Valar Guild

July 4, 2021 Sunday Meeting

5:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Savings Time

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.]

Attending (and spoke): (5)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Irmo, Varda (presiding)
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news:
    Independence Day (greatly affects gaming in people's availability)
    Vax
Web:
Gaming:
    General: World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Lord of the Rings Online (includes info on the two new Legendary servers), Ninja Gaiden Collection (more reviews).
    Arien requests a Fornost instance run on LotRO Landroval server with her 27 champion next weekend before the meeting, as she could not make it today.
Tolkien:
    Topic from Meriadoc: Look at the reasons the ringwraiths retreated from Weathertop when they could have stayed to finish off Frodo.
After-meeting:
    (non)Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon.
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Before-meeting
Varda — Yesterday at 4:00 PM
Aiya!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:00 PM
Aiya!

Varda — Yesterday at 4:01 PM
@Bounder Huzzah! Time to join together for Tolkien and gaming chat and doings! Come on in and say hi!
[4:01 PM]
Hey there, Phar : )

Arien Valar — Yesterday at 4:02 PM
Aiya :)#]

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:02 PM
Aiyarien!

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:02 PM
Heya.

Arien Valar — Yesterday at 4:02 PM
:)

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:02 PM
(made that pun before but it's fine now and then over the years)

Arien Valar — Yesterday at 4:02 PM
Aiyarien was one of my first Eve characters I think many moons ago

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:03 PM
hehe
[4:03 PM]
Did you also have Namarien?

Arien Valar — Yesterday at 4:03 PM
nope never thought of that !
[4:03 PM]
Nice one actually#
[4:03 PM]
I like that

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:04 PM
Feel free to use it

Arien Valar — Yesterday at 4:04 PM
I ll keep it in mind

Varda — Yesterday at 4:04 PM
That makes a nice pair of characters. : )
[4:05 PM]
Aiya Arien and Eonwe : )

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:05 PM
Salutations.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:05 PM
It's a bit crazy here, but going to try to keep things rolling!
[4:05 PM]

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Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:05 PM]
Membership:
[4:06 PM]
Happy Independence Day/ July 4th!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:06 PM
Aiya Eonwe!

Varda — Yesterday at 4:06 PM
May everyone have a wonderful weekend. : )
[4:06 PM]
Currently visiting our house are Meriadoc-V, Gimli-V and his wife. : )
[4:06 PM]
Any other Membership news?

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:07 PM
Few more days until second vax \o/

Varda — Yesterday at 4:07 PM
And then done!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:08 PM
Yep! Then I can go to the cinema which I never do, go on holiday abroad which I never do, visit sportsgames which I never do, and go to festivals which I never do!

Varda — Yesterday at 4:08 PM
hah
[4:08 PM]
Now you will just because you can! Or at least maybe cons. : )
[4:08 PM]

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Web:
[4:09 PM]
Nothing new.
[4:09 PM]

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Gaming:
[4:09 PM]
polishes the polished gavel and passes it to Eonwe
[4:11 PM]
the gavel bounces along the table
like a pogo stick

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:11 PM
Receives the gavel
[4:12 PM]

World of Warcraft:
This week's Bonus Event: Shadowlands Dungeons.
Next Week's is pet battles.
[4:13 PM]
The Torghast Event: Beasts of Prodigum through Monday, June 5th.
Don't miss the July 4th fireworks if you have no other way to see them.
The Darkmoon Faire begins today and runs through Saturday, July 10th.
Check out this week's hotfixes. --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23691036/hotfixes-july-2-2021
    World of Warcraft
    Hotfixes: July 2, 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.

[4:14 PM]
Hearthstone:
Patch 20.8 is out. --- https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23686109/20-8-patch-notes
    20.8 Patch Notes
    Major updates for Battlegrounds and Duels are included, along with pre-purchase for United in Stormwind!

[4:14 PM]
The Fire Festival will be going July 6th through July 27th. --- https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23686108/fire-festival-and-future-fun
    Fire Festival & Future Fun
    Celebrate Summer with the Fire Festival, hot new looks, and more!

Irmo — Yesterday at 4:14 PM
Heya heya heya

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:14 PM
The next expansion, United in Stormwind, has been announced. --- https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23689677/announcing-united-in-stormwind-hearthstone-s-latest-expansion
    Announcing United in Stormwind, Hearthstone’s Latest Expansion!
    United in Stormwind welcomes players into the heart of the Alliance.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:14 PM
Aiya!

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:15 PM

Lord of the Rings Online:

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:15 PM
(WoW: patch 9.1 is out)

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:15 PM
Update 30.1 came out this week. --- https://www.lotro.com/en/content/update-301-release-notes
    The Lord of the Rings Online
    Update 30.1 Release Notes

More info about the Legendary servers Shadowfax and Treebeard can now be found here. --- https://lotro.com/en/legendary
    The Lord of the Rings Online
    Experience LOTRO's Legendary Servers
[4:16 PM]
Varda also has some LotRO news, but this is not the end of my gaming news. Go ahead, Varda.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:16 PM
ok
[4:17 PM]
We now have kin branches set up on both Shadowfax and Treebeard.
Any Valarite is of course welcome if you want to try it out.
[4:18 PM]
The new thing is in the difficulty sliders. I recommend Difficulty level +3 which is survivable solo but gives all the titles.
+6 is for always being in groups.
[4:19 PM]
I am also on those servers to protect our good name and my own names. That can be done without even going past character creation.
Any questions? Comments?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:19 PM
The difficulty slider sounds interesting.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:20 PM
They are not required servers at all. I'd rather see us just on Landroval, but using them like test servers is fun.
[4:20 PM]
It is! I had a great time. Keeps me very alert.
Once you go to +3, you aren't supposed to drop below that.
[4:21 PM]
Also, get your difficulty level set by the time your character is level 10. Too late later. I think may be possible at 11 but too easy to slide past.
That's my report.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:22 PM
Legendary server page says 11, but yeah, don't forget if you're going to change it, heh. And once you go to a higher difficulty, you can't drop down to a lower one.
[4:23 PM]
As in, you do and you lose the rewards. Like trying to get to 20 without being defeated.
[4:24 PM]
It does sound interesting, and if I had the time for such a server I'd probably try it.

Irmo — Yesterday at 4:24 PM
I will skip all complications and stay on Landy and relax

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:24 PM
Too bad the titles are more than likely not accountwide.
[4:25 PM]
Thank you for the report, Varda :}

Varda — Yesterday at 4:26 PM
Good idea, Irmo. : )

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:26 PM
For my final piece of gaming news, I will give a somewhat briefer conclusion to my review/impressions of the Ninja Gaiden Master Collection.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:26 PM
O, the titles are account wide.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:26 PM
Oh they are, so you earn them there and get to use them on Landroval? Ok, that's cool then.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:27 PM
: ) It's like the Elladan or Elrohir cape, account-wide.

[Note: link to LotRO gamers in kin this past week, given later.]

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:28 PM

NInja Gaiden Sigma 2:
[4:29 PM]
After beating it this week, I can fairly say it is easier than the original. I've played the original enough to know where I should've struggled, and I didn't. I wish I could claim I was just that good, or it was just wired vs wireless controller, but I know better :}
[4:31 PM]
They did trade out one of the more annoying boss fights with a simpler boss fight too, which is probably a shame despite the fight being annoying, heh.
[4:32 PM]
Overall, I guess it's still fun enough, and there are higher difficulties, just "normal" mode isn't what it used to be.
[4:33 PM]

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge:
[4:34 PM]
As far as difficulty goes, this is where I remember it.
[4:36 PM]
The tougher spots all gave the kind of struggle they should've, but after having just gone through the first two games, I was on my game, hehe.
[4:37 PM]
The combat feels real good in this one to me (mostly). My only problem really is the change to how Ninpo is done. Otherwise, loads of fun.
[4:39 PM]
I really felt like they brought their story-telling A-game in this one, although I think they might've shot themselves in the foot in the story they were trying to tell at one point.
[4:40 PM]
Kinda like blaming the Alliance and Horde equally for a war where the Alliance are defending themselves and the Horde are the aggressors, but I digress :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:40 PM
Blame Gul'dan

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:42 PM
They have a twist that I think turns out to be interesting in there, and I usually have at least one boss fight/series of fights that I like these games, because it feels like an actual fight where I just need to be more careful, watch more closely, and overall just improve.
[4:43 PM]
As opposed to the boss spamming an overpowered move and me just hoping to get a hit in :}
[4:44 PM]
The first boss and his later appearances are that for me in this one.
[4:45 PM]
Overall, I'd say most of the bosses are fairly solid in that they're not spamming overpowered moves and you have to hope you just get lucky. You do have to watch for your opening, and sometimes you can force their hand and make them give you an opening.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:46 PM
Hmm, I've definitely seen worse bossfights than that

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:47 PM
I feel like in some of the later mob battles though, you just end up resorting to strong attack spam because nothing else will get through or make the opponent flinch.(edited)
[4:48 PM]
I love that once you beat the game on a given difficulty, you can go back and play any chapter with the main character, the side character, or two extra characters.
[4:49 PM]
*on that difficulty. Play higher difficulties to do the same for those.(edited)
[4:50 PM]
The upgrade system I'm fairly content with. Get enough currency, upgrade the weapons/abilities you want/can afford. Wish there were more costumes to unlock though, hehe.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:51 PM
Is said currency grindable, or limited by the amount of content?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:51 PM
What you did in the main game carries to chapter challenge where you can finish out your upgrading.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:51 PM
Ah

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:51 PM
You can replay chapters as much as you want, so grindable :}
[4:51 PM]
*In Chapter Challenge.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:51 PM
nods

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:51 PM
Looks like you get a bonus too.
[4:52 PM]
I'd say replayability is high on this one overall.
[4:53 PM]
Though, I think they missed one big opportunity: they didn't make the old man Muramasa one of the playable characters, lol.
[4:54 PM]
And with that, I'll end this review/impressions and turn the gavel back over to Varda :}

Varda — Yesterday at 4:54 PM
Thank you, Eonwe. : )
[4:54 PM]
Replayability is a very big deal.
[4:54 PM]

A bit more on LotRO, our players this past week, some we haven't seen in a while:
[4:54 PM]

Landroval server:
Arien
Dis
Eonwe
Fangorn
Frodo
Hurin
Irmo
Meriadoc
Nar
Nimrodel
Varda

Anor server:
Dis
Eonwe
Fangorn
Varda

Shadowfax server:
Varda

Treebeard server:
Varda

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:54 PM
hides two dozen WoW alts replayability, you say...

Varda — Yesterday at 4:55 PM
(LotRO is verrrry replayable!)
On to...

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Tolkien!
Meriadoc-(V) gave us this topic:
[4:55 PM]
Look at the reasons the ringwraiths retreated from Weathertop when they could have stayed to finish off Frodo.
Go ahead, gang, and see which reasons you can come up with!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:56 PM
Plot armo- I mean, fire!

Varda — Yesterday at 4:56 PM
That could count as two. : )

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:57 PM
They couldn't beat Aragorn. He was healthy and well-fed and wielding fire, and they were all skin and bones and shadow.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:57 PM
Fire, in folklore, is said to exist in both the material and non-material planes at the same time. This also appears to be true in Tolkien's world.
heh, Eonwe

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:57 PM
Maybe they didn't want their cloaks burned.
Their outfits seemed a bit flammable.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:57 PM
Agreed on the cloak. They would have to be re-housed if they lost them.
[4:58 PM]
Cloak plus robes, that is.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:58 PM
And what happens? They lose them to water instead.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:58 PM
hah! : )
[4:59 PM]
Lost their horses too!

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:59 PM
So did they have to walk back to Mordor, or did they have an easier way to get there?

Varda — Yesterday at 4:59 PM
Fly by nights? : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 4:59 PM
The answer, my friend.
Is blowing on the wind.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:59 PM
Too right

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 4:59 PM
"Oh look! Nine Walkers! Wait, those aren't the Nine Walkers we were expecting...."

Arien Valar — Yesterday at 5:00 PM
in the wind Phara .. in the wind

Varda — Yesterday at 5:00 PM
Manwe's winds can blow evil spirits like Saruman and Sauron away, good point.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:00 PM
Well, if they're flying, technically they're on the wind

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:00 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvKbbHKpwnU
    YouTube
    James Anderson
    Bill and Ted: All we are is dust in the wInd, dude

Varda — Yesterday at 5:00 PM
On Weathertop, not all nine were present.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:01 PM
Sorry, I didn't have to link it, but I wanted to, lol.

Varda — Yesterday at 5:01 PM
: )
[5:01 PM]
How about the weapons? Barrow-wight daggers on four hobbits, the shards of Narsil.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:01 PM
Haven't watched that movie in too long, was thinking "Is that... Keanu??" [Note: yes.]

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:02 PM
Overall, they did get a small victory when they stabbed Frodo. They could afford to wait at that point... or so they thought.

Varda — Yesterday at 5:02 PM
Had the defenses not been so strong, the ringwraiths might have stayed to finish off Frodo.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:02 PM
Also, coincidentally, was helping out Marius and Tehd on their excellent adventure in WoW yesterday

Varda — Yesterday at 5:02 PM
Ok, gang, I have to leave. : )

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:03 PM
Had they realized Glorfindel was going to come out and help, they probably would've done more at Weathertop.

Varda — Yesterday at 5:03 PM
Most likely, Eonwe!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:03 PM
Yeah, they did figure there were no horses to help.

Varda — Yesterday at 5:03 PM
Or that they would have to face the Bruinen Ford and Elrond's control of it by his ring.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:03 PM
Enjoy, Varda :}

Varda — Yesterday at 5:03 PM
That pretty well covers the points I wanted to make.
[5:04 PM]
the gavel has problems keeping a robe
the gavel runs to Eonwe for help

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After-meeting!
[5:04 PM]
Namarie!
NEW

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:04 PM
Happy 4th :}
[5:04 PM]
To everyone over there :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:04 PM
Happy 4th to all in the US!
[5:05 PM]
Over here it means nothing

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:05 PM
It means you're 4 days into July :} That's still a meaning, if not as significant :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:06 PM
True
[5:06 PM]
We do have a liberation day, but no independence day.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:06 PM
Also means you're three months away from the Guild Anniversary :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:07 PM
True! And my own
On the 26th of July 1581 the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands denounced their ruling King Filips II of Spain on account of being a tyrant.
I suppose that's our independence day.
[5:08 PM]
US, France, NL... why is it preferable to declare independence/freedom in July?
[5:08 PM]
Nice weather for a revolution?
[5:09 PM]
Enemy soldiers on vacation?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:10 PM
Interesting question.
[5:11 PM]
War usually conducted in the warmer months where warmer months existed back in the day?

Arien Valar — Yesterday at 5:11 PM
((another song to the rider theme ^^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mynzbmrtp9I .. sorry couldn't resist that one as it came to my mind ))
    YouTube
    Celeb Portal
    Ghost Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash - Full Song

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:12 PM
There's some sense to it I suppose if you want to ensure that your enemy doesn't have a whole winter to stockpile their supplies and train their troops before coming after you.
Thanks Arien :}

Arien Valar — Yesterday at 5:13 PM
and i have to retreat as well early rise tomorrow
have fun and Namarie

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:14 PM
Sleep well :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:14 PM
namarie!

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:17 PM
It does make some sense to start something in the middle of the warring season back in the day because:
    1.) It's possible who you're warring with is already engaged somewhere else, spreading them thinner and increasing their response time.
    2.) Noted above
    3.) a.) Gives your side the chance to either get some quick, easy victories to boost morale, or
       b.) If it does take a turn for the worst, shortens the time you have to hold the enemy off before you get a reprieve to regroup and rethink your strategy.(edited)
[5:18 PM]
There's not quite the same rules of war today as there were back in the day, but off the top of my head, those are some advantages.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:19 PM
Could be.
[5:20 PM]
Or people might think it'll be a national holiday later on, so might as well get the timing right

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:20 PM
hehe
[5:21 PM]
But you know Phar, after we all united to fight off those alien invaders as shown in the documentary Independence Day, we were told July 4th wouldn't just be an American holiday anymore.... :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:22 PM
Good point

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:22 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t1IK_9apWs
    YouTube
    Movieclips
    Independence Day (4/5) Movie CLIP - The President's Speech (1996) HD

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:29 PM
We will not go quietly into the night... instead we're gonna party all night long until the riot police come and take us away!
[5:32 PM]
Is there a covid curfew in the US?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:33 PM
I haven't heard of there being one anywhere right now.
[5:35 PM]
I'm sure some individual cities in places like California might've had one at some point, instituted by people who made sure to carve out exemptions for themselves and their friends assuming they didn't outright disregard it anyway while expecting others to obey it.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:36 PM
Oof, cynical. I guess it comes across better here in the Netherlands where it was a national thing

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:37 PM
Well, when there's constant evidence of a "rules for thee but not for me" mentality in certain places, is it being cynical or realistic? :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:38 PM
Yeah, I suppose that's more of a US thing then. Over here, politicians are more careful with their rolemodel function

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:38 PM
Politicians should never be role models :}
[5:39 PM]
Politicians should be afraid that they're going to be tossed out of office if they're hypocritical or abuse the authority granted to them by the people.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:40 PM
Well, that's what I meant, yeah. It's literally called an "example-function" over here: public authority figure needing to show the way and paying a heavier price when breaking the rules.
Our justice minister got chewed out when he hugged his mother-in-law on his own wedding despite social distancing rules

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:41 PM
Well, if he was telling other people not to do it then yes, I'd say that's a good reason :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:42 PM
Considering it's his job to sort out law enforcement, pretty much :)(
[5:42 PM]
*
[5:43 PM]
If you're going to ensure we do something...

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:44 PM
Yeah, like if you tell your constituents they can't/shouldn't go travelling for any reason, then you go see your mother. Now, I don't care if someone goes and sees their mother. That's great. The problem is when you punish other people for doing the same thing, or tell them how horrible they are.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:45 PM
Ah yes, that happened in the UK, didn't it?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:45 PM
Among other places.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:45 PM
Another coviddy scandal over here was our king going on holiday to his summer place in Greece while we were told not to travel abroad

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:45 PM
That's why politicians shouldn't forget who their authority is derived from.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:46 PM
He definitely needed to apologize after that, which is rather rare for the royal house.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:46 PM
And neither should the people.
[5:48 PM]
To whom much is given, much is required.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:48 PM
With great power comes great responsibility.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:49 PM
Aye.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:50 PM
The wisdom of Uncle Ben.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:51 PM
People are people, and we shouldn't expect politicians to be any better or worse than a person can be. Nor should we or they forget that we know they're just people, as human, and limited, and fallible as the rest of us :}

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 5:58 PM
And to add to that the wisdom of Gandalf and thereby J.R.R Tolkien: "Not even the wise can see all ends."
[6:01 PM]
Anyone who is truly wise would be wise enough to know that. :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:01 PM
Agreed

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:02 PM
And that's why Free Will is important :} When it's respected, great things can happen because then people are free to exercise their talents to their fullest :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:02 PM
And horrible things

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:04 PM
As a result of someone not respecting another's free will, or corrupting something created by another, perhaps :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:04 PM
I wonder how many people are talented at things that go against their moral code.
Vegetarians that would make amazing butchers.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:04 PM
Heh, that is an interesting question too.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:05 PM
Maybe I'd be excellent at flaying and torturing people.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:05 PM
I imagine cutting up meat could be a skill applied to things other than meat though.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:06 PM
Pathology?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:06 PM
I question if that could be considered a legitimate separate talent of its own, or a corruption of a better, more humane talent.
[6:07 PM]
I mean, surgery is a good thing when it saves lives.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:07 PM
Possibly. Yet, the circumstance wherein said talent might be exploited the best may not be so pleasant.
[6:08 PM]
I imagine I'd have a steadier hand cutting something dead than cutting something alive.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:09 PM
Yeah, because there's little or no risk involved at that point, at least not to anyone besides yourself if you're not careful.
[6:10 PM]
But for doctors who can operate so carefully on the most intricate parts of the human body, that does take talent.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:10 PM
Right. So if I had a talent for cutting things up, I'd be better as a butcher than a surgeon

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:11 PM
Or a baker. Not everything that gets cut is made of meat :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:11 PM
Ahh, let me specify: a talent for cutting up meat

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:11 PM
Maybe I need to accurately slice a cake nine ways... for.. friends.... who are walking....

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:12 PM
I'm sure the Nazgul will appreciate that when they come back to Mordor from their drowning.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:12 PM
I don't know if there's a talent of slicing specifically for meat :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:13 PM
I'm sure it has its intricacies compared to bread
And the other way around!

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:14 PM
I imagine some level of proficiency in the cutting utensil would be helpful, but I can't imagine that skill is so specific it doesn't have applicability anywhere else.
I could be wrong, of course, but that does seem a little too niche to me :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:15 PM
Perhaps

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:15 PM
That's almost like "I write really well, but only if I use a number 2 pencil and a specific thickness of paper."

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:15 PM
Well, it was just an example, but I'm sure there are talents that can be specific enough to be best utilized in an immoral manner.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:17 PM
I question it in general, but as I'm willing to acknowledge I can't see all ends (:}) I'm willing to concede there's always the possibility of something I haven't considered.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:17 PM
Very wise

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:18 PM
I think that any true talent, properly understood, is going to have a good use that can be corrupted by those with less than pure motives.
[6:20 PM]
As Tolkien put it about the Numenoreans: they were so far beyond the other Men of Middle-Earth that, had they a mind to, they also could've surpassed them in war.
[6:23 PM]
Or to more accurately quote: "For the Dunedain became mighty in crafts, so that if they had had the mind they could easily have surpassed the evil kings of Middle-earth in the making of war and the forging of weapons; but they were become men of peace."

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:23 PM
Yeah, okay, but "crafts" is a bit vaguer than the type of talent I had in mind

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:24 PM
I get it :}
[6:25 PM]
My point was on talents in general though, since that was the discussion. I merely thought that quote reflected some of my thought, though not fully. A talent, properly understood, is going to have a purpose that is actually useful or good in some way, but it can be turned from the good use to something not so good.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:26 PM
"So what are you good at?" "Crafting." "Crafting what?" "anything"
[6:27 PM]
Well, I still say that there are probably talents that are specific enough for their natural if not only uses to be something considered immoral by some who might possess it.
[6:28 PM]
Muslim pig farmers?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:29 PM
Hmm.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:31 PM
scrolling back up to gaming Weren't there any WoW 9.1 posts to link?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:31 PM
I linked the 9.1 stuff last week.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:31 PM
There was nothing new since last week and it coming out?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:32 PM
I don't recall seeing anything that was attention-grabbing.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:32 PM
Fair enough. I suppose it was mostly summaries of blogs that had been posted before.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:32 PM
I figured the accessibility options were wrapped up in the patch notes.
Other than that, nothing.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:33 PM
Oh, speaking of, I decided to try out text to voice, for certain in-game channels, party, and raid.
If nothing else, seems useful when I'm browsing the web and someone says something

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:33 PM
Hmm, forgot that was an option.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:34 PM
It even pronounces "Calaron" correctly!

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:34 PM
Hehe. Now I'm curious how it pronounces my names.
[6:34 PM]
It has to mispronounce "Auros". I can't imagine it getting that right.
[6:35 PM]
Would it read back my own text or do I have to have someone else to make it work?

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:35 PM
You can enable it for your own specifically. As well as telling it to also pronounce the name of who says it.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:35 PM
Interesting.
[6:36 PM]
Now you have me curious.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:36 PM
:)

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:37 PM
I have some character names that I can barely decide how to pronounce, so I'm really curious about those, lol.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:37 PM
I thought about trying it on some of my others, but if it gets Calaron right, the others are pretty much straightforward.
[6:38 PM]
I guess I might see about Calrana and Caldaera, those can be pronounced multiple ways...
For Calshanguia and Calectronica the worst it can do is misplace the emphasis.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:39 PM
Hmm, lua errors when loading my system menu. That can't be good for Blizzard.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:40 PM
Hmm.
Something addon?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:40 PM
I don't use addons.
[6:41 PM]
I'm one of those rare creatures that makes due with what Blizzard put in there.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:41 PM
Now imagine if your talent was addon-making

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:41 PM
Except for the one time I dabbled with lua so I wrote a couple of basic lua scripts for myself.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:41 PM
But yeah.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:41 PM
I am a programmer... :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:42 PM
It's basically mandatory for the more recent raids, very useful for instances, and I can't imagine hunting for rares, treasures and appearances without addons for map-markers or unlock-checks.
So I can't really go without

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:43 PM
Blizzard added their own map markers in the pre-expansion patch :}
Sort of. It's only one at a time anyway.
[6:44 PM]
Zira is a voice option. I didn't know she did any work after the Planet of the Apes movies... :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:44 PM
I know about the link-thing, but I'm more talking about Handynotes stuff: Location of chests, rares, rewards they may drop... stuff you'd spent half an hour browsing wowhead for otherwise if you wanted to get some farming done.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:45 PM
(For those not old enough, Zira was one of the doctor apes in the old series starting with the one starring Charlton Heston.)

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:45 PM
I'm waiting for someone to create racially specific character-attuned WoW voice packs, if that's possible.
Old enough to have seen it at least once in the past, at least.
Like: Dwarf male says something, it gets said in dwarf male voice.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:46 PM
That's fair enough. Didn't say they went all-out on it :} But it was something. I'd settle for them letting me put my own markers all over the map and give me coordinates, and I'll figure out the rest on my own.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:47 PM
Yeah, if it saved between sessions, sure

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:47 PM
Wow, just tried both text to speech voice options. My direction thing on my phone sounds friendlier.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:48 PM
I suppose it wasn't made for charisma

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:48 PM
Don't remember what app I use, lol, but it sounds friendlier. Definitely need more options, maybe with a British accent, heh.
Hehe, true.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:49 PM
I think you would need to add voice packs to windows or something, and it'll register their presence.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:50 PM
Yep, it pronounced my name wrong, which is what I was expecting.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:50 PM
I did see something recently about a Michael Caine gps voice pack...

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:52 PM
Should be "Ow-ros" i.e. "Ouch" Like "Sauron". It pronounces my name "Oros" like the Naaru in the Exodar.
Michael Caine eh? That might be interesting, hehe.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:52 PM
Yeah, "au" is more Dutch/Scandinavian than English, so that's understandable.
in the "ow" pronounciation, I mean.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:53 PM
Aye.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:53 PM
For me, Sauron actually sounded natural

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:53 PM
hehe
Yep, pronounces "Sauron" as "Soar-on" rather than "Sour-on"
[6:54 PM]
Checking out about other voices now, hehe.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:54 PM
i'fact, I think the interview Varda linked last week with Tolkien also had the interviewer pronounce it as Soar-on.
I remember noticing that.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:55 PM
Hmm, old instructions. They separated out "Region and Language" to two separate settings.
I'm sure I heard it, but it seems it didn't register.
[6:56 PM]
Used to people mispronouncing things I guess :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:56 PM
hehe
[6:57 PM]
Yeah, it doesn't get calrana and caldaera right
Nor Calkin! Pff.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:57 PM
Hmm, Windows has "English" with different accents/dialects. Wonder if they cost me anything, heh.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 6:57 PM
for voice pack?

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 6:58 PM
For text-to-speech, I see Canadian, UK, Australian, US. Also has others without Text-to-speech like Jamaica.
[6:59 PM]
Ooh, gotta try the Irish one, hehe.
Lol, WoW just told me I was AFK.
I probably need that message for when I get caught up doing something else, lol.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:00 PM
Yeah, you can do system messages as well. I removed that after it kept telling me what (loot)spec I was in.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 7:01 PM
Lol, yeah, that could get annoying.
[7:02 PM]
Lol, who would've thought I'd spend my night off getting new languages for my OS.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:02 PM
hehe
Anyway, while we're almost there already, personal gaming report!

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 7:02 PM
Go ahead :}

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Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:03 PM
For (non)flashgames, this week there were 3 new badges for me... but all part of the Medieval Cop detective series. So have a Medieval Cop report this week
[7:04 PM]
https://www.kongregate.com/games/VasantJ/medieval-cop-8-deathwish-part-2 was the first game for this week! I'd played part 1 before, though I didn't really remember the story. But this one starts with your colleagues knocked out and mind controlled, while you have to free them by going into the spirit world and waking them from their dreams and nightmares before they throw themselves off a cliff.
    Kongregate
    Medieval Cop 8 -DeathWish- (Part 2)
    Dregg is back from Hell into... another Hell.
    His Co-Workers have become mindless zombies
    and Dregg must save them with the help of a
    Dog from Hell.
    (Game Size...

[7:04 PM]
At this point in the story it starts to get quite dark.
[7:05 PM]
The gameplay is the same as always in the series; walk around, look at stuff and collect things, use clues to win debates and answer questions correctly. One of the 3 dreams was actually a police investigation, true to the series
[7:07 PM]
(pff, WoW can't pronounce Caliona right)

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 7:21 PM
Bah, trying to figure out how to activate the new option for WoW.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:22 PM
If the voice pack isn't in the selection list that Zira's in, you might want to look online somewhere? I'm not sure.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 7:24 PM
Checking Microsoft's instruction for installing.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:26 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/VasantJ/medieval-cop-8-deathwish-part-3 is the second game! Sequel to the previous one, in this the main character himself is trapped in the spirit world and has to get himself out, through a bit of mazing and quizzing and a single investigation at the end. It mostly servers as a lore filler that I can see, and a bridge to the 9th game. But hey, it's there, it was new for me, and if you like the series, it's still some gaming
    Kongregate
    Medieval Cop 8 -DeathWish- (Part 3)
    Dregg#39s soul is claimed by the Spirit Realm. With no hope of getting out, Dregg must get over his past and conquer it.
    (Game Size30mb)

[7:26 PM]
I should probably play this series in proper order at some point...

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:34 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/VasantJ/medieval-cop-adam-and-eva is the third game, but is actually game 7 in the series. In it, a serial killer is on the loose, and you have to solve the latest murder, while also progressing the overall story.
    Kongregate
    Medieval Cop - Adam and Eva
    Things are getting serious as a serial killer is on
    the loose and Dregg is determined to have a
    decent birthday for once before realizing that
    he lies in the m...

[7:34 PM]
But there's more to the game, with people to talk to at a party scene and a room to find clues in, followed by another debate! So yeah, more classic gameplay in this one still.
[7:35 PM]
So yeah, a week of medieval cop... if it's not your thing, maybe next week will be better

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Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 7:35 PM
Aha, here's the problem.....
The most infamous of them all, the dreaded "You must restart your computer for X to take effect."

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:35 PM
hah

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 7:36 PM
So in other words, I might as well grab all the languages I want now then restart so I don't have to do it again.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:37 PM
Sounds about right. But I'm not sure if it'll take them that easily, since I only had Zira available in-game as well but I do have a Dutch voice pack installed by default. So it might just be English ones for WoW.
As English client, anyhoo.
[7:38 PM]

Blizzard gaming:
[7:42 PM]
Heroes of the Storm:
Still level 456. Had my first Stitches matches since the patch, though, with his talent changes.
[7:43 PM]
Adapted talent setup seems to make for a really Slam-spammy gamestyle, with more mana-sustainability, which is nice, though a bit awkward in some situations
[7:44 PM]
But I think I can get used to it!
[7:46 PM]
Hearthstone:
level 124 on the reward track. Gold rewards not quite enough to give me enough for the next hero skin this week, but it's getting there.
[7:47 PM]
Brawl is a Ragnaros/Thaurissan themed one, where all cards in your hand have their cost reduced by 1 at the end of each turn.
[7:49 PM]
Got my matches with a murloc shaman (using Morgl as a skin, of course!), with a bunch of murlocs and buff-spells, leading to some overwhelming combos a few turns in as both the spells and murlocs would come in cheap, and stats were easy to increase
[7:50 PM]
WoW:
[7:51 PM]
No raiding but the old Throne of Thunder visit, alas. Next week we'll start the new raid, though.
[7:52 PM]
Weekly is dungeons, where I visited the dungeons on mythic where I'm still lacking pets or mounts, but got none of them, alas.
[7:53 PM]
This week's brawl got me to honor level 79! One more to go for my last artifact appearance
2 new mounts, 2 new pets!
[7:54 PM]
Got enough anima together to buy a new mount, the Shadeleaf Runestag, and a new pet, Trootie, from the Ardenweald Renown vendor. Trootie's quite fun as it responds to emotes
[7:55 PM]
And today I got a mount from the Darkshore warfront rares, the Kaldorei Nightsaber. Only one mount remains from that warfront now.
[7:57 PM]
Also today, the cat pet called Lucy! Apparently a rare drop from one of the Calling trainees' gem-finds on the ground. I'd seen the gem things before, apparently from a specific trainee for each faction, but didn't know they could give the pet, which is apparently the only permanent reward you can get from them. Lucy's a ghostly transparent pet tied to Revendreth, but that's not set as a source as I got her from Maldraxxus myself.
[7:58 PM]
Oh, and I also got the Wild Soul weapon illusion, also for anima from the Renown vendor.
Next up to save anima for will be a bunch of gear appearances, so not much glorious to tell there.
9.1's arrived, and I've done some stuff there!
I wanted to postpone the Korthia stuff, but apparently first 3 chapters are important for raiding, so I'm working on those.
[7:59 PM]
I knew, however, that by the end of chapter 3, I'll no longer get an Eye of the Jailer debuff in the Maw, so I started off by grinding out the achievement to kill 100 assassins sent after me by the Jailer. I still needed 68, so that was quite some work
[8:00 PM]
Next up I did the first 2 chapters, including the battle of Ardenweald and the discovery and buildup of Korthia.
[8:01 PM]
Unfortunately, the day I wanted to start chapter 3, WoW started bugging out to the point where map-stuff and quest progress in the Shadowlands makes the game stutter, and I didn't want to go through the questline that way, especially since Blizzard is aware of it and working on a fix.
[8:02 PM]
So I settled for doing the first few quests to set up the teleporter between Maw and Korthia, and will be saving chapter 3 for wednesday at the latest, earlier if they bring out the fix.
During chapter 2 I unlocked the possibility to use mounts in the Maw, but since I already have a Mawhound mount anyway, it doesn't change much for me
[8:04 PM]
But in the meantime, since I didn't want to continue campaign, I alted more.
[8:04 PM]
When I logged my paladin for the first time this week there was a legion invasion going on in Azsuna, during which I didn't want to quest, so instead I took my sass rogue to the Broken Shore intro scenario.
[8:05 PM]
Where it has come to my attention that assassination rogues have very little in the way of sustained healing.
[8:06 PM]
How he's gonna make it all the way to Shadowlands... I haven't a clue. Maybe I need to level his alchemy and make potions.
[8:06 PM]
Once he gets his Maldraxxus covenant, the shield should help a bit at least.
[8:07 PM]
And the rest was paladin!
[8:08 PM]
Completed the remaining questlines, sidequestlines and sidequest objectives in Azsuna, completing all but the dungeon, and getting from level 41 to 44 along the way.
Since she needs 45 for the next bit of the class campaign, I'll have to start a new zone for just one level. Ah well.
[8:09 PM]
So next week I'll do chapter 3 of the new campaign with the druid, and get my paladin to 45 and beyond!
Who knows, maybe she'll even get to 48 for Shadowlands
[8:10 PM]
As for the rest of the campaign... it can wait. I know there's a lot of stuff to unlock in Korthia and through the campaign, but I'm only doing the minimum necessary, as I would like to see the other 3 9.0 covenant campaigns first. So alts have priority.
[8:11 PM]
Lore-wise, I was lucky to have done Ardenweald on the main, since that was where the first chapter took place, with only minimal references to the other campaigns
[8:12 PM]
And that's my report for the week!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 8:21 PM
namarie!

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 8:22 PM
Sleep Well :}

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 8:29 PM
Gonna restart my computer now and see how well this goes with the language packs.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 8:46 PM
Hmm, out of the four I installed, only British appears in my options in WoW.

Eonwë Valar — Yesterday at 8:55 PM
OK, this might be a little too fun to play around with the voices, lol. Spelling elvish out phonetically to see if it'll be pronounced right is making me think of this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjydE0XOKjs
    YouTube
    TVSA
    Phonic Frog Simpsons

[9:00 PM]
At the right speed some of these voices don't sound too bad.
[9:03 PM]
Well now, it seems to pronounce "Calasulo" as I would, though I'm sure I'm stressing the wrong syllable when I do, heh.

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