Valar Guild

July 7, 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.

Attending (and spoke): (8)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Celebrian, Elladan (before), Elrond, Eonwe, Lenwe, Varda (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news:
Web:
Gaming:
    General reports
Tolkien:
    Topic: Tolkien's tips for writers.
After-meeting:
    Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon.
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Before-meeting
(times are in Central from Varda's Discord, so add one hour for Eastern. Example: 4pm Central in the transcript is 5pm Eastern)

ElladanYesterday at 5:41 PM
Just stopping in to say aiya!
VardaToday at 3:56 PM
Aiya : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 3:56 PM
Aiya!
VardaToday at 3:56 PM
Hey Phar : )
VardaToday at 4:04 PM
Meeting time!
LenweToday at 4:08 PM
Aiya :smiley:
VardaToday at 4:08 PM
Aiya Lenwe : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:08 PM
Aiya!
VardaToday at 4:09 PM

Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Membership:
We've had a great July 4th this week, lots of people enjoying a bit of time off and gaming!
Thank you to Elwing and Meriadoc for visiting, gaming, and chatting. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:11 PM
Best way to spend a holiday :wink:
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:12 PM
Heya.
VardaToday at 4:12 PM
We had plenty of fireworks, booming and crackling, drifts of black powder smoke. Fun. : )
Eonwe, aiya!
And way too many snacks. : )
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Web:
Nothing new this week on the Tolkien Site.
Eonwe put up news on the Gaming Site.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:17 PM
Aiya Eonwe!
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:19 PM
bow
VardaToday at 4:19 PM
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Gaming!
Eonwe, would you like to take this part?
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:20 PM
Sure.

World of Warcraft:
This week's Bonus Event was Battle for Azeroth Dungeons.
Next week's will be Pet Battles.
Midsummer Fire Festival ended July 5th after the Fireworks Spectacular.
The Darkmoon Faire begins today and runs through Saturday, July 13th.
Check out this week's hotfixes:  https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23036677/hotfixes-july-3-2019
    World of Warcraft
    Hotfixes: July 3, 2019 - WoW
    ​Here you'll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to World of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth.
Tuesday also introduces the new raid: The Eternal Palace, for Normal and Heroic difficulties.
The PvP Brawl: Packed House will be starting this Tuesday as well and running until the following Tuesday.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:26 PM
15 vs 15 arena, definitely worth a try just for the laughs :smiley:
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:26 PM
That's it for Gaming News I'm aware of.
VardaToday at 4:26 PM
Thank you. : )
The LotRO group this past week across the servers:
Landroval:
Elwing
Eonwe
Fangorn
Meriadoc
Mirabella
Nar
Varda

Ithil:
Arien
Dis
Falco
Fangorn
Varda

Anor:
Fangorn
Varda
Any other gaming news?
ArienValarToday at 4:33 PM
Aiya :smiley:
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:33 PM
Aiya!
VardaToday at 4:33 PM
Aiya Sunshine : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:33 PM
Sorry, wasn't on bnet to warn you :smiley:
ElrondToday at 4:34 PM
Aiya
CelebrianToday at 4:34 PM
Aiya
ArienValarToday at 4:34 PM
its all right ^^ .. i remembered just in time i mean .. when i meant to
VardaToday at 4:34 PM
Aiya Celebrian : )
ArienValarToday at 4:34 PM
aiya Elrond, aiya Celebrian and Eonwe :smiley:
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:34 PM
Heya Arien :}
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:36 PM
Aiya Elrond and Celebrian!
VardaToday at 4:36 PM
Any other gaming news, comments, suggestions, firework tales?  : )
Heya Elrond : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:37 PM
I set a few horde ships on fire in the war campaign past week, how's that for fireworks?
VardaToday at 4:37 PM
my troll jumps off the ship
Fireworks best seen from a distance?  ; )

ElrondToday at 4:38 PM
Eve will be putting in no local for nullsec soon. Opinions vary, some people are leaving the game, others are coming back.  For ourselves we are winding down a bit but will still be involved, just on a bit lesser amount. Be interested to see what the end result is once they put this in.
And if you want to see our pigs chowing down, I posted a video in screenshots.
VardaToday at 4:39 PM
Your Shire!
and Daenerys and Jon Snow, hah
Elrond's been doing a lot of interesting posts in Screenshots. Enjoy!
Pallando-ValarToday at 4:42 PM
Aiya all
Can't chat, just saying hi.
Also #deletelocal #deletesupers
1
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:42 PM
Aiya!
VardaToday at 4:43 PM
Thanks for dropping by, Pallando!
Pallando-ValarToday at 4:44 PM
Did I link the video of my Eve tournament victory?
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:44 PM
Heya Pallando :}
VardaToday at 4:45 PM
Under Screenshots?
The Winning Drinks in Harbor. : )
ElrondToday at 4:47 PM
You did @Pallando-Valar in harbor(edited)
Pallando-ValarToday at 4:50 PM
Awesome. That's all I've got. :)
VardaToday at 4:53 PM
Thank you, Pallando. That's a lot!
On to
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Tolkien!
For fun for all of us writers and readers:
https://writingishardwork.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/tolkiens-10-tips-for-writers/
    Writing Is Hard Work
    Roger Colby, Novelist
    Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Writers
    I have long been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien. 
    Every year, when school dismisses for summer break, I read The Lord of the Rings
    This year I will read it to my children and do all the voices for them.…
See what a novelist gleaned from JRRT's comments as his tips.
[Added in just the list headings while making this transcript, with my own short version of the comments:

    1. Vanity is Useless. JRRT was humble about his writing.
    2. Keep a Stiff Upper Lip. Despite many obstacles (including illness, job, war, son and helper away at war) he made time to write.
    3. Listen to Critics. This refers to his writing group, specifically C.S. Lewis, when they made comments about his work in progress.
    4. Let Your Interests Drive Your Writing. He loved ancient languages and built cultures based on them. He enjoyed the old tales with dragons. He enjoyed writing (not reading) structuring verse and metrics.
    5. Poetry as a Road to Prose. Some of his early stories were originally done as long poems, such as Beren and Luthien. The article writer says he tried writing in poetic form first and that it made a difference in thinking hard about the phrasing, and that he recognized the poetic cadence in JRRT's work. The writer also recommends it as a way past writer's block.
    6. Happy Accidents. Even with a carefully planned plot, little things connect along the way to make happy surprises, including insights and other ways to look at a character.
    7. Dreams Give Us Inspiration. JRRT had a recurring dream of a giant wave wiping out everything. He worked out some of the nightmare in writing and verse, and drowning comes up in various places in the LotR.
    8. Real People Make Great Characters. He would incorporate a few characteristics from people he saw.
    9. You May Be the Next Best Selling Author. JRRT knew of another writer in his neighborhood of rather decayed roads, whom he considered an amateur like himself as he had no status in the literary world, who produced a long book that slowly became famous; it changed him from a normal Englishman so that he seemed to fancy himself as a reincarnated renaissance Italian and started dressing the part.
    10. Books You Write May Seem Trite. Tolkien writes: “I now find The Lord of the Rings ‘good in parts'”.
]
That was so popular, that it spun off:
ArienValarToday at 4:54 PM

VardaToday at 4:54 PM
https://writingishardwork.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/tolkiens-10-tips-for-creating-epic-heroes/
    Writing Is Hard Work
    Roger Colby, Novelist
    Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Creating Epic Heroes
    One of my most popular posts is Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Writers, in which I glean from J.R.R. Tolkien’s letters of his wisdom about writing. 
    Today I will delve into his letters again, bu…
and
https://writingishardwork.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/tolkien-on-inspiration/
    Writing Is Hard Work
    Roger Colby, Novelist
    Tolkien on Inspiration
    Today’s post is fortuitous in that Tolkien is again in the news.  Yesterday NPR ran a story about an ancient Roman ring that may have been the inspiration for The One Ring in Tolkien’s …
These may give a bit of insight into his writing process, or what this person thinks it is.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:55 PM
"happy accidents".. it worked for Tolkien, it worked for Bob Ross
VardaToday at 4:55 PM
Bob Ross was great too. : )
"Happy little trees."
And then there are huorns.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:56 PM
hehe
VardaToday at 4:59 PM
I found almost the identical first article but with pictured stuff, so I hesitate to give credit to anyone in particular, but it was interesting.
See how similar this is?
https://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2014/08/22/tolkiens-writing-tips/
    Aerogramme Writers' Studio
    J.R.R. Tolkien's Writing Tips (Infographic)
    “Criticism – however valid or intellectually engaging – tends to get in the way of a writer who has anything personal to say.
    A tightrope walker may require practice, but if he starts a theory…
The main thing is JRRT's words from his Letters are being shown to us, collected under the subject of writing.
We can dig through on our own and find them too, but it's nice when they are pulled out like that to see more easily.
It's kind of what we try to do in articles. Find all the different pieces of info across the books and put them in one place.
Did anyone else have a comment topic, or Tolkien moment? Something Tolkienesque you saw while gaming?
Saruman had the black powder market cornered, so the fireworks in Middle-earth seem restricted to knocking down a wall.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:08 PM
And a particularly lifelike dragon
VardaToday at 5:08 PM
Right! Gandalf did the real fireworks.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:17 PM
Time for me to be off. Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:17 PM
Namarie!
VardaToday at 5:17 PM
Namarie
gavels tap together and sparks fly!
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After-meeting!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:22 PM
Yay, I just unlocked baby dinosaurs to pet in an outpost in WoW.
VardaToday at 5:26 PM
What fun. : )
ArienValarToday at 5:28 PM
good night Eonwe
VardaToday at 5:28 PM
Namarie!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:28 PM
Now on my way to unlock my last outpost, in Vol'dun. These should all make travel across Zandalar quite a bit easier!
ArienValarToday at 5:50 PM
oh aye
uh btw interestingly a couple of SNP member of parliaments compared England 's sudden interest in the union with Gollum' s clinging to the ring which inspired me to a post on face book
VardaToday at 5:52 PM
Hah : )
ArienValarToday at 5:52 PM
i don't know if you have read that Varda
VardaToday at 5:52 PM
I"ll pull up FB
Found it : )
Entertaining parallel-making. : )
ArienValarToday at 6:06 PM
Hehe aye  It was fun writing it
when i read the articles in the paper i thought yep .. great guys hehe
ArienValarToday at 6:52 PM
Namarie all and have fun
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:52 PM
Namarie!
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Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:59 PM
Personal gaming report! Let's find some flashgames...
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:07 PM
Only two new ones, but I'll start off with an old one
https://www.kongregate.com/games/ExploreWellcome/axon is the first game! A rather frantic clicker where you have to path your way through protein targets to build the largest neuron you can. Useful colors to collect are green for a boost and purple for a temporary range increase, avoid red because it also spreads and can block your path.
    Kongregate
    Axon
    Grow your neuron as long as possible by clicking on protein targets.
    You can only click on protein targets within your circle of influence but you need to be...
Oh, and yellow is also good if you can chain a few

Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:31 PM
http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/bow_royale for the second game! Simple idea, hold space bar and let it go at the right time to hit the target. Take on a few practice targets, then face what I think is other people, or it might just be really good AI  harder than it looks!
    Bow Royale - OneMoreLevel.com

Oh, it's definitely other people.
http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/motherbrain for the third game! Defensive game, shoot enemies to protect the motherbrain, use money to build walls.
    Motherbrain - OneMoreLevel.com
I haven't gotten very far yet, but seems simple so far
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Blizzard gaming:
Heroes of the Storm:
4 levels gotten, to 353! 2 heroes from the brawl, Falstad and Zul'jin, but also 2 of my active heroes, Morales to 11 and Kerrigan to 9. Some weeks you get nothing, other weeks they all hit the next level
Quests now at 66%. Indeed, I've gotten the first 2 quests in each of the 7 questlines done, with only the third one to go. But those third quests tend to take a bit longer, with hundreds of thousands of total damage needed, or 300 minions slain, or 75 regeneration globes. They certainly require multiple games each. Still, at 2 months still to go, that should be easy enough.
Hearthstone:
Pushing along, nearing halfway to next level with some classes. Finished opening the packs I'd saved, but nothing new special. Brawl is one where you start with a small deck, recruit cards as you go, and they return to the deck to join your hand over and over  Had some luck playing hunter, with some good beasts to spam and buff each other.
WoW:
Started raiding again! New raid isn't open yet, but our break is over and we decided to push the last boss in Crucible of Storms one more time with essences on our side. And sure enough, we got Uu'nat down on heroic difficulty on thursday, with me ending up with the best tank trinket as well as the special staff which, while lacking in offensive stats, comes with a fancy protective bubble. Quite interesting.
For old raid night, we decided to check what my friend's missing for his Drakes collection achievement, and while some of them are reputation-based, one was from the 5-man instance Culling of Stratholme back in the Wrath expansion. At least 10 years old! We were pretty overgeared, and though the intro section of the instance had us stumped for a bit (until we remembered about the plague crates), the timed section got well and he got his bronze drake. So yay!
Collected a few more essences through island expeditions! We gathered up for the pvp expedition first, which gave us some trouble, but we got it on the third try, giving the rank 1 essence from the battleground/pvp-expedition chain, with the next ranks requiring honor, which can be completely gotten through whichever of the two methods you prefer. So it's nice to get that over with.
Actually, that chain gives 3 separate essences for all 3 roles, and I decided to buy all 3 for the collection
That got us enough for the weekly expedition quest, which gave us another essence, this one based just on the expeditions, with no pvp necessary. And with that got, we decided to do a few more mythic expeditions to get rank 2 for that essence as well  So that's my first rank 2!
And I got a couple of new pets from the expeditions as well, a Deathsting Scorpid, as well as Snort, a tiny yak pet. Very cute!
For the Midsummer festival, I finished collecting the 300 blossoms, buying the new hearthstone toy for this world event. Compared to the hearthstones from previous events, it's not very spectacular though, just holding a torch and making a hand motion. I am quite curious to what the Brewfest hearthstone will look like, but that's a while away yet...
And finally, more war campaign stuff! Completed the next two chapters, fighting goblins in Zuldazar and tracking down Gallywix to his Pleasure Palace, only to be duped by a fake Gallywix, and for the next chapter chasing down some horde boats with a fleet of gryphon riders, setting them on fire, and taking out a San'layn prince which had been bothering us in previous chapters. Only one more to go for the 8.0 section of the war campaign, which should get me Pathfinder
But in the meantime I decided to go for the 4 Revered outposts in Zandalar, 3 in Zuldazar and 1 in Vol'dun. Finding them and upgrading them has been rather fun, with some healing support, a scrap machine, and a baby dinosaur petting zoo. Still one upgrade to do tomorrow, and then I'll tackle the final chapter for the first war campaign. In addition to Pathfinder (with 10% movement speed), it should also set me on the path to unlock the Dark Iron allied race, which I might be able to start on later in the week. Won't be long before I get to finally create my DI shaman, who I've already designed as well as bought a mount and pet for in the shop. I'll make sure to add a screenshot in the Valar screenshots channel if I get that done before the next meeting
And that's my report for the week!
Oh! Forgot. The weekly quest for this week is doing 4 mythic dungeons, and as part of the war campaign I discovered and then unlocked Kings' Rest, the special instance in Zuldazar that started out as mythic-only, part of the horde storyline, with said unlocking necessary for Alliance at first, but later made redundant. Still, I decided to wait until that point in the war campaign before I poked it, as one of my four mythics for the week.
Interesting instance, linear but with a nice atmosphere and interesting boss mechanics, as well as the chance of dropping a mount at the end. Similar to Underrot, which I did in the past to farm a mount, and which is also quite linear, but with a completely different vibe, I'll try to go back to Kings' Rest every week on mythic+ mode, to collect a mythic+ chest every week and take a shot at the mount.
I'll also probably try to do harder keystones than just +2 this time around, in order to progress on yet another essence  But that'll be a slow progress over the next few months.
Unless I get the mount before then, in which case I'll have to make new plans
And that is my report for the week!
namarie!
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