Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (5): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe (presiding), Sandalf, Shelob/Ungwetari
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Diablo IV
• Tolkien:
  • Topic 1 by Shelob: LotRO Tolkien lore videos by Shelob
  • Topic 2 by Shelob: What was the purpose of the Rangers of the North and in what way did their actions influence events leading up to, as well as after, the War of the Ring? Excluding Aragorn.
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (5): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Shelob/Ungwetari, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo IV
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Overwatch 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic 1: Did Tolkien's works give you any difficulty when you first started?
  • Topic 2: What type of Fantasy could Lord of the Rings be categorized under?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Leod, Sandalf, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Diablo 2
  • Starcraft 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic: What helped Frodo choose between going to the Black Gate or Cirith Ungol?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Gaming: Lord of the Rings Online:

Update 41.1 release notes.

Includes new Reward Track

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (7): Anarion, Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Falco, Lenwe, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Diablo 2
  • Starcraft 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic 1 : How did Valar and Maiar travel to Middle-earth?
  • Topic 2 from Anarion-(V): Was Gandalf one of those to leave Middle-earth on the last ships at the end of RotK? Or was that a movie thing?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (7): Anarion, Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Sandalf, Shelob/Ungwetari, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo 4
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic : How did JRRT turn the expected "tropes" around?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Gaming / Lord of the Rings Online:

New Legendary servers are open: Mordor at noon and Angmar at 6PM EST. They are the first 64-bit servers, and Mordor is the first European server. Both are running a Ringwraith Event.

Varda has built kin branches for us on each server, for your benefit if you wish to use them. Landroval will continue to be our main server.

For both new Legendary servers, We are using the User Chat of "Valar". Varda's main is still "Fainan" to help us get together. The kin name is "Valar Guild". Varda will also be available on Discord, the Discord Sunday meetings, and email to help you join a branch if you wish. Leod has joined the Angmar kin branch.

These servers include the "Veil of the Nine" challenge that occurs at intervals broadcast in World Chat. At that time, the Nazgul may appear across the world during your adventures as they search for the Ring-bearer; they need a group to take them on. If a character is struck down, then he cannot be revived at that spot but must retreat. Look for the 12 lesser rings that may help in such a battle. Also, for any character level 10 or above, servants of the Nine are hunting you down as an ally of Elrond and the Dunedain.

Both servers start out with the highest level being 50.

Mordor server is a check to see if a European-based server will work out well, not using another group to handle it as Codemasters did, to keep the code the same across the worlds. It will remain open as long as it is financially viable.

Angmar server, once it catches up to regular server content, will offer transfers to a non-legendary server of your choice, including our own Landroval and Crickhollow. Since it is a 64-bit server, I expect it to continue to be used in some fashion possibly as a new regular server. The 64-bit makes a good experience from what I've seen, although the Ringwraiths and their helpers are so commonly seen as to be lore-breaking.

Gaming / Lord of the Rings Online:

Update 41 "On the Wing" includes:

• Birding hobby begins
• "Hard Tack of Thorin's Hall": Crafting event, this time for Food and Prospector
• Lore-master changes
• "Before the Shadow" expansion content is now free to VIP's same as that offered in the LotRO store. Bundles with cosmetics and other benefits remain available in the LotRO store.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Fangorn/Treebeard, Sandalf, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Diablo 4
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Overwatch 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic : What was the main goal of the Nazgul during the War of the Rings? What else did they do during that time?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe (presiding), Leod, Sandalf, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo 4
  • Hearthstone
  • Heroes of the Storm
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Rift
  • Warcraft Rumble
• Tolkien:
  • Topic : Can we see how Tolkien contrasted courage through loyal service with arrogant desire for glory?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe (presiding), Leod, Sandalf, Varda (After-meeting)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Overwatch 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Guild Wars
  • BDO
• Tolkien:
  • Topic 1: (continued from last week) Which was first: genealogy or maps?
  • Topic 2: Hiking and Tolkien.
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (7): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Falco, Sandalf, Shelob/Ungwetari, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this past week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic: The concept of loyal friendship is strong in Tolkien's work. It includes loyalty in the form of self-sacrifice of all sorts, defending to he death, cheering up when sad. Can we think of any examples, and this can be from any book, short story, poem, art, et cetera?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (7): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Falco, Leod, Sandalf, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • New story by Eonwe-(Valar), posted June 25: "No End To Toil":
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Overwatch 2
  • Hearthstone
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic 1: quick mention: "The Hunt for Gollum"
  • Topic 2 by Sandalf: "Tolkien spent a lot of time on his various genealogies, and they are so complex and interrelated. What came first? His genealogies, or his writing?"
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (5): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe (presiding), Leod, Sandalf
• Web:
  • Nothing new this week. Send something. :)
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo IV
  • Overwatch 2
  • Hearthstone
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic from Arien: Were there any sports in Middle-earth?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe (Before and After), Sandalf, Shelob/Ungoliant, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Nothing new this week.
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo IV
  • Hearthstone
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic: What made each of the Fellowship members "that guy?" to be one of the Companions? This can be something in their background or something they did while in the War of the Ring.
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (7): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Sandalf, Shelob/Ungoliant, Pallando, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • New story by Eonwe, posted June 8: "To Show One's Quality"
• Gaming:
  • Eve Online
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo IV
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic: The Nordic and Christian ideas Tolkien used may have come together in "bravery against all odds". Comments?
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Gaming / Lord of the Rings Online:

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Leod, Sandalf, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content this past week. Feel free to send some.
• Gaming:
  • Mists of Pandaria: review by Eonwe
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo IV
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic 1: Tom Bombadil and Jack Black?
  • Topic 2: Unseen history in Tolkien's works.
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Gaming / LotRO

    Official schedule of events for the year.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(4): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe (presiding), Sandalf
• Web:
  • No new content this past week. Feel free to send some.
• Gaming:
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo IV
  • Hearthstone
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Heroes of the Storm
• Tolkien:
  • Topic 1: RP
  • Topic 2: All that glitters...
• After-Meeting:
  • Non-flashgaming.

Gaming / LotRO

Update 40.1 release notes.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content this past week.
• Gaming:
  • Comicpalooza Convention in Houston, Texas next weekend.
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo 4
  • Hearthstone
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Eve Online
  • Starcraft 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • 
    
• Tolkien:
  • Topic: Is there little to be said for the good times?
• After-Meeting:
  • More chat
  • Non-flashgaming.

Gaming: Lord of the Rings Online

    Update 40: Beneath the Surface. The epic story continues beneath Umbar Baharbêl, inside the Umbar-môkh, also called the Neaths.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(9): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Eowyn/Cenedra, Leod, Fangorn/Treebeard, Sandalf13, Shelob/Ungwetari, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content this past week.
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Eve Online
  • Starcraft 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • 
    
• Tolkien:
  • Topic: Anniversary theme-picking.
• After-Meeting:
  • More chat
  • Non-flashgaming.

Namarie to Bernard Hill, who played Theoden in the movies. He died this morning, at the age of 79.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(7): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Falco, Leod, Fangorn/Treebeard, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content this past week.
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Diablo 4
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Overwatch 2
  • Heroes of the Storm
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Starcraft 2
  • 
    
• Tolkien:
  • Topic 1: Bernard Hill's passing into the West.
  • Topic 2: Werewolves, vampires, and possession, oh my. This is in Tolkien?
• After-Meeting:
  • More chat
  • Non-flashgaming.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(7): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Leod, Pallando, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content this past week.
• Gaming
  • World of Warcraft
  • Eve Online
  • WoW continued
  • Diablo IV
  • Overwatch 2
  • Hearthstone
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Blizzcon
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Starcraft 2
  • World of Warcraft (our guild)
  • 
    
• Tolkien
  • Topic: How did weather affect events in Tolkien's work?
• After-Meeting
  • More Tolkien chat
  • Non-flashgaming.

April 21, 2024 Sunday

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content this past week.
• Gaming
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Overwatch 2
  • Heroes of the Storm
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Eve Online
  • Starcraft 2
  • 
    
• Tolkien
  • Topic: Suggestions for the Valar Guild's 27th Anniversary theme.
• After-Meeting
  • More Tolkien chat
  • Non-flashgaming.
  • RP posts

April 14, 2024 Sunday

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(8): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Leod, Fangorn/Treebeard, Pallando, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
  • New Member: Léod-(V). Welcome to the Valar Guild!
• Web:
  • Tolkien Site: Article:
  • "Léod" by Léod-(V), posted April 8.
  • Tolkien Site: Stories:
  • "In the Eye of the Beholder" by Eonwe-(Valar), posted April 9.
  • "At First Sight" by Eonwe-(Valar), posted April 13.
• Gaming
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Diablo IV
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Overwatch 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Starcraft 2
  • 
    
• Tolkien
  • Topic: By the time of the War of the Ring, did Radagast still live at Rhosgobel?
• After-Meeting
  • More Tolkien chat
  • Non-flashgaming.
  • RP post by Eonwe

April 13, 2024 Saturday

• Tolkien Site: Stories
• "At First Sight" by Eonwe-(Valar), for his Narn I Auros series. "While making deliveries, Farothel, Auros, and Dinmir get to know some of the folk of Dinmir's new town." Emailed and posted April 13, 2024.

April 9, 2024 Tuesday

• Tolkien Site / Stories
• "In the Eye of the Beholder" by Eonwe-(Valar), in which young Auros has a bit of fun in a hairy situation. Part of his Narn I Auros series. Emailed April 7, posted April 9. Enjoy!

April 8, 2024 Monday

Welcome to the Valar Guild, Léod-(V)!

In the books, Léod was the Lord of the Éothéod and father of Eorl the Young.

Some of Leod-(V)'s favorite characters are Glorfindel, Bombadil, Radagast, and the rangers. He's read the H, LotR, Sil, BoLT1, Tolkien Companion, and Smith of Wooten Major. He's read part of Roverandom. He has Histories of Middle-earth as reference books. As a gamer, he has been playing daily in STO and LotRO. He sometimes plays BDO, ESO, Star Trek Online, and New World. The kin he used to play in on LotRO Landroval became empty so he did his homework looking up other kins and found us interesting. He's 55 and lives in Kentucky, so his time zone is Eastern. He is in our kin on Landroval and in our Discord server, so you should probably have a chance to meet him. He passed his test very well in LotRO (as Tyriah, a Gondorian Guardian) and Discord with Varda.

He also made the following article for the Tolkien Site:

• Tolkien Site / Articles
• "Léod" by Léod-(V). Emailed and posted April 8, 2024.

April 7, 2024 Sunday

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content.
• Gaming
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Diablo IV
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Eve Online
• Tolkien
  • Topic: Petty Dwarves, why did they have that name?
• After-Meeting
  • Non-flashgaming.

April 1, 2024 Monday

Gaming: Lord of the Rings Online

    LotRO has re-opened.

March 31, 2024 Sunday

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending:(7): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pengolodh, Sandalf13, Fangorn/Treebeard, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content.
• Gaming
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo 4
  • Diablo 3
  • Hearthstone
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Starcraft 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien
  • Topic: Humor: What activities might the tourism boards advertise for competing vacation spots such as Mordor and other Middle-earth locations?
• After-Meeting
  • Non-flashgaming.

Gaming: Lord of the Rings Online

The gaming worlds are still all down. The company is investigating the problem.

March 30, 2024 Saturday

Gaming: Lord of the Rings Online

The gaming worlds are all down. The company is investigating the problem.

March 28, 2024 Thursday

Gaming: Lord of the Rings Online

Update 39.1.1 is live. Here are the release notes

March 24, 2024 Sunday

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending (6): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Falco, Pallando, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • No new content.
• Gaming
  • World of Warcraft
  • Hearthstone
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Diablo 4
  • Diablo Immortal
  • Overwatch 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Starcraft 2
  • Eve Online
• Tolkien
  • Topic: Humor: What activities might the tourism boards advertise for competing vacation spots such as Mordor and other Middle-earth locations?
• After-Meeting
  • Non-flashgaming.

March 17, 2024 Sunday

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

March 13, 2024 Wednesday

Gaming news: Lord of the Rings Online:

Update 39: Arenas of Conflict went live today.

Discover the 12-man raid entrance just east of Khutra along the small southern road towards the beach, going to the cave entrance.

March 10, 2024 Sunday

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

    Summary of the meeting:

• Membership:
  • Attending: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Sandalf, Shelob/Ungwetari, Varda (presiding)
• Web:
  • Stories: Until It's Gone by Eonwe-(Valar), posted in his Narn I Auros series on March 9, 2024.
• Gaming:
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo 4
  • Warcraft Rumble
  • Overwatch 2
  • Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien:
  • Topic: Is Tolkien's work too short? And what about coffee?
• After-Meeting:
  • Math humor
  • (Non)-Flashgaming (plus) by Ar-Pharazon

March 9, 2024 Saturday

Tolkien Site / Stories:

    "Until It's Gone" by Eonwe-(Valar) for his Narn I Auros series, set after "First Impressions". You don't know what you have...

March 3, 2024 Sunday

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

Summary of the meeting:

• Attending
• Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Eowyn/Cenedra, Sandalf, Shelob aka Ungwetari, Varda (presiding)
• Web
• New story: "First Impressions" by Eonwe, posted Feb. 29, 2024.
• Gaming
• World of Warcraft, Diablo 4, Diablo Immortal, Lord of the Rings Online
• Tolkien
• Topic: Tolkien showed us heroes. What is a hero? Who are some of the heroes in Tolkien's works? How do his heroes have different approaches to acting as heroes?
• After-meeting
• (Non)-flashgaming plus

Feb. 29, 2024 Thursday

Tolkien Site / Stories:

    "First Impressions" by Eonwe-(Valar) for his Narn I Auros series, set after "Saying Goodbye". Dinmir inspects her new shop and meets her neighbor.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript

New version of the transcript programmed and done by Eonwe-(Valar)

Tolkien Site / Stories:

    "Saying Goodbye"" by Eonwe-(Valar) for the Narn I Auros series.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript
    Summary of the meeting:
        Attending (and typed): (6)
            Discord:  Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
        Web:
            Tolkien Site / Stories:
                "Bravado" by Eonwe-(Valar). "Some things take great courage." Stand-alone short story for Valentine's Day (not related to any series).
        Gaming:
            Eve Online, World of Warcraft, Diablo 4, Diablo Immortal, Overwatch 2, Lord of the Rings Online
        Tolkien:
            Topic: Heroes are often associated with rescuing others. What rescues or rescue attempts can we think of in Tolkien's works?
        After-meeting:
            (non) Flashgaming Reviews (plus) by Ar-Pharazon. Includes Blizzard games afterwards.

Sunday Meeting

Meeting Transcript
    Summary of the meeting:
        Attending (and typed): (6)
            Discord:  Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Pallando, Sandalf13, Varda (presiding)
                (Sightings of Fladrif and Nob.)
        Before-meeting:
            Skiing
            Groundhog Day
        Membership news:
            Ar-Pharazon is now Uncle Phar. :)
            Mastering a skill, how long does it take?
        Gaming:
            World of Warcraft, WoW Classic, Hearthstone, Diablo 4, Diablo Immortal, Overwatch 2, Lord of the Rings Online, Eve Online, Vanguard (Eve spin-off), more Eve
        Tolkien:
            Topic: What motivation kept the Fellowship members going against so much set against them? Especially Frodo?
        After-meeting:
            Tolkien chat continues.
            (non) Flashgaming Reviews (plus) by Ar-Pharazon. Includes Blizzard games afterwards.