#terminaldirective

[soybeeftacos]

So, @krystman / @Trace_Five made the best Netrunner video I’ve ever seen. I’m not kidding, not exaggerating – this is the pinnacle of Netrunner YouTube content, as far I’m concerned. Let me gush a little:

First, it’s an in-depth breakdown/review of Terminal Directive, which is nice to do a few months out, after most of us have already played it, digested it, and found ourselves wanting more than it actually delivered. Krystian did a fantastic job of breaking down – in much greater detail than anyone else has, to my knowledge – exactly what kinds of strange dissonances there were between the game’s legacy mechanics, its ostensible narrative goals, and its role in trying to covet an elusive casual community for the game. He’s even-handed and fair in his criticisms, and bends over backwards to make sure this doesn’t turn into piling on Damon, though we all know that there were issues with the design process for this expansion.

But, more than just the review, Krystian lets his game designer chops out for everyone to see – coming up with reasonable and quite clever ways to “fix” Terminal Directive near the end of the video. He provides a couple of excellent examples of ways you could do legacy mechanics in a card game like this (assuming that, after this video you’d even still want to). Rather than complain, Krystian breaks down what works, what does, and attempts to provide several solutions that, hopefully, Michael Boggs and the FFG development team pay attention to.

This is the kind of long-form, expertly produced video criticism that the game deserves, and I’m so happy to see Krystian back making content for the game. TeamworkCast seems to have moved away from regular Netrunner content, and that’s fine. I’m sad that we don’t see as many videos of European events as we used to, but TeamworkCast isn’t just Krystian. So far, Trace^5 seems to be a project where Krystian is exploring a variety of ways of contributing to ongoing discussions about the game, and I’m really excited to see what else he comes up with.

A few more, small takes:

• The Stimhack Slack dis in the beginning was the second funniest thing in the video

• How did I never realize that this “murder mystery” game had no killers and no victims?

• The Curb Your Enthusiasm/smash cut of Lukas talking about dice and then, um, talking about another game was the top funniest thing in the video

• Cybernetics as a corrective to getting flatlined is a great idea, and one I think could serve as a fun basis for a new, fan campaign

• RIP Victor Grey.

[kevinjpowe]

Game two of #Netrunner #TerminalDirective with @notongotham. Managed to trash Net Watchlist. Woohoo!

[ben-mckenzie]

Round three of #TerminalDirective vs @voiceover_au! Slow and steady this game; after an early stall I was recovering well until a bad choice put two agendas from R&D straight onto the less protected Archives, rightfully snared by Kevin. #NetRunners

[altoecko]

Happy #internationaltabletopday ! Happy to support my local store @meeplemadness today! #netrunner #terminaldirective #valentines @sarahvgrace (at Peachtree Corners, Norcross)

[paniccoffee-blog]

Box size comparison #anr #androidnetrunner #cyberpunk #terminaldirective #cardgames #boardgames #boardgamegeeks #bgg #lcg #livingcardgame #campaignexpansion #expansions #ffg #fantasyflightgames #scifi🤖 Wonder why after releasing thin cardboard deluxe boxes for their other games, they made an enormous box with this one. Maybe to also serve as storage for other expansions? Hmm

[soybeeftacos]

I haven’t posted here in a long while -- I’ve been conflicted about the game for ages (as anyone who has read this Tumblr for more than a few months will certainly recall). I’ve played only a few times in the past few months, and have found my interest dwindling as more of Damon’s cards take hold in the meta. I was excited for Terminal Directive to reboot my interest in the game -- until, well, read the link.

Now, I’ve differed with Quinns’ take on games many times, but on Netrunner, very rarely. He nails a perspective on the game here that I wholly share:

As my friend Tim puts it, when we started playing Netrunner we could design a deck and think it might just work. “There is always hope.” By the time we got good, the best decks in the world were in such rapid circulation in our local meets that to play anything else felt silly. We'd get new cards, design a deck on our lunch break… and feel that we'd wasted our time, because the deck wouldn't stand up to the world's best. Our prize for getting good at the game was realising that every deck we made wasn't competitive.

Ouch, but, yes, true. I’ve never been a great player, but I engaged with the game competitively more in 2016 and, I think, to my detriment. Or, perhaps, to the game’s detriment? That is, the more we get better at the game, the less naïveté we have toward potential card interactions, the more we find ourselves falling into playing competitive, refined decks, and... much of the joy of the game disappears. “There is always hope” doesn’t feel like a relevant phrase for the current game.

So, Terminal Directive sounded like a great idea, one that could bring hope back, albeit in a small, self-contained form. I personally have looked forward to it as a way to again play with my wife, who got left behind by the card pool over a year ago. I miss the early kitchen table games we used to have -- I’d stupidly run a server and steal an agenda, then get Midseasoned and Scorched into oblivion. I eventually learned how to play, and played around it. I started slotting Film Critic occasionally. I began playing, ugh, Whizzard.

This is to say that there’s probably a negative correlation between proficiency and optimism at play here. When the card pool is still an exotic, strange beast that you’re trying to understand, then you have hopes and dreams you can try to bring out in your deckbuilds. You’ve got to make Brain-Taping Warehouse work! You’re sure that you can make Record Reconstructor useful! Dammit, if I just work hard enough at it, maybe Silhouette will be Tier 1!

But, that’s not what happens if you play competitively. You find yourself either becoming very comfortable with losing or moving into playing competitive decks. And, more to Quinns’ point, the initial dreams you have for interesting decks are tempered by your knowledge that, yes, Record Reconstructor is just a waste of paper, or Brain-Taping Warehouse might work 1/5th of the time in a Surat City Grid deck, but you’re not willing to lose the matchups that janky deck will cost you.

I hope Terminal Directive is good. I’m now worried that it’s going to be plagued by the same issues that have been with the game since Mumbad (or maybe even SanSan). I’ll still pick it up, but I worry that the game is in need of a hard reboot at this point.

[soybeeftacos]

Yeah, it’s a huuuuuuuge box. So strange.

[kevinjpowe]

Lucky swing at R&D spending last credits wins the #TerminalDirective game against @notongotham, 7 points to 6

[ben-mckenzie]

Late-game in #TerminalDirective. I’m in the lead vs @voiceover_au - just! #NetRunner #cardgames #boardgames #tabletop

[ben-mckenzie]

Playing #TerminalDirective with @voiceover_au - and drinking cider for Seidr Laboratories. #Netrunner #cardgames #boardgames #tabletop

[kevinjpowe]

Six tags, but Steve Cambridge scores first point on the board for the good guys in my #TerminalDirective campaign with @notongotham

[ben-mckenzie]

First game of the Legacy-style #NetRunner expansion #TerminalDirective with @voiceover_au. Intense so far! But I'm surprisingly happy with my play, despite it being my first NetRunner game in ages.

[kevinjpowe]

First game of #Netrunner #TerminalDirective with @notongotham. Early days yet, but Ben’s filthy Corp is flush with cash

[kevinjpowe]

Corp at 4 points, runner at 3 points. Some tense economic swings. The #TerminalDirective war against @notongotham continues.