1. General meeting for all Guild members: Sunday 5pm EST, 4pm CST,
10pm
GMT, every Sunday.
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace. You can invite yourself to the
room.
It's a kindness to other members to use your guild name so they know
who you are.
The chairperson is usually Varda , sometimes Eonwe. Sometimes a member
will be called on to chair a
section of the meeting, especially if the chairs need to move to
another window to give a test. Usually the highest honor members will
be called first.
Business (in this order: Membership, Webwork on our site, Gaming
reports, and then Tolkien) are discussed, suggestions
and comments made, breaking into chat and games afterwards. To speed up
the business meeting, a person who has business needs to whisper which
part of the meeting he/she needs to be called for so the chair can jot
it down and be sure each member is heard. If that speaker has to leave
before that part of the business comes up, the chair can copy/paste
from the whispered AIM window.
A Tolkien topic may be whispered at any time, and the chair will try to
make sure all topics are addressed or listed to be brought up at the
next meeting.
The group often goes into After-meeting for general chat, and may
choose up which games to jump into together then or at other times
during the week.
2. World of WarCraft: Lothar server members game together every
Friday,
usually whenever Eonwe shows up (Auros, paladin, branch
leader), around 6pm EST or a bit later. The group does not have to wait
for him, but do watch for him. The idea is to bring our highest level
characters together to do instances with trustworthy, fun people that
are hard to solo and may be frustrating with a PUG (pick-up group).
High level instances are necessary to many high level quests such
aselite/epic mounts, class and profession skills, and gear. Lower level
instances may also be run for new members or alternates, at the same
time or instead, according to member need and inclination. This type of
group questing may also be done all during the day if members wish, as
schedules are tough to meet, and frequently runs all night into the wee
hours.
Tolkien Memberships:
1. Join by writing (articles, stories, poetry, language, humor),
doing art, or another contribution to the Tolkien site (some give
server space). The guild maintains it for the benefit of all Tolkien
fans. Email the work to Varda
to be placed in the appropriate section(s). Pieces may be linked such
as art to an article, either in an image list or at the beginning of
the article. Links go both ways. If you do not wish your piece linked
to something in particular, let Varda know and it will be corrected.
2. Next, join the Forum under your new primary guild name,
decided
between you and Varda to prevent two people using the same name at the
same time, and used as your credit name linked to your author's page by
that name. Your author's page is for contact information so that all of
your articles are updated at the same time, and to show readers what
else you have written, so they can look up items by their favorite
authors as well as subject.
3. Feel free to come to live AIM meetings held every Sunday. We have
business first, then move to Tolkien chat. Transcripts of meetings are
linked to the general News page.
4. If you wish to contribute to the Tolkien site without joining, that
is fine, but please give Varda a consistent name for your author's page
for your credit.
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1. Play Diablo, StarCraft, BroodWars, WarCraft2,
and DiabloVK, (as
well
as other online games) with other people who prefer honorable play and
behavior.
Our main game is now the World of WarCraft MMORPG. We have World of
WarCraft branches on Lothar for Alliance (main; ask Eonwe/Auros)
and on Uldaman for Horde (casual; ask Varda/Gilbrennil), and have
European
members on Argent Dawn server, which is now starting an official guild
branch for Alliance (ask Finduilas/Failivrin).
We also have members
playing EverQuest (ask Aule/Taglos) and Dark Age of Camelot (ask
Irmo/Yrma).
We intend to go into Lord of the Rings Online which should come out
around November 2006 (ask Varda).
Please list your games on
the Games page so we can find each other, and use your guild name or a
version of it to be recognized outside official branches. Games page:
email Eonwe.
2. Discuss Tolkien and related authors: Fantasy and
Science Fiction
in AIM after Business on Sunday meetings or on the Forum.
3. Post Tolkien and game discussion to our Forum.
4. Role-play one of Tolkien's characters not already
taken, given when
you join as a full member.
5. Publish descriptions and articles for the Guild's
Tolkien
Encyclopedia.
Publish Tolkien stories, poems, artwork, humor, languages.
6. Contribute to a web page for the Guild by
emailing that page's
maintainer
(cool links you found, information you know, Tolkien images) or make
your
own to be linked with the rest of the Guild pages. Tolkien and Gaming
are the two main areas where we need helpers. Varda coordinates
the
Web Team. Please remember to put a link back to the Guild's Home Page!
7. Make game maps for the guild, especially with a
Tolkien theme. Tell
Eonwe for the Games page, and tell about it during the Games section of
the business meeting.
8. Dropped for loss of players. Play in the Valar
SC/BW League Ladder
as one member of a pair against
another pair. This ladder has fallen mostly into disuse, but if you
would
like to play, email Aule.
9. World of WarCraft
Friday instances or high level questing on Lothar every Friday. Other
times, any level. Sometimes Fridays we have lowbie runs at the same
time or instead, according to members' needs.
10. Train other members in how to play the games by
actually playing
with them. Make pages to help their strategy, or add to an existing
strategy
page, and have it linked into the Games pages. Email a review of any
online game for the Games page to Eonwe.
11. Store items on a guild bank character for the
guild's Diablo
players who are new, just started
a new class, have won a contest, had a hard drive wipe, or who have
lost
all their items after dying and crashing.
In World of WarCraft Lothar branch, send extras to Eonwe's Kalasul to
be passed
around on Fridays live or by WoWmail at other times. Also send WoWmail
requests to our crafters and/or to Kalasul. Craft goodies for other
members.
12. Come to Sunday meetings when you can. This can
help you schedule
games with others, let you comment and ask questions or make
suggestions,
and chat with other Tolkien enthusiasts.
13. Chat.
AIM and games are sociable. Use common sense during instances. Expect
pauses in-game.
14. Be recognized for Maiar and Valar honors. Dive
in and help!
15. Recruiting. Regular members can scout, Maiar and
Valar honor
members
can also test for regular membership. Scouts look for courteous,
honorable people who have read LotR, and see if they would be
interested in Full or Tolkien-only membership, give the person the
domain name (http://valarguild.org)
and help them reach a tester (for
gamers, AIM meetings are the best spot) and/or the Tolkien Site (for
Tolkien-onlies) by emailing or using AIM to contact Varda. Maia honor
can scout, test, and give Full Membership. Valar
members do the same plus give Maia honors, and Vala honors as a team.
16. Other. Members are always coming up with
wonderful ideas, bless
them. :)
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Each individual must find his/her own comfort level for playing Diablo games within the overall Valar Guild philosophy. The governing Guild rules for play are that there is cooperative play (no pk's), no items are to be duplicated (no cheating) and players are not to restore items to characters killed in play. Battle.Net induced losses may be recovered by restoring the character with a grey area existing where a character has been killed and there is a game crash while trying to recover your artifacts - use your own sense of fair play in such a case; if there was a reasonable chance of recovering your stuff, restore - if it was really hopeless, take your licks and rebuild your character's inventory.
In general, there is a continuum for accepting help (gifts) while playing. The most restrictive being that you don't use anything that you don't find yourself (including shrines and town portals to deeper floors--V) and the least demanding mode of play is that you accept any and all artifacts from other Guild members (only). Personally, I enjoy helping out new players with gifts but i don't want to detract from your enjoyment of working up a character.
My personal preference is that when a group of similar level characters are playing as a team, then items found are for the good of the group and whoever needs the artifact may accept and use it. When I was playing up Melkor, if there were other higher level players playing more difficult levels in the same game, I would not accept items from them. This makes it more difficult to work a player up but for me, if it is too easy, I end up with a high level, powerful character but no sense of accomplishment. The same can be said for getting your 'dots' - if your character is not powerful enough to play the hell levels of the game (Normal, Nightmare, or Hell level games) - you should probably not join at the last minute just to be present when Diablo is killed, you have not really 'earned' your dot in such a case.
In summary, each new player must think about his/her personal philosopy and reason(s) for belonging to and playing in the Valar Guild. Then within your own ethical guidelines, select a 'rule of play' for yourself. The main thing is to enjoy yourself and the camaraderie of playing with other Guild members.
Good hunting, Melkor
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CHANNEL COMMANDS
(Battlenet)
by Varda-(Valar)
Please email Varda if you want
other commands included.
Bnet commands and names are not case sensitive. People, however, don't
like to be shouted at with all upper case letters.
Finding and using the dlinfo files as backup for your characters in Windows 95/98. (That dlinfo word has an "L" not the number one --V)
select Windows Explorer
under View, select Folder Options
click on Show All Files
(this will then show the dlinfo files which are 'hidden files')
These files are your Diablo character files with this structure: dlinfo_n.drv , where n=0...9
I checked again and the reverse listing of characters in Diablo does not correspond to 1 through 0 or 0 through 9 for me, (although it does for Varda --V). So to be sure, I suggest the following method of determining which number corresponds to which character.
select Windows Explorer
select Windows
right click/drag all the
dlinfo files to your desktop and select Copy Here so that the files are
now in both Windows and
on the desktop - for extra safety I recommend also copying to disc by:
rt click on the Windows dlinfo files, select
Send To, and select 3 1/2" Floppy (A)
Now rt click on all the Windows dlinfo files and select Delete (it will tell you that one of your programs may not work - say: ok). Then rt click/drag/Copy Here the dlinfo files from the desktop one at a time - after each copy operation, go open Diablo and see which character has been added and record the dlinfo number that corresponds to the character.
I save to desktop after each game and to disc once a day in the
event
that I have to restore
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TOLKIEN ENCYCLOPEDIA
by Varda-(Valar)
Any Tolkien fan may send an entry to the
Encyclopedia or any part of the Tolkien site.
Email Varda.
The fan does not have to be in the Guild or have any
particular Honor.
Please make sure the facts are backed up with a book
and chapter
source of Tolkien's, double-check spelling and grammar.
Email or Word
attachments are
fine. You can update your entry any time by emailing Varda, or correct
errors the
editor
may have accidentally done. Many entries by many people may be put
under
the same subject, and don't have to agree on their personal
conclusions.
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MAIA HONOR
by Ulmo-(Valar)
with input by other Valar and Maiar
Qualifications for Application for Maiar Honor:
1. 2 months active membership in Valar-game play, Tolkien chat, meeting attendance will all be considered, time zone will be taken in consideration as well
2. continued reading/studying of LotR (this will become apparent during testing if not already from chats)
Process for obtaining Maia Honor:
1. Apply to Varda or Eonwe in a letter stating the following.
a. Why you wish to
obtain Maia Honor
b. what involvement
in the guild you feel qualifies you for this honor
c. what future
involvement
you might have as the result of achieving Maia Honor
2. Approval of The Council of Mahanaxar and the Maiar that your
application is worthy of being tested for Maia Honor
3. Testing by a panel of 3 Valar, containing 5 questions,
somewhat
difficult and requiring a good understanding of the entire story in the
LotR.
Before the questions, show that you understand what
a Maia is.
After the main questions, a bonus Silmarillion
question
is offered.
A score of 4/5 is required to pass, a correct bonus
question covering one missed LotR question. Consideration for
nervousness,
English as a second language, and other personal factors will be
considered
providing a thorough knowledge is apparent.
4. Retesting after failure will require a waiting period of 2
weeks.
Please feel free to comment on any aspect of this procedure. I don't want to beat this to death, or make it overly complicated, but assuring that becoming a Maia is honorable and shows a depth of knowledge is important.
ADDITIONS TO INFORMATION ON MAIA HONOR
by Irmo-(Valar)
(From a letter to the Council, with which the Council agreed and asked that it be added to the FAQ)
Some of the things I personally look for as qualifications are (and I think that goes for all of us..) :
- Visibility (regularity) on b.net, possibly Discussion Board
[Forum]; a Maia
needs to be relatively well-informed and in tune with the goings-on in
the Guild.
- Attending meetings, expressing opinions that show interest
in guild. (basically they have to be willing to get involved)
- Tolkien lore, at meetings and/or possibly through contributions
to Encyc or other fora. They should exhibit this sufficiently for us to
rely on their recruiting (testing) skills and for them to take part in
our Tolkien
activities.
- Maturity, courtesy and pleasant conduct - expected from all
members but especially from Maiar whom we need to depend on in various
situations, for example when they represent the Guild in public
channels
or decide if new recruits are guild material..
Incidentally, a thing I couldn't help but notice is that a few of
the
previous applicants have been active for a a relatively short period
before
and after promotion and then somehow "lost interest" and drifted out of
sight. It may be hard to tell in advance, but we should really try to
pick
stable members who will stick with it and be careful with those who
just
think -(Valar) looks better than -(V) :)
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Only a few Valar Honor slots are available,
compared
to the many for Members and Maiar, set by the number of Valar names
made
by Tolkien. All Valar must remember that they are there to serve
the membership, not for the membership to serve them. The members
should allow the Valar to do their duties and seek to serve the guild
themselves,
as they may someday be the leadership. Somebody has to do it, because
of
our large size and numerous activities.
Valar are expected to serve on the Council of
Mahanaxar
(usually shortened to "the Council"), making decisions that affect the
entire
guild. They have different viewpoints to represent the views of
different
parts of the guild, including young and old, different countries (a big
help with language on tests!), different genders, Tolkien preference,
gaming preference, and
mixed. All have in common a deep love of the Guild shown in
fanatical
commitment. They have to know Tolkien well enough to keep up the
quality both of output and of incoming members. All deeply believe in
honor
and will enforce it. They have to be willing to speak to each
other
in group emails and possibly AIM to discuss issues, answering in timely
fashion. They
remember that this guild is intended for families as well as Tolkien
fans
and gamers, keeping it clean and honorable as Tolkien would have
approved.
All must be capable of chairing meetings, in case
they are elected chairman or the others in the gavel line
cannot make a meeting. They must be willing to accept the
co-chairs'
executive decision if the group cannot agree. The co-chairs must
agree in such a case, or table the issue until later, remembering that
no decision is also a decision!
In rare cases where a fast decision must be made, we need to be able to
trust the person making it, and a co-chair or Vala may do this. The
Council can do damage control afterwards if necessary.
Potential Valar must be invited to be tested by
the Council, and be sponsored by at least one Council member,
preferably
two or more. The whole Council must agree that the person is
worthy
before the invitation is given, as they must all work together.
Also,
the different Valar will have different criteria, assuring that the
person
will be excellent all around in ability. Seniority is not a
reason
to be made Valar.
The Tolkien test is an extremely difficult Silmarillion
test, answering 4 out of 5 at least. They have already passed the
Maiar test over Lord of the Rings, and are expected to have
read
the Hobbit. They have often read many other Tolkien books
and are allowed to add that information to their answers.
The original Council was put in place due to
incredible
service above and beyond expectations, saving and expanding the guild
when
normal Diablo guilds would have folded under those conditions.
New
Valar have since been added, worthy of filling such shoes and doing
such
deeds. I salute them all!
The co-chairs of the Council must be agreed upon
by the Council, as they will occasionally be stuck with the executive
decisions
of the pair. The chairs must be able to see the whole picture and
therefore need plenty of input from the entire membership. The
Council must
choose a pair they trust will usually make the right decisions, even if
they make bloopers sometimes, and that they will try to repair problems
poor decisions cause, remembering that the Council can and will
help.
Have mercy on your chair persons, as you may have to do the job
someday.
Give constructive criticism! Give helpful information! Accept
responsibility
for your actions and go on from there.
Valar may resign from the Council, retaining Valar
honor but may change to a non-Vala name. Such persons are of high honor
and
their knowledge of immense value to the entire Guild. Their advice is
welcome
to the Council. They may return to the Council if they desire, if a
Vala
name is available, and the Council agrees.
The list of current Council and Co-chairs may be
found on this
page.
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Any mature adult member who has a polite child
under
12 years old, who wishes them to be able to play in our safe/polite
atmosphere
should be allowed the privelege.
The child should choose an obscure name (saving
good/easier ones for regular members), the child should be informed
about
our conduct rules, and supervised by the parent for the first couple
log-on
times to assure they know how to act in games and channel. The
Tolkien
aspect of our guild will prolly wear on them in time, they will like it
and read the books as they mature, or it will bore them and they will
fade
away.
by Varda-(Valar)
Sept. 1, 2000
If the child has had the Lord of the Rings read
to
him, that would help a lot. After the child reads the trilogy for
himself,
he may apply for regular membership, taking the entry test.
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Primary names may be changed to reflect a change
in honor
rank.
A member starts with a name from the free people. He takes on a Maia
name
if he achieves that honor, and a Vala name if he achieves that honor.
Thus
he might have three names. A Vala serves time on the Council and then
may
retire, using any name he chooses but retaining Vala honor.
One change per honor level may be allowed if the
name is available. Send a letter to the Council through Varda
requesting
the change. Reasons for the change may be:
1. The name was unavailable when the player joined.
2. As the player learned more about the characters in Tolkien,
he found that he preferred the attributes of this other person.
3. The player really really wants it enough to justify confusion
and changes on at least three web pages by three different people.
by Varda-(Valar)
(alphabetical listing implying nothing)
Co-chair: Varda-(Valar)
Co-chair: Eonwe-(Valar)
Council: Irmo-(Valar)
Council: Melkor-(Valar)