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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ The [fictional] Shadowland's most loved and hated
Posted by: HMHVV Hunter Jan 11 2008, 05:04 AM
One of the most unique things about the Shadowrun sourcebooks is their format - taking the form of an online document which various players in the metaplot comment on. And one way they managed to make that format believable is by injecting some unique personality into the various players.
Like most internet (or Matrix, as the case may be) message boards, there's denizens of Shadowland we as readers love and hate (or love to hate).
So what are some of your favorite (and least favorite) Shadowland denizens from the SR sourcebooks?
Posted by: Fortune Jan 11 2008, 05:16 AM
Fortune! 
I like Dragonslayer. And the Dragons. And the IEs. 
Posted by: CountZero Jan 11 2008, 06:02 AM
I have to say my most loved Shadowland posters would have definitely been Captain_Chaos (RIP), Dodger and Fastjack.
Posted by: Ravor Jan 11 2008, 06:26 AM
Personally I always liked the various one-offs better because they could spout off all types of nonsense from book to book.
Posted by: Stahlseele Jan 11 2008, 09:57 AM
the Laughing Man(Har Lea Quinn[Harlekin]) and BigD(whose online name i can't seem to remember for the life of me) of course . . virtually the only ones of the whole bunch who seem to have something akin to a sense of humor really . .
Posted by: Roadspike Jan 11 2008, 04:59 PM
I agree that the one-offs are often the most amusing, but I really liked Matador and Hatchetman (although Fastjack is often good for a laugh).
Posted by: Kyoto Kid Jan 11 2008, 05:04 PM
...<the smiling bandit...strikes again! hahaha!>
Posted by: Ryu Jan 11 2008, 07:45 PM
The Big D, Kane,... The Big D was the first matrix dragon for me, back in SR2. And I find Kanes attitudes morbidly amusing.
Posted by: Grinder Jan 11 2008, 09:02 PM
| QUOTE (Fortune) |
| Fortune! I like Dragonslayer. And the Dragons. And the IEs. |
QFT.
I also liked SPD.
Posted by: Zemiron Jan 11 2008, 09:07 PM
I love The Lone Gunman's conspiracies. I love how after the Matrix Crash, he posts and someone says something like "of all the people to survive."
I love the Big D and Laughing Man. I like Fastjack, Dodger, and Twist. The Chromed Accountant is good too.
Posted by: Gelare Jan 11 2008, 09:12 PM
Oh man, the Chromed Accountant and Nuyen Nick and the Keynesian Kid!
Not that I dig economics or anything...
Posted by: Kyoto Kid Jan 11 2008, 09:19 PM
...yeah SPD was pretty cool.
On the other side there was Wappler the Weatherman, named after a RL meteorologist who used to work for KIRO 7 news.
Posted by: Stahlseele Jan 11 2008, 09:22 PM
alien queen is/was pretty cool too *g*
finally someone who doesn't give a crap as to social repercussions because of obvious cyber and instead just has fun with her stuff *g*
Posted by: Black Irish Jan 11 2008, 09:49 PM
I always enjoyed the back and forth between Neon Samurai and the guy (handle escapes me) who supposedly worked for Ares. There was quite a bit in the Street Sam CAtalogue, something about Neon Samurai's father being offed by Ares over his work on lasers.
Posted by: martindv Jan 11 2008, 10:08 PM
Nightfire.
He's a company man decker (he has an essay about being a company man in Corp Download), and the exchange was in Fields of Fire.
Posted by: CircuitBoyBlue Jan 11 2008, 10:14 PM
It was in both. Yay subplots in gun books!
Posted by: martindv Jan 12 2008, 03:18 AM
Not really. Samurai Guide just had Neon Samurai flipping a nut over the sale of man-portable lasers. The interchange was in Fields of Fire.
Posted by: martindv Jan 12 2008, 03:18 AM
Not really. Samurai Guide just had Neon Samurai flipping a nut over the sale of man-portable lasers. The interchange was in Fields of Fire.
Posted by: Kalvan Jan 12 2008, 03:57 AM
I've enjoyed The Smiling Bandit, Old Gringo, and Electron Sorcerer.
Posted by: HMHVV Hunter Jan 12 2008, 04:49 AM
Some of my favorites:
-Bung: He should tone down the snark on occasion, but some of his comments just beg for a background rim-shot. Other times, the sarcasm is just great. Plus, he took Skeptic down a peg in "Target: Wastelands"
-Slamm-O!: Always a fun time with this guy. I just like the guy's attitude.
-Matador: A warrior with a code of honor - something definitely to be admired.
-Smiling Bandit - smart guy, and good at presenting the info in an interesting way. Wish I had more teachers like that in college.
LEAST favorites:
-Buzz: Humanis punk. I'm not a fan of the Sons of Sauron, but is it too much to ask that they curb-stomp this punk-ass in the near future?
-Dragonslayer: "The stock market's fallen 200 points?! IT'S A DRAGON! Aztlan declares war on Texas? A DRAGON'S BEHIND IT! The next big comet is about to crash into the earth? THE DRAGONS CALLED IT HERE, THOSE SCALY BASTARDS!" It just wears thin after a while.
-Priest: "Want to know the color of Nadja Daviar's bedsheets? Fork over 1,000 nuyen and then we'll talk." C'mon, Shadowland's supposed to be about the FREE exchange of info - give us SOMETHING!
-Tish Bite: She's a vampire. Vampires kill people. Need I any other reason?
And an honorable mention into "least favorite," because i'm not quite sure where he stands: Captain Chaos.
Yes, the Cap. The reason: the way he handles the near-race riots that break out on Shadowland. Typically the Humanis troll gets a warning, while the people who get offended enough to muster a counter-response get kicked off. Seem like a disparity there? Makes me wonder if he's got a white hooded virtual robe to add to his icon...
Posted by: Fortune Jan 12 2008, 05:30 AM
| QUOTE (HMHVV Hunter) |
| ... the Humanis troll ... |
Just ... looks ... odd!
Posted by: Shockwave_IIc Jan 12 2008, 05:51 AM
My favourites were
Syzygy and Slamm-O, oh and Ultra V
Disliked Dragon Slayer.
Posted by: martindv Jan 12 2008, 06:31 AM
| QUOTE (HMHVV Hunter) |
| -Tish Bite: She's a vampire. Vampires kill people. Need I any other reason? And an honorable mention into "least favorite," because i'm not quite sure where he stands: Captain Chaos. Yes, the Cap. The reason: the way he handles the near-race riots that break out on Shadowland. Typically the Humanis troll gets a warning, while the people who get offended enough to muster a counter-response get kicked off. Seem like a disparity there? Makes me wonder if he's got a white hooded virtual robe to add to his icon... |
Vampires don't necessarily kill people, and even if they do there's a not-insignificant chance that it was a willing victim who wanted to become a vampire. Because, in the end, people are stupid.
As for Cap, I find that amusing insofar as people who flame trolls tend to escalate way beyond the troll itself in numerous instances. I see no problem with Cap's actions (not that there are many examples of repliers getting sent to ShadowCell). But I also find it funny when racists are the most level-headed people in the discussion because it makes their critics look even more naive, emotional, and foolish.
Posted by: Stahlseele Jan 12 2008, 01:08 PM
| QUOTE |
| -Tish Bite: She's a vampire. Vampires kill people. Need I any other reason? |
considering that most shadowrunners make a living by killing people that is a little harsh in my eyes *g*
Posted by: Kagetenshi Jan 12 2008, 02:42 PM
| QUOTE (HMHVV Hunter) |
| And an honorable mention into "least favorite," because i'm not quite sure where he stands: Captain Chaos. Yes, the Cap. The reason: the way he handles the near-race riots that break out on Shadowland. Typically the Humanis troll gets a warning, while the people who get offended enough to muster a counter-response get kicked off. Seem like a disparity there? Makes me wonder if he's got a white hooded virtual robe to add to his icon... |
You know, I also dislike the captain, but my reason is pretty much diametrically opposed to yours. Are there any page references I could look at to see this? I most definitely remember a despicably pro-metahuman bias in pretty much all of the books (for why it's despicable, see some of the other threads on how Shadowrun handles racism).
~J
Posted by: ShaunClinton Jan 12 2008, 02:47 PM
Rabid from PAOE has to be my fave! Especially the incongrous post about Meistersingers!
Posted by: HMHVV Hunter Jan 12 2008, 06:22 PM
| QUOTE (Stahlseele) | ||
considering that most shadowrunners make a living by killing people that is a little harsh in my eyes *g* |
Most shadowrunners don't suck the souls out of people for their own perverted enjoyment, though.
Granted, there are some that just plain kill for their perverted enjoyment, and they're on my least liked list too - just can't remember them offhand.
Posted by: HMHVV Hunter Jan 12 2008, 06:23 PM
| QUOTE (ShaunClinton) |
| Rabid from PAOE has to be my fave! Especially the incongrous post about Meistersingers! |
Was that the one where he went all loopy about the beauty of their songs and stuff like that?
If so, yeah, that was weird - especially after he revealed in the Each-Uisge post about how he'd be willing to murder children for the sake of the job.
Posted by: martindv Jan 12 2008, 11:33 PM
| QUOTE (HMHVV Hunter) | ||
Was that the one where he went all loopy about the beauty of their songs and stuff like that? If so, yeah, that was weird - especially after he revealed in the Each-Uisge post about how he'd be willing to murder children for the sake of the job. |
What's wrong with that?
Did you ever read Bravo Two Zero? The only reason the team didn't kill that Iraqi kid was because they couldn't do it discretely. They were too far away for knives and they had gone out without suppressed weapons because the Americans had already taken them all.
You cannot tell me that they and the mission wouldn't have been better off if they had killed the kid.
Posted by: martindv Jan 12 2008, 11:36 PM
| QUOTE (Kagetenshi) | ||
You know, I also dislike the captain, but my reason is pretty much diametrically opposed to yours. Are there any page references I could look at to see this? I most definitely remember a despicably pro-metahuman bias in pretty much all of the books (for why it's despicable, see some of the other threads on how Shadowrun handles racism). ~J |
I'll second that.
Posted by: Kagetenshi Jan 13 2008, 12:11 AM
| QUOTE (martindv) |
| The only reason the team didn't kill that Iraqi kid was because they couldn't do it discretely. |
What was the matter with doing it continuously?
~J
Posted by: martindv Jan 13 2008, 07:04 AM
You can only do it once.
Posted by: Snow_Fox Jan 14 2008, 03:15 AM
Peregrin,
Chromed Accountant
SPD/X-plod former cops
Synner, Ancient History, Andvare
There's one, I can't quite remember her name, on page 100 of SoE.
(If I never said it, Thank you chummer.
)
Posted by: Ancient History Jan 14 2008, 03:23 AM
I had one really great line in a sourcebook, which I shall always be thankful for.
Just to be contrary, I like Wordsmyth of the Immortal posters.
Posted by: Fortune Jan 14 2008, 03:35 AM
| QUOTE (Ancient History) |
| I had one really great line in a sourcebook, which I shall always be thankful for. |
Which one?
Posted by: Zhan Shi Jan 14 2008, 03:43 AM
My favorite would be Buzz, the Humanis 'runner. It's amusing to watch stone cold killers get all upset when someone expresses a pro-human viewpoint. I hope the developers will show more of him in the future. I don't really have a "least favorite".
The two funniest Shadowland exchanges, IMO, are Jack Q/Rebecca Constantine, from YotC, and Wolfman/Smiling Bandit, from...I think it was Street Samurai Catalog. I'd nominate the "Macmillan Group" segment from Super Tuesday(?) as a runner up.
Posted by: Kagetenshi Jan 14 2008, 03:48 AM
While an amusing interchange, the Q/Constantine piece was not shadowtalk, but a transcript of an ordinary trid broadcast.
~J
Posted by: Serial_Peacemaker Jan 14 2008, 07:29 PM
Well to be fair it is one thing to kill someone because it is a job. It is a completely different thing to do it as some kind of personal policy. Something else is that on the other end is I'm thinking some of the truly screwed up runners would hate to close off their people to kill options. Also I personally like having being rather socially blind about the people they work with as a kind of tell. "Right so you are a human, ork, and elf, and you all carry yourself like killers. I know runners when I see them."
Posted by: Ancient History Jan 15 2008, 12:57 AM
| QUOTE (Fortune) | ||
Which one? |
p.118 System Failure "They can have my deck when they pry it out of my cold, dead hands."
Posted by: Fortune Jan 15 2008, 01:07 AM
Posted by: Dashifen Jan 15 2008, 01:14 AM
That is the one downside of the new SR4 format for Jackpoint posters: with less one-shot posts there's less chance that any of us will see our names.
Posted by: Demonseed Elite Jan 15 2008, 03:04 PM
I'll admit, when the writers were told about the new format, that made me sad. I liked inserting one-shot comments from characters of people I'd met.
I will still try to fit them in as guest posters where possible, though!
Posted by: HMHVV Hunter Jan 15 2008, 04:48 PM
What new format? I haven't picked up any of the new books yet, so I don't know what this format is.
Posted by: Critias Jan 15 2008, 05:25 PM
| QUOTE (HMHVV Hunter) |
| What new format? I haven't picked up any of the new books yet, so I don't know what this format is. |
The "Shadowland BBS only allows posting from a certain elite circle of folks" format. There's a regular crew of NPC-types who are the only ones who'll comment on stuff from now on. No more one-shot characters, no more name-dropping of RL forumites, etc, etc. Just a big list of corp-approved personalities and perspectives.
Posted by: Stahlseele Jan 15 2008, 05:32 PM
heck, it's a hacker-board . . if you're good enough to hack it, you're free to post ain't ya? O.o
Posted by: Daddy's Little Ninja Jan 15 2008, 06:30 PM
I think the corp doing the approving is the one that publishes SR. Which makes it ironic if they are the ones clamping down on such expressions.
Posted by: Ancient History Jan 15 2008, 06:44 PM
Well, here's the thing...
It's no longer Shadowland. The new format isn't a free-for-all of whoever-can-hack-their-way-in-can-post. Instead, you have the JackPoint network with a http://shadowrun4.com/resources/sr4/shadowtalker_list.pdf of regular users, each with their own personality and specialities. Guest shadowtalkers are often featured when the group needs information beyond the limited scope of the regular list.
There were a couple reasons this new format was chosen - the first being, that by the end of SR3, the number of one-shot posters was out of control. You would have upwards of fifty new shadowposters per book, often more, many of whom only were used once (and whose names were horrible puns). For two there, was no real effort to give unique (and discrete and continuous from one usage to the next in some cases) personalities and knowledge bases to many of the characters. So while authors could load in characters from their home games and posters from the boards, it got ridiculous.
One of the things you can see develop in first edition are a rough collection of "core" characters that would re-appear in book after book, and these are the characters people tend to remember and whose personalities and specialties were developed-Captain Chaos, FastJack, the Chrome Accountant, the Smiling Bandit, Man-of-Many-Names, The Laughing Man, Pyramid Watcher, etc.
Posted by: Dashifen Jan 15 2008, 07:14 PM
I think the change to a core of posters was well done, overall. But I still pine for some of the wackjobs that popped into Shadowland with one or two comments never to be seen again. 'Course, that means it's very hard to give a "voice" to any of the posters, which has been done extremely well so far in SR4 (e.g., the Netcat/Clockwork interaction in Emergence which continues nicely into Corp. Enclaves).
Posted by: martindv Jan 15 2008, 08:03 PM
I don't know. Tom Dowd gave Neon Samurai and Nightfire a pretty distinct voice each in two sets of very, very limited shadowtalk in Fields of Fire.
Posted by: Demonseed Elite Jan 15 2008, 08:15 PM
| QUOTE |
| I don't know. Tom Dowd gave Neon Samurai and Nightfire a pretty distinct voice each in two sets of very, very limited shadowtalk in Fields of Fire. |
But another issue there is consistency/continuity among many writers. Early Shadowrun had staff writers, like Dowd. A limited pool of writers who were consistent. It was easy for Dowd to remember Neon Samurai and Nightfire's personalities across books, especially if they only appeared in ones he wrote.
Later editions of Shadowrun used freelancers, a shifting pool of more writers. Some literally only appeared for a section of one book and never wrote anything again. We tried to keep the many shadowposters straight (I have a copy of the ridiculous Excel file on my computer), but it was difficult to keep updated. I recall running into times when another author and myself were writing on the same book and had posted shadowtalk with the same shadowposter that made the person look like two people.
Posted by: martindv Jan 15 2008, 08:23 PM
That does suck.
I was never one for the one-shot posters, so I'm pretty happy with the current arrangement in Jackpoint.
If they are going to be around, someone should consider making bios for them on the Sixth World Wiki.
Posted by: Fortune Jan 15 2008, 08:26 PM
| QUOTE (Demonseed Elite) |
| ... I have a copy of the ridiculous Excel file on my computer ... |
Can I get a copy?
Posted by: Kagetenshi Jan 15 2008, 08:32 PM
This is what LaTeX is for
~J
Posted by: Moon-Hawk Jan 15 2008, 08:38 PM
| QUOTE (Kagetenshi) |
| This is what LaTeX is for ~J |
You know, I could google that to try to figure out what you're talking about, but I don't think it would end well.
Posted by: martindv Jan 15 2008, 08:38 PM
It's a very useful markup language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX
Posted by: Jeremiah Legacy Jan 16 2008, 05:52 PM
Back to the question at hand,
I agree about SPD, The Laughing Man and The Big D, but I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Socio Pat.
Posted by: Snow_Fox Jan 17 2008, 03:10 AM
I'm not sure when SPD droppedo ut but The Big D at least went off in style.
Posted by: fistandantilus3.0 Jan 17 2008, 11:03 PM
Random one, but : Bourbon from Target:Smuggler Havens.
Reason - the tone and the personality matched perfectly with a PC in our games named Bourbon who happened to be running in New Orleans and working with Don Kozlowski (whom the shadow talk was about). It just all fit so nicely.
I liked the old Slamm-o better than the new Slamm-o for what it's worth.
Hates: Fortune.
Loved: Occassional random apperances from Frosty and Renny. Also liked the interplay between Wordsmyth and Co. when it came up.
Posted by: Fortune Jan 17 2008, 11:07 PM
| QUOTE (fistandantilus3.0 @ Jan 18 2008, 09:03 AM) |
| Hates: Fortune. |
Yeah yeah! You probably don't even know which book contains my single illustrious appearance.
I have another mention in canon under my real name (Dunkleberry's Will), but that doesn't really count as shadowtalk.
Posted by: Jack Spartan Jan 18 2008, 12:07 AM
My favorite is Argent. Not only were his comments usually very level-headed and full of good advice, but I played SR3 with him for quite some time a few years back . . .
The original Argent was an elven fixer played by a friend of mine named Tony back in the SR1 and SR2 days. I haven't heard from him since he moved back to Oklahoma from Florida, but his commentary in person was a lot like Argent's in the books. I don't know how the authors shared the posters from book to book, but they nailed his personality.
Hope all's well, Tony!
Posted by: Angelone Jan 18 2008, 04:28 AM
Hatchetman was my definate favorite.
Others I liked were Tish Bite, Smiling Bandit, Kane, Gingerbread Man, Laughing Man, Smiley, Nightfire, Lone Gunman, and another decker whose handle I can't quite remember something like Weasel.
EDIT- Disliked Antifa, and most of the Mages/Shaman.
Posted by: CanRay Apr 15 2008, 05:01 PM
Chromed Accountant was the BOMB! I loved his comments, and honestly hope to hear what's happening with him, and his island that he's filled with naked locals. ;-P
SPD rocked as well.
Always wanted to see/hear more about Mom on the Run, and her kid (Shadowbrats, gotta love 'em! Slamm-O rocked for the same reason!).
I like Kane, but keep expecting to hear when the various group's he's ticked off over the decades catch up to him. Or he finally gets his sweety out of that Azzie prison (If he hasn't already.).
Hatchetman, who is missed.
The Dead Decker Society, of course, who were founded by a dentist, and thus is the worst pun of all!
And, of course, FastJack, who I just found out has Grandnieces! Loved his intro to SR4, and the props he gave to the dear, departed Captain Chaos and the Neo-@s.
Frankly, I doubt the Neo-@s are dead and gone, just in hiding for the moment, biding time.
Posted by: Hatspur Apr 15 2008, 05:15 PM
Come on! Skeptic rocked! If only because he doubted EVERYTHING. He always seemed to bring things down to level (at least for Shadowrun).
Tom Dowd made anything sound cool. Burning Bright and Night's Pawn were stunning by Shadowrun author standards.
The only Argent I ever saw was the one from Lone Wolf. He was a decked out street sam. Where was the elven fixer from?
Posted by: mrslamm0 Apr 15 2008, 05:22 PM
Slamm-0! ( Wow big surprise!) Fast Jack, Dodger and Smiling Bandit.
Posted by: O'Donnell Heir Apr 15 2008, 05:38 PM
Dragonslayer is apparently gone as well. Theres about a one line send off in Runners Havens when someone remarks "...I miss Dragonslayer", and that's about it.
Captain Chaos is apparently a cyber'd AI on the matrix after what Dunkie's gift did to him (Still trying to get System Failure to get the story).
Priest is always interesting, and I have to give him props for capturing the meeting between Ghostwalker and Dunkies old team on video.
Fastjack was always good for a laugh (Captain Chaos: "Damn it Fastjack I've had to change the security protocols on this topic three times after your posts. You're setting a bad example for the kiddies"), and is now picking up the slack for Captain Chaos's absence.
Posted by: CanRay Apr 15 2008, 05:43 PM
You know what?
A TOAST! To FastJack! The 'Runner that's stood the test of time, and is still the Hacker's Decker Hacker (Once again!) and the Punk's Punk!
Posted by: fool Apr 15 2008, 06:28 PM
I liked fanboy cause I can totally relate to him. The IE's and GD's were special faves (Orange Queen- "you were expecting Anita Bryant?")
I agree, the Old Slammo, the Neo @ not the jacker.
FastJack, CC, These are a few of my favorite things.
Least.. Hugh Mann, and all the elf from the tir government.
Posted by: fool Apr 15 2008, 06:36 PM
I liked fanboy cause I can totally relate to him. The IE's and GD's were special faves (Orange Queen- "you were expecting Anita Bryant?")
I agree, the Old Slammo, the Neo @ not the jacker.
FastJack (who was an old man living in a cave way back in Target Matrix?), CC, These are a few of my favorite things.
Least.. Hugh Mann, and all the elf from the tir government.
I'm really rather bummed that SR4 does limit it's shadowtalk so much, but I'm also sure that over time that will change. As more areas of expertise are needed (ie more books are written,) more people will be brought in. And it is the nature of these things to grow. If it's so cool and useful, everyone will want ot be one of the in crowd just to get that extra edge. And Fast Jack will be owing more and more people favors for their posts.
Posted by: IQ Zero Apr 15 2008, 06:58 PM
Anyone else remember Chiba Barb?
Posted by: BetaFlame Apr 15 2008, 09:03 PM
Netcat. I like Netcat. I think I have a thing for underdogs, since I like Puck too.
Fastjack is cool, and amusing.
I dont really like Slamm-0 much.
The racist bastards usually get under my skin.
I miss the Captain 
Posted by: FlakJacket Apr 15 2008, 09:43 PM
The fact that no-one seems to have mentioned William Harkwood aka. Wedge yet is just criminal. 
Posted by: Fortune Apr 15 2008, 10:40 PM
Did I mention Fortune? 
Posted by: HMHVV Hunter Apr 15 2008, 10:53 PM
I might well get crucified by some for this, but I can't stand the Dead Deckers Society. Bunch of elitist schmucks who think you should need to read code to so much as use EBay (or whatever the SR equivalent is).
Posted by: CanRay Apr 15 2008, 11:21 PM
No, you haven't. Must not have been posting much on ShadowLand BBS.
Posted by: Fortune Apr 15 2008, 11:55 PM
Guess you failed your perception test.
More than CanRay!
Posted by: CanRay Apr 16 2008, 12:06 AM
Dude, I just got here! Not a chance to have applied.
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