Valar Guild

February 12, 2022 Sunday Meeting

5:00 P.M. Eastern 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, which is Valar time and LotRO /servertime.]

Attending (and typed): (4)

    Discord: 
A
rien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Varda (presiding)
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news:
Web:

Gaming:
    Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, Hearthstone, Diablo 2: Resurrected, Diablo Immortal
Tolkien:
    Topic: We had two members of the Fellowship that became Mayors of the Shire. Who were they?
After-meeting:
    (non)Flashgaming Reviews (plus) by Ar-Pharazon. Includes Blizzard games.

 
top

Before-meeting

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:01 PM
Aiya : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:01 PM
Aiya!

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 4:03 PM
Heya.

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:03 PM
Aiya to Phar and Eonwe : )
[4:04 PM]

top

Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:04 PM]

Membership:

[4:04 PM]
Good to see you. : )
I understand there are people interested in the Superbowl. May they have a great time! My own interest, unfortuntely, is nil in that.

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:05 PM
Is that today? I thought it was... like.. Thanksgiving or something.

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:06 PM
https://www.nfl.com/schedules/
    NFL.com
    NFL.com | Official Site of the National Football League
    The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more.

Feb 12, 5:30 pm CST, which is 6:30 EST
Valar Time is EST, of course.

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:07 PM
Aha

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:07 PM
So, an hour and a half from now.
People are making snacks, heading to their favorite viewing spots, and so on.

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:08 PM
well, shows what I know about American football

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:08 PM
No worries. This is only of interest to explain where some of our folk may have disappeared to today. : )
[4:09 PM]
Any other Membership news?

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:09 PM
Fladrif last online 2 days ago!
[4:10 PM]
Arien.. 14 hours

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:10 PM
She has been in LotRO lately, so that would not show on Bnet

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:10 PM
later than 14 hours ago?

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:10 PM
Yay Discord for our between game spot!
Yes

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:11 PM
alright, fair enough

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:11 PM
Crickhollow
I think, or wait
Yes, Crickhollow branch.
[4:12 PM]
Guess I should pull that up after all the times you've helped us that way. : )
Any other membership news?
[4:13 PM]
Discord does not show LotRO unless it's set each time, far as I can tell.
Tulkas may have figured out a way though. His shows nicely.
[4:14 PM]

top

Web:

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:14 PM
Ah, there's Arien

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:14 PM
yay!

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:14 PM
aiya

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:14 PM
On web, I suddenly realized the Membership page was still for 2022 and started working on updating that mess.
[4:14 PM]
Aiya Sunshine!

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:15 PM
Aiya

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:15 PM
crickhollow would be me ^^ because i was there until half an hour ago :_)P

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:16 PM
I was there for a bit too, but you were either busy or away. : )
No worries. We get to not expecting anything in the kin chat after a while!

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:17 PM
well yeah i had an appointment with the bathroom in between :)

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:17 PM
Good reason : )
[4:18 PM]
On Web, we have potentially something cool coming for Valentine's Day.
If anyone wants to use that as a story prompt, or article or other, feel free!
[4:18 PM]

top

Gaming:

Eonwe has a report for us.
[4:19 PM]
tosses the gavel to Eonwe, watching it giggle

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 4:19 PM
Lord of the Rings Online:
Update 34.2.1 is out this week. ---
https://www.lotro.com/update-notes/lotro-update-34-2-1-release-notes-en
    The Lord of the Rings Online
    Update 34.2.1 Release Notes
    Here are the release notes for Update 34.2.1, released on Wednesday, February 8th, 2023.

[4:19 PM]

World of Warcraft:
This week's bonus event: Dragonflight dungeons.

The PvP Brawl: Southshore vs. Tarren Mill is going until Tuesday, February 14th.

The Love Is In The Air event is going through February 20th.

Check out this week's hotfixes.  ---
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23892230/hotfixes-february-10-2023
    World of Warcraft
    Hotfixes: February 10, 2023 - WoW
    Here you will find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Wrath of the Lich King Classic, Burning Crusade Classic, and WoW Classic.

[4:20 PM]

Overwatch 2:
Check out the new blog: Director's Take: Keeping True To Our Heroes is out. ---
https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/news/23906081/
    Overwatch
    Director’s Take: Keeping true to our heroes:23906081
    We have a new update from Aaron Keller regarding arcade modes, push maps, and bringing IP collaborations to Overwatch
[4:20 PM]

Hearthstone:
There's some updates coming for Merceneries mode in batch 25.4. ---
https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/news/23892226/mercenaries-gets-a-mythic-update
    Mercenaries Gets a Mythic Update
    Mercenaries gets new Factions, Dual-Type Mercs, and a Mythic Boss Rush system as the Mode reaches completion.

[4:20 PM]
The next mini-set, Return to Naxxramas launches February 14th. ---
https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/news/23913670/the-lich-king-calls-on-you-to-return-to-naxxramas
    The Lich King Calls on You to Return to Naxxramas!
    The Battle for Silvermoon reaches its next phase as The Lich King calls for reinforcements in the March of the Lich King Mini-Set, Return to Naxxramas!

Diablo 2: Resurrected:
Ladder Season 3 will be starting February 16th. ---
https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo2/23899624/diablo-ii-resurrected-ladder-season-three-coming-soon
    Diablo II: Resurrected Ladder Season Three Coming Soon
    Eight new Rune Words and updates to Terror Zones, Sundering Charms, and more are coming with Patch 2.6 and Ladder Season Three.

[4:20 PM]
Diablo Immortal:
Check out the latest bug fixes. ---
https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo-immortal/23826549/diablo-immortal-bug-fixes-and-patch-notes-for-all-platforms
    Diablo Immortal Bug Fixes and Patch Notes for All Platforms
    We will continually update this blog with all bug fixes and patches the team implements for Diablo Immortal on all platforms.

[4:20 PM]
More server merges are coming February 22nd for servers in East Asia and Southeast Asia. ---
https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo-immortal/23897178/brave-the-perils-of-the-fen-in-diablo-immortal
    Brave the Perils of the Fen in Diablo Immortal
    Our newest Content Update brings increased Stash tabs, news of our next Server Merges, a new limited-time event, and much more.

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:20 PM
Ah yes, mini-set for the first time will have golden set available for gold rather than real money... expensive, but I knew I was saving up for something
[4:22 PM]
Also of note, that mercenary update will be the last new content update for mercenary mode. Could say that as a failure of the mode... for me it's giving the opportunity to actually complete it one day this way

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 4:22 PM
I would note on the Love is in the Air event for WoW, they increased the chance of getting the mount from the first run (per account) of the event dungeon reward per day, so you can still buzz through a bunch of characters if that's your thing, or just do the first for the increased chance and move on.

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:23 PM
Yup, even though for the first time I have multiple characters of eligible level... I'm sticking with the main because of that.

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:23 PM
Nice

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 4:25 PM
That's it for gaming news from me.

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:25 PM
Thank you, Eonwe. : )
[4:26 PM]

LotRO: Ill Omens event ends Feb 27
[4:26 PM]
The Reward Track will be resetting, so might check to see if yours needs to have items claimed.

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:27 PM
welll one thing to add .. just not sure whether its member or gaming news .. i guess both hehe  all going well I am going to real life guild meeting of my classic  guild in Prague in august :)

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:27 PM
Ooh, nice!

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:28 PM
Classic guild? Is that WoW?

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:28 PM
yeah

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:28 PM
Sounds great! : )

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:28 PM
sorry i was a bit slow typing
[4:29 PM]
carry on

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:29 PM
I was just checking what classic guild meant, no worries. : )
[4:30 PM]
One more thing for LotRO:
Landroval branch:
Aranuir
Arien
Bregalad
Dis
Eonwe
Fangorn
Lenwe
Nar
Varda

Crickhollow branch:
Arien
Eonwe
Fangorn
Varda

Shadowfax branch:
Varda

Treebeard branch:
Varda
[4:31 PM]
Another thing on web. I was trying to remember if we wanted to put all the membership into one list, marked Active or Inactive, the way we used to have it.
Gets a bit crazy trying to update it across two tables. : )
Doable though.
[4:34 PM]
Ok, side chat shows separate is best. : )

Starcraft 2 folk have been playing. I only can mention family that I know of, but others also play.
Eowyn, Fangorn, Faramir
[4:35 PM]
On to

top

Tolkien!

[4:35 PM]
We had two members of the Fellowship that became Mayors of the Shire. Who were they?

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:36 PM
Let me see... they are obviously hobbits...
[4:37 PM]
But probably not the ones who became heads of their families and own large territories...
that leaves... hrrm...
F and S something
Ah yes, the one named after my cat, Frodo :)

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:37 PM
: )
[4:38 PM]
Frodo was the first Mayor, Sam after him. Aye : )
[4:38 PM]
You need another cat!

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:38 PM
hah, yes

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:38 PM
So what sort of duties does a Shire Mayor have?

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:39 PM
That's a good question...

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 4:39 PM
Judging food as I recall.

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:40 PM
errr administration i guess ,  in some form , and also representation at festivels

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:40 PM
I found it in the FotR Prologue, and we can guess it changed at least slightly.

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:40 PM
Shire-wide policy perhaps? Responsible for police forces? Coordinating after bad stuff like plagues, natural disasters and the occasional white wizard?

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:40 PM
hehe
[4:41 PM]
Sounds right!
[4:41 PM]
"The only real official in the Shire at this date was the Mayor of Michel Delving (or of the Shire), who was elected every seven years at the Free Fair on the the White Downs at the Lithe, that is at Midsummer.
As mayor, almost his only duty was to preside at banquets, given on the Shire-holidays, which occurred at frequent intervals.
But the offices of Postmaster and First Shirrif were attached to the mayorality, so that he managed both the Messenger Service and the Watch.
Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:41 PM
Ah, the Watch. There we go.

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:41 PM
These were the only Shire-services, and the Messengers were the most numerous, and much the busier of the two.
By no means all Hobbits were lettered, but those who were wrote constantly to all their friends (and a selection of their relations) who lived further off than an afternoon's walk.
End quote.

[4:42 PM]
The Bounders had had to be increased a lot about the time of the beginning of the story, but the hobbits, even Bilbo, didn't really connect that to a larger problem.

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:43 PM
as far as I remember the only thing frodo did as mayor was to reduce the shiriffs and the watch to their correct numbers and void the new laws sharku s  (sarumans ) men had introduced

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:44 PM
Frodo had to clean up the mess left behind from Lotho's time in office, aye.

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:44 PM
and release prisoners i think such as Lobelia and Fredegvar

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:45 PM
So by the time Sam got the job (7 year job!), it had been tidied up enough to just do it.
[4:46 PM]
The Shire was fortunate to have those two in that order as Mayors.
[4:47 PM]
Both knew a lot about the outside world, dangers, fairness, what to consider.
I guess we covered that topic. : )
[4:48 PM]

So here's an amusing comment someone made in World Chat in LotRO. See how fast you can type the answer on whom he is referring to!
[World] Bearroot: 'Seriously. Lives in dangerous woods, next to even more dangerous barrows. Wife is a lake spirit. Clearly does not fear anything.'

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:48 PM
tom bombadil

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:48 PM
Tom!
[4:49 PM]
Sorry, was distracted

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:49 PM
Arien wins : )
[4:49 PM]
have a cookie! and a side of bacon!

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:49 PM
And also wondering whether Sam's mayorhood increased the amount of gardens in the Shire.

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:49 PM
catches cooie and bacon yummie

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:50 PM
Phar, most likely!

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:51 PM
well he planted the mallorn nut and blew the dust over the hills so he did in any case even if not as a mayor act

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:51 PM
He also replaced the lost Party Tree with a mallorn from Lothlorien. : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:51 PM
True

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:51 PM
What Arien said.
[4:52 PM]
Aye, and the dust was from a box of soil from Lothlorien. He put it in a number of places to help the recovery.
and if he paid a bit more attention to his home area, that would be understandable.

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 4:53 PM
Heh, now picturing Sam as Rayman in the first game of the series, planting the seeds in one level...
[4:53 PM]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOtb5YnYrYk&t=35s
    YouTube
    Carls493
    Rayman 1: Part 3: The Swamps of Forgetfulness (All Electoon Cages)

[4:53 PM]
Not sure how that came into my head
[4:56 PM]
I'm guessing the ones in the Shire didn't quite grow that fast though.

Varda — 02/12/2023 4:56 PM
Seed planting
[4:56 PM]
the gavel moves slowly, spitting watermelon seeds as it goes
[4:57 PM]
a watermelon plant begins to grow in the ambience of Yavanna
but one of them does not last long, having landed on the hammerpad just before...
thonk!

top

After-meeting!

[4:57 PM]
Free chat : )

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 4:58 PM
I didn't realize we'd reached the Gallagher Threshold :}

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 4:59 PM
galllagher treshold?

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 5:00 PM
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodzillaThreshold
    TV Tropes
    Godzilla Threshold - TV Tropes
    The Godzilla Threshold trope as used in popular culture. There is wisdom in facing a threat with a proportionate response. Sure, There Is No Kill like …

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:00 PM
what s that? and yeah agree with varda there .. the game scene certainly was inspired by all the plants and seeds ^^
[5:02 PM]
smaug s death would be one such in tolkien ?
[5:03 PM]
I mean he died but esgaroth was destroyed and many died and killed

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 5:03 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErppAlOIGQE (some language possible)
    YouTube
    Gallagher
    Gallagher - Sledge-O-Matic (The Maddest)

[5:04 PM]
The biggest part of his Slege-o-matic routine was when he brought out the watermelon. Couldn't quickly find a clip of that.

Varda — 02/12/2023 5:06 PM
His aim tends to be away from himself.
[5:06 PM]
Veterans have plastic!
[5:08 PM]
It's the controller

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:09 PM
aye right ^^

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 5:11 PM
heh, that lightbulb...

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:11 PM
i have something for you from my favorite band at the moment .. its not tolkien but its afterchat
[5:11 PM]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umXOUGSLXLU
YouTube
dArtagnanVEVO
dArtagnan - C'est la vie (English Version - Official Video)


Varda — 02/12/2023 5:12 PM
After chat has it all.  : )
[5:12 PM]
but the video is not available in my country.
[5:13 PM]
Even the English version

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:13 PM
ah stupid .. shame

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 5:13 PM
Think I've heard a few songs by them.

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:13 PM

[5:13 PM]
what do you think then eonwe?

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 5:14 PM
I don't remember which song it was, but I remember liking the sound.

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:14 PM


Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 5:15 PM
Might've even been that one, just not in English.

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:15 PM
very folky rock metal
[5:15 PM]
and brilliant lyrics
[5:15 PM]
aye the english version is fairly new

Eonwλ Valar — 02/12/2023 5:16 PM
Before I get off on a music tangent and start listening to it all again, I need to go.
[5:16 PM]
Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.

Varda — 02/12/2023 5:19 PM
Namarie : )

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:24 PM
Namarie

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 5:24 PM
namarie!

Arien  Valar — 02/12/2023 5:26 PM
but .. to conclude with tolkien again
[5:26 PM]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulsA_ytf4VY
    YouTube
    Gobby Metal
    FEUERSCHWANZ - Rohirrim - With Lyrics

[5:27 PM]
The fires kindled, the fires kindled
Ahead on Eorlingas
Grim deeds awake, grim deeds awake
We ride with six thousand men

The white tree on fire
The case is imminent
And the age of the orcs

And therefore ride, Rohirrim
Until the end of this world
A sword day, a blood day
When shield and spear shatter
Yes, therefore ride, Rohirrim
Ride out in the dawn
Before the sun rises
Don't be afraid of death

(Rohirrim)

The servants of the enemy
The servants of the enemy
Sauron has regained his strength
Follow the king's banner
The king's banner
Riders of the Riddermark

The white tree on fire
The case is imminent
And the age of the orcs

And therefore ride, Rohirrim
Until the end of this world

Varda — 02/12/2023 5:41 PM
[5:41 PM]
Thank you. : )

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 8:53 PM
Personal gaming report:
[8:54 PM]
For (non)flashgaming, https://www.kongregate.com/games/KekGames/unpuzzle is the first in a series where you have to dismantle a jigsaw of sorts, one piece at a time. Further levels give further mechanics, such as locks, arrows, and rotating pieces.
    Kongregate
    Unpuzzle
    Clear levels piece by piece.

[8:55 PM]
Been a while since any in this series showed up in the weekly badges, but I still can't help but complete them every time they do

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 9:01 PM
And the music's nice in all of them as well!
[9:01 PM]
Blizzard gaming:
[9:08 PM]
Hearthstone:
Level 93 on the reward track. Soon!

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 9:08 PM
And got the Death Knight class from 22 to 24 along the way.
[9:08 PM]
Collecting gold for an actual reason now, since the golden version of the next mini-set will be 10k gold, and I have over 9k now
[9:09 PM]
Tavern brawl is murlocs this time, choose a class, get some random class spells and a whole bunch of random murlocs.
[9:10 PM]
Got my wins with the shaman class, which has some murloc-friendly buffs, and used the murloc skin for it as well
[9:10 PM]
WoW:
[9:12 PM]
Raiding still going well! Made it to 386 ilevel for my tankgear, so now settling in our tanking rotation, including having now tanked the last boss, Razsageth, on normal difficulty, and the first boss, Eranog, on heroic. They'll slowly ease me in on the more complex bosses on heroic over the next few weeks.
[9:13 PM]
Current heroic target is Kurog, and we are getting pretty close!
[9:15 PM]
Weekly is mythic dungeons! Did 4 different ones that I'd done on normal previously, including one earlier this week, so I didn't have to do dungeons while being lootlocked or dungeons I hadn't done before.

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 9:16 PM
Quest reward for the weekly was a very nice rare raiddrop ring, which means I now have both of them, though one of them's normal and one heroic ilevel. But that's fine! Apparently I need to get a hat crafted now to make optimal use of those rings because they proc on fire damage, but will need to complete the main zone quests first to unlock a reagent for it.
[9:17 PM]
Completed the objectives for the trading post tender, getting my maximum tender for this month. Won't spend it yet, saving for next month instead.
Also poked the apothecary bosses a bunch of times to try for the mount at increased drop chance, but no luck yet
[9:18 PM]
Oh, and completing those trading post objectives also got me a new free mount, Ash'adar, Harbinger of Dawn!
A cat mount that changes color depending on night or day, but since I only play in the evenings I've only seen it in night mode so far.
[9:19 PM]
Spent a bunch of gold this week, about two thirds of what I had (if not more) to get my 7th tier 3 druid piece from the black market auction house, the headpiece. Only the gloves remain, but now I'll know exactly what I can spend on it
[9:20 PM]
Started buying this stuff expansions ago, and it's  nice to make progress.
[9:21 PM]
Finally, questing! Worked on some sidequests in Azure Span to empty my questlog a bit, including the gnoll dungeon there, Brackenhide Hollow, on normal... which I got to do on mythic again a few days later, as mentioned above
[9:22 PM]
Also got a toy from one of the quests, a book called the Compendium of Love, a music-playing book made for the story of Malygos and Sindragosa.
[9:23 PM]
And I want to mention another quest as well where you help a young tuskarr who's lost his mother earlier in the questline, face down a yeti to gain some confidence, while getting the yeti to play along
Quite heartwarming!

Ar-Pharazon-V — 02/12/2023 9:24 PM
Oh, and after the side quests I started the main quests again, including gathering some funeral offerings for the late chieftain while Kalecgos had some soup. I could have watched him eat his soup all day, it was like one of those animatronic cycles.
[9:26 PM]
But after that, alas, it was time for the funeral, where the chieftain's boat got eaten by Gral, the shark loa, followed by Kalecgos taking his leave after having learned a lesson about family. I'll be visiting him at the Archives next to complete this story arc.
[9:28 PM]
And that's my report for the week!
Namarie


February 15, 2023

Sandalf13 — 02/15/2023 9:09 PM
Hallo all! Sorry...I was in New York on a business trip last weekend...I completely missed the Superbowl, as I was visiting a friend for whom
[9:12 PM]
I used to babysit when he was a young boy....he is nine years younger than me, and we have stayed in touch all of these years.  Had a lovely visit, then returned home early Sunday evening to fly out of La Guardia very early on Monday morning. I was home in Thornton well before noontime on Monday. Paul and his wife and I hit up some of the outstanding grape vineyards and wineries on the North Fork of Long Island...had some real New York pizza for dinner...a wonderful day. I didn't even get the score of the game until it was over. I look forward to "seeing" you all next Sunday. Sei gesund! Wie immer!

top