...are there any aGoT LCG players who like me have never read a single GRRM book in his/her life?

If you are one...what are your experiences thus far?

What I'm trying to figure out is, how much of the fun I'm missing out for being ignorant of the source material that this great game draws inspiration from.

Hi,

I have start reading the book because of the game. I made it in the half of the Strom of Sword, but I dont have any more of the books. So I am kind of waiting for someone to borrow me Anyway I havent had a lot of time for reading lately.

I like fantasy, it is my favorite genre. I have to say that GRRM Song of Ice and Fire is one of the best books I have ever read. It is so good. Everything is like real. You find out soon that your favorite character might die easyly. There is nothing like superheroes that are invincible. I love it.

I began playing and reading the books at about the same time. And I often like it when I look at a card that meant nothing to me and now reminds me of the good chapter I just read. It's like someone made stamps of the most important events in your life.

Reading some of the wikipedia entries inadverdently spoiled some essentials on who died and who's now in power in Westeros. But I guess my play experience should differ from most players here since I am approaching this game as a boardgamer (with no previous CCG experience) with little to negligible knowledge of GRRM's world.

It seems to me having an insider's knowledge of the game's theme (ie: having read the Song of Ice and Fire series) is only icing on the cake which is not a requirement for enjoyment of the game. Or is this like the Dune boardgame?: a perfect marriage of theme and game play, where knowledge of theme is more than just simple icing. Due to the abstract nature of the CCG experience (or LCG in this case) I think only the most Nedly gamer would feel that way about this game. One thing's for sure...this game is engrossingly fun for a casual boardgamer/newbie CCGer like me.

Since part of the reason for the LCG launch is to net in a wider player base (including dipping into the boardgamers' pool), I wonder how successful it was it that area so far...it doesn't seem to be a wild success story as of yet (maybe due to distribution schedule issues or a weak advertisement campaign), but time will tell (a few months down the line)?

nah, you don;t have to know the books to enjoy the game. Its nice to know hwo everyone is but its also nice to not feel weird when you have certin charcaters alive or killing others or even working together. (though it is tons of fun to have a 'nedly' situation).

Yeah I'm one of them too... hmmm I mean one of you... I mean one of us.

Got into the game based on the fact that I read some good reviews about it, thought the mechanics seemed interesting and also since it went to the LCG format (I've never played any CCGs before, and wasn't keen in spending oodles of cash just to get a reasonable deck going). I'm not into competitive / tournament stuff since it is not supported to that level where I live; so just happy to play casually every now and then with some family or friends. So the Core Set and a few CPs suffice for those intentions (.... who am I kidding, I know that I'll probably end up buying most of the CPs they'll produce).

So, how has not knowing anything about the background story affected my game playing so far... well I think that I have enjoyed the game very much without knowing too much about characters and locations. I don't believe you need to know anything about th ebook to enjoy th egame as is, but I can see how if you know the story and characters you could enjoy it more as you'll get attached and more involved into who is in play, who is fighting who, and who is about to bite the dust.

My first game with my brother went something like this:

Me: Ok, I'm going to bring "Jon Snow" into play and he is going to kick your guy's @r$e.
Brother: Who is 'Jon Snow'?
Me: Don't know, but it says here he is "Night's Watch", that sounds cool.
Brother: What's "Night's Watch"? Are they vampire hunters?
Me: No, I don't think there are any vampires in this game... hmmm I remember reading something about a wall to the north and evil creatures beyond.
Brother: Vampires?
Me: No I think "wildlings" or something?
Brother: I don't have any "Wildlings" in my play, so he can't kick my @r$e then; but I know I have dragons in my deck... why do Targaryen have Dragons?
Me: Hmmm... I'm not sure...
Brother: So what are all these "dothraki" anyway? and what the hell is an "Asshai"? And why is Joffrey Baratheon part of the Lannister deck?
...anyway you get the picture...

So the fact that I got the game and I'm playing all these characters I know little about has raised my interest into the world and history that GRRM has created and compelled me into finding out more about it. Although I doubt I'll be getting to any of the books any time soon (have bought too many other fantasy books that I'm yet to finish or start reading), I have looked in the net to try and understand most of the background story and the roles of the main character.

Now that I read a little bit more of the background I can begin to fill in some of the details, and that makes it a bit more enjoybale (to me anyway) when I use the characters that I know some fluff about. I can now expand on the characters in play a little bit more when we play the game with my bro. But like you said, this is not a necessity to thoroughly enjoy the game anyway.

To you guys who haven't read.

The Lannisters successfully performed an Intrigue challenge against the Starks, and when they got to discard they discarded Bran Stark. Our whole table laughed hysterically until they cried shouting, "They finally killed Bran Stark!"

If you haven't read the books you'll miss out on moments like this. If you haven't read the books you don't know why a simple discard can bring laughter, to tears, to an experience we'll talk about for as long as we remember. It's a good game, and I understand not knowing the back story considering I played Magic: the Gathering without reading but one of the books. However, in the end, even the one book I read of M:tG made me appreciate the game and characters within that much more. The books are worth the read, and I'm already rereading them because they're just that amazing.

Either way, continue to enjoy the game and spread it to new players. We're not M:tG, but with a combination of gamers like us, and GRRM's master-craftsmanship in terms of his writing, we'll see... we'll see.

I've only read the first 2 books, waiting on the next 2 so that i'm not pissed at GRRM for not finishing book 5...

That said,

I opened the Core Set with 3 of my friends. 1 of whom read all the books. The other 2 hadn't read any. Regardless, we all had an awesome time. There are certain combinations of cards that take place like the books, or completely counter to. It is fun to be able to pick up on this and as others have stated laugh or cry about it

I'd recommend the books to anyone, but it isn't a necessity.

gnox. You should read the 3rd book, since that's actually a good point to stop at. (It resolves many plots, sort of like the end of a season. )

bloodycelt said:

Agreed.

alright... re-reading books 1 and 2, then will read 3

maybe then, i'll re-read books 1-3, then read 4...

then... THEN... maybe i'll have a book 5? *fingers crossed*