Valar Guild

July 15, 2018 Sunday Meeting

5pm EDT (UTC/GMT - 5)
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place

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Transcript work by
Varda.

Attending: (5)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Lenwe, Pallando, Varda (presiding)
    LotRO: Dis, Orome, Varda

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
Web:  
Gaming:
    General gaming report
Tolkien:
    Topic: Tolkien Moment: Morgoth complacently believes the forces he has set in motion will wipe out the last elves in Middle-earth, but doesn't realize he is setting up his own destruction.
After-meeting:
    Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon
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Before-meeting
(times are in Central from Varda, so add one hour for Eastern)

Varda - Yesterday at 4:00 PM
Aiya
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:00 PM
Aiya!
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Varda - Yesterday at 4:01 PM
Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Membership:
Discord: Ar-Pharazon and Varda as non-lurkers. : )
LotRO: Dis and Orome
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:02 PM
Poked Arien, even though she's in the channel already.
ArienV - Yesterday at 4:02 PM
Aiya
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:02 PM
Aiya
Varda - Yesterday at 4:02 PM
Eonwe emailed, said he put up the gaming news for us but is unable to be present today, buried under work.
Aiya Sunshine : )
Lenwe - Yesterday at 4:04 PM
Aiya Arien, Phar, and Varda
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:04 PM
aiya Lenwe!
Varda - Yesterday at 4:04 PM
Aiya Lenwe : )
Pallando-Valar - Yesterday at 4:04 PM
Aiya! Out at dinner and then seeing ant man.
Lenwe - Yesterday at 4:05 PM
Aiya! Hope you enjoy it--I'm hoping to see it soon
Varda - Yesterday at 4:05 PM
Sounds like a wonderful time! Aiya Pallando. : )
ArienV - Yesterday at 4:05 PM
aiya Lenwe
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:05 PM
Enjoy!
And Aiya
ArienV - Yesterday at 4:05 PM
aiya Pallanddo
Varda - Yesterday at 4:07 PM
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Web:
Nothing this past week for the Tolkien Site.
But for the Games Site, Eonwe has been his wonderful self putting up news. Feel free to send him general news about your favorite games with links.
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Gaming:
What are people playing at this moment? : )
I'm in LotRO
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:09 PM
WoW, doing some draenor archeology (yes, old content)
Varda - Yesterday at 4:09 PM
I remember that. Have fun. : )
ArienV - Yesterday at 4:09 PM
WoW in rp at  the mo
buti am reading here as well and watch the chat
Varda - Yesterday at 4:10 PM
Weird. WoW isn't showing up on the side thingy for Discord.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:10 PM
I don't have that enabled.
Varda - Yesterday at 4:10 PM
Discord has been having some weirdness this past week, may not be fully ok yet.
ArienV - Yesterday at 4:10 PM
it sais on mine .. playing World of Warcraft
Varda - Yesterday at 4:11 PM
Had a couple times this week when cloud parts weren't connecting right.
Not seeing WoW on yours, Arien. Interesting. We'll see how it does next week.
On Lenwe's, it shows Microsoft Flight Simulator, which sounds fun. : )
Doesn't show anything for Pallando

Gaming News:
From Eonwe:

World of WarCraft on Tuesday's news:
This week's bonus event: Mists of Pandaria Timewalking.
PvP Brawl: Temple of Hotmogu runs through next Tuesday July 17th.
Sunday's news (today!):
Hopefully you have everything in Legion that you want, because the Pre-Expansion Patch goes live this coming Tuesday.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/21952591/the-battle-for-azeroth-pre-patch-goes-live-july-17th
World of Warcraft
The Battle for Azeroth Pre-Patch Goes Live July 17th! - WoW
Check out the preview of World of Warcraft Communities.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/21952590/battle-for-azeroth-preview-world-of-warcraft-communities
World of Warcraft
Battle for Azeroth Preview: World of Warcraft Communities - WoW

Lord of the Rings Online:
There was a hotfix this week.
https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?665364-Downtime-Notice-Tuesday-July-10th-8-00-AM-12-00-PM-Eastern-(-4-GMT)
Downtime Notice: Tuesday, July 10th 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern (-4...
The LOTRO game worlds will be unavailable on Tuesday, July 10th from 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern (-4 GMT) for a hotfix. This will correct an issue causing a chest to not consistently respawn in Boss from the Vaults: Thrang, and correct an issue causing a checkbox to not work f...
Also want to mention that we had a lot of grouping yesterday in LotRO, a bunch of different instances. Much fun was had. 6-man, 3-man, 2-man.

Hearthstone:
Patch 11.4 is out and includes pre-purchase ability for the next expansion, The Boomsday Project.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:16 PM
(Fladrif also spotted in Hearthstone)
Varda - Yesterday at 4:16 PM
ahh, thanks  : )
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/21943493/hearthstone-update-11-4-july-10-the-boomsday-project-pre-purchase
Hearthstone Update 11.4 – July 10 – The Boomsday Project Pre-P...
Behold, our latest invention: The Boomsday Project! Update 11.4 introduces two different bundles to prepare you for Hearthstone’s next expansion, a spicy-new Fire Festival event, and more improvements to card consistency. YOU ALSO FACE MECHA-JARAXXUS, EREDAR LORD AND NEW WA...
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/21906557/announcing-the-boomsday-project
Announcing: The Boomsday Project
Do you have the right stuff to join Dr. Boom’s team of brilliant scientists working on The Boomsday Project: Hearthstone’s newest Expansion? Read on and find out!
Also see the blog Enter Boom Labs – Part 1.
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/21943494/enter-boom-labs-part-1
Enter Boom Labs – Part 1
Hearthstone’s designers are missing SOMEWHERE in the lab-yrinthine reaches of Dr. Boom’s laboratory. CAN hapless Intern Levi to save them from the scientific method run amok? FIND OUT!

That's the list from Eonwe. A lot of gathering there, thanks!

In LotRO this past week, we saw:
Bregalad
Dis
Fangorn
Gorlim
Luthien
Melkor
Nar
Orome
Thranduil
Varda
StarCraft 2:
Eowyn
Faramir
Fangorn

and you others who I didn't see on. : )

Hearthstone:
Ar-Pharazon
Fladrif

Any others we can mention?
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:20 PM

WoW?
Varda - Yesterday at 4:21 PM
I can only give the news on that one. So:
Arien
Ar-Pharazon
Possibly Eonwe

Anyone show up in Eve Online?
ArienV - Yesterday at 4:23 PM
Elrond
he is in Eve
Varda - Yesterday at 4:23 PM
Thanks

ArienV - Yesterday at 4:23 PM
Celebrian in Final Fantasy XiV
Varda - Yesterday at 4:26 PM
On to:
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Tolkien!
How about a moment. We may want to comment on this one afterwards. It's from the Silmarillion:
Tolkien Moment. That's a quote from one of Tolkien's books that we found interesting and sometimes leads to discussion.

quote:
But Morgoth thought that his triumph was fulfilled, recking little of the sons of Feanor, and of their oath, which had harmed him never and turned always to his mightiest aid;
and in his black thoughts he laughed, regretting not the one Silmaril that he had lost,
for by it as he deemed the last shred of the people of the Eldar should vanish from Middle-earth
and trouble it no more.
If he knew of the dwelling by the waters of Sirion, he gave no sign, biding his time, and waiting upon the work of oath and lie.
Yet by Sirion and the sea there grew up an Elven-folk, the gleanings of Doriath and
Gondolin; and from Balar the mariners of Cirdan came among them,
and they took to the waves and the building of ships,
dwelling ever nigh to the coasts of Arvernien,
under the shadows of Ulmo's hand.
end quote

That's from "Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" near the end.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:30 PM
Well, Morgoth was right about waiting for the oath.
Varda - Yesterday at 4:31 PM
Aye, it caused the destruction of that colony
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:31 PM
He just didn't count on the effect of the Silmaril reaching Valinor.
Varda - Yesterday at 4:31 PM
but it also caused the Silmaril to be taken to Earendil, ending the whole mess Morgoth had caused. Right.
So here's this target, go ahead and hit it. See what happens...
Super-backfire.
Pardon, passing it on to the LotRO folk.
Feel free to comment.
Does anyone else have a Tolkien Moment they'd like to pull up from the books for a quote?
I'd like to add about the above that this is part of what Eru warned Morgoth, that any harm he tried to do would come back to the glory of Eru.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:37 PM
Ah, good call. But it was a lot of harm indeed before an emissary finally came back to recruit the host of the Valar.
Pretty much the only places that were still around were the isle of Balar and the strongholds of the Sons of Feanor.
Varda - Yesterday at 4:39 PM
And then it was the host of Valinor descending on Morgoth, wrecking Angband and shoving him through the Doors of Night. Morgoth had shown no remorse, no backing away, only continued horror. That was it for him.
He left behind the whisperings he had started, the corruption in the earth itself.
and his lieutenant, Sauron, a pale shadow of Morgoth, to trouble Arda.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:40 PM
Spending centuries defending your fortress, slowly making plans and manipulating people and taking over Beleriand...
and just when you're about done, in swoops this host from across the sea, smashes your fort and sinks the land
I'd be raging too if that happened!
Varda - Yesterday at 4:42 PM
Tooo bad for him.   He shouldn't have treated the world so badly.

Does anyone else have any comments or a new quote to add? We would be willilng to wait for the dig up and typing, no problem.
Kind of a neat old article:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/16/unseen-jrr-tolkien-poems-found-in-school-magazine
the Guardian
Unseen JRR Tolkien poems found in school magazine
Two works by the Lord of the Rings author discovered in the 1936 annual of Our Lady’s School in Oxfordshire

If there are no other remarks?
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 4:46 PM
Bit too warm for too deep thought, perhaps
Varda - Yesterday at 4:48 PM
the hammer flies in the sunlight and lands on the hammerpad
gonggggg
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After-meeting!
Free chat. : )
ArienV - Yesterday at 5:00 PM
sunlight catches it and dances upon it sparkling  before sending it on golden rays back onto its hook(

Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 5:01 PM
That second poem sounds like it might be related to the Cottage of Lost Play.
Varda - Yesterday at 5:02 PM
Sounds like us

Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 5:18 PM
Personal gaming report!

Finding some flashgames.
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/i-wanna-be-a-tree/ is the first game. A platformer where you play a seed who wants, apparently, to be a tree. Jump across platforms, fight enemies, collect hearts, raise checkpoints... if you die, you start back at the last checkpoint, but the enemies respawn and with enough kills your character appears to take permanent damage, like an eyepatch and chipped head.
That's as far as I've gotten in it. There must be more upgrades like double jump and perhaps getting more powerful, rather than just an extra healthpoint from the hearts, and I'm not sure if you have a limited amount of lives before the permanent damage is too great, so to speak. And I've no idea if he actually becomes a tree.
But if you like it, try to get further than I have
Oh, interesting... it's not a chipped head, it's actual growth. I just got a fifth heart and he's starting to sprout. Cute.

http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/ducksoup-dungeon/ is the second game, another platformer. Roguelike, which in this case, and most cases, means a randomly generated dungeon where you gotta try to get as far as possible while gearing and leveling up. Fail, and start over. But you can collect gold, and spend it on new characters to try, with different abilities.
Most powerful so far seems to be the Rollerpig for me, as he is immune to damage while attacking.
Also, infinite jump, good to know
Oh, and according to a video I'm seeing here, apparently the first character can attack downwards as well... that would make it rather easier with that one too!

Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 6:04 PM
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/light-borrower/ is the third game for this week! Point and click with some puzzles where you have to turn elements on a board to let the light unlock new elements until you reach the goal in each puzzle. It's kinda weird, and wrapped into a story about a cult and a test and an apocalypse of sorts. Puzzles can get quite difficult, too
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Blizzard gaming:

ArienV - Yesterday at 6:27 PM
good night Valarites
good to be back online

Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 6:27 PM
Hearthstone:
Looks like the Fire Festival has started again, with double gold reward.
Namarie!
ArienV - Yesterday at 6:27 PM
Namarie
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 6:28 PM
All classes but the rogue are now well over halfway to the next level, some closing in on level 55.
Shifter's Convention brawl this week, choose a class, get a deck with a few spells and a lot of shifters which turn into random mobs every turn they're in your hand.
Did quite nicely with a paladin myself, hoping for buffing spells which didn't come, but still won with some lucky minions (not mobs, sorry) like Gruul the legendary minion.
Varda - Yesterday at 6:34 PM
Back from supper.

Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 6:35 PM
Heroes of the Storm:
level 289! Had some fun grouping up with WoW friends, and got a few levels on some Overwatch heroes. Brawl this week was Dodge-brawl, playing dodgeball with 2 groups of 5 Chromies on either side of the swimming pool. Always a fun little brawl, and quite fitting for the warm summer that's going on right now
Diablo 3: Chapter 3 complete, with a bunch of bounty acts and some use of Kanai's cube. Feeling pretty powerful, so time to move up to mythic difficulty and work on chapter 4. Shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks.

WoW:
Nothing new from raids or old raids. In fact, with people going on vacation or other stuff, numbers have been low, and we had to cancel tonight's raid. Shame, though, would've been the last raid with our overpowered artifacts, which are now at about level 150.
I suspect we'll reach 100 concordance the night before the patch, if not slightly sooner. Won't be useable for long, but still nice to see.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 6:40 PM
I'm pretty much prepared for the patch now, when it comes to in-game stuff. There's a few things that will go away without me completing them, like the mythic Trial of Valor achievement and title we didn't manage to beat, and some Ashran and Strand of the Ancients achievements which will be going away at least temporarily. But that's fine, pvp was never my focus for achievements.
Mage Tower appearances are also going away, but I don't have any alts at max level with which I could've tried them, so I don't mind only getting them on the druid.
For everything else I wanted before the patch, I think it's pretty much done.
The one thing that is bothering me is the new technical requirements, as BfA is supposedly quite the performance upgrade. I still have a DX11 graphic driver, and I don't have an SSD harddrive, which will give me long loading times, and other stuff like that. If it's really intolerable I can still buy some upgrades, though technical stuff is really not my thing.
Would be nice if Fladrif was in the neighbourhood during the summer to help me out, but even he isn't sure yet about that
We'll see what happens, I suppose. I know I'm over the minimum, at least.
Weekly this week was pandaria timewalks. Last time doing timewalks with a working artifact weapon; next time my main will probably end up as weak as the alt-tank I'd also been doing the occasional timewalk with. It's going to be a pain, but I guess I'll get through it.
Both alts I do timewalks with, have now spent their timewarped badges on heirloom upgrades... the reason for which I'll get to in a moment.
But first: My fishing on Argus paid off! Got the special mount fished up in less than 1000 casts, by my estimation. Just under 4 hours of fishing total. Rather on the lucky side, judging by the droprates.
My other remaining project on Argus has also seen some progress, as I've completed the achievement for defeating all pets with mechanical teams. Now, only 2 fights remain for undead, and then the meta achievement will be finished.
I'm pretty much done with my Legion projects now. There's the above pet battle achievement, as well as some things that can only be done daily or weekly which I can't accelerate and just need to be lucky with. Heroic lower Karazhan, Wailing Caverns pet dungeon, and some emissaries and paragon rewards. I'd like to keep doing all those into 8.0 and probably the expansion itself, as they hopefully don't take up too much of my time. The emissaries will be quite selective, anyway, as there are only a few factions I'm missing rewards from.
So with the fishing done, I instead embarked on some older content: Warlords of Draenor archeology, where I'm still missing several pristines
This is actually made easier with access to Legion (and, I assume, BfA) because you can also spend solved artifacts to buy fragments for Draenor archeology, which might get you extra pristines.
I've not been too lucky yet since starting this up again, but I have gotten one new pristine. So there's progress!
And now for my biggest WoW news, the reason why I upgraded some heirlooms...
I've got a new alt! On the Argent Dawn server, as part of my "active" roster with all the others.
Not one of the allied races, which will require the expansion, and since I'm getting the physical CE, that won't happen until the actual release.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 7:00 PM
But I was reading in the new novel this week, and was thinking about Genn Greymane's resentment of Sylvanas and the Forsaken, and how I never actually got to see that story.
So I got to brainstorming for name, class, backstory (and why he didn't join my team until BfA rather than Cataclysm), and had a bit of a discussion for a good name with a few people in WoW...
and now I have a Worgen rogue called Calvorgius, also known as "The Vorg"
Got him through a few quests in the Gilneas starting zone, and will aim to get him one level there every day until the zone is done. Plan is to make him Outlaw-specced, with a piratey backstory taking place between the starting zone and BfA times.
So that's the latest addition to my team! Going to be fun to clear the starting areas, and work him into my team proper, having him active for holidays etc... and one day, might level him along with the others!
It's the first time I've made a duplicate class of what I already had on the same server, but that was going to happen with the allied races anyway, so I don't mind. And I'd always had in mind that if I was going to make a Worgen, it'd be a druid, but with my hordy on another server being a moonkin and my upcoming Kul Tiran becoming a feral druid, I figured I really didn't need more than 3 druids.
So rogue it is!
Between levelling Vorg, the upcoming pre-patch event about the War of the Thorns, and doing some archeology... I think I'll be pretty busy between now and the expansion's release, at least the first half of that period. But busy in a good way, as it should all be quite fun
And that's my report for the week!

Varda - Yesterday at 7:27 PM
Thank you, Phar
Ar-Pharazon-V - Yesterday at 8:46 PM
namarie!
Varda - Yesterday at 8:46 PM
Namarie Phar
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