I have never liked full bleed cards that don't have the text, so I do not approve of the champs.
The strongholds are very nice, though.

I think the Keeper/Seeker rules are pretty cool. It doesn't seem like they're big enough to change the nature of the deck that you want to build, but they're not insignificant either. It feels like a good balance to me that gives players an easy look into the results of the big tournaments.

I'm a fan of the Hatamoto loyalty conditions too!

Just now, YasukiKaito said:

I think the Keeper/Seeker rules are pretty cool. It doesn't seem like they're big enough to change the nature of the deck that you want to build

Except for the line about certain cards that only work if you have a seeker or keeper role

For the casual player the seeker and keeper cards will be kind of a pain to keep track of, but I like the idea that we will need to keep changing our decks. I am not sure if the hatamoto thing promotes a healthy environment. It makes the game seem super competitive and may drive away a lot of new/casual players.

Just now, Spawnod said:

For the casual player the seeker and keeper cards will be kind of a pain to keep track of, but I like the idea that we will need to keep changing our decks. I am not sure if the hatamoto thing promotes a healthy environment. It makes the game seem super competitive and may drive away a lot of new/casual players.

For a Casual player the keeper/seeker cards don't really matter, thankfully. It's only required in Tourney play. A casual player going to play in a tournament may get hosed.

I doubt many new or casual players will go to tournaments with Hatamoto

For a casual player, choosing seeker and keeper cards every time you play may be a bit fun. Being forced to use a role for competitive play is irksome. If they end up releasing role specific cards that are clearly above the curve, then the whole thing become problematic for competitive play. These role assignments will affect the options available to players to some extent. No sir, I don't like it.

As an aside, you can sort of see what one of the "Seeker only" cards does here. Let's get some wild speculation going!

Just now, llamaman88 said:

I doubt many new or casual players will go to tournaments with Hatamoto

It is not so much going to a tourney with Hatamoto, but other players focusing on that as the goal/end result of practing at a smaller tourney. I bring this up as I have seen that type of behavior in other card games with big prizes before.

7 minutes ago, Spawnod said:

For the casual player the seeker and keeper cards will be kind of a pain to keep track of, but I like the idea that we will need to keep changing our decks. I am not sure if the hatamoto thing promotes a healthy environment. It makes the game seem super competitive and may drive away a lot of new/casual players.

I am more concerned with the community reaction to each year's selection of Keeper/Seeker Roles. I can see some monumental b*tching coming out of an unpopular choice.

26 minutes ago, Yogo Gohei said:

I have never liked full bleed cards that don't have the text, so I do not approve of the champs.
The strongholds are very nice, though.

My only reservation is that the title of Shizuka Toshi is kind of hard to read. But I suppose if you're a legit enough Crane to acquire the card you probably know the name of your stronghold anyway.

I like the whole thing. Loyalty is easy when things go your way. We are part of a clan, so an individual's actions can effect the whole.

I think as long as the rules are clearly spelled out, things will be fine. Communication is usually the root of most problems.

20 minutes ago, Gamedog said:

I am more concerned with the community reaction to each year's selection of Keeper/Seeker Roles. I can see some monumental b*tching coming out of an unpopular choice.

I will definitely be ******* if someone makes a bad choice. You have to figure that in any given year there's going to be 1-2 players who do exceedingly well in a tourney that have no business making decisions for the community. Like a guy will get 9th place but be the number 1 Lion player out of coincidence and pick a card randomly(poorly) because of the pressure.

3 minutes ago, kiramode said:

I will definitely be ******* if someone makes a bad choice. You have to figure that in any given year there's going to be 1-2 players who do exceedingly well in a tourney that have no business making decisions for the community. Like a guy will get 9th place but be the number 1 Lion player out of coincidence and pick a card randomly(poorly) because of the pressure.

Depending on how they set things up it will probably be possible to sit down briefly and convene with your clanmates attending the tournament, and thereby make a decision that doesn't turn you into a pariah.

2 minutes ago, kiramode said:

I will definitely be ******* if someone makes a bad choice. You have to figure that in any given year there's going to be 1-2 players who do exceedingly well in a tourney that have no business making decisions for the community. Like a guy will get 9th place but be the number 1 Lion player out of coincidence and pick a card randomly(poorly) because of the pressure.

Thats not fair. Chances are if hes 9th, hes probably picking 7th. Which means hes only going to have 4 options. Also, its not like the options are that huge (at least at this point). Right now the choice is do you like more influence or flexibility in provinces. If you chose influence, what ring do you like to use the most. If you chose flexibility in provinces, what province is your clan province or which do you want to use both out of. In the future it may mean more.

And this allows players to have some impact on the story, without changing major plot lines that FFG wants to do. It's a balance that the old L5R game never achieved. Players before had way too much control over things.

2 minutes ago, JRosen9 said:

Thats not fair. Chances are if hes 9th, hes probably picking 7th. Which means hes only going to have 4 options. Also, its not like the options are that huge (at least at this point). Right now the choice is do you like more influence or flexibility in provinces. If you chose influence, what ring do you like to use the most. If you chose flexibility in provinces, what province is your clan province or which do you want to use both out of. In the future it may mean more.

It makes more sense to me that the Clan that did the worst would get the first pick at Role cards, sort like how they do the draft for professional sports, but who knows how they are going to do it.

4 minutes ago, kiramode said:

I will definitely be ******* if someone makes a bad choice. You have to figure that in any given year there's going to be 1-2 players who do exceedingly well in a tourney that have no business making decisions for the community. Like a guy will get 9th place but be the number 1 Lion player out of coincidence and pick a card randomly(poorly) because of the pressure.

I doubt this will come up too much. This looks like it will be at a rather major tournament, so I doubt any player there won't at least have a feel for which will be best for the clan. Also, if they were saboteurs from another clan picking to ruin the days of your clan, I could understand getting upset [although props to the dishonorable fellows, that is some strong adherence to duty], but to an unluckily lucky clanmate that just seems like a lack of compassion. They tried their best, and got their prize. If you think you can choose better, the go to those tournaments and do better than them.

3 minutes ago, fyrm said:

I doubt this will come up too much. This looks like it will be at a rather major tournament, so I doubt any player there won't at least have a feel for which will be best for the clan. Also, if they were saboteurs from another clan picking to ruin the days of your clan, I could understand getting upset [although props to the dishonorable fellows, that is some strong adherence to duty], but to an unluckily lucky clanmate that just seems like a lack of compassion. They tried their best, and got their prize. If you think you can choose better, the go to those tournaments and do better than them.

My understanding is this happens yearly at worlds

1 hour ago, kiramode said:

If the Phoenix winner doesn't choose Seeker of the Void can we just ban that player from the clan?

"Importantly, they cannot select a role another clan has already selected at this ceremony, and they must each select a different role from the one their clan held leading into this event!"

Well, you're guaranteed to have to change some time...

42 minutes ago, JRosen9 said:

I'm thinking the scorpion and unicorn box have to have very good abilities to balance out their below average PS

The clans don't have different boxes, and even if they did, they wouldn't have province strength.

The clan strongholds on the other hand...

31 minutes ago, Spawnod said:

For the casual player the seeker and keeper cards will be kind of a pain to keep track of, but I like the idea that we will need to keep changing our decks. I am not sure if the hatamoto thing promotes a healthy environment. It makes the game seem super competitive and may drive away a lot of new/casual players.

I'm not sure casual players are really going to care about whether or not they use the correct role, are they? As for the Hatamoto, he gets some cool stuff but nothing that really gives him a great advantage (other than just guaranteeing him a seat).

I'm more concerned with the line: "The Banzai chant at the start of each Kotei Series main event is lead by all Hatamotos who have come to prove their superiority!"

So Hatamotos get a lot of cool stuff, but they're also forced to participate in Banzais. I suppose every silver lining has a cloud.

1 minute ago, kiramode said:

I will definitely be ******* if someone makes a bad choice. You have to figure that in any given year there's going to be 1-2 players who do exceedingly well in a tourney that have no business making decisions for the community. Like a guy will get 9th place but be the number 1 Lion player out of coincidence and pick a card randomly(poorly) because of the pressure.

It's not a thoroughly unreasonable concern, but what's the worst case scenario? You get one bonus instead of another bonus. Sure, certain clans may prefer a certain Ring or prefer one side or the other, but it's not like any role is going to be absolutely unplayable by any clan. I like that it affects the game, but not so much as to throw the entire thing into chaos.

2 minutes ago, fyrm said:

I doubt this will come up too much. This looks like it will be at a rather major tournament, so I doubt any player there won't at least have a feel for which will be best for the clan. Also, if they were saboteurs from another clan picking to ruin the days of your clan, I could understand getting upset [although props to the dishonorable fellows, that is some strong adherence to duty], but to an unluckily lucky clanmate that just seems like a lack of compassion. They tried their best, and got their prize. If you think you can choose better, the go to those tournaments and do better than them.

Exactly. The roles are only selected at the Winter Court World Championship. With the *possible* exception of this first Winter Court in November, I don't see players with "no business making decisions" placing high enough to make the choice. And even in this first Winter Court, what are the odds that "unworthy" players are even going to be present? Seriously...

So what do we think the preferred roles are for each faction?

2 minutes ago, Zesu Shadaban said:

Exactly. The roles are only selected at the Winter Court World Championship. With the *possible* exception of this first Winter Court in November, I don't see players with "no business making decisions" placing high enough to make the choice. And even in this first Winter Court, what are the odds that "unworthy" players are even going to be present? Seriously...

Actually, I believe the Clan Roles page said that the first roles will be selected at the Friday event at GenCon.

Golden Plains, according to wiki, are Lion lands in old L5R? It had a Unicorn stronghold in Ivory from what I have seen googling. If someone could educate me, I'd be most grateful.

More on topic, 0 province bonus in the stronghold feels very Endless Plains level of "Defend? The wind doesn't stop!". Our steemed champion doesn't seem very straight up "In your face" force but I hope for neat ability.

The Keeper/Seeker thing seems interesting even for casual play. At least while being up to the players. Beyond store tournaments, I won't be doing much in that regard so no real effect on me. :-P But I can see the berserker rage that some will fall into when one wave man selects something weird for the clan-of-the-day he is representing. Because Hatamoto or not, some people won't stick to one clan. But it's nice to see thiose perks for those who achieve the rank and play to keep it.

Never a fan of full bleed cards. Variants for Imperial Favor is awesome.

Me needs release date!!

1 minute ago, JJ48 said:

Actually, I believe the Clan Roles page said that the first roles will be selected at the Friday event at GenCon.

Technically, yes. But that is also the more competitive tournament at Gen Con, and it states those roles are only for determining what will be used at Winter Court 2017. So it's not like those selections are going to have a lasting impact on the Organized Play scene...they'll just be replaced a couple months later by the Winter Court folks.

Just now, Zesu Shadaban said:

Technically, yes. But that is also the more competitive tournament at Gen Con, and it states those roles are only for determining what will be used at Winter Court 2017. So it's not like those selections are going to have a lasting impact on the Organized Play scene...they'll just be replaced a couple months later by the Winter Court folks.

Yeah, I just think it would be kind of funny if Phoenix picked Seeker of Void at Gen Con, so then they couldn't pick it at Winter Court.