Sunday, October 20, 2024
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Celebrian, Eonwe, Sandalf, Shelob, Varda (presiding).
Side hello from Hurin in Discord.
October 16, 2024
[10:33 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ok, I've got a favorite Delve now: the Earthcrawl Mines layout where I can run spiders over with minecarts, heh.
[10:48 PM]Eönwë Valar: And just got a Hero-path sword from one of those Delver's Bounty maps. nice.
[11:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: Wow, Blizzard's really come a ways with WoW. There's now an item with an on transmog effect. Not just if you're using it, not just if you're carrying it, if you make another item look like it.
[11:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: That'd be awesome if transmogging to Ashbringer had the chance to burn your target to ash that the actual artifact has.
October 17, 2024
[11:52 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ooh, sounds interesting
[4:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Wowhead - Cursed Pickaxe - This blue one-handed axe has an item level of 518. It is looted from Cursed Pickaxe. In the One-Handed Axes category. Added in World of Warcraft: The War Within."
October 20, 2024
[4:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya.
[4:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: @Bounder Meeting begins shortly!
[4:04 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya all
[4:04 PM]Varda: Aiya
[4:05 PM]Varda: The last of the cookies and brownies are now on the table, still warm. ,puff
[4:05 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Aiya! Valar Guild meeting time! Come say hi!
[4:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya :}
[4:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: Glad you made it :}
[4:06 PM]Arien Valar: grabs some Brownies
[4:06 PM]Varda: Yay! Plenty more where that came from.
[4:06 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:06 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:06 PM]Varda: Happy to say Elwing is visiting at our house. And currently playing LotRO!
[4:07 PM]Varda: Hi from Sauron and Fangorn too. The cookies and brownies are trying to disappear for some reason.
[4:07 PM]Varda: So we have Eonwe and Arien here? Cool!
[4:08 PM]Varda: Any other membership sightings? Comments?
[4:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: DST ending soon. Don't forget.
[4:09 PM]Arien Valar: all back to normal every day life inclusive gaming
[4:10 PM]Varda: When does it end, Eonwe?
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: October 27th for Europe, November 3rd for US.
[4:10 PM]Varda: I had one clock switch today, on the coffeepot. Overachiever!
[4:10 PM]Varda: Thank you.
[4:11 PM]Varda: Welcome home, Arien. : )
[4:11 PM]Arien Valar: oh yeah and its trying to blow a hoolie here .. but its more like a storm in the waterglass so far, still if i should disappear at some point it s taken a powerline somewhere and thanks
[4:11 PM]Varda: Yikes! Thanks for the heads' up!
[4:11 PM]Varda: Need to ask Yavanna to keep those trees standing properly.
[4:11 PM]Arien Valar: as i say i ve seen worse .. but what not is can still devellop
[4:12 PM]Celebrian: Aiya all
[4:13 PM]Varda: Aiya Celebrian!
[4:13 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya
[4:13 PM]Varda: So good to see you hanging out with us!
[4:13 PM]Varda: Skating going well?
[4:13 PM]Varda: We had a side hello from Hurin. : )
[4:14 PM]Celebrian: Oh, in FFXIV? We decided not run it anymore but rather just have fun.
[4:14 PM]Varda: o wow. Glad to hear you're having fun still!
[4:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Side hello"... Is that like a "belly laugh"?
[4:14 PM]Varda: More like a hi in side chat. : )
[4:15 PM]Arien Valar: oh ssay a side aiya back then
[4:16 PM]Varda: Done!
[4:16 PM]Varda: Web:
[4:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya! Catching up
[4:16 PM]Varda: Nothing new in content, just a lot of wrestling with code. Eonwe is a super guy, must be said.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Aiya Phar!
[4:17 PM]Varda: I will mention that in LotRO, a book club meets on their characters to discuss chapters in the book. We are all welcome to come.
[4:17 PM]Varda: For the time of the festival, it will be meeting in Bag End in Hobbiton.
[4:17 PM]Varda: "Ah yes, I remember Arien :)
Hello to everyone!"
[4:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So wait, should I be an hour late or an hour early next week?
[4:18 PM]Varda: That was a quote from Hurin just now.
[4:18 PM]Arien Valar: Very kind
[4:18 PM]Arien Valar: good not to be forgotten then
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Spring forward, Fall back, Phar.
[4:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So my clock goes back, yours doesn't, which means... I have to be an hour early.
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sounds right.
[4:20 PM]Varda: So just leave your comp on? : )
[4:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Heh. Well, with usual health stuff, I might, but I still wouldn't be available in person
[4:20 PM]Varda: Phar-bot!
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: Just stay awake from one meeting to the next and you won't miss it. That can't possibly be a bad idea.
[4:21 PM]Varda: um heh. Might not be the best system.
[4:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: sounds fiiiine
[4:21 PM]Varda: He may be a little loopy, but fine?
[4:21 PM]Varda: On to
[4:21 PM]Varda: Gaming!
[4:22 PM]Varda: I see no Pallando at the moment. Eonwe, would you like this feisty little gavel?
[4:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: I don't know. How feisty is it?
[4:23 PM]Varda: gavel dances over playing bagpipes How feisty can you get?
[4:23 PM]Varda: There it is anyway.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: hehehe
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: The 20th Anniversary Celebration Content Patch drops this Tuesday, and the event begins as well, running through January 6th.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out This Week in WoW for anything not mentioned above.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hearthstone:
[4:25 PM]Eönwë Valar: Patch 30.6.2 is out.
[4:25 PM]Eönwë Valar: Blizzard has also announced some adjustments to progression coming in Patch 31.0.
[4:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Warcraft Rumble: (Not to be confused with The Rumbling from Attack on Titan.) A Hallows End event is running for the next three weeks.
[4:27 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo 4: See the Patch Notes for this week's changes.
[4:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo Immortal:
[New content update is out.
[4:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: Overwatch 2:
[4:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: New Director's Take: Tricks, Tweaks, And Treats For Season 13: Spellbinders.
[4:29 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heroes of the Storm:
[A new patch is live.
[4:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: Oops, couple of quick things to throw in for WoW: This week's bonus event is War Within Dungeons. Since the quest counts heroics now, it's well worth the 4 runs to do it it, if your internet isn't being a pain.
[4:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: Also, PvP Brawl this week is Packed House.
[4:31 PM]Eönwë Valar: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: Update 41.4 is out.
[4:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: New Developer Diary: The Combe Forester Event.
[4:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: It's Durin's Day until tomorrow.
[4:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Better get that key out!
[4:33 PM]Eönwë Valar: In LotRO Durin's Day is four days long.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Quite often a captain will be stationed there willing to summon folks. Get it once per year for three years for the top title.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Or just go there. : )
[4:34 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya!
[4:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Captain"... "stationed there"... good, and fitting, choice of words, heh.
[4:34 PM]Varda: Aiya Sandalf : )
[4:34 PM]Varda: Thanks, Eonwe : )
[4:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Heh, so there's actually an activity at the door? I should've known
[4:35 PM]Varda: Click on the door area to get credit. The thrush will be watching. And it needs to be the right time of day.
[4:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: Too bad it's not Account-wide.
[4:35 PM]Varda: O no! Might have to game!
[4:36 PM]Varda: And they can all get a summon, if they are high enough. It's not all that high level.
[4:36 PM]Varda: One after the other, if there's a kindly captain. Or hoof it.
[4:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And if you're high enough the first year, you'll be high enough the second and third I assume
[4:36 PM]Varda: Right!
[4:37 PM]Varda: I only have credit for 2 years, surprised me! You get a title for it.
[4:37 PM]Varda: Different for each year.
[4:39 PM]Varda: Free +100% Crafting XP Coupon Code: INSIGHTFUL . Now through October 24th
[@Varda
[One after the other, if there's a kindly captain. Or hoof it.
[4:39 PM]Eönwë Valar: Kindly Captains: Captain Crunch, Captain Kangaroo, Captain Planet, Captain Caveman.
[Not Kindly Captains: Captain Hook, Captain Ahab, Captain Roger Murtaugh.
[4:40 PM]Varda: Might have to call on Captain Auros!
[4:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Captain Iglo?
[4:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Or Birdseye over at your place.
[4:40 PM]Varda: Not Captain Placeholder, although he has a song in his memory. : )
[4:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: True
[4:40 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob): Good morning.
[4:41 PM]Varda: If anyone can find that, feel free to post the link!
[4:41 PM]Varda: Aiya Shelob : )
[4:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: YouTube - CraniusPresents: The Lament of Captain Placeholder
[4:41 PM]Varda: That was fast! Thank you.
[4:41 PM]Varda: That Captain gave us the fastest travel in WoW. : )
[4:41 PM]Eönwë Valar: :}
[4:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I knew the song you meant as soon as you said it
[4:42 PM]Varda: hehe
[4:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya Shelob!
[4:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: Oh, one more thing for those who didn't catch the message earlier in the week: coding issue fixed, Member Tables working and State of Valar Gaming 2024 is now available and not just uploaded.
[4:42 PM]Varda: Huzzah!
[4:43 PM]Eönwë Valar: That is officially it from me.
[4:43 PM]Varda: Thank you, Eonwe. : )
[4:44 PM]Varda: ./toast to the Captain
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ooh, should've added Captain Thaddeus Harris (from Police Acadamy) for Not Kindly Captains.
[4:44 PM]Varda: Good add, there.
[4:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Even the ships are rarely used now, I guess, with all the portals going around from capitals.
[4:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And everybody flying.
[4:45 PM]Eönwë Valar: Murtaugh's not a bad Captain, he's just getting too old for this stuff.
[4:45 PM]Varda: Good memories. Thanks, Phar.
[4:46 PM]Varda: Funny what we remember about our old games.
[4:46 PM]Eönwë Valar: Aye.
[4:47 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Trekking into Dun Morogh through the snow, uphill both ways...
[4:47 PM]Varda: hehe
[4:47 PM]Varda: Anyway, here's a FAQ for Legacy of Morgoth:
[4:47 PM]Varda: FAQ
[4:47 PM]Varda: Any other gaming news? Needs for invites? Sightings of cool Valarites?
[4:48 PM]Varda: (Thanks, Eonwe, for catching the error. Corrected!)
[4:48 PM]Varda: On to
[4:48 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:49 PM]Varda: What is something that Frodo may remember fondly from his travels?
[4:49 PM]Varda: How about meeting Bilbo at Rivendell?
[4:50 PM]Varda: There were wonderful things and people along the way that he might remember. Suggestions?
[4:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That nice peaceful inn in Bree, the lovely fire at Weathertop...
[4:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: He'll probably think fondly on the Underhills he met.
[4:52 PM]Eönwë Valar: They pretty much adopted him at the mention of his last name being "Underhill." That's a welcoming bunch.
[4:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Mostly though, any place with Elves
[4:54 PM]Eönwë Valar: I don't know, that sounds more like Sam to me. Not that Frodo wouldn't appreciate the Elves and all that. I don't want to say it wouldn't be "special" to Frodo, per se, since Bilbo had friends among the Elves, but I don't think he'd dwell on it like Sam would.
[4:55 PM]Varda: I would have liked to see more of Sam interacting with the elves. He didn't even seem to ask Legolas any questions, or speak to him.
[4:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, fair enough.
[4:56 PM]Varda: Easy to think of unpleasant memories for him. But the ones he would remember fondly...
[4:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Cormallen seemed nice!
[5:00 PM]Varda: Maybe the head of the king crowned by flowers?
[5:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Spending some time at Tom Bombadil's house.
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: I think most of his fond memories would've been in Rivendell and before. I don't recall that he spent a whole lot of time with Elves in Lothlorien. Not that some memories after Rivendell weren't nice, but "fond" would've probably ended there. In Lothlorien he was greiving Gandalf, and after he broke from the Fellowship was too busy trying to figure out how to complete his task.
[5:02 PM]Varda: So Frodo has little good to remember. No wonder he's so willing to go over Sea.
[5:02 PM]Sandalf13: I think that perhaps his awakening on the Fields of Cormalen had to be a happy memory for Frodo...
[5:02 PM]Varda: His main love was the Shire itself, kept him going.
[5:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Coming home to it wasn't exactly a happy occasion either, though,.
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, he has some 50 years before the WotR, 33 before the start of the story, and many of those living with Bilbo.
[5:03 PM]Varda: Finding out a lot of people he thought were dead were actually alive, after the destruction of the Ring?
[5:03 PM]Sandalf13: I think that Ar is on to something....I believe that finding The Shire in such disarray was "the straw that broke the camel's back," as far as staying in Middle-earth was for Frodo. I do not hink his fragile fea could withstand such a calamity on top of everything else.
[5:04 PM]Sandalf13: If he returned to The Shire as it was before the War, and remained in his memory, perhaps he would have stayed in Middle-earth longer..
[5:04 PM]Varda: They had been prepared by Gandalf to handle calamity, and righted it. But not fun to find.
[5:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: Relief more than "fond memory." I don't imagine he's going to look back on "that time he thought Gandalf was dead and he turned out to be alive." He's going to look back on the fireworks and the quiet talks in front of the fire... or at least the ones that don't involve magic rings.
[5:05 PM]Varda: Relief, good point.
[5:05 PM]Arien Valar: i think that maybe and also the annual pain of his wounding by the Morgul knife and then something similar on the day of the ring's destruction
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: Shelob's sting and the Morgoth wound.
[5:06 PM]Arien Valar: yeaj
[5:06 PM]Varda: Relief again, not fond memory exactly. The annual pain would be met with dread.
[5:07 PM]Eönwë Valar: But yeah, I can imagine it being hard on him, going out to save the Shire (and the whole world) then finding out he saved the whole world (except the Shire).
[5:07 PM]Varda: We have one more topic to hit right quick.
[5:07 PM]Varda: Sandalf, go ahead. :)
[5:08 PM]Sandalf13: OK! Varda and I were batting around a subject for today...on the basis of a very short time, I came up with an idea: "The Library System of Middle-earth: Who kept libraries? Where and Why? Who did the book publishing? Did the Dwarves keep libraries to store all their technical knowledge? Did the Hobbits have a libary (given that they already had a post office) for their genealogies?
[5:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: But that just shows that nothing was getting through that war unscathed, even the Shire.
[5:09 PM]Varda: What libraries can we think of in Middle-earth?
[5:09 PM]Sandalf13: We know that there was a library in Minas Tirith, but I suggest there had to be one at Imladris, Lothlorien, and probably Mithlond...but certainly NOT at Edoras, as Tolkien himself hinted at.
[5:10 PM]Sandalf13: Books are mentioned a great deal in the LoTR.
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The hobbits are probably trending more towards private collections, mostly held by the larger houses. But the bigger burrows might have centralized libraries.
[5:10 PM]Sandalf13: The Rohirrim weren't into books, more into singing ballads and legends, perhaps in a partially drunkenk state...
[5:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: Elves seemed to both have and not have books. Let me explain:
[5:11 PM]Sandalf13: Bilbo wrote several books, and Frodo kept it up. Merry also was an author of some repute.
[5:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Never ask an elf if they have books, for they will answer both yes and no.
[5:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Due to Elves' immortality, the chances of finding someone who lived through a particular event to give first-hand details is (usually) pretty good, so they didn't seem to have a presing need for books. However, as Legolas demonstrates in LotR, Elvish memories are not infinite. He says himself he couldn't recall the full song of Nimrodel. So some mode of writing things down to pass on knowledge was essential.
[5:14 PM]Sandalf13: How did the remnants of the people of Arnor keep up their histories of their former kingdom? And the Stewards of Gondor had to keep up their records of both the Kings and Stewards of Gondor...I really fashion Erestor to be a keen collector of manuscripts as well...how else could he keep up with all the knowledge necessary to be a chief counselor?
[5:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: On the matter, Tolkien himself says generally Elves wrote things down for other people, generally in a more concise form for informational purposes rather than how one may expect (or at least hope) to get more or less the full story from an interview or full accounting.
[5:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, and Bilbo himself used those resources to write down what we now know
[5:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: But since this wasn't part of their regular practice, it was easy to lose alot of history, lore, and knowledge when you lose a population.
[5:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: And for the record, I'm citing from memory a passage in Morgoth's RIng, so if anyone wants to check me, there's my source.
[5:16 PM]Sandalf13: Yes! Good memory, Ar! Is it not said in the text that Bilbo was able to look at and read Elvish manuscripts in order to translate them into Westron?
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As for the chieftains of Arnor, they always had a close relationship with Elrond at Rivendell. I imagine that the Elves there would make a specific effort to preserve the history and lineage of Arnor in their own library.
[5:18 PM]Sandalf13: Tolkien points out that the "higher classes" of Hobbits were lettered, and no doubt had the ability to both read and write books.
[5:18 PM]Varda: And sometimes taught others. As Bilbo and Frodo did for Sam, not meanin' no harm.
[5:19 PM]Sandalf13: Yes...but I think that the Dunedain were far more educated than most other mortals, and probably maintaied repositories for their collected stories/wisdom/knowledge, as they no doubt did in Numenor.
[5:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: I would imagine that on some level writing for Elves would be as much a pleasure as singing or any other form of wordplay. If Elrond is not explicitly stated as having a library, I can't imagine that he didn't. (edited)
[5:20 PM]Sandalf13: I see a sort of book-lending system of some type between the Dunedain of Arnor and Imladris...there might have been such during the early days of Gondor, but that probably withered over time...
[5:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I imagine that the Dunedain didn't have much capacity for larger book-storage, though they certainly had their base camps hidden I'm sure.
[5:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: Rivendell is supposed to represent the last repository of ancient Elvish knowledge in MIddle-Earth, and at the very least I can imagine visitors like Bilbo, or perhaps a young Estel going "Hey, tell me this story again." and some Elf going,"Why don't I just write it down for you so you can enjoy it whenever you want?" (edited)
[5:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In any case, any books they might have kept, would certainly have been in various copies, at least one of which stored more safely at Rivendell.
[5:21 PM]Sandalf13: So they might have sent their treasured volumes to the nearest "safe" repository, i.e. Imladris.
[5:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yes, exactly :)
[5:22 PM]Sandalf13: Given their close ancestral and political relationship, I am pretty sure that the Elves of Imladris were only too happy to help in such an endeavor.
[5:25 PM]Sandalf13: I also think that Elrond would have ensured that copies of many of the books in his library would have been copied and sent to Mithlond and Lothlorien. Now that brings up an interesting question: DID SARUMAN KEEP A LIBRARY?
[5:25 PM]Varda: JRRT would have surely imagined his characters with some form of storytelling abilities, passing along these tales. So this all sounds plausible.
[5:26 PM]Sandalf13: I suspect that in the early days of the White Council, there would have been a lot of sharing of information.
[5:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Saruman was keen on knowledge, at least in craft, so unless he was planning to store it all in his own head, I assume so.
[5:26 PM]Varda: Or keep it inside his study, under lock and key?
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, it could be a secret library, yes I mean, who would visit the place anyway? I don't see the orcs to keen on reading.
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: In a steel cabinet, perhaps? And that brings up another interesting topic for another day: how on earth was there steel in Middle-earth?
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: But that is for another day...let's beat the current topic to death.
[5:28 PM]Varda: Could have been stone.
[5:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With a secret brick to open the door.
[5:28 PM]Varda: put the candle back...
[5:28 PM]Sandalf13: But Tolkien states that Aragorn found a steel cabinet in Isengard, that could only be opened with the help of Gimli...
[5:29 PM]Varda: And Saruman knew a number of things, probably from Valinor. Black powder comes to mind. (edited)
[5:29 PM]Sandalf13: Huh?
[5:29 PM]Sandalf13: I hope so!
[5:29 PM]Sandalf13: One day I will have to tell you all about my time in Valinor....he he
[5:30 PM]Varda: With a name like Sandalf...
[5:30 PM]Arien Valar: runes .. they wrote runes on stones to pass messages, at least the Dunedain did .. we said the Rohirrim had a bardic tradition , and the Elves as well since they had a lot of songs and tales , especially ballads and leys
[5:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - The Librarian Trailer
[5:30 PM]Sandalf13: YouTube - Put the candle back - Young Frankenstein - Gene Wilder
[5:30 PM]Varda: Runes, aye. Elves, dwarves. Humans picked them up from them.
[5:30 PM]Varda: : )
[5:32 PM]Arien Valar: oh i d love to watch that series
[5:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: Why wouldn't there be steel in Middle-Earth? There was iron, coal, and people smart enough to design forges that could get hot enough.
[5:32 PM]Sandalf13: I had a lengthy discussion of that in Chapter THree...
[5:33 PM]Eönwë Valar: Steel production goes back some 4 thousand years, if Wikipedia is to be trusted on the matter.
[5:34 PM]Varda: "Geology of Middle-earth" by Sandalf.
[5:34 PM]Sandalf13: I think that there WAS steel...but that means that there had to be coal, and iron, as Eonwe mentions, and that the Dwarves had to have iron mines near coal resources...there is no mention of railroads in Middle-earth....hard to envision how the Dwarves (Elves as well? Dunedain?) could have made steel without all the resources being in close proximity..,
[5:34 PM]Varda: Perhaps mine carts inside their tunnels?
[5:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Where would the coal even originate from? Arda was not that old
[5:35 PM]Sandalf13: As I pointed out, Tolkien was many things, but not a geologist....he takes a lot of liberties with the physical history of Middle-earth, to say the least.
[5:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, there's a discussion to be had there too, Phar.
[5:36 PM]Sandalf13: If any of you are interested, please take a look a Chapter Three, and see what I think about the above...I wrote the the chapter for a non-geological audience....not specialists.
[5:36 PM]Eönwë Valar: Nature of Middle-Earth and I think Morgoth's Ring have some hints of stuff that I can't fully recall well enough to speak on right now.
[5:36 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob): Pharzy, does it matter? It's never stated how long Eä was there, nor is there any indication of how long the song lasted before the Valar descended into Arda, and only very vague references as to how long the age of the Two Lamps lasted.
[5:36 PM]Varda: The link to the Geology of Middle-earth by Sandalf is above.
[5:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm a doctor writer, not a geologist!
[5:37 PM]Varda: Aule would have put thought into it, since he was into forges and those used coal.
[@Ar-Pharazon-V
[I'm a doctor writer, not a geologist!
[5:37 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob): Oh, thou sneaky Star Trek Voyager referencist, thou!
[5:37 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's also a point directly from the Sil: We don't know how long pre-history in Arda was. We really only start counting when the Elves start counting. (edited)
[5:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: True, Spidey, it could technically have been a few hundred million years of the Sun.
[5:38 PM]Eönwë Valar: Or in HoME when the Valar set up a means to measure days aka the Valian Year.
[5:38 PM]Sandalf13: And that may be the way that Tolkien thought of the pre-ELf history of Middle-earth...the same way that we accept Genesis and can simulataneousl accept that our Earth is 4.54 Ga.
[5:39 PM]Sandalf13: Damn it Jim, I'm a geologist, not a loremaster.
[5:39 PM]Varda: It is well past the hour, so...
[5:39 PM]Varda: the pickhammer tosses a gavel to the hammerpad
[5:40 PM]Varda: whomp roll roll roll
[5:40 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I wouldn't go so far as to say I would "accept" Genesis, but that's probably just me, and I must admit it makes for a good narrative
[5:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But that's not a topic for here.
[5:41 PM]Sandalf13: Of course...I meant that only for those who choose to accept it.
[5:41 PM]Varda: And not all of us read Genesis the same way. For instance "1,000" means "the perfect amount of time". But let's not get into that. : )
[5:41 PM]Sandalf13: Yup.
[5:41 PM]Sandalf13: I do think that Tolkien thought about it, though.
[5:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And I do acknowledge that it is easily possible to interpret Genesis in ways that are not contradictory to our scientific knowledge.
[@Sandalf13
[I do think that Tolkien thought about it, though.
[5:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: I recall similar discussion on it from HoME somewhere when he's adjusting his cosmology.
[5:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, I do like how Tolkien makes the initial eras of his world intentionally vague and big
[5:43 PM]Sandalf13: :)
[5:45 PM]Sandalf13: Well....I need to get my end-of-the-weekend chores done before the day is over and the sun sets in the west...will return later for Ar's stimulating report...Namarie and best wishes for a wonderful week ahead for everyone...
[5:46 PM]Varda: Namarie
[5:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:48 PM]Eönwë Valar: I need to get ready to go as well. That trailer for The Librarian was meant to be something of an "I'm off, so enjoy." I do recommend finding the movie if you haven't seen it. Not often you can find an adventure movie where the protagonist is a bookworm, heh, and all three of the movies are fun to watch, in my opinion at least.
[5:48 PM]Arien Valar: it is beyond my usual bed time as well
[5:48 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob): Namarie! I'm going to roll a bedroll as well.
[5:48 PM]Eönwë Valar: There series has its ups and downs.
[5:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I would've made a good librarian myself, I think. The normal kind, that is. But we're no longer in the era where you can make a living out of it.
[5:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie all ye sleepers!
[5:49 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie !
[5:49 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, you could make a youtube channel where you read history books and monetize it? :}
[5:49 PM]Eönwë Valar: Do you have a good reading voice? :}
[5:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Not really
[5:50 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob): Nor is it easy to find a place in a very saturated market either.
[5:50 PM]Varda: Namarie Sunshine : )
[5:50 PM]Varda: Later, Sandalf
[5:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: So whisper then. ASMR history lessons :}
[5:51 PM]Varda: Namarie Eonwe : )
[5:51 PM]Varda: I plan to work on that LotRO report for the meeting, even though belated. : )
[5:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, and I "need" to get a delve done for today still
[5:53 PM]Eönwë Valar: I got 8 done this week, so I get a choice of 3 ilvl616 items on Tuesday. Let's see if any of them are good :}
[5:53 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob): Needs are overrated. Perhaps you ought to go sleep instead.
[5:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Nah, I need not get up for about 12 hours.
[5:53 PM]Eönwë Valar: Shelob's implication: sleep isn't a need :}
[5:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Art though suggesting I sleep and wake earlier than needed?
[5:54 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob): Eönwë gets it.
[5:55 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob): I suggest thou sleepeth like thou shouldst. For it is thine fate to sleepeth until the Final Battle has come upon thee.
[5:55 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Sleep isn't a need, it's just something my body forces me to do when I've been awake long enough."
[6:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: OK, now I'm really off. Take care all, good night, sleep well, have funm and remember that you can always count on YouTube - Captain Caveman! Battle-cry.
[6:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
[6:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yay, daily delve paid off, just got the zeppelin customization for the dirigible
[8:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report:
[8:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, I present Kongregate - Zak
["They say they're protecting us, but from what? Who do they think they are, keeping us behind these walls? I gotta get out!"
[8:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A platformer, casual enough, wherein you make your way through streets and sewers, finding a melee weapon and fighting your way through until you can face the monster destroying the city.
[8:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Time your jumps and your attacks and you'll be fine!
[8:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But if you want a challenge, you can try to beat each level without dying, without killing enemies, or simply within a certain speed
[8:10 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar! I got to finish cleaning up the kitchen, then I can go upstairs to my study and get on my real laptop...to read your report.
[8:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sure
[8:10 PM]Sandalf13:
[8:10 PM]Sandalf13:
[8:11 PM]Sandalf13: Wow....they keep coming up the same size. I wonder....
[8:14 PM]Sandalf13: Wow....this is one for Halloween!
[8:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[8:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V:
[8:15 PM]Sandalf13: Where did you find that one?
[8:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Should also be in there somewhere, I had it as a recent use so it was near the top.
[8:15 PM]Sandalf13: I didn't see it in the Discord emojis.
[8:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It's reasonably high up, between a robot and a cat.
[8:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Right after the standard circly smileys.
[8:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[8:17 PM]Sandalf13: Found it.
[8:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yay!
[8:18 PM]Sandalf13: Now how do I make it big?
[8:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, might depend on the device you're using? I don't know how to make them big, they all look the same to me.
[8:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Diablo 4: Actually got started on the new expansion this week Apparently I needed a graphics driver update to make it work, but I was way out of date so that's understandable.
[8:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got a few free weapon appearances from the shop after logging in, called the Raptor's Grace, Bladebreaker and Headman's Burden.
[8:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And then I logged in on my main character, the druid, because as it turns out you don't need to make a new character for the expansion, I guess that was just advice for new players.
[8:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: All his gear was legacy/outdated, though, and his level brought down to 50, but he's since made it to 51
[8:23 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got to see the intro cinematic, before starting the new quests in Kyovoshad, trying to rescue Lorath from a faction of Burning Knights, but stumbling on a messenger instead.
[8:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Following said message, I went down to Gea Kul and have been defending the place from a new enemy, the Hollows, but soon I'll head to the new zone to help Neyrelle in her quest to contain Mephisto.
[8:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Haven't done much, but it's a start
[8:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 130 on the reward track!
[8:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That came with enough gold for a new skin, and I bought the 1500g skin/cardback combo for King Rastakhan, which were originally available in a special bundle for the old Rastakhan's Rumble expansion.
[8:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yet another quest event has started, right on the heels of the previous one. This one is Darkmoon Faire's Frightful Fantasy, with some apparently random main quests with names that are puns on the Faire attractions. Final rewards will be a golden legendary Avatar of Hearthstone, the normal version of which was recently released for free, and a new rogue skin based on Patches, a little Observer character previously introduced to us as a pirate.
[8:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl this week is Three Wishes, a returning brawl where you start with a wish card in your hand - which lets you choose from 1 of 3 cards the game deems the most useful in your current situation - and when you play it, the second wish enters your deck; after playing the second, the third enters the deck.
[8:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I had a bit of luck against some players who used their wishes early, without much of a board to respond to; in fact, one of them played the first wish, drew the second wish and played that as well within his first turn. Giving me the advantage of being able to use them later on when actually needed
[8:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: New collection level, 44!
[8:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Been working hard on the Hallow's End challenge event, playing the Darkshire levels multiple times a day; you need a lot of tickets to get the new portraits and minis, and you need all preceding rewards to go down the tree, rather than being able to choose your way.
[8:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Should get the bats in a few days, at least.
[8:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Had some dungeon progress as well, clearing level 19 with the undead hero Thalnos, and in the following Cenarion week I cleared level 21 with Cenarius. He's almost done as well!
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And doing well in the heroic Sigil campaign as well! Defeated Rok'Alim with all remaining families, and Grenka Bloodscreech (a harpy leader) with all families as well, putting me at 118 sigils.
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: On heroic she summons a lot more harpies to harvest gold, but if you have some ranged minis in your army it's not that difficult.
[8:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, also from the Hallow's End event, I did reach a few cosmetic rewards; a pumpkin portrait, and an undead skin for the mining kobold.
[8:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And I got a bunch of quality upgrades for my minis as well this week! Got the Abomination, Huntress, Arcane Blast spell, Chimaera to rare quality, and got the second talents for the Abomination, Huntress, Arcane Blast and the Gnoll Brute, which I'd upgraded last week. Now waiting for the Chimaera's talent.
[8:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: All those definitely helped with getting a new collection level, though some more of my minis have been hitting level 19 as well. But the experience required doubles each time, so 20 might still be far away
[8:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[8:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Heroic raiding going well, no new boss progress, but I had my first tanking role again for this expansion, and picking it up quite fast This raid isn't too complex for tanks, so that was handy, but also in terms of ilevel I thought I'd be way more squishy on this difficulty. Seems fine so far though!
[8:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Between vault loot, delve loot and catalyzing non-tier pieces into tier, I've now gotten my ilevel up to 600 and have gotten my 4-piece tier bonus. So that definitely helps!
[8:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Weekly quest is dungeons, and as Eonwe said earlier, heroic dungeon difficulty is now enough for that. So I checked at what dungeons were available, was delighted to see my favorite Shadowlands dungeon, Mists of Tirna Scithe, in there... and just did that 4 times
[8:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Not to everyone's taste, I'm sure, but it's a pretty short dungeon and you get to play guessing games and hug Gorms, so I like it!
[8:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And the rest of the week was mostly Delves. Got Brann from level 25 to 31, and combined with my better gear, Tier 8 delves are definitely becoming less frustrating to do.
[8:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I got all the stories done for Dread Pit, Earthcrawl Mine and Kriegval's Rest delves, and made enough progress on the Delver's Journey to pick up several new customizations for the Dirigible mount.
[9:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Propellers, lanterns, and as of tonight, the zeppelin! I'd been looking forward to that one
[9:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next week, more delves, more Diablo 4, and the upcoming 20th anniversary. Because apparently I'm not busy enough with these games
[9:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week!
[9:02 PM]Varda: Thank you, Phar : )
More LotRO:
[9:03 PM]Varda: LotRO gamers this past week:
Landroval branch
Crickhollow branch:
Treebeard branch:
Angmar branch:
Mordor branch:
Starcraft 2
[9:03 PM]Varda: Starcraft gamers this past week:
[9:03 PM]Varda: Eowyn, Fangorn, Floppa, Faramir, Varda
[10:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: namarie!
[11:38 PM]Varda: Namarie
October 21, 2024
[12:12 AM]Eönwë Valar: image: video of happy dancing pumpkin
[12:12 AM]Eönwë Valar: *cough* I think that's the wrong pumpkin.
[12:13 AM]Eönwë Valar: emoji of jack-o'-lantern
[12:14 AM]Eönwë Valar: video: Kirby smashes down with hammer
[12:15 AM]Eönwë Valar: To think I could've had this at my fingertips.
[12:17 AM]Eönwë Valar: video: Kirby going though weapons ending with a hammer
[12:20 AM]Eönwë Valar: OK, one more for Halloween:
[12:20 AM]Eönwë Valar: video: Kirby in the basement
[12:32 AM]Eönwë Valar: I think Youtube is trying to tell me something. It keeps recommending Medieval Tavern music to me, heh.
[2:51 AM]Eönwë Valar: Wow, just tried a world boss from Dragon Isles (the previous expansion) and the fight was much more one-sided (in my favor) than I expected it to be.
[3:23 AM]Eönwë Valar: Hmm, somehow my guild rep, which has been exalted since it was possible to be exalted with a Guild, got reset.
[4:29 AM]Eönwë Valar: Just beat Zek'Vir's Lair. Says for 600+ ilvl (T8), but based on the fight I'd say difficulty is about T9 level.
[8:15 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, I guess he is supposed to be the toughest
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: Yeah, it'll probably be a few upgrades before I can even unlock his ?? difficulty.
October 22, 2024
[5:59 PM]Eönwë Valar: Bah, they changed the anniversary exp buff into a time-limited buff. Now you only get 12 hours.
[6:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That the one you can do the repeatable quest for?
[6:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Wowhead - Celebrate Good Fun! - Participate in activities around the celebration and tasks put forward by those visiting. A level 10 Quest (Daily). Rewards Blessings of the Bronze Dragonflight.
October 23, 2024
[3:36 AM]Eönwë Valar: Probably, but liked it better when I just clicked the buff and had it for the rest of the event.
[3:58 AM]Eönwë Valar: Hmmm
[4:00 AM]Eönwë Valar: I notice I have a "permanent" buff that gives 10% exp. I suppose that's not so bad.
[4:58 AM]Eönwë Valar: 10% permanent, do a quest and get another 10% for 12 hours.
[4:59 AM]Eönwë Valar: On top of the 5% boost if you've got a character to 80, and presumably on top of the Darkmoon Faire buff. Could get some serious alting done if alting is your thing.
[5:44 AM]Eönwë Valar: Ahahaha. I used the pet mirror to become my pet Tortollan, and he can wield my character's weapons.
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!