Valar Guild

June 17, 2012 Sunday Meeting

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

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Transcript work by
Ar-Pharazon and Varda.

Attending: (5)
    AriehnV, ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar, Indis-(V)/karakedi25, VardaValar1 (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
Web:
Gaming:
Tolkien:
After-meeting:
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Before-meeting:
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
VardaValar1 has left the room.
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Phar :-)
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
VardaValar1: Got hit with an update whilst typing and hitting enter caused it to go to the new install, heh.
ArPharazonV: Ah :-)
VardaValar1: Still some time left before the meeting. You in WoW?
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
ArPharazonV: What a time for internet to give out.
ArPharazonV: What'd I miss? copy please!
VardaValar1: Aiya, you missed nothing
ArPharazonV: I missed Arien entering apparently.
VardaValar1: ArPharazon-V: Ah :-) VardaValar1: Still some time left before the meeting. You in WoW?AriehnV has entered the room. ArPharazon-V (ArPharazonV) has left the room. ArPharazon-V (ArPharazonV) has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: Ah
VardaValar1: Hiya Arien :-)
ArPharazonV: Aiya Arien :-)
ArPharazonV: Anyway, no, I was/am not in WoW, logged out about half an hour ago.
ArPharazonV: Currently messing around with a torrent that has so many files in it that the torrent file itself is 22 mb, and I can't find a program that can handle it.
VardaValar1: yikes!
VardaValar1: I managed to finish up rl chores before meeting time, now putting stuff on the web page before the meeting.
VardaValar1: Ok, we'll quilt the transcript as needed, no worries. : )
VardaValar1: brb
ArPharazonV: allright
VardaValar1: Aiya :-)
VardaValar1: Looks like that time!
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VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
VardaValar1: Membership:
ArPharazonV: Did I miss something again? Who did you say Aiya too?
VardaValar1: Special thanks to both Arien and Phar for being here so regularly for meetings!
VardaValar1: Aiya to let you know I'm back. Should've just said back. : )
ArPharazonV: ah
VardaValar1: Today is Father's Day, so many of our Americans are busy with family activities right now.
VardaValar1: It's a pretty, sunshiny day here. Fangorn is on the rig right now but expects to be home tomorrow evening.
VardaValar1: Any membership news from you two? : )
ArPharazonV: Hmm...
ArPharazonV: nah, not really.
VardaValar1: heh
ArPharazonV: Trying to think of something, but life's dull.
VardaValar1: That's often a good thing.
ArPharazonV: No news is good news.
VardaValar1: As the hobbits said, when things are going well, with lots of elven singing, good food, not much to say.
Eonwe Valar has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Seems like one is enjoying or living life, not noisily complaining about it. : )
VardaValar1: Aiya Eonwe!
Eonwe Valar: Heya.
VardaValar1: Thought you might be busy with Father's Day activities. : )
ArPharazonV: Aiya
VardaValar1: Pengoldh-(V)'s birthday was Monday.
VardaValar1: He had intended to join LotRO with us and used to be on the LotRO forums with us, but we lost contact.
VardaValar1: His email no longer works so he's hard to reach.
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VardaValar1: Web:
VardaValar1: In our art section, we have a new model from DeepGroover-(T):
VardaValar1: "The Crusader"
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/DeepGroover/CrusaderUEM/CrusaderUEM.htm
VardaValar1: He could just as easily be a war-weary vet of Middle-earth.
VardaValar1: Any other web news?
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VardaValar1: Gaming:
VardaValar1: Any non-WoW, non-LotRO gaming?
ArPharazonV: Still working on that flashgame I mentioned last week, the highest difficulty is quite tough and I don't spend much time on it ;-) Also more Diablo. I'm almost done getting everything I can out of Act 1 for achievements.
VardaValar1: Sauron's computer has been in and out of the shop, but is still having blue screens of death about 15 minutes after he gets home, in case you wonder where he's been.
AriehnV: just a bit of EVe
AriehnV: usually about 2 hours a day or something like that :-)
VardaValar1: Do you ever see Pallando in EVE?
ArPharazonV: And one of the MLP games I was tracking was cancelled, quite a shame. Even had a playable demo some time ago, so I was looking forward to it. But still several are busy, and one's due to come out in a matter of weeks, I guess I'll be playing that one a lot at that time.
ArPharazonV: but continue!
AriehnV: nope
VardaValar1: Sorry to hear about the cancelled MLP game, seems like it might have gotten some players if it could make it out of the starting gate.
VardaValar1: Glad there are others for you. : )
ArPharazonV: Oh yes. Still a fighting game, 2 MMOs, a racing game, and a good deal of other types.
Eonwe Valar has left the room.
VardaValar1: Eonwe is having problems with weather, warned that it was thundering outside and he might disappear suddenly. Seems to have just happened.
ArPharazonV: Well, he's back, so it can't be a lightning strike in his computer.
Eonwe Valar has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Welcome back. : )
AriehnV: aiyata
VardaValar1: Usually power glitch or power outages from storms rather than actual lightning strikes, fortunately.
VardaValar1: heh, AIM upgrade grabbed him.
ArPharazonV: Ah.
ArPharazonV: Still stubbornly refusing to update.
VardaValar1: You must be a very careful person to keep from getting ninja-updated. Kudos to your ability!
ArPharazonV: I keep telling it to update a week later.
VardaValar1: ah, that's thinking.

VardaValar1: Eonwe, did you have any news from WoW? Events upcoming or other?
Eonwe Valar: Midsummer Fire Festival should be starting soon.
VardaValar1: Good to know.
Eonwe Valar: No runs to report. It's that time of the expansion, hehe. Last Sunday no one was able to show. The Friday and Sunday runs remain there for members to take advantage of.
VardaValar1: Friday Elwing and I showed up and played around a bit.
ArPharazonV: That time of the year, really. We had to cancel a WoW raid yesterday because of lack of people.
Eonwe Valar: Or rather ,Elwing and I showed, but that wasn't enough to do anything, so I let her go about her business.
ArPharazonV: Or maybe it's because of the expansion here too, but doubtful.

VardaValar1: LotRO:
AriehnV: its holidays
VardaValar1: We have folks who tried out the pre-order for Rohan. It gave us a batch of quests and goodies.
VardaValar1: Summer is here, so we see more of some people and fewer of others.
VardaValar1: Also, Guild Wars 2 and Diablo 3 have a number of people trying them out, so they show less for their main games.
VardaValar1: LotRO on Monday we had a couple of runs at about the scheduled time.
VardaValar1: Fangorn's Edge tier 2 with Melkor, Pippin and myself picking up Orthanc Sigils, medallions, marks, and the odd nifty item mostly good to sell at this point.
VardaValar1: Then we joined up with others and completed Foundry Tier 2.
AriehnV: Hurin and Indis were helping my alts with a bunch of group quests today and yesterday, Indis yesterday respectively for my runekeeper on the blackfire quests and Hurin today wih some group rep quests in the Barrow Downs
VardaValar1: Very good. : )
AriehnV: for my warden ^^
VardaValar1: Mostly in LotRO we now get together with others so we can run the larger group content, with Valar supplying maybe half the group, more, less, or often a duo or trio running together.
VardaValar1: This lets us run much more often every day, at many more times, and some of us are getting well geared this way.
AriehnV: Punched my hunter to 44 too and got me the fast travel thing to Aughaire
VardaValar1: We have a friend channel and are friends with some mixed kin groups as well as other kins, so it's not exactly pure pugging.
VardaValar1: Nice, Arien. : )
VardaValar1: We are also making more friends this way, and that's been fun.
VardaValar1: I will continue to show up at the scheduled times to be available to the kin anyway. : )
VardaValar1: The scheduled times are 8pm Eastern Monday and Wednesday, 1pm Saturday.
VardaValar1: The Rohan expansion has been fun for those of us trying the pre-order content. : )
VardaValar1: Here's an article telling about a few of the upcoming features:
VardaValar1: The Road to Mordor: Fifteen great things about Riders of Rohan
VardaValar1: The Road to Mordor: Fifteen great things about Riders of Rohan
VardaValar1: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06/16/the-road-to-mordor-fifteen-great-things-about-riders-of-rohan/
VardaValar1: Pardon the goof there.
VardaValar1: Indis passed that link on to us.
VardaValar1: Any other news?
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VardaValar1: Tolkien:
VardaValar1: The Hobbit movies will be coming out and our site needs to be ready to give true info when people Google for it.
VardaValar1: If you have any favorite characters, events, items that you'd like to make a short or long article for, this is a great time for it.
VardaValar1: The main dwarves of Thorin's Company only have stubs, could use some actual articles there.
VardaValar1: Even short articles hitting the main points would be good to have, to correct the inevitible weirdness that movies will bring.
VardaValar1: Any other Tolkien-related comments?
ArPharazonV: What do you think the changes might be? :-)
VardaValar1: More boom and whango. : )
VardaValar1: Leaving out or shortening travel or less active parts.
ArPharazonV: leaving out "optional" characters?
VardaValar1: What do we think we might shorten or change if we had to do a fan movie?
ArPharazonV: skipping parts that don't seem as important?
VardaValar1: Aye, or combining them, or moving them.
ArPharazonV: I think they'll keep the trolls in, if only for the reference to them that made it into the extended Fellowship movie when they go past there.
ArPharazonV: Not sure about Beorn.
VardaValar1: Probably have more emphasis on visual things, battles lending themselves well to that.
VardaValar1: Beorn has to be in, even if for short, because he shows up in the Battle of Five Armies. Or they have to change who gets him out.
VardaValar1: Who would be a good possibility for getting Thorin out of there?
ArPharazonV: True. He's a spectacular battle piece.
ArPharazonV: But they might skim over the part they spend at his home.
VardaValar1: Aye, that could be shortened, just enough so we recognize him as a friend on the battlefield.
Eonwe Valar: I suspect the Arkenstone will be cut
ArPharazonV: What about the raven? I just don't see any talking animals happening in this movie.
VardaValar1: True though, his part is so short that they might combine his action with another character who is more developed.
VardaValar1: and the Thrush.
ArPharazonV: thrush, that was it
ArPharazonV: Roac?
karakedi25 has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: not a raven, my bad
VardaValar1: The Arkenstone was needed in the plot
Eonwe Valar: I don't know about that, Phar. The whole moth thing in LotR, plus Gwaihir actually having lines in the Hobbit. A talking thrush might not be so out of place.
VardaValar1: There was a raven and a thrush.
karakedi25: Aiya
VardaValar1: Aiya Indis. : )
ArPharazonV: which one talked?
VardaValar1: Both
Eonwe Valar: The Arkenstone was cut in the Rankin-Bass version of the Hobbit. WHile I agree it should be there, it's been done without before.
ArPharazonV: Hmm. Will have to reread before the movie comes out.
VardaValar1: Indis, we've mentioned you twice - link, helping Arien in LotRO. : )
VardaValar1: The Arkenstone really needs to be in there and would look great on screen. Hope they keep it in this version.
Eonwe Valar: As do I.
ArPharazonV: The moth and eagles were nice in LotR, but none of them actually talked.
VardaValar1: We really should re-read either before or after the movie, as the movies tend to override our memorie.
Eonwe Valar: Gandalf talked to the moth though, and then an eagle came. Logic say the moth indicated Gandalf was in trouble by *some* means :}
VardaValar1: No moth in the books, but Great Eagles in the books talked. True, not in normal speech in the movies.
ArPharazonV: Yes, normal speech in the movies, that's what I mean.
VardaValar1: They did show Gandalf communicating with the moth, but not using English. And no comments from Gwaihir, who usually has remarks such as he's heavy.
ArPharazonV: I wonder if they will put it in The Hobbit movie, because of that. It will be hard to avoid the Eagles, though they might reduce that to some sort of communication between Gandalf translating for the eagles without them actually talking.
VardaValar1: Aye, it might just look as if only Gandalf understands them.
ArPharazonV: Talking spiders... dont'see that happening either.
ArPharazonV: And they'll probably shorten the riddle contest.
VardaValar1: Bilbo insulted the spiders to get their attention, since they spoke. So in the movie, he'll have to get their attention physically.
ArPharazonV: He can still yell at them.
VardaValar1: True, just maybe two riddles each, Bilbo gets stuck and asks what's in his pocket, Gollum cheats back with multiple answers.
VardaValar1: Aye, yelling works if they at least show the spiders can hear.
VardaValar1: Some of the action in the books can take place without us seeing it, but in a movie we see it all the time.
VardaValar1: This is one reason they may need to flesh out some characters to help with exposition by action.
ArPharazonV: Hmm yes, a major example will be the White Council and Necromancer thing that they were planning to show.
VardaValar1: Since JRRT was trying to write a Hobbit story and trying not to use the Sil for more than background (must have gagged his typewriter a lot), he might have really enjoyed telling more of that story.
VardaValar1: He didn't have the Ring story invented yet, so that action wasn't as relevant then.
VardaValar1: But after the LotRO, that action is now more important to the long-term storyline and good to include.
VardaValar1: Also, the Fellowship characters hadn't been invented yet.
VardaValar1: You can bet he would've loved to foreshadow them and have some be returning characters if he'd known he was going to write the LotR.
ArPharazonV: Hehe, yes.
VardaValar1: Ten-year old Aragorn would've had to be shown at Rivendell. Would've been fun. : )
ArPharazonV: The movie-makers have that luxury. I think Legolas is supposed to show up.
VardaValar1: The movie may not have time for much more than a view of a human child in the background.
VardaValar1: Aye, Legolas is in it, not sure how much.
ArPharazonV: Aragorn! Dinner time! *ten year old boy runs by*
VardaValar1: hhehehe - aye!
VardaValar1: They might call him Estel for book readers, or Aragorn for movie-goers. Be interesting to see what they pick..
VardaValar1: All of the Fellowship have at least a short return as older Bilbo reads his book to them for the starting bit.
ArPharazonV: Hah, yes.
VardaValar1: Legolas should be around as a warrior in Mirkwood and son of King Thranduil. He really should be one of the elvish captains or operating as the Elven-king's second or liaison.
VardaValar1: I hear they're going to have an elleth (lady elf) with a speaking part, since there are otherwise zero female characters. She would be a pure add-in.
ArPharazonV: Hmm, very true.
VardaValar1: No eye candy at a movie for you guys would be dreadful, too. ;-)
ArPharazonV: Well, there's room for lots of background hobbits, elves, and humans in Laketown.
VardaValar1: The dwarves are much more developed to show their individuality.
Eonwe Valar: Action is eye candy, hehe.
VardaValar1: True too. : )
ArPharazonV: There might even be dwarven females coming from the east to settle in Erebor, but we won't recognize them!
VardaValar1: hehe
VardaValar1: The Dwarves in Tolkien are given some good differences but these mostly disappear in the story. The similar names are murder too.
VardaValar1: Visually they get to show much more. Clothing habits, facial hair, body types, accents maybe, movements, weapons.
VardaValar1: Some are related to each other, some are very different, but this hardly shows in text.
VardaValar1: The book focused more on Bilbo, not letting the individual dwarves really show as characters all that much. Just sketches that could be nicely fleshed out in a movie.
VardaValar1: I'm actually looking forward to it. : )
VardaValar1: Ok, shall we call it quits here before Eonwe disappears in the next roll of thunder? : )
ArPharazonV: I wonder if we'll be able to keep all the dwarves apart. I know their styles are quite different, but still, 13 is quite a lot.
VardaValar1: Phar, they're working very hard to make them appear individual. They're worried about that too.
ArPharazonV: Yeah.
VardaValar1: The pictures they've shown and the short clips suggest they will be quite different. Should be fun. : )
ArPharazonV: Some look more like scruffy elves.
VardaValar1: I really like their singing in Bilbo's home, where the ambience is shifted from rather funny to serious.
VardaValar1: or like Klingons. : )
ArPharazonV: hehe
VardaValar1: Old style Klingons, not the bumpy-headed ones.
AriehnV: i think you will be able to , the coatls and clothes are of different colours ^^
VardaValar1: Aye, Arien. That was mentioned in the books but didn't help the readers a lot. Very helpful visual clue in a movie.
ArPharazonV: Thorim, Balin, Dwalin, Kili, Fili, Oin, Gloin, Ori, Nori, Dori, Bifur, Bofur and Bombur.
ArPharazonV: Did I miss any?
VardaValar1: Spelling Thorin : )
ArPharazonV: Eck *facepalm*
ArPharazonV: Thorin, yes. Thorim's in WoW.
VardaValar1: Good job though, looks like all of them.
VardaValar1: True, he is. : )
VardaValar1: In our site, we have some help with the list:
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/articles/t/ThorinsCompany.htm
VardaValar1: Wow, not updated since 2007. /headdesk
VardaValar1: That's a starter article, not really ready to be put online.
VardaValar1: But it has the list.
VardaValar1: Shortly after starting those articles, my Hobbit book got loaned out to a friend. Eventually had to buy a new one but had wandered into other projects. Got to get back to those.
ArPharazonV: Never got the book back?
Eonwe Valar has left the room.
Eonwe Valar has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Yes, after a few years. : )
AriehnV: ooh what was that ? make him a shelf :-)
AriehnV: give him a shelf .. if he is not very good at returning the ones he loans, grins
VardaValar1: heeh
AriehnV: Bilbos style :L_)
VardaValar1: Aye : )
ArPharazonV: And.. what was it? A pen to the one who never returned letters?
VardaValar1: And spoons for Lobelia who kept walking off with the silverware.
VardaValar1: She got the point, but she also took the spoons. : )
ArPharazonV: Oh yes! Maybe we'll see the auction at the end of The Hobbit.
AriehnV: hehe a mirror for a young female relation who thought rather too much of her appearance .. :-)
AriehnV: Angelina?
VardaValar1: That should've been in The Fellowship, and they dropped it for speeding Frodo out the door.
VardaValar1: Sounds right : )
Eonwe Valar: Angelica
AriehnV: similar enough :-D
ArPharazonV: No, I mean the actual auction when Bilbo came back to stop his household from being sold, since that's when Lobelia apparently made off with the silverware, if I recall.
VardaValar1: ah, right : )
VardaValar1: There it is
VardaValar1: The auction started at 10 am and Bilbo showed up at around noon.
VardaValar1: The legal bother lasted for years.
ArPharazonV: Another higher power at work. A day late and it would've been far worse, a day early and there would've been no problem.
VardaValar1: Agreed, Phar. : )
VardaValar1: Many of his silver spoons disappeared and he suspected the Sackville-Bagginses. That was alluded to again in The Fellowship with the birthday presents.
VardaValar1: Gandalf makes a comment to Bilbo:
ArPharazonV: Bilbo could start off the movie by saying "And here's the story about how I lost my silver spoons."
VardaValar1: "Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself?"
VardaValar1: hehe, he could.
VardaValar1: *raises the little silvery gavel from Elwing*
VardaValar1: *tinnnnnng*
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VardaValar1: After-meeting!
VardaValar1: I see so much that needs tweaking on the site. *fingers itch*
ArPharazonV: Always room for improvement.
VardaValar1: True
VardaValar1: Also true of anything I do, always want to go try to make it better. Sometimes I just need to put up a sign that says "Stop", but this is not that day. : )
VardaValar1: afk
ArPharazonV: You'd probably end up tweaking the sign.
VardaValar1: Aye, likely ^^

VardaValar1: Interesting new service from WoW:
VardaValar1: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/5245474/Self_Service_Item_Restoration-5_1_2012
ArPharazonV: Yeah, I'd read about that. On the surface it seems like a good thing, but be aware that it *replaces* regular service, not add to it. GMs won't be able to help with restorations anymore, and if you lose an item more than once a month, you've got a problem.
VardaValar1: o oh.
VardaValar1: Good supplement, but not replacement.
VardaValar1: Must be downsizing staff.

AriehnV: Namarie
ArPharazonV: namarie!
AriehnV has left the room.
VardaValar1: Belated namarie, Arien : )
ArPharazonV: :-)
VardaValar1: Hiya Phar! You're still awake?
ArPharazonV: Yeah, was playing a bit of D3
VardaValar1: cool :-)
VardaValar1: Euro or Amer server?
ArPharazonV: Euro. Watchtower hunting for merchant and event. No luck yet. Trying again next time.
VardaValar1: I asked because Bilbo just got home
VardaValar1: Good luck on that next time!
ArPharazonV: And I'm done for the night, will be sending and leaving soon.
VardaValar1: Thank you, Golden One. :-)
ArPharazonV: saving and sending transcript
VardaValar1: Namarie :-)
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