in celebration of my 1000 post here, i thought it was about time i got to know people a bit better, as i realised that ive been here for about a year and know about 2% by name

i know about internet anonymity, and i completely respect that, so dont take part if you dont want to, but i know every other forum ive been to has an intro section

so dont be shy, tell as much or little as you want to...........

ill start and you can either follow, or leave me red faced and on my lonesome

im Rich, im 21 and i live in the lake district area of england, which is really pretty and 'middle earth like,' im currently for health reasons in between things (lets call it that for simplicities sake haha) however im primarily a student. I play guitar, and write my own music which can be found on youtube under the same username richsabre. i hate chart music and listen to the likes of hendrix, srv, and brad paisley, though i will happily admit last year i went to a taylor swift concert in which i swear on my card collection she blew me a kiss (my OH doesnt believe me). i live with my partner and my cat, rabbit and 2 guinea pigs. Apart from my obvious obsession with middle earth i am interested in archaeology, and collecting random things i find. oh and i like to drink tonic water-straight, which alot of people find strange..........

I'm game...

My name is Matt, 28, from Tucson, AZ, USA. I am engaged, with a soon to be stepson and a baby girl. I am new to the forum, been reading some of the tips on here, and feel comfortable enough to contribute my own voice now. I am anxiously awaiting the release of Mass Effect 3, am an avid beer drinker and homebrewer, and have been playing guitar for the past 15 years or so.

I thought this was a new version of 'mega encounter thread' or whatever. It is not, so...

I'm Rafael Cordeiro, 21 living in Florianópolis a beautiful coastal city in Brazil (in a city, not a jungle).
I love card games and basketball, I'm at law school but now about a good lot of things. I like to say that I know a little of a lot, and everything about nothing. I gained a lot of weight since last year because I had a broken bone due to a fight (a licensed fight, not a brawl), so me and the internet are closer now. Also, I do websites as a hobby and live working for the government.

Oh, and some people say I sound arrogant, but I'm just more direct than people are accustomed.

Name's Matt Foley. Was a motivational speaker until recently. Fell on some hard times so I'm currently living in my van actually it does sit right by a river though so there's a nice view. Also Panera is close enough for me to swipe a wifi signal from.

I'm Mark, I'm 27 and live in Wrexham, North Wales. I am a huge Star Wars fan, and tend to come to LotR and other such things for light relief LotR is always a bit of an emotive thing for me, as it was always mine and my late father's "thing". I only actually came to this game after finding out FFG have the licence to produce SW games, and thought I'd investigate the company a bit. Prior to that, I only knew them for Runebound through my then-girlfriend (who got me into gaming in the first place), but last August/September I started throwing my money this way and, well, here I am. When I'm not subsidizing FFG, I am a big fan of opera/classical music (I'm a former clarinettist), and like driving around the country taking pictures of interesting places. I also enjoy ancient Greek and Roman stuff, and am doing an Open University degree in Classical Studies. In my spare time from all that, I work for the government, too!

Oh, and Rich - congratulations on your 1000th post!!

spalanzani said:

thank you, interestingly enough im planning on studying with OU, and have done in the past, as does my OH,

and thank you all for posting, i was a bit scared no one was going to!

Good idea Rich. Im carl, 40, married with 2 young girls. Was a pro cricketer with somerset for some years but am now a postman. Devon is a beautiful county with great beaches and ruggid moors. I love everything LOTR and found this game 3 months ago by chance and loved it straight away. Its also great knowing where other people are in the world, so well done on starting this one up. By the way, still cant get "Either way Jesus" !!!!

Well, I'd feel like a free-loader if I read all the posts and didn't contribute. I'm in my late 20s living in southern Arizona. I'm getting a degree in entomology and specializing in arachnids. I'm also a huge SW fan and that's really where my true hobby-passion lies (I'm the Jedi in this vid:

im pleased i did this now- everyone has such interesting backgrounds..us lotr/gaming nerds are an interesting lot

richsabre said:

Indeed! So different backgrounds and tastes, yet one thing that close us all together: The passion for fantasy.
Oh, and obviously, the nerd stuff. haha

Well, I guess it's never too late to post an introduction.

I am Mike, 28 and I live in Maryland. I have a degree in Computer Science, and I work for a video game company (as a tester, not a programmer despite the degree). I have always been a gamer, but typically played video games and some miniatures games on occasion. It wasn't until recently that I became obsessed with all kinds of board and card games, though I still play a ton of video games.

I have also been a huge fan of Tolkien since I first read the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings back in high school, though admittedly I'm nowhere near the Tolkien buff as some of the people I've seen here. I do have a collection of Lord of the Rings stuff, including everything from several copies of the books to old Lord of the Rings calendars to the animated hobbit soundtrack on vinyl to Lord of the Rings burger king toys (and a whole bunch more). In fact, there's a life size cardboard Gandalf in my living room currently.

Lately I started reading the Song of Ice and Fire series (working my way through the second book now) and have completely fallen in love with it. I have always loved just about anything fantasy, but my love for this series is just under Lord of the Rings currently.

Svenn said:

ahhh is there a better job than a games tester???? i dont know anything about game production, but personally id always prefer to be on the recieving end of a game so you can be better absorbed by it, though i may be getting the whole production thing wrong and be imaging it as something different

Nice thread I'm Leo, just turned 31. Married and with a 3 year old. I've been in retail until recently but these days I mostly costume as star wars characters for charity. I've had a little extra's work recently in a bbc production. In my spare time I game and do karate.

Hi everyone,

I'm Scott, 32, I live in South London with my wife of four years. I work as an IT Systems Manager. I've always been into Fantasy and Sci-Fi and seem to obsess over things I'm interested in. Coupled with a short attention span means I'll quickly move onto something else to obsess about!

One of my big things is that I'm a massive David Bowie fan. I've pretty much got every track he's ever coughed on, with every live version, edit and remix. After discovering I could do a fair job of singing like him, I formed and fronted a tribute band for four years called The Thin White Duke (they're still going - my brother plays lead guitar).

I've since written and recorded some of my own music. Here's a video clip of me performing one of my songs:

Fun thread idea!

My name is Mitch, and I live in Yakima, Washington (about a three hour drive from Seattle). I have an MS degree in Mental Health Counseling, and am a Nationally Certified Counselor. I work as part of a treatment team at a local psychiatric hospital where people are involuntarily detained for being either a danger to themselves, others, or are deemed gravely disabled by mental illness (e.g. schizophrenia, mania). I spend most of my spare time either hanging out with my significant other, doing very amateur bodybuilding, gaming, and contributing my part to the Cardboard of the Rings LOTR LCG podcast.

Lightdarker said:

i know many people in your field, though as a reciever of services, not a giver

I love topics like this.

I'm Brian, 27, and a client services manager for a company involved in the pharmaceutical industry. I come from a background of journalism and communication studies, which makes me a 100% certified jack of all trades and master of none. I love writing and exploring with my imagination, and I often find myself drifting away into daydreams remarkably similar to the way JD always drifts away in the show Scrubs. It's pretty incredible.

I love to play video games; read, write, and live mild science fiction, and I can't get enough of decent creature features that rely on good plots rather than gory special effects.

My interaction with the world of hobby gaming is limited at best, but I help out with the Cardboard of the Rings podcast as well, especially with some of the more technical aspects like mixing and editing. It's been a lot of fun!

And I am obsessed with Rohan.

I'm Nick. I'm 23 and live in Utah, USA. I'm currently in my final semester at Dixie State College, studying Music Education. I play the trumpet, some flute, and am learning trombone. Most of my time now is consumed by creating lesson plans and student teaching, but I've enjoyed reading the forum posts the last few days when I can

I LOVE Lord of the Rings. It's right under my love of God and even with The Beatles. I actually hadn't read the books until the Fellowship of the Ring movie came out, then read them all. Love both the books and the movies. I proceeded to read the Hobbit (SOOO stoked for the movie), The Silmarillion, and The Children of Hurin. I also enjoy the works of Brandon Sanderson, R.A. Salvatore, and Stephen R. Donaldson.

I hadn't heard of Fantasy Flight until about a month ago when a whole ton of their games showed up at Barnes & Noble. When I saw The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, I had to have it I'm almost regretting that decision, because now I want a bunch of FFG's games but can't afford them This game is awesome and I can't wait to start competing and participating in this awesome community!

FallenTurtles said:

If you haven't watched The Host, you should watch The Host.

I'm Dan, 32, South Carolina by way of Ohio. I work in an office. I'm not above pulling a good prank. I like to cook and can be a bit of a mad scientist in the kitchen, and I've been looking to start brewing. Playing outside is fun. I talk a lot of trash, so I try to make sure to raise people up and make them feel valuable, too. I run a video game league for a group of buddies. The idea is to compete and to increase the play level of everyone involved.(Improvement is almost always more important to me than victory) We do a lot of FIFA12, NHL, fighting games, and anything I can turn into a one-off competition. I like soccer( I really think it sounds better than football, even american football...the hard C gives it a certain impact). When people put down American soccer skill, I try to kindly remind them that it's just not lucrative over here and that the athletic talent is spread out over many other sports. Then I cry in my beer. I've been a Tolkien fan since my mom and dad first gave me the Mind's Eye dramatized version of the Hobbit. Thorin's farewell to Bilbo still gets an emotional reaction out of me to this day. I'm like a hobbit with gigantism.

Also, I'm not a huge fan of co-op games. Maybe I need a better playgroup.

I have seen The Host! The monster gets an A+, the rest of the movie... a solid C. I'm glad I saw it once, but I didn't find it entertaining enough that I could watch it again. I would like to recommend for you "Outlander." It was this movie that I NEVER heard about that came out sometime in the last few years. It's about a spaceman who crashes on Earth in like 450AD and fights a space monster with vikings. No joke. And it's awesome.

I'm a full-time musician who writes/records/performs for kids and families (by the name Eric Herman). I'm 42 and live in the Tri-Cities, WA area (southeast WA state).

LOTR has been an interesting experience in that I bought the base set and really liked it a lot, but after playing it a number of times I felt like I didn't really want to commit to the whole deal. So I traded it off and kind of forgot about it for several months. But then our family watched the LOTR trilogy together a few months ago and that got me back into the game again, and it coincided with the Khazad-dum announcements/release, which looked particularly appealing. So it's a rare case where I bought a game, traded it away, then bought it again (and all of the APs), and like it even more now. Another reason I had bailed is that while I really enjoyed playing the game, deck-building wasn't something I was that eager to get into, and I realized I'd have to do that in order to be successful with some quests. Well, having found several sources online where people post custom decks made it easy to try out some different things. So I've had a great time trying out some different deck ideas, and I've even surprised myself by doing a little dabbling of my own with deck-building.

I made the Vassal module that's been posted... I travel a lot around the country, so with some games that I like to play solo, that's the best way to be able to play while on the road or waiting in airports and hotels and such. I didn't intend to share it, assuming FFG wouldn't be okay with that, but since discovering the Lackey version I figured I should contact FFG about the Vassal module... They never responded, so I went ahead and shared the module with the same stipulation they requested for Lackey; that no cards will be included that haven't been released for 6 months.

One of my favorite things related to gaming is to create custom material for games I love. I've created a lot of custom stuff for Arkham Horror in particular. I really enjoyed making a Monty Python and the Holy Grail variant of Defenders of the Realm, so I thought I might try the same kind of thing for LOTR:LCG. It's kind of stalled as of late, with some other things pressing, but you can check out the progress at this link.

I'm a fan of the COTR podcast, and was a part-time contributor to the Dice Tower podcast for about a year.

FallenTurtles said:

I gave it a solid A throughout. I really like the oddball humor that gets thrown in. And it's a little heartbreaking. Outlander was pretty amazing. I felt like a kid again watching it. I know this is another reading assignment with subtitles, but check out Trollhunter. It's a Norwegian creature comedy.

Hiya ! New here in the community, so I guess this is a nice way to begin my posting career ! :-)

My name's Etienne. I'm a French-Canadian living in Montreal. I'm 32 and I'm a History teacher in College (American history, ancient Greece and the first half of the 20th century are my main areas of expertise / interest).

Always been a geek, fan of tabletop gaming, board games and video games. I also thoroughly enjoy pop culture in general, mostly sci-fi, comics, fantasy and horror (mainly Star Wars....HUGE Star Wars fan).

I read LOTR and The Hobbit when I was 13 after watching the Bakshi animated version. I was hooked right away. My favorite character is Boromir...redemption stories and last stands are things I'm drawn to.

My girlfriend bought me LOTR the card game last Xmas, and ever since that time I can't get enough. I'm not hat much into solo play, but I love me some 2-3 player coop ! My favorite sphere to play is Spirit and Lore, altough I started with Tactics. I must admit though, playing an Eagles deck is still a lot of fun :-)

Hope to contribute more to this community in the near future !

I love the idea of this Topic so i should to put my 2 cents here as well.

Im 35 years old and i was born in Estonia. This is small country in eastern Europe. Before it was part of Soviet Union now is part of Euro Union.

My origin is Russian. I travel a lot around the world cose(until 30) i was a guitar player in many different bands. I use to live in Germany, America, India, Africa. Now i live in Thailand. I have my own company and i supply artists, Didjeys and Dancers all around south-east Asia.

I read Fellowship of the ring when i was 7 years old boy in ground school. Since this time Im big fan of Tolkien. I read all his books about Middle-Earth. I really love Silmarilion and think this is the best book what i read in my life.

Start to play TCG from 2000 or 1999. Start with Magic the gathering. I have my own club in Estonia and it was the first TCG club in the Country.

So then Decipher release they LOTR TCG and i switch for this game for next 7 years. Also i use to play a bit MECCG but those time (in 2000) the game was already dead so i concentrate on Decipher game. It was wonderful time. I was best player in My country and i use to play world Championship on 2001 or 2002. I didn remember now. In 2007 i quite cose i didn have enough time to play and forget about card games until just random i see some info about new Lotr card game from FFG just i week before game was release. Without any delay i order 2 core sets from E-Bay. I love Tolkien and miss 1more chance to travel to MIddle-Earth i cannot miss. Special i love play solo cose i dont have many players around me. I love the game but since i come from community where people play really proff. i complain a lot from the begin about difficult of the game. But after KD and RHG im happy game is ok. I really wait for the tournament system and hope to see you all on the first world championship. Cheers.