| From: | Skye Comstock <bilbo@****.NWLINK.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Nippon (was: Re Cyberpirates CHEERS) |
| Date: | Mon, 11 Aug 1997 22:02:56 -0800 |
>>the Shadowrun milieu, and the concentration of japanese influence
>>throughout the genre, this seems to be a strange attitude indeed. Even
>>CP2020 admits a considerable influence from Japan in the genre.
>>
>Influence, yes. And they do a great job of showing that influence
>throughout the game. But look at the what little has been stated about
>Japan so far, and not all of this is Mike's fault. He's stuck with trying
>to deal with what came before.
>
>Japan is, for all intents and purposes, a Giant Corporate Enclave. Sure,
>there are multiple corps, but... There isn;t much else to it. The few
>hard references to Japan pretty much say that you're either a human corp
>boy, a lowlife metahuman used as slave labor for the corps, or you're stuck
>on one of several islands around the main part of Japan, exiled there by
>"Mainland" Japan.
>
>That sort of limits what you can do there a lot.
Perhaps if you look at the way Japan is today, it's a better example.
The crime rate is so low, cops don't carry guns, they ride bloody
bicycles and hang out in the er... those... "neighborhoods" (I'm
thinking fiefdoms...). Very rarely do they get a call for anything
more than minor incidents.
But look at it this way... I know a guy at my high school-- he's
on the faculty guys. He once punched out someone that was a
member of the Yakuza, he was then forced to apologize to the
Yakuza that he knocked out. Said Yakuza was beating up someone
for not paying him (read: protection money).
The Yakuza take care of people in Japan. My Japanese teacher
said that Yakuza members would step out into busy streets,
stop traffic and allow people to cross. They may be
criminals, but they know how to keep peace and make the
yen, apparently.
Because of that, I don't agree with the part that makes Japan
out to be a big Corporate enclave. I think things would be
a *lot* more stealthy, less hasty, and better planned. It
would be like a game of chess, plan the run, predict the
consequences, and do this several times, each with a
different plan.
None of that "Lets just go lob a missle at 'em!" way of thinking.
The big cities would be relatively free of Shadowruns, the
further you get out, the more there would be.
Look at the way the racers do it over there:
To drive something like a 3rd gen RX7 (you know, the things
that look like batmobiles...), Nissan Skylines (big touring
cars with a drive-by-wire-like implementation), or any kind
of REAL sports car on a street anywhere in a big city
would be suicidal-- literally.
I see it that way for Shadowrunning. The racers go out,
way out. Past the suburbs and into the mountaints and
farm-land. I've talked to guys from the US that are into
racing and said it was almost an Orgasmic experience to
see all the modified sports cars in one place.
Why not let it be that way for Shadowrunners? You can't
race all over the place in a big city, but you sure
as hell can when you leave it. They pay the
consequences, there isn't a day that goes by without
some kind of crash. Shadowunners would screw up just
the same, but the public at large just wouldn't know
it.
No reason to scare the good wage-slaves, now is there?
Well, that's all I have to say about that, I guess. I just
don't see Japan as a big Corporation, just doesn't make
sense to me.
-Skye
