I think “Trope” got overthought in this article, maybe?
From the PrincessSpaceKitten quote, it seems like it’s just some kind of program that saves stuff after you delete it, and then restores that stuff approximately when you need it (not exactly, because it puts it into your stack rather than your grip, but still), probably based on some predictive algorithm nonsense.
The art doesn’t fit, really, since it just shows the cyclic evolution of vampire tropes, but hey…maybe that’s just the branding/advertisement for the Trope program. “You know how sexy vampires were cool a decade ago, and now they’re cool again? That same thing happens with your software - just because you don’t need it today, doesn’t mean it won’t be useful again tomorrow. Trope™’s predictive restoration algorithm restores your software from backup before you even know you need it!”
I sort of ignored the art on Fan Site and assumed it was actually the runner’s fansite (see also Notoriety, another Shaper card), and when they score an agenda all their fans come along and give the runner tips, leaks and stuff which is tradeable. The fact that the art shows Miranda Rhapsody’s fansite blows that interpretation out of the water…
@Proteus_Est: The difficulty you run into with Trope there is: what precisely does it mean to “save” a Sure Gamble after you “delete” it? A Street Peddler? A Rachel Beckman? A Power to the People? A Showing Off? An Earthrise Hotel? The Source? An Off Campus Apartment? There’s a lot of cards here that don’t really make sense under that interpretation.
Re: Fan Site, the other question you have to answer there is that if it’s the runner’s fansite, why does it trigger off the corp scoring an agenda? Yeah, I agree that interpretation is a nonstarter!
@Kesterer: I dunno, I see the distinction between SEA Source and Punitive as making a lot of sense both from factional and mechanical contexts. NBN is willing to spend money to know who the Runner running at their servers is, Weyland is willing to spend money to hunt you down if you’ve actively hurt them. It doesn’t give you a tag because… well, because the Punitive Counterstrike is hyper-focused on smashing you down and not on necessarily making it difficult for you to slip away, afterwards. You have to read it as shark-blooded yet impulsive anger; If Weyland gets their way, there is no afterwards for you.
@Badeesh: I feel like Damon Stone would very much appreciate a nickname like Monsto
Thank you for your kind words, and, honestly, we can’t repeat this enough: thanks to all of you for reading! We’re continuously flabbergasted at the kind of response we’ve gotten, that we’ve been able to spark these kinds of discussions in the Netrunner community
@sohum
Re: Fansite - you’ve got me there, I don’t know why I thought it was “when the Runner steals” . . . I no reed so gud.
Re: Trope - I don’t think a strict interpretation of the Heap (or Archives) is ever going to work. It’s clear from several cards (Clone Chip, Deja Vu off the top of my head) that the “default” interpretation is that the heap is deleted programs. I think it’s a tiny minority of cards that are going to make sense in ALL contexts. “Archived Memories”, for example, is a card with great fluff in my opinion - Haas-Bioroid can rifle through the memories of all their bioroids to resurrect some cancelled project or restore a piece of trashed ICE. But how can they use it to bring back Jackson Howard? Especially if he was trashed because of an Unregistered S&W .35, all the stored bioroid memories in the world aren’t going to help.
Any standard that makes “Archived Memories” a card with bad fluff is too high a standard for me, personally.
