I don't think it will be a good idea to mix in old cards. FFG is redoing some of them already and it would break the balance they have created with factions. There is also the fact that some rules have been changed.

Khudzlin said:

 

I am not expecting FFG to host tournament scene but organizing things to help the tournaments scene. This includes worldwide rankings and tournament price support like alternative art cards, promos etc. FFG just needs to organize the bigger events, maybe we will even see tournament which can be called World Championships sometime.

I am most interested what the tournament price support could be and how stores could benefit financially from LCG tournaments also. I would be interested to try host some tournaments if I wouldn't have to invent the whole concept myself (like prices, format, rankings etc).Some leagues would be great also. Releasing one pack per month keeps the buzz and interest so there is good chance to do tournaments once per month for the price of the new pack + some euros to cover other prices. The monthly release system really gives potential for more events.

EDIT Maybe the topic should be Organized play of Netrunner.

Surreal said:

 

As has been pointed out a few times this has already been stated as stuff that is in the works by FFG.

"The kits will now be more game focused, rather than item focused, much like the new Netrunner and X-Wing OP Kits. They want to put out things that you can actually use during a game.

Game Night Kits will now include a Tournament Organizer Prize, though it wasn't confirmed if it would be in the upcoming Netrunner or X-Wing Packs.

Game Night Kits will eventually include alternate art promotional cards that are reprints of existing cards with new/different/better art. The exception to this is Star Wars, which will receive Aurebesh texted cards. For those that don't know, Aurebesh is the name of the font that the signs and written communication of the Star Wars universe is. These cards will have the title and flavor text replaced with Aurebesh translations.

It was emphasized that there will be no competitive advantage from having the alternate-art cards, aside from having extra copies of the alternate art cards.

FFG is looking into bringing back two popular programs: a Tournament Organizer program and a Player Ranking System. Both programs are in their infancy, and are not yet developed. They were very intent on letting us know that they are being looked at. "

www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/index.html/_/articles/ffg-organized-play-news-r367

 That's great news. I just won our local local Warhammer: Invasion league and would love to have received alternate art cards. I got the playmat and patch and a pin, so that was cool. But Alternate cards would be really cool. Can't wait.

Vaslov said:

You can use card sleeves to hide the backs. ;)

(I would suggest you use sleeves anyway, to preserve your cards - I wish I had sleeved my original Netrunner cards all those years ago…)

~ Tim

Astro Mike said:

This is how I see things are currently, not how I think they should be. I just have the impression FFG is not supporting its games' tournament scene as much as Wizards or AEG. But I would love to have to change that opinion,

Khudzlin said:

 

 

Keep in mind that Cryptozoic, WotC and AEG all make a significant larger amount of money off of their TCGs. LCGs are not quite the cash cow that traditional TCGs end up being in light of their random card distribution thus forcing people to buy multiple products in order to get their cards they "need" for their decks. I'm already planning out a tournament for Android: Netrunner using the tournament kit I ordered that arrived last week. The kit is very similar to the kits Cryptozoic sends out for World of Warcraft TCG.

Toqtamish said:

 

Do you have some data to pack this up? This kind of argument is often used:t "random card distribution thus forcing people to buy multiple products in order to get their cards they "need" for their decks." Still I haven't met a single serious MTG player who does this (or maybe some boosters to get playsets of commons/uncommons). Everybody just buys singles. Buying random cards to get specific cards is not very wise whne there is a single market. It is amazind drafting format which really saves MTG. I don't think it is even very cheap to build tournament AGoT decks. First tournament winning AGoT deck I found used cards from over 14 different expansions (and multiple core sets). That is huge investment for a game practically without singles market.

My point is more that CCG/LCG are both big cash cows and it can only be debated which packing system someones likes more. Both have their positive sides and negative sides. But I don't think it can be compared which nets more money or which is a bigger cash cow. LCGs might bit better to hide this image for some thought.

I want to start by saying that I manage a game store. My store is in a major metropolitan market in the US and we are packed every night for different events and games. I have seen games come and go, player communities grow, die, and then regrow again. I can guarantee that the play kits from any manufacturer or the prize support from the manufacturer do not dictate the growth of the game or the size of the community. The key to growing a game is simple. Have people play it in the store….on game nights, on their days off, whenever they can. Have fun and outgoing people playing it and having a good time. Simple. I just bought netrunner myself because we have a group of people playing it in my store…they are very nice and seem to have a great time. I have access to pretty much any game out there. I bought this one because people were playing it. As evidence to my point, we used to have a very active L5R community. Several of the players moved away, some had children, some just stopped playing. I still received tons of prize support, promo cards, and other give aways from AEG (the manufacturer) but the game almost completely died in my store because people weren't playing it and there was no community. I had a new guy move to the area who loved the game, said he would demo the game as much as possible and built a community just by being in the store playing games and having fun. Today when i left we had 6 people sitting and playing at 6pm on a random monday with no store event scheduled just because people stopped by to see if anyone was there playing. If you want Netrunner to be successful in your local game store you have to do two things…play games and have fun…people will ask what you are doing, can they watch, what do you need to play? I know this sounds a little like "if you build it they will come" but i have seen it time and time again. And as for prize support, there are tons of ways that a FLGS can have tournaments and offer great prize support with nothing from the manufacturer and without hurting profits for the store. I definitely understand the original posters frustration with wanting to play a new game that has not built a community…but the answer is not to blame fantasy flight for not offering enough support (though i do wish they would get the game kits and standard sleeves back in stock). It is simply to grab a friend and go down to the store and play the game. Have fun. And even if you play 3 games and not a single person buys a copy, you've had fun playing playing 3 games of Netrunner. Much worse things out there.

dwbailey said:

Exactly. Same thing here with WoW TCG. They give the kits away for free. Yippee. Doesn't really matter if no one is playing and most have moved on. We went from 16 very active to 3 or 4. If you build it they will come is very accurate for building a gaming community for any game. Prizes are cool and all but really there is only so many playmats I can have hanging on my wall in gaming room. I went to the store in Halifax on a random Friday night with a friend expecting to meet 2 others. Instead of it being 4 of us playing Netrunner it was 11. People just showed up with copies or picking theirs up and we all started to play. We had 4 to 5 games on the go at a time.

You have to work your butt off to make a game successful sometimes. Its not the quality of support, its the quality of player's support. I used to sit in gaming stores for hours showing off card games I liked. I single handedly created the Columbus Ohio UFS playscene (most likely).

Play. Love it. Play more. Let others love it. Get up. Go!

Surreal said:

 

TCG random distribution are definitely bigger cash cows

1 - Its very common to see people buy boxes of boosters, especially early in a new release. Occassionally I see people buy a case (6 boxes)

2 - Think about how the singles market generates, Someone out there needs to be buying boosters to sell to these redistributors. Sometimes they will even open a case or 2 themselves to get some starting stock to sell. Also the price of specific cards go up based on demand of the card and the limited supply of the card

3 - The price of a card in a LCG is limited, you will never see a "rare" card in a LCG that sells for $100, or even $10 (barring promos). Why? because anyone is able to buy the box for $15 that probably comes 3 of the card you want

the game is still new, i think if this game gets more sales FFG will maybe commit more into getting the OP setup. As part of the community I think everyone should pitch in and get it off the ground.

 

I'm close to getting my friends and a local store to start supporting NR.

The announcement of the new gamenight kits are very encouraging. It is almost as if FFG took a peek into this topic and actually listened to our complaints… ;)

Rince said:

Not really, the alternate art cards are something that have been requested by AGoT players for a while now so they are just applying the same thing. Personally, I want more playmats!