I'd say there is probably no one who can answer this, but here goes. Since FFG won't be releasing hardly anything for this game once the current cycle is done, will they keep doing re-prints on the old stuff? I would assume they will because they still have the license. But I was wondering if anyone has heard anything.

I still need stuff to complete my collection, a lot of stuff, and I'd hate to pay scalper prices. I'd rather wait for re-prints. Thanks!

I'd say the fact that there is nothing on the Upcoming page is a negative sign, but the truth of the matter is that no lines have reprints there. It likely just means that we'll have to watch the product page more.

I was waiting patiently for my store to receive Mountain of Fire. I thought one day they will get a copy. Due to the expected hiatus, I decided to order it online. I would not chance that they will continue reprints.

I assume they will, but wouldn’t be surprised if they stopped all together.

They can’t even release their latest products in the UK, let alone reprints. I’m very worried about the future availability of reprints!

They didn't continue to reprint extension for Call of Cthulu and Star Wars LCG so I doubt they will for this one. They will just let the game fade and move the focus of players on other products.

21 hours ago, vilainn6 said:

They didn't continue to reprint extension for Call of Cthulu and Star Wars LCG so I doubt they will for this one. They will just let the game fade and move the focus of players on other products.

This game isn't ending, though. It is just going on hiatus.

Never liked the word hiatus as it feels more like a softer way to say, "we are trying to slow production to make money elsewhere. We might come back..."

I just hope another wave of reprints comes through.

The Steward's Fear and Temple of the Deceived are the only packs left on my list. I'm ignoring the current deluxe and cycle. I'm done for sure this time. Too much to play and not enough time.

To me “hiatus” was a soft way to say “we finish the game line”, so the fan base would not panic too much.

If they release another lotr lcg games in 3 years, they can always say the “hiatus” is over, but truth is, the results will be the same as a “we finish the game line”.

We’ll see...

I don't much like the hiatus, but they didn't just say the game was going on hiatus, they also said that when the game resumed it would not be a second edition. If they really intended this to be the end, why not say so? Further, if the reasoning for soft-selling the hiatus is to avoid sabotaging sales, why not keep selling? In order to keep selling, they need to reprint, and as long as reprints sell quickly they profit from doing so.

The cause of the hiatus is easy to see -- Marvel Champions, which has Caleb Grace (and Nate French) named as designers. This is very hot right now, and my fear is that printing new Champions products will be more lucrative than reprinting LOTR expansions for quite some time. With that said, new products and reprints aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, depending on how much manufacturing capacity they can contract and how much storage they have. And if the Champions LCG model proves highly successful, we might see a continuation of the game with pre-made hero decks and independent quests, so the dependency between Deluxe and AP is broken.

I'm not currently very worried about the absence of "awaiting reprint" LOTR titles -- as far as I can see there are no awaiting reprint entries for ANY FFG game.

10 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

This is very hot right now, and my fear is that printing new Champions products will be more lucrative than reprinting LOTR expansions for quite some time.

This is basically true across the Hobby Gaming industry. For the vast majority of games, I suspect that the lion's shares of its sales happen in the first year of its release as everyone is jumping on board with the "new hotness." This is especially true for games with continued steady expansions, but is also true to some degree for standalone one-and-done board games. Only the rarest of games "catch fire" and can be as profitable (or even more profitable) years after its initial release. To this end, it's typically in a company's interest to continually develop new products rather than perpetually support old products. In this way, even established games that are profitable and popular might be bumped for new games, if those newer games are going to be more profitable in the immediate future. Staff, resources, production facilities, and space on cargo ships is all a premium, so why "waste" it making $X on established Game A if you could, instead, make 5x $X on new-hotness Game B?

This is likely why we see the modern-era GamesWorkshop churning out so many new boxed games each year, and why dropping new factions in games is more tantalizing than trickling out expansions for existing ones (having the playerbase dive into a new faction and accrue enough of it to build a game-ready force is a bigger purchase than having players buy one or two new expansions to add to their existing force ... assuming you can get enough players to take the plunge into another faction).


What does all of this suggest for the LotR LCG after the hiatus... I have no idea. I'm not terribly optimistic, but I suspect so are all who live to see such times...

On 1/5/2020 at 10:30 PM, dalestephenson said:

I don't much like the hiatus, but they didn't just say the game was going on hiatus, they also said that when the game resumed it would not be a second edition. If they really intended this to be the end, why not say so? Further, if the reasoning for soft-selling the hiatus is to avoid sabotaging sales, why not keep selling? In order to keep selling, they need to reprint, and as long as reprints sell quickly they profit from doing so.

The cause of the hiatus is easy to see -- Marvel Champions, which has Caleb Grace (and Nate French) named as designers. This is very hot right now, and my fear is that printing new Champions products will be more lucrative than reprinting LOTR expansions for quite some time. With that said, new products and reprints aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, depending on how much manufacturing capacity they can contract and how much storage they have. And if the Champions LCG model proves highly successful, we might see a continuation of the game with pre-made hero decks and independent quests, so the dependency between Deluxe and AP is broken.

I'm not currently very worried about the absence of "awaiting reprint" LOTR titles -- as far as I can see there are no awaiting reprint entries for ANY FFG game.

The person that said this is leaving the company. I think that speaks volumes to the hiatus being a soft, the game has ended. But we’ll leave the door open to a possible return at some possible future time, maybe.

17 minutes ago, Ywingscum said:

The person that said this is leaving the company. I think that speaks volumes to the hiatus being a soft, the game has ended. But we’ll leave the door open to a possible return at some possible future time, maybe.

Ah yes, of course, because as soon as someone leaves a company everything they said in an official capacity immediately ceases to be true. 🙄

If they ever want to add more content -- and as long as they hold the license there's reason for them to do so -- then continuing reprints of past content is essential. If they *never* want to add more content, then continuing reprints of past content still makes sense as long as it can be done profitably. We *know* they're going to be selling new content for some months to come, and there's no reason to think that new reprints of Dwarrowdelf or other out-of-stock packs wouldn't sell out quickly, just as they did the last time they were reprinted. Reprints may be low man on the priority totem pole, but there's absolutely no reason to think that reprints would be unprofitable for FFG/Asmodee.

6 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

If they ever want to add more content -- and as long as they hold the license there's reason for them to do so -- then continuing reprints of past content is essential. If they *never* want to add more content, then continuing reprints of past content still makes sense as long as it can be done profitably.

Agreed.

As for continuing to add content, it's good to keep the game in the public eye. But does anyone really need it? I've been playing this game for over a year now, and I'm just now finishing up the third cycle (plus I did the first Saga expansion).

9 hours ago, PocketWraith said:

Ah yes, of course, because as soon as someone leaves a company everything they said in an official capacity immediately ceases to be true. 🙄

Depending on the replacement and their priorities, yes, it can have a major impact.

I'm sure people are tired of me saying this in multiple threads, but when they announced the hiatus I aggressively pushed very hard to complete my desired collection. I have no confidence that the game comes back the same way, if at all, after the hiatus. Reinforced in my mind by no Fellowship event in 2019. I'd mention today's announced closing of FFI but I don't see that as related (yet). At 9 cycles (second only to AGOT's 12) the game has run a good life. Even the characters and cards coming out in this latest cycle imply to me that the game is wrapping up.

On 12/12/2019 at 5:18 PM, 4wallz said:

I still need stuff to complete my collection, a lot of stuff, and I'd hate to pay scalper prices. I'd rather wait for re-prints. Thanks!

I think you will see reprints: FFG Store, Miniature Market, Amazon, Legendesque. Start watching each of those sites daily and be financially prepared to get what you want when it becomes available. I don't see them not doing reprints as this game's expansions (especially certain ones) sell out as fast as they can print them.

Khazad-Dum is back in stock in the FFG store as of now. Hopefully the adventure packs will follow!