September 15, 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 in Central from Varda's Discord, so add one hour for
Eastern. Example: 4pm Central in the transcript is 5pm Eastern]
Attending (and
spoke): (7)
Discord:
Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Celebrian, Elrond, Eonwe (presiding), Lenwe,
Pallando
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news:
Games Site Mass Update email have been sent.
Please check your email!
Web:
Membership page: changed format into Active and
Inactive sections.
Tolkien Site: this week's new story by
Shirebound: "Force of Nature".
Gaming:
General reports from Eonwe: World of WarCraft
classic, World of WarCraft, Heroes of the Storm.
Tolkien:
Topic: Forum story posting
Topic: Tolkien trivia
game
After-meeting:
Flashgaming Reviews by
Ar-Pharazon.
Pallando looking for
Valarites live.
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Before-meeting
LenweLast Sunday at 1:24 PM
No meeting today?
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 1:31 PM
Aiya, still half an hour I think :slight_smile:
LenweLast Sunday at 1:42 PM
Sorry! I got the time wrong
ElrondLast Sunday at 1:54 PM
It's all good
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:02 PM
Aiya there :slight_smile:
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:02 PM
Aiya!
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:03 PM
I am here but would love to finish a quest in darkshore with
miserable droprate .. can u wait so long?
its onlyh two more pelts for each of us ...
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:03 PM
Fine with me, I'm just doing some world quests :slight_smile:
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:03 PM
cool :smile:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:04 PM
Heya
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:04 PM
Aiya!
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:04 PM
Aiya Eonwe :slight_smile:
can u do the first part then?
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:04 PM
I care chair the meeting, no worries :}
*I can
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:04 PM
cool :smile:
many tha nks
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:05 PM
:}
OK, let's begin.
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Elen Sila Lumenn Omentielvo!
Membership:
Varda is out of town visiting Eowyn and her grandbaby.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:08 PM
Grandmotherly visits are nice :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:08 PM
:}
CelebrianLast Sunday at 2:09 PM
Aiya
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:09 PM
Pharazon and Arien are here. I am here. Anyone else here? :}
Hey Celebrian :}
LenweLast Sunday at 2:10 PM
I’m here
ElrondLast Sunday at 2:10 PM
I'm halfway here (sitting in elite cave in wow)
LenweLast Sunday at 2:10 PM
Aiya everyone
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:11 PM
Heya Lenwë and Elrond :}
The Games Site Mass-Update mails have been sent to every
active member with a working e-mail on the Members page. Please
respond by September 30th. If you didn't receive the e-mail, you can
still respond, and you might want to check your e-mail on the
Members page to make sure it's correct.
Thank you to those who have already responded :}
Any other Membership news?
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:13 PM
Oh, does the usual method of dropping you a few games in PM still
work? :slight_smile:
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:14 PM
got them .. just run back to Auberdine ^^
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:14 PM
Yes, you can PM me the response here in Discord as well. :}
Or through the Forum.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:15 PM
Not sure how long you'll be on. Should I wait until aftermeeting?
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:15 PM
You can whisper me whether I'm on or not.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:15 PM
Rightio.
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:17 PM
Also, one more note of Membership News:
Varda has changed up the format of the Membership page, now divided
between Active and Inactive. Anyone in the "Inactive" list might
want to make contact and let us know you're still interested in
being a member :} Responding to the GSMU counts as activity, even if
the answer is "I currently do not play any games."
And since that news walks the line between Membership and Web
news,..
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Web:
New stories posted to the Tolkien Site from Shirebound.
Report from Varda on the News page:
"Force of Nature" by Shirebound. Sequel to "A Hobbity Halloween" in
the "Quarantined". "Aragorn finds that he needs assistance from
Frodo, young Merry, and Scamp to locate a Ranger lost in the Old
Forest. But the rescue has an unexpected outcome..."Aragorn, Bilbo,
Frodo, Halbarad, Merry, Pippin. 15 chapter.
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Gaming:
World of Warcraft:
The Harvest Festival is going and runs through Tuesday September
17th.
This week's bonus event is Arena Skirmishes. Next week's will be
World Quests.
We got a preview of the Goblin and Worgen model updates coming.
Check them out here: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23127428/these-million-gold-looks-for-goblins-and-worgen-are-something-to-howl-about
World of Warcraft
These Million Gold Looks for Goblins and Worgen
are Something to H...
Get ready to shapeshift your look with new worgen
and goblin models and animations—coming in the 8.2.5 content update.
Also, recruit-a-friend is coming back with some new rewards and
features. Check all that out here: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23127426/recruit-a-friend-returns-soon
World of Warcraft
Recruit A Friend Returns Soon! - WoW
Bring your friends to Azeroth and earn special
rewards with the upcoming Recruit A Friend program.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:26 PM
Hmm, those two updates caught me by surprise. So I did some math,
and sure enough, 8.2.5 is about due.
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:27 PM
do you have a date ?
ElrondLast Sunday at 2:27 PM
Soon tm
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:27 PM
Yeah, that :wink: It's generally about 3 months between, so maybe a
week or two.
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:27 PM
What Elrond said, hehe. So far it hasn't been announced in anything
I've read.
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:28 PM
fair enough ^^
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:28 PM
Starcraft 2:
Patch 4.10.3 came out this week too, but somehow didn't make it into
the news on the Games Site. I'm going to have to look at that
later... Here's the link on the patch: https://starcraft2.com/en-us/news/23114901
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.
Nothing major, but still.
Lord of the Rings Online:
Update 24.2.4 came out this week. Check out the patch notes
here: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?675179-Update-24-2-4-Release-Notes
Update 24.2.4 Release Notes
Here are the Release Notes for Update 24.2.4,
released on Wednesday, September 11th, 2019.
Hearthstone:
Patch 15.2 came out this week and Tombs of Terror Chapters 1 and 2
is coming September 17th. Check out the announcement: https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/23097372/hearthstone-update-september-10-tombs-of-terror
Hearthstone Update – September 10 – Tombs of
Terror!
Find details on everything that’s coming in this
update, including the new solo adventure, card changes, game
updates, and more!
Also of note, don't forget Destiny 2 is migrating from
Battle.net to Steam, so you need to complete your transition by the
end of the month if you're going to do so.
Any other gaming news?
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:35 PM
nothing from me
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:35 PM
Second phase of Starcraft 2 war chest is out!
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:35 PM
Thanks :}
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:36 PM
Along with new comic nods
Could try to find it for you, though I get those links directly from
the war chest page in-game.
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:36 PM
No worries.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:37 PM
Good, because I can't find em :wink:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:37 PM
hehe
Ok, if there's no other Gaming News,...
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Tolkien:
Quick RP mention: I posted to the discussion
thread on the forum some questions for participants. Arien and Phar,
that's you :}
There is a small window of opportunity for other interested members
to join in, but given how long that last chapter went, you probably
ought to have a decade to set aside for this one, lol.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:41 PM
I'm not sure where we should end the next chapter. If we skip most
of the journey I'm fine with keeping the Angmar chapter contained.
Though the return journey might be another chapter?
New or returning players are welcome, though I don't know if they've
been following the story :wink:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:42 PM
Also, I rechecked some maps and looks like unless we go a ways out
of our way, we're going through Cardolan mostly, not Arthedain.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:42 PM
Yah, I thought Arthedain was more to the west...
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:44 PM
Or Rhudaur, depending on the map.
Bah, Rhudaur, not Cardolan. Pardon. Don't know why I was thinking
Cardolan.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:46 PM
Third time's the charm :wink:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:47 PM
Hehe. At least with Arthedain I was thinking about the battle of
Fornost where they drove out the Witch-King.
Anyway, so Rhudaur
is the land we'll be going through to reach Angmar, not that we'll
be saying much happened, hehe.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:50 PM
Lots of room for noodle incidents.
If you're familiar with that term :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:51 PM
I think I recall the term, but the first thing coming to mind is the
"noodle dream" from Kung Fu Panda, hehe.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:51 PM
hehe
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:52 PM
Noodle Incident: Something that gets mentioned as having happened
but never gets elaborated on.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:53 PM
Yep, that's it. I think we've got lots of weird things happening
during our journey to Angmar that we'll casually mention but never
elaborate on :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:53 PM
Or, from TV Tropes, which is so much fun to read:
"The Noodle Incident is something from the past that is sometimes
referred to but never explained, with the implication that it's just
too ludicrous for words—or perhaps too offensive for depiction—and
the reality that any explanation would fall short of audience
expectations. Questions about it are often met with "You Don't Want
To Know…" Persisting is a good way to press a character's Berserk
Button. "
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleIncident
for the full read.
TV Tropes
Noodle Incident - TV Tropes
The Noodle Incident is something from the past
that is sometimes referred to but never explained, with the
implication that it's just too ludicrous for …
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:55 PM
Nothing like a timeskipped journey through the wild for some serious
noodle incidents.
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 2:56 PM
chuckles#
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:56 PM
hehe
OK, so through Rhudaur to Angmar, Entire Angmar journey contained
within this chapter.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 2:58 PM
Sounds good to me. If you want to cut it off at a later time, we can
always do that.
Maybe even rename the chapter? :slight_smile:
later time RL, earlier time in the story, I mean :wink:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 2:59 PM
Aye :}
OK, so that's settled, for now at least :}
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So for the rest of Tolkien, if anyone has a
topic of discussion, we can go with that, or we can do a quick round
of trivia, or another game. Preferences?
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:03 PM
trivia is good :)
we havent done that for ages
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:04 PM
Hmm, probably means getting the books out for a question..
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:05 PM
Ok, so everyone here and ready for a round of trivia, say South
Farthing.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:05 PM
South Farthing
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:06 PM
South Farthing, if it weren't obvious I'm here and ready :}
Arien, are you in? :}
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:09 PM
Alright, I've got an unusual question lined up with possibly
more answers than I'll ask for...
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:12 PM
I guess it's just you and me, Phar.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:12 PM
I could head on bnet and poke Arien there.
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:13 PM
Your call :}
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:13 PM
poked :slight_smile:
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:14 PM
eek
NOW then .. Means of communication .. we have pc , pone
, mobile and so on , which means of commuication were there in
middlearth ?
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:15 PM
Letters. Palantir.
I don't remember birds being used, but people on horses, yes.
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:16 PM
Messenger.
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:17 PM
something else
very important :slight_smile:
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:18 PM
Eagles?
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:18 PM
Thoughts, for certain individuals, speech,
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:18 PM
Speech is good.
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:18 PM
hand signals.
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:18 PM
uhm ... yes .. long distance though ?
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:18 PM
Well, I named the Palantiri already.
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:19 PM
something else :smile:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:19 PM
If we're talking long distance only,..
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:19 PM
Signal fires :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:19 PM
True.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:19 PM
Sparks of blue flames in mountain passes...
well, it's close :wink:
The beacons are lit!
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:20 PM
no i leave the next question to you that was a team effort
:slight_smile:
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:20 PM
Right!
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:20 PM
Phar's turn
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:21 PM
I was thinking about something called a "terp" today, which is a
sort of artificial hill people in this country used to build their
towns on to avoid flooding. And it got me thinking about
middle-earth.
So my question to you is.
Name at least 5 towns or cities that are built on a hill. They don't
all have to be from LotR :slight_smile:
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:24 PM
Minas Tirith, Minas Morgul or Anor and ithil
Hobbiton
Gondolin
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:25 PM
Hmm I wasn't actually quite sure about Ithil/Morgul, though it would
mirror Tirith. And I suppose it still counts as a city at some time.
And is Hobbiton actually built on a hill?
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:26 PM
Well, Hobbiton as I recall is kind of around the hill, with Bag End
being in the hill. Of course there could be more than one hill, heh.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:27 PM
True :slight_smile:
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:27 PM
if its anything like the minishire photo i posted there will be
:slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:27 PM
Granted I'm not an expert on Hobbit neighborhood planning :}
The Noldorin city in Valinor was on a hill as I recall.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:28 PM
That was one of the 5 I had in mind, yes, Eonwe :slight_smile:
If we count Hobbiton, that would be 5 answers!
I also had Edoras and Bree.
Eonwe's next!
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:30 PM
OK.
So today we discussed that the North Kingdom of Arnor was formally
divided into three kingdoms(skipping the history that caused the
division): Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur.
My challenge is to name three regions within the kingdom of Gondor.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:32 PM
Ah, now I'm wondering if I'm thinking of regions or rivers...
I'll start with Belfalas and Lebennin.
I don't think Dol Amroth counts as a region, seems more of a city.
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 3:34 PM
uhm that is Morthond ... the blackroot valley , uhm Lebetrond
or something like that
and uhm no Lamedon it was damn hehe
and Belfalas?
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:36 PM
Those will work.
I'm afraid that is all the time I have for today.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:39 PM
Well, after giving my gaming info to Eonwe, I'm just now checking if
I still exist in Guild Wars.
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:39 PM
So I will bang the gavel here and we will move into Aftermeeting.
Bangs Gavel
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Aftermeeting:
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:39 PM
Sure enough, still there.. "last logged in: 1 year"
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:40 PM
You're still there at least :}
Ok, so off I go. Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun
:}
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:40 PM
Alas, the guild I'm in is long gone; varying from 8 months to 8
years :wink: Only one person still more recent than me.
Namarie!
Eonwe ValarLast Sunday at 3:41 PM
Well maybe you'll find some guild members there after the GSMU :}
Take care :}
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 3:41 PM
And only 3 districts active.. what has happened to this game... I'd
be surprised if there's 20 people online at this point.
Right. Maybe not that bad. As I waited, 2 other people ran by this
quest hub.
Blast from the past, still a nice-looking game. If I had nothing
else to do I should see if I can still make it past some maps :wink:
Right, quick Starcraft game for the war chest and then I'll
give report.
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 4:00 PM
Heh, found a nice way to shave off about 2 more minutes from an
already less than 15 minutes long daily training game for my daily
war chest victory.
By having my units' rally point outside the enemy base rather than
my own, I'm ready to move in as soon as my army's built and the
objective comes up, rather than still having to cross the map at
that point :wink:
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 4:01 PM
take care and thanks for chairing :slight_smile:
Namarie, Eonwe
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Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 4:24 PM
Alright, personal gaming report!
We start with 3 flashgames.
https://www.kongregate.com/games/IcyLime/multitask
is the first game! Play various minigames at the same time with
different keys, don't fail, see how long you last. It starts with
one, and more get added over time!
Kongregate
Multitask
Think you can handle multiple games at once? See
just how coordinated you are.
Props for doing it without any friends to help
you. :]
Also, please check out...
https://www.kongregate.com/games/Ragdollsoft/particles
is the second game. You control a blue ball, avoid the red balls.
They will move across the screen and collide with each other,
sending them in unexpected directions. The longer you last, the more
balls appear on the screen to dodge.
Kongregate
Particles
Particles is a simple physics game where you
dodge bouncing balls.
Move the blue ball with the mouse, avoid the red
balls for as long as you can.
Be sure to tu...
Right, and after those two skill-based minigames, have
https://www.kongregate.com/games/ArmorGames/elephant-quest for the
third game! Platformer upgrade game, where you play a blue elephant
who's on a quest to get his hat back, but with lots of sidequests
along the way, and many skills and stats to upgrade :slight_smile:
Kongregate
Elephant Quest
The fight is on! Wooly has taken your precious
bowler cap and now you are on a romp to go get it back! Explore the
freeform world of 45 various areas in this R...
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 4:30 PM
right then .. it is bed time for me Phari
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 4:30 PM
Namarie!
Arien ValarLast Sunday at 4:30 PM
Namarie for now :slight_smile:
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 4:31 PM
Oh, and after you complete it you can play again... with all the
upgrades you had :wink:
Quite fun!
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Blizzard gaming:
Starcraft II:
Started the next phase of the war chest! First of the 5 tiers
unlocked. As stated above, I've managed to shorten my daily games
even more, with less waiting for travel :wink:
Hearthstone:
All heroes to 59 now! Paladin, mage, priest and warrior. More golden
cards gotten; the most useful of which has been the Stormwind
Champion. Onward to 60, the last level! I'm not quite sure yet how I
want to handle progression afterwards. Possibly rebuild a few decks,
since the next goal will probably be 500 ranked wins for each, so I
can't just mess about for experience anymore. Maybe I'll rethink my
quest decks too.
Another Uldum brawl this week, with a random deck and 3 wishes,
granting you the discovery of a perfect card for the situation you
may find yourself in. After making one wish, the next wish is
shuffled into the deck, so that might be an argument for using them
early... personally I preferred to use them later so they might give
me more of an advantage if I'm in trouble. Regardless, only took two
matches to win :slight_smile:
Heroes of the Storm:
No new levels, still 367. Got a legendary skin from a loot chest for
Qhira, the new hero.
Classic WoW: Stiiiill no progress, though I managed to catch up on
some things outside and have plans to get a level or two tomorrow,
and get my bankalt parked at Thunder Bluff.
WoW:
Heroic raiding still continuing, still on Azshara. Earlier bosses
didn't take too much time anymore. I'd say everything up to Orgozoa
is on farm-mode, but Court and Zaqul still take a few tries. For
Azshara herself we've been trying a more radical approach for phase
1 tanking, which seems to pay off; the few attempts we've had have
been steadily going into phase 3.
Raid essences done, rank 3 for all 3 roles. Rank 4 requires mythic
Azshara, so that's not happening.
And only a few more anima from mythic+ weekly chests to go, so
should get the last rank 3 essence for that this week as well!
Weekly quest this week is arena skirmishes, good honor to be had!
Winrate a bit lower than the last few times, though I did get to try
out the inkpod trinket on other players. Is fun, but apparently only
stacks to 20.
And finally, made some progress on my todolist... by collecting the
Wicker Pup pet!
A cute doggy made of sticks and bones, gotten by finding 4 obscure
chests in Drustvar. Good thing for internet guides! Also involves
activating or deactivating a few candles but that's so simple that I
got them without actually knowing how it worked :wink:
Next goals involve a few more pets as well!
And that's my report for the week :slight_smile:
Ar-Pharazon-VLast Sunday at 6:21 PM
Namarie!
Pallando-ValarYesterday at 1:18 AM
@Ar-Pharazon-V look at your private messages on discord!
Pallando-ValarYesterday at 1:52 AM
@Arien Valar or someone, can you message him on wow to get him to
look at discord? :smile:
ElrondYesterday at 7:13 AM
@Pallando-Valar I sent him a note :slight_smile:
Pallando-ValarYesterday at 10:10 AM
Thank you.:)
Currently planning to be in Luxembourg Thursday and Hamburg Friday
then back to Berlin Saturday, but I'm flexible and would love to
meet anyone from valar nearby.:)
(Heading to Prague now)
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