http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=1022

FFG announced a change to the packaging for LCG's, actually sounds like a good idea.

That's great news. Since most months I'm buying three copies of the new chapter pack, that translates into a pretty nice savings over time. And I agree with the announcement that it should help grease the skids with some potential purchasers the 1x/3x distribution seemed to be the source of many complaints levelled at the LCGs by people on boardgamegeek.com. The new "complete" chapter packs, once they start up, will hopefully draw in some board gamers who are on the fence.

As someone new to the game i must say this is a GREAT move. Much easier to get your deck up and running, at a far better price. No more 9 cards that you never use hidden away in a box. This was kindof my only gripe with the LCG format up until now....

Again i think this is a great move and im very happy with it !

thanks ffg!

First you changed the format of Princes of the Sun... and now THIS! I love you, FFG

Great change. I received the Martell product yesterday and thought about the the also great change in the release concept from the Greyjoy to the Martell expansion.

I purchased 3 Martell packs and i´m happy that i now have a lot of new deck building possibilities with 6 copies of each card.

By the way, happy new year to all of you.

Great improvement! THis is one of the best improvements in the last year of Thrones. It will definitely make it easier to play Warhammer now, too.

I like this change. The only major downside I see is that they waited until after Defenders of the North was printed to make the change. So far, I've only ever bought 1x of each chapter pack. I'm looking forward to having 3x of every card at my disposal in the future. I think this will be very good for the game as now people who were buying one chapter pack a month will have access to 3x of everything and those who were buying three chapter packs a month don't have to spend as much money.

Great news!

It sounds like they've reached the critical mass where they have enough casual players that they don't have to make the bulk of their money off their hardcore players. I think it will work out well for them. I will definitely want to get 6 copies of some cards to put them in 2 decks meaning they will still get the $30 from me as they did before when I wanted 3 of a card.

Thanks FFG!

Thanks from France Uncle FFG

I'm totally happy with it!

These are the great things that make FFG a little bit special, compared to other companies.

Thanks guys.

Very good decision on the part of FFG.

Great job on this decision.

I was just thinking that buying 3 chapter packs for each did not end up any cheaper than buying a Box for the CCG.

This most definitely should help the marketability of the game for when the HBO series comes out.

Well, buying each pack in a cycle x3 may be about the price off buying a booster display, but you are also guaranteed x3 of every "rare" card while in the booster display you had no guarantees what so ever about how many dupe rares you were going to get, let alone one of each. In this way it was a superior model, but it still had some of the vestigial problems, as far as purchase escalation goes. This eliminates that entirely.

dormouse said:

plus you were getting 3 games worth of material as opposed to one, makes it 3 times easier to find someone else to play.

Looks like we've got about 6 months to come up with some sort of "push" event to get new players into the game. Warhammer and CoC will get to do it earlier, but I really think that this new direction for the games could translate into more players, if FFG, stores and this community can work together to start pushing the game to new players, casual and hardcore.

Yes, this is a great move for the players of these games. But where I find alot of resistance on the retail side is the profitability. Most game stores would rather sell games like Magica dn Yu-Gi-Oh! because of the volume of sales = profit. With ccgs, folks can come in each week and buy $10-$20 of new product; with the LCG it's a one-shot purchase each month and one that is about to get "cheaper" for the player. As odd as it sounds, it does seem that a lot of retailers I talk to don't want to risk their money on a game with small profit margins (it's the same mentality that keeps them from stocking games like Arkham and Descent their money comes for multiple purchases by ccg buyers, not one-time purchases with minimal, if any, monthly upkeep). I'd love it if we could come up with ideas to help promote this game, and get it in more stores, and get more players, and then start having larger tournaments again. I think Thrones has hit that critical mass of card pool where there are mutiple potential decks, and its time to start seriously looking at the tournament scene again.

The biggest short-term impediment to getting involved is finding Core Setsin stock for reasonable prices!

I just splurged on a big order from CCG Armory, having decided to have a go at getting a meta started in my area (CT) and travelling regularly to the NYC Cranberry Cafe folks. But CCG Armory emailed to say they were in fact out of Core Sets... so I guess I'll be playing Greyjoy and Martell for a while!

Yeah, CCG Armory's web site tends to be annoyingly out of date (which I found out when trying to order singles of some of the CCG printings of LCG cards). Personally, I prefer coolstuffinc.com for ordering AGoT stuff online (though they don't have the Core Set in stock right now either). I guess you don't consider the suggested retail price reasonable (barnesandnoble.com)? I think I'd pay that price if I were buying directly from FFG or from a local brick and mortar store.

Winter, I tried sending you a message through boards a week or so ago but didn't hear back. Friend request me (the only way to send private messages through the forums) if you want to touch base with another CT player who goes into NYC for events.

schrecklich - Have messaged you. I find the FFG friends system confusing., but hope I have (now) accepted you.

Agree that RRP is reasonable to a FLGS, but I'm resisting paying it to ebay retailers.

Back on topic, the new format will be great for board gamers like me who appreciate the expandable card pool but hate money games.

Nothing but good news with this announcement. It just makes everyhting so much more manageable and shoudl really help get new folks into the game. The only bad thing is that staores are probably not going to re order once CPs sell out - so if you miss one, or take time off it may be otugh finding older CPs - but I imagine they will be pretty easy to get on line. I'm pumped.

this will also let people fill out/catch up to the older cps too as for $25 you can get 3x of the months cards and 1 previous chapter pack that you missed or don't have 3 of yet....

Sanity. Better late than never.

I wonder if there are plans to re-release the older packs with the new distribution model. That would be very much appreciated. As it is, one still feels fairly gimped with one of each pack (I need 3 more to have one of each). Also, it may be a while before a fellow such as myself will ever have the cards that come with KotS. That is not a good value - let alone a second copy - yet there are some cards there that can round out a deck nice nicely. Sigh.

But they are moving ever futher away from the nonsense, and that is good. My friends have that much more of a chance of joining me now, and even more if the older packs are re-packaged.

I'm sure it is because I have been a GoT fanattic for several years now, and an early adopter of the LCG format, but our store does try to stay on top of re-ordering Chapter Packs when we sell out, or special ordering the older ones. I always try to keep at leat one copy of the Core Sets for each brand on the shelf.

I don't expect FFG to reprint any older packs in the new distribution model, though, even though it would be nice. But I do expect this to be a good move forward for the brand, and it should encourage more players. We just need to get more retailers behind the LCG model. Its too bad it takes so long for reprints to hit the streets, but I do believe I can get a few more copies from my local distributor (the national ones sell out so fast because they are national but the local guys sometimes get overlooked, and although it has been about two months since I last saw them in person, I do believe they still had copies on their shelves). Once the Core Sets are again available, try and get your local store to order copies for you most stores are willing to order stuff that will sell, and the simple presence of it in their games stores as you play it may encourage more players, and thus more sales, and more places carrying the game.