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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276

    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 We are replacing our old, very outdated forums with newer forums that will offer new features and a much improved experience for all users.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!
    Last edited by Cordovan; Apr 13 2023 at 04:14 PM.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276
    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.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Posts
    150
    I can't wait to check it out!
    Pharone the Gnome
    Come watch me stream Lord of The Rings Online every night at https://twitch.tv/pharone
    Follow me on Twitter at @PharoneTheGnome
    Join my Discord server here.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    2,269
    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    For example, you can now share your Article to Reddit directly through the forums.
    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

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    163
    Gotta say I'm pretty excited!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2022
    Posts
    62
    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
    Hirenthas/Deminwen on Crickhollow

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    150
    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    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.
    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
    Calanne, Starlight

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276
    Quote Originally Posted by blacknazgul13 View Post
    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
    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.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276
    Quote Originally Posted by JaxV View Post
    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
    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.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

  10. #10
    That answers my first question... my second one is... Remember the old game-generated character signatures? Any chance we can see those again? :-)


    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    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.



  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    2,190
    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    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.
    Did you decide that a simple redirect (a one-line change to the web server's config file) wouldn't work?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276
    Quote Originally Posted by Arbalister View Post
    That answers my first question... my second one is... Remember the old game-generated character signatures? Any chance we can see those again? :-)
    No the old my.lotro signatures are gone forever.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Posts
    3,505
    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.
    "Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your children when you wanted to."

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276
    Quote Originally Posted by DavidmeetHal View Post
    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.
    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.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    521
    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    We are almost ready to debut our new forums!
    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.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    4,784
    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    We are almost ready to debut our new forums!
    Thanks for keeping us informed.
    << Co-founder of The Firebrands of Caruja on Landroval >>
    Ceolford of Dale, Dorolin, Tordag, Garberend Bellheather, Colfinn Belegorn, Garmo Butterbuckles, Calensarn Nimlos, Langtiriel, Bergteir


  17. #17
    Great news. I can't wait to see the new forum.
    Will two factor authentication be possible?

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    1,228
    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.
    ----A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything----

    ?

  19. #19

    Question

    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    No the old my.lotro signatures are gone forever.
    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.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276
    Quote Originally Posted by YamydeAragon View Post
    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.
    Images in signatures should be fine, you just will have to do what you currently do and host the image elsewhere.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

  21. #21

    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    Images in signatures should be fine, you just will have to do what you currently do and host the image elsewhere.
    Cool! Thank you for the reply.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    529
    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!


    "Dont cry - I'll pop a token for you!"
    elen sila lumenn omentielvo

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    3,641
    Quote Originally Posted by Cordovan View Post
    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.
    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.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276
    Quote Originally Posted by asimon View Post
    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!
    Sorry, but yes, join dates aren't going to matter much in the new forums.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    6,276
    Quote Originally Posted by thinx View Post
    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.
    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.
    Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online
    Follow LOTRO on: Twitter - Facebook - Twitch - YouTube
    Personal channels (No SSG talk): Twitch Twitter Facebook
    Support: help.standingstonegames.com
    coolcool

 

 
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