The Last Homely House
Undying Lands => Valinor => Topic started by: sgtdraino on December 10, 2012, 09:09:56 AM
-
What LOTR format do you play the most, and why?
-
To answer my own question, I play Expanded the most, by far. Yes, there are some really irritating strategies/combinations present in that format, but I still find I prefer the larger card pool and the variable site path to formats that are more limiting in terms of my choices.
Fellowship format falls in to a distant 2nd place, for me. I quite enjoy it, it really feels like you're playing through the movie, and it's a good format for teaching new players.
-
I think movie is the best format and the one I enjoy the most. It has a variety of good strategies, only a few broken cards, and is still relatively close to the book. Sure, Galadriel, LR ruins things, but most people don't play her anymore. They realize she is a NPE and would rather have fun.
I prefer it to fellowship and TS because I've never enjoyed choke decks. I prefer it to expanded because it seems like there are only a few shadows that people play (i'm looking at you ninja gollum & evil men archery). I don't think anyone really plays standard, that format just kind of sucks. I really like multipath, but I think they went overboard with the x-list and no one seems to play it.
-
Movie block is clearly the best format the game has to offer. So that's the one I play when I am playing casually. I also play in each league as it becomes available. I refuse to play beyond set 10 for casual games.
-
On GCCG I used to play Movie Block the most because Galadriel, LR was technically banned due to a gentlemen's agreement.
Now with GEMP, I almost only play FOTR Block because it is the least broken format and still gives a good quantity of deck-building options. The more I played FOTR Block, the more I learned to like it. Even if you would ban Galadriel LR, I would still play it.
-
I'm playing Fellowship block because for me it's easier to play. I see the image on a card and remember what it does. I don't need read the text all the time. Also I heard that this is one of the most balanced format. But I like to play all the first 10 sets and want to try the other ones to see all the game picture.
I also play in each league as it becomes available. But I found GEMP just few days ago, so I played only in two leagues.
Funny thing: I never played against Galadriel, LR because no one of my friends has that phisical card. And I have very little online game expirience for now.
-
I always thought it was odd that people consider fellowship to be the most balanced format while almost every card on the original x-list is from fellowship block
-
I always thought it was odd that people consider fellowship to be the most balanced format while almost every card on the original x-list is from fellowship block
I think it's because those x-listed cards disbalancing with the cards from next blocks, not with Fellowship ones.
-
Well, Saruman KOI was pretty #$&*@! broken in Tower Standard. I remember using him in the days before the X-list was created, and every player dreaded moving to Deep of Helm and facing the almighty fierce Uruk swarm.
-
And then all the FOTR choke cards became too annoying with the introduction of Legolas, DH.
-
I am all about movie block. However, having played TS, I really enjoy that too. I have a rather large post shadows collection but after playing with more people (the group I play with has but 3 people in it) I learned that the cards after set 10 are WAY OP. I prefer movie block. No troll swarm.
-
I still feel like Expanded is really oddly under-represented on this poll. Gemp stats consistently put it at either 2nd or 3rd most popular, ranked very close with Movie, while Gemp stats usually have Fellowship at #1... while the Facebook Group poll has Expanded uncontested at #1.
-
My answer varies depending on whether we're talking face-to-face or online play. Amongst my friends who get together and play, Fellowship and Towers Standard are favorites by far (this is in large part due to a house rule/gentlemen's agreement we have that bars x-listed cards from play in all games - idea for a new format anyone? ;-)
As for online, I've been liking Towers lately. Although I have a strong, ahem ...dislike... for Legolas DH, at least I stand a chance at cracking him when Merry Friend to Sam isn't in the picture. Since I build my online decks based on my real-life decks, Towers and I get along great.
Though the combos in open/exp can be impressive, neither myself nor my circle of friends really bought any sets beyond the movie blocks. So, any format that has a ring-bearer other than Frodo and a non-linear site path (I'm a sucker for movie themes) finds me a bit out of my playing depth. That said, I'm always glad to see a vibrant playing community whether I play a given format or not :-)
-
I'm going through each set in Movie right now with my friends, doing our variation of a sealed tournament. We take the main set's booster box, and each get 7 packs, and then one pack each of every expansion. Then, each using a starter deck, we go and make the best decks possible to bring to the table from our 9 packs (10 if it's King) and starter deck. We have our last "tournament" next weekend doing King Block, and then we'll combine everything for Movie, with certain house rules applying for overpowered cards (and because we play with five players, a ban on anyone using dedicated swarm).
Towers wasn't quite as much fun for this format, as the veteran players had to use the starters from BoHD and EoF, which contain standard rares and isn't quite as much fun. However, it did end up being way more helpful than Fellowship for me, because my MoM Gandalf starter contained Stricken Dumb, Beyond the Height of Men, and No Mere Ranger.
-___________-
All totally useless. Thankfully, my Realms pack had Boromir's Horn in it, and we played with no cards being banned.
-
Wow, that sounds like a fun tournament! Oof, tough break on the Gandalf starter...
-
I play expanded the most because of all the different decks you can use. (Also LR is banned which makes it even better)
-
Fascinating. And yet on Gemp (as is fairly usual) stats for the past 30 days place Fellowship at most played (40.3%), followed by Expanded (21.2%), with Movie in third place (17.7%). Towers Standard is in 4th (11.3%), and everything else is in the single digits, or less.
-
Gemp players not all come here.
-
That's true, but one would think the distribution would still be the same. Can you think of anything inherently different about players on Gemp, that would make Expanded more popular for them, than the people here who DON'T play on Gemp?
-
Availability of cards.
-
Availability of cards.
This exactly. If I had more access to post-Movie block cards I would definitely play more Expanded. Right now it's Fellowship, Towers, and Movie for me.
@sgt are you asking which format we play the most in real life or on GEMP, or overall?
-
This exactly. If I had more access to post-Movie block cards I would definitely play more Expanded. Right now it's Fellowship, Towers, and Movie for me.
@sgt are you asking which format we play the most in real life or on GEMP, or overall?
That's a great point, actually. I was asking for overall, but I guess I was coming at this from my own point of view, which is that I almost NEVER play real physical cards anymore. Nobody near me still plays, and even when my buddies who DO play are nearby, we find it more convenient just to play on Gemp instead of doing all the setup and moving tokens around. It's just easier. So, 99.999% of my card playing happens on Gemp, and I suppose I'm used to thinking that's the way it is for most people, when I guess a fair few of you still do play with physical cards.
If this is actually what's causing the disparity in the poll, that's an interesting angle: I normally get the impression that players who don't play Expanded are avoiding it because they don't like it, because they think it's "broken." But if you're right, the difference in statistics between TLHH and Gemp indicate that once people get accustomed to playing Expanded, it becomes one of the most popular formats. So, the ones here on TLHH who don't play Expanded, probably just don't have much experience with it.
-
I still dont play it becasue I dont like the format.
And the dispairity is easy to explain: on GEMP it counts as played games, while you ak here for players. If on GEMP there are only 2 players who play Expanded 20 hours a day, of course it gets a huge boost, while if There are 100 players playing movie once a month, it gets a low percentage, while the poll in here show like 99% favourite in movie.
In short, they are completely different measuring methods and should not be compared.
-
I still dont play it becasue I dont like the format.
That's allowed. :) Everyone has their personal tastes. Hopefully the reasons you don't like it are actually real though, and not imagined.
And the dispairity is easy to explain: on GEMP it counts as played games, while you ak here for players. If on GEMP there are only 2 players who play Expanded 20 hours a day, of course it gets a huge boost, while if There are 100 players playing movie once a month, it gets a low percentage,
However, since clearly there aren't just 2 players playing Expanded for 20 hours a day, your point is not that relevant. It might be interesting to collect a list of people who regularly play each format, to see how it all adds up.
while the poll in here show like 99% favourite in movie.
43% is nothing like 99%.
In short, they are completely different measuring methods and should not be compared.
On the contrary, comparing different measuring methods can yield new discoveries, such as the possibility that Expanded would be more popular on TLHH if there was more card access.
-
No, you compare players in one poll and games in another. Those are complete different mediums so you cant compare them.
Let me elaborate:
GEMP goesnt say how many people play expanded.
This poll doesnt show how much games the people play on GEMP if any.
So there are too much inconsitencies between the two results and they cant seriously be compared.
-
No, you compare players in one poll and games in another. Those are complete different mediums so you cant compare them.
It is often extremely useful to measure a phenomena using several different systems, for precisely the reasons I've already stated. Comparing the systems to each other can yield new information.
Let me elaborate:
GEMP goesnt say how many people play expanded.
This poll doesnt show how much games the people play on GEMP if any.
You had earlier proposed that Expanded statistics on Gemp are inflated by a few players playing many more games than players of other formats... however there is not really any evidence to suggest that this is the case, nor is there any logical reason why players of Expanded Format would play any more often than players who play other formats. It is more likely that Expanded players play about as often as other players, and so the large number of games played on Gemp is indeed evidence of popularity for the format.
-
I have nothing to back this up, but this may be a reason for the results.
It seems like a lot of players only play with cards up to set 10. Those people play fellowship, towers standard, towers block, and movie (King block is available but not really played).
The people that play sets 11 and up usually prefer expanded. Open, standard, war of the ring, and hunters are generally ignored.
This could mean that anyone who likes the higher sets will play expanded every time they are online. Those who enjoy sets 1-10 will play a larger variation of games when they log on.
I know that I play a lot of fellowship, towers, and movie. With that being said, it would inflate expanded play percentage because only that format is being played by a number of people, whereas a larger group may enjoy sets 1-10 but play a bunch of different formats relatively equally. This would slow down the percentages growth.
Basically it takes a larger group to get the percentages higher because they spread their games over a wider variety of formats.
-
I have nothing to back this up, but this may be a reason for the results.
It seems like a lot of players only play with cards up to set 10. Those people play fellowship, towers standard, towers block, and movie (King block is available but not really played).
The people that play sets 11 and up usually prefer expanded. Open, standard, war of the ring, and hunters are generally ignored.
This could mean that anyone who likes the higher sets will play expanded every time they are online. Those who enjoy sets 1-10 will play a larger variation of games when they log on.
That's an interesting theory! I'd be curious to see some more data on that one.
One thing that I would point out, other than Fellowship, Expanded, Movie, and Towers Standard, all the other formats on Gemp have exceedingly low percentages of games being played. For example, over the last 30 days, all the games played for all the other formats other than the top four only added up to 11% of the total games played. So, all the less popular formats combined added up to less than the fourth most popular format (Towers Standard), which clocked in at 11.3%. So, there doesn't really seem to be all that much variation outside of the top four formats.
I know that I play a lot of fellowship, towers, and movie. With that being said, it would inflate expanded play percentage because only that format is being played by a number of people, whereas a larger group may enjoy sets 1-10 but play a bunch of different formats relatively equally. This would slow down the percentages growth.
Basically it takes a larger group to get the percentages higher because they spread their games over a wider variety of formats.
That is theoretically true... however, if this is a popularity contest, the point is a bit moot; If you split your time between Fellowship, Towers, and Movie, then clearly none of those three really outshines the other two. You like them better than Expanded, but other than that, you like them all about the same. You don't like one in particular enough to play it a whole lot more than the others, so I'd say even if what you say is true, the statistics on games played are still reflecting the popularity of those formats. If (for example) Movie really deserved to be more popular than Expanded, then more people would be playing it more often, and not spending their valuable time playing other formats.
I'd further suggest that the Daily Tournaments for Fellowship and Movie tend to bolster the stats for those two formats, because they are natural draws for players. Expanded does not have Dailies.
-
I wish gemp had highlander format. Or if more people played standard... As it is I'm stuck with expanded :p
-
I only started playing a few weeks ago, and right now I'm mostly playing movie. Before that, I liked FS and TT evenly, but in Movie Block there are just so many options for great decks, it really keeps me coming back to it and experimenting :)
-
I only started playing a few weeks ago, and right now I'm mostly playing movie. Before that, I liked FS and TT evenly, but in Movie Block there are just so many options for great decks, it really keeps me coming back to it and experimenting :)
That is generally what I find: The more sets you add to the mix, the more variety you have in playing the game. More options is (to me) more interesting, less boring. That's why, once I got used to playing Expanded, I've found it exceedingly boring to go back and play Fellowship, where the options and variety are much more limited. Once I got used to having lots of options, the more limited formats started feeling very repetitive to me. Even Sealed, after about a series and a half, starts feeling REALLY repetitive. Same combinations of decks over and over and over.
Hopefully you'll eventually give Expanded a shot, Luipaard. It has even more options and variety than Movie, and no GLR!