Valar Guild

October 1, 2017 Sunday Meeting

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

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Transcript work by
Ar-Pharazon and Varda.

Attending: (5 participating and live; 9 in various ways)
    AIM: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe (After-meeting), Varda (presiding)
    Discord: Arien, Dis (Before-meeting note), Elladan (After-meeting note), Gorlim, Varda
    LotRO: Elwing, Fangorn, Varda

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
    The chat marathon begins this meeting! Help hold the channel open. This is being held on AIM and on Discord; pick your favorite or be in both, when you can. At least say hi so others can tell you were there; the list of known participants goes on the Anniversary page.
Web:
    New poem: "Baggage"
Gaming:
    General gaming report
Tolkien:
    Topic: Tolkien Moments. From the Hobbit, Bilbo decides to join the dwarves. From the Silmarillion, the Hill of the Slain/ Hill of Tears.
    For the chat marathon, suggested Tolkien Moments and Tolkien-related urls could be included.
After-meeting:
    Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon
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Before-meeting
(times for Ar-Pharazon in the Netherlands)

Varda Valar (22:53:08):    Aiya
Varda Valar (22:53:13):    Hi to Orome :)   [note: in answer to Eonwe's note posted of email from Orome saying hi]
Ar-Pharazon-V (22:53:18):    Aiya!
Ar-Pharazon-V (22:53:25):    And also hi to Orome!
Varda Valar (22:53:33):    Hello from Dis, from LotRO and Discord
Varda Valar (22:53:42):    Hello from Fangorn and Elwing in LotRO
Ar-Pharazon-V (22:54:02):    Aiya to all of those :)
Varda Valar (23:03:11):    Who all is here?
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:03:19):    Aye!
Varda Valar (23:03:35):    Yay! Phar and I own AIM. :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:03:40):    Arien poked.
Varda Valar (23:03:51):    Thanks
Varda Valar (23:04:09):    Eonwe left a message earlier for us on AIM, good idea.
Arien V (23:05:03):    aiya folks
Varda Valar (23:05:26):    Aiya Sunshine :)
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Varda Valar (23:06:18):    Elen sila lumenn'' omentielvo!
Varda Valar (23:06:22):    Membership:
Varda Valar (23:06:58):    Welcome to the beginning of the 20th Anniversary of the Valar Guild's chat marathon, ending with next Sunday's meeting. :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:07:26):    Huzzah!
Varda Valar (23:07:31):    Dis had to go to work, was in LotRO and Discord, left us a message:
Varda Valar (23:07:34):    Dis-Today at 2:20 PM
Aiya y'all!
Varda Valar (23:07:51):    Hello from Fangorn and Elwing in LotRO
Arien V (23:08:09):    aiya Fangorn and Elwing :)
Arien V (23:08:18):    aiya Dis :)
Varda Valar (23:10:06):    Recommendation for the chat marathon this week:
Varda Valar (23:10:28):    Maybe we can post Tolkien Moments and online neat stuff for Tolkien.
Varda Valar (23:10:58):    during the week.
Varda Valar (23:11:21):    The theme picked for those that would like to use one:
Varda Valar (23:11:39):    Perseverance or triumph over adversity.
Varda Valar (23:11:53):    Should be tons of potential screenies for us gamers with that.
Varda Valar (23:12:11):    It's what gamers do.
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:12:16):    Well we did finally defeat Kil'jaeden on heroic this week.
Varda Valar (23:12:23):    There you go!
Varda Valar (23:12:48):    Perseverance plus triumph. :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:12:56):    http://s3.mmoguildsites.com/s3/gallery_images/986467/original.jpg?1506685879 let's see if this works
Varda Valar (23:13:05):    Good shot
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:13:14):    our victory picture :)
Varda Valar (23:13:28):    Congratulations!
Varda Valar (23:14:02):    Any other membership news?
Varda Valar (23:15:17):    I might be able to swap Tolkien Moment posts between the two messengers we're using. Not sure if my laptop can take being on that much, but we'll see what happens.
Varda Valar (23:15:39):    *piles up frozen vegetable bags around the laptop*
Arien V (23:15:58):    congratulation :)
Varda Valar (23:16:40):    (poked Elladan. He's in WoW)
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Varda Valar (23:16:48):    Web:
Varda Valar (23:16:56):    Tolkien Site / Poetry:
Varda Valar (23:17:25):    New poem, still needs work but it's going up anyway for the anniversary.
Varda Valar (23:17:32):    "Baggage" by Varda-(Valar)
Varda Valar (23:17:46):    http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/poetry/Baggage.htm
Varda Valar (23:18:15):    The poetic form is called a "Landay", written in couplets of nine and thirteen syllables. It may have originated with nomadic caravans in South Asia circa 1700 B.C. It is currently used in Pashto, a language of Afghanistan and Pakistan, normally sung, and usually made by women.
Varda Valar (23:18:37):    In English, it's usually unrhymed, but I found I didn't like it unrhymed and changed it the next day to rhyme.
Varda Valar (23:18:47):    Thus Eowyn is the point of view for the once-nomadic Rohirrim.
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:19:05):    You made sure it fit!
Arien V (23:19:18):    its cool :)
Arien V (23:19:42):    yes i recognised the perspective
Varda Valar (23:20:42):    Trying to fill in the slots for the anniversary presents we're giving the guild for its 20th. :)
Varda Valar (23:21:00):    That's what the Anniversary Page is for, presenting presents. :
Varda Valar (23:21:26):    On to
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Varda Valar (23:21:29):    Gaming:
Varda Valar (23:21:39):    LotRO:
Varda Valar (23:21:55):    Buried Treasure Event from Sept 29 - Oct 4
Varda Valar (23:22:13):    LotRO Beacon Issue #28 is online:
Varda Valar (23:22:23):    https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/lotro-beacon-issue-28

Varda Valar (23:22:46):    WoW:
Varda Valar (23:22:49):    See what's going on This Month in WoW.
Varda Valar (23:23:00):    This week's bonus event: Battlegrounds.
Varda Valar (23:23:11):    The Harvest Festival is going.
Varda Valar (23:23:28):    See this week's hotfixes.

Varda Valar (23:23:42):    Diablo 3:
Varda Valar (23:23:43):    Updates have been made to the PTR patch notes.

Varda Valar (23:23:56):    Heroes of the Storm:
Varda Valar (23:23:58):    A new patch is out, and a new event is going.

Varda Valar (23:24:03):    Overwatch:
Varda Valar (23:24:12):    A new digital comic is out: "Searching".

Varda Valar (23:24:23):    That's all the general gaming news.
Varda Valar (23:24:47):    Did you see any Valarites in your games?
Arien V (23:25:18):    Helm both in person and shortly in game this morning in WoW
Varda Valar (23:25:35):    /wave to Helm-(V)
Varda Valar (23:25:57):    Which server in WoW are you two on these days?
Arien V (23:26:07):    Earthen Ring Europe
Varda Valar (23:26:34):    Thanks
Arien V (23:26:42):    you are welcome
Varda Valar (23:26:54):    In LotRO this past week, we had:
Varda Valar (23:27:05):   
Arien
Bregalad
Dis
Elwing
Fangorn
Gil-galad
Gorlim
Hurin
Irmo
Maedhros
Miriel
Nar
Nimrodel
Thranduil
Varda
Varda Valar (23:27:12):    SC2:
Eowyn
Faramir
Fangorn
Varda Valar (23:27:46):    SCBW:
Fangorn
Varda
Varda Valar (23:28:06):    Any others to mention?
Varda Valar (23:29:59):    Any other business, suggestions, comments on the upcoming anniversary?
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:30:48):    *looks around*
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:30:54):    *blows party whistle*
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Varda Valar (23:30:56):    Tolkien:
Varda Valar (23:31:37):    Suggestion for this week's chat was posting nifty Tolkienesque urls and Tolkien Moments. Chat topics would also be welcome there.
Varda Valar (23:32:15):    Not sure we want to reminesce again, but I'd enjoy hearing forward-looking comments very much.
Varda Valar (23:33:20):    Feel free to post a Tolkien Moment for today. Say something before you start so we don't cross up. :)
Varda Valar (23:33:36):    From *any* of Tolkien's books.

Varda Valar (23:37:47):    The Hobbit "An Unexpected Party":
Varda Valar (23:38:11):    "Then Mr. Baggins turned the handle and went in. The Took side had won.
Varda Valar (23:38:43):    "He suddenly felt he would go without bed and breakfast to be thought fierce.
Varda Valar (23:39:07):    As for 'little fellow bobbing on the mat' it almost made him feel really fierce.
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:39:49):    When a dwarf calls you little you know it's bad.
Varda Valar (23:40:03):    Many a time afterwards the Baggins part regretted what he did now, and he said to himself: 'Bilbo, you were a fool; you walked right in and put your foot in it'.
Varda Valar (23:40:24):    /endquote

Varda Valar (23:40:47):    and he became the Burglar for Thorin's Company vs the dragon Smaug.
Varda Valar (23:41:45):    Done. :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (23:45:42):    I'm thinking... I guess I could grab a random book, but nothing specific comes to mind. I'm not good at coming up with moments :)
Arien V (23:47:42):    Just come here actually across something that made me smile and i find kind of ironic :)
Varda Valar (23:47:54):    Sounds good. :)

Arien V (23:49:55):    it is from the Silmarillion, from the chapter entitled Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"
Varda Valar (23:50:10):    If nothing in mind, I grab a book and flip through.Always something that stands out.
Arien V (23:50:35):    i ve got it Varda :)
Arien V (23:50:49):    just was looking for the right title of the chapter
Arien V (23:51:00):    its the last paragraph there
Varda Valar (23:56:36):    (from Discord: Gorlim-Today at 4:55 PM
hi)
Varda Valar (23:57:03):    I'm assuming you're going to type it in?

Arien V (23:57:06):    "By command of Morgoth the Orcs with great labour gathered all the bodies of all those who who had fallen in the great battle, and all their harness and their weapon, and it was like a hill that could be seen from afar.Haudh-en - Ndengin , the Elves named it, the HIll of the Slain, and Haudh-en-Nirnaeth, the Hill of Tears. But grass came there and grew again long and green upon that hill, alone in the desert that Morgoth made:and no creature of Morgoth trod thereafter upon the earth beneath which the swords of the Eldar and Edain crumbled to rust "
Arien V (23:57:20):    end quote
Arien V (23:58:10):    pardon me *crumbled into rust* the exact quote is

Arien V (23:57:37):    sorry for the slowness :)
Varda Valar (23:58:14):    Not slow, but a big chunk all at once. Thanks!
Arien V (23:59:03):    Do you see the irony?
Varda Valar (23:59:32):    The orcs made a hill they could not walk upon.
Arien V (23:59:43):    Out of all the tears and blood of that day life came into a land of death
Monday, October 2, 2017
Arien V (00:00:03):    yes Varda and that :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (00:00:20):    If they'd left the bodies, much larger part of the battlefield might have been green :)
Arien V (00:04:44):    maybe ~
Varda Valar (00:05:16):    Just not as concentrated.
Varda Valar (00:19:42):    Phar, feel free to post a Tolkien Moment when you run across one. :)
Varda Valar (00:20:10):    *hammer bounces out from the shelf in a pogo-stick motion*
Varda Valar (00:20:19):    *bounces on the hammerpad*
Varda Valar (00:20:27):    *sproingy sproingy*
Varda Valar (00:21:11):    *and off, back to the shelf, where a large wormlike creature grabs it and hauls it the rest of the way back in, with a tremor*
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Varda Valar (00:21:16):    After-meeting!
Varda Valar (00:21:20):    Free chat. :)
Varda Valar (00:21:32):    We are now in the marathon. :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (00:24:42):    Sorry. Was looking through the books for a while, but no scene jumped out at me.
Varda Valar (00:25:03):    Then you haven't found a Tolkien Moment yet. Thanks for giving it a shot!
Arien V (00:26:28):    Background to my quote you shall find out soon ~
Arien V (00:26:51):    the reason why i read this chapter ..i mean :)
Varda Valar (00:28:23):    *interested*
Varda Valar (00:28:34):    Will watch for an email in the future.
Arien V (00:28:50):    :)
Arien V (00:50:30):    i have to go to bed though i feer .. the sun rose quite early today ((tis very stormy and rainy out there today .. Maria and Lee say hello .. ))
Arien V (00:50:51):    fear even
Ar-Pharazon-V (00:50:56):    Namarie!
Varda Valar (00:50:57):    Hello back! See you another day. :)
Arien V (00:51:33):    See you another day :) i am off tomorrow and Tuesday so i ll be in the chat marathon at some point :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (00:53:06):    Right. Maybe I'll come up with a moment during the week or for next meeting, but for now I'll start with the gaming report.
Varda Valar (00:53:22):    Peachy keen

Ar-Pharazon-V (00:53:23):    Flashgaming!
Ar-Pharazon-V (00:54:28):    http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/supernode is the first. Bit of an odd one, this, but not too hard to get the hang of it. Puzzle game, Combine flows from different resources to get the right amounts to pour into a target circle.
Ar-Pharazon-V (00:54:41):    Add some timers to get it done, and it gets complicated.
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:04:15):    http://www.kongregate.com/games/toadfrogs/pitching is the second game, another puzzle game. Make your way across the levels by changing the pitch of the music, slowing down or speeding up blue and red obstacles, or removing walls of that color.
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:04:33):    Lots of planning and timing required!
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:24:54):    Hmm, for the third...
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:25:51):    Eh, might've given this before, but it's short, atmospheric, and with themes of perseverance and triumph, I suppose?
Varda Valar (01:26:09):    :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:26:33):    http://www.kongregate.com/games/Pixelante/immortall you're an alien, making friends with a family, and your job is to protect them as they travel through a warzone.
Varda Valar (01:28:38):    Sounds like quite an adventure.
Varda Valar (01:28:54):    Posting this between the gaming sections:
Varda Valar (01:28:58):    http://www.tednasmith.com/site-map/j-r-r-tolkien/
Varda Valar (01:29:03):    Done.
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Ar-Pharazon-V (01:32:06):    Blizzard gaming!
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:34:35):    Heroes of the Storm: New event, involving finding Golden Pachimari before the other team does, whatever Pachimari might be. Get enough over enough quests, and you unlock sprays, portraits etc.
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:35:59):    Level 220 now, with the last level giving me a really good loot chest with 2 epic skins and a rare.
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:50:59):    This week's brawl was new, based on the new map, with 2 big robots manned by 2 players each facing each other and the rest of the team. Quite interesting.
Ar-Pharazon-V (01:51:28):    Also got me another level on Chromie, who's no level 3 despite never having been played in normal matches.. I haven't even bought her yet ;)
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:07:05):    Hearthstone: A bit of xp catchup for the lower few classes, and a classic crossroads brawl where you pick a class and get a random deck. Not much special.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:10:08):    Starcraft II: Finished the war chest!
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:10:32):    Now I've got all the new skins of the new sets, a bunch of sprays, all the new emojis.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:10:35):    Very nice.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:17:28):    WoW:
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:17:31):    Oh so many things...
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:19:14):    For a start, yes, we got heroic Kil'jaeden down. We might take a shot at mythic difficulty later on, but when it comes to our achievements, I'd say this is the biggest one we should hope to reach before the Argus raid opens.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:21:11):    Cataclysm raids for pets going well, we got a few new ones, including an unstable tendril for me from the last Deathwing fight. Silly little fiery tentacle, doesn't really move, but apparently teleports when you move away far enough.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:22:14):    Also continuing the falcosaur pet quests. Had a bit of trouble with a few early quests that didn't give proper credit, or in one case required a time of day I'm usually not online. But got it done eventually, and am now almost halfway the questline for the first pet.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:23:44):    Along the way you also get quests to fight certain wild pets in the Broken Isles in pet battles, and I've made it my policy to also make sure to grab a rare-quality specimen of that pet whenever one pops up. So far I've gotten 2, but more to come as we go :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:24:57):    Other than that, well, it's mostly been a week of lasts and firsts. I got everything I wanted from Brewfest, getting all the last cosmetic items I was missing, so I'm done with that holiday until they add something new.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:25:49):    I got my last soul prism fragment from the mythic dungeons, and finished that questline too, freeing Illidan's soul from Helheim and delivering it to Khadgar with the Light's Heart.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:26:08):    Along the way I also completed the main questline for Trial of Valor, defeating Odyn and Helya.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:26:47):    Still need a few more Valarjar soul fragments, but judging from how many I got from that LFR this week, I'll only need one more to finish it.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:28:17):    I got my last cooking recipe discovery from Nomi, in Dalaran! I never have to give him work orders again. Glad that's over with, saves me a lot of reagent gathering as well.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:28:39):    And fun to have all the recipes, though 7.3 threw in a new one that I will need to work in, but that's accessed in a different way.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:28:47):    What else...
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:29:54):    I did my last Nighthold raid. Got Khadgar to put Illidan's soul back in his body in the Nighthold, killed Gul'dan, and got away with both Gul'dan's eye, and the Eye of Aman'thul.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:30:42):    Gul'dan's eye was enough to complete the Balance of Power questline, getting me some good artifact power rewards, and opening up a new tier of artifact (and bear/catform) appearances, including a nice jungle cat model :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:31:42):    And the Eye of Aman'thul was the fifth Pillar of Creation I unlocked, finishing the Suramar questline, getting me a nice buff that allows me to resurrect at the spot in the Broken Isles every 30 minutes, and acquiring a new mount: the manasaber!
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:33:35):    Next up, I finally delivered the Cubic Conundrum from the Nighthold to an npc in Dalaran, did a followup quest in Karazhan, and unlocked a new toy which allows me to watch all the Legion cutscenes I've unlocked so far :) Lot of fun.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:33:53):    Then I started throwing myself at 7.2 content!
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:34:32):    Starting with the pet dungeon in the Wailing Caverns. Cleared the normal version of that, and will try to clear the challenge weekly quest every monday, until I get all the reward pets I want.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:35:43):    Then, it was off to the Broken Shore. Completed a few base construction quests, so now I'm part of that system too, contributing supplies and making use of the buildnig perks, while doing world quests and collecting more supplies on the island.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:35:47):    *building
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:36:12):    As I did so, I finished exploring the island, which was the last condition I needed to unlock flight! So now I can finally fly on the Broken Isles.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:37:00):    I'm going to need 15000 supplies to get all the contribution achievements, so I'll be doing world quests for a while there. Having flight helps a lot.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:37:35):    But there's a class hall mission you can get while the command center is up, which gives 500 supplies as well. That'll really help too.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:39:15):    Also from the Broken Shore, I got a quest to stop a legion invasion elsewhere on the Isles, so I defended against my first invasion today. I'll want to do at least one in each zone for the achievement, and though they can take a while, they're good for nethershards.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:41:03):    Mage tower went active today on the Broken Shore, and I took advantage of that to take my first free shot at a Class Challenge. It didn't go very well, but I have found a few guides with appropriate legendaries and talents and strategies, and I will still be increasing my ilevel as we go, so I'm hoping it'll get easier.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:41:31):    If needed I'll throw a couple of thousand nethershards into getting more attempts near the end of the expansion when my ilevel is at its highest.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:41:41):    It's only 100 shards per attempt, not too bad.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:42:55):    And finally, Darkmoon Faire started again last night, so more ticket gathering for me! There was a bit of a hiccup because the once-a-faire quests didn't reset until today, but with that fixed, I'm on schedule for tickets again. Went over 400 today, out of the 1000 I need for the mount.
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:43:15):    Next week, more of that, and hopefully continuing the questlines on the Broken Shore :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (02:43:22):    And that's my report for the week!
Varda Valar (03:47:20):    Thanks Phar

Varda Valar (03:53:45):    Elladan had company. Said hi on Discord before going to bed.
Ar-Pharazon-V (03:53:50):    Hi!
Eonwe Valar (04:14:34):    Heya All. Sorry I didn't make it to the meeting. Internet went out right after I finished putting up the Gaming News on the Games Site.
Varda Valar (04:14:47):    Aiya Eonwe!
Ar-Pharazon-V (04:14:47):    Ouch.
Ar-Pharazon-V (04:14:49):    Aiya!
Varda Valar (04:14:57):    You're in luck, the meeting chat goes all week. :)
Eonwe Valar (04:15:04):    :}
Varda Valar (04:15:21):    Thanks for getting the Games news up ahead. That let us use it on the meeting.
Ar-Pharazon-V (04:15:22):    That said, I'll be logging for the day ;) Sending transcript tomorrow.
Varda Valar (04:15:37):    Namarie Phar and happy chat week :)
Ar-Pharazon-V (04:15:43):    You too!
Eonwe Valar (04:15:50):    Take care Phar :}
Ar-Pharazon-V (04:15:54):    Namarie!

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