Editor's Note by Soarz
January has rushed by, but time does fly when your chilling waiting on the good ole patch. This week is going to be a bit smaller on the project side as not much did happen as we watched from the sidelines as Eriol, and the team dealt with all the conversions and derps. We have added a bit more news for you to enjoy and look over to compensate for the lack of projects. Now relax as the edition is about to start, grab a seat/chair, and a snack as we show you the wonders of the MCME Times.


Anorien - Lead: @Oberanio | In Progress
Report by Monster_Duck

Anorien is waiting for new textures before it can resume building. Till then, its artists are helping fix derps throughout Gondor.




Lond Daer – Lead: @Ivan1pl | In Progress
Report by Soarz

Throughout the past few months much planning has gone into Lond Daer waiting on the conversion. None the less planning has continued at a steady pace as you can see below. Also some byzantine concepts were made, which was stated in the prior edition. If you are interested in checking out some more screenshots, try out the Lond Daer style thread!




Moria – Lead: @barteldvn | In progress
Report by Monster_Duck

With the update to 1.14, builders have been busy fixing derps throughout Middle Earth. Due to this Moria has not seen much building in the last couple weeks.





Osgiliath – Lead: @ooitsbirdo | In progress
Report by Foolhardyfish

This week will be a bit scarce as not much has happened since last week. Some progress though is the finishing of all the road and alleyway vegetation, which is a major achievement!




Report by Toti

Coming back from vacation I struggled to get back into the flow of things. That and having to deal with some stuff outside MCME had me lose focus in the past couple of weeks but I’m slowly regaining it and preparing to continue where I left off. There are a couple of things like rearranging priorities after the not so expected update to MC version 1.14 and the recent public “cry for help” directed at texturing artists around the community that I had to take care of last week which unfortunately means that there are no teasing screenshots of new textures for this edition of the times. However I want to make sure that I’ll make up for it by next edition so keep an eye out for that .


Become a Donor
Keeping MCME running is not free, every month we have to pay $235 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

• Mershy_

#MCMEdoesnotrunitself

#NEWS
New Theme Build:
Rohan Villages, if our new theme build, for more information Check the link below.

Commoner Manual:
This is for those with that dark blue rank, this will show you all the commands and other trinkets you have at your disposal.

1.14:
Yup, that's right, 1.14 is done and almost all the conversions are done. I say almost because of the derps that are being fixed all over. But that isn't a problem as it shouldn't take long.

Screenshot Competition:
RVB_Legend put on a great competition to see who could capture MCME the best. With many substitutions it was no easy task, but in the end the winners were decided!

• For the category "Busy" the the winning Screenshot was "Tournament" made by Jonatanknalle
• For the category " Village" the winning Screenshot was "Bell Tower" made by Xmine01
• For the category "Tree" the winning Screenshots were a split between Barteldvn's "Late afternoon in Andrast" and Jonatanknalle's "Celebrant and Mallorn".

Busy by: Jonatanknalle


Bell Tower by: Xmine01


Late Afternoon in Andrast by: barteldvn


Celebrant and Mallorn by: Jonatanknalle


Report by JarNO_WAY


Gotay_Capricorn: With great regret I announce the resignation of Gotay_Capricorn from the guide rank. To focus on real life, he decided it was best to step up from his duty. His contributions to the guide rank were innumerable, and it’s sad to see him go. Good luck in life, and don’t be a stranger!
Resignation

Didi45: It’s never fun to see a member leave the server, especially one like Didi. From time to time these kinds of things happen, and time will move on. Didi is a great guy, and it’s sad to see him go. We hope to see you again in the future sometime!
Demotion






Text Example
Interview with @Sam_Of_Seagull

Question 1. What made you wanna become a Guide?
Because I wanted to do more on the server and I can’t build for crap.

Question 2. Who is your favorite player and why?
Eriol. All the work he does behind the scenes is incredible and I don’t think he gets enough recognition for what he does.

Question 3. What's your favorite place on MCME?
The Guide HQ. There’s so many hidden nooks and crannies. I just found a new one the other day.

Question 4. What's a piece of Lord of the Rings lore you are proud to know?
There is a type of insect called a Dumbledor.

Question 5. What is the best thing you’ve done on MCME you are really proud of?
My trial tour. Considering how little prep I had done and how much I was crapping myself beforehand, I think it went quite well

Question 6. What made you join MCME and why did you stay?
I joined MCME because the Keralis video popped up on my YouTube feed. I immediately closed Chrome and loaded up Minecraft to check it out. I stayed because of a tour Raffy gave of Belfalas the evening that I joined. Learning that MCME was a community and not just a building project really drew me in and helped to put me where I am today

Interviewer: wazowskithewhite





This week we have another round of amazing builds and Media posts. We only choose from the best every time, so hard work does pay off. Sometimes it can get competitive and that is what will win a place here. Please give a warm welcome to this Times, winners of this week.

MEDIA Winners:


Congratulations to Mithrilled for winnings this weeks competition! The release of Minas Morgul caused a storm of amazing screenshots, of which I unfortunately had to pick two. A wholehearted thank-you to all photographers!

(http://imgur.com/a/fvVcxvj)

THEME-BUILD Winners


For this edition I chose to select the best theme-builds of the windmill theme, not the mallorn theme, because there were more completed windmill plots. The completed builds show a lot of potential. Hereby I would like to remind aspiring artists that theme-builds are the number one way to practice or to prove building skills.

Congratulations to Dahl for winning the competition!

(http://imgur.com/a/TJswhuM)

Of Aman:
Aman, the blessed realm, is a continent to the far west of Arda across the great ocean Belegaer. It was the dwelling place of the Ainur, Valar and Maiar, as well as the eldar.

The continent of Aman had great oceans on both sides, Ekkaia to the west and Belegaer to the east. When the Valar chose this land for their dwelling they needed a defense against Melkor and thus upon Aman's eastern coast they raised the Pelóri, the highest mountains on earth, of which Taniquetil was the tallest of all. Behind the mountain wall was established the domain of Valinor.
Through the Pelóri was opened a pass, the Calacirya, which brought light to the narrow coastland of Eldamar and the island of Tol Eressëa. Also beyond the mountain wall were two more regions of Aman: Araman to the northeast and Avathar to the southeast. On the shores of Araman there was a land of mist called Oiomúrë, which Fingolfin and his host passed through during the flight of the Noldor, and Ungoliant had managed to escape notice in Avathar.
In the north Aman was separated from Middle-earth by the narrow straits of the Helcaraxë. These ice-filled straits served as a path for Melkor and later the host of the Noldor to return to Middle-earth.
Eru eventually set Aman and Tol Eressëa apart from the circles of the world, after the failed invasion by the Numenoreans on Aman. After this only those of elven kind, or travelling with elves in a few exceptions, could reach Aman.
It held many great and mighty locations, some of which were:

• Alqualondë chief city of the Teleri, was built by the Falmari (Teleri) when they came to Aman. Its lord was Olwë, brother of Elu Thingol. It was also the site of where the first Kinslaying occurred and the stealing of the Great Swan ships of the Teleri by Feanor.
• Formenos, was the stronghold of Fëanor and his sons in the north of Valinor, built after his banishment from Tirion. A great number of the Noldor, including their king Finwë, went with Fëanor into exile. Fëanor's treasury was in Formenos, and Melkor came to the stronghold searching for the Silmarils. Here he slew Finwë before stealing the jewels and escaping to Middle-earth.
• Halls of Mandos, were the dwellings of Námo, the Doomsman of the Valar; he was more often given the name Mandos from his own halls. Here all the disembodied spirits of the elves dwelled, and it was the staging ground for the spirits of men before they moved on to their own halls.
• Tirion upon Tuna, was the city of the Eldar in Eldamar. It was here that Ingwë and later Finwë ruled. When the city was built, it was occupied by both the Vanyar and the Noldor, and was ruled by Ingwë. When most of the Vanyar resettled to the base of Mount Taniquetil, the rule of Tirion was given to Finwë. Many years of bliss followed, until Tirion was shaken by the King's eldest son, Fëanor who was banished from Tirion, and was exiled (with many Noldor) to Formenos.
• Valmar, the heart of Valinor where most of the Valar and Maiar dwelt. The Two Trees of Valinor grew nearby on the mound of Ezellohar. It is said that the houses in Valmar had roofs of gold and their floors silver and their doors were of polished bronze; and that they were lifted with spells and their stones were bound with magic.
• Mount Taniquetil, the highest mountain of the world, which held the halls of Manwe and Varda.
• Lórien, is the home of Irmo and Estë. Due to his close association with the gardens, Irmo is more commonly referred to as Lórien. Lórien was the most beautiful place in Arda with silver willows, flowers, and lakes. One of those lakes was named Lórellin.

Aman also hosted 3 main regions:

• Valinor, was the place to which the Valar moved after Almaren was destroyed by Melkor. Valinor properly refers to the inhabited lands of the continent of Aman, home to the Valar and the three kindreds of Elves: the Vanyar, the Noldor, and some of the Teleri. Valmar is its central city. The island of Tol Eressëa was located just off the eastern shore.
• Araman, was the northern coastline of Aman, north of Valinor, that lay outside the mountain-fence of the Pelóri. It was deserted, mountainous and frozen because of its neighbouring with Helcaraxë which joined it with Beleriand.
• Avathar, was the land in the south-eastern part of Aman, south of Valinor. It formed a dark strip of land at the feet of the Pelóri Mountains. It seems to have been totally deserted and forgotten and in ancient times Ungoliant made her home there.
• Pelóri, were the mountain-fence of Aman. The highest peak of the Pelóri was Taniquetil, on which held the mansions of Manwë and Varda. They were raised to defend against the evils of Melkor after he destroyed their original dwelling-place at Almaren.

This Week's Question:
What balrog killed 2 high kings of the Noldor and who killed him in the end?

Bonus: And how was he killed?


[UCongrats to Smaug_Niphredil for the cheeky win /U]

Presented by: Arothir Alamáreo




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

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



Artist
Ahh yes. We all know the question. “How can I build?", As well as the responses “You can try a theme build” and “You can take part in jobs." The other answer is “Apply for Artist”, and the last option is by far the most exciting. Being able to build in your favourite places all the time. Sounds awesome. We can never have enough Artists, and with a wide range of current projects, there’s plenty for you to do!
Are you inspired to join MCME’s main build rank? You can apply for Artist/ today on the forums! The Managers, Designers and current Artists will work with you and help you on your journey.

Guide
Or perhaps, you’re not a builder. Well. That’s not a problem! Becoming A guide is obviously the better option anyway. As a Guide, you’re the forefront of MCME, and there’s no greater feeling than when someone says your tour was awesome. You don’t actually have to be a lore nerd either, you’ll pick up on lots really quickly.
When you join the Guides, you’ll be giving tours, running minigames and testing players in lore quizzes, or if you prefer less “on the spot” stuff, Guidebooks are obviously your zen, or helping to tell MCME about MCME by writing up articles in the times. You’ll also plan help plan events such as The Summer Events and The Anniversary Events. We hope you join us soon, because us Guides really would love some more of us. What’re you waiting for?
Just click Guide and apply today!