Exhausted with LCG updates

I'm tired of the FFG LCG updates. Its seems like its 90% of the news every week. I'm enjoying Netrunner and but between the 6 LCG products they have right now and the fact that really little insight is given into any one game, I long for the return of boardgame news.

I guess they have the stats on what folks buy and I'm sure the math works out that folks who buy LCGs spend about $45 a month on a combined 2-3 LCGs they own. Which for FFG is pretty sweet since $45-50 is the cost of boardgame and you don't have to put any new resources into development.

I'd love the return of something like the Arkham Summer League or, fuck, just something other than an LCG announcement. Or let Peter Olotka talk about Cosmic Encounter...just something.

I wouldn't say I'm exhausted by it, but it's definitely ramped up since Netrunner became such a huge hit. I'm not sure anyone, not even FFG, anticipated such a strong response to that game. Now every Data Pack is treated like a big a-list release by both FFG and gamers. It's also a little silly that they essentially just announce all six packs in a cycle before more than one or two of them are out. Like, what do I need to know about the other Hoth Force Packs that isn't already in the other ones you announced? Usually all the news we have is a title.

It does seem to be coming at the expense of normal games, but then they've got a lot of really good titles that are still being expanded. I assumed that Talisman was finished when Relic was announced, but then we got The City. Blood Bowl: TM just got its expansion. And we have a third BSG expansion coming too. These products have been mostly well-received, which suggests that development is pretty strong too.

But yeah, more coverage of Cosmic Encounter. When is expansion number four coming? Sometimes 110 aliens just isn't enough.

I'm not quite exahausted...The only one I'm really current with is Star Wars, I just got the new one the other day. I'm behind one or two on Netrunner, and I'm not buying any more LOTR for a while since I have PLENTY that I've barely touched. But I get the sentiment, it is kind of a drag to keep up with the grind.

I really don't understand why they don't offer a subscription service...I would absolutely jump on that to get regular shipments of the new packs, with a discount for signing up for a year or more.

I hope to god they never come up with another one I want to follow.

There was a three-year period in the mid-90s when I was playing and collecting too many CCGs: Jyhad, Shadowfist, Legend of the Five Rings, Legend of the Burning Sands, and Mythos. I also bought quite a few cards for Netrunner, Rage, Heresy, and Middle Earth. I still have all those cards, boxed up in card boxes boxed up again in eight copier paper boxes. I suppose I got my money's worth of play out of half of those games, as I was playing CCGs every week and sometimes 2-3 times a week. Other games were a big waste, due to lack of opponents.

Although the LCG format is better because there is no need to worry about trading and collecting everything, each game is still something of an arms race. You need to keep up with the new sets and the number of boxes at least as much as your regular opponents, or fall behind. In effect, your bank account becomes a game component. So even though I liked the original Netrunner game, I'm sitting the LCG out for now.

I don't think bioball is referring to fatigue with buying LCG updates, but just with SEEING them covered everywhere. I agree with him. I check FFG's website every day hoping for a goddamn Cosmic Encounter expansion announcement, since they had previous been announced in January every year like clockwork, but no............

And San, they're not done with Talisman...not until they fill in the final corner board!

A subscription service would be the only way I'd get into any LCG at this point. I'm not interested in chasing down expansions or tracking upcoming ones to make sure I don't have to chase them down later.

dragonstout wrote: I don't think bioball is referring to fatigue with buying LCG updates, but just with SEEING them covered everywhere. I agree with him. I check FFG's website every day hoping for a goddamn Cosmic Encounter expansion announcement, since they had previous been announced in January every year like clockwork, but no............

There's no need to check any site every day, not with this new invention called "RSS feed".

Here's Cosmic Encounter's feed .

I "thank you"ed before clicking the link. The link is not helpful.

dragonstout wrote: I "thank you"ed before clicking the link. The link is not helpful.

There really needs to be a Fuck You option next to that.

dragonstout wrote: I "thank you"ed before clicking the link. The link is not helpful.

OK, I assume you use Chrome, because fucking Google currently removed the RSS reader from it. So you will need a plugin.

I recommend Feedly (you can also find it in the Chrome Web Store). You can log in with your Google account. Currently it uses the Google Reader server, which will be discontinued by the end of June, but Feedly promised to start their own server by that time.

Once you are in Feedly, you can add the feed like this: click on "Add Content" on the left (or on the Search icon on the right), copy the URL into the search field, hit Enter, click on the "1 more dormant site" (I have no idea why it doesn't show it automatically, maybe because the Cosmic Encounter feed didn't have a new entry in months), then click on the "+" sign. From now on, whenever you open Feedly, you will see if there is a new entry in the CE feed. Of course, you can also follow blogs, or other sites (like F:AT) on RSS. It's very useful. Feedly also has an app for iOS and Android, if you are into that thing.

Just for the record, on any other browser it's much easier to add a feed (about two clicks), it's just that Google are being dicks about RSS ever since they decided to ditch Google Reader.

dragonstout wrote: I don't think bioball is referring to fatigue with buying LCG updates, but just with SEEING them covered everywhere.

Yeah this is more what I'm talking about. Its not that I don't think all the games are not good game, its just that as San said its not a "big" announcement especially when FFG already previewed the entire set with the initial announcement.

I want more substantive communication. FFG is a big name so it shouldn't be too hard to get their designers to write some verbiage about past, present, and future games they've designed. I'm also surprise FFG hasn't harnessed the power of the internet and PDFs to offer more free downloads for older games. I thought the Summer League was great, so why not extend this to Elder Sign. Or hell even Talisman. Why the most current Cosmic Encounter information being posted on Facebook?

Most of the LCG pack updates sorta read like this:
"The X pack from X LCG will really liven up your faction's abilities. See how Y new ability can combine with the already awesome A, B, C cards that everyone plays from the old set to form exciting new possibilities. Contact your store now!"

dragonstout wrote: I don't think bioball is referring to fatigue with buying LCG updates, but just with SEEING them covered everywhere. I agree with him. I check FFG's website every day hoping for a goddamn Cosmic Encounter expansion announcement, since they had previous been announced in January every year like clockwork, but no............

And San, they're not done with Talisman...not until they fill in the final corner board!

I guess that's one of those first world problems. Don't like seeing all those updates? Take a break from the internet, or visit more non-gamer sites or something. I'm surprised that nobody is fatigued by the rapid rollout of these expansions. A similar scheme by Alderac resulted in sufficient backlash that it wounded Legend of the Five Rings for a while, and killed both Legend of the Burning Sands and the Rage reboot.

Shellhead wrote:

dragonstout wrote: I don't think bioball is referring to fatigue with buying LCG updates, but just with SEEING them covered everywhere. I agree with him. I check FFG's website every day hoping for a goddamn Cosmic Encounter expansion announcement, since they had previous been announced in January every year like clockwork, but no............

And San, they're not done with Talisman...not until they fill in the final corner board!

I guess that's one of those first world problems. Don't like seeing all those updates? Take a break from the internet, or visit more non-gamer sites or something. I'm surprised that nobody is fatigued by the rapid rollout of these expansions. A similar scheme by Alderac resulted in sufficient backlash that it wounded Legend of the Five Rings for a while, and killed both Legend of the Burning Sands and the Rage reboot.

Heh, just wait until after the next pack for Netrunner comes out and there is a couple months before the next cycle gets started. Players will be foaming at the mouth waiting for new stuff. It's actually kind of ridiculous.

Mad Dog wrote:

dragonstout wrote: I "thank you"ed before clicking the link. The link is not helpful.

There really needs to be a Fuck You option next to that.

Been asking for one for 3 years or so. It'd at least be more thematically-appropriate for the site....

Shellhead wrote:

dragonstout wrote: I don't think bioball is referring to fatigue with buying LCG updates, but just with SEEING them covered everywhere. I agree with him. I check FFG's website every day hoping for a goddamn Cosmic Encounter expansion announcement, since they had previous been announced in January every year like clockwork, but no............

And San, they're not done with Talisman...not until they fill in the final corner board!

I guess that's one of those first world problems.

Literally, literally, every complaint anyone has ever made, ever, on this site, except Uba's house burning down and Loter & others losing their jobs, are first world problems. It's a board game site.