Bounder and Braz! Huzzah!

Whats up in this thread guys?

 Holas. How goes it, Nick?

I hope I'm not too late...

When I saw this thread I registered just to post here.  I was away from the game for a while, and when I checked FFG now I barely recognize its layout.  I was lost.  I dont know where to find things and I still dont know where to access the design journals, or if there are still any.  I was half expecting the forums to stay the same since it always used a different set of forums than the rest of the FFG stuff back in the day.

I say "back in the day" but really thats only been half a year or so.

I am not a regular on the forums, and I only play casually (there is no meta at all in my area; it never had) with family.  But when I have questions I go onto the forums to ask, and I always lurked to see what people talk about.  I can't say I am as affected as most people from the old days, but even for me, this complete change in such short time is shocking; it makes me feel sad and miss the way things were.

I guess for me the LCG release format is of benefit.  I need not hunt for cards I like anymore on eBay.  But I always loved the game 1on1.  Dont know what it is like right now because I didnt buy the Core Set.  I waited for it and it never came out, some time later I just forgot.

Still glad to see ktom here.  If there is a name I recognize, ktom is 1.  Helped me a lot back then (thank you!) and I used his website for clarifications all the time.

I want to ask the old timers this:

What are those changes you mentioned?

I found out reading just now that the old CCG blocks are cut from official support.  But what else besides the new forums and that?  What is the "LCG" format you guys are calling?  Isnt LCG just the new release style?  Is AGOT a multiplayer game now?  Even in tournaments?  How do they deal with kingmakers style of play in a tourney?

Is it true that Martell and GJ have insufficient card pools now?  How can they just kill 2 factions off like that?  I love those!

xenoss said:

Thanks for the vote of confidence. The website wasn't actually mine, though. zoood! did all the work. He wanted to make a rules compendium site and decided to name it after me since apparently my big mouth was filling in a lot of the content.

xenoss said:

Well, yes and no. The "LCG format" restricts the card pool to just those cards that have been released in Chapter Packs and the Core Set. So everything released in the new style. The game itself plays the same, but that card pool is pretty limited - especially if you were a toolbox player. And it's not just quantity. Many old timers find the plot selection very limiting, particularly in Joust (1-on-1 play) because many of the plots from the Core Set are geared toward multiplayer. The card pool also tends to feel incomplete from various trait and support points of view. For example, there are a number cards that key of plot traits, King/Queen characters and Kingdom locations, but with 5KE off-limits in LCG play, these cards are unreliable at best. So it's not so much that there were too many changes as it was changes that were too big and seen as implemented before the card pool could support them. It ended up being a significant change in the "extended competitive community" feel of the game. At the local level, things are pretty much the same. But if part of the game's identity to you was that connection to a national or international scene (regardless of whether you ever played outside of your locale or not), that feeling pretty well dried up with the changes in organized play.

xenoss said:

TO's are given the option to have tournaments in Joust (1-on-1) or Melee (multiplayer). They don't deal with kingmaking; it's essentially an accepted part of the format. In tournaments, you get points for your placement in the game, which is determined by least power needed to win condition. So theoretically, your own performance in the entire event over multiple games is better served by getting as close to your own win condition as possible. So the only real way kingmaking has been addressed is by making it matter (potentially a lot) whether you are 2, 3 or 4 at a table.

xenoss said:

Well, you actually can build viable GJ and Martell decks with just LCG format cards. They have some good cards and strong effects. However, since GJ and Martell did not get Core Decks, what they are missing in LCG is in-House basic resources and big name, recognizable characters. The former can leave them having to pay 2-gold for some other House's 0-cost limited gold locations (and other than the Seas, no reducers whatsoever) while the latter takes a bunch of the fun out of it for Ned players who like to have those names from the books. So it's probably not so much that GJ and Martell have been "killed" as factions, but they are harder to build and less satisfying to play for many people.

Has anyone heard or seen Tzumain lately? I send him an email a week ago with scanned card images from the refugess of wars cp. But i haven´t received any reaction lately, so i wonder if the email adress is no longer valid or if he´s busy in any other way. Heck, maybe his spam filter just swallowed my email.

 I have heard nothing either, and that makes Kennon a sad panda.

When you guys refer to "Standard" or when you say you play "Standard", that means ITE and 5K blocks only? And is the blackbordered "A Clash of Arms" expansions a part of your Standard format? I am really serious about those questions.

I have not read any interesting subject on this boards for a long time now. I check it almost every day, but I do not see much that catches my attention or makes me want to get invlolved. This subject is kinda different and it is a good and interesting reading. On this new forum not much is going on compared to the old forums. I guess it is because "old, familiar" faces do not post on here as much as they used to. Sometimes it is annoying to see the same questions flooding this forum again and again, or basic problems that you can find answers for in the AGOT's manual. I admire those, who have patience to answer them all the time (thanks ktom and others).

'standard' equals ITE (with HoTh and HoTa) 5 kings, Clash of arms, Core set, and all CPs released since CS.

 Part of the lack of interesting things to read is certainly because of not as many of the prolific posters actively in the game. I think another part is a serious usibility issue with the website. I mean this forum is godaweful. Sure it useable, but it lacks ease of use, intuitive interface/architecture that, well nearly every other forum devoted to any sbject I've been into.

Another part of that is we haven't had a lot to talk about. We speculate a bit about a chapter pack or cycle noobies ask rules questions, but there are no big developments happening in the game that has been spoiled for us, no new cards or mechanics for us to try and break or abuse, or complain about being broken or easily abused. 

This doesn't even begin to mention that in this economy a lot of us have a LOT of real world concerns taking up time we would otherwise be sifting through cards or posting here... or both. I know that I used to make decks about every three days and tear them apart and make new decks, to tear apart and then combine ideas from the previous decks. I'm working two jobs, getting a divorce, have moved, and am trying to get my life back in order while traveling for work an increased amount. I just don't have the time to devote to the game and the board that I used to. When it is a choice between the two I'll choose playing the game over talking about the game.

All that said I am looking forward to the last Raven's CP and anxiously awaiting King's Landing.

"I am the Prince of Dorne. Men seek my favor."

dormouse said:

What I don't like is that a new CP's cycle is coming and FFG has not solved Greyjoy and Martell issues. I guess we will get those two new agendas combining houses, that Nate mentioned time ago. But I wish they solved that a different way. Just my few cents..

Max Wax said:

You know... I've actually built a couple really fun and strong Martell (summer) and Greyjoy (winter) decks for LCG.  And no, they're not like 50% neutrals or anything like that.  So its not really a mass lack of support for either of these houses... Its just more like some of the really great main characters and the small percentage of house specific gold/influence locations that are missing.

All I'd need to see in a future CP for them are some of the mains (Red Viper, Sand Snakes, Arianne Martell, Asha, Balon, Euron, Dagmar, etc); and maybe a set of  'fiefdom' cards or 0 cost +1 G cards.

Plus standard is just more interesting to talk about - it is a deeper, richer, more complete gaming experience.

its hard to talk about LCG maeningfully because there just isn't a lot of depth there yet - and won't be until the summer when the King's Landing stuff has really cycled in.

And its been a few months now and i am just not happy with these new boards.

Yes - lots more bells and whisltes - 90% of which are fo no use to me. But teh basic point of a message board - to be able to get there, read and psot quickly is just frustarting. Navigating mutlple pages to get here, constantly having to log in again and again, and the whole efefct is cumbersome. I'll stick aorund, but teh older baords were much easier to access adn use - and in the end, much more fun. Isn't that the point of web sites like this?

Stag Lord said:

Here's something to try: LCG card pool for draw deck, Standard card pool for plot deck.

We stumbled upon that recently and it is AMAZING just how much deeper and richer the LCG experience becomes with just a wider choice of plots - one of the truly distinguishing mechanics and features of this game.