Me and my girlfriend have been looking at netrunner and would very much like to play this. We have played through Arkham Horror LCG and Pathfinder LCG and had a blast, but would like a game where we can play against eachother.

The problem is I dont know what to buy. I see the old core set is sold for a pretty cheap coin, but then you have the revised edition where the price is over twice as much. What I wonder if its some difference in game mechanics or its just the artwork?

Could we do just fine with the old edition or should we go for the revised? And is all the old expansions and "booster" packs compitable with revised edition IF there is some changes to game mechanics?

Last I want to ask, we just noticed the game legend of the five rings. How is that game compared to netrunner? Easier or harder to get into?

Hope any of you can inform me on this and thanks in advance

MM

Don’t buy the old Core Set. While there are no mechanical changes, a large number of its cards have been rotated out of regulation play. The reason they were removed is because they’re either overpowered, or because they aren’t a good experience for new players. For both reasons, the Revised Core Set is a better experience for someone in your position.

All product in print for Netrunner is still fully compatible. It takes the following forms:

Deluxe sets : 52-55 unique cards (3x each) focusing on one corp and one runner* faction. You can just pick the DS for whichever is your favorite.

Data Packs : (roughly) monthly packs of 20 unique cards (3x ea.) arranged into cycles of six packs. These are subject to rotation but have about a 3-4 year lifecycle. The Lunar and SanSan cycles are going to rotate next, probably sometime in early 2019.

Terminal Directive : a “Campaign Set” which is basically a Deluxe set’s worth of cards plus a narrative Legacy-style campaign. Contains cards for two runner and two corp factions.

*since there are four Corp factions and three Runner factions, the fourth Deluxe contained three “mini-faction” runners which color outside the lines of the existing factions. There is also an upcoming release of a Deluxe set which has cards for all corp and runner factions.

I can’t speak to the comparison between L5R and Netrunner. Very broadly speaking, L5R fit into the symmetrical paradigm similar to Magic, Game of Thrones, etc. I compare these to back-and-forth sports like soccer, football, and rugby. Each team lines up and faces their opponent head on, and each tries to use their dudes to beat the other team’s dudes.

Netrunner is more like baseball. It’s not symmetrical, and largely is about one side trying to do their thing, while the other side is managing the field the offense is up against, and trying to stop the offense team from trying to do the thing.

I've found the revised set to be much more fun than the original, so much so that it's only since the relaunch that I've really played more than a handful of games and had success introducing it to new players.

Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for the reply. Im now waiting the revised edition in the mail next week I guess the core set will keep us busy for a while for learning the gameplay. Dont quite get the rotation of the datapacks, is that more for tournament play or casual also? When you say lunar and sansan going to rotate next, does that mean genesis and spin is in the current rotation?

Yes, Genesis and Spin cycles have rotated out of tournament play and are out of print forever.

However, several cards from that block were reprinted in the Revised Core Set to take the place of cards from the old CS that they wanted to get rid of. It’s neither here nor there except to say: don’t worry about hunting down those packs.

FFG has no Legacy format that they support, and most people abide by tournament rules for card legality and deck construction even in casual play because it’s essentially a better game that way.

More information on rotation:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/9/11/system-refresh/

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2014/11/5/when-new-programs-overwrite-the-old/

Also of interest:

On 3/29/2018 at 3:45 PM, Grimwalker said:

I can’t speak to the comparison between L5R and Netrunner.

On 3/29/2018 at 12:22 PM, MagneticMonkey said:

Last I want to ask, we just noticed the game legend of the five rings. How is that game compared to netrunner? Easier or harder to get into?

I can give some details here since I play both.

Both games are competitive but rely on entirely different mechanics. to keep it short:

Netrunner is a game of bluff and risk taking. Hidden information and its management is pivotal for wining the game. This comes with a downside: Someone knowing the card pool will have a very heavy advantage over a new player. This is also the case if you play with your partner and one of you two gets way more invested in the game than the other. Netrunner is also faster to play, as the number of actions per trun for each player is limited. Once used to it, you can get a game done in 30 minutes. Unlike L5R, faction loyalty is not that big and each faction is mostly evaluated by the tools it can provide. While distinct, each faction seems to be able to support a few strategies, all overlapping with other factions.

L5R is all about resource management. All is resource in this game ( Fate ,Honor, Cards in hand, number of provinces, characters on the table, imperial favor...)and the optimal way to squeeze the best value from what you have is the main focus. It feels way more like an eurogame than any other LCG. The game has also a lot of very high impact conflict cards that can swing the balance between players very fast. The game is also longer and you shold expect at least 1h-1H15min for a regular game, once you are used to it. L5R is heavily story focused, faction loyalty is still strong and most players are not keen on switching factions just because one got more powerfull. Game styles between clans are very different and you will have a favorite

And don't forget the setting. Cyberpunk hackers and evil corporation versus Fantasy samurais and japan inspired monsters. I personally choose both

Buy the original Netrunner - it makes more sense here. No problems with Netrunner Android though either.

10 hours ago, Dan Iliescu said:

Buy the original Netrunner - it makes more sense here. No problems with Netrunner Android though either.

The old Netrunner from 1996 is long out of print.