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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: cmd_jackryan@***.net (Phillip Gawlowski)
Subject: [SR4] Long Post! Just what I needed: Another Megacorporation and
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 08:02:46 +0200
First, let me dig up some memories:

I learned about shadowrun when SR2 was fresh out, and I was still in School.
I learned the names of the Big 8:
Ares, SK, Mitsuhama, Fuchi, Renraku, Aztechnology, Shiawase, and Yamatetsu.
After a time, I had to stop playing Shadowrun, just before I was
interested in SR3.

Then I finally got around to buy SR3.
I was shocked: My beloved Megacorps had changed.
Fuchi ceased to exist. Wuxing, Cross Applied, Novatech, and the Draco
Foundation rose from the Ashes of the Corp War.

Now I have my copy of SR4 before me, and we have YET ANOTHER
MEGACORPORATION?!? (And one renamed itself.)

What the hell?
I don't even get enough Information as a GM to make the most out of the
new one (Horizon, as a matter of fact.) What the heck is Viral
Marketing? Is it like spamming, but with oblivious propagators? I'm left
totally in the dark. Absolutely no plot hooks. None. Neither for Evo
(formerly known as the Corp-Responsible-For-Crash 2.0, and a few
others). So, they work for the Greater Good. So?

Where are the ins and outs of the new corps (not to mention Ye Olde
Megacorporation, for those just beginning with SR)? What is the word on
the street about them all?

And why was it needed to have a advertisement-mega, when the other
Corporations are veterans of marketing, especially Aztechnology?

Every single SR edition I know came up with new Megacorporations. Why?
So that every shadowrunner can have his "hate-pet" in SR?

Somehow I have the feeling, that this is purely done (especially giving
out 1 paragraph of info on each of the Big how-many-they-may-be) to
force me to buy the next big Corporation Supplement.

This is one big issue I have.

A smaller one: California (discussed enough here. I'll just wait what
happens. I have the feeling that there is more to the sinking of Cal,
than we all suspect.)


But all this BS is too much for me. The last metaplot related supplement
I'm considering to buy is System Failure (mostly for the sake of
completeness, mind you). And I have to be really impressed by subsequent
rulebooks, if I shall be won over as a loyal buyer.


To put things in perspective: I like the new Shadowrun. I have the
feeling that this is the incarnation of SR I was waiting for my whole
RPGing life. The rules are light enough to allow for a decent strike
between fun and realism, the additions made to the rules are well
thought out, and in some places needed.
But currenntly, I own all (for my GMing) relevant rule books of the
third Edition, and I _will_ cannibalize them.

Unless subsequent rule books (especially on the Matrix and Magic)
greatly expand on the "Life on the Edge" chapter. That is what I need:
Information on lifestyle. How does avarage Joe Sarariman interact with
it, how does Sammy Samurai exploit the tech?

What I don't need are more rules. I have enough of those in the core
book. Just tell me, FanPro, how to translate new stuff into the existing
rules.
I can work within existing rules. Trust me on this one, FanPro. I have
experience as a GM, and I have enough faith in the franchise, that, in
the end, you will do right. I have enough faith to take a look at the
new release that are to come. In fact, I can't wait for the first pure
SR4 release. Because, all in all, SR4 is a step in the right direction.


Thank you for your time.

--
Phillip Gawlowski

"Delivering every round in 24 hours."
Message no. 2
From: sfeley@*****.com (Stephen Eley)
Subject: [SR4] Long Post! Just what I needed: Another Megacorporation and
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 00:18:08 -0400
On 10/22/05, Phillip Gawlowski <cmd_jackryan@***.net> wrote:
>
> What the hell?
> I don't even get enough Information as a GM to make the most out of the
> new one (Horizon, as a matter of fact.) What the heck is Viral
> Marketing? Is it like spamming, but with oblivious propagators? I'm left
> totally in the dark.

Viral marketing is the strategy of promoting a product by introducing
ideas (or memes) into pop culture that are compelling enough that
people will want to pass them on for their own merits.

The online game "I Love Bees" was an example of viral marketing: it
was really a Microsoft advertising campaign for Halo 2, but that
wasn't obvious right away, and many people found it cool enough to
hype for months no matter what it was really for.

The films at http://www.session416.com are another example. They were
made to promote the movie _Serenity_, but they didn't come out and say
so, and they got passed around a lot.

Burger King has done a fair amount of viral marketing, starting with
the "Subservient Chicken" Web site.

There are lots of other examples. I could of course just point you at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing

But it was more fun to type out all of the above first. >8->


--
Have Fun,
Steve Eley (sfeley@*****.com)
ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine
http://www.escapepod.info

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These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!