Tinw's Newbie Tips Welcome to your new home! The official LOTR plaza FAQ will tell you all about the plaza. But here's a few tips to help you along.

The plaza is divided into forums. Some are for discussing the books and films and Middle-earth. The "kingdom" forums are for playing with and in Middle-earth!

Every kingdom forum has a newbie hall or welcome thread where members are happy to answer questions, and introduce you to their kingdom. You may choose your "home" kingdom in the Career Center.

Read the top or first post in a kingdom "thread" or discussion to learn what that activity is about and how to play!

You get fanatic points by posting in kingdom or discussion forums, by taking knowledge hall quizzes, by winning prizes in contests, or by receiving "tribute" from rulers and admins for great contributions to the plaza or your kingdom. In Imladris, we tribute to encourage good participation in kingdom activities, helping out (for instance, writing for our kingdom paper), sharing poems and artwork, and much more! Don't get hung up on points, though-- the point is to have FUN; they're just a measure of the fun things you've done!

You get plaza credits by visiting the "finance center" (link is in menu at upper left) and clicking on "salary". Credits can be used to purchase items for the Battle Arena (a video game where you duel other plaza members), or, later on, to buy a house.

Want a spiffy username? Check out Fabulous Middle-earth Names, written by plaza members!

Want to learn some Elvish? Imladris' Kingdom Pages (a treasure trove of useful info) include a phrasebook and beginning lessons in Sindarin Elvish.

Plaza slang:

• *g* means "giggle" or "grins"
• *glomp* is a silly kind of hug
• BUMP means popping a thread back to the top of a forum (older threads "sink" to back pages)
• RPG is a "roleplaying game", where each player writes their Middle-earth character in a scene, adventure, or story. (see Tinw's RP tips for lots more info.)
• IC means "in character", that is, you're speaking as or writing the actions of your Middle-earth character; OOC means "out of character", where you're making comments as yourself.

How do you make friends? Get involved in kingdoms! Good places to get involved are feasts and pubs, where people hang out and talk as if they're in Middle-earth; kingdom games and contests which are usually quick and easy to enter; art or poetry threads where you share each other's work; and -- if the kingdom has one -- a military organization like the Host of Imladris where you train as a warrior, and get to meet and interact with other soldiers.

Other fun forums: Art and Fanfiction is for sharing your own artwork, photography and stories. Poetry Corner is for posting your own original poetry. Note that many kingdoms have active art and writing guilds (clubs). There and Back Again and the RPG forum let anybody open threads, and there's no particular rules for those forums besides the basic plaza rules. You never know what you'll find in these forums! On the other hand, kingdoms let you belong to a close-knit community and find well-organized threads; kingdoms have established histories and longterm games and activities like armies, artists' guilds, and competition teams.

That's it! Now have fun exploring, and remember, our members are happy to answer your questions in the Newcomers' Forum, or in the newbie thread in any kingdom!