Sunday, January 5, 2025
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Varda (presiding)
Topic: Toast to Tolkien
Topic 2: What was used for communications?
Chat continues, a lot. Yay!
[4:04 PM]Varda: Aiya!
[4:04 PM]Varda: In the right channel now, heh.
[4:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya and welcome to the cool side of the pillow... er, the right channel :}
[4:06 PM]Varda: Yay!
[4:06 PM]Varda: Was just out covering plants vs the freeze tonight. Have to do it between bands of rain. Funny, it was up to 74 F today. : )
[4:07 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting time! Huzzah! Come on in and say hi! Chat about gaming and Tolkien!
[4:07 PM]Varda: Fangorn is finishing up. Thank you, Fangorn!
[4:07 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: Expecting to be below freezing every night here until next Saturday.
[4:08 PM]Varda: Maybe that will kill of the eggs of mosquitoes and fleas. : )
[4:08 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:08 PM]Varda: Aiya Eonwe and Sandalf!
[4:08 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya all! Just got back from a frosty hike above Boulder...very pretty....a little frozen condensation before the snow comes tomorrow...
[4:09 PM]Pallando-Valar: Aiya
[4:09 PM]Varda: Must have been sparkly. 4:09 PM]Sandalf13:
[Image on Discord]
[4:09 PM]Varda: Aiya Blue Wizard!
[4:09 PM]Varda: ohhh. Lovely.
[4:10 PM]Varda: How's the weather where you are, Pallando?
[4:10 PM]Arien Valar: aiya all
[4:11 PM]Varda: Aiya Arien : )
[4:11 PM]Arien Valar: sorry been too busy in here alas
[4:11 PM]Varda: You seem to have made it just fine. : )
[4:11 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Arien
[4:11 PM]Arien Valar: feeling all right yes but arm is still not back in action i fear
[@Sandalf13
[Click to see attachment
[4:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: Looks like a visit from this guy:
[4:12 PM]Sandalf13: Things take time....be patient.
[4:12 PM]Varda: Good you're feeling ok. Did they say when you might have the use of the arm back?
[4:13 PM]Varda: Main thing is, you're with us!
[4:14 PM]Varda: Web news:
[4:15 PM]Varda: Send something. : )
[4:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: First Rankin/Bass full movie link of the year: YouTube Movies - Jack Frost
[4:15 PM]Varda: Yay link!
[4:15 PM]Varda: On to
[4:15 PM]Varda: Gaming!
[4:16 PM]Varda: gavel skates to Eonwe
[4:17 PM]Eönwë Valar: All these game dev have been hard at play for the last couple of weeks, so not alot to report.
[4:17 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:17 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes "for The War Within, Cataclysm Classic, Season of Discovery, WoW Classic Era, and Hardcore.""
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Anniversary event ends Tuesday, so try to get your final purchases and achievements in tonight and Monday.
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Darkmoon Faire is also going.
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: This week's Bonus Events: World Quests and Classic Timewalking.
This week's PvP Brawl: Classic Ashran.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo 3:
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Darknening of Tristram event is going for the month of January.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: If you never played the original Diablo, here's your chance to experience it with your D3 character.
[4:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Of course if I had a way to get the old ME mod working working a 4k rendering of D1, I'd just be playing that, heh.
[4:23 PM]Varda: I'd be there too. : )
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's it for my news.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Anything on the Eve front, Pallando? :}
[4:24 PM]Pallando-Valar: Not a thing.
[4:24 PM]Varda: Just flying through space, shooting, mining?
[4:25 PM]Pallando-Valar: Current event runs a few more days, so probably something this week or next.
[4:25 PM]Pallando-Valar: Pretty much
[4:27 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:27 PM]Varda: The Yule Festival is still going. Enjoy!
[4:27 PM]Varda: 5 Mithril coins thru Jan 9 Code: TOSS5COINS
[4:28 PM]Varda: Cord of the Rings broadcast figured for Jan 10 to give more news on the server transfers.
[4:28 PM]Varda: LotRO kinfolk this past week:
Landroval branch
Crickhollow branch:
Treebeard branch:
Angmar branch:
Mordor branch:
[4:28 PM]Varda: Starcraft 2:
[4:28 PM]Varda: I know of Fangorn, Eowyn, Faramir, and Floppa gaming.
[4:29 PM]Varda: Eowyn and Fangorn are currently there, playing together.
[4:29 PM]Varda: Any other gaming news, requests, questions?
[4:30 PM]Varda: On LotRO, the kin leader has to go first to have it all set up for the rest of the kin branch to pop over to the same server.
[4:30 PM]Varda: Good idea to send your house owner first of your character batch.
[4:30 PM]Varda: On to
[4:30 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:30 PM]Varda: JRRT's birthday was January 3.
[4:30 PM]Varda: /toast "The Professor!"
[4:31 PM]Varda: The Tolkien Society started this tradition, which is done by many Tolkien fans.
[4:31 PM]Arien Valar: /toast "The Prolfessor||||||||*
[4:31 PM]Varda: Yay!
[4:32 PM]Varda: For a Tolkien topic, I was wondering how the various groups communicated, both internally for their society and externally.
[4:32 PM]Varda: There's always the "gossip". : )
[4:32 PM]Varda: Suggestions?
[4:32 PM]Arien Valar: signal fires in rohan]
[4:33 PM]Arien Valar: the red arrow from gondor as they called for military help
[4:33 PM]Varda: Good one : )
[4:33 PM]Varda: Also good. Problem when they killed the rider, though.
[4:33 PM]Arien Valar: aye
[4:34 PM]Arien Valar: still it was used
[4:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: Messengers sent between realms would be a good assumption. Can't imagine plain old writing (or encrypted writing) wasn't used.
[4:34 PM]Varda: Aye, and expected to work.
[4:34 PM]Arien Valar: the horncall of buckland to raise the alarm of invaders
[4:35 PM]Varda: The messengers were probably carrying written messages that they would also memorize.
[4:35 PM]Varda: Aye
[4:35 PM]Varda: The Horn of Gondor, good inside Gondor at least.
[4:35 PM]Varda: as a call for help.
[4:36 PM]Arien Valar: remember Boromir said he always sounded it when he left on a journey .. pride , warnong to enemies that might wait for him?
[4:37 PM]Arien Valar: I know Aragorn resendted that . for good reasons so i wonder whether that was actually a wrong use
[4:38 PM]Varda: Aye. An announcement, may be common for semi-royals like Stewards. Aragorn resented an announcement of a secret journey, heh.
[4:39 PM]Arien Valar: yeah sort of was counter productibe alas
[4:39 PM]Arien Valar: Radagast used the animals as messengers
[4:40 PM]Varda: In the books? The moth was movie.
[4:40 PM]Varda: Seems as if he might, though.
[4:40 PM]Varda: The hobbits didn't have enough interaction with the Brown Wizard for us to know much. Would have been interesting.
[4:41 PM]Eönwë Valar: He sent them to Isengard, among other places. Gandalf told him to "have messeges sent to Saruman and Gandalf at Isengard" right before going to Isengard and finding out Saruman was a traitor.
[4:41 PM]Sandalf13: I believe that there was a pretty constant stream of news in existence between Lothlorien and Imladris, and that included the home base of the Dunedain. I would suspect that such messages were handwritten and carried by horse and rider to their desired destinations.
[4:42 PM]Varda: Thanks, Eonwe
[4:42 PM]Varda: Sandalf, very likely
[4:43 PM]Varda: The Prancing Pony seemed a place that Rangers could meet and even talk with non-Rangers when needed.
[4:43 PM]Varda: Books, scrolls, runes on rocks as well as paper.
[4:43 PM]Varda: Telepathy
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: Aye, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the closeness of the participants.
[4:45 PM]Eönwë Valar: An armada of ships sitting off-coast sends a rather stark message as well.
[4:46 PM]Arien Valar: I believe that the Elves used birdcalls as signals . if i remember right Haldir at the borders of Lothlorien used that to call for another to help set up the rope bridge when they guided the fellowship to their capital
[4:46 PM]Arien Valar: (hope i remember the name right )
[4:48 PM]Eönwë Valar: I'm confident most any force standing guard or patrolling a wooded area is going to use birdcalls for signals. I mention that because I'm fairly sure Faramir's Rangers did the same thing in Ithilien.
[4:49 PM]Arien Valar: ah yes
[4:49 PM]Varda: Since whistles carry well, and birdcalls could be both loud and secret, it makes sense.
[4:49 PM]Eönwë Valar: I vaguely remember mention of birdcalls while Sam was cooking "POE-TAY-TOES".
[4:49 PM]Varda: : )
[4:49 PM]Arien Valar: :)
[4:50 PM]Varda: Palantiri were a communication used by higher-ups (or hobbits).
[4:51 PM]Arien Valar: tough luck when you have over eager dark lords on the other side ....
[4:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya, reading up.
[4:51 PM]Varda: heh
[4:51 PM]Varda: Aiya Phar : )
[4:51 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya Phari
[4:54 PM]Sandalf13: Tolkien does state pretty directly that communications between Arnor and Gondor came to a pretty complete standstill after the destruction of Arnor by the Witch King and the death of Arvedui.
[4:54 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar!
[4:54 PM]Varda: Killing off the talker does wreck the conversation
[4:55 PM]Arien Valar: seems legit
[4:55 PM]Arien Valar: or more logic ...
[4:59 PM]Varda: The telepathy didn't seem to be between just anyone.
[5:00 PM]Varda: High-level powers like Galadriel and Gandalf
[5:00 PM]Eönwë Valar: Technically between any two(more?) elves, but certain things made it easier.
[5:01 PM]Varda: With a bit of elvish background, I wonder if Aragorn could do it a little?
[5:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Caught up!
[5:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Elrond and Galadriel talked in the movies, which could have happened.
[5:01 PM]Arien Valar: so yes the palantiri were either destroyed , or at least not heard of , apart from the three we know of ... . there were seven right? we know that the stone of minas ithil was taken by sauron s forces when they turned it into mINAS Morgul
[5:02 PM]Varda: Welcome to the chat. : )
[5:02 PM]Arien Valar: dennethor had one
[5:02 PM]Arien Valar: saruman had one
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: Gonna quote a series of previous quotes for simplicity:
[5:02 PM]Arien Valar: and the others?
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: 1.) (Cutting out asides to shorten it:) "All minds are equal in status, though they differ in capacity and strenth A mind by its nature perceives another mind directly. But it cannot perceive more than the existence of another mind except by the will of both parties. The degree of will however, need not be the same in poth parties.
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: If we call one mind G (as in guest) and the other H (as in host), then G must have full intention to inspect H or to inform it. But knowledge may be gained or imparted by G, even when H is not seeking or intending to impart or to learn: the act of G will be effective, if H is simply 'open'. This distinction, he says, if of the greatest importance."
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: 2.)"'Openness' is the natural or simple state of a mind that is not otherwise engaged. In 'Arda Unmarred' (that is, the ideal condition free from evil) openness would be the normal state. Nonetheless any mind may be closed. This requires an act of conscious will: Unwill. It may be made against G, against G and some others, or be a total retreat into privacy. Though in 'Arda Unmarred' opennes is the normal state, every mind has, from its first making as an individual, the right to close; and it has the absolute power to make this effective by will. Nothing can penetrate the barrier of Unwill."
[5:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I don't remember any pf the palantiri being physically destroyed, but at least one of them was "tainted" by dramatic experience.
[5:03 PM]Eönwë Valar: 3.) "All these things, says Pengolodh, are true of all minds, from the Ainur in the presence of Eru, or the great Valar such as Manwë and Melkor, to the Maiar in Ea, and down to the least of the Mirroanwi (Eonwë's note: Incarnates like Men and Elves). But different states bring in limitations, which are not fully controlled by the will."
[5:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: And a link back to the original conversation I grabbed my quotes of quotes from: meeting_place
[5:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Absolute power, eh? So any mortal could block his mind to one of the great valar (including Melkor) to great effect? Good to know...
[5:05 PM]Varda: Hard to read a dull brick? heh Maybe what he thought he was seeing.
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: I would keep that last sentence in mind too.
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: "But different states bring in limitations, which are not fully controlled by the will."
[5:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: True.
[5:07 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hurin defied Morgoth something fierce, but still was influenced by the visions he saw "through Morgoth's eyes."
[5:08 PM]Varda: Shades of the palantiri. Manipulated data.
[5:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, while possible to block the enemy from poking through your mind, it might not be so easy to resist any visions they try to put in it.
[5:08 PM]Varda: A person talking to you can make visions in your mind that you make from the words.
[5:09 PM]Varda: gavel sneaks towards the hammerpad, which is engrossed in the conversation
[5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I don't think that was happening between Morgoth and Hurin, though
[5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: "Hurin, so, imagine this..."
[5:09 PM]Arien Valar: By the way in that sense ... Frodo on Amon Hen ..he saw from there with an inner eye but was also under the influence of the ring 's power . But on the other hand Aragorn wanted to head to the top of amon Hen with Sam to have a look . just with a physical view or also with the mind ? Would Aragorn as a true descendant of Numenor and Elendil have seen more than physically possible for other races?
[5:09 PM]Varda: Aye, Phar
[5:10 PM]Varda: gavel gets caught up listening and sits on the edge of the hammerpad
[5:10 PM]Sandalf13: I think that Morgoth had a greater power, and did not require Hurin to imagine things...Morgoth could directly place whatever image he wanted to into Hurin 's mind...
[5:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: It's a good question. They're called the "Hill of Sight" and "Hill of Hearing" so there would presumably be some phenomena, either natural or otherwise, that grants better than the standard of those senses in those places.
[5:11 PM]Sandalf13: Hurin would see an image implanted by Morgoth, and then Morgoth would leave him long enough to brood over the image that he had seen...
[5:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: Morgoth esssentially granted the power of the Palantir to Hurin. He saw true things at a far distance, but like with Denethor and Sauron, it was through Morgoth's filter.
[5:12 PM]Varda: Sandalf, yes.
[5:13 PM]Sandalf13: Remember that Melian had to "uncover" Hurin's eyes when he confronted Thingol in Menegroth...Once Melian freed Hurin's mind from the images that Morgoth ad implanted there, he was free to finally see the truth...which led him to pick up the Nauglamir carefully, and hand it to Thingol in a token of respect and thanks...
[5:13 PM]Varda: Exactly
[5:15 PM]Varda: hammerpad slides out from under the gavel
[5:15 PM]Varda: thonnk!
[5:15 PM]Sandalf13: Very dramatic scene, that one..I remember that all the Elves cleared a way for Hurin as he left Thingol's halls, recognizing the suffering that he had endured at the hands of Morgoth. No one is, I believe, exactly sure what happened to Hurin afterwards, but I believe I read somewhere that he also sought the sea.
[5:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: When in doubt, sail away.
[5:16 PM]Sandalf13: Going to sea is always a good thing, at least for a time....trust me on this...I have done it myself.
[5:17 PM]Varda: He may have cast himself into the sea.
After-Meeting[5:17 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:17 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sailing on the Sea is a good thing. Casting oneself off a cliff into rocks being lapped by the Sea is not quite the same.
[5:18 PM]Sandalf13: A sad ending for a heroic man. I suspect this added to Tolkien's desire to have Turin cast the final blow that will slay Morgoth at the end of Arda....
[5:18 PM]Varda: heh, let Hurin do it.
[5:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Morgoth heaped alot of anger on that family.
[5:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yeah, that bothers me about the idea. Casting yourself into the sea is dramatic in itself but most of the time you'll just end up crashing on the rocks without even reaching the water.
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Might as well leap off a building.
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Walking into the sea, however, sounds more interesting.
[5:19 PM]Varda: I guess the Turin thing was supposed to be poetic justice type of vengeance.
[5:20 PM]Varda: to be carried off by Ulmo! We are writing a fan-fic here. : )
[5:20 PM]Sandalf13: I agree with you.
[5:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: Fan-fic? I write perfectly accurate historical dramas.
[5:21 PM]Sandalf13: I think that Hurin's efforts were appreciated enough by Eru that when he left the circles of the world, he remained wherever he was going, and would not have to return to Arda for the final battle.
[5:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: (I kid, of course)
[5:23 PM]Varda: My favorite fan-fic is the "hole-filler".
[5:23 PM]Varda: but others are also fun.
[5:23 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In a hole in the ground, a hobbit filled it?
[5:24 PM]Sandalf13: That brings up an interesting point....if Turin was to be around for the final battle, would he be staying in the Halls of Mandos for the duration? In light of my comment above, I do not think that Turin would have left Arda only to return later....I think his dwelling place (for a very long time) was somewhere in the Halls of MAndos, or, perhaps, if the Valar took pity on his struggles he could have wandered in the woods of Nienna....maybe meeting Gandalf?
[5:25 PM]Arien Valar: why not ? such questions shall always be left to our own speculatio
[5:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Mandos would be a good place for him to begin with. He had a lot of issues to deal with.
[5:26 PM]Sandalf13: Yes...but he needed to be dealt with gently. Not all of Turin's tragedy was Turin's fault....
[5:26 PM]Varda: Agree that the Halls of Mandos is most likely.
[5:26 PM]Arien Valar: but before you carry on forever and i dont make it out because it is so interesting i ll just have to tear myself away
[5:26 PM]Varda: Mandos was not a bad place.
[5:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Of course. But Mandos is not primarily for punishment, as Varda said.
[5:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: One of the versions of his tale involve him somehow becoming a Vala.
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Presumably from the time when the Valar could have children.
[5:27 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, it was a place of reflection, not really punishment, except in the cases of people who didn't deserve to be out and about.
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: They were more like the Greek pantheon in that way, more like just.. powerful humans.
[5:27 PM]Varda: Rest well, Sunshine : )
[@Ar-Pharazon-V
[Presumably from the time when the Valar could have children.
[5:27 PM]Eönwë Valar: Short answer: yes
[5:27 PM]Arien Valar: so Namarire ~
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie Arien!
[5:28 PM]Sandalf13: Unlike the other writings of Tolkien, that I have read literally hundreds of times. I have only read the Children of Hurin 20 times or so. It is too hopeless and depressing. Very unlike most of Tolkien. I also read the Finnish tale of Kulervo, on which Tolkien based the Narn i Hurin....I read that one only once....if you think Turin is depressing, try Kulervo.
[5:28 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie Arien!
[5:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Elvish fëa, unbodied, apparently tends to be in a mode of reflection.
[5:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: You can't possibly appreciate the Narn fully if you only read it... 20... times.. hm, I don't think I've read anything 20 times.
[5:29 PM]Sandalf13: I am a habitual and obsessive reader.
[5:29 PM]Varda: Just our type of person!
[5:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Maybe certain parts of certain Discworld books since I have a habit of just opening them randomly on a whim.
[5:30 PM]Varda: I tried Kulervo. Depressing is the word.
[5:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: You haven't truly experienced Shakespeare until you've enjoyed it in the original Klingon.
[5:30 PM]Varda: hehehe
[5:30 PM]Sandalf13: My sympathies to you, Varda.
[5:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm sure his works can be translated into Quenya. Anyone up for it?
[5:30 PM]Sandalf13: Someone must have already started.
[5:31 PM]Varda: I think ELF may have been working on it, some others.
[5:31 PM]Varda: Getting a complete Quenya lexicon is tough, though.
[5:33 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ladies and gents, I must be off. Take care, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
[5:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:34 PM]Varda: Namarie!
[5:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Time to make some dinner. I don't think I've eaten in close to 24 hours.
[5:36 PM]Sandalf13: Oy. You need some nourishment. Soup and salad is a good way to restart the system....don't overindulge!
[5:36 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie to all! I will return later for Ar's report.
[5:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I don't have either of those
[5:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
[5:36 PM]Sandalf13: Yogurt? (And not the kind from Spaceballs....)
[8:01 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar!
[8:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[8:01 PM]Sandalf13: So...how was dinner? What did you finally have?
[8:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Had some chinese left
[8:02 PM]Sandalf13: Sounds yummy.
[8:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Indeed! Chicken and rice.
[8:04 PM]Sandalf13: Excellent...and healthy, too...After my hike this morning, my lady-friend took me to Bunshabe Restaurant in Boulder, CO. The restaurant was built in Tajikistan, by the City of Bunshabe, and was shipped to Boulder (its sister=-city). The menu was veryt eclectic, but I landed up ordering some of the best Mexican food I have had in a while...in a central-Asian restaurant. Who knew?
[8:05 PM]Sandalf13:
[Image]
[8:05 PM]Sandalf13: That is Yogurt, from Spaceballs, btw.
[8:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah yes
[8:06 PM]Sandalf13: They are finally making a sequel. Can't wait to see it..
[8:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Actually had vanilla yoghurt for dessert.
[8:08 PM]Sandalf13: Good for you, You are one healthy person, by diet.
[8:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Meals, yes; snacks, maybe not
[8:11 PM]Sandalf13: Just like the rest of us....don't even ask me about my junk food list....
[8:12 PM]Sandalf13:
[Image]
[8:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still looks greener than my food today
[8:13 PM]Sandalf13: I did have some tea from Central Asia, served from a Samovar.
[8:13 PM]Sandalf13: It was delicious. Worth the hike to get there.
[8:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: great
[8:14 PM]Sandalf13: So...I am ready for your report. Fire when ready, Gridley...
[8:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Finishing up my Warcraft Rumble session for today, then I'll see what I can do
[8:16 PM]Sandalf13: Got to step away for a moment....be right back. I must batten down the hatches...the next round of snow is due in tomorrow.
[8:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, good luck!
[8:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report:
[8:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, a few fun puzzle games came up this week, and I've probably linked em all before...
[8:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still, repeats won't hurt, and here's Kongregate - Unfold 2
[8:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: By clicking and dragging colored tiles and patterns, you get to unfold each puzzle in a symmetric manner. Tricky bit is the order, because if you get it wrong, you won't be able to unfold the entire puzzle.
[8:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Unless your spatial planning is really good, some trial and error is required
[8:26 PM]Sandalf13: Trial and error is my modus operandi.
[8:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Great
[8:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In any case, no timers and such, so all quite relaxed.
[8:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And there's a few more in the series as well!
[8:33 PM]Sandalf13: Yes there are...I just looked.
[8:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Right, sorry, was trying another game by the creator... anyway!
[8:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[8:34 PM]Sandalf13: No Prob!
[8:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 85 on the reward track now, getting some more gold on the way. Got enough to buy a new wintery hero skin, Frost Fairy Jaina for the mage. Looks a bit silly, like a hybrid of Tinkerbell and Frozen's Elsa, but still cute.
[8:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Strangely, quest event is over and no new one is shown for the future. Maybe we'll have a bit of peace and calm in the game until the next project rolls along
[8:39 PM]Sandalf13: That sounds like it might not be a bad thing, heh?
[8:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, it's nice to have events and get some unique rewards for it, but occasionally you just want a week or two with no extra efforts required
[8:39 PM]Sandalf13:
[8:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl this week is A New Year Bash, a cooperative brawl where you have to work together with the opposing player to decorate the tavern and defeat the pinata boss, while also fending off the party crasher minions.
[8:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It's a rather frustrating one; it can be done, but requires cooperation as well as a lot of luck. After I got my first win for the free card pack, I decided to get the other 4 wins for the "win 5 brawls, arenas or battlegrounds" weekly quest from battlegrounds instead. The battlegrounds take a bit longer, but getting in the top half of players for a battleground win is a lot less frustrating than the new year's brawl.
[8:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hopefully next week's brawl is a bit easier
[8:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: Collection level is 51 now! Got a whole 50 gold for my troubles... still, every bit helps
[8:44 PM]Sandalf13: You betcha...
[8:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Both the winter veil and the pc launch events are over, with fun gaming and good rewards. Got all of the rewards from the latter and most if not all of the good stuff from the former. A new weekly event has opened up to celebrate buffs and changes to the Mountaineer mini, giving a lot of stars for that mini in the reward track and also a bunch of gold and experience tomes. It overlapped for a few days with the Winter Veil one as well, which worked out, because one of the challenges for the mountaineer event was to acquire a legendary core, which was also the most expensive reward in the winter veil event.
[8:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Mountaineer event is a lot easier, with only a few specially difficult challenges, and mostly just playing games with the mountaineer in your team otherwise. And since I was already using him in my alliance armies before he got buffed, that wasn't a problem for me.
[8:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got a bit lucky with a few of them, but got enough tickets to get all the stars and experience rewards from the track; only some arcane energy and an epic core remain. Should be able to get enough tickets for those as well in the remaining few days.
[8:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Another blizzard game where completing the objectives just became a little bit simpler after some weeks of hard work
[8:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the dungeon, I finally made it through level 22 with blackrock leader Drakkisath. After that I took my second blackrock leader through, Blackhand, and he's made it from level 5 to level 11 so far.
[8:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the undead dungeon week, I'm struggling with level 22 on Thalnos. Would be nice to get some spell-related perks, hopefully that would make it easier. Otherwise that's something else for the future
[8:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the heroic sigil campaign, finished up Goreclaw the Ravenous. My swarmy beast army was indeed enough to get him down without any changes. I also defeated Tabetha with all families, though that required some painful timing and planning to get the right meeting stones claimed and denying bloodlust to the enemies. But despite requiring a few attempts, also no army changes necessary.
[8:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And now I'm working on the Darkmist Broodqueen, a spider boss with lots of eggs on the path, and one of my favorite fights in the campaign. So far defeated with alliance, and hopefully she'll fall to the rest of the families as well next week!
[8:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In total I'm now at 132 sigils.
[8:57 PM]Sandalf13: That is an accomplishment, right?
[8:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Definitely!
[8:57 PM]Sandalf13: Good luck, then! Keep going.
[8:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For quality upgrades, I got the horde leader Sneed as well as the blackrock minis Pyromancer and Firehammer to rare quality. While I'm still a bit cautious with spending too much gold in order to get enough cheap items for the event challenges, I did get the second talent for the Firehammer, since that will help out in the campaign against flying bosses, of which one is coming up pretty soon.
[9:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Diablo 4: Made some time for that game, the last day before the treasure goblin/christmas event ended. I didn't really contribute anything to the global community effort to unlock all the reward bags, but luckily that didn't matter because I was able to get all the rewards anyway
[9:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And there were also some free mount armors and trophies in the shop as well for the occasion.
[9:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hopefully soon I'll be able to actually do some questing in that game!
[9:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[9:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Raiding's started up again, and we've been having some attempts at the final heroic boss again, Queen Ansurek. Best attempt so far, down to 4%.
[9:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In order to do my part a bit better there, I spent a bit of time in the intro of the new Siren Isle, acquiring the new customizable ring, Cyrce's Circlet.
[9:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got its ilevel up to 645, and got 3 special gems for it that are recommended for my class and spec. So that'll definitely help!
[9:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Should make delves a bit easier as well.
[9:05 PM]Sandalf13: I hope so.
[9:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: There's 2 weeklies again, one for classic timewalking and one for world quests, as Eonwe mentioned earlier. But I'm not really into world quests right now and the timewalking quest was bugged, so I just got one timewalking dungeon done for the bonus quest, and spent my time doing the other activities in the game, including the Siren Isle mentioned above.
[9:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also hunted down the Greench every day for the Winter Veil event, which is now over; did not get the weapon illusion I was still after, but I did get the Puntable Baby Greench reward which is another customization for the Box of Puntables toy. The other 3 come from the use of another toy, so they are not Winter Veil bound. Which is good!
[9:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The anniversary event is almost over as well, and I decided to actually work on the achievements for it in the celebration area, including story time, fashion frenzy and mount mania. Got the achievements for all of those, and a few other miscellaneous ones, ultimately rewarding me the unique Coldflame Tempest mount.
[9:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: There's a few more achievements to get from the BRD raid and the Secrets hunt, but apparently the latter will be moved out of the area when the anniversary is over, and will still be available, so no rush there. All I really need to do for the event now is to buy some unique stuff, and I'll focus on that tomorrow and on tuesday (in Europe, it doesn't end until wednesday), and I have the currency for it already. Should be fine.
[9:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: After that, it's hopefully finally back to delves, alts and story questing
[9:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In all, this week has really been about wrapping up the winter events in several of the blizzard games, leading to a bit of rest and getting back into the main action of the games. I hope next week I'll get some bigger progress done!
[9:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week
[9:21 PM]Sandalf13: A good report. as always. Just got back to the laptop! Have a great week ahead. Eat properly!
[9:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Thanks, will do
[9:21 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie
[9:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
[9:30 PM]Varda: Namarie!
January 6, 2025[@Ar-Pharazon-V
[There's 2 weeklies again, one for classic timewalking and one for world quests, as Eonwe mentioned earlier. But I'm not really into world quests right now and the timewalking quest was bugged, so I just got one timewalking dungeon done for the bonus quest, and spent my time doing the other activities in the game, including the Siren Isle mentioned above.
[1:52 AM]Eönwë Valar: The isle quests seem to count as world quests. I did those and burned through through it rather fast.
[7:18 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Really? I did do a few of those to get the right citrines, I should check if that counted for the quest.
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!
