Sunday, August 25, 2024
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending (5): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Shelob/Ungwetari, Varda
Topic 1: Did you have any problem crop up when trying to read Tolkien's works?
Topic 2: What type of Fantasy could Lord of the Rings be categorized under?
[2:46 AM]Eönwë Valar: Tee-shirt: Procrastinators Unite!
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya!
[4:01 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting time! Come on in and say hi!
[4:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya.
[4:01 PM]Varda: Aiya Eonwe : )
[4:01 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:01 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:02 PM]Varda: Elwing is visiting at our house for her birthday for a few days. Much chocolate fudge cake and cheesecake, with sides of ice cream and jello. Waistlines become optional for a while.
[4:03 PM]Varda: Any other membership news?
[4:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: Happy Birthday Elwing.
[4:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: 29, right? :}
[4:05 PM]Varda: Certainly!
[4:06 PM]Varda: Web News:
[4:07 PM]Varda: Is no news good news? I now rarely reach outside the guild for content, perhaps a mistake, heh. We are rather few atm.
[4:07 PM]Varda: On to
[4:07 PM]Varda: Gaming!
[4:08 PM]Varda: The gavel is twisting around, trying to see the far edge of the table.
[4:08 PM]Varda: There! Eonwe spotted!
[4:08 PM]Varda: Gavel leaps, hoping for a good breeze from Manwe, because that is one long table!
[4:09 PM]Varda: The hammerpad peeks up. Will the gavel make it to Eonwe's hand?
[4:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: Catches the gavel
[4:09 PM]Arien Valar: aiya from the island of Dorn
[Note: Island of Dorn! That is truly a long table.]
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:10 PM]Varda: The other gavels on the shelf and the hammerpad cheer!
[4:10 PM]Varda: Aiya Sunshine!
[4:10 PM]Arien Valar:
[4:11 PM]Arien Valar: early access for the War within is life
[4:11 PM]Arien Valar: and impatient as i am .. i got it ,-<#
[4:12 PM]Varda: Huzzah!
[4:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: For those not enjoying Early Access, The War Within expansion goes live for everyone tomorrow.
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out The War Within Update Notes. --- World of Warcraft - The War Within Update Notes
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out This Week in WoW. --- The week
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Two WoWCasts are out this week:
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: WoWCast: The War Within Story and World-Building
[4:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: WoWCast: One-on-One With Chris Metzen"> ---
[4:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes.
[4:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo 4:
[4:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: Coming August 29th Campfire Chat on the 2.0 PTR.
[4:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: See what was announced at GamesCom. --- Features upcoming
[4:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: New blog out: Delve Deepr Into Nahantu With Mercenaries, Dark Citadel, And More.
[4:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: March of the Goblins is returning from August 27th to September 3rd.
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo Immortal:
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: See what was announced at GamesCom.
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: New update out: Devouring Mists.
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: Overwatch 2:
[4:17 PM]Eönwë Valar: A new blog is out: Defense Matrix - Removing Cheaters From Overwatch 2.
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ooops, also for WoW: This weeks PvP Brawl is Comp Stomp, next week's is Deepwind Dunk according to the in-game calendar.
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: And that's it for the gaming news I have. All gavels may now report back to Varda.
[4:19 PM]Varda: gavels salute smartly
[4:19 PM]Varda: in various directions
[4:19 PM]Varda: Thank you, Eonwe. : )
[Note: Lord of the Rings Online kinmates online this past week link.]
[4:19 PM]Varda: One more bit of membership news,
[4:20 PM]Varda: I and Fangorn will be on the road next Sunday Sept 1, without computer access. All good, just travel, no bad stuff.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads
[4:21 PM]Varda: Sauron is house-sitting, scary as that sounds
[4:22 PM]Varda: On to
[4:22 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:24 PM]Varda: First off, Elwing, between work, decided to do some light reading.
[4:24 PM]Varda: So she read the Hobbit, the trilogy Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion.
[4:24 PM]Varda: I feel like a slacker. : )
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: :}
[4:25 PM]Varda: One comment and it is one we may all have, is that the Silmarillion was tough sledding mainly due to the number of names for any one character.
[4:25 PM]Varda: And today we dropped by a bookstore to reload her (and me and Fangorn) on books. : )
[4:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Reload? She wasn't slinging books at passersby, was she? :}
[4:27 PM]Varda: um. Maybe? She's a gamer, after all. Currently slaughtering pixels in LotRO.
[4:27 PM]Eönwë Valar: :}
[4:27 PM]Varda: Probably just slinging them at orcs.
[4:29 PM]Varda: Anyway, did you have any problem crop up when trying to read Tolkien's works? As much as we love him. : )
[4:31 PM]Varda: In my youthful days of first reading, the descriptions of the hiking seemed long. JRRT in rl loved hiking and it showed. But I got through it.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Ah good. No one else had any difficulties in their first JRRT reading attempt as little tadpoles.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Onwards.
[4:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: It's been too long, don't remember any :}
[4:34 PM]Varda: We hear of fantasy of various kinds.
[4:34 PM]Varda: Low fantasy, urban fantasy, epic fantasy, high fantasy.
[4:35 PM]Varda: LotR is considered high fantasy. But it seems to include other types within small sections, which is fun. Like Shakespeare did more than one sort of writing in a play
[4:36 PM]Varda: (just died to a Mournful Wraith whilst typing, heh)
[4:37 PM]Varda: So we have the hobbits as a "low fantasy", elves doing "high fantasy", and our heroes of the Fellowship doing "epic fantasy".
[4:37 PM]Varda: Maybe we should go back to just saying "fantasy". : )
[4:38 PM]Varda: We may have a bit of "urban fantasy" even, as Gandalf goes to Gondor checking the scrolls.
[4:38 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heh, Urban fantasy is not one I would've thought about in Middle-Earth.
[4:40 PM]Varda: Aye, I'm reaching here. Normally urban fantasy is also modern times.
[4:40 PM]Varda: Do we invent "village fantasy"?
[4:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hehe, village fantasy.
[4:43 PM]Eönwë Valar: Now I'm thinking about the settings of the Assassin's Creed games. Most of those take place in a city as I recall.
[4:43 PM]Varda: : )
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Historical Urban Fantasy"?
[4:45 PM]Varda: Oh, and LotR is also called "Epic High Fantasy"
[4:47 PM]Eönwë Valar: It should probably be noted that "High Fantasy" and "Low Fantasy" indicate the levels of fantasy elements (i.e, Elves, magic, etc.) in a given story.
[4:49 PM]Varda: A good note.
[4:49 PM]Eönwë Valar: First paragraph gives a decent description: High fantasy:
["High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. High fantasy is usually set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world, rather than the "real" or "primary" world. This secondary world is usually internally consistent, but its rules ..."
"[4:50 PM]Varda: Interesting.
[4:51 PM]Varda: Since this is supposed to be the early history of the real world, that could put it in "Low Fantasy".
[4:51 PM]Varda: It's not a secondary world, unless we count Valinor.
[4:52 PM]Varda: Yet that article says it's " The Lord of the Rings—are regarded as archetypal works of high fantasy"
[4:52 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hmmm. that's an interesting point.
[4:53 PM]Eönwë Valar: Wiki - Low fantasy:
[Low fantasy, or intrusion fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy fiction in which magical events intrude on an otherwise-normal world. The term thus contrasts with high fantasy stories, which take place in fictional worlds that have their own sets of rules and physical laws. Intrusion fantasy places less emphasis on elements typically associated with...
[4:54 PM]Varda: o this is fun. We can quickly run down the rabbit holes on these.
[4:54 PM]Eönwë Valar: I'd like to see that argued in academics circles, just to see how it's received, or if definitions get reconsidered.
[4:54 PM]Varda: Aren't we an academic circle, kind of? : )
[4:54 PM]Eönwë Valar: Touche :}
[4:54 PM]Varda: And you're right! We're discussing it
[4:55 PM]Varda: Fantasy: includes elements of "the strange" in a story.
[4:55 PM]Varda: There we go, I'm giving a definition.
[4:55 PM]Varda: So levels of strange, or degrees of strange, or types of strange could have their own names.
[4:56 PM]Varda: Fantasy can touch any other type of story-telling.
[4:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya, sorry I'm late, health stuff. Reading up!
[4:56 PM]Eönwë Valar: Does "Ghostbusters" count as urban fantasy or sci-fi? :}
[4:56 PM]Varda: Welcome back! May you feel well!
[4:57 PM]Eönwë Valar:
[4:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: There's a health pack. As a gamer, I assume you know how to use it.
[4:57 PM]Varda: Otherworldly, lot of out and out magic with ghosts, so fantasy there. Using equipment to fight it from science makes it touch sci-fi.
[4:57 PM]Varda: heh
[4:58 PM]Varda: Oh, another part of classifying fantasy was in the goal(s).
[4:59 PM]Varda: Personal battle? World-saving?
[5:00 PM]Ungwetari: Good morning!
[5:00 PM]Varda: One of the greats at defining:
[5:00 PM]Varda: TV Tropes!
[5:00 PM]Varda: Aiya Shelob : )
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: Good ol' TV Tropes. Be wary dipping your feet in that pool lest you're ready to go for a swim.
[5:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Alright, caught up, happy birthday Elwing
[5:01 PM]Varda: It suggests the remote past qualifies as a secondary world. Handles one problem!
[5:02 PM]Varda: oh, that is a wide and deep river with many tributaries!
[5:02 PM]Varda: Thank you, Phar. : )
[5:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I used to think low fantasy had only low amounts of "rule-breaking" and magic going on. Compared to, say, Harry Potter, LotR seems to be lower and more consistent.
[5:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But if we're talking more about the setting compared to modern, yes, LotR is definitely high/epic.
[5:03 PM]Varda: LotR has some serious "magic" going, but not in your face all the time.
[@Varda
It suggests the remote past qualifies as a secondary world. Handles one problem!
[5:03 PM]Eönwë Valar: Conan is considered Low Fantasy, last I checked, but it takes place in the fictional "Hyborian age".
[5:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Much of the magic in LotR seems to be of divine origin, though what those divine beings are capable of is definitely magical.
[5:04 PM]Varda: Conan does have magical villains and monsters
[5:04 PM]Varda: LotRO also includes Music, Runes, wraiths
[5:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Is there such a thing as mythological fantasy?
[5:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: True.
[5:05 PM]Varda: I'd say yes, Phar. LotR is JRRT's mythology for Britain.
[5:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I meant more in the fantasy/magic being mythological in origin, rather than purpose. But in that sense it definitely is.
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: Percy Jackson?
[5:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good example, yes.
[5:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But I'd say the Ainur are mythological in origin as well.
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: Its story is at least attempting swim in Greek Mythology in a modern setting.
[5:06 PM]Varda: (Lin Carter defined fantasy as literature set in a time and/or place where magic works.)
[5:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Just not as an equivalent to the mythology that we already have outside of it, like Percy Jackson
[5:07 PM]Varda: Mythology mixes, taking elements of various ones and putting them together.
[5:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Though I suppose that is tied to LotR being meant as a mythology in itself, so I'll concede both your points!
[5:09 PM]Varda: Not figuring concession is the word. We are analyzing together.
[5:10 PM]Varda: If magic is highly rule-oriented, do we call it magic or another form of science?
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As for first Tolkien question, I was about 15/16 when I first read it, I think. So it wasn't so much my age/brain as English being my secondary language that might have posed issues, though I don't recall anything specific.
[5:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: If one is going to delve into the nature of a universe (or multiverse, as the case may be) I suppose some appeal to the mythological level is going to occur, since the origin of all reality is typically not something the characters of a story, being born within that reality, are going to be able to directly observe and confirm.
[5:11 PM]Varda: Reading in your second language is a magic effort in itself!
[5:11 PM]Varda: Interesting. No possible way of a direct check on the historical origin if nothing remains.
[5:12 PM]Varda: If we tread the Path of Dreams to Valinor we may be able to decide it's real. But were we dreaming? ouch
[5:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It's nice when there's some creatures around that were present for it, to spread the tale.
[5:12 PM]Varda: Aye!
[5:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sure, the Ainur can tell the Elves how it happened because the Ainur were there, inasmuch as the Elves can understand the information being passed on, and the Elves can tell Men, but how will Men explain it to future generations?
[5:13 PM]Varda: So you say you were there? Tell us more!
[5:13 PM]Varda: Man has the written word
[5:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Of course, they do need to be demonstrably believable Hard to call the Valar liars when you see what they can do. At the very least you'll have to admit they're capable of what they claim to have done.
[5:14 PM]Varda: tosses a few more constellations into the sky
[5:14 PM]Varda: Ack! Didn't give my LotRO report. Will break in with it, then return to fun chat:
[5:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The more indirect or mundane the source, the larger the skepticism.
Landroval branch
Crickhollow branch:
Treebeard branch:
Mordor branch:
Angmar branch:
[5:14 PM]Varda: True, Phar.
[5:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sure, the Elves will trust the Valar, both because of the Valar being the Valar, and the Elves being closer to the spiritual to begin with.
[5:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: Yeah, just have to have the Valar stop by every few generations to confirm their existence, maybe move a few mountains. "Ladies and gentlemen, here is Varda Elentari, come to make a brand new star just to prove to us nonbelievers she can do it! And there we are, we'll name this one "Pretty Star #423645676" because we've run out of names! See you all again in a century!"
[5:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sure, the Edain will trust the Elves, seeing the higher in them, and having witnessed the Ainur in the War of Wrath.
[5:15 PM]Varda: Just because I said these sparks from Aule's anvil that I'm tossing into the heights became that constellation, why really should you believe me? eyes the Wilwarin
[5:16 PM]Varda: hehehe Eonwe
[5:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But when we're 3000 years later and the Elves seem to distrust us and only a being like Sauron is around... it's easier to believe the lies.
[5:16 PM]Varda: And unto a disbelieving generation, no sign will be given.
[5:16 PM]Varda: But Sauron is using magic!
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yes, exactly, which makes Sauron believable when he says it comes from all-mighty Morgoth
[5:17 PM]Varda: And thus were Men ensnared.
[5:18 PM]Arien Valar: I believe it is that time again ...
[5:18 PM]Varda: It is that time plus 15 minutes. : )
[5:18 PM]Varda: laggard gavel hops on the hammerpad
[5:18 PM]Varda: thwink!
[5:18 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:19 PM]Varda: ok, 18 minutes when typing 15. fix
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Is the disbelieving generation a quote from somewhere?
[5:19 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie for now
[5:19 PM]Varda: Paraphrase, aye.
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
[5:19 PM]Varda: Namarie Sunshine!
[5:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sauron didn't try to deny the existance of the Valar while Aman was part of Arda, just Eru. In the Third Age I wouldn't be surprised to have him try to, once he was out for himself and not trying to fluff up Morgoth's rep.
[5:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Because... doesn't believe start with a sign/demonstration? Hard to find a religion that does not open up with some prophet or writer of documents who doesn't claim to have divine communcation.
[5:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: "You really think there's any being out there that could rival me?"
[5:20 PM]Varda: Interesting. Sauron didn't talk much about Morgoth in the War of the Rings, although Grond was named after Morgoth's mace.
[5:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, let's keep it to Tolkien.
[5:21 PM]Varda: Heh, not anymore? They have all gone?
[5:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: I recall a Letter mentioning that by that time he was passing himself off as Morgoth Reborn, or something like that.
[5:21 PM]Varda: Interesting.
[5:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: He does talk about Morgoth in Numenor. But yes, in the Third Age, he does basically focus more on himself.
[5:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Perhaps because his position was already humbled in Numenor, tough to pass on the idea of being God if you're a political prisoner
[5:22 PM]Varda: The other Valar weren't very visible, so Sauron could appear to be the Big Dog.
[5:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Of course I put all my books back on their shelf so I don't have my Letters in front of me.
[5:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also, yes, that's true. In the Third Age, the other Valar were removed from the world, just a few Maiar around who were either secluded, or passing off as mortal.
[5:24 PM]Varda: A very fast dig. Letter 200 for nature of Sauron is one.
[5:26 PM]Varda: Not quite the letter we are looking for, but interesting.
[5:26 PM]Varda: digs around again
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: diggy diggy hole ♪
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: brb, making food
[5:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: First course here. Slept 13 hours by accident and then had health stuff; not eaten at all today.
[5:35 PM]Varda: ack
[5:35 PM]Varda: stuffs food at Phar
[5:35 PM]Varda: Morgoth is mentioned many times in the Letters. oof
[5:37 PM]Varda: Sauron has "Sauron and Morgoth" but that's a lot too. Not as bad.
[5:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It might give him some satisfaction to know he's so pivotal to the story.
[5:37 PM]Varda: True. : )
[5:38 PM]Eönwë Valar: Out of curiosity, what's Letter 138? That number is sticking in my head for some reason.
[5:40 PM]Varda: 131 has a lot of Morgoth. flips more pages to 138
[5:42 PM]Varda: 138 is short, about the galley proofs, where the "impertinent compositors have taken it upon themselves to correct, as they suppose, my spelling and grammar: altering throughout dwarves to dwarfs..."
[5:43 PM]Eönwë Valar: OK, so that's a different topic, ok.
[5:44 PM]Varda: Funny comment: "I left off my irritation in a snorter to A. and U. which produced a grovel."
[5:44 PM]Varda: afk. We are in After-meeting, gang. : )
[5:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good reminder that they're still people
[5:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Boys will be boys!
[5:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ok ladies and gents, my time to go has come. Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
[5:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:54 PM]Varda: Whoop!
[5:54 PM]Varda: Found it
[5:55 PM]Varda: It's a footnote
[5:55 PM]Varda: "By the end of the Third Age (though actually much weaker than before) he claimed to be Morgoth returned."
[5:55 PM]Varda: pg 243 for my copy.
[5:56 PM]Varda: Letter 183
[5:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Footnote to which letter?
[5:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: ah
[5:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Eonwe was almost right with 138!
[5:56 PM]Varda: Agreed. : )
[5:56 PM]Varda: Long footnote.
[5:56 PM]Varda: Last sentence.
[5:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, neat, page 243 here too Could be same edition!
[5:58 PM]Varda: Likely
[5:58 PM]Varda: First Houghton-Mifflin paperback edition 2000.
[5:58 PM]Varda: Tradeback, not hardback or small paperback.
[5:59 PM]Varda: Pic of JRRT smoking a pipe on the cover.
[5:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yep, it's the same.
[5:59 PM]Varda: Yay!
[5:59 PM]Varda: Makes it so much easier to look up things. : )
[5:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yes!
[5:59 PM]Varda: Ok, must move around a bit. Probably back shortly.
[6:00 PM]Varda: It's only 6:00 PM here.
[6:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: 1:00am here
[6:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But as expected I'm not sleepy yet
[7:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report;
[7:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, a platform puzzler, Kongregate - Economical
[7:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The goal in each level is to get to the treasure chest. You can collect gold along the way which you'll need to place blocks or break stuff with your hammer. Try to finish each level with as much gold remaining!
[7:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In some levels you can even collect more than the maximum objective observed at the end of the level.
[8:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[8:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 68 on the reward track. Slowing down to the usual pace again. Still, good enough!
[8:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got enough gold to buy another hero skin, and bought Apple Aranna, a demon huntress... preparing an apple pie. What's the relevance to the class? I've no idea. Maybe the summer holiday expansion also involves good food!
[8:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl is the Heroic Tavern Brawl, in other words, the expensive arena. I always skip that one, so to get my weekly quest done, I went for battlegrounds instead. Not my favorite, but at least I don't have to win them. Though I got close, on one of them I was on top of the leaderboard with no losses for most of the game, only to be crushed in the last few fights against the last opponent
[8:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: No new collection level, but it's close, thanks to a newly released mini. Will probably get it next week.
[8:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: New season's started, with said new mini, the Dryad, sixth Cenarion mini (and one that was sorely lacking, for the theme) which can be earned in pvp but not guild chests, but fortunately also in the new Darkmoon Faire weekly event!
[8:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With 2 weekly challenges and a bunch of daily challenges, there's a lot of tickets to be earned, and you don't need that many to get the mini. Getting more stars for her is more expensive, though I did get enough to reach uncommon rarity.
[8:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the heroic sigil campaign, I defeated Draaka with my remaining families, then the water elemental Tideress with all families, getting me up to 107 sigils.
[8:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For quality upgrades, just the dryad, which I got to uncommon through the tickets, and her preferred talent, Barrage. It makes her switch targets more often, rooting them, which combines well with Cenarius' talent to turn all enemies who die rooted into treants. My Cenarion team just got a bit stronger again
[8:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[8:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: No raiding, no weekly quest. I did do the brawl though; Comp Stomp is always fun
[8:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: (oh, also for Hearthstone, Death Knight class to 48)
[8:34 PM]Varda: heh, I went on a LotRO raid yesterday, 24-man, Makhda Korbo. Then a 12-man, Pelargir.
[8:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, the raid scene working out for you?
[8:34 PM]Varda: Comp Stomp sounds like a fun name.
[8:34 PM]Varda: I enjoy raiding. Miss it.
[8:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmhm, it's the only pvp brawl wherein you actually play against a team of 15 customized and named AI, basically pretending to be a team of players, in a battleground.
[8:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So you stomp the computer
[8:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, this week WoW has been all about the two events coming to an end.
[8:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: At the end of last week's meeting I was hunting reputation insignias from Zandalari Warbringers to aid me in getting the August Celestials to exalted, and a few hours later I had em all
[8:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With them and Kirin Tor Offensive to exalted that day, I completed the last of the Pandaria remix achievements, having done all 147 out of 147
[8:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And then it was bronze spending time! There were a lot of mounts and ensembles from the infinite vendors, and while I didn't have the bronze to buy absolutely everything, I did buy everything that was unique to the remix.
[8:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Started with spending the bit of bronze on my vulpera, he got 3 mounts and a transmog set; the rest was up to my main timerunner.
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Calvirona got all the unique ensembles and arsenals for all the classes, before moving to all the unique mounts: riding cranes, mushans, goats, juggernauts, pterrorwings, windsteeds... all recolors, but nice to have
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: 30 in all, I believe.
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: She also got the Kor'kron Juggernaut, the mythic drop from Garrosh, since she had bronze left over and it's really rare to farm still.
[8:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Then I got a bit strategic about things, buying the 5 raid sets of which Wowhead told me that they contained unique pieces that can be worn by other classes than their own, in contrast to the actual drops.
[8:47 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also got 2 rare toys, the Gastropod Shell from a raid and the Warning Sign from random Ordos npcs on the Timeless Isle. The others drop from specific rares with about a 10% droprate so shouldn't be too hard to farm later.
[8:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also got 3 direhorn mounts, 1 from a raid and 2 from the Zandalari elites, leaving the other 5 world mounts since they're more easily farmable, as their droprate has increased in recent years anyway.
[8:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I then bought all the open world drop gear sets, since they're more difficult to target, leaving just dungeon- and raidsets to go. They're all still farmable, and I'm sure I will in the future, but since I had the bronze to spare, I just went through all the vendors and picked all the ones I liked, then all the ones I liked a bit less, etc
[8:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ended up buying a whole bunch of them, though more remain. But they can all be gotten in the future!
[8:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In fact, that's more true than one might expect, since they're talking about bringing the remix event back in the future, especially in response to the world-dropping weapon appearances that couldn't be bought. Whether that means even more new alts need to be created, I don't know. But for those interested, it'll be out there.
[8:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Right before the remix ended, I did a few more daily quests with my second timerunner Callyfozz, getting him to level 35, and getting enough bronze to buy 3 more raidsets. Everything helps!
[8:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And then it was back to the second event, the Radiant Echoes!
[8:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Continued with my warrior Caldarion first, finally getting the cloaks and the shield, both being the only recruit's appearances you can't get through the Exile's Reach storyline. He then got the entire plate set complete, leaving me free to switch alts to get more armor and weapon appearances, so I don't have to do Exile's Reach with as many alts
[8:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Since Callyfozz had been intended to level to max during remix anyway, I decided on using him first, for mail armor and the bow. And indeed, he got the bow, and most of the mail set, and reached 70, though by that point the new expansion's Early Access had started and the maximum level had gone up to 80
[8:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still, 70 is good enough for now for an alt, so I switched to my Dark Iron elemental shaman of the Lotr-worthy name, World of Warcraft - Calmoria - Character - WoW Calmoria (Argent Dawn) "The High Guard" - 36 Dark Iron Dwarf Elemental Shaman, 19 ilvl
[9:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As you can see, I got her all the way from level 14 to 36, while also looting pretty much the entire Sturdy mail set she's now got equipped, since it was higher level, despite having most of the appearances collected already. But she also got the shoulders and headpiece, which I had been missing after Fozz's effort.
[9:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next up, last night (saturday to sunday) I switched to my rogue Caldros for 2 more weapon appeareances, and missing leather. I didn't think I'd get much, since I assumed the event would end at midnight tonight (which it's now past, here) since monday is expansion launch day.
[9:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But as it turns out, the event is still going, presumably ending somewhere during the day, and I'm currently doing the boss events still while doing other things like writing this report, while other people take down the lesser memories
[9:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I halted experience on him, by the way. He's 61, which meant he wasn't allowed to halt experience before, but now that the max level is 80, the maximum level to stop the xp-gain has gone up from 59 to 69.
[9:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Don't want him to level up and suddenly not be able to loot recruit's gear anymore!
[9:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But he has made progress, getting 2 more leather pieces and both weapons. As for total recruit's appearances, I'm now lacking leather headpiece and shoulders - after them being the last to get for mail, I'd almost think they're rarer somehow, though they were the first pieces got in plate - as well as the entire cloth set, and the caster sword.
[9:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It'd be nice if I got the leather pieces before it ends, so I could potentially get all the remaining gear just by putting a new mage through the Exile's Reach story, but at this point I doubt it'll happen. But I got all the unique stuff and 2 complete sets, so it's been a good event anyhow!
[9:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And the random events were fun, of course
[9:08 PM]Varda: : )
[9:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With the event almost over, I also spent all my Memories currency on the actual level 70 gear, having already gotten the mount and pets. I also bought a cheap reagent bag for my druid main, the alts can get bigger bags eventually through other methods.
[9:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But for the druid, who will soon head into the new expansion, the upgrade helps.
[9:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And sure enough I had enough memories and then some to buy all the sets and weapon appearances, for other classes as well
[9:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week! Tomorrow we'll see if there's an event to rogue, and if not, it's off into the new expansion maybe? I do like to wait for the opening rush to go away, but depending on how many people went for Early Access, it might not actually be as terrible this time around.
[9:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I have it as well, but preferred to focus on the events still ongoing
[9:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: If it is still too crowded for me, I might spend the first few days continuing on my goblin warrior Calsjona, the fiery redhead I (relevantly!) linked during Eonwe's review of the Rohan film-trailer It's about time, perhaps, that she finished her starting zone! (edited)
[9:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But for now, that's it, so namarie
[11:13 PM]Varda: Namarie!
>August 26, 2024
[9:55 AM]Sandalf13: Sorry I missed you all yesterday, and could not attend out meeting! I was on an all-day field trip with the Rocky Mtn Section of the SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology). We were checking out the proposed Fall field trip to my research area in the Conanche Peak Wilderness Area. The hike is a very rigorous, steep climb up to Browns Cirque lake, and then back down. We began hiking at 0930 and did not get back to the truck until around 1600 MST, then had to drive back down an extremely rocky private road, before getting on the county gravel road (15 miles) to return to the blacktop. A very long day, but well worth the effort. I hope to see everyone again next Sunday!!!
[Image]
[I am standing in front of Timberline Lake in the Browns Lake Cirque...notice the steep rock walls around the cirque, carved out by a glacier about 80,000 years ago +/-. We are close to tree line. I have my geologic hammer and magnifying lense, and actually look like a field geologist. This was my toughest hike of the summer...very sharp gradient on a rocky path to get here.
[6:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Very nice view there, Sandalf.
[6:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - John Denver - Rocky Mountain High
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!
