This is not the most exciting title but if you opened it anyway, thank you for reading! Whenever possible, we seek the input of our members on policy changes. These conversations often bring perspectives and considerations that we would have otherwise overlooked. (You can read more about how we govern the SWG here.)

The SWG mods are requesting public comment on a proposed change, intended to help us eliminate bot registrations, on how we manage accounts that are never accessed. When a newcomer registers for the SWG, the account is locked until a moderator can review it. This is not a gatekeeping strategy, and all Tolkien fans are welcome and approved as quickly as we can. However, we cull obvious bot registrations at this time, which based on our most recent registration data, is about 15% of registrations. After moderator approval, the new member is notified and can log into and use their account fully.

Currently, about 20% of those newcomers never log into their account once approved. Some of this is life: Most of us have registered for a website with best intentions of using it and discovered that time or inclination withers away quickly thereafter. This is a normal part of running a site like ours and in no way a concern or problem. However, thanks to the ever-growing creep of AI, we are also aware that bot registrations are likely to become more sophisticated. Unfortunately, my recent attempts to contact a few never-accessed members about their accounts and getting no response confirms that we might have arrived at this era.

It is in the best interest of everyone to not have bot registrations on the site that can potentially use their access to features like fanworks, comments, and member contact forms to bother SWG members with spam or malicious content. Given this, the SWG moderators the following change to our Site Etiquette and Terms of Service:

• If six months pass and a new account is never logged into, we will contact that person using the email registered on the site to allow them to keep their account.
• If we receive a reply, we will keep the account open. There is no obligation for the member to log into the account or use it or maintain any minimum level of activity.
• If we don't hear a reply within two weeks, we will delete the account.
• Note that this applies only to new accounts that have never been logged into. Once a person logs into their account, they can keep it forever and use it as much or as little as they like.

We are interested in input on this policy change. You can share your thoughts by replying to this email or joining the discussion in the #town-hall channel on our Discord. Thank you to all who have shared input so far!

And finally, a reminder that our current challenge, The Only Thing to Fear, has one week remaining during which to post fanworks if you'd like to receive a stamp for your creation.