Because we get a lot of common questions, and instead of always just answering them the same every time, I thought I'd consolidate a lot of this information into the same thread. I will try to keep internal bias about many questions to myself. I will assume some general knowledge of games and FFG Games.
The L5R Discord channel is: https://discordapp.com/invite/zPvBePb
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/l5r/
What is an LCG? How is it different than a CCG? What will I need to buy to play?
LCG (Living Card Game) is a different business model than CCG that FFG started using. The primary difference is that instead of cards having rarity, you just get a known set of cards each time you buy a pack. FFG breaks it down into the Core Set, Deluxe Boxes, and Packs (Dynasty Packs for L5R). We have not confirmed this yet, but it is expected that the Core set will contain 1x of each Clan Card, 2x of the Neutrals. Deluxe Boxes and Dynasty Packs will contain a playset of each card in them. No buying random packs or trading until you get the cards you need. FFG announced early on that you will be "Competitive" with 2x core sets, but will need 3x to get a full playset. Finally, most card sets are smaller than what you would see out of a standard CCG, and have a longer lifetime before they get rotated out (Though we do not know the rotation schedule yet). The Core Set and (probably) Deluxe boxes will be "evergreen" meaning they won't be rotated out.
Where can I play?
There are local playgroups in a lot of areas. If you have one and want to recruit more people, ro are looking for one, check out the thread on local playgroups:
Where is the <Spider, Mantis, Shadowlands, etc>? When can I play it? It was my favorite!
In all fairness, we don't know. We know that the Shadowlands exists in the setting , but not yet seen anything related to it being a playable faction (Has a stronghold). Yoritomo gets mentioned in the opening Crane Fiction. Everything else we know is speculation. However, FFG has not announced that it will not be doing any new factions, either.
Is there multiplayer (More than 2 people)?
There are many, many threads asking about this, we probably don't need more. The short answer is we don't know if it will support multiplayer. Many cards are worded in such a way to support multiplayer, but FFG has specifically been cagey on the details of if/how/when there will be support for 3+ players. The product page currently says 2 player on it.
When does it come out? When can I buy it?
Pre-release at GenCon, Real Release in "Q4 2017". Speculation is Late September or sometime in October. FFG's website says "On The Boat". As for when it will appear in your store, who knows, since that is dependent on the esoteric magic of shipping schedules and customs.
How do I play?
Official rules are to be released in "Early August". There are a few comprehensive rules packets floating around, based on a combination of questions asked in #L5RLive, reading the articles and speculation. The best place to get the most recent is to ask in the L5R Discord.
Additionally, there are many streamed games based on proxies of known cards, as well as the #L5RLive demo that you can access through the FFG Facebook account (See the stickied thread in this forum).
When will my clan be previewed? When will all the cards be previewed? Is there a place I can look at all the cards?
At the time of writing this, Crane, Lion, Dragon, Crab, and half of Phoenix have been previewed on a 2 week scheduled, Week 1: Story, Week 2: Cards/Playstyle. News is currently released every Wednesday around 11ish Central US time. Podcasts are receiving single spoilers to post at their leisure. However, there was a delay with the Lion fiction that pushed everything back a week, which means that everything won't get previewed by the GenCon pre-release. FFG has mentioned that "They have a plan" to remedy this, but we don't know what it is. We do not know the order of clans being previewed (Not alphabetical). If FFG doesn't manage to spoil everything by GenCon, then at least by Aug 17, all cards will be known.
As for where to find cards, there are numerous links to spoiled cards on L5R Discord and Reddit, as well as the site fiveringsdb.com, which is still a work in progress, but maintains a copy of all officially spoiled cards. There are also many cards partially spoiled, spoiled via blurry means, or other such unofficial methods, and they are consolidated in a few places as well, though it is unsure if they are the finished product or not.
How does the LCG differ than the CCG?
The LCG is a new game with new rules, but the same theme as the CCG. Many aspects were rolled over with only minor changes, but many have changed drastically. FFG summarizes it here: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/legend-of-the-five-rings-the-card-game/ (Towards the end of the article).
Where can I learn about the lore of L5R? Does the old L5R Lore have anything to do with the new stuff?
The story has been rebooted to before the old CCG started. FFG has said that while they were keeping much of the basic flavor (Clans still feel the same, for example), they have already taken steps to change well established/important characters, killing some off, replacing some with completely new characters, etc. So while a lot of the old players will know much of history of the old story, at this point no one actually knows what is going on in the new story, beyond the fiction we have seen.
If you want to read the new story, check out the LCG Product page and expand the "Fiction" setting:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/legend-of-the-five-rings-the-card-game/
However, if you want to read the old L5R Story, check out: http://www.kazenoshiro.com/ Keep in mind that AEG's Fiction comes from many different authors, multiple story leads, over many years with varying degrees of editing.
What is happening with the L5R RPG?
We don't know yet, but we fully expect that there will be a new version of the L5R RPG (Based on comments from FFG buying L5R for the entire IP, not just the card game). The best speculation is that there will be a Genesys expansion for L5R. Also, much (if not all) of AEG's 4th Edition stuff is on DriveThruRPG, and there is a little bit of free stuff.
Edited by MirithAdding Playgroups and a blurb about the RPG