Game: Netrunner

Thread: Playing Netrunner online

fabianfritzer — 2008-10-26T21:13:08+00:00

This is a review of the online play module for Netrunner.

If you are completely new to the game, you might want to read one of the other reviews first (e.g. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/160618), because I don't describe the game as such, just the elements specific to online play.

The website www.runners-net.com launched in July 2006, when the game was already dead concerning the sales at the shops.
It contains everything you need for playing the game online: a user forum to discuss questions, a chat channel to find opponents, a complete online rulebook and of course there are download links to the two files that you need: mws094f.exe and NR_MWSPack.zip.

mws094f.exe
This is the installer file for installing Magic Workstation on your computer. It works on Windows (tested on XP and 2000, should also run with any other Windows version) and somebody even got it to run on Linux (probably with Redhat).
At first sight, it might feel strange to use a magic-specific program for playing Netrunner, but Magic Workstation is just a generic program that allows you to play any card game online, provided there exists a game pack for it. This gamepack (NR_MWSPack.zip) also contains the look and feel of the surface, so the style really looks netrunnery. Here you can see an image of the user screen. The only drawbacks are that your trash will be called "Graveyard" in the game log and as bits, you use your life points; but you can live with that.

NR_MWSPack.zip
This is the game pack for Netrunner, created by the player Malhavoc, who also runs www.runners-net.com.

Installation
You double-click the file mws094f.exe, starting an install shield wizard that installs Magic workstation to your computer.
Then you unpack NR_MWSPack.zip to the installation directory (and optionally switch the theme from Magic to Netrunner).
It takes about ten minutes, if everything works smoothly.
As you know, new software sometimes doesn't install smoothly, so if you encounter any problems, you can look at a detailed description here:
http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~ffko/Netrunner/howto.htm
or here:
http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~ffko/Netrunner/troubleshooting.ht...
or here:
http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~ffko/Netrunner/troubleshooting.ht...
If you want to play Sealed deck, you can additionally install a small program that generates virtual starters and boosters (called Netseal).

Running the program
After installation, you have Magic Workstation (deck building module) and MWS Online Play (playing module) installed. You also have some preconstructed decks in your deck folder. When you start MWS Online Play, you can first play a solo game to get accustomed to the menus and the shortcuts. Most of it is self-explanatory and after your first game, you will know that F12 gains you 1 bit and Ctrl+d draws a card.
To start a game, you give your IP to your opponent, so the connection is peer to peer, no server is needed.
Further instructions are in the file NETRUNNER README .txt contained in the game pack.

Drawbacks of online play vs real life play
- You don't see your opponents face (unless you use a webcam). This 'social aspect' deterres a lot of board game players from online gaming. In real life play,
you can try to read from your opponent's face whether he just drew an agenda from R&D or not.
- You don't directly speak to your opponent (unless you use Skype or some other voice over IP tool). If there is a rules question, it is hard to explain the rules by typing.
This is especially a problem when playing with new players.
- If your internet connection crashes, the program rarely crashes after the reconnect. But in over 100 online games in the past two years, I never had a crash unless the internet connection had crashed before.
- Misclicks can lead to games being spoiled (Ctrl+s doesn't save the game, but shuffles your deck :-)
- There is no four player mode ("The Big Sellout" is a Netrunner format for 4 players, this is not possible with Magic Workstation)
- There is no observer mode for a third player who wants to watch
- You can become addicted. Usually, there isn't always another opponent online, so there doesn't exist the possibility to play whenever you want. With World of Warcraft, this is different (I heard of somebody who became rich in WoW, but was deeply in debts in real life, because he neglected his job...).

Advantages of online play over real life play
- You can play at all (in real life, you will have troubles finding cards and/or an opponent for this game).
- It is free, you don't have to pay. If you pay 20 $ for registering Magic Workstation, you can choose the avatar or background image for MWS, but that is not necessary.
- For playing a tournament or a league, you need at least four players, which is difficult in real life. On Runner's Net, there were nine tournaments so far (Sealed, Unlimited Revised, 1/15).
- Magic Workstation logs almost everything. In a real life game, after a long run with many ICEs, you sometimes forget how many actions Runner still has left in his turn. This can spoil the game, because one action more or less can decide about win or loose. This can't happen in an online game; you just scroll up and read what you did this turn.
- It cannot happen that you reveal cards accidentally when shuffeling your deck or when they fall down from your hand because your opponent accessed a card from HQ. This can spoil the game in a real life game.
- The complete card pool is available for everybody, you don't have to buy tons of cards for building a decent constructed deck.
- Cards from all the Virtual Expansions are available. These are especially "Chrysalid Matrix" by Skipper Pickle and "Dangerous Allies" by Neal F. Guye. These new cards are especially cool for players who have played the game for a long time, they give New Blood to the game.
- Rules questions can directly be answered by the online rule book or by the bot Afreet in the chat channel. The command '!info card name' gives all rulings and errata to the named card.
- Playing online fits well to the story behind the game; your runs are really runs through the internet to your remote opponent (and the "Remote Detonator" is really remote :-)

If you love Netrunner, you will love to play it online.

Thread: Re: What's the going price for a two player starter set?

KakarisMaelstrom — 2008-10-22T14:14:53+00:00

FWIW, I picked up 3 boxes of these and have been selling 1-2 a week at $30 (with free shipping) just over BGG. I couldn't find them for $25 individually which is how I ended up with cases. They're less expensive by the case but then you have a whole case.

Because the game plays well out of the starter, it seemed incredibly selfish to keep them all myself just for deck-building purposes. So that's why I've got them up and priced like I do.

I've been trying to buy stuff like this as I find it on eBay and list it here on BGG because I think we deserve it more than the general public.

Thread: Re: What's the going price for a two player starter set?

Larry Levy — 2008-10-20T17:58:04+00:00

Lagduf wrote:
I'm not really interested in tweaking decks and min/maxing combos and such. I just want a good game.
Then I suspect you've chosen the right game. In my limited exposure, Netrunner is easily my favorite CCG because it works as a game. You don't need deckbuilding and tons of expansions to enjoy it; it's fun right out of the box.

Thread: Re: What's the going price for a two player starter set?

Rokkr — 2008-10-20T16:09:41+00:00

The revenue cards for the runner are News Group Filter and Broker.
Department of Truth Enhancement for the corp is the best one, but they have many more revenue cards in general.
All of those cards are commons or uncommons, but definitely not rares and you can find single card sales on Ebay. Or work out trades with other folks here at BGG. Those are the only cards you might need to tweak if there are none in either of the decks you acquire.
I highly recommend a full starter for each player though as swapping the 2 decks in a starter back and forth will make games pretty familiar.

Thread: Re: What's the going price for a two player starter set?

davido — 2008-10-20T16:03:52+00:00

$20-25 would be about right. I did managed to pick up a set of starters that were opened, and missing two Corp cards-turns out that the rares were there, and the missing cards were commons/uncommons that I just reached into my pile of 'loosies' and tweaked to snuff that way. So bargains/finds can be had.

If you want to tweak, loose commons/vitals/uncommons is the way to go-again 25-50 different for each side can be had for under $5, or again I snagged a set of commons for one faction for $10.

I'd get/play your starters and then if you want more, look for bulk lots for reasonable prices.
enjoy the game

Thread: Re: What's the going price for a two player starter set?

Lagduf — 2008-10-20T14:38:45+00:00

Cool - sounds like i'll just pick up the two player starter then.

If I want to perhaps add some more cards to the decks should I then just pick up another starter set or would it be best to just pick up a few select cards?

My ultimate interest is to have two decks very well balanced against each other.

I'm not really interested in tweaking decks and min/maxing combos and such. I just want a good game. Shame I never really did any reading about this game until today. I haven't heard of anything quite like it.

Thread: Re: What's the going price for a two player starter set?

avyssaleos — 2008-10-20T14:25:02+00:00

A starter has some fixed cards but the rest are random. You may get some more powerful cards in the Corp or in the Runner deck, however I don't think it would be such a big deal.

I was very satisfied with a starter I bought and didn't notice any serious balance issues. This is a game you can play right from the box, with no extra boosters, and still enjoy it very much!

Now, as far as the price is concerned I remember paying somewhere between 20 and 30 euro for a starter (can't remember exactly), so 30$ should be a good price.

Thread: Re: What's the going price for a two player starter set?

Rokkr — 2008-10-20T14:22:40+00:00

$25-30 is probably average. If you're patient and watchful, you can even find them under the original price of $18.95 sometimes.

All the starter decks are random. All are playable out of the box in general. However the key cards that can make a deck better or worse are generally cards that generate revenue, especially for the runner.
A card like Broker (a common) can make or break a runner's efforts.

I have 5 or 6 starter decks I carry around when gaming. I've tried to leave them as they came out of the box, but a couple I had to tweak with a couple money cards to make them more competitive.

I hope this helps, because IMO this is hands down the finest two player gaming experience ever devised.

Thread: What's the going price for a two player starter set?

Lagduf — 2008-10-20T14:03:50+00:00

As per the subject, how much can I expect to pay for a new/sealed two player starter of Netrunner? Somewhere in the realm of $30?

Also - I read that not all the two player starter decks are the same - I assume though that regardless of any differences the starter set is balanced against itself?

That is to say I wont have a chance of picking up a sealed starter with a grossly over or under powered Corp/Runner deck will I?

Thanks!

Thread: Re: New "Top Runners' Quarterly" issue goes online

Tinweasel — 2008-10-14T11:02:25+00:00

Well, there are many back issues for you to peruse. Certainly I'd like to do more, but it is really a time issue these days. This issue was three years in the making - I'd brace myself for a similar timeframe for the next issue.

On the other hand, the more contributors, the less time it will take - anybody who would like to write an article is cordially invited to do so. You can find the contribution guidelines here:

http://www.arasaka.de/content/articles/trq/contribute/contri...

Thread: Re: New "Top Runners' Quarterly" issue goes online

Simon J — 2008-10-14T09:53:43+00:00

Is this a one-off or might see see another issue sometime?

Thread: New "Top Runners' Quarterly" issue goes online

Tinweasel — 2008-10-13T22:54:26+00:00

Hello,

you might be interested in the latest issue of the "Top Runners' Quarterly", the official (for all it's worth) Netrunner magazine. This was on a hiatus for 2-3 years, but finally, it's there.

You can get the PDF (8 pages) here: www.arasaka.de

Enjoy!

Thread: Re: Action choices

michaeldavidcox — 2008-09-18T13:04:10+00:00

You can do the same action multiple times in a turn.

Thread: Action choices

electricvomit — 2008-09-18T12:26:07+00:00

Hi all,

After reading the rulebook and trying Netrunner the first time, I felt as if the rules were a little hazy about how many of each action can be taken by a player. Specifically, can I take an action as many times as I want, say taking 4 bits on the runner turn, or may I only choose each action once?

Thread: Re: I would really like to buy this game. Advice sought!

kevhoffer — 2008-08-21T20:57:01+00:00

I played this game quite a bit when it came out. My friend and I both bought a starter pack each. We edited out a few cards that we eventually learned didn't work with the rest of our deck, maybe even traded a couple. It was fantastic. We could play with either runner or corp deck, but generally used our own as every game felt different enough.

The game got shelved the day we bought booster packs and tried to customize our decks. The runner decks got VERY efficient and the corp decks only got nominally improved and even though we tried to edit the booster cards back out of our respective decks, we just didn't like the game as much after breaking it.

So my advice: buy a starter pack and keep it simple.

Thread: Re: I would really like to buy this game. Advice sought!

davido — 2008-08-03T03:54:21+00:00

Can't help w/ international costs, but here's something I 'lucked into' recently a nearly complete starter decks-the Corp was listed as missing 2 cards (58/60) and the Runner deck complete, both opened.

sealed product goes for $15-25 USD, so getting nearly complete decks (1 complete, one minus 2 cards) for 5 clams isn't too shabby. Oh, and I fully expected the rares to be 'cherry picked'. Not so:
Corp: Node-Encoder, Inc. and Upgrade-Singapore City Grid
Runner: Program-Mystery Box and Prep M.I.T. West Tier

All very solid, and I can easily plop in a couple of uncommons from my 'loosies collection'.

Moral: Settling for "second best" can sometimes yield surprising dividends.

Thread: Re: booster box (36 pcs.)

Rokkr — 2008-08-01T23:43:31+00:00

Both.

Thread: booster box (36 pcs.)

thoffir — 2008-08-01T23:15:01+00:00

i wonder if buying a sealed box increases a chance of completing all cards. or this is totally random distribution?

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

Bulwyf — 2008-07-24T13:02:51+00:00

Good luck with your new decks! I wish I could get more people here to play Netrunner with me. Totally underrated game.

-Will

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

havoc110 — 2008-07-24T12:46:42+00:00

Thanks everyone for their input.

You've convinced me all is not lost. I'll take Codeslinger out, replace it with Shaka, and start teaching some friends...

I'll probably be looking for more cards soon anyway...

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

Tinweasel — 2008-07-22T21:12:32+00:00

Raptor (at the beginning) and Shaka are the way to go (Black Dahlia isn't too bad, but it's expensive to install). It's a pity you don't have Loony Goon to complement the other two breakers. Wild Card is a nice surprise to use against sentries with strength 0 or 1, though it's not useful against the ice you've listed there. Codeslinger is a dud for obvious reasons - I'd remove that card from the deck.

While your Runner stack does seem a bit weak as far as sentry breakers are concerned, it is far from hopeless. To truly judge the power level of your stack, you would have to tell us something about the following components, too:

- bitgaining (Do you have a Broker or two? Newsgroup Filter?)
- card drawing/finding (Jack 'n' Joe, The Short Circuit?)
- "winning" cards, i.e. usually multi-access like Custodial Position

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

davido — 2008-07-21T05:05:33+00:00

also, those early runs *before* the ice gets placed are key-accessing the HQ and R&D to get valuable info on what's coming up to maximize the breaker/prep efficiency is crucial. The Runner has to bring the pain early and often.

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

waddball — 2008-07-21T05:01:58+00:00

coolpapa wrote:
I get the impression, (though I may be wrong) that if the game goes long enough, it is likely for the Corp to have its data forts become pretty well impenetrable.
The overall setup becomes very expensive for the Runner across all forts, but by the end, any single fort will be vulnerable to one key run (barring some deep Rio deck, and you won't see that in sealed). You just can't keep the Runner out once all the breakers are in play and he's just gaining bits, waiting for you to install and advance something. And if you do make one huge fort, he'll go elsewhere (HQ or R&D for the win). The Corp needs to win in the midgame.

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

waddball — 2008-07-21T04:55:27+00:00

That does seem a bit weak for the Runner, but all I'd do is add in the Shaka. The strong Ice comes at a cost in bits, and it has to be rezzed at some point. As the Runner, you have to run this Corp very hard early, because the mid-game will be tough. Prepare for the damage, but make him rez that high-caliber Ice. The endgame, if it goes long enough, is always the Runner's. No fort is impenetrable once you get your breakers and bits lined up.

So I don't think it's heavily unbalanced, but maybe a little. Those are all lousy sentry breakers, with the exception of Raptor, which is great as a surprise breaker as you don't need a ton of bits to install and run the same turn.

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

coolpapa — 2008-07-21T04:10:50+00:00

I get the impression, (though I may be wrong) that if the game goes long enough, it is likely for the Corp to have its data forts become pretty well impenetrable. Hence they have to keep drawing and can lose if the game goes on long enough. As for whether that's happening too quickly with the decks you have, maybe someone more knowledgable than I can help.

Thread: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

havoc110 — 2008-07-21T01:23:34+00:00

Hi,

I've recently acquired a starter set, and only played a couple of solo run throughs to get the hang of game play, but I think my decks are very Corp biased, and I wanted some opinions of some experienced players.

The Corp deck seems to have LOTS of strong sentry programs, and the Runner Deck not so many sentry breakers:

Corp:
strength 5 sentries: cerberus, homewrecker, fang 2.0, mastiff
str 4: fragmentation storm, 2x sentinels prime, neural blade, fang, 2x zombie, tko 2.0

runner:
black dahlia, codeslinger, raptor, wild card.

I have some additional cards on the side, of which
I have another Black Dahlia, and a Shaka.

I played through several times, with the Corp building mostly impenetrable data forts.

My question is does this seem (heavily) unbalanced? Or will more experience make it seem fairer? Can I balance the deck more by adding the 2 add'l programs, and replacing some of the excess sentries in the Corp deck.

Any help appreciated. thanks.

Thread: Re: subroutines and jacking out

Razmus — 2008-07-19T13:30:13+00:00

That's right.

Thread: Re: subroutines and jacking out

thoffir — 2008-07-19T10:26:32+00:00

ok. so if he decided not to jack out after first ice and decided to approach second one and it is rezzed by corporation he takes all the consequences of subroutines if he can't beat them or decided not to beat them, right?

Thread: Re: subroutines and jacking out

Simon J — 2008-07-19T08:21:16+00:00

The runner can choose to jack out before approaching any piece of ice except the first.

If the runner chooses to jack out then the run is ended.

If the runner chooses not to jack out then the corp can choose to rez the ice, if it is currently unrezzed.

(If the ice was unrezzed and the corp chooses not to rez it then the runner passes it automatically, and is then approaching the next piece of ice).

When the runner encounters rezzed ice they can choose to break none, some, or all of the ice subroutines.

To break an ice subroutine you need an icebreaker with an ability that breaks the correct kind of ice, and that icebreakers strength must be equal or greater to that of the ice.

Any subroutines that aren't broken take effect. Then, unless the run has ended, the runner has passed that piece of ice and then approaches the next piece of ice.

After passing the last piece of ice the runner can jack out before accessing the data fort. Then the corp can rez nodes or upgrades before the runner accesses them.

Thread: subroutines and jacking out

thoffir — 2008-07-19T03:18:03+00:00

does ice subroutines take effect immediately after you encounter ice that you can't beat
(lack of matching icebreaker type or not sufficient strength if there's match)
or they work only if you have appropriate icebreaker type and enough strength (but
not enough money for subroutines)?

if first part of previous sentence is true:

can i say that one purpose of jacking out is dealing with only one ice at a time (if there
are few) to not to cumulate subroutine negative effects if all of ice are face down and
we expect all will be rezzed (we suspect not to have enough money or lack of particular icebreaker)?

or to make enough income for next turn to minimise risk of few nasty subroutines of unknown sentry (assumption is that we can have matching icebreaker and enough strength).

is adding +1 strength by paying money mandatory during a run? let's say your icebreaker has lower base strength than ice you just approached and you have enough bits to pay missing value (and optionally a subroutines). can you still give up to save the money and take negative effects of a subroutines?

Thread: Re: Good rares to buy?

Rokkr — 2008-07-18T21:07:28+00:00

Tinweasel wrote:
World Domination might be one of the most expensive NR cards.
To my knowledge it's THE most difficult card to acquire. The reason is that it's an agenda card.
It takes 12 advancement counters and scores 3 agenda points. But the bonus for the corp scoring the card is 4 more agenda points, so the Corp can win the game with this one agenda.
I have one and it's the gem of my collection.

Thread: Re: Good rares to buy?

Tinweasel — 2008-07-18T12:04:39+00:00

World Domination might be one of the most expensive NR cards.

Thread: Re: Good rares to buy?

davido — 2008-07-18T03:59:02+00:00

Tabris wrote:
Well - I was thinking about the bulk thing too, but I figured while I'm there, if there are any particular steals at $3 a pop, I might as well pick them up. Unfortunately, I don't know which ones are good values and which are not.

eBay is a good general guide-buy it now and completed listings.
general rule of thumb: Troll and Toad-cut their prices in half for fair value. Elite CCGs is on the high end of reasonable. your other vendors YMMV.

You might check out the Net decks and resources given as replies to my recent request for which multiples were good-that will give you an idea of which cards are useful enough to include multiples (e.g. ensure that they see play).

e.g.
http://www.runners-net.com/phpBB/

Thread: Re: Good rares to buy?

Tabris — 2008-07-18T02:03:57+00:00

Well - I was thinking about the bulk thing too, but I figured while I'm there, if there are any particular steals at $3 a pop, I might as well pick them up. Unfortunately, I don't know which ones are good values and which are not.

Thread: Re: Good rares to buy?

davido — 2008-07-18T01:24:04+00:00

M.I.T. West Tier (Runner prep from Limited) appears in a lot of constructed decks is very useful.

You might see if they are willing to sell you a bulk lot of commons/uncommons/vitals-that would take you a LOT further than paying for the rares. By my card lists, limited has 55/55=110 rares and Proteus 22/22=44 rares and 154 total rares. that adds up pretty quickly, no?

Thread: Good rares to buy?

Tabris — 2008-07-18T00:21:16+00:00

I have recently tracked down an obscure game store in my area that actually has quite a few Netrunner singles from Limited and Proteus, including quite a few rares, most of them priced at $3 apiece. Does anyone have any recommendations of which cards to pick up that are worth more than that?

By explanation, I am new to Netrunner. I've played a few games with simple sealed decks but never really have gone further than that in collecting the game, but I am thinking of doing so, or perhaps just picking up some cards to sell on eBay to other collectors who are interested.

Any advice you all have would be much appreciated. I will be heading back to the store on Saturday to pick up some of the cards. Thanks!

Thread: Re: What happens to nodes and Agendas when they are rezzed/scored?

Simon J — 2008-06-27T09:16:14+00:00

caltino wrote:
When the node is rezzed, it stays in the data fort face up and its effect becomes active. It takes space, so the Corp cannot start another node/agenda there.
If the corp wishes they can install a node or agenda by trashing the already installed node (or agenda).

The restrictions also apply if the node or agenda is still face down, so if two cards are installed in a subsidiary data fort at least one of them must be an upgrade.

Thread: Re: What happens to nodes and Agendas when they are rezzed/scored?

waddball — 2008-06-26T21:27:22+00:00

Yes. Nodes stay there and do something, and also take up a slot in your fort (capacity of which is usually one). Agenda are "scored" and set aside, where they (usually) grant a (one-time, short-term, or ongoing) positive effect.

Might be helpful to read this about agendas from the rules:

If we score an agenda card, we remove the card from the data fort, set it aside and clear it of advancement counters, score its agenda points (the number in the symbol in the lower right corner of the card), and receive whatever bonus it gives, as indicated in its text box. Agenda points exist independently of agenda cards, and we may choose to represent them with counters, since we may sometimes pay them out to fulfill card conditions, or increase them through special card effects. The bonus we receive for scoring an agenda is active as soon as applicable.

Scoring an agenda does not require an action, but we can do it only at the start of our turn or after any of our actions. We can, however, choose to put off scoring an agenda that has been advanced to its difficulty rating (certain card effects may make this desirable).

Thread: What happens to nodes and Agendas when they are rezzed/scored?

caltino — 2008-06-26T19:10:16+00:00

My understanding is:
When the agenda is scored, the card is taken off the data fort, which becomes available for new nodes/agendas. If the agenda has an effect, it is now active and there's nothing the runner can do about it. The card stays on the table somewhere to remind about its effect.

When the node is rezzed, it stays in the data fort face up and its effect becomes active. It takes space, so the Corp cannot start another node/agenda there. If the runner wishes, he can run that fort and try to trash the node.

Is this right?

Thread: Re: multiples of cards in decks?

fabianfritzer — 2008-06-24T21:33:38+00:00

Hi,

there exist powerful Netrunner Constructed decks that need up to 10 copies of the same card (e.g. Bodyweight Synthethic Blood for the "Organ Donor Deck").
But the 1/15 format is perhaps most fun (45 cards, limit of three copies of each card).

You can check out famous Netrunner decks at the forum on
http://www.runners-net.com/phpBB/
(sections Arasaka Owns You for Runner decks and World Domination for Corp decks)

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

fabianfritzer — 2008-06-24T21:20:00+00:00

Hi, in fact, Netrunner ain't dead.
It didn't survive in the shops because of Magic, but it survived in the Net (isn't it ironic?).
If you want to play it online, check out
www.runners-net.com

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

snarke — 2008-06-20T03:32:31+00:00

I think it's important to consider the possibility that it *didn't* "fail commercially."

Why did Netrunner go out of print? People quit buying it. Why'd they quit buying it? Because Wizards only released one expansion. ("Classic" was a couple years later, very small, and pretty darn half-hearted.) Why'd they release only one expansion? Because they didn't sell as much Proteus as they were selling Weatherlight.

Any other company would have been partying if their game had Netrunner's sales figures. But Netrunner got killed about the same time that EVERYTHING (else) at Wizards got killed: when Wizards closed "Product Group Two." Product Group One was...Magic. Two was everything else. Book publishing, role-playing, board games, Jyhad, and Netrunner. The whole division was dumped in December of 1995, because why do all that other trivial crap when Magic was generating cash like a guyser?

It's not that it failed. It just didn't succeed enough. It wasn't Pokemon or Harry Potter.

Thread: Re: I would really like to buy this game. Advice sought!

airship51 — 2008-06-18T20:56:38+00:00

You'll want some rares. Really, the 2-player starter is the way to go. This is one game that really does play well right out of the starter box.

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

airship51 — 2008-06-18T20:54:33+00:00

derp wrote:
This game caught my eye because its sorta cheap now that it's OOP.

Huh? Where are you finding 'cheap' Netrunner cards? If anything, it seems to be experiencing a resurgence. There's a box of boosters on eBay right now that's up to $76 with 4 hours to go, Troll & Toad (I know, I know) has single Proteus boosters for over $10, and various Proteus rares are listed in eBay stores for $4-$9. My top-secret online source for usually-cheap boxes of OOP CCGs lists a box of 6 starters for $99.99, and a single 2-player starter box for $18.99.

If you know where I can find them cheaper - especially Proteus - please let me know.

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

strangecolours — 2008-06-17T21:36:47+00:00

derp wrote:
I'd be nice to see more Cyberpunk games out there. There is sci-fi and I suppose some of them may have a leaning into the genre but I haven't seen any that compare to this game.

I wonder if a re-designed version of Netrunner would succeed now? Maybe slim it down a little and reduce the 'beginner intro' complexity? Maybe this genre just doesn't have the fanbase as the fantasy stuff.

There's another Cyberpunk themed CCG, called "Cyberpunk" [Cyberpunk the CCG], which I think did even less well commercially than Netrunner. Cyberpunk CCG was faction based, and the theme was more obviously pasted on compared to Netrunner. I have got a pile of the cards but not got around to a trying a game yet.

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

roman2440 — 2008-06-17T21:16:21+00:00

I remember when this came out, I passed on it even though I had bought into several other big CCGs either right before it and right after.

There were several reasons it failed commercially:

One, it came out right after the first wave of failed 1st gen mtg copies. Many many many ccgs all came out around that time, and this one was at the tail end of the 2nd gen or so.

Two, there was this social stigma attached to the game that it was unbalanced. This was the big impact, no one was going to buy a game that wasn't balanced, that one side wasn't going to win no matter what they did. This is the reason I didn't buy it all that long ago.

Three, The card types were different than other ccgs at that time. With soo many coming and going, you had to get choosey with what games you bought. Most games had several different sides (even if behind the surface they were more of the same), but this one really only had 2 was the perception people had.

And finally fourth, there was a noticable lack of play of the game at local gamestores. If I had seen it played I probably would have picked it up, but no-one was playing the game. There were so many other games waiting to get picked up, many with good buzz - why invest my money into something that had not many other players, was unbalanced and restrictive?

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

jschlickbernd — 2008-06-17T20:54:54+00:00

I remember a lot of discussion on the balance of the various sides. When it first came out, people thought the Corp was not balanced properly. It was also in the earlier age of CCG design and as mentioned, there were broken combos too, which didn't help the popularity.

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

klz_fc — 2008-06-17T20:24:00+00:00

Having been one of the unfortunate masses who sunk far too much of my then-disposable income on CCGs, I'd like to offer a different view of what happened.

Magic was the carrot that every retailer was trying to get hold of because it sold out whenever shipments came in. This is important because when Net Runner was released, it was tied to the allocation retailers got of Magic. I don't recall the exact numbers but let's say to get three cases of the next printing of Magic to be released, you had to also purchase a case or two of Net Runner to guarantee your Magic order.

Add in the glut of games at that point and sales of Net Runner were far slower than the retailers could handle. The higher cost of the starters had a huge effect as well. Personally, I also believe that while the rules are actually fairly easy to grasp and straightforward, the rulebook made it out to be much more complex and complicated than it was.

Those of us who loved the game did find that broken combos made the game less appealing than just using starters (or creating artificial starters after separating the different rarities out and randomly picking out cards). Those broken combos destroyed the tournament scene and much of the collectibility aspect at the time.

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

sdiberar — 2008-06-17T19:36:50+00:00

spaztian wrote:
GreatWolf wrote:

IMHO, Netrunner would be an excellent candidate to be rereleased in a Blue Moon-style format, with certain fixed decks that could be customized and tweaked.

I absolutely 100% agree with this statement. If anything, I think that the COLLECTIBILITY aspect of this game is what killed it....

I GUARANTEE Netrunner made more money the way it was released than if it had a fixed non-random distribution.

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

TheCollector — 2008-06-17T15:03:36+00:00

Reason for demise? It wasn't Shadowfist. Kee YAW!

Seriously thought, I think the market was just saturated at that point.

Image

Rokkr — 2007-12-01T20:41:51+00:00

back panel of Proteus booster box

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Rokkr — 2007-12-01T20:38:55+00:00

front of Proteus booster box

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Rokkr — 2007-12-01T20:37:27+00:00

Proteus booster box lid

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Rokkr — 2007-11-16T05:29:21+00:00

Netrunner promotional button circa 1996

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itchyrichy — 2007-10-14T10:00:15+00:00

2 Playmats from UK GenCon. These are double sided, both sides shown here.

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Viper[FFW] — 2007-09-04T10:25:30+00:00

When playing runner, try avoiding being tagged

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Viper[FFW] — 2007-09-04T09:54:54+00:00

4 types of icebreakers: code gate, wall, sentry and universal one

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Viper[FFW] — 2007-07-02T11:02:08+00:00

Rulebook front and back

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earthvssoup — 2007-03-07T15:27:11+00:00

rare Program cards

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earthvssoup — 2007-03-07T15:24:12+00:00

rare Resource cards

Game: Netrunner

Thread: Playing Netrunner online

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Thread: Re: New "Top Runners' Quarterly" issue goes online

Thread: Re: New "Top Runners' Quarterly" issue goes online

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Thread: Re: Action choices

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Thread: Re: I would *really* like to buy this game. Advice sought!

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Thread: booster box (36 pcs.)

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

Thread: Re: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

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Thread: Do my starter decks have balance issues?

Thread: Re: subroutines and jacking out

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Thread: Re: Good rares to buy?

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Thread: Re: What happens to nodes and Agendas when they are rezzed/scored?

Thread: Re: What happens to nodes and Agendas when they are rezzed/scored?

Thread: What happens to nodes and Agendas when they are rezzed/scored?

Thread: Re: multiples of cards in decks?

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

Thread: Re: I would *really* like to buy this game. Advice sought!

Thread: Re: Reason for demise?

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Thread: Re: I would really like to buy this game. Advice sought!

Thread: Re: I would really like to buy this game. Advice sought!

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