‘The Announcement’

How is your meta? In my area the game is experiencing a strong revival with more players than in a long time. Local turnout is very high on meetups. People are asking to join in the game now that the cardpool is set. With the ability to print cards and proxies for free it is also easier to get into the game than it used to be before the ‘Announcement’ happened.

With the inspirational formation of the aptly named NISEI-committeé, worlds coming up, and the last expansion being one of the better designed and balanced sets this game has ever seen we are on a solid path for a few more good years of this excellent game.

Additionally, with a few notable quirks, the game is experiencing a very healthy meta. One might argue the best meta it has ever seen. A final cardpool means that in due time the last few design-mistakes will be placed on the MWL and we will be left with the final form of the greatest design-achievement of the modern boardgame-renaissance.

If you are a fan of games, and want to experience the very best, this is a good time to join the Netrunner-community. Yes, I’m a fanboy. So sue me. 🙂

What I do, it seems, is I write long-form articles on the game, the community and psychology around it. These articles are meant to be consumed over time. As they are long-form you might not get the immediate injection of pure entertainment-value that is common in internet content, but I hope they leave you with a broader perspective and provide a good base for discussions. I also hope they help ease newer players and students of game-design into this game, as it can be equally complex and intimidating to its ‘deep’ and ‘satisfying’.

It is time to continue this project, and upcoming will be the asked-for in-depth articles doing deep-dives into the four skills of Netrunner. I also got a lot of questions regarding deck building, so I may add a fifth piece on that if I get inspired. Finally, I intend to finish with a similar ‘state of the game’ article of the game going into its twilight era.

This article will serve as an index to these posts, old and new, as it will be difficult to digest newer ones without the context of the initial articles.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

.. or to quote more recent culture:

What is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger.

Spot the reference?

Index

The Theory of Netrunner

These articles deal with concepts and in-depth analysis of how the game is played and how to break down the expression of skill within the game-systems.

This article is the introduction to the series and defines six concepts that will be critical in the following discussions. It deals with randomness in the game as well as the four ways that players express skill in gameplay.

This article will look at one of the skills that is easiest to master and that form a good base for any match of Netrunner. Some examples can be found in this addendum.

Old articles by YCombinator on the topic: Article 1, Article 2, Article 3

Skill Deepdive: Strategy

This article will focus on the major decision-points in a game, and how to choose the right path.

Skill Deepdive: Tactics

This article will focus on the handling of tempo and switching back-and-forth between players.

Skill Deepdive: Yomi

This article will focus on mind games of the game, how to be successful at them and how to avoid being vulnerable. It will also tough on defining the concept as some players are in denial this even exists. A previous article relevant on the topic: Playing The High Stakes Game

The Psychology of Netrunner

This series deal with aspects related to the mind, and outside of the game, but that very much affect it.

This article deals with the psychology of self-improvement. It also deals with how psychology generally such as stress and previous performance might affect a player and how to think about this to avoid the negative aspects.

This is a followup to Zen as in it deals with psychology, but is more about percieving others than about yourself. It deals with how different players see the game, and is a reflection of the classic game-design piece by Magic-Designer Mark Rosewater.

The Improvement-Series

This series is aimed at helping new players choose the right path to improvement, and get intermediate players on the right track if they feel like they have stopped improving.

This article is the first in the ‘improvement’ series. This deals with improving as a player, and as a first consideration looks at various types of decks and deck-selection.

The second article in the ‘improvement series’ deals with how to think about practice-matches, and about playing to improve.

The third and last article in the ‘improvement series’ deals with tournaments, and how to think about winning games. How this differs from practice and a few bits and tips.

So you want to be a Blacksmith?

This article will deal with deck-construction and how to think about creating your own decks from scratch, and a bit on how to tweak them.

Game Commentary

These articles will deal with active game-commentary on the game, current meta, game health and current game issues.

The State of Netrunner 2018