Worst case scenario - this is 1 click (to draw) for 1 credit (irrelevant). Commonly, this will be 1 click (to draw) for 2 bits (decent). Anything above this is good.

This is based on the common math that there is a cost to draw a card. I personally don't view the cost to draw in corp as being the same as Runner, since you get a free draw every turn and are typically not trying to draw quickly. So, I actually think playing this the first time is already better than clicking for 1 bit.

I like this as a 1 off card in a lot of decks - it's not going to hurt you.

I am a little confused about the second part on this one. When does it trigger?

Directly when played? Or at the start of corp's next turn (from the archives - is that even possible?)

Let's say the runner completed his turn without a single run and I, as the corp, am playing this card. May I add it back to HQ at the start of my next turn?

The text implies that it does, indeed, stay active in archives, automatically checking to see if the runner made any runs on their turn and magically appearing in the corps hand at the start of the corp's turn if they didn't.

As to your second question, no.  At least not if they made a run on the turn after you played it.  The good news is now they are forced to choose between running on a server or giving you a free credit.  If you've got sufficiently protected servers, it effectively says, "lose a click to prevent the corp from gaining 1 credit."  If all of your servers have taxing ICE at the top, the proposition is even worse for the runner.

Lots of cards have text that is active in Archives: Shock!, Shi.Kyu, Space Camp, Cyberdex Virus Suite, etc.

As to your second question, no.  At least not if they made a run on the turn after you played it.  The good news is now they are forced to choose between running on a server or giving you a free credit.  If you've got sufficiently protected servers, it effectively says, "lose a click to prevent the corp from gaining 1 credit."  If all of your servers have taxing ICE at the top, the proposition is even worse for the runner.

The text is active in Archives, and any time this card is sitting in Archives and the Runner fails to make a run, it is added back to HQ at the beginning of the following Corp turn, which is quite clear in the FAQ, which states that . . .

"When adding a facedown Subliminal Messaging in Archives to HQ, the Corp must reveal it to the Runner." (FAQ 2.1, page 9)

If Subliminal Messaging had just been played, it would not -- and cannot -- be face down in Archives. Since the FAQ clearly states that a face down Subliminal Messaging must be revealed as it is being added to HQ, it must have been discarded in an unrevealed state. Ergo, the text is active in Archives, just like most other cards. In fact, cards that are not active in Archives clearly state this as the case (e.g. Snare; Fetal AI).

I just want to be clear here: the original query was not totally clear on timing, etc. Once Subliminal Messaging hits Archives, its Archives-specific text is very much in play, and from that point forward, any time a Runner fails to make a run for an entire turn, it may move to HQ.

I am a little confused about the second part on this one. When does it trigger?

Directly when played? Or at the start of corp's next turn (from the archives - is that even possible?)

 

Let's say the runner completed his turn without a single run and I, as the corp, am playing this card. May I add it back to HQ at the start of my next turn?

When you play it you get a single credit and it goes into Archives like any other card. The Runner has their turn. When it comes for the corp to take their next turn, the window of time prior to the corp drawing their mandatory card is considered the start of the turn. During this period, provided that the runner did not make a single run during their previous turn, the corp may add Subliminal Messaging back into their hand.

This window is important to know about, because it's also relevant to rezzing cards. Just as a for instance, when I first started playing I had no idea that you could rez an Adonis Campaign and immediately take 3 credits from it.

I'm sorry to revive this one again, but this card gives me the headache. I've played it yesterday and -of course- it started a discussion.

My (hopefully) final question:

Will the reccusioneffect stay active the whole time or only for the following turn?

The text on Subliminal Messaging is always active.

So... when the corp plays this in turn 1, and I somehow manage to make a run every turn. But then, in turn 9, I don't... it is still coming back? Why not make it an asset with trash cost of 8 then? Same effect, less confusing. "When your turn begins, gain 1 credit if the runner did not make a run during his or her last turn." (unique, of course)

I take your point, but it's not a 1:1 comparison. In particular I'd point out that assets can be tutored through a variety of cards - most prominently Tech Startup - while operations cannot be, thus making the card weaker. As an asset it would then be vulnerable to Imp (or any runner cashed up enough to not care about 8 credits), but as an operation it suffers no such problem, thus making the card stronger. Also, it's a Gray Ops card which interacts with Tallie Perrault and probably some other cards I'm forgetting.

You covered most of it, just to add a few things: it is NOT safe from Imp in any way, no card is. Also, being an operation means it can't be trashed from RnD without card effects. If this was on an Identity, it would have said "If the Runner did not make a run during his or her last turn, gain 1 credit at the start of your turn." It is a decent effect, but the card takes deck slots, so there is no straightforward answer. Still, a nice card to add if you have one or two slots to fill and need some small economy bump.

Well no, it's not safe per se, but I can't think of a poorer use of an Imp counter than using one to trash Subliminal Messaging, because the corp can just take it straight back from Archives as soon as its trigger condition has been met.

Also, we basically already have this as an identity in the form of Tennin Institute.

So... when the corp plays this in turn 1, and I somehow manage to make a run every turn. But then, in turn 9, I don't... it is still coming back? Why not make it an asset with trash cost of 8 then? Same effect, less confusing. "When your turn begins, gain 1 credit if the runner did not make a run during his or her last turn." (unique, of course)

Play it, then trash it to Archives, like any other Operation. The first one is a free credit (you should only ever play 1 on a given turn).

At the beginning of a your turn following a turn in which the Runner did not run, you may add this back to HQ from Archives -- all card text is active in Archives unless an exception is made on the card. Things like Fetal AI and Snare are exceptions, and these exceptions are stated on the cards. You might not be able to do certain things with cards, because they're not installed (Junebug, for example, cannot have tokens added to it), but the text is active.

It doesn't even matter how Subliminal Messaging got into Archives -- maybe you never played it at all, but the Corp just discarded it, or it got trashed out of R&D by milling . . . doesn't matter. You may add it to HQ at the beginning of your turn if the Runner didn't run last turn, full stop.

The is no need for an Asset version: Pad Campaign already exists. The point here is recursion.