Yeah, art is extremely subjective, because I hated, not was indifferent to or disliked, but hated more than 60% of the art from the original game, and upon having started playing some games again about 2 or so years ago that number jumped up to something like 90%. It is just horrid and dated, and kitchy, and contrived. I would probably still buy this game if it was the old art, but I would make fun of FFG at every turn for it.

If something like art is enough to keep an old player away then *waves* so long, farewell, alverdersane, goodbye.

I don't know if it's entirely their fault that 16 year old art based on imagining future technology might seem laughable today. Even moreso when some of it was computer-generated or made to look so. I mean, giant pixels? Blocky looking low polygon objects? Unusually high numbers of cables on their "advanced" technology? I can't even get my brother in law to watch Babylon 5 because he thinks the computer graphics look bad and they were quite good for their day (as well as just being an excellent show in general).

Personally I don't see anything bad about the new art, and none of the people who have complained have given specific examples of why they don't like it. Seems fine to me, but I am glad they chose to update it instead of using the dated looking art from the original cards, even if they were OK at the time they originally were printed.

Big Head Zach said:

yeah, i dont get complaints about the art from fans of the original. The original had tons of art featuring super generic corporate drones in suits and ties, and tons of primitive CGI computer art that looks extremely dated now. So there is a new graphic design treatment, and more modern art, and sure, some cards look cooler than others, but thats true of pretty much any expandable card game with lots of art. so…the art is really what is keeping you from being excited? Really? why in particular?

I'm excited. I bought a few starter decks off Ebay, and really took to the game, but got really bummed at how expensive it was to build any real constructed decks. Its easy to have fun with starter stuff, but all the real tricksy things seemed to involve lots of rares and I had no interest in trying to build a collection of dead ccg cards. But a reboot? with easy access to cards and renewed interest so itll be easier to find opponents? totally in.

^THIS^

The only thing I note is that compared to other cyberpunk settings, Android feels a little too "clean", not your typical grungy 90's depiction of a future society. This isn't a bad thing though; I mentioned this in another thread, but to me it feels like the New Angeles society are still in their "boom" years. The corporate facade still promises a bright and gleaming future, the artwork looking new, almost sanitized, as a result.

This may be a long reach, but I'd love to see after a long spell or after some significant event that permanently affects New Angles/Heinlein, such as a mass "Human First" uprising or a largescale, bloody corporate war, that we see some of that gritty grime creeping back into the picture and reflecting in the artwork; the tarnished facade fooling none of the jaded masses, caught in the wake of a corporate distopia.

Treguard said:

Also noticed that when i first saw the artworks, it was brighter, futuristic but not really distopian. Maybe i little dirt can fix it.

Can't a dystopia look clean, though? I think of films like In Time , or the videogame Mirror's Edge . Both of these are extremely dystopian, while looking whitewashed and gorgeous.

MarthWMaster said:

Certainly, but I guess it's an accepted cliche of the exaggerated social divide between the sparkling upper echelons and the megarich, and the grim, ugly realities for those on the other end of the spectrum. Those who'd rather stay jacked in than deal with "meatspace". Netrunner had an art style that, naff CG aside, seemed to capture that chaotic streetlife for a runner; a heady cocktail of chips, drugs and shady contacts.

So maybe the little bit of Android art we've seen has just been centered around the prosperous part of the city? Those gritty grimy back alleys may still exist in another part of town.

Still, I'm leaning towards the "the sh*t hasn't quite hit the fan yet" explanation. Their society is still hanging in there for now, just about to start sliding downward into the more typical dsytopian setting.

Or it could even be that they're trying to subvert the genre by introducing the idea that the Corporations aren't trying to take advantage of anybody, and the Runners are just whiny paranoiacs.

MarthWMaster said:

Having played the board game and started on some of the books, they definitely like to have every entity be morally ambiguous, or have a good thing ruined by ambitious people with poor impulse control.

For every Jinteki executive who considers each of Caprice Nisei's "sisters" to be "redundant assets", there is an equally douchey Human First supremacist who sleeps with a sledgehammer under his pillow and waiting for the call to start the Species Holy War.

Maybe if he didn't sleep with a sledgehammer under his pillow, he'd have a cheerier outlook on life

Ok, my 2 cents here…

I've played Netrunner back in the days. It wasn't my kind of game but I've enjoyed the setting and theme. I don't want to compare old Netrunner artwork with this new Netrunner artwork because it can't be compared! 95% of CCG artwork back in the '90s was all about drawing and painting. Today it's all about Photoshop and CG stuff. It's like grabbing a Silver Age BD and comparing with the ones right now.

But let's get to the point… Netrunner was one of the most mature games back in the '90s, maybe due to its complexity or just the theme itself. Right now I see cards like Decoy , Tinkering and Private Security Force and I just say "No, thank you!"
Netrunner was based in a cyberpunk future in the likes of '90s movies like Johnny Mnemonic and Hackers, with some Anime cyberpunk sprinkles on top. Right now what I see in Netrunner: Android is another pre-teen-oriental-animation-series-type-of artwork.

It's not a matter of taste, it's a matter of style. And this new version of Netrunner is ruinning the style of its predecessor.

Treguard said:

Yeah, I can see how that would make someone grumpy.

Netrunner was the only CCG I ever truly dug. I just loved how it played. I bought whole starter / booster boxes of it. I even entered and won a tournament; I still have the first prize, Richard Garfield-signed Full Body Conversion card!

I was sorry to see it go, but could understand its disappearance; compared to other CCGs, where you only needed one deck to play and adding in another player or two was fairly easy, NR was a two-player-only affair and not quite as easy to learn / transport.

I was pretty into Cyberpunk 2020 at the time, too, which was a big help. Since the early '00s, though, my involvement in tabletop gaming, whether RPG or CCG, waned. I sold off all my cards in late 2004 and all my Cyberpunk stuff in the intervening years.

That FFG is bringing Netrunner back is awesome news. I'm curious to see the new Android theming and new rules, but I think the standalone plus expansions nature of LCGs suits Netrunner's asymmetrical nature a bit better than the starter / booster nature of the original.

And it'll cost me a heap less to keep up with! Which is great, as I have a heap less disposable income nowadays!

oDESGOSTO said:

I had a whole paragraph written to respond to this, but I think I can sum it up with one question. Is it still the 90's?

oDESGOSTO said:

~My opinions aren't opinions, they're facts. And your opinions, while opinions, are wrong.

radiskull said:

And what are those opinions/facts, exactly?

qwertyuiop said:

No, it's not the '90s!

But these:

Are totally different from these:

I'm not talking about the quality of the pictures but the quality of the contents . The new cards just resembles me those spiked-air-japanese-kind-of-animation-from-the-Cartoon-Network.

I wouldn't mind if FFG is taking an approach to a younger public with the new NR theme, but if so they chose the wrong game to do it…

These three cards were by Mauricio Herrera and Mike Nesbitt. Do you know that only these two artists are providing artwork for all of the remaining cards?

oDESGOSTO said:

The original Netrunner was based on the Cyberpunk 2020 property and the Android: Netrunner, like the name says, is based on the Android setting. I am not a great fan of Cyberpunk 2020: it was a cash on the latest bandwagon kind of setting. If you were to publish Bladerunner: the Board Game and change the art style, I would be crossed because Bladerunner is a classic and a trendsetter but Netrunner was too run to the mill for me to care. Mind you that I am not championing the Android setting: it too looks generic but slightly more colorful and cleaner than Cyberpunk 2020. Just by naming their product differently I think FFG has justified their change of setting. I understand that this is a calculated business decision but WotC did the same thing when they licensed Cyberpunk 2020 for the original Netrunner.

As a kid from the '90s I'm more into old Netrunner, Shadowrun, AD Police, GITS cyberpunk stuff than this new YuGiHo'ish cyberpunk.

But this is me… that's why I like games like G ame of Thrones LCG and Legend of the 5 Rings and dislike games like The Spoils and actual M:TG .
I'm afraid this wouldn't appeal to the old NR fans because of the lack of seriousness (artwork and theme) and would disappoint younger players who are more related with direct games like WOW TCG and YGO and try to deal with an immense gaming experience that was NR.

I do not mind those art. it is very like comic book art.. and I read a lot of comics.. I in fact prefer stylisation to hyper realism.. though it works well in CoC.

Also I think that "cyberpunk" is a outdated genre… the idea of technology being a subculture is lost.. it is not ever goign to be underground.. it will be VERY main stream.. The way technology is integrated nowadays and the like we are looking more as if the future with the "gleaming white walls" type scifi will be the one to come…. The style of grunge and broken tech isn't really as believable as sleek well designed common tech and then modified by hackers… much like say using your iphone as mobile Unix server to read paywave credit cards… the device and the interface is hacked and has a "hacker" function.. but it is still neat and using well designed technology (the iPhone) but isn't all wires hanging out and rust everywhere… software all in software

In short I like the art athletically and it also fits a modern updated idea of what the cyber punk genre is… I think FFG has done very well doing it this way.

oDESGOSTO said:

No offense intended - I just need to get this out - but your method of criticizing this artwork is seriously starting to bug me. I don't think you're doing it on purpose, but it's still annoying to people like myself who actually prefer this art style. Suggesting that only younger players will appreciate the exaggerated, manga-esque approach to a few of the cards' art isn't only wrong, it's insulting to those of us who don't fit that "younger players" category. Do continue to voice any problems you have with this artwork, but please do so in a way that avoids putting an unpleasant label on those who disagree.

Granted, I believe you have a valid point, that the art style ought to reflect the audience to whom the game is marketed. But recognize that there are always going to be exceptions.

I too am an older player and I think the new artwork looks much more polished than the old. Nor does it seem childish in any way to me - it's just a style.