Dain Ironfoot said:

It's been 6 hours now. Has FFG decided to just give up on LOTR?

Movie fans will remember that Castamir was played in the movie by Peter Jackson himself.  There is a Castamir card in the Lord of the Rings TCG from Decipher.

mason240 said:

I never thought they gave up on the game.  It just seemed like they gave up feeding us info/spoilers.  If they hadn't filled this article with so many card images and spoilers, I would feel like they still "owe" us a couple articles for the several weeks that have gone by without an article.

Narsil0420 said:

That was exactly my first thought when I saw the cover art.  They are introducing a new healer "Doctor" and doing so gave a hint for the hero of the adventure pack:  Ezio Auditore da Firenze

 Looks like its going to be good, I just wish they'd hurry up and release some of these expansions! or at least get laketown in the store, for those of us that didn't go.

First off, great looking stuff, now we are 3 sets out in anticipation (really 4 if you count the Lake Town scenario). Exactly Bryon, it was the longest lull ever for no new news, and for all of you now turning this new review (which finally arrived) on us "doomsayers," that's pretty easy fodder, I mean come on, we didn't actually think no new news would ever come again, we were simply complaining about the time it was taking. In that regard, it is kind of silly to laugh at those who did get frustrated with FF because you are essentially laughing at a period of undefined time…in other words, would you have laughed equally if no new news was revealed in let's say, 2 months (instead of this last lull of 1 month), 3 months, or 4? Yours is a straw-man's argument, and if you weren't someone who complained, well, good for you, FF doesn't need your support to save face, they can do that on their own; they're big enough, competent enough and most certainly rich enough.

So, that is my rant, now back to the good stuff. I am so glad that they have decided to stick with the adventure pack cycle which worked so well before. This keeps the game consistent and much like a drug habit (a good kind of drug that is), as we are able to get our "fix" once a month! :) Bring it on! My wallet is ready!

-Joseph

DurinIII said:

I wasn't gonna comment on it but since you did, I just have to say you did it well. The laughing comment was arrogant enough to make one angry, possibly.

One part of the preview got me really excited:

"Our second goal for the Against the Shadow cycle was a little more ambitious. We really wanted to push the narrative focus. Not only did each scenario need to be fun to play, it needed to move the story forward and immerse the players in the narrative. Taken together, the Adventure Packs tell a grand story full of intrigue, tension, and heroics. Each adventure leads directly into the next, and by the time the players defeat the last stage of the last quest, the players will have completed an epic tale that almost feels more like an inspired RPG than a monthly LCG."

Oh hell yeah! One of the problems I've had in the past is that, at times, this game gets too gamey (some, non-obsessed friends of mine had exactly this criticism - they were expecting more story than they got). It's a bit like I'm playing a deck, rather than really exploring, getting a story etc. This is partly just because I'm not that good at making the story myself, I fully admit, but if they're going to make the narrative stronger in future, I'm even more excited about what is to come! And HoN was already awesome looking! Cool new cards, Gondor, an actual well pieced together story…yahoo!!!!

 I'd like to protest against your argument.

You contention is that I don't think you should have complained after a lull of only a month, but that I might have complained had it been 4 months.

My contention is that you shouldn't have complained at all - that ranting about the time it takes for them to write reviews is not productive or beneficial or even neutral. It is in fact unpleasant and counter-productive to what the people that rant want (which is to build a solid reliable base to play, and discuss and enjoy the hobby).

Crying because FFG haven't mentioned anything about one game among the many that they have to support for a period as short as a month, and doing that after we have confirmed product coming (a second deluxe expansion and a second saga expansion), just strikes me as inherently childish and unfair. I didn't complain when news was scarce and only the base box was out because promised support may have been scrapped at that point. (before we had heard of any support in the form of extra cards at all I mean).

FFG are a good company, not hearing something for a month is nothing.

 What can be more childish than laugh about people when a preview comes up? What the complainers did was not unpleasant at all, it wasn't really angry or disrespectful in any way. It was simply a stance toward a certain action, or the lack of.

And these boards are meant to show one's opinion. As long as the opinion is not disrespectful to others, it is fine. What was highly disrespectful was your redundant comment. Again, this is just my opinion. You can of course disregard it as surely as I will disregard yours.

 Well, Rapier, I obviously disagree with you and you obviously disagree with me. Oh well.

lleimmoen: spot on mate. The "laughing" comment is far more childish in my opinion. 

Besides, stating that someone shouldn't complain at all is not, as I see it, a "contention." It's an opinion that is equally as valid as the opinion of choosing to complain. 

 Some of you Tolkein experts can weigh in on this one if you wish: I believe Tolkein started another story that was set after Aragorn died (and featured his sons) and it was basically a murder mystery set in Gondor.  He abandoned it.  I wonder if this is the basis for the first AP?

It's famine and feast around here.  We feasted on the end of Dwarrowdelf and the release of the first Hobbit saga.  After short commons we will be feasting again on the second Hobbit saga and Heirs etc.  While the pacing might leave something to be desired, we're still getting pretty good material over the long haul.

So, it seems the guys at ffg were not satisfied with one political intrigue themed lcg, so they made another one! Ok, in all seriousness, this is indeed interesting, though I must say it's rather, um, strange. It does feel a whole lot like GOT, and seeing a Plague Doctor kinda guy in Middle Earth is not exactly what i was expecting. It is a very creative concept though, I must give them that. I love the art for Anborn, and many of the card art and themes look pretty cool, though I hope this cycle does not focus too much on secrets and intrigue but rather more on feudal warfare against foreign folk, which feels a lot more like Gondor anyway. 

Bullroarer Took said:

Ok, so we first have cycles based around the timeline after the Hobbit and before the Lord of the Rings, then we get expansions based on the Hobbit, and just after that we get a cycle based on the story after the Lord of the Rings (a story which is not even canon and would be pretty much about baseless speculation). If this is how ffg treats the timeline for their games, I would really start to question myself about continuing to play this game. No, I really doubt it is based on The New Shadow.

lleimmoen said:

I think that stating an unwaranted feeling of neglect from a very busy company that is not in fact neglecting you is insulting to others. It's insulting to the staff at FFG.

However I did not mean to offend anyone when I said I laugh at the doomsayers it was not meant to be, "I laugh at them, how stupid they are," it was meant to be, that I was amused by the ranting when it was clearly unwarranted. Which I still think it was.

On a better topic, what is the outlands? Is that the large wilderness between the "good" human kindgom and the Easterling kingdoms? Might we see easterling human enemies?