Council of Elrond Rules Committee News

[Manuel]

Hello, dear friends of Middle Earth!

The new Council of Elrond (CoE) is already working hard and we have some nice news for you today!

FIRST

The Rules Committee (RC) has developed a new system in order to offer official answers to the many not-yet-answered rules and card interaction questions that arise during our games so that they can be used during CoE-sanctioned events.

First, we have opened a new email address where you can send your rules questions. However, before sending your question, please first:

1) Read the current rules carefully.
2) Check the CRF, a document containing rulings, clarifications, and errata.
3) Check the Rules Digests to see if your question has already been answered.
4) Check the different channels where players answer rules questions (Council of Elrond forum, Discord Group, Facebook Group, BGG site, etc) Many questions are already answered there.
5) Make sure your question is based on actual situations that could happen in a game; finding impossibly weird card interactions might be fun, but the RC has to prioritize actual problems that might arise during tournament games.

If you still can't find the answer to your question, or you think you need an official answer, you can send it to the RC via this address:

meccgroc[at]gmail.com

When we receive your question, the RC members will add it to their to-do list and do their best to find a proper answer. Whenever we have a batch of questions and answers ready to be published, we will publish them in the form of a new Digest, but as a draft first. We'll publish this draft in the Council of Elrond forum, and leave the topic open so players from outside the RC can contribute with their opinions. However, there are certain rules:

1) The thread will be open for 2 weeks.
2) There will be a maximum of one reply per forum user, and that reply cannot be edited. We want to actively avoid starting "flame wars", so please speak your peace, let others speak their peace, and that's it.
3) After the 2-week review period, the RC will carefully consider everyone's contributions, revise the draft as appropriate, and then the Digest will be published and official

SECOND

The RC is already working on two important projects:

1) A new Rules Compendium that contains all of the rules from this game in one well-organized document.
2) An online card database that will contain updated card texts along with citations to the CRF, and answers to Frequently Asked Questions about that particular card.

THIRD

After over 20 years, we have published a new version of the CRF. This new version is number 17 and it contains:

Rulings that were made by the CoE but not transcribed into the CRF.
Correction of some erroneous entries on CRF 16.
Recovery of some lost entries from CRF 15.
Complete Errata Listing and Rulings Monday sections have been integrated and removed
CoE Issued Errata as a result of the Annual Rules Votation from years 2012-2018
Minor adjustments.

We are also working on many different rules issues and will soon start publishing new rules digests, that will be implemented in CRF 18 and/or the card database.

Thank you for your support as we work to uphold the amazing legacy of this great game. Onward!

[CDavis7M]

I'm glad people are looking into this stuff more but I wonder about several points, especially the comments on the CRF in view of the so-called "remastered" cards. Somethings just aren't followed. Though reading the old rulings should show the way.

[Khamul the Easterling]

Great news!
If you're presenting draft versions of rulings,will these be put into the "rules and errata" subforum within the Town Hall? When opening such a thread, please make clear from the title it is a draft version open for discussion and what's the deadline for comments.
I find your procedure sensible, btw. - The prospective of an overall rules book is also exciting!

[Manuel]

Great news!
If you're presenting draft versions of rulings,will these be put into the "rules and errata" subforum within the Town Hall? When opening such a thread, please make clear from the title it is a draft version open for discussion and what's the deadline for comments.
I find your procedure sensible, btw. - The prospective of an overall rules book is also exciting!

These are all very good ideas, thanks!

DamienX is the one currently working on the Rules Book, send him your best energy

[Kjeld]

Where can we find links to 'good' versions of the CRFs and Rules Digests? These are frequently referenced, but it's always helpful to provide a reminder of how to find them.

[Manuel]

Where can we find links to 'good' versions of the CRFs and Rules Digests? These are frequently referenced, but it's always helpful to provide a reminder of how to find them.

I've just edited the main posts with links to the meccg.com website. Thanks!