The quickstart rules are out and you can see how they intend on going. You should be able to find them on Drivethru.

Traits do nothing on their own, they are merely text for other effects to work off of.

Adding in new factions in either a cycle or deluxe set makes sense. 
I'm pretty happy with the new way they are releasing Strongholds. It allows them to theme the entire pack to that type of playstyle.

Adding in new factions in either a cycle or deluxe set makes sense. 
I'm pretty happy with the new way they are releasing Strongholds. It allows them to theme the entire pack to that type of playstyle.

Adding in new factions in either a cycle or deluxe set makes sense. 
I'm pretty happy with the new way they are releasing Strongholds. It allows them to theme the entire pack to that type of playstyle.

Crab is amazing right now!

I would agree that if a character were so hideously unbalanced, it would constitute unhealthy design.  I would not agree that Haughty Magistrate is so hideously unbalanced.
You are playing a Clan which has as one of its defining traits low Glory.  Sometimes thats a strength, and sometimes that’s a weakness.  Against Haughty Magistrate it’s a big weakness (though not an “I win” button for your opponent).  You might have to use some sub-optimal cards to cover this weakness.  That’s good design, because no Clan should have all the answers.

You read that wrong. I had a strong board and still won despite what you call a swing card.
I did lose the board through my fault and my opponent still had to play the odds to have his Agasha (or any character) available with no fate.
The issue isn't the cards. I think you are going about this the wrong way. The advantages come from your handling of your dynasty deck, conflict deck, bidding, the Imperial favor, and ring decisions. Just to make a few. It is being able to read the board state and know your  opponent's options.
 
It isn't mainly about the cards. It is about you setting up the context in which those cards will be played.

Rules are rules, as you say.  And the rules say that the sanctioned roles are for sanctioned events.  If you want to house rule that people have to use the sanctioned roles, fine, but don't expect everyone else to break from the rules reference. 

Then you're working off of a flawed assumption.  

Moreover, think of it this way:  if someone plays strictly casual, does that person even know what their clan's official role is?  Assuming that a player who just shows up for a friendly game during non-sanctioned play has even heard about the official roles, much less used them in their deck, is just destined to end in frustration.  Better to just assume they could be playing any role, and check at the beginning of the game (it's not like the roles are hidden and private).

As I had it understood, the clan roles are obligatory only for tournaments and ffg events. For casual play you are free to choose any role you want -if any. It isnt even mandatory. Its just another part of deck building. There is no need to ask for permission because you are not going against any rule (as you are when, for example, you want to include more than 10 conflict characters, or go beyond your influence limit). This idea of playing clan roles on every match, casual or not, IS the house rule.

I disagree with most of your thoughts on cards needing errata on them and how you feel the game is going so far. I think this game is extremely balanced for having 7 different clans, a feat that is not easy for game designers to do well so my hats off to the designers. As more cycles come out (we have not even finished this one yet), other clan splashes will happen other than Dragon. In our group of players, Dragon is not splashed all that much anyhow and play around Miyamoto's fury can be frustrating, especially for a Scorpion player but I manage. Feast or Famine is a one shot province, you hit it once and it goes off and is gone forever. I personally scout provinces with smaller characters turn 1 to find out what my opponent is playing. If there is something really gross I do not like I will avoid it. Knowing what provinces people are playing with their clan ahead of time is key to figuring out what you are about to hit. For example, you can basically guarantee Scorpion are running Shameful Display, Pilgrimage, and Secret Cache at the very least. While that is in itself a nasty line of provinces, it is not impossible to break through. 
A huge part of this game is weighing in on whether or not to take hits like this at the time, choosing right can win you the game and choosing poorly can very well lose you the game.
While I agree that learn to play is not a good argument, in some cases it actually is the problem. However, I do not agree that the argument can be used to defend any card as your 100 skill card with no costs example is clearly just broken. There is no actual way to play around that card, it is an unfair broken thing. All of the cards (except for one, which I agree is somewhat broken) you mentioned  can be played around. 
Policy Debate, as a Scorpion player I think this card is somewhat actually broken. For any Clan good to great at political conflicts (Crane, Scorpion, Dragon, Phoenix) playing a military clan (Lion, Unicorn, Crab), this is a free discard. I think at the very least this card should have cost 1 fate to play rather than free.
Do I think it needs an errata? No, it is strong now but in the future this card may be become pointless to use due to a growing card pool. I think we are far too early into the game to start banning cards and suggesting errata's at this point. Wait until 3 full cycles some deluxe boxes to have actually launched and see what you think then, maybe you will change your mind, the meta of the game will very likely change at that point. 

I respect your thoughts and experience with card games, but I think there's a thing we need always to think when suggesting the devs "nerfing" the cards, this guys have taken a 20 years old game that people loved but, let's be honest, had terrible mechanics, and they created this new game, keeping the essence of oldL5R. They did a indredible job. I play since gold edition and in this 2 years the game was off we were discussing how it would work, what they would cut, etc.. And to be fully honest even in my best thoughts I can't expect such an interactive and amazing game. This said and knowing a little the exhaustive play-test procces, I think the team behind this is testing a lot the cards to maintain the gameplay fun and balanced.
If each of us starts wanting to change or nerf cards were this would end? I liked some of your ideas, agreed with Tattoed wanderer and Display of Power for example, ohthers no much, but I have my own ideas of opressive cards, like sashimono, indomitable will, the mountain does not fall or the chars that can participate in 2 conflicts in one turn.. So I think the best we can do is trust in the developers work and learn how to play with the cards they design.

People keep talking about Phoenix is weak against dishonor. That has not been my experience at all. 
As a Phoenix player myself, I usually control a lot of the tempo through honor, card draw and which rings I allow my opponent to fight for.
I've won nearly every game by dishonoring my player out, which Scorpion tends to help me do to themselves.

People keep talking about Phoenix is weak against dishonor. That has not been my experience at all. 
As a Phoenix player myself, I usually control a lot of the tempo through honor, card draw and which rings I allow my opponent to fight for.
I've won nearly every game by dishonoring my player out, which Scorpion tends to help me do to themselves.

Scorpion complaining about their cards is an old tradition of L5R. lol

So choose wisely

Better than any Unicorn card we've gotten so far...

"Having a pig's ear at the near and far to get have some time away from the hugs and kisses" has nothing to do with pigs ears, hugs and kisses, or things that are near or far away.

Vegemite is delicious.

Kangaroos are not ridden around in or on, but occasionally eaten.

Contrary to popular belief, not all Australians who draw their heritage back to England are descended from convicts, though those that are wear it as a badge of pride.

"Mate" has very different connotations depending on the sentence. The mate in "Listen, mate" and "He's my mate" are very different.

...

Oh, did you mean about L5R?

 

The big thing about High Kick is that it can lay low the Mighty. A humble Togashi Initiate can punt Ikoma Ujiaki (to take an example from the same pack) and defuse what would otherwise have turned into a steamrolling Lion victory. High Kick is very much a defensive card you use for low cost characters to seriously punch above their paygrade for a vital defense, leaving your own powerhouse for the counterattack. Note also that the blanking is independent of the bowing, so cards like Ready for Battle and I Am Ready cannot circumvent that.

Protection from blanking is explicit in FFG's other games.

It allows you challenge another character to a POL duel during a conflict. The loser reveals their hands and winner picks one card to discard.

I hope not. That was the single worst decision in the ccg in my opinion. I'm all for a playable shadowlands faction, but the spider as a great clan was just an abomination. 

The most reliable way right now is dishonoring characters that will be discarded at the end of the turn. I personally don't think that a strict dishonor strategy is competitive right now.