We’ve recently marked our third anniversary here at Master of Lore! My first post titled “Greetings and Goals” was published on February 11, 2013. I remember that I had just begun playing this game in earnest during Christmas of 2012 and was catching up to the rest of the community. Heirs of Númenor had been recently released and “The Steward’s Fear” was on the boat. It was the first scenario that I was able to anticipate along with rest of the community and it remains my favorite adventure pack to this day.
My collection has grown (and become bilingual) since the journey began.
Much has changed since this blog started. The community has grown immensely, as have the online resources for enjoying the game. I’ve dabbled in producing a few of these myself – trying out some of my own video playthroughs, making custom dividers for storing my cards, and creating an interactive atlas (which I’m quite fond of and would love to keep working on some day). The blog has taken on an amazing co-author, Derek aka “Shipprekk” of the Grey Company, and while we’ve found time to write more “Hasty Strokes” than full feature articles in the past year, our passion for Tolkien and this game remains undiminished.
The biggest change for me since this blog began, however, has been a personal one. I was married on May 30, 2015! Regular readers who have been wondering why I hardly posted anything for over a year may now have some idea as to what I have been up to. Being a husband is now my life’s primary adventure! Keeping up with my LOTR hobby has become a side quest, often left untouched in the staging area while I keep making progress on the more exciting main journey. Indeed, the days of writing meticulously researched articles with more words than years of the First Age are likely behind me.
My wedding gift from my brother. He folded the pages of Lord of the Rings to say “Mr. & Mrs. Kersten”
That said, you will notice that I have begun making somewhat regular posts again this month. These maintain my original goal of introducing the lore and deeper themes of Tolkien’s work, showcasing artwork portraying Middle-earth, and commenting on thematic play of the LOTR LCG. They will simply be shorter. Perhaps some readers will even find this to be a welcome change!
And so as we celebrate our third anniversary at Master of Lore, I want to offer my sincerest thanks to all of my readers and commenters, Derek, and the whole LOTR LCG fan community for being such a wonderful fellowship. May our road go ever on and on. And as always, happy questing!
Master of Lore 
Congratulations on reaching the three year milestone! I’ve been delighted to see more articles springing up on the Master of Lore page again after a brief abeyance. Derek and you do a great job in bringing to life the world of Tolkien to life and make the game so much more than just an elaborate Numenorean math exercise. Best of luck with your main quest, and I hope that you continue to find the time to occasionally commit your wit and warmth to the side quest from time for those of your readers still trying to ‘Gather Information’…
Thank you for the kind words Ton Skillitis! You’ve been the top commenter on Master of Lore over the years and I’ve throughly appreciated your insights and feedback. It’s awesome to see you publishing content on Tales From the Cards now and I’m eager to see more of your writing. You have a way with words that I appreciate. If you ever get the itch to write a piece of the lore and theme behind the cards, just let me know. The title “Master of Lore” is like “Dread Pirate Roberts” and Derek and I would be happy to share.
Great achievement ! Thank you for your contribution to the LOTR Card game community 🙂 Always love digging into your site for background lore .. Keep enjoying the research !
Thank you Jim! I hope your experience has been enriched by the thematic explorations here and you keep coming back for more.
Congrats on the anniversary! Struggling to balance producing community stuff with all those ‘main quests” of life is always tough. I remember Tales, Hall of Beorn, and Master of Lore all popped up roughly around the same time, within a few months of each other, and it’s been a great ride since then!
Thank you Ian! In fact, it was finding you and Dan’s blog that inspired me to start my own. You guys have always rocked the strategic analysis and card reviews and have since taken the game to a whole new level with custom expansions, the card search, and the podcast, but I’ve been content to keep filling a little niche on the side here. Keep up the wonderful work leading this community and thanks for giving us all some space to play. Here’s to another year!
Congrats on the anniversary and wedding! The 30th of May, ay? That’s my birthday! Good fortune shines upon that day and thus upon your marriage!
I’ve always loved your blog the most. Strategy and tactics are interesting, but this blog illustrates why I play this game: the lore. I’ve read many interesting things here, things I was never aware of or things I had not able to find myself.
Thanks for all the posts and work! Keep it up!
Thank you Diedert! I hope to keep sharing some interesting content, just in smaller bite-sized pieces. I really appreciate your readership and comments over the years. Here’s coming there are many more to come!