Through the Palantír

The Logjam

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 14:12:00 +0000

First off, Through the Palantir is still not dead.

You may recall how in my last episode I spoke of moving to a new hosting service so that getting backed up etc. would not happen again?

Oh Irony, you are cruel.

Liberated Syndication has proven to be unsatisfactory for the hosting requirements of this podcast. This led to frustration and coupled with other distractions led to me wandering away for a while.

But as I write this, I currently have episode 47 still waiting to be posted up and episodes 48-51 are all on my editing table in various states of post editing.

I could have, should have fixed this sooner. But I am going to clear this logjam. And when I do, there will be a lot of content to show for it.

Sorry for the missed months, and sadly I think we're all used to schedule slip here. But once again I'll just have to put the past in the past and strive to do better in the future.

-Ivan

Episode 46: Lost in the Deep

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 23:50:00 +0000

It's been a while and a lot has happened. But I am back once again, because the uncomfortable stillness just doesn't stick to Through the Palantir. This is not a standard episode, but it's hardly a standard podcast to begin with so we'll let it slide. I discuss Helm's Deep, where I have been, and more and kick off yet another round of this podcast in usual style. Hopefully you're all still interested in seeing things Through the Palantir.
-Ivaneus

You can download Episode 46 here.

Episode 45: Of Warleaders and ME-N

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 14:24:00 +0000

Another Episode has landed, Happy July of the Fourthing and Canada Day since this was in the final stage of editing when those holidays occurred. Anyway, the news is light this time around but we still manage to fill plenty with loads of Bloopers, Roundtable goodness where we try new things, and some news about the podcast proper. There's plenty to take in some clean the wax from your ears and pay good attention and hopefully you'll be of more use to Lugburz than just another building block for the corpse ramp to the top of Minas Tirith's wall.
-Ivaneus

You can download Episode 45 here.

Episode 44: Four Legs Good

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:09:00 +0000

On this episode of Through the Palantir: Wargs! Fur everywhere! It's a whole pack! They just keep coming from the shadows! Also, discussion of how Update 11 has turned out, what it has brought and what has excited and what fell flat, and then our glorious two and a half hour plus long roundtable with six wargs. Yes, six. So standby for wargy goodness in episode 44 of Through the Palantir.
-Ivan

You can download Episode 44 here.

Episode 43: You Have to Be Crazy To Play a Reaver

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Fri, 31 May 2013 10:05:00 +0000

One month late but finally here, it is the Reaver Roundtable. Thrill as old news is revealed and speculation is made on updates that have already come to pass! Be amazed as your host demonstrates his ability to ramble once again! Be enraptured by the power of exclamation points and imperative statements in the description! And finally, settle in for a massive breakdown on the sword swinging psychopaths we know and love called the Reavers.

You can download Episode 43 here.

Episode 42: It's All About the Slimes

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Despite Delays, Through the Palantir is back with another episode and another Roundtable. This time around we discuss Update 10.1 bring on a whole crew of Defilers to spread their spores and salves, and of course, talk about plenty more news so sit back for another episode of Through the Palantir.

You can download Episode 42 here.

Episode 41: Pick Up a Shield and Never Look Back

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:12:00 +0000

It is now open season on Roundtables here at Through the Palantir! Within this episode we have the Black Arrow Roundtable as well as a smorgasbord of Update 10 news, analysis, etc. and plenty more. To find out exactly how much we have you'll just have to take a listen. Enjoy the Black Arrows now that my dogged persistence has prevailed and the Episode is up. -Ivaneus

You can download episode 41 here.

Error: The BA Roundtable is Too Intense for the Internet to Take

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:40:00 +0000

Well I'm gonna keep this short and to the point. I've been spending the last two days trying, and failing, to upload Episode 41, which has the Black Arrow Roundtable. I don't know what's going wrong, but the upload just keeps failing. I've reinstalled my software, redone firewall access, checked the hosting service, the works. Right now I'm at a total loss as to what I can do to fix the problem. Sure I could switch hosting services, swap to a different uploading platform, and roll with that from now on . . . but I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

In the meantime, I'm getting on with recording and editing the rest of Episode 42, I have the Defiler Roundtable recorded and on the Editing table. I also need to get some Reavers corralled for the Reaver Roundtable (I've got three so far counting me) and there's plenty in Real Life to distract me (like trying to put out fires with my bare hands [not my best plan, but at least I have fast reactions . . . and I like to attack rather than run]), so here's something worthy to keep you busy while I sort out the technical difficulties going on behind the curtain . . . and kick that freeloader Oz out of my editing studio again.

Patrons of this humble blog, I give to you a charity of obscurity, one which you have doubtlessly heard nothing of before this august day, but which you will find hard to forget after today.

I give to you: Bunches of Blessings

In this world there are many needs. Some are more important, like food, water, air, dental floss, and low yield, handheld Electromagnetic Pulse Emitters to defend against attacks by nanobots both terrestrial or otherwise.

Some needs, are less important; such as ~~televisions~~*, literacy, trees, living squirrels, a self heating recliner with built in massager, or low yield, handheld Electromagnetic Pulse Emitters to defend against attacks by nanobots both terrestrial or otherwise.

Bunches of Blessings falls squarely within the "nebulous" "grey** area" between the two.

Potassium deficiency is a problem that some*** worry could become endemic if nothing is done to make sure it does not have the opportunity. Meanwhile, others*** have noted the unfairness of the world and how it has deprived some of the opportunity to experience one of the greatest fruits of labor we have to offer: The banana.

Bunches of Blessings is the result of the union of these two groups of people who have different, yet fortuitously parallel goals to make an impact on the world and leave it a better place. By providing bananas where there are few, or worse yet no bananas; BoB not only reaches out to less fortunate and gives them something that would otherwise have been cruelly withheld by fate and preemptively fights back against the potential potassium deficiency epidemic.

And the best part is that it's easy to help, and you don't have to worry about your money being misappropriated for a less worthy cause (like CEO salaries****) because BoB does not take monetary donations! All they ask for are your bananas. Give as much (or many if you count your contribution rather than weigh it) as you want and the workers and volunteers***** at BoB will take care of the rest.

Bunches of Blessings where your contribution really counts.

* The venerable and esteemed US Government requires that I not label televisions as less important for life as that would contradict their prior rulings that have allowed countless prisoners and other groups to acquire living essentials such as televisions.
**Gray area in the Eurozone.
***If you find any of these people please let me know, I'd love to meet some of them.
****Try looking up the salaries of the CEOs of UNICEF and United Way for a start.
*****Bunches of Blessings does not accept volunteered time as a way to contribute, only bananas. All volunteers are actually conscripted from the peoples who benefit from the relief efforts of Bunches of Blessings and they spend much of their time explaining how much better of their people are now that they have bananas to encourage more people to send bananas.
******Some adjectives added at the insistence of the venerable and esteemed US Government

Road Map for the Year

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:26:00 +0000

Hey everyone, Ivan here.

I've been experimenting with some things some of which I've asked for feedback on and some of which I've just been doing. I figured it was time to go ahead and lay out a post with some goals and such in it so that you guys will know what's coming, I'll have a schedule/timeline, and you can keep me on track etc. Most people/companies/armadas/etc. would do something like this in January, but this is TTP so it doesn't come until the end of Winter (aka February) or when the Anniversary Episode is out. Anyway let's dive in:

1. Creep Roundtables

It's that time again, The plan this time is to go in alphabetical order with one Roundtable an episode for the next three months. You can still send an email, leave a comment, send a PM or tell in-game to let me know if you want to be part of this. But keep in mind that once a Roundtable has been recorded that class is finished until next year. The Rough Schedule will be:

Blackarrows - Early March
Defilers - Late March
Reavers - Early April
Stalkers - Late April
Warleaders - Early May
Weavers - Late May

2. Blog Update

The Blog Update has two phases, both of which should be in effect at/by the start of March. The first is that I will go through our links, host pages, etc. and clean them up and get them up to date. The second phase is an expansion of activity for the Blog. This blog will finally see use as more than an Episode Archive. But rather than try for the CstM approach (aka a LOTRO blog) Through the Palantir as a blog will chronicle random gaming and other activity for your enjoyment (hopefully). I brought this up in Episode 39 and 40 and I have decided to go forward with it. Some Specifcs for the blog update are:

Create Browsing Categories to allow you to find what your looking for (Podcast Episodes, specific genre/game, etc.)
Update out of date links and pages
Beginning posting about more than just the podcast.
~~Get on Middle Earth Network~~ See if I get Emails about Middle Earth Network and respond accordingly.

3. Additional Roundtables

Currently I have some vaugue plans for one more roundtable this time around that (if I get it done) will be released, probably as a standalone, sometime in March. But if additional ideas/suggestions come in I would certainly be willing to look into getting more of these done. Planned Additional Roundtables:

Raid Leader (PvMP) Roundtable
Raid Leader (PvE) Roundtable(?)

4. Integrate! Integrate! Integrate!

As you probably know, I have a YouTube channel where I put videos of my Warleader (and sometimes other characters) in action, and I've picked up a decent following. What you probably don't know is that the podcast audience and the YouTube audience do not have a lot of crossover, and it's almost all in one direction: From the podcast, to YouTube with no one finding the podcast from YouTube. To help work on this, I will be taking steps to do more podcast plugging in my videos, but I also want to bring my video work to the blog since I'm expanding its scope. hopefully this will help increase traffic there as I start getting more content to come out.

5. Connect with the Listeners

I'll be honest, TTPalantir is pretty lousy about getting feedback from our listeners. We put the podcast out, I sometimes ask for feedback in the form of Emails, comments, etc. and that's pretty much the end of it. The onus is on the listener if they want to contribute some feedback and talk about the show at all. The real kicker is this: I get more feedback about the show in-game than anywhere else. This is a podcast about LOTRO, we should be metting people in LOTRO, getting feedback in LOTRO, and hosting some events in LOTRO! This year I will see work on addressing this oversight.

Create more ways to interact with the audience:

I would like to explore using the Games I Play platform to connect with more of the blog base especially once the blog gets properly diversified.
Look into other ways to allow people to "connect" via networking or other tools (X-Fire, Steam, ME-N, a VOIP server, etc.)

Have in-game events to meet with listeners, play the game, get to know each other, and talk about the podcast and game. *Roundtables will limit my ability to do this, so don't expect anything until June/July.
Episode 2 (where I introduced myself) is terribly out of date. I will look into creating a "Meet Your Host" video to rectify this.

6. Additional Goals

Finish writing character backstory.

This is a sideproject I started working on over a year ago. I finished writing a backstory for my LOTRO characters and got Matthrim to do an editorial look at it, took his suggestions, and then let dust gather on the text while I failed to correct the flaws he saw in it. This year I hope to get it finished, have him look at it again, and get the thing uploaded somewhere for you guys to find. Also, writing just about anything as a story is a good way to sharpen your communication skills and improve your WPM if you do it on a computer.

Get CstM on TV Tropes

Honestly, LOTRO is underrepresented on this wonderful little wiki, and CstM would be a great thing to add on to the site. It'll probably give them more traffic, but more importantly it'll distinguish LOTRO from the other MMOs on there which means more potential new players for us.

Do some collaborative work with LOTRO Reporter.

I have no idea what it'll be, or how I'll do it. But after listening to the Reporter Segment collab and the way the TTP hosts broke Chris in ~5 minutes. I think it may be time to appear on the show proper and show Sparthir, Layanore, Chris, and their whole audience who the kings of derailment are. I'll be sure to pack the manatees.

Lead Singing Raid in Ettenmoors.
Acquire waffles, plan downfall of an empire, or at least figure out how where I'm going to get the time to do all this stuff . . .

That's all for now, I'll try to keep this thing updated as the year goes on.

-Ivaneus

Episode 40: Through the Palantir Turns Three!

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:50:00 +0000

Welcome to our anniversary episode! To celebrate this occasion I have dragged Matthrim out of hiding and back in front of a microphone as we tackle a little bit of game news, discuss what we've done, TTP's past, present, and future; as well as plenty of other stuff. I must apologize for the poor audio quality from me, I sound like my mic is hooked up to a meat grinder and Matthrim didn't say a single word. So as in all things, blame Matthrim. Hopefully you'll still enjoy the show.

-Ivan

You can download episode 40 here.

Episode 39: We Have Emails!

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:15:00 +0000

Welcome to another Episode of Through the Palantir. But catastrophy has struck! There's no main topic, nothing under game news, and even Ivan eventually runs out of things to say about himself. All this will add up to a short episode unless the title has something to say about it. Welcome to another episode of this crazy podcast.
-Ivan

You can download Episode 39 here.

Episode 38: Happy New Year

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:35:00 +0000

The drought is over! With the holidays behind us Through the Palantir can get back on shcedule and so we present our first audio offering of 2013, recorded on New Year's Day for bonus points! Aside from Ivan talking about Ivan there is also dissection of Developer Diaries, update 9, and how to get better performance out of the game itself. But don't take our word for it, see for yourself!
-Ivan

You can download Episode 38 here.

Episode 37: Alternated, Repeating

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 02:46:00 +0000

Welcome to another Episode of Through the Palantir! This time we dive into Update 9 Preliminary (aka Bullroarer) release notes. Conclude the prediction I made last episode, wade through a ton of "stuff I've done," discuss the Fellowship and Warband maneuver systems, and read some letters that I found in our email box. It's a nice long episode so get comfortable for another trip, Through the Palantir.
-Ivan

You can download Episode 37 here.

Episode 36: Definitely Enlightening

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 14:22:00 +0000

Welcome back to another Episode of Through the Palantir! In this episode we discuss the first major patch to Rohan, how to Drive your Warsteed and not run into a tree, listener feedback and much, much more! Also, this episode only clocks in at a little over an hour so you won't need to warm up for a sitting marathon before tackling it. Enjoy!

You can download Episode 36 here.

Episode 35: Rise of Rohan

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Welcome, my Lords, to the exit from Isengard! In this episode of TTPalantir we finally tackle the launch of the newest expansion of LOTRO. With Release notes, patch notes, and 2 weeks to digest, experience, and play Rohan there is a plenty of discussion and dissection of what we have found awaiting us on the rolling plains of the Mark. Get ready for a ton of game news!
-Ivan

You can download Episode 35 here.

Episode 34: Workin' for Ondor

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:44:00 +0000

Welcome to another installment of Through the Palantir! In this episode we have special music, special topics, a special main topic, special announcements about special accomplishments made in-game by a special host, and a bunch of mundane game news. This is an episode that is sure to have you humming for weeks because of multiple (yes MULTIPLE) earworms that WILL get in your head, but it's all worth it so come on in and catch the tune, the news, and our distinct viewpoint from Through the Palantir!

You can download Episode 34 here.

Episode 33: Don't Panic

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:11:00 +0000

It's a light episode for Through the Palantir this time, with a blisteringly fast turnaround for our standards! In this Episode most of the discussion centers on the main topic: getting started with Groups and Instances as well as a discussion of proper behavior in PvP communities. But as always there's plenty more than just that but you'll have to listen for yourself to find out what it is. Welcome, to another episode of Through the Palantir!

You can download Episode 33 here.

Episode 32: When Raids Go Wrong

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 01:43:00 +0000

Welcome to another journey Through the Palantir. On this Episode Ivaneus talks about Ivan, to such lengths that it puts Drilorin's podcast about talking about himself to shame! Also there is discussion of how to handle things as a raid leader when the raid is having trouble, discussion of game news, and more that you'll just have to find out about for yourself. Welcome to Episode 32.
-Ivan

You can download Episode 32 here.

And here's the video I mentioned:

Episode 31: Absolutely Nothing

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 01:02:00 +0000

Welcome to another Episode of Through the Palantir. This time Ivaneus will Delve into the wonderful worlds of: Dev Diaries! Expansion Betas! Kinships! And Email! There's a lot to be heard so grab the podcast at all the usual places and enjoy.
-Ivaneus

You can download Episode 31 here.

Something has Awoken in the Dark . . .

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:43:00 +0000

What is this stirring?

Something that has slumbered has arisen and now reaches for the surface and sunlight.

That which has not seen the light of day rises to claim its place.

Episode 16 shall be completed.

The lost anniversary episode is coming!

Episode 30: Long and Rambling and Ranty

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:08:00 +0000

Join Ivaneus on an extended look into the plethora of Class specific Developer diaries that have been released in anticipation of Rohan. Also included is a whole lot of what has been going on lately and a main topic that will blow your mind. This is a shorter Episode from Through the Palantir, so enjoy it while it lasts.

You can download Episode 30 here.

Riders of Rohan Delayed

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:56:00 +0000

You've heard about it, I've heard about it, and unfortunately I recorded my next episode a few days before the announcement so I'm going to talk about my thoughts on the matter here on the Blog to get some form of more immediate response.

First the facts: The launch date has been moved from September the 5th to October the 15th, giving a total of 41 more days to wait for the launch of Rohan. To tide people over, Turbine is giving 500 Turbine Points and a bag of store goods to people who have pre-ordered Rohan.

Firstly I am fine with waiting. Turbine told us straight up that what happened was that the Beta uncovered some glaring defects and they have made the right call in announcing immediately that they have to take more time to fix the stuff in the Beta (after all, Betas are about catching and repairing these things so it's only right to actually do that). I'm not chomping at the bit waiting to get into Rohan, level to 85, level a horse, level new Lengendary Items, purchase more levels of Audacity, and generally do more grinding.

Having more time beforehand for Turbine to put out the Summer festival (and for players to enjoy it), for me to work on character advancement, finish instances and deeds, and get around to more of the things I want to get done at 75 suits me just fine.

Which leads into the second part, Turbine giving presents to those who pre-ordered Rohan, and no one else. Once again I must concur with their decision. The pre-order people have put money down and already declared that they are ready and eagerly waiting for Rohan. It is only right that they be given something to atone for missing the self-imposed deadline Turbine had set. Those who have not pre-ordered (myself included) have already shown that they are not in a great rush to get to the new zone. We don't need to be placated for having to show a little patience, because we aren't in a rush to start with!

Overall I believe that Turbine has handled everything correctly and that this entire incident will transpire and progress smoothly, with minimal stress and headaches.

Sincerely,
Ivaneus of Through the Palantir

Episode 29: Fat Orcs are Best

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:13:00 +0000

And so are fat podcasts! This one clocks in at just a bit over 3:40:00 so get ready for a chunky episode that's full of news, analysis, Reavers, and squishy water! It's the Reaver Roundtable and our guests are large and in-charge of the madness (and therefore, also responsible for it). Also up is a look at the Riders of Rohan Dev Diaries including a massive one about changes to the Ettenmoors. Enjoy it all on this episode of Through the Palantir.
-Ivan

You can download this episode here.

And check out a blog post from one of guests that was inspired by the Roundtable here.

Episode 28: That's Already Eight Strikes Against It

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 12:40:00 +0000

Welcome, to the Warg Roundtable! After delays of epic proportions it has finally arrived! Enclosed within this episode lies: An explanation for its tardiness, Update 7 Dev Diary and Updat analysis, What I have done and where I have been, and Wargs wargs wargs! Also, be sure to check out the blooper reel for all ~24 minutes of its goodness.
-Ivaneus

You can download Episode 28 here.

Episode 27: The Defiler's Wrath

ThroughthePalantir@gmail.com (Drilorin, Matthrim, and Ivaneus of Landroval) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:16:00 +0000

Join Ivaneus on this Episode as he sifts through his adventures in LOTRO, the game news, lag, and a lengthy interview with some returning guests to provide some insight into LOTRO. In this episode we cover the Weaver class, Update 6.1, and more so get ready for some meaty dialogue and one absolutely tremendous blooper reel on this Episode of Through the Palantir!

You can download Episode 27 here.