The Winter Events are back and we have got loads of fun filled events for you this year. “I’m going to update the snowball fight plugin for winter events,” said Eriol. This means that we will be able to have snowball fights on the server. For the full schedule leading up to Christmas Day, please check this thread: ~MCME Winter Events 2017~




Why hello again my MCMEnites! Say congrats to your fellow promotees! Looks like there’s only one promotion this week, which means you need to be extra congratulatory!

Mapthor: Another guide!?!?!?! That’s right, your (second) favorite Commoner has ascended into the ranks of the guide-hood! After an exceptional trial tour from Bree to Weathertop, give a big high-five to Map as he takes on the new responsibilities of being a guide!


In these new editions, we are going to introduce an interview section. The member interviewed has to be commoner+ and will be chosen “randomly.” We hope you glean some inspiration from these and maybe even get to know some of your fellow members better!


Artist: @RubenPieterMark

Question 1: How did you find MCME?

If I recall correctly, it was Mattlego's videos from MCME back in February 2016. He's done about 25 videos where he shows what life's like as an artist on MCME. It was so appealing that I reinstalled minecraft, just for MCME.


Question 2: What was your experience like as an Adventurer?

I was a droog for quite a long time, because I struggled for quite some time with my artist app (so don't give up aspiring artists!); I think I was droog for four months. I remember well, the digging jobs and road jobs in Anfalas, those were the times... My English was very broken and I was quite the droog in the dark, and had questions about everything.


Question 3: What made you want to become an artist?

I remember that there was a very specific thing that made me want to become artist: the castle in Fennas Drúnin. As a droog, I did quite a lot of jobs there, but those wool outlines seemed to call me. Thomas (in lead of the town) told me only artists were allowed to work there. So, my goal was clear: apply for artist. Luckily my application was accepted in the same week as labor on the castle started.


Question 4: What is your favorite thing about being an artist?

I can cage guides and fill WIP interiors with barriers, that's pretty fun.


Question 5: Where is your favorite place on MCME?

Hmm, a tough one. Maybe Edoras, or that hippodrome east of House of Tarannon. I think I'll go with Minas Aduial.


Question 6: Who is your favorite character in LOTR or the Hobbit?

Dude these questions are too hard. I'll go with a lesser known character; Farmer Maggot. He appears briefly in the movies; he's the guy with the scythe when Frodo and Sam meet Merry and Pippin. In the books he's more friendly; at first he seems very angry, but when he recognizes Pippin, he's very helpful. Frodo had some bad childhood memories of his dogs. However, in the end, Farmer Maggot is very friendly and he sets the hobbits off to Bucklebury Ferry. He even gives Frodo some mushrooms. His character is quite relatable with some of my neighbors I guess.

Special thanks to Pieter for giving a great interview! Look out for other community members in later editions of The Times!


Congratulations to these two. They did a great job and I hope you wish them best and vote for commoner if they are not already.

MEDIA OF THE WEEK:
This week’s Media of the Week goes to @Fraspace5!!!! Put your hands together for this breathtaking image of a beautiful Gondorion town and countryside!

This screenshot beautiful captures all aspects that make Gondor such a visitable place! It includes the old tiered stoned buildings as well as the quaint woody meadows and rivers that cover most of Gondor! REMINDER: If you want a chance to win Media of the Week, simply upload your screenshots into Media on www.mcmiddleearth.com

THEME-BUILD OF THE WEEK:

This weeks Theme-Build of the Week goes to our the same great commoner, @Darktemplier66! Give him another round of applause for his beautiful recreation of the Dome of Stars!


Even though not complete, it strikes as a very detailed and excellently designed temple. Check it out and be sure to always design the best theme build you can for a chance to win Theme-Build of the Week!

MineCraft Update
If you haven’t seen this already, here is Finrod’s summary of the supposed updates coming out soon:

“Snapshot 17w47b: So, I fired up a debug world, displaying all possible blockstates, and compared it with the debug world of 1.12.2 and found some interesting things most youtube videos did not cover:

- It may now be possible to get the snowed Grass, snowed Dirt, snowed Coarse Dirt and snowed Podzol block without actual snow on top.
- The NOTEBLOCK now uses blockstates instead of NBT data. The noteblock now has 3 tags: note = [0 .. 24], instrument = {harp, base drum, snare, hat, bass, flute, bell, guitar, chime, xylophone}, powered = {true, false}, this yields 25 * 10 * 2 = 500, or 499 additional full blocks.
- Half beds for all bed types should now be accessible
- It may now be possible to get stable corner stairs without any other stairs connecting to them.
- 5 new pairs of slabs and 5 new sets of buttons and most importantly 5 complete new sets of trapdoors
- MUSHROOM_BLOCKS: The tags have been changed. Now there are three blocks, red_mushroom_block, brown_mushroom_block and mushroom_stem. Each of them has 6 true/false tags which yields a total of 3 * (2^6) = 192, or 166 new full blocks.
- Mob heads (Skeleton, Wither skeleton, zombie, steve, creeper, dragon) now each have an own ID, but it may not change anything for us.”


Tours with Eldar_Telcontar
Remember to join @Eldar_Telcontar on Monday 18th December, 8pm UTC for a Tour of the Redhorn Pass. He will be crossing from Eregion to the Dimrill Dale and discussing the lore along the way!

Themed Build
Theme: Cottage of Lost Play
Resource Pack: Gondor
Duration: 1 week


MCME Audiobook
The Audiobook, hosted by @TI_020601 is taking place regularly on Saturday evenings, 8:20pm GMT, unless announced otherwise in this thread: The New Audio Book


Aragon II

Character in the Lord of the Rings
Aragorn II, 16th Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North, later crowned King Elessar Telcontar (1 March 2931 - FO 120), the 26th King of Arnor, 34th King of Gondor and First High King of the Reunited Kingdom, was the son of Arathorn (who was the son of Arador of the Dúnedain), and Gilraen. He was a great warrior, and bore the Shards of Narsil, reforged into Anduril, the Flame of the West. He was the Chieftain of the Dúnadan, the few remaining men of Númenor in Middle-earth, and was the eventual King of Gondor.

After Gandalf discovered the location of the One Ring, Aragorn became a member of the Fellowship of the Ring, whose aim was to destroy the One Ring and rid Middle-earth of the looming threat of Sauron.


Sting

Weapon of Bilbo and Frodo
Sting was an Elven shortsword made in Gondolin during the First Age. After wielding it during the Quest for Erebor, Bilbo Baggins had it engraved with the Sindarin text, Maegnas aen estar nin dagnir in yngyl im. Translated into English, it reads, "Sting is my name; I am the spider's bane." The Appendix of The Silmarillion defines the element maeg in Sindarin as meaning "sharp" or "piercing". During the Third Age, it was wielded by Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, and Samwise Gamgee. If you /warp Trollshaws, you can find the cave where Sting was found yourself! You just have to explore...

Artist
Why did you start playing Minecraft in the first place? Was it to build? Yes?! Well then, we might just have an offer for you! The Artist rank is the backbone of the community. They are able to build in the main map of MCME. They do many jobs and projects and they get to leave their print in the main map. You are probably wondering… how do I get this position. Well in brief: you have to be commoner, you have to submit an application on the forums and you have to be a good builder who knows our style.

A Word from BWOT (Designer): I thought I was a good builder before I came to MCME. However I have never been so wrong. MCME has taught me so many new skills. Being an artist was one of the best experiences I had. It's the position where you really learn most and where you get the most experience.

Want to leave your mark on MCME in a blocky way? Apply for artist on the forums today!

If you have any questions about becoming and being an Artist, then please ask any designer, we are 50% of the time willing to listen to you , and any current Artist.

Guide
Are you looking for a rank where you don’t have to be good at building? Do you love the lore of Middle-earth? Yes?! Then it sounds like Guide is the rank for YOU! The Guide rank is responsible for helping new players, running tours, games, and organising events. What’s in it for you? Not only are you privileged with being apart of the most important group on the server, you hone your communication and organisational skills daily!

A Word from Smaug (Enforcer): When I was first promoted to a Guide, I didn't always feel confident talking to people, but now I have worked with many people from around the world and I feel much more confident with communicating!

Want to leave your mark on MCME in a unique way? Apply for guide on the forums today!

If you have any questions about becoming and being a Guide, then please ask the Head Guide @mandolore100 or any current Guides.

And so concludes another edition of The Times! Hope it was as enjoyable (if not more) than the last! A few things before we wrap up.

A closing thought for this edition: The community of MCME is what makes MCME work. The less involved our community is, the less happens and the slower things progress. Make an effort to join those jobs or post on the forums! We have something great here on MCME! Keep it going!!!

And with that, I’d like to end with our biweekly Tolkien quote!