14 hours ago, Bakura83 said:

L5R love letter needs an update, I believe it’s tied to the old lore, not the new one.

While technically true, it was more of an attempt to cash in by AEG, that they then forced the story into the CCG (Love Letter Themed Deck). That being said the newest Lovecraft Letter is an excellent iteration of the game that supports more than 4 players

1 hour ago, Mirith said:

While technically true, it was more of an attempt to cash in by AEG, that they then forced the story into the CCG (Love Letter Themed Deck). That being said the newest Lovecraft Letter is an excellent iteration of the game that supports more than 4 players

Playtesting the Love Letter themed cards for the CCG was a complete waste of time. Super sucky for the designer too because he had to find time to introduce this random theme into the game without completely breaking it, knowing that the majority of the CCG playerbase was going to hate it.

One of my memories from the old game that I am the least fond of.

Eh, Iweko Miaka turned out to be a fun character at Winter Court 4, so it wasn't a total waste

6 hours ago, Ishi Tonu said:

Playtesting the Love Letter themed cards for the CCG was a complete waste of time. Super sucky for the designer too because he had to find time to introduce this random theme into the game without completely breaking it, knowing that the majority of the CCG playerbase was going to hate it.

One of my memories from the old game that I am the least fond of.

Did O5R just get cancelled, or did they have a proper farewell? Did people know it was being relaunched by FFG or was that a pleasant surprise that came later?

On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 7:57 AM, Kani Kantai said:

Did O5R just get cancelled, or did they have a proper farewell? Did people know it was being relaunched by FFG or was that a pleasant surprise that came later?

It did sort of just get cancelled. Unlike Netrunner , we didn't even get to close out the final "cycle" of the game properly; The Blackest Storm , the final set of cards in Onyx Edition , never got released.

We did learn pretty quickly that FFG had bought the license, though, so we had that to look forward to.

Depends on what you mean by "lore."
If you're talking about the meta plot of the current story? That's not so important for deciding on whether to be loyal to a clan (although that can change if the story is THAT against character...)
If you mean overall lore of the clan, their presentation within the setting, the little bits that make them unique and personify them? Absolutely yes.

I've been a "loyal Scorpion" basically since a few months into initially joining the game, with Dragon coming in a very close 2nd, but those choices were based much more on lore and clan portrayal than mechanics.
But I'm weird - I latch on to certain things and then gripe when the ST involved ignores them, lol.

For instance, with Scorpion:
The clan exists to do the dirty work that other clans simply cannot do because of honor, yet that always devolves into "they're just criminal scum who probably shouldn't be allowed to be a Great Clan."
They're kind of the second most shugenja-focused clan outside of Phoenix but that never actually goes anywhere because 90% of the clan is Bayushi.
Their swordsmen are, by all accounts, highly skilled and can stand toe-to-toe with the best of any other clan, yet that's not a Scorpion shtick so we never really get any focus on the bushi, despite the very necessary role yojimbo must play for a clan who controls the courts and has two shugenja families.

Ditto with Dragon - I'm a Mirumoto fanboy. I find it interesting that this family is the vast majority of the clan, yet they're on the back-burner 90% of the time because the Togashi and Kitsuki are the popular factions.
But then it's also things like:
The Mirumoto are rivals of the Kakita who do not practice iaijutsu , yet that's basically ignored because everyone practices iaijutsu and the Kakita don't have rivals, they're just the best.
The Kitsuki are not really a courtier family, they're a bushi family that puts more focus on finding truth than on studying the sword. That's really interesting - yet they end up courtiers most of the time because "gotta have a courtier family" tends to win over unique elements.
The Togashi are a very small order who spend most of their time in contemplation, avoiding the world, yet show up far more often than makes sense for them.
The Agasha are wholly different in outlook and practice from the Isawa but that is never actually a plot point that gets brought up or goes anywhere.

But what really made me a Scorpion was the attention to detail that it seemed they gave to the clan that didn't exist for other clans (going back to the 1st Ed Way of the Scorpion book from the AEG RPG). Things like Tangen's Lies and Little Truths, Guwahime's Fables, the Scorpion version of the tale of the Scorpion and the Frog, etc.
Little bits of life breathed into the clan to give it depth and make them that much more interesting. That, combined with the truth of the clan - they expose the uncomfortable reality that everyone lies, regardless of claims to honor - made them my clan.

The fact that I enjoy control as a playstyle is just a happy coincidence! 🤣