The events list is out for GENCON and I saw nothing for LOTR LCG. Has anyone heard any rumors of a special scenario this year like The Massing at Osgiliath last year?

I haven't heard anything either but am also still holding out hope for one.

Massing at Osgiliath is crazy overpowered but still really fun to try with a strong deck that you've won a bunch of times with against the normal quests. It's kind of like the bonus level after you've beaten particular video games.

I'd love another quest like this.

I was also hoping to see an event on the schedule. I do remember last year they had a volunteer running some sort of demos each evening in the FFG gaming area. I do not remember seeing any tourney type thing run. I am not sure that they have thought out the competitive point system that well.

I have a feeling that the new Saga expansion will be released at GenCon. I have no knowledge of this but I just have a feeling.

I don't think we will see a competitive type event at GENCON this year as they don't have an official scoring system. I was just hoping to see a special new quest for the CON!

The real problem with making this game competetive is that there are so many rules to keep up with and player accountability. They would have to have judges at every table watching. Just think if they tried to do a single player comp. They would need a bunch of judges that know the rules pretty well.

I'm not saying everyone is a cheater, it is more likely that players misses things rather than purposely forget them.

As for scoring, they need to have something in place to score by player instead of the group. A great player that gets paired with 3 not so great players would have the misfortune of being handicapped. There is a lot of things they would need to do before they can turn this game into any kind of event.

Sprenger said:

That's not much of a problem, they could have single tournaments or group tournaments.

Instead of making it a solitary game, you bring your crew and try to win the event as a whole.

I'm all for additional scenarios, however they're released.

As this is a cooperative game, I don't really see a need to make it competitive. For what purpose? I think most people play this game for the theme and to have fun, not to say I can beat a certain scenario 1 round faster than someone else, or with less wounds. What difference does it make? It's co-op/solo.

Sprenger said:

I think you have hit the nail on the head. I have been playing for some time now and still miss the occational rule.

My idea for an event at GenCon would be a casual challenge. I would choose a number of current quests, generally from the adventure packs (choose 2 or three and avoid the nightmare ones). Allow players to play solo with 2 decks or pair up with another player. Let them attempt the quest. If they make it have a small prize that would not be disclosed (eg. a small gift certificate to the FFG store or other vendor). I would have a couple of judges there to answer questions or clarify rules. Obviously this is not a "competition" and will have multiple winners. If there are players that just want to cheat, well, that just going to happen. I think that the majority of players will play on the up and up. Players would have to bring their own cards, sit down and have some fun.

Moses2813 said:

That sounds so promising that I hardly believe it will happen at all!
The idea is actually so cool that I'll do that in the end of this month I'll try that with my playgroup, but with much less appealing prizes.

For those interested in trying this. Let's meet in the FFG play area at 9pm on Thursday night at GenCon.

i will email Anton Torres at FFG and ask permission. If it is not possible to use table space at the FFG game area, I'm sure we can find some space somewhere.

Hopefully we can have some fun.

How many judges are their normally at these events? Would it be too outrageous to just have 4 player games, and have a judge playing as the 4th person for each group?

The problem would be staff, but there an easy way around that. You could do a four round event where each player plays in 3 of those rounds and judge a 4th. You'd stagger it such that you had player-judges each round. That way ff wouldnt need to provide any staff and each player would have 3 games with the same deck to use for an average score.

I'd be up for something like that.

Except how do you certify that the judges know the rules well enough? We've certainly seen some prolific players nevertheless have some gaps in understanding…

radiskull said:

I agree that this would be a minor issue but would respectfully argue that it would be of no more concern than any card game, board game, or miniature tournament.

In all of these types of events the main judge or judges are vastly outnumbered by the number of players. There is no way to guarantee in any of these events that all games are played exactly per the rules. The difference in most other games is that you have competing sides or players. During the games these competing sides police eachother regarding adhearing to the rules. When a significant disagreement is encountered, the master judge or judges are brought in for a final ruling.

In LotR LCG the players are playing cooperatively against the quest and encounter deck. There is no competitive player or team to serve as an advocate for the quest or encounter deck. I believe this could easily be overcame by requiring bye rounds for each player and during those bye rounds requiring the player to serve as the quest advocate for a game that other tournament participants are playing. This player would monitor the game and point out any areas he/she believed were not being played correctly. In the event of a significant disagreement the master judge would be called in.

I'd further guess that as the size of the game increases from 2 to 4 players that there is an even greater chance that the games are played and scored according to the rules. In most other 1 v 1 tournaments you only have 2 sets of eyes where in a 4 player game under this format you'd have 5! It's by no means perfect and again you bring up a valid point. It it is one that can be overcame.

I know I'm not an active poster here but I have tons of experience in playing and running tournaments in other gaming systems. I really like LotR LCG and would be happy to support efforts to get some sort of organized play going. I will be at Gen Con and plan on participating in 3 large tournaments for other systems but will be happy to carve out some time to play or volunteer with LotR LCG games.

The thing I have been struggling with is how to deal with heroes and uniques. So far the best I have been able to come up with is allowing multiple copies in the same game but only 1 copy under each players control. I know there are flaws in that but if you want to get each player to play multiple games with the same deck i dont know how to get around it. If there are any other ideas out there I'd like to hear them.

So what's the likelihood that they'll hold off on Shadow and Flame until GenCon and have it released there first before shipping it to the retailers? It's not a GenCon exclusive, but it would give people a pack to buy at the convention.

Budgernaut said:

I think we're going to see Shadow and Flame in June, way before GenCon

I like Moses' suggestions. My preference would be for 2-player pods in groups of 4. Each player must bring a legal 50-minimum card deck as defined in the rulebook. Each player may also bring up to 10 cards that they may either add to the deck, or exchange for cards in their deck before the start of each game. Each tournament round may last no more than 60 minutes, and each game within tournament rounds may take no more than 25 minutes. Any team still playing when time is called within the tournament round has lost the encounter and scores no points.

Basically you have 1 or 2 judges overseeing the entire event. At each table, the 2 teams roll off to see who goes first. The team who wins the roll goes second, and gets to pick the encounter their opponents' team will play against. The team playing first then has 3 minutes to adjust their decks using their extra cards as explained above. The other team watches the first playing team's game, and can call a judge over about any issues. It is that team's responsibility to watch for slip-ups or possible cheating (it's bound to occur) among the players. When the first team finishes their game, then they pick an encounter deck for their opponents to play. That team has the same amount of time (3 minutes) to adjust their decks before the game begins.

The results are based on scoring. A win (meaning a team defeated the encounter) is worth 4 points. If they completed the encounter in less than 15 minutes, they score an additional 2 points. If they completed it less than 20 minutes but more than 15 minutes, they score 1 additional point instead. Add this result to the scoring bracket from the core rulebook. The team that finished faster than its opponents' team scores 2 points, and is considered the "winner" of the round as long as that team defeated the encounter. Teams are paired randomly in the first round, with winning teams facing teams of similar or equal scoring results as much as possible in subsequent rounds. Play continues in this way

At the end of the entire tournament, the team with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, the team with the most wins during the tournament wins. If there is still a tie, and one of those teams defeated the other in a previous round, that team is the winner. If there is still a tie, then those teams must play off to determine the final winner.

Challenge Level 7 or higher encounters are not legal for tournament play.

So who is all going to GenCon?

If there is no official event maybe we could all meet up and play some games?