Yes.  This was my experience also.  To an extent that went on.  And on. And on. For years.  In every single online multi-clan conversation about L5R.   During play for about a quarter of the games I played too.  I wasn't even playing control.   People thought they were being original...but every Crane player had heard it so many times that it wasn't funny or smack talk any more.   That, and smack talk about being cowardly and 'not in the face' or being girly...(with whatever that is supposed to imply about my gender too...

Whereas I was thinking it's pretty cool and brave to be an unarmored poet facing down alone a hardened warrior in heavy armor with nothing but 3 feet of steel and your skill to defend the home  you love...

<reads the smacktalk offered in thread>  I don't think the ratio of smacktalk is evenly distributed across all the clans here....That might be a part of my difficult impression with it growing.
Shosuko had a good quote:  "I would have no problems with people talking about Scorpion being liars and cheaters, but if someone genuinely thought I was cheating I would be taken back... "
That is a good point.  I've played long enough that that has been a really annoying thing to deal with.  But I confess there is another thing that makes smack talking really harsh for me that I'm wondering if it comes up in your stores.

Smack talk about 'The Crab needing a bath'...if I ask a Crab player about that, they won't say they mind it...the lack of caring about what the rest of Rokugan thinks of them is something that the players generally find appealing.  Same for smack talk about Scorpion and being sneaky.

But what if the smack talk is, say, about the Lion being cowardly?  Or Tainty.  The player doing that smack talk might have a reason for it (the Lion never attack alone, for example, or because of Kitsu Osen), but the Lion player doesn't feel like that is an appealing feature of their clan, so it would grate if /everyone/ started saying that smack talk.  It impinges and condemns the image of their clan.  Or calling Scorpion incompetent for their many failures.  Does that happen for players of other clans? Does it bother them? 
As the smack talk starts ramping up, I am starting to cringe again at all the anti-Crane smacktalk. I hope it's only online, but it brings back pretty rotten memories I'd rather stay dead.
 

Yes.  This was my experience also.  To an extent that went on.  And on. And on. For years.  In every single online multi-clan conversation about L5R.   During play for about a quarter of the games I played too.  I wasn't even playing control.   People thought they were being original...but every Crane player had heard it so many times that it wasn't funny or smack talk any more.   That, and smack talk about being cowardly and 'not in the face' or being girly...(with whatever that is supposed to imply about my gender too...

Whereas I was thinking it's pretty cool and brave to be an unarmored poet facing down alone a hardened warrior in heavy armor with nothing but 3 feet of steel and your skill to defend the home  you love...

<reads the smacktalk offered in thread>  I don't think the ratio of smacktalk is evenly distributed across all the clans here....That might be a part of my difficult impression with it growing.
Shosuko had a good quote:  "I would have no problems with people talking about Scorpion being liars and cheaters, but if someone genuinely thought I was cheating I would be taken back... "
That is a good point.  I've played long enough that that has been a really annoying thing to deal with.  But I confess there is another thing that makes smack talking really harsh for me that I'm wondering if it comes up in your stores.

Smack talk about 'The Crab needing a bath'...if I ask a Crab player about that, they won't say they mind it...the lack of caring about what the rest of Rokugan thinks of them is something that the players generally find appealing.  Same for smack talk about Scorpion and being sneaky.

But what if the smack talk is, say, about the Lion being cowardly?  Or Tainty.  The player doing that smack talk might have a reason for it (the Lion never attack alone, for example, or because of Kitsu Osen), but the Lion player doesn't feel like that is an appealing feature of their clan, so it would grate if /everyone/ started saying that smack talk.  It impinges and condemns the image of their clan.  Or calling Scorpion incompetent for their many failures.  Does that happen for players of other clans? Does it bother them? 
As the smack talk starts ramping up, I am starting to cringe again at all the anti-Crane smacktalk. I hope it's only online, but it brings back pretty rotten memories I'd rather stay dead.
 

Yes.  This was my experience also.  To an extent that went on.  And on. And on. For years.  In every single online multi-clan conversation about L5R.   During play for about a quarter of the games I played too.  I wasn't even playing control.   People thought they were being original...but every Crane player had heard it so many times that it wasn't funny or smack talk any more.   That, and smack talk about being cowardly and 'not in the face' or being girly...(with whatever that is supposed to imply about my gender too...

Whereas I was thinking it's pretty cool and brave to be an unarmored poet facing down alone a hardened warrior in heavy armor with nothing but 3 feet of steel and your skill to defend the home  you love...

<reads the smacktalk offered in thread>  I don't think the ratio of smacktalk is evenly distributed across all the clans here....That might be a part of my difficult impression with it growing.
Shosuko had a good quote:  "I would have no problems with people talking about Scorpion being liars and cheaters, but if someone genuinely thought I was cheating I would be taken back... "
That is a good point.  I've played long enough that that has been a really annoying thing to deal with.  But I confess there is another thing that makes smack talking really harsh for me that I'm wondering if it comes up in your stores.

Smack talk about 'The Crab needing a bath'...if I ask a Crab player about that, they won't say they mind it...the lack of caring about what the rest of Rokugan thinks of them is something that the players generally find appealing.  Same for smack talk about Scorpion and being sneaky.

But what if the smack talk is, say, about the Lion being cowardly?  Or Tainty.  The player doing that smack talk might have a reason for it (the Lion never attack alone, for example, or because of Kitsu Osen), but the Lion player doesn't feel like that is an appealing feature of their clan, so it would grate if /everyone/ started saying that smack talk.  It impinges and condemns the image of their clan.  Or calling Scorpion incompetent for their many failures.  Does that happen for players of other clans? Does it bother them? 
As the smack talk starts ramping up, I am starting to cringe again at all the anti-Crane smacktalk. I hope it's only online, but it brings back pretty rotten memories I'd rather stay dead.
 

In general, it's fairly tame.  I enjoy a little bit of banter around clan choices, but taken to extremes it is harmful to the playerbase as a whole.  For example I've gotten the "you are a Scorpion, so you probably cheat at the card game" line several times.  It's really infuriating because, banter aside, I keep my in-clan persona distinct from the player playing the game.  
I'm personally trying to avoid giving negative asides about Clans I don't like when I show them to new players.

I figured this is what you were getting at in the original post, and I think that as a player base we just need to be aware that this is a toxic form of "banter".  Offer them a compliment on having the second best duelists in the Empire, ask how this year's siege against the Lion is going, or about the price of beachfront property at Kyuden Doji.  There are plenty of opportunities to have fun humorous banter in-setting without going to sexism or homophobia.

Yes.  This was my experience also.  To an extent that went on.  And on. And on. For years.  In every single online multi-clan conversation about L5R.   During play for about a quarter of the games I played too.  I wasn't even playing control.   People thought they were being original...but every Crane player had heard it so many times that it wasn't funny or smack talk any more.   That, and smack talk about being cowardly and 'not in the face' or being girly...(with whatever that is supposed to imply about my gender too...

Whereas I was thinking it's pretty cool and brave to be an unarmored poet facing down alone a hardened warrior in heavy armor with nothing but 3 feet of steel and your skill to defend the home  you love...

Yes.  This was my experience also.  To an extent that went on.  And on. And on. For years.  In every single online multi-clan conversation about L5R.   During play for about a quarter of the games I played too.  I wasn't even playing control.   People thought they were being original...but every Crane player had heard it so many times that it wasn't funny or smack talk any more.   That, and smack talk about being cowardly and 'not in the face' or being girly...(with whatever that is supposed to imply about my gender too...

Whereas I was thinking it's pretty cool and brave to be an unarmored poet facing down alone a hardened warrior in heavy armor with nothing but 3 feet of steel and your skill to defend the home  you love...

Yes.  This was my experience also.  To an extent that went on.  And on. And on. For years.  In every single online multi-clan conversation about L5R.   During play for about a quarter of the games I played too.  I wasn't even playing control.   People thought they were being original...but every Crane player had heard it so many times that it wasn't funny or smack talk any more.   That, and smack talk about being cowardly and 'not in the face' or being girly...(with whatever that is supposed to imply about my gender too...

Whereas I was thinking it's pretty cool and brave to be an unarmored poet facing down alone a hardened warrior in heavy armor with nothing but 3 feet of steel and your skill to defend the home  you love...

Yes.  This was my experience also.  To an extent that went on.  And on. And on. For years.  In every single online multi-clan conversation about L5R.   During play for about a quarter of the games I played too.  I wasn't even playing control.   People thought they were being original...but every Crane player had heard it so many times that it wasn't funny or smack talk any more.   That, and smack talk about being cowardly and 'not in the face' or being girly...(with whatever that is supposed to imply about my gender too...

Whereas I was thinking it's pretty cool and brave to be an unarmored poet facing down alone a hardened warrior in heavy armor with nothing but 3 feet of steel and your skill to defend the home  you love...

<reads the smacktalk offered in thread>  I don't think the ratio of smacktalk is evenly distributed across all the clans here....That might be a part of my difficult impression with it growing.
Shosuko had a good quote:  "I would have no problems with people talking about Scorpion being liars and cheaters, but if someone genuinely thought I was cheating I would be taken back... "
That is a good point.  I've played long enough that that has been a really annoying thing to deal with.  But I confess there is another thing that makes smack talking really harsh for me that I'm wondering if it comes up in your stores.

Smack talk about 'The Crab needing a bath'...if I ask a Crab player about that, they won't say they mind it...the lack of caring about what the rest of Rokugan thinks of them is something that the players generally find appealing.  Same for smack talk about Scorpion and being sneaky.

But what if the smack talk is, say, about the Lion being cowardly?  Or Tainty.  The player doing that smack talk might have a reason for it (the Lion never attack alone, for example, or because of Kitsu Osen), but the Lion player doesn't feel like that is an appealing feature of their clan, so it would grate if /everyone/ started saying that smack talk.  It impinges and condemns the image of their clan.  Or calling Scorpion incompetent for their many failures.  Does that happen for players of other clans? Does it bother them? 
As the smack talk starts ramping up, I am starting to cringe again at all the anti-Crane smacktalk. I hope it's only online, but it brings back pretty rotten memories I'd rather stay dead.
 

Dishonor as a clan superpower.  If you assassinate someone, blackmail someone, just cheat in a fight, or whatever, there are consequences to that that you don't get out of just because your clan 'doesn't care about honor'.  Some writers/GMs do play that out, some don't, but there should be kharmic consequences as well as the possibility of consequences for retribution, etc, in a world where 'honor is stronger than steel'. Super shugenja.  If Shugenja really are as strong as they look from their card effects, the world would have magic plumbing and spaceships already.  The ratio of super power shugenja to samurai is too high and the shugenja effects (by description) are so strong that wars would all basically be won or lost by the battlefield impact of a handful of shugenja.  A combat-focused shugenja and a bushi of similar ranks should have similarish level of power in combat actions, not just in dice damage done, but in the effect that do the damage.  A non-combat shugenja and a courtier of similar ranks should have similarish levels of power in a court setting.  And get rid of all spells that let shugenja increase their ranks of their attributes flat out for a specific task.   A shugenja in L5R will always be Stronger than the most body-built Hida, smarter than the most scholarly Asako, more aimiable and empathatic than the most affable Doji....If I want a door broken down, I want the Hida to say 'I'll do it'.  Not be begging the shugenja to make him even stronger or letting the wimpy shugenja do it himself. (Sorry, pet peeve. Buffs are fine, but in L5R RPG that gets a little ridiculous) Agreed with letting priests/monks/others do purification and so on totally.  Introduction of kuji-kiri/rites as a skill so that all classes can do these sorts of activities if they want the skill in it (as a school skill for many Dragon and Phoenix schools, as well as for all shugenja).  It might not be able to get it as 'good' as a shugenja...maybe not pure enough to go in a temple or to see the Champion except in an emergency, but enough so you can go to sleep at night. I would like to see more Samurai in different stages of their life. More aged samurai, more children, more parents with children, more couples.  The world must be peopled. 

Dishonor as a clan superpower.  If you assassinate someone, blackmail someone, just cheat in a fight, or whatever, there are consequences to that that you don't get out of just because your clan 'doesn't care about honor'.  Some writers/GMs do play that out, some don't, but there should be kharmic consequences as well as the possibility of consequences for retribution, etc, in a world where 'honor is stronger than steel'. Super shugenja.  If Shugenja really are as strong as they look from their card effects, the world would have magic plumbing and spaceships already.  The ratio of super power shugenja to samurai is too high and the shugenja effects (by description) are so strong that wars would all basically be won or lost by the battlefield impact of a handful of shugenja.  A combat-focused shugenja and a bushi of similar ranks should have similarish level of power in combat actions, not just in dice damage done, but in the effect that do the damage.  A non-combat shugenja and a courtier of similar ranks should have similarish levels of power in a court setting.  And get rid of all spells that let shugenja increase their ranks of their attributes flat out for a specific task.   A shugenja in L5R will always be Stronger than the most body-built Hida, smarter than the most scholarly Asako, more aimiable and empathatic than the most affable Doji....If I want a door broken down, I want the Hida to say 'I'll do it'.  Not be begging the shugenja to make him even stronger or letting the wimpy shugenja do it himself. (Sorry, pet peeve. Buffs are fine, but in L5R RPG that gets a little ridiculous) Agreed with letting priests/monks/others do purification and so on totally.  Introduction of kuji-kiri/rites as a skill so that all classes can do these sorts of activities if they want the skill in it (as a school skill for many Dragon and Phoenix schools, as well as for all shugenja).  It might not be able to get it as 'good' as a shugenja...maybe not pure enough to go in a temple or to see the Champion except in an emergency, but enough so you can go to sleep at night. I would like to see more Samurai in different stages of their life. More aged samurai, more children, more parents with children, more couples.  The world must be peopled. 

We know.

The key is that an L5R universe needs to be treated something vaguely like a comic book universe.  There are key factions (mutants, avengers, sentinels) with key heroes whose stories we care about, some of which have died, some of which are still alive and acting on the story.  There are key pieces or events of their story that are interesting and worth remembering (Dark Phoenix, mutant massacre).  However, there's events that were just so messed up that once the event is passed you try really hard to forget them.  There are heroes that never got well defined and got eliminated. Those things wash out of canon.  You can easily explain the universe and the characters related to a new story without going into those details or worrying about spelling out the whole history, and maybe they throw in a hint or reference to excite the oldtimers.  If the new player wants to check out 'the back issues', they can, but in general a loose plot summary will serve to get everyone ready for the newest storyline. 

Chris Hand is a good new addition to the Story Team. He should be brought over.