got the question in the /r/l5r gencon FAQ, but i don't actually know the answer. thought i'd ask here. for FFG launched lcgs at gencon in the past, were there limits on how many copies a single person could buy?

I think that the other launches were all early launches. I'm not sure if that is the case for L5R or not.

I think L5R will follow the same pattern as the previous few LCG releases at GenCon - a moderate amount of product made available at the convention, then a wait before the general release.

Netrunner was a disaster, and the experience I had trying to purchase copies at the convention lead to me writing to FFG to complain, and not bothering to pick the game up afterward. I was right at the front of the surging crowd on Thursday as the doors opened, headed straight over to the FFG booth, stood in line for fifteen minutes watching people go past me with armfulls of Netrunner core sets...and the person two places in front of got the last copy. The FFG rep at the booth said they didn't think they'd be able to get any more (as it turned out, they did get another small shipment on Saturday and this time restricted the number of copies each person could purchase), but mentioned it might be worth checking out eBay...sure enough, listings were going up faster than you could refresh as those lucky enough to grab as many copies as they could cashed in.

Thrones was more positive, although the Netrunner experience had still soured me enough that I didn't actively go out of my way to pick up a copy. I did however get a text from a friend of mine on Saturday afternoon who was at the FFG booth and saw they still had copies, and he picked one up for me. I'm certain that the number of copies you could purchase was being restricted to two copies per person, but I can't tell you if you were able to just go to the back of the queue and hope there were still some left when you got back to the front in order to complete a play set

The netrunner incident made FFG to enforce some kind of limit per buyer in later releases if I recall correctly, but every info I get from GenCon is through my computer. One day I'll be actually there. One day...

Quote

One day. Yes. I’ll drink to that. One day. Who knows? One day. Everyone needs “one day.”

-Nanny Ogg, Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

GenCon, SDCC, all the big American cons. At least this summer I can get to WorldCon - because it's in Finland, which is much closer

Most likely limited quantities per customer. A copy reserved for those in the tournament. Tournament limited to one core set per person with smaller than normal decks. This is all based on previous GenCon launches since Netrunner days.

Also, IIRC I think that if you get tickets for their GenCon premiere tournament, you have got one guaranteed Core Set.

3 hours ago, Mon no Oni said:

Also, IIRC I think that if you get tickets for their GenCon premiere tournament, you have got one guaranteed Core Set.

Yes in the past they have reserved a copy to prevent a tournament attendee not having one.

I don't remember whether I picked all of my copies of the AGoT 2nd edition Core Set together (I was in the launch tournament, so one was reserved), but I got 3 total. No one told me anything about a limit, so if there was one, it was at least 3 per buyer. I came back later to see if I could pick extra boxes for friends back home, but there weren't any left.

I remember that for AGoT 2, you could already play it on OCTGN a long time before the official release at Gencon. Anyone remembers when was it that we got the cards and we could play it on OCTGN ? May ? June ?

Do you think it will be the same for L5R ?

7 minutes ago, Katsutoshi said:

I remember that for AGoT 2, you could already play it on OCTGN a long time before the official release at Gencon. Anyone remembers when was it that we got the cards and we could play it on OCTGN ? May ? June ?

Do you think it will be the same for L5R ?

I hope that full visual spoiler will be at day 0. And if only this game will be enough similiar to original i'm going to create SnM database ASAP to check this out.

6 hours ago, Khudzlin said:

I don't remember whether I picked all of my copies of the AGoT 2nd edition Core Set together (I was in the launch tournament, so one was reserved), but I got 3 total. No one told me anything about a limit, so if there was one, it was at least 3 per buyer. I came back later to see if I could pick extra boxes for friends back home, but there weren't any left.

My understanding is that the limit was two per customer, but that didn't include the release event copy. I can foresee that being the case this year, which makes it obviously frustrating if you can't pick up a play set on one visit, but hey, some cards are better than none.

2 hours ago, Hinomura said:

My understanding is that the limit was two per customer, but that didn't include the release event copy. I can foresee that being the case this year, which makes it obviously frustrating if you can't pick up a play set on one visit, but hey, some cards are better than none.

Well, since I plan to register fort the release event, it doesn't change anything for me. Anyway, I'd be more frustrated if I couldn't get any cards (especially in the way it happened for Netrunner) than if I could get some cards, but not a playset.

Except planning by no means guarantees you a place, dude. Places in the queue for events are random, and L5R will sell out in the first hour for sure. It's definitely going to be a lottery for who gets an event ticket.

4 minutes ago, Hinomura said:

Except planning by no means guarantees you a place, dude. Places in the queue for events are random, and L5R will sell out in the first hour for sure. It's definitely going to be a lottery for who gets an event ticket.

heres hoping they anticipate the demand better than in past years, and enthusiasm for the launch (which horvath sounds like he does, from his comments in those interviews) and they plan accordingly

I'm not sure if you're aware of how event booking (for exhibitors) works at GenCon, mate, so I'll offer a brief explanation. It's not as simple as anticipating demand - space is allocated by GenCon LLC, and is very much at a premium. This allocation is based on a number of factors, including the size of the exhibitor and previous events for that game. Even if FFG wanted, say, 500+ players worth of space, it comes down to how much the convention are willing to give them.

I don't doubt at all their enthusiasm for the launch, and I'm sure they'll do everything they can to make it the biggest and most impressive launch event they've ever done...but I simply don't think that will translate into there being enough spaces to around.

Note that we're just talking about the release event here...I reckon L5R is going to knock it out of the park when it comes to casual or pick-up games, and you'll see people playing EVERYWHERE.

2 years ago, FFG opened additional places for the AGoT release event after they sold out so quickly.

They did, but there was still more demand than supply.

That's very much what I'm trying to explain here: there will absolutely be more demand for L5R Release Event tickets than there will be supply. I genuinely wish you luck in getting one, but anyone expecting it to be just a case of buying a ticket is setting themselves up for disappointment.

I'll also go on record now as saying that tickets will change hands for more than their face value. There will absolutely be a secondary market for them.

But even if event tickets are in short supply, actual product might, hopefully, not be.

It is unlikely that the game will get a full release at GenCon, based on previous releases from FFG. It's more likely that there will be a limited amount of product, and the game will receive a full release a month or more after the convention. If this is the case, FFG will most likely limit the number of copies of a core set that each person can purchase, and will also likely control the amount of product that goes out on sale each day, to ensure an even spread.

Bottom line is it's going to difficult to grab a copy unless you're at the front of the queue each day.

I'm not deliberately trying to be negative here, but I'm trying to keep people as well informed as possible. Of course, all of this is speculation until at first the events go on sale and then we get to GenCon, but I'm calling it like I see it.

Again, I wish everyone attending the best of luck in both getting a ticket for the release event and grabbing some core sets while they're there.

No, I get it. I didn't know that about previous launches. How strange to have such a limited pre-release.