Remembering 10 Years of Back to Middle-earth Month: Discussion Post 2010

[dreamflower]

Discussion post for 2010

In 2010, B2MeM participants embarked on an adventure to determine the fate of the world during the Last Battle.

This year's event is a quest game writing challenge. Imagine yourself far in the future from your favorite age of Arda. The Elves have long passed into the West. The Age of Men began millennia ago. Only in legend, largely forgotten, do the people of Middle-earth recall the Ring War, the ascension of King Aragorn, the last ship to depart from the Grey Havens. The world has again begun to change. The waves break on new lands, and a new threat passes its dark hand across the tired face of the Sun. Perhaps in the deepest and long-forgotten lore the people of Arda can find the secrets to overcome this new threat?

Rules for this particular challenge could be found here.

The challenge this year was partially a role-playing game, and partially a writing challenge. Writers could take part in choreographing the Dagor Dagorath, Arda's Last Battle, or they could opt to just write unrelated stories based on the daily prompts. They were also encouraged to work in teams if they wished to. The gathering place was "The Tavern", a place where the characters met to plan their moves. It was a very exciting experience.

Did you participate in the 2010 Last Battle Challenge? Did you make posts or write stories for it? If you did, please share your experience with us here in the comments. Give us links, share your anecdotes and memories.

Did you miss out on it, but find yourself curious about it? Check out the comments and ask questions and join in the discussions! And if you check out previous works, be sure to let the creator know how you liked them.

Comments

[dreamflower]

I remember my initial confusion about how the game worked (I have never done any RPG'ing) but once I got into it, I had a great time.

I was teamed up with Celeritas labourslamp, Larner blslarner, and Pearl Took pearltook1; we wrote a round robin story together about young Pippin. ("A Not-So-Simple Misunderstanding")

I also wrote four other standalone stories for the challenge, and the character I played was Esmeralda Brandybuck (Merry's mum and Pippin's aunt and Frodo's cousin and foster mother for a time). I had a great time figuring out how a hobbit grandmother centenarian could make a contribution to the battle at the end of the world! Turns out Esmeralda has hidden depths!

You can find my stories for the 2010 challenge here: here.

And to find out Aunt Esme's adventures during the Last Battle, you can check them out in the Tavern.
Esmeralda's tale begins in A Took in Time. Then you have click on the number of the comments to follow comments of the players from the bottom up to read the story!

It was really great fun! At the beginning, I was quite bumfuzzled, but I soon got the hang of it!

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I missed this, because I think I would have really enjoyed this. I've done a few RPG's, so while it does seem a bit confusing as I try to sort out the rules, I think I would have caught on quickly. I think the best way for me to understand how it works is to follow some of the stories. Thanks for the link!

If something like this takes place again, I'll definitely give it a try!

[zdenka]

I wasn't there for that, but it sounds like a really neat concept! I'd also be in if someone wanted to run something like it again.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

This is the one where I could not understand the directions. I was never able to make head nor tail out of it. I felt like I was trying to read the blueprint for a nuclear containment vessel or something! That I had never played an RPG either might have hindered me. The Tavern was totally incomprehensible to me also. People seemed to be having a great time though but it might as well have been played in Sanskrit from what I was able to puzzle out about it. In the end I sat it out.

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I sat this one out as it seemed so complicated and I don't like having to commit.

[hhimring]

This was the first one I was around for, sort of. But although I had been a Tolkien fan for a long time, I was completely new to fannish online interaction and I'd never taken part in a RPG (still haven't). I ended up just quietly reading along with the unrelated stories posted. I never quite could figure out the Tavern part.
I've just read the start of your Esme section, Dreamflower. Nicely done, I really liked how you introduced the character! Would it still be spoilery now to ask how Esme managed to help win the Dagor Dagorath?

[blslarner.livejournal.com]

Celeritas and I joined as a team, and played a couple of Hobbits. We had a blast, as I remember it.

[dreamflower]

I remember Handy! Esme teamed up with him for part of the journey!

It really was so much fun!

[independence1776]

Oh 2010… I have a lot of fond memories of this event. It's probably my favorite B2MeM event.

I played Maglor and had great fun working my way around the gameboard. At one point, to get to the place where I wanted to fight the Last Battle, I had to coordinate with another player who had a ship to trade me so that we passed through the same location so I could get the ship to take me to Aman. Basically being able to choose what prompts to work on is always a plus in my book, along with the fact that we had a week to create something. It took the pressure off a bit.

The Tavern, on the other hand, I got enormously frustrated with and quit using early on.

If a game ran again-- minus the roleplaying part-- I'd definitely participate.