I´ll admit to being particularly sensitive to such things: I was very shy and introverted growing up (still am, though I´ve acquired a set of professional skills that allow me to handle myself in regular day-to-day stuff, it´s still exceedingly rare for me to have instant rapport with someone face-to-face) and a lot of rumours went around about me, causing me no end of troubles that I didn´t have the social skills to rebut or deflect. So I feel familiar with some of the mess that some of our fellow players have to deal with in day-to-day life, and through my ex-wife and daughter have some idea of what some of our other fellow players have to deal with in our community.
If we want to grow the TOR community (which is a subject that comes up with some regularity), then we have to give everyone a way to see themselves as part of the fun. And that takes some self-reflection. For example (and not to pick on any one person), I know of one regular female poster. Maybe there are others, and they don´t identify as such (perhaps due to bad experiences elsewhere when they´ve done so). That, to me, speaks of an opportunity and a need to be more inclusive... to identify more ways for women to see themselves in Middle-earth. That was at the core of my being upset a few weeks ago... business-as-usual won´t do, if business-as-usual isn´t allowing everyone to feel welcome.
So I guess my point is:
Child of the kindly West, I have come to know, if more of us valued your ways - food and cheer above hoarded gold - it would be a merrier world.
