Valar Guild

July 22, 2018 Sunday Meeting

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

Back to News
Transcript work by
Varda.

Attending (and spoke): (7)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Celebrian, Elrond, Ioreth, Varda (presiding)
    LotRO: Gorlim, Orome, Varda

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
Web:  
    Change to the HTML editor now being used to work with the Tolkien Site and community sites that Varda handles for the guild.
Gaming:
    General gaming report
Tolkien:
    Topic: Melian and Thingol's reaction to the coming of the Feanorians, a mixed bag of them. Some were involved with the kinslaying quite directly as Feanor and his sons and followers, and others came along after finding a fight going on and mixed in.
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 - Today at 4:00 PM
It's that time! Poke poke
ArienV - Today at 4:01 PM
poke ba ck
Varda - Today at 4:01 PM
Aiya Arien :smiley:
ArienV - Today at 4:01 PM
Aiya Varda :smiley:
how are things?
Varda - Today at 4:02 PM
Fabulous. How about for you?
ArienV - Today at 4:02 PM
not bad at all :smiley:  all going as usual and just ahead of my days off :smiley:
Varda - Today at 4:03 PM
Now there's something to look forward to!
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:03 PM
Aiya Arien and Varda!
ArienV - Today at 4:03 PM
Aiya Phari :smiley:
Varda - Today at 4:03 PM
Aiya Phar : )
Ioreth - Today at 4:04 PM
Aiya
ArienV - Today at 4:05 PM
aiya Ioreth :smiley:
Varda - Today at 4:05 PM
Aiya Ioreth : )
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:05 PM
Aiya Ioreth!
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Varda - Today at 4:06 PM
Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Membership:
For right now in Discord, we have Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Ioreth and Varda.
In LotRO we have Gorlim, Orome, and Varda.
Others may show up later. : )
ArienV - Today at 4:08 PM
In StoR i see Elrond :smiley:
Varda - Today at 4:08 PM
Arien is about to enjoy some days off. : )
ArienV - Today at 4:08 PM
SWToR
Varda - Today at 4:09 PM
Any other membership news we'd like to mention?
Ioreth - Today at 4:09 PM
I play SW:TOR
Varda - Today at 4:10 PM
Nice : )  Maybe some of our SWTOR gang can get together.
And Arien's High Elf Warden, brand new, just joined us in LotRO. : )
Ioreth - Today at 4:11 PM
Nice
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Varda - Today at 4:12 PM
Web:
ArienV - Today at 4:12 PM
yeah  name is Arianwe .. i wanted Aranwe after one of my story characters but that was taken so i inserted the I .. it also sounds a  bit more similar to Arien :smiley:
Varda - Today at 4:12 PM
That works.
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Web:
Happy to report that I finally got a good working HTML editor for using on the kin site. It seems to be doing well.
So now the work can be done on this new laptop, instead of going to another room for the old desktop.
The old computer was considering frying itself, so this is a great relief.
Just got it going a bit before the meeting, put up the meeting note. All went well.
Eonwe has the Gaming News up for us and emailed to say hi, since he has to work during meetings.
Any other web mentions?
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Gaming:

Lord of the Rings Online:
This is extra experience weekend, if anyone wants to log their under 115 level characters on to take advantage of that.
News posted about LotRO from Eonwe:
Curious about what can appear in your Hobbit Presents and Lootboxes? A blog has been posted discussing that very thing.
http://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/hobbit-presents-and-lootbox-information
    The Lord of the Rings Online
    Hobbit Presents and Lootbox Information
Update 22.4 came out this week.
https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?665481-Update-22-4-Release-Notes
    Update 22.4 Release Notes
    Here are the release notes for Update 22.4, released on Tuesday, July 17th, 2018
    News and Notes:
    Classes
All Warden skills now count as melee or ranged skills, and are enhanced by Physical Mastery.
People on in LotRO this past week:
Arien
Bregalad
Dis
Eonwe
Fangorn
Gorlim
Nar
Orome
Thranduil
Varda
Elrond - Today at 4:19 PM
Aiya
Varda - Today at 4:19 PM
Elrond! Aiya  :smiley:
ArienV - Today at 4:21 PM
Aiya Elrond :smiley:
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:21 PM
Aiya Elrond!
Varda - Today at 4:22 PM
Any other LotRO comments?

Star Wars the Old Republic aka SWtOR:
Who all played this last week? : )
Elrond - Today at 4:23 PM
Just started back today
Varda - Today at 4:23 PM
Sounds fun : )
(From LotRO): Kinship] Oronaug: hi to Elrond
(That was Orome)
ArienV - Today at 4:24 PM
yaai :smiley: i thought you abandoned me all and got a char on another server but no kinship ..but if you are back i can come back there :smiley:
Ioreth - Today at 4:24 PM
Which server are you on? I have characters on both
ArienV - Today at 4:24 PM
not that i play it that often anymore anyway but just in case i feel like logging there
Varda - Today at 4:25 PM
What server are you on, Elrond?
and Ioreth?
Elrond - Today at 4:25 PM
Star Forge (was Jedi Covenant). I'm just going to play thru the newer last few chapters and then be done.
Varda - Today at 4:25 PM
Kin server was Ebon Hawke
Ioreth - Today at 4:26 PM
I have characters on both. I'm on a huge organization on Star Forge - called Convenant of the Phoenix, on Satelle Shawn I have my own guild
Celebrian - Today at 4:26 PM
Hello!
Varda - Today at 4:27 PM
Aiya Celebrian : )
ArienV - Today at 4:27 PM
Aiya Cellebrian :smiley:
Varda - Today at 4:27 PM
Just seeing where we all are that play SWtOR, what server
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:27 PM
Aiya Celebrian!
Varda - Today at 4:27 PM
Be nice to be able to get together sometimes for fun
Celebrian - Today at 4:28 PM
I will prob go back and play the next few chapters Ive missed after I am done playing through Mass Effect again. Been playing FFXIV too.
ArienV - Today at 4:28 PM
yeah got chars on both servers as well
those two
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:29 PM
How many servers does it have?
Ioreth - Today at 4:29 PM
I'm currently playing wow mostly. a long time wow friend got cancer and I started playing to keep her company. she's not been on for a month, the tx have kept her pretty tired
SWTOR recently combined, they only have 2 US servers [Note: our guild includes non-US members, but some play on US servers as well.]
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:30 PM
ah
Elrond - Today at 4:31 PM
Eve has had me pretty busy, big war going on. Bought a titan. Got to kill Gigx and his titan earlier today.
Varda - Today at 4:32 PM
Have you gotten with Pallando about Eve? At least to say hi?
Elrond - Today at 4:32 PM
Think I'm in the channel in game
Varda - Today at 4:33 PM
Cool : )
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:33 PM
Being proud to buy a ship and destroying someone else's ship in one breath... makes me wonder if it's really that valuable.
Elrond - Today at 4:34 PM
It's the most expensive and biggest ship in the game, and that player is kinda well known leader of an alliance.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:34 PM
So he can easily buy a new one? :smiley:
Elrond - Today at 4:35 PM
For him, maybe. But its a hit. They take about a month to build
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:35 PM
Ouch.
Varda - Today at 4:35 PM
Since it's a pvp style game, that's good for Elrond. : )
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:35 PM
Indeed :smiley:
And a good reason for me never to play it.
Elrond - Today at 4:36 PM
I put a pic in screenshots if you want to see it
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:36 PM
hmhm, saw it, looks fancy
Ioreth - Today at 4:37 PM
I have a friend who plays Eve. I offered to join him but he said that he was too far into the game and I could never catch up.  lol. I decided I really didn't want to play after all
Varda - Today at 4:37 PM
Looks kind of like a mace
Hard in any game to catch up to high players, unless there's something like Gift of the Valar in LotRO, or Death Knight in LotRO. Not recommended unless one has already played once through on that character, which makes it a tad pointless, I guess.
In more news from Eonwe:

World of WarCraft:
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:39 PM
paaaatch
paaaaaaaaatch
Varda - Today at 4:39 PM
This week's bonus event: Battlegrounds.
The Auction House Dance Party is today.
and what Phar said  : )
The Battle for Azeroth Pre-Patch came out this week. Check out the patch notes.
Ioreth - Today at 4:39 PM
did that, need to go back and get my buff again
Varda - Today at 4:39 PM
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/21952591/the-battle-for-azeroth-pre-patch-is-now-live
    World of Warcraft
    The Battle for Azeroth Pre-Patch is Now Live! - WoW
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/21959894/battle-for-azeroth-pre-patch-notes
    World of Warcraft
    Battle for Azeroth Pre-Patch Notes - WoW
Check out the answers to questions asked in this week's Live Q&A VoD.
Check out the answers to questions asked in this week's Live Q&A VoD.
pardon : )
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/21952596/watch-the-live-q-a-vod-with-ion-hazzikostas-here
    World of Warcraft
    Watch the Live Q&A VoD with Ion Hazzikostas Here! - WoW
Check out this week's hotfixes.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/21973195/hotfixes-july-20-2018
    World of Warcraft
    Hotfixes: July 20, 2018 - WoW

StarCraft 2:
Out this week: Patch 4.4.1.
https://starcraft2.com/en-us/news/21965053
    StarCraft II
    Wage war across the galaxy with three unique and powerful races. StarCraft II is a real-time strategy game from Blizzard Entertainment for the PC and Mac.

StarCraft:
A new patch for Starcraft came out as well: Patch 1.22, which has a new ranking system and rewards.
https://starcraft.com/en-us/articles/21953989
    StarCraft: Remastered
    StarCraft: Remastered upgrades the essential sci-fi strategy experience�the entire original game and its award-winning expansion, StarCraft: Brood War�from beginning to end.

Hearthstone:
Some links for new stuff this week:
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/21964706/hearthstone-digital-comic-dr-boom-lowering-the-boom
    Hearthstone Digital Comic - Dr. Boom: Lowering the Boom
    Check an all-new The Boomsday Comic: Lowering the Boom
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/21965466/developer-insights-12-0-game-mechanics-update
    Developer Insights: 12.0 Game Mechanics Update
    There are several rule changes coming to Hearthstone with The Boomsday Project. Learn more!
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/21953432/hearthside-chat-with-peter-whalen-welcome-to-boom-labs
    Hearthside Chat with Peter Whalen: Welcome to Boom Labs
    Join Hearthstone Designer Peter Whalen as he delivers a thrilling lecture on the marvelously strange SCIENCE�and the brilliant minds behind it�that you�ll encounter in The Boomsday Project, Hearthstone�s newest expansion!
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/21953433/enter-boom-labs-part-2
    Enter Boom Labs � Part 2
    Join Levi on his continuing adventure as he struggles to de-transmogrify poor Peter, find the other designers, and survive the technological trials of Boom Labs!

That's all my general gaming news. : )
Any other gaming news, business, comments?
Tolkien!
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:48 PM
I guess I can mention my pc is holding up quite well in the patch. I thought it'd be a lot slower, and I'd have to get an SSD. But so far that does not seem necessary.
Varda - Today at 4:48 PM
Here's your chance to ask or comment, before I suggest something
Elrond - Today at 4:50 PM
The price on AMD processors has dropped on Amazon and Newegg if you want to upgrade.  The  Ryzon 5 2600 were $169 and $189 for a 2600x, Gigabtye 470 MB was $109. Upgraded mine to that from a pc that was 7yrs old. Bit of a improvement
Varda - Today at 4:51 PM
SSD is  great, really helps speed
Elrond - Today at 4:51 PM
Yeah, did that as well.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:51 PM
I had my eye on a processor (and new mb required for it) as well as an ssd. But as I said, so far the new technical requirements are not as bad that it hampers my gameplay, even while raiding.
If I do have to upgrade, the ssd will be first.
I've even considered just putting WoW on an SSD rather than the OS :smiley:
Ioreth - Today at 4:55 PM
the new wow isn't too bad system wise. I'm running windows 10 preview and the arguments have been few. now SWTOR on the other hand has been a pain once or twice
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:56 PM
Still on 8.1. I didn't even have to update my graphics driver since I'm on nvidia.
Ioreth - Today at 4:58 PM
it grumped about my graphics a couple weeks ago - has a cute icon that pops up with a message about "current drivers" - but I couldn't do much about it because I'm running prerelease windows. it went away with Tuesday's update. I've been playing beta and PTR and still wasn't ready for what they did Tuesday, I hate a bunch of the changes
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 4:58 PM
Hmm, might indeed have something to do with DX12 then, and the patch supporting it more or something.
I've not played beta (though I had a key) but I had kept up with a ton of the datamined stuff and other announcements on mmochampion and wowhead. So not much of a surprise.
Other than the scaling issues everywhere (which I should've seen coming) and the whole centaur faction thing.
Ioreth - Today at 5:00 PM
I certainly found out which skills I use all the time. Lost 3 in druid, about that many in hunter. I haven't played my shaman enough to know what I'm missing
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:01 PM
What did you lose for druid? All I'm aware of is healing touch, but then again I play guardian/feral and they didn't lose too much besides the artifacts.
Anyway, maybe we should let Varda continue with Tolkien :wink:
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Varda - Today at 5:02 PM
Tolkien:
Ioreth - Today at 5:02 PM
lol
Varda - Today at 5:03 PM
I was interested in Melian and Thingol's reaction to the coming of the Feanorians, a mixed bag of them. Some were involved with the kinslaying quite directly as Feanor and his sons and followers, and others came along after finding a fight going on and mixed in.
Thingol, as a Sinda, was related to the Teleri of the ships, so the Feanorians didn't volunteer that info right away.
Remember how the discovery of this came out?
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:05 PM
No, I suspect it's not something they'd advertise.. and I'd imagine it might be Fingolfin's doing, how they found out?
Varda - Today at 5:05 PM
Someone we all know well spilled some of the beans
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:05 PM
But I don't really remember.
Varda - Today at 5:05 PM
Just enough for Melian to catch on.
Anyone else like to guess or look it up?
These chats are open book
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:06 PM
It sounds like something Morgoth would do, but I wouldn't know how he found out, or why Melian would listen to him.
Varda - Today at 5:08 PM
The Feanorians mostly had their own kingdoms. Finrod in the deeps of Nargothrond, but his sister stayed with Melian at that time in Doriath.
Galadriel.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:08 PM
Ahhh, right.
Varda - Today at 5:08 PM
The two, Melian and Galadriel, liked to chat about old times in Valinor.
But any talk of times after the Two Trees, Galadriel went silent. Melian noticed, and would have loved more recent news, as she missed home.
Melian could no longer see over there, because
    "a shadow lies over all the land of Aman, and reaches far out over the sea. Why will you not tell me more?"
Galadriel answered that the woe was past and she did not want to disturb the joy where they now were, wanting to leave it untroubled by memory.
She feared that hope might seem bright, but woe might yet come.
Now that sent up all sorts of warning flags.
Melian, being a queen and concerned about woe that might come, pressed a bit.
She stated that she didn't think the messengers came as messengers of the Valar, although that was said at first.
Ah hah, prevarication from the start.
The only suggestion that it was true was that they came in the hour of need.
But
    "they speak never of the Valar,"
    "nor have their high lords brought any message to Thingol, whether from Manwe, or Ulmo, or even from Olwe, the King's brother, and his own folk that went over the sea."
That does sound suspicious.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:14 PM
Suspicious indeed.
Varda - Today at 5:14 PM
She adds,
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:14 PM
And yes,  you beat me to it :wink:
Varda - Today at 5:15 PM
    "For what cause, Galadriel, were the high people of the Noldor driven forth as exiles from Aman?"
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:15 PM
"ohh, you know, this oath thing, nothing to worry about"
Varda - Today at 5:15 PM
    "Or what evil lies on the sons of Feanor that they are so haughty and so fell? Do I not strike near the truth?"
Righhhhht, Phar.
This stings Galadriel a bit, and she just has to answer.
    "Near," said Galadriel; "save that we were not driven forth, but came of our own will, and against that of the Valar."
So ah hah, against the Valar is not going to sit well with Melian the Maia.
Quick, defense needed.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:18 PM
Did she not sorta defy the Valar herself by staying in Middle-earth and hooking up with an elf? Or did she have permission?
Varda - Today at 5:19 PM
    "And through great peril and in despite of the Valar for this purpose we came: to take vengeance upon Morgoth, and regain what he stole."
There, we are brave, doing a great quest, so hah.
Melian? I find nothing that says she was going against the Valar doing that.
She was already present in Middle-earth. Orome also went there from time to time. I suspect Bombadil did much as Melian did.
Melian with Thingol, Iarwain with Goldberry.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:20 PM
Hmm, might be getting some stories mixed up. It would be a typical story element though. But I guess, yes, the Maiar were free to roam around and stay among the mortals as much as they pleased.
Varda - Today at 5:21 PM
They may not usually have had a lot of desire to hang around with them, or did so secretly.
Some Olorin guy went amongst the elves unseen whispering words of hope.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:21 PM
Yes, but he was expressly on a mission from the Valar :smiley:
Varda - Today at 5:21 PM
Olorin did that before becoming an Istar.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:22 PM
He did? Hmm. I stand corrected.
Varda - Today at 5:22 PM
Might be one reason he was fingered for the mission.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:22 PM
Sounds right.
Varda - Today at 5:22 PM
It was about one sentence in the Sil. : )
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:22 PM
of the third age?
Varda - Today at 5:22 PM
I think it might have been Second, have to go back and check just when.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:23 PM
Right, right. The piece after the Akallabeth, bookwise, anyway.
Varda - Today at 5:23 PM
Anyway, Galadriel told Melian a lot, about the Silmarils, the slaying of King Finwe at Formenos, but
she skipped some details.
The Oath, the Kinslaying, the burning of the ships.
Melian realized she was hearing a lot, and that a lot was left.
She realizes there is evil that happened on the road from Tirion and that Galadriel is trying to hide it.
Galadriel agrees that Thingol should be told, but says not by her.
Melian stopped pressing, but she told Thingol what she had learned.
She added that it was a great matter, more than the  Noldor understood, even.
    "For the Light of Aman and the fate of Arda lie locked now in these things, the work  of Feanor, who is gone."
    "They shall not be recovered, I foretell, by any power of the Eldar; and the world shall be broken in battles that are to come, ere they are wrested from Morgoth."
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:28 PM
Does Luthien not count as Eldar? [Note: Luthien ultimately went with Beren to mortality.]
Varda - Today at 5:28 PM
    "See now! Feanor have they slain, and many another, as I guess; but first of the deaths they have brought  and yet shall bring was Finwe your friend. Morgoth slew him, ere he fled from Aman."
Ok. The beans are spilled. Thingol knows.
Now he understands for sure that the Noldor didn't come to their aid on purpose.
But he thinks this means they will make good aid as they will have common cause.
Melian warns him that is not the case.
or at least not the only reason.
    "Beware of the sons of Feanor! The shadow of the wrath of the Valar lies upon them; and they have done evil, I perceive, both in Aman and to their own kin."
    "Their swords and their counsels shall have two edges."
Morgoth started spreading rumors to make these things sound even worse. Cirdan heard and sent messengers to warn Thingol, thinking it was because of jealousy between the houses.
The sons of Finarfin were visiting at the time, lucky them.
Thingol spoke in anger to Finrod about keeping secrets like that from him.
Finrod answered that no evil had been done to Thingol or his people since their arrival.
Thingol said he was red-handed for the death of his mother's kin.
Finrod was stuck.
If he defended himself, he would have to bring charges against the other princes of the Noldor before Thingol.
But Angrod couldn't stand it.
He got upset and told everything.
He wanted to get rid of the idea that they were kinslayers too.
Melian answered:
    "Yet the shadow of Mandos lies on you also."
Thingol took a long time to answer.
He told them to leave because his heart was hot, but that later they could return, for they were kindred and ensnared in an evil they did not aid.
He would also keep friendship with Fingolfin and his people, for they already "bitterly atoned".
But no one would be allowed again to speak Quenya, the tongue of the Noldor, in his realm while his power endured.
All using it would be accounted kinslayers and unrepentant.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:40 PM
Interesting choice of policy.
Varda - Today at 5:40 PM
The speech only lived as an old language of lore, written.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:40 PM
I guess it has to do with rejecting where you came from? Or possibly not reminding him of that.
Varda - Today at 5:41 PM
They didn't get away free with what they did, in a very personal way.
JRRT, the linguist, devised the greatest punishment: loss of one's own language as a truly evil thing to use.
Using it meant you sided with kinslayers.
Anyway, that's the reason everyone in Middle-earth spoke Sindarin after that.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:42 PM
That's true. For a linguist like Tolkien there's an extra horror in being forced to abandon a language.
Varda - Today at 5:43 PM
It's easy to forget, sometimes, that the stories were written to explain the languages, not the reverse.

While thinking about what I had just read, I ran across this article about the history of how Melian came to be what she was, how the idea changed:
http://lintamande.tumblr.com/post/135228881368/about-that-girdle
    Tumblr
    The F�anorians Send Their Regards
    about that girdle
    this is a post about the evolution of Tolkien�s conceptions of the forces protecting Doriath, from the earliest versions of the legendarium to the one implied by the final Silmarillion, but before I...

Any other comments, suggestions?
Seven hammers circle the hammerpad
All together, they raise up and strike the ends of the handles down
booom!
One formally taps the hammerpad, in respect
they return to the shelf that Aule has provided our meeting
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After-meeting!
Free chat
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:46 PM
    " his children Timpinen and Tinuviel long after joined the Eldar again, and tales there are concerning them both, though they are seldom told"
Funny, seeing as eventually the tale of Beren and Luthien was one of the more popular stories being told in Middle-earth :smiley:
Varda - Today at 5:47 PM
Aye. We see how much things change.
ArienV - Today at 5:52 PM
I thought Luthiens Brother was Daeron
Varda - Today at 5:52 PM
He is.
The name became Daeron.
Good ol' early notes.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:52 PM
Many name changes.
Tinwelint :smiley:
ArienV - Today at 5:53 PM
and he vanished searching for her although it was rumoured that at one point they passed close to each other without knowing
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:53 PM
Wendelin, Tinwelint, Timpinen, they're also... "fairy".
* all so
Varda - Today at 5:53 PM
One of the last lines is very interesting, considering that we've discussed Ungoliant's nature:
    Ungoliant fled from the north and came into the realm of King Thingol, and a terror of darkness was about her; but by the power of Melian she was stayed, and entered not into Neldoreth�� (Silmarillion)
endquote
Melian stopped Ungoliant. Wow.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:54 PM
Well, we don't know whether it was a hard stop despite good efforts to make in, or simply a "meh, there's some resistance here, let's not bother".
ArienV - Today at 5:54 PM
indeed .. either because she was stronger than Ungoliant or because Ungoliant couldnt stand her purity and loyalty to the Valar
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:55 PM
*make it in
Varda - Today at 5:55 PM
    an  unseen  wall  of shadow   and   bewilderment:
Maybe Ungoliant just became badly confused.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 5:56 PM
Could be. Going around in circles a bit.
Varda - Today at 5:56 PM
Eight feet tripping.
We are in After-meeting. Please don't feel stuck here! Sleep well.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 6:02 PM
Personal gaming report!
Let's find some flashgames.

Ioreth - Today at 6:05 PM
Lol
You need a chat channel called "#tolkien-links"
I like this one: http://lintamande.tumblr.com/ Still lost mostly, but like it. I need to get a new copy of Sim
    The F�anorians Send Their Regards
    Tolkien commentary, analysis, and criticism from one of those people way too invested in the life...
Varda - Today at 6:11 PM
That's a thought. : )
Anyway, that link connects to the other's home link.

Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 6:12 PM
http://www.physicsgames.net/game/Plinko_Ball.html for the first flashgame! a physics game where you have to launch balls to hit all the red ones, using springs and switches and stuff like that. Try to keep the number of launched balls to reach the goal down for more stars.
    Physics Games - Plinko Ball
    Launch balls from your cannon as you try to hit all of the red balls in each stage. Use switches, springboards, portals, and other mechanisms to complete your task.

Varda - Today at 6:12 PM
So just a home link is probably enough.
ArienV - Today at 6:13 PM
I have to give up i fear .. its been a longish week :smiley:
Varda - Today at 6:14 PM
Good night, Arien. : )
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 6:14 PM
Namarie, Arien!
ArienV - Today at 6:14 PM
good Night and Namarie all :)#

Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 6:23 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/kolibri_studio/hue-cat is the second game! A platformer and running game where you play a cat who collects fish and makes his way across the levels. You can buy new cats with other abilities, and upgrade stuff like the magnet. I'm having trouble getting it to save, though, so you might want to see how far you can get in one session.
    Kongregate
    Hue Cat
    A cat that loves bread and calls itself Sushi? That#39s it!
    Collect fish to gain special powers and unlock Sushi friends.
    Help the kittens stroll the world for a...
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/cheap-golf/ is the third game! A series of levels where you have to guild the "ball" to the black spot at the end of the level while using obstacles, not killing yourself on certain obstacles, and doing it within par - a limited amount of moves that varies per level. Occasionally accompanied by the game throwing dialogue at you and giving you choices that generally don't really matter, but can be humorous.
But the fun is in the silliness of the levels :smiley:
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Blizzard gaming!
Hearthstone:
    Fire Festival still going strong, with nice double gold rewards, giving me pretty much at least one pack a day.
    Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 7:01 PM
    Getting nearer to the next level, with most classes that were behind caught up nicely. Brawl this week is Ragnaros' fire festival, defeat enemy player as usual, but with a mini ragnaros that changes sides every turn and does damage to the other side randomly. But for every minion it kills, it becomes more powerful.
Got it done by using a paladin deck with a lot of small minions to divert fire and power up ragnaros to have it defeat the enemy. Quite fun.
    Got a new legendary as well, houndmaster shaw. Still so many to go, though, and new expansion will be here soon. But I think the amount of legendaries I got during this expansion was quite high, relatively speaking.
Heroes of the Storm:
    getting more xp on various heroes, but only got one new level, to 290.
    Brawl was another single-lane with random heroes. It ended up quite fun, though, with me having one of 2 Zul'jins on our team in one fight, and me having one of 2 Genjis on our team in another. Funny to see them cooperate.
My one level was gotten at this time, with Zul'jin reaching level 3.
Diablo 3:
    Chapter 4 complete! Had a bit of trouble, since this season's set doesn't really get powerful enough for torment 3 and 4 with just the 4-piece bonus. But discussing it with a WoW friend, I dug through the legendaries I'd gotten during the earlier parts of the season, and built myself a Blessed Hammer spec which ended up getting the job done quite well. So now I have the unique seasonal banner reward, and can put Diablo 3 aside again until the next season :smiley: Good thing too, things are about to get busy in WoW after all!
WoW:
    Patch arrived! Lots of direct gameplay changes, influencing current raiding and old raiding in various ways, as well as many other things.
    The stat squish came with a lot of scaling issues in all the expansions, and personal loot made the old school raids a bit more awkward, but we can trade stuff if we want. I do hope the pets will be tradeable too.
    If not, I'll have to solo Trial of the Crusader from here on to make sure. We'll find out whenever a pet drops in any of the places we go to.
    Current raiding has become a bit more awkward, with both the scaling issues (especially the Hounds got a lot tougher, with a particular ability stacking way higher than it should) and the loss of artifact traits which weakened our characters.
    But I did get my last appearance from heroic difficulty, so yay :smiley:
    Right on time too; between all the issues, the new content coming up, and one of our main healers going on a holiday break, we decided that this was our last standard Antorus raid week. There'll still be raids organized for alts though (and mains, for people like me who don't tend to level alts to max level), but those will be on normal difficulty and, hopefully, easy enough to plow through. So raid-wise that basically marks the end of the expansion, though some raiding fun can still be had.
    And if it's on normal, maybe I can grab a few appearances there too :wink:
    The loss of artifacts and stat scaling affected the daily heroic Karazhan I do as well, being quite a bit harder, and making it actually rather easy to wipe on trash. I'm rather worried about what I'll find when I try to do a mythic+2 instance tomorrow, since mythic should be even harder. But we'll see if it works. It's tough to imagine people still doing 15+ mythics with the current issues, but I did see a few in the groupfinder.
    And my weekly Wailing Caverns pet dungeon was also affected by the patch; one of the most versatile pets, the Teroclaw Hatchling, which I used for many battles, has become considerably weaker by not being able to use dodge and healing in the same ability setup. I had to employ a lot of moths instead, of which I have about a dozen at max level, and had to level a mechanical pet too which should come in handy with one of the later enemies in the dungeon where usually the teroclaw would be enough. But with those adjustments, it's still reliably doable every week.
    I had decided to ease up on checking the Broken Isles world quests after the patch hit, only focusing on checking pvp quests, Argus pet quests, and Army of the Light reputation rewards, as well as any emissaries/paragons I still need... but I'm finding it rather hard to resist mousing over every WQ I see anyway. I  hope it's a habit I can shake off before BfA comes with a whole new set of WQs.
    No progress on the pet battles on Argus, anyway; neither pet came up as a quest. I did get one of my missing paragon rewards, the second of 3 mounts from Army of the Light. So there's progress there!
    For the weekly event quest, battlegrounds this time, I've been focusing on the Epic Battleground queue, which is new in the patch, containing only Alterac Valley and Isle of Conquest. I've actually only gotten into Isle of Conquest through it, but that's fine; 3 victories out of 4 got, and will work on the fourth tomorrow.
    I was also curious about the new Conquest point system, with specific pieces of gear to collect every week, which might be something I want to collect the appearance from. But apparently the system's not active yet, since I got no conquest from the battleground wins, and no reward was shown at the end of the progress bar. I'm thinking that won't start until BfA's first pvp season.
    While the new events for the patch don't start until next week, the patch did come with some new fixes and things that caught people's attention, giving us stuff to do. A major issue was that the centaur quests in Desolace started giving people automatic exalted reputation after the patch, but for those who had done the quests earlier, there was no such luck; that included me.
    But a couple of hotfixes came in, and now everyone who's already done the quests just has to talk to one npc to get all the reputation for free.
    So that's what I did, and now I've gotten the Gelkis and Magram centaur factions to exalted at last, after their incompleteness had been bugging me since Classic :wink: Now I have 97 exalted factions! Will be easy to get 100 in BfA, for the new reward.
    And finally, been working on leveling my worgen! He's now level 12, and done with most of the Gilneas starting zone. Only one more quest arc left, and I aim to work through that on monday and tuesday, finishing up in time for the new Teldrassil event arriving on wednesday (for Europe), at which point the questing focus will be back on my druid main.
    Oh, yes, and I'll mention that out of the new collection achievements that came with the patch, I did get the reward for 800 pets, a mechanical marmot called Rooter :smiley:
So let the collecting begin, for mounts, toys, pets and reputation, as soon as BfA comes, and a few things a bit earlier :wink:
    And that's my report for the week!

Varda - Today at 7:35 PM
Thank you, Phar.
Ar-Pharazon-V - Today at 8:40 PM
namarie!
Varda - Today at 10:11 PM
Namarie Phar
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