Valar Guild

October 25, 2015 Sunday Meeting

5pm EDT (UTC/GMT - 5)

AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace

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

Attending: (6)
    AnarionV/Anarion House of Elendil, AriehnV, ArPharazonV, Falco-V/cmanderso, Farmer Maggot-(V)/thesirg3, Varda Valar (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
    Three new members this week
Web:
    New art
Gaming
Tolkien:
    Neo-Sindarin YouTube that can help pronunciations.
    Map with annotations by JRRT discovered and being sold.
    Entry question suggestions.
    Discussion topic: What are some of the ancient evils in the deep places of the earth?
After -meeting:
    Gaming news from Arien for SWTOR, and from Ar-Pharazon including flashgaming reviews.
top

Before-meeting
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
AriehnV has entered the room.
AnarionV has entered the room.
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Arien, Ar-Pharazon, and Anarion!
VardaValar1: The A's have it!
AnarionV: Ahaha, indeed!
VardaValar1: Gives us an A+
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
ArPharazonV: Still seeing Anarion's email.
ArPharazonV: I really should see if adding his name to the buddylist fixes it next time, but I don't know your full aim name.
VardaValar1: Need to pick him under his AIM name instead of email
ArPharazonV: But I don't know it.
AriehnV: Aiya there
VardaValar1: Anarion, try sending a tell to Phar?
cmanderso has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Falco :-)
cmanderso: Aiya All
ArPharazonV: See, that one works, as cmanderso.
VardaValar1: We haven't quite started the main meeting yet, in Before-meeting :-)
ArPharazonV: And Aiya :-)
AnarionV: Aiya, sorry, was getting beaten to a pulp by azurithor
VardaValar1: sending invitations
VardaValar1: ack!
VardaValar1: Pauses expected :-)
AnarionV: Turns out that's actually a six man instance, not a solo xD
VardaValar1: Invites sent. Some are just away, some at work, or on a phone
AriehnV: who is he? and cant have that hehe
VardaValar1: Oopsie :-)
VardaValar1: He's a LotRO baddie :-)
AnarionV: yeah, he's not really in-lore
VardaValar1: Ok, going to start the meeting, others can join when they have a chance
ArPharazonV: Anarion added, but don't see him online and still seeing him by email. You'll still have to edit it out of this week's transcript.
VardaValar1: But he's also not specifically forbidden. ;-)
ArPharazonV: Maybe next week's will be better :-)
VardaValar1: Will do. He shows to me as Anarion House of Elendil
VardaValar1: Long monicker. :-)
ArPharazonV: It does?
ArPharazonV: He told me to just add Anarion.
VardaValar1: Aye
VardaValar1: Try that one?
ArPharazonV: I'll change it, yeah.
VardaValar1: okie dokie
AnarionV: House of Elendil is my "Last Name" for AIM purposes
top

VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
VardaValar1: A star shines on the hour of our meeting!
ArPharazonV: Actually I'll leave it for now until I have something actually confirmed as name I need to add. I can't remove names, only block them, so I'm ending up with half a dozen versions this way.
VardaValar1: I see the whole thing, might help Phar
VardaValar1: heh
VardaValar1: I have an "alt" section
AnarionV: Oh, sorry Ar-Pharazon
ArPharazonV: I'll try with Elendil bit added.
VardaValar1: Today is a change of time for Europe, meaning for Arien and Ar-Pharazon. :-)
ArPharazonV: There, it's added.
VardaValar1: Say something, Anarion?
VardaValar1: When your life isn't in danger, preferably
AnarionV: Heya
thesirg3 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Farmer Maggot! :-)
AnarionV: Aiya!
VardaValar1: Just getting started.
ArPharazonV: Still email. I don't think that'll change until I reboot AIM, no matter what I do.
VardaValar1: Ok, no worries. Find and Replace is handy
ArPharazonV: So you'll just have to edit. That's not a problem, right? ;-)
VardaValar1: No problem.
thesirg3: I�fm only around for a few minutes, but hello :-)
VardaValar1: Ok, just great to get to say hi. :-)
VardaValar1: Get to introduce everyone
ArPharazonV: Aiya Farmer!
VardaValar1: Anarion is here, and Falco :-)
VardaValar1: Farmer is trying to get ready to go to work, lucky to catch him.
top

VardaValar1: Membership:
VardaValar1: Daylight Savings Time just started in Europe, but folks made it here on time anyway! /cheer
VardaValar1: We have three new members this week, all from LotRO:
VardaValar1: Findis-(V)
VardaValar1: Lenwe-(V)
VardaValar1: and
VardaValar1: Amlaith-(V)
ArPharazonV: DST just ended, actually.
VardaValar1: Here's hoping they'll have a chance to come here sometime.
ArPharazonV: Welcome to all 3!
VardaValar1: Thanks for the correction!
VardaValar1: Dis was in the hospital the other day, but should be getting out shortly. Cat scratch infection on the leg that turned really evil. Maybe a morgul-clawed cat.
VardaValar1: We'll be glad to have her back in LotRO helping us slaugher the bad guys.
VardaValar1: Over in the Gulf Coast area, we're having remnants of Hurrican Patricia hitting us, more rain than dropped during the hurricane.
ArPharazonV: Tevildo, eh.
VardaValar1: Flood and wind warrnings. Our power was out very briefly. Internet has moments of slow that may or may not be related.
VardaValar1: No doubt!
VardaValar1: Tevildo, the cat form of Sauron. :-)
VardaValar1: JRRT was not fond of cats. :-)
VardaValar1: Any other membership news?
ArPharazonV: More a dog person, I take it :-)
VardaValar1: Arien is probably working with her rp group mostly right now.
VardaValar1: Aye, just notice how much he likes Huan, Hound of Valinor
ArPharazonV: Our raid ended early, but still got some other stuff in WoW to work on... but I'll be here to chat!
VardaValar1: Yay!
VardaValar1: Falco, Anarion, and I are also in LotRO
VardaValar1: Findis is there too, so we might relay some of the Tolkien stuff when we hit that part
VardaValar1: Also under Membership, we participated in a kin recruiting fair Saturday, the reason we added three new members.
VardaValar1: One happened to recognize us because he used to be with us in Diablo days, and rejoined us. :-) Amlaith-(V)
VardaValar1: He was there helping with the entertainment
VardaValar1: Another helped out with the music, and joined us as Findis. :-)
ArPharazonV: Oh, always special to get a returning member out of nowhere.
VardaValar1: Lenwe answered the call
VardaValar1: True! Surprising how often that happens. And he took his old name again
VardaValar1: Turned out he had made a character in LotRO called Amlaithion and had been thinking about us, his first kin. So it was all a big fun surprise. :-)
VardaValar1: Any other membership news?
VardaValar1: Gorlim just came online in LotRO.
VardaValar1: moving on to
top

VardaValar1: Web News:
VardaValar1: We have new artwork from the Bohemian Weasel-(T):
VardaValar1: "Arwen at Aragorn's Tomb"
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/characters/Arwen/Arwen_AragornsTomb.jpg
ArPharazonV: Well that's just depressing!
VardaValar1: Maybe right for Halloweeen though...
ArPharazonV: True.
VardaValar1: It's filed under the art for Arwen:
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/characters/Arwen/Arwen.htm
VardaValar1: and for Aragorn:
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/characters/Aragorn/Aragorn.htm
VardaValar1: The art pages are hooked into the Tolkien Encyclopedia, so we have an illustrated Encyclopedia
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/encycindex.htm
AnarionV: That tomb is an amazing piece
VardaValar1: All of you are very welcome to join in adding to this enormous project.
VardaValar1: Aye, she's a fine artist and sells professionally
VardaValar1: This is her section in our art site (which is the Glittering Caves of Aglarond):
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/BohemianWeasel/caveBohemianWeasel.htm
VardaValar1: You can spend an awful lot of time digging around just in the art site, let alone the whole site. :-)
VardaValar1: Just go to the opening page, click Tolkien, and go on the ride. :-)

VardaValar1: You can also hit the Gaming Site, for which Eonwe is webmaster
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/gaming
AriehnV: uhm acually was running in Wow Skyreach with my second mage just now ^^ but finished
VardaValar1: Ah, welcome back. Hope it went well!
AriehnV: loved the sketches all three , they are great
AriehnV: and it was a very nice run smooth despite gbeing kocked off once ^^#
VardaValar1: Little detail ;-)
top

VardaValar1: Gaming News:
VardaValar1: LotRO has a fair going, think until Nov 2. [Fall Festival]
VardaValar1: Testing for Update 17 has been going on, with a huge load testing test yesterday
VardaValar1: Eonwe says: Been waiting for the Siege of Minas Tirith? Well here it comes, with update 17.
ArPharazonV: Careful, Nazgul flying about!
VardaValar1: Some that have seen Minas Tirith on the Bullroarer test server says it has all 7 levels, and its huge.
AriehnV has left the room.
VardaValar1: Need Legolas shooting them down.
VardaValar1: And Arien is having problems. Hope you're making saves, Phar!
AriehnV has entered the room.
VardaValar1: They really could have used Legolas at the Siege of Minas Tirith.
AriehnV: uh dodgy internut again .. but might be the weather
VardaValar1: Hurricane Patricia bothering you in Scotland too?
AriehnV: edges fraying i think
VardaValar1: Amazing what a wide area it affects. Hitting us here along the Gulf of Mexico
VardaValar1: Any other LotRO news?
VardaValar1: World of WarCraft:
VardaValar1: See this week's hotfixes.
VardaValar1: StarCraft 2:
VardaValar1: Some news in here for Phar too. :-)
VardaValar1: There's a new blog out looking at automated tournaments.
VardaValar1: New comic: Sacrifice.
VardaValar1: More beta balance updates.
ArPharazonV: WoW: Hallow's End still ongoing!
VardaValar1: Thanks, good to know. One hopes it goes through Halloween at least
VardaValar1: Hearthstone:
VardaValar1: New patch out: Patch 3.2.0.10604.
VardaValar1: Heroes of the Storm:
VardaValar1: New patch released this week. Check out the patch notes.
VardaValar1: There's a Hallow's End event beginning October 27th with things to do. See this blog for more details.
VardaValar1: Overwatch:
VardaValar1: Blizzard has announced that the Overwatch beta will include testing for battle.net voice chat.
VardaValar1: and of course we have members happily slaughtering evil in Diablo 3 and Eve Online, as well as other places.
VardaValar1: Trying to tell the news here is like showing the tip of the iceberg.
ArPharazonV: Could give you more, but that's what my personal aftermeeting section is for ;-)
VardaValar1: Ok :-) Looking forward to that.
[SWTOR news in the After-meeting]

VardaValar1: In other gaming news for the guild,
VardaValar1: we use Ventrilo as our gaming chat program, and it can be used for any gaming branch.
VardaValar1: In LotRO, we work with a large group of other kins across several chat channels,
AriehnV has left the room.
VardaValar1: and all the kins use separate voice chats often from different companies, such as Ventrilo, Teamspeak, Mumble, etc,
VardaValar1: so a batch of our allies are testing out a voice chat in beta called Razer where each kin has a channel, and we can pop back and forth between them to join each other.
AriehnV has entered the room.
VardaValar1: The idea is good, still being worked on. We do have our own channel there if you want to try it. It's under LotRO-Landroval
VardaValar1: The program is larger than Ventrilo and more invasive. We are giving feedback for the beta.
VardaValar1: We have not really adopted it and still like our Ventrilo, but if you feel like checking it out, feel free.
VardaValar1: I don't plan on dropping our Ventrilo any time soon.
VardaValar1: If you need the Ventrilo info, just contact me. Miriel or Irmo may also be emailed or reached in GW2
VardaValar1: Any other gaming news, or other business of any kind before we switch to Tolkien?
VardaValar1: This is a great time for comments, suggestions, etc also.
VardaValar1: Our 18th Anniversary stuff runs to the end of October. Still time to send in goodies for the Tolkien Site to celebrate it. :-)
VardaValar1: Moving on...
top

VardaValar1: Tolkien:

VardaValar1: Anarion-(V) sent in a link to a Neo-Sindarin language tutorial on YouTube, for those that like Neo-Sindarin:
VardaValar1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbwTkdD4Id4

VardaValar1: Also, a map has been located on which JRRT himself added annotations. This is a huge surprise find:
VardaValar1: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/23/jrr-tolkien-middle-earth-annotated-map-blackwells -lord-of-the-rings
ArPharazonV: The languages have never been my strong point, but this tutorial seems to start quite basic. Could be nice.
AnarionV: There is some more advanced stuff available I believe, but that particular one mostly goes over pronunciation especially with regard to common phrases
VardaValar1: Aye, worth enjoyihg. Just remember it's not canon, and dón't get excited if someone points this out. :-)
AnarionV: Indeed, its neo-sindarin
VardaValar1: Pronunciation can really help us out in our games where we talk to each other. Cut some of our worst errors.
VardaValar1: So it's definitely worth going through.
VardaValar1: About the map, the illustrator, Pauline Baynes, had worked with JRRT and showed him this map. He added his own corrections and details.
VardaValar1: The map is being exhibited in Oxford and
VardaValar1: is up for sale at £60,000
ArPharazonV: bit out of my budget
VardaValar1: It had been left loose in one of Ms. Bayne's books that were sold to Blackwell's Rare Books.
VardaValar1: I'll be satisfied with the reproduction on this web page. ;-)
VardaValar1: That's all the outside Tolkien news.

VardaValar1: In our forum rp story, Eonwe says he doesn't have anything new for Elrond to say, really, and to go ahead with our characters' comments.

VardaValar1: For today's Tolkien chat, do any of you have a suggestion? Question? Maybe something bugging you from the entry test?
ArPharazonV: Only 5 questions? ;-)
VardaValar1: lol
VardaValar1: Aye, takes pretty long even with only five. :-)
VardaValar1: Oh, suggestions for good entry questions are welcome.
VardaValar1: Working out questions for entry can be tricky, especially since so many watched the movies.
VardaValar1: But they can't be too fine in detail, as it's just entry, not a Maia test.
ArPharazonV: That makes it all the more fun to find those points that are pretty basic but only showed up in the book and incorrectly in the movies.
VardaValar1: Something that isn't in the movies, or different from them, or provoke thought can be good.
ArPharazonV: How many Elves at Helm's Deep, that sort of thing.
VardaValar1: Right, Phar
VardaValar1: Heh, I used that one yesterday. :-)
ArPharazonV: Hah!
VardaValar1: He got it right, too.
ArPharazonV: Good :-)
VardaValar1: It throws a lot of people. Good one.
VardaValar1: Any other suggestions for entry questions? Jokes are welcome too, but warn folks reading this that it's a joke. :-)
VardaValar1: It's nice to try to include one from each book as well as some general types.
ArPharazonV: On whose horse did Frodo cross the Ford?
VardaValar1: That's a good way to put it. I've been using a longer version, may swipe yours.
ArPharazonV: sure :-)
VardaValar1: I try to get them to tell if Frodo was alone on the horse or had a companion and who it was
VardaValar1: Wording it right is something crazy.
ArPharazonV: Hmm, I tried to avoid that particular detail, to be sure.
VardaValar1: Every member can scout for potential new members: people that read the LotR and seem nice enough to hang around with for the next 18+ years.
VardaValar1: Drag the person to a tester and go play or hunt up a new potential buddy. :-)
VardaValar1: We used to have a lot of scouts working at once and several testers. Hoping to get back to that.
VardaValar1: The poor guys yesterday were lined up and only about half passed the test.
VardaValar1: Spreading the tests out would help, maybe. Kin recruiting fairs make a batch at the same time.
VardaValar1: Any other question suggestions or comments?

VardaValar1: Here's a discussion question then:
VardaValar1: The books mention that in the time of LotR, ancient evils still existed and some walked the deep places of the earth.
ArPharazonV: With wings, or without? ;-)
VardaValar1: In the book, members of the Fellowship meet some, but others could have been around as well that they had the luck not to meet.
VardaValar1: heh, that's a discussion too! and if winged, how well did they work?
VardaValar1: So what are some of the ancient evils in the deep places of the earth?
ArPharazonV: I recall Gandalf mentioning a bunch of strange beasties in the caverns below Moria, leading up to the bottom of the Stairs.
ArPharazonV: But none by name.
VardaValar1: Aye, a good place for fan fic, gaming storylines
VardaValar1: Somehow the orcs were surviving down there
VardaValar1: We know of cave trolls
ArPharazonV: Might even be some large spiders or dragons sleeping far, far below, passed by the changes happening above them.
VardaValar1: Aye. we know that Smaug was one of a group of dragons that were in the mountains north of Mirkwood
VardaValar1: (Anyone else here, maybe lurking?)
ArPharazonV: Maybe the Watcher in the Water had some buddies down there.
VardaValar1: Sauron could have baited in other, lesser dragons with smaller hordes
VardaValar1: That's a good ancient evil too!
VardaValar1: The Watcher may have moved in and out of Moria through waterways
VardaValar1: Wonder if it laid eggs or had a colony
VardaValar1: Of course the Balrog was there.
VardaValar1: In late story versions, there were seven Balrogs.
VardaValar1: Maybe others survived in other mountains or other parts of Moria, in their own territories.
ArPharazonV: Can't have been many left after Gondolin.
ArPharazonV: But sure, maybe 3 or so.
VardaValar1: In the storyline in Gondolin, Balrogs were a-plenty. In later versions, it changed to seven. We can hope all but this one were killed.
VardaValar1: Then Gandalf got rid of this one, maybe one of the intentions of the Valar.
ArPharazonV: There were some key balrog deaths in Gondolin though. Glorfindel's fall and Ecthelion's duel come to mind.
VardaValar1: They might not have expected Gandalf to go it alone, when he had the Fellowship.
VardaValar1: Agreed.
ArPharazonV: That leaves 5 ;-)
VardaValar1: Five too many
VardaValar1: Maybe some were wiped out in early times by Tilion.
VardaValar1: Attacking the steersman of the Moon, not a good idea.
VardaValar1: Another ancient evil in the deep places of the world was Shelob.
AriehnV: Have you mentioned Ancalagon yet?
AriehnV: or Glaurung?
VardaValar1: How many approaches were there to Mordor, with such beings allowed to stay in them as deterrrents, one wonders.
VardaValar1: We were in the LotR mostly, so no.
ArPharazonV: Gollum only knew the one, I think. Or at least the most dangerous one... ;-)
VardaValar1: Ancalagon may not have lived long enough to be ancient. :-)
VardaValar1: Gollum steered the Ring on purpose to Shelob, for whom he had brought in "food"before.
VardaValar1: The orcs called him Her "sneak".
AriehnV: yes he hoped to get the ring as indigestable *leftover* from her meal *shudders*
VardaValar1: He may not have known other approaches, or did know some but not on survival terms with the evils there
VardaValar1: Right, eww
VardaValar1: How many items did he pick up that way, one wonders, maybe traded for fish or information?
ArPharazonV: Can't be good for the digestive system to eat a Ring, anyway. Eating a silmaril didn't do much good for a certain wolf, either, and the Ring was also rather powerful.
VardaValar1: or bribery to enter other odd places around Mordor.
VardaValar1: True :-)
VardaValar1: The silmaril was hallowed, so it burned the inside of the evil Carcharoth.
VardaValar1: The Ring was evil, so it might not have had that effect at least.
VardaValar1: Morgoth was strong enough to take the punishment from the Silmarils in his Iron Crown, three of them. Powerful indeed.
ArPharazonV: But he didn't eat em.
ArPharazonV: Ungoliant tried. I wonder what that would've done to her.
VardaValar1: Interesting!
VardaValar1: Good question.
VardaValar1: She ate light and turned it into unlight, but that may have been too high an order for her. Or made her insanely more powerful.
VardaValar1: She could already give Morgoth a tough time. But a group of Balrogs freed him, so maybe it was just having the drop on him that worked.
ArPharazonV: Morgoth never was much of a physical fighter anyway. Not enough finesse. He lost the wrestling match, and only beat Fingolfin by brute force, and at a cost.
VardaValar1: Aye
VardaValar1: He became a physical coward when he discovered that he had become trapped in only one shape. Not normal for a Vala.
VardaValar1: It was alien for him.
VardaValar1: Any further comments on the ancient evils in the deep places of the world?
ArPharazonV: Can't think of any more!
VardaValar1: *picks up the latest gavel left by Aule's students*
AnarionV: Truth be told, I don't know much about the ancient evils of the world, I've been playing too much LOTRO to trust my memory
VardaValar1: *eyes it warily*
ArPharazonV: Any of them in LotRO, then? :-)
VardaValar1: *ker-thwommmmm!*
VardaValar1: *shakes head and replaces the gavel*
ArPharazonV: *cave collapses*
top

VardaValar1: After-meeting!
VardaValar1: *lets Aule's student fix the cave*
VardaValar1: LotRO does a pretty good job of trying to stick to JRRT's ideas.
VardaValar1: Most odd stuff has an excuse. :-)
ArPharazonV: And how many balrogs have you seen so far? :-)
VardaValar1: One of the jobs of our kin has always been to help them keep reasonably inside the lore. The devs are pretty good.
VardaValar1: o well, admittedly more than one. :-)
VardaValar1: Glorfindel's lady friend has been trying to keep one chained up underground, but it needed us to come help put it down.
VardaValar1: And of course the Balrog of Moria
ArPharazonV: I take it your swords were not useless there.
VardaValar1: I can actually see there possibly being a second or third around.
VardaValar1: We had to use a lot besides swords.
AnarionV: Acutally our swords *were* useless there. Once the elf goes down, swords are completely irrelevant
VardaValar1: Aye
ArPharazonV: At least that's a nice reference then.
VardaValar1: Back when I first ran it, we *had* to take a group. Not sure about now.
VardaValar1: Some things had to be done at the same time.
VardaValar1: Turn the keys on opposite sides of the cave
AnarionV: Yeah, they even have gandalf tell the party that no one else will hear of it, explaining its abscence from the rest of the lore
VardaValar1: Nice touch there. :-)
ArPharazonV: If it's anything like WoW, the fights get changed when enough expansions and level-increases have gone by, to make them easier or at least possible to solo.
VardaValar1: Aye, since it becomses difficult to find groups for the then lower level runs.
AnarionV: You can solo everything up to the balrog, then you need at least two
AnarionV: but three is probalby recommended, even with 100s
VardaValar1: Be fun to re-visit that again. :-)
AnarionV: I have a 50 mini ready to run it on-level if there is any kin that interested in that sort of thing
VardaValar1: Just have to ask in kin and catch people just right
cmanderso has left the room.
VardaValar1: or in the alliance channel, or GLFF, or World. Can't let the mini go without the balrog!
AnarionV: I'm hoping to run something like ToO and then perhaps make some cross kin connections
VardaValar1: Good to do
ArPharazonV: ahh, networking
ArPharazonV: so glad I've rarely had to do that...
VardaValar1: I've done a lot of that.
AriehnV: oh by the way i ve got some SwtoR news if anyone is interested ^^
VardaValar1: So many old raiding groups are gone now, but new ones come up
VardaValar1: Sure, fire away, Sunshine. :-)

AriehnV: yeah last week the early release of Star Wars the old Republic: Knights of the fallen Empire was released
AriehnV: I dont quite get the story line , but its from what i gather lorewise to unight against a rogue sith lord and one of his twin sons
AriehnV: But they have revamped the levelling system , the user interfaces and given a speed boost to levelling as well as a new way of levelling through heroic missions
VardaValar1: If a sith lord goes rogue, does that mean he went Jedi as a light side?
VardaValar1: j/k
AriehnV: nope ^^ defiinitely not lol although the option actually turns up in one of the class stories ^^
AriehnV: and a sith guy goes Jedi ^^]
ArPharazonV: That twin sons bit sounds ominous. I bet the other twin's around somewhere.
AriehnV: its a level sync system .... so when you go as level 60 to Balmorra where the level range is 30 to 38 you get back to level 38 as the max level in the area and dont lose out on experience
ArPharazonV: Hah, good luck outlevelling things.
AriehnV: i quite like that and Phar, according to the trailer one twin (one dark side , one light side) kills the other
ArPharazonV: Ah.
AriehnV: the max level goes up to 65 as well
AriehnV: and uhm the epic class stories have new chapters
AriehnV: ten
AriehnV: and over all you get a new epiic companion and get a free level 60 character as subscriber
AriehnV: ftp players of course can get it through the store or cartell market
AriehnV: so you can decide to level either from scratch or actually skip the first parts of the game
AriehnV: for those too lazy to level ^^
AriehnV: There were some tweaks in Battlefronts and crafting as well
AriehnV: but hang on i ll get you the link
AriehnV: http://www.swtor.com/fallen-empire
AriehnV: there u get the details and the trailer and a bit of a better idea
AriehnV: but that was just my impressions from playing last week :-)
AriehnV: that's it from me

ArPharazonV: Right. I'll start my personal gaming news!
ArPharazonV: I will give you 3 fun games for flashgaming this week.
ArPharazonV: The first one, I found on another site this week, but apparently has been on Kongregate for nearly a year already.
VardaValar1: (Dis-V is home and back on LotRO! :-) )
ArPharazonV: http://www.kongregate.com/games/joiby/dynapuff-jump is a jumping game where you collect marbles to slowly upgrade your character as you go. It is technically multiplayer, but it only puts you against the "ghosts" of other players, so I think it just grabs random people's performances in the past, because there doesn't seem to be a lobby or queue.
ArPharazonV: Yay for Dis!
ArPharazonV: Someone reporting in the comments about facing his own "ghost" seems to confirm that suspicion ;-)
VardaValar1: Neat workaround
ArPharazonV: Yep.
AriehnV: ((welcome back to Dis-V on LotrO)
ArPharazonV: Second game arrived on kong a week ago, and is quite popular already! An arena/combat/rpg game where you also upgrade your stats through practice, to work your way through the levels, and a bunch of medals and stuff to unlock. http://www.kongregate.com/games/SoulGame/swords-and-souls
ArPharazonV: And for the last one, an old favorite of mine! I'd already beat it a few times in the past, but apparently not since making my kongregate account, because I didn't have the badges yet. http://www.kongregate.com/games/ArmorGames/upgrade-complete-2
ArPharazonV: Start from practically nothing, and collect money to upgrade everything and get new features, even to the point of upgrading the menus and graphics over time. You could say, the ultimate upgrade game ;-)

ArPharazonV: So while you enjoy those, I'll get started on my blizzard gaming news!
ArPharazonV: Not much new in Hearthstone. Levelling is really slow now. Did make it to rank 16 this week in ranked mode, which is probably the highest I'm going to get in this season, which will end during next week.
ArPharazonV: In Heroes of the Storm, I don't have Artanis yet, because I have trouble getting into the beta with the code I got from pre-purchasing the Collector's Edition. Some comments on the site I ordered it from do give a work-around, but I can't really be bothered with it now, with the game almost coming out anyway.
ArPharazonV: But he is available to some, and I've seen him in action. Looks quite interesting.
ArPharazonV: But I'll get him for free anyway when LotV releases and I receive my copy :-)
ArPharazonV: Other than that, more daily quests, more playing various heroes!
ArPharazonV: Diablo 3:
ArPharazonV: Completed chapter 4 of the Season Journey with my seasonal wizard this weekend! Got me a new portrait frame, and a new companion pet for in the game, some silly looking spectral dog :-)
AriehnV has left the room.
AriehnV has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: I am thinking about poking chapter 5, but all the remaining chapters are a bit ridiculous in luck needed, and difficulty required. And the pet was the main reward of the journey anyway, after this the only rewards are more portrait frames.
ArPharazonV: To be honest, I think I'll start spending more time in Starcraft II instead, maybe finally doing that Zerg campaign ;-)
AriehnV has left the room.
ArPharazonV: WoW:
ArPharazonV: Did most of the Hallow's End stuff I wanted, including getting the 2 new toys and 3 new pets. Took me a while to get them, but some stuff is just random.
ArPharazonV: Still lacking the Horseman's mount, but chances of that one are tiny anyway.
ArPharazonV: Done some steamwheedle rep gathering, though I didn't have much time for it. Got into revered though, because it's quite fast, certainly if you kill a rare mob now and then around the northern parts of Nagrand.
ArPharazonV: Also tried a bit of Ashran, but had trouble unlocking some stuff, so I'll go back later after Steamwheedle is done.
ArPharazonV: As for raiding, good progress! We had 3 first kills on heroic difficulty in one raid, and are now at 11/13 heroic.
ArPharazonV: Just Mannoroth and Archimonde remaining. But the difficulty between Normal and Heroic isn't that big, so they should go down in a few weeks.
ArPharazonV: *difference
ArPharazonV: And that's my gaming news!
ArPharazonV: Now, time for some fishing in my garrison :-)
VardaValar1: mmm fishhh
ArPharazonV: Caught 4 carps in my fishing just now, I hope I get a turtle from one of them! But chances are low ;-)
VardaValar1: *slips a turtle in*
ArPharazonV: If only :-)
VardaValar1: ^^
ArPharazonV: Alas, no turtle.
VardaValar1: awww
ArPharazonV: Will try again tomorrow!
VardaValar1: Tomorrow, a New Hope!
ArPharazonV: Every day a new hope :-)
VardaValar1: That sounds better
thesirg3 has left the room.
AnarionV has left the room.
top