Nelsormensch

A New Idle Thumbs Network Podcast - Terminal7

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So, as folks may have heard on Idle Thumbs 122: Mario's Picnic, I've got quite a thing for Netrunner. A buddy of mine up here in Vancouver also has quite the thing for Netrunner (and he also makes video games), so we decided to cram some mics in our faces and turn it into a podcast. And Idle Thumbs was kind enough to host it! It exists here:

 


 

If you're in to Netrunner, I'd love it if you gave it a listen. But even if you're not, give it a listen anyway and maybe you'll find yourself drawn toward a boxed set. The first episode is pretty meat & potatoes, but we want to have most guests on, talk more broadly about why the game is interesting design-wise, why certain factions work the way they do, etc. We're hoping it'll be interesting even for folks that aren't hardcore into Netrunner. I don't play Dota but generally found DotaToday to still be pretty darn interesting to listen to. And hey, if we can turn a few more people into Netrunner aficionados, well, double plus.

 

We recorded the first couple of episodes a little while back, about a month ago, so we won't get to the most recent developments (drafting, Second Thoughts, etc) for a few episodes yet.

 

Any questions, feedback, thoughts, whatever are more than welcome to terminal7{at}idlethumbs{dot}net. Thanks!

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Subscribed, I'll listen to it this week.  I've never played Netrunner, but have been curious about it. 

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Oh sweet, my flatmate just ordered a copy of this since we spend approximately 10% all of our free time playing Dominion. Looking forward to my first game and then listening to this!

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Just wanted to pipe up and say you guys were referred to (in a most flattering fashion) on the most recent Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, by Quinns (who is massively into Netrunner).

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Just wanted to pipe up and say you guys were referred to (in a most flattering fashion) on the most recent Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, by Quinns (who is massively into Netrunner).

 

Yes, I heard that! Very nice of him. And there might just be more to come from Terminal7 and Shut Up & Sit Down in the near future ... ;)

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That'd be amazing!

Even though I've only played my copy of the base set a couple of times, I've really enjoyed this podcast. I think it's for similar reasons Dota Today is enjoyable even when you don't have much in-depth Dota knowledge - it's fun to hear people be excited and enthusiastic about a cool game. And also infectious... going to have to break it out again over the Christmas break!

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Ooh, synergy? Blind coincidence? I actually met Quinns earlier this week, going to the first Netrunner meet I've ever been to. It was an utter joy. The people there were just as passionate and knowledgeable about the game as one might expect, and very welcoming to boot.

 

It was actually one of the most intense evenings I'd ever had. Firstly, the location was really cool, just on the south of the river near London bridge, which boasts an excellent view of the financial district skyscrapers just across the water, framing the night in possibly the most appropriately cyberpunk scenery imaginable in the country. I played seven games in total against three different people, runner 3 times (1 win) and corp 4 times (2 wins), not bad for a newbie, I'd say. The whole experience left me absolutely drained though, in all honesty, the closest experience I've had to that level of mental exhaustion was after the six hour (!) exams I took during my finals at university. Well, maybe not quite as bad as them but you get the idea, Netrunner can be taxing! I'm pretty sure I took some actual brain damage. 

 

I cannot wait until next week. And the next podcast! I need more Netrunner nutrients to absorb!

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Yeah, it can be an extremely stressful game. I played in a tournament last week and there was one game that had both of us sweating. I was Andromeda, he was NBN: The World is Yours and neither of our decks were playing the way they were supposed to. He got down to four cards in R&D and had I run there three times instead of hitting his remotes and HQ, I would have one. It was an incredible game.

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It was actually one of the most intense evenings I'd ever had. Firstly, the location was really cool, just on the south of the river near London bridge, which boasts an excellent view of the financial district skyscrapers just across the water, framing the night in possibly the most appropriately cyberpunk scenery imaginable in the country. I played seven games in total against three different people, runner 3 times (1 win) and corp 4 times (2 wins), not bad for a newbie, I'd say. The whole experience left me absolutely drained though, in all honesty, the closest experience I've had to that level of mental exhaustion was after the six hour (!) exams I took during my finals at university. Well, maybe not quite as bad as them but you get the idea, Netrunner can be taxing! I'm pretty sure I took some actual brain damage. 

 

I think you just hit upon exactly what I love the game! Probably the same reason people like Dota. Even though it's hard to call it "fun" per se, it's still engaging and stressful in all the best ways. Also as a venue, that sounds way better than the back room of the dingy card shops we usually have to play in, heh.

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I'd definitely call Netrunner "fun" in the traditional sense, at least some of the time. Anytime you pull off a cool trick, like flatlining somebody or a Forced Activation Order -> Account Siphon -> Emergency Shutdown -> run remote combo, it's impossible not to come out smiling.

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I think you just hit upon exactly what I love the game! Probably the same reason people like Dota. Even though it's hard to call it "fun" per se, it's still engaging and stressful in all the best ways. Also as a venue, that sounds way better than the back room of the dingy card shops we usually have to play in, heh.

 

I'll have to take a photo next time. :)

 

I totally agree, in my experience the mental exhaustion has actually been kind of intoxicating. I went to the meetup the week after, and was genuinely disappointed I didn't end up feeling as frazzled as the time before. I guess that just means I've actually learnt the rules by heart now, so I'm not expending as much mental energy trying to follow along. I suppose I'll have to start making up for it my upping my machiavellian strategies, or maybe by trying to make a Reina Roja deck work...

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