I'm sorry Derek, but I respectfully disagree. Having Lesser Rings would "point us towards the events of the text"? And what's wrong with that? How about all the Eagles and Ents we've had in the cycles and not in the sagas, the only time when those factions did anything? Those guys did nothing and stood back during the 17 year gap and yet we can still bring Treebeard to fight at the Fords of Isen or Gwaihir to the Morgul Vale. I'm sorry, but that doesn't convince me.

The whole point of the game is to ask "what if"? "What if Beorn went on the quest?" as Caleb himself says in the Team Covenant Black Riders video. You say Lesser Rings would be too much to handle for the game? I think you're involuntarily insulting the developers with that claim. Of course they could handle it, just like they've handled everything else. You say Artifact related themes should be restricted to Encounter cards? Then Caleb&Matt clearly made a mistake when making The Seeing-Stone and Keys of Orthanc, and the whole Doomed mechanic, because the whole point of that was to slap an Encounter keyword on player cards to represent the shady stuff. We're getting Haradrim allies/heroes next cycle, allies and heroes we could bring to Arnor if we want to. Is it too much of a stretch to think Glorfindel might have had a minor elven ring on his finger during his travels?

This game is THE chance for the players and creators to go all out and really explore Middle Earth. Thematic concessions must happen. Sure, we'll hopefully never see something as an Orc hero or ally, but never seeing more Lesser Rings or Palantiri because they're too risky? Come on. The whole point of the game is to encyclopedically explore Middle Earth, and what you're arguing is just restrictive to that goal.

Wow. I appreciate your passion for the game.

Allow me to try and further explain myself: a big "what if" would be "what if they found ring X". That is a topic more worthy of storytelling than a new avenue of mechanical usage. That's my point when I say I think it would better be handled by encounter cards. Rings become less special the more of them they are.

And my short-sightedness or lack of imagination for new game mechanics is not an insult to the devs. Thanks.

Well, I would certainly love a quest centered around the heroes searching for a Lesser Ring or Palantiri, so no argument there. My personal beef with keeping certain things Encounter card only or Objective only is that, well, you can't put them in your deck, which is the point of a deckbuilding game. What's the point of making hero Grima and a Doomed mechanic to represent the Free People's dabbling with the Arts of the Enemy if then you're going to expand on those themes but you can't use them in your deck? As I said, a single Lesser Ring attachment and a few unique Palantiri would be enough for me. (Hero Saruman and his potential toys are a step ahead of this). And personally I don't think it would make rings less special. It would expand on themes previously seen in cards like Elven Jeweler, and that IMO would not be harmful.

Well, I would certainly love a quest centered around the heroes searching for a Lesser Ring or Palantiri, so no argument there. My personal beef with keeping certain things Encounter card only or Objective only is that, well, you can't put them in your deck, which is the point of a deckbuilding game. What's the point of making hero Grima and a Doomed mechanic to represent the Free People's dabbling with the Arts of the Enemy if then you're going to expand on those themes but you can't use them in your deck? As I said, a single Lesser Ring attachment and a few unique Palantiri would be enough for me. (Hero Saruman and his potential toys are a step ahead of this). And personally I don't think it would make rings less special. It would expand on themes previously seen in cards like Elven Jeweler, and that IMO would not be harmful.

Forochel! With the Lossoth allies.

Well, I would certainly love a quest centered around the heroes searching for a Lesser Ring or Palantiri, so no argument there. My personal beef with keeping certain things Encounter card only or Objective only is that, well, you can't put them in your deck, which is the point of a deckbuilding game. What's the point of making hero Grima and a Doomed mechanic to represent the Free People's dabbling with the Arts of the Enemy if then you're going to expand on those themes but you can't use them in your deck? As I said, a single Lesser Ring attachment and a few unique Palantiri would be enough for me. (Hero Saruman and his potential toys are a step ahead of this). And personally I don't think it would make rings less special. It would expand on themes previously seen in cards like Elven Jeweler, and that IMO would not be harmful.

... Is it because the Palantir, in it's current form, is not really enjoyable to play with?

Well, I would certainly love a quest centered around the heroes searching for a Lesser Ring or Palantiri, so no argument there. My personal beef with keeping certain things Encounter card only or Objective only is that, well, you can't put them in your deck, which is the point of a deckbuilding game. What's the point of making hero Grima and a Doomed mechanic to represent the Free People's dabbling with the Arts of the Enemy if then you're going to expand on those themes but you can't use them in your deck? As I said, a single Lesser Ring attachment and a few unique Palantiri would be enough for me. (Hero Saruman and his potential toys are a step ahead of this). And personally I don't think it would make rings less special. It would expand on themes previously seen in cards like Elven Jeweler, and that IMO would not be harmful.

... Is it because the Palantir, in it's current form, is not really enjoyable to play with?

Well, yeah. I mean, there's a fair number of people who defend the Palantir card as being enjoyable, and it IS an interesting card, but to me it's not that powerful or enjoyable, that's why I think it's currently being played mostly in experimental/jank decks. It is a starting point, I'll give it that. I think so much could be done with them as a theme, as I said, there are 3 different Palantiri that could be made.