Valar Guild

August 18, 2019 Sunday Meeting

5:00 P.M. Eastern time (-4 GMT aka 9 P.M. aka 21:00)
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place

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Transcript work by
Varda.
[times are in Central from Varda's Discord, so add one hour for Eastern. Example: 4pm Central in the transcript is 5pm Eastern]

Attending (and spoke): (8)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Celebrian, Elrond, Eonwe, Gwaihir, Pallando, Varda (presiding)
    Way Before:
Celebrian, Elrond, Varda

[What used to be used as the normal smiley face now shows in text as :slight_smile:.]

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news
Web:
    Tolkien Site: this week's new story, a complete 20 chapter novel by Shirebound, put up today.
Gaming:
    General reports from Eonwe: World of WarCraft classic, World of WarCraft, StarCraft 2, Diablo 3, Heroes of the Storm.
    General report from Ar-Pharazon: StarCraft 2
    General kin report from Varda: Lord of the Rings Online.
Tolkien:
    Topic: Did anyone see anything this past week in our travels to remind you of Middle-earth? (A lot of members reported that they were back from traveling very recently.)
After-meeting:
    Tolkien continued: another online picture similar to a place in Middle-earth.
    Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon.
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Before-meeting

ElrondLast Tuesday at 7:14 AM
Neat to see that @Nar isn't the only SCA folks here! Good luck at Pennsic from us Meridians.
 
VardaLast Tuesday at 8:48 PM
Nar says that Midrealm uses Pippin's Oath for its knights. : )
 
CelebrianLast Wednesday at 5:27 AM
Yeah we use that too but change some of the wording to match Meredies.
 
VardaLast Wednesday at 8:57 AM
Very cool. : )
 
VardaYesterday at 3:57 PM
Almost that time
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:58 PM
Aiya!
 
VardaYesterday at 4:01 PM
Aiya Phar : )
 
VardaYesterday at 4:12 PM
That was a lot of pokes, heh. : )
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Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Membership:
Hi from Elwing who is visiting for her birthday (we had much cake and fun) and from Fangorn whose computer is back from the shop and has LotRO again at last.
Any other membership news?
(The beach was wonderful. )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:15 PM
Well, had a sort of 1-day vacation this weekend, visiting my parents where they're having their 2-week vacation at a campsite.
So that was fun!
 
VardaYesterday at 4:15 PM
Sounds great!
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 4:15 PM
aiya :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:16 PM
Aiya! Grats to Arien for making it back to Discord. : )
 
GwaihirYesterday at 4:17 PM
back from vacation
jetlagged and exhausted
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:17 PM
Aiya!
to oth :smile:
*both
 
VardaYesterday at 4:18 PM
Welcome back, Gwaihir! Sounds as if you need a rest from your very active vacation!
 
GwaihirYesterday at 4:18 PM
ya, sadly back to work tomorrow lol
 
VardaYesterday at 4:19 PM
With tales to tell!
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 4:19 PM
where have you been Gwaihir?
 
GwaihirYesterday at 4:22 PM
10 days in Rhodes, 3 days in England
 
VardaYesterday at 4:22 PM
Wow
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 4:22 PM
nice one
where in England?
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:23 PM
Must be quite the contrast between the two.
Climate-wise.
 
GwaihirYesterday at 4:24 PM
near Liverpool, my wife's family lives there so we went to visit them so she could spend some time with her family
 
VardaYesterday at 4:25 PM
Awww nice
 
GwaihirYesterday at 4:25 PM
ya, it was a huge relief phara... going from 29 Celsius NIGHTS to ~14 Celsius and rain... lol
I cannot accurately express how hot it felt in Rhodes... it was brutal. Gorgeous scenery, super nice people, good food... but the heat was brutal.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:26 PM
hands over an ice pack
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:26 PM
Can imagine.
Don't want to imagine, but can :wink:
 
GwaihirYesterday at 4:28 PM
I had to cancel our day trip last Monday because I was too sunburned from our
Sunday trip to Kallithea
 
VardaYesterday at 4:29 PM
Ouch
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 4:29 PM
shame
 
GwaihirYesterday at 4:31 PM
ya lol
 
VardaYesterday at 4:31 PM
Any more membership news? : )
Sounds like a lot of interesting traveling going on in the group. Grats!
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Web:
Tolkien Site / Stories
We have a new story,  a novel really, up from Shirebound, our newest author.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:33 PM
What a novel idea.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:33 PM
It's AU (Alternate Universe) in which Aragorn meets tweenager Frodo at Bilbo's house.
"Quarantined"
http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/fiction/authors/Shirebound/Quarantined1.htm
    Quarantined
    LotR-inspired stories: Late one night, Gandalf brings
    a very ill Ranger to the closest refuge, Bag End, knowing that
    Bilbo is immune to this illness -- but Gandalf is unaware that a
    tweenager is now living there. An AU look at Frodo's early life
    with B...
She does a lot of hole-filler stories, but it's hard to resist tweaking with a what-if, and this one spawned more.
We will also be having more of her hole-filler fiction coming. : )
Any other Tolkien news? Cool links you wanted to share?
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Gaming:
Thank you to Eonwe for reporting general news on a batch of games for us:

World of WarCraft:
August 16 was free tee-shirt day.

There's now a Classic FAQ for those playing it, Celebrian and Elrond I believe?
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23090136/world-of-warcraft-classic-faq-what-you-need-to-know
    World of Warcraft
    World of Warcraft Classic FAQ: What You Need to Know - WoW
    World of Warcraft Classic launches August 26. To make sure you’re prepared, we’ve pulled together some information to help you get started on your journey through Azeroth.

Check out this week's hotfixes.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23036677/hotfixes-august-14-2019
    World of Warcraft
    Hotfixes: August 14, 2019 - WoW
​    Here you'll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to World of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth.

StarCraft 2:
Patch 4.10.1 came out this week.
https://starcraft2.com/en-us/news/23093843
    StarCraft II
    StarCraft II Official Game Site
    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.

Diablo 3:
Check out the blog: Diablo III and Ongoing Support.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:40 PM
I too will be playing Classic, though I don't know much :wink: Made my characters already.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:40 PM
Cool.  : )
https://us.diablo3.com/en/blog/23093785/diablo-iii-and-ongoing-support-8-13-2019
    Diablo III
    Diablo III and Ongoing Support
    Whether your personal journey with Diablo III began today or nearly seven years ago upon our launch, we want to give you an update on our ongoing development efforts with the game.
    Here’s what you can expect going forward from Seasons and patches.

Season 18 begins August 23rd.
https://us.diablo3.com/en/blog/23093786/season-18-the-season-of-the-triune-begins-august-23-8-15-2019
    Diablo III
    Season 18: The Season of the Triune Begins August 23
    Season 18 begins August 23, alongside the latest Diablo III patch.
    Read on to learn more about the all-new Season of the Triune buff, the heap of brand-new Legendary powers, and handful of crafted item reworks in store for Patch 2.6.6!

Heroes of the Storm:
A hotfix came out this week.
https://heroesofthestorm.com/en-us/blog/23096767/heroes-of-the-storm-hotfix-patch-notes-august-14-2019-2019-8-14/
    Heroes of the Storm
    Legendary heroes and villains from Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo are summoned to the Nexus. Choose your hero and prepare to fight in Heroes of the Storm!

Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:41 PM
(also, starcraft II brought out a new War Chest event)
 
VardaYesterday at 4:41 PM
Neato

Lord of the Rings Online:
We've been playing with the new stuff from:
https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?674727-LOTRO-Update-24-2-1-Release-Notes
    LOTRO Update 24.2.1 Release Notes
    Here are the Release Notes for Update 24.2.1, released on Tuesday, August 13th.
    News and Notes:
    New Fellowship Instance: The Depths of Kidzul-kâlah now available!
LotRO kinsmen playing (in kin) this past week, doesn't count some of our other members like Nob who were playing and chatted:
Landroval:
Arien
Bregalad
Elwing
Fangorn
Gorlim
Nar
Nimrodel
Varda

Ithil:
Arien
Dis
Falco
Varda

Anor:
Fainan
Any other general gaming news? Eve, other?
I am sure there is news, so feel free to mention it later when you think of it. : )
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Tolkien!
Did anyone see anything this past week in our travels to remind you of Middle-earth?
I saw the Sea and the white gulls. : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:50 PM
Well, the little lake we were at wasn't nearly deep enough to hold a Watcher...
 
VardaYesterday at 4:50 PM
A young Watcher! Now that could be a fan fiction.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:51 PM
Little Watcher's First Lake.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:51 PM
heh
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:53 PM
Other than that, not really. Flat country, lots of driving on highways...
no wolves or crebain to bother us
 
VardaYesterday at 4:53 PM
Maybe Gwaihir flew over Far Harad or Rhun.
As many adventurers as are out there wiping out crebain, wargs, and orcs, you should see some peaceful spots here and there.

Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:54 PM
Full of adventurers waiting for respawns.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:55 PM
Running right over them! What was that bump sound under the wheels?
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:55 PM
My sword glowed blue for a moment, must be an orc.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:55 PM
Plenty of ocean with sea vessels going by, probably taking elves elsewhere.
Manwe and Ulmo were making scattered rain showers all around us.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:58 PM
We had some serious rain yesterday driving back, which then continued to hit my mom who was still back at the campsite :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:59 PM
Maybe she grew! Or the ents around her did.
Lots of falling ent draught.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:59 PM
Could be, there were some trees around.
 
VardaYesterday at 5:00 PM
If you looked back, they may have moved.
The graphics in real life were really good.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:02 PM
Oh yes, very high resolution.
You could zoom in really close.
 
VardaYesterday at 5:02 PM
hehe
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:02 PM
I wonder what kind of engine it's running on.
 
VardaYesterday at 5:02 PM
The graphics suggestion came from Fangorn : )
Arda Slightly Marred engine?
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:03 PM
or ASME for short, sounds very professional
 
VardaYesterday at 5:03 PM
There you go!
Fangorn thought he saw Auros aka Eonwe pop into LotRO just as he went offline.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:04 PM
Very sneaky.
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:05 PM
He did, hehe Heya all :}
 
VardaYesterday at 5:05 PM
Huzzah!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:05 PM
Aiya!
 
VardaYesterday at 5:05 PM
Aiya Eonwe : )
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 5:05 PM
Aiya Eonwe n:)
 
VardaYesterday at 5:06 PM
A lot of us were traveling this past week, so we're telling what we saw that might have been like Middle-earth.
Elwing says hi : )
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:08 PM
Heya to Elwing and Fangorn.
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 5:09 PM
i havent been there recently but look at this and tell me what it reminds you of :slight_smile:
https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrIAX9BzFldbkkAvDV3Bwx.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0ZTgxN3Q0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=Mont+St+Michel+Brittany&type=1117&hspart=avast&hsimp=yhs-securebrowser&param1=cfc574ece2334b268a619e212bfa0a3a&param2=20180607&param3=Avast+Secure+Browser%7C75.1.1528.100&param4=12%7CGB%7C1.17.4.396%7C1.17.4.396&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-avast-securebrowser#id=21&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelettes.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F12%2FSt-Michele-840x560.jpg&action=click
 [or for just one:
http://www.travelettes.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/St-Michele-840x560.jpg ]

Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:09 PM
Missing about 3 or 4 rings, isn't it? :wink:
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 5:10 PM
yeah but otherwise :slight_smile:
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:10 PM
On second glance, maybe just 2.
 
VardaYesterday at 5:10 PM
Minas Tirith
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 5:10 PM
correct
i was there with my school many years ago
fascinating place :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 5:11 PM
Looks huge
It's the hour. (Doesn't keep us from looking at more RL Tolkienesque stuff!)
the gavel skims across a puddle on the table, pretending to be a white ship as it holds up a pocket handkerchief
it hits the hammerpad with a mufffled thmoppp!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:13 PM
No miniature Watcher waiting for it?
 
VardaYesterday at 5:14 PM
and off it goes back to the shelf!, a tiny tentacle hanging on to it
Good idea. : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:14 PM
hehe
 
VardaYesterday at 5:14 PM
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After-meeting!
Free chat about anything, including tiny tentacle young Watcher.
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 5:21 PM
or remember this :)?
https://photobucket.com/gallery/user/Kerinas1/media/cGF0aDpNaW5pIFNoaXJlLzIwMTgwNjE2XzE0Mzc0N196cHNsNnBvcncxeS5qcGc=/?ref=
    Photobucket
    Get free image hosting, easy photo sharing, and photo editing. Upload pictures and videos, create with the online photo editor, or browse a photo gallery or album and create custom print products
 
VardaYesterday at 5:22 PM
Mini-Shire : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:22 PM
Indeed, good place for some hobbit holes.
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 5:24 PM
:slight_smile:
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:31 PM
Alright, let's do some... personal gaming report!
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3 new flashgames:
https://www.kongregate.com/games/Fluffy_Lotus/magirune is the first game! A dungeon adventure, with some puzzling to collect things and not get stuck.
    Kongregate
    Magirune
    A casual dungeon crawler.
    Oh no! [Spoiler] You got stuck trying to get the chest. Find the way out.
Also fight monsters, use health potions and level up as you go along :slight_smile: The fighting is quite simple though, as the focus is more on the exploring and puzzling.
You can die (quite easily) but with careful selection of the enemies you fight and good potion use, it should be possible to get there with one life and get the best ending. But if you don't, there are some checkpoints around, you keep on levelling and eventually you should make it.
Assuming you don't get stuck, because of all the locked doors and keys to find, some planning and luck required.

https://www.kongregate.com/games/MINDistortion/bubbles-2 is the second game, and quite a bit shorter :slight_smile: An action game where you have to collect bubbles and avoid spikes. Quite tough, but see how far you can get!
    Kongregate
    Bubbles 2
    It#39s been 3 years since the original Bubbles and I#39ve rebuilt the engine from scratch.
    So here it is, the sequel you#39ve all been waiting for (you know you hav...

Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:39 PM
Time for me to be off. Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun :}
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:39 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/ttursas/perfect-balance for the last game! A stacking game, where you get a starting setup and several shapes at the top which you can place on top of each other to find perfect balance, without letting any fall.
    Kongregate
    Perfect Balance
    Rotate and stack shapes, and try to achieve perfect balance in this physics puzzle! Can you master the game#39s 80 trials?

Namarie!
 
VardaYesterday at 5:39 PM
Namarie Eonwe! Glad you could swing by!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:40 PM
Get through all the levels, can be tough, but unlock the bubbles game, not as much luck required :slight_smile:
*unlike
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Pallando-ValarYesterday at 5:42 PM
..Aiya!
 
VardaYesterday at 5:42 PM
Aiya Pallando!

Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:44 PM
Aiya!

Blizzard gaming:
Starcraft II:
The new War Chest is here, for Blizzcon 2019! Buy a chest for a race you want or the complete bundle at discount, get some free stuff, play games (or watch starcraft streaming on twitch) to unlock war chest experience, and unlock a lot more stuff with that :slight_smile:
Also comes with new story comics, with a certain character from the old Wings of Liberty campaign being lost on a planet, with an expedition sent to find him. Is a fun read so far.
Each race comes with a new set of unit skins, and my favorite of the three is the zerg Cerberus line of skins, which appears to be about mechanically enhanced and weaponized zerg units. Might be related to the new comic story :wink:
Oh, and a new addition to this war chest is a free section as well, for which no extra chests need to be bought. No initial rewards for that one, but it unlocks the same as the purchased ones, and gives a whole bunch of portraits, sprays and other stuff like that. So even if you're not spending the cash for the racial skins, it might still be worth collecting the free branch :slight_smile:
As for me, I've started grinding the experience with a daily match, and have unlocked the first tier so far, giving a portrait, and the first skins for marines, zerglings and zealots. Progress is being made!
Heroes of the Storm:
Level 363 now, 2 levels gained. Got Diablo to level 14, so he's almost done as well, and I got level 2 on the ETC hero through the brawls, playing him for the first time. Fun hero, gets to slide into enemy heroes, knocking back minions, and with a small self heal. Using the power of rock to scatter and blow up your enemies!
Oh, and I got a new legendary mount there, a happy cloud :smile: Should be fun to use!
Hearthstone:
Slowly pushing the heroes to the next level! Going quite evenly now. Brawl is a crossroads brawl, where you choose a class and then add another class's cards to your deck for interesting combinations. Can go very crazy, but had some luck to win 3 brawls for a quest :slight_smile:
WoW:
Normal difficulty is pretty thoroughly on farm, from the looks of it. We keep one-shotting everything, including Azshara. Just have to make sure we stay alert :slight_smile:
Normal difficulty of the Eternal Palace raid, that is.
And heroic difficulty's going fine as well, as we finally brought Ashvane down! Some good dps upgrades were needed, as well as good handling of the coral structures, but the kill went quite smoothly :slight_smile:
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 6:03 PM
i ve torturered myself through the raidfinder but .. yeah was not too bad :slight_smile:
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:04 PM
Ah yes, the raidfinder. Not tried that yet for this raid, haven't needed it. Difficulty is lower, but the people you play with are harder to work with, so I'm glad I don't need to :slight_smile: That said, with my current gear, as tank I should be able to carry a lfr somewhat.
Weekly quest for this week is battlegrounds! Always fun. Only needed 5 battlegrounds to win 4. Last one was Alterac Valley, which saw some changes in the last patch, apparently. Tougher commanders in the towers and bunkers, so you need groups to take them down, and a few of the old quests added as well. And a few display updates for reinforcements, which look quite nice.
 
Arien ValarYesterday at 6:06 PM
right its getting time for me here ... so i bid you farewell and Namarie to all :slight_smile:
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:06 PM
Namarie :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 6:07 PM
Namarie Sunshine : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:09 PM
I'm assuming the updated Alterac Valley has something to do with the anniversary coming in a few months, which will take us back to the old classic version of the battleground. Might even be a bug where they mixed up the versions, but if not, this version is a bit more intense, and less speedy to make your way to the enemy base. Which I don't mind, makes it more fun.
Other than that, not a whole lot of progression this week, mostly because I was away from friday morning to saturday evening :slight_smile:
Though I did explore the stormsong monastery a bit, collecting scrolls and talking to a statue to collect a gem toy related to the old gods. Suspicious, but fun!
And there was one anomaly I found earlier in the week... a world quest I hadn't seen before, with only a very old page on wowhead that suggested it didn't make it to the game... I suspect it was the first time it appeared. So that was weird, maybe they fixed it for 8.2. It involves shooting sailboat dummies with a cannon in Boralus.
And that's my report for the week! Assuming next week is less busy, I should be able to collect a few pets. That'll be nice.
Oh! One thing I forgot.
 
VardaYesterday at 6:18 PM
Yay pets
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:18 PM
As mentioned earlier, WoW Classic name reservations have opened. With a bunch of friends from current WoW, we've decided to go horde-side on the European RP-server, Hydraxian Waterlords. I cloned my main druid Calaron there for alliance just because it'd be weird not to, and other than that created the horde main I'll be using whenever I play classic, which is an undead mage. So now they exist, and it won't be long before they're available for play!
 
VardaYesterday at 6:18 PM
Grats on grabbing the name!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:19 PM
Thanks :smile:
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 8:46 PM
namarie!
 
VardaYesterday at 8:46 PM
Namarie

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