You guys make me hopeful. Tom & Goldberry really seem the last thing missing in the game for me. Of course I would still like to see a lot more, but when we get them, I will feel the game has accomplished (as it has been doing greatly these past years).

The short of list of "what we need before we can call it off" is really dwindling since last cycle gave us four archetypes (Woodmen, Beorning, Dale, Creature) no one would dare dream about two years ago, alongside Radagast, Thranduil, Bard son of Brand, marginally Thorin Stonehelm (not in regular cycle, but that now does exist as a hero).

My short list is now: Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, Spirit Aragorn, Saruman hero.

2 hours ago, banania said:

My short list is now: Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, Spirit Aragorn, Saruman hero.

Amen.

I'm guessing The Shire as well. Rhûn is too obscure to the general public if they want to have fresh products in shelves when Amazon LotR TV series arrive.

3 hours ago, banania said:

The short of list of "what we need before we can call it off" is really dwindling since last cycle gave us four archetypes (Woodmen, Beorning, Dale, Creature) no one would dare dream about two years ago, alongside Radagast, Thranduil, Bard son of Brand, marginally Thorin Stonehelm (not in regular cycle, but that now does exist as a hero).

My short list is now: Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, Spirit Aragorn, Saruman hero.

Also hoping for a true and comprehensive artifact theme with new palantiri, neutral events and rings. Also blue wizards. Apart from that your list is pretty much the same as mine.

I truly wonder whether an artifact deck archetype would really be necessary as long as all the artifacts are represented in card form. A doomed sub-theme would be nice, though.

13 hours ago, banania said:

The short of list of "what we need before we can call it off" is really dwindling since last cycle gave us four archetypes (Woodmen, Beorning, Dale, Creature) no one would dare dream about two years ago, alongside Radagast, Thranduil, Bard son of Brand, marginally Thorin Stonehelm (not in regular cycle, but that now does exist as a hero).

My short list is now: Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, Spirit Aragorn, Saruman hero.

As said before, I definitelly go rest happy with Tom and Goldberry. I really do not need another Aragorn, and if an ally would be better. I am hopeful for more Istari now, and more support for them. And if we are getting another cycle, I really think Hobbits and Beornings are the other two traits that could get more, though of course the latter will always be only a complementary trait (no matter how favoured by players, me included), I think. But yes, the bottom line, the shortlist is getting shorter but I am sure they will try a new thing with the new cycle as they tend to, probably something more dramatic than ever, especially should it be the last.

PS. The hype with the Amazon show is getting extreme, Second Age no less, so one day we might get a game of that era...

Since it sounds like so much has been covered already, how far away do you think we are from a second edition?

And would that make people happy or angry?

While I think a Shire/NW Eriador cycle is most likely, I also believe that a cycle exploring Rhun and pre-War Mordor is possible, and would be a natural place to introduce new Istari (the two Blue Wizards went into the East, didn't they?).

EDIT: A Lorien/Rohan cycle also seems conspicuously absent.

I think many people would be very sad if a second edition was made, just for love of the game, but it wouldn’t be like the game was dead. The second edition would continue receiving new content and be very similar to LotR as we know it.

Some people that recently bought a boatload of reprints might be upset, though. Then again, it’s not like they can’t still play their new first edition stuff.

I think we are very far from second edition, as the DCG and Journeys in ME just look like "second editions" to me.

I'd say that the Amazon's hype is more likely to boost the game sells. The amount of new players posting here, on BGG or discord is outstanding for an 8-years old game.

The future is bright.

3 hours ago, banania said:

I think we are very far from second edition, as the DCG and Journeys in ME just look like "second editions" to me.

Part of the reason I'm not fully on board with the DCG. I don't need another whole LotR LCG to sink time into by deck-building and strategizing. I wanted a quick half-hour or so play experience to give me my LotR fix and tone back on the LCG's difficulty.

So to my understanding, there are essentially 5 regions of Middle Earth that we have not had campaigns in (or at least very little exposure to). So my wonder is what heroes would correspond to them?

1: North Western Middle Earth (Shire, Tower Hills, Ered Luin, etc.): This box could certainly get us Gildor and I could see a Red Noldor hero, a Hobbit hero, a Dunedain hero, and even possibly a dwarf hero. (Hobbit is probably most likely, though there is certainly a desire for another Red Noldor hero.

2: Rhun: People want the Blue Wizards, but it's left to be said whether or not FFG will get the rights to name them. We could possibly see Thorin Stonehelm here, though, and another Dale hero would probably be welcome.

3: Mordor: Saruman perhaps, maybe Blue Aragorn, or a new Frodo?

4: Rohan: There is desire for a Green Rohan hero other than Grima, but I honestly think, FFG is avoiding this color for Rohan for the most part. A red or purple Rohan hero could be useful. Maybe even a new Gandalf who can search the top 5 cards of your deck for an attachment to play on him (color match not needed).

5: Western Gondor: We likely won't get much more for Outlands, but there are plenty of characters from this region who could be represented in the game as Gondor.

3 hours ago, Felswrath said:

So to my understanding, there are essentially 5 regions of Middle Earth that we have not had campaigns in (or at least very little exposure to). So my wonder is what heroes would correspond to them?

1: North Western Middle Earth (Shire, Tower Hills, Ered Luin, etc.): This box could certainly get us Gildor and I could see a Red Noldor hero, a Hobbit hero, a Dunedain hero, and even possibly a dwarf hero. (Hobbit is probably most likely, though there is certainly a desire for another Red Noldor hero.

2: Rhun: People want the Blue Wizards, but it's left to be said whether or not FFG will get the rights to name them. We could possibly see Thorin Stonehelm here, though, and another Dale hero would probably be welcome.

3: Mordor: Saruman perhaps, maybe Blue Aragorn, or a new Frodo?

4: Rohan: There is desire for a Green Rohan hero other than Grima, but I honestly think, FFG is avoiding this color for Rohan for the most part. A red or purple Rohan hero could be useful. Maybe even a new Gandalf who can search the top 5 cards of your deck for an attachment to play on him (color match not needed).

5: Western Gondor: We likely won't get much more for Outlands, but there are plenty of characters from this region who could be represented in the game as Gondor.

-ish

3 hours ago, Felswrath said:

So to my understanding, there are essentially 5 regions of Middle Earth that we have not had campaigns in (or at least very little exposure to). So my wonder is what heroes would correspond to them?

1: North Western Middle Earth (Shire, Tower Hills, Ered Luin, etc.): This box could certainly get us Gildor and I could see a Red Noldor hero, a Hobbit hero, a Dunedain hero, and even possibly a dwarf hero. (Hobbit is probably most likely, though there is certainly a desire for another Red Noldor hero.

2: Rhun: People want the Blue Wizards, but it's left to be said whether or not FFG will get the rights to name them. We could possibly see Thorin Stonehelm here, though, and another Dale hero would probably be welcome.

3: Mordor: Saruman perhaps, maybe Blue Aragorn, or a new Frodo?

4: Rohan: There is desire for a Green Rohan hero other than Grima, but I honestly think, FFG is avoiding this color for Rohan for the most part. A red or purple Rohan hero could be useful. Maybe even a new Gandalf who can search the top 5 cards of your deck for an attachment to play on him (color match not needed).

5: Western Gondor: We likely won't get much more for Outlands, but there are plenty of characters from this region who could be represented in the game as Gondor.

I still see #1&2 the most likely. Beside Legolas and Gimli they kept the two heroes within a ‘nation’ trait, so I expect them to do so again. I would really like Gildor and Tactics Glorfindel best. I do not think they can name the Blue wizzards as Tolkien did in Unfinished Tales but since they did come up with so many names already I see no problem with two more for Istari characters.

I've been thinking about it, and I don't think that the Blue Wizards, Alatar and Palando are as unlikely to show up with those names as we've assumed. The game has strayed from their license for the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit more than we may think. I can site two examples.

The first is fairly well known: Khamul the Easterling. Now he was a pretty small deal in the game ( a single enemy in a Nightmare Deck) and came from a pretty well known History of Middle Earth book: The Unfinished Tales. Yet still it shows a stray from what we understood to be allowed by the license.

However, there is one name that is even more significant. I just completed the Dream Chaser Cycle yesterday and was looking at it. I decided I wanted to know exactly where Cobas Haven was located(I correctly guessed between Dol Amroth and Anfalas.). So I looked up at my wall map of Middle Earth and there's no Cobas Haven in Gondor. I look in my encyclopedia of Middle Earth which details all the names used in the Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion: nothing. I google the name, and the article from Tolkien Gateway comes up. It turns out that the name comes from The War of the Ring from the History of the Lord of the Rings series. Here we have not a single card from a nightmare deck, but an entire adventure pack set in a location whose name not only doesn't appear in what we understand to be FFG's licensed materials, but also appears in the title of that Adventure Pack!

All of a sudden, having a couple of Wizards who appear in the Unfinished Tales doesn't strike me as so far fetched.

I'd like to see them show up, but Alatar and Pallando (Unfinished Tales) are their names in Valinor -- permission or not, those probably *shouldn't* be the names of the blue wizards in the game. Morinehtar and Romestano should be their names in the game.

Nice catch, @dalestephenson!

In case their actual names are out of copyright limits, they can simply make "Blue Wizard" non-unique allies with the text box bearing the following mention: Limit 2 cards with the title "Blue Wizard" in play.

Like this:

1 hour ago, Felswrath said:

I've been thinking about it, and I don't think that the Blue Wizards, Alatar and Palando are as unlikely to show up with those names as we've assumed. The game has strayed from their license for the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit more than we may think. I can site two examples.

The first is fairly well known: Khamul the Easterling. Now he was a pretty small deal in the game ( a single enemy in a Nightmare Deck) and came from a pretty well known History of Middle Earth book: The Unfinished Tales. Yet still it shows a stray from what we understood to be allowed by the license.

However, there is one name that is even more significant. I just completed the Dream Chaser Cycle yesterday and was looking at it. I decided I wanted to know exactly where Cobas Haven was located(I correctly guessed between Dol Amroth and Anfalas.). So I looked up at my wall map of Middle Earth and there's no Cobas Haven in Gondor. I look in my encyclopedia of Middle Earth which details all the names used in the Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion: nothing. I google the name, and the article from Tolkien Gateway comes up. It turns out that the name comes from The War of the Ring from the History of the Lord of the Rings series. Here we have not a single card from a nightmare deck, but an entire adventure pack set in a location whose name not only doesn't appear in what we understand to be FFG's licensed materials, but also appears in the title of that Adventure Pack!

All of a sudden, having a couple of Wizards who appear in the Unfinished Tales doesn't strike me as so far fetched.

Great info. I mean I know all that, especially about Khamul, but still was unaware... thanks!

I think if the deluxe is set in the shire it could open up some different type of quests for Caleb. I’m picturing something that breaks the mold - like a quest around Bilbo trying to get to The Green Dragon Inn while trying to avoid the Sackville-Baggins.

On 3/18/2019 at 2:18 PM, kypatzer said:

I think if the deluxe is set in the shire it could open up some different type of quests for Caleb. I’m picturing something that breaks the mold - like a quest around Bilbo trying to get to The Green Dragon Inn while trying to avoid the Sackville-Baggins.

Then my Rohan deck, led by Eomer, murders the Sackville-Baggins’.

On 3/8/2019 at 3:48 PM, TwiceBorn said:

While I think a Shire/NW Eriador cycle is most likely, I also believe that a cycle exploring Rhun and pre-War Mordor is possible, and would be a natural place to introduce new Istari (the two Blue Wizards went into the East, didn't they?).

EDIT: A Lorien/Rohan cycle also seems conspicuously absent.

CALLED IT!!! SO EXCITED!!!

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/4/2/a-shadow-in-the-east/

3 hours ago, TwiceBorn said:

CALLED IT!!! SO EXCITED!!!

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/4/2/a-shadow-in-the-east/

Haha bravo!

It seems by the name of the cycle we will explore not only Rhun, but also Mordor, maybe?

Mordor is East for Gondor, but for Rhun it is South and West. I hope the entire cycle can be spared for Rhun, vast space that it is; let Mordor be grouped with Khand, which we didn't see at all in the Harad cycle.