Unfortunately, we're 20 years too late! It was 2960-2980 that Aragorn was in the service of Denethor's father Ecthelion II. In 2080 he had a great victory against the Corsairs. The game takes place between 3001-3018 when, as we know, Aragorn was hunting for Gollum.
Also, interestingly, in 3007, Aragorn's mother Gilraen died. I wonder if we'll ever see her as a card…
I think we still need some focus on Aragorn though. If not a new version, maybe an attachment that gives a global boost to the Dunedain? The ring of Barahir? If it also gave him the Tactics icon that would be great.
I can't wait to see some weaponry and armour other than for dwarves/elves. I think this will really be Tactics' moment to shine. Like they said in the preview, fighting will be just as important as willpower. I imagine something like you have to protect the front gates, if they get too much damage and are destroyed you get an additional encounter card per turn. Dynamics like this will change the focus of a lot of people's decks I think.
Also just a thought, but I guess Steward of Gondor with be even more of a powerful card now?
Narsil0420 said:
Unfortunately, we're 20 years too late! It was 2960-2980 that Aragorn was in the service of Denethor's father Ecthelion II. In 2080 he had a great victory against the Corsairs. The game takes place between 3001-3018 when, as we know, Aragorn was hunting for Gollum.
Also, interestingly, in 3007, Aragorn's mother Gilraen died. I wonder if we'll ever see her as a card…
I think a few others have addressed this, but I'm not sure that everything after Core and SoM is still in that 17 year window. Obviously The Hobbit I is much earlier, but others have suggested that Dwarrowdelf and KD may also take place earlier.
John85 said:
Narsil0420 said:
Unfortunately, we're 20 years too late! It was 2960-2980 that Aragorn was in the service of Denethor's father Ecthelion II. In 2080 he had a great victory against the Corsairs. The game takes place between 3001-3018 when, as we know, Aragorn was hunting for Gollum.
Also, interestingly, in 3007, Aragorn's mother Gilraen died. I wonder if we'll ever see her as a card…
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Timeline_of_Aragorn#3009
I think a few others have addressed this, but I'm not sure that everything after Core and SoM is still in that 17 year window. Obviously The Hobbit I is much earlier, but others have suggested that Dwarrowdelf and KD may also take place earlier.
yeah- i was under the impression that the 17 year time frame went out the window long ago 
richsabre said:
John85 said:
Narsil0420 said:
Unfortunately, we're 20 years too late! It was 2960-2980 that Aragorn was in the service of Denethor's father Ecthelion II. In 2080 he had a great victory against the Corsairs. The game takes place between 3001-3018 when, as we know, Aragorn was hunting for Gollum.
Also, interestingly, in 3007, Aragorn's mother Gilraen died. I wonder if we'll ever see her as a card…
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Timeline_of_Aragorn#3009
I think a few others have addressed this, but I'm not sure that everything after Core and SoM is still in that 17 year window. Obviously The Hobbit I is much earlier, but others have suggested that Dwarrowdelf and KD may also take place earlier.
yeah- i was under the impression that the 17 year time frame went out the window long ago
so far, everything has been before the official trilogy; im not sure if that is part of the license, or just gives FFG greater freedom, but my guess is most/all releases (certainly in the near future) will continue to be so.
Dain Ironfoot said:
richsabre said:
John85 said:
Narsil0420 said:
Unfortunately, we're 20 years too late! It was 2960-2980 that Aragorn was in the service of Denethor's father Ecthelion II. In 2080 he had a great victory against the Corsairs. The game takes place between 3001-3018 when, as we know, Aragorn was hunting for Gollum.
Also, interestingly, in 3007, Aragorn's mother Gilraen died. I wonder if we'll ever see her as a card…
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Timeline_of_Aragorn#3009
I think a few others have addressed this, but I'm not sure that everything after Core and SoM is still in that 17 year window. Obviously The Hobbit I is much earlier, but others have suggested that Dwarrowdelf and KD may also take place earlier.
yeah- i was under the impression that the 17 year time frame went out the window long ago
so far, everything has been before the official trilogy; im not sure if that is part of the license, or just gives FFG greater freedom, but my guess is most/all releases (certainly in the near future) will continue to be so.
yes i agree there- i just dont think ffg has/will stick to such a small time slot as 17 yrs
rich
I think I have read it somewhere in one thread but I couldn't find now.
Great art in the about page of Heirs of Númenor, it should be Faramir don't you think? Surely we get him as a hero along Beregond 
.
BTW, I'm really excited by this deluxe expansion, and it's new cycle. I think this game is getting better and better 
.
Greetings.
Thorongil said:
Darn straight. I want a Thorongil card, darnit, though it should be Lore, and there's already a Loragorn. Perhaps Spirit?… Because that's what the game needs is more awesomesauce for Spirit ;-)
Actually, since he was serving in the Gondorian Army under that name, I think a Tactics card would be appropriate.
Do not expect to see an Aragorn version under a different name, it would screw the "unique" thing.
lleimmoen said:
Do not expect to see an Aragorn version under a different name, it would screw the "unique" thing.
excellent point- had forgotten that
richsabre said:
lleimmoen said:
Do not expect to see an Aragorn version under a different name, it would screw the "unique" thing.
excellent point- had forgotten that
they could always but something in the text box saying it counts as Aragorn if they wanted to make a "Strider" card or whatever (though, you'd really think the Lore version would be Strider).
Dain Ironfoot said:
richsabre said:
lleimmoen said:
Do not expect to see an Aragorn version under a different name, it would screw the "unique" thing.
excellent point- had forgotten that
they could always but something in the text box saying it counts as Aragorn if they wanted to make a "Strider" card or whatever (though, you'd really think the Lore version would be Strider).
i (along with a friend) call him that anyways- just fits
This is allso what I was thinking! Count as an Aragorn. There were some of these kinds of card in Decipher Star war ccg. Prises Leya was not allway Leya, buy name, but picture and card text make it sure that the Card count as Leya, for any game purpose.
richsabre said:
yes i agree there- i just dont think ffg has/will stick to such a small time slot as 17 yrs
rich
It would be foolish to do so. The game is called The Lord of the Rings after all. If they didn't do the novels and just keep on making sets about the time before the actual LOTR story, it would be as if they made a prologue and never showed the outcome of the story. All player cards have a shiny One Ring printed on their backs, and the role of the One Ring only becomes important during the LOTR novels. It would be kinda dumb not to do the story of the novels in its whole, and they can't be that dumb, can they?
I do like these little stories they're making up and the whole Middle-earth setting they're creating, but only if they're to create the tension and atmosphere before the main story takes off. The game won't start to feel complete to me until they begin with Frodo leaving Bag End. After all, they made The Hobbit, maybe as an experiment on making saga expansions based on novels.
Gizlivadi said:
richsabre said:
yes i agree there- i just dont think ffg has/will stick to such a small time slot as 17 yrs
rich
It would be foolish to do so. The game is called The Lord of the Rings after all. If they didn't do the novels and just keep on making sets about the time before the actual LOTR story, it would be as if they made a prologue and never showed the outcome of the story. All player cards have a shiny One Ring printed on their backs, and the role of the One Ring only becomes important during the LOTR novels. It would be kinda dumb not to do the story of the novels in its whole, and they can't be that dumb, can they?
I do like these little stories they're making up and the whole Middle-earth setting they're creating, but only if they're to create the tension and atmosphere before the main story takes off. The game won't start to feel complete to me until they begin with Frodo leaving Bag End. After all, they made The Hobbit, maybe as an experiment on making saga expansions based on novels.
perhaps….i say perhaps as there is a problme in making the novels- mainly that we have encountered such places/foes that it would feel strange seeing them again and likewise it would feel strange doing lotr and not seeing them
for example moria and the balrog….we've already seen it twice and been through moria twice, theres only so many ways you can do things like that without it getting stale
now, im not saying i dont want a saga lotr, however i am perfectly happy with the rpg style system of 'create your own adventure' ….in fact i like it as i can read the books if i want lotr, however we never see areas that we can potentially within the game system
for instance we never see anumminas, however on lotro we get to go there and see a certain representation of it….and its nice
rich
richsabre said:
perhaps….i say perhaps as there is a problme in making the novels- mainly that we have encountered such places/foes that it would feel strange seeing them again and likewise it would feel strange doing lotr and not seeing them
for example moria and the balrog….we've already seen it twice and been through moria twice, theres only so many ways you can do things like that without it getting stale
now, im not saying i dont want a saga lotr, however i am perfectly happy with the rpg style system of 'create your own adventure' ….in fact i like it as i can read the books if i want lotr, however we never see areas that we can potentially within the game system
for instance we never see anumminas, however on lotro we get to go there and see a certain representation of it….and its nice
rich
And that's precisely why I don't want many different versions of characters/enemies, like so many people are eager to see. However, it would be stranger if they didn't do the novels, since the focus of the Lord of the Rings is the One Ring (so much that they put a picture of it behind every player card) it would be weird if we didn't get a card for it (besides Bilbo's Magic Ring, I mean a proper One Ring card), or if it never got any relevance in the game.
If FFG wants to create saga expansion about the three books of the LOTR, they surely shouldn't have done this Moria cycle… Even if they did not named the Balrog "Balrog" everything else have already been seen… Misty Mountains, Caradhras, Dwarrowdelf, … Even Rivendell…
"The Hobbit" expansion already contains a rebuild of "conflict at the Carrock".I will love it (when it will be out in my country) but it's kind of sad that a year and a half after the initial release they made duplicates of some quest.
Wait and see… I will take anything that will come out of their mind and I can't wait to see Helm's deep battle properly translatted or pelennor's fields battle, etc… But how could they do it properly ?
In my opinion is much better create they own story in ME then copy the books. We alredy do it so many times in other games!
Much better to see for example story about blue mages or going to Harad, fight with umbar pirates and so on. That what make me exiting!!!
Glaurung said:
In my opinion is much better create they own story in ME then copy the books. We alredy do it so many times in other games!
Much better to see for example story about blue mages or going to Harad, fight with umbar pirates and so on. That what make me exiting!!!
I agree… Not that I would dislike a LOTR saga at some point, but there is so much material that hasn't been touched on from Tolkien's material in other games. This would be an excellent game to explore that material. Harad would be an excellent place to base a cycle in. Rich mentioned Annuminas… I would LOVE to see something worked around that topic. I don't know how they would handle some of the "older" material (first- and second-age locations) like that… perhaps sagas instead of full expansions/cycles? Angmar and the fall of Arnor would provide a wealth of material (they could even create yet another version of Glorfindel to fit thematically… lol)…
benhanses said:
Glaurung said:
In my opinion is much better create they own story in ME then copy the books. We alredy do it so many times in other games!
Much better to see for example story about blue mages or going to Harad, fight with umbar pirates and so on. That what make me exiting!!!
I agree… Not that I would dislike a LOTR saga at some point, but there is so much material that hasn't been touched on from Tolkien's material in other games. This would be an excellent game to explore that material. Harad would be an excellent place to base a cycle in. Rich mentioned Annuminas… I would LOVE to see something worked around that topic. I don't know how they would handle some of the "older" material (first- and second-age locations) like that… perhaps sagas instead of full expansions/cycles? Angmar and the fall of Arnor would provide a wealth of material (they could even create yet another version of Glorfindel to fit thematically… lol)…
yes thats one route and the appendices hold a wealth of material as you say- or they could do the lotro route and sort of make a (lore friendly) storyline where evill creatures have re populated carn dum- not stretching it too far really given who used to live there
Glaurung said:
In my opinion is much better create they own story in ME then copy the books. We alredy do it so many times in other games!
Much better to see for example story about blue mages or going to Harad, fight with umbar pirates and so on. That what make me exiting!!!
I don't understand why people seem to think that one option excludes the other. I DO love this "expanded Middle-earth" route they're going for, I mean, even as a former MECCG player I say this, since that game had LOTS of that (you could be one of the blue wizards or radagast, you could play as one of the ringwraiths and control forces in Harad, Umbar, etc. There was even a good deal of characters and locations related to the Pukel-men and the Lossoth). I love that they expand on that world, but it just kinda feels incomplete to have a game called "Lord of the Rings:THE Card Game" and not have any magic rings (the first one came a year after the release of the game) or at least THE magic ring. If they're going for that, why not just call it "Adventures in the Third Age" or something, at least that name would make justice to such a game. So it kinda irritates me that people seem to abhor the idea of making Frodo's journey when they say "Ugh no don't make the books that's boring ugh let's see other stuff that's cool the books are so repetitive". Why not have both? Yes, other games have done that, other games have done both things, but after all the game's called "The Lord of the Rings", it's not like you would choose to play this game without expecting seeing the book's story done at some point.
End rant.
Also, on the Balrog name thing, it's not like MaO is the last time we're gonna see The Witch King, so they could just print another card named Durin's Bane that just plays different.
Gizlivadi said:
Glaurung said:
In my opinion is much better create they own story in ME then copy the books. We alredy do it so many times in other games!
Much better to see for example story about blue mages or going to Harad, fight with umbar pirates and so on. That what make me exiting!!!
I don't understand why people seem to think that one option excludes the other. I DO love this "expanded Middle-earth" route they're going for, I mean, even as a former MECCG player I say this, since that game had LOTS of that (you could be one of the blue wizards or radagast, you could play as one of the ringwraiths and control forces in Harad, Umbar, etc. There was even a good deal of characters and locations related to the Pukel-men and the Lossoth). I love that they expand on that world, but it just kinda feels incomplete to have a game called "Lord of the Rings:THE Card Game" and not have any magic rings (the first one came a year after the release of the game) or at least THE magic ring. If they're going for that, why not just call it "Adventures in the Third Age" or something, at least that name would make justice to such a game. So it kinda irritates me that people seem to abhor the idea of making Frodo's journey when they say "Ugh no don't make the books that's boring ugh let's see other stuff that's cool the books are so repetitive". Why not have both? Yes, other games have done that, other games have done both things, but after all the game's called "The Lord of the Rings", it's not like you would choose to play this game without expecting seeing the book's story done at some point.
End rant.
Also, on the Balrog name thing, it's not like MaO is the last time we're gonna see The Witch King, so they could just print another card named Durin's Bane that just plays different.
these are all fair points-however i disagree on two points
1.doing the entire volumes from start to finish would take many packs and cycles…you could barely fit a book in each major cycle. this game was obviously set out in the beginning to NOT follow the main storyline. now i assume ffg has planned the future, so to take on such a major re-development of the game that would last for several years…now you could say, well condense it all into a few less pack…but is that doing it justice? bringing me onto my next point….
2.this game has a lifetime, and lets assume that ffg did end up undertaking such a major development. not only would it mean putting all else on hold, but it would also effectively end the game..after we got the return of the king pack and see sauron overthrown, saruman die and the shire saved, what then? do we go back out where we left off and go back into lothlorien, morder, rohan?
i think all this points to 1 thing….if ffg do this it will be a major development, and it will be far into the future of the game.
i do not think it is a bad idea at all to do the books, and i sure as hell dont find it boring….however its more a case of the practicality of the matter
ive always seen this game as doing the books anyways…just in a parallels. for example throwing the balrog into moria was obviously the khazad dum chapter, i assume we'll defend minas tirith and gondor in the next cycle which is obviously the early return of the king
all these are the books, just not the linear storyline. so we shall see the rings likely, and we shall see the one ring, it just may not be in the book's cycle, so this brings me back to my initial point- doing the books direct is not really needed.
rich
richsabre said:
2.this game has a lifetime, and lets assume that ffg did end up undertaking such a major development. not only would it mean putting all else on hold, but it would also effectively end the game..after we got the return of the king pack and see sauron overthrown, saruman die and the shire saved, what then? do we go back out where we left off and go back into lothlorien, morder, rohan?
About this, yes, I've thought that too, that's why I think the fact that we're seeing many places and little stories is a good thing to make the game last longer instead of just the novels and then pretty much nothing of importance. I've also thought that between this game and A Game of Thrones lcg, storywise it would be more appropiate if they had "changed" systems. I'll explain. While we see little stories and adventures in Lotr lcg and following a strict timeline, in AGOT lcg we have a vague take on the storyline, seeing the main story in broad terms but often returning to random minor plots in previous books and having "earlier" versions of characters in the new sets and returning characters that were dead, etc. A general, more free take on the story, which I think would fit Lotr better. While on the other hand, Lotr lcg's chapter-driven and episodic nature fits the ASOIAF novels better. Just a thought.
And I envy you. I wish I could see the game the same as you. Feeling, for example, HoN as early ROTK or Khazad Dum as the Moria chapter. Before seeing the Nazgul in the Shire, or Frodo in Bree and then in Rivendell, or the events of TTT, I could not feel like that about those sets.
maybe they'll save the Saga expansions to coincide with when the hobbit movies come out.
there's supposed to be 3 movies now, and both boxes of their first saga expansion (the hobbit) will come out in time for the first one. maybe we'll get another 2 boxes when the next one comes out next christmas (fellowship of the ring?), and another 2 the year after that (two towers?) then they can wrap the game up with the final installment the following christmas. that would be nearly 5 years after they launched it, which might be the limit
Cunir said:
maybe they'll save the Saga expansions to coincide with when the hobbit movies come out.
there's supposed to be 3 movies now, and both boxes of their first saga expansion (the hobbit) will come out in time for the first one. maybe we'll get another 2 boxes when the next one comes out next christmas (fellowship of the ring?), and another 2 the year after that (two towers?) then they can wrap the game up with the final installment the following christmas. that would be nearly 5 years after they launched it, which might be the limit
perhaps- i think we shall certainly see something each time jackson releases a movie, if for nothing more than to boost sales
however i still do not think this method solves all of the problem i state in my above post….once they start with the fellowship theyve basically sent themselves on a path to end the game in a very controlled manner….maybe thats what they want, i dont know…but once 5 years is here and we have the end of return of the king, players will probably lose interest as it will feel a little anti-climatic to have anything else…..
i guess this could easily be solved by not releasing them regularly….they just say heres the fellowship book 1 + book 2 in 6 months time….and then leave the two towers for a date when they feel is right and then maybe commit to the return of the king when they need a desperate last boost
rich