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Middle Earth: The wizards
Teslan26
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I quote [url]www.treebeard.com:[/url]
"Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) possesed the liscense to make and sell games (and some other items) based on The Lord of the Rings since the 1980's. They made quite a few (usually quite good) board games based on Tolkien's world, as well as the Middle Earth materials that took advantage of their excellent Rolemaster roleplaying system. In 1996 they jumped in the exploding CCG market with Middle Earth: the Wizards, the first set of cards for the Middle Earth Collectible Card Game (MECCG). This set contained 400+ cards. There were starters and boosters, varying rarity levels, the usual deal. It was probably the most inovative CCG since MtG itself. In MECCG, each player is one of the 5 Istari (Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, or two more obscure ones, Alatar and Pallando.) doing the best they can to further the fight against Sauron. It would seem then that the players should almost be on the same side. Kindof, but the key is that on your opponent’s turn, you have a completely different job. At that time, your job is to be the forces of evil arrayed against your opponent. A lot of fun.
The game did very well, soon necessitating a reprinting of the first set. It won awards. The first two expansion sets were snapped up. Then, as is often the case, the game waned in popularity. Two main reasons for this. First, this is the usual pattern. There are always so many new, cool games coming out. Many games have rivaled MtG for a year or two, but none are able to keep up that level of popularity. The second reason is that the game, already with a steeper learning curve than normal, added complexity too quickly. The 3 set (or one might say, the second expansion) added new rules that took a bit to get used to, and players were still getting good at the original rules. The 4th set added complication in a different way, and, combined with the regular tendency of players to 'move on', many players did just that. Seven sets were published in all, and in 1999 it was thought that the game needed to be redone somewhat, simplified, easier to learn, streamlined. The chance never came, as Tolkien Enterprised revoked the liscense to Tolkien's work, gutting ICE.
To many people active in 'gaming', who know the current hottest game and are usually playing it, MECCG sometimes appears 'dead'. Mention it at your local gaming store (if you're lucky enough to have one), and someone will say something like, "The Middle Earth game? Yeah, that was a great game. Very cool. Too complicated though to get a lot of new players though. Yeah, it's dead now. Too bad." Well, there's dead and there's dead. What people usually mean by ‘dead’ is that a game no longer has an active, visible, and pervasive tournament scene that is supported by the publishing company, that the game isn't played much (or at all) in the evenings at the game store, that the serious games don't know many people (or any) that are playing the game. However, it would be more accurate to say that MECCG is half-dead. Perhaps undead.
MECCG has slightly different dynamics than most other games. This has to do with the game itself and those who tend to play it. The game is more involved than perhaps any other CCG. It takes a while to build your deck. You can't build a good deck quickly unless you have some experience. A game can take a couple hours to play. It also takes longer to learn than most other CCG's. Despite these disadvantages, the game was so darn good, so thematic, and so unique, that it managed to be the hot thing for a while. A game so involved couldn't keep that up though. But the game is very good and very unique. There might never be another game able to capture the role-playing feel that MECCG does. People come back to this game.
The people who play MECCG tend to be a different lot than most other CCG's. At tournaments for other CCG's, you'll see a lot of kids and teenagers playing. In MECCG, it's mostly adults. This has to do with the aforementioned (relative) complexity of the game, but it is also because of the Middle Earth theme. This means that the people who tend to love MECCG are also people who, relative to other CCG's, don't go to big gaming conventions, and aren't frequently playing at their local game store. So you see, this lack of visibility for MECCG is deceptive. Compared to other 'dead' games, that are dead because there was nothing special about them, MECCG appears dead because, in addition to not being quite as popular as it was before, the MECCG players are less visible.
Though we would all like to have new cards from new expansions, many of us are actually happy that the game has stopped expanding. We won't have to keep spending money to play this wonderful game. Future cards, as is so often the case in other games, won't render our current favorite cards useless.
Currently the tournament scene, with National Championship tournaments, a World Championship tournament held each summer (in the U.S. for the first time in the summer of 2004), tournaments held at the big conventions and at local gaming stores, is run by players. (If you ever want to get involved in this, let me know.) Most MECCG games though happen in people's houses and apartments. Usually a small group of people discover how incredibly cool this game is, get some cards, and play when they can. Thousands of MECCG games are happening today around the worlds in living rooms and dorms. For most any other game that your local game expert would label 'dead', this is definately not the case.
MECCG compared to other CCG's.
The incredible thing about MECCG is its depth and open-endedness. Sometimes it feels more like a role-playing game than a CCG. You have a party of characters (or multiple parties) that travels around Middle Earth. You can go wherever you want, and do an many varied things. Your characters can acquire items to make them more powerful, they gain allies, and your party of characters can grow. Your wizard can cast spells. You entice groups of people (factions) to actively join the fight against Sauron. Your characters can become injured and die, at the hands of orcs and other monsters and through other ways. Your characters can succumb to other dangers. They can become corrupted and forsake your cause.
The depth is incredible, and only made possible because Middle Earth is already somewhat known to us. Each character has a race, skills, points they’re worth, cost of recruiting, differing amounts of influence they possess, fighting ability, constitution (‘body’), and special attributes. It would be impossible to get straight. But because we already know these people, it’s not. You don’t have to memorize that Frodo is a hobbit, with low fighting ability, high constitution, and exceptional resistance to evil. Further, it’s not hard to remember that in terms of the game, he has the diplomat and scout skills, slightly more mind-power than the average hobbit (though not as much as, say, Aragorn or Elrond), a small amount of ‘influence’. These things just make sense if you know Frodo. Let’s take the ‘Rangers of the North’ faction. It’s worth a pretty good amount, is playable at Bree, and is more easily influenced by Dunedain characters. Not hard to remember that stuff, because it all makes sense. You might guess that having Aragorn II in the party or (to a lesser extent) other Dunedain in your deck would help in getting them. Surprise surprise, you’re right. So, with this game you can quickly be having very involved, thematic adventures.
During your turn your characters fight the good fight against Sauron. During your opponent’s turn, your job is to be the forces of evil for him! It’s a lot of fun. You can smite his characters with orcs, wargs, dragons, and all kinds of good stuff. You can corrupt them, steal their items, make them hungry, sick, tongue-tied, homesick, delayed, and more, by playing hazard cards.
You exist in the same world with your opponent. You can’t both be using Gimle! If your opponent has Gimle working for him, and you want him, then you have to go to where he is and convince him to join you. There’s only one Orchrist. If your Legolas has it, you’re opponent can’t use it also. If you get Tom Bombadil on your side first, your opponent is out of luck. Of course, he might try to convince Tom to dump you and join him. Unlike a certain other Lord of the Rings game, this really gives the feel that you’re in a real, interactive world.
Unless both the players really know what they’re doing and are quick players, a game takes over an hour to play, perhaps 2 or even more. In a standard tournament game, there is an 85 minute time limit. Most tournament games are ended by this time limit, though some end earlier in a natural fashion. It is however enough time to get in a good game. Even in casual play, some people use the standard time limit, though many of us like to add some time, making it an hour and a half or an hour and 40 minutes. There is a shorter version of the game (“1-deckâ€) which good quick players and easily finish in an hour. This time required to play is a drawback for some people. (“It takes too long to playâ€). Well, if you want a quick, simple game for a spare 20 minutes, you’ve got MtG or Decipher’s LotR TCG, or other good games. MECCG takes a bit more."
I was openning a draw, and saw strider sitting on top of a deck box so thought I would ask:
Does anyone else here play? Remember playing? Fond memories? Criticisms?
I found the more recent LotR CCG less than satisfying, and always have my deck for this where I am on the off chance I meet someone who actually plays!
Teslan26 on
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I LOVE this game..ahve two (very nearly) complete play sets....but no one in my local area to play.
If there's anyone out there who'd like to learn near the Va Bch area, gimme a shout...
Also there's the online version with GCCG...
Also - no I never checked this thread after the first 4 months..... Gives me a good idea of just how insanely popular it was
First I was introduced to the works of Tolkien in high school (doing a book report on The Hobbit), then I read an article in a gaming magazine about a card game based on Tolkien... A few weeks later I found a starter in a shop and started collecting.
In the games shop I bought my cards, a guy from my school saw me flipping through a Middle-Earth strategy guide, recognized me, and approached me for a trade. We did that a few days later, and he was delighted to find that I had a spare Limited The One Ring, for which I could have five rares.
He asked me if I would be interested in learning Magic (so I could have more people to play with), I agreed, and the rest is history.
I never *played* it much - it's not easy to get the hang of or to teach how to play - but I enjoyed what little I played and loved the art.
In my 3DS: Super Smash Bros, AC New Leaf
Last game completed: Steamworld Dig
Shit, my CCG life in a nutshell.... >_>