From:	Geoff Skellams <geoff.skellams@*********.COM.AU>
Subject:	Re: FASA's On/Off Course?
Date:	Wed, 6 May 1998 17:19:21 +1000

On Shadowrun Discussion, Bull[SMTP:chaos@*****.COM] wrote:
> I can say with fair accuracy that the game is NOT moving away from
magic.
> however, the world threatening plots that can only be stopped by a
> copmbined force of IE's, Dragons, and Super Corp Sponsored Runners is
> (hopefully) going the way of the dodo... The normal magic stuff
(i.e., the
> stuff from the Main Book and the Grimmy) is here to stay, though it
will
> get bit of retouching in SR3.
>
Personally, I think the shift in emphasis is trying to put magic
in perspective. According to the Awakenings book I reread chunks of last
night on the bus, there are only about 3-4 million magically active
people worldwide and that includes all the physads. The fixation of the
previous regime on magic related incidents put far too much emphasis on
the metaphysical.
It's like saying that all wars are fought with nuclear weapons.
We have them, but they're really in the background.
I'm not anti-magic. I really like it, it lets you do some really
hoopy stuff. But there is just too much emphasis on it.

> Toi be honest, I really like the *idea* behind the IE's and the
Horrors...
> They were even kinda cool way back when. I love the bugs. There's a
lot
> of stuff I really like. But let's face it, FASA was going through a
wierd
> time (Not-so-coincedentally enough, just before Mike was brought in)
where
> everything they did had IE and Horrors stamped all over it. And
EVERYONE
> was complaining about it. FASA listened, and though it's taken 3+
years to
> get the plotline through to the finish, FASA and Mike Mulvhill (With
help
> froma few others, Jak Koke among the biggest and brightest names:))
have
> managed to "clean house" and reset the stage.
>
I quite like the Horror concept as well (it allows for some
really cool Dark Conspiracy crossovers), but it shouldn't take over the
world. A few incidents here and there are cool, but not a destroy the
world level.

> One thing that Mike said at last year's Gen Con was that he really
wanted
> to try and get the focus of the game back on Shadowrunners. And let's
face
> it, most Shadowrunners aren;t going to leave the streets of Seattle
(or
> wherever their hometown happens to be. For generic SR, it's Seattle).
> hell, they're lucky if they ever make it out of their neighborhood.
>
This is a good thing. In recent years I've become a bit jaded
with Tom Clancy and his "Jack Ryan saves the world again" novels (in
some respects, it's good Ryan is now President, because Clancy can't
make him any more powerful, unless he wants to make Jack Ryan God). With
the main SR campaign emphasis on the world threatening magics &c, most
SR campaigns probably got escalated into the same realm.
Ultimately, by doing this, they theoretically extend the
lifespan of the game. If the horrors had continued, then the world would
have pretty well be stuffed. By effectively wiping them out and making
things more mundane oriented, it gives more scope for things to happen
in the future (because the world won't be destroyed - at least not like
that).

> <shrug>
>
> WHo knows... With SR3 and the revamps of all the main sourcebooks,
we'll
> see what comes next for SR... And of course, we'll see who likes it
and
> whop hates it...
>
> However, I emphatically say that FASA is on course... I don;t like
> everything they do, but hey, that's why I've been lobbing material and
> proposals at them lately... :] if you don;t like the game, try and
> rewrite it, officially :]

I'll agree with that. Perhaps what we are seeing at the moment is the
time when the wind goes out of the sails when a yacht tacks. Give it a
bit of time, the sails gets filled again and the yacht heads off in a
different direction.

I think the Dark Overlords know what they are doing.

cheers
Geoff
--
Geoff Skellams R&D - Tower Software
Email Address: geoff.skellams@*********.com.au
Homepage: http://www.towersoft.com.au/staff/geoff/
ICQ Number: 2815165

"That rates about a 9.5 on my weird-shit-o-meter"
- Will Smith in "Men in Black"