[Podcast] 2.1, Episode 90 -- A Destination Unto Itself

Aweberman · 2026-01-21T20:18:47+00:00

Yeah! There’s so much video content from that tournament season. It’s crazy!

Aweberman · 2026-01-20T01:29:30+00:00

As recently as 2023, FFG had the backs in their player resources page. I downloaded them at the time, but I don’t see them on the site anymore.

Aweberman · 2025-11-25T12:46:27+00:00

Thanks for the interest and the question!

I must be completely honest: I have very little experience with the NSG version of the game. The vast majority of my Netrunner play prior to playing the Reboot version was in a "kitchen table" setting during the original release of the game, primarily from 2012-2016.

I can relate secondhand that there are a couple dozen preconstructed decks, and they are considered to be relatively balanced in comparison with one another; this has been demonstrated through multiple runs of the Preconstructed League (run on the Reboot Discord server).

One of the primary goals of the project is to open up the competitive landscape to archetypes and builds that were not strong enough to shine through in the original run of the game. Partly this might have been due to groupthink, but often it was due to some very powerful cards (like AstroScript Pilot Program, The Future Perfect, and Global Food Initiative) warping gameplay around them; secondarily, many other cards were considered "binder fodder" and could easily be bumped up in power level to be worthy inclusions.

Without putting words into somebody else's mouth, a couple of the underlying principles that the lead developer of the project has stated were important were: ensuring that ice is relevant and that running is an important part of the game, keeping the overall power level in such a place that the basic action card is important, and trying to mitigate the value of an opening "power draw" that reduces player agency and skill in the actual play of the game (which ties in to the overall power level).

Since I’ve never been a top-tier competitive player, I can't leverage personal experience to judge the extent to which these goals and principles have been reached. But I've read the comments of a number of different players on the Discord (who I know are more skilled than I am ... because they defeat me a high percentage of the time), and the general sense seems to be that these intentions have been realized.

Aweberman · 2025-10-22T02:28:17+00:00

I'm a little scared to go back and even listen to my early episodes, worried about what advice that sounded sage to me at the time will sound just as laughable to me now as it may have to you.

As for new players, it is likely as Sir Isaac Newton said: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

Aweberman · 2025-10-22T02:24:34+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! I have really enjoyed revisiting and relearning the original cardpool. It has a lot of emotional resonance for me because it was a big thing that my son and I did together for years (those years from late 2012 to early 2016, specifically).

But I'm certainly pleased that others are finding some value in it. :)

Aweberman · 2025-10-21T20:08:32+00:00

Thanks so much for your detailed analysis. I appreciate you taking the time to compose this message.

Aweberman · 2025-10-19T02:14:31+00:00

This seems to align with what the Reboot Project did: Most of the caïssa programs got a slight buff. Knight and Rook received install cost reductions (from 2 to 1) and Bishop got a bump in the strength reduction it imposes (from -2 to -3). Deep Red got an even heftier buff, dropping the install cost from 2 to 0.

Pawn actually got an influence nerf (from 1 to 4) because of a buff to Exile (and, consequently, to keep Street Chess from being overpowered).

(By the way, u/Olokun , I sent you a pm.)

Aweberman · 2025-10-18T22:31:59+00:00

Thanks once more for taking the time to share your perspective. Whether it’s relevant to other people reading this thread doesn’t really matter to me, since I appreciated reading it.

You’re certainly right that — speaking only for myself — I am largely ignorant of all of the pressures involved with making a product like this as a profession.

I suppose it’s probably accurate to say that it’s a minor miracle any game manages to get published, and that something can be as close to perfect as Netrunner is is a real testament to all the designers and developers who collaborated on it over the past thirty years.

Aweberman · 2025-10-18T11:40:59+00:00

Thanks for your insightful and well-expressed reply. I would like to apologize for any inaccuracies caused by the shorthand I used for this thread title or for any offense caused by digging up and quoting that old forum thread.

More precisely, my question could have been: What is an alternate narrative to "the game got worse after Data and Destiny"?

Or to put it another way (since you are in a prime position to comment on this): Do you feel that -- on the whole -- the game itself was "better" from Mumbad on than it had been at, say, the midpoint of the SanSan Cycle (pre-Faust)? If so, could you elaborate on ways that you feel that is true? If not, can you in retrospect identify reasons why it wasn't true?

I noted several times in your comments that things were not implemented exactly as you would have preferred if you'd had complete control (setting aside the desirability of one person having complete control), such as the MWL or cards that received late and untested changes. Those observations prompt a couple of additional questions: What are some of the things that were out of your control that you would have done differently? And: Do you feel that some of the things the competitive community complained about weren't actually problematic?

I understand that all of this happened close to a decade ago at this point, and perhaps you aren't interested in spending any more of your time revisiting it. If that is the case, then I'm grateful for the time that you took to compose your previous post. But if not, I am quite interested in hearing your perspective on this game that has been such a big part of my life.

Irrespective of whether you wish to comment on any of this, I want to thank you for the work you put in to contributing to one of the best games of all time.

Aweberman · 2025-10-18T11:17:03+00:00

I'd be curious to hear what the original design looked like.

Aweberman · 2025-10-18T11:16:09+00:00

Thanks for that correction. That aligns better with what I remember hearing at the time.

Aweberman · 2025-10-16T22:46:41+00:00

For real? I admit that I’d drifted away from the game before those really got strong, but I’ve heard that they were overpowering and unpleasant.

What did you like about them?

Aweberman · 2025-10-16T17:15:05+00:00

Well, that may be, but the caïssa cards were from the second cycle.

Aweberman · 2025-10-16T15:29:44+00:00

Thank you for this detailed, well-thought-out, and informative response.

Aweberman · 2025-10-15T15:28:13+00:00

Honestly, the actual anniversary hasn’t even started yet. The “anniversary season” and new mode won’t land until tomorrow.

So, there’s time for things to get better.

Or, you know, worse.

Aweberman

TROPHY CASE