2000 News  Archive

News added by month, more or less.

2000

Dec. 31, 2000
    Please pardon me (Varda) for being so unavailable lately. The modem fried Friday. We have new modems that don't want to install so the whole LAN system was dead to the internet for a while. Eowyn worked her magic to make this one behave and Meriadoc hopes to swing by and help us with the others today hopefully (and eat ham and black-eyed peas!). I'm doing a minimum of guild business while visting home, as my mom is in the hospital. She's improving and we expect to take her home sometime. Meanwhile, I have every confidence in all of you to keep things running smoothly.  :)  With luck, I may be able to drop in at meeting time today, but can't count on it. I've told some potential good recruits about the meeting time, so if you see any, please help them for me. One is a lady who seems to know her Tolkien very well. The meeting is planned to be informal: say hi, catch up on the news with each other, chat Tolkien informally, and go play! No obligation to show up, as these are holidays with guests in all directions and families need the phone. If any member would like to report how the meeting went, email me and I'd be happy to put up your news item.

Sunday Meeting (informal for the holidays)
Report from Valacirca:
    At most there were 3 to 4 people in the channel at any one time.  There were a few, however,  who stopped in and said hi :}  Tulkas also came through and asked   that one of us tell you that he is heading out to sea once again.

Dec. 27, 2000
    Azog joined. Welcome! He did what is probably a guild first, finding us by typing Tolkien names for channels until he ran into us. Some others have seen our names and typed in the channel suggested by that, but this is new as far as I know.  He was tested by Aule. Azog is 18, from New York, and has read the H, LotR, and first 5 pages of the Sil.
    Testers need to be more kindly to potential recruits and help them out rather than running off to games in such a hurry.

Dec. 25, 2000
    Merry Christmas!

Dec. 23, 2000
    The next two meetings will be during major holidays. Drop by if you have a minute to say hi, if you have the time, but please don't feel obligated.
    Welcome to Celebrian! A friend of Imrahil's, she brilliantly passed a hard entry tested by Gandalf (Ulmo interviewed) with 5/5 with lots of extra info. Her parents ask that we keep her email unlisted, so please be sure to help her out as we can't email her any info or Discussion Board invitations. She's read H, LotR, Sil, UT, HME 1, 2, 4, and 7. She's 14 from the UK. She plays SC and BW.

Dec. 22, 2000
    Happy Hanukkah!

Dec. 21, 2000
    Games page: temporarily up for use on the 50megs server until the permanent server's problems can be worked out. Here's the current temporary address for the re-vamped Games .

Dec. 20, 2000
    Diablo II News from Salmar:

Thrilling news:
Finally the long-awaited 1.04 patch is active!
I just picked up this news from DiabloII.net:
"Diablo II v1.04 is up and functional on the USWest, East and EuropeRealms right now. You will download it automatically when you connect to Battle.net with Diablo II. There are some changes to the log on interface, including an easy realm selector for your account, and also a change password button. We'll have much more on the patch changes shortly."
So the one day/night downtime of the realms was indeed to update the realms to 1.04. Now let's go find out what changes have and have not been made, and what bugs have and have not been repaired:)
Merry greetings,
Salmar.

Dec. 19, 2000
    Games Page: Makar is making progress with a new more user-friendly Games Page. He is also figuring out how to use a different server and FTP system provided by Tom.

Dec. 17, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5)
Attending (22):
    Members (20): Amillo, Arothir, Aule, Beregond, Cirdan, Elendil, Earendil, Gildor, Gorbag, Guilin, Gwindor, Imrahil, Melkor, Salmar, Thranduil/Ellome, Thror, Tom, Ulmo, Valacirca, Varda
    Visitors (2): (V)Alys (ex-Grimbold), bilbobolson
Chat Experiment:
    The membership present tried out the chat program on the Yahoo Valar Guild Discussion Board with good results. The main meeting was held in the regular bnet channel.
Member Report:
    143 total membership reported by Amillo
    New Member: Guilin (present at the meeting and said a few words)
    New service by Salmar: aid in finding alternate names for your character
Web News:
    New Page:
        EverQuesters: helps EverQuest players in the Valar Guild meet each other
    New Articles:
        "You know you're in Valar when...":  addition by Dior
        Diablo II Experiences: paladin advice by Valacirca
        Tolkien Encyclopedia: "Arothir" by Salmar, and "Ancalagon" by Varda
    Changes:
        Web Team: medieval clip art moved to a new server, link updated and old items now available on CD
        Games Page: Makar can no longer access it on GeoCities, so he's moving to another server and then updating
        Glittering Caves: Amillo can no longer access it on GeoCities, still considering options
        Folklore & Mythology page: FTP access down until the giant pirated software problem on Homestead is handled
        Suggestions for those with access problems: Eowyn suggested going to www.50megs.com for new service with a good FTP
            service. Another suggestion was made, please email it as it never made it into the scribbles aka meeting notes.
Gaming:
    Tourney Results!:
      The three week Tourney is over.
        In the Diablo II Quest for Three, the winners are in the team of Salmar (7), Ulmo (7), and Thranduil (8) totalling 22 for a record.
            Only Thranduil is eligible for a prize as the other two are of Vala honor.
        The StarCraft winners for the new map by Earendil are in the team of Aule, Elros, and Sauron with a record time of 52:26. Elros
            and Sauron are eligible for prizes, as both are Maiar.
    Tourney game rules change:
        All tourney games may now be played at any time. If your score is a record, please send email it to Ulmo preferably with a cc to
            Varda as well. (Non-records may be sent to Varda.)
Tolkien:
    Transportation in Middle-earth. Normal transportation was very slow: foot, horse, boat. Special transportation was used in special missions where applicable such as eagle (by command of Manwe), winged beast (for Nazguls only).
    The One Ring was hard on its wearers. It took a finger from Sauron and Frodo, and the life of Isildur and Gollum.

Dec. 16, 2000
    Glittering Caves: Amillo is unable to access the caves which are located on GeoCities/Yahoo. Tuvo has a great picture of a model of Frodo which needs to be put in the Caves.
    Guilin, welcome to the Valar Guild! Gwindor scouted, Salmar and Varda tested. Guilin is from Ontario, Canada, is 15, and ready the LotR and is currently working on the Hobbit.
    Melkor hasn't been able to connect to the USEast server in about 3 weeks, although he has no trouble with USWest or Open Battle Net.  Any ideas/advice?

Dec. 15, 2000
New on the guild pages:
   Games page: Makar is still unable to access the Games Page which is located on GeoCities/Yahoo and hopes to move it to another server soon, then update it.
    Tolkien Encyclopedia: new articles:
        Ancalagon under Non-Human Intelligences/Dragons
        Arothir by Salmar-(Valar)
    Diablo II Experiences: " Pet Peeves and Paladins " by Valacirca. Re-vamped page Diablo II Experiences , so beware of your bookmark.
    You know you're in Valar when... Page's new funnies by Dior

Dec. 14, 2000
    New page: EverQuesters . Has names of guild members who play EQ, news. Please send in your name if you play EQ to be added, and any news, comment, or suggestion you would like to have on the page.

Dec. 13, 2000
EverQuest:
Letter from Eru:

With regard to Everquest, I'd like to add my name as one of those interested in playing with
members of the guild.

At the moment I only have a couple of low-level characters on PREXUS server, though I'm willing to
switch servers and start afresh if there is enough interest from others.  I'd recommend starting on
a low population server though as PREXUS has been around for a while and regularly has 2000
players.  Newer servers only have about 500 so the world is much less crowded.

I'd also be happy to co-ordinate the EQ people and send in news for the web site.

With utmost respect,
Eru Iluvatar, The One.

Beleg Strongbow plays on EverQuest as Subitai on the server of Druzzil Ro.

Dec 13, 2000
From Bnet:
            Ongoing maintenance will begin on Thursday, December 14th and run
                   though Friday, December 15th for the US West Battle.net and
                   Diablo II Realm servers.  This maintenance may cause intermittent
                   service and/or increased latency for all users.

                   When completed, this maintenance will increase the capacity of
                   the Battle.net and Diablo II service for the USWest realm.

                   -The Battle.net Team

Folklore & Mythology page, users of Homestead:
    We have been unable to post new articles due to Homestead's FTP problems. Their message:

-Homestead's FTP servers are down indefinitely. A small group of people were abusing this service by posting extremely large pirated software files which had a negative impact on the performance of all member sites. At this time, there is no definite date set for the restoration of FTP services.  It remains a matter of top priority for our technical team to find a reasonable solution to the problem.  Our apologies for the current inconvenience.

Dec. 9, 2000
    Tolkien Encyclopedia: new article on Thranduil by Thranduil-(V).

Dec. 5, 2000
    To find someone by using the /whois or /whereis on D2, use the account name or the account number. It does not work on the particular character's name. Thanks, Mandos, for clearing that up.
    WarCraft III 's fifth and final race, the Night Elves, have a write-up in Computer Games Magazine for January, with a picture of one of their mean faces on the cover. The game may actually come available someday, rumored by Blizzard for the last half of 2001.

Dec. 4, 2000
    Welcome to Dwalin! Our newest member has been visiting us as magic_plyr/TheGreatBoromir. He made a perfect 5/5 in a test with Amillo and Salmar! He's 17 from the USA, read the H and LotR.
    EverQuest: Ghan-buri-ghan (old Murezor) suggests we collect 10 or more of our EQ players, pick the same server without the PvP, and play EQ together. Failing that, at least send Makar the name of the server your EQ character is on and the alias so you can recognize each other. I'd also be willing to post it to the regular News, but that will scroll off into the archives. Another way is for those of you who play EQ to email each other, perhaps making a group email list. Or you can even show up at regular Sunday bnet meetings to meet each other and talk.
    Evil doings by bnet: bnet is not allowing people in different games to talk to each other in the same channel, sometimes to not even join. This has been reported by Eru, Fingolfin/Khan, Salmar, and Varda, and is surely affecting others. This is making it tough to discuss which game to go into or have mixed meetings, as we don't all have the same games, and may be some misguided effort at marketing. Eru said he was sent a message that he was not authorized to enter or view the channel, even when he tried switching gateways.
    Quote from Blizzard:

"Battle.net is limiting the channels that Diablo,  Diablo Shareware and Starcraft shareware can enter. These applications may interact within their own channels and are able to access our support channels. We have taken this step in order to reduce the amount of extraneous text generated by abusers of our Battle.net service. We anticipate that this will make for a more enjoyable gaming experience.
The Battle.net team."

Dec. 3, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5)
Attending:
    Members (15 visible): Amillo, Arothir, Bert, Earendil, Elendil, Elros, Gorbag, Gwindor, Maedhros, Melkor, Salmar, Thingol, Thranduil, Ulmo, Valacirca (Eru unable to enter. Varda not home.)
    Visitors (3): Godsdemand, Nooneelse, Magic_Plyr/TheGreatBoromir. The last became Dwalin-(V) after the meeting
Salmar sent the roll. Thanks!
top

Nov. 29, 2000
Letter from Murezor-(Valar), now Ghan-buri-ghan-(V):

heyas!
Indeed it has been quite some time since I was on bnet... the major reason
for this is that I'm getting really bored with BW. I play a lot of Diablo2,
this can't be played online from the netcafe I go to though, something to do
with patches I think... (got a 50 necro, corpse explosion rocks) :) Also,
I've become totally addicted to Everquest. heh did you think D2 was
time-consuming.......? :) So if you're ever on the Innoruuk server, look me
up, I go by the name of Savidhlin. As for my continued guild membership, I'm
not sure what to say... if I get my own connection, which I may actually do,
I'll start playing D2 on bnet... if not,I don't think I'll be on much :(
Another problem is that when I go on bnet from the cafe in BW suit, I can't
see or hear anyone in guild channel, so I've more or less given up on the
pure social visits.... As for my job as BW trainer, it's pretty clear that
it should be given to someone that actually spends time on bnet. How about I
change name to Ghan-buri-Ghan, the wose chief, and we'll give it some time
to see how things turn out? Name because noone else is likely to want it
with the bnet naming system and all, also he is kinda cool, eh? :) I'll try
to get on one of these days and say hello, bnet permitting.... Say hello to
the rest of the guild for me :)

Murezor...
errrr Ghan :)

Nov. 27, 2000
From Ulmo, Tourney Master:
First Tourney of our 4th year

Games:

Quest for 3 D2:  same rules as reg D

Race to Kill D2: start at River of Flames waypoint and race to kill Diablo, all other rules are the same as reg D

SC/BW (play either version but include version in reporting results):new map by Earendil and Bridges of Osgiliath can both be played, use end game results to report time.

Make up/recruit your own teams, all games require 3 to play.  Read Tourney page thoroughly for the game(s) you want to play, printing out the rules is a clever thing for forgetful people :) If you have questions, (only after reading tourney page  :)) feel free to ask Ulmo
or Aule for clarification.

At the conclusion of a successful game have one team member mail results to Ulmo .

The tourney runs from now until meeting time, 10 December, all results must be sent before the meeting.

Ulmo

Nov. 26, 2000
    Tourney starts today, right after the meeting, continuing two weeks until the meeting of Dec 10. For how to play, see the Tourney page.

Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, GMT-5
Attending:
    Members (16): Amillo, Aule, Elendil, Elros, Glaurung, Gwindor, Isildur, Maedhros, Makar, Orome, Salmar, Thingol/Singollo, Thranduil, Ulmo, Varda, William
    Visitors: 'Saruman' aka Beruthiel, magic_plyr, tolkien_addict (36898310), doomdrake666 (50329438), Doughboy18 (52709168), Thaisan, TheGreatBoromir, KingOfStorms,
Member Report:
    141 current full members
    Amillo was able to be with us and give the report!
Web:
    New page:  Diablo II Experiences - Advice, pet peeves and joys, your characters. Idea and first entries from Elros.
    Gaming pages that were on FlexNet are now on GeoCities. If you experience a bad link, please email Varda.
Gaming:
    Ulmo announced that the Tourney begins right after the meeting and will continue for two weeks until Dec 10. Make your own teams during that time and email Ulmo the results. Info on how to play is on the Tourney page to prevent having to send out 141 emails. New features for this time include the addition of Diablo II and the new StarCraft map by Earendil.
Tolkien:
    Salmar gave us two topics:
    1. What is Fangorn talking about in the LotR when he sings longingly about Tasarinian?
    2. In the history of Middle-earth, when did the entwives get lost from their husbands?

Nov. 20, 2000
    New link, good photos from the Lord of the Rings movie trailer, good links. Link sent by Keyser Soze.
Lord of the Rings and Other Things - photos from the Lord of the Rings movies, good links: by Keyser Soze/Dave
    Gaming pages are back on GeoCities, except the Tourney page.

Nov. 19, 2000
Letter from Amillo:

One solves a problem, another turns up somewhere else :/  4 days ago my cd-drive burned out but was replaced emidiatly, now today my schreen have
taken the long road, it simply will not work so i am on my ancient ( and i mean ancient :) 14 schreen but that can`t run D2. I am not sure why not but
that`s of small or no matter. Since D2 is the only game i have on the comp i am not able to be online until i have the shreen replaced which hopefully
will not take long. Right now i just wish the stores here had open on Sundays.

Amillo, who now have to labour hard with housework.

Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5)
    Bnet was truly abominable, so that people could only connect to the channel for frustratingly brief moments. My ISP wouldn't connect at all yesterday evening to anything, so I missed the fun although I tried for half an hour to reach the meeting.
    My special admiration goes to Ulmo for Herculean efforts, and thanks to Salmar for his info, and thanks for all who tried whether or not anyone will ever know about it.
    Everyone who doesn't have the Valar Guild Discussion Board yet needs to get it. We have a guild chat channel there that could serve us in such emergencies and it's already set up. Take a look at it from the link on the home page, first item under the Tolkien section.
    If you're not already on the Discussion Board, email me or another member who is in it to receive an invitation. Yahoo will send an email which includes a link to follow to register for the Discussion Board. Use your guild name with an underscore before the guild mark, as Yahoo can't handle a dash or parentheses. Now is good.
    Amillo's page reports 141 members.
Here's a report from Salmar on last night's meeting:

    We did not have a meeting yesterday:(
    After 40 minutes of frustrating efforts to keep the thing going, Ulmo had to throw in the towel.
    Characterization of the situation we had: abominable netsplit, never more than 10 member present, half of whom were constantly in and out the channel by evil b.net plots, some others not able to make themselves audible (readable :), time lags where answers to questions came after the initial question could not even been seen on the screen anymore (which made for hilarious misunderstandings).
    Tulkas suggested that if things are going to be this way with B.net, we could consider using an Internet Chat Channel for our meetings.
    I have observed (efforts at) presence by the following members:
Amroth, Aule, Denethor, Elendil, Elros, Eru, Isildur, Maglor, Makar, Melkor, Salmar, Thingol, Thranduil, Tulkas, Ulmo.
And these are only those who even succeded in getting connected - albeit some for a few seconds - for no doubt many never even came that far.
Greetings from Salmar.

...it is incredibly difficult for me to
make the Sunday meetings due to church services, in which I am the song
leader, and youth leader.  Also, Saturdays have been fairly busy too, so I
haven't been gaming or surfing much at all lately. Yes, I would like to
remain a member of the guild.  I would hate to lose yet another name.  I
will try to make a meeting as soon as I can!

Thrain

Nov. 14, 2000
    From the Blizzard page:
           The Hell Bovine has been added to the Secret Cow Level page
    Melkor is back in D2, bnet accepting him once again.
    Varda's D2 shows a splash screen, but when the Play button is hit, D2 disappears without even an error message. Still working on it.
    Letter from Tom:

For some reason my computer completely failed on me...
I have no idea why, but that is why I am using this
Yahoo! Mail at school. I hope to at least have my
computer running in a few days, and I will try to get
the internet working after that. My modem has always
been kind of messed up, I hope this didn't send it
over the edge. Would you please excuse me from
meetings, etc. Thanks.

Thanks,
Tom

BTW - I have updated my pages again, but I can't
upload them!

Nov. 12, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm (GMT-5)
Attending (including very late arrivals)(26): Aule, Amillo, Arothir, Barahir, Bullroarer, Durin, Earendil, Elros, Eru, Finduilas, Gelmir, Gildor, Gimli, Gwindor, Huan, Isildur, Mandos, Melkor, Orome, Osse, Thranduil, Tulkas, Tuvo, Ulmo, Valacirca, Varda
Visiting (2): .:wK:.Gandalf, TarotBuddy
(Thanks, Huan, for helping take roll.)
Membership: 139+3
    New members: Beregond, Arminas, Arothir. Arothir said a few words.
    Bilbo: has a new hard drive and D2 CD, hoping to make them work soon
Web:
    Guild pages on the FlexNet ISP have been having some problems, were running on a generator, and are occasionally down as repairs are being effected after storms.
    Blizzard pages have been troubled by hackers. An international team is working on the problem.
Gaming:
    Bnet has been troubled by hackers. The same team as is working on the page hackers is working on the bnet hackers. They could use your help if you actually know something.
    Tourney news: Ulmo was kept away by the evils of bnet, showing up very near the end of the meeting. Earendil's SC Tourney map is ready, and Elros has one that needs testing. Ulmo will be sending us an email with more information, probably after work Monday, which will be posted to this News page.
Valar/Council Test:
    Huan was tested for Vala honor and to join the Council, passing brilliantly. He chose the name Salmar. He said he did so in honor of Ulmo, who was his mentor, but said not to ask him to make any Ulumuri, and because he liked the idea of having Amillo for a brother, and because he likes being a harpist. In real life he long played classical guitar.
Tolkien:
    While the Council was giving Huan problems in another channel, Eru handled the Tolkien discussion for the brief time he could remain. Thanks Eru!

Nov. 11, 2000
    Welcome to our new members, Arminas and Arothir. Arminas tested yesterday and was name today, making him official. He was tested by Ulmo, an excellent 5/5! Makes his name even more appropriate.  He plays Diablo 1, WarCraft II, an IRC RPG, and hopes to have SC later. He found us through our web pages looking for D1 tips.
    Arothir joined today, 14 years old from Connecticut, USA, EST. He has played Diablo one; now plays Diablo II, StarCraft, and BroodWar. He also plays a fantasy online game called Dominion, if any of you want to play with him in that. He's read the H, LotR. He tested with Elros, Mandos, Tulkas, Ulmo, Varda. He too found us through our web pages. He played D2 with guild members and a good time was had by all.

Nov. 9, 2000
    Diablo II: If you need to change your account password, use a different Blizzard game such as StarCraft, because D2 doesn't support password changes.
    Bilbo is still with us. He just got a new hard drive and D2 to install this weekend, hoping to make the meeting if it works. Good luck!

Nov. 9, 2000
Nov 4, 2000 Letter:

At our last meeting there was an unmistakable (and understandable) desire for further explanation concerning a Council decision to remove Grimbold-(V) from the guild. Fortunately, the decision to expel a member is one the Council rarely has to make and, it is important to stress, one that has never been made haphazardly or without objectively and thoroughly weighing the possibilities. When there are serious problems with a member it is a last resort to be used after warnings have been ignored and fundamental bounds have been over-stepped. It would not be fair to go into every detail concerning Grimbold’s exit here, nor is it needed to illustrate the necessity of this decision.

Grimbold:
For some time, the channel had been invaded by his brother, his brother’s bots and his brother’s friends all of whom were rude, hostile and would ban members at random whenever the gavel fell into their hands. Grimbold was not held accountable for this since it was clear to the Council that he had no control over his brother and he seemed to do his best to prevent the attacks. Though this has been the greatest security hazard the guild has ever had, it was agreed that Grimbold should not be punished simply for being related to the problem. However, when Grimbold himself started attracting similar hostile intruders – who on one occasion took over the channel to ban everyone in sight – and added some unacceptable behaviour to the bargain, the line had to be drawn. Not out of malice towards Grimbold as a person, but for the good of the Guild. Again, I will not describe the specifics since what we have to do is put this behind us, this statement is simply to elucidate matters, not to list accusations.

On a general note, I will say this:
The Valar Guild is based on a Code of Conduct (which applies to both games and channel) and a set of simple rules designed to ensure the friendly and courteous atmosphere which for 3 years has characterised the channel Valar and kept our games safe, legit and co-operative. Being a guild-member is about recognising the sort of environment we all want to spend our time in and meeting it with the same respect and good humour that you yourself meet. What it is NOT is using the channel as an outlet for your real life problems and aggressions, bringing in acquaintances who cannot follow the simple rules of courtesy, nor is it for venting any other form of abuse.
Cherish the Guild as the haven it is and do your part to keep it that way.

We have never been a guild of supervisors with some monitoring others, or high-ranking members acting like army sergeants, nor will we ever be. Ideally, it is expected of everyone to follow these guidelines by themselves. However, the founding values are not to be taken lightly for they are part of what distinguishes the Valar from hundreds of other B.net guilds and clans where careless management allows trash talk, bad manners and disrespect to flourish. (Generally, these last about six months and then fade away with nothing to be remembered by, but a bad name…) ?

This guild, however, was founded not only on a strong Theme of Tolkien, but also in the spirit of Tolkien.

Enthusiastic members who by long-term commitment and concern for the Guild and by demonstrating Tolkien-lore were promoted to the rank of Vala now form the Council of Mahanaxar. They share the management of the guild and lift the daily chores that go into running all the branches of the organisation.
Also, their role is to determine what’s best for the group, maintain what we’ve achieved, arrange and co-ordinate new ventures. Representing the guild’s best interests sometimes includes seeing to it that everything runs smoothly and that nothing threatens or disrupts our efforts. Most of this work goes on behind the stage, so to speak, unless some serious problem demands direct intervention. To some degree the Councillors have all helped build the Valar Guild and make it what it is today. Whatever path they may choose to walk and whatever decision they deem necessary, know that their efforts are, at all times, to keep the Guild steadily on the course that was outlined in the Vision.

The Council of Mahanaxar.

Nov. 7, 2000
    Hackers are attacking bnet and the Blizzard pages, so the troubles you are having may not be on your comp. Blizzard is taking measures against this, and tells about it here . Thank you to Huan for bringing this to our attention.
    Guild pages: pages that are up on the Flex.net isp have been running on their generator for power due to storms, and may be down at certain times while work is being done. If you are having trouble with accessing these pages, that may be the problem.

Nov. 6, 2000
    Welcome to Beregond, our newest member! He's a friend of Barahir's, 17, lives in Norway, read the H and LotR, and is currently reading the Sil. He passed a test by Orome and Amillo. Although English is his second language, he spells better than most.
    Letter from Amillo:

A day of grief and sorrow, an era has come to its end and lives only in our songs and tales.
Darkness creps upon my shoulder as i feel the the burden of mortality falling upon us; the successors
I will light a candle in my window that her soul may find its way and guide us the path we shall now tread alone

The Queenmother of Denmark has quitly past away this afternoon but it is good to know she have had a long life and was ready for her final task and
her family were with her as she fulfilled the ending quest of life.
I mourn for her family and kin but rejoice for her soul eternaly united with her predecessors.

Amillo

Nov. 5, 2000
Sunday Meeting: 5pm EST (GMT -5)
Attending (during the first 15 minutes while Varda was able to take names) (21): Aule, Bullroarer, Durin, Elendil, Eru, Gimli, Gwindor, Halbarad, Huan, Irmo, Isildur, Maglor, Makar, Mandos, Melkor, Nori, Thranduil, Tom, Ulmo, Valacirca, Varda
Member Report: 138 members
Letter from Thorin :

        Greetings,
Sorry for my absence, I had a heart attack and was required to
undergo  quad bypass
surgery. I have been kept from all my toys and locked in hospitals for
almost 2 months due to complications (infection and influenza ) resulting
from the surgery. Coming back on line slowly but surely. Hope to get a comp
capable of playing D2 by christmas. I will be back!!!!   Thanks for your
concern and again sorry for the long absence.
                                                                        Thor
Thorin-V

Nov. 4, 2000
    Fingon left the guild.
    Feathalion is in the middle of job changes, but hopes to be active again in about a month.

Nov 3, 2000
    Sweep: We've had many people answering the sweep letter.
    People with comp probs:
        Barahir - 2kbs download speed allows meetings but not play. He expects to be able to play again when he comes home from Spain.
        Bilbo - hopes to have a new comp for Christmas.
        Finduilas - had comp probs, but trusts the new comp will let her play now
        Meriadoc - theft and low power comp parts causing probs. He's working on replacing things from his home and for the comp.
        Ugluk - hoping to have a comp
    People with real-life getting in the way, but wish to stay and hope things will lighten up soon:
        Eorl - moving, buying new house
        Haleth
        Meriadoc
        Turin/Agarwaen
    Others:
        Fladrif's and Smeagol's D1 CD died a gruesome death. They were disappointed in Diablo II's not changing any quests after beating the game in single player, but will still show up and be around more often on multi-player.

Letter from Ugluk:

    Enlen Sila Lumen Omentieluo
    Yea ... alas for now, I still wonder alone in the dark world (with
insufficient computing power) - repenting my sins. Ugluk's evil has been
great.  Though, I have seen a glimmer of hope from time to time  (I played
Diablo II - single player - on someone else's computer and have read LotR
again during the summer) I must continue my quest.  (I plan on aquiring a
new computer over the next several months and would like to remain on your
list for now if possible.)
    Oh...how I yearn to join agin with you in the great battle.
    (Hope you and your family have been well and please say hello to Tulkus for
me.)
    May your doom be other than mine and your treasure remain with you to the
end!
Ugluk - (V) (The Grey)

Sunday Meeting 5pm EST
Attending (24): Aule/ValarBuddy, Barahir, Bullroarer, Earendil, Elendil, Elros/Tar, Elwing, Eru, Gildor, Gimli, Gorbag, Gwindor, Halbarad, Irmo, Maedhros, Morgoth, Olwe, Omar/Amillo, Quickbeam, Thror, Tom, Tulkas/Astaldo, Ulmo/Gulma (with gavel), Valacirca, Varda
Member News:
    Sweep: Emails are going out to people who have not been in contact for the last two months, during what is called a "sweep" of inactive members.
    Emails not working. Please email to update: Aragorn, Amrod, Celeborn, Pippin, Radagast
    Leaving due to real life interference: Aerin, Alatar, Eonwe, Finglas, Salmar
    Grimbold was removed by Council vote, and was told about the decision before the meeting by Ulmo and Amillo. This was for continued channel misbehavior, misbehavior by his brother and friends, and discourteous language, after much discussion by email among the Council members. More explanation forthcoming later as requested by the membership at this meeting.
Tolkien Discussion:
    Earendil-(V)'s topic: When the Nine Walkers were silently questioned by Galadriel, what do you think she offered each?
    Tangent discussion: Part of the future was set ahead of time and part was up to individuals, in Tolkien's universe.
    Tangent discussion: Difference in kinds of power in objects such as the One Ring and the Silmarils.

Oct. 26, 2000
    New: by Eru - article on Balrogs , with connected articles on Gothmog, the Balrog of Moria, and Lungorthin

Oct. 26, 2000
    New: " You know you're in Valar when... " from Eru-(Valar)  :)

Oct. 25, 2000
    Reminder: we try to keep the first Diablo II game as Normal diff for trading, transferring, new characters, and regular playing. It's not a kicking offense, but a compromise worked out at a meeting.
    Reminder: anyone holding the gavel is expected to behave responsibly with it. If you feel the temptation is too great to misbehave with it, please pass it on to another person, preferably a Vala or Maia.
    Reminder: have fun  :)

Oct. 24, 2000
    Balin left to join another guild. Have a good time in Moralltach.  :)

Oct. 22, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5)
Attending (28): Amillo, Aule, Beren, Bullroarer, Carcharoth, Durin, Earendil, Elrond, Elros, Eru, Gildor, Gorbag, Gwindor, Halbarad, Huan, Irmo, Luthien, Melkor, Orome, Quickbeam, Shagrat, Thingol, Thranduil, Tom, Tulkas, Ulmo, Valacirca, Varda
Member business: Amillo reports 146 members.
    Amarie left, tired of comps and gaming.
    No new members due to the halt, although we had 5 requests this week.
    Temp halt on recruiting. Most new members seem to now understand the concept of honor in all games as done in the guild now, but the recruiting method is now under discussion to prevent future problems. Hopefully this will be figured out shortly and we can go back to normal. Every member needs to continue to try to help the new members, not expect them to know everything the minute they enter the guild, also guide by example and patience.
    Melkor brought up a request for a guild mail if approved by the membership to ask Blizzard to remove the 15 minute loss of items in games, and the experience penalty in Nightmare and Hell difficulties in Diablo II. 5% in nm and 10% in hell is lost at each death even though usually due to lag. Others said the penalty was fair enough, and it was agreed that this was true on the newer computers. This request did not pass.
    Halbarad reported that he has handled a problem in the training of two new recruits. He is dissatisfied with the management of the problem, as is the Council, which  management is the reason for the recruiting halt. Thanks for the input, and more suggestions are needed from other members.
Web Report: not all was told in the meeting due to other business discussion, but here is the info:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
        by Elros: "Bilbo Baggins, Loss of Innocence"
        by Huan: "Contingencies of Doom: Destiny vs Freedom of Choice in Middle-earth"
    Tom's pages are under reconstruction, although his map page is kindly still up for guild use.
    Discussion Board: no requests for posting were received by email.
Gaming Report:
    No one emailed Ulmo about having a Tourney. One member reported problems working on a SC map for the Tourney.
Tolkien Discussion:
    Why did Boromir became worse about the One Ring after Lorien?

Oct. 20, 2000
    New article for the guild's Tolkien Encyclopedia by Elros: Bilbo Baggins, Loss of Innocence . Bilbo as the archetype of the Initiate.

Oct. 19, 2000
    New article for the guild's Tolkien Encyclopedia by Huan: Contingencies of Doom: Destiny versus freedom of choice in Middle-earth . Excellent discussion.

Oct. 15, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5)
Attending (15): (Ulmo handled the gavel, Varda the meeting, trying new format.) Amillo/Omar, Carcharoth, Earendil/GilEstel, Eru, Gelmir, Grimbold, Halbarad, Huan/HoundoftheValar, Irmo/Dreamlord, Khamul, Thror, Melkor/Morgoth, Ulmo/Niequi, Valacirca, Varda
Member Report: by Omar
    147 members
    New member Carcharoth spoke a few words, saying he came because we had the only decent conversation on bnet.
    Beren has posted to the Discussion Board with his usual insight, so he's ok. (He's the old Tulkas from Argentina.) Welcome back!
    Aule's motherboard may be fried. He's coming in on his laptop sometimes, but that's why he can't get to his email or put VB up for now. He hopes it will be an inexpensive repair that can be done soon.
Web Report:
    Valar Guild histories: A very good insight into what the Valar Guild is all about is shown in the new article on Valar Guild Histories, by Huan. He tells what he found on public Diablo, then what he found in the guild.
    New short stories:
        "Repentance" by Valacirca
        "Wizard at Work" by Irmo
        "Dain's Last Stand at the Lonely Mountain" by Maglor
Discussion Board: several members need to email Varda for invitations to post to the Tolkien Discussion Board on Yahoo clubs. The current topic is the nature of Huan, whether or not he is a Maia. Is he only a wolfhound, perhaps bred by Orome? Topics change rapidly, and several may run at once.
Gaming Report:
    Diablo I Middle-earth mod: Khamul has found the One Ring! The bad guys win! (Cheer from Sauron.)
    Tourney: Ulmo the Tourney Master is still waiting for the promised SC or BW maps promised for the Tourney. Please ask for help if you need it, and let Ulmo know by email as soon as you're ready to test it, or catch him on bnet.
Guild Discussion: Members all had a chance to state what the guild was supposed to be about to them. Some comments were: freedom, Tolkien, courtesy, peace, no pk or pkk's or cheats or hacks, discussion, co-op games, Tolkien haven, family and friends on bnet, classiest spot on bnet, fun without disrespect.
Tolkien Discussion:
    Earendil-(V)'s topic: Did Frodo by the power of the Ring cause Gollum's demise? He used the quote from the chapter, "Mt. Doom" when Frodo told the traitorous Gollum, "Begone and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom." Right after Gollum bit off Frodo's finger, he fell into the Fire of Doom. If the Ring had caused it, it may not have realized Gollum held it, as it was still on Frodo's finger. Most members said that it was coincidental, no agreement reached.
    Grimbold-(V)'s topic: What races other than humans or elves kin-slayed? This discussion had difficulty as the term kin-slaying needed definition.

Oct. 12, 2000
    Halt!NEW RECRUITING IS TEMPORARILY HALTED, AS OF OCT 12, 2000. ONCE THE CURRENT NEW MEMBERS ARE TRAINED CORRECTLY OR REMOVED, WE CAN CONTINUE AGAIN.
    Recruiting is being stopped for an indefinite period of time. Members playing Diablo II, please remember to ask before picking up anything in town. These are not public games where theft of a stash item has to be accepted as the miserable way of life. We are supposed to be a haven from that sort of thing. A halt is being called to new recruiting until the current members are trained to understand how to play with the honor expected. If you have a problem with someone else picking up your items, gently remind them what the Valar guild is - a haven. Let's get all these new members trained, so that we can continue in peace. The moratorium is expected to be short.
    Cursing is for characters outside the guild. A person can curse into the air without typing it. If you have time to type it, it's not an accident and you could substitute another word less ugly.
    A quick way to understand the guild in general is to consider this place as being in polite society, using knightly behavior.
    Most of you already understand the concept of our haven, part of the reason you joined. Please help train and be good examples to the new members who are present and who will be coming in. Show sportsmanship.
    Recruiters, we used to chat with people a long time before considering giving an entry test. We are not hurting for members, don't rush it. If they want to join, they'll be back. If all they want is free items, you can be generous if you like, but you don't have to give them membership.

Oct. 11, 2000
    Tolkien Discussion Board: Anyone who would like an invitation or re-invitation to the Tolkien Discussion Board, please email Varda .

Oct. 10, 2000
    New story: " Dain's Last Stand at the Lonely Mountain " by Maglor-(V). Filling in the parts that Tolkien had to leave out, in this case, a lonely stand.

Oct. 9, 2000
    New stories :
        " Wizard at Work " by Irmo, written specially for the guild's third anniversary, well-received by the group when he told it during the meeting.  :)
        " Repentance " by Valacirca. Thanks to him to, for his present for the anniversary.
    Bullroarer's picture as MadDoc is on the page where he works at Warlocke's Lair painting figures for board games. Have a look at the page to see what he looks like and the neat stuff he does. Any fellow dungeon masters out there need some figures painted?

Oct. 8, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5)
Attending: 23
    Members (21): Amillo/Omar, Azaghal, Bullroarer, Dior, Durin, Elendil, Erkenbrand, Eru, Gandalf/Greyhame, Gildor, Grimbold, Gwindor, Halbarad, Huan, Irmo/Dreamlord, Luthien, Quickbeam, Tuvo/Gloaming, Maglor, Melkor, Valacirca, Varda
    Visitor (1): +Gothmog+ After the meeting, he joined the Valar Guild with a perfect score of 5/5! His new name is Carcharoth-(V), and he's already playing RedMaw-(V) as a variation.  :)  Welcome to the group! Carcharoth is 17, from Ohio, USA. He's read H, LotR, Sil, BoLT1, and working on BoLT2. He's been a long-time visitor, playing with many of the guild members outside and attended the whole meeting today (which not all full members do!). The test was given by Ulmo, Huan, and Varda.
Member Report: 146 members
    New: Gorbag
    Temporary absences: Tulkas will be at sea the next 3 weeks, hopefully able to connect on occasion.
        Barahir, who has moved to Spain, hopes to have the Internet sometime in November, maybe around the 15th.
        Menelvagor's CPU and DSL were lightning fried, but he should be able to take your emails again now for CounterStrike, at the new address of menel@earthlink.net
    Departing : Amarie. We will miss her. Dior reports that his sister is no longer in the guild, due to a
        disinterest in continued playing and numerous new real life friends. Enjoy life out there, Amarie!
        We prefer that a person leaving the guild send his or her own letter, so that we can be sure this is actually the case.
Web Report:
    Guild's Tolkien Encyclopedia:
        New articles:
           Omar/Amillo by Amillo-(Valar)
           Earendil by Earendil-(V)
    Horadric Cube Recipe Page: nice collection of recipes now. More guild experiments are still needed.
    Tom's page: new article on Tom Bombadil's nature, Tom-(V)'s opinion
Gaming Report:
    Tourney: anyone interested in a Tourney please email Ulmo-(Valar) , Tourney master. New Tolkien BroodWar map needed; but please check with Ulmo first so that it can be set up for a Tourney, and check back with him again later for testing the map.
    Diablo II:
    Trading page: Amillo dropped the project due to apparent lack of guild interest.
    "Normal" game: popular suggestion to make the first D2 game Normal difficulty for transfers and trading, as well as Normal play. We can start doing this immediately.
    Picking up items in town: always ask before picking up items from the ground that aren't yours, as we don't have a set Town Square right now. Some people are dropping stash items and transfer items in very public areas such as by the Rogue campfire, so be careful. Also, be forgiving to us slobs with big feet who accidentally step on your stuff in public areas.
    Picking up items in Nightmare and Hell difficulty : during a battle, please wait until the fighting stops to pick up items, to prevent deaths of self or companions and losing both gold and experience.
Tolkien Discussion:
    Dreamlord told an original story about Irmo's checking out a disturbance in Lorien. This will be posted on the Story page. It is specially written for the guild's third anniversary which took place on Oct 4.
    Maglor's discussion question: what are the flying creatures the Nazgul rode after being unhorsed?
    Quickbeam's discussion question: please email me as it somehow was not written down in my notes. (Ducking flying tomatoes)
Oct. 7, 2000
Letter from Barahir:

Hi there.
Sorry I havent been online in a LONG time, but i moved to Spain in the
beginning of september, and the house we live in doesnt have a phone. To get
a phone we must first get a residencial number, takes a month, then we can
order a phone-line and that stuff, takes a month, and THEN we can get
internet. Hoppefully i will be online in the beginning of november, maybe
around 15th of november. I still want to be in the guild, and hope i can
despite that it takes a long time for me to be online.

Barahir

Oct. 6, 2000
Letter from Menelvagor:

  My cpu and DSL modem got fried in an electrical storm a month ago. Its taken
me forever to get everything working again. Any1 whos been asking about
Cstrike tell them Im really sorry and hope to have everything running
smoothly again in a few days.
  Ill catch ya later I have somethin like a 140 messages to go through talk to
ya later

Menelvagor
new email adress for now:  menel@earthlink.net

Oct. 5, 2000
    New: Earendil-(V) wrote an article on Earendil for the guild's Tolkien Encyclopedia, and a story about Gandalf called " Dark to Light " for the guild's Story page. Thanks!
    New: Tom wrote an article on Tom Bombadil for his personal encyclopedia, and redesigned his nav bar.

Oct. 4, 2000
    Happy Third Anniversary to all of us in the Valar Guild! Anyone who wants to attempt a Tourney game, like Quest for Three, in Diablo II, feel free and email me the scores. This would be unofficial for fun but the scores would still be posted. Anyone who likes please send an article for the Tolkien Encyclopedia, either on your own character or any interest in Tolkien.

Oct. 2, 2000
    New Encyc article: Omar/Amillo by Amillo-(Valar). Thanks for the Anniversary present, Amillo!

Oct. 1, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm (GMT- 5)
Attending: Members 23: Amillo/Omar, Aule, Azaghal, Bert, Earendil, Elendil, Elros/Tar, Eru, Grimbold, Gwindor, Halbarad, Huan, Imrahil, Irmo/Dreamlord, Quickbeam, Mandos, Melkor/Morgoth, Shagrat, Tulkas/Astaldo, Ulmo/Niequi, Valacirca, Varda, William
    Orome over Melkor's shoulder  :)  Look-ins over Varda's shoulder by Eowyn, Fingon, Sauron (as usual); Fangorn out of town. Possibly some others.
    Visitors 5: (sorry, did not write all of your names): Lady-of-Rage, N@il, Saruman_the_Old (old member), VerdenLeafGlow; everlon dropped by briefly for game
Member Report by Amillo: 146 members
    New:
      Gildor joined this morning, brother of Elros. He's 11, read the H and LotR. Perfect 5/5 score testing with Tulkas and Varda.
        Gorbag joined after the meeting last weekend.
    News:
        Tulkas will be missing for the next 4 weeks, missing 3 meetings, as he goes to sea again this Wednesday. He had lunch with the Attorney General, rep of the Queen, since the Prime Minister had to bow out. Tulkas is later than expected in leaving as his previous ship was T-boned by another, narrowly missing killing 50 people aboard. We are thankful they and especially Tulkas are okay. He is going out on another ship, which goes with our good wishes!
        Olwe is still with us, mostly playing CounterStrike, and says Hi to those on bnet.  :)
Web Report:
     New Guild Page!: Now requesting recipes for the Diablo 2 Horadric Cube Recipe   page, and links to others. Please email Shagrat-(V) if you wish to send recipes. Shagrat volunteered to do the page and got it up all during the Tolkien discussion in the meeting!
    Folklore & Mythology continues to add new articles, uploaded every few days. Amillo joined in with his Creation paper for Norse mythology.
    Requesting articles for the guild's Tolkien Encyclopedia for the Third Anniversary of the guild.
Gaming:
    Diablo 2: See the new Horadric Cube Recipe page under Web Report.
    CounterStrike: email Menelvagor for guild member practice and teaming against the public teams. If no response, email Varda .
Third Anniversary :
    The Valar Guild will be three years old Oct 4, 2000. To honor the event, a request was made for all members to contribute a few lines or articles or links to images for the guild's online Tolkien Encyclopedia. This could be on your own character, or anything you find interesting.
    Eru made the huge gift of renewing the www.valar.org domain name for two years.
    Shagrat volunteered when the request went out at the meeting, and made the Horadric Cube Recipe page as his gift. See Web Report for link.
Tolkien Discussion :
    Halbarad's topic: Did dwarves dwindle away the same as other groups, after the ascendency of man?
    Saruman_the_Old's topic: Why didn't Sauron see through the Nazgul that Frodo had the Ring? Frodo didn't wear it much. They did go after "Baggins" from Gollum's info, but thought the ring was headed for Gondor and Aragorn's use, not Mt. Orodruin for destruction.
    Irmo's or Amillo's topic: What really happened to Gandalf at Moria? Most said he lost his body, returned to Valinor, and was sent back to Middle-earth with greater power, white clothes, and white beard instead of grey, taking Saruman's place as top Istar, and more active as he replaced 4 the other four Istari who had gone in the wrong directions of action. A minority view had it that Gandalf did not lose his body, but came out of the fight with the balrog as a greater person from his own efforts, changed physically by the magical nature of the battle. A view later expressed by Earendil-(V) in a short story says that Gandalf's body remained but his spirit returned temporarily to Valinor, sent back to his body afterwards with the changes.
top

Sept. 29, 2000
    Gildor, who's been out due to computer problems, changed his name to Erkenbrand getting around some bnet difficulties and for personal preference.

Sept. 28, 2000
   Amillo now has a special paper up on the Folklore and Mythology page: Creation of the World and the Gods: Norse Mythology.

Sept. 26, 2000
    Going afk for extended times in the main channel: This used to be okay, but with the recent difficulty due to certain unpleasant interlopers, it is requested that this be done in a separate channel, as we are unable to ban the annoying person without the gavel. We should not have to use /squelch in our own private channel. For those of you unaware of this channel command usually required in public channels, mute the speech of an annoying person with /squelch nameofsquelchee or select the person by mouse and then hit the squelch button in Diablo II.

    Letter from Azaghâl:

Heya Varda and the Valar guild!

Maybe you noticed, but I haven't been on B.Net a lot for a couple of weeks, you see, school and homework are putting quite a
lot of presure on me, but prolly the most important reason: I am quite done with Diablo1, and when im on with d1, there usually
aint much d1 ppl on in the guild channel. And there is no way to get me back in the world of cheaters and PK's : the public
games :)
Of course this isn't a excuse for not showing up on Guild-meetings. But usually i find a empty room, because Bnet is having
splits again...... I promise to show up again when i can get my hands on DiabloII, and if the splits are getting a bit fixed :-/ this
doesn't mean i wont come pass by at certain times, but just aint that much anymore :-(
If ppl still want to contact me: talk to me over ICQ, or send me a mail to Azaghal@Belegost.CJB.net.
I hope you ppl understand it.....

Farewell!

Sept. 24, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5)
Attending:
    Members: Amillo/Omar, Bullroarer, Dior, Earendil, Elros/Tar, Eru, Gwindor, Halbarad, Huan, Huor, Irmo/Dreamlord, Maedhros, Maeglin, Maglor, Nori, Quickbeam, Tom, Tulkas/Astaldo, Tuvo, Valacirca, Varda
    Visitors: FrostieOne, Everlon, Palurien. Frostie passed Tulkas' test, but did not have time to fully join with a new name and info from us, having to leave. Palurien is still in the process of reading LotR, also a welcome visitor meanwhile. Everlon dropped in to play with Quickbeam.
Member Report: Amillo reports that we now have 143 members. (FrostieOne once named will make 144).
    New this week: Helm Hammerhand
    Returning with a new name: Fuinor, once Khamul, friend of Cirdan's
    Temporary absences coming up:
        Tulkas will be going to sea tomorrow for four weeks, having lunch with the prime minister, then picking up buoys.
        Tuvo is moving to Los Angeles and taking classes, making his attendance special.
    Elwing did the reporting for this News story.
Web Report:
    Folklore & Mythology page link repaired on the main page, updates added
Gaming Report:
    Diablo II mod experimental work going on. A Tolkien's Middle-earth mod is being figured out. Caution to be sure to switch patches to switch between mod and regular at this point, and to not cross mod and regular players in a game which throws it out of synch and can cause morphing.
Tolkien Discussion:
    1. If Frodo had not been late, what would have happened?
    Halbarad-(V): easier, quicker trip to Rivendell
    Eru-(Valar): Nazgul may not have been there. Good reason for Frodo's trip over the Sea.
    Earendil: Saruman might have been at Rivendell.
    Tuvo: Hobbiton might not have been under watch.
    Maeglin: Questionable whether they would have met Aragorn.
    Eru: Aragorn was already looking for them. Having the party be late plants seeds of despair, later overcome.
    Tuvo: might've made it harder for them to meet Smeagol.
    Mentions of Valar string-pulling, free will, luck.
    2. Eru: Radagast could have been a good addition to the Fellowship.
    3. Irmo-(Valar) and Amillo-(Valar) may get to meet each other at a performance of the Tolkien Ensemble . http://www.tolkienensemble.dk/
The Ensemble performed in Priscilla Tolkien's living room (translates to the Queen's throne room to us). Their project is to set all of the Professor's poems to music. They were begun by a classical guitarist/composer who teamed with a second guitarist. They now include professional singers and musicians, with soloists for special characters. They have 2 CD's out at this time. More about them is on their page.
    4. Relative ages of hobbits and men. Some mentioned: Bilbo born in TA 2890, Gilraen born TA 2907, Aragorn, TA 2931.
    5. The upcoming Peter Jackson live movie and the older animated Bakshi movie were discussed.
    6. Halbarad-(V) may have been partly net split from the chair as our whispers did not seem to be reaching each other, but wanted to do a discussion on whether or not the dwarves declined as did the elves, hobbits, and ents. He has posted it on the Discussion Board, and we can also try to take it up next meeting. This gives us time to do some book-digging.  :)

Sept. 20, 2000
Diablo 2:
Letter from Fingolfin aka Khan, excerpt:

You should never play any mod
unless you know your fellow players use the very same version too. That was
a general rule in D1 and it is still valid in D2. The current mod might be
used by normal open chars since you can switch back and forth without much
morphing (the game is quite tricky so we couldn't avoid morphing totally)
but there should not be players with different versions of Diablo2 in the
same game (though it is possible in D2).

Sept. 18, 2000
    Diablo II mod players:
    Caution! The VK mod patch will affect your regular "Closed" characters, morphing their items and not necessarily in a good way. I do not recommend it as a guild game at this time, especially if you have a lot of people using the same computer, unless they all want to play the mod. Be sure to save the original patch mpq file from the game to swap out with the VK patch before you try this mod. Switching back to the original patch returns the character's items to normal. However, it looks good for a future Tolkien's Middle-earth mod!

Sept. 17, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST
Attending (22): Amillo, Aule, Bandobras, Bombur, Durin, Earendil, Elendil, Elros, Feanor (netsplit), Gelmir, Gimli, Gwindor, Halbarad, Luthien, Mandos, Thingol, Thror, Tulkas, Tuvo, Ulmo/Niequil, Valacirca, Varda
    Visitor but netsplit - Raptor139. Scouted by Dior, likes SC.
Member Report : Amillo reported membership now at 141
    New this week:
        Huor
        Rose Cotton, Orome's daughter
    Potential Maia? Gwindor is up for a Maia test in the future. Wishes to finish his current re-read of the LotR first.
Web Report:
    Tom Bombadil would like feedback on his new concept for a Valar web site.
    Tom's SC/BW map page link is now corrected on the guild web page.
    V&K page has added a new Diablo 2 page, just starting out.
    Domain News: Eru will continue the www.valar.org domain name for the next two years, having it go directly to the current home page. He has dropped some of the unused services to make the cost more nearly liveable, and is offering this as our Birthday present for the upcoming Third Anniversary.
    Trading Post by Amillo for guild members. Mainly for Diablo 2, but could also be other games. Amillo is setting this up, but needs input on how to make a good message board so that he is not flooded with email. The items for trade will be deleted about every 2 weeks to keep it current.
Third Anniversary :
    For the Valar Guild's Third Anniversary, we will have our domain name renewed by Eru, a Tourney by Ulmo, and possibly some Tolkien Riddle Games in the channel.
Gaming Report :
    Diablo 2:
        Trading with other Closed characters outside the guild is still allowed. Be careful not to swap between a mod character and a regular D2 character, as the items morph into something else. Open characters often hack, or take hacked items, so their trades are not to be trusted as legit.
        V&K have started experimenting with a D2 mod, and hope to have a Middle-earth mod out by the time everyone is bored with regular D2.
Tolkien Discussion :
    Tuvo-(V) kicked it off with a discussion on how the relationship between CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien affected their writing.
    Tulkas-(Valar) started a discussion, which had to be dropped last meeting due to time, about why Huan spoke only three times in Middle-earth. Ulmo-(Valar) commented that Huan had to be wise enough to know when speaking was worthwhile. Valacirca-(Valar) said Huan joined the Noldor in exile in Middle-earth by choice. Another said Huan only needed to speak three times to help Beren and Luthien make the right choices, so that Earendil would exist and be set on the right path. Halbarad-(V) said, because he was a dog  :)  Huan was a Maia of the Valar, Orome, choosing the hound form as best to work with Orome the Hunter. He then entered Middle-earth with the Noldor to carry out his mission of helping Luthien and Beren. We slid off on a tangent about how dragons spoke and could enchant.
    Tulkas mentioned that he had a Maia honor test question for Gwindor but, since the test was postponed, would use something else. Several regular members asked him what it was to give them a clue to the type of questions they might face:
"Name two times Frodo volunteered to go blindfolded; describe and tell why." Answering this question kept the channel lively, and I was sorry to have to leave.  :)

Sept. 15, 2000
    Diablo II news:
    V&K have their first D2 mod out, with a new page for it:
http://www.vkmods.de/d2mod.html
    This is not an official guild game (yet), but looks as if it would be fun to try!

Sept. 14, 2000
Letter from Glaurung:

      I am swamped with homework, sports, and my newly adopted hobby of
paintball :). Well i may be on battle.net at intermitent times, but when i
get on it seems no1 is there to talk to so I just get off :(. I am on ICQ
again a lot so if ppl wanna talk to me i am on that, but if i am "not on",
tell em to msg me neways i am prolly invisible :). Well, I feel that
homework always comes first. Sorry again.
                                                     Glaurung

I have been working on a brand new design for my section of the web page
system. I just finished the concept site. I am not going to be able to make
it to any of the meetings for a little while because of Soaring lessons. I
am very sorry for this, but I would like you to announce it to the guild
that I am going to open this up for feedback on the style of the whole
design. I hope to fit it out with more and more stuff, and hopefully with
some feedback from the guild, I can make it better. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Tom

Sept. 13, 2000
    Domain name news. We definitely plan to try to keep it. Currently we are working on finding a way to get in line after Eru before certain others take it. Also, we are looking at some lower cost alternatives, but they require a third party to handle it and would most probably have ads.

Sept. 12, 2000
    Rose Cotton, welcome to the Valar Guild! Rose is an honorary member, daughter of Orome. She will be seen mostly in their family games, so rejoice if you are lucky enough to spot the young lady, and remember your courtliest manners, o knights of the Valar.  :)  She is also our 140th member!
    Huor, welcome to the Valar Guild too! Congratulations on the perfect 5/5 score on Menelvagor's test. Huor's visited as WitchKing(LotR), and plays CounterStrike with Menelvagor, as well as StarCraft. He's 16, from the USA in EST, and has read: LotR, Hobbit, Silmarillion, Unfinished tales, Tolkien reader, tolkien biography, and the inklings.
 

Sept. 10, 2000
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST
Attending (18):
    Members: Amillo, Aule, Earendil, Elendil, Elros, Eru, Grimbold, Gwindor, Halbarad, Huan, Irmo/Dreamlord, Luthien, Maeglin, Menelvagor, Scatha (late), Tulkas, Valacirca, Varda
    Visitor: WitchKing(LotR)
Members:
    Bombur is new this week. Welcome to the Valar Guild.
    Maeglin is the new guild name for ~gw~redstealth #39487767
    Maglor is buried under homework, but hopes to send some stories to us.
    Denethor's monitor is blown. He expects a new comp around Christmas time.
    Halbarad's baseball teams are in play-offs, so if he misses the next two meetings, that is good news.  :)
    Meriadoc is currently saving money for a new comp to play D2.
    PROBLEM: remember that any character operated with the -(V) or -(Valar) must be totally legit. No hacking, cheating, taking of questionable gifts. This includes all! This includes Diablo II Open characters, which are easily cheated. If you must try out the cheats in any game, don't do it with a guild name. Thanks.
Web:
    Amillo has moved the Members page and Annals of Arda to a new server. Please inform Varda if the guild links to his
        pages are not working correctly, as they are supposedly all updated.
    "You know you're in Valar when..." has additions from Elros and Imrahil.
    Eru is no longer able to afford to keep up the Domain name of www.valar.org. Council is currently looking at lower cost
        methods of using it when it comes up for renewal in October, and having a different person or persons handling it to
        take advantage of lower costs in other countries.
Gaming:
    CounterStrike:
        Menelvagor is continuing collecting guild members for CounterStrike games. Please email him for details.
    Diablo II:
        Aule says to help combat lag, update your computer's video and sound card drivers.
    WarCraft III:
        The latest build was displayed Sept. 2 in London, England at the European Consumer Trade Show 2000.
    Tourney:
        We had several requests for a Tourney, although no date is yet determined. Diablo II is not yet ready for Tourney play, although a possible game by Gothmog is now being tested. StarCraft and BroodWar are able to run in a Tourney (practice on old Tourney maps recommended), although new maps are under consideration. Regular Diablo is a possibility as well, with the established Tourney games (practice recommended). Some brave souls who might want to try the Diablo mods (VK and T) on the Australian server could also have a go at the Tourney games (practice highly recommended).
Tolkien Discussion:
    Huan: We somehow missed Tulkas's discussion on why Huan, the Hound of the Valar, was only allowed to speak three times. This could be in next week's discussion.
    Legolas: Legolas's hair color due to the history in the Silmarillion and Hobbit was guessed at, and whether he was present in Gondolin. The general conclusion was that he was blonde from his ancestry through Indis the Vanyar going through his father Thranduil. The Lost Tales II tell of Legolas Greenleaf's leading an expedition for Gondolin due to his special night-sight and his great knowledge of the forests and plains in the area. This was generally considered to be a different Legolas, possibly one the later Legolas was named for, and/or an earlier version of the character before Tolkien decided to make him part of the Fellowship.

Sept. 9, 2000
    Annals of Arda , by Amillo, has moved to a new server.

Sept. 8, 2000
    Members page, by Amillo, has moved to a new server. Please update your bookmarks.

Sept. 6. 2000
    New: "You know you're in Valar when... " from Elros.
    Letter from Denethor:

Hello there, just mailing you and all of Valar to say that the monitor on my
comp. has blown out, and I won't be able to get back on until the end of my
highschool semester ( I'm getting a nice comp at Christmas :) ). I know
you'll all be troubled by my absence, but I'm sure that you can make it
without me for awhile  :)

Farewell gentle Valar :)

P.S. If you're wondering what comp I'm using to mail you with, I'm in a
future shop, in a city not too far from my own humble town :)

P.P.S. I liked the new jokes page about the Valar and crew, hoping to add to
it :)

                                                        Denethor

    I am writing to tell you and all of Valar that I will not be online very
regularily anymore as I have to go back to school now and will most likely be
overloaded with homework.  Hopefully I will be able to get some stories done in
English class and I will be able to find the time to type them out and send
them in for all of you to read.

                      Until I have some free time,

                                     farewell to you all.

Sept. 5, 2000
    New additions to the " You know you're in Valar when... " page, from Imrahil.

Sept. 4, 2000
    Welcome, Bombur, to the Valar Guild! Bombur found us through the web site, and tested with Tom Bombadil. He has played Diablo and Diablo II. He's read the H, LotR, and Sil. Bombur is 16, from Seattle, Washington, USA, time zone PST. He first emailed Aug 31 and made it in Sept 4; persistence counts.  :)
    CounterStrike:
    Letter: Excerpt from Menelvagor - Info for those wanting to play CounterStrike with other guild members:

    CounterStrike is a MOD for HalfLife ive been playing since last
november. It doesn't come in demo form.
    Right now it is the number one online game being played outranking
ultima and everquest. It is a game where 10 terrorists fight 10
Counter-Terrorists. The game is still in beta stage and with each new update
new features are added. With the last update they introduced drivable
vehicles.
    Valve the makers of HalfLife are so impressed with the team thats
making the game that they are going to release it commercially for them.
    The game allows u to have any name you'd like the thing is that theres usualy
about 3000-4000 servers to play on so we'll have to select a few.
    The thing about Cstrike is that we'd like to get a team togther
because in order to win a game teamwork is required. In order for a team to
work well togther they need to get some practice with each other only about
a half hour is needed. I've had no wish to join any of the small clans out
there because they usually break up. In public games every1 kind of does
there own thing so its usually only luck determining which side wins or
there's an expert player on one team. Control isn't required in Cstrike just
a game plan and an understanding of the play style of evey1 else on the
team.

Letters from Shagrat-(V) about the Sept 2 letter:

Well anyhow, I play the alto-saxaphone and if you do go there, please don't
call me shagrat because everybody will be wondering who shagrat is, and people
in the crowd will think the cheerer is weird and my band. But my name is Aaron
Ragan.. If you're there we'll be in red .... jackets  and white hats. I
shouldn't be hard to find since there are only 3 male alto sax players.

hello again,

I just found out that we'll be leaving for colorado on tuesday, the 5th at
around 11pm (1am valar time).

And if anybody thinks they are coming to estes park, maybe you could email me (
aragan@esweeet.com ) telling me you're going to be there just so I expect
somebody when I get a tap on my shoulder.

Shag

Hello,

I won't be on AT ALL for the next week because I'm going to Estes Park,
Colorado for the Longspeak Scottish/Irish festival.

So if anybody lives there, I'm with the Spirit of Alberta marching band, or you
can just email me at aragan@esweeet.com

Happy gaming!

Shagrat

September 1, 2000
Blizzard Announces Expansion Set for Diablo II
Today Blizzard released plans for an expansion to their #1 selling game, Diablo II.
Players will be able to play any of the existing characters, along with two new
classes, as they pursue Baal -- the final Prime Evil -- through the Barbarian
Highlands. To read the press release, click here .

sorry if i have not responded lately, I have been cut off the net ( and telephones ) for the last week and just got back on temporaly on my old connection so thats why if i do not respond. While i have connection i will try to fix memberpage by what i have recieved of the huge amount of member-letters but no guaranty. I will just have to wait and see what happens.

Just to let someone know what is going on
Amillo

Aug. 30, 2000
Letter from BGN , which as a third party now handles Blizzard fan sites for Blizzard:

The fansite submission mentioned below has been accepted to the Fansites
Database.

TITLE:  The Valar Guild
URL:  http://www.flex.net/~layton2/guild/guild.html

You can access the database at http://www.blizzardgames.com/fansites/