Worse than I Thought

[Bullroarer Took 996]

	Arkham Horror	Lord of the Rings
12-Oct-18	The Circle Undone - Announced
11-Oct-18	The Depths of Yoth - Available
24-Sep-18		The Ghost of Framsburg - Announced
13-Sep-18	The City of Archives - Available
5-Sep-18	Return to the Dunwich Legacy - Announced
28-Aug-18		Collector's Edition - Available
16-Aug-18	Heart of the Elders - Available	The Withered Heath - Available
10-Aug-18	Guardians of the Abyss - Announced
6-Aug-18		Fire in the Night - Announced
27-Jul-18	Shatered Aeons - Announced
19-Jul-18	The Beyond Boundary - Available
3-Jul-18	The Depths of Yoth - Announced
28-Jun-18	Return to the Night of the Zealot - Available
14-Jun-18	Threads of Fate - Available	The Wilds of Rhovanion - Available
7-Jun-18	The Deep Gate - Available
7-Jun-18	The Labyrinths of Lunacy - Available
29-May-18	The City of Archives - Announced
23-May-18		Roam Across Rhovanion - Announced
10-May-18	The Forgotten Age - Available
3-May-18		Terrors of the Deep - Available
24-Apr-18	Heart of the Elders - Announced
9-Apr-18		The Withered Heath - Announced
5-Apr-18	To Fight the Black Wind - Available
27-Mar-18	The Boundary Beyond - Announced
22-Mar-18	Dim Carcosa - Available
7-Mar-18	The Deep Gate - Announced
28-Feb-18	Threads of Fate - Announced
23-Feb-18	To Fight the Black Wind - Announced
22-Feb-18	Black Stars Rise - Available
22-Feb-18	The Dirge of Reason - Available
15-Feb-18		Attack on Dol Guldur - Available
8-Feb-18		The Crossings of Poros - Available
31-Jan-18	The Forgotten Age - Announced
25-Jan-18	The Pallid Mask - Available
9-Jan-18	Return to the Night of the Zealot - Announced
21-Dec-17	A Phantom of Truth - Available
12-Dec-17	Dim Carcosa - Announced
9-Dec-17		Digital Game Announced
8-Dec-17		The Wilds of Rhovanion - Announced

 

Come Asmodee.  Release the product.

[Gizlivadi 1,089]

Is this even surprising?

[Bullroarer Took 996]

I honestly didn't realize it was this bad.  Since Wilds was announced, Arkham finished one cycle, started and finished a second, and announced a third.  I know you have been saying this, but I wanted to look at real data.  And... it's worse than I thought.

To be clear, I'm absolutely not blaming any of the game designers. I totally appreciate Caleb and Matt's dedication to our hobby.   This kind of thing is a decision made higher up.  And yeah, I feel like the loyalty of the LOTR community is being taken advantage of.

"I would say more, but a shadow seems to have fallen across my face."

[John Constantine 967]

RIP Sarumane.

[CaffeineAddict 183]

I took up playing Arkham Horror, and played through the core and first two cycles, while I was waiting for Crossing of Poros to actually hit the shelves in the UK.

[dalestephenson 1,482]

I presume Terrors of the Deep should actually be in the Arkham column, making it even worse?

Should the GenCon and Fellowship events be listed in the LOTR column?  Or the early access for the digital game?

[Bullroarer Took 996]

25 minutes ago, dalestephenson said:

I presume Terrors of the Deep should actually be in the Arkham column, making it even worse?

Should the GenCon and Fellowship events be listed in the LOTR column?  Or the early access for the digital game?

Terrors of the Deep was the name for the three pack of Nightmares that LOTR received.  Arkham received two entire cycles of Nightmares that are listed.  (Though they aren’t called that.)  If we include the Gencon and Fellowship event I think things get worse because Arkham had a Gencon, Arkham Nights and another event.

[Lecitadin 282]

That's why I'm not buying the Rhovarian cycle. When they put out the nightmare cards for the Hardrim cycle, I'm not buying anymore.

[Thaeggan 116]

This is sad... Would be nice if there was a microphone to get heard.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Thaeggan
.

[banania 275]

I'm buying both games. The hype is Arkham. It gets more releases.

LOTR LCG is still a very lively 7-years old game.

We already know there's more to come (Gildor Inglorion) which probably means one cycle. Caleb also hinted at some campaign mode things for LOTR LCG, though that's much more tentative.

Releases are slower but steady.

So I'm just asking: what's the issue?

I'd rather vent my hate and rant at the digital thingy thing which should have its own forums and news tags on FFG's website. The digital confusion, I think, would harm the physical game much more than Arkham LCG does.

[Bullroarer Took 996]

Caleb was asked if Gildor and Stonehelm were going to be released outside of the CE and he said, “I honestly don’t know.”

[Gandalf_ 60]

It's frustrating that the game is a second class citizen (as it seems) but at the same time Arkham is new and the cult of the new is kind of a thing in the board gaming community. I am sure FFG knows that people are buying and enjoying LOTR LCG. What worries me more however is that they only have Caleb working on the game. Don't know how development works on these things, but I would assume there should be more people on board. 

EDIT: Also, I feel like the Arkham LCG craze will tone down way faster than LOTR LCG did. FFG has overdone it with the Lovecraft theme. There are literally so many games from them with that theme and they are releasing the 3rd edition of the board game soon which I am sure will be the main focus for many players for this universe. LOTR LCG is unique on the other hand. There is no other LOTR themed game of that scale. I considered for a second to get into the Arkham LCG but then thought to myself that Elder Sign covers me (although a different type of game). Plus my friend has the board game so we are covered there as well. How much more Lovecraft theme can someone digest. 

Edited October 13, 2018 by Gandalf_

[dalestephenson 1,482]

Arkham has the advantage of being based on a public domain work -- no license fee.  So even if it sold exactly the same as LOTR, the profit motive would be greater for Arkham.  It's also not vulnerable to the license running out.

However, given that LOTR material, when they bother to produce it, still sells out quickly I'm not especially worried that LOTR will be ended for being unprofitable.  I choose to incent FFG to produce material by buying it when it comes out.  Do I wish they'd produce more and quicker?  Absolutely.  But I'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face.

[CaffeineAddict 183]

I don't mind a slowdown of content, it's the lag between announcements/releases and the delay between packs of the same cycle that frustrates me. 

I'd rather they went most of the year releasing nothing (maybe some nightmare), and then released a deluxe and cycle over a few months.

[Stewart777 14]

I see what you guys are saying, but playing devils advocate for a sec - this game is 7 years old and just look at the amount of games that have been released over that period. I'm new to the board game scene, but the Lord of the Rings: The Card Game's library seems pretty large doesn't it.

Of course it would be better if there wasn't a slow down in terms of new content but I guess there are other projects they are working on that need attention, and they haven't stopped releasing new material entirely. So maybe once a little more time is freed up we will see an uptick in more content.

Of course they could do much better in terms of reprinting older games, but as long as they keep on producing content it's not a train smash, and I really hope they do keep on supporting this game as it has a loyal fan base that are willing to throw money at it. That is never something to turn your nose up at.

Though I could just be talking crap... as I personally do want FFG to keep on releasing new content for this game and I have plenty to catch up on so for me there's plenty to buy (when available).

Edited October 13, 2018 by Stewart777

[dalestephenson 1,482]

6 hours ago, Bullroarer Took said:

Caleb was asked if Gildor and Stonehelm were going to be released outside of the CE and he said, “I honestly don’t know.”

That's disturbing.  The article said "These heroes will eventually enter The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game through standard products," which I assumed meant a future AP/Deluxe (I suppose if they ever made the starter kit a regular product -- which would make sense as an entry point -- then it would become a standard product).  In fact, I figured Stonehelm was coming this cycle since we're right in his neighborhood.  If he's *not* from this cycle than there's still hope for an Eagles hero after all.

[Bullroarer Took 996]

16 minutes ago, dalestephenson said:

That's disturbing.  The article said "These heroes will eventually enter The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game through standard products," which I assumed meant a future AP/Deluxe (I suppose if they ever made the starter kit a regular product -- which would make sense as an entry point -- then it would become a standard product).  In fact, I figured Stonehelm was coming this cycle since we're right in his neighborhood.  If he's *not* from this cycle than there's still hope for an Eagles hero after all.

Now that you say that I doubt myself.  It’s quite possible the question was “Will these quests ever be released elsewhere?”

[soullos 147]

48 minutes ago, Bullroarer Took said:

Now that you say that I doubt myself.  It’s quite possible the question was “Will these quests ever be released elsewhere?”

Caleb was gave that answer for the quests themselves. I remember seeing that FB post. Still a bummer that the quests are locked behind a CE though...

[player1683311 66]

Yeah I'm pretty certain that Dale Stephenson has the correct answer, it was the quests that were uncertain to be released

[BigKahuna 737]

7 years is a good, long, healthy run for a modern LCG/CCG.  The days of Magic The Gathering (we never close) have come and gone.  Games just don't last that long anymore.  My hope is that even when they announce the closure of the game (aka stop making new products), that they continue to do occasional reprints or offer some sort of print on demand.  There is still a lot to collect for me and I would love to complete my set someday but part of the problem with Lord of the Rings was the machine gun rapid fire releases that made it difficult to keep up.  I mean I don't have an LCG money tree... I buy when I can afford to and often when I can afford to things are out of print so its a bit of a pain.  It would be great to get some more stability in the releases, like they really should try to focus on improving their method of matching the market consumption with their product.. It seems like there is always something missing from availability.

[player1683311 66]

Looking at the delay (comparatively) recently, as it looks like we are in an every other month schedule. I was wondering if it is possible they are intentionally spreading the releases out, keeping them steady, but less frequent,in order to keep Caleb able to work on the digital, or to meet some other unknown deadline, like they have something else in the works for the game...

[Gizlivadi 1,089]

43 minutes ago, player1683311 said:

in order to keep Caleb able to work on the digital

I was under the impression that Caleb was no longer working on the digital game and was now back to work full time on the LCG. If he is still working on the digital game, the situaton is indeed worse than I thought,

Personally, I just hope we can get to explore what is left of the lore before the game ends  You know what I mean, more Istari heroes, palantiri, artifacts, etc.

[Jeffrey Paul 26]

What concerns me more is that they are no longer putting the old sets into the reprint pipeline. R.I.P. LoTR LCG.

 

[Bullroarer Took 996]

25 minutes ago, Jeffrey Paul said:

What concerns me more is that they are no longer putting the old sets into the reprint pipeline. R.I.P. LoTR LCG.

 

I agree this is a bigger problem.  I read in too many places that people want to take up the game and can’t find the expansions.  If you want to grow a player base start here.

[TwiceBorn 298]

I have a feeling they may be preparing to reboot the game, to eliminate the deterrent that the current, massive product catalogue poses to many new players looking to enter the game.