Valar Guild

July 13, 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, Ioreth-(V)/LizMarr, VardaValar1 (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
    Ioreth-(V)
    Arien-(Valar)
Web:
    Forum
    Art
    Gaming
Gaming:
    various
    WoW
    LotRO
Tolkien:
    LoTR puzzle picture - in Gaming
    Trivia game - LotR, done in the After-meeting
       How many days were spent in Moria?
       What was the name of the son of King Brego that Aragorn and friends found in the Paths of the Dead? And what was his condition?
       The turning tide of the Battle on the fields of Pelennor were two events .. both contained good and evil .. can you rememer what both good and evil of each respective event was?

After-meeting:
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Before-meeting
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
VardaValar1: Aiya :-)
LizMarr has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: Just killed my last Monstrous Spineclaw... finally the pet :D
VardaValar1: Huzzah!
VardaValar1: Aiya Ioreth too :-)
LizMarr: aiya
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
ArPharazonV: Well, that must've taken me.. what.. a month at least?
VardaValar1: And you got the reward. :-)
ArPharazonV: Indeed I did!
ArPharazonV: I'm in shock, a bit :P
VardaValar1: Doing invites now. I'm not in a game
VardaValar1: Here, have some hot chocolate. :-)
VardaValar1: With marshmallows
ArPharazonV: *grin*
VardaValar1: Guess I should drop into LotRO and do the reminder. What can they say but no? :-)
ArPharazonV: worth a shot! I'll look for Arien
VardaValar1: Thanks :-)
ArPharazonV: Arien poked.
VardaValar1: Yay :-)
VardaValar1: Eonwe sent us a letter. He's good about doing that, always some nifty news in it too.
AriehnV has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Sunshine :-)
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
VardaValar1: LotRO fusses at me about swapping between screens.
AriehnV: aiya folks :-) sorry for being late .. but rping and watching the world cup final and lol multitasking as always ;-)
VardaValar1: Okie dokie. Glad to have you lurking. :-) Scroll works.
AriehnV: yup i will keep scroll in any case still goallless .. and we are in extra time
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VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
VardaValar1: okie dokie :-)
VardaValar1: Membership:
VardaValar1: Hellos from Fangorn, Bilbo, and Sauron on this side of the monitor. :-)
VardaValar1: Fangorn and I were away lately, visiting Elwing, DeepGroover, and their cool mom. More on that later. :-)
VardaValar1: Any other membership news?
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VardaValar1: Web:
VardaValar1: Take a look at our forum and see if you spot the extra pretties that Eonwe added.
VardaValar1: He did a gradient on the shading, adding to the nifty shield and Valar Guild gif.
VardaValar1: We have a few default skins you can try out. They get played with off and on.

VardaValar1: In art news for the Tolkien Site,
ArPharazonV: I did notice that something was different, but couldn't put my finger on it.
VardaValar1: DeepGroover made a dwarf model, very detailed, tons of details that are hard to show without turning it around in your hand for multiple angles.
ArPharazonV: The shading, definitely.
VardaValar1: Subtle gradient, more 3Dish for the forum. Looks good.
ArPharazonV: Yep.
VardaValar1: Here's the dwarf model as it was before Saturday:
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/DeepGroover/Dwarf_72014/dwarf_72014.htm
VardaValar1: Since then it had a handsome nameplate added to it. It says Guardian of Varda.
VardaValar1: He gifted it to me and it now stands guard in our living room.
VardaValar1: The lion pauldron is special because it is a symbol that Elwing often uses, and she's been my best friend since Junior High, and she's DeepGroover's sister.
VardaValar1: And of course, the big hammer.
VardaValar1: So, lots of fun involved.
AriehnV: nice and noble nice work
AriehnV: i like it
VardaValar1: Thank you on DeepGroover's behalf. :-)
VardaValar1: Agreed. A lot of nobility there.
ArPharazonV: Very impressive indeed!

VardaValar1: We do have more paintings in the pipeline to bring to you in the coming week, something else to look forward to.

VardaValar1: Eonwe adds to the Games Site every weekend, and we're about to get to that news. :-)
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VardaValar1: Gaming:
VardaValar1: non-WoW, non-LotRO:
VardaValar1: Phar, would you like to lead off?

ArPharazonV: Sure. More Hearthstone for a start! Naxxramas wing pricing has been released, and the content itself should be around somewhere this month. I'll get you the article for the pricing.
VardaValar1: Nice :-)
ArPharazonV: In the meantime I'll just say that if you enter the first wing for free during the launch event, you get that wing for free permanently and only have to pay for the other 4 wings, 700g each (or some real money) and since I'd gotten 3000 gold saved, I've even got 200 extra ;-)
ArPharazonV: http://eu.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/14601010/curse-of-naxxramas-wing-entry-details-and-heroic-mode-08-07-2014 is the European link, probably an identical page for US too.

ArPharazonV: For flashgames this week, I've got a shiny 3d space combat/mining game with a lot of variability and customizable replayability.
ArPharazonV: http://www.kongregate.com/games/momoguru/astrox
VardaValar1: hmm, looks interesting
ArPharazonV: You're a prisoner in a space mining sector, where you have to grind enough money to pay your way out, by mining asteroids and killing pirates; you can use the profits to upgrade your ship and fight stronger pirates in later sectors...
ArPharazonV: It's not very complicated, but has a very nice atmosphere and it can keep you busy for quite a while :-)
ArPharazonV: Myes, and that's it for me I think!
LizMarr: germany scored
VardaValar1: Thank you Phar and Ioreth :-)
VardaValar1: Any other non-WoW, non-LotRO gaming from y'all?

VardaValar1: StarCraft:BroodWar - much fun had in games involving Fangorn, Sauron, and Varda. :-)

VardaValar1: Star Wars:The Old Republic - Sauron has been playing in that one
AriehnV: ((1:0 Germany :-D ))
VardaValar1: Thanks :-)

VardaValar1: StarCraft 2: Blizzard is dealing with cheating and has a blog to show what's done;
VardaValar1: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/14732379/play-nice-play-fair-how-we-fight-cheating-in-starcraft-ii-7-9-2014

VardaValar1: Diablo 3: patch notes have been updated
VardaValar1: 2.1.0 patch. Here's the link:
VardaValar1: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/14569138/patch-210-ptr-patch-notes-updated-july-9-7-9-2014

VardaValar1: WoW:
VardaValar1: The new artwork is up for male Dranei:
VardaValar1: the before and after as always:
VardaValar1: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/14742019/artcraft-son-of-exodar-7-10-2014
VardaValar1: WoW news from Eonwe:
VardaValar1: /quote
VardaValar1: Found out I can solo most Ulduar bosses, some of them even Hard Mode. I'm 3 Hard Mode achievements from claiming the mount for the Ulduar meta achievement.
VardaValar1: Picked up the Drake of the North Wind from Vortex Pinnacle. Now at 180 mounts.
VardaValar1: Take care :}Eonwë
VardaValar1: /endquote
ArPharazonV: grats Eonwe!
ArPharazonV: Got myself a new mount too this week, the Blue Drake from Malygos; I now have both his mounts.
VardaValar1: One for each foot! Keep them going straight.
ArPharazonV: Yep!
VardaValar1: Any other WoW news? :-)
ArPharazonV: Achievement says 186 but I think it won't be updated fully until I log certain alts with class-only mounts, so might be more than that.
ArPharazonV: Yep, finally got my last Timeless Isle pet tonight, just before the start of the meeting, the Spineclaw Crab :-)
ArPharazonV: Finally I get to move on to other things to collect there.
LizMarr: I played a 7 day free ride, was fun to be back in the saddle even if it was a short time
VardaValar1: Ah neat. :-)
LizMarr: germany won
VardaValar1: What class did you play?
VardaValar1: Thanks. Still 1 to 0?
LizMarr: all my regulars, it wasn't a free trial, it was 7 days on my account (kinda come back to us thing)
LizMarr: I got some levels on my druid and enjoyed my hunter, got a few more pets
VardaValar1: Very nice.
LizMarr: sure am tempted to pay for a month, do we have any kins linked to Alexstraza?
VardaValar1: Our kin is on Lothar for Alliance, Uldaman server for Horde. More than that splits us too much.
VardaValar1: We do have folks that play on their own on other servers, but not guild branches.
LizMarr: so many different linked. I think the folks linked to alex are rude
VardaValar1: (Gort the Red navigation fixed so the new Dwarf section has the Next link.)
VardaValar1: Phar, do you know where to find which server links to which now? I don't think Lothar was with Alexstraza, but it would be nice to know which.
VardaValar1: Kind of a neat way to keep all servers active without closing any servers.
ArPharazonV: Ehr, battlegroups etc, you mean?
VardaValar1: Ioreth, is that what you meant?
ArPharazonV: I'm not sure that's all that rigid now, you might just be able to crossrealm from any server to any server as long as it falls under US or Europe or something.
LizMarr: nope
LizMarr: blended servers
ArPharazonV: You mean actually merged servers?
LizMarr: two or three servers are linked
ArPharazonV: for cross-realm zones?
LizMarr: no, they retain their server identity, not sure how that works
VardaValar1: o wait. Think I found it:
VardaValar1: http://wowpedia.org/Realms_list
LizMarr has left the room.
VardaValar1: She's trying to come back in - that was an oops. :-)
LizMarr has entered the room.
LizMarr: oops
VardaValar1: Welcome back! Can't always return, so that's good to see.
LizMarr: the one I found was easier to understand
ArPharazonV: That's just a list of servers categorized by continental location and realmtype.
LizMarr: http://wowpedia.org/Connected_Realms
VardaValar1: It has a lot of links about the different ways they cross in the top paragraph. Looking through
VardaValar1: Thanks Ioreth :-)
ArPharazonV: Oh.
ArPharazonV: Yeah, my own server is crowded enough not to be part of that.
ArPharazonV: So I didn't read much about it :-)
VardaValar1: Alexstraza and Terrokar
VardaValar1: er, Terokkar
LizMarr: yeh, couldn't remember
ArPharazonV: Lothar and Grizzly Hills.
VardaValar1: Lothar and Baelgun planned
LizMarr: grizz is a newer one if I recall
ArPharazonV: that one's EU, Varda
LizMarr: aegwyn has both US and EU ones
LizMarr: dumb
ArPharazonV: Many servers have duplicates in US and EU. There's an Argent Dawn in both too.
VardaValar1: So they have some with the same names? That could cause later problems.
VardaValar1: if they want to cross them later.
ArPharazonV: Only if they tried to merge continents, Varda, which is rather doubtful.
VardaValar1: aye
VardaValar1: Quote:
VardaValar1: a Connected Realm is a set of two or more standard realms that have been permanently and seamlessly "linked." These linked realms will behave as if they were one cohesive realm, meaning players will be able to join the same guilds, access a single Auction House, run the same Raids and Dungeons, and join other adventurers to complete quests. In some cases, realm times may be adjusted to match each other as a part of the connection process
LizMarr: Aegwyn US is PvP, I wonder what Aegwyn EU is
VardaValar1: I didn't see a second one of that name.
VardaValar1: Shall we shift to LotRO now?
LizMarr: I can say something about my lack of LOTRO...
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VardaValar1: LotRO:
VardaValar1: Update 14 is Monday on the 14th
VardaValar1: Go ahead, Ioreth.
LizMarr: 14th of what?
LizMarr: tomorrow?
VardaValar1: Tomorrow
LizMarr: is that what we been doing on beta?
AriehnV: ((i hope and dream of continent merges in wow .. well there always is hope .. sigh ))
VardaValar1: Aye, Ioreth
LizMarr: always rough to discover that you can't do a transfer because you are on the wrong side of the puddle
VardaValar1: Maybe someday, Arien. :-)
AriehnV: i just bloody wish not subscrptions for both versions would be necessry .. sigh
LizMarr: really? yuk
VardaValar1: Valar Guild used to happily play across continents. That's how we originally formed as international. We all used Blizzard then
VardaValar1: That's just unfair, Arien. Guess you'll just have to play LotRO. ;-)
LizMarr: or blizzard do a real F2P
ArPharazonV: battle.net is what we used then, and what we use now?
LizMarr: that to me is new, it started after I did
ArPharazonV: Fair enough.
ArPharazonV: I started with Warcraft II, where multiplayer was a mess, though they did make a bnet version later :-)
LizMarr: I think I started 1 year after the current game, it was Nov 2004 and I started Dec 2005, don't ask me to remember much though
VardaValar1: Ok, back to LotRO
ArPharazonV: Well, the old battle.net was before WoW.
LizMarr: ah
ArPharazonV: They made a new one for Starcraft II, which then got expanded to other current games.
VardaValar1: Actually, there were versions of WoW before the current one that we call WoW

VardaValar1: LotRO's Update 14 has been in the beta, and Ioreth is one of the cool folks that have been playing the beta and getting it ready for us. Thank you for your service. :-)
VardaValar1: Is there anything you would like to tell us about it?
LizMarr: I mostly explored
LizMarr: I traveled all the roads, including one I probably shouldn't have, and visited nearly all the towns
LizMarr: the thing that I wanted to see was the elven harbor town (help me with the name) and was disapointed to find it was overrun with briggands.
VardaValar1: Dol Amroth
LizMarr: brigands seem to be the badguy of the day for at least half the zone
VardaValar1: Dol Amroth was not overrun as far as I know at the time of the War of the Ring. Prince Imrahil ruled there.
LizMarr: Someone from kin was there, they said hi one day
VardaValar1: He had a little elvish blood in his ancestry, although not an elf. Legolas noticed it.
LizMarr: one of the elf choices is from that town, so I looked it up one time when I was role playing and found I had made and elf from there
ArPharazonV: A town in any MMO always seems less interesting if it isn't somehow under threat.
LizMarr: It was nice to see so much intact architecture
LizMarr: I always am wandering around trying to imagine what things would have looked like in their heyday
VardaValar1: Good to hear of another kinmate. :-) Indis was probably there.
LizMarr: that sounds right
VardaValar1: rather, she was there. Might have been her saying hi. :-)
LizMarr: I never know names, used to be better, I'm not ~THAT~ old
VardaValar1: Well, it wouldn't have been the name of the character, more likely Alasse.
LizMarr: level 100 will be fun I guess, but I guess the wow folks are used to it already? or is that with the expansion
ArPharazonV: That'll be with the next expansion. Still 90 right now.
ArPharazonV: Of course it's also in beta now, so we'll see which one gets finished first ;-)
LizMarr: On beta 100 was really easy, but that was probably exhanced some how
VardaValar1: Update 14 is called "Paths of the Dead"
VardaValar1: Did you get to look at the Paths?
LizMarr: pfft, that is just a little bit, but I didn't get far on the epic
LizMarr: there might have been an instance or something there, in fact I think I saw the doorway. but everyone has to go through the main part to get to the other side
LizMarr: one of my impressions was that it wasn't super hard, just needed to play well.
VardaValar1: Sounds cool.
LizMarr: I was surprised it was just an update
VardaValar1: The trailer made the Paths look short, but had ghosts that were the ones that refused to follow Aragorn
LizMarr: not going to give any spoilers, but if you were high enough level with a fast enough horse you can just ignore it.
VardaValar1: hah, ok.
VardaValar1: I was kind of hoping it would be really cool. People have been terrified of the place a long time.
LizMarr: I was planning to stay away until past Thanksgiving or end of October anyhow, but it would sure be tempting to come back earlier
VardaValar1: We'd be happy to see you. :-)
LizMarr: The crafting is really nice, there is a couple places you can't get there going straight through that I bet either are or will be more things to do

LizMarr: Well, LOTRO sabatical has been good news for my writing, I have 3 books freshened up or finished, either active or just waiting for proof approval. That is 3 regular books, 3 large print books, and 3 kindles. 1 half-finished book resumed. 1 book web site tidied up and more stuff stuck on it, one personal web site freshened, online photostorage freshened.
ArPharazonV: Brb a moment.
VardaValar1: ok
LizMarr: I'm not done doing yet, so game will have to wait

VardaValar1: I might have to do something like that. Mostly I try to work in the day and game in the evening, like being off work.
LizMarr: One thing also, there is still more to open for play, so there will be either another update (or two) or an expansion in the future, it even shows the road that will need to be traveled
VardaValar1: You'[ll be welcome back whenever you can make it! Family and work come first, this is for fun.
VardaValar1: Looking forward to it. :-)
LizMarr: mordor is a long way off
VardaValar1: The update Monday means the servers will be down all morning and into the evening. Then we can expect hotfixes.
VardaValar1: Lots of game left. :-)
VardaValar1: Also, they could continue the game way after Mordor.
LizMarr: at least they did some already, so hopefully all they have to do is content
LizMarr has left the room.
ArPharazonV: Back.
LizMarr has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Welcome back Phar and Ioreth :-)
LizMarr: bah
VardaValar1: :-)

ArPharazonV: Oh, before I forget, this picture I just came across in a forum.. http://loopydave.deviantart.com/art/Where-s-Watto-467726491
ArPharazonV: See how many references you can get?
ArPharazonV: it's a LotR picture, by the way :-)
VardaValar1: Enjoying that one. :-)
LizMarr: yup
VardaValar1: Someone can really draw comedically. :-)
LizMarr: lots of stuff
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VardaValar1: Tolkien:
VardaValar1: How about something short, like a trivia game? :-)
VardaValar1: Whomever is here, please type Manwe.
VardaValar1: Manwe
ArPharazonV: Manwe
VardaValar1: Or we could make comments about that neat picture in After-meeting when people get back. :-)
VardaValar1: *hefts a hammer*
VardaValar1: *swings, picking up speed, listens to the whistle for the right moment*
VardaValar1: *Fwannnngo!*
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VardaValar1: After-meeting
ArPharazonV: Trivia's not doable with 2 present people?
VardaValar1: ah, there you are
VardaValar1: Yes it is, thought I was alone. :-)
ArPharazonV: I did say Manwe!
VardaValar1: yes you did. :-)

VardaValar1: Don't know how I missed that. Sooo, trivia time!
VardaValar1: Ar-Pharazon, would you like to go first? Let's stick to the LotR just for grins and giggles.
ArPharazonV: Ah, now I gotta think of something.
VardaValar1: A trivia question from the LotR. Hmm, me too. :-)

ArPharazonV: Simple one... how many days were spent in Moria?
VardaValar1: An endless night? :-)
ArPharazonV: Hah, yes, good one...
VardaValar1: There's an actual answer and I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember.
ArPharazonV: probably need to find the book myself, though I have a pretty good idea :-)
VardaValar1: Better not to ask a question if you don't know the answer, so we'll know if we got it right. :-)
ArPharazonV: well, yes, but I can't remember anything otherwise that's not too simple ;-)
ArPharazonV: Interwebz gives one amount of days, but I wanna check. Let me see the book.
VardaValar1: eh, simple is fun too. The main idea is to enjoy remembering bits from the book simple or not.
ArPharazonV: Allright. Well, looks like internet was right.
ArPharazonV: Want an answer?
VardaValar1: Aye
ArPharazonV: They arrived on the 13th at nightfall and left on the 15th, so 2 days!
VardaValar1: Thank you.

VardaValar1: What was the name of the son of King Brego that Aragorn and friends found in the Paths of the Dead? And what was his condition?
LizMarr: Dead?
AriehnV: Baldor
VardaValar1: Aye, Baldor and he was dead.
AriehnV: Baldor the Hapless
ArPharazonV: Dead is usually a good guess for someone who's been lost in a cave system for a few hundred years.
VardaValar1: Aye :-)

VardaValar1: Arien, would you like to do a LotR trivia question? Easy or hard is fine.
VardaValar1: Passing them on to Hamson and Morwe in LotRO. :-)
AriehnV: oookie :-) thinking ...
LizMarr: brb, doggy mess

AriehnV: the turning tide of the Battle on the fields of pelennor were two events .. both contained good and evil .. can you rememer what both good and evil of each respective event was?
AriehnV: or good and bad i should say
VardaValar1: Witch-king's death - but he killed Theoden first by scaring Snowmane to land on him in a fall.
ArPharazonV: Also the arrival of Aragorn, perhaps, but that came with losses on his side as well.
VardaValar1: Is that one of them?
AriehnV: they are both right yes i ll let them through because the first one was the bad thing of the arrival of the Riders of Rohan in general
VardaValar1: Also evil for the Black Breath injuries
AriehnV: and the Arrival of the Pirates of Umbar as the soldiers on the field thought .. but then revealed as the fleet of Aragorn witrh his Army of the dead ^^
AriehnV: so you were right in both :-)
LizMarr: back
VardaValar1: Denethor thinking they were Corsairs and going into despair, leading to bad and good results.
AriehnV: welcome back
ArPharazonV: Oh yes, bad results for him anyway, and nearly for his son.
AriehnV: indeed didnt think of that one
AriehnV: very good
VardaValar1: That was an interesting question.

VardaValar1: Ioreth, if you're there, would you like to ask one?
LizMarr: no
VardaValar1: ok, so let's let our buddies get in some nap time before sunup. :-)
LizMarr: :-)
VardaValar1: Sunshine has to be bright in the morning. ^^
AriehnV: *chases Silpion under the mountains*
VardaValar1: Isn't Tilion usually chasing you? :-)
VardaValar1: He thinks you're cute, you know.
ArPharazonV: She keeps burning him though.
AriehnV: .. boys .. just should take care he doesnt burn his fingers ..
VardaValar1: Too right
AriehnV: But yes itime to go to bed i fear for me .. earlyish start .. so sleep well and Namarie all :-)
VardaValar1: Sleep well!
ArPharazonV: Namarie!

AriehnV: oh yes and to let you know all guess it falls still under late member news ^^#
VardaValar1: Okie dokie :-) yay for links!
AriehnV: i ll be on holiday from next wednesday on and i ll be at LARP down in England .. it ll be near Huddersfield this time and i ll be driving down myself
AriehnV: 400 miles and a bit |^^
VardaValar1: Sounds like an adventure!
ArPharazonV: Have fun :-)
AriehnV: i can do the drive down in one day but i ll stop over night on the sunday
AriehnV: since sleep is not very treasured on the weekends ^^
AriehnV: fun however i is abundantly :-D
VardaValar1: There you go. :-)
AriehnV: and if you want to have at least an idea of where i am going .. www.destiny.org.uk
VardaValar1: Barbarian Special, I assume?
AriehnV: hehe i ll be on the saturday morning
AriehnV: but the barbarian special sounds fun
VardaValar1: Desert Storm
AriehnV: yeah that one
VardaValar1: Cool, hope to hear some interesting stories when you come back. :-)
AriehnV: i planned to take the Harrier but looks my priest now ^^ since she is in that 0-100 bracket
VardaValar1: They'll be very glad to see your priest!
ArPharazonV: Gotta get that xp.
VardaValar1: Thanks for letting us know. Rest fast!
AriehnV: yip thanks very uch all .. i am sure i ll see Phara again before on WoW and you lot maybe on LotrO :-)

LizMarr: That looks like fun
ArPharazonV: Sure, could be!
AriehnV: Namarie for now :-)
AriehnV has left the room.
VardaValar1: Namarie Arien
LizMarr has left the room.
VardaValar1: Namarie Ioreth
VardaValar1: Namarie Phar :-)
VardaValar1 has left the room.
ArPharazonV: Namarie!
ArPharazonV: Well, saving and sending transcript.
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