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

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 Game 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.

I like the new art. Every game doesn't have to be a shade of grey or brown. I would like to see a lot of chrome in corp cards and runner cards a bit more dark. I just don't like when different art styles are mixed together like Cyberfeeder and Tinkering (that is only art I don't like this far).