SoA-chapter reviews, let's start sopme threads gang! Options

[Synner]

[fistandantilus4....]

I understand. I feel like a slacker not getting a few more specific things together for you guys just for some more POV's. I'll do what I can to take some notes the second time I read through. It's just a lot! (for which we thank you! :D ).

Who knows, maybe this cry for help/feedback will inspire more of my fellow slackers to give you guys more back *hint hint*. I know my wife's read it and loved it, so go bug Plan B to give you some feedback too. She never listens to me. :S

[Arz]

I'd love to give you feedback on your writing. However my problem since SOTA2064 remains. Not one of these books has shipped to my game store. The release schedule is way behind.

[Kyoto Kid]

Finally, A write up on the motherland...I have been waiting for this to continue my campaign arc & get more background for one of my favourite PCs. I loved the description of the New Soviet's political and military organisation. I did kind of hope they would still be more involved in the European political theatre (I understand this changes in System Failure) particularly wiere the whole Balkan mess is concerned. However, the Yakut situation is pretty intriguing for future campaigns.

At this time My current arc is still set in 2063-64, so there is still a Divided Poland., and the power struggles in Moscow.

The other area that caught my attention is Oceania. In a previous campaign I had several missions centred around the Kingdom of Hawai'i and a new one up coming. I read the segment in SoA, but still find the campaign information from "Paradise Lost" to be more useful.since it has better detail.

[Synner]

[fistandantilus4....]

[Adam]

[Oracle]

[fistandantilus4....]

I was so happy when I got mine about a week ago. But it did take forever. NO ONE in my area has SR4 yet either. Or any idea of when it will show. So I cuddle up with my SoA to sate myself for now..... uhh..... I mean... you saw nothing! move along!

I do like that the book has a lot of magical intersts going for it. I would like a little more technological, but it's pretty tough to keep a good balance between them. Japan for example. Almost all tech and 'feel'. Would've like a feel more magical things in that section. China, just the opposite. All stuff that can be used for hooks, little in the ways of 'feel' or tech. I guess it's just where they're trying to emphasize for each.

[Synner]

I think things balance out, while you have serious magical edge to stuff in China, Tibet and Yakut, you also get the tech-oriented Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore or the politics of Russia, SE Asia and Phillipines.

The thing that is really noteworthy about Asia is that by and large the technology and the spiritual aspects of life are completely integrated in everyday life. They aren't seen as distinct paradigms of the world like in the West but rather as complementary Yin-Yang aspects of existance.

[fistandantilus4....]

Like Wuxing, Fenh Shui, ancestor worship along side the matrix overlay in places like Neo-Tokyo. I think the thing that threw me the most was going from one extreme to the other. Most of the book seemed to be focusing on the societys and the way the awakening had affected, and was effecting them, until we reached Japan, where magic seemed to take a back seat to the text.

But I think the thing I was looking for the most was new hooks for PC's in Japan. I was planning on doing some runs in HK and either Tokyo or Chiba. Now I have some excellent setting info on both, but not (in my opinion at least) a lot of new run oppurtunities that doesn't invlove the royal family in Japan. I can just go with the same old same old, since there's still 3 mega's based there. I guess I was just looking for some more corp intrigue as well.

That's not to say that I diidn't enjoy the section. I think that for running a game there, the main thing I would need to be able to do is get across the proper mindset. I think that the whole media craze and the salaryman section help a lot with that. It makes the area feel different when you're doing a run in Japan on Renraku as opposed to doing the same run on Renraku in Seattle. it's the 'feel'.

The politics in Russia I think will acutally be a lot of use, as it's another area I plan on sending runners to, and at least to my mind set, it seems something that runners can take more of a role in, than with the seemingly unkillable emperor. Yes there are things that you can do with the Emporer, but the Russian situation seems more approachable. Especially when tying in other things in the area like Poland and Yakut.

Don't know if I said it yet but I really liked the magical info in India, and the differences that it has from the rest of the world, such as the effects of the 'SURGE", and the Golden triangle, as well as how the castes react to lower castes being born with magical ability.

I think that the larger world picture that it has provided will also help mor ewith things like pirates and sea/arcoblock runs, which I'm looking forward to using.

I myself don't have alot of use for the middle east section in my games. But I did like getting a better idea of what's going on over there, especially the progress of what's going on with Ibn Eisa and his little movement.I always have fun trying to figure out exactly what goings-ons in the area Aden has a claw into, since he's moves are always so much quieter.

As far as favorites though, I think the area that held my interest my most was China/Tibet. I like the magic stuff, and had plenty to froth over in that area, as well as stuff I can use in my games, once I can actually get players over there. I like that Tibet is still very mysterious, but is now more approachable in a way that runners can be involved, both locally and abroad with the traveling monks. I also like the potential for the 'lost' nuke bases, and the different interst groups in places like Hong Kong (which I am definitely looking forward to being covered in more detail in Runner Havens ).

There's my two :nuyen: for ya' Synner. Hope you find another point of view useful. All in all, very much enjoyed it. looking forward to So LA, assuminig it does eventually see the light of day.

[otaku mike]

Thanks a lot for the comments fistandantilus3.0

Anyone else?

Mike

[fistandantilus4....]

wow.... you spelled my whole name... and right too! :love:

*bump* ;)

[otaku mike]

That's the magic of copy/paste fistandantilus3.0 ;)

*re-bump*

[Prospero]

If you're still looking for comments, here's one for you:

This has actually been one of my favorite SR books in a long time and I was thinking about why that was the other day. I think that, really, a lot of the future history in SoA felt a lot more like it was extrapolated from current trends/logical extensions of SR craziness. That doesn't explain it too well... I guess I felt that a lot of other locations in SR ended up like they were to mimic things past. That's not really a problem for me per se, but I really felt that most of the Asian locations took a fresh look at the area, rather than just taking stuff from the area's history and putting it into the future and that really made the difference for me. Singapore, for example. I loved that. And Maylasia was really cool. I also love what happend to Kashmir/Khalistan.

It also probably didn't hurt that I know a lot about European history, but not nearly as much about Asian history, so I had a lot more surprises in store in that way.

[BIG BAD BEESTE]

Hmmm, no seperate thread section for SoA yet? Somebody's slacking bigtime, and it isn't me for a change. ;-)

OK, just finished going over what I've been missing for ooh, some time now. So down to business - any definitive critique upon the book and its chapters/sections? By this I'm intending to see specific things you liked, disliked or think were missing. You know, such things as the plotlines, the writing style and coherency, the updating of existing real life stuff like history and culture into the Sixth World, what about the fel of each bit - does it bring over stmosphere and make you relive the very first "Wow, this is cool!" sensations (or not) that you experienced the first time you read a Shadowrun sourcebook.

Sorry, but its this darn writer's Ego - needs feeding/stamping back down to mundane co-existence levels. ;-D

@ Koyoto Kid
Hi there, glad you found Oceania interesting, although it really pains me to say that I felt I let it down by not doing enough for the Kingdom of Hawai'i. I'll agree wholeheartedly that Paradise Lost has more in-depth information, and the House of the Sun novel applies a lot of flavour should you need it. Overall, my intention was to bring it out as the centre of a huge, many-roped, tug-of-war between various factions in the East & West (although due to the geography of the Pacific it gets a little reversed in meaning and true orientation there. ;-) )

Rat has done a fine job in compiling my rambling notes there - got too carried away in the rest of Oceania. You don't realise how big the bloody place is until you start the research! Nevermind, all I have to do now is get my mits on a copy and see how it all turned out in the end.

[blakkie]

[Grinder]

SOTA:2064 has been moved (?) a couple of days ago, despite the "elf porn"-thread. :(