Sunday, January 12, 2025
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Eonwe, Lenwe, Pallando, Sandalf, Varda (presiding)
Topic by Eonwe: What are hard-hitting comments that you've read or heard from Tolkien fans?
Sandalf's announcement
[3:50 PM]Varda: Ten minutes. : )
[3:57 PM]Sandalf13: 3 minutes
[3:58 PM]Sandalf13: 2 minutes
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya
[4:00 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya
[4:00 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting time! Come on in!
[4:00 PM]Sandalf13: The water is fine!
[4:00 PM]Pallando-Valar: Aiya
[4:00 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:01 PM]Varda: Aiya Sandalf and Pallando
[4:01 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:01 PM]Lenwe: Aiya
[4:01 PM]Varda: Aiya Lenwe
[4:01 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Lenwe
[4:02 PM]Varda: Others will probably pop in as we go. So, onwards!
[4:02 PM]Varda: Web:
[4:03 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya.
[4:03 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Eonwe!
[4:03 PM]Varda: Gimli gave us this song link on Instagram "The Silmarillion", if you want to check it out:
[4:03 PM]Varda: Aiya Eonwe
[4:03 PM]Varda: Good timing!
[4:04 PM]Varda: On to
[4:04 PM]Varda: Gaming!
[4:05 PM]Varda: Pallando, did you want to lead off with EVE Online? (Note: answered on a side message)
[4:06 PM]Varda: Ok, nothing to report yet, but probably something coming up Tuesday.
[4:06 PM]Varda: Thank you. : )
[4:07 PM]Varda: Eonwe, all yours! gavel tries a roller skate this time
[4:07 PM]Eönwë Valar: Thanks.
[4:07 PM]Varda: wobbles to Eonwe
[4:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: This week's bonus event: Mists of Pandaria Timewalking.
[This week's PvP Brawl: Packed House.
[4:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Turbulent Timeways event is going.
[4:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: Phase 2 of WoW Classic: 20th Anniversary Edition is live.
[4:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Undermine(d) content update is on the PTR.
[4:09 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya all
[4:09 PM]Varda: (Aiya Arien )
[4:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out WoW Weekly.
[4:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo 4:
[There's a Developer Livestream coming January 16th.
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo 3: Season 33 ends January 19th and Season 34: Light's Calling will begin January 24th.
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo Immortal: Season 35 is live.
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: Warcraft Rumble:
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: PvP has been reworked.
[4:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: Druid of the Claw will be available between January 8th and 21st, while Swole Troll will be available between January 22nd and February 4th.
[4:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heroes of the Storm: A new patch is on the PTR (Public Test Realm).
[4:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: And that's it for my gaming news.
[4:12 PM]Varda: Thank you, Eonwe. : )
[4:12 PM]Varda: Starcraft 2:
[4:12 PM]Varda: The usual suspects that I know of: Fangorn, Eowyn, Faramir, and Floppa.
[4:12 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:12 PM]Varda: White dye thru Jan 16 Code: SNOWDAY
[4:13 PM]Varda: LotRO kinmates that came into kin branches this past week:
Landroval branch 32-bit:
Crickhollow branch 32-bit:
Treebeard branch:
Angmar branch 64-bit:
Mordor branch 64-bit:
[4:13 PM]Arien Valar: oh you missed someone on Landy , Varda
[4:13 PM]Varda: If you came in after I checked, might be left out. Holler!
[4:13 PM]Varda: You? I hope? : )
[4:14 PM]Varda: I can add you in for the transcript, and they can see here.
[4:14 PM]Arien Valar: aye ^^. it was me
[4:14 PM]Varda: Yay Sun came out!
[4:14 PM]Varda: Very good.
[4:15 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Arien
[4:15 PM]Arien Valar: I was online yesterday on quite a few charracters was searching a few for scholar research items
[4:15 PM]Arien Valar: aiya Sandalf
[4:15 PM]Varda: Odd. Wonder how I managed to miss you. /facepalm
[4:16 PM]Varda: Expected move info, unless the kinmates request something else:
[4:16 PM]Varda: Kinship on the Landroval server will start moving to server Peregrin probably Feb or March. Peregin is the US RP 64-bit server.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Kinship on the Crickhollow server will start its move about the same time, going to Glamdring US regular 64-bit server.
[4:16 PM]Varda: If anyone feels we should do it a different way, holler before it happens!
[4:17 PM]Lenwe: I haven't been keeping up, will Landy and all 32-bit servers be shut down?
[4:17 PM]Varda: Around the end of the year, looks like.
[4:17 PM]Varda: Try to make the jump early to keep your name and ahead of the massive land grab. : )
[4:18 PM]Lenwe: Oh yes, good point!
[4:18 PM]Varda: For VIP, day 1 lets you pick your favorite three names. About three days later, the transfer should start. Then delete that holder name and jump in with the real transfer.
[4:19 PM]Varda: One of the perks for VIP. : )
[4:19 PM]Varda: The kin leader for the server needs to jump first, which is disconcerting to all left behind at that moment. The kin and house disappear from the jumped from server.
[4:20 PM]Varda: But when you land in the new server, you should automatically be in kin. : )
[4:20 PM]Varda: Bring in your house holders first. This helps you, not required.
[4:20 PM]Varda: The house will not be saved for you, but the writs or whatever to buy the new one will be with the house holder.
[4:21 PM]Varda: Thus, the land grab.
[4:21 PM]Varda: But this can be good in case you want to be in a place near someone or something unavailable before.
[4:21 PM]Varda: Or just want a change!
[4:21 PM]Varda: No doubt some characters will remain behind. They will still be able to transfer to whatever kin they are in at move time, or with whatever kin they change to after the Valar Guild moves, probably until about the end of the year when the 32-bit servers will probably be retired from availability.
[4:21 PM]Varda: Oh, back to houses:
[4:22 PM]Varda: Bound items will need to return to their owners. If the owner doesn't collect it, the item has an automatic drop to whatever character it is bound to even if it's an unused character. An override may be possible that Fainan could do for deceased players, if no relative or friend collects it.
[4:22 PM]Varda: Caveat:
[4:22 PM]Varda: If the kin desires and the player does not show up before the move and is believed unlikely to ever show up, the kin leader might be able to collect the item for the kin; otherwise it could be considering stealing from that player.
[4:23 PM]Varda: We should have cleaner character files, jumping with the whole thing intact instead of building up for seventeen years. And we will probably be dropping "deadwood" whether or not we want to.
[4:23 PM]Varda: Both of those will also help vs lag.
[4:24 PM]Varda: Any questions? I did watch the chat on Twitch when it came out, and you can see a re-run if you like.
[4:24 PM]Varda: Also suggestions welcome.
[4:24 PM]Lenwe: That's very helpful, and all news to me. Thank you!
[4:24 PM]Varda: My pleasure.
[4:24 PM]Varda: Meetings can have some use. ; )
[4:25 PM]Varda: LotRO Twitch stream concerning the jump.
[4:25 PM]Arien Valar: i am a bit confused with holder names, but i hope i can keep my character names
[4:25 PM]Varda: You can pick your three favorite names. It would help if one is a house holder.
[4:26 PM]Varda: Put them on the character sheet on the new server day one if VIP.
[4:26 PM]Varda: About three days later, the actual transfer starts. Get in soon as possible if you want particular names.
[4:26 PM]Varda: for your other characters.
[4:27 PM]Varda: This will be true for each of your accounts.
[4:27 PM]Varda: I have three, heh.
[4:27 PM]Varda: If any item in your house or kin house is bound to someone else, it doesn't make the jump.
[4:27 PM]Arien Valar: all right ^^| i ll find out when the day comes
[4:28 PM]Varda: You can be figuring which three names you really want the most at least.
[4:28 PM]Varda: I'm more concerned about the bound items in the kin house for folks that rarely show up.
[4:28 PM]Varda: or that stopped coming.
[4:29 PM]Varda: They may not care if those go missing if they are inactive anyway. : )
[4:29 PM]Varda: But really nice things from raids would be lost. Guess we'll just have to go raid and get new ones, if they still exist. : )
[4:29 PM]Varda: Any other questions?
[4:30 PM]Varda: I've been hanging out on other channels watching for guesses and news.
[4:30 PM]Sandalf13: Keine Frage!
[4:30 PM]Arien Valar: No question for now
[4:31 PM]Varda: If anyone would like an invite to the Discord channel "The Great LotRO Migration", I can give you the link.
[4:31 PM]Sandalf13: I would!
[4:32 PM]Varda: Sandalf, do you plan to play LotRO? : )
[4:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: No Avari allowed for this trek. Langoliers are coming to eat the world out from under us.
[4:32 PM]Varda: It's a lot of chat about the jump
[4:39 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:39 PM]Varda: Eonwe, you had a topic?
[4:39 PM]Eönwë Valar: Affirmative.
[4:39 PM]Varda: listens curiously
[4:41 PM]Eönwë Valar: So, I spent too much time reading the comments on a Youtube short recently... but that's only because the short was simply a call to post your most hard-hitting quotes.
[4:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: Two in particular stuck out to me, and so I thought I'd share them and let the group muse over evidence of these quotes from Tolkien's work.
[4:42 PM]Arien Valar: let me guess ..
[4:42 PM]Arien Valar: Fool of a Took 1
[4:42 PM]Arien Valar: and#
[4:44 PM]Arien Valar: I wish It wouldn t have happened in my time. So do i , said Gandalf. and so do all who live to see such times. but that s ot for them to decide. all we have to decide is what to do wtth the time given to us.
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: By "quotes" I mean things people have said, not necessarily specific to LotR.
[4:45 PM]Varda: I liked the hard-hitting quotes from Tolkien that the gang immediately thought up. Way to go!
[4:46 PM]Arien Valar: All right thenblush , of those i don t know a lot, i fear
[4:46 PM]Eönwë Valar: That would be good for another time, but I thought that's what we had "Tolkien Moments" for anyway :}
[4:47 PM]Varda: Right
[4:47 PM]Varda: So what neat quotes did they give?
[4:47 PM]Eönwë Valar: So first quote:
[4:48 PM]Eönwë Valar: "No matter how nice you are, you will always be a villain in someone's story."
[4:49 PM]Eönwë Valar: I immediately thought of Frodo and the Hobbits being the "villain" in Saruman's version of events. Because of them (Merry and Pippin in particular), he had an army of ents tear down his walls.
[4:50 PM]Varda: Home invaders
[4:53 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Sackville-Bagginses vs Bilbo might be another example.
[4:53 PM]Arien Valar: wormtongue at Meduseld, at Theoden s court
[4:54 PM]Sandalf13: Boromir (unfortunately) in Frodo's view
[4:54 PM]Sandalf13: Or should I say "Frodo, in Boromir's view?"
[4:55 PM]Eönwë Valar: I don't know about that one, Sandalf. I think Frodo did understand why Boromir did what he did, especially as he came to understand to pull of the Ring.
[4:56 PM]Sandalf13: That happened quite a bit later, after Frodos "matured" into his understanding of the Ring and what it does...At first, all he could remember of Boromir was a snarling, grabbing man, trying to get his Ring...
[4:56 PM]Sandalf13: I do not even know if Frodo ever heard Boromir's apology, after he got up from the ground on which he had fallen...
[4:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: I can understand that too. It easily could've turned into a life-or-death situation like it did for Smeagol and Deagol.
[4:57 PM]Varda: Shelob would see herself being in the right. Her home, food coming to her. She's doing a service as a guard, whether intended or not.
[4:57 PM]Varda: Frodo, "You are not yourself." (book quote of Frodo to Boromir)
[4:57 PM]Sandalf13: AS I think about it, didn't Frodo's last memory of Boromir return to him as he was talking with Faramir in Ithilien?
[4:58 PM]Eönwë Valar: As I recall yes, but alas, my books are always buried somewhere out of reach, heh.
[4:58 PM]Sandalf13: All he could visualize at that point in time was the mad look on Boromir's face as he tried to take the Ring...
[4:58 PM]Eönwë Valar: except for the small copy of the Sil I bought for the express reason of having at least one book nearby, heh.
[4:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya, catching up!
[4:59 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya , Phari
[4:59 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar!
[4:59 PM]Eönwë Valar: Would we like the second quote now or would we like to keep discussing this one?
[5:00 PM]Sandalf13: I vote for the second quote.
[5:00 PM]Arien Valar: so do I
[5:01 PM]Varda: Moar cowbell, er next quote please.
[5:01 PM]Sandalf13: Is that Elvish?
[5:02 PM]Varda: Meme
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - "Ive Got A Fever And The Only Prescription Is More Cowbell"
[5:03 PM]Varda: The actual one I meant was when they had music and he kept insisting that it needed Moar cowbell.
[5:03 PM]Sandalf13: Bing Liam Neeson santa claus
[5:03 PM]Arien Valar: hehe giid ibe ibe as wekk
[5:03 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's a clip from the skit.
[5:03 PM]Arien Valar: err as well
[5:03 PM]Sandalf13: In view of Eonwe's explanation, I just had to attach the above...
[5:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: OK. I'm going to phrase this quote slightly differently because I think as written it was a little bad:
[5:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Not everyone who fights you is your enemy, and not everyone who helps you is your friend."
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: First thing that jumps to mind is when Celegorm and Curufin "helped" Luthien.
[5:06 PM]Sandalf13: What about when those same two tried to "help" Orodreth?
[5:07 PM]Sandalf13: What about when Annatar tried to "help" Celebrimbor?
[5:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Caught up! So, ulterior motives?
[5:08 PM]Arien Valar: I don t remember that one ... I remember the Lthien incident , they kept her more or less prisoner after helping her
[5:08 PM]Sandalf13: Or bad digestion.
[5:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: Turin and Beleg come to mind for the first part.
[5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: People who help you but are not your friend might also be people who just like helping but don't consider you a friend in particular
[5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Trying to find an example... the eagles perhaps?
[5:10 PM]Varda: Good Samaritan acts. um
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Or the way the Elves and Dwarves were forced to help each other at Erebor when the Orcs attacked.
[5:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: Agreed Phar, but not the point of the quote :} Replacing "friend" with "ally" could be another way of understanding it.
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Enemy of my enemy is... not necessarily a friend, but an occasional ally.
[5:10 PM]Sandalf13: Along with the Men from Dale, a Hobbit, and a Wizard
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah
[5:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sauron "helped" the Elves of Eregion. Saruman "helped" the White Council.
[5:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sneaks! Thieves!
[5:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: The argument at the gates of Meduseld is an example of the former: allies against Sauron pitted against eachother due to mistrust.
[5:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Speaking of, Gollum did "help" Frodo and Sam but not necessarily out of a sense of friendship or allyship. Mostly fear, obligation and the eventual possibility of grabbing the Ring for himself.
[5:13 PM]Arien Valar: well you can probably any spy in disguise who infiltrates an enemy lair .. so in that sense probably Beren and Luthien in disguise as well
[5:14 PM]Varda: It is the hour!
[5:14 PM]Varda: gavel tries to jump over the hammerpad
[5:14 PM]Varda: trip
[5:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm also reminded of the thing Frodo said about Aragorn about a servant of the enemy looking fairer and feeling fouler.
[5:15 PM]Varda: thonnnk!
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!
[5:15 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:15 PM]Arien Valar: but . uh i have to give in I was working today for the first time after seven weeks and it was an early start
[5:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Like an enemy offering to help
[5:15 PM]Varda: Free chat including more Tolkien. : )
[5:15 PM]Sandalf13: Before you go, Arien, I have a couple of pix to post and an IMPORTANT annountcement...
[5:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And you start on a sunday? gasp
[5:16 PM]Arwen:
[5:16 PM]Arien Valar: uhu our working week starts on a Sunday
[5:16 PM]Arien Valar: aiya Arwen
[5:16 PM]Arwen: aiya
[5:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[5:16 PM]Arwen:
[5:17 PM]Sandalf13: After the frost, comes the snow...
[images]
[5:17 PM]Arwen: I turned on my computer to download (for the 10th time at least) my sewing machine's manual and saw ping, so greetings
[5:17 PM]Arwen: also, I've been playing that return to moria game
[5:18 PM]Varda: Aiya Arwen : )
[5:18 PM]Varda: Good luck with the manual.
[5:18 PM]Arwen: already got it
[5:18 PM]Arwen: can never remember how to adjust tension
[5:18 PM]Varda: Would you recommend Return to Moria?
[5:18 PM]Arwen: yes!
[5:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A good massage generally helps with tension!
[5:18 PM]Varda: Images are lovely, Sandalf : )
[5:19 PM]Varda: Sandalf, you had an announcement?
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: We did get some hail this week, but I'd love to see some snow.
[5:21 PM]Sandalf13:
[Image]
[1
[5:21 PM]Sandalf13: Now for the announcement...
[5:22 PM]Arien Valar: hundred eleven years is far too short a time to have stayed among such amazing friends as you are? (slightly paraphrase)
[5:24 PM]Sandalf13: My first professional publication in many years...not the last, I hope.
[5:25 PM]Sandalf13: I tried to upload the PDF, but Discord wouldn't let me...
[5:25 PM]Sandalf13:
[Image]
[5:25 PM]Sandalf13: This is the kind of stuff that dumb geologists tend to do...
[5:25 PM]Sandalf13: Make maps and draw lines.
[5:26 PM]Varda: Congratulations! May you get to do many more!
[5:26 PM]Varda: We need those maps, heh. Thank you.
[5:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Maps are the best!
[5:26 PM]Arien Valar: congratulations
[5:27 PM]Arwen: congratulations
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: Thank you all! I feel good that this paper is finally done. It has taken me a long time to get it ready for publication, and although Tom is the Senior Author (it is his research area that we did the mapping), I did the writing.
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yes, congrats
[5:28 PM]Arien Valar: but Namarie from me for now
[5:28 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie, Arien, and thank you for waiting for me!
[5:28 PM]Arien Valar:
[5:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:29 PM]Varda: Is there a place we can look it up? Probably a paywall, but be nice to see.
[5:29 PM]Sandalf13: I too must go to the store before it closes....got to get my Costco chicken for dinner...Yes: I will post the link. Give me a sec or two...
[5:29 PM]Varda: and then enjoy a lovely dinner!
[5:30 PM]Varda: And of course you did the writing. At least we'll know!
[5:30 PM]Sandalf13: The Mountain Geologist
An Unusual Glacial Event in the Comanche Peak Wilderness Area, Larimer County, Colorado
Thomas D. Moeglin, Sanford Kaplan
251
[5:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: Namarien :}
[5:33 PM]Eönwë Valar: And Arwen wouldn't be sewing a banner, now would she? :}
[5:33 PM]Arwen: quilt
[5:33 PM]Arwen: it wasn't tension, the lower works needed cleaning out
[5:34 PM]Arwen: you'd not believe the amount of lint/fuzz/dust it gets
[5:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ah, already got Aragorn's banner done and moved on to other things, hehehe.
[5:34 PM]Arwen: lol
[5:34 PM]Arwen: I mean, you can hang quilts up
[5:35 PM]Arwen: they can be banneresque
[5:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: :}
[5:35 PM]Arwen: return to moria is pretty fun
[5:35 PM]Arwen: I've been playing with boyfriend on campaign mode
[5:36 PM]Arwen: so basically you get stuck in moria and have to find your way out, etc
[5:36 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ah.
[5:36 PM]Varda: That can be a joke on LotRO. : )
[5:36 PM]Arwen: basically it is a crafting survival game, has some fun/different ... word
[5:36 PM]Arwen: can't think of word
[5:36 PM]Arwen: mechanics
[5:37 PM]Arwen: there we go
[5:37 PM]Arwen: since we're playing with two people (you can play up to 8 I think)
[5:37 PM]Arwen: and one of the things is limited resources, especially at the start, the start was a bit tough
[5:37 PM]Arwen: its getting a bit easier though
[5:37 PM]Arwen: but since the point is to get out of moria, and you have crafting and stuff, you need bases and you keep end up having to move bases and thats an interesting thing
[5:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Now wondering if dwarves use stone tents...
[5:38 PM]Arwen: and as a dwarf, and being in moria, you do some mining
[5:38 PM]Arwen: and you can sing
[5:38 PM]Arwen: and I ended up singing along that bit about narsil
[5:39 PM]Arwen: and dwarfs apparently like sea shanties
[5:39 PM]Arwen: which was funny
[5:39 PM]Arwen: mostly you just find pre-made destroyed bases and utilize those and repair them
[5:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Fixed locations to progress to, okay, that sounds neat.
[5:40 PM]Eönwë Valar: I'm afraid I must be off. YouTube - Bea Arthur: Goodnight, but Not Goodbye - The Star Wars Holiday... Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
[5:41 PM]Arwen: you can also build your own anywhere
[5:41 PM]Arwen: but its cheaper to repair the fixed location ones
[5:41 PM]Varda: Namarie for now, Eonwe. : )
[5:41 PM]Arwen: cause they have fast travel beacons that are only one rare-ish resource to repair instead of 3 to make
[5:41 PM]Arwen: goodnight!
[5:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Imagine building your own at great expense and then finding a fixed one around the next corner.
[5:42 PM]Arwen: exactly
[5:42 PM]Varda: Heh
[5:42 PM]Arwen: plus the fixed ones are, so far, a bit more defensible
[5:44 PM]Arwen: we've been enjoying it, though we aren't playing it tons
[5:44 PM]Arwen: but that's mostly because my tendonintis is limiting my everything time
[5:45 PM]Arwen: the combat mechanics are so far pretty decent and the lore is good
[6:05 PM]Varda: Sounds interesting. Thanks!
[8:19 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya!
[8:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya, still gaming, not ready for report yet
[8:28 PM]Sandalf13: Enjoy the gaming! I just emailed Varda and sent her a complete copy of The Mountain Geologist. I would send you one, if you would give me your Email address.
[8:28 PM]Sandalf13: I cannot sent it over Discord. I cannot get it to upload.
[8:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Predictably, arpharazonv@gmail.com
[8:29 PM]Sandalf13: Done. Check your Email, Ar!
[8:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Received, thanks
[8:30 PM]Sandalf13: Enjoy!!!
[8:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Certainly!
[8:35 PM]Sandalf13: Another Microsoft Picture from the login page....looks like the Netherlands to me...
[Image]
[8:35 PM]Sandalf13: Sure ain't Colorado!
[8:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Windmills and rows of tulips. Yep, that's here. In fact, we're on the edge of what's known as the bulb region.
[8:37 PM]Sandalf13: Good glacial soil, heh?
[8:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Pretty much!
[8:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And the entire west of the country is basically river delta.
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report!
[8:44 PM]Sandalf13: Yay!!!
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, something befitting your earlier pictures... Kongregate - Snowball
[8:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Run around collecting snow, and defend yourself from yetis coming after you! Survive as long as possible.
[8:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: You can throw snowballs at them, but also save up snow and build turrets. They are fragile, though, so try to keep the yetis focused on you rather than killing the turrets.
[8:47 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yetis level up whenever you defeat a certain amount of them, becoming faster and tougher, so it's a good idea to save up some stuff while evading the chase before going on the attack.
[8:47 PM]Sandalf13: I got past the first level and then died.
[8:48 PM]Sandalf13: too fast! Too much snow!! Too many snowballs!!! Not enough time!!! The story of my life.
[8:48 PM]Sandalf13: In a snowball.
[8:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yeah, it's pretty tough, but practice helps
[8:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Btw, for detailed instructions, check the help button at the start. Otherwise people might not realize they need to press space to shovel and collect the snow.
[8:50 PM]Sandalf13:
[8:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personally I like to build turrets around the edges and then lure the yetis within, letting the turrets pick them off while I also snowball them.
[8:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[8:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: sorry, the info button, not the help button
[8:51 PM]Sandalf13: You do have a violent streak, n'cest pas?
[8:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Gotta do what you gotta do to survive!
[8:51 PM]Sandalf13:
[8:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And if I do, it's better aimed at pixels than something in real life
[8:52 PM]Sandalf13: You betcha!!
[8:52 PM]Sandalf13: In all honesty, I see you as a pretty gentle person, anyway.
[8:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I have a bit of a dark side, as expressed by some of my parts in our forum RP... but I've mellowed out since then. It's just nicer to be nice, and evil is exhausting
[8:56 PM]Sandalf13: Indeed. It is far easier to smile, and much more relaxing than frowning and scowling.
[8:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[8:58 PM]Sandalf13: How appropriate for a winter conversation!
[8:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 90 in the reward track now. Probably 2 weeks or so to reach 100 for this expansion. Pretty relaxed week, simpler weekly and daily quests.
[8:58 PM]Sandalf13: Nothing like gaming in a blizzard.
[8:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got enough gold to buy yet another wintery hero skin, Snowflipper Rexxar for the hunter class.
[9:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Basically a wintery outfit with a penguin companion
[9:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl is the Brawl of Gaudiness: Choose a class, get a random deck, all cards are half cost but you can only play 2 per turn.
[9:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I generally choose druid for this one, since they can have more expensive cards in their sets. But since the decks are random, luck is still very much required.
[9:01 PM]Sandalf13:
[9:01 PM]Sandalf13: Couldnt find a penguin.
[9:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: YouTube - Bouncing Seals
[9:03 PM]Sandalf13: Hysterical! I am still laughing!!!
[9:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway
[9:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: Collection level 52 now, a bit more gold reward is always nice.
[9:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Mountaineer event is over, Winds of Change part 1, focusing on the new Druid of the Claw mini, has begun.
[9:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Reward track comes with lots of stars for the new mini and a unique portrait.
[9:12 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The challenges include using different talents for the mini as well, but I've not been lucky with getting those so far. In fact, I spent over 40 Big Red Buttons to reset the shopping grid, but the mini never appeared for me to immediately upgrade it to rare with an item, which would have allowed me to get 2 talents and work on both challenges.
[9:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But I did get enough tickets to get the druid to uncommon, and got the unique portrait, so I got the most important stuff bought anyway.
[9:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So instead I just decided to spend my gold on talents showing up for minis that still needed them, but I'll list those later
[9:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the dungeon, never got Thalnos through level 22 in the undead week. In the cenarion week, however, I got the leader Onu through level 21 and 22, so his army slots are now full gold. (edited)
[9:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also tried level 23 for the first time on Cenarius, to get a bit of extra gold, and actually got through it. One more step towards the point where I can regularly complete level 23 dungeons every week for extra gold
[9:16 PM]Sandalf13: ooooops....getting called away. Sei gesund, and have a great week! Thanks for your excellent work! Namarie
[9:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie, feel free to check back in later
[9:16 PM]Sandalf13: I shall if I can!
[9:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the heroic sigil campaign, got the Darkmist Broodqueen done with all families. As expected, not too difficult, but still a fun fight.
[9:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also defeated Jaina Proudmoore with 3 families. On heroic she casts blizzard on more spots on the map, but the key is making it to the meeting stone at the back of the map. If you can spawn your army from there, you can avoid all the blizzards.
[9:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next boss will be Emberstrife, a flying boss. Not really looking forward to that, but we'll see how it goes.
[9:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also, poked PvP a bit now that they completely restyled the honor track for that. And it's harsh. I've hit a bottom to my honor rank at 9000, and can't below that, which puts me against what appears to be quite difficult enemies. Even some AI opponents with scaling bugs, it seems.
[9:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But now that you get points on the track whether you win or lose, I did grind through a bunch of fights to reach the chest of 500 gold. Always a nice boost.
[9:23 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And finally, quality upgrades! Lots of them, after deciding to spend my gold again. Got the leaders Thalnos, Thaurissan and Drakkisath to rare, as well as the Worgen mini. And of course the Druid of the Claw to uncommon.
[9:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And got talents for: Sneed, Drakkisath, Thalnos, pyromancer and worgen. That just leaves talents for Thaurissan and the druid, as far as I can tell. But lots of talents and levels for plenty of minis!
[9:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[9:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Finally, Queen Ansurek defeated on heroic, getting the feat of strength for clearing the raid on that difficulty before the next season
[9:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The new rings definitely help!
[9:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personally I got a few more ilevel upgrades on mine at the Siren Isle, and it's now caught up to the currnet max.
[9:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Weekly is timewalks, this time coming with a buff and achievement which involves doing at least 4 timewalks without too much time between them, so I got them all in one night.
[9:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hope to repeat that for the next 4 weeks as well; last time this meta event was up, I didn't have internet for about a month near the end of it and totally missed the fifth timewalk week. Quite annoying, but at least the mount reward for it was made available to buy at this 20th anniversary event.
[9:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Speaking of, the 20th anniversary event is now over, and it's kept me quite busy in its last few days!
[9:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Luckily I had gathered enough celebration tokens to buy all 13 Eternal class ensembles, the entire Coldflame set, the pet Lil' Doomy, and the 20th Anniversary Balloon Chest toy.
[9:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And after buying the Sandy Shalewing mount, which was the reward for the last Turbulent Timewalks event as mentioned above, as well as all the new
[insert expansion here] Enthusiast titles, I had all the unique vendor stuff from this event.
[9:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But I didn't stop there; while I know the more challenging crates and clues for the final secrets sequence remains available, I did want to complete all the Guest Relations quests before they went away.
[9:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So I got both the Hidden quests and the main questline done, gathering the 3 secret-hunting toys, the Brown Tweed Cap appearance, and all 3 Thinking Cap cosmetic rewards for those achievements.
[9:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As well as the Detective title for doing both quest series.
[9:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, and the Gizmo the Pure pet along the way
[9:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In all I got it done pretty much in one 8-hour sitting, which was quite tiring, but also fun. I like these quests and adventures. Reminds me of why I love the game.
[9:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And through all those quests and anniversary events, I also completed the trading post tender for January.
[9:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got the green Clockwork appearance set as free reward, and bought the dynamite offhand, the golden clockwork cloak, and 2 pets: Wind-Up Woofer and Wind-Up Wuffi.
[9:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also got the Gold Reinforced Cushion Boots, specifically for use on World of Warcraft - Character - Caliboes (Argent Dawn) (Innovation) - 10 Tauren {spec} {class}, {0} ilvl
[9:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The character I based him on wears yellow clogs, and it's rather difficult to find shoes for a tauren that is more than basically an ankle bracelet above the hoof, so this was a nice representation instead
[9:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And finally, I went back into Delves! With a few more upgraded heroic pieces and my caught up new ring, I decided to give all tier 11 delves a try for the achievement. And it's going well so far, as I've got 6 done as well. One of them I did without dying at all, which got me the Immortal Spelunker feat and title as well.
[9:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And I also got enough undercoins along the way to buy the Lampyridae Lure toy, completing all the cosmetic rewards from the vendor for this season.
[9:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, and got Brann the delve companion to level 50, so that's also nice
[9:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next week, I'll work on the remaining delves, though I'll only do them while they are Bountiful, so it will probably take a bit longer than the minimum. And then just tier 11 Zekvir awaits!
[9:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week
[9:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[10:49 PM]Varda: Namarie, Phar
January 13, 2025
[9:13 AM]Sandalf13: I did check in later...Namarie all.
[9:20 AM]Sandalf13: Two shots from this morning....Moonset over Longs Peak (to the levt of the picture). Actually, the moon is setting right over the Twin Sisters, two mountains about the same elevation right next to each other....I beg Poetic License. The Sleeping Indian Maiden (Mummy Range) is at the right of the picture.
[Image]
[9:24 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Looks nice
[9:26 AM]Sandalf13: Thanks, Ar! It was a beautiful view as I returned from my morning swim at Trail Winds Rec Center. I couldn't resist taking a picture...but all I had was my cell phone. Back in the 70s and 80s, I used a 35 mm camera with a telephoto lense. No one uses those things anymore....it is even hard to get film and to get the film developed. A telephoto lense would have really made these pictures speciial.
[9:26 AM]Sandalf13: I still have the camera and its attachments. Don't know why, though.
[9:27 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good memories, I presume! And they might come back in style, like vinyl
[9:27 AM]Sandalf13: Who knows. Mal sehen!
[9:27 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I actually tried to take a picture of the moon with my own phone a few weeks ago, but it came out way too blurry. And I'm not enough of a photographer to buy an actual camera.
[9:28 AM]Sandalf13: I understand that if you are willing to shell out the bucks, you can still buy a really good 35 mm camera, but it would be electronic, like the cell phone, with no film. Too expensive for me, I believe.
[9:29 AM]Sandalf13: I should say a "digital camera," I suppose.
[9:29 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I think my dad still has a digital one for holidays.
[9:29 AM]Sandalf13: Ask him for some details about it and send them on to me, ok?
[9:30 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sure, will try to remember
[9:30 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Probably not a very good one though!
[9:30 AM]Sandalf13: Thank you. EVen if it is not a very good one, it is probably better than the camera on a cell phone, wouldn't you think?
[9:30 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Should think so, yes.
[9:31 AM]Sandalf13: Let me know. What time is it by you right now?
[9:31 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Half past four.
[9:31 AM]Sandalf13: 1431?
[9:31 AM]Sandalf13: Oy. Almost time for dinner. I hope you have a good meal this evening and get an earlier start on bedtime. Our Sunday Valar Guild meetings keep you up pretty late, I think.
[9:32 AM]Sandalf13: So you are 8 hours ahead of me.
[9:32 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sounds about right!
[9:32 AM]Sandalf13: I am just starting the day.
[9:33 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As am I, really Mondays are odd for me, between health stuff on sunday and monday and being off work and catching up on some sleep.
[9:33 AM]Sandalf13: We are expecting another good snow storm on Friday-Sat-Sun this week. I hope so...we really need the moisture.
[9:33 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, enjoy
[9:35 AM]Sandalf13: I plan to go up skiing some day this week, once I decide upon a day to visit an older man from our congregation who now lives in a retirement home/nursing home. He is well past 92, and lonesome, so I do what I can. Once I know the day, I can plan a ski trip. Need to warm up my skiing legs before I have my one week up at my timeshare Jan26 - Feb 8. Lots of skiing, then.
[9:35 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: (don't) break a leg!
[9:36 AM]Sandalf13: The equipment is so good today that it is not as common as it was when I was learning to ski years and years and years ago.
[9:36 AM]Sandalf13: I would not be skiing, if the equipment were not better...as you age, the idea of falling becomes more and more distasteful.
[9:37 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Myep, can imagine. From what I can tell, hips are the biggest problem.
[9:37 AM]Sandalf13: Among others. Have you skied?
[9:37 AM]Sandalf13: My daughter and her husband in London are/were avid skiers. I suspect that my grandsons are also skiers.
[9:38 AM]Sandalf13: They usually visit the Alps.
[9:38 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Not really. A quick course on a fake slope here in the Netherlands and while the idea was to ski on our high school visit to Austria over 20 years ago, I remember totally freaking out over not being able to move the skis and finally being exempt from it.
[9:38 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I can see why people enjoy it but it's not for me.
[9:39 AM]Sandalf13: All of us have our particular pleasures in life. I am sure you have many things to do that are special to you and give you a great deal of happiness.
[9:39 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Like gaming
[9:40 AM]Sandalf13: Yup....among others, I assume. I really hope that I can learn to game better, so I can participate in more of the Guild activities.
[9:41 AM]Sandalf13: Everyone says it is easy, but it is not easy for me, for some reason...and my fingers still work pretty well what with typing ad playing the piano.
[9:41 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm sure it's not for everyone, but it can be quite enjoyable when you get the hang of the buttons at least!
[9:41 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And if you can't get around one genre, there's plenty more to choose from.
[9:41 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As in all media.
[9:42 AM]Sandalf13: Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me today...it is always a pleasure to chat with you. I need to get to work soon, and have to get back to the drudge aspects of looking at my laptop. Have a wonderful rest of the day, a good dinner, and an even better night. Namarie!
[9:42 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sure, you too
[9:43 AM]Sandalf13: Sei gesund!