Valar Guild

March 20, 2016 Sunday Meeting

5pm EST (UTC/GMT - 5)

AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace

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Transcript work by Ar-Pharazon and Varda.

Attending: (4)
    Arien-(Valar)/AriehnV, ArPharazonV, VardaValar1 (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
Web:
Gaming
Tolkien:
    Topic : Unusual jobs in Middle-earth.
After -meeting:
    Ar-Pharazon: more gaming news including flashgaming reviews.
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Before-meeting
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Phar
ArPharazonV: Aiya!
VardaValar1: This computer has to be restarted. Back right after. :-)
ArPharazonV: heh, see you soon!
VardaValar1: yay!
VardaValar1 has left the room.
VardaValar1 has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Made it back. :-)
ArPharazonV: Aiyata :-)
VardaValar1: Hantal. :-)
ArPharazonV: Right, let me poke the sun.
VardaValar1: Sounds hazardous.
ArPharazonV: Done.
VardaValar1: Invites sent to others on AIM. Boy we're good. ;-)
VardaValar1: Going to try to pull up some programs - hang on li'l comp.
AriehnV has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: Aiya :-)
AriehnV: aiya all :-)
VardaValar1: Aiya Arien :-) Thanks for coming!
AriehnV: uh yeah its still a week here until Daylight saving
AriehnV: strange world ^^
ArPharazonV: Yep, still early for us ;-)
VardaValar1: Aye, confusing. Crazy government critters decided we needed this week early for their golf games probably, a year or so ago. Still stuck with it.
VardaValar1: Some more states are considering ditching daylight savings time completely. Some already did a while back.
VardaValar1: It's 4pm for us, in the middle of all sorts of activities, some folks aren't even off work yet. Yes a lot of people work Sunday.
VardaValar1: So you don't see a lot of folks here from the US and Canada at this time of day.
ArPharazonV: Easter for you next week?
VardaValar1: Trying to pull up LotRO and poke some more folks.
AriehnV: i did as well . was working very early today so would have been in the middle of the night for you when i started ^^
ArPharazonV: I always lose track of holidays without fixed dates.
AriehnV: Easter next Sunday, yes
ArPharazonV: And some holidays *with* fixed dates, too.
VardaValar1: Easter is the 27th, a Sunday. :-)
VardaValar1: I have to look on the calendar to be sure. :-)
ArPharazonV: hehe
VardaValar1: Could just claim, o right, I remember. But I remember thanks to the calendar. ^^
ArPharazonV: Useful things.
VardaValar1: Today is the first day of spring, or yesterday depending on time zone. Or first of autumn in the southern hemisphere. Chilly here!
AriehnV: colder today then yesterday .. aye . was very mild and sunny last week here
VardaValar1: Same here
VardaValar1: We're having a La Nina climate this year, normal to happen. Affects most of the US's weather. We had an El Nino last year.
VardaValar1: Trying to enter LotRO now. See if the computer blows up. *raises umbrella*
AriehnV: *offers parachute*
ArPharazonV: *offers blast-shield*
VardaValar1: Still here, *sigh of relief. Lowers umbrella but doesn't close it."
VardaValar1: Hello from Gorlim. :-)
ArPharazonV: Aiya Gorlim!
AriehnV: say hi back :-)
AriehnV: i ve got trouble with the quests on the east wall btw in Lotro .. i cant get the quest from Isteron " A glow in the dark*
AriehnV: and so not all the follow on quests
AriehnV: i tried to contact a gm but apparently they tried to contact me when i was off line or afk . so no joy
VardaValar1: Aye, need to be online. Tough when you're near time to go to bed.
VardaValar1: Often enough a reboot fixes stuff like that, but you probably tried that already.
VardaValar1: Relog, reboot.
AriehnV: yeah did
VardaValar1: Ouch
VardaValar1: They're working hard tweaking the servers to be improved. Natch that means things break so it helps a lot that you let them know where. Thank you.
AriehnV: also leaving the cave and coming back in , searching the caves three times and going back to Isteron but nothing .. i saw the flowers needed but couldnt interact with them and after scouting the caves he just didnt give the quest
VardaValar1: They want to fix them up so that Europe doesn't have much lag at all on the US servers. They're sure they can do it
VardaValar1: Ugh
VardaValar1: Maybe it will work today or when they have more folks during the business work to work on bugs.
VardaValar1: They're also working hard on the Bullroarer test server for the next update.
VardaValar1: Gorlim and Goldilocks have been reporting bugs for them. Thank you, you two!
AriehnV: all right
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VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
VardaValar1: Membership:
VardaValar1: Nerdanel was back again in LotRO, thinks she may try out one of the new Beorning class. :-)
VardaValar1: Real life has just been very busy for her (and a lot of us!) but she found time at last to return.
VardaValar1: A person tested with us but couldn't come up with a name, and joined another kin. Can't win them all.
VardaValar1: Scouting by members is very welcome. :-)
VardaValar1: Have either of you seen Valarites in your other games, so we can tell if they are active still?
VardaValar1: Helm? Aragorn?
ArPharazonV: Bit of Fladrif, bit of Arien, but that's it :-)
VardaValar1: Ah good. Glad to hear about Fladrif. That Arien person, I don't know... ;-)
VardaValar1: /duck
VardaValar1: Fangorn says hi!
VardaValar1: *WTB better jokes*
AriehnV: havent seen Helm this week yet
AriehnV: *pats Varda*
VardaValar1: *smiles*
VardaValar1: Dis just showed up in LotRO.
VardaValar1: Did you see Helm since the move?
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VardaValar1: Web:
VardaValar1: I didn't manage to get anything onto the Tolkien Site, but Eonwe updated the Games Site, because he's just that good. :-)
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VardaValar1: Gaming:
VardaValar1: World of Warcraft:
VardaValar1: Check out the latest hotfixes.
VardaValar1: Diablo 3:
VardaValar1: There's a new Developer Insights blog on upcoming changes to legendary gems.
VardaValar1: See the updated PTR patch notes.
VardaValar1: StarCraft 2:
VardaValar1: Sauron and Eowyn play that, among others. :-)
VardaValar1: Coming with patch 3.2: trophy tops and a new co-op mission.
VardaValar1: Coming March 29th: Nova Covert Ops missions.
VardaValar1: Hearthstone:
VardaValar1: There's several pieces of Hearthstone news. Start out with the patch 4.2.0.12051 notes.
VardaValar1: Then say Happy Birthday to Hearthstone as it celebrates its second anniversary.
VardaValar1: Next see the new hero available and how to gain access.
VardaValar1: Conclude with the blogs: Whispers of the Old Gods: Say C'thun Three Times Fast, Search Your Hearthstone Collection Like Never Before!, and Whispers of the Old Gods - Forbidden but not Forgotten.
VardaValar1: Heroes of the Storm:
VardaValar1: New balance update. See the notes for details.
VardaValar1: Blizzard gave a peek at what's in development.
VardaValar1: They also announced a new map coming: Lost Cavern.
VardaValar1: Also announced for the next patch: improvements to hotkeys and quick casting.
VardaValar1: Heroes of the Storm?
VardaValar1: Heroes of the Storm:
VardaValar1: New balance update. See the notes for details.
ArPharazonV: (small note: That Hearthstone patch finally seems to have fixed the drive error I'd been getting when quitting the game since I had a system malfunction months ago)
VardaValar1: heh, already gave this. Delete
ArPharazonV: And you're falling into Storm repetition, yes :P
VardaValar1: O good, Phar!
VardaValar1: Overwatch:
VardaValar1: There's a new blog: Exploring the World of Overwatch.
VardaValar1: There's also a new animated short coming March 21st: Recall. Apparently it will be exclusively on Xbox.com/Overwatch.
VardaValar1: Any other general news to add at this point?
ArPharazonV: Some new Warcraft: Movie trailers have been discovered.
ArPharazonV: Oh, and the World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 book has been released (ordered it myself yesterday!)
ArPharazonV: The trailers are in some of the most recent posts at http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/ but that will need a permanent link at some point, I suppose, unless you catch it early :-)
VardaValar1: Likely
VardaValar1: We'll catch it early at least, thanks to you.
VardaValar1: Any other comments, suggestions, jokes?
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VardaValar1: Tolkien:
VardaValar1: If you happen to have a suggestion, go ahead now. I have one if y'all don't. :-)
VardaValar1: Jobs in Middle-earth. While we know a lot of them were similar to Medieval times, some were unusual even for their time. What are a few of those?
ArPharazonV: Wizard?
ArPharazonV: Lembas baker!
VardaValar1: Agreed. The Istari were only in number five.
VardaValar1: Hah, true. Lembas could only be given out by a Lady or Queen of the elves, so she and her ladies made them.
AriehnV: Ropemaker?
VardaValar1: That's good. And the related maker of nets, as for fishing.
VardaValar1: or for greenhouses
VardaValar1: or shade or hammocks.
VardaValar1: Being the Maia working inside a Watching Stone.
AriehnV: is that what the watching stones were?
AriehnV: a maia active in hem>?
VardaValar1: Who said working for the Dark Lord was glamorous? :-)
VardaValar1: They contained evil spirits that worked for Sauron.
VardaValar1: That sounds like probably low level Maiar.
AriehnV: ah right yeah makes sense
ArPharazonV: Sounds about right.
ArPharazonV: Fel beast breeder?
VardaValar1: That could be quite a job!
VardaValar1: Guarding the White Tree in Minas Tirith.
VardaValar1: Bounder.
ArPharazonV: Ranger.
VardaValar1: Good one. Secret most of the time, too.
VardaValar1: Reforger of famous swords, like Narsil.
AriehnV: .. maker of huge Statues like the Argonath
ArPharazonV: Forger of magic rings.
VardaValar1: Good ones. :-)
VardaValar1: Cave troll handler.
ArPharazonV: Mithril smelter.
VardaValar1: Balrog handler/feeder
VardaValar1: We're not going to restrict it to mainland Middle-earth. You can include Valinor.
VardaValar1: Rune inventor.
ArPharazonV: Steerer of celestial bodies?
VardaValar1: Yay! Sun and moon steersmen, aye. Or steerslady?
VardaValar1: And those stars that were ships, mostly smaller than Vingilot probably, could have had steersmen, but they are not mentioned. Might have had auto-pilot.
ArPharazonV: Does Earendil flying with a silmaril count as steering a star? ;-)
AriehnV: Shipbuilder then
VardaValar1: Yes. He's the Morning Star.
AriehnV: Shipwright i think you call that
VardaValar1: Aye, both terms are used
VardaValar1: Making the tapestries in the Halls of Mandos. She may have had helpers, lots of hands down there needing therapeutic work.
ArPharazonV: Whole factory going on.
ArPharazonV: And who's taking care of whatever materials go into those tapestries? :-)
VardaValar1: Could have been. The Textile Workers of Mandos #42
ArPharazonV: Sheepherders? Cotton-growers? What are tapestries made of?
VardaValar1: Good question. Where do supplies come from for the Halls of Mandos?
AriehnV: leaf growers>?
VardaValar1: Depends on the tapestry.
AriehnV: moss tenders?
VardaValar1: And the dyes for them, too.
VardaValar1: Needles and thread. Looms, etc.
VardaValar1: Lots of therapy labor there. :-)
VardaValar1: Drop the materials down a mining cart and rails to Mandos?
VardaValar1: Enough racket to keep the Dead awake.
VardaValar1: And they expected "death" to be peaceful.
VardaValar1: Making gems such as silmarils would be one person, but there were many marvelous gems made.
VardaValar1: The shipwrights that Arien mentioned, but among the Teleri making the special swan-boats.
VardaValar1: The ones in Lothlorien were probably in memory of those.
AriehnV: all right
ArPharazonV: There might have been people whose job it was to regularly check up on the Palantiri before they went out of use.
AriehnV: were the ones Galadriel used survivors of those Teleri ships or built new ones once they arrived in midlearth?
ArPharazonV: The leaders and monarchs had better things to do
VardaValar1: I doubt Saruman let just anyone check out the Palantir he used, or Denethor for that matter.
VardaValar1: The ones in Lothlorien would have been patterned on the Teleri shapes, but not the same, as those were burned that came to Middle-earth by Feanor's orders.
VardaValar1: Bad idea since one of his sons may have been asleep in one at the time.
VardaValar1: As well as the fact that as one who had made things precious to him that could not be made again, he should have understood the value of the Teleri ships and treated them with respect.
VardaValar1: Being a Ringbearer.
VardaValar1: (another unusual job)
ArPharazonV: Quite unusual, yes. Especially if that Ring is one of a kind.
AriehnV: very much so
AriehnV: hmm messenger
VardaValar1: Good one. Carrying the red arrow
VardaValar1: Beacon handlers
AriehnV: firestarter on the Borders of Eriador .. . lighter of beacons . ah snap hehe
VardaValar1: Yours sounded better. :-)
ArPharazonV: Elvish-Westron translators.
VardaValar1: Subset of your Messengers.
VardaValar1: Librarians in Minas Tirith for instance? Had to be able to read Quenya and knew it better than most elves of the time of the War of the Ring.
VardaValar1: Illusion entertainers of the elves. Sort of like movie makers.
ArPharazonV: Fireworks makers?
VardaValar1: Good point. Gandalf was the best, probably not the only one. So Saruman may not have been the only one to understand black powder.
VardaValar1: Similar to our history, black powder was originally for fireworks, not for weaponry.
VardaValar1: Too awful a thing to do. So of course, Saruman would do it.
ArPharazonV: I believe he also had deals with people in Dale who were also in the toy business.
ArPharazonV: Gandalf, that is.
AriehnV: ouhm builder of sleighs out branches and seigh steerer *nods*
VardaValar1: Mathom house curator
VardaValar1: Aye, very special skill set. Probably steaming wood for shaping even.
AriehnV: yup to make it more supple
VardaValar1: The raft elves between Mirkwood and Dale that kept the barrels moving along the river.
ArPharazonV: Hmm. Barrelrider's some sort of a job too, perhaps ;-)
VardaValar1: I'll bet they did a lot of hunting/gathering, maybe their own trading, with barrel pushing as a side thing.
ArPharazonV: How about professional burglar, publically for hire? ;-)
VardaValar1: :-)
VardaValar1: Maker of Dorwinion wine fit for the elfking's table.
VardaValar1: Newsflash for LotRO update: trying out bows for burglars. Might or might not go into the live game depending on how the players like it in testing.
VardaValar1: Source is unreliable though.
ArPharazonV: Bows? Pff. They're burglars. They need throwing knives and grappling hooks.
VardaValar1: No argument.
VardaValar1: We do know LotRO is planning for levels to go up to 105 on this next update. Imbued Legendary Items will be able to grow along with the character instead of being obsolete, same as they've been doing but for the new levels too.
ArPharazonV: Aha! Next WoW expansion will be 110. You won't have us beat yet.
VardaValar1: hehe
VardaValar1: *fiddles with hammer*
VardaValar1: *it seems very clear, only held by the fea part of the hand*
AriehnV: *flashes a ray in a bow as string for the fiddle*
VardaValar1: hehe
VardaValar1: *hammer comes down in a shower of sunlight and goes through the table without touching it*
ArPharazonV: And the cow jumped over the moon..
VardaValar1: *but music pours forth in a quartet of string instruments*
VardaValar1: *returns hammer to the conveyor belt, and sees the hammer float just above it as it travels along*
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VardaValar1: After-meeting:
VardaValar1: Free chat!
AriehnV: very impressive ^^
AriehnV: right .. heading . direction bed i think . its not that late yet but .. as i say i was up very early this morning ^^
ArPharazonV: Namarie, then!
AriehnV: i ll reasd your gaming report when its up on the website :-)
AriehnV: Namarie :-)
VardaValar1: Namarie Arien
ArPharazonV: I'll start right away then ;-)
AriehnV has left the room.

ArPharazonV: Flashgaming: 3 games this week that I played!
ArPharazonV: http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/dungeons_and_donuts_2 is the first one, a platformer where you play a donut collecting other donuts and freeing the girlfriend. Haven't gotten too far in it yet, controls don't always seem to respond well, but that might very well just be my pc.
VardaValar1: Are you having pc problems in other things?
ArPharazonV: I have a few flash issues sometimes. I think Firefox has gotten a bit more performance-heavy lately.
ArPharazonV: http://www.kongregate.com/games/esthetix/sinbads-journey is the second game! A short point and click puzzle game from a maker who's been churning them out pretty regularly, I've linked his games before in the past. In this you play Sinbad and have to get your boat fixed.
VardaValar1: Windows 10 keeps all the files compressing when not used and uncompressing for use, eating up RAM.
ArPharazonV: I'm still on W8.
VardaValar1: Firefox has been trying to handle it's own security, so aye, might be. I like Firefox too, not as heavy as Chrome.
ArPharazonV: http://www.kongregate.com/games/innocuousGames/amorphous is the third game, a simple but tough game where you have to swing a big sword around and kill random blobs that enter the level, and see how long you last. A few rewards are possible to get but it's mostly skill and practice.

ArPharazonV: Let's see now, blizzard games!
ArPharazonV: Hearthstone: Just pushing along. A few classes are close to the next level now, but still trying to catch up with the rest. I haven't unlocked Liadrin as a paladin hero yet because I've no intention of levelling a new character in WoW right now, but I think I prefer Uther as a paladin anyway.
ArPharazonV: Brawl this week gives you a free spell of the cost of whatever minion you play, which makes for interesting combinations. I got an easy victory by using cheap minions to get multiple spells per turn, and using those to buff other units that benefit from spellcasting.
ArPharazonV: But I'm sure other strategies are viable :-)
ArPharazonV: Heroes of the Storm: Finally got Abathur to level 10, one of my first and favorite heroes, but since I have a dream of levelling many more heroes to 10, I bought a new Starcraft Specialist hero to fill the spot.
VardaValar1: (LotRO news: We're getting 15 more dyes. :-) About time!)
ArPharazonV: Once again I seem to be pretty lucky with figuring out specialists: after reviewing abilities and talents beforehand, I got topscore in the first game I played with that one. Is promising!
ArPharazonV: Hah, yay :-)
ArPharazonV: How many colors can one game implement ;-)
VardaValar1: We get to dye a lot of cosmetic outfits in our wardrobe, and each has a dropdown for all the colors.
VardaValar1: But no dropdown color until we dye it.
VardaValar1: Lots of shades, more than lots of actual colors.
ArPharazonV: Aha.
ArPharazonV: Diablo 3: Progress! I've finally gotten my second Unity ring, allowing me to split damage with my (invulnerable) follower, cutting my damage taken in half. Combined with finding my first Ramaladni's Gift, which allowed me to add a socket to my (best) weapon with my build, I should be up for the highest difficult now, Torment X.
VardaValar1: Grats!
ArPharazonV: This also allows me to experiment with a build based on a pair of rings which increase my performance based on how many Ancient equipment I'm wearing, rather than an actual class set. If I can get this to work I should be capable of finishing the last few chapters I want of the season journey in the upcoming weeks.
ArPharazonV: Level-wise, I'm nearing Paragon 400 now. It should go a lot faster at the highest difficulty, too!
ArPharazonV: And thanks :-)
ArPharazonV: WoW:
ArPharazonV: Like I said, I ordered WoW Chronicle: Volume 1 yesterday. Can take up to 2 months to arrive, but would be nice if it arrived before my birthday in early May ;-)
VardaValar1: Good luck and pre-happy birthday! :-)
ArPharazonV: Raid-wise not much progress. Discussed my gear with some people and set my eye on a few minor upgrades on heroic difficulty, rather than thinking I was finished. Still, it's not much and shouldn't take long.
ArPharazonV: Got one new achievement in Blackrock Foundry with another group who I now poke achievements with in lower raids on fridays, which was interesting.
ArPharazonV: Still struggling with the one rare in Tanaan who has to drop a toy for me. I might skip mentioning him from now on until that changes ;-)
ArPharazonV: I tried to work on the Nemesis: pandaren thing, not much success. Made it up to 160, and will try to finish it during the week; but as backup I signed up for a boost-group for it on next friday. So whatever happens, I'll have it done then.
ArPharazonV: I also tried it in a group while communcating with Arien's horde panda, but we had no luck getting us all on the same server, so that failed.
ArPharazonV: *communicating
ArPharazonV: Thanks for the attempt though, Arien, if you're reading this :-)
ArPharazonV: So starting next friday I should be able to start the next project in WoW I want to work on!
ArPharazonV: And.. yep, that's my news for this week!
VardaValar1: Thank you, Golden One. :-)

ArPharazonV: Oh, one more thing to note.
ArPharazonV: ..I'm still in AIM 5.9 ;-)
VardaValar1: And seem to be staying in just fine.
VardaValar1: So unsupported doesn't mean removed
ArPharazonV: Indeed. If bugs show up I might be in trouble, but so far it's fine.
VardaValar1: Yay!

ArPharazonV: Ooh, minor mention for WoW: Made it to 5000 timewarped badges with this month's Timewalk week event, and bought myself a Wraithcharger mount.
ArPharazonV: There's one other purchasable mount for the BC timewalk event (this was the wrath event) which I should be able to buy with my warrior when it pops up in about 2 months, and the rest is just buying cheaper stuff like toys.
ArPharazonV: Yay stuff ;-)
VardaValar1: Woot fluff!

VardaValar1: Oh, LotRO players might want to refrain from spending Turbine Points (and deed for more) before this next expansion.
VardaValar1: So they can use the barter points instead of real money to buy the expansion.
ArPharazonV: Ooh, fancy.
ArPharazonV: Makes you wonder how they make a profit!
VardaValar1: People buy Turbine points and expansions all the time. No patience. :-)
VardaValar1: But for the patient or economically impaired, this is great.
ArPharazonV: Indeed!
ArPharazonV: saving and sending transcript
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