| From: | Joshua T Brown <spamquat@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Runner's Attitudes (content - not flame) |
| Date: | Tue, 1 Jul 1997 00:24:10 -0500 |
>Okay... let's find that point and stretch it out a bit :)
Happy to oblige. I always enjoy discussing this kind of thing with
someone else bright enough to not take everything personally and let it
degenerate into a complete flamefest.... Don't let me down... Yer not
done yet, the argument (er... discussion) is just getting good.
>I've already gone through my reasons why I feel it is very much worth
>it to a megacorp to track down runners who hit them, so check back on
those
>previous postings for the particulars...
> What I propose requires such minimal effort & resources as to be almost
nothing to > a megacorp.
Don't forget, Even the Megas are comprised of individuals... MANY
individuals whose personal carelessness could be exploited. Persons of
responsibility who have flaws which might require selective
miscommunication to avoid their own faults being exposed. For example,
the mid-level exec who has a taste for joyboys, and is careless enough to
reveal something which the enterprising youth steals/remembers/videotapes
for sale to Joe Shadowrunner. Even if the exec finds out about his
mistake, he may not tell anyone for fear that his own stupidity or even
his exotic sexual habits may come to light. The potential for
miscommunication, coverups, etc, is mind-boggling and could explain how a
team gets in... totally discounting the "inside job" concept. Corps do
NOT think as a singular entity, as they have far too many individuals who
could screw up communication, and also see politics, below... (With the
notable possible exception of the Lofwyr-controlled S-K.... Ya mess with
Saeder-Krupp in my game, the most ya can hope for is an interesting death
scene and a nice funeral... see "Threats" for why)
Though you have identified your strength in debate by selectively
addressing only the points made which you can easily defeat with
semantics, and I do respect that.... (a man after my own heart <smirk>)
There *are* still valid arguments, the best of which have been left
unaddressed.
1) Politics - The matter of inside "scapegoats". Most corps, even the
leanest, meanest megas are riddled with the All-too-(meta)human weakness
of company politics. You seem to have completely failed to take this into
account. Behind the scenes, there is someone (We'll call him Bob) who
has access to the godlike technology, which for the sake of argument
we'll assume exists, to track and kill the runners. (Who are likely
SINless, and don't exist in most databases, likely were bright enough to
not reveal their faces, leave fingerprints, shell casings, material links
(Damn, I'm shedding again), etc, etc....)
Bob, due to human error, erroneous timing, an exploited flaw in
technology or planning, or just plain real bad luck, is in trouble. Some
runner jerks just busted in, and stole the new whatchamajigger. Yeah,
that's right, the blue one. <smirk>
If he releases the "hounds", then the corporate sharks who want his job,
or just don't want HIM to have it, might smell blood, and he might spend
his own energy finding someone else to blame further down the food chain,
to cover his own butt. Or, Alternatively, maybe the sharks DO smell
blood, and use their own resources to make Bob impotent until it is too
late, and the runners have gotten away with it, and Bob just sort of
vanishes when the bosses find out. There are 101 other company politics
reasons, conspiracies and other stuff which is beyond the runners
control, which to me, adds to both the paranoia and the overall
intelligence level of the game, taking it beyond "BLAM!" "Plugged me
another Shadowrunner," style games, to a complex web of intrigue,
doublecrosses and unlikely temporary allies which seems to better sum up
the overall flavor of the game as we know it.
2) "The way the game was designed to be played" -- Now THAT's egotism. In
many FASA-published modules (best examples are the ones with the Aztech
Assassin from Mercurial, his name slips the mind) Inter-corporate games,
good luck, or even less potentially compelling reasons allow the runners
to break in, get out, and even *gasp* get away from the Big Boys and
their hired guns, and it is often explained by politics.
If you're citing game design as the correct way for the Corps to be run,
you're as far off the mark as someone who makes the megas too easy.
FASA's made a point that though it may be as hard as fraggin' hell to
prove it, NO ONE is untouchable, mainly because the runner groups have no
Corp bosses to placate, no Corporate Court to worry about, less media
attention, a smaller consumer base to hide dirty deeds from, less large
scale competition, and fewer people to hide if things go wrong.
>
>Now here's where you missed... I specifically stated that swearing is
>the last resort of the person who has no way to express himself. <smirk>
Point taken, I stand corrected.
Hopefully, I'll not miss again. <smirk>
