I have read through the pdf of the 2e TOR and I will start off saying I'm very impressed with the team's dedication to the lore and themes of Middle-Earth. It's obvious that they have a lot of love for Tolkien's work and in many places there are excellent adaptations of the legendarium to the game. The elves grow weary over time, weariness and fatigue itself are big parts of the game, travel is a major component, there's an emphasis on quiet heroics instead of murder-hoboing, all that good stuff.
I am, however, disappointed in the overall lightness of the mechanical side of the game. The first edition of TOR had flaws for sure and it wasn't as complete as it could have been. Some parts of it don't really work without supplementary materials. But it had more mechanical depth and meaningful choices for players to make. It was verging more towards the simulation end of the RPG spectrum if you will, aiming at the D&D and Pathfinder side of things. It wasn't totally on that end at all and that's ok. It's a spectrum for a reason.
This edition of TOR seems to be going towards the rules-lite side, the area where PBTA and Blades in the Dark and other narrative focused games hang out. There are many elements of 2e TOR that are left for the individual LM to decide and house-rule and there are lots of areas where the RAW text is just lacking. The descriptions for journey events are vague at best and councils are really anemic. To me, this is an issue of presentation. Games like PBTA and Blades know that they are narrative focused and so present themselves that way. Dice-rolling is secondary to roleplay and the tools for players and GM focus on narrative permission and control. Things like flashbacks and the push-pull of the moves system really assist the 'yes and' approach to RPGs.
That's totally fine and good and I'd be up for a TOR in that style. But 2e TOR isn't that. It's still aiming at D&D land, but the tools given are woefully inadequate. As a player or LM, no matter how well I RP or how inventive the players are, the most I can do is give them +1 or 2d. Or maybe make the roll favored. That's it. There's nothing else.
Even hope is rendered toothless by this. In Middle-Earth, hope is the beating heart of the free peoples. It's a shining light in the darkness, a stand taken against the void. Where's the option to use hope to avoid being wounded? Or to act when you'd be unconscious? What about and option to spend hope to negate weariness for a roll? What about cultural virtues that use hope for a wide variety of things? In some ways, its difficult to think of other options for using hope because the 2e rules are so light. There's just not that many buttons and knobs to press.
I appreciate the time and dedication taken by the creative team. And I don't regret backing the kickstarter. I'm just glad I didn't pledge at a higher level.