That sounds like a much more sensible system. Presumably the points scale with the size and importance of the event?
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Then the issue is not the World Championship per se, but the Nationals, or lack there of. Magic has been doing the invitation only Worlds since almost the beginning of the DCI.
Intellectual property rights are pretty far reaching. That means you canāt use any names related to the game, any images, including the game logo and FFGās logo or even the word āNetrunnerā to advertise it because it is not being used in an approved manor. Doing something like this without FFGās support it pretty much a non-starter.
You simply canāt compare any other game to Magic. The size of the market makes all kinds of things possible for MtG that are simply not viable for other games. Even in the mid-90s when I was playing MtG it was already bigger than any other CCG/LCG is now. A mid-sized local level event in London attracted more people than Nationals does for Netrunner. Nowadays there are more people at a MtG PTQ than even play Netrunner in the UK.
If Netrunner Worlds was by invitation only for National Champions then it would be a small event simply because there arenāt that many countries that play the game. Even if itās all expenses paid Iām not sure I would travel to the other side of the world to play only a handful of games against players who arenāt necessarily even the best the game has to offer.
Iām not against the idea of an invitation only World Champtionship, Iām against the idea of making it only for National Champions. Iām not disputing that the National Champions are great players, but there are a lot of other great players out there who all deserve the chance to play at Worlds. Iād way prefer a points-based system like @spags suggests.
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The semi-moot point is that FFG said they wonāt do a ranking system. That includes a points-based invitational qualifier. What we would have to ask ourselves is, āAre there enough people playing to justify trying something like this?ā.
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From what I heard, fans of WM/Hordes started up their own Masters series, holding their own qualifiers. They then held the championships in St. Louis, MO, at a con there. Well, they eventually took over that con, it became a huge event (Warmachine Weekends), with the last chance 256 player, 9 round tourney selling out quickly. That tourney system rivals the one Privateer Press has tried to set up since, the Iron Gauntlet, which Iām sure pisses off the company.
However, PP supports the Masters series with prize support. I think FFG really cares little about OP, except supporting FLGSās with kits, and dangling the carrots of Regionals/Nationals/Worlds for competitive LCG/X-Wing players.
I will admit, those tourney get people out, but they could be so much more.
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Actually, I think we should allow the top 4 or 8 of each nationality and have an individual winner and a country winner with the average rank of each team player 
What about a World Cup team event? Teams of three: three runner factions and three Corporations must be represented (i.e. you canāt all play the same decks)
I feel like team constructed could be directly ported over from MTG and be fun. teams of three, your restricted to 3 copies of each card between all three decks. (canāt play 9 sure gambles)
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@DJhedgehog, thanks for communicating with FFG.
I used to talk with a division of FFG in a previous company and Iām not surprised at their response. FFG is very slow to act (to their credit) and value their IP (intellectual property) and brands very highly. The only way I can see FFG being active in this sort of thing is if itās proven through social confirmation.
That said, I think this is something that we would have to create as a community. Contrary to what someone else said, I do think that FFG cares about an OP program, but is unwilling to invest 10ās of thousands of dollars into it, only to see it not work. Instead, if we have a team of volunteers willing to invest our time and abilities, then it could work.
Prize support from FFG would help, but we can always receive donated GNK swag, as well as the option of buying the kits directly from FLGSās.
This would take organization, dedication, skills, and talent. Iām down to investing my time into this. Anyone else have a couple hours a week on something like this?
Hereās the fallacy. They cannot both care AND not really want to spend any money. That is starting to sound like MY employer. 
ā10s of thousandsāā¦ oh, come on. Theyāre not even close to spending that. Heck, they SELL all of the prize support they hand out.
I agree that this has to be done by the community, and THEN theyād be willing to support a winner. Question is, who wants to get it off the ground? I already ran a tourney at a local con this year, giving away $200+ in prizes from my own stash of shit, so, yeah, Iām willing to do that again if it leads to something.
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I was talking about the cost to build their own ranking system in a much more comprehensive OP program. At the least they would have to build a strong judge program and have a minimum of one more full time employee on this, which would cost 10ās of thousands of dollars.
If anyone else is interested in working on this together go ahead and PM me and let me know what tourneys youāve organized so far and where you are in the world.