Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed what appears to be quite a bit of bitterness on the boards over the last few months? Maybe I'm looking at the past through Ruby of R'hllor tinted glasses, but I don't recall the tone being quite the same before, even when I would go off on rants about Cersei's Favor or Hand of the King.

I think it is pre-Gencon stress. As people work through their strategies and make last minute deck alterations, people get a lot more focused on the game, the cards, the meta, etc. I expect more than anything we'll have a post-Gencon love-fest, unless a Lannister Shadows deck takes the win, then we'll suffer for a month of complaining about Lannister's dominance, the failure of the boxed sets to even the playing field, and how Shadows needs a global reset.

Of course if Lannister Shadows does take the win, they may be right. (not sure if I should put a tilde in front of that)

I think bitterness and negativity has been here for quite some time. I don't think it reflects poorly on the state of the game, but more on what people want to talk about. For example, I named my thread "Night's Watch - Total Garbage?" in order to get people to respond. If I had named it "Night's Watch - How to make decks better," I'm willing to bet that less people would have chimed in...

People like bad news, and they like to complain. That's why newspapers contain 99% bad news - that's what people want.

Tone is so hard to tell in the written form, so not sure if it's been more bitter or not than usual. I think it's probably safe to say we've all been misunderstood before where someone took offense to something we wrote when none was intended. I know it has happened to me before.

That being said, I think jmccarthy is correct when he said negativity sells (to paraphrase). For some reason, negative headlines always seem to garner more attention than positive ones. I'd rather focus on positive myself. I play games to have fun (including this one). If it's not fun, I'd rather not play it (or write about it).

Now to hit that tangent about shadows...I think I'm one of the few that wishes it were never introduced. I know, there are people who love shadows. And yes, there are some cool cards that utilize shadows. I just liked the game better before the mechanic was introduced. Does it break the game for me? No. But if I played in a meta where it was never used, I sure wouldn't miss it in the slightest. These statements aren't meant to sound bitter, by the way. Just offering up my opinion on the shadow mechanic.

ASoIaFfan said:

Ah.. tangent time. I love the Shadows mechanic. That being said, I don't use it in all my decks, because it isn't always worth it. And that's what I like about it.. fun, surprising, but not an auto-include. My favorite shadows moment: Ser Mandon Moore coming out of the Shadows during the Challenges phase, defending a challenge, and killing a man. How can you not love that?

jmccarthy said:

Yes, that is quite a dramatic scene you described and I'm sure it was fun. I just tend not to like it when cards cannot be interacted with in the game. Yes, I'm aware that there are a few cards that can affect cards in shadow (HB comes to mind for that), but it's pretty rare at the moment. I also feel it adds another level of complexity to the game which hurts when I'm teaching new people the game. Surely that can be overcome over time and with experience, but I feel the game is just fine without shadows and still loads of fun. I guess that's what it comes down to for me. It doesn't add more fun for me. Just another layer of complexity. I don't like having to constantly check my facedown cards that are in shadows to remember which one is there either.

So while I do appreciate your favorite shadows moment, I'm just not a fan of the mechanic. Doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't enjoy it. By all means, do whatever makes the game most enjoyable for you. If we played a game, I certainly wouldn't begrudge you the right to play shadow cards if you so desired.

shadows are certainly another level of complexity... this is one reason that make me love them... and I play no heavy shadow deck... but I think they are thematically with the ASOIF world...

I haven't noted the more negative tone so 1) I'm reading the wrong threads, 2) I am one of the negative people so I am contributing to the problem, or 3) I am a negative person so I am oblivious to the negativity? Personally. I am happier with the cardpool now than I have been at any point since the switch to LCG. Sure there are still some holes I would like addressed, but overall I like the current state of the game.

I just think that people are being bitter about there not being much to complain about right now! Different houses winning different tournaments, card pool starting to be large enough for variety. What's the fun in flaming something like that? Even Bara players can't complain anymore, with the Storm coming... Maybe the common enemy in Lannister was what was bringing us together and now everybody's being very wary of each other?

Seriously speaking, I think the Regionals season has made the forums a lot more close-mouthed about decks and builds, which translates into not that much to discuss here. On the other hand I don't think anybody's got their head properly wrapped around what LoW has really done to the environment. I'm thinking that after GenCon there'll be a whole lot more talk around here, both in positive and negative ways. =)

To say something not-so-bitter: I'm really hyped about the cards that have been spoiled from the Brotherhood CPs, this expansion seems to really be taking the game in a new and interesting direction! Was a bit worried about what this would look like, but the spoiled cards have all been really intriguing! =)

And then the bitterness: The current CP cycle has been pretty underwhelming, with the Wilding and especially NW themes requiring almost the whole CP cycle before they really start going (the same wasn't true for Shadows, methinks) and thus we've been getting plenty of cards that have been waiting for the rest of the CP to come out. With King's Landing I think every single CP brought new and interesting cards that gave new ideas for decks, the same has not been true for Defenders. Sadly. This at least is my cause for any bitterness - but thankfully it's getting fixed now that all the cards are out.

And yeah, I think the pre-gencon lull is pretty obvious as well.

WWDrakey said:

Actually, your memory on the King's Landing Cycle is not quite accurate. By the time we hit Gencon last year, 3 of the 6 chapter packs from the KL cycle were legal for the events. And you know how much shadows stuff were represented? Hardly any! Nobody played the City plots, and the only shadows cards I remember seeing during the whole event were Tyrion, Gold Cloaks, and Silent Sisters.

I remember hearing all the same complaints about the Shadows cycle as I hear about the NW/Wildling stuff now.

@Dobbler: Humm... I guess I might be having a case of memories being golden. I do remember hearing some excited posts of people using shadows in some tourney's before Gencon (after 2 CPs I think, and in Lannister with the Agenda), but I think the consensus was that 'fun and gimmicky but kneel is better'.

Well, I was meaning that bitterness in a more personal fashion. Sorry if it came out wrongly. I for one really liked King's Landing from the start, although I thought most of the best cards were in the early CPs, and now they seem to be the other way around...

Generally I do think that it's good that a cycle is finished at the start of large tourneys, instead of being in the middle of one. Interesting to see what people come up with this cycle. Although I think LoW will be having a much bigger effect, and may take the stage.

Dobbler said:

This is my memory as well and is why I complained when I saw the spoiler of the first pack from Defenders of the North. The six month slow-roll has its upsides as well, but personally I wish they'd pack a bit more support for the main mechanical themes into the first and second packs of each cycle because it's pretty annoying waiting five to six months before the new themes become competitive.

schrecklich said:

By the time they are considered competitive, the next cycle has begun and everyone almost forgets about them. lol