I'm probably in a minority on these boards, but I've got to voice a bit of a concern.
I jumped back in to this game with the Core set and Chapter packs as a way to enjoy an excellent game while not throwing the investment chunk of my past CCG addictions. I picked up all the Chapter Packs that were available before the Core Set and had to say I was very excited with the set card format. I saw the potential of buying more than one Chapter Pack but was happy with the distribution. When the Core Set came out the excitement continued though I thought a few things were dropped, namely not having any Kings or Queens to trigger the fun Armies and other cards from the Chapter Packs. The Core Set is a great way to bring non-CCGers into the game and enjoy it as more of a board game setting. My non-CCG gamer buddies even looked at the Chapter Packs as regular 'expansions' a la Runebound. Things were looking good for me to get a regular 'CCG' kick while enjoying the game with my non-CCG gaming partners.
Well, that isn't looking that great now. I've picked up the latest three Chapter Packs and have to say that the Winter/Summer theme just doesn't seem to mesh with the LCG format. Most of the Summer/Winter cards are only useable when the right season is there and buying one or two chapter packs doesn't provide enough resources to really run the theme engine. Compounded on that is that using the Core Set to run melee games, you need more of those packs to make everything equal amoung the three to four players. Further mixing up the issue is the immediate 'branding' of certain houses as Winter or Summer specific. With the limited amount of cards available in the LCG format, this theme engine just doesn't seem to fit. Instead of developing the Core Set format, these latest expansion packs seem to be hearkening back to the Night's Watch and Wildings block where if you weren't interested in that theme you just skipped those sets and worked from your old strategy. But again, the limited number of cards in the LCG Core format doesn't make that work really well.
My concern is that the LCG format isn't really a new take on how the game is going to be designed and developed. It looks more like just a straight remarketing and repackaging of the existing CCG design. Yes, there's a balance between bringing in new players and keeping the existing base happy, but there's another thing about introducing a new 'jump point' and than things looking all to familiar once you get past the wrapping.
So that's my concern. Probably not as satisfyingly put as I'd like but it's there. I was expecting a bold new take on CCG fun in a structured non-random manner. Instead, too many dregs from the past are being pulled out too quickly for the new audience to enjoy.