Dear FFG

LotR LCG is one of my favourite games, but the card ratios in the core set are so frustrating. Could you please consider releasing a Print on Demand booster pack that contains extra copies of all the cards of which there are fewer than three copies in the core set?

I, for one, would happily buy such a product to get play-sets of all those cards. I know many players have shelled out for a second (and even a third) core set, but I have a limited gaming budget and I primarily play solo. As such, a second core set represents limited value for money for me (and wouldn't even get me full play-sets). Being able to pick up those cards alone would add to my core set deck-building options without breaking the bank.

I hope you will consider my idea as a cost effective solution to what is a relatively common player gripe.

Whitman

PS: Thanks to richsabre, who suggested moving this from the Print on Demand section to here.

I hear you, as many other probably does. But it will never happen. First, FFG doesn't really read this forum that often, but one could always hope I suppose. Maybe if they stumble upon the subject enough times. Secondly, the majority of those needing a "full set" happily bought/still buying a second or third core set. When the hard core players wanna do that there really is no reason for FFG to make any PoD packs with just the "missing" cards. Also, PoD cards are slightly different in quality so they would stick yout from the rest of the player cards. But for what it's woth, happy hunting

i for one would welcome this, however it is problematic using POD cards with ordinary cards without sleeves.

it also probably asks the question of why not just put the extra cards into a new edition core set.....well, answering my own question i guess

1. it would annoy all those who bought extra core sets (myself included) and

2. ffg would be losing out on the cost of printing, unless they increased the core set price which isnt a good idea i think.

....or perhaps it is. is an increase in core set price for the extra cards better than having POD sets?

the increase in core set wouldn't help those who already have the core set, so i think that POD sets are probably better, so those who want the extra ones and want to pay for the can get them.

overall i would want what you suggest, though i think its going to be tough getting it

rich

I've heard that the PoD cards are different in quality, but I can't tell the difference between my Laketown cards and my core set cards (apart from the smell). Are the PoD cards thicker, perhaps, or more prone to printing errors?

Cynically speaking, if there is an appreciable difference, that means more people buying sleeves (which I don't currently use). Not a bad outcome for FFG.

I don't know what your card pools are like, but are there any cards from the core set that you still use? Steward of Gondor, perhaps? Or Unexpected Courage?

yes, quite a lot of them. given i am a theme player i never really have the problem of older cards being replaced, but even so i think ffg has done a good job with keeping older cards more useful...and of course new combos are coming out that give old cards new life such as small target and dark knowledge

as for the POD cards, the ones i have are very much different, feel and look....and they seem 'rounder' at the edges, so i would have to sleeve them (which i do for my decks, though i never used to)

Finding new synergies for older cards (especially those which everyone will own) is one of the great thing about the LCG model, isn't it? With games like M:tG, the core sets are often underpowered by comparison to block level cards and decks.

As for a Deluxe Edition Core Set, I think you're absolutely right. I wouldn't buy it for the same reason I probably won't buy a second core set. With a PoD release, they keep newer players happy at minimal expense to the company.

PS: I checked out your deviantart site. Love the white tree!

PS: I checked out your deviantart site. Love the white tree!

thank you kindly!

I play with a group that varies from 3 and 8 players. Of the 8 of us, only 3 actually own any cards but among those 3 we have 6 copies of the core set.

Before I bought my own set of cards I bought a core set to donate to the "collective card pool"

In order to avoid being crass and not being willing to spend an additional 40 on top of the 80 I've already spent on core sets, once I began accumulating my own set... I just printed off a few color copies of Dwarven Tomb and Unexpected Courage for the times I'm not playing with my buddies.

This technique does require using card sleeves, but I find card sleeves to be an advantage in general. My wife set Mirlonde in a pool of condensation the day I bought her If only I'd had a card sleeve ready to go when she came out of the package

My wife set Mirlonde in a pool of condensation the day I bought her If only I'd had a card sleeve ready to go when she came out of the package

i read this completely differently the first time round haha

I don't think we'll ever see a PoD pack for the "missing" core set cards for the simple reason that FFG knows, if you really want those cards, you're going to buy a second (and third) core set, which gets them much more money than they could charge for a PoD set of, what, forty-odd cards?

And that is all I am going to say on the subject!

All wives should come with card sleeves, especially if you've gone to the effort of buying one. And, of course, a proxy is never as good as an actual wife!

I've heard that the PoD cards are different in quality, but I can't tell the difference between my Laketown cards and my core set cards (apart from the smell). Are the PoD cards thicker, perhaps, or more prone to printing errors?

Cynically speaking, if there is an appreciable difference, that means more people buying sleeves (which I don't currently use). Not a bad outcome for FFG.

I don't know what your card pools are like, but are there any cards from the core set that you still use? Steward of Gondor, perhaps? Or Unexpected Courage?

I think almost all the best cards in the game are in the core set.

Unexpected courage, and a test of will are probably the two I most wish I had more copies of (I have 2 cores)

Unexpected courage, and a test of will are probably the two I most wish I had more copies of (I have 2 cores)

How good would the spirit sphere have to become for these cards not to be worth including? Unexpected Courage is so awesome.

Or they could make a mini-delux set the size of an adventure pack and call it "Second Breakfast"

Or they could make a mini-delux set the size of an adventure pack and call it "Second Breakfast"

That's fantastic!

My deck needs Elevensies !

Afternoon Tea

HAHAHahahahahaha guys. It's been too long since I've taken a proper english class and been forced to keep subject and predicate in the right places.

But yeah, I was like WIFE LOOK! ( cause she plays sometimes) and she was like COOL! Then our baby started acting up and she laid it in a giant pool of water where her drink had been two minutes before.

I know baby/wife problems aren't normally a gamer's problem but I have tried to stay true to my roots as I move on into responsible adult hood

HAHAHahahahahaha guys. It's been too long since I've taken a proper english class and been forced to keep subject and predicate in the right places.

But yeah, I was like WIFE LOOK! ( cause she plays sometimes) and she was like COOL! Then our baby started acting up and she laid it in a giant pool of water where her drink had been two minutes before.

I know baby/wife problems aren't normally a gamer's problem but I have tried to stay true to my roots as I move on into responsible adult hood

My 12 year old son tried to play with my unsleeved cards once while he was eating a huge bag of Wotsits (they're like cheesy poofs, for those outside the UK). "One does not simply wipe one's cheesy fingers on one's t-shirt and then pick up my LotR cards," I told him. He replied that I am too old to do memes.

So, yeah, I'm coming round to sleeves.

Afternoon Tea

Big fan of your blog, by the way. Looking forward to seeing how you did against Stone of Erech.

Afternoon Tea

Big fan of your blog, by the way. Looking forward to seeing how you did against Stone of Erech.

Thanks Whitman, I'm glad that you like the blog. I need to make a second attempt at Stone of Erech, playing it with four players and without knowing what the scenario entailed was fun but very difficult.

As much I would love a core set "booster", I really dont think its going to happen. This has been an issue since the game came out, and there isnt that much incentive on FFG's part as the hardcore will (or already have) buy more core sets. And theres another population of players that just proxy the cards. So while the booster may sell, it assuredly wont make enough of a profit for them to be worth it.

Besides how much would it cost? They probably make way more every time someone makes the dive and buys that 2nd core set than for every 4-6 copies of the booster they would sell.

Yes, I agree, with all that has been sais so far. This problem was already being discussed before the game even came out. What drives me mad is that some of the Core Card sets are so strong (i.e. Unexpected Courage, Test of Will and a lot more) that I cannot imagine how they will ever not become an option when building strong and efficient decks.

Just one point I wanted to raise - since nobody else did this - is about environmental / waste of ressource concerns: I will never buy a second or third core set just because it is such a waste of material. I know few people are concerned with this probably and one could argue that CCGs / LCGs as such are quite un-ecological (considering the ressources consumed for cards and that cards are printed in China and then shipped around the world a number of times), but for me there is at some point really an ethical question involved:

Can I reconcile sitting on /throwing away all the encounter cards, double heroes, extra box and threat counters for those comparably few extra cards that I again?

Personally I cannot. Because I think at some point I have to admit that even though I am not doing a favour to the environment by collecting cards per se, I just cannot get myself to buy additional cards that are attached to such a vast waste of resource.

That said, FFG should consider doing these "Second Breakfast" (really like this idea) Core Set Expansions as part of their CSR programme - without having an direct economic profit in mind for that one time. Since, this is not a problem unique to the LotR LCG, it can actually make a change and shows that FFG cares about society and environemnt!

That's just my five cents, though I know we will never see this happen...