From:	Sheldon Rose <scrose@****.COM>
Subject:	Re: [OT] Nuances of Language
Date:	Thu, 7 May 1998 12:22:54 -0500

David Buehrer wrote:
>
> Nexx wrote:
> /
> / ----------
> / > From: Adam J <fro@***.AB.CA>
> /
> / > But Shadowrun would still be
> / > Shadowrun if it didn't have magic, it would just be different.
> /
> / Adam, I respect your work on this list greatly, but that has got to be
> / the most moronic phrase in the entire English Language, and likely quite a
> / few others. X would still be X if it didn't have Y, it would just be
> / different.
>
> But isn't language used to symbolically represent a world that's
> perceived abstractly?
>
> And if you'll look closely the top of an X looks like the top of a
> Y. So a Y is a different looking X, and vice versa. So from one
> viewpoint, "X would still be X if it didn't have Y, it would just be
> different." works.
>
> Just because your perspective is different then Adam's doesn't make
> Adam's perspective any less significant.

In what turned into a rather heated flame war some weeks ago. I got
about the same results as Adam did by making a statement that many
misunderstood. My campaign is very magical tech is even down played to
some extent. Then again so is major mojo street level folks don't have
access to some of this stuff.

The big question is Would it be SR without all the parts IMO no. The
game would become nothing more than a 2nd rate clone of other games. In
this case no high tech and cyber toys it becomes World of darkness (The
white Wolf games) and conversely without magic it's a of clone CP2020.
While I like those other games and even use ideas form them every now
and then in SR IMO it's more fun than other of the other games in many
ways.