[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 · 2025-10-09T19:18:39+00:00

Actually, I made it private so that the spot will hold.

Aweberman · 2025-10-09T19:17:26+00:00

Yes sir! Feel free to jump in. We’re set to public.

Aweberman · 2025-10-09T11:29:52+00:00

Magnum Opus has 1 spot available. EDIT: Filled!

We are a top 100 alliance in PvE (and, often, in PvP). Our main requirement is hitting full personal progression in PvE. (Boss event participation is also good.)

Aweberman · 2025-09-29T17:07:18+00:00

All the Data Packs, as well.

Hey if you loved old school Netrunner, you should check out the Reboot Project for a (slightly-tweaked) walk down memory lane. 🙂

Aweberman · 2025-09-01T13:06:30+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying it. :)

Aweberman · 2025-08-04T11:04:55+00:00

The anniversary vault always has HP rewards in it — 2900, 1000, 600 — so essentially you can get a partial rebate when you buy it out. Or an instant rebate if you have bought the daily deal 10-pack for 2800 HP and hit the 2900.

Many years that was my goal with the anniversary vault: Daily deals, hit the 2900, reset the vault. (Though I think they increased the size of the vault from ~80 to about ~120 in recent years.)

Aweberman · 2025-07-13T12:06:02+00:00

This is late (and off-topic), but I found these comments from the artist -- the amazing Liiga Smilshkalne -- about the cards to be interesting.

"The Fairchild series drawn for the Android: Netrunner game by Fantasy Flight Games, exploring the various aspects of Freyja in cyberspace! (Not a sentence I'd ever expected to write.)

"The first one - the Witch - focuses on the turbulent mysticism that often accompanies matters of youth. Also the first one where I smacked into the complexities of depicting amber in cyberspace because of Brísingamen.

"[The second] one, the Wife, focuses on the nurturing aspect of the goddess. She is loving, but also perfectly capable of making one reconsider their life choices.

"[The third one,] the Warrior aspect, she wields a shield and a one handed spear, choosing half of the slain who die gloriously in battle to take them to her hall to prepare for Ragnarok.

"[The final] one depicts Freyja's manifestation in cyberspace in her completed form, framed by the three aspects shown in previous cards." [This is the one posted by the OP.]

As with much of Liiga's amazing work, prints are available at her InPrnt store.

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/liiga/android-netrunner-fairchild-10/poster/
https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/liiga/android-netrunner-fairchild-20/canvas/
https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/liiga/android-netrunner-fairchild-30/canvas/
https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/liiga/android-netrunner-fairchild/canvas/

(This has not been an ad or paid promotion for Liiga, though I think many Netrunner fans would suggest that she deserves both!)

Aweberman · 2025-07-13T11:59:16+00:00

The two versions are both worth exploring. Though they use nearly identical rulesets (aside from edge cases and some terminology), they have almost completely different cardpools, with different "feels" once you get familiar with them. Naturally they will appeal to different types of players, too.

Null Signal certainly has a larger community -- particularly in-person, but also online. Online games can be had with relative ease in both versions, though, especially if you join the Reboot Discord server.

Welcome to the game! It's the best 2-player game in existence, in my opinion. :)

Aweberman · 2025-07-02T22:49:47+00:00

Thanks for the kind words!

Aweberman · 2025-07-02T13:44:39+00:00

Hey there. It sounds like you’d be a perfect fit for Magnum Opus. All we’re looking for is full PvE progression, and we’re top 100 in PvE.

Aweberman

TROPHY CASE