Can't find anything about it on the site. Is there any more info on that?

This is pretty much the only place I've seen detailed information about the product, and that's only pictures of the boxes.

Well, thanks that's something at least.

This disgusts me in so many ways. Shameless money grab imo.

Note the all important "will not be allowed in tournaments."

dcdennis said:

ktom said:

Makes me wonder how many AGot players will buy the set.

Maybe the more casual meta's but I can't imagine that all cards in the set are properly balanced.

Definitely will not be balanced, Martell isn't even in the HBO series yet (not introduced until book 3, Storm of Swords). I imagine this will mostly be thematic cards for flavor or something. Not allowed in tournaments does add some thought for anyone wanting to buy it. I probably won't as I need to build a tournament-ish deck before caring about buying flavor cards.

dcdennis said:

If this is what I think it is, it actually seems like a great idea. It looks like a stand alone game they can sell in Target and Wal Mart that will catch the eye of all the people who like show, but would never step foot in a FLGS and find out about the core set. I'm sure their will be some kind of insert saying like "Hey, if you like this, then check out the full fledged at your FLGS."

Someone mentioned Martell, but it looks to only be a Stark-Lannister game. Sure 2 fixed decks would get old and no fun pretty quick for people who already play CCG/LCGs, but it could be entertaining for non-gamers and bring them into playing the LCG. Either way, it looks to be timed for Christmas and so I see it selling very well. If it's priced at $20 I might even buy a couple as gifts for other people.

Of course, this is all based on looking at the pictures of the back of the box, so I could be way off.

~I'm just glad that this will be fore casual players, so now FFG doesn't have to print crappy cards especially designed for casual players for the LCG… right?!

And all the cards do seemed a little dumbed-down in terms of power level. Is this an acknowledgment of power creep?

Spend more time developing one off intro products meanwhile we still have typo's, missing letters and huge syntax and balance problems on the actual tourney legal cards evidenced by the sick amount of errata and faq entries lately…tht's my problem with it. If those problems didn't exist and things were rock solid in the actual LCG then more power to 'em, make that money. But by my count there has been at least 1 card completely borked in each of the last cycle packs. More energy on LCG and pleasing the customer base that loyaly supports you every month instead of catering to the randon show fans who you may or may not draw in with this product.

/rant over

dcdennis said:

Agreed. I realize there are gaping holes in my argument. I'll just chalk it up to general frustration and move alOng quietly

Don't get me wrong. I agree with your argument. I'm just also trying to put the positive spin on it. I can think of 2:

1. Assuming it follows the rules of the LCG fairly closely, the HBO "fixed-deck, Stark-on-Lanni" product with HBO might be really good as introductory/demo decks to teach people how to play the LCG 1-on-1 than the Core Set decks are.
2. Obviously aimed at HBO fans, it could serve as a gateway for people who would not have tried the LCG otherwise to pick it up (in order to expand the game-play experience of the HBO decks). If there is a significant enough upswing in LCG sales as a result, FFG will have more incentive to devote more resources to the game, hopefully leading to fewer of the problems you identified.

#1, I'm pretty confident about. I used to use the CCG premium starters to teach people the game all the time. #2, less so, but that's what optimism is, right?

I just don't want pictures from the show to be on tournament-legal AGoT cards. I watched a few episodes of the show, but then stopped. I don't want HBO's vision of the books to cloud and distort the beautiful imagery that I have created in my own imagination over the years. I don't want to see Peter Dinklage as Tyrion, I want to see my own Tyrion, or some of the beautiful card artwork (yes, I know some of the card artwork is bad, so think of my statements ceteris paribus ).

divinityofnumber said:

You don't want to see Emilia Clarke as Dany? Because I do. Over and over again.

Da Wolf Pack said:

Like +1,000,000

Da Wolf Pack said:

~Maybe they could make a lot of money off of a nudie version of the Lady characters that were naked in the show. That could introduce the game to a market that never even considered card games of any kind before.

divinityofnumber said:

We already have tonnes of artwork cards. I wouldn't mind seeing a selection of TV stills or other photographs. Send 'em in straight or make interesting use of photoshop. The show has tonnes of terrific imagery. Everyone needs a Joffslap card in the collection.

Bomb said:

Fully agree on this one.

Bomb said:

But playing against these people would be a chore. "Dude, are you done marshalling? Dude? DUDE?!?"

ktom said:

Quite agree with #1. But I think few of those who attracted by the HBO version will be attracted by the art of the normal version, ends up with two different groups of fans.

The game DOES need a way to get more new players, but with the card pool growing larger and larger, it seems hard. In China we face the similar problem, though there is no Chinese version of defenders of the north and a clash of arms. What I consider is in order to get more new players, regular core set teaching and competition is needed (there are very few CCG cards in China). More core set players will lead to more whole card pool players.

playgroundpsychotic said:

Agreed