Pop Quiz, Hot Shot: A new person has mustered up the courage to come to your Netrunner meet up. What. Do. You. DO?

The correct answer is: Whatever it takes to get them to come back.

I’m of the opinion that new people are the most important people who show up to a game night. New people who also happen to be new to the game are even more important. They should be honored guests at your local game store.

If you are a regular, it is your responsibility to treat them that way.

But how do you do that? Here are a few things I’ve found helpful.

1) “What would make me want to come back? I should do that.”



Think about what would make you feel welcomed and connected to the people in your group. Now go do it.

Notice how I said, “welcomed and connected,” not, “with a knowledge of all the cards I need to buy to be competitive.” What makes people come back? Friends. I continue to go to my meet-ups because I genuinely enjoy the company of the people I play with. We’re friends.

What helps you make friends? Do those things with the new people. It won’t always work because people are different, but its a great place to start.

2) They don’t need 5 coaches.

We all know Netrunner is a complex game with a seemingly endless and ever-growing list of nuanced rules. The learning curve is huge. What does a new player need at their first meet-up?

Well, what they don’t need is two or three people fire hosing them with all the aforementioned rules. I’ve noticed this happen a lot and I think it comes from a desire to be helpful; wanting the new player to have a deeper understanding of the game.

But a player doesn’t need to know about the interaction between Accelerated Beta Test and Team Sponsorship on their first night, especially if they aren’t playing either of those cards.

What helps here? Have one person be the teacher and everyone else give them space. Still do the “make friends” thing, but let one person teach.

Who are the people in your meta who are good at teaching the game and enjoy coaching new players? Make sure they and the new players connect.

3) Work with the cards the person has, not all the cards they don’t have.

New players don’t have the entire card pool. When they show up with a Jinteki deck that doesn’t have House of Knives or Hostile Infrastructure, their first visit is probably not the time to tell them how awesome those cards are, or how inferior their own cards are.

Talk to them about the cards they already have. This is difficult because those of us who have been playing for years forget what it was like before Honor and Profit came out.

But that is where the new players are. They can create and pilot a perfectly capable deck without being reminded how behind they are on the meta.

4) If you must use slang, explain what you mean.

R&D Lock. Rush. Asset spam. Midrange. Gear check. Never-Advance. Glacier.

New people don’t know what these mean, so if you are going to use them and phrases like them, please explain what they mean.

It is probably a safe to assume this new person knows nothing about the “game slang.” Over explain and if they already know it, they will tell you. That’s a much better situation than making them feel dumb or on the outside because they don’t speak the language.

“R&D lock is when I can access enough cards out of R&D to always know what you are going to draw before you draw it. I will also see all the agendas before you see them.”

“Gear check ICE is low cost ICE with an “end the run” subroutine. You want them in all the different types: Barrier, Code Gate, and Sentry, to force the runner to get all their breakers before they can get in your server.”

Remember what it was like to not know everything. Practice your explanations.

5) Be relentlessly positive

Your first meeting with a new player is not the time to whine about Faust decks or say why you think Student Loans is a terrible card. What if the new person has that in their deck? You know how they feel now? Stupid.

Don’t make new people feel stupid.

Instead, talk about all the things you love about the game. Talk about why you play it. Talk about the great card they included in their deck. Compliment the nice play they made. Tell them you are glad they came to your meet-up.

I know you think Silhouette isn’t that great, but you don’t have to say that. Tell them you like how the smaller deck size means you can find what you need quicker.

Would you come back to a group where everyone was negative all the time? Probably not.

6) Don’t be racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, or anything else that reminds people of either the worst gamer stereotypes or Donald Trump.

That pretty much speaks for itself.

But seriously, don’t do it. Ever. Even when you aren’t playing Netrunner.

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What about you? What things have you found helpful or unhelpful? Anyone out there a part of a particularly welcoming meta? We’d love to hear what you do.

New Players: What did others do to make you feel welcome and make you want to come back?

Veteran Players: What things do you do to make new players feel welcome at your meet-ups?