It's most likely been suggested, but I'll do it again just in case it hasn't. I like this game a lot, but having to buy a second core set seems so inefficient. The acts and agenda cards are needed only the one time, and you can get away with having only one set of encounter cards. Even the weakness cards aren't needed to be duplicated.

It would be awesome if Fantasy Flight put out a core booster pack, or something, that offers another set of the class cards and neutral cards from the core set. And that's it.

This is a common Complaint among new LCG Members that the rest of us have just accepted. There is a reason they haven't done what you suggested or what anyone has suggested to fix "wasting" cards. Core sets for LCGs will always be "Less Efficient" in cost the more you buy. The trade off is all the expansions after the core set give you everything you need. IMO our hobby is incredible niche and if you love a game you just have to accept that you may have to pay a little more to keep your game alive. What's important to understand in this situation is FFG is a company trying to turn a profit so they can keep giving us great games and hobbies. They're intentions are not to screw the consumer (IMO) but to find a middle ground where they can make vets and newbies happy in an incredible awesome community.

Yes, agreed. I don't think the intent is malicious or greedy. I also don't know that creating some kind of core booster pack will necessary reduce profit. For one, it's not easy to even get my hands on another core box. If I can't buy it, FFG isn't making money. But let's set that aside. The other point is that they've already designed the cards, and they've designed packaging for the adventures, so all that's left is production. They don't have to print tokens, they don't have to worry about the big box packaging. All they need to do is print cards and put them into a plastic sleeve.

I'm oversimplifying, I know, and there's a lot more cost involved than just sending it to a printer. But they could print a bunch, and I don't think I'm alone in wanting something like this. It may be easier to keep up with demand, too, which is still clearly high for the core set. I think there's a way for FFG to have their cake and eat it, too. And we can eat some as well.

As I said in the other thread, (and have argued for years) such a product would provide only a modest savings to the consumer, while simultaneously depressing sales of the flagship product of the game line. There is no upside from the perspective of production, retailers, and distributors; for the latter it's a redundant product. There already is a product in the catalog which provides the materials needed to complete a Core Set: The Core Set.

I think FFG has also been getting better at balancing the core set for out-of-box experience and "repurchasability". AHCG only needs a second core to deliver a full playset (compared to some of their other offerings) and while the encounter cards are duplicated the smaller generic sets may still see some reuse through the line (e.g. multiple scenarios simultaneously built).

I do sometimes wish they'd just make a core a full playset but being able to keep the price point down possibly encourages more people to explore the game than would otherwise and so I'm happy with that trade-off.

Making a Core Set with both 3 of every card and a sufficient variety of cards-by-title would not be significantly cheaper than two or even three core sets. And in the bargain, you'd be scaring off however many customers couldn't float $100 or so in one go on a card game. $40 is a pretty tidy price point in terms of accessibility, affordability, and a demonstration of the variety the game offers. If your first purchase happens to need to be another core, at least it's spread out and you can do so at a time of your choosing.

And you can always think of it like buying into a regular RPG. The price point for a Players Handbook is usually about the same or even more than a core set for Arkham. That way everyone has their own set of cards to work with.