Valar Guild

June 5, 2016 Sunday Meeting

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

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Transcript work by
Ar-Pharazon and Varda.

Attending: (4)
    Arien-(Valar)/Arien V, Ar-Pharazon-(V)/arpharazonv,  Elladan-(V), VardaValar1 (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
Web:
    News page
Gaming
Tolkien:
    Topic: Since we're a fan club that likes to put up lore info and make creative efforts from those, it might be fun to comment on how that can be done.
After-meeting:
    Arien with gaming news.
    More on Tolkien and archaeology.
    Ar-Pharazon: more gaming news including flashgaming reviews.
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Before-meeting
Varda Valar: That worked. :-)
arpharazonv: Aiya!
Varda Valar: Used your second name instead of the first one.
Varda Valar: Aiya :-)
arpharazonv: hehe
arpharazonv: I was not aware they were different.
Varda Valar: You show twice on the list
Varda Valar: They are identical
arpharazonv: Aha.
Varda Valar: Ok, we have about ten minutes since we were so speedy. Yay us!
arpharazonv: Yay! Bit more black claw farming then.
arpharazonv: Almost at 3000 now, need 5000 for achievement.

Varda Valar: Time snuck up on us.
Varda Valar: Please give Arien a tell if you see her?
arpharazonv: I'll look.
Varda Valar: I'll pull up LotRO, but not hoping much
arpharazonv: Last online 22 hours ago.
Varda Valar: Thanks
Varda Valar: Looks as if the gang mostly left for supper.
Varda Valar: Most of us seem to cook.
arpharazonv: I see Elladan just logged in?
Varda Valar: The Hobbit in us, maybe.  :-)
Varda Valar: yay!
arpharazonv: Heh.
Varda Valar: Invited
Varda Valar: Seen Fladrif around?
arpharazonv: A few times. Not today.
Varda Valar: okies
Varda Valar: Most of the gang seems to play LotRO. Seems natural for a Tolkien fan club. :-)
arpharazonv: It does make some sort of sense, yes.
Varda Valar: Invited Gwaihir, Gilraen, Farmer Maggot too, may be afk though. They tend to leave AIM on in the background.
Varda Valar: Let's start  :-)
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Varda Valar: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Varda Valar: Membership:
Varda Valar: Huzzah for our scribe, Ar-Pharazon, for being here!
arpharazonv: Whoop!
Varda Valar: Happy to say Fangorn and I are back home after much traveling.
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Varda Valar: Web:
Varda Valar: For the News page, the main page is now streamlined by moving older news into the News Archives, so only June is up for viewing.
Varda Valar: That should make it faster to see.
Varda Valar: DeepGroover-T has a new model up, but I'm not sure it can go on our Tolkien Site:
Varda Valar: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209537443452519&set=pcb.10209537470973207&type=3&theater
Varda Valar: Feel free to comment on if you think it should or not
arpharazonv: Can't see it :)
Scott Lombardi: aiya!
Varda Valar: Ok, thanks
Scott Lombardi: afk a bit :)
Varda Valar: Aiya Elladan :-)
arpharazonv: Aiya!
Varda Valar: It's the timing. :-)
Varda Valar: Nothing we can use from the Bohemian Weasel either at the moment
Varda Valar: But the Games Site has new content. :-)
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Varda Valar: Gaming:
Varda Valar: (Thank you, Eonwe!)
Varda Valar: WoW:
Varda Valar: See what's going on this month in WoW.
Varda Valar: An update has been made to the information about the movie transmog items.
arpharazonv: And there's Arien.
Varda Valar: Check out how far you can see (among other things) in Legion with the blog Engineer’s Workshop: Extended Draw Distance .
Varda Valar: Yay :-)
Varda Valar: Aiya Sunshine :-)
arpharazonv: Fun to get new transmog items, but they don't seem like anything I'd equip on my main classes.
Arien V: aiya and listening from background .. lowsec roam in Eve atm and on TS
arpharazonv: maybe something for my human paladin
Varda Valar: Alrighty
Arien V: but carry on with the meeting :-)
arpharazonv: Aiya Arien!
Varda Valar: Eonwe sent an email on stuff happening in our Valar branch. He says:
    In WoW gaming: Glorfindel and I got together a couple of weeks ago to complete the ICC achievements for both 10-man and 25-man. We got many of them done, completing the meta and obtaining the mount rewards for those.

Varda Valar: Hearthstone:
Varda Valar: There was a new patch this week, patch 5.0.1.13030.

Varda Valar: Heroes of the Storm:
Varda Valar: There was a balance update this week.
Varda Valar: First Anniversary celebrations have begun.

Varda Valar: LotRO:

arpharazonv: Also for Heroes of the Storm, the anniversary event started, with a new mount released when you purchase something, and 50% extra experience gained during the event.

Varda Valar: In the short time I was on (LotRO) last night, Dis, Gorlim and I ran the new Black Serpent three-man. Then Gorlim had to leave, so Dis and I hit a batch of the offensive skirmishes. Much fun was had.
Varda Valar: Ahh, thanks, Phar
arpharazonv: Oh, right, you mentioned the anniversary.. well, I just filled in some details ;)

Varda Valar: In side info, we visited DeepGroover-T and got to see his Conan model. It's quite large and heavy so he's worried about carrying it to contests, could break. So were very lucky to see it in real life. More impressive than the photos even.
Varda Valar: Thanks for filling in details, Phar. Good to know!
Varda Valar: Any additional items, suggestions?
Varda Valar: Then on to
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Varda Valar: Tolkien!
Varda Valar: Since we're a fan club that likes to put up lore info and make creative efforts from those,
Varda Valar: it might be fun to comment on how that can be done.
Varda Valar: Many ways, of course, but here's a start.
Varda Valar: Think of anything you find interesting intellectually or emotionally.
Varda Valar: Then narrow that down a wee bit.
Varda Valar: Then figure out how to express that in Tolkieneseque terms either as an undercover way to say what you want to say
Varda Valar: or to celebrate how Tolkien says it.

Varda Valar: For instance, free will.
Varda Valar: Frodo puts his personal hopes, dreams, and life on the line because he wants others to be able to have free will, rather than be enslaved to Sauron's will.
Varda Valar: That can be expressed in art, poetry, article, short story, even music with instrumental feeling or additional lyrics.

Varda Valar: An interest in archaeology can have someone, try different races in Tolkien, finding a particular relic of the First Age while living in the Third Age.
Varda Valar: What reaction do these passersby have to the same thing?
Varda Valar: We see that in the LotR when we know a statue of a King had it's head knocked off by orcs, but when the hobbits see it with vines around the head, they say he has regained his crown.
Scott Lombardi: was just jamming with a buddy
Scott Lombardi: \m/
arpharazonv: Hobbits can have a bit more of an artistic and optimistic view on such things.
Varda Valar: Very cool, Elladan.
arpharazonv: While orcs see them as a symbol of what needs to be overthrown.
Varda Valar: Aye
Scott Lombardi: ugh I always seem to interrupt official chat worry
arpharazonv: no problem :)
Varda Valar: Join in, no worries. :-)
Varda Valar: And if it were a statue of Sauron, the reactions would be very different from both.
Varda Valar: Elladan, that's because we show up and invite you during "official chat". :-)
Scott Lombardi: So, :)
Scott Lombardi: haha
Scott Lombardi: so I'm going to try my hand at Dutch

Varda Valar: Jamming as in music?
Scott Lombardi: albeit probably very "touristy:
Scott Lombardi: Het gaat om hier te regenen voor de komende dagen
Varda Valar: Think of the differences in the music from the different races on different subjects.
Scott Lombardi: afraid to know how bad that is
Scott Lombardi: yes I play music, but we were playing more on the influence of Slayer and Sepultura :P
Varda Valar: Fortunately I have no idea what you said. :-)
Varda Valar: Sure, just feel free to comment on which races would enjoy that music. :-)
Scott Lombardi: I don't know their guild name but Ar is from the netherlands [Note: Ar-Pharazon-(V) is the guild name.]
Scott Lombardi: ah okay
Scott Lombardi: it would have to be the orcs I'd say
arpharazonv: It is a bit off grammatically, but I think I suspect what it might mean.
Scott Lombardi: het zal regenen gedurende twee dagen?
Scott Lombardi: trying to convert from Danish
arpharazonv: Sounds better :)
Scott Lombardi: det vil blive regnet i to dage
Scott Lombardi: is Danish
Scott Lombardi: Sorry to bring up the orcs
Scott Lombardi: but if metal was to come to a racial party in Tolkien, it would be them
Varda Valar: We mentioned orcs too
arpharazonv: Of course the first attempt translates as "the coming days" and the second attempt translates as "two days", so I'm not sure what the goal there was.
Varda Valar: Elves might enjoy rock and roll at least
arpharazonv: Hmm, they might, though it might not sound very harmonious to them.
arpharazonv: What would dwarves like?
Varda Valar: Hah, rock music.  :-)
Varda Valar: You could compose a piece for the dwarves. :-)
Varda Valar: Could be their feelings about Thingol and the Nauglamir  :-)
arpharazonv: Dwarves might like music that is *literally* metal. Y'know, saws and anvils etc.
Varda Valar: Having the dwarves put a silmaril in what used to be Finrod's necklace for Thingol made for a ton of tension.
Scott Lombardi: I think elves would be more into classical music
Scott Lombardi: and Celtic type
Varda Valar: Saws sound pretty cool when played with a bow. Anvil percussion?
Scott Lombardi: Dwarves would like Irish drunken music for sure. Interspersed with some rock
Scott Lombardi: perhaps the Dropkick Murphys
Varda Valar: Anyway, that necklace caused a war between the Elves and Dwarves.
Scott Lombardi: "can't we all just get along?"
arpharazonv: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rMuw4I9dS4#t=48s let the anvils ring :)
Varda Valar: Not when a Silmaril is involved with an accompanying curse?
Varda Valar: Animaniacs. :-)
Varda Valar: Even some medieval style clothing, heh
Arien V: epic metal .. i guess dwarf might like it :-)
arpharazonv: Indeed!
Varda Valar: Just noticing that we don't have an actual article on the Nauglamir, although it's mentioned along with some other articles.
arpharazonv: I still prefer the name Nauglafring, but that might be because I read the Book of Lost Tales before the Silmarillion :)
Varda Valar: Anyway, the idea was to think of things that we care about intellectually and/or emotionally, and see how we can talk about them in Tolkienesque terms for fun and the Tolkien Site.
Varda Valar: Hey - you can talk about its naming and why it should have remained the Nauglafring. Be a nifty article or chat here.
Varda Valar: Do you like the sound of it better? Does it seem to capture what it is better?
arpharazonv: I suppose it sounds a bit more exotic. A bit more dwarvish. But like I said, it's probably because I read the Nauglafring version a while before I came across the name Nauglamir.
Varda Valar: okie dokie

Varda Valar: So what would be some subjects dear to you folks? And can we relate them in some way to Tolkien?
Varda Valar: We mentioned archaeology, music
Varda Valar: concept of free will and Frodo.
Varda Valar: Any others you'd like to mention? These make good writing and art prompts too.

arpharazonv: Hmm, I'm quite fond of the subject of evolutionary history, but Middle-earth's time-span isn't quite as large as it would need to be ;)
arpharazonv: The closest we get to any natural speciation is the separation between hobbits and larger men.
arpharazonv: Which might be a good article if it was more than one throw-away line, or one might capture it in some fancy artpiece.
Varda Valar: Maybe the breeding changes over time by Sauron for Morgoth?
Varda Valar: An article doesn't have to be long, as long as it has some kind of revelation, insight, info.
Varda Valar: It's surprising how, once we dig in, we find a lot more.
arpharazonv: That would be related, yes. Different breeding methods, and new forms of orcs and goblins coming around over time.
Varda Valar: Finding out that there is more than the one line about Salmar, once into the HoMe, can be a big surprise to the researcher.
arpharazonv: Also the way dragons were developed, or men and elves separated in different groups and races.
Varda Valar: Aye. And Hobbits coming from Man? Something happened there.
arpharazonv: Dietary change?
Varda Valar: Several groups came from Man. Woses for instance
arpharazonv: Originally men were a bit wilder, swarthier, shorter perhaps. Perhaps it's not that Hobbits shrank so much, but just as much other humans getting taller.
Arien V: hmmm look at what hobbits are good at .. cooking, archery, they are soft footed .. in a world in which stealth was needed , and good nourishment for armies or fighting men in general during a time of war is essential and not only physically#
Arien V: they provided a kind of counterpoint to Morgoth and his war society
Varda Valar: Maybe bred for servants?
Varda Valar: But their will was too strong
Arien V: possible as well, kind of Tokiens version of Forsaken eh?
arpharazonv: Hobbits a failed breeding experiment by Morgoth? Interesting.
Arien V: or allowed to develop by the valar as counterpoint
Arien V: to help the real fighting men and warrior nations
arpharazonv: Valar intervention is an option, sure.
Varda Valar: Even Eru's intervention could be at work, tweaking genes such as increased willpower
arpharazonv: If it's Eru's intervention it might as well be for the specific purpose of resisting Sauron's devices and being able to topple him.
Arien V: hmmm interesting
Varda Valar: Likely

Varda Valar: Interests such as archery can help with an understanding of the characters too.
Varda Valar: Arien and myself have enjoyed bows, for instance.
Varda Valar: Anyone else here messed around with one?
Arien V: yup i like shooting arrows :-)
arpharazonv: I've done a small bit of archery at times (vacation recreational activities, for example; even once at a carnival.
arpharazonv: Not much good at it, though I'd like to be.
Varda Valar: That lets us have a connection with the archers in Tolkien's books
Varda Valar: Hobbits use bows, for instance, and contributed to the final demise of Grima Wormtongue
arpharazonv: They also sent a few archers to the war against Angmar.
Varda Valar: Right.
Varda Valar: They seem to have used them to add to their larders as hunters, and Bounders may have used them as well.
Arien V: main connection though is Bard the bowman whose black arrow killed Smaug .. unfortunately destroying Esgaroth by having the uncanny ability to fall on it
arpharazonv: They certainly remained proficient with them even in times of peace.
arpharazonv: 3 arrows shot Wormtongue, but there's no mention of the 37 arrows being fired at the same time that missed him because the hobbit archers hadn't kept up their training.
Varda Valar: 4 Hobbit archers, but aye
arpharazonv: And yes, Arien, one wonders if Bard couldn't have timed it a bit better :)
Varda Valar: lol
arpharazonv: 4? I stand corrected.
Varda Valar: I like the joke. :-)
Varda Valar: Bard the Bowman, aye
Varda Valar: and the archers of Mirkwood of course

Varda Valar: Any other comments, suggestions?
Varda Valar: *picks up a gavel gingerly, wondering at the changing pastel colors*
Varda Valar: *fwooooom!*
Varda Valar: *illusions, dreams materialize in beauty all around us*
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Varda Valar: After-meeting!
Varda Valar: *reluctantly puts Irmo's hammer back in the shelf*
Varda Valar: Free chat time!
Varda Valar: *runs to help the guys in the kitchen in self-defense* (They seem to be doing pretty well with most of it actually)

Arien V: eh i ve got a little bit games news .. can i just nip this in here?
arpharazonv: Sure. I'll launch into my own news in a bit :)
Arien V: cool :-)
Arien V: i ve played quite a bit Eve online this week and had a chance to chat a bit with Pallando
Arien V: :-)
Arien V: he is well and doing his job as sportscommentatior on an internet stream i think .. he does comment basket ball games if i got it right in my head
Arien V: that's one bit of the news and the other one is that in the corp that one of my newer characters joined is another member , sitting in Canada, who called his character Finrod Meneldor
Arien V: err Finrod Meneldur
Arien V: so of course i couldnt resist asking him whether he had connections to the Valar guild but he hasnt unfortunately unless he is an ex - member?
Arien V: he said his real name translates as that in Sindarin
arpharazonv: It does? Impressive.
Arien V: but he seemed nice and i told him it was nice to see Tolkien related names in Eve :-)
Arien V: told him of the Valar Guild and gave him my Tokien name to show him why i was asking
Arien V: that's all from me :-)
Varda Valar: Thanks Arien :-)

Varda Valar: One more thing in the Archaelogy mode.
Varda Valar: It's odd that we hear the stones of the old Eregion runes, Hollin, communicate with Legolas and he gives the group intel from that.
Varda Valar: but Gimli never gives info from stones.
Varda Valar: Even though they pass through Moria.
Varda Valar: Seems as if it would be the other way around.
arpharazonv: I think Elves have more of a gift of interacting with the spirits of things (in a way) while the dwarves are more in the material business.
arpharazonv: The fact that it's stone, seems irrelevant to that.
Varda Valar: Well said
Arien V: well . its created material .. so made by Eru or the other Valar at the time of the music
Arien V: so there is a sortr of connection
Arien V: the Elves as Erus firstborn children have maybe a closer link to the older creations before them if you see what i mean
Varda Valar: Actually referring to the elven ruins at Hollin
Varda Valar: Maybe so.

arpharazonv: Oki, let's get started on personal gaming!
arpharazonv: 3 flashgames this time:
arpharazonv: apocashop http://www.kongregate.com/games/Carsonal/apocashop puts you in the role of a shopkeeper, where you have to decide what to stock, who to sell to and for what price. Hints are given to complete certain objectives.
arpharazonv: color-move http://www.kongregate.com/games/eliolanda/color-move is a puzzle game where you have to move tiles around to match colors, and the direction in which you move a tile changes its color.
Scott Lombardi: Im back
Scott Lombardi: sorry
arpharazonv: Welcome back!
Scott Lombardi: had to go to the store
Scott Lombardi: annnnnnnnnnnd I prolly interrupted Valar chat again
Scott Lombardi: I should have an in-game title, "Elladan, disrupter of conversations"
Arien V: we are in aftermeeting Elladan and Phari was giving his personal gaming report
arpharazonv: I was just mentioning a few flashgames I've played that I recommend if people are bored :)
Scott Lombardi: I am working on creating some of those
arpharazonv: dont_eat_the_last_piece_of_chocolate http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/dont_eat_the_last_piece_of_chocolate is the third game, a simple puzzle game where you play against an AI and have to make sure you don't.. well, what the title says.

arpharazonv: Now for blizzard games.
arpharazonv: Been an even busier week than last week for me, so I didn't get much stuff done (but now my room's all finished with the redecorating since this afternoon, so time should be better).
arpharazonv: So unfortunately I did not get any Diablo 3 done, and it is once again looking bleak for getting the stash space this season.
arpharazonv: Heroes of the storm progress though! The extra experience helps. I've managed to get Nazeebo to level 7 and I've got about half a dozen other heroes also nearing level 7.
arpharazonv: Li-Ming and Zagara are probably my favorites at this time.
arpharazonv: Hearthstone: Some classes are now nearly halfway to the next level, while others have fallen behind. But I'm sure they'll catch up before we start getting them to level 42.
arpharazonv: Another interesting brawl this week, where you choose one class, then choose to blend your deck with the deck of one of 3 other random classes you're offered, and you'll get a mix of random cards for both classes. Makes for some interesting gameplay combinations.
arpharazonv: And more importantly, it saves me having to build my own deck for it :)
arpharazonv: WoW: Not much progress either. Not even a level for the horde alt. But I did get to 3000 blackfang claw collected, out of 5000 needed for the achievement. Getting closer!
arpharazonv: No raid-progress (and we've got an upcoming 2-week hiatus because it's difficult to get the people right now) but some mythic blackrock foundry bosses have gotten smoother. The fight with the trains is a lot of fun!
arpharazonv: I am considering going to see the Warcraft movie, in the upcoming weeks. Just too bad I don't know any other warcraft-fans living in the neighbourhood, so will need to go alone :)
arpharazonv: It's only offered here in 3D though, and that annoys me a bit. I might just wait until it's out on DVD, but I am rather curious about it.
arpharazonv: And that is my short-ish gaming news for this week.

Arien V: congratulations and namarie for now :-)
arpharazonv: Namarie!
Arien V: i am heading to bed :-)
Arien V: Namarie
Scott Lombardi: namarie
Scott Lombardi: ninja leave
Scott Lombardi: I'm out too
arpharazonv: Namarie!
Scott Lombardi: good night my family
arpharazonv: g'night!
Scott Lombardi: talk next Sunday
Scott Lombardi: <3e
Scott Lombardi: later

Varda Valar: back

arpharazonv: Wooh, level 7 with Diablo.
Varda Valar: Grats
arpharazonv: Deservedly so, that was a great match with him ;)
Varda Valar: Yay

arpharazonv: saving and sending transcript
Varda Valar: Thank you.
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