Sunday, March 30, 2025
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Lenwe, Pallando, Sandalf, Varda (presiding), Xavier
Topic: How did Tolkien use poetry in his works?
[March 25, 2025
[11:52 AM]Eönwë Valar: Well, looks like they reverted the WW dungeon quest to only count mythic, so guess I'm back to skipping this one.
[3:31 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The 4 dungeons? Ugh. I was thinking of going theater of pain, though, which is simple enough to my recollection. Spammed heroic Scithe last season, as my favorite SL dungeon, but not looking forward to this one
[March 26, 2025
[2:16 AM]Eönwë Valar: Aha, looks like the 24-hour cooldown on the wavescrambler was a bug, because they just hotfixed it
[March 30, 2025
[4:01 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya all! And that means you!
[4:03 PM]Sandalf13: Two humorous finds from the Web.4
[Image: It was the best of shires, it was the Worcestershires.]
[Image: man on cellphone asking if they're out of hamburger with a rodeo bull charging up behind him.]
[4:03 PM]Varda: Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting_place time! Come say hi!
[4:04 PM]Varda: Helps to be in the right channel. cough
[4:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya.
[4:04 PM]Varda: Thanks Eonwe : )
[4:05 PM]Varda: Sandalf, funny pics : )
[4:05 PM]Sandalf13: Always good to start with some light humor...
[4:05 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:05 PM]Varda: I'm into light. : )
[4:05 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:05 PM]Varda: Hello to Sandalf and Eonwe : )
[4:06 PM]Varda: We have a /wave from this side of the screen from Fangorn.
[4:06 PM]Pallando-Valar: Aiya, I'm commentating.
[4:06 PM]Pallando-Valar: Twitch - Charity Cup Tournament | Group Stages - Day 2
[4:06 PM]Varda: Yay Pallando!
[4:06 PM]Varda: O wow! Thanks for the link!
[4:06 PM]Varda: Debes : )
[4:07 PM]Sandalf13: You ought?
[4:09 PM]Varda: He's a commentator on that Twitch program concerning the gaming in EVE. It says it's raising money for Weston Hospicecare.
[4:09 PM]Sandalf13: Ah.
[4:09 PM]Varda: Debes Sparre is the name for Pallando in EVE Online.
[4:09 PM]Sandalf13: Doble ah.
[4:11 PM]Varda: I'm running it at the same time as our meeting. : )
[4:11 PM]Arien Valar: aiya all
[4:12 PM]Arien Valar: my time is a bit limited today as i have an early start tomorrow and last night was a bit rough allas
[4:13 PM]Lenwe: Aiya Arien et al!
[4:13 PM]Varda: Aiya Arien! Thanks for gaming and for dropping by for a howdy!
[4:13 PM]Varda: Aiya Lenwe : )
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya.
[4:13 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya Lenwe
[4:13 PM]Varda: This is good stuff for Membership : )
[4:13 PM]Sandalf13: Aiy Arien!
[4:14 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Lenwe
[4:14 PM]Arien Valar: aiya Sandalf
[4:14 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya Eonwe
[4:14 PM]Varda: The image is the Debes Sparre character in EVE Online, which is really neat to get to see.
[No new content this week. Send something. :)
[4:14 PM]Varda: Gaming:
[4:14 PM]Varda: EVE Online:
[See Membership for EVE Online.
[4:15 PM]Varda: Enjoy the Twitch feed with Pallando. : )
[4:15 PM]Varda: Eonwe, the Gaming gavel is yours, all shiny!
[4:17 PM]Eönwë Valar: Image
[4:17 PM]Varda: : )
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[This week's bonus event: War Within Dungeons. (The quest no longer counts heroic difficulty for its rewards, unfortunately)
[This week's PvP Brawl: Classic Ashran. LFR wing 4 of the Liberation of Undermine raid is available this week.
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out April's Trading Post.
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out WoW Weekly for anything not mentioned above.
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes.
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hearthstone:
[Into the Emerald Dream is live this week.
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: Warcraft Rumble: You can get the Lich King through April 8th.
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: See what you can get for sieging Stormwind.
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: Some hotfixes have been made to the aforementioned events, so check those out too.
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo Immortal: Check out the recent bug fixes.
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: Lord of the Rings Online:
[Update 43.2 came out this week, released on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's it from me.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar:
[4:22 PM]Varda: Thank you, Eonwe : )
[4:22 PM]Arien Valar: nice picture :))
[4:22 PM]Varda: Nice exit, heh.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: It's from the original Ninja Gaiden (Action genre reboot, not the old Ninendo side-scroller).
[4:23 PM]Varda: Thanks, wondered
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: The game so hard you love to hate it, heh.
[4:24 PM]Varda: Starcraft 2:
[4:24 PM]Varda: Players that I know of this past week (add in if you were there too): Eowyn, Fangorn, Faramir, and Floppa.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: (Seriously, its a fun game, but it's not a beginner's game.)
[4:24 PM]Varda: Sounds fun. : )
[4:25 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:25 PM]Varda: Adding to Eonwe's report,
[4:25 PM]Varda: Sea Blue dye thru April 3 code: OCEANBLUE
Peregrin branch (US RP-encouraged):
Glamdring branch (US normal):
Treebeard branch (temp VIP slow-level):
Angmar branch (temp US VIP "Veil of the Nine"):
Mordor branch (temp EU VIP "Veil of the Nine"):
[4:26 PM]Varda: Lots of folks are making it into the new servers. If you need help joining one of our kin branches, asking now is a great time. It's one reason we have meetings, to find an officer.
[4:27 PM]Varda: Any other gaming news? Suggestions?
[4:28 PM]Varda: I will mention that Monday is the first Guinea pig attempt for housing. It will be the Belfalas housing and I intend to try for our kin house. : )
[4:28 PM]Arien Valar: very good
[4:29 PM]Varda: If the test goes well, the rest of the housing schedule should happen as planned.
[4:29 PM]Arien Valar: hope they are a bit more lucky with it than with the transfers
[4:29 PM]Varda: They worked at the transfers until now they are very fast! Was a Guinea pig there too, heh.
[4:30 PM]Varda: Arien added a batch of characters. : )
[4:30 PM]Varda: If there is no other gaming news or request...
[4:31 PM]Eönwë Valar: Yeah, I screwed up one of my renames, so now I figure I can transfer the character to a server where conveniently there's a character with that name, get the original name back, then make another go at transferring back to the right server, heh.
[4:31 PM]Varda: (still enjoying the commentary)
[4:31 PM]Varda: Careful with that. And good luck. : )
[4:32 PM]Varda: I have a couple of characters with -1 on them, got in after someone else.
[4:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, conveniently there's a character with the wrong name on Peregrin. Fancy that? And conveniently there's a character with the right name so I know it can't be taken in the interim :}
[4:32 PM]Varda: Stop sending gems to Fanuilos, as it's another person and not my jeweler. I'm Fanuilos-1
[4:32 PM]Varda: hah - nice
[4:33 PM]Arien Valar: use my trick add in an additional l or s
[4:34 PM]Varda: Aye, considering. Just means certain people need to be careful with who they send their jewelry requests too, after years of habit. : )
[4:35 PM]Varda: Eonwe, are you trying to type something? Go ahead.
[4:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: I considered taking out a a double letter, actually, because then it wouldn't be pronounced too much differently.
[4:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: Not typing anything world-changing, I assure you :}
[4:35 PM]Varda: hehe
[4:36 PM]Varda: I have so many versions for Fainan that it's crazy. : )
[4:36 PM]Varda: One of my favorites is Faintasia
[4:36 PM]Varda: Anyway,
[4:36 PM]Varda: on to
[4:36 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:36 PM]Eönwë Valar:
[4:36 PM]Varda: Sorceror's Apprentice : )
[4:37 PM]Varda: When reading the LotR or Sil or H or any of JRRT's work (that's a lot of Letters, er pardon),
[4:37 PM]Varda: we find poety, also seen as songs.
[4:37 PM]Varda: It's not hard to imagine a tune while reading them.
[4:38 PM]Varda: Did anyone besides me read those poems while reading the stories? : )
[4:38 PM]Eönwë Valar: I did.
[4:38 PM]Varda: Yay!
[4:38 PM]Varda: To me, they added to it.
[4:38 PM]Eönwë Valar: I tried to memorize a couple of them, but I don't think I quite remember them so well.
[4:39 PM]Varda: Anyway, his poems have been collected, if you feel like shelling out a few more bucks...
[4:39 PM]Varda: oh, I did (memorize some) for a while. Easier to remember when adding in music. Troll sat alone/on his seat of stone/ etc
[4:39 PM]Varda: Word on Fire - A First Look at 'The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien'
[4:40 PM]Varda: Here's a spot besides Amazon, mainly just to see how it looks:
[4:40 PM]Varda: And feel free to hit Amazon or your favorite bookseller. : )
[4:40 PM]Varda: Mainly those links are just to get to see what was done.
[4:41 PM]Varda: Apparently poetry was one of the fun things young JRRT did. : )
[4:41 PM]Eönwë Valar: Perhaps there's a bit of irony that setting them to music would likely make them easier to recall. Got a long repertoire of songs I haven't forgotten yet, heh.
[4:41 PM]Varda: That can be part of the love of words and how they go together.
[4:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya, catching up!
[4:42 PM]Varda: Poems are the base of song anyway. It seems very natural, with the way the words fall.
[4:42 PM]Varda: Aiya Phar!
[4:42 PM]Varda: Anyone else read any of the poetry while reading the books? : )
[4:42 PM]Arien Valar: YouTube Clamavi De Profundis - Namárië - (Galadriel's Lament)
[4:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Rankin-Bass versions were real good about making their songs catchy and memorable.
[4:43 PM]Varda: True : )
[4:43 PM]Varda: And there's a great example. : ) Thanks, Arien
[4:43 PM]Arien Valar: you are welcome :
[4:44 PM]Arien Valar: Clamavi de Profundis are master with this sort
[4:44 PM]Varda: Aye, they're very into it. : )
[4:44 PM]Arien Valar: i mean making tolkiens poems into songs
[4:44 PM]Varda: Aye
[4:46 PM]Varda: She can really hit those high notes.
[4:47 PM]Arien Valar: She has a great voice indeed and those deep voices underlining her .. just gives you a shiver down the spine
[4:48 PM]Varda: The contrast, aye.
[4:48 PM]Varda: Like a golden frame around the image.
[4:48 PM]Arien Valar:
[4:50 PM]Varda: Music was how Eru's creation was made. This means the poetry and songs in the stories have an extra strength.
[4:51 PM]Varda: There is music in the water of Ulmo that has power, in even a tiny stream.
[4:51 PM]Sandalf13: Tolkien reading poetry
[4:51 PM]Arien Valar: YouTube - The Cow Jumped Over the Moon't
[4:51 PM]Sandalf13: For what it is worth, I always enjoyed this video of the Master himself reading the the One Ring
[4:51 PM]Varda: Water carried a lot of that music into places that Sauron did not want. Might be one reason evil places tended to be dry, barren.
[4:52 PM]Varda: Sandalf, aye!
[4:52 PM]Sandalf13: Water is indeed a soothing sound...even when rushing down a steep canyon...
[4:53 PM]Varda: To go to Valinor, one sails a boat! Water and Valinor, again.
[4:53 PM]Varda: Rainbows with that falling water too, another of the Valie items.
[4:54 PM]Arien Valar: remember in Book of Lost tales was it the Rainbow bridge .. Orome Malle or something like that if I remember right to get to the hut of Lost Play if i remember right
[4:55 PM]Arien Valar: or unfinished Tales even
[4:55 PM]Varda: A touch of the Asgardian Rainbow Bridge there. : )
[4:55 PM]Eönwë Valar: Olorë Mallë
[4:55 PM]Varda: What Eonwe typed.
[4:55 PM]Arien Valar: Olore Malle .. well me and names .. cough
[4:55 PM]Eönwë Valar: WIth or without the umlauts. Don't guarantee those are right, heh.
[4:55 PM]Varda: You got the idea across, main thing.
[4:56 PM]Sandalf13: Of course, mere mortals cannot espy the bridge...
[4:56 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, there's a bit of a cheat there if you remember Lorien/Irmo, Gandalf/Olorin.
[4:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yeah, I thought that rainbow bridge was the Lost Tales. Anyway, caught up, and yes, I always read the poetry as well
[4:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Never really did put them to song in my head, though, but when I read those that have gotten movie tunes since then, I do hear the tunes in my head
[4:57 PM]Varda: : )
[4:58 PM]Sandalf13: For those who are convinced that Tolkien did not like Shakespeare (which was conclusively demonstrated to be false in Carter's biography), Tolkien did use Shakespeareian modes of rhyme in many of his own poems.
[4:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Interestingly, I try to put the second verse of "the road ahead goes on and on" into the same tune as they use for the first in the movie, and the syllables don't quite seem to line up. It's jarring.
[4:58 PM]Arien Valar: well i have to sail away I fear .. the night doesnt get longer with passing time :
[4:58 PM]Eönwë Valar: I remember the Olorë Mallë being one of several roads.
[4:58 PM]Varda: Path of Dreams, aye BoLT 1
[4:58 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie , dear friends
[4:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sail along the rainbow path, Arien, and namarie
[4:59 PM]Varda: Namarie, Sunshine : )
[4:59 PM]Varda: About that hour...
[4:59 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie, Arien!
[4:59 PM]Sandalf13: Sail Away with me honey
[I put my heart in your hand
[Sail Away with me honey
[Now, now, now
[Sail Away with me
[What will be will be
[I wanna hold you now
[Now, now
[4:59 PM]Sandalf13: A little goodbye song, to boot.
[4:59 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sleep well Arien.
[4:59 PM]Sandalf13: A classic rock song.
[4:59 PM]Varda: The road song changes all through the LotR
[5:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Putting something like the Lay of Leithian to song must be quite daunting.
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: Could Shatner it, heh.
[5:02 PM]Varda: The poems tend to sing themselves, after a fashion.
[5:02 PM]Varda: Anyway, the song of our meeting comes to a close...
[5:02 PM]Varda: chanting gavels pass by the hammerpad
[5:02 PM]Varda: the hammerpad trips one
[5:02 PM]Varda: thonk
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: Makes one wonder if there might be other roads to walk like the Olorë Mallë that lead to different places. (Back on my previous topic)
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!
[5:02 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:03 PM]Varda: Free chat, including Tolkienesque. : )
[5:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Massive hub of rainbows leading all over the place.
[5:03 PM]Varda: When approaching a rainbow, it tends to disappear and reappear behind you!
[5:05 PM]Sandalf13: Never forget Tolkien's enchanting poem entitled "The Shores of Faery," that open with the lines "East of the Moon, West of the Sun..."
[5:05 PM]Sandalf13: Tolkien borrowed the opening line from the Norwegian folk-story by the same name...
[5:05 PM]Varda: And where does the second of a double rainbow go...
[5:05 PM]Sandalf13: "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" (Norwegian: Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne) is a Norwegian fairy-tale. It was included by Andrew Lang in The Blue Fairy Book (1889).
[1]
[5:06 PM]Sandalf13: Tolkien was familiar with the work of Andrew Lang.
[5:06 PM]Varda: Nice. Thanks Sandalf. : )
[5:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Chasing a rainbow is like one of those nightmares where you're running through a hallway but you never get closer to the door.
[5:07 PM]Sandalf13: A metaphor for life in general?
[5:07 PM]Varda: Interesting that it would be a nightmare. A sneaky Leprechaun!
[5:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Which is actually the second time in 2 days of me using that analogy, since we got a video of our nephew yesterday learning to walk by his mom slowly walking backward as he approached, which, while effective, always seems so traumatizing
[5:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's a good point, like "Hey, I made it to where you were! Quit changing the goalposts!" hehe.
[5:09 PM]Varda: Slow chase!
[5:09 PM]Xavier: Hi everyone i just got back home and looked over meeting chat
[5:09 PM]Varda: Aiya Xavier! Welcome to After-meeting, the free chat. )
[5:10 PM]Varda: A life filled with rainbows sounds good though!
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[5:10 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Xaiver
[5:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkzWyOaS8kU YouTube Ron Ogletree Cross This Line
[5:11 PM]Varda: Have to see what's on the other side before that step. : )
[5:12 PM]Sandalf13: Watch out for the last step...
[5:12 PM]Varda: It's a doozy.
[5:12 PM]Sandalf13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpVcAGAAseY&ab_channel=WhiteHocak YouTube White Hocak “Stay close to ze candles. Ze staircase can be quite treacherous...
[5:13 PM]Varda: Young Frankenstein : )
[5:14 PM]Sandalf13: And all those great actors/actresses have left us...
[5:14 PM]Varda: And yet we have them still. : )
[5:14 PM]Varda: And remember them
[5:14 PM]Sandalf13: True...
[5:14 PM]Varda: Still loved.
[5:15 PM]Varda: One reason to leave something to be remembered by.
[5:15 PM]Varda: Do we want remembered for whatever took us from the world, or something we left for the world to enjoy?
[5:15 PM]Sandalf13: Absolutely.
[5:17 PM]Varda: Sometimes it's an act of kindness. Great to see it paid forward!
[5:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's a tough one. What if you go out doing what you love?
[5:18 PM]Varda: That's a good way to go!
[5:18 PM]Varda: Or go out saving another.
[5:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sometimes the highlights of your life are the things that take you out of it... can make a spectacular story!
[5:19 PM]Varda: Aye!
[5:20 PM]Eönwë Valar:
[5:20 PM]Varda: heh - go out fishing!
[5:21 PM]Xavier: So i have a general question about housing opening up tomorrow. I know is first day but I am not gonna get the island ones or mainland. I'll wait for next day. My question is the extra brokers. Are gonna be in certain maps including mossward? And original 4 maps for houses. On differant days. Anyone jnow exact locations of the extra brokers? Or more info?
[5:21 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie for now...got to take care of a few things away from home for a short bit, shall return later...
[5:22 PM]Varda: Later Sandalf.
[5:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:22 PM]Varda: Xavier, the new brokers will be by the stablemasters in the four main starter towns.
[5:22 PM]Varda: They change up according to which set of housing is open.
[5:22 PM]Xavier: Ok I know where that.is already
[5:23 PM]Varda: I think the Bree broker is good, but don't try to go inside Belfalas housing area as that broker will be unavailable.
[5:23 PM]Varda: We have kin islands on Peregrin and Glamdring, so we're interested in Monday.
[5:24 PM]Xavier: Is it gonna be each type for each one or all available le like in bree near mayor office. I want to park 3 toons at 3 locations
[5:25 PM]Varda: The four brokers near stables change housing according to the schedule. Belfalas Monday all neighborhoods.
[5:25 PM]Varda: If that goes well, then the schedule should remain as listed currently.
[5:25 PM]Xavier: I not get house in belefast. It's Bree and the elf.one first and the hobbit one those 3 first for kin houses
[5:26 PM]Varda: Belfalas is the only area on Monday.
[5:26 PM]Varda: If that goes well, then the other areas get their day according to the schedule.
[5:26 PM]Xavier: Yes I needa wait till Tuesday
[5:27 PM]Varda: ok
[5:27 PM]Varda: If it helps anyone, it's also posted on our News page:
[5:27 PM]Varda: NewsGeneral news for the Valar Guild for online gaming and the Tolkien Site.
[5:27 PM]Xavier: May not get same neighborhood
[5:27 PM]Varda: Tuesday, 4/1: Eastfold / Erebor
[5:27 PM]Xavier: Thank you
[5:28 PM]Varda: Right, but the house will look the same in any neighborhood.
[5:28 PM]Xavier: Yea looks like old legacy.hoods are later on schedule
[5:28 PM]Varda: Thursday, 4/3: Bree-land / Falathlorn
[5:28 PM]Xavier: That's the 2
[5:29 PM]Varda: Friday, 4/4: Shire / Thorin's Hall
[5:29 PM]Xavier: Amd that's the 3rd one
[5:30 PM]Xavier: The Bree one i want most cuz it's on Garden Street small non kinhouse cuz.my real grandmother lived on Spring Garden street. The game house is a tribute to her
[5:31 PM]Varda: That should be available in some neighborhood, same name in each. Sweet reason.
[5:32 PM]Xavier: Thank you
[5:32 PM]Varda: We want an island because the Valar Guild plus Valinor just makes sense. : )
[5:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also easier to defend!
[5:34 PM]Xavier: Yea. I looked into getting one when they first came out. But I just visit my friends ones instead
[5:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: From invaders trying to steal our immortality, aye.
[5:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Now who'd do a thing like that?
[5:34 PM]Eönwë Valar: There was this one guy.
[5:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Besides, it's not stealing if you just wish to share in it... merely copying!
[5:36 PM]Xavier: FirstAgeGrandpappy will defend it too. And Uncle Jimmy and all my 42 heralds
[5:38 PM]Eönwë Valar: Because he totally wouldn't have thought he could march up to Manwë and start barking Orders. Or at least he would've until Tulkas put him in a german supplex.
[5:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hey, you're king or you're not king!
[5:42 PM]Varda: You can visit ours when we get one again, Xav. Good fishing from the docks!
[5:43 PM]Xavier: Yes I've been to yours before too. Thanks
[@Ar-Pharazon-V
[Hey, you're king or you're not king!
[5:43 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - TFS - Your either perfect or your not me
[5:43 PM]Varda: (Ar-Pharazon was really after the fish!)
[5:44 PM]Varda: And Aedon's bands are still welcome, of course. Or any other bands. Just no longer have the old inviter for that. May have to give me a holler if they're lost. Have to get an island first, though!
[5:44 PM]Varda: hehe Eonwe
[5:52 PM]Varda: As far as kings go, might understand when meeting the king of kings, aka Elder King. : )
[5:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well I didn't vote for him.
[5:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still, when in Rome...
[5:54 PM]Varda: No one voted for Phar either. : )
[5:54 PM]Varda: Kings don't tend to be voted in. In ancient times, however, a tyrant could be.
[5:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, I married my way in.
[5:55 PM]Varda: That works, time-honored. But she wasn't joyous.
[5:55 PM]Eönwë Valar: If memory serves, the old germanic tribes voted for their king. The nobles did at least
[5:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Are those the same tribes that offed their king every winter?
[5:56 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heh, could be. It's been a long time and it wasn't a deep study when I looked into it.
[5:56 PM]Varda: So, time to offer Phar...
[@Varda
[So, time to offer Phar...
[5:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sauron did :}
[5:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sure, offer me to the Gods, send me straight to Valinor. That's one way to get there.
[5:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: Why do you think he put Pharazon on a boat while he sat back in his temple? :}
[5:57 PM]Varda: Sauron's no dummy. : )
[5:57 PM]Varda: Hey, you made it!
[5:58 PM]Varda: Place was evacuated already, though. Pretty but probably dull.
[5:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yeah, when your possibly duplicitous adviser tells you to go invade someone, it's generally a good idea to take him with you. You know, just to make sure he's not setting you up. Lesson learned.
[5:58 PM]Varda: If your advisor is twirling his mustache or stroking his goatee, think twice.
[5:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Grand Vizier type.
[5:59 PM]Varda: I wonder if he would've backpedaled if he had to go too!
[5:59 PM]Varda: Aye. : )
[5:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Alright, about time I had some dinner
[6:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: YouTube - I wonder what's for Dinner
[6:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - Ye Olde Commercials - Beef: It's What's For Dinner commercial (1993)
[6:04 PM]Varda: Midnight snack?
[6:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: Thought I'd settle that one for you.
[6:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: Youtube is really throwing the Irish/Celtic playlists at me.
[6:06 PM]Varda: It thinks you wantss it as your Precious.
[6:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: hehe
[6:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: OK, I must be off. Will be back later. Take care all, goodnight, sleep well, and have fun.
[6:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie Eonwe!
[8:51 PM]Sandalf13: Beef...it's what's for dinner...good thing that Aaron Copland's music score for Rodeo is public domain...he might be rolling over in his grave to see it used in this way! Good recording, though. Try listening to "Rodeo" sometime, and even getter, "The Red Pony." In the latter case, the movie version (for which Copland wrote the score) is much easier for little children to watch...Steinbeck's book is heavy and depressing reading even for an adult....so much for his sense of children's stories!
[8:51 PM]Sandalf13: YouTube - Austin Civic Orchestra - Aaron Copland - The Red Pony Film Suite
[8:51 PM]Sandalf13: YouTube Aaron Copland - Rodeo - Zubin Mehta - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orch...
[9:03 PM]Sandalf13: The syncopated "Saturday Night Waltz" in "Rodeo" is guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye.
[10:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: Of all the dailies, I like the climbing one the least. Many times I don't even know why I'm being thrown on a parachute because it looks like I still have energy in the bar.
[10:41 PM]Eönwë Valar: There, now I've used all the crests I'll need this season for my weapon slot... unless the extremely unlikely event occurs where I somehow end up with a mythic track weapon.
[10:43 PM]Eönwë Valar: Funny how even with the crest changes for Delves I somehow expected crests would remain my bottleneck and not Valarstones, heh.
[11:31 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yeah, I find myself out of Valorstones (though I like the name Valarstones) all the time as well this time around, but I thought it was just my choice of activities.
[11:31 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, an intended 1 hour nap to grab some energy for the rest of the night turned into 4 and a half. I'll go do my daily Rumble session and then come up with a gaming report
[March 31, 2025
[12:05 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report:
[12:06 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, Kongregate - Pixoji came up this week! A puzzle game with many levels, and many mechanics. The object is to find the hidden picture by marking certain tiles, using various methods.
[12:07 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It starts out as a bit of a minesweeper, but then you get nonogram hints and all sorts of other stuffs to help you calculate which tiles to mark.
[12:08 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Which how much I like all of these puzzly types, it has been quite a delight to complete all of the around 200 levels and challenge levels, and I hope those reading this will like it too!
[@Ar-Pharazon-V
[Yeah, I find myself out of Valorstones (though I like the name Valarstones) all the time as well this time around, but I thought it was just my choice of activities.
[12:09 AM]Eönwë Valar: Lol, obvious force of habit :}
[12:13 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[12:15 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: New expansion launched! Since the early levels are so fast, I went all the way up to level 30 on the reward track this week.
[12:16 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It also comes with a new quest event, with main quests and daily quests based on the new expansion's cards. The daily quests are different this time: You start each day with a 75 gold quest, but can reroll it for a seemingly more difficult 125 gold quest, but other than maybe being a bit more grindy, I haven't really noticed the downside of that one.
[12:17 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But because it's based around the expansion, I needed some cards for it So I spent 1000 gold on 10 Emerald Dream card packs, before realizing that the early reward track would've given me plenty of packs anyway. Ah well!
[12:17 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The more the better I guess, new gold-bought hero skins can wait.
[12:19 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Any case, those 30 steps along the track and the packs I opened gave me 3 legendary cards, including 2 Wild Gods - which I'll need for the second week's main quest - and the Dreamscape card back.
[12:19 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And I got the Death Knight class to 58 along the way! 2 to go.
[12:22 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As a druid main in WoW (and also sort of in Hearthstone) these Wild Gods are interesting. Some of them, like Ursoc and Ashamane, that are always associated with the druid - especially my WoW gamestyle - are now given to other classes, though I guess most if not all Wild Gods have a druid association by default anyway. Druids get Cenarius, which I guess makes sense considering we already have a legendary card around him.
[12:22 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ursoc's given to the Death Knight, which I guess makes sense considering the times he's died in WoW
[12:23 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: sigh rest in paws, big guy...
[12:25 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, brawl is Emerald Dream Recipe, with each class given a specific deck based around mechanics and combinations from the new expansion. I went in with the Death Knight - because he still requires xp, but also because I had some daily quests for him - and I do like his Leeches mechanic, though it's rather limited in the amount of cards there are for it. Most people seem to play druid and mage, which seem to have interesting Imbue mechanics for their hero powers.
[12:29 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Diablo 4: Logged in once to check on something, came away with a free mog from the shop, the Vermilion Bolt Thrower. Thanks, Blizzard, maybe I should pay more attention
[12:30 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: Collection level now 58! New Arthas event is to blame
[12:32 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It's pretty big! 3 wings to complete for Icecrown, ending with the Frozen Throne itself, and 3 difficulties for each as well. Lots of challenges for poison, frost, burning, and a few specific unit(type)s to go through the Citadel with.
[12:33 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Arthas itself is quite an interesting hero, obviously needed for several of the challenges, and I'm sure I'll make good use of him in the future Together with a rare-o-matic for the Grid and all the stars from the event's reward track, I've gotten him to Epic quality already.
[12:34 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In fact, I've already completed the entire track with over a week and thousands of tickets to spare, thanks to a few 500-ticket daily offers for gold, and way more rewards from the challenges than are needed. And that's with plenty of challenges to complete, and only having done Icecrown Citadel on normal Heroic and mythic aren't even required!
[12:36 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also part of the reward track were 2 portraits, 6 Arthas skins (I think the common rarity pink skin suits him just fine, honestly!) and lots of stars and tomes of experience for all the minis. And lots of gold, which is good, because 3000 gold is needed to get the icecrown tower skins. I'm about 200 gold short now with lots of time left to get that
[12:38 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the dungeon, I completed Anub'arak up to level 17, before the event came in, and I did some dungeoning with Arthas instead for one of the challenges. Got the entire 21-match challenge done in 3 days, because the undead week was going to end, but then they patched it for Arthas to be available in the other dungeon line-ups for the duration of this event. Makes sense, though for me who planned ahead, not needed
[12:40 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Any case, in the new blackrock week I started on Thaurissan, my third blackrock leader, though I'm not quite sure of his build. His specialty is playing non-elemental minis, and considering how few minis are actually elemental, that still leaves a lot wide open. I started out with some the blackrock minis for family style, and because there aren't actually that many non-elemental minis in that family compared to basically everything else, and then filled in some roles I was lacking.
[12:41 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It works, but is quite expensive to play in terms of mana, so I'll have to revise him at some point probably. Regardless, I got him through some of the early dungeon levels, up to 11.
[12:44 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For quality upgrades, as said I got Arthas to epic, but also several other minis to rare through the star tomes in the reward track. I think about.. 6 are now below rare? Getting there. Anyway, they include the priestess, who actually personally had 5 stars in the track, the earth elemental, the eclipse spell, and the smoke bomb spell.
[12:44 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That's the ones who became rare, not the ones remaining
[12:45 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Other than 2 talents for Arthas, to start him off with, though, I didn't buy any talents from the grid, since I'm saving for the icecrown tower skins. After that's done, there'll be a lot of talents to catch up on
[12:47 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, going back to army compositions, today's horde/cenarion Arcane Surge army gave me an idea for Onu, the walking spawnpoint, along with some healers, sappers and other siege minis to basically blast the enemy buildings from point blank. I might have to test it out!
[12:48 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[12:49 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: More raiding! I haven't been able to raid sundays much, which is when my group makes the most progress into heroic, but I did get my first heroic kill of the first boss.
[12:50 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Weekly is dungeons, which are now mythic only rather than also heroic for the quest, and I've been tackling Theater of Pain for that. Not too complicated a dungeon, and considering my lack of experience with Dragonflight and War Within dungeons, a good alternative. Though I did prefer Tirna Scithe in the previous season.
[12:50 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I've still one more dungeon to do, but I hope the reward will be worth it!
[12:52 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Completed the trading post tender for March (cutting it close!) which got me the Ornaments of the Pearlescent Butterfly ensemble. I also spent some currency to buy the two wings cloak appearances, as well as one of the butterfly mounts. Tough choice between red and yellow/white, and I didn't have enough tender for both, but the yellow and white one works well with my Lightforged draenei so I went for that
[12:52 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good thing there wasn't a pet for sale this month!
[12:53 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Normally I don't go for mounts since there's so many of them and they're so expensive, but I had to get one of these.
[@Ar-Pharazon-V
[Weekly is dungeons, which are now mythic only rather than also heroic for the quest, and I've been tackling Theater of Pain for that. Not too complicated a dungeon, and considering my lack of experience with Dragonflight and War Within dungeons, a good alternative. Though I did prefer Tirna Scithe in the previous season.
[12:54 AM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - Blind Guardian - Theatre of Pain - Revisited | Official Lyric Video
[12:54 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Heh
[12:55 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Finally, delves! Been poking tier 8, though my ilevel is close to tier 9 recommended now. Got Brann to 58 along the way. Strange how my Hearthstone death knight level, my Rumble collection level and my WoW companion level seem to synchronize these days.
[12:57 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also got, through the Delves, the weapon (appearance) from the Underpin, not from killing him in his lair, but from one of this sporadic Delve appearances, as well as the Shallow Nautic helm mog.
[12:57 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Some of the curios are starting to hit rank 3 and 4 as well.
[12:58 AM]Eönwë Valar: Heh, you just made me check my Brann, and I realize he's sitting about close enough to 70 to walk into a Delve, eat a cupcake, and be there.
[12:58 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And I got another level on the delve journey, unlocking a harpoon face for the Gob-Trotter!
[12:58 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hah
[12:59 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: How can you not notice that as you approach?
[12:59 AM]Eönwë Valar: Didn't pay attention in the last Delve :}
[12:59 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I love getting those curiosities now, they really give a visible chunk to his level. I wonder if they'll give less after 60, since they did say just getting him to 60 would be easier this season. I guess you'd know!
[1:00 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, that's my report for the week
[1:00 AM]Eönwë Valar: They still feel worthwhile coming up on 70 to grab.
[1:00 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, good!
[1:01 AM]Eönwë Valar: I certainly wouldn't skip them.
[1:01 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Never did anyway, but by the end of season 1 you couldn't even see the bar move from them
[1:02 AM]Eönwë Valar: Aye.
[1:02 AM]Eönwë Valar: Then again this season I'm doing 11s and 9s, so that may have something to do with it.
[1:03 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Not sure if it does, I was doing 11s at the end there as well. Didn't see a large increase in xp from any source, though they might have changed that for this season.
[1:04 AM]Eönwë Valar: Fair enough, but either way seemed to me worth it to get them this season. more blue and purple quality exp items in them than I noticed in the T8/9s I focused on in S1.
[1:05 AM]Eönwë Valar: And to me it looked like it usually budged his exp bar.
[1:05 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, more chances of higher quality? Could be, didn't watch out for that. I'm just noticing there's less of them in the curiosities in general.
[1:05 AM]Eönwë Valar: Certainly been clipping along getting him from 52-ish at the end of S1.
[1:06 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Which might also be why they give more each now, I guess.
[1:07 AM]Eönwë Valar: And I suspect their ilvl recommendations for the Delves this season assume starting out fresh with Brann. I feel like that's probably the reason I had such a strong start, but I can't prove it, heh.
[1:08 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Could be
[1:08 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still, having fun in Tier 8 so far, no need to punch above my ilevel recommendation yet.
[1:09 AM]Eönwë Valar: I mean, I'd like to say I'm just that awesome, but I've done enough raidings with people who have DPS meters to have a realistic placement of my ability :}
[1:11 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Right, time for a bit more sleep. Namarie!
[1:11 AM]Eönwë Valar: Sleep well :}
[1:11 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Thanks
[1:15 AM]Eönwë Valar: Although I suppose averaging 7th as Ret in a raid of 25 isn't too bad. Puts me in the top half of the DPS at least, heh..
[11:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: For reference btw, green exp gives Brann 3125 exp in a T9. Don't know if it's affected by tier level but that should help give you an idea of how much it helps.
[11:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmm, will have to compare it next time I find one in a T8, thanks
[11:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Zekh'vir on T11 is still beating me soundly at 651 ilvl. Doesn't seem to have budged difficulty at all. Beginning to wonder if they scaled him up.
[11:23 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Huh, weird. He's not dying quicker either?
[11:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: I haven't managed to kill him on T11, heh.
[11:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, no, but his health should be dropping quicker in any case
[11:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Gotcha. No , doesn't seem to budge any faster to me.
[11:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Too bad. Maybe next expansion
[11:25 PM]Eönwë Valar: hehe
[11:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Wonder how much of my damage is going to rely on the 4-piece from the tier set, heh.
[11:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: If I get my second piece and it starts looking like it budges his health faster, I guess we'll know.
[11:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: Guess we'll see what the vault gives me tomorrow. Already got a hero weapon, so unless I get an even better hero weapon, I'll hopefully get a tier piece.
[11:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good luck
[11:29 PM]Eönwë Valar: My Delver's Bounty this week gave me a third hero trinket, so that didn't help :}
[11:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: (Purple EXP item gives 15625 in T9)
[11:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Myes, that definitely sounds like more than in lower tiers.
[11:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: Wow, got the Delve-o-bot. Free ride to a random bountiful Delve every hour isn't too bad of a perk.
[11:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Grats! If you don't care which one you're doing, that does sound good
[11:52 PM]Eönwë Valar: Aye. Only two that I really avoid, but if I get stuck with those I can just do thjem as T9 for the credit/crests and move on.