I've been following a few of the discussions and it's obvious that the storyline is an important aspect of the game. (I've only ever played the game once, long long ago). One of the things that seems implied to me by the importance people place on the story, and which is unclear to me, is if (and how) the changing story impacts actual play. Or whether the story is just a means to help with theme immersion as you play each card.

For example, usually my game-play decisions are decided by the deck I bring and the card-pool available to the other player and what he might play. If I play the same game against the same player a year later, the decisions might change a little due to the changed card pool / meta, but otherwise I'm playing the same game. But if the story has evolved over that year, might the game mechanics have changed, or the way you process a pool of cards have changed, to reflect that changed storyline? Or does the story background just provide theme immersion that I might ham up as I'm playing cards, to provide a mini-sense of roleplay if I like?

Generally, when story and gameplay have been too closely linked, Bad Things have happened.

For example, for a while there, if your deck had a certain threshold of Shadowlands cards in it, your win, should it happen at a formal event, was "Corrupted."

The problem there, of course, is that if Shadowlands cards gave you a competitive edge, then Corrupted wins were almost inevitable, and AEG later got away from noting that sort of detail unless the winner specifically wanted it noted.

The story's role, vis-a-vis the card game, was to provide the "stakes," in-setting, for winning events or the like. Often, the disconnect was pronounced- during the Destroyer War, when a united empire fought against demon invaders, the demon invaders were not actually possible to represent in the game- the games of L5R still featured one Clan fighting another.

So if I wasn't a tournament player, it sounds like the storyline had/has no impact on the actual game-play itself. And if I knew nothing about the storyline, my deck-building would be the same as any other LCG, being purely an assessment of the card pool and the current meta. (But the meta itself might be affected by tournament players playing for story-line modification rights.) Does that sound about right?

I can otherwise get why the story is important. Unlike other LCGs which are grounded in pop-culture lore where the cards are representations and reminders of that lore, L5R needed to create that lore from scratch to help provide theme immersion.

There is also a direct link between what happens in the tournament-influenced storyline and the rpg line.

As someone who plays both the card game and the rpg, I have an interest in how the Story develops because it will also have an impact in my tabletop game.

The biggest effect storyline had on casual CCG play was the flavor text on your cards and the nature of your smack-talk with your opponents.

That's what I couldn't quite pin down (and I thought there might have been something cleverer going on). Thanks!

Well, story did affect the game play in the past.

For example did they change the Navel keyword, so that the Tsuruchi could be printed without it.

Since AEG felt that it was unfitting for the family to be Navel.

Also in Lotus tournament victory would determine which persons would reach enlightenment.

So fine so good, however enlightenment was also a game effect, and the person would gain the quite powerful Enlightened keyword.

This means if a clan performed well, they would have lots of powerful enlightened cards down the road, which means that they usually kept performing well.

Also there were a lot of storylines where the Families, Clans or Factions faced extinction and where unplayable in the next arc.

The Tsuruchi I mentioned before would be the non-navel archery part of the Mantis

If they were wiped out due to a story event, the Mantis would loos this part of their game play the next arc.

And if that seems unlikely to you L5R has a track record of killed of factions,

and the Mantis were on the plate for Onyx edition with the almost complete destruction of the Yoritomo family.

The would have lost their Strongholds and the Kama swinging Pirate part of their faction...

So yes story can screw pretty hard with the game play.

Back in the 90's wasn't there one tournament in wich the Lion won, and if they had lost AEG would have gone with a Shadowlands victory would lead to a 1.000 years of darkness...

I've only got this from hearsay and an old inquest magazine. Anyone wanna correct me/ fill in the blanks on this?

From a purely mechanical point of view, yes, you could ignore the story, but there would occasionally be times where weird cards that don't fit in with the rest of a clan would pop up, and that would be due to story. To give a recent example, there was a Spider shugenja that had some honor and made swords (Gyushi Kageto) printed a few sets ago, that was only tangentially related to anything the Spider were doing. The main reason he got printed was because there was so much push from the Spider community to have a shugenja family (something that they were lacking for a while and something that was rather important for a great clan to have). It also certainly allowed for a touch more fun from RP as well. ;]

Back in the 90's wasn't there one tournament in wich the Lion won, and if they had lost AEG would have gone with a Shadowlands victory would lead to a 1.000 years of darkness...

I've only got this from hearsay and an old inquest magazine. Anyone wanna correct me/ fill in the blanks on this?

This?

For some like me, the story is the driving factor for our love of the game.

Its the reason we want to share it, so others may too may enjoy it.

For a few, it is simply a bonus to playing the game and doesn't hold much weight as they hold interaction with other people as a driving factor, ie the need for company or domination etc.

A lot of players actually like the prizes that were initially given for playing the game like Katanas, Kimonos etc which was something different from all the cash prizes given by MTG.

The game is closely tied to the story line as it reflects the actions and events that have or will come to pass, or even, what could have been.

It is a intricate puzzle of making the game reflect the story so that others may get a glimpse of what it is to be there, in the shoes of those personalities or within that action.

Like for example simple cards like Charge ! or Banzai ! reflect the story through their depiction, or people's favorite card such as Game of Sincerity, Test of the Emerald Champion and Game of Sadane show the culture of the society, or The Naga Storm Mirumoto Castle or Volturnum depict events and places within the empire. The game has its own pantheon of Celestials and Heroes.

It is a fascinating world of its own that translates itself into the art, the flavor text, and the stories and role play of people. People also get into it a lot by playing themed decks that circle around ideas that they place cards that connect to the story rather than their game value.

I've done this alone like playing March of the Alliance, Emergence of the Tortoise and Alliance in one mantis deck I had.

Back in the 90's wasn't there one tournament in wich the Lion won, and if they had lost AEG would have gone with a Shadowlands victory would lead to a 1.000 years of darkness...

I've only got this from hearsay and an old inquest magazine. Anyone wanna correct me/ fill in the blanks on this?

This?

*nods sagely.

There have been a lot of stories that have been dependent on which side wins.

The most recent being the selection of the emperor as well as his bride.

For outsiders glancing at it, it may seem like a very small drop of water but within the story itself, it dramatically changes everything.