I just recently discovered the Lord of the Rings LCG universe. Since the first adventure pack new player cards come in threes but looking at the core set you're missing quite a few cards. So I would really like to see an upgrade pack for the core set to get the missing player cards because it's quite inconvenient to buy multiple core sets as you'll have so many unnecessary cards then.

So what do you guys think about it? Did you already buy multiple core sets or would you like to see such an upgrade pack? Or are you just sticking with the core set and don't see the need for having all cards three times?

It's been discussed several times before.

General consensus seems to be "It'd be nice, but it's never going to happen"

I only have one Core Set, and I have no desire to purchase additional boxes. I don't think multiple Core Sets make sense unless your play group is particularly large. To me, another copy of Unexpected Courage or Dwarven Tomb doesn't justify all those wasted cards. However, there are plenty of people who do want full playsets of every card and are willing to bite the bullet.

Obviously, some kind of supplement pack would be ideal. I think there would be a pretty sizable market for such a product, but FFG seems content to stand pat as long as consumers are purchasing additional Core Sets. So, I'm not really holding out much hope.

many people on here have multiple core sets- i personally dont as i cant afford it, and id rather spend the money on packs, but i would love a £10ish pack with all the extra cards in

I'd instantly purchase such an upgrade pack, on day 1. Is there any chance that FFG will release such a pack? I mean, they're doing an upgrade pack for Descent, so why not for LotR? I cannot afford to buy 3 core sets and I don't want to waste the superfluous cards, tokens and threat counter... :-/

ichaos1985 said:

you can actually buy them from some store- though theyre really really really expensive and i cant remember which one as its in the us and im in uk

richsabre said:

Buy what from what store? A LOTR:LCG upgrade pack? That would be news to many... and FFG I'm sure.

Grudunza said:

I think he means you can buy the extra cards from a certain store, not that there is an official pack. It would make sense for them to be expensive since they're probably just opening up a core set and selling the extra cards. It might appeal to those not wanting to waste cards, but I bet it doesn't appeal to their pocket books. Still, my guess is that such a system still wastes the extra cards, it's just that the consumer doesn't see them.

Grudunza said:

Grudunza said:

no. sorry i was misleading there, i thinking more along the lines of card singles/rares etc,

i know nowhere that sell packs of them, save maybe ebay, though i doubt the price of buying core sets and splitting them would be worth it

Thanks for all you input.

I'm wondering when this topic has been discussed several times before why has there been no official response? If they are so eager to get more income through people having to purchase more core sets they could just say "we have no intention to do a pack with the missing cards of the core set". It seems like there are some people who have hope for such an upgrade pack. I'm certainly one of them.

Making such an upgrade pack wouldn't be so hard. All of the cards are already developed. They only would have to make a new print sheet and a new box art. Looking up the missing cards I see there are 16 missing for each sphere which makes a total of 64 which is about the same content of an adventure pack. I wouldn't mind if they make it a little bit more expensive ($19.95). They could even add one new card (like a new hero) or an alternative art for an existing card (maybe Gandalf?) to get the collectors on board, too. Maybe adding the current FAQ to complement the pack.

They could also make it print on demand as they first did with Massing at Osgiliath if they think there are not enough people buying it (but I would really like to see it in the other languages, too).

So, is there no way to get an official word on it? At the moment I don't see buying additional core sets to be worth the price. A second core set would give me 51 missing cards and the third core set only 13. Especially the third is pathetic in my opinion.

Put me down as someone that would definitely buy an Upgrade pack of this kind - and who isn't planning to buy a second core set in case it comes out.

It's just such an obvious step in terms of correcting the mistake of not making a complete play set for the core set (which I presume was a design choice - but which has now be changed to be give 3 of each new card for all expansions).

If FF came out and said - they were never going to do this. I might buy a second core set. So it's in there interests to give an answer one way or the other - but they probably can't give an answer until something definite is decided.

Put me down as someone that would definitely buy an Upgrade pack of this kind - and who isn't planning to buy a second core set in case it comes out.

It's just such an obvious step in terms of correcting the mistake of not making a complete play set for the core set (which I presume was a design choice - but which has now be changed to be give 3 of each new card for all expansions).

If FF came out and said - they were never going to do this. I might buy a second core set. So it's in there interests to give an answer one way or the other - but they probably can't give an answer until something definite is decided.

I believe it is the general concensus that this will never happen, primarily because it gives the impression that the core set as it stands is incomplete, casting it in a negative light for prospective players. The core set, coming as it does with three copies of some cards, two of others and one copy of some, is the FFG business model, and I believe there is a post somewhere on BGG from Christian Petersen that says something along the lines of "this is our decision, so get over it", the rationale being that it allows for a wider variety of player cards for the price of the set. You can't discount the fact that they stand to make a lot more money from people buying multiple core sets than to buy just one core set and then one "upgrade pack", should they produce that.

For my part, I'm happy with this, primarily because I never include more than two copies of cards in my decks anyway, some cards only ever having the one copy. I'd rather have more different cards than more copies of a small number of cards. I've said in the past that asking for the "missing" cards is like asking for more than one Queen in a chess set - the cards that aren't x3 in the core set tend to be the powerful ones, and having more than one of them can often make the game a lot easier, and I prefer to run my games as a struggle rather than a stroll.

But that hasn't stopped me buying three core sets so far. I did this primarily to have the encounter sets, but I won't deny that, having three of all the player cards has left me with an unexpected contentment. But I still only include one copy of Unexpected Courage in my decks.

spalanzani said:

funnly enough i was on ebay the other day and seen someone selling some card with the name of spalanz.....and i thought i know who that is

richsabre said:

Haha! Yes, when it comes to usernames, my imagination knows no bounds

BiJay said:

There has been an official response (or, very similar statements from FFG employees), you just don't like their answer. Christian has made it very clear that they have no intention of offering this kind of product.

As for PoD, remember that the card quality differs from standard cards. As a result, you can only use PoD cards when your whole deck is PoD. So, they work well for printing a quest, but poorly for making player cards/

There has been an official response (or, very similar statements from FFG employees), you just don't like their answer. Christian has made it very clear that they have no intention of offering this kind of product.

Dunno what you're refering to. I didn't see a clear statement. If you mean boardgamegeek.com/article/6795645#6795645 , then there Christian T. Petersen only explained why the core set doesn't have the full set of cards and that you can get the missing cards by purchasing more core sets. He didn't say they would never release such kind of an upgrade pack. If you mean another source I would really like to see it.

As for PoD, remember that the card quality differs from standard cards. As a result, you can only use PoD cards when your whole deck is PoD. So, they work well for printing a quest, but poorly for making player cards.

Didn't know print on demand is another card quality but thanks for pointing that out.

/edit: This forum is so weird, can't get the quotes to work properly...

spalanzani said:

The problem with this stance - is that the later expansions (all of them) have changed the model. In the core set it was - better cards come with less copies. Now all cards come with 3 copies.

They really want to push the competitive scene- but asking people to buy 3 copies of the core set to build a competitive deck will be a very difficult position to sell. It isn't like a collectible card game where people sell singles - it won't be cost effective to anyone to sell the missing cards separately.

Allowing people to have 3 copies of a card but making it impossible to sensibly buy them will hurt there sales in the long run not improve them.

spalanzani said:

The problem with this stance - is that the later expansions (all of them) have changed the model. In the core set it was - better cards come with less copies. Now all cards come with 3 copies.

They really want to push the competitive scene- but asking people to buy 3 copies of the core set to build a competitive deck will be a very difficult position to sell. It isn't like a collectible card game where people sell singles - it won't be cost effective to anyone to sell the missing cards separately.

Allowing people to have 3 copies of a card but making it impossible to sensibly buy them will hurt there sales in the long run not improve them.

Hey BiJay, here's where Ppsantos brought the issue up a while ago:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=201&efcid=4&efidt=559455&efpag=0#559696

In that thread, I also linked to an earlier thread I made with more of the same. You're in good company here with those of us hoping! I do hope Fantasy Flight is watching these threads. I got to a point of playing this game where I wanted to start getting competitive but felt unable to do so without the "missing cards" and was also unwilling to buy 2 more core sets. Classic catch 22. End result? I haven't ordered any more cards since Dead Marshes. My enthusiasm went off a cliff.

BiJay said:

Companies don't generally ever tell you what they won't do, because their is an infinite number of products they don't offer. They tell you what they will do

"For the non-casual crowd, this means a few LCG releases (such as the core set) will be required to purchase in triplicate to have a complete play-set of every single card." (From the thread about the initial gen con demo of the game http://boardgamegeek.com/article/5385072#5385072) When he says that a full play set requires a triplicate purchase, he is also saying that their are no plans for a booster to the core set.

@Bohemond: Yeah, this really looks like they have no plans to release such a pack. Although this statement is quite old it seems like the best one we can get on this subject. At least they changed this statement for adventure and expansions pack by having the triple cards auto-included. I still would really like to have change their mind. Don't know if we can do something to achieve it but atm it seems I really have to consider buying more core sets.... oh, well...

btw Companies will tell you what they won't do if they get something out of it. In this case they could get a few more people to buy more core sets, although they would declare it as "atm we have no plans to..." to have the opportunity to change their mind at some point. I know this stuff, no worries.

While I'd also like this kind of product, it will not happen and they will not change it. It's all a matter of cost. It's much cheaper to just print, say, 10000 Core Set than it would be to print 7000 Core Sets and 3000 Upgrade packs. The casual players (which are by far the most numerous) are fine with just one Core Set. And as you can see from browsing these forums, there are still a lot of people who are willing to pay for a second (and sometimes even a third!) Core Set, so everything's fine from the view of FFG. Producing an "upgrade pack" would have a large cost (printing, boxing, distributing) for a very small audience. It's just not worthwhile.

@BiJay - I certainly wouldn't ever say that such a pack won't ever happen, but, as you say, it would be a reversal of current policy. I think that looking at the other LCGs provides the best model of what FFG will do, and we have seen big changes in the format before. But as Trantor explained, I don't think there is much economic incentive for them to switch production modes.

no.. not going ot happen.. keep dreaming...