This seems weird

[TheJord]

I started playing the game at Shadows so there is probably a good explanation for this, but I just noticed that the site The Bridge of Khazad-dum came out in FotR, but a Balrog didnt come out until Mines of Moria.... did the players all know this? That The Balrog was coming?

A stupid fact I would like to know.

[Gil-Estel]

I wasn't around then, but can olny imagine the excitement it created!

[lem0nhead]

Indeed, it was pretty naive not to expect a Balrog in the set Mines of Moria, so of course they built it into fotr. And it was the only site 5 as it was kind of a pinnacle of the film so you HAD to go through it just like the fellowship HAD to pass through it to get passed the misty mountains/caradhras.

[Elessar's Socks]

This was common practice in STCCG, and I think SWCCG. The penultimate 1E set, All Good Things, was dedicated to fixing all the remaining "broken links." One card fixed a link that was introduced in the first set, nine years prior (Mot the Barber's famous barbering skill).

Come to think of it, with the exception of naming characters, LotR tends to shy away from naming specific cards. We don't have stuff like:

Out of Arrows
Condition • Support Area
If Orophin, Silvan Elf or Rumil, Silvan Elf has used his ability twice this game, his game text does not apply. (May not be discarded.)
But Moria was out of Orcs.

Or even better...!

Looking Blue
Event • Shadow
If you can spot Madril, Defender of Osgiliath, the Ring-bearer is corrupted.
Surely the mere existence of this card will stop people from playing Madril. (Not.)

Okay, I'm done with this post.

[sickofpalantirs]

well they had to make a balrog card SOMETIME...I like the idea of having only one of a certain site number...thats cool (I came on during siege of gondor...)

[Braindamagedcarebearsrock]

For me it was prety exiting. at time of Fotr Rare Sam searched for bill the pony but it didn't come in MM ! (#$&*@! decipher). Also Mahasamatman was full of cheaters and i lost couple cool cards when i tried to get promo bill.

Also there was no rule of 4 so i could play my deck in first site with hobbit farmer and town center... it was cool for those two weeks. And VeBu demonstrated how "good" dwarves were.

[leokula]

Definitely, I think everybody knew a Balrog was coming.

Besides, stuff like that just raises expectations and makes people go running to see what's with the next expansion set. It's the same as SW:CCG when early cards mentioned the emperor but he came out only on later sets.

[MR. Lurtzy]

Well a lot of cards like The Witch-king, Lord of the Nazgul and Sam, Frodo's Gardener from the fellowship and towers block named specific cards...

[Kralik]

Yup, I remember the RARE Sam, Faithful Companion leaving people speculating... just what amazing ability is Bill the Pony going to bring us? Don't trade Sam away... he's got to be incredible when the time comes! But compared to common Son of Hamfast...

[Malachi]

Well, the reason is really simple. The core "movie" sets all came out almost a month before the LOTR movie it was named after was released. This means they were developed while the editng and special effects for the movie were still in progress. This is why so many cards featured rare images from scenes deleted from the film.

Also remember that while the plot of movies was always known to any LOTR fan, some scenes and creatures were deliberately kept from public until release. I remember very fell pre-FOTR merchandising focusing on Cave Troll of Moria, but not showing the Balrog until very close to the premiere.

And of course some things couldn't be printed on cards because the visual effects for it weren't finished yet. Here are examples:

The Balrog, Twilight Nazgul, Watcher in the Water were not released until Mines of Moria.

Gollum, Treebeard, Ents and Wargs were not released until Battle of Helm's Deep (note that Earthborn and Oldest Living Thing cards from TTT use not the images from the movie, but promotional images).

Shelob and Army of the Dead were not released until Siege of Gondor.

So, basically the were two reason. One is that the special effects probably weren't finished at the time the set went to print. The second and more likely is: Decipher wasn't allowed to spoil major movie surprises.

[Elrohir]

Narya came before Cirdan!

[Malachi]

I just remembered how SW CCG made the card Pulsar Skate, but never released one of its pilots, Booster Terrick. I wonder how players feel about it...

[HawkeyeSPF]

Just a quick side note - The SW Player's Committee did create a virtual card "Booster in Pulsar Skate".

[Gate Troll]

Hi People

Please let's get back to topic:)

I understand that a lot people are interrested. But most of you are not given dates. So I have to pick one. So Lorz: What do you mean with the second weekend? 14th february. If so the tournament will be on the 14th. please let me know asap!

Somebodyelse asked not to ban Galadriel LR. I don't want to ban any cards. However I propose an errata for Galadriel LR!

Jeroen, Unfortunally Eric Minkes informed me that he will not come. However I found in Marc Hemeleers a good replacement in judging.

Kind regards to you all!

Jan Willem

Erm, that isn't the topic. The topic is that Bridge of Khazad-dum came out in Fellowship of the Ring
but the first Balrog didn't come out until Mines of Moria. No clue what you are talking about.

[Smeagollum]

Sory, my mistake. I somehow ended up from one topic into another while answering......

[FM]

Ok, topic split and off-topic posts merged into the right one. You can continue the discussions on the appropriate topics now.