I would be surprised if they change Strongholds at all. The only thematic change I wish they'd make is to call gold influence instead. Rokugani samurais aren't supposed to work for money. They swear fealty to their master and the master takes care of the samurai's needs. Onis and other monsters of the shadowlands don't care about kokus either as far as I know. To me a general term like influence would work best thematically.

I feel like that would confuse a lot of players who are used to paying for stuff with "currency." Influence*, while a thematic term, doesn't really carry the same connotations except for the players who are the most enfranchised in the setting, and are the only ones who might consider it a benefit for the game to avoid using gold.

As distasteful as it may be, gold (or koku) has just as much relevance to a samurai's life as it does to a knight in A Game of Thrones. Iweko I established an entire office, the Imperial Treasurer, to oversee and manage the economic landscape of Rokugan. So while it might not be flavorful for you, the presumably honorable player, to be handling gold directly, it's a facet of clan management that by the necessity of the game itself is something you must take part in.

*I also believe the term "influence" might well become what we now call the honor track. One of the big problems with the Honor and Dishonor victory conditions was that when they would go up against one another, victory was measured on a single track, which would go up and down, up and down, leading to very long and drawn-out games that I'm sure FFG is not going to want a repeat of in the LCG.

As distasteful as it may be, gold (or koku) has just as much relevance to a samurai's life as it does to a knight in A Game of Thrones.

It's funny because AGOT 1.0 had two currencies, gold and influence. AGOT 2.0 combined the two currencies and honestly I wish they'd have named it influence as well.

But Tywin Lannister isn't said to be able to sh*t influence...

But Tywin Lannister isn't said to be able to sh*t influence...

Money is influence but influence isn't necessarily money.

In the abstract, it still works whether you called in favors, spent time to convince a reluctant banner-man to agree to fight for you or just hired mercenaries.

I would be surprised if they change Strongholds at all. The only thematic change I wish they'd make is to call gold influence instead. Rokugani samurais aren't supposed to work for money. They swear fealty to their master and the master takes care of the samurai's needs. Onis and other monsters of the shadowlands don't care about kokus either as far as I know. To me a general term like influence would work best thematically.

I feel like that would confuse a lot of players who are used to paying for stuff with "currency." Influence*, while a thematic term, doesn't really carry the same connotations except for the players who are the most enfranchised in the setting, and are the only ones who might consider it a benefit for the game to avoid using gold.

As distasteful as it may be, gold (or koku) has just as much relevance to a samurai's life as it does to a knight in A Game of Thrones. Iweko I established an entire office, the Imperial Treasurer, to oversee and manage the economic landscape of Rokugan. So while it might not be flavorful for you, the presumably honorable player, to be handling gold directly, it's a facet of clan management that by the necessity of the game itself is something you must take part in.

*I also believe the term "influence" might well become what we now call the honor track. One of the big problems with the Honor and Dishonor victory conditions was that when they would go up against one another, victory was measured on a single track, which would go up and down, up and down, leading to very long and drawn-out games that I'm sure FFG is not going to want a repeat of in the LCG.

Iweko really likes making those redundant offices. Was anyone so dense as to think that the empire had existed for over a thousand years, been collecting taxes for over a thousand years, using those taxes for a thousand years-- and yet no actual person was doing these things, let alone in charge of the people who were doing these things.

For someone with mystical divine insight, Iweko is a bit of an idiot-- isn't she? Instead of asking or figuring out who was doing that job, she went and randomly created a new redundant office for the clans to fight over. Sure the person doing that was probably called "Head Official in the Bureau of Exchange" or some other term that isn't as blunt as "Treasurer", but she should have been able to figure it all out.

But, really-- it is probably best to blame the RPG's enforced notion that every single family does one thing and one thing only and the general ignorance of the people of the setting by the people making the call of what to award as story prizes. But since in-universe, it is Iweko who did it-- one can only chalk it up to her being not at all suited to rule and a bit dense.

OK, my point really wasn't to turn this into a discussion of Iweko's strength as a ruler. I'm just saying that coin most certainly plays a role in the samurai lifestyle, despite what any decent samurai should have to say on the matter.

The game already did contain the concept of non-gold influence though. It was in the form of "Honor". One's honor amount indicated the amount of influence they had which was why they could get the Empire to interject on their behalf and if they gained enough, then they found victory regardless of how strong the army they faced was-- they gained enough influence to pull in support so large that they couldn't be defeated.

Also if/when honor requirements were used well, they represented how much influence you needed to get certain individuals to intercede on your behalf.

Certain ways of creating honor, such as protecting and donating to the temples, one could see as ways of gaining more influence in the land.

Why not just include all of them? The idea of honor is generic itself enough to allow for each of those examples. You could even focus a chapter pack or two on how malleable it is.

I've been playing FFG games for years and think there's great potential here.

FFG LCG players tend to wet their beaks with a few of their games. This causes a degree of cannibalization first of all, as few players continue with 3+ systems for long. Also, players may switch games when experiencing issues with their main games.

For instance, I started with AGOT then expanded to ANR, Cthulhu and Conquest. Mainly playing Conquest now, this depending on how the games evolve. Had focused on ANR before that.

So there is a great chance for existing FFG customers to get into L5R when it launches. I will definitely be right in there!

Looking at the other main games- many are frustrated with recent developments in ANR. AGOT also has its share of players who dislike the current meta and card direction. Conquest is smaller perhaps due to earlier release delays.

In my case I am looking for a flagship FFG LCG to replace AGOT (don't really like 2.0 so far) and ANR (meta not diverse, dislike recent card trends). Am fully expecting L5R to be that game.

So, if L5R starts well, it can easily capture a lot of FFG LCG players.

I've been looking for a new competitive game since Call of Cthulhu folded. Haven't found a good replacement so far and I've tried all the LCGs. Doomtown was pretty good but AEG recently announced they're ending that too ;(

So, will L5R be a contender? Maybe. I've played a little in Ivory but I really want to see what FFG does to streamline the game as they did with Netrunner. But, the wait works against it. With a full year still to go (as they usually launch at Gencon), I can't wait that long. So, the scenario I'm going for is to be in some other game by then and then L5R will have to work harder in order to find a slot with me.

I am in the same boat pal, playing a little Conquest, AGOT and ANR to pass the time. Very hopeful for L5R!

I am in the same boat pal, playing a little Conquest, AGOT and ANR to pass the time. Very hopeful for L5R!

I know a *lot* of people who are currently without a game and are looking for one. Cthulhu folk, Doomtown folk, etc... It's a shame there aren't better choices waiting to snap players up. I'm going to the local game store this week to try out demos of X-Wing, Star Wars Armada, and Guildball. I'll check out L5R when it launches too, but that's more than a year away, I can't wait that long.

I am thinking 3rd behind AGoT and Netrunner.

I am in the same boat pal, playing a little Conquest, AGOT and ANR to pass the time. Very hopeful for L5R!

I know a *lot* of people who are currently without a game and are looking for one. Cthulhu folk, Doomtown folk, etc... It's a shame there aren't better choices waiting to snap players up. I'm going to the local game store this week to try out demos of X-Wing, Star Wars Armada, and Guildball. I'll check out L5R when it launches too, but that's more than a year away, I can't wait that long.

There are quite a bit of good games out there right now. Almost too many. What's listed plus stuff like Malifaux, various Osprey books, Infinity, Warmachine/Hordes, Spartan Games stuff, Zombicide, and so on. That's not even including all the other various ccgs, board games, and miniature games.

I think the L5R LCG will have a fairly large player base. Not sure if it will make it to #1, but there is definitely a chance based on what I've seen personally in my play group.

The 6 people in my group get together once a week and 4 of us are former L5R players. As soon as we found out that it was being remade by FFG, all 4 of us immediately said we were picking up 3 core sets on release. Having heard that and us talking about L5R and how much we loved the game, the other 2 guys are planning on picking it up as well.

As long as the game is good, I can see L5R rising up again.

As long as the game is good, I can see L5R rising up again.

That's the main problem. "if it's good" what i doubt.

As long as the game is good, I can see L5R rising up again.

That's the main problem. "if it's good" what i doubt.

Why would you doubt it? It's not like FFG doesn't have a string of LCG hits to base your predictions on.

Yeah, I can't really think of any other US company out there can could put out a quality card game and back it up with regular releases. With components. Sure, there's WotC, but they seem only concerned with MtG nowadays.

With components. Sure, there's WotC, but they seem only concerned with MtG nowadays.

And D&D. And with the muscle of those two licenses, wouldn't you be?

As long as the game is good, I can see L5R rising up again.

That's the main problem. "if it's good" what i doubt.

Why would you doubt it? It's not like FFG doesn't have a string of LCG hits to base your predictions on.

What's a definition of cardgame "hit" for you? For me FFG LCG is nothing like a mediocre game based on popular license. And as L5R isn't so popular like Warhammer, Call of Cthulhu or Star Wars this game will die commercially in 2-3 years. Unless FFG will stop canibalizing themselves.

With components. Sure, there's WotC, but they seem only concerned with MtG nowadays.

And D&D. And with the muscle of those two licenses, wouldn't you be?

They do some DnD. The releases are few and far between. Besides that, they have other do the components like Gale Force 9. Ironically, GF9 does the spell cards for the game.

As long as the game is good, I can see L5R rising up again.

That's the main problem. "if it's good" what i doubt.

Why would you doubt it? It's not like FFG doesn't have a string of LCG hits to base your predictions on.

What's a definition of cardgame "hit" for you? For me FFG LCG is nothing like a mediocre game based on popular license. And as L5R isn't so popular like Warhammer, Call of Cthulhu or Star Wars this game will die commercially in 2-3 years. Unless FFG will stop canibalizing themselves.

Netrunner was dead for well over a decade. And Android wasn't exactly a well know fictional universe.

As long as the game is good, I can see L5R rising up again.

That's the main problem. "if it's good" what i doubt.

Why would you doubt it? It's not like FFG doesn't have a string of LCG hits to base your predictions on.

What's a definition of cardgame "hit" for you? For me FFG LCG is nothing like a mediocre game based on popular license. And as L5R isn't so popular like Warhammer, Call of Cthulhu or Star Wars this game will die commercially in 2-3 years. Unless FFG will stop canibalizing themselves.

Netrunner was dead for well over a decade. And Android wasn't exactly a well know fictional universe.

Most A:NR players people don't give a s*** about Android universe. This game is popular because has a original card mechanic and as ex-WotC game magnetized many MtG or ex-MtG players. L5R even with outdated mechanic got other "story-oriented" stuff that helped to survive so long. As i wrote, LCG are on the last place in FFG product chain and i don't expect they just move many resources to support this "non-mechanical" side of L5R.

I'm playing L5R for 10 years as my #1 card game and also played many LCG so it's my sincere opinion how i see these things. Time will show, but i'll be totally surprised if this game won't enter agonic status in 2010.

As i wrote, LCG are on the last place in FFG product chain and i don't expect they just move many resources to support this "non-mechanical" side of L5R.

On what sources do you base this opinion on?

As i wrote, LCG are on the last place in FFG product chain and i don't expect they just move many resources to support this "non-mechanical" side of L5R.

On what sources do you base this opinion on?

I remember a sort of presentation about FFG income's structure from 2014. Most of their money went from X-Wing, next to boardgames and so on. Star Wars is most important licence for FFG atm, as they also want to divide their competetive championships next year into SW games and other. They just split OP in this way.

I hope you noticed how "easy money" LCG are. With so small cardpool that requires a less testing (not to mention that this big FFG still use volunteers as playtesters) and recycled images (lot of lcg pictures come from rpg or other board games, maybe except AGoT and maybe A:NR) it can't be treated as serious stuff.