Sunday, July 6, 2025
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Sandalf, Shelob, Varda (presiding), Xavier
Topic: After Mount Caradhras beat the Fellowship, forcing them to go back down the mountain, they were very tired and considered the idea of returning to Rivendell if only to recuperate and try again later. Why didn't they?
[July 6, 2025
[3:59 PM]Arien Valar: Hello? Is there anybody out there?
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya!
[4:01 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Huzzah! Time to join up for the Valar Guild meeting! Come on in and say hi
[4:01 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:01 PM]Pallando-Valar: Aiya
[4:01 PM]Arien Valar: aiya
[4:01 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:02 PM]Varda: Aiya Arien and Pallando!
[4:02 PM]Varda: Meriadoc-V has been visiting our house for the July 4 vacation and played lots of LotRO on Peregrin server.
[4:03 PM]Varda: He made it home a while ago. Yay!
[4:03 PM]Arien Valar: :)
[4:03 PM]Varda: The floods didn't hinder him. He's in central Texas.
[4:03 PM]Varda: Thingol-V said hi on StarCraft 2 to Varda. Sorry I missed the tell whilst fighting baddies.
[4:04 PM]Varda: Any membership news from you two?
[4:04 PM]Pallando-Valar: This member is tired.
[4:04 PM]Varda: awww
[4:04 PM]Pallando-Valar: that's about my level of news
[4:05 PM]Varda: Maybe we can be succinct for you at least.
[4:05 PM]Varda: Web News:
[4:05 PM]Varda: Coding going on, stuff collected, should be visible someday. : )
[4:05 PM]Varda: Gaming:
[4:05 PM]Varda: Pallando, did you have any EVE Online news to mention?
[4:06 PM]Pallando-Valar: There's a global plex market coming tomorrow which... we'll see how that goes. Otherwise it's been quiet. A small civil war in minmil, no real big fights for the null war.
[4:07 PM]Varda: Civil wars tend to be pretty uncivil.
[4:07 PM]Pallando-Valar: CCP is deep into summer vacation territory, I don't expect to see many updates from them until Septemberish.
[4:07 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya.
[4:07 PM]Varda: Aiya Eonwe : )
[4:07 PM]Arien Valar: aiya Eonwe
[4:07 PM]Varda: Here's hoping CCP pokes their heads into the coding ring now and then between summer fun.
[4:08 PM]Pallando-Valar: hah
[4:08 PM]Pallando-Valar: just about the entire company is gone between june and august. there's not much summer in iceland and they take full advantage of what they get
[4:10 PM]Varda: That actually makes sense. : )
[4:10 PM]Varda: Need volunteers from elsewhere in the world to stir up things in the game for them!
[4:11 PM]Varda: May they enjoy what Arien has to give. : )
[4:12 PM]Varda: Anyway, guess we'd better move on to more gaming before Arien and Pallando fall asleep.
[4:13 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:13 PM]Varda: +Cordovan says: "The Midsummer Festival has been extended through July 14th and now ends at 3:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on July 15th."
[4:13 PM]Varda: That will make many people happy!
[4:13 PM]Varda: Code for 10 Universal Ingredient Packs through July 10: SUMMERCRAFTS
[4:13 PM]Varda: That is a very super code. Grab while you can!
[4:14 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings Online Valarites showing up in kin this past week:
Peregrin branch (US RP-encouraged. Main.):
Glamdring branch (US normal. Secondary.):
Meriadoc branch (EU-RP. New branch. Treebeard folk jumped here.):
Angmar branch (temporary US VIP "Veil of the Nine"):
Mordor branch (temp EU VIP "Veil of the Nine"):
[4:14 PM]Varda: So we now have a European LotRO server.
[4:15 PM]Varda: As a person in the US, I find no particular lag difference. Seems fine.
[4:15 PM]Varda: I hope EU also finds US servers to be that good.
[4:15 PM]Varda: I also did another character transfer and they have become so automated and fast that it happens nearly as soon as the request comes in.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Huge difference from when we switched from 32-bit to 64-bit.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Treebeard kin moved to Meriadoc.
[4:17 PM]Varda: When the Mordor-EU temporary server is ready to end the event, characters from there will be able to bounce to the permanent Meriadoc branch if they wish.
[4:17 PM]Varda: The gaming gavel has been polished by Pallando and myself. It is now ready to meet up with Eonwe! Go go gavel!
[4:18 PM]Varda: While the gavel is slidiing that way, here's a quick one:
[4:18 PM]Varda: StarCraft 2: Eowyn, Fangorn, Faramir, Floppa, Varda
[4:19 PM]Varda: And Thingol also said hi in Starcraft 2 : )
[4:19 PM]Varda: gavel slides right up to Eonwe
[4:19 PM]Varda: big table
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: This week's bonus events: Arenas and Burning Crusade Timewalking (Turbulent Timeways III).
[This week's PvP Brawl: Deep Six.
[The Darkmoon Faire is going this week.
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Greedy Emmisary and Collector's Bounty events are going through July 29th.
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Mists of Pandaria Classic pre-patch is live.
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: Also here's a MoP Classic blog about Pet Battles.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hearthstone:
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: Patch 33.0 is out.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: With Lost City of Un'goro on July 8th comes a rewards track refresh.
[4:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Warcraft Rumble: Warcraft Rumble won't be getting any new content. See the announcement here.
[Announcing Changes to Warcraft Rumble Support
[We have an important update on the future of Warcraft Rumble. After much deliberation, we’ve arrived at an extremely hard decision. Moving forward, we'll continue supporting Rumble with updates focused on regular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes, but no new content.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: A new tale is out: "Tread Heavy".
[Read “Tread Heavy” to learn about the new Druid class, releasing with the next Diablo Immortal content update on July 3.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out info about the Druid Racing competition going until July 23rd.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Season 41 Battle Pass is going.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out the recent bug fixes.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heroes of the Storm:
[A new patch is on the PTR (Public Test Realm).
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's it for Gaming News from me.
[4:25 PM]Varda: Thank you, Eonwe. : )
[4:26 PM]Varda: Any other gaming or membership news?
[4:26 PM]Varda: On to
[4:26 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:27 PM]Varda: Does anyone have a topic before I drop one in here? : )
[4:28 PM]Varda: After Mount Caradhras beat the Fellowship, forcing them to go back down the mountain, they were very tired and considered the idea of returning to Rivendell if only to recuperate and try again later. Why didn't they?
[4:29 PM]Eönwë Valar: Because they weren't going to get a second chance to disappear into the wilderness.
[4:29 PM]Varda: Timing or what?
[4:30 PM]Varda: And yes.
[4:31 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya all!
[4:31 PM]Varda: Aiya Sandalf! : )
[4:31 PM]Varda: Just in time for the Tolkien topic! Feel free to comment!
[4:31 PM]Eönwë Valar: They'd already been spotted. Wolves and birds. If they went all the way back to Rivendell, they would be watched and their departure wouldn't be missed again.
[4:32 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya Sandalf
[4:32 PM]Sandalf13: The general consensus of Gandalf and Aragorn (and possibly Boromir) that to turn back now would not help the cause in any way....further delay via a return to Imladris might render it impossible to start out once again, now that Sauron knew that the Ring had at least been in Rivendell at his last reckoning...
[4:34 PM]Sandalf13: As Eonwe so clearly pointed out, Saruman also knew at this point that the Ring was (or is) in Rivendell...It is doubtful that either Saruman or Sauron knew that the Ring had departed Imladris and was already at Caradhas...
[4:37 PM]Arien Valar: Returning would be admitting defeat .. , as we said before , the roads would be blocked and Rivendell eventually be overwhelmed and defeated .. if not by sheer military superiority then probably the ring working its foul way
[4:39 PM]Sandalf13: Let us take a look at this for a sec from Saruman's or Sauron's viewpoint. "OK...we know the Ring is in Imladris. We "see" that a party of Gandalf, a couple of men, an elf, a dwarf and four somethings(?) left Rivendell...well, that happens all the time. Maybe they are on a mission to contact Gondor. The Ring is probably still in Imladris waiting for someone to take it for their own." In other words, they did not know at all if the Ring had left Imladris.
[4:40 PM]Sandalf13: Unless someone who was at the Council of Elrond ratted them out..
[4:43 PM]Eönwë Valar: Saruman and Sauron seemed to have an inkling by the time the Fellowship made it to Amon Hen, maybe Lothlorien.
[4:44 PM]Eönwë Valar: They knew a Hobbit had the Ring up to Rivendell. If they realized that Hobbit was moving about in a direction not towards his own home, they might surmise he's still being used to carry the proverbial football. (edited)
[4:44 PM]Sandalf13: Perhaps Sauron felt a disturbance in the Force, once Frodo offered the Ring to Galadriel in Lothlorien?
[4:45 PM]Varda: heh
[4:46 PM]Sandalf13: Then again, perhaps Gandalf and the others were taking them to Gondor to show Denethor some proof that Boromir's mission was not a wild goose chase?
[4:48 PM]Eönwë Valar: A Hobbit is a good choice of carrier even from Sauron's/Saruman's perspective: easily overpowered and thus the self-righteous larger folk who believe they're above such struggles would be willing to let him carry it until they'd decided who should claim its power... or eliminated enough of the competition to do so by force.
[4:49 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: Mae Govannen!
[4:49 PM]Varda: Yet their ego seemed to prevent them from seeing the hobbits as a danger. Saruman wondered why Gandalf would bother with them.
[4:49 PM]Varda: Aiya Shelob : )
[4:50 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: May Elbereth's light always be ensnared within my beautiful webs.
[4:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: At first, yes, but Saruman no doubt reasoned out a similar motive for Gandalf.
[4:51 PM]Sandalf13: When Gandalf encounters the Three Hunters on the eaves of Fangorn, he surmises that Sauron knows that the Ring is abroad, and that it is borne by a hobbit. (Two Towers, "The White Rider"). That still dodges the question of how he knew - all of Eonwe
[4:51 PM]Varda: Sparkle anywhere without entrapment. No worries.
[4:52 PM]Sandalf13: Eonwe's arguments are valid, but there Tolkien does not give us a detailed accounting of how Sauron knew this...but going back to Varda's topic, at that point in the journey, I am NOT convinced that either Saruman or Sauron knew that the Ring had left Imadris.
[4:54 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: No, but I think considering that the Party was almost immediately beset by Crebain... And although the party thinks they have gone unnoticed, the fact that large flocks seem to follow them... from that we might surmise that while they don't exactly know, they have a pretty good idea.
[4:55 PM]Eönwë Valar: At Caradhras, Gandalf starts a fire by virtue of his power. He says something along the lines of "Well, I've just put up a sign that says 'Gandalf is here' for miles to anyone who can read it." As far as Saruman is concerned, I think the minute he knew Gandalf was travelling with a Hobbit, he knew something important was happening.
[4:55 PM]Sandalf13: As a military leader, if Saruman or Sauron thought that a party had left Imladris WITH the Ring, they would have been accompanied by a much larger force, designed to protect the Ring and its bearer from peril...
[4:56 PM]Arien Valar: or as a cunning mind he might have gotten the same idea
[4:56 PM]Arien Valar: do what is not expected ... so expect the unexpected
[4:57 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: I reckon that for both they were not quite ready to come into the open with military force, so both resorted to doing things as much by stealth as the Ringbearer party was trying to do.
[4:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: Saruman knew enough to tell his orcs not to go despoiling the Hobbits.
[4:57 PM]Arien Valar: if he really is a good military leader he would have been able from the enemy;s poiint of view .. aka Elrond and Gandalf ;'s
[4:58 PM]Arien Valar: so what would he do in their place?
[4:58 PM]Sandalf13: In addition, both Sauron and Saruman looked down upon Hobbits as totally unimportant and irrelevant to anything important. That would not necessarily pique their interest.
[4:59 PM]Sandalf13: True, Eonwe...but that was much later than the retreaty from Caradhras.
[4:59 PM]Eönwë Valar: Gandalf says in "Shadow of the Past" that up to that point, Hobbits had been ignored, and tells Frodo he can't count on that any longer.
[4:59 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: Sauron was a military leader, Saruman was not.
[5:00 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: Anyone can raise an army, but that does not make one a military leader.
[5:00 PM]Arien Valar: aiya Spidey btw
[5:00 PM]Arien Valar: true enough#
[5:00 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: Aiya Sunny sun!
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: You can't expect to wield supreme military authority just because a giant eye threw an orc at you?
[5:02 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: Well, we've seen many a time in the past that politicians thought they were good military leaders, just because they knew how to bandy words. Why else would that be different in LotRO?
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: (Monty Python reference for anyone who missed it.)
[5:03 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: I am too fast to miss anything thrown over my head, but this was too high, so I missed it. No clue where it landed either.
[5:03 PM]Sandalf13: Better a dow than an orc, I suppose...
[5:05 PM]Sandalf13: Image: Holy Grail Cow-tapult
[5:06 PM]Spidey (Ungwetari/Shelob)BRIO: I don't understand why that is a reference.... unless you first cross reference it with that vulgar gif of LotR and catapulting the ring into Mordor.
[5:07 PM]Eönwë Valar: Just type into the youtube search field "You can't expect to wield" and it'll add "supreme executive power". Search that and you should have it.
[5:09 PM]Arien Valar: Well you don't just walk into Mordor ...#
[5:10 PM]Arien Valar: I have to give in , lovely people
[5:10 PM]Varda: "Oh you do, you totally do."
[5:11 PM]Varda: 'tis after the hour!
[5:11 PM]Varda: "A Journey in the Dark", The Fellowship of the Ring
[5:11 PM]Varda: Quote:
["You are right, Frodo," said Gandalf: "to go back is to admit defeat, and face worse defeat to come. If we go back now, then the Ring must remain there: we shall not be able to set out again.
[Then sooner or later Rivendell will be besieged, and after a brief and bitter time it will be destroyed.
[The Ringwraiths are deadly enemies, but they are only shadows yet of the power and terror they would possess if the Ruling Ring was on their master's hand again."
[5:12 PM]Varda: gavel runs scared of a shadow and trips over the hammerpad that rises up
[5:12 PM]Varda: thonk!
[5:12 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: spoooooooooky
[1 (reacted by Prince Floppa) :)
[5:12 PM]Varda: hehe
[5:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: Image: Skeleton dance Halloween gif
[5:12 PM]Varda: Anyway, Gandalf kind of said in that spot what you guys were saying. : )
[5:12 PM]Varda: hah : )
[5:13 PM]Sandalf13: :)
[5:13 PM]Varda: Rest well, Sunshine!
[5:13 PM]Varda: And thank you all for a really fun discussion!
[5:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Footage of the Nazgul at Weathertop, lol.
[5:13 PM]Sandalf13: Danse Macabre...neat piece of music by Saint-Saens. Namarie, Arien!
[Note from Varda: YouTube - Danse Macabre
[5:14 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie, all
[5:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sleep well Arien.
[5:14 PM]Sandalf13: You sure came up with an interesting topic, Varda! Kudos to you for thinking of it!
[5:15 PM]Sandalf13: Hey Eonwe...the 5th Nazgul was probably playing the fiddle, yes?
[5:15 PM]Sandalf13: Or the Xylophone...
[5:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: Someone has to, but he really wanted to dance. That's all they really wanted of Frodo, was to play an instrument so they all could dance.
[5:16 PM]Sandalf13: A whole new way of considering the events at Weathertop...
[5:16 PM]Sandalf13: "Invitation to the Dance"
[5:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: I must be off. Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
[5:19 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie, Eonwe! I too shall move back into the garden and plant seeds while the sun shines...so much work still to do! It never ends.
[5:20 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie, for now...
[5:20 PM]Varda: Namarie, folks!
[5:22 PM]Varda: May the cycle of plant life not end, indeed!
[10:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[10:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Even if they were able to set out again without being noticed, I wonder if a second attempt could have gone any better. Mountain was still there, after all.
[10:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In fact, suspected Ring or not, those watching them might have posted guards or patrols in places they'd already been in their first attempt.
[10:47 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: ..And that's pretty much my contribution.
[11:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Bit sad of Warcraft Rumble, am enjoying it. But it does mean I won't have to save rare-ifiers for new minis or leaders, and will actually stand a chance at completing the game
[July 7, 2025
[12:36 AM]Eönwë Valar: hehe
[12:37 AM]Eönwë Valar: And yeah, there's only so many passes through the mountains: High Pass, Nan Curunir, the River (technically going to the very bottom of the mountains), Moria.
[12:39 AM]Eönwë Valar: And the pass over Caradhras.
[12:40 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmhm.
[12:40 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And going by Isengard also not a good idea.
[12:40 AM]Eönwë Valar: As I recall, Gandalf even said they need to disappear for a while, and going into Moria offered that chance.
[12:40 AM]Eönwë Valar: Nan Curunir -> Wizard's Vale = Isengard.
[12:41 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, sorry
[12:42 AM]Eönwë Valar: No worries.
[12:42 AM]Eönwë Valar: But your point stands that the options weren't going to change.
[12:44 AM]Eönwë Valar: They could make a choice while the chances of decided opposition were low, or risk going all the way back to the start then trying again, and the second option is hardly, if ever, a viable one.
[1:16 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Whew, just spent a while doing the game I'm about to link... and while I'm pretty sure I looked up a walkthrough when I got the badge in the past, this time I went with full strategy and trial/error.
[1:16 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, personal gaming report!
[1:16 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming we've got Kongregate - HP Atk Def
[1:18 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A top-view dungeon puzzle game. In every level you need to get to the stairs by defeating enemies, and to do that you need to collect upgrades around the level. There's attack, which permanently (for that level) boosts your attack, defense, which permanently (for that level) reduces each attack on you by 1, and health, which also serves as a heal.
[1:19 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: There's different enemies around that also have specific stats for each 3, and you need to plan your way through! Or at least trial and error with a bit of logic For example, before you can take down an enemy with 1 defense, you need at least 2 attack. And if an enemy is blocking a health, but would cause you to lose 2 health by attacking it, it's not worth it at the time!
[1:20 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But it's nice and relaxing, as you can take your time, restart as much as you want, and listen to some calm music in the background
[1:20 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Have fun puzzling!
[1:21 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And if you find my explanation too difficult at once, the first few levels will serve to clear it all up.
[1:23 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[1:27 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 137 on the reward track now. And that's where it ends for this track, as the new expansion is about to start!
[1:28 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: This is/was the third week of the quest event, needing you to play 500 cards, with certain types counting twice, most notably Discover cards.
[1:28 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Seems like a lot, but after I'd done my other quests/objectives for the day, I'd just switch to my full discover deck, and get through it quite quickly.
[1:29 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That got me the last reward for this event, which contains golden versions of cards gotten earlier in the event, and the ones that were free in the shop.
[1:29 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I bet the next event starts immediately with the new expansion, so probably no rest
[1:30 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl is another heroic arena, so that's not for me. Costs a lot of gold and is for people who are way more into deck-improvising then I am.
[1:30 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: If memory serves, next week will probably be deck recipes for the new expansion.
[1:30 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Since that's how most expansions start.
[1:31 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: No new collection level. But now that I'm free to use up my rare-ifiers, soon I might be getting a few more epics.
[1:33 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still farming dungeons for gold, and this week's Scholomance for Cenarion, that's easy enough. Last week's was a lot tougher. And I also went through the first wing of Molten Core again for some valor, giving the diamond slot to Sylvanas for helping me beat the wing this time around. Still working on all leaders!
[1:34 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And between that, the current darkmoon faire event, the login event, and some surges, I keep building up gold. Rare deals cost quite a bit, though, so that's good!
[1:35 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But while I got some stars all around, no new levels or quality upgrades this week.
[1:35 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm focusing my quests on Thrall though, so he might catch up with the rest of them soon.
[1:35 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[1:36 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: We cleared the entirety of Undermine raid on heroic on thursday, allowing me to get my first kill on Gallywix, the final boss!
[1:37 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Along the way I also got all the chip challenges done, buying the Jastor Diamond, and maxing out everything I have in ilevel with flightstones and crests.
[1:38 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Just missing a trinket for dps and a necklace for tank, which are on normal; everything else is heroic and 671! Except the new belt of course, which I'm also keeping updated
[1:39 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Weekly quests are more timewalks, and arena skirmishes. Almost done with both.
[1:39 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And other than that, plenty more events and activities going on.
[1:40 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I completed the fifth weekly quest for Dastardly Duos, and also bought all the cosmetic rewards from the vendor: 6 colors of epaulets, and a staff. One more week to go, and I'll definitely do the quest if I can, but I've little interest in all the other achievements for it. I can't really get the scores needed and I'm just not enjoying the activity that much.
[1:40 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: What I get along the way is good, the rest.. meh.
[1:41 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Making more progress in delves, now about halfway through for completing them all as healer. I need to pay some attention to Brann's health and mine, but otherwise things don't really stand a chance.
[1:42 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I've also completed 4 of the 6 overcharged delves along the way, getting a new hearthstone toy, the Redeployment Module.
[1:42 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Looks nice and titan-like, but the second half of the animation is kinda stagnant. But hey, details!
[1:44 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: This was the last week of the Midsummer Festival, and I got the firey polearm cosmetic which is basically the same as the firey staff from the Ahune fight, as well as the helm. The frosty staff/polearm will be for future years then.
[1:45 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also flew around the continents a bit to gather all 850 blossoms to buy the new transmogs from the vendor, helm, mantle and belt.
[1:46 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Then there's the treasure goblin event! Got the mount, Inarius' Charger, on the first night, and am now collecting blood shards for all the sets, trying to get at least 40 a day. It would also be nice if I got the new cloak, but there's plenty of time yet.
[1:47 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And then there's the collection buff event! I've been soloing raids and dungeons all over the place, 3 or 4 a day, and it's painful. Killing stuff is easy enough, and while I needed to look some stuff up to see how to unlock places and kill certain bosses since it's been so long, that's tolerable.
[1:47 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: But the biggest pain is loot
[1:49 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Most of the places have you killing all the bosses before you can get to the boss that drops the missing mount, and at about 10-12 pieces of loot per boss, that's a lot of inventory management. I've found it easiest to just skip looting everything except the target boss, but that means that everything from the other bosses ends up in the mailbox. Which still takes about 10 minutes to clear out at that point.
[1:49 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Still, getting a lot of appearances out of it for all classes, so that's good.
[1:50 AM]Eönwë Valar: I just took a couple of chars with nearly empty bags to run the raids I cared about, like Nerdy Pally, heh.
[1:50 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, I've poked raids from BC to Legion so far, but haven't gotten one of the missing mounts yet. Bit unlucky, but there's still some weeks to go.
[1:51 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, my list of eligible mounts is 21 over some... 15-18 raids or so, so I figure every missing mount is one I won't have to farm in the future
[1:52 AM]Eönwë Valar: I'm sure my list is similar, but I only really care about getting Invincible and the Blazing Drake (to finally complete the achievment and get another mount) so my list of target raids is much smaller :}
[1:53 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, and between all those events I already finished my trading post for July, though I've not visited the vendor yet. I'm sure there'll be some stuff I want.
[1:53 AM]Eönwë Valar: Mostly Forasaken stuff, so nothing for me.
[1:53 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I think a lot of the forsaken stuff comes freely though with the tender collection.
[1:54 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The big stuff, anyway.
[1:54 AM]Eönwë Valar: But I love it when just doing what I'd do anyway gets the Trading Post done.
[1:54 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Heh, yes, true.
[1:55 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: This month's points are up from 1000 to 1400 as well, I believe, so they know very well that they're giving us a lot more to do than usual
[1:56 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, next reset it's an easier weekly and there's no more midsummer, so hopefully I've got some time to poke the Pandaria pre-patch for that other new mount.
[1:56 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, and I found out that my harddrive, SSD, is almost full with pretty much only windows and WoW, so I'm thinking of buying an extra one just for the game.
[1:56 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Some of those updates are huge!
[1:58 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The data folder alone is 280 gb at this point.
[1:58 AM]Eönwë Valar: Aye, and trying to have multiple versions doesn't help.
[1:58 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hmhm.
[2:00 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, that's my report for the week!
[2:03 AM]Eönwë Valar: claps
[2:03 AM]Eönwë Valar: Encore! Encore!
[2:03 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: You'll get more next week
[2:04 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, namarie!
[2:05 AM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - Brian East - Same Bat Time Same Bat Channel
[2:05 AM]Eönwë Valar: Sleep well :}
[2:11 AM]Eönwë Valar:
[July 8, 2025
[1:49 AM]Eönwë Valar: Ok, got through the Pandaren experience, got the mount. Surprised to find I have some guild perks applying without being in a guild. Presumably because of the Valar Guild Group.
[2:43 AM]Eönwë Valar: At this point, this is my attitude towards anything that interrupts me while mining, herbing, or just picking up anything like quest items. YouTube - Keith Lowery - Tired All Over
[2:54 AM]Eönwë Valar: And things that require timers to pick up.
[2:57 AM]Eönwë Valar: And these spores that spawn so fast I can't stand still long enough to fish.
[5:16 PM]Xavier: Just randomly showing up to let all my friends know we are doing well. Those severe floods in Texas are about 150 miles away from here. We did get heavy rain though. See everyone soon in game
[5:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Good to hear!
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I know there's a lot of Valar in Texas, I hope everyone's fine.
[5:23 PM]Xavier: From what I know so far yes I can ask Varda too
[5:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: She was in the meeting, so should be good.
[7:50 PM]Varda: We in Texas are all good. None of us in the Kerrville area.
[7:51 PM]Varda: Texas is huge. : )
[8:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - Pee Wees Big Adventure Deep In The Heart of Texas
[July 9, 2025
[6:21 AM]Eönwë Valar: Pop quiz: Who has red hair, wears glasses, and just got Invincible from the Lich King?
[Answer: This gal. Image
[6:26 AM]Eönwë Valar: And just completed Raiding with Leashes IV.
[6:43 AM]Eönwë Valar: Oh lord. Algalon the Observer wants to d-d-d-d-d-uel... er, Pet Battle me.
[6:57 AM]Eönwë Valar: Hmm, missing out on a Blood Knight Transmog.
[6:57 AM]Eönwë Valar: Gonna have to remedy that.
[Eönwë Valar: Oh lord. Algalon the Observer wants to d-d-d-d-d-uel... er, Pet Battle me.
[7:23 AM]Eönwë Valar: For the reference: When someone wants to fight
[12:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Grats on Invincible!
[5:06 PM]Varda: Or as the James Bond villain said, "I am inwinkable!", and the building fell on him.
[5:55 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hmm, keyboard isn't sending signal to computer fast enough.
[5:57 PM]Eönwë Valar: Odd that my mouse seems to be responding fine.
[6:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: "Your Leech healed You 7 Physical. (2,000,531 overhealed)"
[6:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I like old raids.
[6:09 PM]Varda: :)
[@Ar-Pharazon-V
[Grats on Invincible!
[9:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: Thanks.
[@Varda
[Or as the James Bond villain said, "I am inwinkable!", and the building fell on him.
[9:58 PM]Eönwë Valar: Unwinkable, so he can't be winked. Probably not comfortable when the unwinkable object tries to wink itself.
[July 10, 2025
[12:53 AM]Eönwë Valar: August 5th. That's when 11.2 is out.
[4:10 AM]Eönwë Valar: New pop quiz: Who has red hair, wears glasses, and just got Mimiron's Head from Yogg Saron?
[Answer: This gal. Image
[6:47 AM]Eönwë Valar: Need to remember to give Baron RIvendare a go to try and get that mount.
[12:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Grats
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: Thanks :}
[July 11, 2025
[3:50 AM]Eönwë Valar: Figures. Nerdy Pally got a Hero belt from 4-mask Vision, heh.
[6:40 AM]Eönwë Valar: 5 runs of Stratholme Undead Side, no Rivendare's Mount, but did get two of his runeblades and a bunch of miscellaneous transmogs.
[July 12, 2025
[3:52 AM]Eönwë Valar: So Nerdy Pally can solo Kordac (current expansion world boss). Not sure how to feel about that.
[4:40 AM]Eönwë Valar: So, another bit of fun: Blessing of Spellwarding is also effective in dealing with the explosive shield that Thrall and that mage guy uses in Visions.
[8:31 AM]Eönwë Valar: Well, got the 10 storm shards and Auros caught Alunira, so new mount.
[8:31 AM]Eönwë Valar: Even more exciting, got an empty space in my storage, lol.
[3:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Grats on both