A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 30 August 2010
This topic involves answers from viewtopic.php?f=59&t=85750 and makes assumptions regarding the two-week unanswered viewtopic.php?f=59&t=85779 .
Moshi Nakata's Trait text from l5rsearch: "While Nakata is at the current battlefield, Ranged Attacks from your actions have +1 strength."
Alex posted "Yes, but that's not the battlefield that was "the current battlefield" when Beginning Arbitration was played. Beginning Arbitration's bonuses only apply at one battlefield: the one that was the current battlefield when it was played." in the Beginning Arbitration thread, implying that effects which are active while at the current battlefield ONLY apply at the battlefield that was the current battlefield when the effect was activated/created.
If I ambush Moshi Nakata, her trait activates and 'the current battlefield' is the battlefield created by ambush. Nakata survives the ambush, and I later declare an attack. Nakata and friends defend Province B where I have units attacking. Nakata is NOT at the battlefield where her trait was first activated this turn, so ranged attacks at Province B's battlefield do not have +1 strength from Nakata's conditional effect. Is this the correct extrapolation from the Beginning Arbitration thread?
A player, 30 August 2010
Moshi Nakata's trait is continuous, it does not activate and it does not "remember" what the current battlefield was when its condition was met for the first time. No matter which battlefield is the current one, while your Moshi Nakata is there, Ranged Attacks from your actions have +1 strength. See also continuous effects.
A player, 30 August 2010
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=86085
http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Effects#Continuous_effects Additionally, if a continuous effect has a condition on it, the effect begins at any point when the condition is met and the relevant cards are in play. Example: "Your Samurai have +1F while they are opposed." In this example, the effect on each Samurai begins when that Samurai becomes opposed. Continuous effects from cards upon other cards normally end when one (or both) of the two cards leaves play or when the effect's condition is no longer met.
http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Effects#Ongoing_effects An ongoing effect that is applied “while” some condition is true ends when that condition is no longer true, and takes effect again if the condition becomes true within the stated duration of the effect. Nevertheless, a conditional ongoing effect is a single effect, regardless of how many times it is reapplied. Ongoing effects that affect all things of a certain kind (such as, “Battle: Your Samurai have +1F”) or that meet a condition (such as, "Battle: Your opposed Personalities have +1F") change the game state. They affect all things in play of that kind throughout their duration, even ones not in play or not meeting the condition at the time the effect took place.
So why do Ongoing Conditional Effects remember which battlefield is the current battlefield when first applied but Continuous Conditional Effects don't? Nakata's trait may be continuous and thus 'always on' but the continuous effect generated by the condition on Nakata's trait clearly results in a conditional continuous effect which has rules governing when that effect begins and ends.