Valar Guild

October 10, 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 typed): (4)
    Discord: Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Falco, Varda (presiding)
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news:
    The anniversary chat marathon ends after this meeting. Take a breath.
Web:
    State of Valar Gaming now available, from the data you sent.
    Anniversary page (continues taking your contributions to the Tolkien Site as Anniversary-marked through the end of October.)
Gaming:
    World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Hearthstone Mercenaries, more WoW, Special Edition for Metroid Dread
    Anniversary kin house now bought for our branch on LotRO's  Shadowfax server.
Tolkien:
    Tolkien chat went on all week in the meeting channel and even in-game, so not all is in the transcripts. Apologies but we had nothing during this meeting.
After-meeting:
    (non)Flashgaming Reviews (plus) by Ar-Pharazon. Includes Blizzard games.

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Before-meeting
Eonwλ Valar — Yesterday at 4:25 AM
For the record: WoW in-game calendar claims Deep Six is next week's PvP Brawl.
[4:26 AM]
Followed by Arathi Blizzard and Gravity Lapse.

Eonwλ Valar — Yesterday at 2:30 PM
Heads up: I don't know if I'll make it to the meeting. If I don't everything for Gaming News is already up. (edited)

Varda — Yesterday at 3:51 PM
Thank you, Eonwe.

Varda — Yesterday at 4:00 PM
Aiya!
[4:01 PM]
This is the end meeting for the annual chat marathon. Happy 24th Anniversary to you all, Valar Guild!
[4:01 PM]

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Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:01 PM]
Membership:
[4:02 PM]
Happy Anniversary, since this is where I should have said it. : )
[4:02 PM]
Eonwe isn't sure if he could make tonight's meeting, but put up the Gaming news for us.
[4:03 PM]
He has also been active a good bit during the chat marathon.
Thanks to all of you who joined in the chat marathon this past week.
You can still get credit for it by showing up for the meeting, since the marathon doesn't end until this meeting does.

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Web:
[4:04 PM]
Our Anniversary page has some goodies on it for everyone.
Feel free to continue adding all through October.
[4:05 PM]
The theme is mainly to help get ideas, but not required. It's about getting ready for tourneys (as they did in Medieval times etc) and the tourney itself, all of which were practice before going into real battles. Tough gaming!
[4:06 PM]
But of course in Hobbit country (and anywhere with pies, etc), this includes Food Wars. Feel free to use that as well.
[4:08 PM]
Also under Web, Eonwe has been updating the Games site for us with the info you sent him, the site could also use your gaming reviews for any multi-player game that you play.
[4:09 PM]
http://valarguild.org/varda/guild/NewsArchives/extras/2021/anniv24th.htm
    24th Anniversary of the Valar Guild
    Year 2021, 24th Anniversary celebration of the Valar
    Guild Tolkien fan club and gamers' group.
http://valarguild.org/gaming
    The Valar Guild Games Site
    Valar Guild Games Site
On to

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Gaming!
[4:10 PM]
I know gaming is popular here because I see a bunch of you on the side in various games and I game too, of course, every chance.
[4:11 PM]

World of Warcraft:
[4:12 PM]
This week's Bonus Event: Shadowlands Dungeons.
The PvP Brawl: Packed House runs through Tuesday, October 12th.
Check out this week's hotfixes.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23691036/hotfixes-october-5-2021
    World of Warcraft
    Hotfixes: October 5, 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.
[4:13 PM]

Lord of the Rings Online:
Check out the preview of LotRO's upcoming new class, the Brawler.
Something was updated in the blog Your New Legendary Items Explained!
[4:14 PM]
https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/your-new-legendary-items-explained
    The Lord of the Rings Online
    Your New Legendary Items Explained!
I am almost ready to give the players report for Landroval, but first,
[4:15 PM]

Eonwe gave us this!
The State of Valar Gaming Report for 2021 is up!
http://valarguild.org/gaming/news/state-of-valar-gaming-2021
    The Valar Guild Games Site
    Valar Guild Games Site

You get it here first, ahead of the News and Anniversary pages. Congrats!
[4:16 PM]
To those who responded to the Games Site Mass Update request, thank you!
Feel free to add belated updates as well. : )
As of October 4th, 2021, the Valar Guild Games Site now reflects a total of 162 members playing 27 games (up 5 games from last year).
[4:17 PM]
Of those 162 members:
1 member plays each of Civilization VI, Diablo 2: Resurrected, Diablo 3, Dragon Age, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Final Fantasy XIV, Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming, Guild Wars 2, Hearthstone, Mass Effect, Red Dead Online, Red Dead Redemption, Spellstone, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Starcraft, Witcher, Witcher 2, and Witcher 3.
2 members play Guild Wars.
3 members play each of Elder Scrolls Online and Heroes of the Storm.
4 members play each of Eve Online, Starcraft 2, and Warcraft 3: Reforged.

7: World of Warcraft remains our second most played game with 7 members, down by two from last year. 3 of those are playing WoW Classic: 2 on Europe servers and 1 on US servers.
22: Lord of the Rings Online remains our most played game with 22 members, remaining steady from last year.
[4:19 PM]
As always, please check over your gaming information and make sure it is correct. If you did not respond to the GSMU, you can still send in your gaming information. Remember that you can send in updates any time of year.
[4:23 PM]
.
For the Lord of the Rings Online report, gamers online this past week showing up in kin were:

    Lord of the Rings Online:
Landroval server:
Arien
Eonwe
Fangorn
Nar
Varda

Anor server:
Eonwe
Varda

Shadowfax server:
Varda

Treebeard server:
Varda
.
[4:24 PM]
I'm going to go ahead with the difficulty slider servers [Note: Shadowfax and Treebeard servers] and will have them available if any of you is interested. I'm going for the titles and stuff that will carry over to the main server, Landroval, and can't be gotten anywhere else. Not important, but nifty. : )
[4:25 PM]
Chances are, those two servers will disappear in time, more like long-term testing of something new, and the population isn't all that high. [Note: I've seen some of the mechanics enter our main server for special encounters.]
[4:26 PM]
However, Landroval is popular and will remain. Of the Legendary servers, Anor appears to be able to keep its longevity for a long time yet. We'll see. Landroval remains our main server.
[4:27 PM]
.
[4:28 PM]
I've heard that there's been a number of difficulties with a lot of social media, as they have been having trouble staying up. They appear to be mostly back, but I get most of this info from others as I'm not heavily into those.
I hope it hasn't also affected your gaming.
[4:29 PM]
In my area, AT&T is redoing the wiring to be fiber optic, so those of us in this area who suddenly disappear (probably Monday), that's what's going on. Nothing sinister.
[4:30 PM]
That's it for my news.
[4:35 PM]
I should mention that on Shadowfax server, we now have a kin house in the Man area of Breeland.
[4:36 PM]
It was worked for to have it ready as an Anniversary present for the guild, and is ready for decoration and/or storage. Enjoy!
[4:40 PM]
LotRO people are going to want to complete Watcher in the Water if they haven't already.
[4:41 PM]
Need Chapter 13: The Watcher in the Water in order to access The Archive for traceries for the new Legendary Items. The Archive will be in Rivendell, second floor of the Last Homely House.
[4:45 PM]
@Bounder Happy 24th Anniversary of the Valar Guild!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:01 PM
Aiya!
[5:02 PM]
Happy anniversary, grats again on the kin house, and I did hear about the social media as it was global, but wasn't online at the time it happened myself.
[5:02 PM]
Not that I use any except a rare instagram check.

Varda — Yesterday at 5:05 PM
Phar, aiya!
[5:05 PM]
Somehow missed your message, my apologies.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:05 PM
It was 3 minutes ago

Varda — Yesterday at 5:05 PM
I was letting the hour count down, heh.
[5:06 PM]
Aye, and it should have showed up on my warning thingy, but guess I didn't set it right.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:06 PM
Ah.

Varda — Yesterday at 5:06 PM
Anyway, very glad to see you. : )
Any news you'd like to add before we close?

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:06 PM
Indeed! Late again, happening more often... I've got reasons, but will try to get it under control
Hmm...
[5:07 PM]

Well, Hearthstone Mercenaries in a few days, just as a warning to people...
[5:08 PM]

WoW has a Torghast event going on, which, if you choose the power for it and build on it, makes things a lot easier suddenly!

Varda — Yesterday at 5:08 PM
Ah hah

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:08 PM
Otherwise, dunno.

Varda — Yesterday at 5:08 PM
Sounds like news. : )
[5:09 PM]
We've reached the hour.

the gavel blows a high note
[5:10 PM]
the hammerpad flips through the book, "Gavel's Anatomy", wondering how that's possible.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:10 PM
I guess I can mention I need to move some of my Warcraft books, since the shelf is actually made for clothes and it's starting to dip down a bit

Varda — Yesterday at 5:10 PM
footnote says "It's maaagic!"

Maybe a bit of support could be added?
Moving can be good. : )
[5:11 PM]

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After-meeting!
[5:11 PM]
The chat marathon is officially over. You are all free!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:11 PM
scatters

Varda — Yesterday at 5:12 PM
hehe

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:12 PM
Not sure how a single person can scatter, but hey.

Varda — Yesterday at 5:13 PM
Gimli is kindly making supper for the end of the anniversary, with help from his sweet lady wife. : )
[5:14 PM]
Everyone's chatted out, Fangorn suggests.
[5:15 PM]
Fangorn says "Hi!"  : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:15 PM
Hi!

Varda — Yesterday at 5:16 PM
: )

Falco — Yesterday at 5:27 PM
Aiya!  Happy Anniversary!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:28 PM
Aiya! Happy anniversary!
To you too, that is

Varda — Yesterday at 5:32 PM
Falco! Aiya : )
[5:39 PM]
Away for supper with Gimli, Sauron, and Fangorn. : )  What a combo!

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:39 PM
Enjoy!

Eonwλ Valar — Yesterday at 5:44 PM
Heya all.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:44 PM
Aiya!

Eonwλ Valar — Yesterday at 5:48 PM
For those interested, because of the way the Special Edition for Metroid Dread was done, I wasn't able to get it on launch day, but I did manage to get an order in for it, and it looks like I might be lucky enough to get it tomorrow.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 5:48 PM
Ooh, grats

Eonwλ Valar — Yesterday at 5:49 PM
Thanks :}
Excited to get it. the 2D Metroid series is one of my favorite series.

Varda — Yesterday at 7:02 PM
Grats, Eonwe : )

Eonwλ Valar — Yesterday at 7:02 PM
Thanks :}

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Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 7:42 PM
(non)flashgaming: 3 old badges this week, not seen a new one in a while, but these are alright to play
[7:43 PM]
https://www.kongregate.com/games/SmallIsBeautiful/super-ordinary-joe is the first game! An upgrade platformer retrostyled, you start as an ordinary guy, have to collect coins before you tire out, eat, buy upgrades, collect abilities and make your way to the end of the level.
    Kongregate
    Super Ordinary Joe
    For Joe, the path to success is right ahead, but is he dedicated enough to attain it? Grind your way to a healthy athletic body in this upgrade / platformer ga...

[7:43 PM]
Starts slow, but ramps up.
[7:44 PM]
If you're also continuing to level 2, be careful, because it's quite easy to run out of food between days.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 8:35 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/TeamSemiColon/string-theory is the second game, a physics/puzzle/platformer game where you have to manipulate springs of various kinds to bring the ball and/or cube to the exit in each level.
    Kongregate
    String Theory
    Google Chrome is highly recommended!
    We#39ve officially announced String Theory 2! Find out more here -ampgt; https://www.facebook.com/stringtheorygame/
    In Strin...

[8:36 PM]
There's also a story about two scientists being stuck between dimensions
[8:40 PM]

and https://www.kongregate.com/games/eddynardo/choppy-orc for the third game! Part of a gimmicky platformer dungeon series, in this one you are an orc with a throwing axe, which you can use to climb walls by climbing up it, hit levers, and kill enemies.
    Kongregate
    Choppy Orc
    Simple platformer about an Orc that likes chopping stuff with his axe.
    Created by eddynardo
    Graphics by 0Χ72 and Adam Saltsman
    Song quotThe Little Brothquot by Role...

Get to all the chests in all the levels!

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Ar-Pharazon-V — Yesterday at 8:50 PM
Blizzard gaming:
[8:51 PM]
Hearthstone:
Level 93 on the reward track. Almost there!
Gold reward has increased too per level, giving me enough to buy another hero skin, so I got Khadgar. Bit boring, but eh, gotta collect em all
One more level on the demon hunter, 43 now!
[8:52 PM]
Brawl is Battle of the Bans: Choose 4 cards, opponent bans one, you get a full deck with 10 of each of the remaining. Redundancy can be important  Won several matches with a mech hunter.
[8:53 PM]
WoW:
[8:54 PM]
Raiding still going, but no progress. I did get some loot upgrades but through different sources.
Renown to 70, unlocking more conduits and a mount for sale on the renown vendor, but I'm saving that until I'm done with the other vendors.
[8:55 PM]
Weekly was mythic dungeons, the quest giving a heroic raid piece, and for me that was a belt upgrade
[8:56 PM]
And through Torghast, with the special event, I not only got 2 flawless runs on layers 10 and 11 (in fact I got such a high score on layer 10 that it would've been a rank higher if flawless wasn't the highest), getting quite a bit of tower knowledge along the way, but also ended up with enough soul cinders to upgrade my legendary hat to rank 6, the maximum, with a 262 ilevel. Also a huge boost!
[8:57 PM]
Finally got my last item from the Arathi warfront rares, Skullripper the raptor mount  Just one left from Darkshore now.
Also got a new pet, my final paragon reward from the initial 4 Shadowlands factions. The Larion Cub! Took me many tries, but finally mine.
[8:58 PM]
Spent some anima on the Court of Night vendor as well, getting a new pack cloak appearance, as well as the Winterborn Runestag. Next up will be another Gorm mount, which I love
[9:00 PM]
And finally another pack cloak appearance, this time from a 4-grain conservatory slot, the Spirit Tender's Pack. Still trying for the mount from that slot, though, so continuing with the untamed spirits.
And that's my report for the week!
[9:05 PM]
Namarie

Varda — Yesterday at 10:17 PM
Thank you, Phar : )

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