There and Back Again, Again [TaBA Archive Thread]

[KingODuckingham]

What is this thread? Why, an archive thread, but not for the Shire exactly. That's in the Undertowers thread. No, this is an archive of a separate forum, called There and Back Again, A Hobbit Holiday, that obviously does not exist on the new plaza.

Depending on the years you were active, you may never have even seen this forum, it was one of the shorter lived of the old plaza. It opened some time early in 2007. It -looks- like February, but I don't remember and it's hard to tell from the archives exactly. It closed down with the rest of the kingdoms, having become a bit redundant when the regions opened up. In some ways, it prefigured the regions: it was The Hobbit-focused (which is why I've chosen to put this thread in the Shire), it had sub-fora based on locations along Bilbo's journey, and it had no forum-specific icons/ranks/rulers/etc. It did have some admins overseeing the place: Beebs, Luthy, and @Lirimaer.

Anyhow, my plan here is to follow the trail of Bilbo and the subfora, then come back and do the main forum last, because it was used almost entirely for OOC and announcements and such. And don't get your hopes up: the years these forums existed were some of the least-well archived. Ready? Let's go digging!

[Lirimaer]

I wish you the very best of luck, Ducky! My own excavations have turned up some delightful teasers (the alt text as you hover over the thread title) and then refused to let me in - in almost all cases. I look forward to seeing what you discover!

[KingODuckingham]

We begin with The Lone Lands subforum. There's one capture in 2007 at nearly the beginning, and one in 2010 that I assume gets the final-ish state, so everything in between is, as far as I can see, kaput.

Free RP: The Great East Road -- "Please consider the location of your rpg; you may find it more fun to continue onward through the subfora, travelling There and Back Again and meeting new people!" They really were trying something a bit unique here, trying to encourage RP to follow not just a timeline but a kind of space-line. I always thought that was kind of cool. There's a Pippin icon in there.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080514042 ... TID=213980


Threads -- A game thread, of "clues, wit, and knowledge" Unfortunately the final standings are missing lol.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204123 ... TID=231050


The Yard of the Green Dragon - First Stop -- Wow, I had no memory of anyone besides Peeg with an Orome icon, but there it is. Anyway, pub sort of thread, both pages load.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204121 ... TID=231237


The Taba Comic Book! -- A caption contest of sorts, but a bit more organized into mini-stories.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204121 ... TID=231377


The Lost Village -- Unfortunately this RP thread is cut short by the archive before it really got going.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204124 ... TID=232080


Into the Wild - Free RP -- There were a lot of these free RP threads in TaBA
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204124 ... TID=231555


RP: The Old Forest -- Same deal, free RP, but in the Old Forest!
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204124 ... TID=215006


The Road East - Travel Thread- We end kind of where we began, although Beebs was posting prompts this time around.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204125 ... TID=231389

[KingODuckingham]

The Misty Mountains

Out in the Rain (Gathering Together) -- It feels like the RP is picking up from an earlier thread, but maybe I'm just mis-reading. I should note that this is from 2009 because I couldn't get anything earlier to load.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204072 ... TID=232741


Clap! Snap! Goblin-Town! {Second Stop} -- Well now I feel like THIS is the one picking up from a previous thread. Even harder to tell since only the second, final page loads.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204071 ... econd-stop


Treasure Hunt! -- This is actually a nifty idea for a game, with a very malleable premise. Someone get on that!
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204071 ... TID=234168


The Misty Mountain Maze -- Obviously nowhere near this whole thread made it safe to us, too bad, looks interesting.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204072 ... TID=234141


The Rise of the Great Goblin -- @Aerlinn and I were apparently on a team in this plaza-wide RPG. I have no memory of this. Thread barely archived past prompt 2.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100204071 ... TID=233545

[KingODuckingham]

The Great Shelf

Eagle Racing! -- Alright well the date on the OP here is Jan 28, but the first person joining the thread is Feb. 3rd, so that seems to corroborate my guess from above about the date the forum opened.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080203215 ... TID=213943


That's the only thread that will load, on the only capture. I don't know if that subforum folded early or what. I'll move on immediately then...

The Carrock, Mirkwood, The Elven King's Halls

Nothing, couldn't get a single thread to load no matter how hard I tried. Shout-out to the thread titled Legolas' Bedroom--OPEN though.

Men of the Lake

Game: The Black Arrow Tournament -- A mix of luck, roleplay, challenges, this thread had it all! Also it looks like Narg got roped into running it haha
https://web.archive.org/web/20071227171 ... TID=214003


Again, only thread that loads on a single capture. Nothing from the Lonely Mountain loads either. Which means the only thing left is main OOC forum, which I believe was called Bag End.

[KingODuckingham]

This post is for the Bag End main forum threads that load, and the first one is my favorite:

squishy group hug -- @Brandybuck @Aigronding Mordagnir @Curunder @Lirimaer @Veowyn @Menolly @Serveanthesia @Norin Deathfoot @Landy You were all there for round one, let's get back in here for round two!
https://web.archive.org/web/20071224151 ... TID=214292


OOC: Free RP Threads -- Actually pretty interesting for an OOC thread
https://web.archive.org/web/20071121083 ... TID=213949


The Green Dragon Inn, Bywater -- Not an OOC thread at all, but a pub!
https://web.archive.org/web/20080120215 ... TID=213967


SM Telethon: Mathoms of the Heart -- This was actually a Carrock thread but only accessible through the main forum, by magic.
https://web.archive.org/web/20071231024 ... TID=224527


Burglars OOC - Treasure Hunters Help Here -- Really kind of not worth posting lol, there were no questions recorded. If you really just want to stare at Beebs's icon without distraction, go here I guess.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080207075 ... TID=225374


Mathom Dispersal: TaBA tribute list -- Again, not really interesting unless you just want to see who got trib, but I'm obligated to add it since it loads.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080408150 ... TID=224577


~ A Thief Among Friends ~ -- This is actually a Lone Mountain thread that I was able to access via link in the above Mathom dispersal thread, but isn't visible from any actual Lone Mountain forum capture. Nifty!
https://web.archive.org/web/20080113235 ... TID=216601


Pub: The Soggy Dragon-Under New Management -- Same as above, but in Men of the Lake forum. @Joel Cotton looks like ran the thing.
https://web.archive.org/web/20071227034 ... TID=215034


Riddles In The Dark -- Same as above, but in the Misty Mountains forum.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080425180 ... TID=222481


ATTERCOP - A Game - -- Same as above, but in Mirkwood.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080325212 ... TID=225695


Radagast's Animal Captions -- Same as above, but in the Carrock. Man this is so sneaky! But also it makes me sad because I see now how many threads could load if only I knew what the url was and didn't have to rely on the sparse kingdom captures.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080421111 ... TID=226231


Burglar Wants a Good Job - All Pls -- Technically this is in Admin messages, but it's linked in TaBA and it's about TaBA, so I put it here.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080207075 ... TID=225311


Teh Voting Pod (and chat) for Radagast's Animals -- Haha, what a throwback: "teh". I love it.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080520124 ... TID=226346


I stop here momentarily to note that TABA got 10K posts by August 31, more than year and a half after it opened. Compare to nu plaza and marvel for a second.
And then, in the 2009 captures, something weird happens--the capture seems to be only partial. You cannot see any of the subfora except the Lone Lands (and sometimes the Misty Mountains), and almost all the threads in the Bag End forum are gone too...except I know they weren't. I guess archiving can half-fail sometimes. Anyway, none of it loads. So I think that's it. Like I said, short-lived forum, not too much to see. But more than I thought!

[Dwim]

This is great, Ducky! And I like that you've hosted it in the Shire.

It's interesting to see someone unpicking the mysteries of a forum/sub-forum that most of us only vaguely remember. I vaguely remember playing in at least one RPG in there, though I can't remember which one. I'm going to have a proper look through the threads you listed and try and jog my memory.

Edit: Oh and I just noticed in "A Thief Among Friends" that @Joel Cotton changed his username to Duckys Mini-me at one point.

[Lirimaer]

I stop here momentarily to note that TABA got 10K posts by August 31, more than year and a half after it opened. Compare to nu plaza and marvel for a second.
So I think that's it. Like I said, short-lived forum, not too much to see. But more than I thought!

Yeah, it opened too soon before the Hobbit (it was supposed to take advantage of the 'new influx' we were gonna get ... ) and way too far beyond the max participation of 2003-05. Even I, at this point, had been gone for a year on burn-out, and it was a hard sell which folk didn't really 'get', to be honest.

Eh, we gave it a go!

[Joel Cotton]

OMG, I had forgotten about this. The Soggy Dragon lmao. So many good memories. I remember too there was some sort of barrel game, I think it was about this point, but I don't know if it just got lost to the Void. I think I ran a hidden treasure game at some point too. Not like the Treasure Hunt, but it was Smaug themed. I wish the web archive was more reliable. *sigh*

@Dwim I changed my name so much that I forgot all of the names I have gone by

[KingODuckingham]

I think I saw both those threads Joely, but I couldn't get either of them to open, sorry!

It's funny, TaBA really worked a lot like new plaza works now, but I agree that back then that people didn't get it--a forum you couldn't "join"? No ranks, location based, mostly free RP? What was it, 2020?

[Menolly]

Oh gosh I have so little recollection of TaBA, this has been fun wandering back through what remains of it (apparently I had a goblin character named Grotrot?). Thanks for collecting threads, @KingODuckingham! Funny that TaBA was opened five years before the first Hobbit movie, definitely a bit too early.

[Balfur]

Omg, I had forgotten about this subset of forums (fora? fora)! I remember spending a lot of time on the East Road, especially in The Last Inn. But also in Beorn's house (vague memories) and further to the east. I loved the idea of following Bilbo's journey and having (similar) adventures.
It is where Balfur picked up his wandering, I think. Thanks for the digging, @KingODuckingham!

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Here are some lovely old pipes!




1. Hobbit Child 2. Hobbit Farmer 3. Hobbit Gardener 4. Hobbit Brewer 5. Hobbit Shirriff 6. Hobbit Elder 7. Hobbit High Elder 8. First Shirriff