My opinion is that we'll have an Imperial faction and a ronin faction before (if) we get any other factions, with the exact ronin faction being chosen by tournament.

On ‎9‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 1:21 PM, Joelist said:

As for players not coming over because of the mechanics being changed, I find it laughable. People played the CCG IN SPITE OF the mechanics not because of them.

I can't speak for others but I started late into the life span with AEG. It was the unique mechanics that initially got me into the game and only later on did I start looking more into the story.

As for FF version, there are several things that I like about it but absolutely despise the dueling mechanics. It kills a huge chunk of my interest. It doesn't help that my four favorite clans to play were Crane, Scorpion, Spider, and Mantis. So half the stuff I enjoyed is gone. Technically more so since my favorite decks were Crane Duelist decks.

At this point I am more interested to see what they do with the story but my hopes for that have been lowered since the very first story. I'm not a fan of the changes to the Crane Champion. I'd probably like it if they didn't still have her in love with Kachiko. One of the best parts of the old fiction was what happened between Kachiko and Hoturi. Just feels like they are doing a hackneyed version of the old story from the start.

Granted the story could change and get a lot better. I have hope since the current focus has been on Unicorn Magic and not a coup.

Sigh, this ended up being more negative than I intended. I do find that most of the mechanic changes are for the better. It's just dueling that I have any real problems with.

1 hour ago, TechnoGolem said:

I can't speak for others but I started late into the life span with AEG. It was the unique mechanics that initially got me into the game and only later on did I start looking more into the story.

Same here. I was playing RPG 1st ed for some time and years later after casually playing various CCG's we discovered L5R CCG. That was blast from mechanical standpoint. We were obsessed with this game because of game play and all the possibilities. It took us lot of time to understand lot of things especially if we played casual legacy mixing cards since Imperial to Lotus, with Lotus rulebook in hand, but yeah. Here in small town without any FLGS, L5R crowd was largest game oriented group ever (15+ people), no other game has ever come close to it. Lore exploration, including pre-Samurai when we started, came later. And then we faced L5R tournament people what was a nice experience as well. All i know that mostly all mechanical "so-called flaws" of CCG can be avoided or minimalized thanks to reasonable deckbuilding and gameplay.

Ther're only few other card games that surprised and astonished me strictly becasue of mechanics - (original) Netrunner, Doomtown: Reloaded (as i haven't played original CCG), Kult and maybe 7th Sea.

New game didn't surprised me in any way. I've found it chaotic, forced mix of various card games mechanics put together in FFG style that will just collapse in short time (i mean when next competetive LCG will be announced, this time with catchy license again). Too many cooks spoil the broth.

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Back to topic. FFG probably also owns tens of arts with Nagas that were meant to be full faction in Onyx. First Onyx Learn to Play was designed as Naga vs Spider set. So ther're chances some of them will see a daylight. IMHO Naga would fit current mechanic better than fe Shadowlands and will also put some fun for all nonhuman lovers around who played them in the past.

I know L5R ex-players who got out specifically because of the snowballing problems and also because the Rings turned out to be minor in the extreme.

And having actually played the LCG now, I can say it is NOT chaotic nor is it a "forced mix". It feels well crafted and organic in its play. The dueling system also feels proper and again is more organic in the game now. The massive snowball effect issue is gone. The Rings actually are integral to the game now. I'm not seeing the "issues".

7 hours ago, Joelist said:

The dueling system also feels proper and again is more organic in the game now.

I agree it is more organic but strongly disagree on proper. To increase your chances of wining you act dishonorably. I find that absurd when it comes to Crane. Sure, it works great for Scorpion but the idea that I may lose honor in a duel as a Crane player is beyond idiotic. They used to gain honor from duels not lose it.

On 8/25/2017 at 2:10 PM, TheItsyBitsySpider said:

The only Spider stronghold I want is Otosan Uchi, like the Greatest Clan should have!

Straight to Second City, do not pass "Go". Do not get 200 Koku. XD

Let's think about Duels here and when we do consider both the rules and the cards.

First, you only can initiate a Duel if you have that ability on the Character or attachment card. Well, the only Clans with the ability are Crane and Dragon and Crane not only has the strongest Duelist they even have an attachment that lets them give any Character the ability to initiate a Duel.

Second, the opponent is chosen. In some cases (like Kaezin) the opponent chooses but for example a Crane using Duelist Training chooses their opponent. Even better, a Crane "trained Duelist" can discard cards for their bid as opposed to dialing Honor. If Crane (for example) "trains" Kaezin they will be able to choose which Duel effect to trigger - one sends the opponent home but has to be paid in Honor the other bows the opponent but can be paid in cards.

What I am getting at here is only Dragon can initiate a Duel outside of Crane right now, and Crane can potentially have four characters doing it. So contrary to the notion they will be losing Honor, as things stand now Duelling will be an Honor income source for Crane.

I am hoping that FFG takes the story down a completely different path than AEG did. It seems that they are going to be giving the champions a say in the story progression, and with any luck it will end up being unique. Perhaps we will have some new factions altogether. I really really hope that the Spider clan does not make a come back though. I quit playing and sold my cards right after the Spider clan was retconned in because it was so incredibly stupid and a massive quality change for AEG up to that point. The cards were cool, but they could all be brought back as neutral shadowlands cards at some point without completely ruining the story again.