Problems I have with writing Shadowrun Options

[Chrysalis]

Greets,

I just wrote a little vignette for CanRay's ghettopunk game. It was a spontanious piece of work, but high-lights one of the problems I have with writing Shadowrun. What really makes Shadowrun, well Shadowrun.

I mean the vignette I wrote can be taken and placed into almost any setting. Whether 1870, 1970, or 2070. Obviously there are no SUVs in 1870, but that is simply a question of change. There are no Stuffer Shacks in 1970, but there are diners.

The problem I see is that with poverty there are few if any real changes. The flop houses of the 1870s, turn into the ghettos of the 1970s, which in turn take on the form of Z-zones in the 2070s.

I guess the question I have, is what makes Shadowrun fiction, well Shadowrun and not modern fiction with pointy ears and tusks. I mean I can turn it so that blacks become trolls, hispanics are orcs and WASPs are elves. Nothing changes, just the forehead aliens.