Month in Review: February 2019

The shortest month of the year is already behind us and 2019 seems to be flying by. But as the month concludes, I get to look back at the past month and discuss some of the things that happened on the blog. While nothing world-changing happened in terms of news and announcements, I did put out a poll for you all to review the site and suggest improvements. Besides that, this month was also a trait-heavy month, as those appeared to be far more popular than I imagined.

February

In terms of news this month, FFG released the Ghost of Framsburg and I got my hands on a copy at long last. I know that some people managed to get it early, but it is always great to see new cards on the table. My first opinions on the pack got released in an article as well this month, and those opinions have stayed relatively similar up to this point. The announcement of the final Ered Mithrin cycle pack has also got me exited, as Radagast will bring about a new kind of synergy with Creatures. Once the pack has been released, I will be adding that trait to the list. The other big news was the reprinting of several expansions that have been out of stock in many places for a while. People finally got their hands on packs from the Dwarrowdelf cycle again, and others completed their collection. However, from what I understand, the reprints went by pretty fast, so I am hoping for a next wave to hit stores soon. The reprints haven’t reached Europe either from what I heard, so for those that missed out, maybe you’ll be able to find that missing pack overseas.

Scenario Analysis

This has been the first month since the blog got created in which I did not post a scenario analysis. While I understand that it is one of the pillars of the site, I wanted to shift my focus to some other articles instead. Rest assured that Fate of Numenor is still in production and will be released at some point next month. From there, I might jump around the cycle a little, covering some of my personal favourite quests first. Nightmare reviews will probably have to wait until April, as I first want to fill the content hole this month with some normal scenario analyses. For Saga reviews, I have taken on an additional author who is now looking at the Hobbit Saga as well, so hopefully those will see a new article soon.

Player card reviews

This month saw the conclusion of the player card reviews on the Core Set cards with 3 excellent in-depth concerning the remaining spheres. March will likely begin the player card reviews of the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle starting in order with the Hunt for Gollum. This series will continue at a slow and steady pace, allowing new players to get a better understanding of the cards they have in their collection.

Traits

This has been the month of the traits. I have tried to cover all the traits and mechanics that I hadn’t covered leading up to this month, and while the list is nearly complete, I haven’t been able to finish them all. I do intend to get the final few traits out of the way before I continue with the Dream-chaser cycle, as it turned out that the trait articles are actually quite popular. I will also be doing many of the articles again after the Ered Mithrin cycle has concluded, in order to fit in new archetypes and new cards in a trait.

Staples

With traits taking over so much of my blogging time, I did not have enough time to cover staples of the game as much. While I don’t see a lot of spare time in the next month, I might do a cheeky Staple article in between other articles if I feel like it. They are a lot of fun to write and don’t take as long to research and write.

Additional Articles

Besides the first impressions article on Ghost of Framsburg, I had a separate article made following up on a request of some community members. They had seen the many decks I have built at the same time and were looking for suggestions on how to do just that. I am glad to hear that other people have been trying this deckbuilding strategy as well following up on my article. I hope the article helps you with having so many decks made at once and that it cuts down your playing time now that you don’t have to construct decks every time you want to play. For March, I don’t have any subject yet to cover for an additional article, and as I don’t expect Mount Gundabad to drop, next month will likely not feature any Additional Article, though I have been wrong about that before.

The Future

This month has been pretty hectic, but in a good way. There has been a tremendous support for the blog, and I hope that continues into the next month. There have been calls for more deckbuilding articles, so I may look into those, as I did not intend for the blog to focus on that aspect of the game as much. But if there is an interest, I might as well do it, right?

Another thing that has been very popular this month is the storage solution article. I know that it is one of my most popular article to date, but this month has seen it get a lot more attention than usual. With it came the question to see the solutions of other players, which is where the wheels in my head began to spin. I would be interested to make a segment on the blog that can serve as a hub for people looking at the different storage solutions of players in this community. For this, I am looking for a bunch more solutions from you, the community. Read the storage solution article I have written on the blog, and try to copy it for your own storage solutions. It doesn’t have to be that in depth, but just to give some people the idea on how you store your cards. Make this into a document and add some pictures to it. You can then send me the document via a direct message, and I will turn the document into an article for the storage hub. You can always request changes for the article, but I won’t make you an author, as that would take longer and would involve a few more steps. But this way, new players will have a wide selection of storage solutions from many players so that they can consider adopting one for themselves, or base theirs on several solutions mentioned on the hub.

In terms of Patreon support, I have gotten some extra this month. I am glad to welcome the Guardian of the Osgiliath stone, and will be doing a custom article for him once we settle on a topic. With more support coming in through Patreon, I will be able to make better, and more loot for when I decide to start with that this year. I am already breaking even on the hosting costs of the site, so any money that gets left over, will be poured into the loot-fund, which will then be turned into exclusive swag to be handed out to supporters and at conventions I attend.

For March, expect a dip in content during the second week, as I will be on holiday for a few days. That will give me some time to relax and soak up some sun on the beach. I’ll be going somewhere where I am quite sure there are no other LOTR LCG players, nor will there be solid internet, so the blog will be on hold until I get back. Don’t worry though, I will get back to it once I am back home, so feel free to send me your storage solutions, I will process them when I get back.

Thanks for the incredible support over this past month, and I am looking forward to blogging in the next month!

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