What does "AP" stand for?

By Davidodo, in Android: Netrunner The Card Game

Accounts Payable?

Associated Press?

Advanced Placement?

The meaning of "AP" (a subtype on, e.g., Neural Katana, Wall of Thorns, Data Mine, Janus 1.0, Heimdall 1.0, Viktor 1.0) is unclear to me. The best guess I can venture is artificial person, but that doesn't seem consistent with the title, image, and flavor text of some cards (like Wall of Thorns and Data Mine) and I'm not sure what distinguishes it from AI, another common card subtype.

Can someone clue me in? It doesn't seem to have any game effect yet that I've noticed. I ask only out of curiosity's sake, and an interest in the game's setting.

Love this game, by the way. My bf gave it to me a few days ago as an early Christmas gift and we've been playing the hell out of it.

I'm not 100% sure, but I take it to mean Armor Piercing, the same popularly used term applied to real world ammunition. All these cards (plus cards from the original Netrunner) contain subroutines that directly deal damage to the Runner.

Anti Personnel, thus why they all do damage to the runner.

Toqtamish said:

Anti Personnel, thus why they all do damage to the runner.

This!

Toqtamish said:

Anti Personnel, thus why they all do damage to the runner.

Honestly, I don't think it's been technically revealed, but seems to make sense given that all ICE that has the subtype 'AP' causes some form of damage to the runner.

I was just throwing my support behind Toq's theory.

EDIT: Which, of course, is very similar to your own theory, 'armour piercing' :-)

I think I have a slight preference for antipersonnel, but these are both great, valid interpretations. Thanks for your help!

House Ruled: AP stands for "Analysis Paralysis". As the Corp, when your Runner opponent has taken over 90 seconds without spending a click or performing an action, you may claim Analysis Paralysis and immediately rez one ice with the AP trait, free of cost.

Anti Personnel comes from Cyberpunk, the tabletop RPG that Netrunner is based on.

Anti Personnel, in Cyberpunk, is a class of software that targets the netuser, or 'Runner. There exists also Anti ICE software and Anti System software, which attack ICE and CPUs respectively.

it also comes from military equipment like anti personnel mines.

I meant in terms of how it relates to Net Runner.

photogasm said:

I meant in terms of how it relates to Net Runner.

I know. I was explaining my reference for it. I am a military history buff.

So am I but I guess I fail to understand how it relates to the present topic.

Messenger asked for my source so I was answering it is from military terminology. That is how I knew what it meant.

photogasm said:

Anti Personnel comes from Cyberpunk, the tabletop RPG that Netrunner is based on.

Anti Personnel, in Cyberpunk, is a class of software that targets the netuser, or 'Runner. There exists also Anti ICE software and Anti System software, which attack ICE and CPUs respectively.

I'd forgotten that ('96) Netrunner was based on the Cyberpunk 2020 universe. Very good point.

The term 'anti personnel' clearly comes from the military. It is suggestive of how a piece of ICE can harm a human (i.e. the runner), much like how a landmine would harm a human (i.e. soldier or civillain), so I think we are all in agreement.

To clarify, I was not suggesting that the origin of the word anti personnel came from Cyberpunk; I was citing it's use/meaning in the Netrunner setting.

I always through it stood for: "Awwwwww…. POW!"

As in, the thing you shout when a runner gets hit by your Neural Katana.

Then you do a little dance.

Eldil said:

I always through it stood for: "Awwwwww…. POW!"

As in, the thing you shout when a runner gets hit by your Neural Katana.

Then you do a little dance.

Toqtamish said:

it also comes from military equipment like anti personnel mines.

Messenger said:

Toqtamish said:

it also comes from military equipment like anti personnel mines.

The Cyberpunk 2020 explanation sufficed. Not that I don't appreciate you going into its military source, but that's going a bit far. It's kinda like looking the etymology of the word "firewall" for example: though the computer term borrows directly from the engineering term, they're such different things.

Um okay. I was just answering you when you asked me where I heard anti personnel was the answer and why that was the answer I gave to the OP who asked what AP means. I don't know anything about some Cyberpunk 2020 so that was not the reason that I gave the answer. You asked why I said that, I answered. That was all.

Everyone seems very on edge lately, not sure if it is the holidays or the troll thread or both. Might be time for a forum vacation.

I wouldn't take it personally.

Afterall the world is ending tomorrow.*

*rolls eyes

Well, as far as I can judge from good old Germany, world has not ended yet.

Which makes me wonder. Is there going to be the STAR WARS LCG after all and will I still be able to get a copy of 'What lies ahead' after the first shipment was sold out at my trusted online shop.

Well I think I'll have to wait and see…and thank God for winning against the Mayas or whoever. (Undoubtedly in a game of Netrunner)

Toqtamish said:

Everyone seems very on edge lately, not sure if it is the holidays or the troll thread or both. Might be time for a forum vacation.

Knowing that it's an official "in-world" term used by Talsorian Games was really all I wanted. I apologize, Toqtamish.

AP = Anti-Personnel, since the relevant ICE all do net damage to the runner.