March 22, 2015 Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT (UTC/GMT - 5)
AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Back to News
Transcript work by Ar-Pharazon and Varda.
Attending: (4)
Arien-(Valar)/AriehnV, ArPharazonV,
Indis-(V)/karakedi25, VardaValar1 (presiding).
Frodo-(V) tried to join in.
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
New Full Member: Melilot Brandybuck
Web:
Tolkien Site: new art by the Bohemian Weasel-(T)
Gaming:
Tolkien:
Forum group story aka rp discussion.
Topic: What made Bree an unusual town even for Middle-earth?
After-meeting:
Gaming continued
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Before-meeting
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Phar :-)
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
ArPharazonV: Still in raid, where I got a new hat tonight! Now trying the Iron Maidens on heroic.
VardaValar1: Grats! and good luck :-)
ArPharazonV: Thanks :-)
karakedi25 has entered the room.
karakedi25: Aiya
VardaValar1: Aiya Indis :-)
karakedi25: going afk for a bit to get a bite to eat
VardaValar1: Sounds yummy and yay for scrolling :-)
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VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
VardaValar1: Membership:
VardaValar1: Frodo-(V)'s wife passed the entry test but is still
choosing a name, either a hobbit lass or an elf lady. Tough choice. :-)
VardaValar1: Web:
VardaValar1: Our Tolkien Site has new art up by the Bohemian Weasel-(T):
VardaValar1: On the page for Gandalf: "How about very old friends?"
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/characters/Gandalf/so ni-topps-lotrm2-100b.jpg
ArPharazonV: Aiya Indis
VardaValar1: "Bag End: ‘No visitors, well-wishers, or distant relations!’
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/places/Shire/soni-topps-lotrm2-100.jpg
VardaValar1: "Bilbo's 111th Birthday Cake"
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/characters/Bilbo/soni-topps-lotrm2-101.jpg
VardaValar1: "Ferret in Bree"
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/places/Bree/soni-topps-lotrm2-102.jpg
VardaValar1: The ferret especially amused her because it was like seeing her weasel character pop up in the Prancing Pony.
ArPharazonV: Lost me on that one. There was a ferret in Bree?
VardaValar1: It was from the movie, a pet poked its head out of a pocket of a human patron.
ArPharazonV: Ah. Must've missed or forgotten it.
VardaValar1: She noticed especially because of her own character name.
I noticed because my friend Elwing had ferrets she let me play with. :-)
VardaValar1: Another odd character in the Prancing Pony:
VardaValar1: "Strider" The man in the corner of the Prancing Pony
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/characters/Aragorn/soni-topps-lotrm2-103.jpg
ArPharazonV: I wouldn't trust him. He looks foul.
VardaValar1: He does!
VardaValar1: heh, the sunshine is about to show up. Good, it's been rainy lately.
AriehnV has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Sunshine :-)
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
AriehnV: aIYA
VardaValar1: Just listed off the new artwork. It was just put up on the News a bit ago, if you'd like to take a look. :-)
AriehnV: THERE i always forget that it still starrts an hour early
VardaValar1: I especially liked the Strider picture.
ArPharazonV: Should be the last time.
VardaValar1: Aye, then you can forget and not worry.
AriehnV: if you give me the link again pls :-)
VardaValar1: http://valarguid.org
VardaValar1: click the pic, the logo, or News.
VardaValar1: Enjoy :-)
VardaValar1: Games Site:
AriehnV: Varda i get redirected to a different site
VardaValar1: Eonwe dug up the gaming news for us kindly.
VardaValar1: Really!
ArPharazonV: it misses an L ;-)
VardaValar1: oops
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org
VardaValar1: /facepalm
VardaValar1: I hope the other site wasn't too bad.
AriehnV: the wifi zone
AriehnV: lol so not bad and happened agaijn
VardaValar1: I tried the messed up link and just got an error
VardaValar1: I see what it is. I'll try to learn to type
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/
VardaValar1: (copy pasted from online, has to be good now)
AriehnV: perfect ^^
AriehnV: yes indeed i like these pc here
AriehnV: pics
VardaValar1: yay!
VardaValar1: Lot of windows up right now. Hoping not to hit the wrong button and crash. :-)
VardaValar1: On to the news from the Games Site, dug up for us by the hard-working Eonwe.
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VardaValar1: Gaming:
VardaValar1: WoW:
VardaValar1: (This one's for Phar!)
VardaValar1: Check out the new short story
Code of Rule.
VardaValar1: See the
most recent hotfixes.
VardaValar1: StarCraft 2:
VardaValar1: Legacy of the Void beta is near. Check out the
preview.
VardaValar1: SWTOR is still being played by Sauron and Bilbo.
VardaValar1: Left 4 Dead being played by Bilbo.
VardaValar1: Diablo 3:
VardaValar1: Season 2 is ending soon.
VardaValar1: Check out the updates to the
PTR patch notes.
VardaValar1: Hearthstone (Phar will be giving us more on this one later, most likely):
VardaValar1: Check out the patch notes for
patch 2.3.0.8108.
VardaValar1: Check out two new blogs:
Blackrock Mountain - The Gooey Molten Center of Molten Core
and
Blackrock Mountain - The Towering Heights of Blackrock Spire.
VardaValar1: Heroes of the Storm:
VardaValar1: There's a new blog:
Developer Insights: A Look into the Next Patch.
VardaValar1: LotRO still has the Treasure Hunt going. It ends with the weekend, unless we get an extension, but don't count on it.
VardaValar1: Any other geneeral gaming news anyone would like to bring up?
ArPharazonV: Allright, a moment of recovery during bossfights...
ArPharazonV: I suppose I'll give more on Hearthstone later, yes, it
seems you've already covered the general stuff, or most of it :-)
VardaValar1: Breaking news:
VardaValar1: We have a new Full Member: Melilot Brandybuck!
VardaValar1: Frodo-(V)'s wife, and mother of a 4 month old baby. :-)
VardaValar1: Frodo was trying to load AIM and said it asked for his phone number.
VardaValar1: Never heard of that.
VardaValar1: Has anyone else heard of it?
karakedi25: Not I
VardaValar1: Very peculiar.
VardaValar1: Any other comments, suggestions, kudos, plans to send in something for the Tolkien Site? :-)
ArPharazonV: And back again.
ArPharazonV: I have heard of something similar where your account might
be compromised and you'd have to get a code to your phone that you have
to enter online...
ArPharazonV: but not sure if that was AIM
VardaValar1: I passed that on to him in a copy paste. Thanks.
ArPharazonV: And thanks, I'll have to add that short story to the list ;-)
VardaValar1: Yay! :-)
VardaValar1: [Kinship] Dylas: Yeah, it's when I create an AIM account.
VardaValar1: [Kinship] Dylas: Yeah, they have to send me a text to activate my account.
ArPharazonV: That'd be it then.
VardaValar1: The in between programs were what? Pidgin, and
VardaValar1: maybe I'll remember the other one we were using later. :-)
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VardaValar1: Tolkien:
VardaValar1: First off, any comments on the rp? :-)
VardaValar1: Might have Frali post so we know where he is, then we go round everyone up.
ArPharazonV: Sounds about right. What about Auros?
VardaValar1: He'll be pulled in probably after we go together (or send someone) to see Elrond about leaving.
VardaValar1: Elrond will be assigning him to the group, right when he
wants to hole up and be miserable over his friend leaving to the West.
VardaValar1: We'll wind up being therapists unintentionally by giving him something physical to do, like kill trolls.
karakedi25: will he be rude to us because of his disappointment?
VardaValar1: Some folks will take anything he says as rude, others won't.
VardaValar1: He never intended to be rude.
VardaValar1: But it can come out sounding that way.
VardaValar1: Since he sounds like an arrogant Noldo. One of his friends commented on it in his own post.
karakedi25: So will he seem even more arrogant?
VardaValar1: I don'[t know. He might be more reserved. We'll see how he plays it.
VardaValar1: That might make him seem even more arrogant to all of us, aye. :-)
karakedi25: Maybe Elrond can sweeten the assignment somehow.
VardaValar1: Anything else we need to post other than where Frali is before we get together?
VardaValar1: One hopes! That would help us all.
VardaValar1: Any of us in ooc can suggest something Elrond might do to make it less awful-seeming.
VardaValar1: Ready for a Tolkien topic? :-)
karakedi25: I'm sure Elrond is a past master at flattering Noldor :-)
ArPharazonV: He should be, after all these years.
VardaValar1: It wouldn't have to be flattery. Just something to make it feel worth coming out of mourning for.
ArPharazonV: "If you come out, I'll give you this tasty treat..."
VardaValar1: Something like that.
VardaValar1: Or just appeal to his sense of duty, and trust the activity to help bring him out of it.
VardaValar1: Different people than Noldor around him so he's not reminded daily of the loss.
VardaValar1: We'll work something out. :-)
VardaValar1: Sounds like regular rp fair, doesn't it? :-)
VardaValar1: sorry, *fare
ArPharazonV: Wouldn't know, I don't RP all that often ;-)
VardaValar1: Arien does. Probably could tell us tons of what is a trope.
VardaValar1: but she is probably with her WoW rp group at the moment.
AriehnV: hrm ..
AriehnV: *blushes*
VardaValar1: No commonly heard stories - the ones from over and over?
VardaValar1: Ones I hear a lot are "my village was burned, my family killed, I'm therefore traveling to seek vengeance".
ArPharazonV: Sounds about right.
VardaValar1: So when doing tabletop gaming, I tell where my
village/home area is, have extended family, and find something in there
to hang a story on. :-)
VardaValar1: The DM's love it for all the ways to use story hooks into that mess.
VardaValar1: Maybe we need to consider deepening our own characters'
biographies to give us more story hooks and characterization. Mine is
pretty thin.
VardaValar1: Shall we move to Tolkien, who did not write thin? :-)
ArPharazonV: "All my relatives are dead from a particularly nasty flu epidemic. Try and get something from that!"
VardaValar1: It wasn't really the flu and you're carrying it like Typhoid Mary.
ArPharazonV: eek
VardaValar1: We have to find a cure for all the rest of us, fast.
VardaValar1: There you go. ;-)
VardaValar1: Oh, and you'll die young from the constant fight with the "flu" if you don't find the cure.
VardaValar1: And if you become sick or badly injured, it may finish you off. Bad for your Constitution score.
ArPharazonV: I think I might just roll up another character...
VardaValar1: heehhe
VardaValar1: Oh, look, there's the cure! Next story arc.
ArPharazonV: It was in my side pocket all along.
VardaValar1: Sure enough! The burglar had it in his pouch and didn't realize.
VardaValar1: Oh, that was what it was for.
VardaValar1: Was that supposed to have gone to your village...? *he runs*
ArPharazonV: We got that thing 3 campaigns ago, always wondered what it was for...
VardaValar1: There you go.
AriehnV: who delivered the bugs why?
VardaValar1: The last adventuring team. We'd better go hunt them down and find out who sent them.
VardaValar1: Sure a lot of pay just to deliver a box of blankets.
VardaValar1: Ok now. :-)
VardaValar1: That picture of Strider suggested a topic:
VardaValar1: What made Bree an unusual town even for Middle-earth?
VardaValar1: It was suitable for Gandalf's and for Strider's various secret meetings with interesting characters.
ArPharazonV: Big crossroads, with multiple races gathered, and little general authority around after the fall of Arnor.
ArPharazonV: Also, rangers nearby.
VardaValar1: Rangers were what was left of the authority of Arnor, but they weren't using it to give many orders to towns!
VardaValar1: Agreed, Phar
ArPharazonV: Aye, they were more for protection from the outside rather than trouble on the inside.
VardaValar1: The town itself, besides being a crossroads, was unusual for its makeup.
VardaValar1: Now that's a thought. If a ranger or two saw a robbery in progreses, he might go help out.
VardaValar1: Not help rob, despite their looks. :-)
VardaValar1: Others might see his action as just a helpful fighter type, not realizing he also felt a duty to protect.
ArPharazonV: Well, sure. But they won't break up brawls or put people
in jail. Though I wouldn't put it past them to get kittens out of trees.
VardaValar1: Bet they would pull kittens out of trees. :-)
ArPharazonV: patrol the streets, guide traffic..
VardaValar1: If the brawl threatened to hurt people (hobbits maybe) who
were unable to escape, vulneralbe, they might step in. Otherwise no
point, maybe?
VardaValar1: True, be more an if they happen to see it thing.
ArPharazonV: Right.
VardaValar1: What was odd about the make-up of the town, and even affected their architecture?
karakedi25: It catered to two races.
ArPharazonV: And it was built around a hill.
VardaValar1: Right. Two races lived together in one town. Very unusual.
VardaValar1: Hobbit and Man rooms in one inn.
VardaValar1: With so many types coming and going, Gandalf and rangers
could meet with each other or contacts, such as at a public inn, and
seem normal.
VardaValar1: Other towns/cities were mainly for one race.
VardaValar1: This was a border town between humans and hobbits, blending them both.
VardaValar1: Could this also lead to any unusual bad elements most towns would not see?
karakedi25: presumably only if there was interracial friction, but
there's no indication of that, until the thugs started coming from the
south
VardaValar1: What about odd looking folks like Bill Ferny's "friend"?
karakedi25: that's what I was referring to--thugs from outside
VardaValar1: A mixed breed of a most unpleasant sort. Such were seen
later in the story, and Frodo I think it was remembered seeing the type
in Bree.
ArPharazonV: half-orcs was it?
karakedi25: probably
VardaValar1: Aye
VardaValar1: Swarthy, slanted eyes
karakedi25: which suggests that Saruman was already doing his thing
VardaValar1: Agreed
VardaValar1: Sharkey was already at work. Pipeweed and who knows what all in shady deals.
ArPharazonV: for decades, at least
VardaValar1: So Bree could have been a meeting place for all sorts.
VardaValar1: Strange as news from Bree was a common saying in the Shire.
VardaValar1: A near neighbor!
karakedi25: that was from one of the most insular places in Middle-earth
VardaValar1: True. :-)
VardaValar1: Lorien was a little more insular, but at least interested in news.
VardaValar1: Any other insular places?
karakedi25: Possibly the Grey Havens, though they were way off the beaten path
karakedi25: Dwarves could be quite insular, though I can't offhand think of a location as closed as lorien
VardaValar1: Mirkwood was fairly insular, although it had trade with
humans, some contact with Rivendell, maybe a little contact with
Beornings/wild men.
VardaValar1: True about Dwarves. They didn't even let others know much of their language.
ArPharazonV: Beorn himself.
VardaValar1: I wonder if the Beornings ever traveled incognito to human
towns. Could sell honey, honey-cakes, bring home items for the kids and
wife or for trade.
karakedi25: Weren't honey cakes something of an article of trade?
VardaValar1: Possibly. They were famed for them, so there had to be a way for them to be known.
VardaValar1: I wonder if they were ever sold at the Prancing Pony. :-)
VardaValar1: Mirkwood probably traded for them as neighbors.
karakedi25: they were probably eaten up before they could get near Bree
VardaValar1: True :-)
VardaValar1: Rivendell may have had some.
VardaValar1: Rangers may have stopped by there.
VardaValar1: Could be some enterprising merchants would go out to a mutually agreed on place, nearby town?
VardaValar1: sort of near
ArPharazonV: near what?
ArPharazonV: Rivendell?
VardaValar1: the Beornings.
VardaValar1: Shall we call it a night and switch to After-meeting?
VardaValar1: I've passed the chat question on to the LotRO folks. :-)
VardaValar1: [Kinship] Alembicus: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the mingling of men and hobbitrs.
VardaValar1: (That's Gil-galad-V)
ArPharazonV: And the occasional dwarf.
VardaValar1: [Kinship] Dylas: It was a crossroads
VardaValar1: (That's Frodo-V)
VardaValar1: True. Dwarves and elves would have come through. Elves on the way to the Grey Havens or visiting Bilbo maybe.
VardaValar1: *fiddles with a runed hammer*
VardaValar1: *swings with a singing sound*
ArPharazonV: *ducks*
VardaValar1: *fwammmm* Stars spring out from the flint below and leap into the sky.
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VardaValar1: After-meeting:
VardaValar1: Free chat :-)
ArPharazonV: Gaming...
ArPharazonV: for flashgaming I'll give this platforming adventure called Adventure Story, http://www.kongregate.com/games/kupo707/adventure-story
ArPharazonV: Actually part of a series or "franchise" mostly made out of RPGs, but this one is rather different as a platformer.
ArPharazonV: No prior knowledge necessary, though.
ArPharazonV: Hearthstone:
ArPharazonV: All classes to 33! And some wings to Blackrock Mountain revealed, but you shared that already.
ArPharazonV: My gold-saving still seems on schedule, and should remain that way as long as I do all the dailies.
ArPharazonV: So from here on it's doing dailies to save up for BRM
while leading all of my heroes to level 34 and their next golden card
:-)
ArPharazonV: Diablo 3:
ArPharazonV: Witch Doctor to 52! Got a few good gearpieces including a
legendary weapon, and I'm easily killing stuff through Expert
difficulty. Quite enjoying the class and the pet-based playstyle.
ArPharazonV: Season 2 end is announced for 2 weeks from now, which gave me some worry
ArPharazonV: but they also announced a 100% experience buff for next week for an anniversary, so that should be good enough.
ArPharazonV: So I should have no problem reaching 70 in time.
karakedi25: Going to call it a night.
ArPharazonV: Namarie!
karakedi25: Namarie!
karakedi25 has left the room.
VardaValar1: Namarie Indis
ArPharazonV: And that just leaves WoW!
ArPharazonV: Been a good week for raids. I got another pet from the old
raids in Burning Crusade that got pets added, a blue/white infernal pet.
ArPharazonV: And we killed 7 bosses out of 10 in heroic Blackrock
Foundry, which is pretty good. Two of those we killed today for the
first time.
ArPharazonV: Still wiping on boss 8 though :-)
ArPharazonV: Got some quests done in Shadowmoon Valley, and switched my
Gorgrond outpost for 5000 gold to get access to the other questlines
there, including 2 new followers.
ArPharazonV: It's expensive, but the alternative is to skip the quests
and buy those followers for 5000 a piece in your garrison... so it's
not as expensive as it could be.
ArPharazonV: And that's pretty much my gaming for the week.
VardaValar1: Thank you, Phar
<Phar's AIM stopped typing in the main chat at this point>
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