November 2, 2014 Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT (UTC/GMT - 5)
AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Back to News
Transcript work by Ar-Pharazon and Varda.
Attending: (5)
AriehnV, ArPharazonV, Indis-(V)/karakedi25, Pallando Valar, VardaValar1
(presiding)
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
Web:
Games Site
Tolkien Site / Art
New section for Bree
Gaming:
The Eonwe Report on Gaming:
StarCraft 2
Hearthstone
World of WarCraft
LotRO
(more gaming news during Tolkien and After-meeting)
Tolkien:
Topic: Rewards and payback for good or evil deeds, as seen in Middle-earth.
The Indis Report on LotRO:
The new stuff comes out in
Wednesday's update 15, with polishing to be done in following patches.
Beorning (she's playing the new class on the test server) and Central Gondor
Her visit along with the rest of the Player Council to Turbine.
After-meeting:
The Phar Report on Gaming:
Diablo 3
Flashgaming; 3 games
Hearthstone
WoW
top
Before-meeting
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
ArPharazonV: Aiya Pallando
ArPharazonV: I think the US has had their time change now, so I'm early... but just to be safe :-)
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya :-) Another 15 minutes yet, just being a tad early
VardaValar1: Sending invitations
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
ArPharazonV: Just thought I'd play it safe ;-)
VardaValar1: Aiya Phar. Smart idea
VardaValar1: Any sign of Arien?
VardaValar1: There's a ray of sunshine over the horizon...
AriehnV has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: I hadn't even poked her yet!
VardaValar1: Aiya Sunshine :-)
AriehnV: hey hey you dont happen to be meaning me Cala ;-)?
VardaValar1: You came all on your own. :-)
AriehnV: Aiya all :-)
VardaValar1: Even with time weirdness!
ArPharazonV: Aiya! And yes I did!
AriehnV: are you back on normal time now
VardaValar1: We're in sync again, aye.
top
VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
VardaValar1: Membership:
VardaValar1: Daylight Savings Time is done with in the Eastern time zone. And there was much rejoicing.
VardaValar1: We need to do like Arizona and abolish it in the rest of the States.
VardaValar1: Any membership news?
VardaValar1: I have to be working out the 2015 membership list again
ArPharazonV: *signs up*
VardaValar1: Yay!
top
VardaValar1: Web:
VardaValar1: Games Site has new news on it. We'll hit it during the gaming section.
VardaValar1: Tolkien Site has new images from The Bohemian Weasel-(T):
VardaValar1: We have a new section for Bree:
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/places/Bree/Bree.htm
VardaValar1: Both paintings in it are new
VardaValar1: The Town of Bree:
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/places/Bree/TownofBree.jpg
VardaValar1: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony:
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/places/Bree/PrancingPony.jpg
AriehnV: nice one brilliant work as usual
VardaValar1: She's good all right. :-)
top
VardaValar1: Gaming:
The Eonwe Report on Gaming:
VardaValar1: StarCraft2:
VardaValar1: See updates to the Starcraft 2 pages with the blog Protoss Spotted!
VardaValar1: Hearthstone:
VardaValar1: Patch 1.3.0.6898 has been released.
VardaValar1: WoW:
VardaValar1: Four Artcraft blogs on level design have been released.
See Artcraft - Level Design Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.
VardaValar1: Character Pages were updated for Khadgar and Velen.
VardaValar1: See the patch notes for 6.0.3 and the recent hotfixes.
VardaValar1: Any general news for gaming that we missed?
ArPharazonV: Hallow's End is over in WoW, Day of the Dead started.
ArPharazonV: Which will last until tomorrow.
VardaValar1: Good to know, thanks. :-)
ArPharazonV: And Darkmoon Faire's up if you want to get the new
achievement, though it's bugged right now, so rather difficult to get.
VardaValar1: LotRO: report by Varda
VardaValar1: The Haunted Burrow and other fun is still going until Nov 4, for the Harvestmath Festival.
VardaValar1: While leveling lowbies, don't forget to grab 1st age symbols from the Crafting npc in the Skirmish camp.
VardaValar1: We have plenty of highly leveled, craft-guilded crafters in the kin to help.
VardaValar1: Any other news, business, before we switch to Tolkien?
VardaValar1: One other important bit of gaming news, across the boards.
VardaValar1: The Valar Guild has a Ventrilo server for raiding, instances, chat.
VardaValar1: The company that runs Ventrilo recently switched ours to a new and hopefully improved server.
VardaValar1: This means the info has changed for the Host name or IP
AriehnV: what iinfo is it now we need?
VardaValar1: The new info is in the LotRO kin mail for those that have it
VardaValar1: For those that want it here, I'll give it in a tell
VardaValar1: and can give it in an email for interested members that email
VardaValar1: I'll give it you Phar
ArPharazonV: Allright, copying it down.
VardaValar1: I'm in there right now. :-)
ArPharazonV: I'm really not into voice chat, to be honest.
ArPharazonV: Not sure if I even have Vent still.
VardaValar1: No worries. It's for those that are or for raids.
VardaValar1: Easy enough to download
ArPharazonV: True.
VardaValar1: http://www.ventrilo.com/
VardaValar1: Glad you mentioned that - I forgot to add that link to the LotRO kin mail.
VardaValar1: Any other items we should mention?
top
VardaValar1: Tolkien:
VardaValar1: If any of you have a suggestion, let me know.
VardaValar1: Fangorn-(Valar) has this topic for us:
VardaValar1: Rewards and payback for good or evil deeds, as seen in Middle-earth.
VardaValar1: We know that Eru set up all things to eventually act for his vision of the music.
ArPharazonV: Karma?
VardaValar1: But some wanted the music to be all for themselves. Morgoth, Saruman
VardaValar1: Kind of. Just desserts or not?
VardaValar1: Did the good guys get rewarded? Did the bad guys get a come-uppance? Did they just coast and get away with it all?
VardaValar1: This can be across the Sil, H, and LotR for fun.
ArPharazonV: Well, the bad guys didn't get away with anything in the long run.
ArPharazonV: Always killed or dispersed or locked out of the world.
VardaValar1: They need to learn to consider the long run!
ArPharazonV: If you're unaging and immortal... yeah, the long run is a good thing to consider indeed.
AriehnV: Hmmm not sure with the Elves .. they were kind of restricted
in the partners they chose werent they? well sort of .. elf could marry
only elf .. even the love of a man to elf made the Elven parnter lose
their mortality
VardaValar1: "Oh, I have plenty of time", they think.
VardaValar1: The half-elven descendents of Earendil were gifted the choice of going with the fate of Man or Elf. Not others
VardaValar1: But the mortal partner would age and die very quickly to the immortal elf.
VardaValar1: For instance, the maid of Nimrodel that was taken in by a human after the ships sailed.
VardaValar1: She had to stay with him for protection, had children with
him, and left after a while. But she seems not to have become mortal.
VardaValar1: Finrod spoke with the human woman, help with spelling, Andreth?
ArPharazonV: Sounds about right.
VardaValar1: She and an elf [Aegnor] were interested in each other and
she didn't like that he woudn't commit to her. It was over the
immortality/mortality problem.
VardaValar1: That's the only two regular elf examples I can think of.
VardaValar1: Still, the human man that had children with the maid of
Nimrodel's then added that bloodline into those humans of Amroth,
improving the length of lifetime and looks.
VardaValar1: He was rewarded as were many of his people down the line.
VardaValar1: Andreth had the advantage of working with the elves, learning skills and lore.
VardaValar1: Hurin appeared at first to be badly treated for his loyal defense of Finrod and his people.
VardaValar1: Did he eventually see a reward?
ArPharazonV: Hmm.
ArPharazonV: Tough one, that.
ArPharazonV: Does it count that his children became champions of the Valar in the afterlife, in the last fight against Morgoth?
VardaValar1: I would think so. :-)
VardaValar1: The whole family gained great renown and were in the tales for a very long time as well.
VardaValar1: I'm getting the name wrong aren't I? :-)
VardaValar1: Finrod was saved by Barahir
ArPharazonV: Was Finrod the one who sacrificed himself for Beren?
VardaValar1: yes
VardaValar1: Hurin saved Turgon of Gondolin
AriehnV: uh long time .. i think i need to read the Sil again
VardaValar1: One reason for these chats is to help us be reminded of
these things. I need it too, and thank you all for keeping this up. :-)
ArPharazonV: He also fought for Fingon, I think?
VardaValar1: But Phar got it right, that Hurin's children did great
deeds. Hurin didn't get to see many of those, with the way Morgoth
showed him things selectively.
VardaValar1: But his children were in the war against Morgoth and avenged Hurin as well as doing great deeds then.
ArPharazonV: They did great deeds when alive too, such as the slaying
of the dragon. Unfortunately those things didn't tend to work out well.
VardaValar1: Yet how much more evil would Glaurung have done had he not been stopped by Turin?
VardaValar1: The deed was still a great one.
ArPharazonV: So it was.
ArPharazonV: And Turin did make the lands he defended safer for a time.
VardaValar1: Aye, gave them hope
VardaValar1: He did plenty of things wrong, but he also did things that
Hurin would eventually learn of, some maybe on the other side of life.
VardaValar1: Eventually the truth comes out.
ArPharazonV: And eventually he was rewarded, even if literally at the end of time ;-)
VardaValar1: If the person's truth is good, good comes of it. And if it is not, bad comes of it.
VardaValar1: Aye.
VardaValar1: Sometimes we have to look a long way ahead to see the outcome. But that's how Eru sees.
VardaValar1: More of that extreme immortality giving a different way of viewing things.
ArPharazonV: Must be fun, being omniscient.
karakedi25 has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: And knowing it'll all turn out allright.
karakedi25: aiya
VardaValar1: Or often sad to see all that went so awfully meanwhile.
VardaValar1: Aiya Indis :-)
VardaValar1: The topic is across the H, LotR, and Sil. Reward and payback for good or bad deeds.
VardaValar1: We mentioned the baddies very briefly as being obvious to this group.
VardaValar1: The good guys are tougher. Like Hurin that we just mentioned.
ArPharazonV: Aiya Indis!
VardaValar1: Indis is in a tough fight atm and will try to reach a safe place to chat.
VardaValar1: Some bad deeds kept going and even tainted children that had no part in it. Finrod could be an example.
VardaValar1: So he had a mixed bag of good and bad rewards coming his way.
VardaValar1: What were a few things he did that helped gain him good rewards along with the Silmaril curse?
karakedi25: I think I'm safe now
VardaValar1: yay
karakedi25: Finrod?
VardaValar1: yes
VardaValar1: Anyone still here? :-)
ArPharazonV: I'm still here.
ArPharazonV: But bit distracted by family.
VardaValar1: ok. Hi to Phar's family. :-)
ArPharazonV: Heh.
VardaValar1: Let's switch over to Indis' news then.
VardaValar1: Indis, you had some interesting news, if you'd like to tell it now?
karakedi25: Finrod deserves a fair amount of credit for welcoming the Edain
karakedi25: I guess I have 2 things I can talk about.
karakedi25: 1. My experience with the Beorning on the beta server in LotRO.
karakedi25: 2. My visit as a member of the Player Council to the Turbine studio in Boston last week.
karakedi25: Which would you rather hear about first?
VardaValar1: Go ahead with number one, then on to number two. :-) Both are excellent.
karakedi25: This is the first new class in LotRO for six years. It's a skin-changer class with some interesting mechanics.
karakedi25: They've been as careful as they can to avoid breaking lore,
other than the ways that game play makes inevitable, such as far too
many Beornings roaming all of Middle-earth.
karakedi25: It's largely melee, uses medium armor, and makes use of a
mechanic called wrath that can be used for bear skills but decays.
karakedi25: I'm having fun with it. I've reached level 49 and will probably enter Moria when I reach level 50.
karakedi25: Questions?
VardaValar1: Not sure what to ask
VardaValar1: Seems very hard not to break lore with.
VardaValar1: The berserker rage concept or fury concept is familar enough. Needs to build up to do an attack.
karakedi25: They've made a special starting place in the Anduin Vale
and have done a rather decent job of making class-specific quests
consistent with their version of Beorning culture.
karakedi25: One can attack fairly well in human form, but it's needed to build up wrath. Bear form attacks hit harder.
karakedi25: I don't know if anyone mentioned that it will be going live this coming Weds. though they have already said that there will more polishing to come in later patches.
karakedi25: Along with Central Gondor.
karakedi25: Does anyone want to know more about topic 1?
VardaValar1: Mostly I want to play it.
karakedi25: Only a few more days...
VardaValar1: Some of us are figuring on collecting some items to equip the upcoming Beorning cubs.
karakedi25: I've been doing that
VardaValar1: For Remnant, I assume. :-) A good thing to be doing. Valar will have some things too.
karakedi25: No, mostly stuff on my alts that I already have and have kept.
VardaValar1: Good idea
VardaValar1: How about that incredible visit to Turbine next?
karakedi25: Ah...well, most of you probably know that I'm on this
year's Player Council. They selected 8 people to visit the studio; 2
were unable to go.
karakedi25: But I was one of the ones who could. We had dinner with
some of the team on Tuesday night, and then we were at the studio all
day Weds.
karakedi25: They told us about their plans for the next several months,
asked us about our views on a variety of things, and then after lunch
we could talk to anyone we wanted to.
karakedi25: There were a couple of guys who are almost exclusively into
PvP, so they spent most of the afternoon with the PvP developer. I
talked with the LM developer some and then had the opportunity to read
the really extensive background document that their lore expert
prepared for Gondor. It was excellent, and I think I'm in love....
VardaValar1: :-)
karakedi25: I also got to look at his background document for one of the Gondor areas. He really knows his stuff.
karakedi25: There was quite a lot of talk about the Beorning as well.
karakedi25: The team is hugely excited about what they're doing, and they are really amazingly productive.
karakedi25: I'm under NDA, so I can't give details, but the six of us
had a great time, and Turbine seems to feel that they got a lot out of
our visit.
VardaValar1: That's interesting. What did they get out of it?
VardaValar1: if it can be said.
karakedi25: The other members of the visitor group were very compatible.
VardaValar1: Excellent
karakedi25: A lot of feedback both general and specific.
karakedi25: We liked each other well enough that we exchanged Facebook info, which included real names.
karakedi25: One of them has an alt on Landroval and may join Remnant.
She's German and I doubt that she's as much into the lore as the Valar
Guild would require.
VardaValar1: We only ask that they have read LotR. Don't have to be lore-masters.
VardaValar1: and courteous.
VardaValar1: But I understand wanting to have your friend with you in your kin. :-) Makes perfect sense.
karakedi25: We were very open with our opinions about pretty much
everything, and of course we were hugely enthusiastic about everything
we saw and heard. I could see the devs brighten when I praised their
work.
karakedi25: Valar Guild is also my kin. I'm just more active in Remnant.
VardaValar1: They could use the praise. They hear so much negativity.
karakedi25: At least on the forum.
karakedi25: Anyway, I felt like an airhead, I was gushing so much ;-)
karakedi25: I had suggestions, but they were in an overall positive context.
VardaValar1: Sounds great. : )
karakedi25: I was on an adrenaline high from the time I got there until well after I got home. Definitely a peak experience.
karakedi25: If there are no questions or comments, I'm done.
VardaValar1: Yay for cloud nine. :-)
VardaValar1: Don't want to ask anything that might break the NDA.
VardaValar1: Thank you for letting us in on the fun. :-)
karakedi25: One funny thing: they posted a picture of the group on FB and Twitter. ...
AriehnV: hehe sounds fun
karakedi25: it was
ArPharazonV: I'm sure we want to see that picture!
VardaValar1: For sure!
karakedi25: you can. Go to lotro's page on FB or on twitter. It's not very far down.
ArPharazonV: https://www.facebook.com/LOTRO/photos/a.106783411328.118306.25590536328/10152721740766329/?type=1 this one?
karakedi25: Thanks for finding it, Phar.
VardaValar1: Gathered around their own ginger, it says. :-)
VardaValar1: Phar is Phast. :-)
karakedi25: That's the developer who uses the name Jinjaah.
karakedi25: He does PvP and the Beorning.
ArPharazonV: Hmm, one only has to see his red hair and know why?
VardaValar1: Moving on to
top
VardaValar1: After-meeting!
VardaValar1: Free chat. :-)
karakedi25: thanks for letting me blather away
ArPharazonV: That's fine, I do that all the time.
VardaValar1: Wouldn't call that blathering. Sounded well thought out. Glad you told us about it.
...
ArPharazonV: Anyway, let me know when you're ready for my gaming stuff.
VardaValar1: Looks as if we're ready. :-)
ArPharazonV: Allrighty. Now, where to start.
VardaValar1: Flashgaming?
ArPharazonV: Diablo 3! I hit
lvl 70 at the end of last week's raid. I haven't actually logged in
since then, though I might if I have time, and I will when the second
season starts.
VardaValar1: ohh, grats :-)
ArPharazonV: Last week's raid?
ArPharazonV: Last week's meeting!
ArPharazonV: It's even in the transcript.
ArPharazonV: Nonetheless, for those who still play: There's a bonus
halloween weekend going on right now, until tomorrow afternoon, so if
you want bonus xp and gold, you still have a short while ;-)
ArPharazonV: Oh, as for lvl 70... got a bunch of achievements for it,
and the transmogrification helmet and shoulders I was after :-) Every
season the gear-set will get a few new pieces, and I aim to complete it!
ArPharazonV: Even though... it's not looking particularly handsome. But still fun to have :-)
ArPharazonV: Flashgaming!
Played a few small games, and 2 rather big ones that I completed over
the week. In fact, I completed the second one during this meeting.
ArPharazonV: First big game: http://www.kongregate.com/games/BerzerkStudio/sky-quest
ArPharazonV: Seemingly typical upgrade/action game, where you fight
enemies throughout a whole bunch of levels, get experience for it, and
better gear with better stats.
ArPharazonV: But I found some of the mechanics rather unique, such as
the crafting system and the way it ties into the shop, or all the
different chests and rewards all over the "world map".
ArPharazonV: The second is http://www.kongregate.com/games/YAYitsAndrew/puzzle-fuzz-episode-2
ArPharazonV: Puzzle Fuzz Episode 2... I've never seen or played 1, but
might try it later, though sequels do tend to be better ;-)
ArPharazonV: You might know the puzzle type of a field of tiles where
you have to click adjoining tiles of the same color to remove them
VardaValar1: Aye, I get into those sorts sometimes.
VardaValar1: Yesterday in fact. Sauron got me into one. :-)
VardaValar1: Please go ahead.
ArPharazonV: and this one ties it into a neat story, with it feeding an
energy system that allows your units to shoot at other units on the
opposite of the board, and you can unlock special units as you go along.
ArPharazonV: Sorry, was kept busy here for a moment ;-)
ArPharazonV: The unlocked units are not exactly better per se, but they
do have different mechanics and synergize differently with your other
units. I suppose it's a bit like Hearthstone cards in that way.
VardaValar1: No hurry. Pauses don't show on the transcript.
ArPharazonV: And finally I'll give a really small flashgame, taking
only a few minutes. I don't really want to spoil things, but it's quite
atmospheric and thought-provoking.
ArPharazonV: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Pixelante/immortall you'll figure it out soon enough :-)
ArPharazonV: Now... Hearthstone.
ArPharazonV: Not too much to add. The Halloween season is over, and
it's a nice cardback as reward; they haven't given the full title of
the new November season yet, but I think the patchnotes said something
about a "Goblins" card.
ArPharazonV: So it has to be related to goblins!
ArPharazonV: And now WoW!
ArPharazonV: My legendary cloak quest is progressing decently. Last
week was a bit of a setback, but I more than made up for it this week
because the next step, Runestones, got temporarily buffed to 80%
droprate or so after the patch this week, and I made full use of it. I
only need 3 more stones in the next week, 2 of which are guaranteed,
out of 14 bosses. And in the case I'm so impossibly unlucky that I only
get those 2, there'll still be one wednesday before the expansion
release, though I'll be really pressed for time there.
ArPharazonV: And the other big news: We've been fighting
Mythic-difficulty Garrosh, and finally got him down today; thereby
completing this expansion's most difficult raid encounter.
ArPharazonV: I got my mythic-level heirloom, which is on par with the
best weapon I've been using so far, but it'll scale as I level to 100,
which means it'll serve me very well :-)
VardaValar1: Good deal
ArPharazonV: The guy also dropped 2 mounts, but I didn't win the roll
on either of them.... but there's still a chance of that next week..
and after that it turns into a 1-2% droprate, so I might still go for
him a few times when I've gotten a few levels.
ArPharazonV: And I also finished a ton of raid achievements today for
the last expansion's raids, and got my 200th mount as a reward.
ArPharazonV: Pretty much set for the new expansion now, which will come out in 10 days :-)
ArPharazonV: And that's it for me!
VardaValar1: Thank you, Phar :-)
karakedi25: goodnight all
ArPharazonV: Namarie!
karakedi25 has left the room.
VardaValar1: Namarie
AriehnV: Naarie all :-)
VardaValar1: Namarie Phar
AriehnV has left the room.
ArPharazonV: Namarie Arien! Bit late...
VardaValar1: Namarie Arien
ArPharazonV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEzkY-Mgn3U Halloween-decorated house, with light show. Enjoy!
VardaValar1: :-)
VardaValar1: I'm off. Thanks for coming and have a great November. :-)
ArPharazonV: Namarie!
VardaValar1 has left the room.
ArPharazonV: saving and sending transcript
top