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Android Netrunner Canceled!

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Android

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There Will Be Games

Fantasy Flight Games announces cancellation of Android: Netrunner card game.

 


 Read our longer article here: Corporate Agenda: Murder Netrunner


 

 Due to licensing term coming to an end, starting on October 22nd, 2018, Fantasy Flight Games will no longer offer for sale any Android: Netrunner The Card Game products, including Android: Netrunner playmats and card sleeves. Before we reach that point, Android: Netrunner still has one final stop to make: the Reign and Reverie deluxe expansion will be the final product for the game. Featuring cards for every faction, Reign and Reverie is a celebration of all things Android: Netrunner, and an appropriately climactic conclusion to the game's six-year run. What's more, while Android: Netrunner is coming to an end, the worlds of Android will continue to be explored, from the gritty streets of SanSan to the warring colonies of Mars, in future products from Fantasy Flight Games.

There Will Be Games Android
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Colorcrayons's Avatar
Colorcrayons replied the topic: #274982 08 Jun 2018 11:57
Seems like a licensing failure.
Even though they stopped making new stuff for CoC LCG, they still sell it.
Unlike netrunner after the end of October.
ubarose's Avatar
ubarose replied the topic: #274991 08 Jun 2018 12:21
Wasn’t expecting that.
Shellhead's Avatar
Shellhead replied the topic: #274995 08 Jun 2018 12:57
I still have Netrunner cards from the original game back in the '90s. The frustrating thing about when a CCG or LCG goes out of print is that no matter how good the game was, nobody will play it anymore. The deckbuilding aspect is so crucial to the enjoyment of the game for most people, and they won't be happy for long if they are playing old decks and can't get some new cards to keep the game interesting.
Jackwraith's Avatar
Jackwraith replied the topic: #274996 08 Jun 2018 13:03
Trying to get in touch with a regular tournament player I know to see if there's any inside info. Why would they release a new core set if licensing negotiations weren't going well? Was FFG disturbed by sales of the new set and expansions, such that they decided to pull the plug before getting into another long-term arrangement? Did WotC decide they have a better offer from someone else? Weird.
Michael Barnes's Avatar
Michael Barnes replied the topic: #274999 08 Jun 2018 13:17
I bet somewhere there is a Haas Bioblob or whatever android wiping away an oily tear with a metal hand.

Welp. Time to move this design over to RUNERUNNER, an all new LCG set in the exciting fantasy world of Terrinoth.
Legomancer's Avatar
Legomancer replied the topic: #275000 08 Jun 2018 13:17
This is a shame. FFG was seemingly trying to make a go at an "Android" universe and it looks like from here on out you can say goodbye to anything that isn't licensed IP.

If I were in the market to play an LCG, this is the one I would have chosen. It was interesting and different, and I liked the setting and mechanisms. Sadly, my days of pre-game deck construction and "meta" are gone (and good riddance to the latter). I might try to pick up a set anyhow, in case I get over that.
Josh Look's Avatar
Josh Look replied the topic: #275003 08 Jun 2018 13:25
I loved this game, but I’ve been out of it for ages. I didn’t really like how the factions weren’t built evenly. Eachrelease seemed to give a big boost to one Runner faction and one Corp and it everyone else felt lopsided until they got around to it. A shame, 2 player gaming doesn’t really get any better.

Ashes: Rise of the Pheonixborn might be worth a look for those who want this sort of thing without deckbuilding. It’s a very reactive play structure like Netrunner. Best game from Plaid Hat by far.
Shellhead's Avatar
Shellhead replied the topic: #275008 08 Jun 2018 14:20

Josh Look wrote: I loved this game, but I’ve been out of it for ages. I didn’t really like how the factions weren’t built evenly. Eachrelease seemed to give a big boost to one Runner faction and one Corp and it everyone else felt lopsided until they got around to it. A shame, 2 player gaming doesn’t really get any better.


You would think they would have learned from the example of the original Netrunner. That base game set favored the Corp player. The first expansion swung the game balance too far in favor of the Runner player. By that point, most players lost interest, so they cancelled the new base game that was in development. Then they released a small expansion (just a portion of the cancelled base game set), but called it Classic Netrunner. Fans were confused and thought it was a reprint set, and ignored it.
Erik Twice's Avatar
Erik Twice replied the topic: #275014 08 Jun 2018 15:02
I'm feeling devasted.

This game meant a lot to me. It pulled me out of years-long depression and made me meet friends and new people from all over the world. I found something fun, of value and went out of my house at a time where I felt I was doing nothing of value. All my most popular writing, all the people who waited for my articles and so on were originally Netrunner players. I've gotten somuch out of this game. I'm like 2300 plays into the game and loving it still. I've met so many amazing people, it hurts.

But beyond my personal stake on it, this is such an incredible game. I've always thought it truly is one of the best games ever made, as much as Chess it not more and seein git dissapear...man it hurts. The game will still exist, but it's not Civilization or Dune or whatever, this is a game with a learning curve that doesn't show itself fully after 1, 10 or even 100 plays. I feel we are losing the game forever, the real game, the one that exists beyond the cardboard. I fear a future where this amazing game will be ignored and wrote off because people don't go beyond the basics.

Jackwraith wrote: Trying to get in touch with a regular tournament player I know to see if there's any inside info. Why would they release a new core set if licensing negotiations weren't going well? Was FFG disturbed by sales of the new set and expansions, such that they decided to pull the plug before getting into another long-term arrangement? Did WotC decide they have a better offer from someone else? Weird.

Chances are it's all on WotC's court. FFG was clearly invested into the game and had very long-term plans for it (Rotation, new core, new deluxe set, the way certain cards were designed etc.). And the new core was selling well, not utterly fantastic but more than enough to rekindle interest and see where things were going.

Why Wotc decided to cut the cord is a mystery. There was no notice, either, not even the game designers expected this.

Michael Barnes wrote: Welp. Time to move this design over to RUNERUNNER, an all new LCG set in the exciting fantasy world of Terrinoth.

The terrible part is: It's WotC who owns the core mechanics and the Cyberpunk guys own some of the terms (Including Netrunner). They still retain the rights to Android and all the theme of Android: Netrunner but not the actual game.

Awful news all-around.
Shellhead's Avatar
Shellhead replied the topic: #275016 08 Jun 2018 15:09
One optimistic scenario is that WotC saw that the game was doing well and they wanted to take it back and not share the profits. So maybe WotC will announce at GenCon that they are starting production on a new Netrunner game.
Josh Look's Avatar
Josh Look replied the topic: #275021 08 Jun 2018 16:54

Shellhead wrote: One optimistic scenario is that WotC saw that the game was doing well and they wanted to take it back and not share the profits. So maybe WotC will announce at GenCon that they are starting production on a new Netrunner game.


Optimistic, yes, but WotC’s track record for not fucking something up isn’t great. Aside from M:tG and D&D, each of which have had their low moments, I’m drawing a blank. Some of their really great product lines were abandoned after they didn’t know what do with them. Dreamblade, Heroscape, Arena of the Planeswalkers, Gamma World, just to name a few. I hate to be that guy, but I don’t see any good news here.
Erik Twice's Avatar
Erik Twice replied the topic: #275023 08 Jun 2018 17:12
I have never done anything like this but I felt I had to make a video on the game, its end and what it meant for me and gaming. It's an ad hoc video, but I felt I had to:


Shellhead wrote: One optimistic scenario is that WotC saw that the game was doing well and they wanted to take it back and not share the profits. So maybe WotC will announce at GenCon that they are starting production on a new Netrunner game.

I'm not sure if that's an optimistic scenario. I don't have much faith in WotC making a good version of the game.

For starters, if they made a new version of the game it would contain gambling elements in the form of boosters. And that's quite bad, but it's not just bad because of the gambling aspect but in the way it affects the whole game. People cannot compete as well, your wallet becomes a game component and theft rises. People become meaner and the metagame more static as people can't try out new things. One of the greatest things about Netrunner is that everyone had the same cards. If you built a new deck,e veryone could try it and metagame against it or try that funny, combo deck that never worked. This doesn't happen in Magic, because trying becomes expensive. Money permeates the game and the community and a lot of fun is sucked out.

And, well, I doubt it would have the same audience. If they truly care about re-releasing ths game I doubt it's to target it at the same small amount of picky nerds the current version does. They would probably want a broader audience and I have yet to see anything improve when changed for a broader audience. And that wider audience won't probably be as gay-friendly and nice as
the current community is.

But, above all, I'm just sad. And I feel guilty for not having played the game, for having been busy with other stuff thinking Netrunner would be around forever. Now my chances are dwindling :(
jeb's Avatar
jeb replied the topic: #275024 08 Jun 2018 17:12
Ugh, so sorry, Eric. NETRUNNER is an amazing game and it's one I wish I was more into. I have never had a bad time playing it, I just didn't have a group that would gel around it. I feel bad it's being taken away, but I honestly believe it will come back. Zvi resurected it once, FFG a second time, and so on. There are some real diehard fans (like yourself) that go the extra mile to make sure NETRUNNER is around even if some years are taken off here and there.
Shellhead's Avatar
Shellhead replied the topic: #275025 08 Jun 2018 17:43
WotC dropped the ball with a couple of other CCGs that I liked, but subsequent events may give reason for hope.

WotC licensed the World of Darkness for the excellent Jyhad CCG, but got nervous about the name after the first attack on the World Trade Center, in 1993. So they changed the name of the game and more importantly, the backs of all the cards published after that, to the long and clumsy name of Vampire: the Eternal Struggle. After reprinting the base set with the new name, they did two expansions and then a new base set for the Sabbat vampires, then pulled the plug on the game in 1996. Two years later, White Wolf took back the license and brought back Vampire for more than a decade, including many expansions and multiple base sets. Until some power creep in the last couple of expansions, Vampire was a better game after White Wolf took over the game.

Legend of the Five Rings was originally published in 1995 by Alderac. WotC took over the subsidiary of Alderac that published L5R in 1997 and kept the same creative team. Hasbro took over WotC, and eventually Alderac got L5R back, and the game stayed continuously in print with ongoing expansions, until 2015. Then FFG bought the rights to L5R and the Rokugan setting, and brought out a new version of L5R last year. The new version of L5R is incompatible with the old CCG, but seems to be a better game.
Da Bid Dabid's Avatar
Da Bid Dabid replied the topic: #275028 08 Jun 2018 19:17
I played till SanSan cycle ended and have the mini expansions. What did the game do after that? Anything worth getting or can't miss before it dries up? No plans on playing anybody but like to be able to put decks together to go against each other.
Erik Twice's Avatar
Erik Twice replied the topic: #275029 08 Jun 2018 19:21

Da Bid Dabid wrote: I played till SanSan cycle ended and have the mini expansions. What did the game do after that? Anything worth getting or can't miss before it dries up? No plans on playing anybody but like to be able to put decks together to go against each other.

I think all cycles were very good. My recommendation is to pick up the deluxe box with the 3 different "minifactions" as they are a lot of fun and very different from the usual.
Da Bid Dabid's Avatar
Da Bid Dabid replied the topic: #275030 08 Jun 2018 20:32
Yeah, have that one (sadly unplayed) and I meant I had all the deluxe expansions when I called them mini above. It was just when they started the most wanted list that things got annoying for me. I understood why the need to restrict stuff in a competitive meta exists, but for my casual self, changing the cost of things beyond what was printed on the cards was a huge turnoff. My set felt pretty complete when I stopped buying packs as every faction had a mini expansion dedicated to it. Just wondered if the last 4 cycles saw any kind of cool new mechanics or big shifts in gameplay. Like how different in the revised core?
SuperflyPete's Avatar
SuperflyPete replied the topic: #275031 08 Jun 2018 20:43
I really want to play New Angeles (I think that’s the new Android game). I still want to play a few more games of Android with some regular players who can easily help me relearn.

I liked the universe. Shame I don’t do CCGs
Shellhead's Avatar
Shellhead replied the topic: #275033 08 Jun 2018 22:22

SuperflyTNT wrote: I really want to play New Angeles (I think that’s the new Android game). I still want to play a few more games of Android with some regular players who can easily help me relearn.

I liked the universe. Shame I don’t do CCGs


The Android universe still belongs to FFG. They started it, with Android. The Netrunner name and mechanics apparently still belong to WotC, and some of the game terminology might still be owned by R. Talsorian Games or its founder Michael Pondsmith. He created the Cyberpunk rpg, which was the setting for the original Netrunner CCG.
DarthJoJo's Avatar
DarthJoJo replied the topic: #275034 08 Jun 2018 22:28
Never played myself, but I do appreciate that they took the time to expand the typical cyberpunk settings out of the Pacific Rim and space to check out what was happening in India and Africa.
Black Barney's Avatar
Black Barney replied the topic: #275037 08 Jun 2018 23:36
I thought of Erik as soon as I heard and was sad for him :(
Erik Twice's Avatar
Erik Twice replied the topic: #275043 09 Jun 2018 08:01

Da Bid Dabid wrote: Yeah, have that one (sadly unplayed) and I meant I had all the deluxe expansions when I called them mini above. It was just when they started the most wanted list that things got annoying for me. I understood why the need to restrict stuff in a competitive meta exists, but for my casual self, changing the cost of things beyond what was printed on the cards was a huge turnoff. My set felt pretty complete when I stopped buying packs as every faction had a mini expansion dedicated to it. Just wondered if the last 4 cycles saw any kind of cool new mechanics or big shifts in gameplay. Like how different in the revised core?

The MWL list is now a Banned/Restricted list which I think is more intutive and overall better. I think the MWL influence hit was a good idea but it only worked with above-average cards, actually broken cards were still worth playing.

There were not any huge shifts in gameplay, per se. It was still Netrunner, it just got better, more varied and (After the banlist came) much more controlled. There are more archetypes, more paths, more fun. Before these news the game was in the best shape it had ever been.

The Revised Core is different not so much for what it includes, but what it doesn't. Many problematic cards were removed, like NBN's agendas or Parasite and replacements have been introduced during this cycle (Kitara). In fact, Revised Core Set+Kiata plus the new Deluxe expansion (Reverie) was clearly designed to be the new base for the game and it's a great base, better than the original.

If you like the game and see yourself keeping it, consider Reverie, as it has cards for all factions and won't have a large print. The earlier packs are common and shouldbn't be hard to find, though.

Black Barney wrote: I thought of Erik as soon as I heard and was sad for him :(

Thanks Barney, it means a lot.
Disgustipater's Avatar
Disgustipater replied the topic: #275046 09 Jun 2018 09:48

Shellhead wrote: The Netrunner name and mechanics apparently still belong to WotC


I thought you couldn't copyright game mechanics?
Shellhead's Avatar
Shellhead replied the topic: #275047 09 Jun 2018 09:58

Disgustipater wrote:

Shellhead wrote: The Netrunner name and mechanics apparently still belong to WotC


I thought you couldn't copyright game mechanics?


Okay, rules not mechanics. Though Netrunner was originally designed by Richard Garfield, and I think WotC did get a patent or copyright or some such for the term "tap" when used in a card game.
Erik Twice's Avatar
Erik Twice replied the topic: #275050 09 Jun 2018 10:51

Disgustipater wrote: I thought you couldn't copyright game mechanics?

The boardgaming world works a bit on a gentleman's agreement not to copy other company's games. Legally speaking, there are no protections. You can quite literally release Geophorming Mars, Space Floating Rock and Cosmic Meetup and there would be no legal grounds beyond trademarks (The names) and some coyprightable material (the strict rules text, but you can rephrase it).

This is why, for example, you can clone D&D.