Dain Ironfoot said:

Ok i got your point. We just aprroach different to diferrent things. You trying to defense but im not attacking you! If i insult you sorry. I will not do it agian.There is no point for me do something like this. Here is culture diffirent and also my english is not perfect.

Matthew and the other CotR folks are excellent at communicating their ideas and enthusiasm for the game.  That is why we follow them.  They are pleasant.

Glaurung, you might be good at playing games, but you are not very good at communicating.  Your posts are negative, unconstructive, and painful to read due to all the spelling and grammatical mistakes.  Your posts are unpleasant.

This is the Internet.  This is where people communicate.  We come here to find positive, constructive, enthusiastic posts, podcasts, and videos.  We come here to be educated and entertained.  We come here to experience something pleasant.

My suggestion is that you go play some games, by yourself, and stop wasting your (and our) time on forums.  That way, you can become more perfect, and the forum can become more pleasant.

tripecac said:

I stay here on this forum for long time. Cannot say same about you……… 

 I think i have rights to critics everyone whom i want and tell what i think. And i know this game by heart and i build up top decks in this game(just cose they a most rated and popular on different forums) so i know what im talking about. You can look my video to see how im play this game and make your own conclusion about it.  I like to talk straight without any bla bla bla.

Glaurung -

It doesn't take elf-eyes to see that tripecac has made some perfectly rational, logical points, which unfortunately, you only served to reinforce in the response you posted. For someone whom has cast stones at me personally for allegedly claiming to be an expert at this game (something, need I remind you, that I have never once claimed to be), you are extraordinarily entitled; "I have been on these forums for longer than you! Do you know who I am? I know this game by heart! I demand you respect me!"

You certainly have the right to criticize anyone and everyone that your heart so desires; of course, you should also understand that everyone else has the right to ignore you. If that means my blocking you on YouTube several months ago, shortly prior to my long hiatus from producing any videos, guess what? I chose, and continue to choose, not to needlessly subject myself and my viewers to your, in the words of King Theoden, reckless hate - purely destructive criticism.

Here's some advice for you, since you seem to take it upon yourself to coach everyone else on how best to play this game; telling me, or anyone else, that I (or they), "don't know how to play the game" does not do anyone any favors. In the video you mentioned, where I forgot that Matthew had a Snowbourne Scout in his discard pile and I had a Stand and Fight event sitting unused in my hand, it was not because there is something "fundamentally wrong" with me. It was a simple mistake, and as Matthew so eloquently wrote, there is much more going on in my mind when I'm trying to make a video worth watching than "what is the optimal play at this exact moment?" Plus, since you don't seem to use OCTGN, the fact that my teammate's discard pile is not visible to me in this digital format did nothing to prevent this, in hindsight, glaring error.

Do I claim to be a paragon player, as you seem to about yourself? No, I do not. In fact, sitting down and playing enumerable games of LOTR LCG is far from my primary use of free time; I generally play a new scenario a handful of times, usually until I am victorious and have at least some personal play experience worth mentioning on the Cardboard of the Rings podcast, and then I move on to doing something else. In fact, I will openly admit that, due in large part to the unrelenting and frustrating, derogatory comments from you and a couple of others that tarnished and deadened my enthusiasm to continue producing videos and participate in Cardboard of the Rings, I did not touch LOTR LCG in the space of time between the end of Gencon 2012, and the release of Heirs of Numenor.

While I very much enjoy being an active part of this card game's online community, I will readily acknowledge that I do not put in nearly as much playtime as some, and unlike yourself, do not play scenarios to death; there's certainly no "get together with people on the weekend for some games of LOTR LCG" for me, where I live. As a result, yes, admittedly I not only make mistakes, but am therefore a sub-optimal player due in large part to my lesser experience, relative to many others. Does this prevent me from having passion and enthusiasm about this game? No, it does not. Does it prevent me from being a, dare I say it, relatively skilled player? No, it does not. Does pointless flaming from you and a few others discourage me from putting in the time and effort required to generate content that the vast majority of the LOTR LCG community not only tolerates, but in many cases, enjoys? It certainly did, for many months, though I've yet to entirely abandon this game, and am glad to finally be back producing regular content.

As this is far from the first time that you've criticized me, or any of the individuals that participate in the Cardboard of the Rings podcast or videos, I've seen from experience that, when confronted, just like you've done now, you temporarily rescind your insults and flaming and claim that you're only trying to be helpful; of course, down the road, you crawl back out of your hole (just as you originally did, in this thread), and pointlessly unleash still more hatred upon our content. If someone likes our series, great; we appreciate their views, comments, likes, and what have you. We have certainly come to understand that you, personally, do not; pointing out mistakes and providing suggestions for how to improve our play, decks, and our series is very helpful, as many viewers have readily, and tactfully, demonstrated, for both the COTR podcast and LCG Progression Series.

However, you have demonstrated time and time again that you are unable, or perhaps unwilling, to do this; therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you, Glaurung, to abstain from viewing any future COTR content. Either take the burden upon yourself to comment in a mature, sportsmanlike manner (as befiting an alleged former pro MTG player), or avoid the Progression Series and podcast entirely. You have shown yourself to be an above average player, with plenty of reasonable advice and sound suggestions to make; your input would certainly be appreciated, but abrasive and derogatory comments will continue to be ignored, and continue to do little more than generate needless frustration and ire.

TheLightdarker said:

Hmmm i think we just dont understand each other and is not only cose my engilsh but also cose we are really different people.

Looks like  really hurt you by my words. Im sorry for that. I really sorry Lightdarker. I think better i will say nothing cose most of the times you take it to personal.  Just lets forget about it. Im sorry if i harm you. I just try little play with you dudes but you take everything to close to your heart so better i will keep silence. Ok? 

And your conclusion about me very wrong! But i think is my foult cose im not really good typer in English.

Glaurung, it's not your English that is annoying people; it's your attitude. 

You apparently can't help insulting even as you are [fake] retreating.  You come across as a real people-hater, with absolutely no empathy.  You think the world in general is lesser than yourself.  How miserable it must be to be you, surrounded by weak, stupid people. 

Well, at least these weak, stupid people understand each other, and appreciate each other's writing, podcasts, and videos.  We derive pleasure out of each other's efforts.  That's why we keep coming to this forum: we want to share ideas and experiences.  We appreciate the community for what it is: a bunch of people coming together and pooling their resources, acting cooperatively and symbiotically.

I don't think you quite "get" the community aspect here.  Either you are not mature enough, or you just don't have it "in your cards" (unstable upbringing perhaps?)  Regardless, I believe everyone (including yourself) would be happier if you just retreat to your aryan bunker, play your cards, pull the heads off barbies, whatever is it you do for genuine enjoyment…  Just please don't keep trying to interact with the outside world, because you are not ready for it. 

Put it this way: each time you post, you are raising your threat level by one.  Nothing you say ever seems to bring your threat back down.  If you keep going at this rate, eventually you will "engage" a moderator, and will be banned.

tripecac said:

Yeah, this is the internet - the place where only one opinion is allowed. Don't be different!

The only purpose of this post is to insult someone deliberately.  At least Glaurung apologized for hurting the feeling of others. I hope you think over what you have written. One might agree or disagree with Glaurung's opinions, but he is certainly no troll and I never saw him insulting someone on purpose. Like this post somehow does, or did it have another intention that I missed? Yo know, I see the internet still as a democracy and not as a closed society for the chosen ones. Frankly said, posts like these make me angry.

I have a lot of respect for Dain Ironfoot and Lightdarker, who regularly make interesting posts (haven't seen one of their videos so far, so - shame on me?). Of course they should defend themselves against criticism. However, I think that they don't get what this is about. I think they made good points about the problems of creating a video and playing at the same time and I guess Glaurung has by now made the experience that producing a video wit out making mistakes is not that easy. While Glaurung is right about the mistakes that were made and wanting to be helpful he forgets that phrases like "you don't know how to play the game" are harsh and over the top. I really don't want to hear these words again. The rules of this game are difficult, and I make a lot of mistakes myself. Almost everyone does. And yes, strategical mistakes do happen, too. I think it is good to point them out, but without making the player look like a dumbass, even if that's not what you want.

However, I don't think that it's Glaurung's intention to gloat or to insult other players. I'm fairly sure that's not the case. I am an emphatic person, I know many Russians, so I am able to "translate" Glaurung's posts to get his intention. And it's the intention that is important to me.

So much for momentum, eh?  These posts consumed a lot of time to read and write, and didn't really get us anything other than that icky feeling of having stepped on a bunch of people's toes.  Glaurung, sorry for the harshness. 

Back to the topic…

Those CotR videos made me want to try 2-handed.  However, some recent Beorn's Path blog entries have been focusing on 1-handed play.  So I'm back to that indecisive point, and am essentially stalled.  I'm not sure if I want to invest the time in learning 2-handed play, but at the same time I don't want to "miss out" on key elements of the game.  I don't think Wandering Took is a "key element", but what about Archery?  Sentinel?  Increase deck specialization?

So what I'm wondering is if the quests and cards after Rhosgobel get more skewed toward 2-players, in terms of difficulty and gameplay depth.  Or do they diminish the difference between 2-deck and 1-deck play?

tripecac said:

While I exclusively play 1-deck play (I make enough mistakes while playing 1 handed, it is going to be impossible for me to follow every rules while playing 2 handed), the quests after Rhosgobel will get more aimed for 2 or more players.

You will miss half the mechanics in Return to Mirkwood while playing solo (many effects and decisions regarding who guards Gollum), a major mechanic in Foundation of Stone (splitting and reuniting staging area), and few mechanics in Shadow and Flame / Battle for Laketown (Balrog and Smaug attacking multiple players).

You will be missing out on Sentinel keyword (ranged is somewhat relevent in solo too with Hands Upon Bow) and other card effects (Song of Earendil, the one where you get to draw card and lower threat by playing attachment to other player…. I can't remember the name because I haven't seen it since sleeving it).

And of course, As you pointed out, playing 2 handed gives you many gameplay depth.

It sounds like double-handing (trying to avoid the term double-fisting) is the way to go…. however, playing single-handed has it's merit too because I only play single-handed but still enjoy this game very much.

To help to bring this back on topic:

I agree that mosts quests of the Dwarrodwelf cycle have been designer with 2 players in mind. Like Ellareth said, RtM is a good example for this. Shadow and Flame too might be more interesting if you have to defend two decks. Secrecy decks are more powerful when playing multiplayer.

So yes, there are some reasons to play twohanded. I did this when playing against RtM and Escape from Dol Guldur, as both adventures were not very enjoyable for solo playing. It's doable, but requires more time and a big(ger) table. It's also harder IMO as you have to additionally think over how you can make these two decks work together (synergies). And you're more likely to make mistakes, as has been mentioned. I sometimes even forgot to draw cards or to switch objectives etc. The main issue for me against playing tow handed is that it requires a lot of time and that it is sometimes a bit stressful.

The good thing is that with all these deckbuilders in the internet you can take easily build two decks that you want to play together. Perhaps that is what you should do, then you should try this, playing against an easier scenario. Rich got hooked after playing two handed. I still prefer to play solo. ANd I'm having fun, which I guess is the most important thing. And as long as you have fun you can do whatever you want.

tripecac said:

Just came across this post. As the writer of one of those blogs (Tales from the Cards), I thought I'd chime in here (and thanks for reading and the kind words by the way).

1) You are not wrong. Writing for TftC requires a lot of free time, and your 10-15 hours estimate is probably pretty accurate. The fact that I recently came into a lot of free time is what allowed me to start up the blog in the first place. Soon I won't have quite as much time available, and I've made plans for how I will deal with that situation. I empathize with your situation of momentum greatly. When the game first came out, I was obsessed and played at least one game when I got home from work about 3-4 times a week. At that point, I spent most of my available free time playing and didn't really engage with the community that much. Then there was a space of about 4-5 months where I was extraordinarily busy and had no time to play or keep up with things. This was a "dark period" or "extended break", whatever you want to call it. I always had the memory of how much I loved the game though, but it was really hard to get back into the game, because of the same analysis paralysis that it seems like you are going through. The hardest part was playing that very first game back. After that, I got sucked right back in, spending endless hours playing the game and writing about it. My biggest advice to you would be to not overthink it too much. Don't worry about being perfect on each scenario. Beat it once or twice and move onto a new one and keep that momentum going and get experience. Once you start feeling comfortable you can always go back and play earlier scenarios to your heart's content, but the biggest thing right now is to get enjoyment out of the game. If anything, it shouldn't feel like a task, the more you have fun, the more you'll build up natural momentum.

2) Again, you're correct. I have multiple different decks I play with and work on at the same time. I generally create and store them on Card Game DB for ease. My cards are all stored in a card binder, organized by sphere and type. This makes it a fairly quick process to break down decks and build new ones.  I quickly sort them into spheres and type and put them back in the binder. Then I follow my deck lists and quickly pull the cards I need out of my binder. I guess you do build up a bit of nimble fingers after awhile. All my quests are sorted by encounter card set in a card storage box, and it is super quick to find them and combine them as well. I've spent a bit of money and time to organize things this way, but it saves me quite a bit of set-up time in the long run.

3) I'm definitely not looking for perfection or the "one deck to rule them all". In my opinion, looking for perfection is sometimes the enemy of learning, in that it makes you too paralyzed by the thought of making mistakes to have fun and to experiment. I have a bit of deck ADD, in that I'll play certain decks for awhile, but then will get bored and try something new.I have specific decks built for certain quests, and others that tend to do well against a wide variety. The biggest thing that guides my deck-building is experimentation, usually starting with "I wonder what would happen if I built a deck around…"

Finally, I'm a big proponent of 2-handed solo. I don't view it as cheating at all, because the table talk rules don't make much sense to me. We can say "grey wizard" but not Gandalf? We can say "a certain readying attachment from the Spirit sphere" but not "Unexpected Courage"? Doesn't add much to the experience in my book, but that's just my opinion. On the other hand, playing 2-handed lets you experience so much that you don't get 1-handed, and you get great experience with different types of decks and building synergies. Before my "break", I played exclusively 1-handed solo, but afterwards I almost always play 2-handed (I do still try out quests 1-handed as well though to see how they play). Don't get intimidated by the seeming complexity of playing 2-handed. Borrow someone else's decks and try it out first, or pick a simple set-up like Lore/Spirit questing deck and Leadership/Tactics combat deck and try things out from there. For the record, almost all of the decks I post on Tales from the Cards are designed for 2-handed play, meaning that they synergize with another deck, although they can be used solo as well a lot of times. 

This has been a fairly long-winded post, but my main advice is what I said earlier: focus on the fun and try out as many different things as possible (1-handed, 2-handed, different scenarios, different deck types). Momentum requires movement. Don't worry about doing things perfectly or comparing yourself to others. Your primary goal is to enjoy yourself. 

Thanks for the thoughtful replies!

I think my next step will be to give 2-handed a shot.  I've got 2 core sets, which lets both decks use 3 Gandalfs, but I only have 3 Radagasts, although I don't know if there are many times when both decks need 3 Radagasts.  As for the non-neutral cards, I'm hoping that complementary 2-sphere decks (e.g., Leadership/Lore and Tactics/Spirit) will work out okay.  

I suppose one thing that makes 2-handed solo feel less like "cheating" is the fact that unless we buy 2 of every expansion and quest pack, we're pretty much forced to use "opposite spheres" in each deck, since we can't usually include more than 3 of any card across both decks.  This means we can't have both decks with really good Spirit cards…  Or two extremely dwarf-heavy decks.  We can't test the extremes as easily as 2 players who have each bought their own copies of all the packs.

Of course, if there's a way to play 2 handed in OCTGN, VASSAL, or LackeyCCG, we're not limited in which cards we use.  However, I've never seen a video of anyone playing 2-handed in those programs.  I'd love to see how it's done!

As for the blog, this suggestion might ruffle some feathers, but perhaps Tales from the Cards and Hall of Beorn can merge at some point?  Having 2 insightful blogs is awesome (and I am incredibly impressed at the quality of writing!), but as real life gets busier, it might help you avoid "blog fade" to take turns writing articles.  You would be motivating each other (cooperatively rather than pseudo-competitively) as well.  I think most of us are just amazed at the number of high-quality articles you are cranking out, and wondering how in the world you can sustain it.  Perhaps the competitive element is helping with the motivation, but at some point, there's the real risk of burn out.  Look at Fellowship of the Cards. :(  I hope you're able to keep writing about LotR LCG for the long haul, and if that means slowing down a bit or taking turns, then I'm all for it!  I'd rather have a Gandalf that pops in and out sporadically from beginning to end than a Boromir who super-novas in the first book!  :)

Anyway, keep up the good writing!  I'd love to see a supplementary video series as well!

tripecac said:

The Progression Series isn't enough for you?! Haha.

In all seriousness, I'm glad it sounds like you've gotten your momentum back - I, too, go through fits and spurts of playing. While I always buy all of the quests, there are a bunch I've never even played - or only played once!

One reason I enjoy the Progression Series so much is actually b/c I'm playing a lot of the quests for the first time - it's helped my "momentum," if you will.

Mitch and I are looking for new subjects to tackle in the series, so if you - or anyone! - has any suggestions, we''ll gladly consider them! :)

I love the progression series, and have a huge appetite for more.  The more high-quality videos, the better!  It's great to see different play styles, card layouts, and how they get around the OCTGN/LackeyCCG/VASSAL interface.  For those of us who have only played solo, this is our own chance to observe other people playing, so we eat it up!

One possible topic for the progression series would be a comparison of the different interfaces.  Or, if you only want to focus on OCTGN, a brief tutorial on how to setup OCTGN for Lotr LCG, and then how to make the most of the OCTGN interface.  For example, it took me a few games in OCTGN to figure out how to draw the arrows from enemies to character cards.  That's a very useful way of keeping track of who is defending which cards.  This sort of "techical" video might be tedious to make, but it would definitely help people get started with virtual play and more easily keep track of what's going on in the videos (e.g., where is the threat counter, why are the quest cards laid out, how do you flip a coin, etc.)

A much more fun video would be seeing the Mirkwood cycle tackled in nightmare mode (using any cards from Mirkwood cycle).  Of course, that might have to wait until the new nightmare cards are released.  It would certainly increase our "attachment" to the decks being used (since we'd become more familiar with them after seeing them played a few times) and would let us see how the meta-game is played.  Might take a few attempts, however. :)