So I’m returning to playing competitively or practicing competitively as I just completed my Masters and again have free time. In the past I’ve utilized OCTGN for games like Netrunner and found the community there to be solid and competitive as a whole. Recently however, I’ve found more and more players sending me to Jinteki.net for play. Has there been a shift in the preferred platform for online play?
In addition I wanted to run my potential practice style by the community for suggestions. I planned to format some of what I found to be the most competitive archetypes 3 runner and 3 corp and play them until I feel I have a good grasp on each (20+ ideally) and log which factions I play and my win/loss with the decks. Any suggestions here for the 6 decks or other training methods are very welcome. With the ANRPC entering my area and another year of ANR tournaments spinning up I’m looking forward to it all!
I would definitely say OCTGN remains the more competitive of the two. JNET has begun to attract more players as the functionality improves. The reasons JNET is growing are convenience and cross platform support since its browser based. OCTGN was around first, and thus many veterans use it, leading to a higher average skill pool. Lastly, the functionality of OCTGN is not rigid; last time I checked JNET still did not allow for manual fixing of all the things that can go wrong with misclicks etc. I would consider OCTGN the more flexible, ‘prosumer’ client while JNET is the convenient, ‘consumer’ platform.
Some may unnecessarily take offense at this. The first JNET Stimhack League recently kicked off, so obviously Stimhackers are playing there. I consider the average Stimhackers better than the average player from other ANR sites.
Whichever client you choose, I would say your best bet is to somehow show prospective opponents that you are interested in competitive practice. You should also register for the Stimhack Mentor program here.
I appreciate the response. I’m comfortable with OCTGN so based on what you’ve said above I’ll likely be logging games in there due to somewhat being loyal to that platform. I’ve enjoyed Stimhack leagues in the past and I think it’s a nice program which definitely helps log competitive games.
I use both platforms and, as it currently stands, I use Jinteki.net when I’m looking for a causaul game with some crazy brew or a deck Ive never played before, and Ill use OCTGN when I want to grind out so games before a tournament.
I think @moistloaf hits the nail on the head with his post, and I really just want to offer a consenting view.
I still think OCTGN is the superior platform for the minute, although Jinteki is getting much better as time goes on, and may surpass OCTGN at some point. I like how something things can be made faster through OCTGN than Jinteki (running a multiple ICE server when you already know the exact cost to get in/know no ICE will be rezzed; Jinteki requires you to go through each ICE individually, OCTGN will let both players agree that the run is successful and then he’s in; Personal Workshop on Jinteki requires you to remove each power counter one by one, taking two clicks (on the mouse) each time, which is a huge hassle for something like Torch or Femme, OCTGN lets you remove X at any time with a single click), but overall, these are minor gripes.
At this point, both platforms are excellent at representing the game, and I really can’t fault anyone for preferring one over the other; I think it’s close enough that using either is totally legitimate, although I also agree with Moistloaf on the “prosumer” “consumer” analogy. But again, I think they’re both good enough that it’s become a matter of taste.