September 2, 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:
Ar-Pharazon, Celebrian, Elrond, Eonwe, Ioreth (After-meeting),
Lenwe, Varda (presiding)
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news:
Elrond's birthday
Web:
Gaming:
General gaming report by Eonwe and others
Tolkien:
Topic: Dragons and
dwarves.
After-meeting:
Ioreth's new druid form.
Flashgaming Reviews by
Ar-Pharazon
Cirth runes link to a table
of them and some discussion of them.
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Before-meeting
(times are in Central from Varda's Discord, so add one hour for
Eastern)
VardaYesterday at 3:24 PM
Aiya Phar. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:24 PM
Aiya!
VardaYesterday at 3:25 PM
Over half an hour. Yay for being early!
Our internet is working again.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:26 PM
Just messing around Freehold (non-dungeon version), on the way to my
goal of reaching 119 today. [Note: WoW game]
VardaYesterday at 3:27 PM
You'll make it! Hours left.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:27 PM
I hope so, 40% left!
LenweYesterday at 3:43 PM
Aiya, glad your internet's working Varda :smiley:
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:43 PM
Aiya!
VardaYesterday at 3:43 PM
Thanks! Us too. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:43 PM
Had internet trouble?
VardaYesterday at 3:43 PM
Aye. All good now though.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:44 PM
great :smiley:
VardaYesterday at 3:44 PM
happy dance
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:01 PM
Heya
LenweYesterday at 4:01 PM
Aiya, Eonwe
VardaYesterday at 4:01 PM
Eonwe! Aiya!
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:02 PM
Aiya Eonwe!
VardaYesterday at 4:02 PM
brb, pardon. And hi from Fangorn :smiley:
back
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Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Membership:
Feel free to poke your friends to remind them the meeting is on.
Anything you'd like to have brought up would be welcome. We hope to
have a section for everything you want to talk about. If not, let us
know!
We'll add it.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:05 PM
Isn't that aftermeeting? :wink:
VardaYesterday at 4:06 PM
Sometimes. : ) Depends.
ElrondYesterday at 4:06 PM
aiya
VardaYesterday at 4:06 PM
Aiya Elrond!
Arien is on vacation. Here's hoping she's having a wonderful time.
Any other membership news?
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:08 PM
She was last online... 11 hours ago?
VardaYesterday at 4:10 PM
yay for traveler's internet
CelebrianYesterday at 4:10 PM
Aiya
VardaYesterday at 4:10 PM
Aiya Celebrian : )
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:10 PM
Fladrif's been online too, it seems :wink:
ElrondYesterday at 4:10 PM
My birthday is on Tuesday. Celebrian is making me a cherry pie.
VardaYesterday at 4:11 PM
o wow! Sounds like a happy pre-birthday!
LenweYesterday at 4:11 PM
That’s an excellent choice
CelebrianYesterday at 4:11 PM
And by making, that would mean putting the frozen pie in the oven
lol
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:11 PM
Congrats :smile:
VardaYesterday at 4:11 PM
We'll help you eat that. ; )
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Web:
This slacker has nothing new to report for the Tolkien Site this
week. Here's hoping for 100% better next week. Feel free to aid!
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Gaming:
Eonwe is here and says he will be able to give us the Games Report.
yay! Take it away, Eonwe!
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:13 PM
Thank you.
World of Warcraft:
Like the music from the last Warbringers? Check out Battle for
Azeroth: The Music of Warbringers – Azshara.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/22327253/battle-for-azeroth-the-music-of-warbringers-azshara
World of Warcraft
Battle for Azeroth: The Music of Warbringers –
Azshara - WoW
Dark Iron Dwarves and Mag'har Orcs are ready to recruit (once you
meet the requirements).
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/22327255/new-allied-races-ready-to-recruit
World of Warcraft
New Allied Races Ready to Recruit - WoW
Check out the hotfixes for this week.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/21973195/hotfixes-august-30-2018
World of Warcraft
Hotfixes: August 30, 2018 - WoW
Diablo 3:
Season 14 is ending. Time to wrap up by September 16th.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:15 PM
Note: DI and Mag'har have been ready since release, but people are
just now starting to meet the requirements :smiley:
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:15 PM
Hearthstone:
Out now: Hearthstone Digital Comic #3 - Dr. Boom: Your Own Worst
Enemy.
ElrondYesterday at 4:15 PM
I just got my dark iron dwarf myself
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:15 PM
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/22372714/hearthstone-digital-comic-3-dr-boom-your-own-worst-enemy
Hearthstone Digital Comic #3 - Dr. Boom: Your Own
Worst Enemy
Roboboom has—as is usually the case with Dr.
Boom’s projects—run amok! Kicked out of Boom Labs and relegated to a
rocky rookery somewhere in Netherstorm, the real Dr. Boom is left to
lament his losses. Can he de-throne
Roboboom to reclaim his lab, his pride, and his
lad...
September ranked play has begun.
Overwatch:
Season 12 of Competitive Play has begun.
A new event is going until September 10th.
https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/news/22380666
Overwatch
Learn more about Overwatch’s heroic gameplay.
That's it from me.
VardaYesterday at 4:16 PM
Thank you, Eonwe. : )
LotRO:
The Farmerr's Faire is going and will continue through Sept 9.
The LotRO Beacon Issue #75 is out:
https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/lotro-beacon-issue-75
The Lord of the Rings Online
The LOTRO Beacon: Issue 75
Any other general gaming news? Eve, other?
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:17 PM
(Diablo 3: Season end announced)
VardaYesterday at 4:17 PM
Thanks, Phar.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:17 PM
oh
missed that :
Eonwe already mentioned it :smile:
VardaYesterday at 4:18 PM
Guildmates that were in LotRO this past week:
Aranuir
Beleg
Bregalad
Dis
Fangorn
Gorlim
Nar
Varda
CelebrianYesterday at 4:18 PM
Elrond said he does not have any Eve news.
VardaYesterday at 4:19 PM
Any other gaming groups that would like to mention their folks from
the last week?
Thanks Celebrian and Elrond. : )
Feel free to mention any game you actually play if you have news
especially.
ElrondYesterday at 4:20 PM
I've picked up the D&D 5th edition books and thinking
running a game online. I haven't DM'd in over 25 years.
VardaYesterday at 4:20 PM
Eowyn and Faramir are back from vacation and playing SC2
again.
ahh, interesting. Online is a very different flavor.
Sauron still DM's at our house every other Saturday, if you'l like
to ask him anything or just chat D&D.
He does check his email.
ElrondYesterday at 4:21 PM
Ah thanks
VardaYesterday at 4:22 PM
Any other tabletop people on right now? I play in Sauron's game.
Any other business to bring up? News? Suggestions?
A big thanks to Eonwe for keeping up the Games page so well. : )
On to:
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Tolkien!
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:23 PM
MP
VardaYesterday at 4:23 PM
: )
If anyone has a topic or Tolkien Moment they'd like to bring up now
or after the one upcoming, be sure to sing out so we can call you.
If I forget to call you, poke me! Brain like a steel sieve here.
This isn't something I've researched but just
had a thought earlier today that it would be interesting to collect
the info scattered around relating to the relationship between
dragons and dwarves.
What comes to mind for y'all on that ?
It could be an interesting article if anyone wants to tackle it, and
fantastic for artists, poets, story-tellers.
What artwork along those lines would interest you to see?
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:29 PM
Hmm. Something about Erebor, perhaps...
VardaYesterday at 4:31 PM
Smaug the Golden. Fabulous for art.
He was the greatest of the dragons that were in the northern
mountains and came to the tales of the great treasures in Erebor.
One must wonder what the other dragons who did not come there were
like?
As great as Smaug was, that leaves a lot of room for amazing
dragons.
I wonder what they were doing, what they went after that had nothing
to do with the Ring story and so were not mentioned.
Then there's the fun of the earliest version of the dragons.
Mechanical, ridden by the early balrogs while carrying others of
Morgoth's minions inside.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:33 PM
Hah, yes.
Giant monsters with springs, I believe.
VardaYesterday at 4:34 PM
The great black dragon, Ancalagon, of fantastic size. Shocking
because he flew.
And Glaurung. Early on, he was a version of Sauron, but became a
separate character with a lot of story.
In Middle-earth, dragons were not good. They were creations of
Morgoth and Sauron, bred evil.
The fell beasts could have been some version of a dragon, or seen as
such, yet are never referred to that way.
LenweYesterday at 4:37 PM
Here’s someone’s fun speculations on the relative sizes of Tolkien
dragons:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-size-difference-between-Ancalagon-the-Black-and-Smaug
What is the size difference between Ancalagon the
Black and Smaug?...
There are three possibilities of ancalagon’s real
size. Starting with the smallest estimate: 1.) Ancalagon was slain
in the air (meaning he could fly), and when he fell, he fell on the
triple mountain peaks and destroyed them in his thrashings. Lo...
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:37 PM
Seemed to lack scales.
VardaYesterday at 4:38 PM
Cool! Thanks for the article.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:38 PM
That... is one big Ancalagon.
VardaYesterday at 4:38 PM
The fell beasts may have had only animal minds, just transportation.
That article has an interesting quote. I'd love to know who said it
when:
His power is rather in the evil spirit that dwells within him
than in the might of his body, great though that be
His refers to apparently any dragon.
This is a great quote in the article from the Sil:
and out of the pits of Angband there issued the winged dragons,
that had not before been seen; and so sudden and ruinous was the
onset of that dreadful fleet that the host of the Valar was driven
back, for the coming of the dragons was with great thunder, and
lightning, and a tempest of fire.
He could melt a ring of power, something that later dragons could
not do.
A painting of that would be amazing.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:45 PM
The release of the dragons, or the melting of a ring? :smiley:
VardaYesterday at 4:46 PM
JRRT did art as well, even illustrating the first book covers. He
painted word pictures with the eye of an artist as well as a writer.
Both, hah.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:46 PM
I'm imagining that scene now accompanied by ride of the valkyries.
VardaYesterday at 4:46 PM
Every so often he makes descriptions that just cry out for a
painting.
There you go!
The music that could go with his imaginings has to be amazing. John
Williams understood that. More folks could make music for individual
scenes, of all kinds, not just orchestra. We see that with Blind
Guardian and many others, and yet there is room for more.
The dwarves, small as they are, were enemies with the dragons. Why?
Were the dwarves any problem for the dragons?
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:54 PM
Well, I suppose the hostility goes a long way back, ever since the
Arnoediad with a dwarf lord wounding Glaurung.
After that, I suppose it's a matter of dwarves and dragons both
sharing a love of gold and treasure, and mountains to dwell in.
They're basically competition.
VardaYesterday at 4:55 PM
Agreed.
The dwarves made items that could withstand dragon fire for a
reason.
It wasn't just any dragon that went after Erebor, but their
greatest. One who thought he could take on a mountain of dwarves.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:57 PM
Was he really the greatest, or just cast out by his own kind with
delusions of his own greatness? :smiley:
VardaYesterday at 4:58 PM
We do go by his own statements, don't we? : )
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:58 PM
Maybe none of the other dragons really liked him and sent him away
out of dragon territory, and he was like "I don't need this, I'm
Smaug the Magnificent, I'll take that dwarf mountain over there
instead!"
VardaYesterday at 4:58 PM
Hah
Another of the great dragons was Scatha.
VardaYesterday at 5:00 PM
I wonder if this name might have had to do with Scatha:
SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging At High Altitudes), a United States
Air Force satellite designed to collect data on the electrical
charging of spacecraft
Maybe not, since Scatha was flightless.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:01 PM
Hah, the US sent a dragon into space.
VardaYesterday at 5:01 PM
Better him be there than here!
Well, 'tis the hour once again.
the hammer flies in, shining golden, and shoots fireworks at the
hammerpad
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:03 PM
Firework dragons are the best dragons.
VardaYesterday at 5:04 PM
the hammerpad responds with a fountain of flame and laughs
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:04 PM
Just ask Gandalf.
VardaYesterday at 5:04 PM
Quite right!
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After-meeting!
Free chat about anything. : )
IorethYesterday at 5:19 PM
New
druid travel form glyph in WoW. Cost 4K gold on my
server but I sure like it better than the killer wale or sea lion
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:20 PM
Ooh grats!
VardaYesterday at 5:21 PM
Beautiful form!
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:21 PM
Is that the dolphin or the tideskipper?
IorethYesterday at 5:21 PM
That's the tideskipper, they are real similar
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:21 PM
I want the tideskipper for myself :
:wink:
4k's not too much at this point.
IorethYesterday at 5:25 PM
on my other server it is 2K
the dolphin was 33K and the doe was 6k. I have the doe recipe on
horde on the one server, but want it on alliance on the other server
- but nobody has listed it
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:27 PM
Where does it drop?
IorethYesterday at 5:27 PM
the doe or the tideskpper?
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:28 PM
The doe.
I think the tideskipper comes from a sea giant or something.
IorethYesterday at 5:28 PM
stormheim off of the deer herds up there near where that rare buck
is
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:29 PM
Oh, Broken Isles, eh. Interesting.
IorethYesterday at 5:29 PM
the skipper is in one of the rivers in kul tirus
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:30 PM
From a sea giant there, if I recall correctly? Been a while since I
looked it up.
IorethYesterday at 5:31 PM
I thought it said a dolphin... but I only glanced at it
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:32 PM
Hmm, fair enough. My memory is probably off.
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:41 PM
I must go now. Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
VardaYesterday at 5:41 PM
Namarie Eonwe!
I'm joining Gorlim in LotRO
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:41 PM
Namarie!
VardaYesterday at 5:41 PM
Fangorn's joining Eowyn in SC2
play time!
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:42 PM
Still pushing towards level 119, will leave WoW and give gaming
report after that :smiley:
IorethYesterday at 5:48 PM
I got 120 on my Alli druid, 210-213 ilevel on all stances
VardaYesterday at 5:48 PM
Grats : )
IorethYesterday at 5:48 PM
I mean 310-313
VardaYesterday at 5:48 PM
Good luck on 119 Phar!
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:50 PM
Thanks. 16% remaining.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:34 PM
There, 119.
Finished it up with saving a cat from a burning house. Very nice
:smile:
Ooh, almost forgot to do kirin tor emissary. Well, I can start
personal gaming report as I do that :smiley:
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Let's start with some flashgames!
http://www.physicsgames.net/game/Rolling_Cheese.html
is a silly little physics game along the lines of removing platforms
to make an object fall to the goal. Not exactly original, but it's
fun :smiley: Get the cheese to the mouse, collect strawberries on
the way. Why strawberries? Who knows?
Physics Games - Rolling Cheese
This hungry mouse needs your assistance! Guide
the circular piece of cheese into his tiny paws by destroying
objects in each level. Collect the strawberries to score bonus
points!
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/evercloud/
is the second game. The world is flooding, investigate the area (as
a platformer) and fix your spaceship to get out of there. It's
really more of an interactive novel, since the goals to complete
each day are fixed, and it's impossible to lose, but it's a neat
little story, and there's some things to explore, with the flooding
making more areas accessible every day.
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 7:00 PM
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/finger-olympics/
for the third game! A variety of games within a game, all played
with 9 keys, numbers 1 to 9. Meant to use 9 fingers, or 9 players,
or some quick typing otherwise. Try to complete each game in record
time!
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Blizzard gaming:
Starcraft II:
Finished chapter one of the war chest. Few more days until chapter 2
opens up. Gotten a few new skins and emoticons from it! One emote is
"pineapple", I don't know why...
Hearthstone:
Starting to push all 9 classes forward again to the next level. Will
be a while :smiley: Brawl this week is Double Deathrattle, with each
deathrattle triggering twice. Got my win with a cheap hunter deck
with a few "classic" deathrattles like the lion that summons hyenas
or the harvest golem that summons another golem. Got a quest at one
point to get even more tavern brawl wins, so did those with the
hunter deck too.
Completed the first lab in the puzzle labs (the lethal lab with
poisonmaster pollark), 19 to go apparently. Neglected it a bit
after that to put more time into WoW, but I think I will try to move
to a lab a day after things ease up.
That probably won't work on the harder ones, but I've no idea if I
plan to even try those without a guide anyway.
I'm sure trying to figure em all out will be fun, but I would just
get frustrated with some of the mirror puzzles for example :smiley:
I've taken a look at some streams on youtube of people trying to
figure it out... 1 hour for a single puzzle seems a bit much :wink:
Heroes of the Storm:
Level 297 now. 1 level got, through Zarya. Brawl this week was
another single-lane fight, where I tested out a full healing Li Li
build for one of the 3 matches. Rather interesting spec, different
from my usual Li Li builds. For the other 2 matches I worked with
Hanzo and Illidan. Illidan got kinda powerful... but only at 20 and
up. I think he needs more practice to be workable before then :wink:
WoW:
Nothing new from the old raids, though I'm mistrusting the way
legacy loot works in groups, we seemed to not get a token and a
crusader orb that usually should be guaranteed from the first Trial
of the Crusader, for example. I hope that doesn't hurt our
chances of seeing the snobold.
For normal raids... that starts on thursday, so I've been pushing my
level a bit to at least get 120 before then, and hopefully at least
300 or so ilevel. Even if I don't make it, I still hope I'm allowed
in on the first day :smiley:
gear-wise, that is... level should be doable anyway, I hope to reach
120 tomorrow.
Reached 119 tonight, so only one more level to go anyway.
Along the way I've also been continuing the War Campaign quests as
they came up, for certain levels reached. Set up footholds in
Vol'dun and Nazmir, started war effort advancements, and unlocked
Island Expeditions. I have not yet been sending out missions,
preferring to spend what few resources I get from small treasure
chests at this point on recruiting some troops and the advancements.
At some point soon I'll unlock World Quests and the missions will be
more affordable from their rewards.
Tested out expeditions a bit! They're fun, with nice environments,
neat music (I noticed parts of the Conquered Shores track, mostly)
and a rather chaotic gameplay. Mostly just been following people
around until I figure out the strategies. Also started out on some
of the achievements for them: killing enemy teammembers, freeing or
helping npcs on the island, collecting energy orbs and simply
gathering azerite. Hoping for some of the rewards, mostly the
various pets, but have only gotten azerite power so far.
Not being max level yet, I don't have the weekly progress bar yet,
so not much use in doing up to 7 expeditions a week for it yet.
Instead I just did 3, which were luckily all 3 different islands
available this week, which will help for the achievement to get 5
different islands, necessary for the next war effort advancement. So
after those 3 I stopped doing them, but I will go back to them after
maxing out. Hopefully getting more rewards, though the droprates
seem horrifyingly low, no matter what difficulty. Hopefully blizzard
will make changes there at some point, or even just getting the
achievement for getting all the pets will take years.
If we get to complete it at all, because, y'know, luck.
VardaYesterday at 7:44 PM
May your luck be good
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 7:45 PM
And otherwise I've been questing through Kul Tiras for my levels!
Finished Drustvar, including all the side quests and the quest into
the dungeon on normal.
After that I started on Tiragarde Sound, trying to make sense of all
the tangled sidequests and breadcrumbs leading all over the place,
in some cases from different directions. It's a mess, but I'm slowly
going through it. I think I'm somewhere around halfway now, and
tomorrow should hit the point where I get the quest for the Freehold
dungeon. That'll speed up leveling a bit too, if it gives the same
xp as the Waycrest Manor dungeon did in Drustvar.
And finally, I've been looking at leatherworking, seems like an
interesting way to perhaps craft myself some ilevel 300 gear if I
can't get it elsewhere on time. I'm a bit low on Expolsum, though,
and I fear a lot more skinning will be required as well. Whether I
take a shot at leveling my LW over all other activities after I get
120, I haven't decided yet. If I make it on time it'll be a good
source of gear, but I'm not sure yet about all the obstacles that
will surely be in the way.
And that's my report for the day!
Week, even!
And thanks for the luck-wishing, I'll need it :wink:
VardaYesterday at 7:54 PM
: )
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 8:47 PM
namarie!
VardaYesterday at 9:30 PM
Namarie Phar
Interesting link:
https://www.omniglot.com/conscripts/cirth.htm
Cirth runes
Cirth runes appear in the Lord of the Rings and
other stories by J.R.R. Tolkien
VardaYesterday at 10:42 PM
Namarie
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