Sunday, December 29, 2024
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Sandalf, Varda (presiding)
Topic: What were the big changes happening to each race during and after the War of the Rings?
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya!
[4:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:00 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting time! Yay!
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya Phar : )
[4:01 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya All! Cannot stay too long, as I have a holiday party to attend...but I shall stay as long as I can and check in again later for Ar's report! My Season's Greetings to all!
[4:01 PM]Varda: yay party!
[4:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Happy holidays to you too Sandalf Enjoy the party!
[4:01 PM]Sandalf13: Thank you!
[4:03 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[Note: see Before-meeting above. This part was cut down to allow Tolkien chat for those leaving early.]
[4:04 PM]Varda: Web news:
[4:04 PM]Varda: No new content this past week.
[4:04 PM]Varda: Gaming news:
[4:04 PM]Varda: Eonwe, have a finely crafted, shiny gavel!
[4:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: Why thank you.
[4:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[This week's Bonus Events: Arena Skirmishes and Classic Timewalking.
[This week's PvP Brawl: Southshore vs Tarren Mill.
[4:05 PM]Varda: (and here's hoping everyone had a Merry Christmas! Including that colorfully decorated gavel.)
[4:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: Anniversary event wrapping up soon so better try to get those achievements done if you can.
[4:05 PM]Arien Valar: aiya all
[4:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:06 PM]Varda: Aiya Sunshine! ☼
[4:06 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Arien!
[4:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: Besides the word about 64 bit servers in LotRO Varda's shared, that's it for gaming news because Christmas.
[4:07 PM]Varda: : )
[4:07 PM]Varda: Thank you!
[4:07 PM]Varda: We are setting up to be able to hop to new servers if needed, as the old 32-bit servers are liable to be retired.
[4:08 PM]Varda: All of the music and rp kins on Landroval are working together to make the jump at the same time if needed.
[4:08 PM]Varda: hear the server groan!
[4:08 PM]Sandalf13: I have been waiting all week to post this photo for all of you World of Warcraft gamers. Did you know there is a WOW Museum right here in beautiful downtown Lafayette, Colorado? Well, there is, apparently. Here is the proof:
[4:09 PM]Sandalf13:
[4:09 PM]Varda: Thank you, Sandalf! Great fun in signage!
[4:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Could potentially be "WOW, a museum!" But otherwise that sounds good!
[4:10 PM]Sandalf13: I couldn't resist...need to visit that museum, next time I am in Lafayette for the library...
[4:11 PM]Varda: Do that! Might have a good sign out front of the building to snap a shot of. : )
[Note: edit cut and paste for continuity]
[4:08 PM]Varda: Anyway, we would all hit the same server, as we did Landroval when Brandywine ended. (original Brandywine server)
[4:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: All the transfer queues...
[4:09 PM]Varda: Aye, Phar : )
[4:11 PM]Varda: More LotRO:
[4:11 PM]Varda: LotRO kinfolk this past week:
Landroval branch
Crickhollow branch:
Treebeard branch:
Angmar branch:
Mordor branch:
[4:12 PM]Varda: Mordor is likely going to be a full-time EU 64-bit server and we already have a kin there. : )
[4:12 PM]Pallando-Valar: Aiya
[4:12 PM]Varda: Angmar could possibly become a full time US 64-bit server and we already have a kin there. : )
[4:12 PM]Varda: A wild Blue Wizard appears!
[4:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:13 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar! Aiya Pallando!
[4:13 PM]Varda: Pallando, any tales from the space of Eve Online? : )
[4:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: YouTube - Tim Curry is escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted b...
[4:15 PM]Varda: yay! : )
[4:15 PM]Pallando-Valar: Nothing yet. We've got some hints of what's coming in the new year -- Drifters are getting upptiy.
[4:15 PM]Varda: How dast they!
[4:15 PM]Pallando-Valar: OTherwise fairly quiet through the holidays.
[4:15 PM]Varda: Peace at Christmas time. : )
[4:16 PM]Pallando-Valar: My current feelings wrt Drifters fighting the Deathless is Let them fight.
[Note: closest the editor found.]
[4:17 PM]Varda: heh
[4:17 PM]Pallando-Valar: We'll see what happens though. Probably more news on the 7th.
[4:17 PM]Varda: Cool. And we'll let them bash away and pick up the pieces later. : )
[4:17 PM]Pallando-Valar: Ideally.
[4:18 PM]Pallando-Valar: With a little luck they'll wipe each other out and we can all go back to being happy and hugging murdering each other over our old grievances. I suspect that is not the direction the narrative will go however. :p
[4:19 PM]Varda: heh
[4:19 PM]Pallando-Valar: Anyways, that's it. Just a hint for the future.
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - How It Should Have Ended How Godzilla Should Have Ended
[4:19 PM]Varda: Thanks!
[4:19 PM]Pallando-Valar: Winter nexus runs until Jan 9th, so there's still time to do that.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: In regards to Sandalf's picture: For entertainment purposes, other "WOW" possibilities: WOW 1996 - WOW 1996 is a compilation album of thirty contemporary Christian music that was released on November 7, 1995. This represented the first installment in a highly successful annual series named WOW Hits. The album peaked at No. 144 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1995. It also landed in seventh place on Billboard's Top Contemporary Christian albu...
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Worlds of Wonder (WoW) was an American toy company "founded in 1985 by former Atari sales president Don Kingsborough, and former Atari employee Mark Robert Goldberg. Its founding was inspired by a prototype that became its launch product, Teddy Ruxpin. In 1986, it launched Lazer Tag and filed an IPO which Fortune magazine called "one of the year'..."
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Wow! signal "The Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal detected on August 15, 1977, by Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope in the United States, then used to support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and bore expected hallmarks of extraterrestri...""
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Windows on Windows "In computing, Windows on Windows (commonly referred to as WOW) is a discontinued compatibility layer of 32-bit versions of the Windows NT family of operating systems since 1993 with the release of Windows NT 3.1, which extends NTVDM to provide limited support for running legacy 16-bit programs written for Windows 3.x or earlier. There is a simil...""
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: And neither last nor least: Wow (band) "" WOW! was a Dutch girl group in the late 1990's and early 2000's who were produced by the duo Bolland & Bolland.""
[4:24 PM]Varda: eep
[4:24 PM]Sandalf13: Wow...I didn't realize there was so much WOW out there...I hope the local WOW museum covers it all.
[4:24 PM]Varda: er, wow?
[4:24 PM]Varda: Full museum!
[4:24 PM]Varda: Any other gaming news? Requests? Invites needed? Goodies needed for the kin chests?
[4:24 PM]Sandalf13: Did you know that WOW spelled backwards is WOW?
[4:24 PM]Varda: It sure is!
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ok, I've had my fun, heh.
[4:24 PM]Varda: WoW
[4:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Dutch band from my teen years... why don't I know this one?
[4:25 PM]Eönwë Valar: And WoW upside down is MoM.
[4:25 PM]Varda: heh
[4:25 PM]Sandalf13: There is already a museum for that one in Manhattan...MOMA.
[4:25 PM]Varda: And on to
[4:25 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:25 PM]Varda: (before Eonwe has to leave or Arien falls asleep)
[4:26 PM]Varda: Here's a topic for you:
[4:26 PM]Varda: What were the big changes happening to each race during and after the War of the Rings?
[4:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Or rather M°M I supppose.
[4:26 PM]Varda: That works too. : )
[4:26 PM]Sandalf13: The Dwarves and the Elves became friends again, sort of.
[4:26 PM]Sandalf13: But they both dwindled, in the long run.
[4:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Elven leaders hopped off over the pond, as well.
[4:27 PM]Eönwë Valar: Changes: Man on the rise, other races in decline.
[4:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hobbits had a brief period of oppression, but flourished in the years after.
[4:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hobbits had to deal with the outside world again for the first time in centuries.
[4:28 PM]Sandalf13: The Elves of Lothlorien became slowly forgotten..."slow to forget and be forgo tten." and the Hobbits eventually turned into "The Littles."
[4:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: For Sandalf: YouTube - The Littles - Intro
[4:30 PM]Sandalf13:
[Image: The Littles]
[4:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Freggles are another possibility?
[4:31 PM]Sandalf13: I was thinking of the famous children's book by John Peterson, from 1967.
[4:31 PM]Eönwë Valar: Now this one is gonna get stuck in your head: YouTube - Fraggle Rock | Opening Theme | The Jim Henson Company
[4:31 PM]Arien Valar: oh thats what the *little folk " are
[4:31 PM]Arien Valar: Hobbitses
[@Sandalf13
[I was thinking of the famous children's book by John Peterson, from 1967.
[4:31 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well we got cartoons based on it in the 80s :}
[4:31 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Fraggles, that's it. I think they were freggles in Dutch.
[4:32 PM]Arien Valar: aye
[4:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: Looks like they held true to the character designs too.
[4:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: *For the Littles.
[4:33 PM]Eönwë Valar: If that picture is supposed to be from the book.
[4:33 PM]Sandalf13: What about "The Borrowers"?
[Image: "The Borrowers" by Mary Norton]
[4:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: I think they might've made a movie of that in the 90s or 2000s, but I didn't see it.
[4:35 PM]Sandalf13: It is a popular children's book to this day...I read it sometimes to my grandkids.
[4:36 PM]Sandalf13: Ooops....got to go party. Party time! See y'all later!
[4:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Enjoy!
[4:36 PM]Eönwë Valar: Have fun :}
[4:36 PM]Varda: Namarie!
[4:36 PM]Sandalf13: Thanks, until later!
[4:37 PM]Varda: Humans: if Sauron is stopped, they would become the ascendant race.
[4:37 PM]Varda: Elves: the elves in general are stagnating or besieged and many are leaving to Valinor on ships.
[4:37 PM]Varda: The only growth is in the Silvans that made a colony in Ithilien after the war, and those in Mirkwood have a much better land than before but smaller as it has been partitioned to Men and to Lorien.
[4:37 PM]Varda: The Silvans still feel a purpose as they repair the lands wrecked by Sauron and keep them up.
[4:37 PM]Varda: Dwarves: the numbers of lady dwarves are small and a fair number refuse to marry any but a particular one who is unavailable, so the population is in decline.
[4:38 PM]Varda: Hobbits: stagnation as farmers.
[4:38 PM]Varda: In the future, their land is in danger once Aragorn and his descendants are gone. They have a much longer time before their decline.
[4:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: At least fewer dwarves lost to war, I suppose.
[4:40 PM]Eönwë Valar: Aging forthe Elves of Middle-Earth seemes to have been sped up too. from 1:100 to 1:75 ratio compared to Man.
[4:42 PM]Varda: A push?
[4:43 PM]Eönwë Valar: ?
[4:44 PM]Varda: A push to leave, I mean.
[4:45 PM]Varda: Have to wonder why their aging would speed up.
[4:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Pollution?
[4:46 PM]Eönwë Valar: Don't remember if it gave a reason in NoME off the top of my head, but it would've had to be ordained by Eru to make way for Man, or due to a shift in the nature of the world.
[4:47 PM]Eönwë Valar: Older version of the tales said something along the lines of "Elves can't breathe the same air as an equal number of Men" (don't take that as a perfect quote, but it's close)
[4:47 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sounds like pollution
[4:47 PM]Eönwë Valar: Btw, NoME => Nature of Middle-Earth
[4:49 PM]Varda: Too much CO2?
[4:49 PM]Varda: Need a stiff breeze, Manwe.
[4:49 PM]Eönwë Valar: Not sure the Elves needed much of a nudge anyway given their overall nature, but if they didn't catch the hastening of their aging and start adjusting their "generational strategies" accordingly, it would certainly make it a swifter process to extinction.
[4:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: Translation: If Elves wanted to stay in the game, they needed to have more kids and start sooner in their overall life.
[4:51 PM]Varda: The Sindar and Silvans seemed inclined to stay. Unless they saw the Sea or gulls, at least.
[4:51 PM]Varda: Good point. I wonder how many realized they had a problem?
[4:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: They were already inclined to procrastinate on that front.
[4:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: If they had to retain higher numbers than humans, they'd need to do a lot better than just adjusting for the age ratio.
[4:54 PM]Eönwë Valar: 3-4 was the average number of children during their child-rearing years early on, dropped to 1 or 2 in later years.
[4:55 PM]Eönwë Valar: If memory serves, NoME proposes some numbers for population growth that assumes the first few generations of Elves were having 6 kids on the average.
[4:56 PM]Varda: Feanor had lots of kids, throwing off the average.
[4:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: His mother, on the other hand, would've swayed it the other way.
[4:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: We're talking after the Awakening, but aye.
[4:57 PM]Varda: Pardon : )
[4:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, well, if you're a smaller population, it might indeed be prudent to procreate more
[4:59 PM]Eönwë Valar: I think it estimated that by the third child born from 0 generation, The first sons/daughters would be having their first children.
[4:59 PM]Varda: That or be crowded out.
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: The clan leaders didn't govern for eternity like their lifespan might suggest. It would seem that at some point they did pass it down to their children (and presumably enjoyed their retirement), so the leadership could've passed down a few times before Oromë found them. (edited)
[5:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I somewhat recall the 3 named leaders of the houses also being among the first to wake up, though.
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: And a couple of different places, even in HoME, suggest that Elvish fading was something they'd seen/experienced by the time they had the option to go to Aman.
[5:03 PM]Varda: Grief caused it too
[5:03 PM]Eönwë Valar: Minya, Tatya, Nelya (not 100% on that third, but should be close). That's the names passed down among the Elves, anyway.
[5:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, they could die of grief, not sure they "faded" of grief. Though that'd be a rough way for the Valar to find out about them... unless Mandos had been receiving a bunch of them and just didn't say anything to the others.
[5:06 PM]Varda: Point. Grief tends to run a fair while, kind of like fading in real life. May not have been "fading".
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: Apologies: Imin, Tata, and Enel, which became the basis for Minya, Tatya, Nelya => "First, Second, Third"
[5:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I stand corrected, then, about Ingwe etc being among the first.
[5:08 PM]Varda: It's the number of names for each person. : )
[5:08 PM]Varda: They all had multiple names.
[5:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ok, I've overstayed my limit. I must go.
[5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But not your welcome!
[5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
[5:09 PM]Varda: Namarie!
[5:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
[5:10 PM]Varda: Ingwe was not an original but a descendant
[@Ar-Pharazon-V
[But not your welcome!
[5:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: :}
[5:10 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie , Eonwe
[5:10 PM]Varda: Ingwe did go to Aman
[5:10 PM]Varda: And we have hit the hour. : )
[5:11 PM]Varda: gavel runs over from where it was playing computer games
[5:11 PM]Varda: hammerpad tries to high five but no hands, so
[5:11 PM]Varda: thonk!
[5:11 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:15 PM]Arien Valar: ah i see a gavel with taste ~ I wonder what games the gavel enjoys :D?
[5:15 PM]Arien Valar: gnoll whacking?
[5:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Rhythm games, perhaps
[5:16 PM]Arien Valar:
[5:16 PM]Arien Valar: anyways .. bed time ~
[5:16 PM]Varda: Clickers? : )
[5:16 PM]Varda: Rest well!
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: namarie!
[5:17 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie !
[6:51 PM]Varda: heh, planning server got a rename to The Great LotRO Migration : )
[11:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report:
[11:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For flashgames, I give you Superhotline Miami which is apparently a hybrid of "superhot" and "hotline miami", 2 shooter games I've not played. But this one's fun enough for a bit
[Kongregate
[Play SUPERHOTline Miami Deluxe on Kongregate
[What happens when you mix SUPER HOT with Hotline Miami ? You get SUPERHOTline Miami !
[Time moves only when you move, but this time, from a top down perspectiv...
[11:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A top-down view shooter where your job is to take out a room or complex of enemy shooters in each level, using punches or guns of your own, including the ones you can loot from enemies you put down.
[11:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The gameplay twist is that time slows down greatly whenever you're not moving, allowing you to more easily dodge enemy bullets and plan your next move.
[11:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Will take some practice, but since the enemies behave the same way in each attempt, you should be able to get through each level eventually.
[11:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[11:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 79 on the reward track now. Last golden set card from the reward track got, it's all gold rewards from here on. Should get enough gold for another class skin this week.
[11:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Quest event's done, with a few days left to spare Final reward being a golden version of the Bob the Bartender card, as well as some packs for this expansion's set.
[11:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And also got death knight class to level 52 along the way!
[11:47 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl is the second Winter Veil brawl, Gift Exchange, as expected. Both sides of the board get gifts, the person who opens them gets the prize.
[11:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Made a nice overpowered warlock deck again, capable of blowing up my own side of the board to get the random minions from both sides and get a clear advantage
[11:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: No new collection level yet, but getting close. But after reaching 50, that's not as important anymore.
[11:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Winter Veil event on its final stretch, halfway through phase 3 for Orgrim Doomhammer. Fun leader, with a unique Mak'gora mechanic that initiates duels and, with the right talent, turn minis to your side as well. But I based his army around his passive ability, to give all your minis extra damage on their first attack. It can be quite powerful on the right minis!
[11:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also on phase 3's reward track I got the new kobold skin, Jinglebold, obviously winter veil/christmas themed
[11:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the dungeon, horde week went okay, with Grom Hellscream getting through level 20.
[11:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the blackrock week, however, Drakkisath is still having trouble with level 22. But that's nothing a few future levels on his army can't fix.
[11:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And in the heroic sigil campaign, I completed Falstad, and with that the Hinterlands zone, with all remaining families, putting me at 130 sigils.
[11:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also started the next zone, Dustwallow Marsh, defeating the raptor boss Goreclaw the Ravenous with 4 families. It's a tough one, because you have to constantly defend against waves of bloodlusted raptors, and the boss itself takes down any mini in 2 hits.
[11:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For most families I had to customize the deck. Only for undead I could win with the one I already use, since it's got multiple smaller squads already, allowing them to survive longer against the boss. That should be an advantage for beast family as well, but we'll see. December 30, 2024
[12:02 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For quality upgrades, I got the new leader all the way to Rare quality, also getting 2 talents for him, and I spent some gold on talents for other minis that were waiting for them: Anub'arak, quillboar, Maiev, moonkin, and Tirion. I believe that leaves no more minis waiting for talents until I upgrade them again.
[12:04 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next event is coming up in a few days, based on the buffs around the Mountaineer mini. Apparently underused by most people, and overused by the AI in some maps, though I like using it in my alliance army myself. I'm sure that can make some heroic campaign levels more difficult though. And I'm curious to see what challenges come with this event!
[12:04 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[12:04 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still on raidbreak, which is good, since several events are still ongoing
[12:06 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Weekly is arena skirmishes, alongside more classic timewalking, and I'm on schedule for both. Going full dps spec for arena again, which might not make too much of a difference in my winrate, but people won't complain about me being in tankspec, and matches are shorter so I reach my goals faster anyway
[12:07 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Purchases some deals around the anniversary from the shop, including the 4 Chaos-Forged anniversary mounts: Dreadwing, Gryphon, Hippogryph and Wind Rider.
[12:07 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also got the fox-pet Reven, the Reven-backpack cloak appearance, and the Warcraft Battle chest that includes a remastered version of Warcraft 1.
[12:08 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For Winter Veil, gifts are under the tree, and while I've been visiting them with many alts, all the gifts are the same anyway for each character
[12:10 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: This includes the Winter Veil Cracker toy, the Portentous Present pet, and the Box of Puntables toy. The box comes with various contents to collect through other means; I got the Puntable Rotten Little Helper from the Greench daily. There should also be another one from that quest at a lower droprate, we'll see if that drops this year.
[12:11 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And I completed the trading post for December, getting the Purple Snugglefin Murloc Romper set as reward, and buying the Bluedoo pet, and 4 appearance pieces: Tree Topper staff, Wings of the Onyx and Sapphire Monarchs cloak appearances, and the Classic Cloudy Tabard.
[12:12 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also, while slaying Taerar every 4 days for the final anniversary worldboss appearance - no luck yet - my mage got to level 66!
[12:13 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still no Siren Isle, anniversary achievements, or Diablo 4 playing. Maybe next week
[12:13 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week!
[12:13 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!
