I was very excited for this game, for the opportunity to get into an LCG with a cool theme, on the ground floor and be able to keep up with it.

But now someone at Asmodee/FFG marketing has decided to rush out 6 packs in 6 weeks, after previous declarations that the packs were going to release once a month.

So now the barrier to entry is $210 plus tax (3 cores and 6 packs), for anyone who wants to start the game after the new year begins.

In just three months (October-December) the barrier to entry that kept me out of other LCGs will be established. And I guarantee I'm not the only one. Starting in January, the influx of new players will likely die out very quickly. It's very hard to convince someone to start out by A) always losing with a smaller cardpool, or B) having to drop enough money for 3-5 other games for this one game.

So I quit. I quit now, before the game ever had a chance.

I would have bought every pack, every box expansion, for years to come, and now instead I'm selling off my cores and quitting before it even begins.

Good work FFG/Asmodee. I will be skeptical of purchasing anything from you in the future.

Sadly you will not be the only one quitting

Very likely their marketing data shows that there are two kinds of players.

Those that buy just one core set of an LCG.

Those that buy every set in enough quantities to make whatever deck they may want.

Some people will balk. Many will be happy the card pool will be expanded for each clan enough to have some variety with each clan.

Uh, i bet even if you bought the 6 packs over 6 months instead of 6 weeks, you won't be "always losing with a smaller cardpool". It'll take longer than 6 months for the competitive meta to even be established.

I have 3 cores arriving tomorrow. If I had known about this pack rollout method I would not have pre-ordered. Not quite sure what I'm going to do just yet, but my initial reaction is not positive. I'm going to wait until my knee-jerk emotions have passed and then figure out what to do. Likely, it will be to try to sell 3 cores.

edit- To clarify it's the timing moreso than the method. $200+ right before the holidays to hop in and be competitive? No, thank you.

9 minutes ago, GMmL said:

I have 3 cores arriving tomorrow. If I had known about this pack rollout method I would not have pre-ordered. Not quite sure what I'm going to do just yet, but my initial reaction is not positive. I'm going to wait until my knee-jerk emotions have passed and then figure out what to do. Likely, it will be to try to sell 3 cores.

edit- To clarify it's the timing moreso than the method. $200+ right before the holidays to hop in and be competitive? No, thank you.

3 Cores gets you 3 sets of 15 different clan cards? 6 expansion packs would get you, what, 3 sets of 12 more clan cards and some neutrals.

I highly doubt having 1-3 instead of all 6 of these expansions would cripple your competitiveness in a tourney.

I'm excited for this new launch cycle.

I can see why some people are upset, but FFG isn't holding a gun to your head to buy the new dynasty pack. You don't know the power level of the cards to know if they are strong enough to cause a imbalance yet. Since you know exactly what you're getting, you can still pick and choose what pack to get. More cards just gives you more deck building options, hence why I'm a bit pleased with this announcement.

I played all the other LCG's. Not every pack had stuff I wanted, I never saw or felt pressured to buy the new stuff.

So, because the barrier for entry at 6 months post-release is at the 3 month post-release point instead, that's causing you to quit? If you wanted to get into the game at any real period post-release you were going to be facing the same hurdle anyway. This doesn't actually change anything beyond getting some more cards quickly into a core environment that offers very little deck building options, especially in the Dynasty. Also you don't have to buy them all at once at release, get the ones that actually have the cards you want.

I'm quite poor and I'll probably still manage just fine.

after previous declarations that the packs were going to release once a month.

Actually I'm pretty sure they said they had an ambitious release schedule for the first dynasty pack.

I would have bought every pack, every box expansion, for years to come, and now instead I'm selling off my cores and quitting before it even begins.

I doubt this. Because if that were true you would have no problem pacing yourself instead. I mean, you were going to be spending the money anyway, does getting everything in a month instead of waiting for six really change that much?

Heck no, we're excited for all of the new cards

I get people's uneasiness, but I don't understand why they are claiming to quit just because they can't buy new content the day it releases. To each their own though.

3 minutes ago, caseycheesecake said:

3 Cores gets you 3 sets of 15 different clan cards? 6 expansion packs would get you, what, 3 sets of 12 more clan cards and some neutrals.

I highly doubt having 1-3 instead of all 6 of these expansions would cripple your competitiveness in a tourney.

I imagine what will actually happen here is my playgroup will just use the cores to learn how to play for a month or so, we'll take our usual break at the holidays, and when we get back see where the local comp scene is at and grab the packs then if they're in stock. For good or ill our local store crowd generally hits hard and fast. It wouldn't even be an issue any other fiscal quarter of the year.

19 minutes ago, Shizrak said:

So now the barrier to entry is $210 plus tax (3 cores and 6 packs), for anyone who wants to start the game after the new year begins.

This is incorrect. The barrier to entry (monetarily is $40. One core, that is all that is required to play if you want to have your own physical cards and not borrow. To be competitive you will probably need 3 cores and potentially 1 - 2 of the packs. It is very unlikely that you will NEED all 6 packs. Most will probably not have cards you need in every deck.

Despite that, assume you did need to buy all of it. So what. $210 is very low barrier to entry for an adult with a job when it comes to a card game. You can easily spread out that $210 over a few months and not really be behind by much. At most you are going to miss a few tournaments. Again, so what.

It's just Q4 sticker shock, folks. A non issue. Before things get too pedantic I think I'll sign out. Cheers to all.

Why does anyone need to post they're quitting? I mean, you'll do more if you ACTUALLY don't purchase, not threaten to.

The decision has been made - make your choice as well.

Thank you for starting this post. Seriously, it will make it very easy for me to identify the individuals that likely belong on someone's ignore list.

For those of you that are getting into this game competitively, what does this really change? Have you already booked your flight and made arrangements to attend one of the 5 events (specifically PAX, Game On, or WarpCon, since those are the only ones potentially impacted by this) FFG just released a couple days ago? Are you not going to have the "extra $90" to spend to get all the cards before then? Do you not have a playgroup that would be willing to let you borrow cards you need to compete? Is it necessary for you to have the cards the moment they are released, or do you just need them by the time your competitive event comes up?

If you are forcing yourself to get everything all at once then yes it's a big pill to swallow. FFG is not forcing you to buy everything as it's released.

I recommend that anyone that is serious about being competitive go and look at a calendar and figure out when they need their cards by. If you're going to one of the three events that this accelerated release impacts, I have a difficult time believing that you are able to afford entry, travel, lodging, and expenses to the event but not able to muster up and additional $90 between now and then.

Now if by competitive you actually mean "local bully that always has all the cards" I have zero sympathy for you if you cannot pony up and extra $90 to stroke your own fragile ego.

And if you are not playing it competitively, you can buy the packs at your leisure. You might not even want to buy all of the packs. Having played the other LCGs, sometimes I get packs that is uninspiring and not worth looking at till the meta changes.

I am a bit confused by their decision to do this... After just buying 3 cores to have about as much to buy again is a lot to do in short order. I'm certainly not going to quit for this, but I hope they release full spoilers ahead of time so i can pick and choose between them for the cards I'm actually excited for, and maybe put the rest on the back burner for now. Even for a working person who will certainly buy everything for this game this is a bit much to be hit with all at once so soon after buying 3 cores.

I suppose my point wasn't clear enough. I'm not quitting because I can't stretch to afford it. I'm quitting because this cash-grab is going to discourage new players. With so much content coming so fast, there won't be any real time to build a community before people start falling behind.

3 minutes ago, Tlfj200 said:

Why does anyone need to post they're quitting? I mean, you'll do more if you ACTUALLY don't purchase, not threaten to.

The decision has been made - make your choice as well.

I want to raise awareness that this was a poor decision. I wish I could ACTUALLY not purchase, but I already got my cores expecting one thing, and instead got something completely different. So now I need to sell core sets.

I too was pretty shocked when I heard that they are releasing 6 in 6. But after i thought about it i came to the conclusion that I don't need every signal card out of the pack. I don't play every faction so I will be splitting each pack with a few friends. I like the game to much to quit and I have enough friends that i can split the backs with. So find some friends split some backs and have fun in Rokugan.

Just now, Shizrak said:

I suppose my point wasn't clear enough. I'm not quitting because I can't stretch to afford it. I'm quitting because this cash-grab is going to discourage new players. With so much content coming so fast, there won't be any real time to build a community before people start falling behind.

I want to raise awareness that this was a poor decision. I wish I could ACTUALLY not purchase, but I already got my cores expecting one thing, and instead got something completely different. So now I need to sell core sets.

I mean... then just sell them?

You might be right, but I think many of us will still play. Casual players can do as they will, and competitive players will self-select their competitive games based on taste, skill, and finances.

I know people who spent way more than $100 on the recent MtG expansion. A single booster box alone is $90 or more and you don't even get close to a set.

5 minutes ago, Shizrak said:

I want to raise awareness that this was a poor decision. I wish I could ACTUALLY not purchase, but I already got my cores expecting one thing, and instead got something completely different. So now I need to sell core sets.

I...what? what were you expecting? and how is this completely different? Were you expecting a thought provoking meditative study on life as a space marine?

Oh no, a product that you can't buy immediately, sorry, a product OTHER people may not be able to buy immediately. I'm really just here for them, I'm quitting in solidarity with them. I was so excited for this game, that I pre-ordered three cores, but now I have more stuff I don't have to buy right now to just play the game, I wasn't expecting this. how dare they. Total cash grab.

People do realize they are paying the same amount of money, right?

Either you can afford this hobby or you can't.

I was expecting a slow roll out with time to build a playerbase.... Y'know, sorta like all the other LCGs ever.

It's not solidarity... It's that there aren't going to be any middle ground players at all. Just toxic ultra-competitive types, and one-core casuals. The tone of the replies to my comments proves this pretty strongly.

I think that if people are going to come in here and complain about having to quit and sell off their core sets they should post a picture of themselves with their proof of purchase(s).

All this speculation about it hurting the growth of the playerbase is just ridiculous. If you really love the game and want to play, like you say you do, then why aren't you looking at how to make this a positive for the playgroup you are trying to grow? It seems to me you already had one hand on the rip-cord and were looking for an opportunity to jump.

Nobody knows how this will impact the growth of the game............ever. What's done is done. The decision is now only about if you like the game or not. If you don't, then quit. If you do, then be an ambassador for the game...............instead of whatever this post was supposed to be.

1 minute ago, Shizrak said:

I was expecting a slow roll out with time to build a playerbase.... Y'know, sorta like all the other LCGs ever.

I've seen competitive players quit GoT 2e because the first cycle took too long and the meta was stagnant. GoT was in a good place competitively from 2nd cycle onward. I've heard stories of how one sided Netrunner was during its first cycle, because runners had lackluster economy and breakers. Even Conquest needed a cycle to get in a good place.

With L5R, you have clan loyalty, to the point where playing the best deck means forfeiting playing your clan. With the Hatamoto system, FFG wants clan loyalty to some extent. Considering from what I've seen in tournaments briefly over the weekend, two clans are dominant, four are in the middle, and one is at the bottom. Its not realistic to have all clans at the top, but, if the first cycle will allow there to be a 3rd or even 4th clan to be favored at a tourney and the others to have an outside chance, then it succeeded.