~ The MCME Times ~ [05/30/2021]

Voice Chat Shenanigans!
I’ve used over 100 gigs on Discord this month -Map

Editor's Note by Mapthor
G’day mates, welcome back to the MCME Times! Gonna be honest with you all here, I’m not entirely sure what’s been going on the past two weeks. I’ve been off MCME playing other games so I haven’t been paying too much attention. Regardless, that won’t stop me from reading #news and recapping what happened! First off, we lost our good friend Mithrilled from the Mod Team. It’s a shame to see you go, I’ll miss you buddy . Next up, Q failed to give the server hard drive some steroids so the update got pushed back to early June. And lastly, a new theme build! All in all, it’s been pretty slow, hopefully it’ll speed up soon. Until then, all we can do is sit in voice chat and watch Effie play Hollow Knight.

Happy Sailing,
Mapthor

~ Project Progress ~ ​

Anorien - Lead: @draonic_slayer | In Progress
Report by draonic_slayer

Over the past weeks, the houses that had been laid out previous in the Pelennor Fields have been built on, with several new houses popping up across section 3 and 4, with the small village near the entrance of Minas Tirith coming together nicely. In section 2, Thamso's forest concept has been pasted in and with some slight adjustments can be used for the rest of the forest in the northern section of the Pelennor. For the main part of Anorien, LeBruhGandalf has been working on creating a few more concepts for some possible tombs near Dol Caranthan, these are looking really nice and hopefully will be implemented soon. Additionally the cliff and hill colouring concept has been finalised, so jobs and plots should be soon to come to help spruce up the cliff sides with some erosion, Strata lines and Talus lines.

Lond Daer – Lead: @mattlego | In Progress
Report by mattlego

The city is progressing quite nicely. All that needs to be done in the outer city is a few more warehouses and just some little tweaks here and there. Planning on the inner city should be able to begin relatively soon.

Moria – Lead: @barteldvn | In Progress
Report by Mershy

Not too much these past couple weeks in the realms of Moria. Duke has done some fixes to the pack whilst bart has been painting stones for awhile for some new block palettes. Daom has also found grey not only in his halls but in his hair as well. Finally Badger pushes the Movie Cave ever so closer to the finish line. She doesn't know it yet but we plan to trap her in the Great Mines!

~ General Announcements ~ ​

Become a Donor
Keeping MCME running is not free, every month we have to pay $265 to keep up all our work. Donations help us keep doing what we love and providing you with amazing builds to look at. Donations are not required but greatly accepted, if you want to help us in our feat of rebuilding Middle Earth in Minecraft you can donate here.
Viewing Donation Drive: Community Costs
Our Donors

• aVeryAngryBadger
• Crownjewel30

#MCMEdoesnotrunitself

~ Rank Updates ~
Report by givet10 and Shen​

xXThe12thXx: We have a returning Artist this fortnight with The12th, congrats and welcome back! Hopefully you can show your building skills again and help the progress of the current projects.
Promotion

Rudolphius: There is another new promoted Artist by the name of Rudolphius, after all his great builds and progress he has made on his application, the Builders decided to promote him. Good luck Dutchman in your new purple rank, and congratulations!
Promotion

aVeryAngryBadger: Can you believe it? We have a new Staff member! This time Badger got promoted to Designer, she will be leading projects now and still put her great builds on the map. Hopefully we won't have too many flying badgers in the sky or in Moria, congrats Badger!
Promotion

Mediodox: I have to make way too many rank updates for this fortnight, but our newest promoted Artist is now Mediodox, he has been working on his application for months and he finally got the rank now. He can now focus on putting his amazing builds on the main map. Congratulations Medio and welcome to the team!
Promotion

M Mithrilled: Unfortunately we do have a resignation this fortnight, and it isn't an easy one to let go, our good friend Mithrilled is no longer an Artist or Moderator. Be sure to thank him for everything he's done in making the server a better place, for both the build and community.
Resignation

~ Interviews ~​

Interview with @maski98

Question 1. What is your hair routine?
Washing it and brushing it once a week (or a bit more) with conditioner because my hair is curly. Sometimes if it is more dry I can put some oils in the roots. I have to find something for my ends though because they are very dry, as usual with long curly hair.

Question 2. Does the number 98 have a deeper meaning?
Mmm not really. My 6 years old brain thought that 98 will be easy to remember and it was correct.

Question 3. Why should people come to Bulgaria?
Cheap and amazing food. Great mountains and nature.

Question 4. Favourite hobbit and why?
Hm. Both Sam and Frodo. Sam because he helped Frodo a lot lot. Frodo because he feels real. All that struggle....

Question 5. If you could be anything in the world, who would it be and why?
A farmer. Why? Because a simple life is a great life!

Question 6. You have three wishes... go (don't do the oooo I wish for 3 more wishes)
Hm. 3 wishes you say- to have a big land far away from people, but not too far if I need something; have enough money for the rest of my life; and people that I know to start fixing their problems.

Question 7. Is Pluto a planet? State your reasoning, 6 marks.
It is too small and hasn't cleaned his space junk if I remember correctly. Otherwise it is probably more valuable than a lot of planets.

Question 8. Any Advice to wanna-be Artists or Foremen/women?
Be nice and be ready to improve and the rest will come together.

Question 9. If you could live anywhere on MCME, where would it be and why?
Shire. Already stated why.

Question 10. Say something inspiring?
I am not an inspiring person. But if you want to do something, do it. If you can't, do it in very small steps, but starting it will be the hardest part. So if you make the first step, next day make one more, and just try not stopping for too long.

Interviewer: Yes, we are back with the interviews! If you have some questions you would like to ask… (not because I have ran out or anything) make sure to put them in the comments below or DM me. Your fav - Archimdes

~ Winners of “The Week” ~ ​

I've found that few hobbies on MCME are as refreshing as screenshotting. It's always neat to try new shaders, new settings, different locations, atmospheric conditions, editing techniques, etc. With Voyager 2.0 finally released for Nvidia GPUs and an update coming soon allowing AMD users to use it as well, not to mention all the cool shaders we all have access to nowadays, it is a very exciting time to be a screenshotter. And with competition less than fierce atm, now's a great time to go for the Media Winner position. So why don'tcha get out there and take some screenshots!

MEDIA Winners:

Spoiler: Media Album

Honorable Mention: This pretty little home was captured in a screenshot by Itai, presumably using Kappa shaders. The tree on the right stands out too much for my liking, distracting from the focus, but other than that, this is a pleasant little shot.

Honorable Mention: Once again, Bohemian_Beetle has shown us he is the king of these simplistic "blimp-cam" shots. Lovely composition and lighting, as per usual.

Honorable Mention: Strange how something so simple can come off looking so nice. Only complaint I have is that this isn't 16:9 but instead a little taller than that. Shot by HyprNinja.

Honorable Mention: Just to be clear, the lighting in this shot is extremely weird and I can't seem to wrap my head around it. That said, it somehow manages to look epic. So... well done to Xmine, lol

Honorable Mention: A nice angle for Cair Andros was used here, one I'm not familiar with. I like the toning and lighting used here as well, but I wish I could see more trees in the back, particularly on the left side of the shot. Shot by HyprNinja.

Honorable Mention: Chocapic V9's overall tone works very well with MCME's textures and builds, and our screenshotters know it. Not much to say about this other than it's a bit of a shame the focus is covered partially by trees. Shot by Bohemian_Beetle.

Media Winner: This shot has very nice composition, but what really makes it a winner in my book is the way the global illumination of Chocapic V9 affects the lighting inside the Colosseum. It comes off looking very smooth, especially with the slight hint of orange from the tops of the archways. Congrats to Givet!

Media Winner: That's right, two Media Winners! We have a tie! I reckon Itai knows how to get just the right sort of angle for just about any sort of build. The composition is excellent, as is the lighting, which comes off looking very clean. Couldn't pick between this one and Givet's so I just picked both. Congrats as well to you, Itai!

THEME-BUILD Winners
One theme filled with amazing builds.... and one with only few.....Sad to see but it happens. Hope I see even more with the upcoming "Great Eagles" and "Ents" organic themes!

~ Lore of the Week ~ ​

Of Ents

Known to the Elves as the Onodrim, the Ents are the Shepherds of the Trees created at the request of Yavanna to defend the forests of Middle-earth from all creatures that would do them harm.

In the Elder Days of Arda, even before the Awakening of the Elves, the Valar laboured long and hard in the shaping of the world. Yavanna, whom the Elves also call Cementári “Earth-Queen”, was the Valië responsible for all living things in nature: the celvar - beasts and animals of all shapes and forms; and the olvar - trees and plants and all growing things with roots in the earth. Her husband Aulë, however, was the Smith of the Valar, and he was mostly concerned with the creation of new things. It is told that one day, a while before the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar, Aulë became impatient in awaiting them and sought to fulfil his desire for learners to whom he could teach his lore and his crafts; and thus it came to pass that Aulë created the race of the Dwarves, who would later be adopted by Ilúvatar, but only given life after the coming of the Elves.

Yavanna was deeply concerned with her husband’s creation, fearing that the Dwarves would only do harm to Yavanna’s own creations. And so she came before Manwë, King of Arda, and raised her concerns before him:

“Because my heart is anxious, thinking of the days to come. All my works are dear to me. Is it not enough that Melkor should have marred so many? Shall nothing that I have devised be free from the dominion of others?”
(The Silmarillion, “Of Aulë and Yavanna”)

As Manwë asked her which of her creations she holds dearest, Yavanna replied that all have their worth, but whereas the celvar can flee or defend themselves, the olvar are defenceless; and amongst the olvar the trees are dearest to Yavanna’s heart, for they are “long in the growing, swift shall they be in the felling, and unless they pay toll with fruit upon bough little mourned in their passing.” Manwë then sought the counsel of Eru Ilúvatar, and he was reassured - for Eru indeed intended to give life to the wishes of Yavanna: upon the coming of the Elves, the thought of Yavanna will awake also and summon spirits to dwell within some of the olvar, and they will come to defend Yavanna’s forests

And thus the race of the Ents came to be: old and fearsome, they roamed the forests of Middle-earth since before the making of the Sun. The Ents were a patient folk, never caring much for haste. Their language was slow, sonorous and rumbling, and very thoughtful: it takes a very long time to say anything in Old Entish, and when giving a name to a creature, or a place, or to anything really - the Ents would describe it in full, like a story which unfolds and evolves over time.

“‘Hm, but you are hasty folk, I see,’ said Treebeard. ‘[…] I’ll call you Merry and Pippin, if you please – nice names. For I am not going to tell you my name, not yet at any rate.’ A queer half-knowing, half-humorous look came with a green flicker into his eyes. ‘For one thing it would take a long while: my name is growing all the time, and I’ve lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to.’”
(The Two Towers, “Treebeard”)

~ Question of the Week ~ ​

This Week's Question:
Did the Ents ever participate in any of the conflicts of the First Age?

Spoiler: Last Week's Question

Question:
What was the name of Oromë's horse?

Correct Answer:
The name of Oromë's horse was Nahar.

Last time Melkor_Belegurth answered the question correctly.

Presented by: HoverKing

~ More Media ~ ​

You know us, we love sharing our progress and Twitter is the perfect place. Give us a good follow and always have something to look forward to on your daily scroll. Just to spice it up, comment your favorite parts of our builds at MinecraftMiddleEarth (@MCMiddleEarth) | Twitter. You won't be disappointed!

Sometimes you just want to enjoy some quality pictures, we got you covered. Head on over to our Facebook account, try following us there too Minecraft Middle-Earth

It doesn't matter if you just woke up or after a busy day at work; scrolling through Instagram and seeing a cool project you have worked on, or just amazing graphics from your favorite server on your favorite game- MCME's Instagram is the right place to be. Check it out at mcmiddleearth on Instagram, or this perfectly good link to take you straight there.

But of course, the most important and obviously most used social network is of course Planet Minecraft! Be sure to give us a diamond there. It costs nothing! Minecraft Middle Earth Minecraft Server

~ Closing Statement ~ ​

Like mapthor, I don't really have much to say either lol. I gave my regards to Mithrilled in the Rank Updates, and the Times Team covered just about everything else. I guess, since June is about to begin, hopefully you're all either finished with or finishing up your exams or work, and you all did well. Just remember- summer is where the fun begins.

Thanks and hope you enjoyed,
Shen

Excellent work, Times Team!


Quote by J.R.R. Tolkien
“When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold, Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold; When woodland halls are green and cool, and wind is in the West, Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is best!”

The Official MCME Times
mcmiddleearth.com​

 

The Ents have participated in events during the 1st age, specifically helping Beren and the Elves of Osiriand against the Dwarven army that attacked Doriath and stole the Silmaril.