Valar Guild

March 16, 2014 Sunday Meeting

5pm EDT (UTC/GMT - 5)
AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace

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Transcript work by
Ar-Pharazon and Varda.

Attending: (4)
    AriehnV, ArPharazonV, Indis-(V)/karakedi25, VardaValar1 (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
    New Full Member: Durin-(V)
Web:
Gaming:
Tolkien:
   Chat topic: Speculation on the obscure class for LotRO that was mentioned only a few times in the books.
After-meeting:
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Before-meeting
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
karakedi25 has entered the room.
karakedi25: aiya
karakedi25: where is everyone?
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
ArPharazonV: Sorry, no DST here yet, so it feels earlier. I think Arien might've forgotten that too.
ArPharazonV: Trying to contact Arien in-game.
ArPharazonV: She's not responding. Giving it half an hour and hope she remembers, even if she didn't remember DST.
ArPharazonV: You still here, Indis?
karakedi25: yes
karakedi25: but also in lotro
ArPharazonV: Yeah, I was still in WoW when you first asked, since it's still an hour earlier here, so that's fine :-)
ArPharazonV: Trying to poke Arien in whisper, but she's not responding. I can't contact anyone else. Do you have anyone in LotR?
ArPharazonV: If not, we'll have to wait until Arien gets here. If she doesn't get here in half an hour I'll take charge, I suppose.
karakedi25: not on that account
AriehnV has entered the room.
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya :-)
AriehnV: hey ehr i am sorry i completely forgot
ArPharazonV: Aiya both!
AriehnV: aiya Varda .. i wasnt here until now so you might just as well lead today
VardaValar1: Who is running the meeting?
VardaValar1: Ok
ArPharazonV: Nobody yet.
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VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
VardaValar1: Membership:
ArPharazonV: I was going to wait until we were an hour in.
VardaValar1: Thank you for being back-up, Phar!
VardaValar1: We have a new Full Member: Durin-(V)
ArPharazonV: Welcome to one if not all of the 6 Durins?
karakedi25: aiya
VardaValar1: He joined us March 13 and has been quite active since entering in LotRO.
VardaValar1: Plenty of room for alts. ;-)
VardaValar1: Aiya Indis : )
VardaValar1: We have a write-up on Durin-(V) on the News, in case you haven't seen it yet.
VardaValar1: Any other membership news?
VardaValar1: Saying no is a perfectly good answer. :-)
karakedi25: no
VardaValar1: We are recruiting for the guild again, as you can see.
ArPharazonV: In that case, no.
VardaValar1: heh, thanks.
VardaValar1: Here's hoping Bruce is doing well.
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VardaValar1: Web:
VardaValar1: This weekend I had some difficulty putting up stuff on the site,but believe the problems are all worked out now.
VardaValar1: What went up was pure HTML work.
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VardaValar1: Gaming:
VardaValar1: Any news from non-WoW, non-LotRO?
ArPharazonV: Yep.
VardaValar1: Fire when ready!
ArPharazonV: 1:
ArPharazonV: Marginally wow-related, but I've decided to look into Hearthstone, so I can earn the mount that transfers to WoW. Looked a bit at it, and how it works, but since it forces the new battle.net launcher I'm not having it spend much time on the pc yet.
ArPharazonV: Will probably hop over during next week, if not tonight, since I've been assured that the launcher should work fine now.
VardaValar1: Do you know someone that tried it yet?
ArPharazonV: I think Fladrif was in the beta, and I heard things from my WoW group too.
VardaValar1: Did it work for them?
ArPharazonV: But I'm basically just in it for the mount, which requires 3 victories in the game :-)
ArPharazonV: Oh, the launcher?
VardaValar1: Aye
VardaValar1: yay for mounts. :-)
ArPharazonV: Yeah, I was told by other WoW-ers that it should be fine now. They don't seem to have many issues, and no information is lost from the launcher screens if you upgrade, or so they tell me.
VardaValar1: That's good news.
ArPharazonV: 2:
ArPharazonV: more flashgaming, including an interesting ninja game I spent some hours yesterday trying to complete; not sure if you're into that stuff, but here's a link
ArPharazonV: http://www.kongregate.com/games/kreig13/forbidden-arms
ArPharazonV: Basically, you're a ninja with a demonic sword which needs to feed on the blood of enemies, or it'll kill you instead. Needless to say it's a lot of running and slashing and killing stuff.
ArPharazonV: But there's a decent story to it, and there's a lot of varied combat techniques and upgrade systems.
ArPharazonV: And... that's it from me, basically.
VardaValar1: A bit like Elric of Melnibourne's sword. It had an appetite that didn't always agree with his though.
VardaValar1: Thanks. Lots of folks read your Flashgames reviews, and someone will probably try it.
ArPharazonV: It can talk, too, and it's friends with the main character, of a sort...
ArPharazonV: so it kinda reminds me of Turin :-)
VardaValar1: and Beleg. That sword seemed to like him maybe better than Turin.
ArPharazonV: True!
VardaValar1: The Turiin story, aye.
ArPharazonV: Until it killed him, I believe?
VardaValar1: The sword was angry with Turin for making it kill Beleg, and got its revenge when it was used in Turin's suicide.
VardaValar1: iirc
ArPharazonV: Ah yes.
VardaValar1: *forces self back on topic*

VardaValar1: WoW news:
VardaValar1: Any comments left for WoW?
ArPharazonV: More archeology! Got a few more achievements for finding 20 artefacts of a kind, and it feels like I'm nearly done with it. But of course the last ones will probably take ages to get :-)
VardaValar1: heh, aye
VardaValar1: Grats!
VardaValar1: Any other WoW news?

VardaValar1: LotRO:
VardaValar1: In kin news, we extended the kin AH to go through last week since so many missed out on that weekend.
VardaValar1: Hopefully we won't need to do that next second weekend, as that can be expensive.
VardaValar1: Eowyn-V found that her major problems with LotRO had to do with old drivers, so they are now updated and she hopes to be able to pop in more now.
VardaValar1: This weekend is 100% bonus experience weekend and great for alts, going on through March 17 (tomorrow).
AriehnV: ah nice .. i got the guardian to 63 now
AriehnV: was playing a bit yesterday
VardaValar1: Very good!
VardaValar1: We have several leveling nicely and more folks online.
VardaValar1: Hamson requested a group for Forgotten Treasury.
AriehnV: i spoke with Hamson yesterday yes
AriehnV: forgotten treasury is in Moria if i remember right
VardaValar1: Correct
VardaValar1: One of the first group instance runs.
VardaValar1: Once we do that, we'll probably be going with him through the next batch.
VardaValar1: We need to check our characters and see which need that. If none, we may use high levels to help.
VardaValar1: A new class is being added to LotRO.
VardaValar1: As Indis reminded me, it was the special surprise announced on the Twitch interview.
VardaValar1: The new class has been talked over with Tolkien Enterprises. It's been mentioned in the books a few times.
VardaValar1: It's a mystery that they give a teeny bit of info on now and again.
VardaValar1: Any other LotRO comments?
karakedi25: not from me, other than that u13 is on the public test server
karakedi25: anyone can go in, if they can download the clent
ArPharazonV: I feel like speculating on what class it could be, if it's been mentioned in the books :-)
VardaValar1: Would you like to explain what U13 means?
VardaValar1: That would be fun, Phar. :-)
karakedi25: the new update
VardaValar1: Update 13 is being tested, aye, and any of us can go in to help get rid of bugs.
karakedi25: includes some new areas and some cleanup of old ones, plus some good quality of life changes
VardaValar1: Are we still mostly in NDA, non-disclosure agreement?
karakedi25: no, there's no nda on bullroarer (pub test server)
VardaValar1: Thanks!
VardaValar1: Any other business, comments, suggestions?

ArPharazonV: Next week, D3 auction house coming down!
ArPharazonV: So buy and sell while you still can!
VardaValar1: Ouch. My authorizing gadgets for D3 and WoW are still in Texas. :-(
ArPharazonV: Aw.
AriehnV: on that note comment from me i like the patch updates for D3and am short of Bellial on normal on a new Demon hunter
VardaValar1: That's why no one is seeing me in either place. Not dislike. Also don't have them or SWTOR on this working comp.
ArPharazonV: Will you be back in time for the Reaper of Souls goodies if you install the expansion within... 5 days, or pre-order digitally?
VardaValar1: Good to hear!

AriehnV: where are you now Varda?
VardaValar1: I'll probably be in Arizona until mid-May.
AriehnV: ah i see
VardaValar1: Faramir is improving nicely, but it was a really bad set of injuries. Three broken bones in his leg in a compound fracture and a dislocated shoulder on the same side.
karakedi25: yow!
ArPharazonV: Sounds quite painful.
VardaValar1: Prevents crutch use, and he's being acrobatic using his wheelchair. Nothing stops him.
ArPharazonV: wheelchair with one arm?
VardaValar1: Two metal plates and scads of bolts holding his leg together. They will stay.
VardaValar1: Aye, one arm and one leg. But he does well with it. Impressive guy.
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VardaValar1: On to Tolkien:
ArPharazonV: Would seem he'd have to be rolling in circles.
VardaValar1: You'd think but he has the physics figured out. : )
VardaValar1: If someone has a Tolkien-related comment to make, go ahead. We also have a chat topic for afterwards.
VardaValar1: Oh, and I nearly forgot. Phar, you mentioned speculating what class from the books, mentioned only a few times, might be used in LotRO's new class.
VardaValar1: Did you have an idea?
VardaValar1: Woses maybe?
karakedi25: A lot of people are suggesting beornings.
VardaValar1: Hedge wizards?
ArPharazonV: Well, not really, since I don't know what classes would fit any gaps there are, or how it'd be related to race (like, indeed, the woses or the beornings)
VardaValar1: I wonder. Those have more than a few mentions. The Beornings. But that would be interesting.
ArPharazonV: first things that came to mind were rangers and wizards, but yeah.. hedge wizards maybe?
ArPharazonV: Anything Rohan-related perhaps?
VardaValar1: Rangers could be interesting, aye.
karakedi25: too close to hunters
VardaValar1: Not sure how they would do anything new with Rohirrim. We already have mounted combat.
ArPharazonV: That's true.
VardaValar1: Rangers might be a mostly sword class with some ranged for bow that's not so much bow-happy.
ArPharazonV: dark riders? ;-)
VardaValar1: hah!
VardaValar1: Interesting. They might find themselves adding a related pvp class against it.
VardaValar1: er, monster class, pardon.
ArPharazonV: New class: Barrelriders.
VardaValar1: lol
VardaValar1: Indis, are Beornings the only one people seem to be considering seriously?
AriehnV: Beornings would be nice
ArPharazonV: There were a lot of lesser rings made, but Ringbearers probably comes too close to Burglars...
VardaValar1: Rangers have the advantage that they are known to wander all over.
ArPharazonV: How about... Gardeners?
VardaValar1: Woses and Beornings didn't travel around that much.
VardaValar1: Of course,only a few Hobbits did either and we have them all over.
VardaValar1: Gardeners,heh. We do have a skill for cooking and farming, as in Yeomen.
ArPharazonV: Ah.
VardaValar1: So you are thinking rightly.
VardaValar1: You can pick up a frying pan as a mild weapon from the mathom house, with rep.
VardaValar1: Nice if you're very high level running with lowbies. ;-)
ArPharazonV: Good with herbs and plants, specializing in shears and other utensils, yes.
VardaValar1: Farmers were the medieval infantry, often enough. A lot of weapons were based on their farm instruments, as those were actually used.
ArPharazonV: There you go! Farmers and gardeners and cooks...
VardaValar1: That could be an interesting class. Probably restricted to humans and hobbits.
VardaValar1: Still, it's supposed to be based on something just mentioned in a few spots.
ArPharazonV: Gardener wasn't mentioned much :-)
VardaValar1: Beorningswould be a race rather than class,and just for humans.
ArPharazonV: That would be an argument against it, yes.
VardaValar1: Or maybe a class just for humans. Very restrictive.
VardaValar1: Said it better that time.
karakedi25: gardener would be a good hobby
ArPharazonV: Jewelsmiths?
VardaValar1: We do have the crafting ability for jeweler, aye.
ArPharazonV: Not as a specialist class, then.
VardaValar1: Wouldn't gardener be the same as farmer?
karakedi25: no, not if it's landscaping
VardaValar1: I thought glass-blowing might become a hobby, and there were hints of it in-game, but apparently it never took off.
ArPharazonV: Glass-blowers? That could be an interesting class.
ArPharazonV: Trying to find a more official term for it, and here's what wikipedia gives me...
ArPharazonV: "A person who blows glass is called a glassblower, glassmith, or gaffer."
ArPharazonV: It's the Gaffer!
VardaValar1: haha!
VardaValar1: Gaffer has other meanings too, but that's very interesting!
ArPharazonV: They'd blow everyone away if they introduced the Gaffer-class and made it focus on glassblowing.
ArPharazonV: ...So hereby I'm calling it!
VardaValar1: Settled by the Golden One!
ArPharazonV: "Calling it" not as in concluding the argument, but by being able to say "I called it!" if it really happens :-)
VardaValar1: If we're not all worn out and needing to leave, we have another topic.
VardaValar1: Ok, you will get the credit!
ArPharazonV: So if you have more ideas?
VardaValar1: That would probably be more of a hobby though.
ArPharazonV: I'm sure blowing glass could be made into a weapon. Or they could just throw molten glass at people.
VardaValar1: Hedge-wizards were only mentioned a few times. But we already have caster classes.
VardaValar1: Beorning would be quite restrictive to humans.
VardaValar1: Woses seem as if they would only be in one small area and they didn't interact much.
VardaValar1: We'll see. : )
ArPharazonV: Innkeepers?
VardaValar1: Glass-making hobby would be very nice to add.
VardaValar1: heh, wouldn't they be stuck mostly in one place?
VardaValar1: The inn-keepers I mean.
ArPharazonV: Mobile inns?
karakedi25: beornings were also limited to a small area and didn't interact
ArPharazonV: A hobbit wose would be something...
VardaValar1: Could be an interesting craft,inn-keeping
VardaValar1: Agreed, beornings dón't seem to be that good an addition.
ArPharazonV: Could simply make them shapeshifters based on the beornings.
ArPharazonV: Not sure how you'd fit it in with the lore though.
VardaValar1: It would really be reaching and they said it fit lore.
VardaValar1: Be interesting to see what they've planned. No matter what it is, people will scream. And I will still try one.:-)
ArPharazonV: Hah.
ArPharazonV: Let us know about further revelations :-)
VardaValar1: The rune-keeper was said to be lore-breaking by players, but at least they used the concept of magical runes, and that pleased me. Made some sense.
VardaValar1: Lore-masters use knowledge that most are unaware of, sort of like Saruman and gun-powder.
ArPharazonV: ...explosive runes?
VardaValar1: Aye, Phar.
VardaValar1: We're coming up on the hour, so maybe the planned topic can be deferred until next week. It won't spoil. :-)

VardaValar1: So we can be ready for it, it was how Tolkien handled the concept of family in his books.
ArPharazonV: Seeing how there's a distinct lack of female characters, that could be fun!
VardaValar1: He was religious in a time where people didn't call it superstition, and had a lot of interesting family experiences of his own, all of which informed his writing.
karakedi25: it will vary by race :-)
VardaValar1: Agreed, Indis.
VardaValar1: We could list some families and then see how Tolkien handled the different ones.
ArPharazonV: Sounds good.
VardaValar1: He tended to keep his home life and work separate in his own life.
VardaValar1: If you're still lively, we can still try it tonight. Any comments? Tonight or next meeting since we started late?
karakedi25: next time would be better for me (in a raid, hard to contribute)
AriehnV: yeah probably Varda
ArPharazonV: Better next week then, might be more active :-)
VardaValar1: You're always in a raid, Indis. ;-) Ok, two votes for next time, I abstain unless there's a tie.
VardaValar1: And three. :-) Next time it is! And we'll have had time to think about it.
ArPharazonV: Basing my vote on the other 2, then?
karakedi25: I'm not always in a raid, but I am this time. However, I'm frequently in a fight :-)
VardaValar1: That's why I and Phar and Eonwe usually pull out of game during meetings, but it is kinder not to make the meeting long for that reason.
VardaValar1: *raises a silvery gavel*
VardaValar1: *tinnnnnnng*
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VardaValar1: After-meeting!
ArPharazonV: Well. It helps that our raids have been from 7 to 11 for as long as I can remember, so they finish (usually, unless DST comes up) just in time for the meeting :-)
VardaValar1: Fly free!
VardaValar1: For the USA, it's difficult, coming at very busy times of day, even during work.
VardaValar1: But it was the latest we could do and still keep anyone from Europe conscious.
VardaValar1: Eonwe even worked it so WoW ran instances after the meeting, for that reason.
ArPharazonV: Not bad, considering how long these meetings can go on.
VardaValar1: I really don't see anything other that hedge wizard that might fit, and it seems unlikely. Missing something.
VardaValar1: Aye. Notice how they shortened when we did the WoW runs? ;-)
ArPharazonV: Hah.
VardaValar1: But now Eonwe works all through this, so it kind of fell apart for now.
VardaValar1: I'm going to eat. :-)
AriehnV: okay enjoy :-)
ArPharazonV: Enjoy!
VardaValar1: mmm lasagna
ArPharazonV: Always reminds me of Garfield.
ArPharazonV: Allright. Let's try Hearthstone.
VardaValar1: Yay Garfield!
VardaValar1: Three pre-victory cheers for you in Hearthstone!
ArPharazonV: can only hope!
VardaValar1: ^^
ArPharazonV: And the new bnet launcher tells me...
ArPharazonV: Arien is in D3 :-)
VardaValar1: ah hah!
ArPharazonV: ..as well as in WoW
VardaValar1: Spy on your friends! Try it now!
VardaValar1: She's in both? What talent.
ArPharazonV: the fun of battletags, eh?
VardaValar1: So still buggy, showing in 2 games.
ArPharazonV: Don't know, she could be in both.
VardaValar1: Hey Arien! Are you in both D3 and WoW?
ArPharazonV: Hanging out in Silvermoon while killing demons in Sanctuary.
ArPharazonV: It's now trying to install Hearthstone and update Diablo and Starcraft at the same time, but apparently it can only do one so the others are on hold.
ArPharazonV: 8 gigabyte Diablo 3 update. Almost fascinating to watch.
VardaValar1: See something?
ArPharazonV: Just the progress bar :-)
karakedi25: namarie
karakedi25 has left the room.
ArPharazonV: Namarie!
AriehnV: Namarie :-)
AriehnV has left the room.
ArPharazonV: Also namarie!
VardaValar1: Belated namarie
VardaValar1: Can you see this?
VardaValar1: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=842344855781652&set=a.842344939114977.1073741826.100000184362371&type=1&theater
VardaValar1: on my Facebook page.
ArPharazonV: Yep.
VardaValar1: yay!
ArPharazonV: flying monkeys, eh?
VardaValar1: Yep :-)
VardaValar1: They have soft bird chirps along with them while they circle above.
ArPharazonV: chirping monkeys?
VardaValar1: Some sound like peeping frogs. :-)
ArPharazonV: Poor kid's going to be so confused in biology class later!
VardaValar1: Too right!
VardaValar1: No wonder he's laughing at them.
VardaValar1: It's a little hehehehe
VardaValar1: He wasn't doing that laugh right then on the photo.
ArPharazonV: He's really like "Hehe, that's wrong!"
VardaValar1: Aye!
VardaValar1: He sees real birds outside Don't think he'll be confused.
ArPharazonV: Ah, but until he sees monkeys...
VardaValar1: Have to wonder if the hummingbirds are real though.
VardaValar1: True.
VardaValar1: We'll have to take him to a zoo.
VardaValar1: Or a shopping mall. ^^
ArPharazonV: Always good to have an excuse to go to the zoo.
VardaValar1: Agreed
ArPharazonV: allright, saving and sending transcript
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