The future of LOTR TCG

[Ranofer]

Well I'll start collecting the necessary information to gather the correct fonts in order to make the cards fit properly. I do suggest though that we stick with half card V-cards like SWCCG has done.

Does anyone have the old pdfs for printing the "teaser" decks? I think I might have them on some old HD somewhere, but if one of you guys have it laying around that would be very nice.

Looks like this will be moving forward

[MidnightLich]

V cards (as in, new cards) is probably the last thing that should be put in place. There is a lot of ducks that need to be put into rows before those can happen (and not just be someone's Dream Cards.)

-crp

[Ranofer]

I disagree. The best way to get an influx of new individuals exicted about the game is to begin the process of promoting new cards.  If all that is done is simply talk about how we're going to have this committee who does some stuff, then nothing really gets done.  It's not about Dream Cards either.

This take a lot of organization, but showing tangible progress and not simply "The boys talked about some stuff" is what will breathe life back into the player body as a whole.

What do you suggest be done first CRP?

[Ranofer]

I am fearful as well, balance is a major issue that has to be taken into account.

As I see it and maybe I'm stepping on too many toes, but there seems to be at least 4 different paths we must take to make a come back.  So we should split our "party" and send them in different directions

Rules Team
The priority is to not only work on finding the errata. They would also be a team that would consult closely with the Design team.

Design Team
Responsible for working on new CRD files, as well as the possibility to design new V-card sets (in the future). Also responsible for working with the other teams to provide art for sites, fliers, etc.

Communications/Marketing Team
Responsible to be the official mouth for the other teams.  Makes sure that other teams are in communication with others (Design Team > Rules Team > Other teams).  They are also responsible for publicizing the game.  These include press releases, fliers, banners, or whatever they see is important.  This may require communication with the Design team (for banners, art, etc.)

Tournament Team
This team is perhaps the most critical of all the teams. Without people playing the making of new CRDs, or fliers, really doesn't matter.  The team would include anyone that is interested in hosting/running tournaments.  This would also include people that are willing to run online tournaments as well.



That's four teams that each need a leader, or at least someone to step up and offer their assistance.  This has to be a joint effort, otherwise the entire idea of the PC will fail.  In time there may be other teams, that need forming, but these are the most critical in my opinion.

[chompers]

Hi Charlie - thankyou for responding to the post on the Star Trek message boards. As you can see things are erratic over here, but i suspect things may have been similar in getting Star Trek going again. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

LOTR as a card game suffered toward the end of its life when cards were released, perhaps without proper playtesting. Also as the game expanded a number of cards created 'broken' loops that need to be addressed.

Star Trek has a bunch of errata cards. How far into the process were you before cards were even looked at?

Should we consider the legal side of things first? If so who? Decipher, New Line, Tolkien Estate? If we are a not-for-profit organisation does that make us immune to legal issues? A number of people seem to have already looked into this without much success from what I can tell reading these message boards.

[legolas3333]

@Ranofer
I think the order of importance is probably the communications & marketing team first, then the rules team, then the tournament team and finally the design team last.
The reason is that first we build the player base, then clarify the rules, then start the tournaments, each new team being supported by the one before it.

@Chompers
I researched it and it is illegal for any form of copying except if it is intended for temporary use only, i.e. copying a worksheet for school. The problem is that we would have to pitch to all 3 groups. As of now, decipher does not hold the rights to cards, they do however hold the rights to the templates, New Line holds the rights to images if we use them and the Tolkien estate holds the rights to names and quotes (The card lore which could be an unnecessary part of making cards.) An idea I've heard is to make new templates and not use images so we would only have to approach the Tolkien estate. .

[chompers]

legolas3333

If permission cannot be obtained from Decipher, New Line or Tolkien Estate it still seems possible to make this happen using part virtual cards. Existing cards can still be modified with a partial overlay - as per Star Wars design. New card titles may also be possible.

To sum up:
Without permission from Tolkien Estate - no brand new cards using names from novels, and no lore on cards.
Without New Line no images - so no brand new cards.
Without Decipher - no templates but does this prevent use of partial templates? If it does i am sure an overlay could be designed to fit into the main text box of a card but this is restrictive with changing costs and stats on cards, etc.

You mentioned brand new templates. If new templates are made that overlay existing cards revealing the image on the card only this allows a huge level of creative design, limited only by the 3500 or so card images already in print - type of card, culture, everything can change with this design. The entire game could even be redesigned from the ground up. Essentially a community based 2nd edition (but i am getting ahead of myself here - and i am sure will be shot down by most people on the boards).

Additionally - getting people back to LOTR with publicity IMO will be much easier with an established set of rules, errata or banned cards, agreed format, tournament system, etc. Whilst Virtual cards may come later, surely the community should all be working towards the same goal before expanding the player base and interest, and potentially creating more difference in opinion on the message boards.

Just my thoughts :-)

[chompers]

I whipped up an alternate Dwarf companion template that could overlay an existing card. Didn't take long - with more time could make a much improved one i am sure. I suspect there is someone out there that could do a better job.

[MidnightLich]

Worrying about new cards before you have people playing the game (and caring enough to spread the word, and participate in a community) is a huge mistake. I can not overstate this point: making new cards means nothing if there aren't people to play them.

One of the reasons that the STCCG has had such success is that we reacted immediately and had a (almost) unified community. That isn't really the case for LOTRTCG. Can someone provide me with some links to a few of the other community sites out there?

Here's the big thing: setting up and running a PC is a lot of work. For a lot of people. I've been doing The Continuing Committee for over two years, with a host of people helping me, and I still put in on average of thirty hours of week just on TCC stuff. Unpaid. The people working with me put in as much as they can, but ultimately - somebody has to pick up the slack and do what needs to be done. Is there someone in this community that's willing to put in this kind of time?

(That being said... I can help, and if you are willing to partnership with TCC, we can save you a lot of work and time... but it's still a big time investment.)

The first thing that should be done is creating a place where everyone can meet and rally - whether it's this site, or a new site we set up (again, TCC can help with this, we have a dedicated server). After that, we need to make a few critical decisions and get some critical resources, and then start spreading the word like mad. Then we want to set up a tournament system, and then we can talk about rules issues and lastly, design and development.

-crp

[chompers]

Can't find many forums - perhaps others know where they are:

http://lotrtcgwiki.com/community/index.php?f=2
http://lotrtcg.decipher.com/forum/

[TheJord]

MidnightLich, if we can partner up with TCC it would be a massive help!

[chompers]

Looks like this project will be quite challenging

Judging from level of response on forums I may assume:
1) Few people are playing LOTR actively OR those playing are not actively posting on these sites
2) We don't have a person willing to volunteer to chair the process OR we don't have someone qualified to chair OR that person is not active on these boards.

Whilst challenging it does not mean it can't be done. I love a good challenge.

Personally, my experience playing LOTR is limited at a tournament level and my overall understanding of the complexity of the game game is pretty weak. Most of my experience is with Star Trek 1E and 2E. That said, I love LOTR as a game and would love to see it continue. However, my personnel commitments with work (as a high school teacher) and a young family (2 year old daughter and second on the way) limit my time to work on a project such as this.

Smeagollum was quite active a while back - can someone contact him to see if he is still interested in a project such as this? Or is there someone out there who is not posting on the message boards.

TheJord - are you interested? Do you know someone who is?

MidnightLich's offer to team up with Star Trek is pretty huge is you ask me (assuming I read his post right), but it means nothing if LOTR does not have the right people to get it going.

[Kenddrick]

I am willing, and I can put in at 1-2 hours daily, but I think I am not qualified. I have only played LotR: TCG for only 4 months.

[Gil-Estel]

Elrohir, you have contacts with other playergroups, most certainly the German one. Where is you brother?
Enola, could you talk to the French playergroup about their ideas en wishes? I mean, if France still has the players, they could contribute.
Smeagollum, I hope you have read my PM, we could sure use you, eventhough things didn't went well last time.

[Thranduil]

I'm very interested, both in having a PC and being involved in it. I've been keeping up with this thread, but not posting because I just think it's more important that something happens than we sit around discussing it! We've been discussing it since Decipher stopped making cards, and it's never come to anything. I don't have the experience to head something this big, having never played in serious LotR tournaments nor tried to organise something on this scale, but I just wish something happened already.

Thranduil