Sunday, August 4, 2024
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending:(Insert Attending Members Here)
Topic: How did JRRT turn the expected "tropes" around?
July 9, 2024
[8:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: Something to enjoy: YouTube - Why Lord Of The Rings Feels Like Tolkien (Even When It Doesn’t)
July 30, 2024; August 1, 2024
[Lots and lots of WoW chat. :)
August 4, 2024
[3:59 PM]Varda: 1 minute!
[3:59 PM]Arien Valar: thousand years ... are like a day
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya!
[4:00 PM]Varda: Nice : )
[4:00 PM]Varda: Or a "thousand" means the perfect time.
[4:00 PM]Arien Valar: hence raises finger docilely earth was created in 7000 years
[4:01 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting time! Yay! Come say hi.
[4:01 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:01 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:01 PM]Varda: Aiya to the fabulous Arien and Ar-Pharazon!
[4:02 PM]Varda: No poking needed for you two. : )
[4:02 PM]Varda: Any membership comments you'd like to make? Like fun vacation time being had?
[4:02 PM]Varda: We've had short power outages, but nothing ghastly. Some blinks that makes one pat the backup battery thankfully.
[4:04 PM]Arien Valar: is that Debby saying hello?
[4:05 PM]Varda: Debes?
[4:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:06 PM]Arien Valar: no the new storm
[4:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, no new vacation things, except now my parents and brother are all on vacation and I had to water some gardens
[4:07 PM]Arien Valar: they called it Debby
[4:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Too warm to do anything else though, this week.
[4:07 PM]Varda: Ah. Maybe. Or a weak tree fell over on a power line. We had a lot of trees and branches weakened so if a breeze comes by - thwop!
[4:08 PM]Arien Valar: i see
[4:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: You've got so frequent power issues, sometimes I picture you out in the middle of nowhere, though I remember looking up your house on google earth some years back
[4:09 PM]Varda: We are on the end of the power line, in an unincorporated area rather than a town.
[4:09 PM]Celebrian: Aiya!
[4:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:09 PM]Varda: So if anything goes wrong up the line, we get it.
[4:10 PM]Varda: Aiya Celebrian!
[4:10 PM]Varda: The Silver Foot
[4:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Or celebrating Brian!
[4:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: That would be Idril Celebrindal.
[4:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: And heya.
[4:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya
[4:11 PM]Varda: Ahh, thank you!
[4:11 PM]Varda: Aiya Eonwe : )
[4:11 PM]Varda: Celeb is silver anyway. : )
[4:11 PM]Varda: So silver lady?
[4:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Silver rain! ...Almost
[4:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: What's coming to mind right now is that in The Lost Road it mentioned "Rhian => 'crown-gift'"
[4:15 PM]Varda: rian gift, or royal gift
[4:15 PM]Varda: crown gift
[4:15 PM]Varda: Silver crown gift
[4:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: ...I hope she's named for being a gift to her parents, not meant as a gift to someone else.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Now I wonder if she had silver hair instead of the raven hair I thought of her as having.
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: rig-anna were the stems as I recall. So perhaps something indicating she was "crowned" with silver, maybe indicating the color of her hair.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Thingol's line resurfacing!
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: But I could've sworn somewhere it mentioned both Celebrian and Arwen having dark hair, so not 100% on that.
[4:17 PM]Varda: Arwen looked like Luthien. But how much did she look like Celebrian? Galadriel had silver and gold hair and was Celebrian's mother
[4:17 PM]Varda: Ok, now sometime we have to look it up. : )
[4:17 PM]Varda: Any other membership news?
[4:18 PM]Varda: Web:
[4:19 PM]Varda: Nothing new. Some attempt by me to fix up the Quiz part of our site so the links work and cleaned up some of the messed up diacriticals. They turn into a diamond shape with a question mark inside. /facepalm
[4:19 PM]Varda: Gaming:
[4:19 PM]Varda: Eonwe, would you like to handle the gavel for this part? Pallando said he was just going out the door, heh.
[4:20 PM]Anarion: Aiya, I'm only barely here, but I am sorta here
[4:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:21 PM]Varda: Anarion! Aiya
[4:21 PM]Varda: A hello is great to see!
[4:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sure.
[4:22 PM]Varda: gavel flies through the air!
[4:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: ducks
[4:23 PM]Varda: hehe
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out This Week in WoW. --- The week
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out August's Trading Post. --- August Trading Post
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: I managed to finish the trading post for the month just by doing the event.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Speaking of which...
[4:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Heh. Event, timerunning and our weekly old raid got me there in less than 2 days.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Changes were made to the Radiant Echoes event. Now each zone repeats the event for an hour duration, giving everyone a chance within that hour to compete it before it moves to the next zone. --- Radiant Echoes changes
[4:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Don't know why they didn't just start with it that way. This not being their first rodeo, they should know how people react to "events" that last all of 10 minutes then have those people sitting there twiddling their thumbs for an hour and a half while everyone else missed their chance to complete it at all.
[4:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It's like they always underestimate how many people do these things.
[4:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Gets pretty laggy too when the boss shows up.
[4:27 PM]Eönwë Valar: Yeah.
[4:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: At least with the changes it hasn't been so bad.
[4:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Big improvement, yes.
[4:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: Likely because everyone doesn't feel a crunch to be there at the starting time.
[4:29 PM]Eönwë Valar: And much more likely to be able to get the collectible goodies now too.
[4:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, yes.
[4:29 PM]Eönwë Valar: I'm glad the faction-specific mount is buy one, get both.
[4:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Is it? I was wondering if I was going to have to bring in a horde
[4:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: good to know
[4:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: I bought the Alliance one, when I flipped to Horde to transfer the funds it said I owned the Horde one.
[4:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Nice.
[4:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: I'll also mention real quick here about the Forgotten Hero in Dustwallow Marsh. For Alliance, see if he gives you the option to let him know you remember him. Whether he does or doesn't, let us know if you did the Onyxia/Marshall Windsor quests in the past. Suspecting the option may be tied to that and not finding anything definitive, so I'm curious about other experiences. (edited)
[4:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Tried it, don't have the option, and I'm quite sure I did all those back then. I've got the medallion to show for it.
[4:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: Interesting. I'd just say it was because my Paladin is human, but I read on WoWHead someone had a Night Elf that had the option too.
[4:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: Trying to find the common thread.
[4:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I can't remember not doing any alliance quests back then, and I did the revamped Dustwallow quests later on as well.
[4:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So I can't help you there, then.
[4:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well if I discover the common thread I'll mention it, or if someone else does feel free to mention it.
[4:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Thanks, now I'm curious
[4:36 PM]Eönwë Valar: Onward with gaming:
[4:36 PM]Eönwë Valar: Rise of the Zandalari is live in Cataclysm Classic. --- Zandalari
[4:36 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes. --- Hotfixes Aug 1
[4:37 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo 4: New patch out: Patch 1.5.0. --- That patch's notes The next season begins August 6th. --- and that patch's notes.
[4:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: While undocumented, I'll add that they seem to have fixed the reputation bugs in timerunning. Should help getting them all to exalted for those who haven't yet.
[4:37 PM]Eönwë Valar: Good, and thanks for mentioning.
[4:38 PM]Arien Valar: Anarion !
[4:38 PM]Arien Valar: Glad to see you are still alive :)
[4:39 PM]Eönwë Valar: Warcraft Rumble:
[A new patch came out this week. --- patch notes.
[4:39 PM]Eönwë Valar: Oh, I'll mention one more thing for WoW here:
[4:39 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya all! Just got back from another mountain hike...am sitting in the East Simpson Coffee Company in Lafayette, CO, sipping a cool iced coffee....just like old times..
[4:40 PM]Arien Valar: sounds wonderful , Sandalf
[4:40 PM]Sandalf13: It is!!! I was thinking of you guys all the way down the mountain...sorry I am late! Traffic!!
[4:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: You remembered us... in the mountains...
[4:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: ..sorry, WoW reference
[4:41 PM]Arien Valar: A wizard is never too late, nor is he early.
[4:41 PM]Arien Valar: He arrives exactly when he means to!
[4:42 PM]Sandalf13: Thank you. Sorry to interrupt!
[4:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: As mentioned last week but not brought up at the meeting, we can invite Horde characters into our Alliance guild on Lothar, and it seems to not restrict invitations by server.
[4:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Valar unite!
[4:42 PM]Varda: (Aiya Sandalf!)
[4:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: So anyone wants a character in our guild on Lothar, regardless of faction or server (as long as it's in the US) we can probably make it happen.
[4:43 PM]Varda: Kind of strange. : )
[4:43 PM]Varda: Interesting.
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: And last but not least:
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: Update 41 is out --- Update 41: "On the Wing" release notes
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: New things out with Update 41:
[4:45 PM]Eönwë Valar: Two New Legendary Worlds: Angmar and Mordor --- New worlds
[4:45 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Hard Tack Crafting Event ---Guide to the Hard Tack Crafting Event
[4:45 PM]Eönwë Valar: New Hobby: Birding --- Guide to Birding
[4:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Birding's the word.
[4:47 PM]Varda: See write-up on the News, Aug 1, 2024 for the new 64-bit Legendary servers and their Ringwraith event: "Veil of the Nine". Eonwe's briefer note is just right for the general meeting, unless some of you are interested in trying it out.
[4:47 PM]Eönwë Valar: Varda put up some more birding info earlier in the week.
[4:48 PM]Ungwetari: Good morning!
[4:48 PM]Varda: (Aiya Shelob!)
[4:48 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Shelob!
[4:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:49 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya Shelob
[4:49 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings players in kin branches this past week:
<0l>[4:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's it for my news.
[4:50 PM]Varda: Thank you, Eonwe. That's a lot!
[4:50 PM]Varda: Legendary servers are VIP (paid) only. We need to collect gold for an elvish kin house on Angmar. Lowest is 15 gold, highest is 17 gold and 250 silver.
[4:50 PM]Varda: If anyone plans on joining the Mordor EU server, would your preference be a dwarf, elf, man, or hobbit kin house?
[4:51 PM]Varda: If no one has a preference, I'll go for dwarvish to be different from Angmar.
[4:51 PM]Varda: Treebeard server has a hobbit kin house. Landroval and Crickhollow have an island kin house in the human area.
[4:51 PM]Varda: So it would be different and yet back to our "roots", as we started with a dwarvish kin house. : )
[4:52 PM]Varda: Any other gaming news? Feel free to tell about your own favorite game's general news. Maybe make us want to play!
[4:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: dwarf house, is that a mountain?
[4:52 PM]Arien Valar: sounds good to me
[4:52 PM]Varda: Inside a mountain, so cave. : )
[4:53 PM]Varda: Tabletop gaming: Sauron's Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader game moved fast this last Saturday with a nasty Warp entity on board our ship. Sauron-(Valar) is the Game Master. Players were Rob Roy's Girl-(T), Doc Mortand-(T), and Varda-(Valar).
[4:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In a hole in the mountain, there lived a dwarf...
[4:54 PM]Varda: Our tabletop is online on Roll 20. Go figure. But it lets us play from anywhere.
[4:55 PM]Varda: Any need of invitations? Stuff in the kin house? Other? You have folks here who come here to be of help with these things, so make us work!
[4:55 PM]Varda: Ok, then on to
[4:55 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:56 PM]Varda: The glue that holds us together. : )
[4:56 PM]Varda: A quick topic (maybe):
[4:56 PM]Varda: How did JRRT turn the expected "tropes" around?
[4:57 PM]Varda: For instance, Aragorn in a normal story would have been the hero/ main character.
[4:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, hobbits would've been npcs
[4:57 PM]Sandalf13: npcs?
[4:57 PM]Ungwetari: non playable character
[4:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: Non-player characters.
[4:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: gaming term, non player characters
[4:57 PM]Varda: Non Player Characters in gaming.
[4:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: as in, not playing any significant role
[4:57 PM]Sandalf13: Ah. Sorry for my ignorance...
[4:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: Background character in a story.
[4:58 PM]Varda: Not something you do. Asking questions helps you know more and understand references. And others reading this may have the same questions.
[4:58 PM]Varda: Elrond would be wroth at being called insignificant. ; )
[4:59 PM]Varda: Characters run by a computer in the game world rather than run by a live player.
[4:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As a better metaphor, they'd be questgivers, people will small talk, merchants... basically those who do not do the questing/adventuring.
[4:59 PM]Varda: And aye, hobbits would be like the rabbit on the side of the road that the hero helps, and later gives the hero an item or advice needed to defeat the Big Bad.
[5:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: *with small talk
[5:00 PM]Arien Valar: Created a High Elf Burglar on Mordor and /joinchannel Valar
[5:00 PM]Varda: Arien! Are you out of the intro?
[5:00 PM]Arien Valar: i didnt pay attention when i created the character but a High Elf burglar is something diffderent
[5:01 PM]Arien Valar: nope just literallty made ut
[5:01 PM]Arien Valar: Arienhad
[5:01 PM]Varda: ah ok : )
[5:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: a little lamb ♪
[5:01 PM]Varda: hehe
[5:02 PM]Sandalf13: Yes...but Elrond had one of the highest Influence Ratios in the LoTR
[5:02 PM]Varda: High Elf burglar. Just sounds wrong, heh.
[5:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm sure high elves can be sneaky!
[5:03 PM]Arien Valar: it does sound wrong but .. lol , i ll keep him just because
[5:03 PM]Varda: : )
[5:03 PM]Arien Valar: it does sound wrong but .. lol , i ll keep him just because 5:03 PM]Arien Valar: lets say discreet or secretive , then you might be not so wrong
[5:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: cunning
[5:06 PM]Varda: So the actual hero in the War of the Ring. Wasn't that a trope stood on its head, both person and action?
[5:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: You mean the way he failed to drop the Ring in and instead relied on Sam and Gollum?
[5:08 PM]Varda: I mean the goal of the hero, and what or who all the hero was.
[5:08 PM]Sandalf13: Perhaps in the way that one of the least-expected characters in the LoTR proved to be the most significant character (this is arguable) in the work?
[5:09 PM]Varda: Aye, as in Hobbits being so insignificant that they are often left out of the histories of battles.
[5:09 PM]Arien Valar: little irony or intended hint? in the high elf intro .. The Witch King demands as terms of surrender the hand over of the Three and an oath never to appear on the gates of mordor
[5:09 PM]Varda: : )
[5:09 PM]Arien Valar: but where do Aragorn and the host of the West turn up?
[5:09 PM]Arien Valar: :)
[5:10 PM]Arien Valar: Three guesses
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, they didn't show up there until the Witch King was already gone.
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Wasn't there to see it!
[5:12 PM]Anarion: I think in many ways heroism is specifically something Tolkien subverts a lot
[5:12 PM]Anarion: The ring is destroyed not by Frodo's heroism
[5:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, bravery's a good part of it, and all the heroes had that.
[5:13 PM]Anarion: Aragorn's can't save them
[5:13 PM]Sandalf13: An excellent insight! And yes, he does...I think it is a private joke on his part.
[5:13 PM]Anarion: Boromir's is late
[5:13 PM]Sandalf13: I am rreferring to Tolkien in the above...not Aragorn.
[5:13 PM]Anarion: Right, sorry
[5:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also, it was Frodo's mercy that ultimately destroyed the ring.
[5:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That should be part of heroism.
[5:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: I don't know, depends on where you're seeing the heroism I suppose. There's nobility and heroism in "fighting the good fight" even if you don't expect to win, and that's something of a theme running throughout LotR.
[5:14 PM]Anarion: Mmmh. I suppose I should've said "valor"
[5:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Subvert => undermine. I don't think Tolkien particularly undermines the acts of valor, nobility, and sacrifice that are made in the defense of one's home, one's friends, etc. I do think if there's a tone of "subversion", it would be in the idea that any finite being, whether that's Sauron or Gandalf, can foresee every possibility to the extent that he could control and manipulate every outcome to his or or own benefit: "Even the very wise cannot see all ends."
[5:18 PM]Sandalf13: I thihk that Tolkien''s introduction of Bombadil into the story is another trope that he subverted....one might have thought based on similar stories that the "mystical," or "undefined" Bombadil would have had a greater impact on tyhe story...but he did not...introduced and more-or-less forgotteb.
[5:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: Anyway, I must be off.
[5:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
[5:19 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie, Eonwe!
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, if Bombadil had shown up in the final battle that would've been a trope
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Kinda like Beorn!
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:19 PM]Anarion: I think Tolkien does undermine those ideas, because they are made incapable of resolving the story.
[5:20 PM]Anarion: Indeed, Bombadil is rather strange from a literary standpoint
[5:20 PM]Sandalf13: I agree. He simply does not fit in to the normal scheme of things..
[5:20 PM]Varda: Namarie Eonwe!
[5:20 PM]Anarion: Namarie, have a good one.
[5:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Bombadil is a bit of a cameo from his poetry
[5:22 PM]Varda: The tropes are what are being subverted, not so much the ideas of valor.
[5:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As I recall, he basically wrote the Bombadil chapters in one sitting anyway.
[5:23 PM]Sandalf13: That's some pretty hefty writing in one sitting!!
[5:23 PM]Sandalf13: Wish I could do that!
[5:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, I'm not sure if it was quite one sitting, but he did mention barely not having to think about it or change anything as he wrote.
[5:25 PM]Varda: gavel tosses into the air
[5:25 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:25 PM]Sandalf13: Whoooosh!
[5:26 PM]Varda: gavel lands on the hammerpad, belatedly
[5:26 PM]Varda: Thooomp!
@Anarion
I think Tolkien does undermine those ideas, because they are made incapable of resolving the story.
[5:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Before I disappear completely for the night, I'll note that it was the valor, heroism, nobility of Aragorn and all the people of Gondor and Rohan, who overcame their fears and marched to certain death, that emptied the land of Mordor and cleared a path for Frodo and Sam to make it to Mount Doom.
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: Yup.
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: "Small chance of success, certainty of death, what are we waiting for?""
[5:27 PM]Varda: Aye, Eonwe!
[5:27 PM]Anarion: Indeed
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: Hey Ar...I have seen that quote before...
[5:27 PM]Eönwë Valar: Did they throw the Ring into the fire? No, but Frodo and Sam couldn't have made it so far without their actions.
[5:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: And now I'm really off for the night. Take care :}
[5:28 PM]Varda: True
[5:28 PM]Sandalf13: Sei gesund!
[5:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:28 PM]Varda: Namarie Eonwe : )
[5:29 PM]Varda: Movie Gimli : )
[5:29 PM]Sandalf13: Yes...that is the source...
[5:30 PM]Anarion: Alright, I'm off to do laundry, be back!
[5:30 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie!
[5:31 PM]Sandalf13: Anyone up for some pix from today's hike?
[5:31 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sure
[5:31 PM]Sandalf13: And yesterday's professionbal geologist field trip?
[5:32 PM]Sandalf13: OK...this first one shows rain drops on the top of a dune that was created in the Pennsylvanian Period...about 308 Ma (million years ago)....that is a long time, nicht wahr?
[5:33 PM]Varda: Later, Anarion. : ) Thanks for adding to the chat!
[5:33 PM]Varda: That's old rain!
[5:34 PM]Sandalf13: My study group at Colorado School of Mines took a field trip with another study group to examine outcrops of the famous Lyons Sandstone, of Pennsylvanian age.
[5:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, I was thinking... Pennsylvanian? But it's in the Carboniferous, that makes more sense
[5:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I remember the major eras, but have lost track of the periods.
[5:35 PM]Sandalf13: The Pennsylvanian is OFFICIALLY recognized as the name for the old Upper Carboniferous...the Lower Carboniferous is now called the MISSISSIPPIAN!!!
[5:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Y'know, that does actually ring a bell.
[5:36 PM]Sandalf13: The above photo shows a sand dune preserved in the Upper Lyons, near Morrison, CO. The dune was deposited in what is today called a Sabkha environment (a near-shore desert area).
[5:37 PM]Sandalf13: Where the mountains meet the Plains..the view from near the summit of Lookout Mountain, right on the edge of the Colorado Front Range, in the foothills above Golden, CO.
[5:38 PM]Sandalf13: The Plains are the light colored hazy surface in the distance, to the right of the mountains...the lower branch on the pine tree to the right is sort of pointing to the High Plains surface.
[5:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: What is down there on the right? Looks like forest or lakes or swamp or something?
[5:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Or is it just shrubbery?
[5:40 PM]Sandalf13: Last one for today: North Table Mountain and South Table Mountains, with Golden nestled between them. The Great Plains are off in the distance. Both Table Mountains are formed of basalt that was extruded during the early Cenozoic...they are all that remains of that once extensive volcanis outpourings in the area...
[5:40 PM]Sandalf13: This was the steepest climb that my hiking partner and I have made this season...about 1,300 feet in less than one mile. Whew!
[5:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hmm, not bad!
5:41 PM]Varda: Wow
[5:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, yes, from that picture, definitely trees
[5:41 PM]Sandalf13: It is a very pretty shot, I think...shows the vast nature of the High Plains Surface...
[5:42 PM]Sandalf13: Couldn't resist.
[5:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[5:45 PM]Sandalf13: And I WAS thinking of all of you as we drove down Lookout Mtn road...I knew I would be a bit late, but I made it to the meeting! I will check in again later for Ar's report. Got to meet Eric for dinner in Erie, CO...about 15 minutes from Lafayette...
[5:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Enjoy!
[5:45 PM]Varda: We are fine with people having a real life. : )
[5:45 PM]Sandalf13: I will give you the menu later!!!
[5:45 PM]Varda: And that's as real as it gets!
[5:45 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie!
[5:45 PM]Varda: Hi to Eric : )
[5:45 PM]Varda: Namarie!
[5:45 PM]Sandalf13: Thanks!
[5:50 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie all
[5:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[6:56 PM]Varda: Namarie Arien, belatedly
[8:31 PM]Sandalf13: Dinner: Wapos Cantina in Erie, CO. I had two chile rellenos, Eric had steak fajitas. Good choice...excellent food, and close to home! Ar - are you here still?
[8:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Here still, but busy with some things until I'm ready for report
[8:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sounds good though!
[8:32 PM]Sandalf13: Delicious...I shall patiently await your report.
[9:40 PM]Sandalf13: Sorry Ar - I hope you are not too busy and keeping yourself up too late! I need to get ready for a busy day of business tomorrow (yay!) and I need to close up shop here on Discord. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead! Namarie and sei gesund!
[9:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, ok, namarie
[9:40 PM]Sandalf13:
[10:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: K, so.. after almost forgetting to get my laundry out of the machine and other late-night chores, here's... the personal gaming report!
[10:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, there was only one badge I didn't have this week out of the 7, and since this time it wasn't some odd, long-term multiplayer game, I'll link it!
[10:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Code Red is a short-ish platformer... the story isn't very clear, but you play a humanoid experiment in a lab full of scientists and guards, and have to make your through the levels, eating, slashing and unleashing powerful screams.
[Avoid playing in Internet explorer/Edge due to WebGL compability and laggy issues]
[10:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Infinite lives, a good number of checkpoints, and not too many difficult situations, though you will need to eat people to regain health. Safest to kill the guards and eat the scientists.
[10:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Goal is to reach a specific room, for what, you'll see!
[10:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So enjoy
[10:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[10:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 42 on the reward track now! Few more cards and some gold. Almost enough to buy a new hero skin in the shop.
[10:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The new expansion's opening quest event is going, with summer holiday themed quests. I'm almost done already, with 2 main quests remaining I should reach 4000 experience for the new frost death knight skin in a few days.
[10:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got a new legendary, which is now free in the shop, a golden Harth Stonebrew, an event card featuring the innkeeper himself!
[10:23 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl is Henchmania! Choose a class, represented by a henchmen with a unique ability and a specific deck, and then choose 1 of 4 villains to work for with an extra benefit to your cards. I like the playstyle of Chu the warrior henchman, but he wasn't giving me much luck, so I went for an easier win with a paladin in the end. Still, for just playing and not needing to win, I do still like Chu.
[10:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: Got my collection level to 40, mostly by leveling the Cenarion family some more.
[10:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got the legendary and epic cores from the event reward track, a few Cenarion tomes, and more stars for Cenarion minis. They're definitely up there with my other families now, level and qualitywise, or sometimes even better
[10:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Been testing out a team with Cenarius as leader in pvp as well, and I do like it! With Cenarius, moonkin, bog beast and the right talents, you can go a long way with a healing and sustain combo.
[10:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the Cenarion dungeon week, got all my dungeon wins for the event challenges, clearing up to 14 with Onu and 16 with Cenarius. In the beast dungeon week, not so much luck yet with beast at level 18.
[10:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Continuing in the heroic sigil campaign, I'm now up to 102 sigils, after defeating Charlga Razorflank with all families, and defeating the plague gazelle Geaulieu with 4 out of 5.
[10:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For quality upgrades, I got all Cenarion minis to uncommon, and 3 of them to rare, the 2 leaders (Cenarius and Onu) as well as the faerie dragon. Got the witch doctor to rare as well.
[10:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also got talents for the darkspear troll, faerie dragon, witch doctor, Cenarius, ancient of war, moonkin, bog beast and Onu. Both Cenarius and Onu still have room for one talent as well
[10:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I wonder if I'll get any more rare upgrades for the other Cenarion minis as well, I'm almost done with the challenges I can do for the reward track
[10:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[10:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: No current raiding yet, that's still about a month away. Did get some raiding done with my timerunner and our oldschool raiding group for pets, though, where we got our first Emerald Nightmare pet.
[10:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Weekly is mythic dungeons, always fun at level 0, though I don't really have any use for the bullion rewards at this point.
[10:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Finished the Harbinger questline, just in time before the pre-patch event which has quests sequelling the Harbinger questline. Stopped the Harbinger's forces from taking over the Telogrus rift, visited Magni at the Heart of Azeroth, and jumped into the event from there.
[10:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: My approach to the pre-patch event so far is doing the daily quests for each event every day (now that those have been buffed), clearing out each boss and getting some Memories as well as loot appearances along the way. Almost have enough memories to buy the heirloom, just a few Dragonblight ones remaining.
[10:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Haven't bought anything yet, will see what to spend my currency on after I get the heirloom ring. Mount(s) (as Eonwe said, buy one to get both) and pets are obvious, then I'll probably calculate what I need while I collect more currency and hopefully some appearances along the way.
[10:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: My timerunner Calvirona has been continuing in the Dread Wastes, completing the main questlines there and getting the exploration/treasure/rares achievements.
[10:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Since the reputation was bugged while I did the main quests, I'll need to do a bunch of dailies for them as well, hopefully getting to exalted on time. Might need to donate charms to get me there as well.
[10:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: After that she did the Heart of Fear raid on LFR, before starting the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. That doesn't really have a questline anymore, but there's a bunch of related dungeons and scenarios, as well as daily quests for the Golden Lotus and August Celestials factions.
[10:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: August Celestials is also a very slow faction, but Golden Lotus goes fast! Two days in, and almost exalted already. Meaning I can save the charms from all the dailies for Klaxxi and Celestials, we'll see who needs most of them near the end.
[10:47 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: She's also done the Blood in the Snow scenario, and the Mogushan Palace and Scarlet Halls dungeons. Two more dungeons and a raid to go related to the zone, and after that, we'll head into the Landfall campaign!
[10:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With doing raids and dungeons more frequently, I've also started picking up the daily quests for group content, for bronze rewards and large amounts of threads of power. Should give me a bit of a power boost still
[10:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: From completing the Dread Wastes I got a new weapon illusion, Sha Corruption, and through timerunning, the prepatch event and old raiding, I completed the tender for the trading post this month. Got an extra 1000 currency for getting the Collector's Edition as well. So I got a bunch of stuff from the trading post too!
[10:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The free reward for getting 1000 tender is a cloak appearance, Coward's Violet Target, literally putting a target on your back Looks funny, might have to use it for tanks.. or even when pvping
[10:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also got a new mount, the Sentinel War Wolf. I don't often grab mounts from the trading post because they're so expensive, but I liked this one as I am a bit of a fan of wolf mounts, and with the sleek night elf armor... very nice.
[10:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And for a mount pretty cheap, too!
[10:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also got the new murloc pet, Worgli the Apprehensive, two sets of butterfly wing appearances, and the Scarlet Bladed Blunderbuss, which is a gun that quite suits my recently made vulpera hunter.
[10:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So it's been a good run in the August trading post for me!
[10:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next week, hopefully starting Landfall, getting the new heirloom ring, and possibly buying some stuff from the prepatch event
[10:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week!
[10:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!