Hi guys, today i wanted to start the topic of things that we should look forward when we look into LOTR LCG future. The game has obviously gotten incredibly big already, but in my opinion it's the closest board game/card game ever that allows players to replicate the Middle Earth experience in various ways, allowing us to have fun with both recreating the events of the books, reimagining them or just having fun in this incredibly rich world just doing the FFG original questlines. But in my opinion the game shouldn't be finished (as many are speculating that current cycle is the last), before we get a few more missing pieces to making the game actually "feel" complete. This is my list of things, in no particular order, that ffg should really take a look at.

1) Scourging of Shire - Print on Demand Saga Expansion (Fog on Barrow-dawns and Old Forest style)

So the real climax of Return of the King is yet to make its way to the game. It's easy to implement as Gencon or Fellowship scenario and its the one i've been hyped for since forever.

2) Finishing the Nightmare Series.

Nightmare scenarios are really important to more dedicated players. It allows them to both up the difficulty of the easier quests and improve the mechanics of them. Most of nightmare relases have really added to the game and it should be on ffg's list to finish of what they started:

> Finishing off the Nightmare Saga

> Finishing off the Nightmare Cycles

> Adding Nightmare Print on Demand Fog on Barrow Downs and Old Forest for complete nightmare saga experience.

3) New Versions of some classic characters.

One of the main draws of the game is how they can play as almost any major and minor character from LOTR and Hobbit books. Unfortunetely, some fan favorites have fallen behind and them getting a new version would certainly be welcome, even if only to diversify the options. Similarly to how Pipin and Faramir got their new, stronger and better cards, there are some characters that deserve the same treatment:

> Bilbo Baggins. Absolutely beloved character, a fan favorite hobbit is just not exciting anymore, even if just for the fact that his hero card is really old at this point and most people have already played his (mediocre) card a lot already. Maybe introducing a more willpower-oriented (his love of adventure) and attachment-oriented (he really is an owner of a lot of fascinating items) Bilbo is what we should be looking at. Probably spirit sphere, if we're aiming to get younger Bilbo right.

> Radagast and Saruman hero cards. Both of these Istaris have already received their ally versions, but unlike Gandalf getting a hero card never happened to those two. They should probably continue a trend of being neutral and getting resource icons while fullfilling specific conditions - this could be getting icons when playing creatures or after playing a doomed card.

> Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. These two should probably get ally versions that either go away at the end of turn like original gandalf did or they should be shuffled into encounter deck via encounter keyword. No matter what way ffg will choose, these two should not be ommited.

> Gandalf The White hero card. While he would need to have a weird mechanic disallowing you or other players from playing basic Gandalf ("No player can play or own cards named "Gandalf" while "Gandalf the White" is in play), i think the differenciasion should be made. Gandalf the White is a different character in many, many ways and why would we deny ourselves getting awesome Gandalf the White art?

> Some more important minor ally characters . What comes to my mind is Nob (the Balirman helper in Brancing Pony) and Bergil (Beregond's son) but there are probably more characters that are of some sort of importance and not depicted in the game yet.

4) Mordor-oriented cycle. It could also touch on some more unexplored regions like Rhun and Khand.

The reason why i believe Rhovanion is not the final cycle is because i believe the designers wouldn't deny themselves bringing the party to Mordor for some reason or another at the very end. Maybe it could be a mission to try to cause more infighting with the orcs and try to weaken the strenght of the enemy? We could even see some Shadow of Mordor-style mechanics with getting Orc objective allies that temporary join us because of some magic influence.

5) Utilising the Saga Mechanics once again.

Saga expansions were brilliant and i think we all agree on that. I think that bringing their mechanics (campaign cards, boons, burdens, pernament death and threat penalties) to old cycles would do them a lot of good. It would probably take a few PoD expansions, but imagine the replayability it would bring to old cycles if, for example, you were able to play old Hunt for Gollum mirkwood as a campaign with added immesion of using the same characters and actually being rewarded for it. Campaign always introduced a lot of decision-making between quests and brought a much-needed sense of progression to the game. I think adding campaign mechanics to regular cycles would do them a lot of good.

5,5) (controversial and not actually needed a lot) Remaking the Hobbit boxes completely.

The Hobbit has a very important place in most of our hearts, but Hobbit boxes are possibly some of the worst quests in the game. I think revamping the Hobbit and adding the fully-fleshed out campaign mode to it with maybe some new treasure mechanics added would do it a lot of good.

So, what do you think guys? What is the most interesting out of those for you? What do you personally expect?

Indeed, I totally agree with your suggestions. But my credit card, on the other hand... ?

Nice thread. I know a lot gets said about the "future of the game", both pessimistic and optimistic but it's always a fun topic for discussion and good to hear some of the ideas out there.

1) Completely agree. I'm surprised it wasn't 2018 GenCon like many predicted. Some have suggested Caleb might leave it to be his parting gift to players - before he sails off to the undying lands - and that is a comforting thought.

2) Unless there's some disaster, I imagine FFG will do their best to tie up all Nightmare products for all released saga and cycles. I'm not a big Nightmare player so haven't considered Old Forest and Fog before, but yeah, unfortunately I could see them being missed out as they're PoD...

3) Everyone's favourite topic? Well, now we have Thranduil, Thorin III etc so the gaps are being filled in. I would personally love those wizard heroes but could understand if the designers chose to keep them as powerful allies only, certainly in Saruman's case - Radagast would need a new ally version at the very least. Tom and Goldberry I would argue shouldn't be player cards - only part of the encounter deck for any quests set in their realm (such as Tom in his PoD quests). If they do become player cards, then their effect would have to be quite abstract.

Now that sagas are over, Frodo and Bilbo need new player cards for sure. Sam is also a massive character with too few player cards. I guess a danger is having all-spirit hobbit heroes but I could see a Lore Frodo, Tactics Sam and Spirit Bilbo, maybe. Really, there needs to be a leadership hero other than Sam as well, but who? More hobbit cards are surely on the way: The Gaffer, Nob, Tom Cotton's sons...

4) The Mordor locale could be fun. On the other end of the scale, I'd like to see something closer to the Shire and Bree. Less epic but with some intrigue, hunting Sauron's spies for example. Alternatively, could Caleb ever consider a War in the North saga-style adventure, culminating in the Battle of Dale? I'd play that!

5) I'd love that too, but it would take serious work, and well as some head scratching to solve weird story jumps (see Dwarrowdelf).

Despite some frustrations, I liked Thew Hobbit boxes, re-doing those wouldn't be a priority for me.

Interested to read what other people are looking forward to

Forodwaith for me. You could explore the Lossoth culture and Morgoth's ruined fortress in the remains of the Iron Mountains north of the map in the LOTR book.

A quest or two where Valar/Maiar are involved. There's a mystical side to LoTR that endless Orc-killing treasure-hunting quests don't really capture.

One or two different quests where the Heroes aren't lining up against endless baddies. For example I was thinking of a competition type scenario which captures the boastful, heavy drinking northern culture of the Rohirrim. We've also never had a scenario set in Lorien.

How about a 'dream cycle' where the Heroes are transported to Numenor or Eregion?

I've always wanted the game to end at the Grey Havens where the Heroes are offered the chance to sail into the West after their labours.

FFG might be pressing their rights a little to make a quest centered around the Valar. We do have the Favor of the Valar, though.

I think FFG is trying to keep the Nightmare packs behind the regular schedule so they have time to see what dominant strategies and/or problems emerge for those quests.

I agree with every single point here, (except for Gandalf the White hero), as I've made them myself numerous times before, especially the Istari heroes and Bombadil and Goldberry with Encounter keyword. Let's hope Caleb agrees too!

What I would like and what I would expect are different things. I would like FFG to use the Appendices to make saga sets from earlier time periods, but I have no expectation at all that they will do so.

I’d like to see a hero that allows a single hero deck. Maybe with an ability that if a player only has one hero in play, collect 1 extra resource and draw one extra card at the beginning of the resource phase. Maybe Spirit Aragorn, since he can get a few different spheres with his artifacts and Strider is a natural fit for him.

I’d like to see some of the under represented keywords get a bit more love. It looks like Beorning will get some love this current cycle, as well as woodsman, but maybe healer and a a few others.

I'd really like to see more stand-alone scenarios like the Seige of Annuminas or Assault on Dol Guldur that let us experience events in Middle Earth that are not part of the main Saga. For example, a perfect opportunity would be a scenario recreating the Battle of Dale and Seige of Erebor.

The Seige of Annuminas also provides some precedent for taking the game a bit into the further past of the Third Age -- while the timing is a head-scratcher for the thematic purists, it could be quite fun to help Fram Framson slay Scatha the Worm, aid the dwarves in the Battle of Azanulzibar, or survive the Fell Winter of 2912 in the Shire (in Bilbo's youth).

I agree with what many have said already. One thing I would also like to see would for them to make pod packs like the last two that allow players to create new custom quests. The game would have near infinite value if they made it so players could make up there own quests with all of the quest cards out their in the current pool. It would be great to give value to the quest cards like that and would allow the community to create new quests for decades to come.

On 9/28/2018 at 7:30 PM, Kjeld said:

I'd really like to see more stand-alone scenarios like the Seige of Annuminas or Assault on Dol Guldur that let us experience events in Middle Earth that are not part of the main Saga. For example, a perfect opportunity would be a scenario recreating the Battle of Dale and Seige of Erebor.

This. Would love to see more stand alone quests representing events described/alluded to in the books.

I'm still waiting for a Spirit Aragorn... nut at this point, I've made my peace with it.

I've always thought that the final cycle being set in Mordor would be a fitting end, but I also like JonG's idea of finishing in the Grey Havens so that we could go into the West...maybe the last quest card of the last quest? (I haven't played though the sagas yet so don't tell me if this is how they end).

I also like many of the other ideas expressed....a product that could turn current cycles into saga-type adventures would be really cool, Scouring is a no-brainer, a more light-hearted cycle in the Shire sounds great, as does Forodwaith (which I had to look up).

Really, the truth is that I want to see as much more of Middle Earth through the lens of this game as I can.

I would like a deluxe expansion with the main focus being on Rohan. Voice of Isengard didn't really do it for me. Also, the existing Rohan decks feel kinda week.

Also an expansion in Mordor would be great. I wouldn't mind visiting already explored areas, like Gondor for example. Other timelines would also be cool as others suggested.

I just wish that they don't give up on the game now that Arkham Horror and Legend of the Five Rings seem to be the hot LCGs in the hood.

11 hours ago, Trialus said:

I also like JonG's idea of finishing in the Grey Havens so that we could go into the West...maybe the last quest card of the last quest?

This would not happen within the theme. The only ones allowed to sail west (other than Gandalf, who's home is Valinor) were Elves or Ringbearers. Gimli simply took Arwen's place because of his friendship with Legolas.

7 hours ago, Gandalf_ said:

I would like a deluxe expansion with the main focus being on Rohan.

Agreed.

Because I like to see exotic things and monsters or animals who come with it in place of orcs ( In my mind, Harad cycle is a fail, because in place of real exploration of haradrim tribs, deserts beast and cultur, we have more orcs, wargs and big spiders than things we haven't seen yet ) I want Khand, Rhun and the ice-bay of forochel.

After all of it, I want a return to gondor and Rohan exploring the unknown of these, and at end Mordor.

For the saga / campaign versions of classical cycles, I could see box by cycle like the " Return to ..." of Arkham Horror.

I can see between 4 and 6 more cycles before the end of the game. A sure thing after what they had told to us, is that their are something under the hat about a campaign thing.

18 hours ago, phorcys12 said:

A sure thing after what they had told to us, is that their are something under the hat about a campaign thing.

I hope the campaign mechanic they are planning comes in one single box for the entire game and not one pack for each deluxe box and adventure pack. I hope that box also includes spare copies of the cards that don't come in copies of 3 in the core set.

18 hours ago, phorcys12 said:

A sure thing after what they had told to us, is that their are something under the hat about a campaign thing.

That would be awesome!

But with the timelapse between anoucements for this game, we cannot say when something like that will come. Their are late for the release of nightmare packs, they should be now at the haradrim deluxe nightmare, or the first part of the cycle ...

I still am waiting for Lossoth expansion, aka adventures in the far North!

Ice demons, hard winter conditions, trolls, a lot of trolls and maybe some orcs from the old Angmar...

Things I would like to see:

1) Campaigns which reuse existing encounter sets, but give us brand new quest cards with the aim of "linking" the individual quests into a progressive narrative. Initially there could be one campaign per cycle, but later campaigns could jump back and forth between cycles. This series of campaigns would be cheap to produce, and would give buys a compelling reason to collect entire cycles. FFG could also combine each cycle's campaign and packs in a single "complete cycle" box so that new LotR LCG players don't have to collect the expansions individually (which can get frustrating and expensive due to shipping). For example the "Complete Moria" box would contain Khazad Dum, the 6 Dwarrowdelf quest packs, all related Nightmare packs, and the new campaign for that cycle.

2) A single Nightmare Collection for each cycle (to reduce the frustration and cost of individual collection). Or, take it a step further and include multiple cycles' Nightmare decks in one big collection.

3) A set of Fortune Decks which work just like Nightmare decks, but in the opposite direction. These would consist of encounter cards which make the game easier. For example: easy locations and enemies which give bonuses when explored/eliminated, "treacheries" which help the player, and shadow effects which make the enemies' attack LESS effective (e.g., "fumble" could cause the attack to do 0 damage). These cards would be added, so we wouldn't be "losing" anything from the original quest like we do with Easy Mode.

4) A book containing lots of LotR LCG related information, including tips, maps, and "official" decks for tackling each cycle (for those of us who do not love deck building).

I am all in for the book. Especially if they gather all the manuals from every expansion ever.

Agreed on the Hobbit Sagas... it'd be nice to have them as consistent with the other Sagas, too.

I would love to see more hero and allies added to card pool...either by more expansions or maybe special "player packs". It would be really nice to see ally versions of Pippin and Merry so more heroes can be considered when making a "nine walkers" deck in solo play. Same with the 14 characters of the hobbit...I don't think you can make a deck today that can encompass all the characters in solo play.

42 minutes ago, bdavis96 said:

I would love to see more hero and allies added to card pool...either by more expansions or maybe special "player packs". It would be really nice to see ally versions of Pippin and Merry so more heroes can be considered when making a "nine walkers" deck in solo play. Same with the 14 characters of the hobbit...I don't think you can make a deck today that can encompass all the characters in solo play.

Gandalf & Bilbo both exist in hero and ally version. Among the 13 dwarfs 5 have only a hero version (including Thorin who have 2), 5 have a hero and an ally version. And 3 have only a ally version (including bofur who have 2).