Sunday, May 5, 2024
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending (7): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Falco, Fangorn/Treebeard, Leod, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
3:50 PM]Varda: Storms are moving across the area of Texas where Eonwe and Varda live. If we disappear suddenly, it's not your breath.
[3:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good to know eats garlic
[3:54 PM]Léod: I have had and am drinking coffee. So... it might be.
[4:01 PM]Varda: Aiya!
[4:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:01 PM]Varda: Coffee is an attractant. : )
[4:01 PM]Falco: Aiya
[4:01 PM]Varda: mmmm garlic!
[4:01 PM]Varda: Aiya Phar, Leod, and Falco : )
[4:02 PM]Léod: Aiya!
[4:02 PM]Varda: hmm, maybe it's my breath...
[4:02 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:02 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:03 PM]Varda: Good to see you here!
[4:03 PM]Varda: Any membership news you'd like to pass along? We seem to have done it already but any more? : )
[4:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It's almost my birthday!
[4:04 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting time! Come chat and tell us how things really are in gaming and Tolkien!
[4:04 PM]Varda: Oh nice! Happy upcoming birthday!
[4:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In about an hour
[4:04 PM]Varda: We need to start that cake fast!
[4:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[4:04 PM]Varda: Who has the birthday candles?
[4:05 PM]Varda: lights a couple of giant pillars
[4:05 PM]Varda: Web:
[4:05 PM]Varda: Wrestling with code continues. Eonwe is a warrior of the computer par excellence!
[4:06 PM]Varda: I have been making attempts as well. heh
[4:06 PM]Varda: Gaming:
[4:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Couple of code monkeys ye.
[4:06 PM]Varda: Feel free to add your general gaming news as the gaming spot for it comes up. Or belatedly.
[4:06 PM]Léod: Pillar candles? Must be one heck of a cake!
[4:07 PM]Varda: My coding is a few million years behind Eonwe's but we try.
[4:07 PM]Varda: Well, we are Valarites. And not our first pillars. eyes the burning areas from the first ones
[4:07 PM]Varda: Just be sure to blow them out. Feel free to ask for help from Manwe.
[4:08 PM]Varda: So, where's that ten thousand pounds of flour... dusts hands
[4:08 PM]Varda: Good that we have help!
[4:08 PM]Varda: Gaming, o right.
[4:08 PM]Varda: World of Warcraft:
[4:09 PM]Varda: This week's bonus events: Battlegrounds.
[4:09 PM]Varda: This week's PvP Brawl: Packed House.
[4:09 PM]Varda: Children's Week is going through Monday, May 6th.
[4:09 PM]Varda: (Tomorrow, WoW players!)
[4:09 PM]Varda: Check out This Week in WoW.
[4:10 PM]Varda: See May's Trading Post.
[4:10 PM]Varda: (so much WoW)
[4:10 PM]Treebeard: Hello
[4:10 PM]Varda: Aiya Fangorn!
[4:10 PM]Varda: The Northrend Cup is going through May 13th.
[4:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ooh, Buzzworth, the one pet I couldn't get from trading post earlier because of lack of currency.
[4:11 PM]Varda: Mount up for the Northrend Cup for a new dragonriding racing event.
[4:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good to see it back.
[4:11 PM]Varda: The Cataclysm Pre-Expansion Patch is live.
[4:12 PM]Varda: (These pictures are fun to look at.)
[4:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: All the dragons!
[4:12 PM]Varda: Dark Heart is coming Tuesday, May 7th. See the patch notes.
[4:12 PM]Varda: (I like wings.)
[4:13 PM]Varda: Dragonflight: Dark Heart Content Update Notes
[4:13 PM]Varda: Any other quick WoW news from y'all?
[4:14 PM]Léod: If you like spring flowers on your weapons, check out the Trading Post.
[4:14 PM]Varda: Thanks : )
[4:14 PM]Varda: Warcraft Rumble:
[4:15 PM]Varda: The Darkmoon Faire is going.
[4:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I admit, that staff might look nice for my upcoming worgen druidess for the Pandaria remix. I don't really have any flowery characters otherwise.
[4:15 PM]Varda: That's one, then!
[4:15 PM]Varda: Check out the hotfixes.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Diablo 4:
[4:16 PM]Varda: This week's info:
[4:16 PM]Varda: Galvanize Your Legend In Season 4: Loot Reborn
[4:17 PM]Varda: Catch Up On Our Latest Developer Update"
[4:17 PM]Varda: Patch coming May 14th
[4:18 PM]Varda: Diablo Immortal:
[4:18 PM]Varda: Check out the latest hotfixes. 4:18 PM]Varda: (where there is coding or anything done of any kind, there are fixes needed)
[4:19 PM]Varda: Overwatch 2:
[4:19 PM]Varda: New Director's Take: Empowering Tanks in Midseason.
[4:20 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:21 PM]Varda: May 2, 2024: Corsairs of Umbar and the Mariner available in the LOTRO Store.
[4:21 PM]Varda: LotRO Update 39 YouTube soundtrack May 1.
[4:22 PM]Varda: Corsairs of Umbar
[4:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: My legacy...
[4:22 PM]Varda: hehe
[4:22 PM]Varda: Free Forest Green and Red Dyes, good through May 9, for Coupon Code: GREENDRAGONDYES
[4:23 PM]Léod: Oooh, nice!
[4:23 PM]Varda: (I grabbed some. Enjoy!)
[4:23 PM]Varda: LotRO players in our kin branches this past week:
Landroval branch
Crickhollow branch:
Treebeard branch:
[4:23 PM]Arien Valar: aiya all
[4:23 PM]Varda: Aiya Sunshine : )
[4:23 PM]Léod: Aiya!
[4:23 PM]Varda: Arien, did you slip into LotRO after I made the list above? : )
[4:23 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya! Did I really forget to poke you in WoW? For shame.
[4:23 PM]Varda: Yay ☼
[4:24 PM]Varda: Hey, I tried to poke everyone with that earlier AT to folks. Wonder if I've been muted? heh
[4:24 PM]Arien Valar: aye you did ^^ but then i might have been gone already to my showry legstint ^^
[4:25 PM]Arien Valar: which is why i am wizard ~
[4:25 PM]Varda: Starcraft 2: The usual suspects: Fangorn, Eowyn, Floppa, and Faramir.
[4:25 PM]Varda: You are a wiz, all right. : )
[4:25 PM]Varda: Any other Gaming or Membership news before shifting to Tolkien?
[4:26 PM]Treebeard: Nice to see you all.
[4:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:26 PM]Arien Valar: aiya Fangorn
[4:26 PM]Varda: Yay Fangorn! His Fangbark and my Tinwetari play almost (not quite) daily in Landroval.
[4:27 PM]Varda: On to
[4:27 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:27 PM]Varda: First up.
[4:28 PM]Varda: Namarie to Bernard Hill, who played Theoden in the Peter Jackson movies. He died this morning at the age of 79.
[4:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: bows
[4:28 PM]Arien Valar: bows
[4:28 PM]Varda: /toast
[4:28 PM]Léod: I had no idea. 4:29 PM]Léod: /toast
[4:29 PM]Varda: It just happened this morning.
[4:29 PM]Léod: I couldn't have cast a better Theoden.
[4:29 PM]Varda: Bernard Hill". IMDb.
[4:29 PM]Varda: Agreed, Leod.
[4:30 PM]Varda: Bernard Hill. Wikipedia: "Bernard Hill (17 December 1944 - 5 May 2024) was an English actor. He is known for playing Théoden, King of Rohan, in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in Titanic, and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the Clint Eastwood film True Crime. Hill is also known for playing roles in television dramas, includin..."
[4:30 PM]Léod: His performance made me give Rohan a closer look thank I ever had.
[4:30 PM]Varda: Type in his name and you'll find the news all over the internet. Well known and loved for that role especially and others.
[4:30 PM]Varda: And there you are, a Horselord yourself!
[4:31 PM]Léod: than, not thank. Heh.
[4:31 PM]Varda: (I must make liberal use of the Edit.)
[4:31 PM]Léod: He goes now to the houses of his fathers, where he now, not need be ashamed.
[4:31 PM]Varda: re-/toast
[4:32 PM]Varda: I find myself unable at this time to run a discussion of Theoden, unless others would like to. But the subject I already had figured on is still available.
[4:32 PM]Treebeard: He was a good pick for his role in LOTR movies and others
[4:33 PM]Varda: Aye, Fangorn!
[4:33 PM]Léod: (I forgot "in whose mighty company" but ya know, lots of stuff going on in my head.)
[4:33 PM]Léod: Great actor.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Hey, he's one of your descendants. He was talking about you, o Tamer of Horses.
[4:34 PM]Léod: I know, right. I welcome him! (weird to talk from the perspective of the long since dead.)
[4:34 PM]Varda: Welcome to role-play in times long past! Fun of Middle-earth, from Creation to pre-history.
[4:35 PM]Varda: Horses still played a part in JRRT's times, still a lot of them around as normal transport and work.
[4:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Be like me, the perspective of the long since should be dead
[4:35 PM]Varda: And yet still chatting!
[4:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yes!
[4:36 PM]Varda: Undying means to have so many memories jamming together that we commiserate with Barliman Butterbur.
[4:37 PM]Arien Valar: sings I am sailing darkening ski -hes sparkling stars over me .! I am sailing darkening skie.hes and am chased by Silpion
[4:38 PM]Varda: There is music in the sky! 4:38 PM]Léod: What was your original subject?
[4:39 PM]Varda: Anyway, here's the next topic (well-timed, Leod!):
[4:39 PM]Varda: Sometimes people like to say that Tolkien's world is not really fantasy or horror.
[4:39 PM]Varda: After we stop laughing, that leads to one of many questions, such as:
[4:39 PM]Varda: Do Tolkien's books tell of anything resembling werewolf or vampire or zombie or ghost types? Is there an example of any such thing?
[4:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Barrow Downs come to mind immediately.
[4:39 PM]Varda: Wight you are.
[4:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: ...Especially the version in the Fellowship of the Ring game
[4:40 PM]Léod: There is a vampire AND werewolf story in the Simarilion.
[4:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: True!
[4:40 PM]Varda: Aye : )
[4:40 PM]Arien Valar: uhu 4:41 PM]Léod: When I first read the FotR, the wights creeped me ALL the way out. That long pale arm though!
[4:41 PM]Varda: That creeping arm! ugh!!
[4:41 PM]Arien Valar: Luthien and Turin in their disguises ... .. forgot the names of the originals sorry
[4:41 PM]Varda: Thuringwethil for the bat guise (vampiress).
[4:41 PM]Varda: Beren
[4:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And Beren the wolf!
[4:42 PM]Arien Valar: ah Beren silly me
[4:42 PM]Varda: Sounds similar and we do this off the tops of our heads. moves hat
[4:43 PM]Varda: So, how about that Draugluin?
[4:43 PM]Léod: I didn't remember Thurinwethil, but I wonder if that's where the idea for all those bat ladies in LOTRO came from?
[4:43 PM]Varda: Yes it is, Leod. Well-spotted.
[4:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I don't know about bat ladies but it would make sense
[4:44 PM]Varda: Merrovail (spelling) in LotRO.
[4:44 PM]Varda: Lots holed up in Moria in the game.
[4:44 PM]Léod: The way is shut, it was made by those who are dead, and the dead keep it. The way is shut. (edited)
[4:44 PM]Léod: shut! Sorry.
[4:44 PM]Léod: Mistype there.
[4:44 PM]Arien Valar: :)
[4:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: gasp
[4:45 PM]Varda: That's why I have to edit my stuff too. And Gimli would agree with you.
[4:45 PM]Varda: or at least the typo.
[4:45 PM]Arien Valar: pats Leod
[4:45 PM]Varda: So, remember Draugluin? 4:46 PM]Arien Valar: yeah it was said that he was a demon in wolf shape or a wolf inhabited by an unclean spirit
[4:46 PM]Léod: I had to look it up, that's the story I remembered, but I couldn't remember the name.
[4:46 PM]Varda: First werewolf, sire of the rest. Bred from wolves of Angband with an evil spirit added into him.
[4:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Guardian of Angband, yes. Ate a gem with a hand around it.
[4:47 PM]Varda: Ancestor of Carcharoth, who did that chomp off of Beren.
[4:47 PM]Léod: My sweetie, reminded me of the Path of the Dead, and then asked if Wormtongue didn't resemble a vampire, sucking the energy from Theoden. Interesting point, eh?
[4:48 PM]Varda: Carcharoth, the Red Maw, fed with elvish and mannish flesh by Morgoth, with an evil spirit, and greatest of the werewolves.
[4:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, ancestor of.
[4:48 PM]Varda: We agree with Sweetie!
[4:48 PM]Varda: Energy vampire : )
[4:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Heh, makes sense
[4:48 PM]Arien Valar: drains soul
[4:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ahh, so was Draugluin the chief of Sauron's wolves at Tol Sirion? 4:49 PM]Varda: I got the impression that Saruman gave a bit of his voice power to Grima to work on Theoden. Might be one reason he was losing it a bit.
[4:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Putting a bit of your power to something else, ending in your own weakening. Where did I see that before... coughMorgothcoughSauron*
[4:50 PM]Léod: He definitely gave part of his power or taught him fell magic, one.
[4:50 PM]Varda: Oh, a fun thought, not all "werewolves" are evil? Huan was a dog, (wolfhound), but intelligent and allowed to speak three times.
[4:50 PM]Léod: Maybe he even transformed Wormtongue a little bit to give him that power?
[4:50 PM]Treebeard: Wormtongue was wizard tool.
[4:50 PM]Léod: (read: corrupted)
[4:50 PM]Arien Valar: ..(hmm interesting sidenote .. since the band Powerwolf searches in all of Europe for werewolf legends to use them for their songs as inspiration i wonder whether Tolkien did something similar to be inspired for his villains and their minions)
[4:50 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya All! Sorry I am so late! Had to get the snow tires taken off and the summer tires put on....lots of delays at our local Costco...but here I am, snowtireless.
[4:51 PM]Varda: Would have loved more info on Grima from JRRT!
[4:51 PM]Léod: Aiya!
[4:51 PM]Varda: Sandalf! A wizard is never late... : ) Good you could make it. 4:51 PM]Sandalf13: Me too, and thanks! You see, there ARE some advantages to being a wizard, heh?
[4:51 PM]Varda: You bet!
[4:52 PM]Varda: Wizard of Sand. ; )
[4:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya Sandalf!
[4:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I like to think of him as a Wizard on Sandals.
[4:52 PM]Varda: Likely
[4:52 PM]Treebeard: Welcome back.
[4:53 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar! I was at the Cinco de Mayo event in Old Denver today, representing the Rocky Mtn Association of Geologists...I put on my field belt, complete with Brunton COmpass, field notebook holder, hammer, and chisel...with a hat, of course. Had to look the part, right?
[4:53 PM]Varda: Wargs: huge wolves that had intelligence, able to ally with goblins/orcs.
[4:53 PM]Sandalf13: Good for riding, too.
[4:53 PM]Varda: Sandalf, absolutely!
[4:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Don't forget the whip
[4:54 PM]Varda: Aye. Don't want to know their pay for the riding.
[4:54 PM]Varda: Sauron did some shape-changing too.
[4:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Into a wolf, even!
[4:54 PM]Sandalf13: That is IndianaJones,and those anthropolgy guys...geologists are scary enough as it is, without a whip. I can pull out my hammer, and challenge anyone to battle!
[4:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: True, archeo, not geo. 4:55 PM]Sandalf13: Take that, you rocks!
[4:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sandalf, bane of trolls.
[4:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I remember at the start of my first year of archeo study, a teacher asked an entire room of students if they were inspired by Indiana Jones.
[4:56 PM]Arien Valar: (song Blood by Blood .. Facebook post by Powerwolf The song refers to the Irish „FAOLADH“, a werewolf creature, which in many legends was seen as a guardian spirit for children or the wounded. Being one of the few cases where werewolves are seen as more complex creatures than just an archetype of evil, the story of the „Werewolves of Ossory“ inspired us heavily to write this song. )
[4:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: When I replied I was more into the evolution/dinosaur kind, he said "Ah, Jurassic Park!"
[4:57 PM]Varda: Cool, Arien
[4:57 PM]Varda: hahahaha Phar!
[4:58 PM]Varda: Wawkalak. Interesting werewolf type, but I digress out of Tolkien and shall stop. : )
[4:58 PM]Léod: Question, wolves seem to have a special place in Tolkien lore, where do wargs come from and is there some kind of evil spirit in them that makes them more intelligent and evil than plain wolves?
[4:58 PM]Varda: Tell me of Tevildo!
[4:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Werecat!
[4:59 PM]Arien Valar: that almost souinds like "devil" or a word play on "the evil do"
[4:59 PM]Varda: Wargs are some kind of intelligent and evil wolf race, most probably rigged up by Sauron who had his hand in most such things. Morgoth might request, but Sauron usually had the smarts to do the requests. Including Fell Beasts.
[5:00 PM]Varda: Evil do. JRRT might have done just that! Didn't notice before, thanks! Kind of like Shelob is She-spider.
[5:00 PM]Varda: Right, Phar. : )
[5:00 PM]Varda: JRRT didn't seem fond of cats. : )
[5:00 PM]Arien Valar: meeeow
[5:00 PM]Varda: (see also, cats of Queen Beruthiel, aka evil spies)
[5:01 PM]Léod: That's ok, there are plenty of authors who did love them.
[5:01 PM]Varda: True. : )
[5:01 PM]Varda: Annnnd we just hit the hour.
[5:01 PM]Arien Valar: i love cats
[5:01 PM]Sandalf13: I just got here!
[5:01 PM]Varda: I enjoy critters. : )
[5:02 PM]Léod: One more thing that my better half said, would you say that Beornings are Werebears?
[5:02 PM]Varda: a gavel hurriedly shrugs into a fur coat
[5:02 PM]Varda: bops the hammerpad
[5:02 PM]Varda: thwip!
[5:02 PM]Arien Valar: werebears if anything
[5:02 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:02 PM]Varda: Free chat, including continued Tolkien chat.
[5:02 PM]Sandalf13: Is it a geologic gavel, or a regular gavel?
[5:02 PM]Léod: You mean, geologic gravel?
[5:03 PM]Varda: Sweetie is welcome to join us in Discord as a guild-friend, if she likes. : )
[5:03 PM]Léod:
[5:03 PM]Varda: Hmm, can't tell under the coat. You may imagine your favorite gavel. Could be Mjolnir...
[5:03 PM]Léod: It's he, but he will probably just get me to type it for now. I'm talking him into it slowly.
[5:03 PM]Varda: My apologies. Should have remembered!
[5:04 PM]Léod: No problem at all!
[5:04 PM]Varda: And sure, Tolkien lorenuts welcome!
[5:04 PM]Varda: All we ask is also courtesy with that, and if he's anything like you, no problem at all.
[5:04 PM]Arien Valar: but mind you anything with "were-" in front seem to be evil , or be forced into their shapeshifting .. any etynologic nerd knowledge there Sandalf?
[5:04 PM]Sandalf13: Iorenuts is Iorwen's older brother.
[5:05 PM]Léod: I do more tolkien-type stuff, but his memory for details is better than mine.
[5:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Back from phonecall, as parents just congratulated me... and yes, I would say Beornings are werebears. Possibly even druids
[5:05 PM]Varda: hehe
[5:05 PM]Varda: Welcome back!
[5:05 PM]Léod: brb
[5:05 PM]Léod: Ohhh! Druids! I like.
[5:05 PM]Varda: Aye, I'd go with werebear. Beorn himself shifted between human and bear form, which is pretty much the definition.
[5:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For it is now my hundredandeleventh... I mean 39th birthday!
[5:06 PM]Varda: Happy 39th!
[5:06 PM]Arien Valar: youngling
[5:06 PM]Arien Valar: happy birthday
[5:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Thanks
[5:07 PM]Varda: cake is baking in Taniquetil. Army of Vanyar muscling it into existence, along with 39 pillars to hold fire
[5:07 PM]Treebeard: Yes. The yearly milestone that marks the beginning of another wonderful year.
[5:07 PM]Varda: Aye : )
[5:07 PM]Varda: A level-up!
[5:07 PM]Treebeard: Definitely
[5:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: 's been a good year, some leads to possible jobs even if they fell through, and me getting my own place... hopefully the next year will be even more progress
[5:08 PM]Varda: Progress!
[5:08 PM]Sandalf13: Hapooy Birthday, Ar! Many happy returns of the day!
[5:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Thank you!
[5:08 PM]Sandalf13: Ah, to be 39 again....sigh.
[5:08 PM]Léod: back!
5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Tis also a year of lots of WoW plans with a bunch of new characters, we'll see how many of them actually exist by the end of it
[5:09 PM]Varda: Just keeps going. Oh to be 111 again...
[5:09 PM]Arien Valar: Aiyata Leod!
[5:09 PM]Varda: and your LotRO character on Landroval.../duck
[5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: grin
[5:14 PM]Treebeard: C'y'all next time. Changing activities now. Namarie
[5:14 PM]Varda: Anyone that needs to fly off to bed or gaming or whatever, we are in After-meeting. : )
[5:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:14 PM]Varda: Good plan!
[5:14 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie Fangorn
[5:14 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie Treebeard!
[5:14 PM]Varda: I'll be back and forth, likely. : )
[5:15 PM]Sandalf13: Dinner?
[5:16 PM]Varda: Already ate. But sitting too long is rough
[5:16 PM]Arien Valar: I can feel that with you
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Pff, old people
[5:17 PM]Arien Valar: my legs are protesting sometimes against sitting too long .. so i am with you there
5:18 PM]Arien Valar: and Varda is what .. 6 or 7 years older than i am[5:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: My legs do fall asleep sometimes though!
[5:18 PM]Sandalf13: I am lucky...I am driving 1,000 miles to Boise, ID on Wed, for a one day meeting in Ontario, OR. I will return the next day. About 12-13 hours driving, but very scenic. I can still do it!
[5:18 PM]Arien Valar: that's cool
[5:19 PM]Sandalf13: I will try to take some good pix along the way to show everyone next week, weather permitting...
[5:19 PM]Sandalf13: The Snake River Basaltic Plain is pretty awesome, and weird looking.
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Eesh, so much driving, so much distance. Could probably drive through 4 countries in that time.
[5:20 PM]Sandalf13: Just three states from CO tp UT to ID (with a brief stop just across the border in OR).
[5:22 PM]Varda: Sounds beautiful, Sandalf : )
[5:22 PM]Sandalf13: I hope you will like the pix next week, I hope.
[5:26 PM]Varda: We liked the others, so the betting is on your side.
[5:27 PM]Arien Valar: righ i shall look forward to themn
[5:27 PM]Arien Valar: but .. it is that time now . i fear#
[5:27 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie my friends
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: Thank you....I hope you have a wonderful week ahead. I am slowly feeling better, but the Surgeon on Thursday told me that it might take up to THREE months to fully recover...but I am hoping for no more than two...
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie, Arien aka Sunshine, aka Hope of Men
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:28 PM]Arien Valar:
[5:29 PM]Léod: Namarie everyone! Love these meetings!
[5:31 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie Leod! Enjoy the week!
[5:31 PM]Léod: Thank you, enjoy your trip!
[5:32 PM]Sandalf13: Thanks!
[5:32 PM]Sandalf13: I too shall bid you all a Namarie...but will return later for Ar's report, as usual. Got to get some plants out of the wind...76 Grad F today, but tomorrow the high will only be 42 Grad F. Typical for the Spring, with no ocean nearby...
[5:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good luck
[5:40 PM]Varda: Namarie for now!
[5:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[8:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report!
[8:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, some old badges this week I know I've linked before... so I chose HP Atk Def on Kongregate "Collect the pickups in each level and defeat the enemies in this grid-based puzzle game.""
[8:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A puzzle game based on dungeon-rpgs, though quite simplified.
[8:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The idea is to make it to the stairs to the next level, while picking up fixed upgrades for your health, attack, and defense (reducing damage per enemy attack).
[8:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Use planning and a bit of math, or just trial and error, to have just enough stats to make it to the end
[8:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[8:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 78 on the reward track now. Got my final reward card from the track, so after that I started opening packs again. And got 3 legendary cards from them!
[8:52 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar! Are you early this eveneing, or am I late? Es tut mir Leid!
[8:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: These include Whizbang, the title character of this expansion; Sky Mother Aviana, something that nicely fits my druid legendary deck; and Norgannon, one of the Titans, always useful
[8:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya Not sure, I've certainly been later than this a few times lately
[8:54 PM]Sandalf13: Always a pleasure to read about your exploits in the wild and wooly world of gaming!
[8:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[8:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, completed the event quest as expected, and got the Yrel paladin skin we talked about last week
[8:54 PM]Sandalf13: Male or female?
[8:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And this week's brawl is a heroic arena, which I never bother with since I'm not good at arena, let alone spending that much gold on it
[8:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Female.
[8:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: No new collection level, but I did have some success in the dungeons.
[8:57 PM]Sandalf13: Always a good place to succeed!!!
[8:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got Cairne, my horde leader, through levels 16 and 17, getting all army upgrade slots to silver, and completed level 15 on my blackrock leader, Drakkisath.
[8:57 PM]Sandalf13: The other choice is not so good....
[8:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Stagnation or regression?
[8:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Went into the Westfall zone for the heroic sigil campaign, completing the vulture boss Vultros with all families, and Murk-eye the murloc boss with 2 of them.
[8:59 PM]Sandalf13: Torture and general malaise...
[9:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: After the Blingtron weekly event was over, we went back to the Darkmoon Faire event, so I'm thinking they just alternate. Rather than replacing all the chests with really random effects, however, this week the quests just involved one specific alteration each day. For example, today's effect was that each time you play your leader, it pops out together with a random leader from another family, complete with that leader's effects.
[9:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm not sure if the Darkmoon Faire effects are random each week, or if this was considered an improvement. For what it's worth, I agree
[9:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh hang on.. rereads notes I did get a new collection level this week, to 33. Yay, more progress
[9:04 PM]Sandalf13: Yay!!
[9:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: (also for Hearthstone, got death knight class to 42... I need to read better!)
[9:04 PM]Sandalf13: Der Fortschritt ist immer gur!
[9:04 PM]Sandalf13: gut!
[9:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, for quality upgrades, got enough gold to get my Necromancer to epic, as well as buying his remaining 2 talents.
[9:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And right now I'm saving gold for the rare upgrade for the next mini
[9:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[9:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Raiding continuing to go well, as we cleared normal Aberrus and came most of the way through heroic. Next week, back to Amirdrassil! 9:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got a few more upgrades along the way, including tier pieces for helm and gloves.
[9:10 PM]Sandalf13: Has your character ever died? I Understand that the new version of WoW makes characters die for real...that is, they are gone.
[9:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: My character has died plenty of times. Part of raiding is taking plenty of attempts to learn and clear a bossfight, and failures generally result in death for the whole group. Luckily in the normal retail mode of the game, all it costs you is a few temporary buffs, some repair costs in gold, and a few minutes to resurrect and come back to the boss
[9:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: If you want to raid in Hardcore mode, with permanent death, you'll either have to be very confident in the abilities of you and your group, or not be attached to your character at all, or the time spent leveling and gearing it up to that point. It's certainly not a mode for me
[9:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That said, if you die in hardcore mode, you have the option to transfer your dead character to a non-hardcore server and resurrect and play normally there.
[9:14 PM]Sandalf13: Ah...sort of a WoW version of Elven-rebirth, nicht wahr?
[9:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Pretty much, though generally taking a bit less time
[9:15 PM]Sandalf13:
[9:15 PM]Sandalf13: Just ask Glorfindel!
[9:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Lorewise, your character has such a bond with your living planet, and your fate is not to die yet, so the spirit healers just bring you back to life. But that's mostly just to accomodate the resurrection mechanic, as it rarely plays a role in actual story or gameplay. When it comes to npcs, being dead in the story is usually just being dead.
[9:18 PM]Sandalf13: Sounds lovely.
[9:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For player characters, quite
[9:18 PM]Sandalf13: he he
[9:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, the weekly quest this week is battlegrounds. Instead of playing random battlegrounds, I've switched to using the Battleground Blitz feature. An 8 versus 8 version of a random battleground, they tend to be shorter, have shorter queues, and even unlock slots for your weekly vault reward. Unless you prefer the normal versions of the battlegrounds, which is certainly understandable, it's a win-win-win situation just to go for Blitzes. It certainly saves time!
[9:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The Northrend Dragonriding Cup started this week, and I went through all the races with my druid, getting each one to silver, all normal versions to gold, and about half the advanced and reversed versions to gold as well. Gold is not my goal, since in some cases that would take me hours on a single race if I managed it at all - I'm just not that good at the racing - but if I get gold while going for silver, that's always a plus. In fact, this is the most gold I've gotten in any of the Cups so far. Maybe I'm getting better, or they're getting easier
[9:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: After that I cleared all the normal versions of the races on gold with my mage as well, to get the remaining badges I needed to buy the rewards this time around.
[9:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: This includes customizations for all 6 dragonriding dragons, a Checkered Pennant cloak appearance (looking like a racing flag) and the entire Icy Drake Racer set.
[9:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Spent the rest of the week after completing the Cup working on my horde alt, who went from 17 to 20, completing several questlines in Zuldazar, ridding the city's harbor from bandits of other tribes and cleaning out some blood magic users, and then freeing the temple to the north of the city from an entire blood magic cult as they tried to empower a dire troll champion.
[9:31 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I then chose a patron loa (animal god), and as a troll druid who canonically follows the raptor god Gonk anyway, I just had to choose him over the pterrordax Pa'ku
[9:32 PM]Sandalf13: Anytrhing starting wih pterro...is problematic
[9:32 PM]Sandalf13: Especially a Pa'ku
[9:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And finally I headed down to the military port, Warport Rastari, where some mogu have invaded the continent, and am currently in the process of cleaning them out.
[9:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[9:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, each patron loa comes with a city-wide boon, and Pa'ku comes with some flying shortcuts, so could be more useful if you have to zip across the city a few times. But I'll live without it And if I can't, it's easy to switch, though you can only do one of the two quests to begin with.
[9:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And between alt quests, raiding and the dragonriding cup, I completed enough activities to get all 1000 points for the trading post track for May. Not bad for 5 days, guess that's what happens if you're more active
[9:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I got the Wings of the Amber Monarch (butterfly wings cloak) as a reward, and bought a few things, including those I mentioned during the news earlier: Buzzworth, the recurring bee pet I couldn't get the first time it was up; Pokee, a voodoo doll pet; 2 floral weapons for my upcoming druidess, the polearm and the staff; the new Classic Midnight tabard as I like collecting the tabards, and a Leaky Bucket offhand appearance just because it looks funny
[9:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And as the horde alt prepares to continue his questing in Zuldazar or even beyond in Nazmir, that's my report for the week!
[9:41 PM]Sandalf13: What a report! Well done! Namarie and sei gesund!!
[9:41 PM]Sandalf13:
[9:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie, and you too
[9:41 PM]Sandalf13: See you next Sunday, I hope...
[9:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Same!
[9:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya all. YouTube: Hakaima Sadamitsu OST 02 Hakai ma joukou no Teema Orchestra Version
[9:43 PM]Eönwë Valar: I see Varda's chilling, hehe.
[9:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[9:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Can't help but chill to what sounds like a Wild West anime track
[9:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: :}
[9:45 PM]Eönwë Valar: The anime isn't set in the Wild West, but that opening certainly does have the sound.
[9:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Shouldn't be surprised
[9:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, namarie!
[9:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sleep well Phar.
[10:10 PM]Varda: I'm not chilling : )
[10:11 PM]Varda: Namarie Phar
[10:11 PM]Varda: I am in LotRO but Discord has to be told this
[10:11 PM]Varda: We had 5 in a group running stuff
[10:11 PM]Varda: I'd rather it didn't say chilling : )
[10:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: :}
[10:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: At least it doesn't say you're chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool, and all shootin' some b-ball outside of the school... YouTube: The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Theme Song
[10:41 PM]Varda: At least that
[10:56 PM]Eönwë Valar: Star-Queen of Bel-Air? :} heh.
[11:58 PM]Varda: Screenshots now up in our Screenshots section. The Barrowfield of the Kings of Rohan, as seen in LotRO.
May 6, 2024
[12:11 AM]Eönwë Valar: Cool :}
[8:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: There, scraped together enough Darkmoon Faire prize tickets to get the Darkmoon Dirigible.
[8:35 PM]Sandalf13: Congrats!
[8:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: Thanks.
May 8, 2024
[6:54 AM]Arien Valar: Feuerschwanz released a new epic video .. sorry for posting this in meeting place but you will understand |:)
[6:54 AM]Arien Valar: YouTube: Wardwarf (With Lyrics)
[6:59 AM]Arien Valar: Their tribute to Bernhard Hill:
[6:59 AM]Arien Valar: YouTube: Rest In Peace Théoden - Bernard Hill
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!