Last summer (NZ summer) I played a lot of LotR LCG because I had a nice playing surface available every lunch time. I didn't have anyone to play with, so I just played solo (1 hand). I created 2 decks, so that I could use all 4 spheres. I then started tacking the quests, in order. I played with deck A until I beat the quest at least once, and then shifted to deck B. Gradually I progressed through the quests, eventually reaching Rhosgobel. Unfortunately at that point, we had to move, and my new office didn't have a nice playing surface, so several months passed before I picked up the game again.

A couple months ago, I began my second "push" through the quests. Since I felt a bit rusty, I decided to start over again with Passage through Mirkwood, but didn't restrict myself to the Core set. The idea was that since I now had more cards available to me, and was more experienced with the game, I should be able to quickly progress through the quests until I reach Rhosgobel again, and then finally enter terra incognita.

Well, that was the theory at least.

The reality is that I feel am stalled . And I think the problem is that is it hard to gain momentum , due in part to decision paralysis .

After playing once or twice a week for the past couple months, I am still on Passage through Mirkwood, and am still nowhere close to feeling satisfied that I have "finished" it and am ready to progress to the Anduin. Why am I stuck? Well, let's see how I have spent my time: (Note that the days are based on memory and therefore an approximation):

Day 1: I sorted my cards. They were in whatever state I left them last summer. Since I no longer felt connected with those decks, I wanted a clean slate. I therefore sorted them all out again, replacing the card sleeves that had ripped. This took my entire lunch break.

Day 2: I built a Leadership/Spirit deck. I felt overwhelmed with options. It took me forever to whittle down to about 80 cards. If I had only been playing with the Core Set, it would have been easier, but I hadn't separated the Core Set from the expansion packs I had opened. It took the entire day just to construct a deck.

Day 3: I built a Tactics/Lore deck. The Leadership/Spirit deck would be my "A" deck. and this would be my "B" deck. It took the entire lunch break to decide which cards to use, and I still had too many.

Day 4: I finally got to play. I played the Leadership/Spirit deck, and won. It felt too easy. I was slow because of having to re-learn the rules and look up errata, so the single game took the entire break. I had too many cards, so wanted to get rid of some of them. However, I didn't know which to get rid of, so decided to play the same deck the next day.

Day 5: I played Leadership/Spirit deck again, and this time lost. I think I got stuck with too many event cards. I got rid of a bunch of them, and tried again, and won. I still wasn't convinced I had "mastered" the scenerio with Leadership/Spirit, so I decided to give it a final shot the next day.

Day 6: I played Leadership/Spririt again and won. I was now relatively happy with my deck. although I knew it still had too many cards. I was ready to tackle the dreaded Tactics deck (assisted by Lore) on the next day.

Day 7: I played and lost Tactics/Lore. It was painful. I didn't feel like I was drawing bad cards or that luck was a factor; it was just that this deck really stunk as questing and threat management. And if I was having trouble on Passage through Mirkwood, which is the easiest quest, then this deck had no chance with the other quests. I knew that I would dread playing with it each time. So I decided to forget the Tactics/Lore idea, and instead pair Tactics with Spirit, so that Eowyn could help the Tactics morons heroes quest.

Day 8: Since I decided to switch to Tactics/Spirit, this meant I had to pair Leadership with Lore. So today I built a Leadership/Lore deck. This meant I had to disassemble both of my decks first, before building the two new ones: Leadership/Lore (the new "A") and Tactics/Spirit (the new "B").

Day 9 : Today I played the new Leadership/Lore deck, and loved it. Leadership cranked out resources, and Lore cranked out cards. What a natural combination! The only downside is that Bilbo died. I was playing with him in order to force myself to learn some of the non-Core heroes. I think it's the Hummerhorns that took him out. We really didn't need him, once Aragorn got a song of lore and the Steward of Gondor. Bilbo, schmilbo.

Day 10: I enjoyed the Leadership/Lore deck so much yesterday, but wanted to see if I could keep Bilbo alive, so I played it again, and won easily, but again, Bilbo died, about midway through. Hummerhorns again, I think. It didn't matter, though, thanks again to the Song of Lore and the Steward of Gondor, a great combo.

Day 11: I played Leadership/Lore a third time, and was determined to keep Bilbo alive this time. Somehow I managed. So, finally, I was satisfied with this deck, although I knew its threat management wasn't that great. The only way to reduce threat was via Gandalf, and because I was using lots of cards (for disposable allies), the relative frequence of Gandalf was pretty low. The only way to fix this would be to either play with a smaller deck or add some Spirit cards, which I could use if I put a Celebrian's Stone on Aragorn. I didn't feel comfortable mixing 3 sphere, however, and wanted to save the threat-reducing Spirit cards for the "B" deck, so I decided to stick with the existing deck.

Day 12?: I *think* I played Tactics/Spirit, but I do not remember….

…This is because now began a long series of interruptions. Family visiting, traveling, Christmas, and then getting ready to move to a new house. The cards got packed pretty early in the process (since I didn't anticipate playing much), and now we're on the road again, so I don't even have access to them.

I do, however, have LackeyCCG and OCTGN, and have installed the LotR LCG plugins for both. I've built a Leadership/Lore deck (core set only) and played through a game on each system. OCTGN feels smoother, but LackeyCCG lets me save. Testing these two systems took an additional 4 lunch breaks.

So I have spent 16 days with Lotr LCG in this second phase, and am still not done with Passage Through Mirkwood. I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel either, because I still need to decide what to do next:

Should I:

a) build a Tactics/Spirit deck on LackeyCCG and/or OCTGN with Core cards only

b) build a Tactics/Spirit deck on LackeyCCG and/or OCTGN with cards through Rhosgobel (so that it is better practice when I get access to real cards)

c) expand my LackeyCCG and/or OCTGN Leadership/Lore deck to include cards through Rhosgobel

d) take my existing LackeyCCG and/or OCTGN Leadership/Lore deck to the next quest (Journey Down the Anduin)

e) spend time learning or rebinding the LackeyCCG and/or OCTGN commands so that I can play more efficiently

… and once I get access to my cards again, I will need to decide whether to:

f) find a way to improve threat reduction in my Leadership/Lore deck

g) take Tactics/Spirit through Passage through Mirkwood

h) try playing "2 handed" (with both decks at once) - the primary motivation here would be to reduce the number of times I have to win a quest before feeling like I am ready to continue to the next one; the side effect is that this might make some quests easier, which means I can progress faster

i) reduce my decks to just the core set - I like the idea of using cards which are "contemporary" with each quest (such as Passage through Mirkwood); the downside is that since I am playing solo, I might be making things harder for myself.

j) create a 3rd and 4th deck using heroes and cards I didn't use in decks A and B - this would let me use *all* the cards; it seems a shame to have some cards going completely unused

k) watch some more video tutorials, to see what other people are using for decks and strategies - this might help me reach the "good enough" point faster, so that I can progress through the quests

l) post my issue on the forum

m) go play something else, where I don't have to think as much

------

As you can see, there are lots of options for what to do next, and since I am playing alone, I don't have anyone pushing me one way or the other; there is no external pressure to "get on with it". Also, since this is my second playthrough, and since I know there is a lot of work to get from here to Rhosgobel, there is more pressure to do things "right" on this early quest, so that I set a precedence that will carry me swiftly and enjoyably through the other quests.

Thus, the decision paralysis.

I'm sure some of you think this over-analysis and over-documenting is a silly waste of time, but others of you might feel (or have felt) the same way. It's from the latter bunch that I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

While waiting for people to reply to my post (ha), I checked out the two new LOTR LCG blogs. Great writing, great advice, great sense of knowing what they are doing.

Some things were made clear to me while I was reading those blogs:

1) The writers have lots of free time . Not only were they spending what looked like several hours a week writing the blogs, but they were also spending several hours a week actually playing the game. Their primary focus (of writing and playing) was on the new Gondor quests and cards, but they also were spending time either playing or at least refeshing themselves with the older quests and cards. I'm guessing they each are devoting at least 10-15 hours each week to LOTR LCG. Perhaps much more. Momentum and improvement at any skill requires time, and they definitely seem to have it. I'm very impressed, and a tad envious.

2) They use multiple overlapping decks (e.g., multiple decks utilizing Spirit cards). They aren't restricting themselves to one deck with 2 spheres and the other deck with the other spheres. Maintaining overlapping decks with a single set of real cards seems a bit of a pain, since you have to continually move a randomly sorted subset of cards from one deck to another; plus, you have to remember which cards are in which deck. So either they have nimble fingers and memories (or write everything down), or they have purchased multiple copies of the quest packs, or they play mostly virtually. I am curious which is the case.

3) They don't aim for, or expect perfection . It seems very clear in their heads that there are no "perfect" decks, and even their favorite decks lose some times. Different decks have different success rates at different quests; none have a 100% success rate on 100% of the quests. Ditto for individual cards. Some cards and decks seem to be preferred over others, but the writers never seem to "settle" on a single deck consisting of only favorite cards. LOTR LCG is not like a video game where once you develop a "winning" character or strategy, you stick with it forever. The writers seem to accept, and even appreciate, the fact that while progressing through the quests, they will be building many different decks, rather than a single deck with a few occasional tweaks here and there. This takes off some of the pressure to build a "perfect" deck which will make it all the way from Passage through Mirkwood to Rhosgobel with minimal losses (and therefore minimal time). Again, this is not a video game, where once you "solve" the quests the first time, subsequent play-throughs are a cakewalk.

I'm really enjoying reading those blogs, and hope they focus now and then on some of the earlier quests, and maybe even address the bigger issues of how they allocate their time for LOTR LCG, how they manage overlapping decks, and how they decide when to progress to the next quest.

I too have a hard time making 50 cards decks and i find that 60-65 works well for me, especially with decent card drawing ability. So yeah dont limit yourself too much at first and at the end of a game just remove the cards you felt were more of a burden than anything else. The kind of card that sits dead in your hand or that has very little impact on the game when you play it.

Other than that, you should try trisphere deckbuilding. With good ressource gaining power (like Steward of Gondor) and cards enabling you to have mutliple icons on your heroes (Songs, Celebrian's Stone, etc…), you'll do fine.

My last recommendation would be to not obsess over beating the first quest over and over again until you feel like you've mastered it. You beat it several times already, you should try going on (perhaps leaving Dol Guldur aside for now). It's interesting to confront a deck to different quests.

tripecac said:

haha….good one. i used to do a blog (below in my links) that was tolkien lore orientated. the key word here was used to, as when i restarted my studies my time dissapeared. so i dont play this game as much as i liked, but what i would say is when you do play, think less of the game and more of the theme

get immersed, at least thats how i get the most out of this game…..quality not quantity. still if the lore isnt so much for you then this doesnt really help.

my second piece of advice would be to visit this forum and talk with people here, that way you feel 'connected' to the game even when you are not playing it…..keeps the interest up.

i tend to find my momentum goes when no news is posted….like now, but when new cards come out i end up playing alot more

rich

I think at this point one of the big decisions I need to make is whether to continue to play 1-handed solo or switch to 2-handed.

I realize that 2-handed solo play is a form of "cheating", since the player knows which cards are in each deck (although you could argue that people who play together often develop "signals" and "tells" similar to bridge players, so they don't really hide everything from each other). Also, it requires more table space, and more thinking, since you have to keep tabs on twice as many heroes, threat values, etc. And finally, it might be harder to play 2-handed via software in those cases when we either don't have access to cards, (e.g., when travelling) or want to record play (for tutorials or to have someone check the validity of our play).

However, 1-handed solo, while officially endorsed, has fundamental disadvantages as well. For one, it appears to be a bit more difficult than 2 players on many quests (Escape from Dol Guldur). Also, certain cards and functions don't really get used in solo play (Wandering Took, archery, sentinel), so game becomes a little "shallower". And finally, solo decks are not allowed to specialize to the same degree than multiplayer decks can, since solo decks can't depend on a second player to fill the gaps; this forces us to "water down" our deck building experiments a bit.

So which is the lesser of the 2 evils?

Which is more fun in the long run?

Which works best for people with limited time to play, say 2-3 hours a week max?

For me i played solo game first until core set quest 3 since there is no way to beat it one handed.

Then i changed back to solo since i found 2 handed playing cheated as you said.

Solo is better to me but most of the ranged characters wont be used in my deck, which is kinda waste.

Solo is solo. Coop is coop. 2 hands solo? Yes can pay and get fun but there is some cheating and to much thinking…..

I happy play solo as 1 hand and coop with my friends. Game is really good solo but true if you play mostly solo you will become a strong player mostly and after coop game is too easy for you. But HON change it so im happy with that. +New nightmare packs coming so i double happy!

I watched the first Anduin video from Cardboard of the Rings last night. It was very interesting to see 2 decks [coop] in action. One deck was mostly questing/support, and the other mostly fighting. They got unlucky with some encounter card draws, but overall I could see how each individual deck was much more focused on its role than I can ever get playing 1-deck, simply because 1-deck solo players have to water down their decks in order to be able to handle questing, combat, and support.

I agree that if someone can master solo 1-deck play, he/she can probably do a great job coop as well, since the player will instinctively water down his/her deck a bit, "just in case". That way, if the other player cannot for some reason fulfill his role, it's not the end of the world, since the master solo player still has those "just in case" cards.

It's like, imagine an experienced solo pianist happens to be playing a gig with a drummer, but the drummer gets sick and has to leave. The pianist, while not expecting to play a solo show, and not fully prepared for it, can at least fall back on some songs which do not require the drummer. Those songs are like the "just in case" cards that a solo player includes in his/her decks.

However, it's a long, long road to mastery, at least for those of us with limited time and/or IQ. And some of us are content to remain solo musicians. So, the question is: do we stick to playing one instrument at a time, or do we "overdub", which means playing with 2 decks? Yes, pretending to be 2 people at once is "cheating", but it can allow us to experience aspects of the music/game which are not available to true solo play.

So which is better: becoming a better player, or experiencing more of the game?

tripecac said:

Carboard of the rings they are nice guys but they dont know how to play this game. They lost not becouse of the bad draw, cose they dont see the way what to do. they Suffer from the location for couple of rounds but in he same time he has Stand and fight and his friend has snowborh scout in his discard pile. This is very very big mistake. If i make mistake like this is not mean i have bad luck is just dont know how to play this game. They decks not really working together and sorry to say but they dont know how to build up the decks for synergy. They just play 2 solo decks togehter. And most of players do it! And why not?

Game didn provide enough challenge when you will lose all the time if you not really cooperate. BUt HON change it! Now you have to build up coop decks with a good synergy with 2 + player game. And i love it!

Glaurung said:

Don't let Jared (one of the co-host of CotR) hear this one…. from the show I get the impression he is some kind of bad-ass who will come up with game-breaking comboes and like to do other people's fighting for the fun of it.

While I agree some of their plays may not have been optimun, you can't take a long time thinking out your moves while recording for a video that is intended to entertain newer players…. and I think they were building decks out of Core Set cards only so how much deckbuilding could have been done?

tripecac said:

Drum and Piano duo? Sounds like one jazzed up craziness.

Ellareth said:

Dont worry about this we know each other and i always was critic about them, they now this very well. They even block me on youtube.Ha ha ha!

They only like when someone comment : you are great and amaizing and never accept any critics. But what i must to say they play beter now but still not as good as they should in my opinion. Anyway is my point of view and i always say this for couple of years im here.

Now i upload my first video where i wonna show how i play this game agaisnt Ambush in Ithilien scenario. This video was done yesterday when i got good stand for my galaxy note 2. i will put the link here soon

Glaurung said:

Ok i got good stand for my galaxy note 2 and record some video how i play random game against Ithilien. Sorry for quality this is my first video. Actually i have fun with this so i will make more videos sure. English is not my native language so sorry for some speech mistake. There is 2 mistake i done but they very small and doesn change notning. Check it out!

Here is link for first part:

http://youtu.be/L0lSm_vWGkQ

Here is link for second part:

As the second member of the "Progression Series" team, and not an "official" member of Cardboard of the Rings, I think you are full of it, Glaurung.

First off, it is easy to sit and critique a video after it's been made. Anyone can be an "arm chair quaterback." But there are so many things to think of when making a vid on OCTGN: is my sound working? do i remember the hotkeys? are we being boring? am i playing the right cards? what's my next move? what is mitch saying? etc, etc, etc. Hell, when I watch the videos to edit them, even *I* think of things we could have done differently. But, again, that's so easy to do when you aren't in the moment.

I will never claim to be "perfect" at this game - but to insinuate that I "don't know how to play" is insulting, rude, and frankly, uneccessary. I play this game because I love Lord of the Rings and I love this game. Not to be perfect. Not to seem better than anyone else. Not to flaunt how great my deckbuilding skills are. But b/c of the LOVE I have for LOTR and the great friends I've meet because of this game, the FFG Forums, and yes, because of COTR.

Additionally, we are not building "solo" decks and mashing them together. Frankly, there is no way my decks would work solo, as they are mostly tactics.

Not to mention, I accept all criticism, not simply "I am perfect, wonderful, etc." There have been plenty of comments, both critical and supportive, but all made with a tact you seem to lack.

Plus, if you dislike COTR so much, and think they "don't know how to play the game" and have been telling this to everyone on the Forums who would listen, why do you even bother to watch the COTR videos and comment on them? Seems to me you'd be much happier never listening/watching/talking about anything COTR ever does, ever again. Why you feel the need to, year after year, bash on the COTR guys is beyond me.

Nonetheless, I'm glad to see you finally putting out videos and putting your money where your mouth is. In the future, you should refrain from bashing others, whom you know nothing about, and focus on your own videos.

So you see, when you bash COTR, not only are you insulting people I now call my good friends, you are insulting me. And, at the end of the day, that is poor sportsmanship. Yes, I am going to forget things. Yes, my decks might not be optimal. But there are "correct" ways and "not-so-correct" ways to help the community grow as players. I'd prefer comments that are intended to lift up others, not tear them down as "know nothings."

edit: duplicate.

Dain Ironfoot said:

Hmmm i dont think i insult someone if i say you dont know how to play this game. I never say something bad i mean a bad word. Any good critics is always good in my opinion. But you right i should to put my video long time ago. Sorry didn have time for it enough. And sure my videos will be never good as CB of the ring cose i just dont have expirience how to make all this design things on computer. My videos is purely about the game and win the game agianst most difficult and crazy situation and quests. And there is real table and real cards.

I still looking every things what Cardboard of the ring do. And that why i say they still not get right experience in this game. But i dont insult them in my opinion.. I just clear the fact. Jarred actually is cool player. I enjoy his idea and the way of his playing. About other i just can say : Practice, practice, prctice.

When you have stand and fight in your hand and your friend have snowborn scout in his discard pile and you suffer from 3 rounds from 3 threat location this is not bad luck. This is fondumental error. And if this happen after 1 year of playing this is a problem. So learn the lesson! If you have hasty storke and you know there is a batlle ahead but you dont have the recources is not bad luck. This is fondumental error.

And there is a plenty people in the web who do they things good. Look on the Tales of the ring or Hall of Beorn website. They make amazing job!!! i really respect them for what they doing!

I hope you got my points. I dont want to insult anyone so just litte bit critics. I try to give you a bit hot pepper to make you more active. My goal was never to insult. We all love this game and Tolkien so is united us right? I will try to be less critics if you wish no problem.

Well, I was the player with the Snowborn Scout in my discard pile, so we are clear (I'm Matthew).

But, with that said, I will take any and all comments that are intended to build up a player and make him better. But you know what, people forget things. People make mistakes. No one is perfect.

It's not what you are saying, but how you come across (and perhaps it's a language barrier thing, I don't know).

I've made mistakes in the videos - some of them have cost us the game. But to err is human, to forgive is divine.

I can never promise to make a perfect video, a perfect deck, or play the game perfectly. What I can do is have a great time with my friends, get to travel and have an adventure in Middle Earth, and hope that, along the way, other people can enjoy the game as much as I do.

As I said before, I've made so many new friends in real life because of this game -friends I will probably have for a lifetime. This is what keeps me playing. My love of Middle Earth and making new friends. Not to be perfect. And certainly not to be told I "don't know what I'm doing."

So, no, I reject the idea that it's a "fundamental error" - It's called being forgetful. It's called being human.

Dain Ironfoot said:

Ok i got your point. We just aprroach different to diferrent things. You trying to defense but im not attacking you! If i insult you sorry. I will not do it agian.There is no point for me do something like this. Here is culture diffirent and also my english is not perfect.

Matthew and the other CotR folks are excellent at communicating their ideas and enthusiasm for the game. That is why we follow them. They are pleasant.

Glaurung, you might be good at playing games, but you are not very good at communicating. Your posts are negative, unconstructive, and painful to read due to all the spelling and grammatical mistakes. Your posts are unpleasant.

This is the Internet. This is where people communicate. We come here to find positive, constructive, enthusiastic posts, podcasts, and videos. We come here to be educated and entertained. We come here to experience something pleasant.

My suggestion is that you go play some games, by yourself, and stop wasting your (and our) time on forums. That way, you can become more perfect, and the forum can become more pleasant.

tripecac said:

I stay here on this forum for long time. Cannot say same about you………

I think i have rights to critics everyone whom i want and tell what i think. And i know this game by heart and i build up top decks in this game(just cose they a most rated and popular on different forums) so i know what im talking about. You can look my video to see how im play this game and make your own conclusion about it. I like to talk straight without any bla bla bla.

Glaurung -

It doesn't take elf-eyes to see that tripecac has made some perfectly rational, logical points, which unfortunately, you only served to reinforce in the response you posted. For someone whom has cast stones at me personally for allegedly claiming to be an expert at this game (something, need I remind you, that I have never once claimed to be), you are extraordinarily entitled; "I have been on these forums for longer than you! Do you know who I am? I know this game by heart! I demand you respect me!"

You certainly have the right to criticize anyone and everyone that your heart so desires; of course, you should also understand that everyone else has the right to ignore you. If that means my blocking you on YouTube several months ago, shortly prior to my long hiatus from producing any videos, guess what? I chose, and continue to choose, not to needlessly subject myself and my viewers to your, in the words of King Theoden, reckless hate - purely destructive criticism.

Here's some advice for you, since you seem to take it upon yourself to coach everyone else on how best to play this game; telling me, or anyone else, that I (or they), "don't know how to play the game" does not do anyone any favors. In the video you mentioned, where I forgot that Matthew had a Snowbourne Scout in his discard pile and I had a Stand and Fight event sitting unused in my hand, it was not because there is something "fundamentally wrong" with me. It was a simple mistake, and as Matthew so eloquently wrote, there is much more going on in my mind when I'm trying to make a video worth watching than "what is the optimal play at this exact moment?" Plus, since you don't seem to use OCTGN, the fact that my teammate's discard pile is not visible to me in this digital format did nothing to prevent this, in hindsight, glaring error.

Do I claim to be a paragon player, as you seem to about yourself? No, I do not. In fact, sitting down and playing enumerable games of LOTR LCG is far from my primary use of free time; I generally play a new scenario a handful of times, usually until I am victorious and have at least some personal play experience worth mentioning on the Cardboard of the Rings podcast, and then I move on to doing something else. In fact, I will openly admit that, due in large part to the unrelenting and frustrating, derogatory comments from you and a couple of others that tarnished and deadened my enthusiasm to continue producing videos and participate in Cardboard of the Rings, I did not touch LOTR LCG in the space of time between the end of Gencon 2012, and the release of Heirs of Numenor.

While I very much enjoy being an active part of this card game's online community, I will readily acknowledge that I do not put in nearly as much playtime as some, and unlike yourself, do not play scenarios to death; there's certainly no "get together with people on the weekend for some games of LOTR LCG" for me, where I live. As a result, yes, admittedly I not only make mistakes, but am therefore a sub-optimal player due in large part to my lesser experience, relative to many others. Does this prevent me from having passion and enthusiasm about this game? No, it does not. Does it prevent me from being a, dare I say it, relatively skilled player? No, it does not. Does pointless flaming from you and a few others discourage me from putting in the time and effort required to generate content that the vast majority of the LOTR LCG community not only tolerates, but in many cases, enjoys? It certainly did, for many months, though I've yet to entirely abandon this game, and am glad to finally be back producing regular content.

As this is far from the first time that you've criticized me, or any of the individuals that participate in the Cardboard of the Rings podcast or videos, I've seen from experience that, when confronted, just like you've done now, you temporarily rescind your insults and flaming and claim that you're only trying to be helpful; of course, down the road, you crawl back out of your hole (just as you originally did, in this thread), and pointlessly unleash still more hatred upon our content. If someone likes our series, great; we appreciate their views, comments, likes, and what have you. We have certainly come to understand that you, personally, do not; pointing out mistakes and providing suggestions for how to improve our play, decks, and our series is very helpful, as many viewers have readily, and tactfully, demonstrated, for both the COTR podcast and LCG Progression Series.

However, you have demonstrated time and time again that you are unable, or perhaps unwilling, to do this; therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you, Glaurung, to abstain from viewing any future COTR content. Either take the burden upon yourself to comment in a mature, sportsmanlike manner (as befiting an alleged former pro MTG player), or avoid the Progression Series and podcast entirely. You have shown yourself to be an above average player, with plenty of reasonable advice and sound suggestions to make; your input would certainly be appreciated, but abrasive and derogatory comments will continue to be ignored, and continue to do little more than generate needless frustration and ire.

TheLightdarker said:

Hmmm i think we just dont understand each other and is not only cose my engilsh but also cose we are really different people.

Looks like really hurt you by my words. Im sorry for that. I really sorry Lightdarker. I think better i will say nothing cose most of the times you take it to personal. Just lets forget about it. Im sorry if i harm you. I just try little play with you dudes but you take everything to close to your heart so better i will keep silence. Ok?

And your conclusion about me very wrong! But i think is my foult cose im not really good typer in English.

Glaurung, it's not your English that is annoying people; it's your attitude.

You apparently can't help insulting even as you are [fake] retreating. You come across as a real people-hater, with absolutely no empathy. You think the world in general is lesser than yourself. How miserable it must be to be you, surrounded by weak, stupid people.

Well, at least these weak, stupid people understand each other, and appreciate each other's writing, podcasts, and videos. We derive pleasure out of each other's efforts. That's why we keep coming to this forum: we want to share ideas and experiences. We appreciate the community for what it is: a bunch of people coming together and pooling their resources, acting cooperatively and symbiotically.

I don't think you quite "get" the community aspect here. Either you are not mature enough, or you just don't have it "in your cards" (unstable upbringing perhaps?) Regardless, I believe everyone (including yourself) would be happier if you just retreat to your aryan bunker, play your cards, pull the heads off barbies, whatever is it you do for genuine enjoyment… Just please don't keep trying to interact with the outside world, because you are not ready for it.

Put it this way: each time you post, you are raising your threat level by one. Nothing you say ever seems to bring your threat back down. If you keep going at this rate, eventually you will "engage" a moderator, and will be banned.

tripecac said:

Yeah, this is the internet - the place where only one opinion is allowed. Don't be different!

The only purpose of this post is to insult someone deliberately. At least Glaurung apologized for hurting the feeling of others. I hope you think over what you have written. One might agree or disagree with Glaurung's opinions, but he is certainly no troll and I never saw him insulting someone on purpose. Like this post somehow does, or did it have another intention that I missed? Yo know, I see the internet still as a democracy and not as a closed society for the chosen ones. Frankly said, posts like these make me angry.

I have a lot of respect for Dain Ironfoot and Lightdarker, who regularly make interesting posts (haven't seen one of their videos so far, so - shame on me?). Of course they should defend themselves against criticism. However, I think that they don't get what this is about. I think they made good points about the problems of creating a video and playing at the same time and I guess Glaurung has by now made the experience that producing a video wit out making mistakes is not that easy. While Glaurung is right about the mistakes that were made and wanting to be helpful he forgets that phrases like "you don't know how to play the game" are harsh and over the top. I really don't want to hear these words again. The rules of this game are difficult, and I make a lot of mistakes myself. Almost everyone does. And yes, strategical mistakes do happen, too. I think it is good to point them out, but without making the player look like a dumbass, even if that's not what you want.

However, I don't think that it's Glaurung's intention to gloat or to insult other players. I'm fairly sure that's not the case. I am an emphatic person, I know many Russians, so I am able to "translate" Glaurung's posts to get his intention. And it's the intention that is important to me.

So much for momentum, eh? These posts consumed a lot of time to read and write, and didn't really get us anything other than that icky feeling of having stepped on a bunch of people's toes. Glaurung, sorry for the harshness.

Back to the topic…

Those CotR videos made me want to try 2-handed. However, some recent Beorn's Path blog entries have been focusing on 1-handed play. So I'm back to that indecisive point, and am essentially stalled. I'm not sure if I want to invest the time in learning 2-handed play, but at the same time I don't want to "miss out" on key elements of the game. I don't think Wandering Took is a "key element", but what about Archery? Sentinel? Increase deck specialization?

So what I'm wondering is if the quests and cards after Rhosgobel get more skewed toward 2-players, in terms of difficulty and gameplay depth. Or do they diminish the difference between 2-deck and 1-deck play?