Valar Guild

August 8, 2021 Sunday Meeting

5:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Savings Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place

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Transcript work by Varda.
[times are Central Time from Varda's Discord. Add one hour for Eastern.]


Attending (and spoke): (5)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Varda (presiding)
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news:
Web:
Gaming:
    General news: World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo Immortal, Lord of the Rings Online, Eve Online, Starcraft 2
Tolkien:
    Topic 1 from Varda: JRRT was a little bothered by all the merch and the use of his place and character names for various things including pets, boats, children, etc. Why do you think that might be, considering that it was usually done for love of his works?
    Topic 2 from Varda: Why can we call his works a "mythology", rather than just simply a series of novels?
After-meeting:
    (non)Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon.
    Quick tutorial for how to make things like λ, ™, ‰

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Before-meeting
Varda — Today at 3:53 PM
Aiya

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 3:59 PM
Aiya!

Varda — Today at 4:00 PM
Hey Phar : )
[4:01 PM]
@Bounder Aiya! Time to say hi, comment on your favorite games and the Tolkien world. Have fun!
[4:02 PM]

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Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:02 PM]
Membership:
[4:02 PM]
Happy to have Phar here chatting. I know some of you are lurking and you're very welcome too!
[4:02 PM]

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Web:
[4:02 PM]
Nothing new to report.
[4:02 PM]

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Gaming:

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:02 PM
Well, been a while since I've said it
[4:03 PM]
but Arien poked

Varda — Today at 4:03 PM
Thank you to Eonwe for putting up the Gaming info for us.
[4:03 PM]
hahaha - thanks, Phar.
[4:03 PM]

World of Warcraft:
[4:03 PM]
This week's Bonus Event: Burning Crusade Timewalking.

Pallando-Valar — Today at 4:03 PM
Aiya

Varda — Today at 4:04 PM
The PvP Brawl: Gravity Lapse began Tuesday and runs through Tuesday, August 10th.
[4:04 PM]
Aiya to the Blue Wizard!
[4:05 PM]
Check out this week's hotfixes.
[4:05 PM]
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23691036/hotfixes-august-6-2021
    World of Warcraft
    Hotfixes: August 6, 2021 - WoW
    Here you will find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, Burning Crusade Classic, and WoW Classic.

[4:05 PM]
Hearthstone:
[4:06 PM]
The newest expansion, United in Stormwind is live.
[4:06 PM]
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23706628/united-in-stormwind-is-now-live
    United in Stormwind is Now Live
    Hearthstone’s newest expansion is now live worldwide.

[4:06 PM]
Diablo Immortal:
[4:06 PM]
    Check out the newest development update.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:06 PM
Aiya Pallando!

Varda — Today at 4:06 PM
https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo-immortal/23706474/diablo-immortal-development-update
    Diablo Immortal: Development Update
    Learn more about additional opportunities the development team are pursuing to improve the Diablo Immortal gameplay experience.

Arien  Valar — Today at 4:07 PM
Aiya all

Varda — Today at 4:07 PM
Aiya Sunshine : )
[4:07 PM]

Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:07 PM]
Aug 10 will be the start of the Farmers' Faire/Summer Festival

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:08 PM
Aiya Arien

Varda — Today at 4:08 PM
Landroval server:
Eonwe
Fangorn
Nar
Varda
Walda?

Anor server:
Dis
Eonwe
Falco
Fangorn
Varda

Shadowfax server:
Varda

Treebeard server:
Varda (only member)
[4:08 PM]
Pallando has some news for us.

Pallando-Valar — Today at 4:10 PM
So, Eve hasn't had too much going on from CCP, though there was an Amarr event this last week or so. I, uh, didn't pay too much attention to it I'm afraid. I've been busy practicing for the Alliance Tournament which was announced to be coming back, so it's another few months of practices for me

Varda — Today at 4:10 PM
Work work : )

Pallando-Valar — Today at 4:11 PM
In wider player news, the great war has ended, with TEST et al retreating and Goons smugposting to no end about it.

Varda — Today at 4:11 PM
Hah

Pallando-Valar — Today at 4:12 PM
TEST is supposed to retreat to hide with PanFam, Goons are going TEST is next, Brave's trying to figure out what to do, it's a big mess. Also saying Goons won is a stretch. Goons didn't lose, and TEST didn't win, but those are very qualified terms on both sides.
[4:13 PM]
anyways, much hullabaloo there. Alliance Tournament is coming, and CCP promise they'll have more news for us Real Soon Now about the future of Eve.

Varda — Today at 4:14 PM
soonTM
[4:14 PM]
Trademark

Pallando-Valar — Today at 4:14 PM
I think Blizzard had that trademarked first, but CCP might have licensed it.
[4:14 PM]
That's it from me.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:14 PM
I knew that altcode at some point....

Pallando-Valar — Today at 4:15 PM
0153
[4:15 PM]
™

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:15 PM
Thank you, I was missing the 0
[4:15 PM]
™
[4:15 PM]
soon™

Varda — Today at 4:15 PM
Thanks!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:16 PM
Just like "I'll level my alts, One Day ™"

Varda — Today at 4:16 PM
heh
[4:16 PM]
Thank you for the news, Pallando!
[4:16 PM]
Any other additions to gaming news from the gang?
[4:17 PM]
Starcraft players that I know of: Fangorn, Eowyn, Faramir, and the grandson. : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:17 PM
Grandson needs a guildname.

Varda — Today at 4:18 PM
He's 7, hasn't made it through the books. But he's Ciaran on the side notes for us.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:18 PM
Grandson-V

Varda — Today at 4:18 PM
hehe

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:18 PM
Ah, that works

Varda — Today at 4:18 PM
Melkor may have to copyright that one for the Melkorrim. ; )

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:19 PM
Grandson-V™

Varda — Today at 4:19 PM
Eowyn uses Cenedra, from the Belgariad (might be butchering spelling).
[4:19 PM]
There you go!
[4:19 PM]
On to
[4:19 PM]

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Tolkien!
[4:19 PM]
A while off yet but might be thinking about

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:20 PM
anniversary!

Varda — Today at 4:20 PM
the double birthday of book Frodo and Bilbo on Sept 21.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:20 PM
ah

Varda — Today at 4:20 PM
Phar, that too, thanks!
[4:20 PM]
Oct 4 guild anniversary, aye. : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:20 PM
Birthday's first, then!

Varda — Today at 4:21 PM
Getting ready for those can start yesterday!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:21 PM
September 21... I know several people with that birthday, actually. Including the celebcrush.
[4:21 PM]
Actually, Frodo and Bilbo were 22nd.

Varda — Today at 4:21 PM
Who's that?

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:21 PM
Oh, just a crush I mentioned a while ago.
[4:22 PM]
But a lot of people seem to have birthdays around that time.

Varda — Today at 4:22 PM
Sept 22, you are right. /facepalm

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:22 PM
I blame the winter holiday season.

Varda — Today at 4:22 PM
ah ok, rl lady. : )
[4:22 PM]
But it's deep summer here. No excuses for me. : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:22 PM
Yes. Sorry. I meant I know several people in rl with that birthday.

Varda — Today at 4:23 PM
Bilbo-V has one Sept 23. : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:23 PM
hehe

My grandfather's was the 22nd, too.

Varda — Today at 4:23 PM
Very good. He knew when to show up!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:24 PM
Yep

Varda — Today at 4:24 PM
Here's a nifty link for you all:
[4:24 PM]
https://www.tolkienguide.com/
    Tolkien Collector's Guide
    Tolkien Book Collecting and More
    J. R. R. Tolkien Collecting guides, forums, articles, and news.
    A database of Tolkien related collectibles, rare items, ephemera.
    A community of like-minded collectors who share ideas, trade, and stay informed of interesting Tolkien related news.

[4:24 PM]
"The Gallant Edith Bratt" is the first book they mention there. : )(edited)
[4:25 PM]
This is my day for typos. : )
[4:25 PM]
Good thing you're all here to correct!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:25 PM
All we can see is the (edited) so you're fine!

Varda — Today at 4:27 PM
Anyway, fun to scroll through the goodies on the page to see what's out there.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:28 PM
Ah, looks like a blog thing, so the first thing they mention is the most recent thing

Varda — Today at 4:29 PM
JRRT was a little bothered by all the merch and the use of his place and character names for various things including pets, boats, children, etc. Why do you think that might be, considering that it was usually done for love of his works?

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:29 PM
He wouldn't like our cat, then, Frodo.
[4:30 PM]
I suppose it could have something to do with distorted meaning of the names, taking the seriousness out of it.

Varda — Today at 4:30 PM
By now, he's probably mellowed out about it and wouldn't mind, but when it first started happening, why would it have bothered him?
[4:31 PM]
Just a guess.
[4:32 PM]
We know it's intended to honor him and is generally used for something we love or enjoy.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:32 PM
I mean, he put quite a bit of effort in his languages and names, and seeing them used out of context so could be annoying.

Varda — Today at 4:32 PM
True
[4:35 PM]
No other thoughts from the rest of you?
[4:36 PM]
Maybe it needs to percolate for a while and we'll have some comments later. : )

Arien  Valar — Today at 4:38 PM
i don t know but you know what its like when People get famous and time passes ,
[4:39 PM]
think of what happened to Bilbo and his return from the adventure

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:39 PM
Losing his spoons?

Arien  Valar — Today at 4:39 PM
orhis treasures .. nobody knew anything exactly
[4:39 PM]
and then tales grow and true stories get distorted
[4:41 PM]
the old Baggins and his crazy adventure and coming back with countless treasures
[4:41 PM]
Maybe JRR didn t want this to happen to him

Varda — Today at 4:41 PM
and hobbits try to dig up Bag End when he's not around, hoping to find gold and jewels.

Arien  Valar — Today at 4:43 PM
Much is known about his life and he was open in letters about it ..so there wasnt really much room for creating pr stuff around him

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:43 PM
Yes, harder to come up with rumors when the truth is so readily available.

Varda — Today at 4:45 PM
Why can we call his works a "mythology", rather than just simply a series of novels?(edited)

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:46 PM
Well, that's how it started. A creation mythology with powerful stories about gods and heroes. And the framework of the creation of the world and the subsequent history of its denizens remained relatively intact throughout the process.
[4:46 PM]
Also, it wasn't quite meant to be set in stone, with multiple interpretations sometimes possible, though that aspect faded a bit in later times.

Arien  Valar — Today at 4:47 PM
it provides kind of everything from an "olymp* creation story ,  different races and countries/ continent , a flood destroying a big part of the already created landmass with changes in the remaining (sounds familiar :)?

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:48 PM
No ark, but yeah

Varda — Today at 4:48 PM
It is intended to tell the early times of our current world, right! How it started and developed into today.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:48 PM
Though there was Elendil's fleet.

Varda — Today at 4:49 PM
The Faithful did indeed make it out of a cataclysmic flood to Middle-earth, true

Arien  Valar — Today at 4:49 PM
but also a whole philoisophy within that world , ethic values and a millenia encirceling history
[4:49 PM]
its just .. epic

Varda — Today at 4:49 PM
True. It shows where the ideas came from in the current land of humanity/Men if you don't mind.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:49 PM
That it is
[4:50 PM]
In the first version, Eressea became the UK.
[4:50 PM]
An even more seamless transition to the modern world.

Varda — Today at 4:50 PM
True. How it all started and changed as the background to the present times, what caused it all.
[4:51 PM]
Ok, Arien needs to leave, so we can call it here and let the sunshine shine!
[4:52 PM]
the gavel bounces to the ceiling and puts a match to the candles on the way up
[4:52 PM]
the gavel's fall is broken by the hammerpad with its new trampoline surface
[4:52 PM]
bouncy bouncy
[4:52 PM]
After-meeting!

Arien  Valar — Today at 4:52 PM


Varda — Today at 4:53 PM
Feel free to go shine!

Arien  Valar — Today at 4:53 PM
Namarie all

Varda — Today at 4:53 PM
Namarie!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 4:53 PM
namarie!

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Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 6:33 PM
Personal gaming report!
[6:35 PM]
(non)flashgaming: 3 old badges, you'll have to get used to seeing the same games coming up more often now. If you'd rather I'd only give new games and otherwise not include this category, let me know in this transcript

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 6:43 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/Alienplay/spin is the first game! A physics puzzle platformer where you have to rotate certain platforms or activate springs to get the ball to the flag in each level.
    Kongregate
    Spin!
    Spin! is a 2D physics-based game in which you control the environment.
    R = Retry
    Rotate platforms, activate pistons, avoid spikes and get the ball to the en...

[6:44 PM]
But be careful, if you hit spikes, stationary or patrolling, or leave the screen, you have to start the level over!
But the levels are short and it's not too hard, just requires a bit of timing (edited)
[6:45 PM]
https://www.kongregate.com/games/spookydoorway/the-darkside-detective is the second game; I linked it a few weeks ago for the badge for the second case, but this week we had the badge for the first
Kongregate
The Darkside Detective Demo
DEMO

Play the first case of the Darkside Detective.

Where cultists crawl, where demons dwell, where the occult… occults? you’ll find Detective Francis Mc...

[6:49 PM]
A point and click detective, in this case you'll need to track down a girl who went missing in her own house. You'll need to get to the Darkside to find her!
[6:51 PM]
https://www.kongregate.com/games/nyunesu/unnamed-chick-game for the third game, a platformer where you have to move a half-hatched egg/chick to its nest... but the egg's fragile and can only survive a few jumps/falls per level!
Kongregate
Unnamed Chick Game
Unnamed Chick Game, a puzzle platformer!

Play as a chick stuck in a pointy egg-shell, but be careful, everytime you land it hurts you.

Can you manage to comp...

[6:52 PM]
You'll also get hearts to heal your egg, so you have to figure out the best order to jump to places and get hearts to heal along the way
[6:57 PM]
Guild Wars: I was reading through the manual for Factions, and found a chapter about runes and insignias which you can use to upgrade your armor, giving it prefixes and suffixes. Not being sure whether I actually had those on my armor, I logged in and compared what I had to what I could find about the best ones online.
[6:58 PM]
Turns out a few pieces were left to upgrade, which I did, but the strongest rune for 50 extra health costs 80k gold, and I have less than 30k, so I guess I finally have a target to save gold for
[6:59 PM]
And just today I completed the manual, so maybe next week I'll make a start on the Factions campaign!
[6:59 PM]
Or maybe not. I need to make more time for some non-pc stuff, and it doesn't feel like much of a priority. But maybe I'll resume doing one quest or mission on one day a week.
[7:06 PM]
Blizzard gaming:
[7:08 PM]
Heroes of the Storm: No time this week, because of the non-pc stuff  While this was an exceptionally weird week due to family stuff, I do think I'll take a hiatus from Storm for a while anyway. There's been no new content for a while, and while some heroes get changed now and then, I'll try to keep up with the changes so I don't get caught too offguard when I return to the game. For now... I just need to do other stuff first.
[7:13 PM]
Hearthstone: The new expansion has come indeed! With it a new reward track, where I've gotten to level 30 in the first week, netting me some card packs, golden cards, two legendaries (Lady Prestor - yes, Onyxia - and Auctioneer Jaxon), and enough gold to let me buy another hero skin!
[7:17 PM]
Only a few hero skins left for now, and the only class I was still using the default for was paladin, so I purchased Sir Annoy-O.
[7:18 PM]
Also, Demon Hunter to level 40! 20 to go.
[7:19 PM]
Brawl is a classic, Randomonium, choose a class with random cards, and each turn the cards in your hand have their costs randomized, though never above their normal cost.
[7:20 PM]
Some luck required, but I'd advise trying to get more expensive cards in your opening hand, as you never know when you'll be able to play them early and give yourself a good advantage
[7:20 PM]
WoW:
[7:22 PM]
Raiding: Progress on both difficulties! On normal we finally got the Fatescribe down, leaving just Kel'thuzad and Sylvanas, and on heroic we managed the Eye of the Jailer, though we don't appear to have the gear/dps yet for the Nine.
[7:25 PM]
Not only did I get a bunch more shards of domination as we went, going up to 6 out of 9, I also managed to get the setbonus for tankspec  At the end of tonight's raid I had all 3 blood shards and 2 socketed items, but the required chestpiece was missing... hadn't gotten it from heroic Eye, nor from normal Eye. But I took a gamble, dove into LFR, and got the chestpiece there! While LFR ilevel is no upgrade from the Nathria chestpiece I had, the socket and the setbonus are totally worth it
[7:26 PM]
I'm still missing 2 frost and 1 unholy shard, but they'll drop eventually. Tanking ones are most important. Not sure which set I want to focus on for cat... but since the shards are really easily switched out, I might go frost for questing and unholy for raids.
[7:28 PM]
Weekly is timewalks! Been having some fun with them, since the shards do work, though alas, the setbonus will not. Still, guardianing my way through them is always nice.
[7:30 PM]
Did some more Torghast, and it went well  Got 4 stars/gems on layer 10, unlocking layer 11 for next week, and ended up with the second new adventurer companion from Torghast, which for Night Fae is the silk strider, Ella. Bringing my total followers to 20.
[7:30 PM]
I do believe there's only 2 left, from renown.
[7:31 PM]
Which I've now gotten to 52, gotta keep going!
[7:32 PM]
Through the brawl I managed to grab a new Night Fae soulshape, the Wyvern. Confirming that you can get the other side's pvp soulshape even before getting your own side's, which for me will be the gryphon. I'm sure I'll get that one at some point too
[7:32 PM]
Or did I already have it... I don't think so...
[7:33 PM]
And finally spent a bit more anima on boots and pants for the Night Courtier's set, making good progress with the Renown vendor.
[7:33 PM]
Still no alt time - and I might postpone that for a few weeks anyway - so that's my report for the week!

Eonwλ Valar — Today at 8:21 PM
Salutations to those still here.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 8:22 PM
Aiya

Eonwλ Valar — Today at 8:30 PM
How goes it?

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 8:30 PM
Well enough

Varda — Today at 8:55 PM
Aiya

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 8:55 PM
Aiya!

[8:58 PM]
namarie!

Varda — Today at 8:59 PM
Namarie

Eonwλ Valar — Today at 9:00 PM
Sleep well Phar.

****
Note: Eonwe helped and we came up with this tutorial:

Turn on the Number Pad and type the code numbers there.
Click Alt and hold it
Type code such as 137
Let go of Alt
See the result
Click Enter (may not need this step in some programs)
λ

On the transcript, the Enter wasn't necessary for me (Varda), but was to show on Discord.
You can try it on Notepad too.

0137 for percent ‰
0153 for Trademark ™

Thank you to Eonwe for λ and to Pallando for ™. Thank you to Eonwe for working with me until I could do it.
More codes available in places like Word.

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