From:	keith@***********.com (Keith Johnson)
Subject:	SR4 Conversion
Date:	Tue, 26 Jul 2005 00:24:28 -0700

> > I'm claiming that a fair conversion system would have
> > to allow "Sammy X" to be just as good on the streets
> > in 2070 as he would've been in 2065. Otherwise people
> > might just throw away their old characters, unless
> > they like a roleplaying challenge.
>
> Errr... nonsense. A street sam who was cutting edge in
>2065 might well be obsolote in 2070.

But that doesn't mean that he's just as good not as good
in 2070 as he was in 2065... it's just that the world
as gotten much better. That's what SotA is all about.

My not so humble opinion is that if you build a character
in the 2057-2060 timeline (SR3), and you get that guy
a tricked out SotA set of wires, that guy's wires are 10
years old and out of date in 2070 (SR4), and so if the
rules put your guy at a technological disadvantage, that's
life in the shadows.

If you're telling me that you run a street sam who runs
out and gets MAJOR FRICKIN SURGERY anytime something
new comes out... wow... you're messed up.

>By the logic you just put forth, some "fair conversion"
>in the capabilities of computers should have existed so
>my spiffy new...

[Description of the exact computer I'm typing this email
on deleted]

Your analogy is an odd point of view. The way I see it,
your spiffy 'new' laptop is exactly as good as it was
when you bought it.

But a decade later, the rules have gone from SR3 to SR4
and the scale we use is now GHz and so with the new
rules, your laptop which used to be 100 is now .1 and
your ego takes a blow... but it is still exactly as
good as it was when you bought it.

Now back to your Sammie...

Getting wired relflexes give a risk of death and 6 months
of recovery time... how often would you subject yourself
to that sort of procedure? SotA would have to be a
significant upgrade to make me do that?

When I hear (read) people talking about upgrading
existing characters to the new rules and wanting to
take gear and mods and 'make them newer versions' the
role player in me screams MUNCHKIN... I know that's
going too far and I don't really mean it, but my
point is that if you've got a guy who's 10 years in
the business... his stuff should be 10 years old
or it should've been upgraded as part of a
'character' thing.

And if you do that, then there's no need to do any
'conversion' from what you had to what you will have
because it's an in-game-esque upgrade. No need to
even think about it.

Peace,

Keith