Genre Discussion: Cyberpunk

[Reynard]

One of the common tropes of cyberpunk is people making use of technology in new ways that were not thought of by the manufacturer. But we currently live in an era where corporations have deliberately tried to make it difficult for end users to have control over the products they purchased. For a while, John Deer was making it difficult for farmers to do their own repairs on equipment by restricting diagnostic tools and even parts. Imagine if your combine breaks down in the middle of a cornfield while you're harvesting and how much time/money you're going to lose taking it all the way to a John Deer dealership. Or how about Apple bricking your iPhone because you do something to it they don't like?

There's a lot you can do with that in a cyberpunk game. You could have a corporation send their goons after techs who provide software updates for automobiles or other products the company no longer supports. After all, those techs are competition. Or maybe food corporation is wondering why profits aren't as high as projected in a particular area of the city, and after some social media digging they find there's a city garden/farmer's market, so they send some goons to bust up the competition.

Once you have cyberware, the company really has its claws sunk on you. You've got to maintain that cyberware for the rest of your life. Firmware updates, software updates, physical maintenance, are you going to accessorize with this shiny chrome skin or perhaps you prefer neon pink?

"You sideloaded an unauthorized app into your cybereye. That breaks the TOS. The eye will self destruct in 3... 2..."

 

[Valetudo]

Doh?!

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

No love for Edgerunners? It’s flashy and stylish and tragic as hell - thought it nailed the vibe pretty well.

Haven’t watched it, I don’t like cartoons.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

If you've never read the short story that the Keanu movie is (very loosely) based on, you owe it to yourself. Gibson published it online, for free, and it's easily available in HTML or PDF. I will forever say that Dina Meyer was robbed of what could have been the role of her career (Molly Millions).

I’ve read every published piece of fiction by Gibson.

 

[pukunui]

Oh West World...dont get me started....
I loved the philosophical puzzle box of the first two seasons, and then season three... S3 felt to me like sci-fi James Bond it was a rather jarring narrative and tone change.

Eh? Westworld S3 is nothing like Moonraker!

I enjoyed it well enough. It was S4 that left me scratching my head. I am disappointed they didn't get to finish the series, though.

After accepting it for what it is, I still enjoyed it. It didnt scream cyberpunk to me, but I wouldnt quibble with seeing it that way now that I think about it.

I'd say it was pretty cyberpunkish. Things like the shirt with different words on it that light up depending on the wearer's mood come to mind.

 

[MGibster]

I’ve been a deep fan of cyberpunk literature ever since Neuromancer blew my mind as a young teen, and like to think that I’m descently well versed in the literary genre. But I’ve never had fun playing cyberpunk rpgs. I guess that’s because the games never live up to what cyberpunk is to me personally, they’re just a bleak fragment or pastiche.

I've been thinking about your post, any theories as to why cyberpunk games don't scratch any itch for you? When I was younger, most of the cyberpunk games I played in followed a pattern very similar to D&D.

1. Do job/quest.
2. Make money.
3. Buy better equipment/skills.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 as necessary.

Which doesn't really provide for a satisfactory arc.

 

[cbwjm]

I've finally played through cyberpunk 2077, had no idea the lore was based on the cyberpunk ttrpg. I quite like the genre but there doesn't seem to be much of it being released nowadays. Some older movies to watch are johnny mnemonic, robocop, and tron which I'm not sure 100% fits but at least one site mentioned it (and I love the tron movies, looking forward to ares).

The series Upload could probably be considered cyberpunk, you mostly see things from the side of those who can afford to be uploaded when they die, but some episodes show the extreme poverty to compare with the wealthy elite. Cool series, I would recommend it.

 

[payn]

I've been thinking about your post, any theories as to why cyberpunk games don't scratch any itch for you? When I was younger, most of the cyberpunk games I played in followed a pattern very similar to D&D.

1. Do job/quest.
2. Make money.
3. Buy better equipment/skills.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 as necessary.

Which doesn't really provide for a satisfactory arc.

I was in a very short lived CP game a few years ago. The players and I were trying to come up with some pretty clever solutions to achieving our job goals. The GM basically railroaded us into fights every single time. One of the last sessions I even remember the GM saying something along the lines of "just kill these guys they are like D&D orcs" and I was immediately out of the game.

The D&D effect is a real struggle.

 

[Ryujin]

I've been thinking about your post, any theories as to why cyberpunk games don't scratch any itch for you? When I was younger, most of the cyberpunk games I played in followed a pattern very similar to D&D.

1. Do job/quest.
2. Make money.
3. Buy better equipment/skills.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 as necessary.

Which doesn't really provide for a satisfactory arc.

That's kind of the problem, where games like Shadowrun and Cyberpunk are involved. Far too often you are working for the corps, instead of the 'punk' aspect of taking down the establishment. I can't remember a single campaign of either in which we were trying to break and rebuild The System, which is a big part of most early Cyberpunk stories. Even the (I think rather poorly rewritten) film version of "Johnny Mnemonic" is about beating the corps.

 

[Reynard]

That's kind of the problem, where games like Shadowrun and Cyberpunk are involved. Far too often you are working for the corps, instead of the 'punk' aspect of taking down the establishment. I can't remember a single campaign of either in which we were trying to break and rebuild The System, which is a big part of most early Cyberpunk stories. Even the (I think rather poorly rewritten) film version of "Johnny Mnemonic" is about beating the corps.

This sounds like a problem born of players living in a society where corproations are too often considered good guys, or at least part of the establishment. Corporations rule instead of governments, but most players still end up towing the line. The boss is just different.

I have never played a prewritten Shadowrun adventure and one of my friends that really likes the game is decidedly anti-corporate in outlook. So we never served the corps so much as we would steal their tech and sell it to the highest bidder, or blow up some factory or whatever causing real harm.

The 'punk in cyberpunk is supposed to be supplied by the players.