I've been thinking about getting into this game with the release of revised core but I've been looking into it and various things have me feeling pretty iffy about jumping in.

1) From what I've heard it sounds as if prior to revised core the game was dying out (in terms of number of people playing and people interested in it). Is this true and if so do you think the revised core will turn things around?

2) It seems FFG is still in the process of learning how to make an individual LCG game be a long lasting product, akin to mtg.

3) Is making individual LCG games long lasting even something FFG wants to do (this one would be up to a lot of speculation)? Or because they realize that players jump from game to game following the hype that FFG will just ride a game out until it no longer is viable to produce, then move on to the next game? I realize that Netrunner has been going for five plus years so when I say long lasting I'm talking as long as mtg or other such games that have been around for decade/s.

I could be way off on all of the above but that is what I've gathered from things I've read and podcasts.

A couple of points about me to clarify why I'm asking. Of the LCGs Netrunner appeals to me specifically because of the bluffing and hidden information. I'm a big fan of bluffing/reading the opponent type games. So I have no interest in being an LCG player and jumping from new game to new game. I realize that Netrunner lends itself to playing very well with one collection of cards (far and away better then any other LCG) however, I have no interest in getting the game to play with friends and family. My reason for getting Netrunner would be to play against other people that are serious about it. I just want the competitive experience.

I have checked with a local hobby shop to make sure people are playing near me, which they are, but if the game dies out then the local group would die out as well.

I'd appreciate any feedback you could give because at this point I'm just going back and forth in my head about whether to play or not and without experienced players opinions/information I just don't think I'll be able to land solidly one way or the other.

It wasn't dying out so much as it had reached a place where certain cards had interactions that were toxic both to play experience and design space. Between rotation and the new Core those cards have been expunged. MTG does much the same thing on occasion (flush select cards out of the pool).

1. Attendance has been down for a couple of years but has been rebounding since the advent of the MWL Tier 3 last year, and my local meta has been growing again.
2. I don't know what you're referring to here. One person's "still in the process of learning" is another man's "continuous improvement."
3. Of course they want the game to be long lasting. Anyone who claims otherwise is speaking from ignorance at best, if not actual malice. The fact that they've had a schedule for rotation in place for almost three years should speak for itself, that they want these games to be published indefinitely. There are some notable cases which deserve individual attention:
   • A Game Of Thrones started as a CCG back in 2002, transitioned to an LCG in 2007, and was rebooted in 2015. The rules had many legacy issues going back to the beginning that needed fixing, and the advent of rotation would have wrecked a card pool populated with card designs predicated on all cards remaining in print. The new game is substantially similar to the previous edition, just with streamlined rules.
   • Warhammer 40,000: Conquest died when Games Workshop terminated the license agreement with FFG due to some kind of dispute between GW and Asmodee. Needless to say this doesn't apply to any other game.

Bottom line, Netrunner is a great game and the Revised Core Set (changing up the card mix, not the game itself) should also be proof positive that they want it to stick around long term. As long as we keep buying it, they'll keep making it.