Hi Folks

[Issachar]

I guess it's finally sinking in to me that the Decipher LotR RPG forums are probably not coming back. *sigh.* I've taken a good long break from LotR for several months, but now I'm feeling the itch to come back to it again. And this board looks like the only one out there anymore for discussing the LotR RPG. I'm glad you guys haven't gone away.

I'd like to apologize to all the HoF readers in here for dropping the ball on issue 49. I had the thing laid out, and was wracking my brains to come up with some content to add to it since the issue was so short. And at that moment it was just too much. For several months it had been depressing me to see player interest dwindle away, and of course Decipher had long since abandoned the game. I kind of just felt beaten.

I do plan to support Micah Walles as he takes over the reins of HoF. I'm eager to see what he has for issue 51, and I'll try to get some new content written for the next issue after that one.

I really wonder what the future of LotR roleplaying is. I've had a look at the Ambarquenta and they're doing some impressive work on a system that seems to borrow heavily from the CODA version. But it seems like a somewhat "heavier" system, for experienced gamers who are comfortable with lots of stats and tables. Then there's the online community of people playing Shadows of Angmar. I imagine a small portion of that group would be interested in pen-and-paper RP'ing, or more likely play-by-post.

What I really wish we had is a big, centralized place online for all things related to LotR roleplaying, whether MERP, CODA, or other systems. Links to all the resources out there like HoF and Other Minds. Boards to advertise games and match player groups with GMs/Narrators. The whole packet of lembas.

Well, I'm rambling, but I meant to do that. Thanks for indulging me if you've read all this. I'd be happy to hear...well, pretty much anyone's thoughts on anything about LotR gaming, really. Like I said, it's been awhile, and now I've got the itch again.

[dustin]

Just in case you didn't know, Tomcat has a message board for LotR. Currently, there are 3 PbP games running, as well as my own chronicle log of an ongoing First Age campaign.

Drop by and check it out if you haven't yet. It may just be the inspiration you are looking for.


http://roleplay.avioc.org

Glad to see you back in Middle Earth.


DRS

[K.G. Carlson]

Make use of local and national gaming conventions to stir interest. If you have a local hobby/comic store where gamers gather, try running some demos. If you make the trip to Origins or Gen Con, take a couple hours out of your vacation to run LotR.

When I ran Star Trek Coda at Origins this year, several of the players had an interest but little or no opportunity to play. If you can get them interested enough to go back to their home groups and push a little harder to run some Coda games, great. Bringing new players to the system may take some time and effort, but its worthwhile pursuing.

Also, its an opportunity to spread the word about our little community here on Trek RPGNet.

[Issachar]

Just in case you didn't know, Tomcat has a message board for LotR.DRS

Hi Dustin. I do know about Tomcat's board and I drop in from time to time, but that board is mostly used for the online campaigns and has a smallish membership. I think I'll make TrekRPGNet my home online for discussing the LotR RPG.

To K.G.: That's a good idea, although I'm not sure I'll actually try it anytime soon. I haven't been to an RPG convention in, like, fifteen years or so. It does sound like a fun idea, though.

[Tomcat]

So you're saying my boards are no fun, Dave?

Yes, you are right - it is a board primarily for playing, but I welcome all to come over and hang out and I have no problem with opening up more rooms to allow for different subject matter. Not to take anyone from the TrekRPG forums, but all are certainly welcome to come visit.

[zehnwaters2]

Oh, thank goodness. It's good to see you again Issachar. Hey, not to plug my own threads, but if you *wanted* to comment on my threadhttp://forum.trek-rpg.net/showthread.php?t=14873 here, I'd appreciate it.

[Cpt. Lundgren]

This place will stick around.

Most of my site related time has currently been spent to figure out why the bandwidth has increased ten times, without a rise in people visiting.

Still looking at how to make the LotR template the default one when visiting through forum.lotr-rpg.net. And if I find a good way, to do it without breaking the vBulleting license.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

This place will stick around.

Most of my site related time has currently been spent to figure out why the bandwidth has increased ten times, without a rise in people visiting.

Without a rise in individuals or frequency of each individual site access? I check this site pretty frequently...

[Cpt. Lundgren]

Without a rise in individuals or frequency of each individual site access? I check this site pretty frequently...

Not even if the activity had kicked back up to the level when the forums was as the most active would explain that change in traffic. But I did notice that the compression has not been activated since the last update. That has probably been the worst offender. So I will just need a few days of traffic before I can verify that.

Then some of the traffic might be because some members are running version 8 of AVG anti virus, which have the nasty side effect of opening and checking all the links it can find, in case the user wants to go there. Will keep an eye on that.

And to also have something OT I can't say that I have figured out how to create templates for the CMS, or what it is that seems to trigger the wrath of the Tolkien Estates lawyers so I can avoid that. But those two things are the two main reasons why there isn't a web page up and running for LotR yet. Otherwise, the infrastructure is already in place.