D&D 4E OT: Shadowrun 4E announced

[Hurtfultater]

*snip*

The decker is changing into the hacker. I'm sure hackers will have decklike things, just implanted in their skulls or somesuch. I'm sorry that FanPro killed your dog, but the rest of us aren't seeing why they're a bunch of fiends bent on killing Shadowrun. We haven't seen just what they'll be doing exactly and how they'll be doing it.

 

[Vocenoctum]

The decker is changing into the hacker. I'm sure hackers will have decklike things, just implanted in their skulls or somesuch. I'm sorry that FanPro killed your dog, but the rest of us aren't seeing why they're a bunch of fiends bent on killing Shadowrun. We haven't seen just what they'll be doing exactly and how they'll be doing it.

You have seen what they'll be doing, if you've read any of the setting books since FanPro. SoE was the last book I got, and I see no reason to believe that the past performance of FanPro will not carry through to the new edition.
We don't know the specifics of what will be there, but it's not hard to see what the style will be.

As for Deckers being Hackers, it's a different concept from what I've seen. Do the deckers suddenly all put down their cyberdecks and take up an entirely new method of operation?

Deckers were fun, because they created their own little world and thrived in it. They had their uses, but in general, they were seperated from the rest of the setting. It made them interesting at the same time it made them more difficult to integrate. Acceptable losses for myself, but others have always complained about it. IMO if you integrate deckers into the team more, they lose their flavor. If the Matrix still exists, then they are doubly empowered beyond their comrades.

Magic was always odd, because the same endless casting that made it fun, also made it generally overpowered. Same with the Wired Samurai, his speed and resilience made him fun, but also made it unbalanced. The only ways to counter them were to match them with a similar figure on the opposing team. There was really no parity of ability, but it worked because each was excessive in his own way.

Basically, SR was full of excessive types that were different than the norm, the decker and rigger included. By giving up what defines SR for a new system that's "easier", you may as well call it something new.

 

[Kesh]

It's certainly going to be a change. But hopefully, it'll be for the better. That's all I'm counting on.

Come GenCon, we'll know for sure.

 

[TwistedBishop]

The decker is changing into the hacker.

So we're losing something good, for something trite? That's inline with FanPro's method of operation.

I'm sorry that FanPro killed your dog, but the rest of us aren't seeing why they're a bunch of fiends bent on killing Shadowrun.

They have no desire to kill off Shadowrun. Did I say they did? This is a dream come true for most of the writers.

What I said was they were ruining Shadowrun, through equal parts ego and incompetence.

We haven't seen just what they'll be doing exactly and how they'll be doing it.

What? We've been seeing what they're doing for four years. This new travesty is merely the most blatant and excessive of the bunch. And the fact remains, they killed deckers. They killed the Matrix which made Shadowrun. But we got "hackers" to make up for it. Basically it's getting slapped in the face, and then kneed in the groin by way of apology.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I don't think getting rid of the decker (and probably the matrix) is a good idea, but since I don't know enough about whats going on maybe I'm misunderstanding what they're doing, though I doubt it.

I agree with your line of logic, TwistedBishop, that deckers are an integral part of the SR universe and getting rid of them could could completely change the game. Just as much as getting rid of trolls for example.

 

[GlassJaw]

Do the deckers suddenly all put down their cyberdecks and take up an entirely new method of operation?

From what FanPro has said so far, the Matrix will undego some kind of crash and it will become completely "wireless". So yes, deckers as we know it now won't need decks anymore.

I've said it before but IMO, one of the main reasons for SR4 is that FanPro got sick or hearing how people don't use deckers in their games because either the rules are too difficult or they slow down gameplay or both. I've always thought the same thing so I'm very curious about the new system.

I didn't start playing Shadowrun to play the game FanPro has perverted it into. Infact, no one signed up for their version of the game, they kept buying it because it was "Shadowrun" (a great game designed by a great company, long long ago). It has been diminishing for the past few years (each book more disappointing than the last, each purchase a more bitter pill to swallow), slowly being co-opted by people whose talent and motives I have reason to doubt, but now it's looking to become the FASA game in name only. Maybe it's for the best, as now I can put the line behind me once and for all, and stop supporting people that puppet around the corpse of something I once loved.

Aww, does someone need a hug?

I find this interesting because most of the core SR fans view SR3 as the cleanest edition of the three. It was also largely driven by fan input as well.

 

[MacMathan]

I have played all 3 editions although I was disappointed with many of the changes or lack there of in some cases of the 3rd edition. This has led to me putting the game down for a number of years. 4E has renewed my interest.

I have a wait and see attitude about the whole decker thing. They need to be careful with the continuity. However, I too almost never ran or played in a game with a PC decker so I can see what they are trying to fix, it was one of the largest complaints about the game since inception. Although it was quite fun to play "redecorate the decker" while they were out

 

[TwistedBishop]

I find this interesting because most of the core SR fans view SR3 as the cleanest edition of the three. It was also largely driven by fan input as well.

You do know that SR3 was made by FASA, right? And that it was little more than the compiling of information and cleaned-up rules scattered in previously published sourcebooks?

FanPro's greatest achievement was keeping in print the FASA books, and now it looks like we'll be losing those.

 

[Klaus]

Y'know, back in the day when I started playing my very first session of Shadowrun (with a Mage, no less!), I heard the name "decker" and thought they were hackers that used keyboards (as in musical keyboards) to hack into computers. Made for a fun visual...

 

[Infernal Teddy]

You do know that SR3 was made by FASA, right? And that it was little more than the compiling of information and cleaned-up rules scattered in previously published sourcebooks?

FanPro's greatest achievement was keeping in print the FASA books, and now it looks like we'll be losing those.

Actually, looking at it from the german point of view... FanPro's editions of the SR-books were always a lot more "cleaned up". They checked and recked for errors, and normally caught the stuff that FASA let slip. Most of the really innovative stuff for the 3rd edit came from FanPro. As a fan of the system, and gamemaster for a bunch of addicts, i'm looking forward to seeing the new edit.