I HATE YOU ALL! 1.0

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• 1.0

Correction: no one, not anyone (and I don't count, smartasses).

There you get one

Awesome Deck ! GJ SeaSTaN !

...

10 of the top 10 are big names you are lying if you say you don't know. (AtaruSlash is Sean from CotR.)

RingsDB does suffer from snowballing, where decks that get attention get on the front page, which begets more attention. Check out Ian's Caldara deck, one of the top five decks in the HoF. There are three other Caldara decks that came before with the same hero lineup-- one by Sappidus two months before, one by me one month before, one by Durins_father the same day. Those three decks were virtually identical, not because Ian copied them, but because once you figure out Caldara the deck pretty much builds itself. But Ian's got 45 likes and the other three got 5 combined?

Is this because Ian is a big name? Maybe. I think it's because it's a cool deck, and people just didn't see the first three. If a deck gets a few early likes, it gets on the front page, which lets more people see it, which gets it more likes, which keeps it on the front page for longer, which lets more people see it, which... See what I mean? Snowballing.

It's how a joke deck with a joke write-up got 33 likes and the #13 spot in the Hall of Fame; I got a few early likes on the day Denethor was released and then had front-page real estate for almost a week after Stormcaller dropped. I've had many better decks and more interesting write-ups get much less attention just because they didn't get the early roll to start snowballing.

If you want some attention for your decks, I'd really recommend checking out the discord channel. Posting decks when they go live can help get a couple early likes and secure that coveted front-page slot. And even without that, it's a bunch of passionate, knowledgeable people who love chatting about the game and cards and decks and quests, so I'm sure you'd feel right at home. :)

discord.gg

Oh, I'll also say, if you're trying to get attention or feedback for a deck, there's probably nothing as valuable as a good write-up. I think that's a big reason the bloggers' decks tend to fare well- they have lots of practice writing up decks.

This kinda sounds like social media in general. Of course the big names get more likes! They have a wider audience and are able to get their decks seen by people more! It's not about what you know, it's about how many people know you.

I'd also like to think that some of us write interesting and/or insightful commentary on our decks, but I'm obviously biased. For what it's worth, every couple of days I make a point of going through the recent decks and looking for ones without likes that I find interesting. At the end of the day, the internet is a tough place to find validation. I consider the LotR LCG community to be much friendlier and more supportive than most.

I'll echo what's been said here. There is an undeniable advantage to those of us with some other venue of content production. There's really not much to be done about that. There is also a snowballing effect in this site, whereby each like a deck gets makes subsequent likes easier to garner. I actively warned peeps about this when the site debuted. There's not much to be done about that either, unless we look to just make the front page completely random, which kind of defeats the purpose.

That said, I would offer two points of advice if you want more rep. One, get active in another part of the community. This could be the discord channel, the forums, the lotrlcg subreddit, etc. There you can post decks and ask for comments, likes, and get those first few likes to get to the front page. A little like-whoring never hurt anyone. Networking is absolutely key in everything. Everything everything. Second, I'm of the opinion that when you're publishing a deck, the write up is more important than the deck itself. There are lots of decks out here, when people look at a list, they're not going to take the time to analyze everything that's included and make conclusions themselves. We want it laid out on a nice, eloquent platter, so we can appreciate what's being done without having to connect the dots ourselves. If you look at the players with the most rep, you'll find that they generally are the players with the most consistently thorough write-ups. Being known in the community helps, but that right there is the real value that people are throwing out likes for.

Just my two cents. Stick around though, don't leave just because the internet is being the internet!

I tend to agree with all of the people above here. I am actually fairly new into this community, and this site is my first and only LoTR one I'm a member of, and I agree with you that it can be tough in the early days to get a good reputation built. Literally no one knows you from anywhere, so it can be hard to find people who will look at your decks. If you're looking for advice on how to get your decks noticed, I have a few tips for you.

1) Timing can help. Every deck starts with zero of everything, so the decks published earlier in the day get on the list first because that's how RingsDB sorts unliked decks for the day- chronologically. Making decks at night and posting them in the morning gives you an edge. A slight edge.

2) Come up with an interesting title for your deck. It doesn't have to be funny or witty (though that helps), it just has to be relevant and make people want to look at your decks.

3) Give as you get. Don't forget to give other people credit when they have a cool deck or idea, because they too deserve recognition! I understand that you do this, and often give feedback as well, which is good. Some of the feedback you've given me on my decks has been constructive, so thank you!

4) The most important part of your deck that makes people like it is the write up. If you put time into a thourogh explanation to your deck it lets people "get" the deck concept and appreciate it.

5) People enjoy unique deck builds and ones that use the cards that don't see play a lot. If you make those kinds of decks, people like the unique aspect of it and will appreciate them more.

Keep being involved in the community- every person helps!

Another thing to keep in mind, is that just because somebody posted a deck type after you did doesn't mean they copied you. Many of these people may have already had similar ideas. There's a limited number of cards that Hama can recycle, there's a limited number of ways to build an outlands deck, etc.

Recall also that the likes/comments doesn't necessarily reflect the number of views of your decks. Try to consider that you are contributing to a community, regardless of the metrics your decks have been assigned. Just like anything else internet-related, your published decks are out there for the world to see. You've made your contributions already, does it really matter that much if an arbitrary (and self-selecting) metric system is attached to those decks?

From the comments alone, you can tell this is a very supportive community. Kudos. My first deck to get a 'like' was a revision that incorporated a card that was just released with a new set. I know I tend to be on the lookout for ideas on what to do with those new cards, so that might be a way to get some attention. Don't give up!

The game of RingsDB, as it exists today, starts with getting on the front page. Most people don't check the entire decklist page, so if you want enough eyeballs to get any appreciable number of likes, you need your deck to end up on the front page. A lot of that ends up being about timing, and has little to do with the deck itself.

But once you're on the front page, the way you stay on the front page is by having a great deck with a detailed description. The more likes you get, the longer you stay on the front page, giving you the opportunity to get more likes...

The community members who maintain blogs and YouTube channels definitely have a leg-up on everyone else in the sense that they have an additional place from which they can link to their decks. This makes it easier for them to get on the front page.

But you also have to look at how detailed their descriptions are, and how many decks they post.

@mithril ring mail, I see that you've posted a total of 7 decks here on RingsDB. Of those seven decks, four of them got 0-1 likes. Two of them (this one and Beravor's Knowledge) aren't really meaningful decks. The last one got 5 likes and generated some decent discussion--which I would consider a modest success.

Seastan, on the other hand, has posted 87 decks; 43 of which have 2 or fewer likes. That's nearly half of Seastan's decks that have gone relatively unnoticed. Surely those aren't 43 bad decks; they probably just hit the site at a bad time and never made it to the front page.

People aren't intentionally ignoring you; it's probably a timing issue. You just have to keep posting and updating your decks and know that you can't measure the "goodness" of a deck by number of likes alone.

I am sorry for my language. I was just angry nobody commented nothing. Sorry Seastan, I don't really believe you copied my deck, you just had a similar idea. The fact that a big name deserves more attention is everywhere unevitable (maybe I could start my own blog?). And sorry Sean, I couldn't know you where that AtaruSlash guy.

@mithril ring mail, How. Dare. You. Sir.

In seriousness though, I am super proud of the response this got. This is the best community, period. AND, the ensuing discussion has the wheels in motion for a community project to address the very issue that prompted the post! Good things to come.

I am also in complete agreement with the poster here. Just a couple days ago, I put together what I thought to be a pretty original take on a mono-lore silvan deck that was heavily thematic AND capable of beating scenarios. I spent several playing sessions playtesting it, tweaking it, and spent a good couple of hours exhaustively writing out all the various strategies, combos, thematic, and entertaining points of the deck... to include proofreading.

When I posted, it got super-ceded in the lore category by someone who just threw together a bunch of allies into a nonserious, smartass deck that was intended as a joke and never meant to be played. As a result, it stayed up there because it got attention and my published deck got 1 like by some benevolent soul... probably @Beornfrom above... that went through and checked it out.

It is very frustrating and makes me not really want to publish anymore innovative decks that I put hard work into on this site. I really wish that there was some way of fixing it.

@mithril ring mail I completely sympathize and feel your pain.

Anyone can post a deck list, all of the people you called out contribute to the community in outsize ways, so of course they're going to get more attention. Starting a blog or youtube channel or producing content in some new and imaginative way would lead to much better results than posting a deck called "I HATE YOU ALL"

also, it's not a legal deck, less than 50 cards

@AtaruSlash I don't know, this is definitely one of the best communities, but THE best, period? How much time have you spent with competitive pumpkin farmers?

Awesome deck! Have you thought of including Song of Kings?

Hey @mduckworth83, just to let you know - I just joined this nice community of beautiful nerds and your deck was the first one I copied and played for several hours yesterday. I has been a real pleasure (innovative indeed - at least to my limited knowledge of the game). I made some arrangements as I wanted some readying effects for my heroes. Wingfoot works really nice with the two copies of Henamarth Riversong already included. One copy of Light of Valinor as well. That way, I don't have to chose which of Rossiel's stat bonuses I want to use each round. I also added the not very thematic Black Arrow to better get rid of big foes. It worked fine with Conflict at the Carrock and the Anduin scenario. So don't worry. I am currently really enjoying your work and looking forward to some more decks. All the best from Southern Germany :)

This is my favorite deck, I love an underdog, I tried this one against Nightmare Escape from Dol Guldor and beat it first try!* My only fear is that this deck gets errata'd the I wouldn't be able to play my new favorite deck, OP plz nerf!