Shadowrun: Which Edition to use?

[Derren]

That's not really the relevant bit. Where you can be was never an issue my players had problems with. Again - the issue was that actually doing the job of a decker put them in a completely different simsense world, such that they couldn't do the job of hacking the system and still not get shot in the head. Much like mages in astral space, their bodies needed to be guarded. If that's still true, I'd still prefer to leave them back somewhere safe, and let the meatjobs get the physical work done.

Hackers in 4E (or deckers in 5E) do not have to go hot seat to hack something. When they do they perform best but they can also hack things without giving up control of their body. To compare it with mages, its like they are just astrally perceiving instead of projecting.

Another big change in 5E are limits. Your attributes and gear determine how many successes you can have. This was done to make attributes more valuable compared to skills and other dice pool bonuses and gear more diverse.

 

[Jhaelen]

(which is Augmented Reality, sort of like how Google Glasses work today)

Sorry for the thread-jack, but the current implementation of Google Glass has about as much to do with AR as a wristwatch. While GG features a camera, it is not used in any way in deciding what data it should display. Instead you have to tell GG what information you'd like it to display. Also, the display is outside your normal field of view, so it even fails to meet the very definition of AR:

Augmented Reality is the physical reality around us with additional information superimposed on it.

IOW, right now it's complete bogus.

Actual AR systems recognize your surroundings (or rather whatever you focus with your camera) and display additional data (often 3d models, but also textual or tabular information) about what you're seeing automatically.

Back to Shadowrun: So, instead of being fully immersed in a VR environment, deckers now basically only view the matrix using a kind of HUD?
That's probably a clever move, allowing the decker to participate in the real world action, as well, but it's quite far from the original Cyberpunk vision.

 

[DnD_Dad]

Second edition all the way. I never bought in to wireless working for entering the matrix in later editions because it changed the feeling of the game completely, then it became a focal point with everything being wireless. The game is suppose to be a mix of low/mid/high tech where they all exist together, but necessarily integrated. I know 2nd edition so I never invested in any other editions as I didn't like the technology jump and newer editions "fixed" there game where I don't think it is broken.

 

[Abstruse]

Sorry for the thread-jack, but the current implementation of Google Glass has about as much to do with AR as a wristwatch. While GG features a camera, it is not used in any way in deciding what data it should display. Instead you have to tell GG what information you'd like it to display. Also, the display is outside your normal field of view, so it even fails to meet the very definition of AR:
IOW, right now it's complete bogus.

Yes, it's a bad example, but it's a way to explain it to people who don't follow technology in development. What they're claiming Glass will do is as close as we have right now to AR. Either that, or the sort of HUD displays you have in video games, but with more pop-up ads.

 

[DnD_Dad]

I would say they are the first smart goggles. Not AR.

 

[Abstruse]

Second edition all the way. I never bought in to wireless working for entering the matrix in later editions because it changed the feeling of the game completely, then it became a focal point with everything being wireless. The game is suppose to be a mix of low/mid/high tech where they all exist together, but necessarily integrated. I know 2nd edition so I never invested in any other editions as I didn't like the technology jump and newer editions "fixed" there game where I don't think it is broken.

Looks a lot like one of my shelves Also, where the hell did you find a Germany book?! I can't find the damn thing everytime I look!!

Anyway, the way wireless Matrix was implemented in 4A wasn't that good. It's a LOT more seemless in 5e and feels more like decking in VR2.0/3rd. You can also throw out the "wireless" aspect VERY easily in this edition to go back to 2050s style play. You'll lose the "decker in the middle of the firefight" thing, but it's not difficult at all. Like I said, check out the Quickstart before you judge this edition at least.

 

[DnD_Dad]

That is my collection from when they came out. I am looking for universal brotherhood, but to complete my 1st/2nd sourcebook collection.

 

[Abstruse]

UB shows up on Amazon Marketplace used every once in a while. Got mine for like $8 plus shipping (it was going for $60+ on eBay for a good while there).

 

[DnD_Dad]

Maybe later I'll post the 100 or so Shadowrun minis I got to boot.

 

[CAFRedblade]

Regarding AR, There are apps on both iPhone and Android devices that give additional overlays of information, games, and other tweaks to reality, you just have to look through your phone's screen to see it, and when Glass arrives many of these AR apps will be adapted or will work out of the box with glass.

Now, at the moment, many of these AR apps are in the silly, timewasting category, but pretty much any app for Google Glass will be AR in one form or another. Getting directions via Google Maps on Glass is the perfect example.

As to preferred editions, I've just started playing Shadowrun, (4ed A) and I'm purchasing the physical copy (of 5th Ed) to supplement my purchased pdf (of 5th), as I'm enjoying the adjustments in the updated rules.

Regarding the wireless issue, I can easily see the redevelopment of wireless tech as a priority over the 50+ years since 2012, even with the two tech crashes of the past. Look at how far it's come in the last 20 years here. And any really sensitive data should not only be Firewalled, but cut off from the matrix. Requiring Runners to get inside with their Deckers/Hackers to pull out the data.

But that's personal preference. To each their own, if anyone prefers prior editions, by all means continue to play that, but at least look over the new rules and see if anything is worth adapting/stealing/updating.