I know we've got another cycle already announced, and the second Hobbit box too, so I'm not suggesting that the game is drying up or anything like that… but like lots of people I have noticed that the amount of news and previews is drying up.

August actually had the lowest number of news items since before the game was launched (with just 3 items). And then September came along and beat the record -- because that month only had 2 items.

Even the French site is getting more news than us, because apparently they've had some stuff about the new cycle ages ago, which we haven't got on ours yet.

I really miss the news, because it gives the people on this forum (and BGG too) something to talk about. We can't speculate on much anymore, other than the few cards that we've known about for ages.

I think FFG are missing a trick by drying up the news, especially when there's some new boxes in the pipeline, because it keeps the interest up. maybe they spoiled us in the past, and this is the normal amount that we should expect. Maybe we should compare how much news we get with what the other games go. I'm pretty sure that older games like Call of Cthulu and Game of Thrones get loads more

[PS… last time i asked about the news they posted a load more straight away about the new cycle, so im hoping that im going to jinx them into doing that again!]

i dont think it means anything- ive watched the news waver and steady since the game came out last year. i think they just have alot of things to do and not many people to do it

i do think news is important though- as you say it gets people here…..i mean the news of the numenor (the battles one) got hardly any talk going, compared to the khazad and so on which talk went of for ages

still its annoying, as i put so much time and love into this game- actually last time i started pretending to cry a preview came up …..so here it is

rich

PS- just noticed your Ps- great minds think alike haha

PPS- little hint if you want news- search in fantasy flight games hiers of numenor….theres some unreleased artwork lying about here and there

It is better not to compare with the other games, unless one is ready to get angry, it is often hard to find a preview for this game on the news list. I too think previews are the spice but the topic has been rather over-argumented in the past.

Cunir said:

I've been to Edge's site and haven't seen any of the previews the choppic, et al. have been posting, give me a link somebody, or at least what website they are talking about.

I'm not too worried about it (and I am playing catch-up with the cycles, so I'm happy for them to take their time). rich is right when he said that many of the spoiled mechanics have gotten little talk. I think we're averaging (unscientifically) 5-15 replies per spoiled keyword. Archery got very little talk. Battlegrounds and Siege also were largely ignored. In my recent update of the (SPOILERS) thread I've added all of the text to the known cards, with some inferred phrases as well. One surprise for me in that exercise was seeing all of the new keywords and card interactions. For example. If you explore The Citadel, an 11 point Battleground location soon enough, you remove a stage 4 from the quest deck. That's so cool and yet I haven't read anyone commenting on it. Then there's the whole Battleground mechanic where enemies damage locations and if the locations are destroyed you can't explore them or claim the victory points. I also saw on stage 2B of Siege of Cair Andros that there might be a new "sieging" stage in each round (for certain quests). Now that was very small print in an out of focus, digital photograph, but if that is actually the case, the designers have added a whole new stage to each round. That's HUGE (IMHO).

So my point is a lot is going on already, and we are basically ignoring it. I'm certainly to blame as my schedule has picked up so I'm posting less, and maybe we all just want more big and clear pictures of spoiled cards and mini-commentaries from Caleb. I imagine as October drags on we'll get some previews of The Hobbit II and HoN. Apparently Christian Petersen said the one will be out 1 month and a half or so after the other, so if they both hit this year, one must be out by mid-November at the latest (barring shipping problems).

On a semi-related topic, I think Heirs of Numenor must include some additional tokens (or maybe stickers a la choppic) since we need to keep track of damage on locations now, and so many quest stages/locations are over 10 points.

richsabre said:

I just saw a gorgeous pic of the harbor at Pelargir and a rather frightening Orc camp (or something like that). Thanks for the tip.

I think this mostly has to do with FFG launching 2 new games in the second half of this year.

John85 said:

sweet arent they- also check out deviantart as well and search ffg in and newest….theres one there also

rich

I can't seem to find any of the artwork mentioned. I'd like a link too!

C'mon folks, we knew months ago it was going to be short commons between the two Hobbit boxes. FFG has to limit their teasing or we'll go mad.

Gizlivadi said:

i dont want to as the artists sometimes arent meant to release them so early, but if you go onto deviantart.com and search in fantasy flight game and 'newest' then youll find a nice picture of a siege

rich

richsabre said:

Thanks, but I was talking about the artwork that's supposedly in the FFG page, as you said.

Gizlivadi said:

ah i see- i meant search into the general internet - theres a couple of pictures lying around if you search 'fantasy flight games hiers of numenor'

rich

The "Siege" picture you mentioned, rich, absolutely stunning! It drew the following comment, which I found hilarious:

Why doesn't the castle look like Helms Deep? The battle is very obviously the Battle of Helms Deep but the castle looks different.

All I could think was, "Really? Was Helm's Deep in the middle of a big river? Did it have a huge bridge that spanned a river to get inside the deeping wall? Folks, just because you see siege ladders, orcs, and a big fight in the middle of a rainy night doesn't make the Siege of Cair Andros the battle of Helm's Deep. What a loon. (I'm only venting here because I don't have/want a deviantArt account).

John85 said:

haha- you should make one…theyre free and i just have (though not too vent ….)

oh and yes i agree with you- the art looks stunning for this cycle!

John85 said:

I could post that reply for you if you want. Completely agreed with it.

Gizlivadi said:

If you like Gizli. Those folks really ought to ID their scenes before they say stupid stuff like that. (In his defense, that scene is only in the book by report, there are no first hand accounts).

Ha, posted it. I didn't really care since that is a really old account and I don't really do much with it. Had to keep the "what a loon" bit at the end also. Hilarious expression.

If he's confused you could always explain what he's got wrong instead of going right for the loon button. We don't want to end up sounding like these guys after all….

GrandSpleen said:

Hey hey, I didn't come up with it, I just thought it was kinda funny Second, I did tell him and explain what he's got wrong… in a very sarcastic way. And finally, as I said I don't really care about this account, so if I was a troll, I don't care.

GrandSpleen said:

Hilarious video GS. Maybe my post was a little sarcastically rude, but assuming that any time theirs a siege ladder on a wall makes a battle Helm's Deep is ridiculous. Now the guy is trying to suggest that Lorien elves were at Helm's Deep.

Ah. *Film* fans. Or Lesser Men, as they are known.

Apparently, to get news, you need to read French: http://www.edgeent.com/v2_fr/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=181&efcid=11&efidt=189514&efpag=0

Bryon said:

i had a look and translated the first block of text- there doesnt seem to be anything new there

rich

On page two of that Edge forum thread, there seems to be a claim that there's a new version of Boromir as the other hero!!!

I would have prefered Faramir but oh well!

Narsil0420 said:

really? everything points to faramir- cair andros, the rangers, boromir already being fecking epic…………..i still dont believe it