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The Galster's Community Spotlight Interview - Part II

2011-09-01T19:13:27Z

The Galster's Community Spotlight Interview - Part II

Main character name: Vorongwë

Alts: Turgamoth, Gwaedir, Auvronwë, Alcarilyon

Role in Vanimar: Ever present Wardenus Supremus

First name(s): Shane

Birthdate: 14th July

Current occupation: student

Galster's Introduction: Sometimes there are things you have to do that you dread a lot and you keep postponing them for as long as you can. You know, things like changing your underwear once in a while or having to kneel to Anglachelm in RP. So it was when Anglachelm wanted Vorongwe (or V, V-man, the Guy with the Funny Accent, etc.) to be the next person interviewed by me. I mean, it’s not as if you’re looking forward to having to interview Pea-for-Brains, right? While usually I enjoy spending hours and hours discussing the latest theories in quantum mechanics or reading classical Hebrew texts from the Torah, I knew now I had to lower myself to the base level of such Irish things as drinking Guinness and hitting people in the face with

clubs. Heck, I didn’t even know if I could use anything but monosyllabic words!

Still, for some people you go beyond what you would normally be able to stand, and I guess V-man is one of these people. In my years in Vanimar he’s been one of the more active members we’ve ever had, always ready to lend a hand to people. Always up for an instance run and not too pissed off when you make fun of him in kinchat or on Ventrilo, he’s probably the coolest person I’ve come across in Lotro and seems to be getting along with just about everyone. So here we go then, a transcript of the Vent chat I had with V-man about Ireland, Lotro

and other blabla. Enjoy reading, peeps!

Note that this was the first time I tried recording something in Ventrilo. Unfortunately the first few minutes or so were not recorded, so by the time I had to transcribe the interview, I had to dig deeply from memory. From what I remember, the first part went something like this though:

***

Galster: So, first of all: are you dreading this interview as much as I do? I mean: all these minutes we'll be chatting with each other as if we're not tired enough of one another already, it's pretty horrible I think. The things you do for your kinship!

V: Well, I can understand why you feel that way Galster, I’m not that interesting to talk to, I have to admit. I’m pretty excited to be talking to you though, so it’s not ALL that bad. Always enjoying myself with you around really.

Galster: Btw, I asked the other night in kinchat if anyone had a question for you and no one had any. What do you think that means in terms of your popularity in the kin?

V: It doesn’t look very good now, does it? You have to take into account though that people usually are pretty much intimidated by your awesome presence.

Galster: Ha ha ha, right you are V, right you are! I forgot about that, so let’s not hold it against you then.

Now I think most people in the kin know you're from Ireland, but for some reason I've never known your first name yet. Is it V? V-man? What are you called IRL? Is your surname starting with O'?

V: Looking back at things, I wish my parents had called me Galendil, but it’s actually *Galster’s memory goes blank on how it was actually spelled again*And no, my surname doesn’t start with O’.

Galster: That's pretty surprising since I've always viewed you as a terribly cliché-ish individual.

V: I understand completely.

Galster: So tell us about Ireland. Is it true you live in Galway and is that city actually named after the Galster?

V: Yes, I live in Galway. Some people claim it was named after some maid called Galliev who drowned in the water here, but I think it was probably named after you, yes.

***

(Galster’s note: from this point on I have the actual recordings still, so the transcribation starts from this point on and might be slightly, but only slightly, more faithful to what was actually said)

Galster: What was the name of the city again?

V: Galliev, (Galster note: V goes on to spell G-a-i-l-l-i-m-h. Silly people, these Irish, if you ask me: pronouncing it one way and then writing it down completely wrong… ).

Galster: Is it a town or a city? How long has it been there?

V: Well, the quintencennial was in the ‘80s, so just a bit over 500 years old I suppose… It’s not that big, not that small, about 30.000 people live in the actual city itself I suppose. It’s a university town though, so there’s a lot of foreign students coming in, so there’s probably about 10.000 foreign students visiting here, during summer as well, and for their Erasmus thingy.

Galster: You do know who Erasmus was, right?

(Galster’s note: what follows is the most longwinded version of “no” I ever witnessed)

[5 second silence] *sighs* I do… another Erasmus who… I don’t know if you have got it in uh… in Holland as well… you heard of Udo Erasmus fish oil thingy?

Galster: Lol, what??! Please! Erasmus, he’s a

(Galster’s note, V interrupts in a futile attempt to save his skin)

V: No, I… every time I hear Erasmus that’s all I think about, ‘cause it’s like Omega 3 and Omega 6 fish oil that was HUGE over here for a while, and that’s what we had when we were young.

Galster: I’m weeping silently now… Erasmus was a famous humanist from a few ages back, he’s actually one of the most Dutch people.

V: Well, I was just explaining what I thought of when I heard the word Erasmus.

Galster: Next time you see a foreign student please think of a famous Dutchman instead of fish oil, for crying out loud…

(at this point V has had enough time to google the name and read up, and tries to still come away from this one as somewhat knowledgeable)

V: Is it Rotterdam he was from?

Galster: I believe so yes, because the university there is named after him.

(Galster quickly changes the subject now)

Galster: So how old are you? Have you always lived in Galway?

V: I am 23. Born and bred in Galway, I’ve been living in the actual city itself for the past couple of years. It’s a great place to live in, if you ever have the chance you should visit. It’s very cosmopolitan and with a very traditional music scene going on, lots music and boating festivals. It’s a nice compact city. Lots of pedestrianised streets, so there is no traffic and crap in the city. And once you go out of the city it’s a lot of green: grass as far as your eyes can see. So there’s nothing not to like about it really.

(at this point Galster and V take some time to pocket the money they received from the Galway Tourism Promotional Board. At this point also Anglachelm bursts into the Ventrilo channel and, after a well deserved admonishment from the Galster, he leaves again with his tail between his legs.)

Galster: So what are Irish people like anyway? The general cliché among foreign people is I guess that you are all very proud and nationalistic. Is that true?

V: Yeah, I suppose it would be. Especially if you play sports like football (Gaelic) and hurling. It’s kind of a nationalist thing and kind of instilled in you as well. But other than that I’d say we’re pretty friendly and laidback. Might drink a bit much from time to time, but we’ve had our hardships in the past 800 years so I think we deserve to kick back every once in a while.

Galster: So I guess when you mention hardships you are referring to problems with the British…

V: Yep.

Galster: I’m not sure if I should delve into this topic.. oh well go ahead, if you want to say something nasty about British people, this is your opportunity!

V: *Laughs*

No, no, no, I just want to give people an idea why we may indulge in a drink or two too much.

Galster: Well, even though I am obviously not an Irishman and do not know all the details of your history, I can somewhat understand how you become a nationalistic people after a long time of troubles and suffering occupations and all.

V: There’s a lot of people here who seem to understand, I know of someone here who loves our Gerry Adams and all but that’s certainly not the way to go about it.

Galster: Speaking about Irish difficulties, very recently you had some serious financial ones. Can you notice anything about that in everyday life?

V: Not really. There’s probably a drop in the amount of people going to university, I have noticed a drop there and it’s because our tuition fee and registration can become very expensive sometimes. Other than that I have not seen much difference, well, not visible difference anyway. People may have less steady jobs, but they still have money. It’s not as if everyone here is going all broke and being depressed about it. That said, we are probably one of the most pessimistic countries in the world, everyone is like: “Oh this is so harsh and this is the worst time in the world”, but nobody ever tries to grab the bull by the horns and change it. We have a new government and the Taoiseach (prime minister) was changed, but they used to blame the old guy and now they blame the new guy, it’s all the same.

Galster: And are you a pessimist?

V: I’m pretty optimistic, yeah. It’s not even that bad, if you really want a job, you will find one. But some people are just la-zy, lazy, lazy!

Galster: *Laughs* And you spend your time playing computer games, right? So you’re not lazy? :p

V: I have money and I’m in college, so therefor I’m allowed to!

Galster: One last Irish thing you need to explain to our dear readers: what’s good about that bloody Guinness thing anyway?

(Galster has heard it all before and therefore starts picking his nose a bit in utter boredom while the Irishman goes on his usual Guinnes-rant)

What’s good about Guinness? Have you not read the famous toucan posters that used to be around? They used to have a famous add campaign with a toucan that would balance the pint of Guinness on his beak and he would have little catch phrases like “Guinness is good for you” and “Guinness makes you strong”.

Galster: In Holland the toucan is actually the symbol of a very large, and very crappy, hotel and restaurant chain, so I don’t know what that says about Guinness…

V: Have you ever tasted Guinness?

Galster: No, I haven’t and I’m sure neither have most of our dear readers. Why hasn’t Guinness conquered the world yet?

V: Well people just think it’s gonna taste nasty, because it is black and has this white bit at the top. But I think if you taste it like Eruant recently did you will not drink anything else, it is just sooooo nice. It isn’t even black, it is ruby! In the glass it looks black, but that is some fault of the light, but the color of Guinness is deep ruby.

Galster: Well, Eruant is a notorious liar of course, so I guess more people in our kinship will have to drink it if we are to find out the truth.

V: Trust me, you gotta taste before you can judge it. There is a certain way to pour it, however…

Galster: Oh gods, the pouring thingy…

V: The famous two-part pour, it makes all the difference really. Please reserve judgment until you have actually tasted it.

Galster: How does the world look like in 20 years from now?

V: Jezus…

As long as Lotro has brought us to Mordor by then, I’ll be a happy person.

Galster: You’ve just shown us what a great thinker you are.

So what stuff are you doing in daily life to keep yourself busy, apart from playing Lotro?

V: Well, I’m studying archeology at the moment and doing a lot of practice for hurling, our national sport. I had a part-time job for a while. Just some factory crap, but that company closed down and everyone was let go. So now I just hang around with my friends, play a little Lotro and watch some telly.

Galster: If you are a jobless student now, how can you live and pay your bills?

V: We have a grant system here. Depending on the income of your parents and their relationship status you get money from the government. It’ll get you course materials and leaves money even for a couple of nights out. And Ireland really is not the expensive you know. You can go out, have a lot of drinks, food and a taxi home for like 25 euros.

What is cool about archeology?

V: If you’ve ever been to Ireland you would have noticed that there’s so many ring forts and old ruined Norman tower houses, monasteries, round towers… there’s so many things around this place. We used to drive past these things and I would think “Who built that? What’s the reason it is in that certain place?” I guess I have also wanted to do it but there were certain reservations. Will there be a job in it for me? I’ve come the realization though that I will never do anything unless I like it so I might as well do this because it is interesting and I find it quite cool.

Galster: Cool. I don’t think there’s that many people around who actually do what they love no matter how little cash it might get you. I know that in Holland archeology does not get you rich, how is it over there?

V: Yeah, there’s a real lack of funding from the government, that’s the main problem. Most of the jobs are in France and Switzerland, oddly enough. It’s probably just research and not much digging in Switzerland. In your third year of your studies you usually go to France, around Strassbourg I think.

Galster: In what year are you now?

V: Well, I first did Physics, but I got sick of it and I quit…

Galster: *In complete shock* You DID?! You?! You were smart enough for physics?? So you actually have a brain?

V: *Laughs* Surprisingly enough.

I hated it with a passion. I took a year off and came back for archeology. Physics was very tedious, really. It was lot of experiments, that wasn’t fun. Listen for an hour and half to some dude speak, spend 20 minutes doing the experiment, spend another 20 minutes writing it up, read it again. It was just tedium, tedium, tedium… The professors were really, really dry. Completely humorless, no humor whatsoever. When they were teaching us it was like they were literally memorizing the book and then spitting it all back at us. But the people in my course were pretty good fun.

With archeology, there’s a lot of mature students actually, a lot of them are 40+ years old. But everyone has long hair and comes in dirty, they never shave. Good fun!

Galster: Ok, hold on. I know that in archeology you come out dirty, but you come in dirty… ?

V: We’re all hippies at heart. Good folks.

Galster: Describe to the curious peeps in Vanimar: in what sort of place are you living at the moment?

V: During the college year I live in town. Not bad really, it’s the usual little student place. It’s got 3 bedrooms: one big room, a middle one and then there’s this small box-room that the unlucky person always gets. For what it is it is pretty good. I live there with my girlfriend and 2 other people who rend the other rooms. Before that I lived with 3 of my mates, 2 of them are in Eindhoven (Holland) now and I moved in with my girlfriend then. And it’s pretty clean too here even. Only dishes are a problem sometimes, but that’s about it. I’m not that messy myself. Living with at least one girl ensures the place gets sweapt a lot *laughs*.

Galster: In your case the girl is also your girlfriend and you are saying she doesn’t hate you yet for cleaning up your mess? Now that’s pretty amazing.

V: I’m not that messy a person. I wouldn’t leave a mess. I even sweep the floors sometimes!

Galster: Any way we can verify you are speaking the truth now?

V: No, no way at all.

Galster: Of course we also need to talk about computer games here. Are there any other games you’re playing these days apart from Lotro?

V: Sometimes Medieval II Total War, there’s a really well done Lord of the Rings mod that I play, The Third Age, really, really good stuff, and they are making the submod for First Age so that will come out some day hopefully. But most of my time goes into Lotro, I haven’t played anything else in a while. Especially with the expansion coming up I’m trying to grind for the gods forsaken shards and all that.

Galster: Have you ever played any other MMOs? Any ones better than Lotro?

V: This is my first MMO and this will probably be my last, unless I will try that SWTOR. But I don’t really like the cartoonish looks of it.

Galster: When and how did you get into Lotro?

V: I played it way back originally in the Shadows of Angmar days, but I never had a kin and never crafted so I had all the shite quest reward gear. I probably started playing late 2007 but then I took a huge break and started again after Moria came out. And then I had a Man warden who has been deleted since. Then I took another long break until last July. I had a loremaster and a champion and what not. I went to holidays in America and when I came back I applied to Vanimar. Been there since!

Galster: Why did you start Lotro? Were you always a big gamer or were you a big fantasy or a Tolkien fan or whatever?

V: I was a total Tolkien fanboy. I had read the books when I was young. After the movies had come out I read them again, and I read Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle Earth. There’s some really interesting stuff in there, especially in History of Middle Earth. I like the different drafts and different scenarios.

Galster: Are you a big reader? Anything else you like besides Tolkien?

V: I read quite a bit, I suppose. It has mostly been rereading Tolkien for the past while, I suppose. Can’t remember the last non-Tolkien book I read actually.

Galster: I always say that I liked to read a lot of fantasy when I was young and then after the movies I started rereading Tolkien and after that I couldn’t enjoy other fantasy anymore. Would you agree with me when I say that fantasy is like 99% crap and there is just one or two jewels (mainly Tolkien).

V: Yeah, I still haven’t read the Game of Thrones books yet and have meaning to do for a very long time now. Apparently they are quite good and I’ll see if my mindset changes, but for now it’s mostly Tolkien for me.

Galster: On to our glorious kinship now. What do you like about Vanimar? How did you join us anyway?

V: The first time I came across a Vanimar person was when I was on my old Champion in Fornost with a guy called Yngdir, don’t know if you remember that guy, a friend of Turuviel I think. He was talking about the kin and then I said: “Sounds like something fun” and joined up. It’s all about the blue chat for me though, the kinchat here is great! The reason I haven’t gotten any non-elf character to level 65 is because once I log to a character without Vanimar blue chat it’s not so much fun and it gets boring really fast.

Galster: Any things you don’t like about the kin? Go ahead, burn some people down!

V: More raids, more raids, more raids, more raids, more raids! I don’t think I would change much really, the way it is is pretty good. Maybe, maybe, cut down on recruiting a bit and try to get some people to mingle a bit more. There’s some people that never speak or join instances or join RP and log in and log out without saying a word. That’s irritating a bit. But otherwise things are excellent.

Galster: So you’d rather have me making fun of your accent than stay quiet all night?

V: Yes, 'cause at least you’re being sociable. Why join a kin if you’re going to be unsociable, it just doesn’t make sense.

Galster: Hey, this is the first time in my life I’ve been called sociable! That’s pretty awesome.

What’s cool about elves?

V: Their whole history really: just one disaster after another. It’s a great story from the start: betrayals, exile and all that kind of thing. Born in tragedy.

Galster: A bit like the pessimistic Irish?

V: *Laughs* A bit like the Irish, yeah.

Galster: And you both have long hair. What more do you want.

V: Exactly, I should dye it black.

Galster: So what do you think about RP and the Laurelin community? Do you prefer raiding to RP?

A mix of both. I can’t stand Hall of Fire at the moment. It’s the same conversation you have with the same people every week. The event in the Northdowns recently was a really nice change for once. And instead of all the kins bickering, for once they were helping each other out, which was nice to see because there is too much bashing going on. That shouldn’t be the way; everyone should suck it up and be involved with each other a little bit more.

Galster: What if I say that RP is overrated? Do you agree or disagree?

V: Sometimes it can be yeah, sometimes. But when it’s good and enjoyable it’s fine.

Galster: I sometimes get the impression people RP for RP’s sake and you should be RP’ing because you are on an RP server in an RP kinship and if you’re not RP’ing you’re not supposed to be here and blablabla. Or is that just me?

V: Well it’s a game and the mechanics of the game are grind, grind, grind for your skirmish and your marks and whatever… Some people I suppose feel they got to RP and it just goes stale after a while. But if you wanna RP, RP. If you don’t wanna RP go skirmish or go kill sick rabbits in the Fields of Fornost. Nobody is going to force you to RP and when you are forced it’s going to be the worst thing. So people shouldn’t be forced to do anything, even if you’re in an RP kinship. If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine.

Galster: So people, anonymous people, claim that you are good at playing your classes and getting the best out of them. Is that something that holds true for you in everything you do? Do you want to be the best at something you do?

V: *Laughs* Well, I believe there is no point in doing anything if you are not going to do it properly. If you’re going to do it half-arsed there is no point. If you are going to start something and are going to stick with it, do it properly, do it right and do it is as best you can. Anything else is letting yourself down really. Everybody has the potential and if they don’t use it, it’s just a sad waste. That goes for everything in life, not just doing some raids: if you are going to do something stick to it and do it properly.

Galster: Exactly, if you go to the toilet, you don’t only half-whipe your ass, right?

V: Exactly… I mean, come on: full whipe.

Galster: Despite the fact that you want to do things properly you also appear to be a pretty cool and laidback person. What can really make you mad then?

V: Ignorance drives me insane. Ignorance, grudges and petty bickering, really. Those little things.

(Galster’s note: we were at it for an hour at this point and with V-man almost having to go raid, some questions were skipped)

Galster: This is a short one: what is your favourite class in the game and why?

V: Definitely Warden because it is quite the challenge trying to keep the aggro with four hunters in a group. A really nice challenge.

Galster: Hey, that must explain why I never played a Warden: it is quite the challenge!

By the way, have you ever felt the urge to wear a dress or other female clothing? Would you ever do such a thing?

V: Have I… in the game, or… ? I have never felt the urge to wear a dress…

Galster: Never?

V: Well there was one time in the game where I possible had a dress on…

Galster: Possibly? So you possibly had a dress on?

V: *Laughs* Well there was one time I probably did I would say, yeah. In my defense though, I was rather drunk. It might have happened. I’m not saying it did happen, I’m not saying it didn’t happen.

Galster: Well ok, no problem, it might have happened, let’s leave it at that then… and you have no idea why I am asking this question, right?

V: *Laughs* I know exactly why…

Galster: Ok, now I'll give you a few choices, each time choose which one of the two you prefer or which is least bad or whatever. You just have to pick and shouldn't give any explanation about why you pick it.

Anglachelm or Anglarien? Anglarien
left or right? right
pizza or pasta? pasta
cats or dogs? Neither *laughs*
medieval archeology or stone age? stone age
holiday at the beach or holiday in New York City? NYC
a romantic night with your GF at the beach or drinking all night long with your buddies? Drinking all night with the buddies, even if she was hearing this it’d be the same answer…
punch the the Galster in the face or give him a big hug? Give him a big hug of course, I couldn’t punch the Galster
getting interviewed by Galster or using a pencil to puncture one of your eardrums? Interview wasn’t that bad… Jezus that’s a hard one. I can answer that after I read it.
Daerklings or gaerdians? I knew that was coming sometime… daerklings.

Galster: Any one of these choices you'd like to explain in more words?

V: I’m fine I think… But… are you going to show me this before putting in on the site, or are you putting it on the site and then I have to read it from there?

Galster: Probably the latter. Anything you’d like to add?

V: Jezus, I don’t know. Nothing much, it’s been a pleasure.

Galster: Are you religious by the way?

V: Am I religious? Jezus Christ, no. No way, no way, no way. Probably as far away from religious as you can get in a country like mine.

Galster: Final question: who should be the next person interviewed for the Vanimar community spotlight?

V: Mwahahaha…. I am probably going to have to pick… Veryacano. Surely. Even though he’s probably going to try to wriggle out of it while playing with his little tin micro-machines...

The Galster's Community Spotlight Interview - Part I

2011-07-19T20:39:05Z

The Galster's Community Spotlight Interview - Part I

Main character name: Anglachelm

Alts: Anglarien, Aranglachel, Galdoriel, Ancalasse and who knows how many more...

Role in Vanimar: Founder and current Tûr.

First name(s): Kenan Serkan

Birthdate: I should really ask him this.

Current occupation: awaiting redeployment.

Galster's Introduction: How can I describe this man in just a few words? When I joined Vanimar in March 2008, I had no idea who this person was, just someone from my first kin who had just joined Vanimar told me that this was such a nice kinship. So not long after that I swore oath in game to some guy from Turkey and a month after that or so I was already an officer in his kin and have been ever since, even taking his Turhsip mantle on me for a month or 6. It didn´t take me long however to notice everyone had an opinion on the big A. Some people loved, a few people seemed to hate him and most of those seemed to hate him without even having spoken to him for longer than 1 minute total. Speaking about making a bad first impression! Or speaking about random people on the internet having no idea what they are talking about but still wanting to vent their uninformed opinions about someone. The last thing I would do is call this man angel though: he can, from The Galster's point of view, be too strict, unbending and be a bad judge of character. He's irritated me more times than I can count, and trust me people, The Galster is very good at counting.Of course, he is also very, very ugly.

On the other hand I have to say he's a nice guy with a sense of humor, someone who can appreciate people being loyal to him and the kin, not entirely stupid, and he must be one of the most dedicated people to an online gaming community ever. The fact that he leads the only elven kinship on the Laurelin RP server that has had a stable leadership for almost 4 years now should speak for itself. If there is one thing The Galster hates, it has to be "word inflation": people using big words like "friends" before leaving the other day without ever bothering to look back (this really happens way too much in Galster's not so humble opinion). But if Galster had to name someone he'd call a friend after over 4 years of Lotro, he'd have to say His Royal Turness would fit in that otherwise rather empty category. So who else could The Galster have picked for the first ever Community Spotlight Interview than the one and only founder and current leader of Bar-en-Vanimar?

[Note: the following interview was conducted over MSN. A few, but certainly not all, grammar mistakes were fixed to make things slightly more readable. Even though we were busy for some 1,5-2 hours, and it took some 6 Micro$oft word pages in a small font, looking at the interview now it still seems rather short. Keep in mind therefore that this is also the pilot of a new experiment. Maybe in the future I need to find some way to do a verbal interview on our Ventrilo, at least if we can create recordings of what was being said. That should speed things up so more could be discussed. I certainly had a lot more things I wanted to ask!]

[Note 2: only Falron entered a question when I requested for you to send in a "reader" question for the interview. I did not include it this time because it was a question basically concerning only Falron's own character, so I would suggest he ask it to Angla himself.]

Galster: To start things, I first planned a different first question, but many people want to know this: are you actually a person? Or is Anglachelm a collection of Turkish nationalists that are secretely plotting to install the Queen of England as the new head of state in Turkey?

Anglachelm: hahaha [Galster takes this as a yes, folks. CIA will be watching from now on...]

Galster: Our already many loyal readers made me ask this.

Anglachelm: What they say is true, though I was fond of Queen Elizabeth it was sort of changed during my stay in belgium, now I am working for Queen Wilhelmina of the House Oranje, delaying pay checks suggest that she might be dead but I'm certain that she hasn't.

Galster: But are you actually one person? The number you get when typing /played really suggests otherwise...

Anglachelm: Haha that's concerning stuff really, Anglachelm has alone 7 months of online time, Anglarien my second most active char closing to 1.5-2 months and with all others included I probably spent a full year of my life online in lotro. Generally speaking 1/60 of a lifetime* went to something inexistent and virtual. But Tolkien should be blamed really about the numbers, not I. he created the better world. (* Note by The Galster: the poor sod didn't take into account the fact that played of 1 year means being online 1 year without sleeping, eating or doing anything else not game related. Let's just say a lot more than 1/60th of his life went into Lotro and Vanimar... you gotta love that dedication!)

Galster: Ok, for the next question picture yourself some poor sod who entered Vanimar not really knowing what to expect, and he or she has never heard of Anglachelm before.

What would you like to share with us about the person behind the character? Tell us anything you like to share about who you are and what you do IRL and what sort of things you have done in the past?

Anglachelm: Well the poor sod should be aware that vanimar is being ruled by someone, who was a poor sod once with lots of ideas and staunch faith and love for Tolkien literature. What or who am I would be a long talk and would be hardly objective since I do not place too much faith in autobiographers ( except their narrative power in the historical event) but I could share some bits. I look like a multi class d&d character slowly progressing but doomed not to master none of his proficiencies. I did everything I thought I loved, spent hell of a money for things that wouldn't return good money or benefits back to me, have a pilot license but I'm not allowed to carry passengers, I know a great deal about firearms and machines of warfare, can speak a number of languages but none of them are perfect, I have an uniform and insignia collection, read LOTS about european history and can talk about it for weeks, addicted to coca cola light, am a member of armed forces bla bla.

Galster: That's all very nice and all, but... Coca Cola LIGHT? Why would anyone drink that? You could have coffee, tea, a good glass of wine...

Anglachelm: If I were proud of it I wouldn't adress it as an addiction.

Galster: If you had to choose: a gun or a woman - which would it be?

Anglachelm: Depends on the gun really... Sarah palin on a tiger tank still sounds the finest image haha.

Galster: *changes topic quickly*

Tell us a bit about when and how you got into Lotro.

Anglachelm: Oh yes, I was having my finals for Faculty of Law and heard ''the geeks'' talking about a game, it was in march 2007. Then I realized it was a game about LOTR! Normally I'm selective about what I would play but I have been a Tolkien fan since 14 years now, I decided to play it right away. A bold decision since I had already wasted 5 years in UO just 2 yrs ago at that point. Until the finals are ended I limited myself with Silent Hunter III and since July 2007 I'm in this thing. First months I was simply amazed and I was generally alone until I formed vanimar in November.

Galster: How where those first months in game? Did you like it? Or was it inferior to other MMOs you played like UO? What was good about Lotro back then?

Anglachelm: Surveys often point that the finest moments in a MMORPG is the very first months. The feeling of exploration and adventure makes you bind to it, it was also my only and last self oriented playtime. In comparison I remember that I found the fake-tough guys around Bree interesting. In UO where playing the tough guy 99% ends up in a swift death by PKs I couldn't hastily recognize why these people were talking as condensed Chuck Norrises at lvl 14. It was simply inferior on the grounds of player versus player, and as a result extremely superior in the roleplaying environment. In UO roleplay never grew due to the constant feeling of insecurity. There was little time to stop and talk, I loved how rp stories could develop [in Lotro]. Back then also Lotro hosted the cream of the community. I remember the writers of Ardalambion and Tolkien Society were playing this game too. Considering their value to the lore (some actually studied more quenya than Tolkien mansion combined) it gave hints that how much the game was depending on the books instead of the movies.

Galster: You mentioned the high quality of the server in those early days. Has that changed at all in over 4 years time? For better or for worse?

Anglachelm: Well if I could only had todays Vanimar back in 2007... seriously the game was new. There were no established l33tism and no one could show you his shiny armor and martian longsword. There were no runekeepers and similar outrages. Lore consistency was much better, the best place you could go was Carn Dûm and it was damn challenging, no microtransactions, no Turbine points. I remember the server quality was higher playerwise. I often think that the real Tolkien fans (those who love Tolkien lore more than a gaming experience) came to the game back then to see what was going on and slowly retired. Just a bunch of them are left and they are hardly active anymore. The server could use their help another year.

Galster: So, for those who do not know, how did Vanimar come to be? What was the idea behind it and who started it?

Anglachelm: Well I was sworn not to waste another 5 years in front of a game after UO experience but at the same time I was enjoying lotro and the feeling of Middle-Earth beyond my wildest dreams. It was certain that I would be bored of all the chaos and should organize something. But I was sort of alone, then for the first in game friends appeared and with an unhealthy mix of my UO friends and them we formed Vanimar. There were attempts to form an RP kinship, but the negotiations of who's gonna lead or at what percentage a kin should be represented by what sort of race, it never ended... instead of waiting for them, I formed Vanimar, later on some of the negotiators followed me in too.

Galster: So who were some of those negotiators?

Anglachelm: Curuin, Aldalin, Siluial, Celebhir, Majno, Galvathalion and many others.

Galster: of these names, I believe Aldalin had the most prominant part in early days. What role did she take at first?

Anglachelm: Oh yes, she's my first in game friend so to say. I was lvl 31 when we met and she was 42. She was keen on leading the establishment but all the negotiations and empty talks made me form vanimar in a haste. She in response did not join vanimar for lets say a month, to see if the thing will work or not, later on noticing that we did progress she did, and I made her successor. From November to January Vanimar was not bad at all, we were equally hardworking and as she had a larger ring of friends we were not short of RP events and meetings either.

Then in February a major crisis broke out between my old ring of friends and hers and it became inevitable that a separation would follow. Their lot left vanimar, getting half of the numbers out and formed Reniolwaith. And a mass smearing campaign followed. I daresay, without Aldalin and her whisperings, Vanimar could be busy with its own way instead of making everyone believe that we do not bite people and enforce racism on anyone.

Galster: As someone who joined immediately aftert he split and stayed on for 3,5 years now, I can say it's certainly had an insanely large impact. Can you give a (very) short version of what happened there? Did the mix of "her" RP people and "your" old UO friends not work out well? Or was it more than that?

Anglachelm: Well the kin was very small to stand a disagreement like that, 6 people online was a major event back then. Aldalin started to command people and bid things to do, and my lot (Themodir, Anguirelm, Lothlarias, Daelith) was not that impressed about her skills. The spark came from Daelith (as usual) by a request which suggests the kinship theme would Be Noldor, which would leave Aldalin blank there and she aggressively refused, no one stepped back and Vanimar suffered a division, took a lot of time to recover, you know the events closely after.

Galster: Aye, I joined very shortly after that, an event which must still bring tears of joy to your eyes when thinking back. But it did feel as if the building process took some 1,5 years and those weren't always easy times as far as activity goes for instance.

Anglachelm: I am shedding tears brother (slicing onions under the table).

Galster: How is the kin nowadays you think as compared to how it was back then?

Anglachelm: 10 times more active, more organized, more experienced, expertly institutioned and looking nice now, it no longer seems like a national kin whether it be Turkey or UK. Back then it was like sailing in Atlantic on a walnut case, now Vanimar is the flagship in a way hehe.

Galster: What do you consider the highlight moment of nearly 4 years of Vanimar? And what was lowest of the low?

Anglachelm: Well there are many, the most organized times instance-wise were the months after Moria, we did all kin instancing and received an insane amount of armor pieces for kinsmen. Evidence can still be found in Vanimar forums. Also self sufficiency is something I like very much. being dependent only to the kinsmen forms a bond between you and your kinsmen, sadly the skirmish system killed this afterwards.

RP-wise there are more than many. It's hard to define single moment where vanimar RP was more highlighted than the rest, but annual Elven Balls received more and more guests everytime and the last one was particularly cool with all the dances.

Galster: How did the skirmish system kill things?

Anglachelm: Before the skirmish system, having armor pieces were not that easy, it was one of the prime reasons why people were forming kins beforehand. It was sort of permanent fellowships in a sense. For example back in 2008 the Annuminas system was formed just to get you [=Galster] a nice pair of pants. Then we thought since we can now do instances together why shouldn't we clad ourselves with armor too,

without me you had to wait for me since no one else were going to tank your sorry elf arses against dolvaethor. At the same time I had to wait for Eleanias since you couldn't heal me as good as she does.

Galster *shudders at the memories*

Anglachelm: Now in skirmish system this dependency is no longer. If I'm not online you can surely find someone to replace me, and this person no longer needs to be in the same kin as you. Globallff is full of them. However back in 2008 globallff was already known, was sort of a silent channel since everyone needed regular, permanent groups to achieve armor.

Galster: The bad thing is maybe not the system itself, but that it is exploitable: you need to head into Helegrod only 10 minutes to get 2 Helegrod tokens...

Anglachelm: Another reason is, the casual-hardcore gamer difference. The hardcore gamer had no other chance but to wait to get his armor pieces when casual player went to bed. Now he has lots of options to continue and Vanimar is not there to stop anyone, therefore kins are suffering.

Galster: Couldn't agree more on that. Anyway, you still need to mention to our Loyal Readers what according to you the lowest moment was in Vanimar history...

Anglachelm: When Aldalin and her lot left, Vanimar was on the brink of dissolving. It was a dark moment really. I had 3 active guys left and didn't know what to do, thanks to Aldalin all server had a point of view about Vanimar without even knowing us. The world became inhospitable for me and Vanimar in a day.

Galster: Ever thought of quitting Vanimar and/or Lotro?

Anglachelm: Never. I always have enjoyed being in here.

Galster: You think this game will last very long still? Or will SWTOR be the ultimate Lotro killer?

Anglachelm: Wwtor may be the ultimate wallet killer, but I'm immune to it. Only thing that would make me leave lotro is a Silmarillion/Beleriand Online. Also if it'd be announced today, the release would take 3 years.

Galster: You think Lotro will go on for a while?

Anglachelm: Yes of course, which other MMORPG could manage such a succesful transition from subs to microtransactions, they are here for years.

Galster: What do you like about Tolkien? Any other writers you like even better?

Anglachelm: My mother asked that numerous times before since I am forcing myself to read things and like them after Silmarillion. Well I guess I'm deeply addicted to the epics (if the best part of the LOTR you think is the Battle of Pelennor fields maybe you are too) and Tolkien can play with these emotions very well, he is the master of epics for me. To me, Middle-Earth is the most elegant definition of what a world should be. Evil is evil to the end, and you know who is good by his race and other fundemental basics. [Galster remark: waits for the lore l33ts to stumble over these words and come at Angla in assault mode] If you see an elf, you are 100% sure that he's good natured or at least serves the good cause. This simplicity is, I believe, as human beings what we seriously lack in our own world and these little details are keeping us addicted to the books and games.

Galster: Any other authors that come close for you?

Anglachelm: Stephen King with the Dark tower series, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett would be my pick on fantasy. Reading George Martin's Song of Fire and Ice stuff, which isn't bad. On history I can count till morning...

Galster: While there's a lot more to talk about (seriously, I have a LOT more questions to ask), I think we should leave that for maybe a 2nd interview. I'll close by posing 10 phenomena to you, and to each you have to respond with FIVE words max, sort of like an association game. And don't think too long on these, whatever comes up first, name it. Ready?

Anglachelm: Ok.

Galster: 1. HoF Wednesdays

Anglachelm: Dance!

Galster: 2. Favourite Tolkien character

Anglachelm: Finrod [Galster: now that is a surprise!]

Galster: 3. Anglarien

Anglachelm: Definition of an elven lady.

Galster: 4. Elven kinships

Anglachelm: Source of trouble.

Galster: 5. RP marriages

Anglachelm: top of the big NO NO list.

Galster: 6. George Lucas

Anglachelm: to the hell.

Galster: 7. Belgium

Anglachelm: Stella Artois *sniff*

Galster: 8. Turkey

Anglachelm: hot.

Galster: 9. Tolkien

Anglachelm: The God

Galster: 10. The Galster

Anglachelm: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophthalmologist <-- he should go see one. [Galster considered using his Powers of Censorship right there...]

Galster: It really IS time to close this one down.. Lastly, who you think should be the next subject of Galster's Community Spotlight Interview?

Anglachelm: Vorongwe, he'd produce nice fun! Sweat him with questions please.

Galster: That's all folks! Next time, I hope to present you the results of some sweating together with the V-Man himself, then!

Fan Art

2011-03-09T05:55:20Z

It seems the popularity of Tolkien Legendarium among the visual artists never goes down. Checking the Silmarillion fan groups in the Deviantart I noticed many new works have published, and of course would love to share these two brilliant pieces. As Vanimar we'd like to thank Liga Marta (http://liga-marta.deviantart.com/) for the awesome depictions of the figures and scenes of the Tolkien lore.

First one is strikingly beautiful, Tuor, carrying Earendil on his shoulder. They are fleeing Gondolin and Idril, daughter of the King casts one last smile to her beloved city, maybe to her father. How sad.

It should be hard to draw one of the most popular characters in the Middle-Earth and still get breathtaking results. Look how great looking she is.

A Rescue in the Mountains

2011-03-06T06:08:09Z

From Lady Isoldis' account :

"...The enemy was called Galdorion and the small group of friends were utterly baffled by the lady’s agreement to help him; she owed him nothing! In fact, she could have easily revelled in his misery and enjoyed his pathetic pleas for help that would have sated her daily craving to drive her heart to stone. Not hours before, he had been publically stripped of his privileges and fallen into disfavour among the various ranks of Bar en Vanimar after disobeying direct orders to stay in the valley, endangering the life of a comrade who had been on a reconnaissance mission into the Misty Mountains to boot. Apparently Galdorion had been on his own private mission to rescue his friend Rainith who had been reported missing inside the belly of the mountain, but somehow he had taken a wrong turn and ended up in the goblin infested caves instead. Galdorion was taken captive whilst the comrade managed to escape and raise the alarm back at Imladris. Vanimarians were immediately manoeuvred intoaction and a successful rescue achieved...."

A Ceremony of joy and reflection

2010-12-01T00:59:34Z

Recently the House of Vanimar asked Lady Turuviel and Lord Vorongwe to take up the mantle of being a Caun, to our mutual joy they both accepted.

Many congratulations to you both!

Death and Sorrow

2010-11-29T10:25:02Z

A recent RP event at Vanimar witnessed a tragic story..

Lady Turuviel has written a personal account..

The search for Galendil

2010-11-09T22:15:49Z

Recently we had a great RP event searching for and finding Lord Galendil..

A company from Vanimar and friends battled there way through dark hordes to where Galendil was being held in captivity.. sadly being found worse for the wear but still alive!

We were able to rescue our former Tur and ensure his future safe recovery.

3rd Annual Grand elven ball - a great success!

2010-11-09T14:30:18Z

The annual ball was a wonderful success, we were delighted to see so many friends, well known faces and guests!

It goes without saying that the success of the ball was in no small part to all of our guests and for that we are very grateful. A big thank you to all who attended!

Presenting the 3rd annual Great Elven Ball!

2010-09-28T08:03:18Z

Honourable Firstborn of Laurelin!

Shipwrights of Sindar, Brothers of Noldor, Remnants of Nandor! Avari and Quendi alike, hear ye!

Some of you might remember last year's Great Elven Ball (Presenting the 2nd annual Great Elven Ball!) and since this has been made an annual event last year, now we are proudly presenting the third!

Elves of Laurelin are cordially invited to the Great Elven Ball which will be held from 20:30 CET (19:30 UK) to late on the 25th of October 2010 (Monday), in the Vanimar kinship house. Come and enjoy the dancing party and music of excellent elven bards. Musicians will play traditional and popular dance songs all night. Wine and food for Vanimar's expense.

There will be a dress code:

* Ladies are required to attend with dress.
* Gentlemen(elves) are required to attend with Hauberk Uniform or Robes.
* Weapons are not allowed throughout the party.
* Couples are also welcome.

This is an elven party and non-elves may only join via the consent of the Lord Veryacano, Successor of the House.

Vanimar kinship house is at 5 Waterbank road, Lant Veren - Falathlorn homesteads.

Make sure to keep this evening free in your agendas!

V-Jam

2010-09-14T08:13:08Z

We were privileged to play host host to the very first V-Jam organized by our lovely Lady Angharat.

The evening was a great success and was very well received by all of whom were in attendance. We had many guests who came to listen and many well known and not so well known musicians who were brave enough to get up and play all of whom were excellent.

We also had the delight of an unexpected guest appearance from the lovely of Lady +FAYA+

The house of Vanimar would like to thank all of our guests for coming especially to all the musicians who played and a special thanks to those musicians who played in real time which was a rare and special treat for us all!