ffg's response to my controversial post....

By richsabre, in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

firstly thanks for getting back to me ffg

im hesitant to bring this back up after its just subsided, but oh well...i promised i would post it when i got it


Thank you for contacting us regarding Lord of the Rings Living Card Game. It is our desire to support all formats of play over the course of the product. Please be aware that might mean at some time(s) the spotlight will be more on one aspect or mechanic while other may seem like they're not getting any love, but don't worry. The ebb and flow of the game will move that spotlight always around.

Please, can you give me the original post link ? I don't get what it is about...

try here

rich

I'm glad they got back to you rich. I believe we ought to look at the whole cycle as one expansion that gets released drip by drip. When we have the full picture, maybe solo play will have its due :-) In the meantime though, have faith !

indeed- i admit i do see both sides now, im not as bothered by it

That was pretty much how I felt when Return to Mirkwood came out. I was actually so irritated by it, that I stopped playing for a while, after I finally managed to beat that scenario. I don't mind hard, but hard for one, much easier for two or more, that's annoying. I've actually never had that much of a complaint about the cards (even Brand, the only hero I've never used) because I figured that was part of the deal. I suppose that I should consider the unbalanced scenarios as more of the same.

Yeh i think thats a pretty fair response rich to be honest. I hope thats put your mind at ease regarding this situation. Cheers mate.

It sounds like a fair response until you realize the fact that they have NEVER made ANY cards that reward or recognize solo play. Nor is there a scenario that prompts people to say, "**** on my own it was easy but when my friend sat down, forget it!"

We have at least 2 scenario/encounter decks that require a second person to even attempt if you hope to have a pattern of success...

yeah....i guess what theyre implying is that there may be a time in the future that a similar scenario will come up that favours solo- though i am doubtful as it would tick too many players off

Boris_the_Dwarf said:

It sounds like a fair response until you realize the fact that they have NEVER made ANY cards that reward or recognize solo play. Nor is there a scenario that prompts people to say, "**** on my own it was easy but when my friend sat down, forget it!"

We have at least 2 scenario/encounter decks that require a second person to even attempt if you hope to have a pattern of success...

The last scenario from Kazad is much harder the more players you have. The Redhorn Gate is also worst as more players are involved. Even Massing at Osgiliath is worst with multiple players...

As for solo-specific cards, they have not made cards yet that are ONLY useful when playing solo, but it is an admitted fact that the ability to look at the top of the encounter deck (Denethor, Henamarth Riversong, Rumors from the Earth) are infinitely more powerful in solo than in multiplayer since they let you know 100 % of what you'll face the next turn.

But it is also true that Escape from Dol Guldur and Return to Mirkwood are still, at this point, impossible solo...

(I'll be curious to see if Return can be beaten with a good secrecy deck, however, since you'll bypass the main difficulty of the scenario - the major threat increase).

I play 100% solo and I don't have any problem with some of the cards being only useful for multi-player...I would be much more concerned if more adventure pack scenarios started becoming really only playable multi-player. So far, as has been pointed out already there have only been 2 out of 14 that fall into this category and even Return to Mirkwood is somewhat playable solo although it's clearly designed primarily for multi-player. If they keep it to 1 per cycle that is really only designed for multi-player than I would be ok with that. While disappointing for solo players, there really are some interesting and unique things that can be done and really only work for multi-player. It would be nice though if they put a label on the packs something like, "Recommended for 2+ players" or "Recommended for 1+ players" so that solo players have some guidance as to which packs don't work well solo.

So use two decks. Then build a 2d6(maybe 3d6) table with generic results which allow you to simulate basic strategies. Basically make a random watchdog which limits how much player knowledge you can share with yourself. You've got enough love for the game.

Heck... I might work on one.