Month in review: May 2019

Man, these months are really going by quickly. It can be a good thing though, as Con of the Rings is just 4 months away now. And the sooner that arrives, the better. But with another month coming to a close, it is time to review what has happened to the blog and the official news that has come out. I will also share the plans for the next (couple of ) month(s), as I have gotten a better idea of how much time my graduation project is leaving me for the blog. And with 2 new series and plenty of content released this month, we have enough to talk about. So let’s get to it!

May

There has been little news coming out of FFG this month concerning new content. We are still waiting on new Nightmare packs and the release of the final quest. There was an announcement about the new GenCon quest, which will be roughly the same as last year, but with cards from cycle 2. I hope we don’t get to see this every year with the following cycle, but I do like how the designers are trying to offer us more ways to play the game. This style fits people who have larger playgroups well, and is a blast to play at conventions. With that said, I would like the quests to be more unique again at some intervals. Perhaps 1 year of epic multiplayer quests (or quests expanding on the Saga, we’re all still waiting for Scouring), and 2 years of this competitive format. That way, they won’t catch up to recent content as fast.

For the blog, May has been a good month. Not only did the Patreon pledges increase again (though not at the rate of the previous months), but we also got 2 new series started this month as well. This helps me in getting more content out each month, while I am still graduating. Let’s take a look at the individual parts of this blog to see how they have grown in May.

Scenario analyses

I will kick things off with informing you all that a new sub-series has begun that focuses on deckbuilding for specific quests. These are made by a seasoned deckbuilder and will be published in similar fashion to the nightmare articles. Underneath each scenario will one day appear a deckbuilding article with a deck that can reliably beat the scenario in true solo.

Other than this new series, the blog is still in the Dream-chaser cycle. With me being busy and devoting the rest of the time to NM Anduin and fixing other people’s articles, I didn’t have time to publish a strategy article on a normal scenario. However, work has begun by me on the Flight of the Stormcaller scenario, so hopefully that one will be published in June.

Nightmare analyses

I still have some NM packs on my shelves that haven’t been covered yet. To make a dent in this collection, I started to work on NM Journey along the Anduin last month, and finished it towards the end of this month. I do still have some packs (Steward’s Fear, Druadan Forest, Temple of the Deceived, and the Hobbit sagas), but I will take a break from the NM series for a while. I don’t usually play these scenarios, and would rather dedicate my time for now on completing Dream-chaser, and completing the Sands of Harad box during the summer (seems fitting, right?).

Player card reviews

The player cards of the Mirkwood cycle are still being reviewed. We are halfway through the cycle already, and we will hope to bring you the rest of the cycle in the following months. After that, the Dwarrowdelf cycle is next up on the list, but that is far into the future for now.

Traits and Staples

With the traits being mostly complete, I will cover that series in this segment together with staples, as both aren’t very active. I did publish a new Staples article on direct damage this month, which was well received. Should I have more time at work to spend on the blog, then I might very well make more articles like it in the coming months. I don’t really need access to my card pool to write those articles, like I would with scenario analyses. I have started to update the traits articles to include the new cards from the Ered Mithrin cycle, such as the Beorning article. These updates will not be posted as a new article, but will be an improvement on the article that is already there. Expect some updates in the weeks to come for articles on the Dwarf, Silvan, and Hobbit traits.

Storage hub

I am very happy that this part of the blog is going strong as well. With 3 new storage solutions uploaded this month, the community is getting more and more information on how to store their cards. I also like how so many different solutions have been published already, ranging from laser cut boxes, to cardboard boxes with gorgeous art. I hope that more articles will find their way to my mailbox, as this segment makes for easy articles for my backlog. These can then be used whenever I didn’t have time that week to write or finish an article myself.

There and Back again

Another new series has picked up this month, which is a narrative style semi-progression mode. This series uses slightly different cards to fix scenarios for true solo players, and introduces new rules. On top of that, new Haven and Stronghold cards make the scenario more challenging if you would choose to accept those in your playthrough. The series has been pretty popular and will continue on a weekly basis for the foreseeable future on Thursdays. Next month will be approaching the end of the very first cycle already, so this series is a fast moving one that will fill out the content gap left by me for the next 4 months.

Additional articles

I have had the idea for making a level system for LOTR LCG players for a while now, and I began construction of the article in early May. I will probably release that article early next month. No other additional articles were published, as I was starved for inspiration. Nearly everything has already got its own segment, and keeping track of it all takes up enough time to me. But for June, if you have suggestions for additional articles, let me know. Should I get another crazy idea in the shower like the level system, then that article will be with you somewhere during the summer. With Fate of Wilderland appearing here and there, I am sure that a First Impressions article will be out next month as well. Not sure if I will continue that series for the following cycle, but we’ll see.

The Future

Summer is here, and it will hopefully bring a quick end to the Dream-chaser cycle within those months. I will be looking to finish those articles soon, and then move on to the Haradrim cycle which will be a lot of fun to write about. I am still busy graduating besides the blog, but the last month did reveal to me how much time I can sneak in between experiments to maintain the blog. I will be able to edit articles of my co-authors, and make smaller articles like this one and the monthly poll articles on the side. Larger articles that require actual cards, will have to be written during the evenings and the weekends, but hopefully, I will find enough time to write those.

In terms of support, the blog is still going strong. The addition of 2 new series to the blog shows me that there is still plenty of interest in writing about the game, and I will soon have to update the blogroll with all the new resources becoming available now. Despite plenty of products being out of stock, I continue to see new players join the community every day, which gives me hope for a long running game. Patreon support hasn’t improved nearly as much this month as it has in the 2 months before, but at this steady level, I can produce a lot of swag for those supporting the blog. I will also be looking to make a new physical document for cycles 3&4, as I feel like the community has deserved that, and they are not extremely difficult to make, it only takes a while.

So in short, the blog isn’t going anywhere, and thanks to community support, content will continue to be put out in the coming months. I’d like to thank everyone again for their support, and for the handful of emails or messages I receive from players personally thanking me. It means a lot to me. Hope you all have a great summer, with a lot of victories over your games, whatever games that may be.