: Search Titles Only or posts as well! You can also search Profile Posts, Threads, or Everything, and set Newer than, Older than, minimum number of replies and more.
• Bug Discussion Forums: Find them in the Player to Player Support Forums! Please note that if you want to post in the Bug Discussion Forums you need to enter your Bug Report Number. This number can be found in the email you receive once you've submitted a Bug Report to us through help.standingstonegames.com. While we want everyone to include their actual bug reports to us so everything can be easily combined and tracked, it is possible to submit a thread with a made up number if you need to. Entering the Bug Report Number field is REQUIRED to post in the Bug Discussion forums. If you do not include your actual bug report number you can expect us to not be able to best track your issue.
• Creators and Makers: This is a new (basically rebranded) Fansite news section that existed under the old forums, but without gating for posting access. ANYONE who streams, records, writes, makes, draws, or creates is welcome and encouraged to use these forums! This is also the best place to post frequently about your stream or show if you like to do that.

New forum URL will be: forums.lotro.com
Old read-only forum URL will be: forums-old.lotro.com

We look forward to reading your feedback in the coming months as we refine your experience. Thank you for being a part of the community here on the forums!

Some folks have seen the new forums in a livestream preview I did recently, so I wanted to follow up with a couple of things that are different since then. Most importantly, we will be shifting the style of the forums to be darker, similar to the dark background/white text seen currently. We do like the lighter look as well, so expect it to debut in the future once we have further work done on a "Dark Mode" style and have the opportunity to give you further choice.

Existing links will need to be re-done, and we recognize that this is going to be a pain point. All old forum URLs can stay the same with the change from forums. to forums-old. in their URL. If we have other things we can say about links as we get closer to the new forums we will.

I can't wait to check it out!

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

For example, you can now share your Article to Reddit directly through the forums.

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This sounds good, and this is exactly why this game needs forum and not just these other things - where things trend for a day (or a minute) and then are gone forever never to be coherently organized or found outside of random searches. To convince all these people to come and post something interesting here, all these people who convinced themselves reddit or discord are so well organized or that forum only ever breeds 'toxicity' because nobody is being banned on a whim according to today's "standards"... well, that's another matter

Gotta say I'm pretty excited!

When we remake our accounts will it retain our forum titles we’ve received or will we have to ask CS to re-give them to us? Like I got my Foul Dwimmerlaik title from donating to the ExtraLife and that came with a forum title of your choice reward and it would be nice if those carried over

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Some folks have seen the new forums in a livestream preview I did recently, so I wanted to follow up with a couple of things that are different since then. Most importantly, we will be shifting the style of the forums to be darker, similar to the dark background/white text seen currently. We do like the lighter look as well, so expect it to debut in the future once we have further work done on a "Dark Mode" style and have the opportunity to give you further choice.
l.

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Please please introduce a light background/dark text option as soon as you can - I know most people prefer dark background but some neuordivergents like myself find it very difficult to read. I never use the forums as they are because I literally cannot take in what is wirtten as my brain cannot process the dark background and white text. Thank you :)

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Originally Posted by blacknazgul13

When we remake our accounts will it retain our forum titles we’ve received or will we have to ask CS to re-give them to us? Like I got my Foul Dwimmerlaik title from donating to the ExtraLife and that came with a forum title of your choice reward and it would be nice if those carried over

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Forum titles will not carry over. However, it won't be Customer Service handling forum titles, it'll be me. It's going to be a lot of work, but the plan is to chip away at it over time. I had been hoping to allow users to select their own forum titles, essentially doing away with the need for this management, but while the new forums have everyone set to give themselves new titles, it isn't currently functioning. If it doesn't work when we go live, I'll either have people submit tickets, private messages, or whatever and deal with it over time. There are literally thousands of you, though, so it won't be instant.

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Originally Posted by JaxV

Please please introduce a light background/dark text option as soon as you can - I know most people prefer dark background but some neuordivergents like myself find it very difficult to read. I never use the forums as they are because I literally cannot take in what is wirtten as my brain cannot process the dark background and white text. Thank you :)

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That's the plan, but we just don't know when it will be ready. It'll be at least a few months and probably longer.

That answers my first question... my second one is... Remember the old game-generated character signatures? Any chance we can see those again? :-)

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Forum titles will not carry over. However, it won't be Customer Service handling forum titles, it'll be me. It's going to be a lot of work, but the plan is to chip away at it over time. I had been hoping to allow users to select their own forum titles, essentially doing away with the need for this management, but while the new forums have everyone set to give themselves new titles, it isn't currently functioning. If it doesn't work when we go live, I'll either have people submit tickets, private messages, or whatever and deal with it over time. There are literally thousands of you, though, so it won't be instant.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Existing links will need to be re-done, and we recognize that this is going to be a pain point. All old forum URLs can stay the same with the change from forums. to forums-old. in their URL. If we have other things we can say about links as we get closer to the new forums we will.

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Did you decide that a simple redirect (a one-line change to the web server's config file) wouldn't work?

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Originally Posted by Arbalister

That answers my first question... my second one is... Remember the old game-generated character signatures? Any chance we can see those again? :-)

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No the old my.lotro signatures are gone forever.

One thing I would really love is a private message notice. Any kind of notice would be ok with me. The current method has me checking messages every time I log on.

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Originally Posted by DavidmeetHal

One thing I would really love is a private message notice. Any kind of notice would be ok with me. The current method has me checking messages every time I log on.

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Yes, I believe there will be notifications. I haven't included it as I haven't fully tested it all yet, but I intend to. My understanding is there is actually a pretty wide variety and type of notifications you can both opt into and out of whenever you want, including weekly summaries, email'd replies, etc. It sounds pretty robust and I think it will be, but I'll know more soon.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

We are almost ready to debut our new forums!

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Thanks for sharing this and for all the hard work that went into creating the new site. I've dabbled in web design, but never anything on this scale. Appreciate all of SSG's hard work.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

We are almost ready to debut our new forums!

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Thanks for keeping us informed.

Great news. I can't wait to see the new forum.
Will two factor authentication be possible?

I don't suppose there is a better mobile viewing interface than this forum? Or a dedicated app maybe?

I know this forum is primarily to make administration easier but it would be good if it was pulled right into the current century. Fingers crossed.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

No the old my.lotro signatures are gone forever.

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The upcoming forums will allow custom made portraits but not custom made signatures images? I know the my.lotro is gone forever. But we have being able to create some signatures using our artistic skills or other signature portrait maker websites, after the prior forums went down. *Not that i need to have both, just curious about we can & can't do from now on. :confused:

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

The upcoming forums will allow custom made portraits but not custom made signatures images? I know the my.lotro is gone forever. But we have being able to create some signatures using our artistic skills or other signature portrait maker websites, after the prior forums went down. *Not that i need to have both, just curious about we can & can't do from now on. :confused:

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Images in signatures should be fine, you just will have to do what you currently do and host the image elsewhere.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Images in signatures should be fine, you just will have to do what you currently do and host the image elsewhere.

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Cool! Thank you for the reply. :)

So this essentially mean that original registration date will be removed and we all start from scratch?
I want to keep my original join date - it's a badge of honor!

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

We expect a busy couple of days as players initially log into the forums, pick their user names, profile avatars, signatures, and more! Your existing forum name does not automatically carry over, so please log in at your earliest convenience if you wish to try to retain your existing forum name. We will work with players who feel their name has been improperly taken by someone else; if you feel your name has been maliciously taken, please send in a ticket to Community Support through help.standingstonegames.com and we will look into it. Just because someone else takes the name you want does not mean you get to have your preferred name, but we have the ability to rename forum display names as needed.

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I doubt that this is a good idea. Others can prepare game accounts, try to get names of previous forum users they want to troll and post in their name. The result might be a flood of support cases. I am not really sure if this a goal to aim for. One can always hope that the community "behaves", but this might end up differently.

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Originally Posted by asimon

So this essentially mean that original registration date will be removed and we all start from scratch?
I want to keep my original join date - it's a badge of honor!

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Sorry, but yes, join dates aren't going to matter much in the new forums.

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Originally Posted by thinx

I doubt that this is a good idea. Others can prepare game accounts, try to get names of previous forum users they want to troll and post in their name. The result might be a flood of support cases. I am not really sure if this a goal to aim for. One can always hope that the community "behaves", but this might end up differently.

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Deliberately sniping someone else's name maliciously will be a bannable offense, so we'll have to take care of it like we would any other personal attacks and trolling. It'll also be very easy for us to further rename them to get people their proper names back.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Deliberately sniping someone else's name maliciously will be a bannable offense, so we'll have to take care of it like we would any other personal attacks and trolling. It'll also be very easy for us to further rename them to get people their proper names back.

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Thanks, this makes things more clear.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Sorry, but yes, join dates aren't going to matter much in the new forums.

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Respectfully, I disagree.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Deliberately sniping someone else's name maliciously will be a bannable offense, so we'll have to take care of it like we would any other personal attacks and trolling. It'll also be very easy for us to further rename them to get people their proper names back.

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To save yourself some effort, a suggestion:

PM a random number to every active poster on the old forum.

Then, people can PM you the same number on the new forum to verify their identity. (Or create a special account for it so your inbox isn't overwhelmed.)

Edit: If you can't get an IT person or engineer to write that script for you, ask ChatGPT. :cool:

Maliciously is an interesting word - whose meaning is far from clear. Totally apart from how you would ever know someone's motivation if they are clever enough not to say it.

If someone takes my name - which I have had for many years - because it is a name they like and they were just typing in names they liked until they got one - that certainly isn't malicious.

If they knew I had had it for many years, but took it because they liked it with no animus towards me that still is not malicious.

If you want to protect names of long-time forum members the way would be to say that anyone who had a name for x years or more or xxxx posts or more or both could petition to get it back whether it is taken maliciously or not. That is not your approach, however. Note that I am expressing no value judgment here - but focusing purely on what your rules will be not what they should be.

As a lawyer who spent 30 years dealing with the meaning of words like malicious - it seems that the *only* way you could revert a name under that standard is if the person taking it actually said on the forums or in a message something like "haha I got your name eat poop and die".

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Originally Posted by istvana

Maliciously is an interesting word - whose meaning is far from clear. Totally apart from how you would ever know someone's motivation if they are clever enough not to say it.

If someone takes my name - which I have had for many years - because it is a name they like and they were just typing in names they liked until they got one - that certainly isn't malicious.

If they knew I had had it for many years, but took it because they liked it with no animus towards me that still is not malicious.

If you want to protect names of long-time forum members the way would be to say that anyone who had a name for x years or more or xxxx posts or more or both could petition to get it back whether it is taken maliciously or not. That is not your approach, however. Note that I am expressing no value judgment here - but focusing purely on what your rules will be not what they should be.

As a lawyer who spent 30 years dealing with the meaning of words like malicious - it seems that the *only* way you could revert a name under that standard is if the person taking it actually said on the forums or in a message something like "haha I got your name eat poop and die".

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My expectation is that most of us regulars will not have an issue in getting our name due to the fact we're used to logging in regularly and will be able to carve out a few minutes to initially set up our forum accounts pretty close to immediately when the forums open. Also how it goes when new servers open, for example. Especially since it is easy to change display names at any time we will be able to sort out trolling. Trolls will be treated very harshly. I do expect a few edge cases where legit people take someone else's name because they wanted it and just didn't know or whatever, but we'll have to sort through it.

The intention is to presume that people who have had the name prior and have made regular contributions to the forums will get the name in a case of conflict. Thankfully, this doesn't need to meet legal burden, although the idea of a livestream'd me as judge People's Court to sort through forum names sounds like a fun and extremely terrible idea. :)

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Thankfully, this doesn't need to meet legal burden, although the idea of a livestream'd me as judge People's Court to sort through forum names sounds like a fun and extremely terrible idea. :)

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On the contrary, this is probably the best idea you have ever had in your life. :D

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

My expectation is that most of us regulars will not have an issue in getting our name due to the fact we're used to logging in regularly and will be able to carve out a few minutes to initially set up our forum accounts pretty close to immediately when the forums open. Also how it goes when new servers open, for example. Especially since it is easy to change display names at any time we will be able to sort out trolling. Trolls will be treated very harshly. I do expect a few edge cases where legit people take someone else's name because they wanted it and just didn't know or whatever, but we'll have to sort through it.

The intention is to presume that people who have had the name prior and have made regular contributions to the forums will get the name in a case of conflict. Thankfully, this doesn't need to meet legal burden, although the idea of a livestream'd me as judge People's Court to sort through forum names sounds like a fun and extremely terrible idea. :)

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Well i don't like that expected handling of the names. It is still too random. I know of people that deliberately try to pretend to be others with grieving purpose. What if you give all accounts, the same default name on the forums that they currently have now with 1 time deal button to opt out their historical name & choose a new 1? That way another player can choose that name only if the 1st person quit to it. That will give the original holder of that name, the chance to warn their friends about what will will be the new name so other persons can't pretend to be the 1st person.

[Edit] Nvm, found what I was asking for.

New forums will be great!

So, no better mobile device interface then?

That is disappointing.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

New forum URL will be: forums.lotro.com
Old read-only forum URL will be: forums-old.lotro.com

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Obviously, I tried https://forums-new.lotro.com and got right to it. Register button doesn't work yet, so don't even try. :D

It looks good, but I certainly am going to miss a dark mode. I also noticed it needs a little polishing, as the help button still goed to a "magic the gathering online" forum help, so you obviously just ripped it from a different daybreak games game.... :D
(Not a problem, why invent the wheel again when someone already did it!)

If you are looking for a few forum beta testers before you fully go live, just let me know. I'd be glad to help, try all the different formatting, make a few polls, add images and videos, see how the scaling works, etc, etc....

A few questions:

- Will the background image change periodically with the "latest" content? Looks like it is based on "Before the Shadow" currently, but it would be nice to see some variation.

- It looks like the forums are based on XenForo. This means there are "styles" you can add to the forum that may be a good candidate for a dark mode. There are many ones available for download, and as a commercial organization you probably want to go for a purchased one...... but they are cheap, typically only $10. I don't know if that is an option, but it may certainly be worth checking out.....

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Originally Posted by maartena

Obviously, I tried https://forums-new.lotro.com and got right to it. Register button doesn't work yet, so don't even try. :D

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LOL! Good try, that's an early preview. :D

Looks nice, though like I mentioned in DM feedback, I still think is not ideal to have "General Discussion" is such a privilaged position (General, which tends to house drama, sometimes warranted, sometimes not, but drama so not exactly inviting first impression ). Now everything else is additionally pushed further down by Bullroaer section and even less likely to be clicked on/explored by a casual. But everything else, with Content/Housing/Crafting etc, would be where some quality, drama-free stuff ends up, like Filling-in-the-gaps, for example.

Plus, still no idea where should I put a review of score of new expac which relates to both Instanced and Landscape spaces, and sure as hell I don't wanna put it under General... knowing its track record. Or, once I update and repost it under the new forum - the List of LOTRO Storylines, which also relates to both Landscape and Instances. Those two categories are great but feels like we also need Adventuring in Middle-earth's replacement that's a little bit more focused/named somewhat differently, which could have some wiggle room to put things that relate to both creative aspects of the game that intertwine in landscape and instances. But at the same time clear enough so specific cases, like individual quests or instances, aren't discussed there but go into Content categories.

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Originally Posted by TesalionLortus

LOL! Good try, that's an early preview. :D

Looks nice, though like I mentioned in DM feedback, I still think is not ideal to have "General Discussion" is such a privilaged position (General, which tends to house drama, sometimes warranted, sometimes not, but drama so not exactly inviting first impression ). Now everything else is additionally pushed further down by Bullroaer section and even less likely to be clicked on/explored by a casual. But everything else, with Content/Housing/Crafting etc, would be where some quality, drama-free stuff ends up, like Filling-in-the-gaps, for example.

Plus, still no idea where should I put a review of score of new expac which relates to both Instanced and Landscape spaces, and sure as hell I don't wanna put it under General... knowing its track record. Or, once I update and repost it under the new forum - the List of LOTRO Storylines, which also relates to both Landscape and Instances. Those two categories are great but feels like we also need Adventuring in Middle-earth's replacement that's a little bit more focused/named somewhat differently, which could have some wiggle room to put things that relate to both creative aspects of the game that intertwine in landscape and instances. But at the same time clear enough so specific cases, like individual quests or instances, aren't discussed there but go into Content categories.

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If you've got thoughts on what to call such a forum we can definitely consider it. It had earlier been suggested that "Adventuring in Middle-earth" was too broad a category and essentially confused people, so the idea came up to split out Instances and Not Instances.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

If you've got thoughts on what to call such a forum we can definitely consider it. It had earlier been suggested that "Adventuring in Middle-earth" was too broad a category and essentially confused people, so the idea came up to split out Instances and Not Instances.

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That is easy! Divide it between:

• Adventuring to Private Instances
• Adventuring to Open Landscape

;)

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

If you've got thoughts on what to call such a forum we can definitely consider it. It had earlier been suggested that "Adventuring in Middle-earth" was too broad a category and essentially confused people, so the idea came up to split out Instances and Not Instances.

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Yeah, that's definitely a good choice and it was a bit "neither here nor there" category. But hard to come up with a name for a theoretical third one, to be sure. Maybe Immersion of Middle-earth? Creativity Behind the Game? Chronicles of LOTRO? The Art of LOTRO? Discuss the game's score, wider storylines, the game's art, everything else creative about the game that doesn't fit into other categories? A little bit similar to Adventuring, granted, but at least wouldn't invite specific quest discussion I guess, given there is a specific landscape/instanced space for this now. Plus the bug/issues stuff will move to bug reports. PS: LOTRO Art may be a better, shorter version, perhaps

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

That is easy! Divide it between:

• Adventuring to Private Instances
• Adventuring to Open Landscape

;)

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The "Adventuring to" part seems a bit confusing, actually, makes it seem a bit "on the way to". Maybe just Private Instances Discussion and Open Landscape Discussion?

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

The "Adventuring to" part seems a bit confusing, actually, makes it seem a bit "on the way to". Maybe just Private Instances Discussion and Open Landscape Discussion?

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If this is about the existing new "content" sections - because they may sound a bit "lame"? Is that what Yamyde meant? - then maybe just Instances Discussion and Landscape Discussion. Plus, Lotro Art Discussion, for example? For that third section I argued for, that could blur the lines a bit, if it relates to both landscape and instances in a more creative sense like musical scores, specific lore characters, art design behind the game's cultures, or some bigger narratives, you name it. Or maybe a good alternative would be to use two words for this one, like "Lotro's Lore & Art Discussion" Now, perhaps that can be more appropriate and clear. So when people ask stuff like "where did the Dourhands came from", that's where they would put it too

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

The "Adventuring to" part seems a bit confusing, actually, makes it seem a bit "on the way to". Maybe just Private Instances Discussion and Open Landscape Discussion?

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That works! :cool:

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

The "Adventuring to" part seems a bit confusing, actually, makes it seem a bit "on the way to". Maybe just Private Instances Discussion and Open Landscape Discussion?

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I think we can strip this down a bit more:

Instance Discussion
Landscape Discussion

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Originally Posted by zachhope

I think we can strip this down a bit more:

Instance Discussion
Landscape Discussion

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That's what I had done originally, I turned "Adventuring in Middle-earth" into:

- Gameplay Discussion
- Instance Content
- Landscape Content

But I can see the benefit of changing "Content" to "Discussion".

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Originally Posted by TesalionLortus

If this is about the existing new "content" sections - because they may sound a bit "lame"? Is that what Yamyde meant? - then maybe just Instances Discussion and Landscape Discussion. Plus, Lotro Art Discussion, for example? For that third section I argued for, that could blur the lines a bit, if it relates to both landscape and instances in a more creative sense like musical scores, specific lore characters, art design behind the game's cultures, or some bigger narratives, you name it. Or maybe a good alternative would be to use two words for this one, like "Lotro's Lore & Art Discussion" Now, perhaps that can be more appropriate and clear. So when people ask stuff like "where did the Dourhands came from", that's where they would put it too

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I didn't mean anything, just giving a prety name to the divisions that the CM mentioned 1st. What you are saying sound like the already existing:

• J.R.R. Tolkien For lore related themes
• Creative Endeavours For anything player made artistic
• Content Creators and Community Sites For player websites or blogs

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

I didn't mean anything, just giving a prety name to the divisions that the CM mentioned 1st. What you are saying sound like the already existing:

• J.R.R. Tolkien For lore related themes
• Creative Endeavours For anything player made artistic
• Content Creators and Community Sites For player websites or blogs

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Ah, well, yeah, I agree Discussion sounds nicer than Content, which is a bit "raw".

No, I meant game's lore discussions, not pure Tolkien. And art made by the devs (like Bill's music), not players. And both are usually intertwined, art and game lore, their creative choices with their lore and stories. So I think the "Lotro Art & Lore Discussion" would be the best I came up with today

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Originally Posted by TesalionLortus

Ah, well, yeah, I agree Discussion sounds nicer than Content, which is a bit "raw".

No, I meant game's lore discussions, not pure Tolkien. And art made by the devs (like Bill's music), not players. And both are usually intertwined, art and game lore, their creative choices with their lore and stories. So I think the "Lotro Art & Lore Discussion" would be the best I came up with today

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I get what you mean. think that most the current descriptions of the Forums section & subsections are too generic or don't have the names clear. It will be better if all the names are straight forward on the meaning & the sections get subdivided as much as possible, specially those that get used the most, That way finding the corresponding thread on theme to talk about will be more specific,

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

I get what you mean. think that most the current descriptions of the Forums section & subsections are too generic or don't have the names clear. It will be better if all the names are straight forward on the meaning & the sections get subdivided as much as possible, specially those that get used the most, That way finding the corresponding thread on theme to talk about will be more specific,

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Well, I agree being specific is welcome. If Cordovan is up for this, I guess "LOTRO Score & Art Discussion" (used score to differentiate the game's music from player music) and "LOTRO Lore & Storylines" may be as specific as they get.

So then you would have:


Landscape Discussion

- specific quests, objectives, landscape quest content, specific locales, Fill-in-the-gaps, "where do I start BtS Afterwords" or "what's the quickest levelling route through Rohan"



Instances Discussion

- mostly full-fledged instances, Epic Battles, skirmishes etc, and associated content, and things like discussions of specific instances and their mechanics



LOTRO's Lore & Storylines

(or Game Lore & Storylines? which sounds better?)

- anything widely story oriented goes here, like my List of Story Loose Ends, specific questions to MoL, praises of BtS storyline, the little lore tidbits behind the game, different types of pipe-weed represented in the game, "what do these dwarven runes mean" or opinions behind more controversial storylines



LOTRO's Score & Art

(or Game Score & Art?)

- anything to do with Bill's music, or Chance Thomas, or others, and some art and worldbuilding behind the game too, like questions about who made the newest expansion promo art, discussing the game's art like textures, the lovely hairstyles of the elves etc.

A section for roleplayers would be great.

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Originally Posted by Elhiril

A section for roleplayers would be great.

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Yah the players can have a Role Play section where they write their customized character Biography. Some role players like to do them in the form of texts while others take the visual path. I think it will be a good subsection of Player made Artistic creations. I have seeing on the forums & other social medias that LOTRO players can be very talented & make neat creations. The Player Made Artistic creations could be subdivided into :

• Drawings, Paints, & Sketches
• Visual 3D (Sculptures & Carvings)
• Videos (using in game characters or enacting)
• Songs (original writting or player interpretations)
• Stories & Poesy
• Any other LOTR themed craft

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Originally Posted by TesalionLortus

Well, I agree being specific is welcome. If Cordovan is up for this, I guess "LOTRO Score & Art Discussion" (used score to differentiate the game's music from player music) and "LOTRO Lore & Storylines" may be as specific as they get.

So then you would have:

Landscape Discussion

- specific quests, objectives, landscape quest content, specific locales, Fill-in-the-gaps, "where do I start BtS Afterwords" or "what's the quickest levelling route through Rohan"

Instances Discussion

- mostly full-fledged instances, Epic Battles, skirmishes etc, and associated content, and things like discussions of specific instances and their mechanics

LOTRO's Lore & Storylines

(or Game Lore & Storylines? which sounds better?)

- anything widely story oriented goes here, like my List of Story Loose Ends, specific questions to MoL, praises of BtS storyline, the little lore tidbits behind the game, different types of pipe-weed represented in the game, "what do these dwarven runes mean" or opinions behind more controversial storylines

LOTRO's Score & Art

(or Game Score & Art?)

- anything to do with Bill's music, or Chance Thomas, or others, and some art and worldbuilding behind the game too, like questions about who made the newest expansion promo art, discussing the game's art like textures, the lovely hairstyles of the elves etc.

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I'll think about it.

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Originally Posted by Elhiril

A section for roleplayers would be great.

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This has already been added based on a suggestion from the community.

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Originally Posted by maartena

- It looks like the forums are based on XenForo.

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Yeah seems so alright. Excellent. I was having nightmares about this community turning to Discourse. Thanks for that good choice Cordovan.

Will you be emailing everyone a reminder to sign in to the new forums? There are many people who don't currently use them, people who have stopped using them, people who have left or taken a break from the game. Now would be a good time to remind those people that the community is still here and of course everyone likes shiny new things so having a new forum could be a way to get people back to the game.

Will you also be offering amnesty to people who have fallen foul of community guidelines in the past? A chance for a fresh start and of course them being more mindful of those guidelines could also be a good thing for the community. We need interesting, passionate and diverse opinions and more of them. It will be no good having shiny new forums if it ends up just being half a dozen people all agreeing with each other.

And now would be a good time for everyone who has written articles or guides in the past to update them in readiness for moving them over to the new forums.

Cheers :)

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

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Originally Posted by Elhiril

A section for roleplayers would be great.

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This has already been added based on a suggestion from the community.

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How is this set up?

Can we create curated threads in it for ongoing stories, post by post, while restricting who else can post in it? Or even better, have a story thread with an attached comments section? I guess Article format might work for that, but not if the max size of the article post is limiting. And some RP chat logs are very long.

Looking forward to some new forums, with hopefully, lots of new things that make them far more pleasant to use.

@ Cordovan

Could anything be set up to avoid a thread as popular and useful as this . . . .

https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...ht=best+outfit

becoming almost 300 pages long?

I love that thread, but it's painful to navigate through it page by page.

Going forward, perhaps a small section on cosmetics in the new forum, breaking them down into categories could work? Middle-earth's wonderful fashionista's that run outfit blogs/sites/streams could have a couple of stickies to help players find their collections.

Cosmetics are a big part of the game for a lot of players, hence . . . the gigantic thread, so a small section of the new forum, dedicated to them would be very welcome IMO.

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Originally Posted by Arnenna

Looking forward to some new forums, with hopefully, lots of new things that make them far more pleasant to use.

@ Cordovan

Could anything be set up to avoid a thread as popular and useful as this . . . .

https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...ht=best+outfit

becoming almost 300 pages long?

I love that thread, but it's painful to navigate through it page by page.

Going forward, perhaps a small section on cosmetics in the new forum, breaking them down into categories could work? Middle-earth's wonderful fashionista's that run outfit blogs/sites/streams could have a couple of stickies to help players find their collections.

Cosmetics are a big part of the game for a lot of players, hence . . . the gigantic thread, so a small section of the new forum, dedicated to them would be very welcome IMO.

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/signed

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Originally Posted by Arnenna

Looking forward to some new forums, with hopefully, lots of new things that make them far more pleasant to use.

@ Cordovan

Could anything be set up to avoid a thread as popular and useful as this . . . .

https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...ht=best+outfit

becoming almost 300 pages long?

I love that thread, but it's painful to navigate through it page by page.

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Why do you scroll all the pages?

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Originally Posted by Arnenna

Looking forward to some new forums, with hopefully, lots of new things that make them far more pleasant to use.

@ Cordovan

Could anything be set up to avoid a thread as popular and useful as this . . . .

https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...ht=best+outfit

becoming almost 300 pages long?

I love that thread, but it's painful to navigate through it page by page.

Going forward, perhaps a small section on cosmetics in the new forum, breaking them down into categories could work? Middle-earth's wonderful fashionista's that run outfit blogs/sites/streams could have a couple of stickies to help players find their collections.

Cosmetics are a big part of the game for a lot of players, hence . . . the gigantic thread, so a small section of the new forum, dedicated to them would be very welcome IMO.

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I guess I don't understand why folks are choosing to post in that thread instead of use the forum the thread is in? It seems like people could be using the forum that exists the way you would like, but aren't already.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

I guess I don't understand why folks are choosing to post in that thread instead of use the forum the thread is in? It seems like people could be using the forum that exists the way you would like, but aren't already.

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Will the new forums arrive tomorrow after the Update release?

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

Will the new forums arrive tomorrow after the Update release?

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No, but stay tuned for more information. We're still on track for next week.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

I guess I don't understand why folks are choosing to post in that thread instead of use the forum the thread is in? It seems like people could be using the forum that exists the way you would like, but aren't already.

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Well, I think that comes down to the thread took off, and got itself into a point of no return, and it became the "in place" to go for posting, and finding the outfits. Plus, it's a sticky. It was here long before my time, but it's the only place that I really go looking for ideas and suggestions. But it's a painful trawl. the rest of the forum seems to be full of threads dedicated to one particular cosmetic, rather than categories of them. That in itself, if people were to post individual threads for each cosmetic, would make the forum a lengthy process to navigate too.
The forum itself probably could have pulled more out of that thread if it had some sub categories. Example


Chest pieces
Leggings
Shoulders
Footwear
Hands
Cloaks
Headgear

Then

Show us your Outfits
sub-
Elven Style full outfits
Hobbit style full outfits
Human style full outfits
Dwarven style full outfits

Then

By Colour

Or

Eriador sourced outfits
Rhovanion sourced outfits
Rohan sourced outfits
Gondor sourced outfits

and so forth

with losing the "joined" date of previous forums, and since the forums are linked to the game logins, and along with the custom avatars, is there a way to show a "member of the game since" badge? or the equivelent of the in-game avatar picture anniversary border? (it would require the forums to check the anniversary status in-game i suppose) an avatar game-anniversary border would be fantastic if not too diffuicultly possible

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Originally Posted by Forgotten_Legend

with losing the "joined" date of previous forums, and since the forums are linked to the game logins, and along with the custom avatars, is there a way to show a "member of the game since" badge? or the equivelent of the in-game avatar picture anniversary border? (it would require the forums to check the anniversary status in-game i suppose) an avatar game-anniversary border would be fantastic if not too diffuicultly possible

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Cordovan said that on the new forums we will be able to use Gravatar website to add our choice of custom portrait (following the LOTRO CoC rules of course). That means you can literally take a screenshot of your in game portrait of your main character or any other you wish, & use it as the Forums portrait. You can show that way your aniversary year portrait frame, or any other frame you wish. It will not be an exact reflect of your real time in game since only work for your premium or VIP time, & if you miss 1 anniversary event year. (like happened to me) you will always be a bit behind your actual date, but it is something. :)

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

Cordovan said that on the new forums we will be able to use Gravatar website to add our choice of custom portrait (following the LOTRO CoC rules of course). That means you can literally take a screenshot of your in game portrait of your main character or any other you wish, & use it as the Forums portrait. You can show that way your aniversary year portrait frame, or any other frame you wish. It will not be an exact reflect of your real time in game since only work for your premium or VIP time, & if you miss 1 anniversary event year. (like happened to me) you will always be a bit behind your actual date, but it is something. :)

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Yeah and Gravatar is connected to an e-mail and you have to register and change avatar and e-mail if you want a particular gravvie on one place, but what will happen to many is if they ever used gravvvie on one place and an associated e-mail it will replicate here, should you use the same e-mail, which is a nuisance. Gravatar is ####.

Fortunately I have a specific e-mail account I use for Lotro only, and nowhere else, so GravCrap has no idea about me.

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Originally Posted by Marancil

Yeah and Gravatar is connected to an e-mail and you have to register and change avatar and e-mail if you want a particular gravvie on one place, but what will happen to many is if they ever used gravvvie on one place and an associated e-mail it will replicate here, should you use the same e-mail, which is a nuisance. Gravatar is ####.

Fortunately I have a specific e-mail account I use for Lotro only, and nowhere else, so GravCrap has no idea about me.

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I don't have a personal opinion about Gravatars, but it's an option that wasn't there before, so seems decent for whoever uses it. You don't need to use a Gravatar, to be clear.

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

Cordovan said that on the new forums we will be able to use Gravatar website to add our choice of custom portrait (following the LOTRO CoC rules of course). That means you can literally take a screenshot of your in game portrait of your main character or any other you wish, & use it as the Forums portrait. You can show that way your aniversary year portrait frame, or any other frame you wish. It will not be an exact reflect of your real time in game since only work for your premium or VIP time, & if you miss 1 anniversary event year. (like happened to me) you will always be a bit behind your actual date, but it is something. :)

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it looks like a nice work-around, so for those who wish to use it, cool.

but that is also requiring
a) the use of third party software and accounts and hosting on third party websites...
b) me taking time every year to essentially re-do the avatar using third party website that i probably forgot all the login info for
c) i don't want to actually use my character portrait as my avatar, and i don't want to spend the time to learn picture editing

anniversary "frames" could be as simple as a number centered below the actual avatar such as "10 years", or the word "FOUNDER". doesn't have to be an actual frame, nor as elaborate as the in-game frames, since sizes and shapes of avatars will differ among users.

PS: i'm just making a request. if LOTRO doesn't think it's a worthy investment (say if the coding is way too complex, or too time consuming, because (i presume) it would require a website to check in-game code) then i'll continue to mention it my signature... i just though it would be something cool. the idea came from "decennial badges" on a different forum i use, that automatically updates every decade (if the user activates the badge in their settings).

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Originally Posted by Marancil

Yeah and Gravatar is connected to an e-mail and you have to register and change avatar and e-mail if you want a particular gravvie on one place, but what will happen to many is if they ever used gravvvie on one place and an associated e-mail it will replicate here, should you use the same e-mail, which is a nuisance. Gravatar is ####.

Fortunately I have a specific e-mail account I use for Lotro only, and nowhere else, so GravCrap has no idea about me.

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That is actually way too easy to resolve you can & it is know that should have at least 2 email addresses:

1. Professional email: with your real name & a photo that conform your company rules
2. Personal email: No need to use real name & there you can post any photo or picture for fun & can be subdivided further between:
   
   • Family email: they probably expect to see a real life photo not necesary a serious 1 & at least the nickname that they know you.
   • MMO Email: any screenshot or cartoon of your favorite game avatar can go there, no real photos recommended, & don't use your real name there.

Also on most social medias & as i understand, also the new LOTRO forums, you can opt out to use the gravatar portrait & instead use 1 more generic provided by the website or add a custom portrait used only on that particular website, Regardless if you use the same email.

We are still on track for Wednesday! If you are working up a Profile Banner for yourself, I've discovered that the resolution for the banner is: 1178px x 250px

Wednesday? The day that Shadowfax hits the cap of 140 and may die? Woot - you are transferring the soul of Shadowfax into the new forums - and most speedily as befits the name!

((I know you won't kill the server its first day at 140 though we are all anxiously waiting to find out when you will kill it - I just couldn't resist))

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

That is actually way too easy to resolve you can & it is know that should have at least 2 email addresses:

1. Professional email: with your real name & a photo that conform your company rules
2. Personal email: No need to use real name & there you can post any photo or picture for fun & can be subdivided further between:
   
   • Family email: they probably expect to see a real life photo not necesary a serious 1 & at least the nickname that they know you.
   • MMO Email: any screenshot or cartoon of your favorite game avatar can go there, no real photos recommended, & don't use your real name there.

Also on most social medias & as i understand, also the new LOTRO forums, you can opt out to use the gravatar portrait & instead use 1 more generic provided by the website or add a custom portrait used only on that particular website, Regardless if you use the same email.

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As I said, I do not think I will have any issues with it, but it all depends on the implementation. Have been in situations where it became an annoying issue. As for e-mail addresses, well got a ton of those, since I also own several domains, so that is not a problem either. The usage of custom portraits may be limited to a certain amount of activity, there are a few parameters for that. it all boils down to what Cordovan sees fit to implement. Custom Avatar on the Forums: 1298 Lotro Points. Katching :p

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Originally Posted by istvana

Wednesday? The day that Shadowfax hits the cap of 140 and may die? Woot - you are transferring the soul of Shadowfax into the new forums - and most speedily as befits the name!

((I know you won't kill the server its first day at 140 though we are all anxiously waiting to find out when you will kill it - I just couldn't resist))

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Shadowfax was born to die sooner or later

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Originally Posted by LabadalofDorlomin

I don't suppose there is a better mobile viewing interface than this forum? Or a dedicated app maybe?

I know this forum is primarily to make administration easier but it would be good if it was pulled right into the current century. Fingers crossed.

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I look forward to describing character in game stats (kin,address)etc.. again

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Forum titles will not carry over. However, it won't be Customer Service handling forum titles, it'll be me. It's going to be a lot of work, but the plan is to chip away at it over time. I had been hoping to allow users to select their own forum titles, essentially doing away with the need for this management, but while the new forums have everyone set to give themselves new titles, it isn't currently functioning. If it doesn't work when we go live, I'll either have people submit tickets, private messages, or whatever and deal with it over time. There are literally thousands of you, though, so it won't be instant.

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In before I lose the "Fashion Hero" title FOREEEEVAH!" I assume I'd lose the profile pic which gave the the title as well?

TBH, can't wait to see new forums, I guess I can live without the long standing title. :p

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Originally Posted by MistyMountains

In before I lose the "Fashion Hero" title FOREEEEVAH!" I assume I'd lose the profile pic which gave the the title as well?

TBH, can't wait to see new forums, I guess I can live without the long standing title. :p

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Titles are one of the things that will have to be dealt with in the near future. The new forums are set up to allow for user-entered forum titles, but the system is not working. For now, hang onto your titles in a text document somewhere and we'll have more information about it in the near future.

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Originally Posted by Cordovan

Titles are one of the things that will have to be dealt with in the near future. The new forums are set up to allow for user-entered forum titles, but the system is not working. For now, hang onto your titles in a text document somewhere and we'll have more information about it in the near future.

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I used to have fancy tittles that went poof on the prior forums revamp. The only tittle that sticked around is the 1 i didn't care about, & no mechanism to recover it was ever placed. I dont think i will be missing much. Maybe i will display some in game tittle on my signature only to have something pretty. It is that allowed?

The author of the very last post on these old forums ought to get a special in-game award. A small amount of LOTRO Points, or an account-wide title.

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Originally Posted by Tralfazz

The author of the very last post on these old forums ought to get a special in-game award. A small amount of LOTRO Points, or an account-wide title.

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"Last One Standing"
"Turned Out the Lights"

Bye bye old forums, I hope I never see that server response error message ever again.

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Originally Posted by tuor66

Bye bye old forums, I hope I never see that server response error message ever again.

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/signed

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Originally Posted by tuor66

Bye bye old forums, I hope I never see that server response error message ever again.

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ehm, sorry to bust your bubble but that is on the server/integration side of things. Not necessarily the forums as such...

How long will be continue to be able to post on the old forum? Just curious.

By the way, the "Dev Tracker" link at the top of the page needs to be changed to forums-old.lotro.com.

This is a test post.