Valar Guild

August 9, 2015 Sunday Meeting

5pm EDT (UTC/GMT - 5)

AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace

Back to News
Transcript work by Ar-Pharazon and Varda.

Attending: (3)
    ArPharazonV, Indis-(V)/karakedi25, Varda Valar (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
    Arien: traveling.
Web:
    Article
Gaming
Tolkien:
    Discussion topic: Easy to forget that the Valar did indeed deal directly with Middle-earth at times. Ulmo's warning to Nargothrond, and his warning to Gondolin.
After -meeting:
    Gaming news from Ar-Pharazon
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Before-meeting
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
VardaValar1: Aiya :-)
VardaValar1: The Never-ending Webwork. :-)
ArPharazonV: Heh.
ArPharazonV: I wanted to write a post yesterday but ended up using the team to pay some overdue bills and watch the WoW expansion presentation :-)
ArPharazonV: *using the time
VardaValar1: Maybe today?
ArPharazonV: Maybe!
VardaValar1: I tried to make it to art but worked on articles and ran out of time before the meeting.
VardaValar1: One minute til time, fast afk. :-)
VardaValar1: back
ArPharazonV: Aiyata
VardaValar1: Hantal :-)
VardaValar1: Now inviting
ArPharazonV: Still no Arien.
VardaValar1: Indis is on, but had an auto-rejection, usually set by busy people.
karakedi25 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Indis :-)
karakedi25: aiya
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
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VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
VardaValar1: Membership:
VardaValar1: A good number of people are and will be entering the LotRO server due to closings, so we have a decent chance of improving our numbers recruiting on Landroval.
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VardaValar1: Web:
ArPharazonV: Ooh, nice.
VardaValar1: Sorry I didn't make it to the art, but
VardaValar1: some articles have been updated:
VardaValar1: "Names of Ungoliant", "Ungoliant's Origin"
VardaValar1: They have new information, improved navigation. I hope to be adding more to the Origin article later on. *crosses fingers*
ArPharazonV: Ungwellianti, that's a nice one.
ArPharazonV: In the Sellamillion parody she's called Ughgooglyant, I believe ;-)
VardaValar1: We actually have an Ungoliant-(V), somewhere tromping out in the Outback of Australia.
VardaValar1: heh
ArPharazonV: ...Funny. If I google Ughgooglyant I find 3 results: 2 quotes from the actual book
VardaValar1: hah, maybe I should do that. :-)
ArPharazonV: and the third is from my World of Warcraft armory page since I named one of my spider pets Ughgooglyant too.
VardaValar1: You're famous!
ArPharazonV: I am!

VardaValar1: Do you have a way to turn off sounds notifiying of posts in this chat room? Trying to find it.
ArPharazonV: Probably somewhere, but it'll depend on version too. And I like it, it means I know when someone says something as I browse or write.
VardaValar1: I like it too, but it can be a problem for folks sometimes.
VardaValar1: Especially beeping over a raid leader. :-)
ArPharazonV: Right, in my version it's...
ArPharazonV: My AIM, Edit Options, Edit Preferences, IM/Chat/Mobile category, Chat Room Window, Sounds
ArPharazonV: Yours is probably similar.
karakedi25: which version of aim do you have?
ArPharazonV: Ehr.. 5.something?
ArPharazonV: 5.9.6089
ArPharazonV: Dating from 2006 it seems. Wow, I've used this a long time.
karakedi25: apparently the beeps are off now
VardaValar1: Maybe try AIM Help
ArPharazonV: Ah, great.
VardaValar1: yay!
karakedi25: it was drivng me crazy
VardaValar1: Glad you found a way. Do you know what you did to turn it off? Might help someone else.
karakedi25: mine is 7.5.14.8, from 2912
VardaValar1: 2012?
ArPharazonV: Ooh, that's a futuristic version.
ArPharazonV: Ah :-)
karakedi25: I turned off all the sounds
VardaValar1: Ok, I see that under Sounds. Thanks. :-)
VardaValar1: Here's hoping folks find the articles useful.
VardaValar1: Games Site is also updated with news.
karakedi25: new posts still blink on my task bar
ArPharazonV: All you need.
VardaValar1: That can be turned off.
karakedi25: bothers me much less
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VardaValar1: Gaming:

VardaValar1: LotRO:
VardaValar1: Lot going on. Indis, did you want to make a LotRO comment?
karakedi25: lots of action and comments in chat about the server closings
karakedi25: my tiny kin on Elendilmir has decided to go to Gladden, which is fine with me--I have tons of alts on Landroval already
VardaValar1: Aye, a worry about where to stuff all our alts. All of mine are on closing servers.
VardaValar1: Here's a list of closing worlds:
VardaValar1: https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/world-closure-announcement
VardaValar1: and world transfer info:
VardaValar1: https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/world-transfers
karakedi25: I think they've done as well as possible in reducing the pain
VardaValar1: Agreed
VardaValar1: And we have upgraded hardware for the new servers that we'll be on.
VardaValar1: Means they have to migrate every single player to a new server at some point, even if the name is the same. Ouchie to do!
karakedi25: In an interview, Frelorn (community manager) and Athena (exec producer) said the new hardware could have allowed them to reduce to one server each (US, EU)
VardaValar1: I'm happy to say that our server, Landroval, remains up.
VardaValar1: Wow, really!?
karakedi25: Yes, I listened to the podcast.
VardaValar1: I'm glad they're splitting types of players such as rp and those that want nothing to do with it.
ArPharazonV: That would've made things quite crowded, I imagine.
VardaValar1: Gives quite a different population
VardaValar1: That kind of space would allow them to do lots of new things with the game. Sounds great, really.
karakedi25: It was on one of the fan sites (run by Braxwolf, I believe)
VardaValar1: I'm glad they didn't. It would look scary to all us on the other side of the game. As if we were about to be shut down.
ArPharazonV: Just waiting for the population to die out...
karakedi25: It looks as though there will be hardware capacity for a lot more
karakedi25: They aren't expecting a die-out. In fact, in the podcast they mentioned plans for post-Mordor.
VardaValar1: Good. They really should do that.
VardaValar1: I'd like to see the rest of Mirkwood someday too, if they get the rights to be there.
VardaValar1: Warner Brothers might give them that kind of clout eventually. Maybe. :-)
VardaValar1: I'd love to go into Thranduil's Halls. :-) See what happens when we fall into a certain river. Do we dream?
karakedi25: I'm seeing if I can find the podcast in my closed tabs.
VardaValar1: Thank you.
VardaValar1: Here's the LotRO kinship transfer guide, not that we need it, but some might:
VardaValar1: http://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/kinship-transfer-guide
karakedi25: http://mmoreporter.com/category/podcast/lotro-reporter-podcast/
VardaValar1: Thanks!
karakedi25: there's a lot of blahblah before the interview, but the interview is quite meaty
VardaValar1: Oh, and we have a new pvmp map, set in Osgiliath. Gorlim has been there a good bit. Nice new armor set too including essence slots.
VardaValar1: In other gaming news:

VardaValar1: WoW:
VardaValar1: The next WoW expansion: Legion! Coming to the class roster: the new hero class, Demon Hunter! Coming weapons: Artifacts! Follow the link for what the plan is right now.
VardaValar1: Check out the latest hotfixes.
ArPharazonV: Note: Artifacts reminded me of a mechanic you once explained to me in LotRO.
ArPharazonV: Legendary weapons or something?
ArPharazonV: Weapons unique to your class and spec that you acquire through a questchain early in the expansion, and then continue to upgrade and customize as you go along.
ArPharazonV: Does that sound similar?
VardaValar1: Maybe like imbuement, aye.
VardaValar1: Imbuement of legendary weapons right now is at level 100, though. They're considering earlier levels if this works out well.

VardaValar1: Diablo 3:
VardaValar1: Season 3 is ending soon.
VardaValar1: We have a new preview for patch 2.3.0 covering Adventure Mode.
VardaValar1: Check out the current PTR patch notes.

VardaValar1: StarCraft 2:
VardaValar1: We have a new preview for something coming in Legacy of the Void: Allied Commanders.

VardaValar1: Hearthstone:
VardaValar1: Two new blogs on The Grand Tournament: A Grand Celebration and Honor! Valor! Knighthood!.

VardaValar1: Eve Online:
VardaValar1: Sauron has been playing there a lot. He's on the slow version of the gaming, so he can learn all the tricks as he goes.

VardaValar1: StarCraftBroodWar:
VardaValar1: It is still played as of this last week by Fangorn, Sauron, and Varda together.

VardaValar1: Sauron also plays Kongregate games, like Phar. :-)

VardaValar1: We've had varying reports on how Windows 10 is affecting gamers and other computer activities.
VardaValar1: We know the important part though: We can still play LotRO on it. :-)
VardaValar1: It seems to be causing crashes in Firefox when more than one tab is open. Workaround is opening separate windows, nightmarish for the way I do things with multiple tabs.

ArPharazonV: Forum-post made. Last few lines feel a bit off, though. Rushed. But it's a good way to not have to repeat myself too much.
VardaValar1: Fortunately we have an Edit function if you need it. :-)

karakedi25: It works fine with Chrome. S
karakedi25: o far, the only incompatability is with my file manager :-(
ArPharazonV: Crashes in Firefox with multiple tabs? That's horrible. I've got hundreds open permanently.
ArPharazonV: Good thing I'm still in windows 8.
karakedi25: I used win 7, which I think gave me more flexibility. Win 10 has simplified to the point of dumbing down to some degree, and I've had to find some workarounds.
karakedi25: The main culprit is the Start button.

VardaValar1: Just read you post, Calion. Looks good!
VardaValar1: *your

ArPharazonV: I use the Pokki addon to replace the start menu in Windows 8. I wonder how it works with 10.
ArPharazonV: Great :-)
VardaValar1: I use Windows 7 right now. Chrome huh? I guess it's time to upgrade to that.
karakedi25: Win 10 combines the classic and the 'boxes,' which can be made unobtrusively small.
VardaValar1: Still use the swipe thing like a phone, if you have the right monitor?
karakedi25: I don't know, as I don't have touch screens
VardaValar1: Me either. Looked nifty on some I've seen though. Not quite up to Iron Man's tech. :-)
ArPharazonV: I don't even have a phone like that.
ArPharazonV: Mine still has buttons.
VardaValar1: I don't have a moblile phone, personally. But get to use other people's for them while they're driving or whatnot and need a designator phoner.
VardaValar1: *designated. Like a designated driver.
ArPharazonV: Practical!
VardaValar1: Tolkien:
VardaValar1: We have the new RP post from Phar, much appreciated!
ArPharazonV: *bows*

ArPharazonV: Oh, got some general heroes of the storm news too I don't see up in the meeting, will share that later I guess.
VardaValar1: Thanks! Fire away
VardaValar1: I haven't got a Tolkien topic yet anyway. :-)
ArPharazonV: *searches quick link*
ArPharazonV: eu.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/19819246/ should do. New heroes, new map, first ranked season coming soon.
ArPharazonV: Including the first Starcraft Warrior and the first Diablo Support heroes, filling the last gaps in the possible combinations.
ArPharazonV: Each franchise will now have at least one of each role/type.
VardaValar1: Getting balanced, sounds like.
ArPharazonV: Besides those heroes, Artanis and the Monk, there are also a Medic, and a ranged warrior from Warcraft, Rexxar the hunter. I'm looking forward to using him.
ArPharazonV: Not very good with the warrior type myself, but Rexxar looks different and useful to my playstyle.
ArPharazonV: That link didn't work, did it?
VardaValar1: The link showed for me
ArPharazonV: Doesn't show as a link for me. But if it works for you and the transcript, that's fine.
ArPharazonV: Well, that's my Storm news.
VardaValar1: Maybe it would help to have www, or http on there too?
VardaValar1: Thanks. :-)
VardaValar1: Tolkien:
ArPharazonV: It doesn't say in my browser, so not sure if that would work.
VardaValar1: Does anyone have a chat topic, or would we like to go for a Tolkien Moment from each of us?
ArPharazonV: http://eu.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/19819246/ try this instead
ArPharazonV: Yep, that works.
VardaValar1: yay!
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Tolkien:
ArPharazonV: I don't have much of anything, I'm afraid.
VardaValar1: It would come by flipping through a book. Something usually jumps out.
ArPharazonV: Could do that.
VardaValar1: Easy to forget that the Valar did indeed deal directly with Middle-earth at times.
VardaValar1: Ulmo for one.
VardaValar1: As in the story of Turin, when Ulmo sent warning.
VardaValar1: Two elves, Gelmir and Arminas, came to Nargothrond.
VardaValar1: Theyu brought news of a great mustering of evil creatures including where they were.
ArPharazonV: Just luring people to the coast, giving them messages, and sending them back landwards again.
VardaValar1: They also told that Ulmo had come to Cirdan
VardaValar1: hehehe Phar
        VardaValar1: "Ulmo had come to Cirdan, giving warning that great peril drew nigh to Nargothrond.
        VardaValar1: "'Hear the words of the Lord of the Waters!' said they to the King.
ArPharazonV: Can't Ulmo show up in a river somewhere?
        VardaValar1: 'Thus he spoke to Cirdan the Shipwright:
VardaValar1: heh
ArPharazonV: Just some underground stream in Nargothrond, connected to the sea somehow, suddenly popping up. Or would the room have been too small? :-)
        VardaValar1: "The Evil of the North has defiled the springs of Sirion, and my power withdraws from the fingers of the flowing waters.
VardaValar1: (There's your answer.)
ArPharazonV: Ah, right.
        VardaValar1: "But a worse thing is yet to come forth.
        VardaValar1: "Say therefore to the Lord of Nargothrond: Shut the doors of the fortress and go not abroad.
        VardaValar1: Cast the stones of your pride into the loud river, that the creeping evil may not find the gate."
VardaValar1: Paraphrasing for brevity, let you guys read the real thing in the Sil under Turin Turambar:
VardaValar1: The Lord that's mentioned is Orodreth, who has been listening to Turin rather than the more cautious Gwindor.
        VardaValar1: "Orodreth was troubled by the dark words of the messengers, but Turin would by no means hearken to these counsels, and least of all
        VardaValar1: "would he suffer the great bridge to be cast down; for he was become proud and stern, and would order all things as he wished."
VardaValar1: So guess what happened?
VardaValar1: Morogoth's forces went that direction with Glaurung, and only Turin had the dwarf-mask to keep off the dragonfire.
VardaValar1: So everyone suffers for listening to him, the area is devastated, they can't throw down the huge bridge in the limited time left.
ArPharazonV: Silly Turin!
VardaValar1: Narothrond is sacked.
VardaValar1: Then when Turin tries to fight, he looks into the eyes of Glaurung and gets caught.
VardaValar1: Even his girlfriend is hauled away right past him.
VardaValar1: So although given plenty of timely warning by a Vala, the people ignore the warning.
VardaValar1: Makes the Valar less likely to bother, maybe?
karakedi25: *is reminded of climate change*
ArPharazonV: Imagine Ulmo showing up at the sea-shore, warning us about climate change.
VardaValar1: Getting colder or hotter, Ulmo? :-)
ArPharazonV: I mean, personally he wouldn't mind if the sea level rose a bit, but still feels it necessary to warn us.
VardaValar1: He might get a lot of TV coverage at least.
VardaValar1: He'd be quite spectacular.
VardaValar1: Anyone else have a comment or a Moment they'd like to bring up?

ArPharazonV: Just saying he did the same with Tuor as well...
ArPharazonV: but in that case he *did* lure him to the seaside first.
ArPharazonV: And again, the intended target didn't listen.
VardaValar1: Aye. Set him up with armor too.
VardaValar1: Lots of signs, not just words. Still, not paying attention.
VardaValar1: Just didn't want to move.
ArPharazonV: But in this case it was the descendant of Hador who delivered the message and the elf who wouldn't listen, instead of the other way around.
VardaValar1: Aye. So we have both the First and Second-born not listening.
ArPharazonV: Honestly though, if Turgon had led a mass exodus out of Gondolin, wouldn't he have been spotted anyway?
VardaValar1: Could he have taken the secret ways back to the first place they came from, I wonder?
VardaValar1: Maybe they would have had time to scatter out in many small groups and meet somewhere?
ArPharazonV: Sure, that might have worked.
VardaValar1: Go out at different times.
ArPharazonV: Take different roads.
VardaValar1: Aye, lots of directions. Roads for some, through the wilds for most.
ArPharazonV: Elves are supposed to be pretty good at that.
VardaValar1: Aye
VardaValar1: Boats where possible. Ulmo might have helped out along those streams.
VardaValar1: Too bad at least some didn't try slipping out after hearing the message. Maybe some did. Fan fic time! :-)
ArPharazonV: I thought he didn't have much power in those anymore?
VardaValar1: Even a little help might be good. Mist for cover, help past white water.
ArPharazonV: They might have done. Early settlers at the mouths of sirion, or crossing over to *looks up name*what was the place Cirdan had settled?
VardaValar1: Tell the Goldberries to help out.
ArPharazonV: Balar.
VardaValar1: Grey Havens
ArPharazonV: I meant Balar. But yes.
VardaValar1: Aye, Isle of Balar
VardaValar1: Go to the West if nothing else, aye.
VardaValar1: Just scattering would have prevented a lot from dying.
ArPharazonV: Seems almost counter-intuitive. Isn't that the opposite of what fish do?
VardaValar1: School up! Let the other guy be the food!
ArPharazonV: Yes!
VardaValar1: Heh, I'd wind up being that other fish. Think I'll scatter.
VardaValar1: Elves should be good at slipping out through the forest, or have some among them that could help the others do it.
VardaValar1: I wonder how many of them had some form of telepathy, use like mobile phones to coordinate. Don't hear anything about that in the early stories.
VardaValar1: We know Galadriel, Elrond, and Gandalf were chatting that way after the War of the Ring, just at the campfire. Surely the old greats could have done somewhat in that way?
ArPharazonV: Now I've got a picture of Elves with a GPS navigation device in their heads and the ability to transmit their locations to other Elves.
VardaValar1: hehe
VardaValar1: Look up at the stars to navigate at least.
ArPharazonV: Oh, Elves would be good at that.
ArPharazonV: If Morgoth didn't cloud the place up.
VardaValar1: So they could have made it if they had gone in a timely manner.
VardaValar1: He would do that, true.
ArPharazonV: Most of them, anyway.
VardaValar1: Still, there were those that were familiar with the terrain.
VardaValar1: Bet they knew about lodestones.
VardaValar1: Use lodestones for primitive compasses.
VardaValar1: Come reek! We don't care. Follow the rock on the string!
ArPharazonV: The humans might have laughed at that. Who follows a rock on a string?
VardaValar1: Let 'em laugh. We'll live.
VardaValar1: *picks up hammer*
VardaValar1: *Ker-thwommmp!*
VardaValar1: *replaces hammer in the shelf and rubs ears*
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VardaValar1: After-meeting!
VardaValar1: Free chat.
ArPharazonV: Well then. Let's bring in some personal gaming news.
VardaValar1: I have too many LotRO characters. ;-)
ArPharazonV: I know. I've got too many WoW characters, and still busy with the one. And now comes expansion with a 12th slot for the demon hunter!
VardaValar1: heh

ArPharazonV: Flashgaming! I'll give 2 games.
ArPharazonV: http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/cut_3d is a 3d puzzle game where you have to cut shapes.
ArPharazonV: and http://www.kongregate.com/games/JWolfGames/sentry-knight-2 a defense game with upgrades, where you have to guard and defend a tower by shooting stuff at enemies.
ArPharazonV: Mostly with a bow.

ArPharazonV: Heroes of the Storm: I bought Raynor this week, because I need a Starcraft Assassin to complete 2 quests at once. With the new heroes coming, and every combination being possible, I can fulfill my goal of buying and levelling one of every combination eventually. But still a lot of gold-saving required!
ArPharazonV: *needed

ArPharazonV: Hearthstone: This week's brawl was quite interesting, with every minion killed by your opponent giving you a cheaper minion. Won a few matches with a deck that involved overwhelming the enemy with small minions.
ArPharazonV: They announced a new method of ranking in the season, giving better rewards at the end of the season depending on the highest rank you got. This gives more incentives to rank up, instead of just having the milestones at rank 20 and legendary.
ArPharazonV: I usually peak around rank 17 or 16, so should get a golden common card every season with a bit of luck :-)

ArPharazonV: Played no D3 this weekend, but I am looking forward to Season 4 starting in a couple of weeks.

ArPharazonV: WoW: Much progress again.
ArPharazonV: Finished my fishing for lunkers, getting the crimson water strider mount for my troubles. Looks very good!
ArPharazonV: With that done I got time to spend on some other projects too. Got the achievement for collecting 500 waystones, and have been collecting Music Rolls for the garrison jukebox as well.
ArPharazonV: In fact, right before the meeting started today I picked up the faerie dragon music roll from the event that plays out in the west of Tirisfal every 15 minutes, and it's a beautiful track.
ArPharazonV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI3JtZCA1u0 if you want to listen to it :-)
ArPharazonV: For raiding, we got the last boss, Archimonde, to 70% health so far. He's quite difficult indeed, even on normal difficulty.
ArPharazonV: On heroic difficulty we got the second and third boss killed for the first time this week, so still making progress there.
ArPharazonV: And I got my fourth druid class setpiece today, giving me the 4-piece bonus, very useful!
ArPharazonV: No new pets this week though. But they'll come eventually.
ArPharazonV: And that's my gaming news!
VardaValar1: Thanks, Phar

ArPharazonV: Oh, and I decided on name and race for my Demon Hunter already, I just hope the name's available when the time comes :-)
ArPharazonV: Looks like Hearthstone's going into maintenance in just over an hour. I'd better get a quest done.
VardaValar1: Go go!
ArPharazonV: Quest finished, time for some Storm
VardaValar1: Enjoy
ArPharazonV: Thanks :-)

karakedi25: namarie
ArPharazonV: Namarie
VardaValar1: Namarie
karakedi25 has left the room.
VardaValar1: Namarie Phar :-)
ArPharazonV: Namarie!
VardaValar1 has left the room.
ArPharazonV: saving and sending transcript
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