December 8, 2019 Sunday Meeting
5:00
P.M. Eastern time (-4 GMT aka 9 P.M. aka 21:00)
Discord:
Valar Guild/meeting_place
Back to News
Transcript work by Varda.
[times are Central Time from Varda's Discord. Add one hour for
Eastern.]
["slight smile" is the same as we are used to using as a regular
smiley]
Attending (and
spoke): (5)
Discord:
Arien, Elrond, Eonwe (presiding), Lenwe, Varda
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news
Web:
More story
Gaming:
General reports: World of WarCraft, StarCraft 2,
Heroes of the Storm, Diablo 4
Tolkien:
Topic: Smeagol... pitiable villain, or Expert
Treasure-Hunter ahead of his time?
After-meeting:
The real Bird and Baby,
visited by Lenwe.
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Before-meeting
VardaYesterday at 3:59 PM
Aiya
My computer quit, borrowing Fangorn's.
Just swirly green lines that don't move.
Working it pretty hard as usual, and pulling up one more thing must
have been too much.
ArienValarYesterday at 4:02 PM
Aiya :slight_smile:
VardaYesterday at 4:02 PM
Anyway, added more chapters of Shirebound's story from last time
before everything went poof.
Aiya
Arien, feel free to take the gavel.
ArienValarYesterday at 4:03 PM
I am sorry to hear that :(+:(
can i send you a new computer?
VardaYesterday at 4:03 PM
Scary since I hadn't done a backup after the last batch of work for
work, heh.
Sure! ; )
Guess overworked the little Dell laptop finally.
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:04 PM
Heya all.
VardaYesterday at 4:04 PM
Aiya Eonwe : )
My computer quit shortly after the last email with you, heh.
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:05 PM
This sounds like a job for... pulls back shirt to reveal a
stylized "E"
VardaYesterday at 4:05 PM
It shows a few swirly green lines on a black background.
Yay!
It's Super-Eonwe!
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:05 PM
:}
ArienValarYesterday at 4:05 PM
Aiya Eonwe :slight_smile:
ElrondYesterday at 4:06 PM
Aiya
VardaYesterday at 4:07 PM
Aiya Elrond : )
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:07 PM
Shall we go ahead and begin? Unless Arien really really wanted to
chair :}
VardaYesterday at 4:07 PM
For the first time, One Drive begins to look like a maybe to use
next time.
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:12 PM
OK, no objection from Arien. I'll begin :}
ArienValarYesterday at 4:12 PM
feel free eonwe :slight_smile:
VardaYesterday at 4:12 PM
Thank you
ArienValarYesterday at 4:12 PM
the gavel is yours
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:12 PM
Thanks :}
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Elen Sila Lumenn Omentialvo!
Membership:
You all are here :}
Any other Member news?
Ok, then onward.
Web:
Varda mentioned she added new chapters to Shirebound's story.
ElrondYesterday at 4:18 PM
Celebrian and I will be married 24 years tomorrow
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:19 PM
Congratulations! Happy Anniversary!
VardaYesterday at 4:20 PM
Woot! Congratulations!
(the story is at:
http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/fiction/authors/Shirebound/ByChanceorPurpose01.htm
By Chance or Purpose ch. 1 "The Doom of Men"
fanfiction pre-LotR AU. The
journey taken by the hobbits and Aragorn from
Bree to Rivendell:
If the bond between Frodo and Aragorn from
"Quarantined"
had been set up before the hobbits met Strider in
Bree, how might
this fateful journey have been diffe...
)
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:21 PM
Thanks Varda :}
VardaYesterday at 4:21 PM
24 years, quite an accomplishment!
: )
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Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:22 PM
Gaming:
World of Warcraft:
This week's bonus event: Pet Battles.
Next Week's: Cataclysm Timewalking.
The Wanderer's Festival was Yesterday.
The new Recruit-A-Friend program is now available.
Starcraft 2:
Patch 4.11.2 came out this week. --- https://starcraft2.com/en-us/news/23239991
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.
Heroes of the Storm:
The new patch is out. --- https://heroesofthestorm.com/en-us/blog/23239990/heroes-of-the-storm-live-patch-notes-december-3-2019-2019-12-3/
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!
Diablo 4:
A new blog is out: System Design in Diablo IV (Part II). --- https://us.diablo3.com/en/blog/23230076/system-design-in-diablo-iv-part-ii-12-3-2019
Diablo III
System Design in Diablo IV (Part II)
In Part II of our deep dive into community
feedback on system design, David Kim addresses community concerns
and team thoughts about itemization.
Any other gaming news?
Ok, then on to....
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Tolkien:
Everyone here say,... Thorondor.
LenweYesterday at 4:32 PM
Thorondor
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:32 PM
I guess it's just we two :}
LenweYesterday at 4:33 PM
Heh, and here I was hoping to do my normal lurking :smile:
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:33 PM
:}
So, Smeagol... pitiable villain, or Expert Treasure-Hunter ahead of
his time? :}
LenweYesterday at 4:36 PM
Burglar, for sure! Is it just Gandalf's account of interrogating
Smeagol that we have for knowledge of how he got the ring?
VardaYesterday at 4:37 PM
Thorondor
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:37 PM
Hmm,..
Welcome to the discussion Varda :}
VardaYesterday at 4:37 PM
: )
Gandalf's account is probably pretty good info.
LenweYesterday at 4:39 PM
In which case, we are left to wonder how Deagol found it, and all we
know about Smeagol is he killed to get it? In which case...Expert
Murderer is my new choice
VardaYesterday at 4:40 PM
Deagol found it while fishing. And aye, Murderer sounds right. Also
extortionist since he used it to learn neighbor and family's secrets
then blackmail them.
He was so bad that the matriarch, his grandmother?, had to kick him
out. Much self-pity.
Pitiable, only somewhat.
The Ring surely increased his unpleasant tendencies.
LenweYesterday at 4:45 PM
yes, according to Gandalf's account Smeagol made the decision to
murder for the ring very quickly! This is the only account of a
villain physically encountering the ring though, right? So maybe the
ring has an immediate effect on people of lesser morals?
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:45 PM
After a quick look, Gandalf's account is the fullest, but it's
mentioned in Appendix B that Deagol found the One Ring, Smeagol
killed him for it.
It would make sense after a fashion. The Ring inflames a desire for
itself in people. Those who tend to be more interested in fulfilling
their own desires and less interested in the well being of the
people around them would be inclined to cross more lines quicker.
Makes you wonder how good a "friend" he really was with Deagol.
LenweYesterday at 4:51 PM
Aye, he had no issue turning on Deagol
VardaYesterday at 4:59 PM
Cousin, I think?
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:59 PM
As for a villain physically encountering the Ring, I suppose that's
correct. Boromir wasn't a villain, even if he fell for a moment as a
hero.
VardaYesterday at 5:00 PM
Deagol had given Smeagol a present, more than he could afford,
already, and they were fishing together.
But giving more than he could afford might be because he needed to
knowing Smeagol's nature.
Fishing could have been work rather than fun, as they were from a
fishing tribe.
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:01 PM
True.
VardaYesterday at 5:01 PM
Agreed, Boromir was not a villain, just temporarily susceptible.
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:02 PM
Any final thoughts on this topic?
VardaYesterday at 5:03 PM
The Ring used wearers to return to Sauron. Gollum must have been an
awful disappointment.
Then Bilbo, even worse! : )
Frodo had a lot of compassion, plus fear of turning into Gollum.
LenweYesterday at 5:04 PM
It just went downhill from Gollum, poor Ring
VardaYesterday at 5:04 PM
Gandalf and Frodo pitied Gollum.
hehe Lenwe
and Bilbo
The Ring was too much for anyone, let alone Smeagol.
LenweYesterday at 5:06 PM
That's what occurred to me: the Ring was overwhelmed once the entire
Fellowship was committed to destroying it, but even Frodo could not
overcome it alone
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:11 PM
Aye.
Ok, ladies and gentlemen, shall we bang the gavel here?
raises gavel into the air
VardaYesterday at 5:14 PM
Aye, Frodo was supposed to have the help of the others.
Sure. : )
Gollum did the job of the Fellowship.
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:15 PM
The gavel crashes down. The Elves in the East of Middle-Earth
know that the Valar Guild meeting is over.
VardaYesterday at 5:15 PM
jumps
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Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:16 PM
Aftermeeting: Feel
free to talk or hunt down the servants of Morgoth. Though they know
you're coming now so you might not find them :}
VardaYesterday at 5:17 PM
Huan, which way!
hunt hunt
LenweYesterday at 5:18 PM
I visited the actual Bird and Baby in
Oxford a few weeks ago, and had lunch. It was great fun
:slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:18 PM
Cool :}
VardaYesterday at 5:18 PM
O wow!
LenweYesterday at 5:18 PM
It's also much smaller than any pub in LotRO, hehe
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:18 PM
lol
VardaYesterday at 5:18 PM
Lenwe turns into a writer by osmosis.
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:19 PM
Sure, because they actually have to pay for their space :}
LenweYesterday at 5:19 PM
That's what I was hoping!
VardaYesterday at 5:19 PM
That's interesting. Had not thought about the real life size.
any minute Lenwe will sproing an article for the Tolkien site
LenweYesterday at 5:19 PM
There is no room large enough for widespread intermingling and
table-dancing as at Bree
Ah, I owe the site something for sure. It's been a long while
VardaYesterday at 5:20 PM
You owe nothing, but it would be lovely. : )
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:20 PM
I suspect the table-dancing is not missed :}
LenweYesterday at 5:20 PM
I'll look up the most-wanted articles list :smile:
VardaYesterday at 5:20 PM
What? No table-dancing!
Good idea. And anything where we have a name of someone or place or
event with no attached article is a prompt too.
Or anything that catches your eye when reading!
LenweYesterday at 5:22 PM
Sounds good!
VardaYesterday at 5:22 PM
Yay!
LenweYesterday at 5:23 PM
But the E&C really is a very cozy place, and even though it was
crowded to the limit the atmosphere was friendly. It has many small
rooms with tables, similar to the ground floor of Prancing Pony in
LotRO, just no large main room
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:23 PM
Well my friends, it is time for me to go.
Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun :}
LenweYesterday at 5:23 PM
Same here
Namarie
VardaYesterday at 5:23 PM
Sounds like a great place. Not fond of the open concept.
I'll go wrestle this monitor onto the laptop and hope it works.
Namarie!
LenweYesterday at 5:24 PM
Best of luck!
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:24 PM
See you all next week hopefully :}
VardaYesterday at 5:24 PM
Thanks and I won't be here likely
Going to visit DeepGroover-T and Elwing-V Sunday
ArienValarYesterday at 5:27 PM
Namarie eonwe
LenweYesterday at 5:27 PM
I found this in reference to a nice touch the LotRO devs put in
their Bird and Baby Inn in Michel Delving -- a nod to the Inklings:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/The_Bird_and_Baby_Inn#Lore
The Bird and Baby Inn
VardaYesterday at 5:28 PM
Thank you, Lenwe!
LenweYesterday at 5:28 PM
No problem, I'm glad I know a group that can share my excitement in
the experience :smile:
VardaYesterday at 5:29 PM
Not hopping up and down, but would love to visit the real thing.
Sort of doing it vicariously with you!
Lots of little cozy rooms, o my. Sounds wonderful.
LenweYesterday at 5:31 PM
The drawback is that it's always very full, but it also means that
you don't need a very large group to essentially reserve an entire
room for the evening! And they do take reservations on most days
Now that I look at my picture, they have expanded quite a lot from
Tolkien's days. The Rabbit Room used to be the back of the pub and
was where the Inklings met, so the pub is probably now double the
original size
VardaYesterday at 5:46 PM
Tolkien helped make it famous. : )
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