Valar Guild

October 23, 2016 Sunday Meeting

5pm EST (UTC/GMT - 5)
AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace

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

Attending: (4)
    AriehnV, ArPharazonV, Varda Valar (presiding)
    ElladanV/Scott92027 (side window)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
Web:
    Stories by Little Jewel-(T)
    New art section: Little Jewel-(T) (put up during After-meeting)
Gaming
    LotRO: We have a new kin home
Tolkien:
    Topic: New Tolkien book out
    Topic: romance in Tolkien's world
After-meeting:
    Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon
    Personal gaming
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Before-meeting
Ar-Pharazon-V (ArPharazonV) has entered the room.
Varda Valar (VardaValar1) has entered the room.
Varda Valar: Aiya, Golden One ;-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
Varda Valar: Happen to see Arien on?
Varda Valar: Invitations made
Ar-Pharazon-V: Let me log in and check.
Varda Valar: Thanks
Varda Valar: Erkenbrand was in LotRO but don't think he saw the chat, in an instance
Ar-Pharazon-V: *testing*
Ar-Pharazon-V: Okay, asterisk is working fine here.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Getting cursive in bnet chat.
Varda Valar: Good to have a handy test spot :-)
Varda Valar: There she is :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: Yep!
Arien V (AriehnV) has entered the room.
Arien V: aiya People :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
Arien V: how are u all?
Varda Valar: Aiya Sunshine :-)
Varda Valar: Good to see you!
Arien V: good to see you too :-)
Varda Valar: We still seem to be enjoying our new emotes, yay
Ar-Pharazon-V: Haven't tried it yet, but let's ;-)
Varda Valar: There! A bear of an emote.
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Varda Valar: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Varda Valar: Membership:
Varda Valar: Hello from Fangorn :-)
Arien V: Aiya Fangorn :-D
Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya big tree!
Varda Valar: Any other membership news?
Arien V: I am on holidays for two weeks now :-)
Arien V: and would be in Germany from coming Thursday to the following Thursday
Varda Valar: Sounds fabulous
Ar-Pharazon-V: would be?
Ar-Pharazon-V: you're not sure yet?
Arien V: I got a problem wih my knee which coul;d mess that up ... i ham hoping not .. but scared it might
Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, ouch.
Varda Valar: Good luck, then!
Arien V: i made a silly step on a steep stair and something snapped maybe ..
Varda Valar: Yikes
Arien V: thank you :-)
Varda Valar: /heal cast on Arien
Varda Valar: May it all work out ok for you.
Arien V: thank u :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm sure Germany's wheelchair accessible.
Ar-Pharazon-V: If not, they should make a ramp into it.
Arien V: hehe yeah i think they are that developped *nod*
Varda Valar: hehehe
Varda Valar: On to
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Varda Valar: Web:
Varda Valar: Something for you to read on your trip:
Varda Valar: Little Jewel-(T) sent a batch of short stories:
Varda Valar:
"Count Up"
"The Lion and the Mouse"
"Gems and Jewels"
"Stealing"
"New Race"
"Run and Run and Run"
"Filling in the Gaps"
"Documentation"
"Metal"
"Connecting the Dots"
"Wayward"
"Waybread"
Varda Valar: There you go!
Ar-Pharazon-V: Been busy.
Varda Valar: She also sent in an artwork to illustrate one of her stories, not up yet. Hoping to put it up maybe during After-meeting.
Varda Valar: Eonwe has steadfastly continued putting up the Gaming news for the week.
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Varda Valar: Gaming:

Varda Valar: LotRO:
Varda Valar: Update 19 has been running this week, keeping us busy, along with the Harvestmath festival.
Varda Valar: It includes new areas and epics and tons more.
Varda Valar: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?647790-Update-19-March-of-the-King-Release-Notes
Varda Valar: New housing
Varda Valar: https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/dev-diary-premium-housing
Varda Valar: But perhaps most interesting to us, is that the Valar Guild has a new island kin house.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Went for warmer regions, hm?
Varda Valar: Here's a shot from the very top of the island before we started decorating.
Varda Valar: Right!
Varda Valar: http://valarguild.org/varda/NewsArchives/extras/2016/BelfalasKinhouse/Varda_kinhouse_top.jpg
Ar-Pharazon-V: Looks good already!
Varda Valar: We're enjoying it. :-)
Varda Valar: There's already a large statue in the center of that top spot, thanks to Erkenbrand. :-)
Arien V: oh with roof terrace :-D
Varda Valar: Anyone in the kin gets to help decorate, so it is pretty amazing.
Varda Valar: The place is huge
Varda Valar: We can also pick up personal housing in the area, as many as we can afford, without losing the old personal house.
Varda Valar: We did have to give up our Thorin's area kin house, though. Possibly the first house on Landroval.
Varda Valar: Still, we have much more room.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Aw, can't have both?
Varda Valar: It could be the island of Aman, or as Eonwe suggested, the Cottage of Lost Play. :-)
Varda Valar: Sadly, no. What do you want to bet they allow it later, now that we dropped our old one, hah.
Varda Valar: But that is the case at this time.
Varda Valar: I think so far everyone has been quite happy with the move. Low level characters can go there as well as high level, no worries.
Varda Valar: Just hit the Kin House Travel, same as always, and *poof* there you are.
Ar-Pharazon-V: is it "instanced",  or are there tons of little islands about the place?
Varda Valar: From Eonwe, here's a handy link:
Arien V: oh thats nice
Varda Valar: Harvestmath is going.
Varda Valar: Ah, there are only two major islands, we have one of them, but different neighborhoods.
Arien V: i seem to have always too much stuff for one house
Arien V: wish there would be two allowe
Arien V: d
Varda Valar: The address is Tol Lochul, in the Gaerwing neighborhood of the Belfalas homesteads.
Ar-Pharazon-V: When you dump one, what happens to the stuff in it?
Varda Valar: You can have more than one personal house. One classic and all the Belfalas personal houses you can afford.
Varda Valar: The stuff goes to the new house's kin chest, what it can hold.
Varda Valar: The rest is returned to the owners, who can bring it back to the kin house.
Ar-Pharazon-V: ah, okay.
Varda Valar: A lot has already come back to the kin house. :-)
Varda Valar: I saw an escrow notice, but found nothing in the escrow.
Varda Valar: We're in great shape. We even have room for more goodies. :-)
Varda Valar: On to other gaming:

Varda Valar: WoW:
Varda Valar: Hallow's End is going!
Varda Valar: The third wing of LFR Emerald Nightmare is also available.
Ar-Pharazon-V: New rings from the Horseman, new daily quest in Val'sharah!
Varda Valar: Three blogs have been posted:
Varda Valar: Neato, thanks
Ar-Pharazon-V: And of course another year without the horseman's mount dropping ;-)
Varda Valar: Patch 7.1 Preview: New Adventures in the Broken Isles
Varda Valar: Poor mistreated Phar. :-)
Varda Valar: PvP Rewards in Patch 7.1
Varda Valar: DDungeon Preview — A Return to Karazhan
Varda Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes.
Varda Valar: Any other WoW comments before we switch?
Ar-Pharazon-V: New pets coming, yay!
Varda Valar: Woot! Always fun

Varda Valar: Diablo 3:
Varda Valar: Season 8 has begun.
Varda Valar: A new blog is out: Developer Chronicles: Engaging Monsters.

Varda Valar: StarCraft 2:
Varda Valar: Season 5 is live.
Varda Valar: Patch 3.7.0 is also live. Check out the feature roundup for overviews on new features.

Varda Valar: Heroes of the Storm:
Varda Valar: A new patch came out this week.

Varda Valar: Overwatch:
Varda Valar: The PTR is up.

Varda Valar: Hearthstone:
Varda Valar: A new update came out this week.

Varda Valar: StarCraftBroodWar: Fangorn and Varda

Varda Valar: In a browser game, Elvenar, Sauron and Varda
Ar-Pharazon-V: which one?
Varda Valar: https://en2.elvenar.com/game
Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, right. I thought Elvenar was a person *bonks head*
Varda Valar: Does sound like one
Arien V: hehe
Varda Valar: /heal on Phar's noggin
Varda Valar: Other games by lots of folks but I don't know about them. :-)

Varda Valar: Which fellow Valarites have we seen online this week?
Ar-Pharazon-V: Fladrif in Hearthstone, played a couple of games.
Varda Valar: yay :-)
Varda Valar: Sort of hard to drag a large ent into the room.
Ar-Pharazon-V: He's a bit slow to move, yes. Also forgets his password a lot or needs to reinstall AIM, in my experience. No idea what's going on there.
Varda Valar: heh
Varda Valar: Folks in LotRO this past week, showing on the kin list:
Varda Valar:
Bregalad/Quickbeam
Cirdan
Dis
Erkenbrand
Fangorn
Gil-galad
Gorlim
Hamson
Lenwe
Marigold
Nar
Varda
Arien V: okay
Arien V: say hello to him when you see him :)#
Varda Valar: /wave from the transcript
Varda Valar: Arien, have you seen any fellow Valarites lately? Helm? Aragorn
Varda Valar: Elladan is trying to enter. I need to leave to reinvite him.
Varda Valar (VardaValar1) has left the room.
Varda Valar (VardaValar1) has entered the room.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiyata
Ar-Pharazon-V: Any luck?
Varda Valar: Ok, shows invited this time
Varda Valar: He says he did not see an invitation
Arien V: nope actually havent
Arien V: not this week
Varda Valar: Ok, thanks, Arien
Varda Valar: Phar, can you invite Elladan?
scott92027 has been invited.
Ar-Pharazon-V: done
Arien V: i ve senrt him an invite too#
Ar-Pharazon-V: He just went offline, no doubt to restart AIM>
Varda Valar: Too many at once may have crossed up the invitation streams.
Varda Valar: Aye
Varda Valar: Ok, I"m going to try to invite.
Varda Valar: No luck
Varda Valar: Arien, your turn :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: Told him to check the settings?
Varda Valar: He seems to show as invitable
Varda Valar: He says he has to go for a short while, back home soon.
Varda Valar: Not far.
Varda Valar: On to
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Varda Valar: Tolkien:
Varda Valar: New book news!
Varda Valar: The Beren and Luthien stories have all been gathered together, old versions and later ones, full or partial, in one volume.
Varda Valar: http://www.tolkiensociety.org/2016/10/new-tolkien-book-beren-and-luthien/
Varda Valar: It should be out 4 May 2017
Varda Valar: Poetry and prose verrsions
Varda Valar: The timing is interesting. :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: With cat-Sauron whose name I'm having a tough time remembering.
Varda Valar: 100 years since Tolkien's wife danced for him in the woods, the way Luthien did for Beren.
Varda Valar: Tevildo
Ar-Pharazon-V: Thank you :-)
Varda Valar: Easy for me, as my son is Sauron and sometimes uses the name. ^^
Arien V: that woman on that page .. i think she is the one who told this story on the Meeting in the Shire in 2010 where i attended :-D
Varda Valar: Likely. I think she's one of the top story-tellers
Arien V: she quoted that all off heart .. The story of Beren and Luthien
Varda Valar: Wow
Ar-Pharazon-V: A modern Homer.
Varda Valar: Prose or poetry?
Arien V: Prose i believe .. i cant remember directly
Varda Valar: Either one is impressive.
Ar-Pharazon-V: I would've liked to keep a book with me and check if she missed any lines.
Varda Valar: Good that we still have people willing to memorize the old stories. :-)   Used to be more common before books were easily available. We've lost a lot of that training, so it's good to see.
Varda Valar: The old story-tellers used to vary the stories up a bit to help make it more interesting for those that had heard it many times already. :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: And if I was feeling really evil, point it out whenever she did.
Varda Valar: Variety
Varda Valar: That could make her miss more often, worrying about that instead of going on to the next part.
Varda Valar: so, aye, evil. :-)
Arien V: she staggered on a couple of lines .. she admitted it and paraphrased and cought the right lines again :-)
Varda Valar: Good that she found a way to keep going. That's a ton.
Varda Valar: And any hecklers have to stand up and quote it afterwards. ;-)
Arien V: yup :-)
Varda Valar: It made such an impression on JRRT that he not only put it in his stories with Luthien and later Arwen,
Varda Valar: but also on theitombstone for his wife and himself.
Varda Valar: http://www.tolkiensociety.org/blog/2014/06/a-hemlock-by-any-other-name/
Varda Valar: Pic of it here.
Varda Valar: So, we wives should all think up something super like that to do for our husbands. :-)
Varda Valar: Not necessarily dance, but something romantically cool. :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: Tough to think of something original
Varda Valar: It would be very original, between the couple.

Varda Valar: Do we know of any other romantic places in JRRT's stories?
Varda Valar: scenes?
Ar-Pharazon-V: Some of that stuff's in the story of Aragorn and Arwen, I think?
Varda Valar: Aye. The dance by Arwen is.
Varda Valar: How about Faramir and Eowyn?
Ar-Pharazon-V: A hospital's not the most romantic of settings in my mind. Though gods know there are plenty of romantic novels set in the places.
Varda Valar: One of the moments would be when they look out from the wall towards the fighting, their hair flying to the side in gold and black, and the shadow fades away.
Varda Valar: How about Sam and Rosie?
Varda Valar: Sam has the good memory of her even in Mordor, dancing with ribbons in her hair. We saw the moment in the Shire, and it stays with him.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Anything else in the Silmarillion?
Varda Valar: Idril seeng her future husband, dressed up in the armor given him by Ulmo. :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: Eol and Aredhel? Hmm...
Varda Valar: That was more convenience on her part, but he must have seen her as a wonder when she appeared in the forest. He must have felt very alone.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Can imagine, woods can be lonely.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Going back to Beren and Luthien, what about her parents?
Ar-Pharazon-V: Twas quite a romantic moment when they met, I recall.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Something about staring at each other for years while the forest grew around them?
Ar-Pharazon-V: Must've gone hungry at some point.
Varda Valar: Here's a quote for Faramir and Eowyn:
Varda Valar: And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many. And many indeed saw them and the light that shone about them as they came down from the walls and went hand in hand to the Houses of Healing.
Varda Valar: Phar, good one! Melian and Thingol.
Varda Valar: I think she kept him alive with the ability of a Maia who retained all her power.
Ar-Pharazon-V: That works.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Living off of love alone.
Ar-Pharazon-V: With a dash of "magic".
Varda Valar: There you go. Can't get better than that.
Varda Valar: And they were a death do us part marriage, in Middle-earth.
Varda Valar: After his death, she left Middle-earth. Presumably they could have reunited in Valinor, if an elf and Maia were allowed to be together.
Varda Valar: I suspect it would have been all right.
Varda Valar: *A gavel floats in the air, waiting.*
Varda Valar: *It comes to hand, and lights glow in rainbow spectrums all around it.*
Ar-Pharazon-V: Both effectively immortal and bound to Middle-earth. I suspect it get less eyebrow-raising than a human and elf.
Varda Valar: *a great chime sounds*
Ar-Pharazon-V: *got
Varda Valar: *the gavel disappears into the light*
Varda Valar: After-meeting!
Varda Valar: Free chat.
Ar-Pharazon-V: You don't even need that pad anymore, do you?
Varda Valar: Agreed.
Varda Valar: Been avoiding that pad. It has eyeballs.
Varda Valar: I agree that a Maia and Elf in Valinor would not have to worry about being parted.
Arien V: I have a link for you
Arien V: with a nice quiz i discovered last week :-)
Varda Valar: Fun
Arien V: it has forty questions with quotes from LotrO movies or books and your task is naming the right character
Arien V: http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2012/1127/Lord-of-the-Rings-quiz-40-questions-to-test-your-knowledge-of-Middle-earth/Name-that-character
Ar-Pharazon-V: Let's give it a go.
Varda Valar: and here's the image made by Little Jewel
Varda Valar: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/LittleJewel/LTS3.jpg
Varda Valar: It goes with her story, Learning to Smile
Arien V: very nice work
Arien V: i miss the fotoshop that i used to have on one of my previous machines
Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, stuck on question 15...
Ar-Pharazon-V: Phew, got it right because I remembered the voice in the movie ;-)
Varda Valar: argh, the film adaptation instead of the book. Must watch more carefully
Ar-Pharazon-V: Aw, made a mistake.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, and another one - it says book instead of movie ;-)
Arien V: hehe
Arien V: my first go was 88 %#
Ar-Pharazon-V: 95%!
Arien V: 5 mistakes ^^
Ar-Pharazon-V: 2 mistakes.
Varda Valar: They keep spelling it Arewen. *wince*
Ar-Pharazon-V: haha, yes
Arien V: oh dear
Arien V: didnt notice that
Ar-Pharazon-V: I got one wrong because I vaguely recognized the line but not who said it, and one wrong because of the difference between book and movie. If the questions are always the same, I'll let you guess which ones? :-)
Arien V: another link if u feel a bit nostalgic ^^ but it is a beauful version of it
Arien V: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY0lLcz3Qis
Varda Valar: I had to struggle with some of the movie ones, kept wanting to say the book ones.
Varda Valar: Nice link, Arien. Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold with movie video
Ar-Pharazon-V: Video reminds me I still have a dvd to watch.
Arien V: I guess the one where they ask how Frodo escapes Osgiliath where he never was in the books :)?#
Varda Valar: good scene choices for the music
Varda Valar: I missed that one, Arien. :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: I made a mistake with Galadriel's gift to Sam myself, decided too quickly I suppose :-)
Arien V: ah right ^^
Varda Valar: Elladan tried again.
Varda Valar: At least we got to share Arien's two cool links with him. :-)
Arien V: aaah thats nice :-)
Arien V: say hello to him from me
Arien V: or say aiya rather ^^
Varda Valar: done :-)
Varda Valar: ElladanV
    Aiya backatcha
Varda Valar: ElladanV
    I think whoever was behind League of Legends was a JRRT fan
    items you buy during fights are similar in name
Varda Valar: ElladanV
    Dorins blade (Durin)
    Rabadon's (Radagast)
    you guys play?
Ar-Pharazon-V: Rabadon's is a bit farfetched, unless it's animal-themed or something.
Varda Valar: Elladan asks if any of us play LoL, League of Legends
Ar-Pharazon-V: Not me. I play Heroes of the Storm though, which is the same kind of game I believe? :-)
Varda Valar: ElladanV
    it's a wizard's HAT!
Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah. Fair enough then.
Ar-Pharazon-V: I'll go corral a few flashgames.
Varda Valar: Thanks

Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming time!
Ar-Pharazon-V: 3 flashgames coming up.
Ar-Pharazon-V: http://www.kongregate.com/games/hammersongames/brave-heads is a tower defense game, a bit like Kingdom Rush. Build towers with and combine various elements like fire and ice, buying permanent upgrades with stars you get from completing levels.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Seems a bit un-polished, but still fun!
Ar-Pharazon-V: http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/pirate_treasures is the second game. A platformer where you ride a pig and trample your way through the jungle, buying upgrades for money. There's a bonus unlocked if you go through a different website and account, but it's not needed to have fun!
Ar-Pharazon-V: http://www.kongregate.com/games/claedalus/that-pokeyman-thing-your-grandkids-are-into is the third one! A funny game wherein you play an old man playing PokemonGo, or at least a parody on it.

Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzzzzard games.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Diablo 3: Looked a bit into the rewards, will start season 8 when I have time ;-) Especially with WoW being so active, I've rather given up on finishing chapter 8 and will simply try to finish 4 as I go.
Arien V: Namarie all :)#
Ar-Pharazon-V: Heroes of the Storm: Tried Heroes Brawl for a bit, which came in with this week's patch. Only need 3 play 3 brawls within the 10-day period to get a portrait, and you don't even have to win them, so I figure I might keep that up. Otherwise, I've leveled 3 of my heroes to level 8, and gotten new skins for them.
Varda Valar: Namarie
Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
Arien V: see u hopefully in two weeks :-)
Arien V (AriehnV) has left the room.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Those 3 heroes being Li-Ming, Tassadar and Kharazim. Soon I'll have all my active heroes at 8 or higher, I'm sure!
Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Patch comes with a lot of strange new quests!
Ar-Pharazon-V: Interesting and strange, like using so many cards of a type. There's even one for 75 murlocs!\
Ar-Pharazon-V: This week's brawl, which I played with Fladrif as well, involves a lot of shapeshifting minions, which change into a different random unit each turn until you play them.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Often a good idea to wait for legendaries, but that doesn't always work ;-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
Ar-Pharazon-V: Did some of the Hallow's End stuff, getting me 2 new rings, which are small upgrades and should hopefully be replaced soon.
Ar-Pharazon-V: Also dove into some battlegrounds for the weekly quest, my first experience with PvP in Legion. Got to honor level 5 along the way, but considering you need level 50 for the first Prestige and I ultimately want 13 Prestige, there's a long way to go still.
Ar-Pharazon-V: It seems easier than it did in previous expansions. I think the lack of pvp stats, instead you being normalized on your ilevel, helps with that.
Ar-Pharazon-V: I never did get much pvp gear in previous expansions :-)
Ar-Pharazon-V: I've done my first heroic raiding, killing 5 out of 7 bosses in the Emerald Nightmare. Now I finally feel caught up with my raidgroup on that, and am getting the hang of the fights :-) Got no upgrades yet, though, so I'm still a bit weaker than the rest.
Ar-Pharazon-V: I also got the biweekly archeology quest done, which leaves me from digging this reset. Turns out that after a long time getting the 6 jewels I needed on sunday and monday, they upped the droprate on wednesday, making it much easier for players who hadn't yet done it. Oh well!
Ar-Pharazon-V: *leaves me free from digging
Ar-Pharazon-V: And questing-wise I started Highmountain, though I've been too busy to get very far. I did get the achievement for a certain flying quest by descending through 10 green orbs in one session. Got it on the first try, didn't seem very difficult, though I'm certainly rather experienced with such mechanics because of my history with Rayman games.
Varda Valar: You can say, "I did it back when we had to climb through snow uphill both ways."
Ar-Pharazon-V: Haha, yes.
Ar-Pharazon-V: And I think that's my report for this week!
Varda Valar: Thank you, Ar-Pharazon, the Golden :-)

Varda Valar: We have a new art cave, not yet fully linked in, but you get it here first:
Varda Valar: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/art/gallery/LittleJewel/caveLittleJewel.htm
Varda Valar: and should be all linked in now
Varda Valar: Namarie for now
Varda Valar (VardaValar1) has left the room.
Ar-Pharazon-V: saving and sending transcript
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