There’s a strong argument that Trace is a failed mechanic in Netrunner, despite it being quite thematic.

With Trace being less relevant, the associated Link mechanic also loses relevance.

Could Trace and Link be saved if we remove the ability for either player to spend credits during a trace and also avoiding the use of Trace inside subroutines?

To make it backward compatible, the text could read “Trace² - Neither player can spend credits during this trace. If successful…”

This would encourage use of cards that buff/debuff Link.

Avoiding its use in subroutines means we can’t just focus on strong economics to break the subroutine in lieu of investing in Link.

Thoughts?