I'm not sure whether this is good news or not, but at the beginning of the first day of GenCon(today) the line to buy this game was 4 hours long. Then at about 11am they announced they had sold out of the game, and might be able to get more copies on Saturday.

I mean the the good news is the game is popular, or FFG underestimated how popular it would be. The bad news is it looks like I won't be getting the game any time soon.

Good job FFG! Get more copies soon. Please

When I saw pictures of that stack at Gencon I knew it wouldn't take long. I'm not sure they underestimated demand so much as they were probably physically limited in how much they could procure early from the printer and ship to Gencon counting all the core set boxes they needed to provide for the Kiku Matsuri. The Kiku Matsuri took up like what 700 boxes all by itself.

Sucks you didn't get a copy. Hope you got something else cool out of that line.

Sadly no, L5R was the only reason I wanted to attend. Unless you count independent verification that the game exists, I didn't gain much. I'll probably get some dice or something so the trip wasn't a total bust.

2 minutes ago, clanmccracken said:

Sadly no, L5R was the only reason I wanted to attend. Unless you count independent verification that the game exists, I didn't gain much. I'll probably get some dice or something so the trip wasn't a total bust.

Try to get a play mat or something related to L5R. Ask via twitter/Facebook, maybe you get a copy or a small gift.

32 minutes ago, clanmccracken said:

Sadly no, L5R was the only reason I wanted to attend. Unless you count independent verification that the game exists, I didn't gain much. I'll probably get some dice or something so the trip wasn't a total bust.

I know them feels. I went to Gencon before just for 1 game. Fortunately it wasn't a pre-release or sell-out event so I was able to participate, but there were things sold out before I even got to the front of the line opening day... I went to another game con earlier this year with the same results. Its really tough but we will eventually have the full release of the game.

I hope its end of September

20 hours ago, clanmccracken said:

Sadly no, L5R was the only reason I wanted to attend. Unless you count independent verification that the game exists, I didn't gain much. I'll probably get some dice or something so the trip wasn't a total bust.

Are you still in need of a core set? I have a spare ticket to buy one from the booth, but I'm busy for much of the day. I'd prefer it to go to a player who would appreciate it and doesn't have one already.

If you already have one, I'll give it to another player who needs their first.

This happens often. In previous years they send a truck down with more product on Saturday, so don't lose hope yet!

1 hour ago, Nilandia said:

Are you still in need of a core set? I have a spare ticket to buy one from the booth, but I'm busy for much of the day. I'd prefer it to go to a player who would appreciate it and doesn't have one already.

If you already have one, I'll give it to another player who needs their first.

Wait, how does this work? lol I thought "sold out" meant there were no more - are they reserved by tickets even if you haven't picked them up yet? How does this work?

Correct. They gave out tickets to reserve a copy. You could come back later to purchase.

I'd take one if someone else doesn't bite.

To anyone in general I am happy to pay for it and shipping if I am lucky enough to be sent one.

The ticket had been claimed. Thank you all for the interest!

22 minutes ago, Nilandia said:

The ticket had been claimed. Thank you all for the interest!

Hey thanks for being so generous to help another player out! I'm sure people are going to want these cards in their hands as soon as possible! I know I can't wait haha

Sold out on day 1 in about 2 hours, Sold out on Saturday in about 40 min, or so I am told. Fortunately the official release is in a couple weeks so that is good news.

I should have posted my Gen Con shopping strategy guide (I'm a 23 year attendee of Gen Con)...especially if your only reason for going was to obtain L5R, you should have been able to get a copy. If that was my motivation I would have just sucked up the 4 hour line. I waited 1 hour and 40 minutes on Thursday and snagged one for me and one to mail to my brother who couldn't attend. They were limiting them to 2 per customer. To accomplish this I waited outside the exhibit hall starting at 8:30 am, so my total wait time was about 3 hours and 10 minutes. I also employed some creative pathing to navigate the FFG demo area and get to the line. I may have tripped over a little garbage can on the way. Also pay attention to where the end of line marker is going, and aim there, not where it is now unless you want to lose 10-20 places in line chasing it.

15 minutes ago, Ryric said:

I should have posted my Gen Con shopping strategy guide (I'm a 23 year attendee of Gen Con)...especially if your only reason for going was to obtain L5R, you should have been able to get a copy. If that was my motivation I would have just sucked up the 4 hour line. I waited 1 hour and 40 minutes on Thursday and snagged one for me and one to mail to my brother who couldn't attend. They were limiting them to 2 per customer. To accomplish this I waited outside the exhibit hall starting at 8:30 am, so my total wait time was about 3 hours and 10 minutes. I also employed some creative pathing to navigate the FFG demo area and get to the line. I may have tripped over a little garbage can on the way. Also pay attention to where the end of line marker is going, and aim there, not where it is now unless you want to lose 10-20 places in line chasing it.

Sounds like Black Friday for gamers.

18 hours ago, Kuni Katsuyoshi said:

Sounds like Black Friday for gamers.

That would be an apt comparison.

On 8/17/2017 at 0:36 PM, clanmccracken said:

I'm not sure whether this is good news or not, but at the beginning of the first day of GenCon(today) the line to buy this game was 4 hours long. Then at about 11am they announced they had sold out of the game, and might be able to get more copies on Saturday.

I mean the the good news is the game is popular, or FFG underestimated how popular it would be. The bad news is it looks like I won't be getting the game any time soon.

Good job FFG! Get more copies soon. Please

I watched the video of the game they recorded at GenCon and can't get it out of my head. But I'm confused as to how old this game is and why it seems to be suddenly gaining popularity again.

Can somebody explain that to me?

6 minutes ago, caseycheesecake said:

I watched the video of the game they recorded at GenCon and can't get it out of my head. But I'm confused as to how old this game is and why it seems to be suddenly gaining popularity again.

Can somebody explain that to me?

L5R was created in the early 90s, owned by AEG. Few years ago AEG sold it to FFG. FFG decided to redesign the game for their version.

It's 20ish years old, and it's getting popular because it's a new company re releasing it.

27 minutes ago, RandomJC said:

L5R was created in the early 90s, owned by AEG. Few years ago AEG sold it to FFG. FFG decided to redesign the game for their version.

It's 20ish years old, and it's getting popular because it's a new company re releasing it.

Ah, it looks awesome. So if I get into it now, I'm not too terribly behind the curve, eh?

2 minutes ago, caseycheesecake said:

Ah, it looks awesome. So if I get into it now, I'm not too terribly behind the curve, eh?

not in the least. It's not even officially released, we have to wait Oct. 5th, since we aren't the lucky few to get it at gencon.

While I'm a Gen Con veteran, I usually don't shop there so this was my first time experiencing the chaos of Day One at the Exhibit Hall. Knowing about the End Of Line Here sign would have been massively helpful. =(

9 hours ago, caseycheesecake said:

Ah, it looks awesome. So if I get into it now, I'm not too terribly behind the curve, eh?

This is a complete re-launch with a complete new story (reset) and new rules. There were some things about the old game that were dated, being from the 90's when ccg were new, and mechanics were new. Now game developers know much more about how to balance and vary a game, and about the hidden power some cards can bring to the table. Back then everything was a crap shoot lol

I would say this is the ideal time to get into the game, or get back in to it. This is why the game is getting a massive surge of popularity - there were players (like me) who loved the game style, and the flavor of the game but weren't sticking around because of some reasons. Either the local player base was too small, or the fact that you typically have to dump loads of money to play a ccg with full options. With the new LCG model run by FFG and the story re-set, and mechanics re-design many players who had stopped playing L5R are getting back into it, and I expect the game to have a strong following for some time before it even matters if FFG is doing a good job or not just from the enthusiasm of players re-joining into the game.

From my experience the mechanics are very sound, and the game is NOT a snowball. Early wins don't mean early victories. Timing and calculated effort is everything.

11 hours ago, shosuko said:

or the fact that you typically have to dump loads of money to play a ccg with full options.

Thanks for all that info, but what about this part?

To get full options, wouldn't it cost $40 for the core + $15 x7 for each clan? That's about $150 right there.

Quote

From my experience the mechanics are very sound, and the game is NOT a snowball. Early wins don't mean early victories. Timing and calculated effort is everything.

And what experience are you referring to here? You bought the game last week and started playing already?

1 minute ago, caseycheesecake said:

Thanks for all that info, but what about this part?

To get full options, wouldn't it cost $40 for the core + $15 x7 for each clan? That's about $150 right there.

For full options, you'd need to get 3 cores, which is $40 apiece, which is $120 total. (This being a complete playset of core cards) each dynasty pack will give you 20 new cards, three copies each, so only one copy of the dynasty is needed, at $15. six dynasty packs means roughly $210 over the course of a cycle to guarantee a playset.

You can compare this to a CCG where an entire booster box is around $100, with a set distribution model of rare and ultra rare cards. With the rarity distribution it is impossible to get all of the highest rarity level in one box, which will only contain 5/6 of that kind of rarity, while the game usually has at least 10.

You can buy a second booster box, but that doesn't guarantee you the remaining Ultra rares you don't have, or even a playable set of what you already have, so assuming you don't just buy another booster box, you have to go onto the secondary market to get the full playset of these rare cards (which are very good cards needed to be competetive) and they aren't cheap, prices can range anywhere from 5 to 20 dollars per card. With 10 ultra rares that cost you $10 each, to just get one copy of each is a $100, to get a full playset is $300.

So while a complete set of an LCG isn't a cheap thing, it is, as a whole, cheaper than a CCG.